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Okamura, Tomohiro*; Katano, Ryota; Oizumi, Akito; Nishihara, Kenji; Nakase, Masahiko*; Asano, Hidekazu*; Takeshita, Kenji*
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(6), p.632 - 641, 2023/06
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：53.91(Nuclear Science & Technology)The Okamura explicit method (OEM) for depletion calculation was developed by modifying the matrix exponential method for dynamic nuclear fuel cycle simulation. The OEM suppressed the divergence of the calculation for short half-life nuclides, even for long time steps. The computational cost of the OEM was small, equivalent to the Euler method, and it maintained sufficient accuracy for the fuel cycle simulation.
Abe, Takumi; Nishihara, Kenji
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 13 Pages, 2023/00
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Nuclear Science & Technology)Methods of direct disposal of mixed oxide spent fuel (MOXSF) consumed in light water reactors were investigated via heat transfer calculation. The temperature of the buffer material surrounding the waste is the most stringent limitation on the direct disposal of MOXSF. Therefore, the effects on the maximum temperature of the buffer material were examined by changing the occupied area, cooling term of MOXSF, and other parameters considering the direct disposal of uranium spent fuel. The results showed that it is necessary to change the cooling term and disposal depth in addition to the change of the occupied area. Accordingly, some disposal concepts that satisfy the limitation of the maximum buffer material temperature were derived, and estimates revealed that the occupied area per unit waste of the MOXSF is three to five times that of uranium spent fuel.
Nishihara, Kenji
JAEA-Conf 2022-001, p.63 - 67, 2022/11
This tutorial contains a role of accelerator-driven system (ADS) in the nuclear fuel cycle and necessity of nuclear data to realize the ADS. After an overview of Japanese nuclear fuel cycle and government direction, geological disposal concept of high-level waste (HLW) will be described. By partitioning problematic elements from the HLW and transmuting, utilizing or storing them, geological disposal can be changed. ADS plays a role of transmuting minor actinide (MA) separated from HLW to fission product (FP), which are less radio-toxic than MA. The principle of ADS will be introduced with technological issues, and finally utilization of nuclear data for R&D on ADS will be introduced.
Sato, Rika*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; Hayashi, Hirokazu; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji
Dai-43-Kai Nihon Netsu Bussei Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (CD-ROM), 3 Pages, 2022/10
no abstracts in English
Nishihara, Kenji
Genshiryoku Nenkan 2023, p.78 - 83, 2022/10
The overall picture and the goals of partitioning and transmutation technology are described. Then, the main technologies currently being developed for partitioning and transmutation are respectively outlined. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation of the nuclear fuel cycle including partitioning and transmutation, conducted in the Atomic Energy Society of Japan is introduced.
Yee-Rendon, B.; Meigo, Shinichiro; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Nakano, Keita; Maekawa, Fujio; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji
Journal of Instrumentation (Internet), 17(10), p.P10005_1 - P10005_21, 2022/10
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0(Instruments & Instrumentation)To reduce the hazard of minor actinides in nuclear waste, JAEA proposed an accelerator-driven subcritical system (JAEA-ADS). The JAEA-ADS drives a subcritical reactor 800-MWth by 30-MW proton linac delivering the beam to the spallation neutron target inside the reactor. The beam transport to the target (BTT) is required for high-beam power stability and low peak density to ensure the integrity of the beam window. Additionally, the design should have compatible with the reactor design for the maintenance and replacement of the fuel and the beam window. A robust-compact BTT design was developed through massive multiparticle simulations. The beam optics was optimized to guarantee beam window feasibility requirements by providing a low peak density of less than 0.3 
A/mm
. Beam stability was evaluated and improved by simultaneously applying the linac's input beam and element errors. The input beam errors to the reactor were based on the beam degradation obtained by implementing fast fault compensation in the linac. Those results show that the BTT fulfills the requirements for JAEA-ADS.
Nakano, Keita; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Nishihara, Kenji; Meigo, Shinichiro; Sugawara, Takanori; Iwamoto, Yosuke; Takeshita, Hayato*; Maekawa, Fujio
JAEA-Research 2021-018, 41 Pages, 2022/03
JAEA-Research-2021-018.pdf:2.93MB
Neutronic analysis of beam window of the Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) proposed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducted using PHITS and DCHAIN-PHITS codes. We investigate gas production of hydrogen and helium isotopes in the beam window, displacement per atom of beam window material, and heat generation in the beam window. In addition, distributions of produced nuclides, heat density, and activity are derived. It was found that at the maximum 12500 appm H production, 1800 appm He production, and damage of 62.1 DPA occurred in the beam window by the ADS operation. On the other hand, the maximum heat generation in the beam window was 374 W/cm
. In the analysis of LBE, 
Bi and 
Po were found to be the dominant nuclides in decay heat and radioactivity. Furthermore, the heat generation in the LBE by the proton beam was maximum around 5 cm downstream of the beam window, which was 945 W/cm.
Katano, Ryota; Nishihara, Kenji; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Meigo, Shinichiro
JAEA-Research 2021-016, 16 Pages, 2022/03
JAEA-Research-2021-016.pdf:1.65MB
It has to be confirmed that the accelerator-driven system (ADS), which is dedicated to transmuting minor actinides, is subcritical in any state by measurements. In the previous research, we have proposed a procedure in which the core safely and efficiently approaches the target subcriticality before the operation. In this procedure, the reference value of the subcriticality at the initial state is measured by the area ratio method capable of the absolute value measurement. The area ratio method uses a pulsed neutron source. However, specific and practical parameters of the accelerator for the area ratio method have not been determined. In this study, we determined the accelerator parameters with the consideration of the uncertainties derived by the dead-time of the detector and the statistical error of the count ratio. In addition, we estimate the coating amount of the sample nuclide in the assumption of the use of the fission chambers.
Okamura, Tomohiro*; Nishihara, Kenji; Katano, Ryota; Oizumi, Akito; Nakase, Masahiko*; Asano, Hidekazu*; Takeshita, Kenji*
JAEA-Data/Code 2021-016, 43 Pages, 2022/03
JAEA-Data-Code-2021-016.pdf:3.06MB
The quantitative prediction and analysis of the future nuclear energy utilization scenarios are required in order to establish the advanced nuclear fuel cycle. However, the nuclear fuel cycle consists of various processes from front- to back-end, and it is difficult to analyze the scenarios due to the complexity of modeling and the variety of scenarios. Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Tokyo Institute of Technology have jointly developed the NMB code as a tool for integrated analysis of mass balance from natural uranium needs to radionuclide migration of geological disposal. This user manual describes how to create a database and scenario input for the NMB version 4.0.
Sugawara, Takanori; Watanabe, Nao; Ono, Ayako; Nishihara, Kenji; Ichihara, Kyoko*; Hanzawa, Kohei*
Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2022/03
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has investigated an accelerator-driven system (ADS) to transmute minor actinides (MAs) included in high level wastes discharged from nuclear power plants. The ADS is a lead-bismuth cooled tank-type reactor with 800 MW thermal power. It is supposed that the ADS is safer than conventional critical reactors because it is operated in a subcritical state. The previous study performed the transient analyses for the typical ADS accidents such as unprotected loss of flow or beam overpower. It was shown that all calculation cases except loss of heat sink (LOHS) satisfied the no-damage criteria. To avoid the damage by LOHS, the ADS equips Direct Reactor Auxiliary Cooling System (DRACS) to remove the decay heat. The most important points of a DRACS operation are its reliability and to ensure the flowrate in a natural circulation state. This study aims to perform the CFD analysis of the natural circulation to clarify the flowrate in the ADS reactor vessel.
Okamura, Tomohiro*; Katano, Ryota; Oizumi, Akito; Nishihara, Kenji; Nakase, Masahiko*; Asano, Hidekazu*; Takeshita, Kenji*
Bulletin of the Laboratory for Advanced Nuclear Energy, 6, p.29 - 30, 2022/02
Takeshita Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, has been developing Nuclear Material Balance code version 4.0 (NMB4.0) in collaboration with Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). This report summarized the outline and functions of NMB4.0.
Iwamoto, Hiroki; Meigo, Shinichiro; Nakano, Keita; Yee-Rendon, B.; Katano, Ryota; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji; Sasa, Toshinobu; Maekawa, Fujio
JAEA-Research 2021-012, 58 Pages, 2022/01
JAEA-Research-2021-012.pdf:7.23MB
A radiation shielding analysis was performed for the structure located above the spallation target of an accelerator-driven system (ADS), assuming one cycle of an 800 MW thermal and 30 MW beam power operation. In this analysis, the Monte Carlo particle transport code PHITS and the activation analysis code DCHAIN-PHITS were used. The structures to be analyzed are a beam duct above the target, a beam transport room located above the ADS reactor vessel, beam transport equipment, and the room ceiling. For each structure, the radiation doses and radioactivities during and after the operation were estimated. Furthermore, the shielding structure of the ceiling was determined. As a result, it was found that the radiation dose at the site boundary would be sufficiently lower than the legal limit by applying the determined shielding structure. Moreover, under the condition of this study, it was shown that the effective dose rate around the beam transport equipment positioned above the target after the operation exceeded 10 mSv/h, and that the maintenance and replacement of the equipment in the room would require remote handling.
Okamura, Tomohiro*; Katano, Ryota; Oizumi, Akito; Nishihara, Kenji; Nakase, Masahiko*; Asano, Hidekazu*; Takeshita, Kenji*
EPJ Nuclear Sciences & Technologies (Internet), 7, p.19_1 - 19_13, 2021/11
Nuclear Material Balance code version 4.0 (NMB4.0) has been developed through collaborative R&D between Tokyo Institute of Technology and JAEA. Conventional nuclear fuel cycle simulation codes mainly analyze actinides and are specialized for front-end mass balance analysis. However, quantitative back-end simulation has recently become necessary for considering R&D strategies and sustainable nuclear energy utilization. Therefore, NMB4.0 was developed to realize the integrated nuclear fuel cycle simulation from front- to back-end. There are three technical features in NMB4.0: 179 nuclides are tracked, more than any other code, throughout the nuclear fuel cycle; the Okamura explicit method is implemented, which contributes to reducing the numerical cost while maintaining the accuracy of depletion calculations on nuclides with a shorter half-life; and flexibility of back-end simulation is achieved. The main objective of this paper is to show the newly developed functions, made for integrated back-end simulation, and verify NMB4.0 through a benchmark study to show the computational performance.
Sugawara, Takanori; Moriguchi, Daisuke*; Ban, Yasutoshi; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Takano, Masahide; Nishihara, Kenji
JAEA-Research 2021-008, 63 Pages, 2021/10
JAEA-Research-2021-008.pdf:4.43MB
This study aims to perform the neutronics calculations for accelerator-driven system (ADS) with a new fuel composition based on the SELECT process developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency because the previous studies had used the ideal MA (minor actinide) fuel composition without uranium and rare earth elements. Through the neutronics calculations, it is shown that two calculation cases, with/without neptunium, satisfy the design criteria. Although the new fuel composition includes uranium and rare earth elements, the ADS core with the new fuel composition is feasible and consistent with the partitioning and transmutation (P&T) cycle. Based on the new fuel composition, the heat removal during fuel powder storage and fuel assembly assembling is evaluated. For the fuel powder storage, it is found that a cylindrical tube container with a length of 500 [mm] and a diameter of 11 - 21 [mm] should be stored under water. For the fuel assembly assembling, CFD analysis indicates that the cladding tube temperature would satisfy the criterion if the inlet velocity of air is larger than 0.5 [m/s]. Through these studies, the new fuel composition which is consistent with the P&T cycle is obtained and the heat removal with the latest conditions is investigated. It is also shown that the new fuel composition can be practically handled with respect to heat generation, which is one of the most difficult points in handling MA fuel.
Kumagai, Yuta; Nagaishi, Ryuji; Kimura, Atsushi*; Taguchi, Mitsumasa*; Nishihara, Kenji; Yamagishi, Isao; Ogawa, Toru
Insights Concerning the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident, Vol.4; Endeavors by Scientists, p.37 - 45, 2021/10
Zeolite adsorbents are to be used for decontamination of radioactive water in Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station. Evaluation of hydrogen production by water radiolysis during decontamination is important for safe operation. Thus hydrogen production from the mixture of zeolite adsorbents and seawater was studied because seawater was urgently used as a coolant for the fuels. The hydrogen yield from the mixture decreased at a high weight fraction of zeolites. However, the measured yield was higher than the yield expected from the direct radiolysis of seawater in the mixture, which would decrease proportional to the weight fraction of seawater. The result suggests that the radiation energy deposited to zeolites was involved in the hydrogen formation. From the results, the hydrogen production rate was evaluated to be 3.6 mL/h per ton of radioactive water before decontamination. After the process, it was evaluated to be 1.5 L/h per ton of waste adsorbents due to the high dose rate.
Watanabe, Nao; Sugawara, Takanori; Okubo, Nariaki; Nishihara, Kenji
JAEA-Technology 2020-026, 59 Pages, 2021/03
JAEA-Technology-2020-026.pdf:3.95MB
As a part of partitioning and transmutation technology development to reduce the burden of radioactive disposal, an investigation of Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) has been performed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. A beam window, which is an inherent structure of the ADS, is planned to be made from T91 steel and its shape is a thin hemisphere shell. However, it had never been tried to manufacture it out of T91 steel. In this investigation, we tried to manufacture miniature beam windows by cutting T91 steel, and to discuss the process, manufacturing accuracy and geometry measurement methods. As a result, considering a real scale ADS beam window, a figure error between designing and machining ones is estimated to be about 5%. Its effect would be very small to the structural strength.
Okamura, Tomohiro*; Oizumi, Akito; Nishihara, Kenji; Nakase, Masahiko*; Takeshita, Kenji*
JAEA-Data/Code 2020-023, 32 Pages, 2021/03
JAEA-Data-Code-2020-023.pdf:1.67MB
Nuclear Material Balance code (NMB code) have been developed in Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The NMB code will be updated with the function of mass balance analysis at the backend process such as reprocessing, vitrification and geological disposal. In order to perform its analysis with high accuracy, it is necessary to expand the number of FP nuclides calculated in the NMB code. In this study, depletion calculation by ORIGEN code was performed under 3 different burn-up conditions such as spent uranium fuel from light water reactor, and nuclides were selected from 5 evaluation indexes such as mass and heat generation. In addition, the FP nuclides required to configure a simple burnup chain with the same calculation accuracy as ORIGEN in the NMB code was selected. As the result, two lists with different number of nuclides, such as "Detailed list" and a "Simplified list", were created.
Okamura, Tomohiro*; Oizumi, Akito; Nishihara, Kenji; Nakase, Masahiko*; Takeshita, Kenji*
Bulletin of the Laboratory for Advanced Nuclear Energy, 5, P. 31, 2021/02
The Takeshita Laboratory at Tokyo Institute of Technology has started to develop a Nuclear Material Balance code (NMB code) in collaboration with Japan Atomic Energy Agency. This report summarized the results of the joint research conducted in 2019.
Nishihara, Kenji
JAEA-Data/Code 2020-005, 48 Pages, 2020/07
JAEA-Data-Code-2020-005.pdf:2.95MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2020-005-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:3.62MB
In order to discuss the technological development and human resource development necessary for the future nuclear fuel cycle, various quantitative analyzes were conducted assuming a wide range of future nuclear power generation scenarios. In the evaluation of quantities, the future power generation of LWR and fast reactor, the amount of spent fuel reprocessing, etc. were assumed, and the amount of uranium demand, the accumulation of spent fuel, plutonium, vitrified waste etc. were estimated.
Kunieda, Satoshi; Furutachi, Naoya; Minato, Futoshi; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Iwamoto, Osamu; Nakayama, Shinsuke; Ebata, Shuichiro*; Yoshida, Toru*; Nishihara, Kenji; Watanabe, Yukinobu*; et al.
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 56(12), p.1073 - 1091, 2019/12
Times Cited Count：8 Percentile：66.68(Nuclear Science & Technology)A new nuclear data library, JENDL/ImPACT-2018, is developed for an innovative study on the transmutation of long-lived fission products. Nuclear reaction cross- sections are newly evaluated for incident neutrons and protons up to 200 MeV for 163 nuclides including long-lived nuclei such as 
Se, 
Zr, 
Pd and 
Cs. Our challenge is an evaluation of cross-sections for a number of unstable nuclei over a wide energy range where the experimental data are very scarce. We estimated cross- sections based on a nuclear model code CCONE that incorporates an advanced knowledge on the nuclear structure theory and a model-parameterization based on a new experimental cross-sections measured by the inverse kinematics. Through comparisons with available experimental data on the stable isotopes, it is found that the present data give predictions of cross-sections better than those in the existing libraries.
