Catalog of gamma-ray glows during four winter seasons in Japan

和田 有希*; 松本 崇弘*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 古田 禄大*; 米徳 大輔*; 澤野 達哉*; 岡田 豪*; 南戸 秀仁*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 3(4), p.043117_1 - 043117_31, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.043117

In 2015 the Gamma-Ray Observation of Winter Thunderstorms (GROWTH) collaboration launched a mapping observation campaign for high-energy atmospheric phenomena related to thunderstorms and lightning discharges. This campaign has developed a detection network of gamma rays with up to 10 radiation monitors installed in Kanazawa and Komatsu cities, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, where low-charge-center winter thunderstorms frequently occur. During four winter seasons from October 2016 to April 2020, in total 70 gamma-ray glows, minute-lasting bursts of gamma rays originating from thunderclouds, were detected. Their average duration is 58.9 sec. Among the detected events, 77% were observed in nighttime. The gamma-ray glows can be classified into temporally-symmetric, temporally-asymmetric, and lightning-terminated types based on their count-rate histories. An averaged energy spectrum of the gamma-ray glows is well fitted with a power-law function with an exponential cutoff, whose photon index, cutoff energy, and flux are 0.613 0.009, 4.68 0.04 MeV, and (1.013 0.003) 10 erg cms (0.2-20.0 MeV), respectively. The present paper provides the first catalog of gamma-ray glows and their statistical analysis detected during winter thunderstorms in the Kanazawa and Komatsu areas.

Improvement of HI concentration performance for hydrogen production iodine-sulfur process using crosslinked cation-exchange membrane

田中 伸幸; 澤田 真一*; 八巻 徹也*; 小平 岳秀*; 木村 壮宏*; 野村 幹弘*

Chemical Engineering Science, 237, p.116575_1 - 116575_11, 2021/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2021.116575

熱化学水素製造法ISプロセスでは、HI-I-HO (HIx)溶液のHI濃縮のため、イオン交換膜を用いた電解電気透析法(EED)が適用されている。本報では、放射線グラフト膜に対して架橋構造を導入することで、HI濃縮性能の改良を試み、導電率(),輸率(t),水透過係数()の性能指標を用いて、実験的及び理論的に性能評価を行った。架橋導入により、H及び水の透過選択性が改善されることが示された。また、EEDの数理モデルに基づく理論解析から、架橋導入による影響はHI吸収量及びH拡散係数にはほとんど影響を与えず、Iの拡散係数に影響することが明らかとなり、, tに対しては、その結果が反映されることで、Hの選択性が改善された。また、架橋の効果により、HI溶液の吸収に伴う膨潤が抑制され、その効果により、水の透過が抑制され、HI濃縮効果が高まることが示された。

Deposition and dispersion of radio-cesium released due to the Fukushima Nuclear accident, 2; Sensitivity to aerosol microphysical properties of Cs-bearing microparticles (CsMPs)

梶野 瑞王*; 足立 光司*; 五十嵐 康人*; 佐藤 志彦; 澤田 壮弘*; 関山 剛*; 財前 祐二*; 佐谷 茜*; 鶴田 治雄*; 森口 祐一*

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 126(1), 23 Pages, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033460

The dispersion and deposition of radio-cesium (Cs) carried by the two types (type A and type B) of water-insoluble Cs-bearing solid microparticles (CsMPs) released due to the Fukushima nuclear accident were simulated for the first time. The presence of type B CsMPs (70-400 m found in soil and 1-5 m found in air), associated with the hydrogen explosion of Unit 1 in the afternoon of March 12, could partly explain the simulated underestimation of total deposition over land by assuming that 100% of the Cs carriers were water-soluble submicron particles (WSPs). Type A CsMPs (0.1-10 m), released from Units 2 or 3 in the midnight between March 14 and 15, travelled over the Kanto Plain, the most populated plain in Japan. Differences in the size distribution of type A CsMPs altered the surface air concentration over Kanto substantially, by up to more than one order of magnitude. The major deposition mechanisms varied among dry, wet, and fog depositions depending on the size distribution. The simulated activity fractions due to the CsMPs in the total deposition were compared to those observed in surface soil for the first time. The observations could be explained by the simulations for the locations under the influence of type B CsMPs. However, the simulations were substantially underestimated for the locations influenced by type A CsMPs. There could be more fractions of type A CsMPs emission in the source term and/or the simulated deposition rates of type A CsMPs were underestimated.

Photonuclear reactions in lightning, 1; Verification and modeling of reaction and propagation processes

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 小高 裕和*; 古田 禄大; 土屋 晴文

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 125(20), 17 Pages, 2020/10

https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033193

We report simulation results of photonuclear reactions in the atmosphere triggered by a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash in lightning. Possible channels of reactions in the atmosphere and their cross sections are verified with the ENDF/B-VII.1 library. Monte-Carlo simulations with two stages are then performed with the Geant4 framework. In the first stage, electrons following the relativistic runaway electron avalanche spectrum are produced in a mass model of the atmosphere, and production of photoneutrons and -decay nuclei is calculated based on the nuclear data library. In total 1 neutrons and 4 -decay nuclei are produced by energetic electrons above 1 MeV. In the second stage, propagation of the photoneutrons and positrons from the -decay nuclei in the previous stage is calculated. As a result, we model on-ground distributions of fluxes and energy spectra for neutrons, neutron-related gamma rays, and annihilation ones. The simulation model is to be compared with photonuclear events detected in low-charge-center winter thunderstorms.

Unusual redox behavior of ruthenocene confined in the micropores of activated carbon

糸井 弘行*; Ninomiya, Takeru*; 長谷川 英之*; Maki, Shintaro*; Sakakibara, Akihiro*; 鈴木 隆太郎*; 笠井 湧斗*; 岩田 博之*; 松村 大樹; 大和田 真生*; et al.

Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 124(28), p.15205 - 15215, 2020/07

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c02965

We demonstrate reversible charge/discharge in ruthenocene, RuCp (Cp = -CH), using activated carbon (AC) as a support. Upon subsequent electrochemical oxidation using an aqueous HSO electrolyte, the clusters are disassembled and the RuCp molecules are finely dispersed in the micropores. The resulting RuCp has a large contact area with conductive carbon surfaces, thereby realizing rapid charge transfer at the contact interface. Consequently, rapid charge storage occurs via the reversible redox reaction of the supported RuCp in aqueous HSO without dimerization or disproportionation reactions, which is confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Since hybridization can produce different properties of the host and guest materials, their infinite combinations would have the possibility to yield properties far surpassing those of existing materials.

Photoneutron detection in lightning by gadolinium orthosilicate scintillators

和田 有希*; 中澤 知洋*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 古田 禄大; 湯浅 孝行*; 牧島 一夫*; 土屋 晴文

Physical Review D, 101(10), p.102007_1 - 102007_6, 2020/05

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.102007

During a winter thunderstorm on November 24, 2017, a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash took place and triggered photonuclear reactions with atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen nuclei, coincident with a lightning discharge at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Japan. We directly detected neutrons produced by the photonuclear reactions with gadolinium orthosilicate scintillation crystals installed at sea level. Two gadolinium isotopes included in the scintillation crystals, Gd and Gd, have large cross sections of neutron captures to thermal neutrons such as Gd(n,)Gd and Gd(n,)Gd. De-excitation gamma rays from Gd and Gd are self-absorbed in the scintillation crystals, and make spectral-line features which can be distinguished from other non-neutron signals. The neutron burst lasted for 100 ms, and neutron fluences are estimated to be 58 and 31 neutrons cm at two observation points at the power plant. Gadolinium orthosilicate scintillators work as valid detectors for thermal neutrons in lightning.

Liquid film behavior and heat-transfer mechanism near the rewetting front in a single rod air-water system

和田 裕貴; Le, T. D.; 佐藤 聡; 柴本 泰照; 与能本 泰介

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(1), p.100 - 113, 2020/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1659872

The rewetting front propagation may occur when the fuel rod is cooled by the liquid film flow after it is dried out under accident conditions for BWR cores. Our previous study has revealed importance of precursory cooling, defined as a rapid cooling just before the rewetting, which has a significant effect on the propagation velocity. To understand the mechanism of the precursory cooling, we conducted heat transfer experiments using a single heater rod contained inside the transparent glass pipe to measure heat transfer behavior with simultaneous observation using a high-speed camera. The results showed characteristic effects of the wall temperature on the liquid film flow and liquid droplets formation at the rewetting front, i.e. sputtering. Even when the liquid film flows in rivulets under adiabatic condition, horizontally uniformed rewetting front was observed with increasing wall temperature due to enhanced flow resistance by sputtering. This sputtering effect was also confirmed from observations of the liquid film thickness, which increased with approaching the rewetting front. Heat transfer coefficients were predicted roughly well with a single-phase heat transfer correlation with entrance effects, suggesting the thinner thermal boundary layer downstream of the rewetting front may be one of the precursory cooling mechanisms.

Conceptual study on parasitic low-energy RI beam production with in-flight separator BigRIPS and the first stopping examination for high-energy RI beams in the parasitic gas cell

園田 哲*; 片山 一郎*; 和田 道治*; 飯村 秀紀; Sonnenschein, V.*; 飯村 俊*; 高峰 愛子*; Rosenbusch, M.*; 小島 隆夫*; Ahn, D. S.*; et al.

Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Internet), 2019(11), p.113D02_1 - 113D02_12, 2019/11

AA2019-0315.pdf:1.37MB

https://doi.org/10.1093/ptep/ptz120

理化学研究所の不安定核ビーム施設(RIBF)では、入射核破砕反応や核分裂で生成される多くの核種からインフライト分離装置(BigRIPS)を用いて実験対象の核種を分離している。しかるに、分離された残りの核反応生成物の中にも核構造から興味深い多くの不安定核が含まれている。これらをBigRIPSから取り出して研究することができれば、RIBFの有効利用につながる。そこで、BigRIPS内に設置したガスセル中で核反応生成物を停止させてレーザーでイオン化して引き出す装置(PALIS)を開発中である。開発の一環として、RIBFのKrビームの破砕反応により生成するSe近傍の不安定核をガスセル中で停止させる実験を行なった。実験結果は破砕反応の模型計算の予測とよく一致し、ガスセル中での停止効率は約30%と評価された。この結果を基に、次のステップとして、停止した核反応生成物をガスセルから引き出すことを行う。

Downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash observed in a winter thunderstorm

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 古田 禄大; 湯浅 孝行*; 中村 佳敬*; 森本 健志*; 松元 崇弘*; 牧島 一夫*; 土屋 晴文

Physical Review Letters, 123(6), p.061103_1 - 061103_6, 2019/08

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.061103

During a winter thunderstorm on 2017 November 24, a strong burst of gamma-rays with energies up to 10 MeV was detected coincident with a lightning discharge, by scintillation detectors installed at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant at sea level in Japan. The burst had a sub-second duration, which is suggestive of photoneutron productions. The leading part of the burst was resolved into four intense gamma-ray bunches, each coincident with a low-frequency radio pulse. These bunches were separated by 0.71.5 ms, with a duration of 1 ms each. Thus, the present burst may be considered as a "downward" terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), which is analogous to up-going TGFs observed from space. Although the scintillation detectors were heavily saturated by these bunches, the total dose associated with them was successfully measured by ionization chambers, employed by nine monitoring posts surrounding the power plant. From this information and Monte Carlo simulations, the present downward TGF is suggested to have taken place at an altitude of 2500500 m, involving avalanche electrons with energies above 1 MeV which is comparable to those in up-going TGFs.

Research and development on membrane IS process for hydrogen production using solar heat

Myagmarjav, O.; 岩月 仁; 田中 伸幸; 野口 弘喜; 上地 優; 井岡 郁夫; 久保 真治; 野村 幹弘*; 八巻 徹也*; 澤田 真一*; et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(35), p.19141 - 19152, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.03.132

Thermochemical hydrogen production has attracted considerable interest as a clean energy solution to address the challenges of climate change and environmental sustainability. The thermochemical water-splitting iodine-sulfur (IS) process uses heat from nuclear or solar power and thus is a promising next-generation thermochemical hydrogen production method that is independent of fossil fuels and can provide energy security. This paper presents the current state of research and development of the IS process based on membrane techniques using solar energy at a medium temperature of 600C. Membrane design strategies have the most potential for making the IS process using solar energy highly efficient and economical and are illustrated here in detail. Three aspects of membrane design proposed herein for the IS process have led to a considerable improvement of the total thermal efficiency of the process: membrane reactors, membranes, and reaction catalysts. Experimental studies in the applications of these membrane design techniques to the Bunsen reaction, sulfuric acid decomposition, and hydrogen iodide decomposition are discussed.