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Aihara, Jun; Ueta, Shohei; Honda, Masaki*; Mizuta, Naoki; Goto, Minoru; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(1), p.107 - 116, 2021/01
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Nuclear Science & Technology)The concept of a Pu-burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) has been proposed for purpose of more safely reducing amount of recovered Pu. This concept employs coated fuel particles (CFPs) with ZrC coated PuO
-YSZ kernel and with tristructural (TRISO) coating for very high Pu burn-up and high nuclear proliferation resistance. In this report, we investigate the microstructure of the region that includes the surface of an as-fabricated CeO-YSZ kernel simulating PuO-YSZ kernel. We found both Zr-rich grains and Ce-rich grains to be densely distributed in that region including surface of CeO-YSZ kernel. On the other hand, it has been reported that there was a porous region near surface of the CeO-YSZ kernel of Batch I. This finding confirms that Ce-rich grains near surface of CeO-YSZ kernels coated with ZrC layers have been corroded during the deposition of the ZrC layer, whereas the Zr-rich grains were hardly affected.
Nagai, Takayuki; Okamoto, Yoshihiro; Yamagishi, Hirona*; Ota, Toshiaki*; Kojima, Kazuo*; Inose, Takehiko*; Sato, Seiichi*; Hatakeyama, Kiyoshi*
JAEA-Research 2020-009, 48 Pages, 2020/09
JAEA-Research-2020-009.pdf:4.53MB
The local structure of glass-forming elements and waste elements in waste glass varies with its chemical composition. In this study, borosilicate glass frit and simulated waste glass samples were prepared and the local structure and chemical state regarding boron (B), oxygen (O), and waste elements of cerium (Ce), cesium (Cs) were estimated by using XAFS measurement in soft X-ray region. Following results were obtained by XAFS measurements of prepared glass frit and simulated waste glass samples: (1) The existence ratio of four coordinate sp
structure (BO
) tends to increase with increasing NaO content in glass samples. (2) The height of a pre-edge which appears by K-edge XANES spectrum of O is so high that the Fe content in glass samples. Following results were obtained by XAFS measurements of simulated waste glass samples after immersion test to investigate long chemical stability. (1) The existence ratio of four coordinate sp structure (BO) increases by immersion test. (2) Ce which exists in the surface layer is oxidized by immersion test, and much of Cs in surface layer is lost after leach testing. Even if the glass frit form (fiber cartridge or beads) and manufacturing method were changed and a glass sample of the similar chemical composition was prepared, these observed Raman spectra of samples were different.
Rizaal, M.; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Saito, Takumi*; Osaka, Masahiko; Okamoto, Koji*
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(9), p.1062 - 1073, 2020/09
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Nuclear Science & Technology)The interaction of cesium hydroxide and a calcium silicate insulation material was experimentally investigated at high temperature conditions. A thermogravimetry equipped with differential thermal analysis was used to analyze thermal events in the samples of mixed calcium silicate and cesium hydroxide under Ar-5%H and Ar-4%H-20%H0 with maximum temperature of 1100
C. Prior being mixed with cesium hydroxide, a part of calcium silicate was pretreated at high temperature to evaluate the effect of possible structural changes of this material due to a preceding thermal history and also the sake of thermodynamic evaluation to those available ones. Based upon the initial condition (preliminary heat treatment) of calcium silicate, it was found that if the original material consisted of xonotlite (Ca
Si0
(0H)), the endothermic reaction with cesium hydroxide occurred over the temperature range 575-730C meanwhile if the crystal phase of original material was changed to wollastonite (CaSi0
), the interaction occurred over temperature range 700-1100C. Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction analyses have indicated on both type of pretreated calsils that regardless of Ar-5%H and Ar-4%H-20%H0 atmosphere, cesium aluminum silicate, CsAlSi0 was formed with aluminum in the samples as an impurity or adduct.
Rizaal, M.; Saito, Takumi*; Okamoto, Koji*; Erkan, N.*; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Osaka, Masahiko
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00563_1 - 19-00563_10, 2020/06
The adsorption of cesium (Cs) on calcium silicate insulation of primary piping system is postulated to contribute in high dose rate of surrounding pedestal area in Fukushima Daiichi NPP unit 2. In this study, room-temperature experiment of Cs adsorption on calcium silicate has been studied as an initial approach of Cs adsorption behavior toward higher temperature condition. As the result of analyzing of Cs adsorption kinetics, it was expected that the underlying adsorption mechanism is chemisorption. Furthermore, analysis of adsorption isotherm suggested unrestricted monolayer formation followed by multilayer formation.
Ueta, Shohei; Mizuta, Naoki; Fukaya, Yuji; Goto, Minoru; Tachibana, Yukio; Honda, Masaki*; Saiki, Yohei*; Takahashi, Masashi*; Ohira, Koichi*; Nakano, Masaaki*; et al.
Nuclear Engineering and Design, 357, p.110419_1 - 110419_10, 2020/02
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：42.23(Nuclear Science & Technology)The concept of a plutonium (Pu) burner HTGR is proposed to incarnate highly-effective Pu utilization by its inherent safety features. The security and safety fuel (3S-TRISO fuel) employs the coated fuel particle with a fuel kernel made of plutonium dioxide (PuO) and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as an inert matrix. This paper presents feasibility study of Pu burner HTGR and R&D on the 3S-TRISO fuel.
Chai, P.; Wu, Y.*; Okamoto, Koji
Mechanical Engineering Letters (Internet), 6, p.20-00204_1 - 20-00204_7, 2020/00
In a High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR), radiation is the dominant form of heat transfer due to the high temperature environment. Therefore, the emissivity of the core materials (mainly nuclear grade graphite) is important for reactor safety assessment. In this paper, the emissivity of nuclear grade graphite IG-110 was measured in the temperature range from 500C to 1000C by using an infrared thermometer. Besides, the impact of the graphite oxidation, which may take place in a postulated air ingress accident, was also evaluated. As a result, it was found that the emissivity of IG-110 grade graphite decreases slightly as the temperature increase. Moreover, a relatively high emissivity was detected in the pre-oxidized specimen. Based on the measurement data, two experimental correlations were suggested for the engineering applications. It could also be concluded that the commonly used value of the graphite emissivity (0.8), is conservative for engineering judgment.
Aihara, Jun; Ueta, Shohei; Honda, Masaki*; Mizuta, Naoki; Goto, Minoru; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 522, p.32 - 40, 2019/08
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：44.1(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)In order to realize Pu-burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), coated fuel particles (CFPs) with PuO-yittria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) fuel kernel coated with ZrC is employed for high nuclear proliferation resistance and very high burn-up. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have carried out ZrC coatings of particles which simulated PuO-YSZ kernels (CeO-YSZ particles or commercially available YSZ particles). Ce was used as simulating element of Pu. In this manuscript, microstructures of ZrC coated CeO-YSZ or YSZ particles were reported.
Okamoto, Koji
Hozengaku, 17(4), P. 1, 2019/01
no abstracts in English
Ueta, Shohei; Aihara, Jun; Goto, Minoru; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 5(5), p.18-00084_1 - 18-00084_9, 2018/10
To develop the security and safety fuel (3S-TRISO fuel) for Pu-burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), R&D on zirconium carbide (ZrC) directly coated on yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has been started in the Japanese fiscal year 2015. As results of the direct coating test of ZrC on the dummy YSZ particle, ZrC layers with 18 - 21 microns of thicknesses have been obtained with 0.1 kg of particle loading weight. No deterioration of YSZ exposed by source gases of ZrC bromide process was observed by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM).
Fukaya, Yuji; Goto, Minoru; Ueta, Shohei; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Proceedings of 9th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 9 Pages, 2018/10
The research on introduction scenarios of Pu-burner High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) of Japan has been performed based on the "Long-term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook" released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan in 2015. In the perspective, the electricity generation capacity of nuclear power generation reduces from 50 GWe (peak around 2010) to 30 GWe in 2030. To maintain the capacity, light water reactors (LWRs) should be introduced from 2025 to 2030. After 2030, HTGRs, which are superior to LWRs from the viewpoint of safety and economy, will be introduced to fill the capacity and incinerate plutonium. We assumed introduction of U fueled HTGR as well. The Pu-burner reactor will be introduced with the priority to incinerate separated plutonium by reprocessing. Moreover, we also evaluated hydrogen generation and its effect on CO reduction. As a result, effective plutonium incineration and CO reduction effect are confirmed.
Goto, Minoru; Aihara, Jun; Inaba, Yoshitomo; Ueta, Shohei; Fukaya, Yuji; Okamoto, Koji*
Proceedings of 9th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 6 Pages, 2018/10
JAEA has conducted design studies of a Pu-burner HTGR. The Pu-burner HTGR incinerates Pu by fission, and hence a high burn-up is required for the efficient incineration. In the fuel design, a thin ZrC layer, which acts as an oxygen getter and suppresses the internal pressure, was coated on the fuel kernel to prevent the CFP failure at the high burn-up. A stress analysis of the SiC layer, which acts as a pressure vessel for the CFP, was performed for with consideration of the depression effect due to the ZrC layer. As a result, the CFP failure fraction at high burn-up of 500 GWd/t satisfied the target value. In the reactor core design, an axial fuel shuffling was employed to attain the high burn-up, and the nuclear burn-up calculations with the whole core model and the fuel temperature calculations were performed. As a result, the nuclear characteristics, which are the shutdown margin and the temperature coefficient of reactivity, and the fuel temperature satisfied their target values.
Ueta, Shohei; Aihara, Jun; Mizuta, Naoki; Goto, Minoru; Fukaya, Yuji; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Proceedings of 9th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 7 Pages, 2018/10
The security and safety fuel (3S-TRISO fuel) employs the coated fuel particle with a fuel kernel made of plutonium dioxide (PuO) and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as an inert matrix. Especially, a zirconium carbide (ZrC) coating is one of key technologies of the 3S-TRISO, which performs as an oxygen getter to reduce the fuel failure due to internal pressure during the irradiation. R&Ds on ZrC coating directly on the dummy CeO-YSZ kernel have been carried in the Japanese fiscal year 2017. As results of ZrC coating tests by the bromide chemical vapor deposition process, stoichiometric ZrC coatings with 3 - 18 microns of thicknesses were obtained with 0.1 kg of particle loading weight.
Goto, Minoru; Ueta, Shohei; Aihara, Jun; Inaba, Yoshitomo; Fukaya, Yuji; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 6 Pages, 2017/07
A PuO-YSZ fuel kernel with a ZrC coating, which enhances safety, security and safeguard, namely: 3S-TRISO fuel, was proposed to introduce to the plutonium-burner HTGR. In this study, the efficiency of the ZrC coating as the free-oxygen getter was examined based on a thermochemical calculation. A preliminary study on the feasibility of the 3S-TRISO fuel was conducted focusing on the internal pressure. Additionally, a nuclear feasibility of the reactor core was studied. As a result, all the amount of the free-oxygen is captured by a thin ZrC coating under 1600C and coating ZrC on the fuel kernel should be very effective method to suppress the internal pressure. The internal pressure of the 3S-TRISO fuel at 500 GWd/t is lower than that of UO kernel TRISO fuel whose feasibility had been already confirmed and the 3S-TRISO fuel should be feasible. The fuel shuffling allows to achieve 500 GWd/t. The temperature coefficient of reactivity is negative during the operation period and thus the nuclear feasibility of the reactor core should be achievable.
Ueta, Shohei; Aihara, Jun; Goto, Minoru; Tachibana, Yukio; Okamoto, Koji*
Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 4 Pages, 2017/07
To develop the security and safety fuel (3S-TRISO fuel) for Pu-burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), R&D on zirconium carbide (ZrC) directly coated on yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has been started in the Japanese fiscal year 2015. As results of the direct coating test of ZrC on the dummy YSZ particle, ZrC layers with 18 - 21 microns of thicknesses have been obtained with 0.1 kg of particle loading weight. No deterioration of YSZ exposed by source gases of ZrC bromide process was observed by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM).
Chai, P.; Kondo, Masahiro*; Erkan, N.*; Okamoto, Koji*
Annals of Nuclear Energy, 103, p.227 - 237, 2017/05
Times Cited Count：9 Percentile：79.76(Nuclear Science & Technology)A two-dimensional computational code was developed using multi-physics models to simulate MCCI phenomena based on the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method. In contrast to previous studies, gas generation was simulated by calculating the force balance of the bubbles in the liquid pool in order to investigate its influence on the ablation behavior. Moreover, chemical reaction was modeled by calculating the heat release from the redox reaction between the corium and melted concrete during the erosion process. CCI-2 and CCI-3 tests were simulated by applying this code to study the aspects that may affect the ablation profile with different concrete types. The simulation result generally matches the experimental results on both axial and radial ablation rates. Application of the gas release and chemical reaction model suggested that one possible reason for the anisotropic ablation profile observed in the siliceous concrete tests is the heat transfer enhancement near the sidewall from the gas release and chemical reaction. In contrast, the test using limestone-rich concrete generated an isotropic ablation profile because axial ablation was also enhanced by the large gas discharge from the bottom concrete. In addition to the ablation profile, the crust formation and concrete-corium interface profile at the bottom in the CCI-3 test were reproduced with the help of the proposed models.
Nb and NiTa intermetallic compoundsKojima, Hiroshi*; Kaneno, Yasuyuki*; Ochi, Masaaki*; Semboshi, Satoshi*; Hori, Fuminobu*; Saito, Yuichi*; Ishikawa, Norito; Okamoto, Yoshihiro; Iwase, Akihiro*
Materials Transactions, 58(5), p.739 - 748, 2017/05
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：31.73(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)Bulk samples of NiNb and NiTa intermetallic compounds were irradiated with 16 MeV Au, 4.5 MeV Ni, 4.5 MeV Al, 200 MeV Xe and 1.0 MeV He ions, and the change in near-surface lattice structure was investigated by means of the grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD)and EXAFS. The NiNb and NiTa lattice structures transform from the ordered structures (orthorhombic and monoclinic structures for NiNb and NiTa, respectively) to the amorphous state by the Au, Ni, Al and Xe ion irradiations. Irrespective of such heavy ion species or energies, the lattice structure transformation to the amorphous state almost correlate with the density of energy deposited through elastic collisions.
Kondo, Masahiro*; Yoshimoto, Tatsuya*; Ishikawa, Jun; Okamoto, Koji*
Hozengaku, 15(4), p.79 - 85, 2017/01
no abstracts in English
Kunieda, Satoshi; Iwamoto, Osamu; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Minato, Futoshi; Okamoto, Tsutomu; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Nakashima, Hiroshi; Iwamoto, Yosuke; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Kitatani, Fumito; et al.
JAEA-Conf 2016-004, p.41 - 46, 2016/09
Neutron- and proton-induced cross-section data are required in a wide energy range beyond 20 MeV, for the design of accelerator applications. New evaluations are performed with recent knowledge in the optical and pre-equilibrium model calculations. We also evaluated cross-sections for p+
Li and p+
Be which have been highly requested from a medical field. The present high-energy nuclear data library, JENDL-4.0/HE, includes evaluated cross-sections for incident neutrons and protons up to 200 MeV (for about 130 nuclei). We overview substantial features of the library, i.e., (1) systematic evaluation with CCONE code, (2) challenges for evaluations of light nuclei and (3) inheritance of JENDL-4.0 and JENDL/HE-2007. In this talk, we also focus on the results of benchmark calculation for neutronics to show performance of the present library.
Okamoto, Koji; Ogawa, Toru
Proceedings of 2016 EFCOG Nuclear & Facility Safety Workshop (Internet), 3 Pages, 2016/09
The decommissioning of the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has required and will continue to demand conducting many challenging activities, many of which do not have prior experience in the nuclear industry. International decommissioning knowledge and technology advances will be required to support the challenging work. The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS) was established by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in April 2015. The main objectives of CLADS are the management, research and development for decommissioning at the Fukushima-Daiichi site. Not only is the coordination of research and development important to effective decommissioning, but also the management of research activities around the world. A status of the CLADS program will be provided. The CLADS central research office will be located at Tomioka Town, near the Fukushima site, in April 2017.
Qiu, Z.*; Li, J.*; Hou, D.*; Arenholz, E.*; N'Diaye, A. T.*; Tan, A.*; Uchida, Kenichi*; Sato, Koji*; Okamoto, Satoshi*; Tserkovnyak, Y.*; et al.
Nature Communications (Internet), 7, p.12670_1 - 12670_6, 2016/08
Times Cited Count：107 Percentile：97.31(Multidisciplinary Sciences)