Stabilization treatment of Pu-bearing organic materials

Morishita, Kazuki; Sato, Takumi; Onishi, Takashi; Seki, Takayuki*; Sekine, Shinichi*; Okitsu, Yuichi*

JAEA-Technology 2021-024, 27 Pages, 2021/10

JAEA-Technology-2021-024.pdf:2.41MB

In the case of Plutonium (Pu)-bearing organic materials, organic materials are decomposed by alpha rays emitted mainly from Pu to generate hydrogen gas and other substances. Therefore, to safely store Pu-bearing organic materials for an extended period of time, organic materials must be eliminated. In addition, carbide and nitride fuels must be converted into oxides for safe storage in order to prevent the exothermal reaction of these fuels with oxygen/moisture in air. A survey of the literature on the stabilization treatment of Pu-bearing organic materials confirmed that organic materials can be decomposed and removed by heating at 950 C (1223.15 K) or greater in air. Furthermore, based on the calculated thermodynamic parameters of oxidation reaction of carbide and nitride fuels in air, it was estimated that these fuels would be oxidized in air at 950 C because the equilibrium oxygen partial pressure in the oxidation reaction at 950 C was lower than 2.110 Pa (oxygen partial pressure in air). Therefore, it was decided to stabilize Pu-bearing organic materials by heating at 950 C in air to remove the organic materials and oxidize the carbide and nitride fuels. As a mock-up test to remove the organic materials, thin sheets of epoxy resin were heated in air. The changes in appearance and weight before and after heating in air showed that organic materials can be removed. After the mock-up test, Pu-bearing organic materials were also stabilized by heating in the similar condition.

Measurement of double-differential thick-target neutron yields of the C() reaction at 12, 20, and 30 MeV

Patwary, M. K. A*; Kin, Tadahiro*; Aoki, Katsumi*; Yoshinami, Kosuke*; Yamaguchi, Masaya*; Watanabe, Yukinobu*; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Sato, Nozomi*; Asai, Masato; Sato, Tetsuya; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(2), p.252 - 258, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1819908

While designing deuteron accelerator neutron sources for radioisotopes production, nuclear data for light elements such as Li, Be, and C have been systematically measured in the deuteron energy range from a few MeV to around 50 MeV. Currently, the experimental data available on double-differential thick-target neutron yields (DDTTNYs) is insufficient, especially for deuteron energies between 18 and 33 MeV. In this study, we measured the DDTTNYs of () reactions on C target for incident deuteron energies of 12, 20, and 30 MeV using the multiple-foils activation method to improve nuclear data insufficiency. We applied the GRAVEL code for the unfolding process to derive the DDTTNYs. The results were compared with the calculation by DEURACS. The present data were also used to confirm the systematics of the differential neutron yields at 0 and total neutron yield per incident deuteron in the wide range of deuteron energy.

Actinides and transactinides

Nagame, Yuichiro*; Sato, Tetsuya; Kratz, J. V.*

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (Internet), 52 Pages, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1002/0471238961.0103200919050102.a01.pub3

This article gives a brief summary of the recent progress in the synthesis of new elements as well as heavy nuclei far from the stability line and in the studies of exotic nuclear decay properties including nuclear fission of heavy nuclei and chemical characterization of heavy actinides and transactinides. Experimental techniques of single-atom detection after in-flight separation with electromagnetic separators have made a breakthrough in discovery of new heavy isotopes. Development of automated rapid chemical separation apparatuses performing one atom-at-a-time chemistry has also considerably contributed to the progress of chemical studies of the transactinides. Some key experiments exploring new frontiers of the production and chemical characterization of heavy actinides and transactinides using state-of-the-art techniques are demonstrated. A short historical perspective of actinide and transactinide elements and some prospects of extending nuclear and chemical studies of heavy elements in the future are briefly presented.

The Deposition densities of radiocesium and the air dose rates in undisturbed fields around the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant; Their temporal changes for five years after the accident

Mikami, Satoshi; Tanaka, Hiroyuki*; Matsuda, Hideo*; Sato, Shoji*; Hoshide, Yoshifumi*; Okuda, Naotoshi*; Suzuki, Takeo*; Sakamoto, Ryuichi*; Ando, Masaki; Saito, Kimiaki

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 210, p.105941_1 - 105941_12, 2019/12

AA2019-0019.pdf:2.65MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2019.03.017

The deposition densities of radiocesium and the air dose rates were repeatedly measured in a large number of undisturbed fields within the 80km zone that surrounds the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant site between 2011 and 2016, and features of their temporal changes were clarified. The average air dose rate excluding background radiation in this zone decreased to about 20% of the initial value during the period from June 2011 to August 2016, which was essentially a result of the radioactive decay of Cs with a half-life of 2.06y. The air dose rate reduction was faster than that expected from the decay of radiocesium by a factor of about two, with most of this reduction being attributed to the penetration of radiocesium into the soil. The average deposition densities of Cs and Cs in fields that were not decontaminated were found to have decreased nearly according to their expected radioactive decay, which indicated that the movement of radiocesium in the horizontal direction was relatively small. The effect of decontamination was apparently observed in the measurements of air dose rates and deposition densities. Nominally, the average air dose rates in the measurement locations were reduced by about 20% by decontamination and other human activities, of which accurate quantitative analysis is and continue to be a challenge.

Temporal change in radiological environments on land after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Saito, Kimiaki; Mikami, Satoshi; Ando, Masaki; Matsuda, Norihiro; Kinase, Sakae; Tsuda, Shuichi; Sato, Tetsuro*; Seki, Akiyuki; Sanada, Yukihisa; Wainwright-Murakami, Haruko*; et al.

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 44(4), p.128 - 148, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2019.44.4.128

Optimization of an isothermal gas-chromatographic setup for the chemical exploration of dubnium (Db, Z = 105) oxychlorides

Chiera, N. M.; Sato, Tetsuya; Tomitsuka, Tomohiro; Asai, Masato; Ito, Yuta; Shirai, Kaori*; Suzuki, Hayato; Tokoi, Katsuyuki; Toyoshima, Atsushi; Tsukada, Kazuaki; et al.

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 320(3), p.633 - 642, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06505-w

An isothermal gas-chromatographic (IGC) device has been developed and tested for on-line gas phase studies of volatile oxychlorides of short-lived group-5 transition metals. Radioisotopes of niobium and tantalum, produced in nuclear fusion evaporation reactions, are directly flushed into the IGC setup by an inert gas-jet. Oxychloride compounds are formed by the addition of SOCl and O. Parameters influencing the formation and transport of NbOCl and TaOCl are investigated. For nuclides with half-lives () of about 30 s, an overall efficiency of 7% is obtained, rendering the IGC setup suitable for the chemical exploration of Db( = 34s).

Electron-tracking Compton camera imaging of technetium-95m

Hatsukawa, Yuichi*; Hayakawa, Takehito*; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Hashimoto, Kazuyuki*; Sato, Tetsuya; Asai, Masato; Toyoshima, Atsushi; Tanimori, Toru*; Sonoda, Shinya*; Kabuki, Shigeto*; et al.

PLOS ONE (Internet), 13(12), p.e0208909_1 - e0208909_12, 2018/12

AA2018-0639.pdf:2.39MB

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208909

Imaging of Tc radioisotope was conducted using an electron tracking-Compton camera (ETCC). Tc emits 204, 582, and 835 keV rays, and was produced in the Mo(p,n)Tc reaction with a Mo-enriched target. The recycling of the Mo-enriched molybdenum trioxide was investigated, and the recycled yield of Mo was achieved to be 70% - 90%. The images were obtained with each of the three rays. Results showed that the spatial resolution increases with increasing -ray energy, and suggested that the ETCC with high-energy -ray emitters such as Tc is useful for the medical imaging of deep tissue and organs in the human body.

First ionization potentials of Fm, Md, No, and Lr; Verification of filling-up of 5f electrons and confirmation of the actinide series

Sato, Tetsuya; Asai, Masato; Borschevsky, A.*; Beerwerth, R.*; Kaneya, Yusuke*; Makii, Hiroyuki; Mitsukai, Akina*; Nagame, Yuichiro; Osa, Akihiko; Toyoshima, Atsushi; et al.

Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140(44), p.14609 - 14613, 2018/11

https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b09068

The first ionization potential (IP) yields information on valence electronic structure of an atom. IP values of heavy actinides beyond einsteinium (Es, Z = 99), however, have not been determined experimentally so far due to the difficulty in obtaining these elements on scales of more than one atom at a time. Recently, we successfully measured IP of lawrencium (Lr, Z = 103) using a surface ionization method. The result suggests that Lr has a loosely-bound electron in the outermost orbital. In contrast to Lr, nobelium (No, Z = 102) is expected to have the highest IP among the actinide elements owing to its full-filled 5f and the 7s orbitals. In the present study, we have successfully determined IP values of No as well as fermium (Fm, Z = 100) and mendelevium (Md, Z = 101) using the surface ionization method. The obtained results indicate that the IP value of heavy actinoids would increase monotonically with filling electrons up in the 5f orbital like heavy lanthanoids.

Local structure and distribution of remaining elements inside extraction chromatography adsorbents

Watanabe, So; Sano, Yuichi; Shiwaku, Hideaki; Yaita, Tsuyoshi; Ono, Shimpei*; Arai, Tsuyoshi*; Matsuura, Haruaki*; Koka, Masashi*; Sato, Takahiro*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 404, p.202 - 206, 2017/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2017.01.055

Effect of surface treatment on adsorption and desorption behavior of impregnated adsorbent for extraction chromatography

Nagoshi, Kohei*; Arai, Tsuyoshi*; Watanabe, So; Sano, Yuichi; Takeuchi, Masayuki; Sato, Mutsumi*; Oikawa, Hiroshi*

Nihon Ion Kokan Gakkai-Shi, 28(1), p.11 - 18, 2017/01

https://doi.org/10.5182/jaie.28.11

no abstracts in English