Compliance measures at the Radioactive Waste Treatment Facilities at the Nuclear Science Research Institute; Aseismic reinforcement of the Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility No. 3, Waste Size Reduction and Storage Facility, and Waste Volume Reduction Facility

Iketani, Shotaro; Suzuki, Takeshi; Yokobori, Tomohiko; Sugawara, Satoshi; Yokota, Akira; Kikuchi, Genta; Muraguchi, Yoshinori; Kitahara, Masaru; Seya, Manato; Kurosawa, Tsuyoshi; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2025-001, 169 Pages, 2025/08

JAEA-Technology-2025-001.pdf:14.22MB

The radioactive waste treatment facilities at the Nuclear Science Research Institute includes the Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility No. 3, Waste Size Reduction and Storage Facility, and Waste Volume Reduction Facility. These three facilities come under the purview of the Act on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors, and are included under Class C of the act based on the seismic requirements specified in the Act. We assessed the seismic capacity of these three radioactive waste treatment facilities based on the current Building Standards Act, to verify whether they comply with the new regulatory requirements enforced by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. We found that the allowable stress of a few structural members used in the construction of the facilities did not meet the regulatory requirements. After studying the approval granted by the NRA for the construction plans, including the design and construction methods (design and construction plans) of the three facilities on March 5, 2021, we made aseismic reinforcement at these facilities between 2021 and 2022. This report presents an overview of the seismic design of these facilities and an outline of the aseismic reinforcement conducted, management system existing, safety measures adopted, and the preoperational inspections conducted at these facilities.

Selective adsorption of Pd(II) over Ag(I) in nitric acid solutions using nitrogen-donor-type adsorbents

Suzuki, Tomoya*; Otsubo, Ukyo*; Ogata, Takeshi*; Shiwaku, Hideaki; Kobayashi, Toru; Yaita, Tsuyoshi; Matsuoka, Mitsuaki*; Murayama, Norihiro*; Narita, Hirokazu*

Separation and Purification Technology, 308, p.122943_1 - 122943_7, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.122943

HNO leaching is used in recycling Pd metal from spent products that primarily contain Ag, and most Pd residues are separated from solutions containing Ag(I). However, a small amount of Pd(II) often remains in these Ag(I) solutions. Therefore, the separation of Pd(II) and Ag(I) in HNO solutions is essential to promote efficient Pd recycling. In this study, the separation of Pd(II) and Ag(I) in HNO solutions was investigated using four N-donor-type adsorbents functionalized with amine (R-Amine), iminodiacetic acid (R-IDA), pyridine (R-Py), or bis-picolylamine (R-BPA). R-Amine, R-IDA, and R-Py selectively adsorbed Pd(II) over Ag(I), Cu(II), Ni(II), and Fe(III) from HNO solutions (0.3-7 M), but R-Amine exhibited a lower Pd adsorption efficiency. In contrast, 90% of Pd(II), Ag(I), and Cu(II) were adsorbed by R-BPA over the entire range of HNO concentrations. Structural analyses of the adsorbed metal ions using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy revealed the separation mechanisms of the N-donor-type adsorbents. Pd(II) adsorption on R-IDA, R-Py, and R-BPA occurred via Pd(II) coordination of the functional groups (iminodiacetic acid, pyridine, and bis-picolylamine, respectively), whereas that on R-Amine occurred via anion exchange of NO with [Pd(NO)]. The coordinative adsorption mechanisms resulted in the higher Pd(II) adsorption behaviors of R-IDA, R-Py, and R-BPA. HCl (5.0 M) and thiourea (0.1 M) eluents desorbed 83% of Pd(II) from R-IDA and 95% from R-Py, respectively. R-Py was the most effective Pd(II) adsorbent based on adsorption selectivity and desorption efficiency.

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.

Speciation and separation of platinum(IV) polynuclear complexes in concentrated nitric acid solutions

Suzuki, Tomoya*; Otsubo, Ukyo*; Ogata, Takeshi*; Shiwaku, Hideaki; Kobayashi, Toru; Yaita, Tsuyoshi; Matsuoka, Mitsuaki*; Murayama, Norihiro*; Narita, Hirokazu*

Dalton Transactions (Internet), 50(33), p.11390 - 11397, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1039/D1DT01392K

no abstracts in English

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.

Terahertz and mid-infrared spectroscopy of matrix-isolated clusters and matrix-sublimation ice of DO

Yamakawa, Koichiro; Nasu, Hirokazu*; Suzuki, Natsumi*; Shimizu, Genki*; Arakawa, Ichiro*

Journal of Chemical Physics, 152(17), p.174310_1 - 174310_13, 2020/05

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0005766

We have established an apparatus for terahertz and mid-infrared spectroscopy in an ultrahigh vacuum and have measured absorption spectra of DO clusters trapped in solid Ar. To assign terahertz absorption peaks due to the DO dimer, trimer, and tetramer, the dependence of the spectrum on the annealing temperature and DO dilution was analyzed. The assignment was also examined by ab initio calculations with use of the ONIOM method, where flexibility of surrounding Ar atoms was systematically incorporated. We identified all of the intermolecular fundamentals of the dimer and those with significant intensities of the trimer and tetramer, whose structural symmetries were revealed to be broken down. After isolating the DO clusters in solid Ar, we sublimated only Ar atoms to leave behind matrix-sublimation ice, which was found to be amorphous- or crystal-like depending on the formation conditions: the dilution and sublimation-temperature. Since the crystallinity got higher with raising the dilution and sublimation-temperature, the diffusion of the DO monomer on the surface of sublimating solid Ar was found to be crucial to the crystallization of the sublimation ice.

Mechanism of palladium(II) adsorption from nitric acid solutions by a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer functionalized with -trimethylglycine

Suzuki, Tomoya*; Narita, Hirokazu*; Ogata, Takeshi*; Suzuki, Hideya; Matsumura, Tatsuro; Kobayashi, Toru; Shiwaku, Hideaki; Yaita, Tsuyoshi

Solvent Extraction Research and Development, Japan, 26(1), p.11 - 19, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.15261/serdj.26.11

The ability of AMP03, a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer functionalized with -trimethylglycine moieties, to adsorb Pd(II) from HNO solutions was investigated to elucidate the affinity of -trimethylglycine for Pd(II). In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of Pd(II) adsorption by AMP03 by means of adsorption experiments, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy.

Observation of a Be double-Lambda hypernucleus in the J-PARC E07 experiment

Ekawa, Hiroyuki; Ashikaga, Sakiko; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Hashimoto, Tadashi; Hayakawa, Shuhei; Hosomi, Kenji; Ichikawa, Yudai; Imai, Kenichi; Kimbara, Shinji*; Nanamura, Takuya; et al.

Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Internet), 2019(2), p.021D02_1 - 021D02_11, 2019/02

https://doi.org/10.1093/ptep/pty149

Speciation of ruthenium(III) chloro complexes in hydrochloric acid solutions and their extraction characteristics with an amide-containing amine compound

Suzuki, Tomoya*; Ogata, Takeshi*; Tanaka, Mikiya*; Kobayashi, Toru; Shiwaku, Hideaki; Yaita, Tsuyoshi; Narita, Hirokazu*

Metals, 8(7), p.558_1 - 558_10, 2018/07

AA2018-0670.pdf:2.11MB

https://doi.org/10.3390/met8070558

The refining of platinum group metals is based mainly on solvent extraction methods, whereas Ru is selectively recovered by distillation as RuO. Replacement of distillation byextraction is expected to simplify the purification process. To develop an effective extraction system for Ru, we analyzed the Ru species in HCl with UV-Vis and EXAFS spectroscopies, and we examined the properties of Ru extracted with N-2-ethylhexyl-bis(N-di-2-ethylhexyl-ethylamide) amine (EHBAA). EXAFS and UV-Vis spectra of Ru in HCl solutions revealed that the predominant Ru species in 0.5-10 M HCl solutions changed from [RuCl(HO)] to [RuCl] with the HCl concentration. The extraction percentages of Ru in the EHBAA system increased with increasing HCl concentration, reached 80% at [HCl] = 5 M, and decreased athigher HCl concentrations. EXAFS analysis of the extracted complex indicated that the Ru had 5 Cl and 1 HO in its inner coordination sphere. The similarity of the dependence on HCl concentrations of the extraction in the EHBAA system and the distribution profile of [RuCl(HO)] on [RuCl(HO)] suggested that the EHBAA extracted the pentachlorido species.

Recent research in solvent extraction of platinum group metals

Narita, Hirokazu*; Suzuki, Tomoya*; Motokawa, Ryuhei

Nihon Kinzoku Gakkai-Shi, 81(4), p.157 - 167, 2017/04

https://doi.org/10.2320/jinstmet.JE201604