Manufacture of substitutive assemblies for MONJU reactor decommissioning

Sakakibara, Hiroshi; Aoki, Nobuhiro; Muto, Masahiro; Otabe, Jun; Takahashi, Kenji*; Fujita, Naoyuki*; Hiyama, Kazuhiko*; Suzuki, Hirokazu*; Kamogawa, Toshiyuki*; Yokosuka, Toru*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2020-020, 73 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Technology-2020-020.pdf:8.26MB

The decommissioning is currently in progress at the prototype fast breeder reactor Monju. Fuel assemblies will be taken out of its core for the first step of the great task. Fuel assemblies stand on their own spike plugged into a socket on the core support plate and support with adjacent assemblies through their housing pads each other, resulting in steady core structure. For this reason, some substitutive assemblies are necessary for the purpose of discharging the fuel assemblies of the core. Monju side commissioned, therefore, Plutonium Fuel Development Center to manufacture the substitutive assemblies and the Center accepted it. This report gives descriptions of design, manufacture, and shipment in regard to the substitutive assemblies.

Numerical simulation of the solid particle sedimentation and bed formation behaviors using a hybrid method

Sheikh, M. A. R.*; Liu, X.*; Matsumoto, Tatsuya*; Morita, Koji*; Guo, L.*; Suzuki, Toru*; Kamiyama, Kenji

Energies (Internet), 13(19), p.5018_1 - 5018_15, 2020/10

https://doi.org/10.3390/en13195018

Double-exposure method with synchrotron white X-ray for stress evaluation of coarse-grain materials

Suzuki, Kenji*; Shiro, Ayumi*; Toyokawa, Hidenori*; Saji, Choji*; Shobu, Takahisa

Quantum Beam Science (Internet), 4(3), p.25_1 - 25_14, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.3390/qubs4030025

It is difficult to evaluate stress by the strain scanning method using a conventional diffractometer and a point detector since the two-dimensional diffraction pattern of a material composed of coarse grains does not have a ring but a spotty. To solve this problem, we proposed a double exposure method using a two-dimensional detector and monochromatized X-rays. In this study, we have developed a technique to apply that technique to white X-rays. The diffraction obtained by irradiating white X-rays for a material with of coarse grains becomes a Laue spot. Therefore, we have carried out developing a CdTe pixel two-dimensional detector that can limit the energy to be detected, and we evaluated the stress using that detector. As a result, we succeeded to measure the strain distribution of a bending specimen made to austenitic stainless steel. In the future, we would like to improve this technology and apply it to actual machine materials.

Stress measurement of coarse grains using double exposure method

Suzuki, Kenji*; Shobu, Takahisa; Shiro, Ayumi*

Zairyo, 68(4), p.312 - 317, 2019/04

https://doi.org/10.2472/jsms.68.312

Materials after thermal processing such as welding often have coarse grains. To understand the residual stress after processing is very important from the viewpoint of the soundness of the structure. In this study, we proposed a double exposure method that combines a two-dimensional detector and high-energy synchrotron radiation as an X-ray stress measurement method for materials with coarse grains, and confirmed its practicality. As a result of measuring the residual stress of the plastic bending specimen and the indentation specimen of the aluminum alloy (A5052), the effectiveness of this measurement method was clarified because the residual stress distribution was in good agreement with the finite element analysis.

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

Prediction of the drying behavior of debris in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station for dry storage

Nakayoshi, Akira; Suzuki, Seiya; Okamura, Nobuo; Watanabe, Masayuki; Koizumi, Kenji

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 55(10), p.1119 - 1129, 2018/10

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2018.1480429

Sedimentation behavior of mixed solid particles

Sheikh, Md. A. R.*; Son, E.*; Kamiyama, Motoki*; Morioka, Toru*; Matsumoto, Tatsuya*; Morita, Koji*; Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji; Suzuki, Toru*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 55(6), p.623 - 633, 2018/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2017.1419888

During core-disruptive accidents in sodium-cooled fast reactors, the sedimentation behavior of fragmented debris is crucial for in-vessel retention. The height of the beds formed may influence both the cooling of the bed and the neutronic characteristics. To develop an experimental database of bed formation behavior, a series of experiments using simulant materials, namely, AlO, ZrO, and stainless steel, were performed under gravity-driven discharge of solid particles from a nozzle into a quiescent cylindrical water pool. The bed height was measured for particles of different size, density, and sphericity, and an injection nozzle with varying diameter, injection velocity, and injection height. From these experiments, an empirical correlation was established to predict the bed height for both homogeneous and mixed particles for the different properties. This correlation reproduces reasonably well the experimental trend in bed height.

Non-destructive bond stress evaluation of bending and shear deformed reinforced concrete structure using neutron diffraction

Suzuki, Hiroshi; Kusunoki, Koichi*; Satake, Kosuke*; Kanematsu, Manabu*; Koyama, Taku*; Niwa, Akinobu*; Kabayama, Kenji*; Mukai, Tomohisa*; Kawasaki, Takuro; Harjo, S.

Hihakai Kensa, 67(4), p.180 - 186, 2018/04

https://doi.org/10.11396/jjsndi.67.180

The bond behavior between rebar and concrete under bending moment was investigated by measuring the stress distribution in the two-dimensionally distributed rebars embedded in the reinforced concrete (RC) beam using neutron diffraction. The stress distributions in both of the main rebar and the transverse stirrups embedded in concrete were successfully measured at the fixed measurement configuration without any sample rotations, by suggesting a simple measurement technique on the premise that the transverse restriction from the surrounding concrete to the main rebar is negligible. The bending and shear fracture behavior of the RC beam specimen was predicted by comparing changes in the stress distribution in the rebars measured by neutron diffraction with respect to the applied stress, with the macroscopic deformation measured by strain gauges fixed on the concrete surface. In this study, it was found that the neutron diffraction technique can be a useful technique to evaluate not only the anchorage performance but also the bending behavior of the RC beam.

Chemical form analysis of reaction products in Cs-adsorption on stainless steel by means of HAXPES and SEM/EDX

Kobata, Masaaki; Okane, Tetsuo; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Suzuki, Eriko; Owada, Kenji; Kobayashi, Keisuke*; Yamagami, Hiroshi; Osaka, Masahiko

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 498, p.387 - 394, 2018/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.10.035

In this study, for the understandings of Cesium (Cs) adsorption behavior on structure materials in severe accidents at a light water nuclear reactor, the chemical state of Cs and its distribution on the surface of SUS304 stainless steel (SS) with different Si concentration were investigated by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and scanning electron microscope / energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX). As a result, it was found that Cs is selectively adsorbed at the site where Si distributes with high concentration. CsFeSiO is a dominant Cs products in the case of low Si content, mainly formed, while CsSiO and CsSiO are formed in addition to CsFeSiO in the case of high Si content. The chemical forms of the Cs compounds produced in the adsorption process on the SS surface has a close correlation with the concentration and chemical states of Si originally included in SS.

Investigation of main radiation source above shield plug of Unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Hirayama, Hideo*; Kondo, Kenjiro*; Suzuki, Seishiro*; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Iwanaga, Kohei*; Nagata, Hiroshi*

EPJ Web of Conferences, 153, p.08010_1 - 08010_3, 2017/09

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201715308010

Pulse height distributions were measured using a CdZnTe detector inside a lead collimator to investigate main source producing high dose rates above the shield plugs of Unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. It was confirmed that low energy photons are dominant. Concentrations of Cs-137 under 60 cm concrete of the shield plug were estimated to be between 8.110 and 5.710 Bq/cm from the measured peak count rate of 0.662 MeV photons. If Cs-137 was distributed on the surfaces of the gaps of the shied plugs with radius 6 m and with the averaged concentration of 5 points, 2.610 Bq/cm, total amount of Cs-137 is estimated to be 30 PBq.