Experimental study on the rewetting velocity on dry out surface due to stepwise boundary condition changes

Satou, Akira; Wada, Yuki; Shibamoto, Yasuteru

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 437, p.114020_1 - 114020_14, 2025/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.114020

Post-boiling transition (post-BT) heat transfer is essential for analyzing the duration of surface dryout and peak cladding temperature during abnormal transients and accidents in light water reactors. The rewetting phenomenon is very important for evaluating the dryout duration. However, due to the lack of an experimental database on rewetting velocities under high flow and heat flux conditions, sufficient data for model development and validation do not exist. Therefore, a database on rewetting velocities caused by stepwise boundary condition changes under a wide range and multiple combination of thermal-hydraulic conditions was obtained using a single-tube experimental apparatus. Based on this database and the characteristics of rewetting velocities obtained, an experimental correlation for rewetting velocity was proposed. This correlation predicts the rewetting velocity accurately by taking the change in the mass flux of the liquid or gas phase with stepwise transients as a parameter. This suggested that the change in the mass flux of the gas or liquid phase near the liquid film front has a strong influence on the rewetting under extremely high mass flux conditions compared to the reflooding process.

Heat transfer characteristics of downward saturated boiling flow in vertical round pipes

Wada, Yuki; Shibamoto, Yasuteru; Hibiki, Takashi*

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 239, p.126598_1 - 126598_18, 2025/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2024.126598

Quantitative importance of subsoil nitrogen cycling processes in Andosols and Cambisols under temperate forests

Nakayama, Masataka; Abe, Yukiko; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Tange, Takeshi*; Sawada, Haruo*; Liang, N.*; Koarashi, Jun

Applied Soil Ecology, 201, p.105485_1 - 105485_12, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105485

Nitrogen often limits plant growth in forest ecosystems. Plants, including trees, change vertical root distribution when nutrient competition is strong within surface soil layer and take up nitrogen even from subsurface soil layers in addition to the surface soil. However, there is still limited knowledge about nitrogen cycles within deeper soil layers. In this study, we investigated the vertical profiles (0-60 cm) of the net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates at four Japanese forest sites with two different soil types (Andosols and Cambisols). The partial least square path modeling (PLS-PM) was used to determine factors affecting nitrogen-cycling processes. The net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates per unit soil weight were considerably higher in surface soil layer than in deeper soil layers in Andosols but not in Cambisols. PLS-PM analysis showed that microbial biomass and soil organic matter quantities were the main factors influencing the net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates, indicating that a similar mechanism creating the spatial variations of nitrogen-cycling processes in surface soil layer predominantly regulates the processes in subsoil layers. Moreover, it was estimated that the net nitrogen mineralization rate could be comparable at all soil types and depths when the rate was expressed per unit soil volume. Therefore, our results suggest that subsoil layers are a quantitatively important nitrogen source for plant nutrients in Andosols and Cambisols, supporting high forest productivity.

Analyses of hierarchical structures in SBR rubber by using contrast-variation SANS; Effects of a silane coupling agent

Nakanishi, Yohei*; Shibata, Motoki*; Sawada, Satoshi*; Kondo, Hiroaki*; Motokawa, Ryuhei; Kumada, Takayuki; Yamamoto, Katsuhiro*; Mita, Kazuki*; Miyazaki, Tsukasa*; Takenaka, Mikihito*

Polymer, 306, p.127209_1 - 127209_7, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2024.127209

Negative excursion of surface electric fields during gamma-ray glows in winter thunderstorms

Wada, Yuki*; Kamogawa, Masashi*; Kubo, Mamoru*; Enoto, Teruaki*; Hayashi, Shugo*; Sawano, Tatsuya*; Yonetoku, Daisuke*; Tsuchiya, Harufumi

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 128(21), p.e2023JD039354_1 - e2023JD039354_20, 2023/11

https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD039354

Termination of downward-oriented gamma-ray glow by normal-polarity in-cloud discharge activity

Wada, Yuki*; Wu, T.*; Wang, D.*; Enoto, Teruaki*; Nakazawa, Kazuhiro*; Morimoto, Takeshi*; Nakamura, Yoshitaka*; Shinoda, Taro*; Tsuchiya, Harufumi

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 128(15), p.e2023JD038606_1 - e2023JD038606_9, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD038606

Development of nondestructive elemental analysis system for Hayabusa2 samples using muonic X-rays

Osawa, Takahito; Nagasawa, Shunsaku*; Ninomiya, Kazuhiko*; Takahashi, Tadayuki*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Wada, Taiga*; Taniguchi, Akihiro*; Umegaki, Izumi*; Kubo, Kenya*; Terada, Kentaro*; et al.

ACS Earth and Space Chemistry (Internet), 7(4), p.699 - 711, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.2c00303

The concentrations of carbon and other major elements in asteroid samples provide very important information on the birth of life on the Earth and the solar-system evolution. Elemental analysis using muonic X-rays is one of the best analytical methods to determine the elemental composition of solid materials, and notably, is the only method to determine the concentration of light elements in bulk samples in a non-destructive manner. We developed a new analysis system using muonic X-rays to measure the concentrations of carbon and other major elements in precious and expectedly tiny samples recovered from the asteroid Ryugu by spacecraft Hayabusa2. Here we report the development process of the system in 4 stages and their system configurations, The analysis system is composed of a stainless-steel analysis chamber, an acrylic glove box for manipulating asteroid samples in a clean environment, and Ge semiconductor detectors arranged to surround the analysis chamber. The performance of the analysis system, including the background level, which is crucial for the measurement, was greatly improved from the first stage to the later ones. Our feasibility study showed that the latest model of our muonic X-ray analysis system is capable of determining the carbon concentration in Hayabusa2's sample model with an uncertainty of less than 10 percent in a 6-day measurement.

Design and actual performance of J-PARC 3 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron for high-intensity operation

Yamamoto, Kazami; Kinsho, Michikazu; Hayashi, Naoki; Saha, P. K.; Tamura, Fumihiko; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Tani, Norio; Takayanagi, Tomohiro; Kamiya, Junichiro; Shobuda, Yoshihiro; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(9), p.1174 - 1205, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2038301

In the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, the purpose of the 3 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) is to accelerate a 1 MW, high-intensity proton beam. To achieve beam operation at a repetition rate of 25 Hz at high intensities, the RCS was elaborately designed. After starting the RCS operation, we carefully verified the validity of its design and made certain improvements to establish a reliable operation at higher power as possible. Consequently, we demonstrated beam operation at a high power, namely, 1 MW. We then summarized the design, actual performance, and improvements of the RCS to achieve a 1 MW beam.

Improvement construction for ground around High Active liquid Waste facility in Tokai Reprocessing Plant

Omori, Kazuki; Yamauchi, Sho; Yanagibashi, Futoshi; Sasaki, Shunichi; Wada, Takuya; Suzuki, Hisanori; Domura, Kazuyuki; Takeuchi, Kenji

Nihon Hozen Gakkai Dai-18-Kai Gakujutsu Koenkai Yoshishu, p.245 - 248, 2022/07

Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP), which is shifted to decommissioning stage, stores large amount of high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW). Although TRP is implementing vitrification of HLLW to reduce the risks related to HLLW storage, additional 20 years are required to complete vitrification of HLLW. Therefore, TRP is implementing safety countermeasure related to seismic resistance of HLLW storage facility as one of the top priorities. The results of the seismic evaluation indicate that although the facility itself is seismically resistant, there is a risk of insufficient binding force acting between the facility and the surrounding ground. Thus, replacement of the surrounding ground with concrete is performed. Since the countermeasures, to protect existing buries structure and coordinate with the other construction projects around the site, are required, the dedicated team was setup to handle the process and safety management of the concrete replacement construction.

Radiocesium-bearing microparticles cause a large variation in Cs activity concentration in the aquatic insect (Tricoptera: Stenopsychidae) in the Ota River, Fukushima, Japan

Ishii, Yumiko*; Miura, Hikaru*; Jo, J.*; Tsuji, Hideki*; Saito, Rie; Koarai, Kazuma; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Urushidate, Tadayuki*; Nishikiori, Tatsuhiro*; Wada, Toshihiro*; et al.

PLOS ONE (Internet), 17(5), p.e0268629_1 - e0268629_17, 2022/05

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268629

We investigated the variability in Cs activity concentration in individual aquatic insects in detritivorous caddisfly () and carnivorous dobsonfly () larvae from the Ota River, Fukushima. Caddisfly larvae showed sporadically higher radioactivity, whereas no such outliers were observed in dobsonfly larvae. Autoradiography and scanning electron microscopy analyses confirmed that these caddisfly larvae samples contained radiocesium-bearing microparticles (CsMPs), which are insoluble Cs-bearing silicate glass particles. CsMPs were also found in potential food sources of caddisfly larvae, such as periphyton and drifting particulate organic matter, indicating that larvae may ingest CsMPs along with food particles of similar size. Although CsMPs distribution and uptake by organisms in freshwater ecosystems is relatively unknown, our study demonstrates that CsMPs can be taken up by aquatic insects.