Debris-simulated core analysis under fuel procurement constraints in new STACY experiments

Araki, Shohei; Gunji, Satoshi; Arakaki, Yu; Yoshikawa, Tomoki; Murakami, Takahiko; Kobayashi, Fuyumi; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Suyama, Kenya

Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2023) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2023/10

New experiments simulating fuel debris in the new criticality assembly, STACY, are designed to contribute to the validation of criticality calculations for criticality control of the fuel debris in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. In the new STACY experiment, a two-region core consisting of a driver region and a test region was investigated in order to configure a debris-simulated core with under-moderation condition (lattice pitch 1.27-cm) having the constraint of available fuel rod number. The test region with a 1.27-cm lattice pitch is surrounded by the driver region, in which fuel rods are arranged in a checkerboard pattern on a 1.27-cm lattice plate, with a 1.80-cm lattice pitch. Neutron spectra and sensitivity were calculated by using MCNP6 and ENDF/B-VII. The core which has a 1717 test region with 373 fuel rods is the largest two-region core under the constraint. It was found that the core which has a 1717 test region can simulate the neutron spectra of under-moderation condition in a 1313 region inside the test region with the root-mean square percentage error of less than 5%. It was also confirmed that the sensitivity of Si and Ca (n,) reactions when the concrete simulant, was loaded could be simulated.

First observation of O

Kondo, Yosuke*; Achouri, N. L.*; Al Falou, H.*; Atar, L.*; Aumann, T.*; Baba, Hidetada*; Boretzky, K.*; Caesar, C.*; Calvet, D.*; Chae, H.*; et al.

Nature, 620(7976), p.965 - 970, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06352-6

no abstracts in English

Intruder configurations in Ne at the transition into the island of inversion; Detailed structure study of Ne

Wang, H.*; Yasuda, Masahiro*; Kondo, Yosuke*; Nakamura, Takashi*; Tostevin, J. A.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Poves, A.*; Shimizu, Noritaka*; Yoshida, Kazuki; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138038_1 - 138038_9, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138038

Detailed -ray spectroscopy of the exotic neon isotope Ne has been performed using the one-neutron removal reaction from Ne. Based on an analysis of parallel momentum distributions, a level scheme with spin-parity assignments has been constructed for Ne and the negative-parity states are identified for the first time. The measured partial cross sections and momentum distributions reveal a significant intruder p-wave strength providing evidence of the breakdown of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell gaps. Only a weak, possible f-wave strength was observed to bound final states. Large-scale shell-model calculations with different effective interactions do not reproduce the large p-wave and small f-wave strength observed experimentally, indicating an ongoing challenge for a complete theoretical description of the transition into the island of inversion along the Ne isotopic chain.

Investigation of the phonon dispersion associated with superlattice reflections in the BiS-based superconductor LaBiSOF

Tamatsukuri, Hiromu; Hasegawa, Takumi*; Sagayama, Hajime*; Mizumaki, Masaichiro*; Murakami, Yoichi*; Kajitani, Joe*; Higashinaka, Ryuji*; Matsuda, Tatsuma*; Aoki, Yuji*; Tsutsui, Satoshi*

Physical Review B, 107(2), p.024303_1 - 024303_8, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.024303

Development of a design optimization framework for sodium-cooled fast reactors; Development of coupled analysis control function

Doda, Norihiro; Nakamine, Yoshiaki*; Igawa, Kenichi*; Iwasaki, Takashi*; Murakami, Satoshi*; Tanaka, Masaaki

Keisan Kogaku Koenkai Rombunshu (CD-ROM), 27, 6 Pages, 2022/06

As a part of the development of the "Advanced Reactor Knowledge- and AI-aided Design Integration Approach through the whole plant lifecycle (ARKADIA)" to automatically optimize the life cycle of innovative nuclear reactors including fast reactors, ARKADIA-design is being developed to support the optimization of fast reactor design in the conceptual stage. ARKADIA-Design consists of three systems (Virtual plant Life System (VLS), Evaluation assistance and Application System (EAS), and Knowledge Management System (KMS)). A design optimization framework controls the cooperation between the three systems through the interfaces in each system. This paper reports on the development status of the "VLS interface," which has a control function of coupling analysis codes in VLS.

sp. nov., a mesophilic sulfate-reducing deltaproteobacterium isolated from a deep siliceous mudstone formation

Ueno, Akio*; Tamazawa, Satoshi*; Tamamura, Shuji*; Murakami, Takuma*; Kiyama, Tamotsu*; Inomata, Hidenori*; Amano, Yuki; Miyakawa, Kazuya; Tamaki, Hideyuki*; Naganuma, Takeshi*; et al.

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 71(2), p.004683_1 - 004683_10, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.004683

A novel mesophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium, designated strain HN2, was isolated from groundwater sampled from the subsurface Miocene Wakkanai Formation located in Horonobe, Hokkaido, Japan. The cells were Gram-negative rods, with motility conferred by a single polar flagellum. The isolate expressed desulfoviridin, but no catalase or oxidase activities was detected. Strain HN2 grew in a temperature range of 5-43 C (optimum, 35 C) and in a pH range of 6.5-7.5 (optimum, pH 7.0-7.3). It used sulfate, thiosulfate, dimethyl sulfoxide, anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate, Fe, and manganese oxide as electron acceptors, but not elemental sulfur, nitrite, or nitrate. The bacterium showed very weak growth with sulfite as the electron acceptor. The strain fermented pyruvate and cysteine in the absence of sulfate, but not malate or succinate. The bacterium did not require NaCl, but tolerated up to 4% NaCl (w/v). Strain HN2 did not require vitamins. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 56.66 mol%. A 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the closest recognized relative of strain HN2 is JS1 (97.0% similarity). The average nucleotide identity (ANI) value between strain HN2 and D. JS1 was 79.8%. Based on the phenotypic and molecular genetic evidence, the isolate is assigned to the new species sp. nov. The type strain is HN2 (=DSM 101010 =NBRC 112213).

Summary of temporal changes in air dose rates and radionuclide deposition densities in the 80 km zone over five years after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident

Saito, Kimiaki; Mikami, Satoshi; Ando, Masaki; Matsuda, Norihiro; Kinase, Sakae; Tsuda, Shuichi; Yoshida, Tadayoshi; Sato, Tetsuro*; Seki, Akiyuki; Yamamoto, Hideaki*; et al.

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 210, p.105878_1 - 105878_12, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.12.020

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen in the iron-based superconductor LaFeAsOD measured with inelastic neutron spectroscopy

Yamaura, Junichi*; Hiraka, Haruhiro*; Iimura, Soshi*; Muraba, Yoshinori*; Bang, J.*; Ikeuchi, Kazuhiko*; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Honda, Takashi*; Hiraishi, Masatoshi*; et al.

Physical Review B, 99(22), p.220505_1 - 220505_6, 2019/06

AA2019-0126.pdf:0.9MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.220505

Inelastic neutron scattering was performed for an iron-based superconductor, where most of D (deuterium) replaces oxygen, while a tiny amount goes into interstitial sites. By first-principle calculation, we characterize the interstitial sites for D (and for H slightly mixed) with four equivalent potential minima. Below the superconducting transition temperature Tc = 26 K, new excitations emerge in the range 5-15 meV, while they are absent in the reference system LaFeAsOF. The strong excitations at 14.5 meV and 11.1 meV broaden rapidly around 15 K and 20 K, respectively, where each energy becomes comparable to twice of the superconducting gap. The strong excitations are ascribed to a quantum rattling, or a band motion of hydrogen, which arises only if the number of potential minima is larger than two.

Confirmation tests for Warm Pre-stress (WPS) effect in reactor pressure vessel steel (Contract research)

Chimi, Yasuhiro; Iwata, Keiko; Tobita, Toru; Otsu, Takuyo; Takamizawa, Hisashi; Yoshimoto, Kentaro*; Murakami, Takeshi*; Hanawa, Satoshi; Nishiyama, Yutaka

JAEA-Research 2017-018, 122 Pages, 2018/03

JAEA-Research-2017-018.pdf:44.03MB

Warm pre-stress (WPS) effect is a phenomenon that after applying a load at a high temperature fracture does not occur in unloading during cooling, and then the fracture toughness in reloading at a lower temperature increases effectively. Engineering evaluation models to predict an apparent fracture toughness in reloading are established using experimental data with linear elasticity. However, there is a lack of data on the WPS effect for the effects of specimen size and surface crack in elastic-plastic regime. In this study, fracture toughness tests were performed after applying load-temperature histories which simulate pressurized thermal shock transients to confirm the WPS effect. The experimental results of an apparent fracture toughness tend to be lower than the predictive results using the engineering evaluation models in the case of a high degree of plastic deformation in preloading. Considering the plastic component of preloading can refine the engineering evaluation models.

Development of numerical estimation method using spatial connection methodology for thermal striping in upper plenum of reactor vessel of an advanced loop-type sodium-cooled fast reactor in Japan

Tanaka, Masaaki; Murakami, Satoshi*

Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 10 Pages, 2017/07

Thermal striping on the core instrumentation plate (CIP) around the primary control rod (PCR) and backup control rod (BCR) channels and the radial blanket fuel assemblies (RBAs) may be caused. Since the interaction between neighbor areas exists in the UIS and the cold sodium flowing from the RBA is affected by the external flow around the UIS, a spatial connection method consisting of the numerical model for the whole upper plenum and the local target area has been developed. The numerical results were compared with the experimental results to confirm applicability of the method to the practical problem. And, sensitivity of mesh arrangement to the numerical results was discussed by using wide and narrow area models with two different spatial resolutions in each model. Through the examinations, appropriate local model for the spatial connection mothed could be proposed.