Clogging properties of HEPA filter induced by loading of soot from burned glove-box panel materials

Tashiro, Shinsuke; Ono, Takuya; Amano, Yuki; Yoshida, Ryoichiro; Watanabe, Koji*; Abe, Hitoshi

Nuclear Technology, 208(10), p.1553 - 1561, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2045179

To contribute to the confinement safety evaluation of the radioactive materials in the Glove box (GB) fire accident, combustion tests with the Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and the Polycarbonate (PC) as typical panel materials for the GB have been conducted with a relatively large scale apparatus. As the important data for evaluating confinement safety, the release ratio and the particle size distribution of the soot generated from the burned materials were obtained. Furthermore, the rise of the differential pressure (P) of the high efficiency particle air (HEPA) filter by the soot loading was also investigated. As results, the release ratio of the soot from the PC was about seven times as large as the PMMA. In addition, it was found that the behavior of the rise of the P with soot loading could be represented uniformly regardless of kinds of combustion materials by considering effect of the loading volume of the soot particle in the relatively low loading region.

Development of guidelines on radiation protection for the lens of the eye in Japan

Yokoyama, Sumi*; Iwai, Satoshi*; Tsujimura, Norio; Hashimoto, Makoto; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Kato, Masahiro*; Kurosawa, Tadahiro*; Tatsuzaki, Hideo*; Sekiguchi, Hiroshi*; Koguchi, Yasuhiro*; et al.

Proceedings of 15th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA-15) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2022/00

https://irpa.net/irpa15/T3.1-O0124.pdf

Dimensional reduction by geometrical frustration in a cubic antiferromagnet composed of tetrahedral clusters

Okuma, Ryutaro*; Kofu, Maiko; Asai, Shinichiro*; Avdeev, M.*; Koda, Akihiro*; Okabe, Hirotaka*; Hiraishi, Masatoshi*; Takeshita, Soshi*; Kojima, Kenji*; Kadono, Ryosuke*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 12, p.4382_1 - 4382_7, 2021/07

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24636-1

Thermally altered subsurface material of asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Kitazato, Kohei*; Milliken, R. E.*; Iwata, Takahiro*; Abe, Masanao*; Otake, Makiko*; Matsuura, Shuji*; Takagi, Yasuhiko*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Hiroi, Takahiro*; Matsuoka, Moe*; et al.

Nature Astronomy (Internet), 5(3), p.246 - 250, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01271-2

Here we report observations of Ryugu's subsurface material by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of excavated material exhibit a hydroxyl (OH) absorption feature that is slightly stronger and peak-shifted compared with that observed for the surface, indicating that space weathering and/or radiative heating have caused subtle spectral changes in the uppermost surface. However, the strength and shape of the OH feature still suggests that the subsurface material experienced heating above 300 C, similar to the surface. In contrast, thermophysical modeling indicates that radiative heating does not increase the temperature above 200 C at the estimated excavation depth of 1 m, even if the semimajor axis is reduced to 0.344 au. This supports the hypothesis that primary thermal alteration occurred due to radiogenic and/or impact heating on Ryugu's parent body.

Japanese population dose from natural radiation

Omori, Yasutaka*; Hosoda, Masahiro*; Takahashi, Fumiaki; Sanada, Tetsuya*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Ono, Koji*; Furukawa, Masahide*

Journal of Radiological Protection, 40(3), p.R99 - R140, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ab73b1

UNSCEAR and the Nuclear Safety Research Association report the annual effective doses from cosmic rays, terrestrial radiation, inhalation and ingestion from natural sources. In this study, radiation doses from natural radiation sources in Japan were reviewed with the latest knowledge and data. Total annual effective dose from cosmic-ray exposure can be evaluated as 0.29 mSv. The annual effective dose from external exposure to terrestrial radiation for Japanese population can be evaluated as 0.33 mSv using the data of nationwide survey by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. The Japan Chemical Analysis Center (JCAC) performed the nationwide radon survey using a unified method for radon measurements in indoor, outdoor and workplace. The annual effective dose for radon inhalation was estimated using a current dose conversion factor, and the values were estimated to be 0.50 mSv. The annual effective dose from thoron was reported as 0.09 mSv by UNSCEAR and then the annual effective dose from inhalation can be described as 0.59 mSv. According to the report of large scale survey of foodstuff by JCAC, the effective dose from main radionuclides due to dietary intake can be evaluated to be 0.99 mSv. Finally, Japanese population dose from natural radiation can be assessed as 2.2 mSv which is near to the world average value of 2.4 mSv.

Unveiling spin-dependent unoccupied electronic states of CoMnGe (Ga) film via Ge (Ga) absorption spectroscopy

Yoshikawa, Tomoki*; Antonov, V. N.*; Kono, Takashi*; Kakoki, Masaaki*; Sumida, Kazuki; Miyamoto, Koji*; Takeda, Yukiharu; Saito, Yuji; Goto, Kazuki*; Sakuraba, Yuya*; et al.

Physical Review B, 102(6), p.064428_1 - 064428_7, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.064428

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen in the iron-based superconductor LaFeAsOD measured with inelastic neutron spectroscopy

Yamaura, Junichi*; Hiraka, Haruhiro*; Iimura, Soshi*; Muraba, Yoshinori*; Bang, J.*; Ikeuchi, Kazuhiko*; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Honda, Takashi*; Hiraishi, Masatoshi*; et al.

Physical Review B, 99(22), p.220505_1 - 220505_6, 2019/06

AA2019-0126.pdf:0.9MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.220505

Inelastic neutron scattering was performed for an iron-based superconductor, where most of D (deuterium) replaces oxygen, while a tiny amount goes into interstitial sites. By first-principle calculation, we characterize the interstitial sites for D (and for H slightly mixed) with four equivalent potential minima. Below the superconducting transition temperature Tc = 26 K, new excitations emerge in the range 5-15 meV, while they are absent in the reference system LaFeAsOF. The strong excitations at 14.5 meV and 11.1 meV broaden rapidly around 15 K and 20 K, respectively, where each energy becomes comparable to twice of the superconducting gap. The strong excitations are ascribed to a quantum rattling, or a band motion of hydrogen, which arises only if the number of potential minima is larger than two.

Comprehensive seismic evaluation of HTTR against the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake

Ono, Masato; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Shimazaki, Yosuke; Shimizu, Atsushi; Inoi, Hiroyuki; Kondo, Toshinari; Kojima, Keidai; Takada, Shoji; Sawa, Kazuhiro

Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science, 4(2), p.020906_1 - 020906_8, 2018/04

https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4039288

On March 11th, 2011, the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred. When the great earthquake occurred, the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) had been stopped under the periodic inspection and maintenance of equipment and instruments. A comprehensive integrity evaluation was carried out for the HTTR facility because the maximum seismic acceleration observed at the HTTR exceeded the maximum value of design basis earthquake. The concept of comprehensive integrity evaluation is divided into two parts. One is the "visual inspection of equipment and instruments". The other is the "seismic response analysis" for the building structure, equipment and instruments using the observed earthquake. All equipment and instruments related to operation were inspected in the basic inspection. The integrity of the facilities was confirmed by comparing the inspection results or the numerical results with their evaluation criteria. As the results of inspection of equipment and instruments associated with the seismic response analysis, it was judged that there was no problem for operation of the reactor, because there was no damage and performance deterioration. The integrity of HTTR was also supported by the several operations without reactor power in cold conditions of HTTR in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Additionally, the integrity of control rod guide blocks was also confirmed visually when three control rod guide blocks and six replaceable reflector blocks were taken out from reactor core in order to change neutron startup sources in 2015.

Analysis of two forms of radioactive particles emitted during the early stages of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station accident

Satou, Yukihiko; Sueki, Keisuke*; Sasa, Kimikazu*; Yoshikawa, Hideki; Nakama, Shigeo; Minowa, Haruka*; Abe, Yoshinari*; Nakai, Izumi*; Ono, Takahiro*; Adachi, Koji*; et al.

Geochemical Journal, 52(2), p.137 - 143, 2018/00

https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0514

HEPA filter clogging and volatile material release under solvent fire accident in fuel reprocessing facility

Ono, Takuya; Watanabe, Koji; Tashiro, Shinsuke; Amano, Yuki; Abe, Hitoshi

Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 7 Pages, 2017/07

After the Fukushima-Daiichi accident, countermeasures against the severe accident are newly required as regulatory items for nuclear facilities. Organic solvent fire in cell was defined as one of the accidents in the fuel reprocessing plant. When the solvent burns, aerosols including soot are released. The substances clog HEPA filters in the ventilation system and their breakthrough may happen because of differential pressure rising. Moreover, the fire can also release volatile radioactive gaseous species, which can pass through HEPA filters. These phenomena are important for evaluation of confinement capability of the facility and public exposure. We have investigated, in relating to the clogging behavior, release behavior of aerosols as well as of volatile materials from burnt solvent. In the presentation, we will report experimental data and evaluation results obtained from recent research.