Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Koike, Akari*; Nemoto, Masaya*; Nakashima, Risako*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki
Proceedings of 2023 International Congress on Advanced in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2023) (Internet), 2 Pages, 2023/04
To evaluate the effect of the operator's recognition of the accident management (AM) necessity on plant safety, the operator's recognition of the AM necessity was modeled as a function of time-dependent success probability, and dynamic PRA analyses were performed for a sodium-cooled fast reactor during abnormal snowfall. The analysis results showed that the operator's recognition of the snowfall can avoid the core damage at an earlier stage after the accident.
Koike, Akari*; Nakashima, Risako*; Nemoto, Masaya*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki
Proceedings of 12th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS12) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2022/10
Due to global warming, the amount of snowfall in abnormal snowfall events may increase in the future. In order to evaluate the effect of global warming on the probability of exceeding the limit temperature at the core outlet as a core damage factor in a sodium-cooled fast reactor, a hazard curve of snowfall was developed considering global warming, and a dynamic PRA was performed. As a result, it was found that the amount of snowfall in abnormal snowfall events increases due to global warming, and the probability of exceeding the limit temperature increases.
Nakashima, Risako*; Koike, Akari*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki
Proceedings of 29th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 29) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2022/08
In development of a quantitative risk assessment method to the external hazards for a sodium-cooled fast reactor, a dynamic PRA using the Continuous Markov chain Monte Carlo (CMMC) method was performed to evaluate the effect of global warming on the probability of exceeding the temperature limit as a core damage factor. There is a possibility that the amount of snowfall in abnormal snowfall events will increase due to global warming in the future. A hazard curve of snowfall considering global warming was developed. The results show that the probability of exceeding the temperature limit is increased by the abnormal snowfall events due to global warming.
Uchida, Mao*; Alzahrani, H.*; Shiono, Mikihito*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Matsushita, Kentaro; Ezure, Toshiki; Tanaka, Masaaki
Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 16 Pages, 2022/03
Gas entrainment from cover gas is one of key issues for sodium-cooled fast reactors design to prevent unexpected effects to core reactivity. A vortex model based evaluation method has been developed to evaluate the surface vortex gas core growth at the free surface in the reactor vessel. In this study, water experiments were performed to clarify the prediction accuracy for the vortex gas core growth during the vortex drift motion using a circulating water tunnel with an open flow channel test section. Gas core growth were predicted by applying the evaluation method to the numerical analyses performed in the same geometry of the experiments, and compared with the experimental results. It was observed the gas core growth became large at downstream region where downward velocity became large in experiment. However, the gas core length which were predicted from numerical result showed a discrepancy with the experimental result on the peak position and an overestimation of peak value.
Uchida, Mao*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Ezure, Toshiki; Tanaka, Masaaki
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.21-00161_1 - 21-00161_11, 2021/08
An evaluation method based on numerical analyses has been developed to predict occurrences gas entrainment phenomena at a free surface in a sodium-cooled fast reactor. In this study, experiments were conducted for gas entrainments due to drifting free surface vortexes observed in a circulating water tunnel geometry. Numerical analyses were also conducted in the same geometry using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Then, Strouhal numbers of vortex frequency and detailed flow velocity profiles were compared between experimental results and numerical results to clarify the evaluation accuracy of CFD calculation. As the results, the Strouhal numbers of the vortex frequency obtained from numerical analyses showed good agreement with the experimental data.
Matsushita, Kentaro; Fujisaki, Tatsuya*; Ezure, Toshiki; Tanaka, Masaaki; Uchida, Mao*; Sakai, Takaaki*
Keisan Kogaku Koenkai Rombunshu (CD-ROM), 26, 6 Pages, 2021/05
For the gas entrainment vortex at the free surface in sodium-cooled fast reactors, development of the numerical analysis method to evaluate amount of the gas entrainment from the free surface has been developing. In this paper, the automatic creation of analysis meshes which can suppress the calculation cost while maintaining the prediction accuracy of the vortex shape is investigated, and the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) method is examined to the creation of analysis mesh applying to the unsteady vortex system. The refined mesh based on the criterion evaluated by vorticity, Q-value as second invariant of the velocity and the discriminant for the eigen equation of the velocity gradient tensor is considered, and it found that the AMR method based on Q-value can refine the analysis meshes most efficiently.
Yano, Naomine*; Yamada, Taro*; Hosoya, Takaaki*; Ohara, Takashi; Tanaka, Ichiro*; Niimura, Nobuo*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*
Acta Crystallographica Section D; Structural Biology (Internet), 74(11), p.1041 - 1052, 2018/11
Times Cited Count：13 Percentile：74.07(Biochemical Research Methods)Hirakawa, Moe*; Kikuchi, Yuichiro*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ohshima, Hiroyuki
Proceedings of 26th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-26) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2018/07
Gas entrainment (GE) from cover gas is one of key issue for Sodium-cooled fast reactors to prevent unexpected effects to core reactivity. By using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, analyses have been conducted to estimate the drifting vortexes on water experiments which were generated as wake vortexes behind a plate obstacle in the circulating water channel. In this paper, the results of comparison between experiments and analyses were discussed and the gas core lengths from the surface vortexes were evaluated by using the evaluation tool named StreamViewer developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
Tashiro, Koji*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*; Hosoya, Takaaki*; Ohara, Takashi; Hanesaka, Makoto*; Yoshizawa, Yoshinori*; Yamamoto, Hiroko*; Niimura, Nobuo*; Tanaka, Ichiro*; Kurihara, Kazuo*; et al.
Macromolecules, 51(11), p.3911 - 3922, 2018/06
Times Cited Count：5 Percentile：18.18(Polymer Science)Kamide, Hideki; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Sakai, Takaaki; Tanaka, Masaaki
Nuclear Engineering and Design, 312, p.30 - 41, 2017/02
Times Cited Count：6 Percentile：51.46(Nuclear Science & Technology)In the framework of the Generation-IV International Forum, the safety design criteria (SDC) incorporating safety-related Research and Development results on innovative technologies and lessons learned from Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants accident has been established to provide the set of general criteria for the safety designs of structures, systems and components of Generation-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (Gen-IV SFRs). A number of thermal-hydraulic evaluations are necessary to meet the concept of the criteria in the design studies of Gen-IV SFRs. This paper focuses on four kinds of thermal-hydraulic issues associated with the SDC, i.e., fuel subassembly thermal-hydraulics, natural circulation decay heat removal, core disruptive accidents, and thermal striping. Progress of evaluation methods on these issues is shown with activities on verification and validation (V and V) and experimental studies towards commercialization of SFR in Japan. These evaluation methods are planned to be eventually integrated into a comprehensive numerical simulation system that can be applied to all possible phenomena in SFR systems and that can be expected to become an effective tool for the development of human resource and the handing our knowledge and technologies down.
Yano, Naomine*; Yamada, Taro*; Hosoya, Takaaki*; Ohara, Takashi; Tanaka, Ichiro*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*
Scientific Reports (Internet), 6, p.36628_1 - 36628_9, 2016/12
Times Cited Count：11 Percentile：61.6(Multidisciplinary Sciences)Kamide, Hideki; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Sakai, Takaaki; Tanaka, Masaaki
Proceedings of 16th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-16) (USB Flash Drive), p.8141 - 8155, 2015/08
In this paper, the authors focus on four kinds of thermal-hydraulic issues associated with the SDC, i.e. fuel assembly thermal-hydraulics, natural circulation decay heat removal, thermal striping phenomena, and core disruptive accidents, and provide a description of their evaluation method developments including verification and validation and necessary experimental studies for the Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR). These evaluation methods are planned to be eventually integrated into a comprehensive numerical simulation system that can be applied to all phenomena envisioned in SFR systems and that can be expected to become an effective tool for the development of human resource and the handing down of knowledge/technologies.
Unno, Masayoshi*; Ishikawa, Kumiko*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*; Tamada, Taro; Hagiwara, Yoshinori*; Sugishima, Masakazu*; Wada, Kei*; Yamada, Taro*; Tomoyori, Katsuaki; Hosoya, Takaaki*; et al.
Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137(16), p.5452 - 5460, 2015/04
Times Cited Count：28 Percentile：64.39(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)Phycocyanobilin, a light-harvesting and photoreceptor pigment in higher plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, is synthesized from biliverdin IX
(BV) by phycocyanobilin:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PcyA) via two steps of two-proton-coupled two-electron reduction. We determined the neutron structure of PcyA from cyanobacteria complexed with BV, revealing the exact location of the hydrogen atoms involved in catalysis. Notably, approximately half of the BV bound to PcyA was BVH
, a state in which all four pyrrole nitrogen atoms were protonated. The protonation states of BV complemented the protonation of adjacent Asp105. The "axial "water molecule that interacts with the neutral pyrrole nitrogen of the A-ring was identified. His88 N
was protonated to form a hydrogen bond with the lactam O atom of the BV A-ring. His88 and His74 were linked by hydrogen bonds via H
O. These results imply that Asp105, His88, and the axial water molecule contribute to proton transfer during PcyA catalysis.
Tashiro, Koji*; Hanesaka, Makoto*; Yamamoto, Hiroko*; Wasanasuk, K.*; Jayaratri, P.*; Yoshizawa, Yoshinori*; Tanaka, Ichiro*; Niimura, Nobuo*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*; Hosoya, Takaaki*; et al.
Kobunshi Rombunshu, 71(11), p.508 - 526, 2014/11
Times Cited Count：6 Percentile：22.37(Polymer Science)The crystal structure analysis of various polymer substances has been reviewed on the basis of wide-angle high-energy X-ray and neutron diffraction data. The progress in structural analytical techniques of polymer crystals have been reviewed at first. The structural models proposed so far were reinvestigated and new models have been proposed for various kinds of polymer crystals including polyethylene, poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(lactic acid) and its stereocomplex etc. The hydrogen atomic positions were also clarified by the quantitative analysis of wide-angle neutron diffraction data, from which the physical properties of polymer crystals have been evaluated theoretically. The bonded electron density distribution has been estimated for a polydiacetylene single crystal on the basis of the so-called X-N method or by the combination of structural information derived from X-ray and neutron diffraction data analysis. Some comments have been added about future developments in the field of structure-property relationship determination.
Kusaka, Katsuhiro*; Hosoya, Takaaki*; Yamada, Taro*; Tomoyori, Katsuaki; Ohara, Takashi; Katagiri, Masaki*; Kurihara, Kazuo; Tanaka, Ichiro*; Niimura, Nobuo*
Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 20(6), p.994 - 998, 2013/11
Times Cited Count：37 Percentile：85.99(Instruments & Instrumentation)The IBARAKI biological crystal diffractometer, iBIX, is a high-performance time-of-flight neutron single-crystal diffractometer for elucidating mainly the hydrogen, protonation and hydration structures of biological macromolecules in various life processes. Since the end of 2008, iBIX has been available to user's experiments supported by Ibaraki University. Since August 2012, an upgrade of the 14-existing detectors has begun and 16 new detectors have been installed for iBIX. The total measurement efficiency of the present diffractometer has been impoved by one order of magnitude from the previous one with the increasing of accelerator power. In December 2012, commissioning of the new detectors was successful, and collection of the diffraction dataset of ribonucrease A as a standard protein was attempted in order to estimate the performance of the upgraded iBIX in comparison with previous results. The resolution of diffraction data, equivalence among intensities of symmetry-related reflections and reliability of the refined structure have been improved dramatically. iBIX is expected to be one of the highest-performance neutron single-crystal diffractometers for biological macromolecules in the world.
Yokoyama, Takeshi*; Mizuguchi, Mineyuki*; Nabeshima, Yuko*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*; Yamada, Taro*; Hosoya, Takaaki*; Ohara, Takashi; Kurihara, Kazuo; Tanaka, Ichiro*; Niimura, Nobuo*
Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 20(6), p.834 - 837, 2013/11
Times Cited Count：6 Percentile：33.62(Instruments & Instrumentation)Transthyretin (TTR) is a tetrameric protein. TTR misfolding and aggregation are associated with human amyloid diseases. Dissociation of the TTR tetramer is believed to be the rate-limiting step in the amyloid fibril formation cascade. Low pH is known to promote dissociation into monomer and the formation of amyloid fibrils. In order to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying pH sensitivity and structural stabilities of TTR, neutron diffraction studies were conducted using the IBARAKI Biological Crystal Diffractometer with the time-of-flight method. Crystals for the neutron diffraction experiments were grown up to 2.5 mm
for four months. The neutron crystal structure solved at 2.0 
revealed the protonation states of His88 and the detailed hydrogen-bond network depending on the protonation states of His88. This hydrogen-bond network is involved in monomer-monomer and dimer-dimer interactions, suggesting that the double protonation of His88 by acidification breaks the hydrogen-bond network and causes the destabilization of the TTR tetramer. Structural comparison with the X-ray crystal structure at acidic pH identified the three amino acid residues responsible for the pH sensitivity of TTR. Our neutron model provides insights into the molecular stability related to amyloidosis.
Sakai, Takaaki; Yamano, Hidemasa; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ono, Ayako; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Tetsuya*; Hirota, Kazuo*; Sago, Hiromi*; Xu, Y.*; Iwamoto, Yukiharu*; et al.
Proceedings of 15th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-15) (USB Flash Drive), 13 Pages, 2013/05
The development of flow-induced vibration evaluation methodology has reached a milestone that separate-effect experimental data under a high Reynolds number regime including swirl and deflected inflow conditions are available for the validation of the methodology. On the other hand, technical standards are desirable to be documented for designers of sodium-cooled fast reactors. From such a background, the documentation of a flow-induced vibration design guideline has been made for the hot-leg piping of Japan sodium-cooled fast reactor. This paper describes the design guideline of the flow-induced vibration evaluation methodology, which has been informed from main separate-effect experiments, as well as supplemental interpretation for the guideline.
Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Nobuatsu*; Eguchi, Yuzuru*; Nishimura, Motohiko*; Kunugi, Tomoaki*; Uchibori, Akihiro; Ito, Kei; Sakai, Takaaki
Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 11(4), p.316 - 328, 2012/12
It is of importance for stable operations of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) to prevent gas entrainment (GE) phenomena due to free surface vortices. Therefore, the authors have been developing an evaluation method for GE based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. In this study, we determine the suitable CFD method for GE phenomena from several candidates through some numerical benchmarks. As the results, we obtain the following guideline for the vortex-induced gas entrainment. Free vortex flow around the vortex core can be correctly evaluated by using the appropriate numerical models such as enough mesh resolution, suitable advection solver, suitable turbulence and free surface modeling.
Odaka, Hirokazu*; Ichinohe, Yuto*; Takeda, Shinichiro*; Fukuyama, Taro*; Hagino, Koichi*; Saito, Shinya*; Sato, Tamotsu*; Sato, Goro*; Watanabe, Shin*; Kokubun, Motohide*; et al.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 695, p.179 - 183, 2012/12
Times Cited Count：23 Percentile：84.01(Instruments & Instrumentation)We have developed a new Si/CdTe semiconductor double-sided strip detector (DSD) Compton camera. The camera consists of a 500-
m-thick Si-DSD and four layers of 750-m-thick CdTe-DSDs all of which have common electrode configuration segmented into 128 strips on each side with pitches of 250m. In order to realize high angular resolution and to reduce size of the detector system, a stack of DSDs with short stack pitches of 4 mm is utilized to make the camera. Taking advantage of the excellent energy and position resolutions of the semiconductor devices, the camera achieves high angular resolutions of 4.5 degrees at 356 keV and 3.5 degrees at 662 keV. To obtain such high resolutions together with an acceptable detection efficiency, we demonstrate data reduction methods including energy calibration using Compton scattering continuum and depth sensing in the CdTe-DSD. We also discuss imaging capability of the camera and show simultaneous multi-energy imaging.
-ray cameraTakeda, Shinichiro*; Ichinohe, Yuto*; Hagino, Koichi*; Odaka, Hirokazu*; Yuasa, Takayuki*; Ishikawa, Shinnosuke*; Fukuyama, Taro*; Saito, Shinya*; Sato, Tamotsu*; Sato, Goro*; et al.
Physics Procedia, 37, p.859 - 866, 2012/10
Times Cited Count：22 Percentile：98.43(Physics, Applied)By using new Compton camera consisting of silicon double-sided strip detector (Si-DSD) and CdTe-DSD developed for the ASTRO-H mission, an experiment was conducted to study its feasibility for advanced hotspot monitoring. In addition to hotspot imaging already provided by commercial imaging systems, the identification of the variety of radioisotopes is realized thanks to the good energy resolution given by the semiconductor detectors. Three radioisotopes of 
Ba (356 keV), 
Na (511 keV) and 
Cs (662 keV) were individually imaged by applying event selection in the energy window and the -ray images was correctly overlapped by an optical picture. The detection efficiency of 1.68
10
(effective area: 1.710 cm
) and angular resolution of 3.8
were obtained by stacking five detector modules for 662 keV -ray. The higher detection efficiency required in a specific use can be achieved by stacking more detector modules.
