Estimation of children's thyroid equivalent doses in 16 municipalities after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident

Suzuki, Gen*; Ishikawa, Tetsuo*; Oba, Takashi*; Hasegawa, Arifumi*; Nagai, Haruyasu; Miyatake, Hirokazu*; Yoshizawa, Nobuaki*

Journal of Radiation Research (Internet), 63(6), p.796 - 804, 2022/11

https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrac058

To elucidate the association between radiation dose and thyroid cancer after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident, it is essential to estimate individual thyroid equivalent doses (TEDs) to children. In a previous study, we reported a methodology for reconstructing TEDs from inhalation based on individual behavioural survey sheets combined with a spatiotemporal radionuclides database constructed by an atmospheric transport, diffusion, and deposition model (ATDM). In the present study, we further refined our methodology and estimated the combined TEDs from inhalation and ingestion among children in 16 municipalities around the nuclear power station utilizing 3,256 individual whereabouts questionnaire survey sheets. Distributions of estimated TEDs were similar to estimates based on direct thyroid measurements in 1080 children in Iwaki City, Kawamata Town, Iitate Village, and Minamisoma City. Mean TEDs in 1-year-old children ranged from 1.3 mSv in Date City to 14.9 mSv in Odaka Ward in Minamisoma City, and the 95th percentiles varied from 2.3 mSv in Date City to 28.8 mSv in Namie Town. In the future, this methodology can be useful for a case-control study of thyroid cancer after the FDNPS accident.

Practical guide on soil sampling, treatment, and carbon isotope analysis for carbon cycle studies

Koarashi, Jun; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Nagano, Hirohiko*; Sugiharto, U.*; Saengkorakot, C.*; Suzuki, Takashi; Kokubu, Yoko; Fujita, Natsuko; Kinoshita, Naoki; Nagai, Haruyasu; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2020-012, 53 Pages, 2020/10

JAEA-Technology-2020-012.pdf:3.71MB

There is growing concern that recent rapid changes in climate and environment could have a significant influence on carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems (especially forest ecosystems) and could consequently lead to a positive feedback for global warming. The magnitude and timing of this feedback remain highly uncertain largely due to a lack of quantitative understanding of the dynamics of organic carbon stored in soils and its responses to changes in climate and environment. The tracing of radiocarbon (natural and bomb-derived C) and stable carbon (C) isotopes through terrestrial ecosystems can be a powerful tool for studying soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. The primary aim of this guide is to promote the use of isotope-based approaches to improve our understanding of the carbon cycling in soils, particularly in the Asian region. The guide covers practical methods of soil sampling; treatment and fractionation of soil samples; preparation of soil samples for C (and stable nitrogen isotope, N) and C analyses; and C, N, and C measurements by the use of isotope ratio mass spectrometry and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The guide briefly introduces ways to report C data, which are frequently used for soil carbon cycling studies. The guide also reports results of a case study conducted in a Japanese forest ecosystem, as a practical application of the use of isotope-based approaches. This guide is mainly intended for researchers who are interested but are not experienced in this research field. The guide will hopefully encourage readers to participate in soil carbon cycling studies, including field works, laboratory experiments, isotope analyses, and discussions with great interest.

Analysis of atomistic structural deformation characteristics of calcium silicate hydrate in 53-year-old tricalcium silicate paste using atomic pair distribution function

Bae, S.*; Jee, H.*; Suh, H.*; Kanematsu, Manabu*; Shiro, Ayumi*; Machida, Akihiko*; Watanuki, Tetsu*; Shobu, Takahisa; Morooka, Satoshi; Geng, G.*; et al.

Construction and Building Materials, 237, p.117714_1 - 117714_10, 2020/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117714

Impacts of anthropogenic source from the nuclear fuel reprocessing plants on global atmospheric iodine-129 cycle; A Model analysis

Kadowaki, Masanao; Katata, Genki*; Terada, Hiroaki; Suzuki, Takashi; Hasegawa, Hidenao*; Akata, Naofumi*; Kakiuchi, Hideki*

Atmospheric Environment, 184, p.278 - 291, 2018/07

AA2017-0580.pdf:2.03MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.04.044

The long-lived radioactive iodine (I) is a useful geochemical tracer in the atmospheric environment. We recently observed clear seasonal trends in air concentration and deposition of I in Japan. Using these data, we developed a global atmospheric I transport model to reveal key processes for the global atmospheric I cycle. The model generally reproduced the observed seasonal change in air concentration and deposition of I in Japan, and the global distribution of I concentration in rain as presented in past literature. Numerical experiments changing the intensity of anthropogenic and natural sources were conducted to quantify the impact of anthropogenic sources on the global I cycle. The results indicated that the atmospheric I from the anthropogenic sources was deposited in winter and can be accumulated mainly in the northern part of Eurasia. In contrast, the atmospheric I from the natural sources dominated the deposition in summer. These results suggested that the re-emission process of I from the Earth's surface may be important as a secondary impact of I in the global-scaled environment. Furthermore, although wet deposition dominated the total deposition in the Northern hemisphere, dry deposition regionally and seasonally contributed to the total deposition over arctic and northern part of Eurasia in winter, suggesting that the dry deposition may play a key role in the seasonal change of I deposition in the Northern hemisphere high latitudes.

Verification of probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis code PASCAL

Li, Y.; Katsumata, Genshichiro*; Masaki, Koichi*; Hayashi, Shotaro*; Itabashi, Yu*; Nagai, Masaki*; Suzuki, Masahide*; Kanto, Yasuhiro*

Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 10 Pages, 2017/07

In Japan, a PFM analysis code PASCAL (PFM Analysis of Structural Components in Aging LWR) has been developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to evaluate the through-wall cracking frequencies of Japanese reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) considering neutron irradiation embrittlement and pressurized thermal shock transients. In this study, as a part of the verification activities, a working group was established in Japan, with seven organizations from industry, universities and institutes voluntarily participating as members. The source program of PASCAL was released to the members of the working group. Through one year activities, the applicability of PASCAL for structural integrity assessments of domestic RPVs was confirmed with great confidence. This paper presents the details of the verification activities of the working group including the verification plan, approaches and results.

SAS4A analysis study on the initiating phase of ATWS events for generation-IV loop-type SFR

Kubota, Ryuzaburo; Koyama, Kazuya*; Moriwaki, Hiroyuki*; Yamada, Yumi*; Shimakawa, Yoshio*; Suzuki, Toru; Kawada, Kenichi; Kubo, Shigenobu; Yamano, Hidemasa

Proceedings of 2017 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2017) (CD-ROM), 10 Pages, 2017/04

This paper describes an analysis study on the initiating phase of the ATWS events with SAS4A in order to confirm the appropriateness of the core design for the medium-scale SFR (750MWe-1765MWt). Not using a conventional lumping method that multiple fuel sub-assemblies having a similar characteristic were assigned to one channel (representing fuel assembly in SAS4A), each channel represents only the sub-assemblies of identical operating condition. In addition, the detailed power and reactivity distribution were set reflecting the change of insertion position of control rods. Applying these detailed analysis conditions, the SAS4A analyses were performed for unprotected loss-of-flow (ULOF) and unprotected transient overpower (UTOP) during both of the nominal power and the partial power operation. As a result, more proper event progression including incoherency of events especially fuel dispersion after fuel failure was successfully evaluated and then this analysis study suggested that the power excursion with prompt criticality leading to large mechanical energy release can be prevented in the initiating phase of the current design.

Enhancement of the methodology of repository design and post-closure performance assessment for preliminary investigation stage, 3; Progress report on NUMO-JAEA collaborative research in FY2013 (Joint research)

Shibata, Masahiro; Sawada, Atsushi; Tachi, Yukio; Makino, Hitoshi; Wakasugi, Keiichiro; Mitsui, Seiichiro; Kitamura, Akira; Yoshikawa, Hideki; Oda, Chie; Ishidera, Takamitsu; et al.

JAEA-Research 2014-030, 457 Pages, 2015/03

JAEA-Research-2014-030.pdf:199.23MB

JAEA and NUMO have conducted a collaborative research work which is designed to enhance the methodology of repository design and post-closure performance assessment in preliminary investigation stage. With regard to (1) study on rock suitability in terms of hydrology, based on some examples of developing method of hydro-geological structure model, acquired knowledge are arranged using the tree diagram, and model uncertainty and its influence on the evaluation items were discussed. With regard to (2) study on scenario development, the developed approach for "defining conditions" has been reevaluated and improved from practical viewpoints. In addition, the uncertainty evaluation for the effect of use of cementitious material, as well as glass dissolution model, was conducted with analytical evaluation. With regard to (3) study on setting radionuclide migration parameters, based on survey of precedent procedures, multiple-approach for distribution coefficient of rocks was established, and the adequacy of the approach was confirmed though its application to sedimentary rock and granitic rock. Besides, an approach for solubility setting was developed including the procedure of selection of solubility limiting solid phase. The adequacy of the approach was confirmed though its application to key radionuclides.

Enhancement of the methodology of repository design and post-closure performance assessment for preliminary investigation stage, 2; Progress report on NUMO-JAEA collaborative research in FY2012 (Joint research)

Shibata, Masahiro; Sawada, Atsushi; Tachi, Yukio; Hayano, Akira; Makino, Hitoshi; Wakasugi, Keiichiro; Mitsui, Seiichiro; Oda, Chie; Kitamura, Akira; Osawa, Hideaki; et al.

JAEA-Research 2013-037, 455 Pages, 2013/12

JAEA-Research-2013-037.pdf:42.0MB

Following FY2011, JAEA and NUMO have conducted a collaborative research work which is designed to enhance the methodology of repository design and performance assessment in preliminary investigation stage. With regard to (1) study on rock suitability in terms of hydrology, the tree diagram of methodology of groundwater travel time has been extended for crystalline rock, in addition, tree diagram for sedimentary rock newly has been organized. With regard to (2) study on scenario development, the existing approach has been improved in terms of a practical task, and applied and tested for near field focusing on the buffer. In addition, the uncertainty of some important processes and its impact on safety functions are discussed though analysis. With regard to (3) study on setting radionuclide migration parameters, the approaches for parameter setting have been developed for sorption for rocks and solubility, and applied and tested through parameter setting exercises for key radionuclides.

Engineering scale development test of MOX fuel fabrication technology to establish commercialized fast reactor fuel, 1; The O/M ratio preparation tests of sintered pellets

Takato, Kiyoto; Murakami, Tatsutoshi; Suzuki, Kiichi; Shibanuma, Kimikazu; Hatanaka, Nobuhiro; Yamaguchi, Bungo; Tobita, Yoshimasa; Shinozaki, Masaru; Iimura, Naoto; Okita, Takatoshi; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2013-026, 42 Pages, 2013/10

JAEA-Technology-2013-026.pdf:3.17MB

In order to cope with making a commercial fast reactor fuel burn-up higher, oxygen-to-metal (O/M) ratio in the fuel specification is designed to 1.95. As the test for the fabrication of such low O/M ratio pellets, two kinds of O/M ratio preparation tests of different reduction mechanism were done. In the first test, we evaluated the technology to prepare the O/M ratio low by annealing the sintered pellets in production scale. In addition, we know from past experience that O/M ratio of the sintered pellets can be reduced by residual carbon when the de-waxed pellets with high carbon content are sintered. Thus, in another test, the green pellets containing a large amount of organic additives were sintered and we evaluated the technology to produce the low O/M ratio sintered pellets by the reduction due to residual carbon. From the first test results, we found a tendency that the higher annealing temperature or the longer annealing time resulted in the lower O/M ratio. However, the amount of O/M ratio reduction was small and it is estimated that a substantial annealing time is necessary to prepare the O/M ratio to 1.95. It is considered that reducing O/M ratio by annealing was difficult because atmosphere gas containing oxygen released from pellets remained and the O/M ratio was changed to the value equilibrated with the gas having high oxygen potential. From another test results, it was confirmed that O/M ratio was reduced by the reduction due to residual carbon. We found that it was important to manage an oxygen potential of atmosphere gas in a sintering furnace low to reduce the O/M ratio effectively.

Numerical simulation of melt-down behavior in SFR severe accidents by the MUTRAN code

Kubota, Ryuzaburo*; Yamada, Yumi*; Koyama, Kazuya*; Shimakawa, Yoshio*; Yamano, Hidemasa; Kubo, Shigenobu; Suzuki, Toru; Tobita, Yoshiharu

Proceedings of 8th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS-8) (USB Flash Drive), 8 Pages, 2012/12

This paper describes a melt-down event progression revealed by a numerical simulation in the protected loss of heat sink (PLOHS) event for Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR). A multi-component multi-field computer code, MUTRAN, has been applied in order to simulate complicated core material motions and associated heat-transfer phenomena among the materials in a degradation core. The analyses with MUTRAN covered core degradation behaviors from the intact geometry and addressed the two initial states: one was the core without the coolant as the leakage type, and the other was the core covered by the coolant only up to the top of the fissile fuel as the boiling type. The analyses revealed representative event progression.