Annual report for FY2021 on the activities of Naraha Center for Remote Control Technology Development (April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022)

Akiyama, Yoichi; Shibanuma, So; Yanagisawa, Kenichi*; Yamada, Taichi; Suzuki, Kenta; Yoshida, Moeka; Ono, Takahiro; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Watanabe, Kaho; Morimoto, Kyoichi; et al.

JAEA-Review 2023-015, 60 Pages, 2023/09

JAEA-Review-2023-015.pdf:4.78MB

Naraha Center for Remote Control Technology Development (NARREC) was established in Japan Atomic Energy Agency to promote a decommissioning work of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Fukushima Daiichi NPS). NARREC consists of a Full-scale Mock-up Test Building and Research Management Building. Various test facilities are installed in these buildings for the decommissioning work of Fukushima Daiichi NPS. These test facilities are intended to be used for various users, such as companies engaged in the decommissioning work, research and development institutions, educational institutions and so on. The number of NARREC facility uses was 84 in FY2021. We participated booth exhibitions and presentations on the decommissioning related events. Moreover, we also contributed to the development of human resources by supporting the 6th Creative Robot Contest for Decommissioning. As a new project, "Narahakko Children's Classroom" was implemented for elementary school students in Naraha Town. This report summarizes the activities of NARREC in FY2021, such as the utilization of facilities and equipment of NARREC, the development of remote-control technologies for supporting the decommissioning work, arrangement of the remote-control machines for emergency response, and training for operators by using the machines.

Dose reduction measure in exchange work of valves used for agitation of highly active liquid waste in storage tank

Isozaki, Naohiko; Morimoto, Kenji; Furukawa, Ryuichi; Tsuboi, Masatoshi; Yada, Yuji; Miyoshi, Ryuta; Uchida, Toyomi; Ikezawa, Kazumi*; Kurosawa, Kenji*

Nihon Hozen Gakkai Dai-16-Kai Gakujutsu Koenkai Yoshishu, p.225 - 228, 2019/07

Highly active liquid waste, which is generated by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, is stored in storage tank of Tokai Reprocessing Plant until it is vitrified. The waste solution in the tank is periodically agitated to avoid the precipitation of insoluble residues during the storage. Three way valves and ball valves have been located at the tank for agitation. Radiation dose rate at the valve location is high and operator's radiation exposure become a problem. Therefore, measures to reduce radiation exposure are performed and reported in this presentation.

Decommissioning activities and R&D of nuclear facilities in the second midterm plan

Terunuma, Akihiro; Mimura, Ryuji; Nagashima, Hisao; Aoyagi, Yoshitaka; Hirokawa, Katsunori*; Uta, Masato; Ishimori, Yuu; Kuwabara, Jun; Okamoto, Hisato; Kimura, Yasuhisa; et al.

JAEA-Review 2016-008, 98 Pages, 2016/07

JAEA-Review-2016-008.pdf:11.73MB

Japan Atomic Energy Agency formulated the plan to achieve the medium-term target in the period of April 2010 to March 2015(hereinafter referred to as "the second medium-term plan"). JAEA determined the plan for the business operations of each year (hereinafter referred to as "the year plan"). This report is that the Sector of Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management has summarized the results of the decommissioning technology development and decommissioning of nuclear facilities which were carried out in the second medium-term plan.

Deuterium Critical Assembly (DCA) Decommissioning work in 2013

Morita, Kenji; Morimoto, Makoto; Hisada, Masaki; Fukui, Yasutaka

JAEA-Technology 2015-037, 28 Pages, 2016/01

JAEA-Technology-2015-037.pdf:8.44MB

Deuterium Critical Assembly (DCA) achieved first critically in 1969 and used for research and development program of Advanced Thermal Reactor. To achieved the aim of facility, DCA decommissioning work started in 2002. Decommissioning schedule consists of 4 stages. The third stage, which is the main work (To dismantle and remove reactor vessel and main equipment), was started in 2008 and will be finished at 2023. This report describes DCA decommissioning work and data (Ability of cutting tools and Man-hours) in 2013.

Oxygen chemical diffusion in hypo-stoichiometric MOX

Kato, Masato; Morimoto, Kyoichi; Tamura, Tetsuya*; Sunaoshi, Takeo*; Konashi, Kenji*; Aono, Shigenori; Kashimura, Motoaki

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 389(3), p.416 - 419, 2009/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2009.02.018

Plutonium and uranium mixed oxide (MOX) has been developed to use as a core fuel of the fast reactor. The oxygen to metal ratio (O/M) of the MOX fuel is an important parameter to control the FCCI. The oxygen potential and the oxygen diffusion coefficient of the MOX are essential data to understand the oxygen behaviour in MOX. The oxygen potentials of the MOX were measured with accuracy as a function of O/M and temperatures in the previous work. In this work the oxygen chemical diffusion coefficient in (PuU)O and (PuU)O were investigated using thermo gravimetric technique. The kinetics of the reduction processes of (PuU)O and (PuU)O were measured by TG-DTA method. The oxygen chemical diffusion coefficients have been estimated from the reduction curves. It was concluded that the oxygen chemical diffusion coefficient in (PuU)O is a smaller than that of (PuU)O.

Local structure modulation in the electronic ferroelectric oxide LuFeO

Hayakawa, Hironori*; Morimoto, Masanori*; Ikeda, Naoshi*; Yoneda, Yasuhiro; Kohara, Shinji*; Yoshii, Kenji; Matsuo, Yoji*; Michiuchi, Takamasa*; Mori, Shigeo*

Transactions of the Materials Research Society of Japan, 34(1), p.51 - 54, 2009/05

https://doi.org/10.14723/tmrsj.34.51

We have recently reported that LuFeO becomes ferroelectric below 330 K, owing to a charge-ordering transition of Fe ions. As details of the properties of this material have not been reported so far, we have investigated its local structure in the ferromagnetic phase by means of synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The analysis of pair-distribution function showed the existence of displacement of Lu atoms; this structure is different from the average structure of this materials known thus far. This result encourages a detailed reinvestigation of crystal structure of LuFeO. We also show the results obtained from some other experimental methods, such as dielectric measurement and electron diffraction.

Effect of oxygen-to-metal ratio on melting temperature of uranium and plutonium mixed oxide fuel for fast reactor

Kato, Masato; Morimoto, Kyoichi; Nakamichi, Shinya; Sugata, Hiromasa*; Konashi, Kenji*; Kashimura, Motoaki; Abe, Tomoyuki

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 7(4), p.420 - 428, 2008/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J08.001

The melting temperatures of MOX for fast reactor fuel were investigated as functions of Pu content, Am content and oxygen-to-metal (O/M) ratio using thermal arrest technique. Rhenium inner was used for the measurement to prevent the reaction between the sample and capsule materials. The solidus temperatures decreased with increasing Pu and Am content and increased with decreasing O/M ratio. It is considered that the maximum temperature in U-Pu-O system varies in hypostoichiometric composition region. The melting temperatures were evaluated by ideal solid solution model in UO-PuO-AmO-PuO system, and the model was derived for calculating solidus and liquidus temperature. The derived model reproduced the experimental data with 25 K.

Solidus and liquidus temperatures in the UO-PuO system

Kato, Masato; Morimoto, Kyoichi; Sugata, Hiromasa*; Konashi, Kenji*; Kashimura, Motoaki; Abe, Tomoyuki

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 373(1-3), p.237 - 245, 2008/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2007.06.002

The melting of plutonium and uranium mixed oxide (MOX) containing Pu of more than 30% was investigated using a tungsten capsule and a rhenium inner capsule. In the conventional measurement of MOX in the tungsten capsule, a liquid phase of tungsten and plutonium oxide appeared in the MOX during melting. This liquid phase was found to have an effect on the measurement of melting point. Therefore the rhenium inner capsule was used to avoid the effect. The solidus and liquidus temperatures in the UO-PuO system were decided from the MOX data measured using the rhenium capsule, and the effect of the Am content on the solidus temperature was evaluated. The variation of the solidus and liquidus temperatures in the UO-PuO-AmO ternary system was represented to an accuracy of =9K and =16K, respectively, by the ideal solution model.

Experiment on synthesis of an isotope 112 by Pb + Zn reaction

Morita, Kosuke*; Morimoto, Koji*; Kaji, Daiya*; Akiyama, Takahiro*; Goto, Shinichi*; Haba, Hiromitsu*; Ideguchi, Eiji*; Katori, Kenji*; Koura, Hiroyuki; Kudo, Hisaaki*; et al.

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 76(4), p.043201_1 - 043201_5, 2007/04

https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.76.043201

The production and decay of 112 has been investigated using a gas-filled recoil ion separator in irradiations of Pb targets with Zn beam at 349.5 MeV. We have observed two -decay chains that can be assigned to subsequent decays from 112 produced in the 208 Pb(Zn,n) reaction. After emitting four consecutive -particles, the both chains ended by spontaneous fission decays of Rf and decay energies and decay times of the both chains obtained in the present work agree well with those reported by a group at Gesellschaft fr Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Germany. The present result gives the first clear confirmation of the discovery of 112 and its -decay products Ds reported previously.

Experiments on synthesis of the heaviest element at RIKEN

Morita, Kosuke*; Morimoto, Koji*; Kaji, Daiya*; Akiyama, Takahiro*; Goto, Shinichi*; Haba, Hiromitsu*; Ideguchi, Eiji*; Kanungo, R.*; Katori, Kenji*; Kikunaga, Hidetoshi*; et al.

AIP Conference Proceedings 891, p.3 - 9, 2007/03

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2713494

A series of experiments studying the productions and their decays of the heaviest elements have been performed by using a gas-filled recoil separator GARIS at RIKEN. Results on the isotope of the 112th element, 112, and on that of the 113th element, 113, are reviewed. Two decay chains which are assigned to be ones originating from the isotope 112 were observed in the Pb(Zn, n) reaction. The results provide a confirmation of the production and decay of the isotope 112 reported by a research group at GSI, Germany, produced via the same reaction by using a velocity filter. Two decay chains, both consisted of four consecutive alpha decays followed by a spontaneous fission, were observed also in the reaction Bi(Zn, n). Those are assigned to be the convincing candidate events of the isotope of the 113th element, 113, and its daughter nuclei. Rg, Mt, Bh, and Db.