Linking combustion-derived magnetite and black carbon; Insights from magnetic characterization of PM in downwind East Asia

Nozomu, Tsuchiya*; Ikemori, Fumikazu*; Kawasaki, Kazuo*; Yamada, Rena*; Hata, Mitsuhiko*; Furuuchi, Masami*; Iwamoto, Yoko*; Kaneyasu, Naoki*; Sadanaga, Yasuhiro*; Watanabe, Takahiro; et al.

Environmental Science & Technology, 59(21), p.10400 - 10410, 2025/05

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c14187

Black carbon (BC) is a typical primary aerosol emitted from combustion. While its co-existence with iron oxides (FeO) has recently been reported, the extent of bias caused by FeO mixing to the BC observations is largely unknown. To identify the dominant FeO emission sources and associated overestimation of BC, magnetics properties of PM collected at a remote site in East Asia was investigated in combination with detailed isotopic and chemical analyses. Consequently, biomass burning events did not enhance aerosol magnetism as they did for the mass concentration of BC, whereas coal burning events coincided with periods of high magnetization. Therefore, magnetization/BC ratio is proposed as a highly selective indicator for identifying combustion sources (i.e. coal, oil or biomass burning).

Physicochemical characterization of the youngest active domain in major fault zones using the weathering index and X-ray computed tomography

Iwamori, Akiyuki*; Ogita, Yasuhiro; Shimada, Koji; Tateishi, Ryo*; Takagi, Hideo*; Ota, Toru*; Cho, T.*; Kudo, Shunsuke*; Nojiri, Keisuke*; Shigemitsu, Yasumune*; et al.

Engineering Geology, 344, p.107821_1 - 107821_20, 2025/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107821

Clarification of the physicochemical characterization of brittle fault rocks is important not only for understanding the history of the fault activity and deformation mechanisms, but also for assessing the siting conditions of important facilities such as nuclear power plants, radioactive waste disposal sites, and oil storage bases. Here, we apply the chemical weathering index (W values) to the brittle fault rocks of the Shiraki-Nyu fault (granite), the Tsuruga fault (geological boundary between granite and greenstone), and the Yamada fault (adamellite), which are active faults in the peripheral area of Wakasa Bay, and their respective protoliths (hard rocks), and investigate the physicochemical characteristics of the youngest active domain of brittle fault rocks based on the relationship between computed tomography data (CT numbers) and alteration intensity (AI values). The W values of the fault rocks are mainly affected by changes in NaO and CaO, corresponding to the elution or deposition of plagioclase and calsite for granite, clinopyroxene and hornblende for greenstone, and plagioclase for adamellite. The W values mainly indicate the effects of hydrothermal alteration up to 50 60 percent and of weathering at over 60 percent. On the other hand, the CT values of the fault rocks are lowest in the fault gouge corresponding to the latest active zone, which was identified as the lowest density zone. In addition, fresh plagioclase fragments are present in each fault gouge of the latest active zone of the active faults in this study. The application of W values to brittle fault rocks is an effective method for understanding the trends of mineralogical variations associated with hydrothermal alteration and weathering in fault rocks, and it is highly possible to improve the accuracy of identifying the youngest active domain in major fault zones through joint analyses of CT numbers.

Assessment of individual external exposure doses based on environmental radiation in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident

Sato, Rina; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Sanada, Yukihisa; Mikami, Satoshi; Yamada, Tsutomu*; Nakasone, Takamasa*; Kanaizuka, Seiichi*; Sato, Tetsuro*; Mori, Tsubasa*; Takagi, Marie*

Environment International, 194, p.109148_1 - 109148_8, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109148

Assessment of individual external doses from ambient dose equivalents is used for predictive and retrospective assessments where personal dosimeters are not applicable. However, it tends to contain more errors than assessment by personal dosimetry due to various parameters. Therefore, in order to accurately assess the individual dose from ambient dose equivalents, a model that estimates effective doses considering life patterns and the shielding effects by buildings and vehicles, were developed in this study. The model parameters were examined using robust datasets of environmental radiation measured in the areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in 2020 to 2021. The accuracy of the model was validated by comparison with 106 daily personal doses measured in Fukushima Prefecture in 2020. The measured personal dose was well reproduced by the model-estimated effective dose, showing that the model can be used to assess the individual exposure dose, similar to personal dosimetry. Furthermore, this model is an effective tool for radiation protection, as it can estimate the individual dose predictively and retrospectively by using environmental radiation data.

Integrated radiation air dose rate maps over the 80 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the entire Fukushima Prefecture during 2011-2022

Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Wainwright, Haruko*; Tanimori, Soichiro*; Nagao, Fumiya; Ochi, Kotaro; Sanada, Yukihisa; Saito, Kimiaki

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 280, p.107554_1 - 107554_11, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107554

In this study, we created the integrated radiation air dose rate maps in the Fukushima region during 2011-2022 using multiple types of surveys such as air-borne, car-borne and walk surveys as well as fixed-location measurements. We applied the Bayesian geostatistical method developed by Wainwright et al. (2017, 2019) to the 80 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the whole of Fukushima Prefecture while considering the history of the lifting of the evacuation zone in Fukushima. The integrated maps fixed the bias to underestimate air dose rates in forest areas, and successfully created more reproducible integrated maps with a wider area and time series than the previous studies. It is highly expected that the results of this study will be used to evaluate detailed exposure doses to the general public.

Circuit simulation model for the RF system of J-PARC RCS

Okita, Hidefumi; Tamura, Fumihiko; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Miyakoshi, Ryosuke*; Nomura, Masahiro; Shimada, Taihei; Yoshii, Masahito*; Omori, Chihiro*; Seiya, Kiyomi*; Hara, Keigo*; et al.

Proceedings of 21st Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.765 - 769, 2024/10

https://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2024/proceedings/PDF/THP0/THP069.pdf

no abstracts in English

Benchmarking GPU backend of longitudinal simulation code BLonD

Adachi, Kyosuke; Tamura, Fumihiko; Nomura, Masahiro; Shimada, Taihei; Miyakoshi, Ryosuke*; Okita, Hidefumi; Yoshii, Masahito*; Omori, Chihiro*; Seiya, Kiyomi*; Hara, Keigo*; et al.

Proceedings of 21st Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.543 - 546, 2024/10

https://www-linac.kek.jp/mirror/www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2024/proceedings/PDF/THP0/THP003.pdf

no abstracts in English

Demonstration of shape analysis of neutron resonance transmission spectrum measured with a laser-driven neutron source

Koizumi, Mitsuo; Ito, Fumiaki*; Lee, J.; Hironaka, Kota; Takahashi, Tone; Suzuki, Satoshi*; Arikawa, Yasunobu*; Abe, Yuki*; Lan, Z.*; Wei, T.*; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 14, p.21916_1 - 21916_9, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72836-8

Current numbers of qubits and their uses

Ichikawa, Tsubasa*; Hakoshima, Hideaki*; Inui, Koji*; Ito, Kosuke*; Matsuda, Ryo*; Mitarai, Kosuke*; Miyamoto, Koichi*; Mizukami, Wataru*; Mizuta, Kaoru*; Mori, Toshio*; et al.

Nature Reviews Physics (Internet), 6(6), p.345 - 347, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-024-00725-0

Stabilization treatment of the sludge items containing nuclear materials at Plutonium Conversion Development Facility

Tanigawa, Masafumi; Nakamura, Daishi; Asakawa, Naoya*; Seya, Kazuhito*; Omori, Fumio*; Koiso, Katsuya*; Horigome, Kazushi; Shimizu, Yasuyuki

JAEA-Technology 2024-001, 37 Pages, 2024/05

JAEA-Technology-2024-001.pdf:2.32MB

At plutonium conversion development facility, the neutralization sedimentation and the coagulation sedimentation (sludge) items are stored in a polyethylene container packed in the plastic bag. The neutralization sedimentation items and the coagulation sedimentation items are stored in the globe box and storage room in the facility, respectively. Some sludge items generate gases, that swelled the plastic bag. We should ensure whether the bag swelling by visual confirmation. When the swelling is confirmed, those containers are transferred to the glove box to exchange the plastic bag for new one. By keeping the above procedure, those items were stored safely in the facility since its founding. The stabilization work for enhance the safe storage was planned to reduce the gas generation of the sludge items caused by the radiolysis of water. Those sludge items have the containing a sodium nitrate that has moisture-absorption characteristic. Therefore, the stabilization method aimed to remove the sodium nitrate from the items. The work was conducted from August 2018 to August 2022. The sodium concentration in items were reduced to 3 wt% or lower. Each stabilized sludge item packed in plastic bag were confirmed its swelling for over one year in the storage place. No gas generation from all item has been observed for more than the one year. And while both the neutralization and the coagulation sedimentation items were stored they were not the increasing of the moisture in the items. As a result, those items were evaluated that will not generate gases any more and confirmed to be stabilized after this treatment. Then, those neutralization sedimentation items were stored in powder cans and transferred to powder storage room as a retained waste. Based on the above results, risks of the gas generation from sludge items were decreased enough. Therefore, the safety of the stored sludge item was improved and confirmed.

Microbiome analysis of the restricted bacteria in radioactive element-containing water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Warashina, Tomoro*; Sato, Asako*; Hinai, Hiroshi; Shaikhutdinov, N.*; Shagimardanova, E.*; Mori, Hiroshi*; Tamaki, Satoshi*; Saito, Motofumi*; Sanada, Yukihisa; Sasaki, Yoshito; et al.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 90(4), p.e02113-23_1 - e02113-23_23, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02113-23