Demonstration of the inherent safety feature of HTGRs through the loss-of-forced-cooling test in the HTTR

Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Kubo, Shinji; Shimazaki, Yosuke; Nakajima, Kunihiro; Sakurai, Yosuke; Shinohara, Masanori; Saito, Kenji; et al.

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 446, p.114542_1 - 114542_14, 2026/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.114542

To demonstrate HTGR's safety features, a loss-of-forced-cooling (LOFC) test was conducted using the HTTR. In this test, the forced cooling in the reactor core was intentionally lost by shutting down all helium gas circulators (HGCs) without reactor scram. During steady-state operation at 100% reactor power (30 MW), after the LOFC, the reactor power spontaneously decreased. This power reduction occurred due to the negative reactivity feedback effect triggered by an increase in core temperature. The power stabilized at a lower value of 1.2% after re-criticality. Additionally, the measured radioactivity concentration in the primary coolant remained nearly unchanged during this LOFC operation and during an immediately subsequent HTTR operation. This indicates no failure of the coated particle fuel, even after the increase in core temperature associated with the LOFC event. These results provide experimental evidence of the safety features of HTGRs.

Magnetic excitations in the noncentrosymmetric magnet SrMnSiO

Kawamata, Masahiro*; Pang, X.*; Murakawa, Hiroshi*; Kawamura, Seiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Masuda, Hidetoshi*; Fujita, Masaki*; Hanasaki, Noriaki*; Onose, Yoshinori*; Nambu, Yusuke*

Physical Review Materials (Internet), 9(1), p.014407_1 - 014407_6, 2025/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.9.014407

Antiferromagnetism and phase stability of CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy

Zhu, L.*; He, H.*; Naeem, M.*; Sun, X.*; Qi, J.*; Liu, P.*; Harjo, S.; Nakajima, Kenji; Li, B.*; Wang, X.-L.*

Physical Review Letters, 133(12), p.126701_1 - 126701_6, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.126701

Crystal-liquid duality driven ultralow two-channel thermal conductivity in -MgAgSb

Li, J.*; Li, X.*; Zhang, Y.*; Zhu, J.*; Zhao, E.*; Kofu, Maiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Avdeev, M.*; Liu, P.-F.*; Sui, J.*; et al.

Applied Physics Reviews (Internet), 11(1), p.011406_1 - 011406_8, 2024/03

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0173680

Extreme phonon anharmonicity underpins superionic diffusion and ultralow thermal conductivity in argyrodite AgSnSe

Ren, Q.*; Gupta, M. K.*; Jin, M.*; Ding, J.*; Wu, J.*; Chen, Z.*; Lin, S.*; Fabelo, O.*; Rodriguez-Velamazan, J. A.*; Kofu, Maiko; et al.

Nature Materials, 22(8), p.999 - 1006, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01560-x

Experimental evidence for the significance of optical phonons in thermal transport of tin monosulfide

Wu, P.*; Murai, Naoki; Li, T.*; Kajimoto, Ryoichi; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Kofu, Maiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Xia, K.*; Peng, K.*; Zhang, Y.*; et al.

New Journal of Physics (Internet), 25(1), p.013032_1 - 013032_11, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acb3ed

Possible options for efficient wide-band polychromatic measurements using chopper spectrometers at pulsed sources

Nakajima, Kenji; Kikuchi, Tatsuya*; Kawamura, Seiko; Kambara, Wataru*

EPJ Web of Conferences, 272, p.02012_1 - 02012_8, 2022/11

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202227202012

We will present some of attempts on AMATEAS, a cold-neutron chopper spectrometer at a pulsed source, to increase time-windows at a single-measurement condition. One of ways is that, by allowing interveined trajectories on the time-of-flight diagram, the usable width selectable for is can be increased. Based on our experiences, the conditions of pulse repetition rate multiplication based polychromatic measurements on chopper spectrometers at pulsed sources will be discussed. Optimization of wide-band polychromatic measurements and a generalized formulated condition will be proposed. Application of our idea to existing spectrometers and to the criteria design of an optimized chopper spectrometer will be also discussed with suggesting further possibility to improve efficiency by modifying the pulse shaping chopper.

Breakdown of linear spin-wave theory and existence of spinon bound states in the frustrated kagome-lattice antiferromagnet

Mattan, K.*; Ono, Toshio*; Kawamura, Seiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Nambu, Yusuke*; Sato, Taku*

Physical Review B, 105(13), p.134403_1 - 134403_8, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.134403

Spin dynamics of the spin-1/2 kagome-lattice antiferromagnet CsCuSnF was studied using high-resolution, time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. The flat mode, a characteristic of the frustrated kagome antiferromagnet, and the low-energy dispersive mode, which is dominated by magnons, can be well described by the linear spin-wave theory. However, the theory fails to describe three weakly dispersive modes between 9 and 14 meV. These modes could be attributed to two-spinon bound states, which decay into free spinons away from the zone center and at a high temperature, giving rise to continuum scattering.

Mictomagnetism and suppressed thermal conduction of the prototype high-entropy alloy CrMnFeCoNi

Yang, J.*; Ren, W.*; Zhao, X.*; Kikuchi, Tatsuya*; Miao, P.*; Nakajima, Kenji; Li, B.*; Zhang, Z.*

Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 99, p.55 - 60, 2022/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2021.04.077

High-entropy alloys are characteristic of extensive atomic occupational disorder on high-symmetric lattices, differing from traditional alloys. Here, we investigate magnetic and thermal transport properties of the prototype face-centered-cubic high-entropy alloy CrMnFeCoNi by combining physical properties measurements and neutron scattering. Direct-current (dc) and alternating-current (ac) magnetizations measurements indicate a mictomagnetic behavior with coexisting antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions in the entire temperature region and three anomalies are found at about 80, 50, and 20 K, which are related to the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition, the antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic transition, and the spin freezing, respectively. The electrical and thermal conductivities are significantly reduced compared to Ni and the temperature dependence of lattice thermal conductivity exhibits a glass-like plateau. Inelastic neutron scattering measurements suggest weak anharmonicity so that the thermal transport is expected to be dominated by the defect scattering.

Experimental analysis on dynamics of liquid molecules adjacent to particles in nanofluids

Hashimoto, Shunsuke*; Nakajima, Kenji; Kikuchi, Tatsuya*; Kamazawa, Kazuya*; Shibata, Kaoru; Yamada, Takeshi*

Journal of Molecular Liquids, 342, p.117580_1 - 117580_8, 2021/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.117580

Quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) and pulsed-field-gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFGNMR) analyses of a nanofluid composed of silicon dioxide (SiO) nanoparticles and a base fluid of ethylene glycol aqueous solution were performed. The aim was to elucidate the mechanism increase in the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid above its theoretical value. The obtained experimental results indicate that SiO particles may decrease the self-diffusion coefficient of the liquid molecules in the ethylene glycol aqueous solution because of their highly restricted motion around these nanoparticles. At a constant temperature, the thermal conductivity increases as the self-diffusion coefficient of the liquid molecules decreases in the SiO nanofluids.