Evaluation report for sludge measurement by nondestructive assay (Plutonium Scrap Multiplicity Counter)(Joint research)

谷川 聖史; 瀬谷 和仁*; 浅川 直也*; 林 宏幸*; 堀籠 和志; 向 泰宣; 北尾 貴彦; 中村 仁宣; Henzlova, D.*; Swinhoe, M. T.*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2024-014, 63 Pages, 2025/02

JAEA-Technology-2024-014.pdf:3.02MB

プルトニウム転換技術開発施設の廃液処理工程で発生したスラッジ中のPu量を評価する上で、スラッジは生成上、多くの不純物(Na, Fe, Ni等)を含み不均質であるため、従来の破壊分析ではサンプリングによる代表性が乏しく、Pu量測定に係る測定不確かさが大きかった(約24%)。この測定不確かさを低減させるために、日本原子力研究開発機構と米国ロスアラモス国立研究所は共同で中性子を利用した非破壊測定装置のPlutonium Scrap Multiplicity Counter (PSMC)を用いた測定技術の開発を進めた。MOX粉末を用いた模擬スラッジやモンテカルロ法により検証等を行いPSMC検出器パラメーター(predelay, doubles gatefraction等)を最適化し、高分解能ガンマ線分光分析を組み合わせて測定した結果、含有不純物の影響はないことが確認でき、従来法と比べ新たに設定した非破壊測定方法における測定不確かさは約6.5%まで低減できた。さらに、PSMC測定値の妥当性を評価するため、IAEA立ち合いの下、ガンマ線を測定しPu量を評価するIn Situ Object Counting System (ISOCS)を用いた比較測定した結果、ISOCSとPSMCの測定値は両方の測定不確かさの範囲内で一致したため、PSMCによる測定値の妥当性が確認された。これらの結果より、本非破壊測定技術はスラッジのように不純物を多く含み、サンプリングの代表性が乏しいアイテムに有効であり、スラッジの計量管理に適用することが認められた。

Possible field-induced quantum state in a rhombic lattice antiferromagnet KCoPOHO

藤原 理賀; 萩原 雅人; 幸田 章宏*; 中村 惇平*; 松尾 晶*; 金道 浩一*; 石角 元志*

Physical Review Materials (Internet), 9(1), p.014406_1 - 014406_9, 2025/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.9.014406

We reported the magnetic behavior of a rhombic lattice quantum antiferromagnet KCoPOHO. The rhombic lattice model is equivalent to a model of a square lattice with two different diagonal components, and competing exchange interactions potentially produce exotic quantum states. This compound is well characterized by the = 1/2 state. The magnetic structure of KCoPOHO is identified as an incommensurate helical structure, characterized by a magnetic modulation propagation vector = (0.1747(1) 0 0) with an in-plane moment rotating along the axis. Moreover, a magnetic field-induced phase transition is observed at approximately 1 T. The application of a magnetic field suppresses spin ordering and enhance spin fluctuations. Our experimental results suggest the presence of a quantum phase in the magnetic phase diagram of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg rhombic lattice antiferromagnet with easy-plane anisotropy.

Sm synchrotron-radiation-based Mssbauer spectroscopy of Sm-based heavy fermion compounds

筒井 智嗣; 東中 隆二*; 水牧 仁一朗*; 小林 義男*; 中村 仁*; 伊藤 孝; 依田 芳卓*; 松田 達磨*; 青木 勇二*; 佐藤 英行*

Interactions (Internet), 245(1), p.9_1 - 9_10, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-024-01851-y

Sm synchrotron-radiation-based Mssbauer spectroscopy has been applied to Sm-based heavy fermion intermetallics, SmAl ( = Ti, V and Cr) and SmOsSb. The isomer shifts obtained demonstrate that the Sm valence states in these compounds are intermediate. Since the difference of the isomer shifts in 22.502 keV Sm Mssbauer effect between Sm and Sm state is comparable to the 2nd order Doppler shift, consideration of the 2nd order Doppler shift is required to precisely discuss Sm valence state through the shifts of the Mssbauer spectra. In addition, the plots of the isomer shifts obtained by the Mssbauer spectroscopy against the Sm valence states estimated from Sm L-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy exhibit a linear correlation except for that in SmOsSb. This implies that the origin of the intermediate valence state in SmOsSb differs from that in SmAl ( = Ti, V and Cr).

Muon spin relaxation in mixed perovskite (LaAlO)(SrAlTaO) with

伊藤 孝; 髭本 亘; 幸田 章宏*; 中村 惇平*; 下村 浩一郎*

Interactions (Internet), 245(1), p.25_1 - 25_7, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-024-01866-5

We report on muon spin relaxation (SR) measurements in a mixed perovskite compound, (LaAlO)(SrAlTaO) with (LSAT), which is widely used as a single-crystalline substrate for thin film deposition. In zero applied field (ZF), muon depolarization due to the distribution of nuclear dipole fields was observed in the temperature range from 4 K to 270 K. Interestingly, SR time spectra in ZF maintained a Gaussian-like feature over the entire range, while the depolarization rate exhibited a monotonic decrease with increasing temperature. This behavior may be attributed to the thermally activated diffusion of muons between a few adjacent sites within a confined space of the angstrom scale, where the motionally averaged local field that each muon experiences can remain non-zero and result in maintaining the Gaussian-like line shape. The spatial distribution of electrostatic potential at lattice interstices evaluated via density functional theory calculations suggests that such a restriction of muon diffusion paths can be caused by the random distribution of cations with different nominal valences in the mixed perovskite lattice.

Effect of neutron beam properties on dose distributions in a water phantom for boron neutron capture therapy

石川 諒尚; 田中 浩基*; 中村 哲志*; 熊田 博明*; 櫻井 良憲*; 渡辺 賢一*; 吉橋 幸子*; 棚上 裕生*; 瓜谷 章*; 鬼柳 善明*

Journal of Radiation Research (Internet), 65(6), p.765 - 775, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrae076

From the viewpoints of the advantage depths (ADs), peak tumor dose, and skin dose, we evaluated the effect of neutron beam properties, namely, the ratio between thermal and epithermal neutron fluxes (thermal/epithermal ratio), fast neutron component, and -ray component on the dose distribution. Several parameter surveys were conducted with respect to the beam properties of neutron sources for boron neutron capture therapy assuming boronophenylalanine as the boron agent using our dose calculation tool, called SiDE. The ADs decreased by 3% at a thermal/epithermal ratio of 20% - 30% compared with the current recommendation of . The skin dose increased with the increasing thermal/epithermal ratio, reaching a restricted value of 14 Gy-eq at a thermal/epithermal ratio of . The fast neutron component was modified using two different models, namely, the "linear model," in which the fast neutron intensity decreases log-linearly with the increasing neutron energy, and the "moderator thickness (MT) model," in which the fast neutron component is varied by adjusting the moderator thickness in a virtual beam shaping assembly. Although a higher fast neutron component indicated a higher skin dose, the increment was at a fast neutron component of Gy cm for both models. Furthermore, in the MT model, the epithermal neutron intensity was higher at a fast neutron component of Gy cm compared with the current recommendation of Gy cm. The -ray component also caused no significant disadvantages up to several times larger compared with the current recommendation.

Effects on a bending pipe behaviour via simple pre-loading for considering functional limitations of piping in industrial facilities

杉浦 歩*; 滝藤 聖崇; 古屋 治*; 中村 いずみ*; 奥田 幸彦

Proceedings of 31st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE31) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE31-133764

The authors has been studied the effect of initial plastic deformation on the load displacement relationship of elbow of different wall thicknesses made of carbon steel. Specifically, the authors conducted load testing for elbow when three cycles of sinusoidal input with frequency of 0.02 Hz were applied to one end of the test specimen. In the load testing, for investigating effect of difference of wall thickness and initial deformation, three types of test specimens with different wall thicknesses were loaded under three different initial deformation. Next, in the finite element analysis (FEA), the same conditions are applied in the analyses that were performed for three types of piping with different wall thicknesses before and after plastic deformation. The effect of initial displacement on the load - displacement relationship was confirmed by loading test, and analytical investigations were also considered. Thus, in this paper, the authors show the two mainly obtained results as organizations of the some issues to improve the accuracy of the analysis with large deformation. Firstly, from the comparison of the test and analytical results confirmed that the load - displacement relationship, the results could be shown as an initial plastic deformation caused not only decreasing in primary stiffness but also decreasing maximum load, on all load testing cases. And then, relative errors in the maximum loads between load testing and FEA results were observed that the errors on maximum loads of tension were larger than those of compression. Secondly, focusing on the wall thickness, the trends of relative errors of the maximum load could be shown when the wall thickness increase the errors on maximum loads of compression. However the trends of the errors on maximum loads of tension were shown completely different.

Activation level of the concrete building and pressure vessel in JAEA-Tokai tandem accelerator

吉田 剛*; 松村 宏*; 中村 一*; 三浦 太一*; 豊田 晃弘*; 桝本 和義*; 中林 貴之*; 松田 誠

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 61(10), p.1298 - 1307, 2024/10

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2024.2313558

The activation level of the JAEA-Tokai tandem accelerator facility was investigated experimentally in advance of the future decommissioning. JAEA-Tokai tandem accelerator facility has a higher terminal voltage of 18 MV and a larger total floor area, Compared to other electrostatic accelerators with terminal voltage of 1 MV to 6 MV. Therefore, determination for 'where', 'what', and 'how many' nuclides are produced in the facility is crucial. Thermal neutrons generated by beam losses associated with accelerator operations contribute significantly to the activation of equipment and facilities. The accumulated activities of Co and Eu; the most considerable radionuclides at the decommissioning, can be deduced by the thermal neutron fluence rate during the accelerator operation. In this study, thermal neutron fluence measurement on the surface of the pressure vessel and concrete building was conducted with conventional methods using dosimeters and metal foil detectors as well as a new method using a portable -ray detector. The thermal neutron fluence in the facility during the accelerator operation ranges from 101 to 10 n/cm/s. The sum of deduced activities of Co and Eu in 50 years is much lower than the clearance level of 0.1 Bq/g in all areas except in the irradiation room.

Polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering for magnetic materials at the triple-axis spectrometer PONTA in JRR-3

中島 多朗*; 齋藤 開*; 小林 尚暉*; 川崎 卓郎; 中村 龍也; 古川 はづき*; 浅井 晋一郎*; 益田 隆嗣*

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 93(9), p.091002_1 - 091002_5, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.93.091002

Neutron scattering is a powerful tool to study magnetic structures and cross-correlated phenomena originated from symmetry of the magnetic structures in matter. Among a number of neutron scattering techniques, polarized neutron scattering is quite sensitive to the orientations of the magnetic moments, which are essential to understand microscopic mechanisms of the spin-driven emergent phenomena. Here, we present POlarized Neutron Triple-Axis spectrometer PONTA in the Japan Research Reactor 3 (JRR-3), and show the present capabilities of polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering by introducing recent results from the instrument.

Quantification of bulk elemental composition for C-type asteroid Ryugu samples with nondestructive elemental analysis using muon beam

二宮 和彦*; 大澤 崇人; 寺田 健太郎*; 和田 大雅*; 長澤 俊作*; Chiu, I.-H.; 中村 智樹*; 他40名*

Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 59(8), p.2044 - 2057, 2024/08

https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14135

小惑星探査機「はやぶさ」2が持ち帰った小惑星リュウグウのサンプルは、太陽系の起源と進化を調べる上で重要である。ここでは、非破壊ミュオン元素分析法を用いて測定した123mgのリュウグウ試料の元素組成を報告する。3種類の炭素質コンドライトを用いたミュオンX線スペクトルから、元素組成とミュオンX線強度の関係を各元素について求めた。検量線は直線性を示し、リュウグウの元素組成は定量的に決定された。リュウグウの元素組成は、サンプル数が多いため、小惑星リュウグウの平均的なバルク元素組成を反映している。リュウグウの元素組成はオルグイユ(CI1)と類似しており、CI1に分類されるべきである。しかし、リュウグウのO/Si比はオルグイユのO/Si比より25%低く、オルグイユが地球に落下した後、地球物質によって深刻に汚染された可能性を示している。これらの結果は、リュウグウ試料が太陽系の固体物質としてCIコンドライトよりも代表的であることを示している。

2023年度夏期休暇実習報告

石塚 悦男; 長住 達; 長谷川 俊成; 川井 大海*; 脇坂 真司*; 長瀬 颯太*; 中村 建斗*; 矢口 陽樹*; 石井 俊晃; 中野 優美*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2024-008, 23 Pages, 2024/07

JAEA-Technology-2024-008.pdf:1.69MB

「HTTRに関する技術開発」をテーマとした2023年度夏期休暇実習において、3つの大学から5名が参加した。参加者は、HTTR炉心の解析、強制冷却機能喪失時の挙動解析、一次冷却系統のヨウ素沈着挙動解析、高温ガス炉用エネルギー貯蔵システムの概念検討について実習した。実習後のアンケートでは、就業体験として有益であったこと、一部の学生においては自身の研究に役立ったこと等の感想があり、本実習は概ね良好な評価を得た。