MAAP code analysis for the in-vessel phase of Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 and comparison of the results among Units 1 to 3

Sato, Ikken; Yoshikawa, Shinji; Yamashita, Takuya; Shimomura, Kenta; Cibula, M.*; Mizokami, Shinya*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 422, p.113088_1 - 113088_24, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2024.113088

MAAP code analysis focusing on the fuel debris conditions in the lower head of the pressure vessel in Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 3

Sato, Ikken; Yoshikawa, Shinji; Yamashita, Takuya; Shimomura, Kenta; Cibula, M.*; Mizokami, Shinya*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 414, p.112574_1 - 112574_20, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112574

R&D of digital technology on inverse estimation of radioactive source distributions and related source countermeasures; R&D status of digital platform including 3D-ADRES-indoor

Machida, Masahiko; Yamada, Susumu; Kim, M.; Okumura, Masahiko; Miyamura, Hiroko; Shikaze, Yoshiaki; Sato, Tomoki*; Numata, Yoshiaki*; Tobita, Yasuhiro*; Yamaguchi, Takashi; et al.

RIST News, (69), p.2 - 18, 2023/09

https://www.rist.or.jp/rnews/69/69s2.pdf

The contamination of radioactive materials leaked from the reactor has resulted in numerous hot spots in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) building, posing obstacles to its decommissioning. In order to solve this problem, JAEA has conducted research and development of the digital technique for inverse estimation of radiation source distribution and countermeasures against the estimated source in virtual space for two years from 2021 based on the subsidy program "Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management" performed by the funds from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In this article, we introduce the results of the project and the plan of the renewal project started in April 2023. For the former project, we report the derivative method for LASSO method considering the complex structure inside the building and the character of the source and show the result of the inverse estimation using the method in the real reactor building. Moreover, we explain the platform software "3D-ADRES-Indoor" which integrates these achievements. Finally, we introduce the plan of the latter project.

Intruder configurations in Ne at the transition into the island of inversion; Detailed structure study of Ne

Wang, H.*; Yasuda, Masahiro*; Kondo, Yosuke*; Nakamura, Takashi*; Tostevin, J. A.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Poves, A.*; Shimizu, Noritaka*; Yoshida, Kazuki; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138038_1 - 138038_9, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138038

Detailed -ray spectroscopy of the exotic neon isotope Ne has been performed using the one-neutron removal reaction from Ne. Based on an analysis of parallel momentum distributions, a level scheme with spin-parity assignments has been constructed for Ne and the negative-parity states are identified for the first time. The measured partial cross sections and momentum distributions reveal a significant intruder p-wave strength providing evidence of the breakdown of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell gaps. Only a weak, possible f-wave strength was observed to bound final states. Large-scale shell-model calculations with different effective interactions do not reproduce the large p-wave and small f-wave strength observed experimentally, indicating an ongoing challenge for a complete theoretical description of the transition into the island of inversion along the Ne isotopic chain.

Effect of annealing on the magnetic microstructure of high-pressure torsion iron; The Relevance of higher-order contributions to the magnetic small-angle neutron scattering cross section

Bersweiler, M.*; Sato, Hirokazu*; Adachi, Nozomu*; Todaka, Yoshikazu*; Peral, I.*; Kohlbrecher, J.*; Zaporozhets, V. D.*; Metlov, K. L.*; Michels, A.*; Oba, Yojiro

IUCrJ, 10(4), p.411 - 419, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252523003937

MAAP code analysis focusing on the fuel debris condition in the lower head of the pressure vessel in Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 2

Sato, Ikken; Yoshikawa, Shinji; Yamashita, Takuya; Cibula, M.*; Mizokami, Shinya*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 404, p.112205_1 - 112205_21, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112205

Based on updated knowledge from plant-internal investigations, experiments and model simulations until now, the in-vessel phase of Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 was analyzed using the MAAP code. In Unit 2, it is considered that the core material enthalpy was relatively low when it relocated to the lower plenum of the pressure vessel, then, cooled by the coolant and solidified there. Although the MAAP code tended to underestimate the degree of core-material oxidation during the relocation, this probable underestimation was compensated for by an existing study that was considered more reliable, so that more realistic debris conditions in the lower plenum could be obtained. Basic validity of the former prediction of the Unit 2 accident progression behavior was confirmed and detailed boundary condition for the later phase was provided. This boundary condition should be utilized for future studies addressing debris reheating process leading to lower head failure and debris relocation toward the pedestal.

Modelling oxygen effects on the in- and out-of-field radiosensitivity of cells exposed to intensity-modulated radiation fields

Matsuya, Yusuke; McMahon, S. J.*; Butterworth, K. T.*; Yachi, Yoshie*; Saga, Ryo*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Prise, K. M.*

Physics in Medicine & Biology, 68(9), p.095008_1 - 095008_12, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/acc720

Hypoxia induces radioresistance in tumors, leading to malignant progression in intensity-modulated radiation therapy. To date, it has been shown that intercellular signalling between cells positioned inside and outside radiation field impacts on cellular radiosensitivity under hypoxia and normoxia. However, the mechanistic role of intercellular communication in hypoxia remains to be fully understood. In this study, we modelled the cell-killing effects of intercellular signalling in hypoxia to better understand the underlying mechanisms of response. We used the oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) given from early DSB yields and modelled the in- and out-of-field radiosensitivity. As a result, the model analysis provides an mechanistical interpretation that the probability of hits for releasing cell-killing signals is dependent on oxygen. Our data also suggested that the field-type independent OER value, which can be given by uniform-field exposure, can be applied when predicting both in- and out-of-field radiosensitivity. These results would contribute to more precise understanding of intercellular signalling under heterogeneous exposure to intensity-modulated radiation fields.

Development of DynamicMC for PHITS Monte Carlo package

Watabe, Hiroshi*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Yu, K. N.*; Zivkovic, M.*; Krstic, D.*; Nikezic, D.*; Kim, K. M.*; Yamaya, Taiga*; Kawachi, Naoki*; Tanaka, Hiroki*; et al.

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 13 Pages, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncad278

Previously, we have developed DynamicMC for modelling relative movement of ORNL phantom in a radiation field for MCNP. Using this software, 3-dimensional dose distributions in a phantom irradiated by a certain mono-energetic source can be deduced through its graphical user interface (GUI). In this study, we extended DynamicMC to be used in combination with the PHITS by providing it with a higher flexibility for dynamic movement for a less sophisticated anthropomorphic phantom. We anticipate that the present work and the developed open-source tools will be in the interest of nuclear radiation physics community for research and teaching purposes.

Novel Sr analysis of environmental samples by ion-laser interaction mass spectrometry

Honda, Maki; Martschini, M.*; Marchhart, O.*; Priller, A.*; Steier, P.*; Golser, R.*; Sato, Tetsuya; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Sakaguchi, Aya*

Analytical Methods, 14(28), p.2732 - 2738, 2022/07

https://doi.org/10.1039/D2AY00604A

The sensitive Sr analysis with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was developed for the advances of environmental radiology. One advantage of AMS is the ability to analyze various environmental samples with Sr/Sr atomic ratios of 10 in a simple chemical separation. Three different IAEA samples with known Sr concentrations (moss-soil, animal bone, Syrian soil: 1 g each) were analyzed to assess the validity of the chemical separation and the AMS measurement. The Sr measurements were conducted on the AMS system combined with the Ion Laser InterAction MasSpectrometry (ILIAMS) setup at the University of Vienna, which has excellent isobaric separation performance. The isobaric interference of Zr in the Sr AMS was first removed by chemical separation. The separation factor of Zr in two-step column chromatography with Sr resin and anion exchange resin was 10. The Zr remaining in the sample was removed by ILIAMS effectively. This simple chemical separation achieved a limit of detection 0.1 mBq in the Sr AMS, which is lower than typical -ray detection. The agreement between AMS measurements and nominal values for the Sr concentrations of IAEA samples indicated that the new highly-sensitive Sr analysis in the environmental samples with AMS is reliable even for high matrix samples of soil and bone.

Transport model comparison studies of intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions

Walter, H.*; Colonna, M.*; Cozma, D.*; Danielewicz, P.*; Ko, C. M.*; Kumar, R.*; Ono, Akira*; Tsang, M. Y. B*; Xu, J.*; Zhang, Y.-X.*; et al.

Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, 125, p.103962_1 - 103962_90, 2022/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2022.103962

Transport models are the main method to obtain physics information on the nuclear equation of state and in-medium properties of particles from low to relativistic-energy heavy-ion collisions. The Transport Model Evaluation Project (TMEP) has been pursued to test the robustness of transport model predictions to reach consistent conclusions from the same type of physical model. To this end, calculations under controlled conditions of physical input and set-up were performed by the various participating codes. These included both calculations of nuclear matter in a periodic box, which test individual ingredients of a transport code, and calculations of complete collisions of heavy ions. Over the years, five studies were performed within this project. They show, on one hand, that in box calculations the differences between the codes can be well understood and a convergence of the results can be reached. These studies also highlight the systematic differences between the two families of transport codes, known under the names of Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) and Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) type codes. On the other hand, there still exist substantial differences when these codes are applied to real heavy-ion collisions. The results of transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions will have more significance if codes demonstrate that they can verify benchmark calculations such as the ones studied in these evaluations.