Overview of event progression of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of high-level liquid waste in Reprocessing Facilities

Yamaguchi, Akinori*; Yokotsuka, Muneyuki*; Furuta, Masayo*; Kubota, Kazuo*; Fujine, Sachio*; Mori, Kenji*; Yoshida, Naoki; Amano, Yuki; Abe, Hitoshi

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi (Internet), 21(4), p.173 - 182, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J21.021

Risk information obtained from probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of measures against severe accidents in nuclear facilities. The PRA methods used for reprocessing facilities are considered immature compared to those for nuclear power plants, and to make the methods mature, reducing the uncertainty of accident scenarios becomes crucial. In this paper, we summarized the results of literature survey on the event progression of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of high-level liquid waste (HLLW) which is a severe accident in reprocessing facilities and migration behavior of associated radioactive materials. Since one of the important characteristics of Ru is its tendency to form volatile compounds over the course of the event progression, the migration behavior of Ru is categorized into four stages based on temperature. Although no Ru has been released in the waste in the high temperature region, other volatile elements such as Cs could be released. Sufficient experimental data, however, have not been obtained yet. It is, therefore, necessary to further clarify the migration behavior of radioactive materials that predominantly depends on temperature in this region.

PSTEP: Project for solar-terrestrial environment prediction

Kusano, Kanya*; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi*; Ishii, Mamoru*; Miyoshi, Yoshizumi*; Yoden, Shigeo*; Akiyoshi, Hideharu*; Asai, Ayumi*; Ebihara, Yusuke*; Fujiwara, Hitoshi*; Goto, Tadanori*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.159_1 - 159_29, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01486-1

The PSTEP is a nationwide research collaboration in Japan and was conducted from April 2015 to March 2020, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. It has made a significant progress in space weather research and operational forecasts, publishing over 500 refereed journal papers and organizing four international symposiums, various workshops and seminars, and summer school for graduate students at Rikubetsu in 2017. This paper is a summary report of the PSTEP and describes the major research achievements it produced.

Thermally altered subsurface material of asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Kitazato, Kohei*; Milliken, R. E.*; Iwata, Takahiro*; Abe, Masanao*; Otake, Makiko*; Matsuura, Shuji*; Takagi, Yasuhiko*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Hiroi, Takahiro*; Matsuoka, Moe*; et al.

Nature Astronomy (Internet), 5(3), p.246 - 250, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01271-2

Here we report observations of Ryugu's subsurface material by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of excavated material exhibit a hydroxyl (OH) absorption feature that is slightly stronger and peak-shifted compared with that observed for the surface, indicating that space weathering and/or radiative heating have caused subtle spectral changes in the uppermost surface. However, the strength and shape of the OH feature still suggests that the subsurface material experienced heating above 300 C, similar to the surface. In contrast, thermophysical modeling indicates that radiative heating does not increase the temperature above 200 C at the estimated excavation depth of 1 m, even if the semimajor axis is reduced to 0.344 au. This supports the hypothesis that primary thermal alteration occurred due to radiogenic and/or impact heating on Ryugu's parent body.

Element specific electronic states and spin-flip-like behavior of Ce in (CeGd)Ni composed of heavy fermion CeNi and ferri-magnet GdNi through XMCD method

Yano, Kazuo*; Okane, Tetsuo; Takeda, Yukiharu; Yamagami, Hiroshi; Fujimori, Atsushi; Nishimura, Katsuhiko*; Sato, Kiyoo*

Physica B; Condensed Matter, 515, p.118 - 125, 2017/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2017.03.012

The electronic states of the three constituent elements in the crystal mixed system between CeNi and GdNi, CeGdNi, were investigated by soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Not only Gd 4f but also Ni 3d and Ce 4f electrons were magnetic and both magnetic moments of Ni and Ce were coupled anti-parallel to the direction of the Gd magnetic moment. After saturation, Ce magnetic moment decreased over 2 T and this behavior was explained by a spin-flip behavior of the Ce magnetic moment. In addition, sum rule analysis has revealed that the magnetic moments of Gd 4 f and Ni 3d electrons could retain small values of orbital magnetic moments.

Design concept of conducting shell and in-vessel components suitable for plasma vertical stability and remote maintenance scheme in DEMO reactor

Uto, Hiroyasu; Takase, Haruhiko; Sakamoto, Yoshiteru; Tobita, Kenji; Mori, Kazuo; Kudo, Tatsuya; Someya, Yoji; Asakura, Nobuyuki; Hoshino, Kazuo; Nakamura, Makoto; et al.

Fusion Engineering and Design, 103, p.93 - 97, 2016/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.12.048

Conceptual design of in-vessel component including conducting shell has been investigated in Broader Approach (BA) DEMO design activities, in order to propose feasible DEMO reactor from plasma vertical stability and engineering viewpoint. The conducting shell for the plasma vertical stability will be incorporated behind blanket module, while the location must be close to the plasma surface as possible for the plasma stabilization. We evaluated dependence of the plasma vertical stability on the conducing shell parameters by using a 3-dimensional eddy current analysis code (EDDYCAL). The calculation results showed that the conducting shell requires more than 0.01 m thickness of Cu-alloy on DEMO. On the other hand, the electromagnetic force at the plasma disruption is a few times larger than no conducting shell case because of larger eddy current on conducting shell. The engineering design issues of in-vessel components for plasma vertical stability are presented.

Earthquake doublet in an active shear zone, southwest Japan; Constraints from geophysical and geochemical findings

Umeda, Koji; Asamori, Koichi; Makuuchi, Ayumu; Kobori, Kazuo

Tectonophysics, 634, p.116 - 126, 2014/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.07.025

The geophysical and geochemical observations are significant indications that the invasion of mantle fluids into the crust, driven by upwelling asthenosphere from the Okinawa trough, triggers the notable left-lateral shearing in the zone in the present-day subduction system. In addition, the existence of aqueous fluids in and below the seismogenic layer could change the strength of the zones, and alter the local stress regime, resulting in the occurrence of the 1997 earthquake doublet.

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of CeGdNi

Okane, Tetsuo; Takeda, Yukiharu; Yano, Kazuo*; Fujimori, Atsushi; Yamagami, Hiroshi; Nishimura, Katsuhiko*; Ishikawa, Yoshikazu*; Sato, Kiyoo*

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 3, p.011028_1 - 011028_6, 2014/06

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.3.011028

Development of the conductive glove for glove box operation; Production of prototypes and their experimental results

Kodato, Kazuo; Enuma, Masahito; Kawasaki, Takeshi; Nogami, Yoshitaka; Kaneko, Kazunori; Kimura, Masanori*; Yasumori, Tomokazu*

JAEA-Research 2013-017, 45 Pages, 2014/02

JAEA-Research-2013-017.pdf:3.98MB

The glove used at glove boxes in the nuclear fuel plants is usually made with Chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber. The rubber is excellent in terms of resistance to radiation because it has no double bond in its main chain of the component, however, it deteriorates rapidly in high dose environment such as direct contact of alpha ray1). Plutonium oxide powder is treated in glove boxes at plutonium fuel facilities where the alpha ray from plutonium oxide power attached on surface of a glove causes the deterioration of the rubber. Therefore the effective method for prevent of the rapid deterioration is to decrease the amount of attached powder, and the glove with conductive property which can prevent static generation on its surface has been developed and tested. The results showed that the rubber has less adherent property to powder compared with conventional one.

Experimental evidence of nonthermal acceleration of relativistic electrons by an intensive laser pulse

Kuramitsu, Yasuhiro*; Nakanii, Nobuhiko*; Kondo, Kiminori; Sakawa, Yoichi*; Mori, Yoshitaka*; Miura, Eisuke*; Tsuji, Kazuki*; Kimura, Kazuya*; Fukumochi, Shuji*; Kashihara, Mamoru*; et al.

Physical Review E, 83(2), p.026401_1 - 026401_6, 2011/02

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.026401

An energy distribution function of energetic particles in the universe or cosmic rays is well represented by a power-law spectrum, therefore, nonthermal acceleration is essential to understand the origin of cosmic rays. A possible candidate for the origin of cosmic rays is wakefield acceleration at relativistic astrophysical perpendicular shocks. Substituting an intensive laser pulse for the large amplitude light waves, we performed a model experiment of the shock environments in a laboratory plasma.

Measured and simulated transport of 1.9 MeV laser-accelerated proton bunches through an integrated test beam line at 1 Hz

Nishiuchi, Mamiko; Sakaki, Hironao; Hori, Toshihiko; Bolton, P.; Ogura, Koichi; Sagisaka, Akito; Yogo, Akifumi; Mori, Michiaki; Orimo, Satoshi; Pirozhkov, A. S.; et al.

Physical Review Special Topics; Accelerators and Beams, 13(7), p.071304_1 - 071304_7, 2010/07

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.13.071304

A laser-driven repetition-rated 1.9 MeV proton beam line composed of permanent quadrupole magnets (PMQs), a radio frequency (rf) phase rotation cavity, and a tunable monochromator is developed to evaluate and to test the simulation of laser-accelerated proton beam transport through an integrated system for the first time. In addition, the proton spectral modulation and focusing behavior of the rf phase rotationcavity device is monitored with input from a PMQ triplet. In the 1.9 MeV region we observe very weakproton defocusing by the phase rotation cavity. The final transmitted bunch duration and transverse profile are well predicted by the PARMILA particle transport code. The transmitted proton beam duration of 6 ns corresponds to an energy spread near 5% for which the transport efficiency is simulated to be 10%. The predictive capability of PARMILA suggests that it can be useful in the design of future higher energy transport beam lines as part of an integrated laser-driven ion accelerator system.