Establishment of neutron spectrum evaluation method for irradiation facility in equilibrium core of JRR-3 silicide fuel

Nakamura, Takemi; Ogasawara, Reira; Ushijima, Hiroki; Okada, Yuji; Yamaguchi, Atsushi; Horiguchi, Hironori; Hirane, Nobuhiko

JAEA-Technology 2026-008, 39 Pages, 2026/07

JAEA-Technology-2026-008.pdf:2.55MB

Irradiation studies targeting thermal neutrons to fast neutrons are being conducted at the JRR-3 research reactor, and to accurately evaluate the irradiation effect, it is necessary to consider the influence of the neutron spectrum. Fuels and cadmium wires used as combustible absorbers are burned by reactions with neutrons because the JRR-3 is a high-power 20MW reactor, and the fuel shuffling and replacement are performed periodically to ensure uniform burnup and long-term operation. Since it is necessary to accurately reproduce the burnup history both temporally and spatially, it is difficult to evaluate the neutron spectrum with high accuracy through computational analysis. Hence, we investigated a method that can easily and accurately evaluate neutron spectra at irradiation facility in equilibrium core of JRR-3 silicide fuel and verified the validity of the evaluation results. This method uses data of initial guess spectrum and response functions for each irradiation field calculated using MCNP code, reaction rate measured from neutron fluence monitors such as Au-Al and Ni wire to perform unfolding using SAND-II. We conducted characteristic measurements from fiscal year 2023 to 2025 and performed unfolding using actual measured values from neutron fluence monitors for seven cycles. As a result, in all cases, the C/E ratio of the reaction rate was 1.000, indicating good convergence, and the difference from the unfolding and measured neutron flux was within 0.3% for hydraulic irradiation facility HR-1, within 0.8% for pneumatic irradiation facility PN-2, and 0% for vertical irradiation facility RG-2. This suggests that the results of the unfolded spectrum are valid. The application of this method can meet a wide range of user needs, and it is expected to greatly contribute to the advancement of irradiation research with improved reliability of the JRR-3 irradiation field.

Measurements of circular polarization from the 0.75-eV p-wave resonance of the La(n,)La reaction

Endo, Shunsuke; Fujioka, Hiroyuki*; Goto, Yu*; Ino, Takashi*; Iwamoto, Osamu; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Kawamura, Shiori*; Kimura, Atsushi; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Kobayashi, Ryuju; et al.

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 45, p.011056_1 - 011056_8, 2026/06

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.45.011056

Magnetic phase diagram and Fermi surface properties of the heavy-fermion antiferromagnet UPdCd

Hirose, Yusuke; Doto, Hiroshi*; Takeuchi, Tetsuya*; Miyake, Atsushi*; Tokunaga, Masashi*; Nakamura, Ai*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Aoki, Dai*; Honda, Fuminori*; Settai, Rikio*

Journal of Physics; Condensed Matter, 38(24), p.245601_1 - 245601_11, 2026/06

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ae72e0

Accurate measurement of the I neutron capture cross-section in the keV neutron region

Rovira Leveroni, G.; Kimura, Atsushi; Nakamura, Shoji; Endo, Shunsuke; Iwamoto, Osamu; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Katabuchi, Tatsuya*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 63(4), p.358 - 369, 2026/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2025.2543579

Revised neutron capture cross section of Pb by combining activation method and high-precision thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Shizuma, Toshiyuki*; Kimura, Atsushi; Endo, Shunsuke; Rovira Leveroni, G.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 9 Pages, 2026/00

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2026.2666320

Measurements of neutron capture cross-section for nuclides of interest in decommissioning (III); Er(n,)Er and Hf(n,)Hf reactions

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Endo, Shunsuke; Rovira Leveroni, G.; Kimura, Atsushi

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 62(7), p.617 - 630, 2025/07

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2025.2457589

Study of the spin-memory effect with low-energy gamma-rays in Hf(n,)Hf reaction measurement

Kawamura, Shiori*; Endo, Shunsuke; Iwamoto, Osamu; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Kimura, Atsushi; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Nakamura, Shoji; Okudaira, Takuya*; Rovira Leveroni, G.; Shimizu, Hirohiko*; et al.

EPJ Web of Conferences, 329, p.05002_1 - 05002_3, 2025/06

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202532905002

no abstracts in English

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).

Two-dimensional Dresselhaus-type spin texture and nonreciprocal magnetoresistance in magnetic semiconductor EuIrInGe

Yokoyama, Akira*; Nakachi, Ryu*; Homma, Yoshiya*; Nakamura, Ai*; Shimizu, Yusei*; Li, D.*; Miyake, Atsushi*; Honda, Fuminori*; Aoki, Dai*; Onuki, Yoshichika*; et al.

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 94(2), p.023701_1 - 023701_4, 2025/02

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.94.023701

Measurements of neutron capture cross-sections for nuclides of interest in decommissioning; Sc, Cu, Zn, Ag, and In

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Endo, Shunsuke; Rovira Leveroni, G.; Kimura, Atsushi

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 61(11), p.1415 - 1430, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2024.2346347

Neutron capture cross-sections of nuclides targeted for decommissioning are necessary to contribute to the evaluation of radioactivity produced. The present study, Sc, Cu, Zn, Ag and In nuclides were selected as target ones, and their thermal-neutron capture cross-sections were measured by an activation method at Kyoto University Research Reactor. The thermal-neutron capture cross-sections were obtained as follows: 27.180.28 barn for Sc(n, )Sc, 4.340.06 barn for Cu(n, )Cu, 0.7190.011 barn for Zn(n, )Zn, 4.050.05 barn for Ag(n, )Ag and 8.530.27 barn for In(n, ) In. The results for Sc and Zn nuclides supported evaluated values within the limits of uncertainties, while those for the other nuclides were slightly different from evaluated ones. The obtained results are useful not only for the evaluation of production amount, but also for the monitor selection other than Au and Co by considering those nuclides as flux monitors.