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Nishino, Saki; Okada, Jumpei; Watanabe, Kazuki; Furuuchi, Yuta; Yokota, Satoru; Yada, Yuji; Kusaka, Shota; Morokado, Shiori; Nakamura, Yoshinobu
JAEA-Technology 2023-011, 39 Pages, 2023/06
Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP) which shifted to decommissioning phase in 2014 had nuclear fuel materials such as the spent fuel sheared powder, the diluted plutonium solution and the uranium solution in a part of the reprocessing main equipment because TRP intended to resume reprocessing operations when it suspended the operations in 2007. Therefore, we have planned to remove these nuclear materials in sequence as Flush-out before beginning the decommissioning, and conducted removal of the spent fuel sheared powder as the first stage. The spent fuel sheared powder that had accumulated in the cell of the Main Plant (MP) as a result of the spent fuel shearing process was recovered from the cell floor, the shearing machine and the distributor between April 2016 and April 2017 as part of maintenance. Removing the recovered spent fuel sheared powder was conducted between June 2022 and September 2022. In this work, the recovered powder was dissolved in nitric acid at the dissolver in a small amount in order to remove it safely and early, and the dissolved solution was sent to the highly radioactive waste storage tanks without separating uranium and plutonium. Then, the dissolved solution transfer route was rinsed with nitric acid and water. Although about 15 years had passed since previous process operations, the removing work was successfully completed without any equipment failure because of the organization of a system that combines veterans experienced the operation with young workers, careful equipment inspections, and worker education and training. Removing this powder was conducted after revising the decommissioning project and obtaining approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority owing to operating a part of process equipment.
Watanabe, Kazuki; Kimura, Norimichi*; Okada, Jumpei; Furuuchi, Yuta; Kuwana, Hideharu*; Otani, Takehisa; Yokota, Satoru; Nakamura, Yoshinobu
JAEA-Technology 2023-010, 29 Pages, 2023/06
The Krypton Recovery Development Facility reached an intended technical target (krypton purity of over 90% and recovery rate of over 90%) by separation and rectification of krypton gas from receiving off-gas produced by the shearing and the dissolution process in the spent fuel reprocessing at the Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP) between 1988 and 2001. In addition, the feasibility of the technology was confirmed through immobilization test with ion-implantation in a small test vessel from 2000 to 2002, using a part of recovered krypton gas. As there were no intentions to use the remaining radioactive krypton gas in the krypton storage cylinders, we planned to release this gas by controlling the release amount from the main stack, and conducted it from February 14 to April 26, 2022. In this work, all the radioactive krypton gas in the cylinders (about 7.110 GBq) was released at the rate of 50 GBq/min or less lower than the maximum release rate from the main stuck stipulated in safety regulations (3.710 GBq/min). Then, the equipment used in the controlled release of radioactive krypton gas and the main process (all systems, including branch pipes connected to the main process) were cleaned with nitrogen gas. Although there were delays due to weather, we were able to complete the controlled release of radioactive krypton gas by the end of April 2022, as originally targeted without any problems such as equipment failure.
Nakamura, Tetsuya*; Imaizumi, Mitsuru*; Sato, Shinichiro; Sugaya, Takeyoshi*; Mochizuki, Toru*; Okano, Yoshinobu*; Oshima, Takeshi
Proceedings of 11th International Workshop on Radiation Effects on Semiconductor Devices for Space Applications (RASEDA-11) (Internet), p.73 - 76, 2015/11
The radiation effect on GaAs p-i-n solar cells with quantum dot (QD) in the i-layer was investigated. In a previous work, we particularly noted the degradation of fill-factor (FF) for the QD cells. In this work, to clarify the reason of the FF degradation in QD cells, generation current due to low-energy proton irradiation, which we call ion beam induced current (IBIC), was observed to characterize behavior of the generated minority carrier by the protons in the depletion region where QDs are located. The energy of protons was adjusted to damage the depletion region, and decrease of generation current was measured during the proton irradiation. The results suggest that the serious degradation of FF is caused by a decrease of the carrier collection efficiency in the depletion region due to proton damage.
Yamanaka, Atsushi; Hashimoto, Kowa; Uchida, Toyomi; Shirato, Yoji; Isozaki, Toshihiko; Nakamura, Yoshinobu
Proceedings of International Conference on Toward and Over the Fukushima Daiichi Accident (GLOBAL 2011) (CD-ROM), 6 Pages, 2011/12
The Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP) adopted the PUREX method in 1977 and has reprocessed spent nuclear fuel of 1140 tHM (tons of heavy metals) since then. The reprocessing equipment suffers from various corrosion phenomena because of high nitric acidity, solution ion concentrations, such as uranium, plutonium, and fission products, and temperature. Therefore, considering corrosion performance in such a severe environment, stainless steels, titanium steel, and so forth were employed as corrosion resistant materials. The severity of the corrosive environment depends on the nitric acid concentration and the temperature of the solution, and uranium in the solution reportedly does not significantly affect the corrosion of stainless steels and controls the corrosion rates of titanium steel. The TRP equipment that handles uranyl nitrate solution operates at a low nitric acid concentration and has not experienced corrosion problems until now. However, there is a report that corrosion rates of some stainless steels increase in proportion to rising uranium concentrations. The equipment that handles the uranyl nitrate solution in the TRP includes the evaporators, which concentrate uranyl nitrate to a maximum concentration of about 1000 gU/L (grams of uranium per liter), and the denitrator, where uranyl nitrate is converted to UO powder at about 320C. These equipments are therefore required to grasp the degree of the progress of corrosion to handle high-temperature and high-concentration uranyl nitrate. The evaluation of this equipment on the basis of thickness measurement confirmed only minor corrosion and indicated that the equipment would be fully adequate for future operation.
Haga, Yoshinori; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Ikeda, Shugo*; Sakai, Hironori; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; Onuki, Yoshichika
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 80(Suppl.A), p.SA109_1 - SA109_3, 2011/07
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Yoshii, Kenji; Hiramitsu, Yusuke*; Okajima, Yuka*; Yoneda, Yasuhiro; Nishihata, Yasuo; Mizuki, Junichiro; Nakamura, Akio; Shimojo, Yutaka; Ishii, Yoshinobu*; Morii, Yukio; et al.
Materials Research Bulletin, 45(11), p.1574 - 1580, 2010/10
Times Cited Count:12 Percentile:37.06(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)Magnetic and dielectric properties of perovskite manganites RSrMnO (R = Gd, Tb and Dy) have been investigated. DC and AC magnetic measurements showed short-range glassy magnetic ordering at Tg about 40 K. Such ordering was observed by neutron diffraction and is ascribable to the size mismatch of R and Sr settled randomly at the same crystallographic site. Dielectric constants for each material were about 1000-10000 between about 50 K and 300 K and showed broad maximums above Tg. Dielectric dispersion showed poor coherency of the motion of polar regions, plausibly because of the size-mismatch effect; both the magnetic and dielectric properties of this system are governed by the randomness at the R/Sr site. The tan and EXAFS data suggest that the dielectric response is rooted in a transfer of the Mn-3d electrons.
Ikeda, Shugo*; Sakai, Hironori; Tateiwa, Naoyuki; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; Ota, Yuki*; et al.
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 78(11), p.114704_1 - 114704_10, 2009/11
Times Cited Count:12 Percentile:58.82(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Okane, Tetsuo; Okochi, Takuo*; Inami, Toshiya; Takeda, Yukiharu; Fujimori, Shinichi; Kawamura, Naomi*; Suzuki, Motohiro*; Tsutsui, Satoshi*; Yamagami, Hiroshi; Fujimori, Atsushi; et al.
Physical Review B, 80(10), p.104419_1 - 104419_7, 2009/09
Times Cited Count:6 Percentile:29.39(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)Kambe, Shinsaku; Sakai, Hironori; Tokunaga, Yo; Chudo, Hiroyuki; Yasuoka, Hiroshi; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Haga, Yoshinori; Ikeda, Shugo; Nakamura, Akio; Yamamoto, Etsuji; et al.
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 385(1), p.1 - 3, 2009/03
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:10.21(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)In 5f-electron systems, exotic magnetism and unconventional superconductivity appear at low temperatures owing to strong electron correlations and orbital degeneracy. For example, we have investigated the unconventional superconducting states of recently synthesized NpPdAl (=5K) and PuRhGa (=9K) in terms of both macroscopic (staticsusceptibility, specific heat, resistivity) and microscopic (NMR) probes. The relation between magnetic fluctuations and unconventional superconductivity in f-electron systems is also discussed. Another exciting topic concerns the series AnO (An; U, Np, Pu, Am). Besides the importance of AnO as a nuclear fuel, the magnetic properties of these compounds at low temperatures are particularly interesting. On the basis of O-NMR studies, multipolar ordered states have been identified in UO (dipolar + quadrupolar ordering) and NpO (quadrupolar + octupolar ordering), in contrast with the non-magnetic ground state of PuO.
Haga, Yoshinori; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Ikeda, Shugo; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Sakai, Hironori; Tateiwa, Naoyuki; Dung, N. D.*; Nakamura, Akio; et al.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 464(1-2), p.47 - 50, 2008/09
Times Cited Count:19 Percentile:66.79(Chemistry, Physical)Tokunaga, Yo; Homma, Yoshiya*; Kambe, Shinsaku; Aoki, Dai*; Sakai, Hironori; Chudo, Hiroyuki; Ikushima, Kenji*; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; et al.
Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials, 10(7), p.1663 - 1665, 2008/07
Multipolar degrees of freedom characteristic of -electrons bring rich and complex physics to rare-earth and actinide compounds. In the present work, we demonstrate that microscopic investigation of multipole order parameters is also possible by means of NMR through the hyperfine interactions. Our O NMR study performed on a single crystal of NpO provide definitive support for the proposed longitudinal triple- type antiferro-octupolar ordering below 26 K. We shall also provide our O NMR results on UO and PuO. The microscopic NMR clearly indicates the different nature of the magnetic ground states among three actinide dioxides.
Ikeda, Shugo; Sakai, Hironori; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Tateiwa, Naoyuki; Nakamura, Akio; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; Hedo, Masato*; et al.
Physica B; Condensed Matter, 403(5-9), p.893 - 894, 2008/04
Times Cited Count:6 Percentile:30.24(Physics, Condensed Matter)Single crystals of paramagnetic semiconductor -US with the orthorhombic () crystal structure were grown by chemical transport method. We measured the electrical resistivity under high pressure, and magnetization. With increasing pressure, the temperature dependence of approaches to semimetallic behavior and a kink anomaly appears at . shifts to higher temperature with increasing pressure. From the comparison with ferromagnetic semimetal UTeS having the same crystal structure, it seems that is a ferromagnetic transition.
Tokunaga, Yo; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Sakai, Hironori; Chudo, Hiroyuki; Kambe, Shinsaku; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Ikeda, Shugo; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; et al.
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 77(Suppl.A), p.211 - 213, 2008/00
Times Cited Count:3 Percentile:27.50(Physics, Multidisciplinary)P-NMR measurements have been performed on a single crystal of NpFeP which is the first crystallized transuranium filled-skutterudite compound. The field-orientation dependence of the hyperfine interaction has been measured using the single crystal, and the results compared with those obtained previously in isostructural compounds UFeP and PrFeP. We have also measured the field and temperature dependence of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate in several fields between 1.8 and 8 T at temperatures between 4.2 and 300 K. The results are discussed on the basis of a localized picture for the 5f electrons.
Ikeda, Shugo*; Sakai, Hironori; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Tateiwa, Naoyuki; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Nakamura, Akio; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; Hedo, Masato*; et al.
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 77(Suppl.A), p.359 - 361, 2008/00
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:11.64(Physics, Multidisciplinary)The ferromagnet UTeS was studied by measurement the resistivity under high pressure. The Curie temperature rapidly increases from 87 K to 166 Kat 8 GPa. The result suggests that there is a correlation between the electrical conductivity and magnetic transition temperature, implying the strong hybridization.
Aoki, Dai*; Haga, Yoshinori; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Tateiwa, Naoyuki; Ikeda, Shugo*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Sakai, Hironori; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; et al.
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 77(Suppl.A), p.159 - 164, 2008/00
Times Cited Count:3 Percentile:27.50(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Superconducting properties are investigated on the new neptunium-based superconductor NpPdAl. The large electronic specific heat, anisotropy of magnetic as well as superconducting properties and strong paramagnetic effect implies spin-singlet pairing with anisotropic superconducting gap.
Sakai, Hironori; Kambe, Shinsaku; Tokunaga, Yo; Fujimoto, Tatsuya; Walstedt, R. E.*; Yasuoka, Hiroshi; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; et al.
Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 68(11), p.2103 - 2106, 2007/11
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:7.43(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)A lot of attention is currently focused on Pu-based superconductors. These systems have relatively high superconducting (SC) transition temperatures, 18 K for PuCoGa and 9 K for PuRhGa. Both compounds crystallize in the tetragonal HoCoGa (115) structure, which is well known for the heavy-fermion SC systems CeIn (=Co, Rh, Ir)with 2 K at most. Recently, NMR and NQR experiments have been reported for PuCoGa by Curro et al. and for PuRhGa by our group. In both cases, measurements of using NQR have revealed that the Pu115 superconductors show unconventional superconductivity with an anisotropic gap. Now we have measured the more detailed data of for NQR lines in PuRhGa, especially focusing on the low-lying magnetic excitation in the normal state. From the viewpoint of spin-fluctuations, we will discuss the difference between PuRhGa and PuCoGa and between superconducting Pu115 and non-superconducting An115 series.
Tokunaga, Yo; Walstedt, R. E.*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Aoki, Dai*; Kambe, Shinsaku; Sakai, Hironori; Fujimoto, Tatsuya; Ikeda, Shugo; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; et al.
Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 68(11), p.2016 - 2019, 2007/11
Times Cited Count:2 Percentile:12.97(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)In this paper, we report a comprehensive study of O nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in NpO for a wide range of fields and temperatures. In both the paramagnetic and ordered-state regions, a strong, field-dependent Np -O nuclei cross-relaxation process is observed in addition to the expected background rate. The cross relaxation process, driven by the Np spins, is conveyed to the O via a greatly enhanced indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling which is described and reported here for the first time. The magnitude and temperature dependence of the indirect coupling are in reasonable accord with a simple theoretical model. The magnitude and temperature dependence of the Np process are also deduced from the data obtained.
Hiramitsu, Yusuke*; Yoshii, Kenji; Yoneda, Yasuhiro; Mizuki, Junichiro; Nakamura, Akio; Shimojo, Yutaka; Ishii, Yoshinobu*; Morii, Yukio; Ikeda, Naoshi*
Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1, 46(10B), p.7171 - 7174, 2007/10
Times Cited Count:16 Percentile:53.06(Physics, Applied)Magnetic and dielectric properties of a perivskite manganite TbCaMnO were investigated. Magnetic measurements showed three characteristic temperatures, originating from charge ordering (300 K), antiferromagnetic ordering (120 K) and a transition to a glassy state (50 K). The coexistence of the charge and antiferromagnetic ordering was consistent with the result of powder neutron diffraction. AC dielectric measurements showed large dielectric constants of about 5000 at around room temperature. A temperature dependence of the dielectric constant changed just below the charge-ordering temperature. From the analysis of tan;, the activation energy for a domain-boundary motion was calculated to be about 0.09 eV. These results strongly suggest that the dielectric properties of this material are governed by the ordering and transfer of the Mn-3d charges.
Haga, Yoshinori; Aoki, Dai*; Yamagami, Hiroshi*; Matsuda, Tatsuma; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Arai, Yasuo; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Nakamura, Akio; Homma, Yoshiya*; Shiokawa, Yoshinobu*; et al.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 444-445, p.114 - 118, 2007/10
Times Cited Count:3 Percentile:27.96(Chemistry, Physical)We report the first dHvA study in plutonium compound PuIn with the cubic AuCu type structure, which can be regarded as a reference compound of PuCoGa. The result of the angular dependence of the dHvA frequency, which corresponds to the extremal cross section of the Fermi surface perpendicular to the field direction, was analyzed by the band calculations. The experimental data agree well with the theory, indicating that the 5f electrons can be treated as itinerant ones. The experimental dHvA study for plutonium-based superconductors such as PuCoGa are also desired but more challenging because the superconducting mixed state extremely weaken the dHvA amplitude.
Tokunaga, Yo; Sakai, Hironori; Fujimoto, Tatsuya; Kambe, Shinsaku; Walstedt, R. E.*; Ikushima, Kenji*; Yasuoka, Hiroshi; Aoki, Dai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Haga, Yoshinori; et al.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 444-445, p.241 - 245, 2007/10
Times Cited Count:19 Percentile:68.58(Chemistry, Physical)In this paper, we present our recent NMR works on Neptunium and Plutonium compounds. In order to elucidate the nature of the exotic multipolar ordered phase of NpO, we have initiated the first NMR measurements on this system. We have shown that direct observation of multipole order parameters is possible by means of NMR. Our NMR results provide further insight into the microscopic nature of multipole phase transitions in f-electron systems. We have also performed Ga NMR/NQR studies on a single crystal of PuRhGa. From the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate (), we have found that PuRhGa is an unconventional superconductor having an anisotropic superconducting (SC) gap 2=5. Furthermore, we have confirmed the Knight shift to be decreased below . This gives strong evidence for spin singlet SC pairing.