Carrying-out of whole nuclear fuel materials in Plutonium Research Building No.1

Inagawa, Jun; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro; Otobe, Haruyoshi; Nakada, Masami; Takano, Masahide; Akie, Hiroshi; Shimizu, Osamu; Komuro, Michiyasu; Oura, Hirofumi*; Nagai, Isao*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2021-001, 144 Pages, 2021/08

JAEA-Technology-2021-001.pdf:12.98MB

Plutonium Research Building No.1 (Pu1) was qualified as a facility to decommission, and preparatory operations for decommission were worked by the research groups users and the facility managers of Pu1. The operation of transportation of whole nuclear materials in Pu1 to Back-end Cycle Key Element Research Facility (BECKY) completed at Dec. 2020. In the operation included evaluation of criticality safety for changing permission of the license for use nuclear fuel materials in BECKY, cask of the transportation, the registration request of the cask at the institute, the test transportation, formulation of plan for whole nuclear materials transportation, and the main transportation. This report circumstantially shows all of those process to help prospective decommission.

Development of spin-contrast-variation neutron powder diffractometry for extracting the structure factor of hydrogen atoms

Miura, Daisuke*; Kumada, Takayuki; Sekine, Yurina; Motokawa, Ryuhei; Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Oba, Yojiro; Ohara, Takashi; Takata, Shinichi; Hiroi, Kosuke; Morikawa, Toshiaki*; et al.

Journal of Applied Crystallography, 54(2), p.454 - 460, 2021/04

https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576721000303

We developed a spin-contrast-variation neutron powder diffractometry technique that extracts the structure factor of hydrogen atoms, namely, the contribution of hydrogen atoms to a crystal structure factor. Crystals of L-glutamic acid were dispersed in a dpolystyrene matrix containing 4-methacryloyloxy-2,2,6,6,-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO methacrylate) to polarize their proton spins dynamically. The intensities of the diffraction peaks of the sample changed according to the proton polarization, and the structure factor of the hydrogen atoms was extracted from the proton-polarization dependent intensities. This technique is expected to enable analyses of the structures of hydrogen-containing materials that are difficult to determine with conventional powder diffractometry.

Development of fireproof sheet on glove box panels

Kawasaki, Kohei; Shinada, Kenta; Okamoto, Naritoshi; Kageyama, Tomio; Eda, Takashi; Okazaki, Hiro; Suzuki, Hiromichi; Yamamoto, Kazuya; Otabe, Jun

JAEA-Technology 2020-025, 80 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Technology-2020-025.pdf:3.72MB

Plutonium Fuel Production Facility was built in 1988 for the purpose of mainly producing MOX fuel of the prototype fast breeder reactor MONJU, and large glove boxes were installed for handling unsealed nuclear fuel material remotely. The panels of these glove boxes are made of acrylic, except for those installed after December 2013. For fires inside the glove box, automatic fire extinguishing systems using halides have been introduced since the beginning of construction, but for fires outside the glove box, there have been issues with direct measures for acrylic. Therefore, we have developed a fireproof sheet that mitigates the effect of fire outside the glove box on the panels as much as possible. As a result, fire-retardant sheets have been selected and attached to the glove box panels. We conducted a flammability test of the acrylic plate attached with these fireproof sheets and a usage environment influence test of fireproof sheets, and obtained good results. In addition, we set up a working group in the Plutonium Fuel Development Center in view of reducing external exposure during the work of attaching fireproof sheets, in which we discussed and examined the work procedure, and summarized it in the basic procedure manual.

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.

Vertical distributions of Iodine-129 and iodide in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea

Miwa, Kazuji; Obata, Hajime*; Suzuki, Takashi

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(5), p.537 - 545, 2020/05

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1699189

This study investigated the vertical distribution of Iodine-129 (I) which is mainly produced by European nuclear reprocessing plants in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea. I was found to be distributed almost uniformly in fallout level, and an increasing in I concentration levels caused by high I water inflow from the Atlantic Ocean was not observed. Additionally, we revealed the vertical distribution of iodide, one chemical form of iodine, from the Bering Shelf area to the Chukchi Sea for the first time. The increasing tendency of iodide near sea bottom was observed.

Verification of safety margin of reactor pressure vessel exposed to various thermal transients based on probabilistic approach

Suzuki, Masahide*; Murakami, Kenta*; Suzuki, Takashi*; Okayama, Ryuta*; Katsuyama, Jinya; Li, Y.

E-Journal of Advanced Maintenance (Internet), 11(4), p.172 - 178, 2020/02

http://www.jsm.or.jp/ejam/Vol.11No.4/AA/AA171/AA171.html

no abstracts in English

Zr separation from high-level liquid waste with a novel hydroxyacetoamide type extractant

Morita, Keisuke; Suzuki, Hideya; Matsumura, Tatsuro; Takahashi, Yuya*; Omori, Takashi*; Kaneko, Masaaki*; Asano, Kazuhito*

Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.464 - 468, 2019/09

High level liquid waste (HLLW) contains several radionuclides with half-lives longer than 10 year. For reduce environmental burden of waste disposal, minor actinoids and long-lived fission products will to be partitioned and transmuted. JAEA and Toshiba developed process for recovering Se, Zr, Pd and Cs from HLLW. Solvent extraction for Zr with novel extractant, -didodecyl-2-hydroxyacetoamide (HAA) was detailed. The HAA system showed high selectivity for Zr, as indicated by the extraction order of Zr Mo Pd Ag Sb Sn Lns Fe. The extracted species was determined as Zr(HAA)(NO)(HNO). A continuous countercurrent extraction with HAA was applied to a simulated, concentrated HLLW after Pd, Se, and Cs removal, where the quantitative extraction of Zr and Mo was effectively demonstrated.

Quantitative risk assessment of accident managements against volcano ash hazard in a sodium-cooled fast reactor

Suzuki, Minoru*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Takata, Takashi; Doda, Norihiro

Proceedings of 27th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-27) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2019/05

https://doi.org/10.1299/jsmeicone.2019.27.1982

With an aim to establish a quantitative risk assessment of accident managements (AMs) for various external hazards, the plant dynamics analyses with Continuous Markov Chain Monte Carlo (CMMC) method were carried out to assess repeatedly occurred multi-failures by volcano ash in volcanic eruption event. AM repetition of the filter exchange to recover the cooling function of the air coolers were considered. The results showed that this method can evaluate the effectiveness of AM measures against volcanic ash fall events with respect to time progress.

Distribution and fate of I in the seabed sediment off Fukushima

Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Sato, Yuhi*; Suzuki, Takashi; Kuwabara, Jun; Nakanishi, Takahiro

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 192, p.208 - 218, 2018/12

AA2017-0744.pdf:1.17MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.06.025

From August 2011 to October 2013, the concentration of iodine-129 (I) in the seabed sediment collected from 26 stations located within 160 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was estimated. The concentrations of I in seabed sediment off Fukushima in 2011 ranged between 0.02 and 0.45 mBq/kg. Although iodine is a biophilic element, the accident-derived radioiodine negligibly affects the benthic ecosystem. Until October 2013, a slightly increased activity of I in the surface sediment in the shelf-edge region (bottom depth: 200-400 m) was observed. The increase of the I concentrations in the shelf-edge sediments was affected by the (1) transport of I-bound particles from the land through rivers and (2) re-deposition of I desorbed from the contaminated coastal sediment to the shelf-edge sediments, which were considered to be dominant processes.

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

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.