Evaluation of exposure doses and reduction factor for sheltering for each nuclear site under each accident scenario (Contract research)

Hirouchi, Jun; Watanabe, Masatoshi*; Hayashi, Naho; Nagakubo, Azusa; Takahara, Shogo

JAEA-Research 2024-015, 114 Pages, 2025/03

JAEA-Research-2024-015.pdf:10.03MB

The public living in areas contaminated by nuclear accidents is exposed to radiation in the early phase and over the long term. Even under the same accident scenario, the exposure doses and the effectiveness of sheltering, which is one of the protective measures, vary depending on the meteorological condition and the surrounding environment. The exposure doses and sheltering effectiveness in the early phase are important information for the public and the national and local governments planning a nuclear emergency preparedness. In this report, we evaluate the exposure doses and sheltering effectiveness at sites with nuclear facilities in Japan using OSCAAR, one of the probabilistic risk assessment codes, for five accident scenarios: three scenarios from past severe accident studies; a scenario defined by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority; and a scenario assuming the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. The sheltering effectiveness differed by approximately 20% among the sites. This was due to the differences in wind speed among the sites.

Effects of different accident scenarios and sites on the reduction factor used for expressing sheltering effectiveness

Hirouchi, Jun; Watanabe, Masatoshi*; Hayashi, Naho; Nagakubo, Azusa; Takahara, Shogo

Journal of Radiological Protection, 45(1), p.011506_1 - 011506_11, 2025/03

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/adba6e

Public living in areas contaminated by nuclear accidents is exposed to radiation in the early phase and over the long term. Even under similar accident scenarios, radiation doses and sheltering effectiveness, which is one of the protective measures, depend on meteorological conditions and the surrounding environment. Radiation doses and sheltering effectiveness in the early phase of nuclear accidents are crucial information for the public as well as national and local governments planning a nuclear emergency preparedness. In this study, we assessed radiation doses and sheltering effectiveness at sites with nuclear facilities in Japan using the Off-Site Consequence Analysis code for Atmospheric Release accidents, which is one of the level-3 probabilistic risk assessment codes, for five accident scenarios: three scenarios from past severe accident studies, a scenario defined by the Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan, and a scenario corresponding to the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. The sheltering effectiveness differed by up to approximately 50% among the accident scenarios at the same sites and by approximately 20%50% among sites under the same accident scenario. Differences in the radionuclide composition among the accident scenarios and the differences in wind speeds among the sites primarily caused these differences in sheltering effectiveness.

Annual report for research on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of radioactive waste in fiscal year 2023

Niwa, Masakazu; Shimada, Koji; Sueoka, Shigeru; Ishihara, Takanori; Hakoiwa, Hiroaki; Asamori, Koichi; Murakami, Osamu; Fukuda, Shoma; Ogita, Yasuhiro; Kagami, Saya; et al.

JAEA-Research 2024-013, 65 Pages, 2024/11

JAEA-Research-2024-013.pdf:4.22MB

This annual report documents the progress of research and development (R&D) in the 2nd fiscal year of the JAEA 4th Medium- and Long-term Plan (fiscal years 2022-2028) to provide the scientific base for assessing geosphere stability for long-term isolation of high-level radioactive waste. The plan framework is structured into the following categories: (1) Development and systematization of investigation techniques, (2) Development of models for long-term estimation and effective assessment, (3) Development of dating techniques. The current status of R&D activities with previous scientific and technological progress is summarized.

Research plan on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of radioactive waste (Scientific program for fiscal year 2024)

Niwa, Masakazu; Shimada, Akiomi; Asamori, Koichi; Sueoka, Shigeru; Komatsu, Tetsuya; Nakajima, Toru; Ogata, Manabu; Uchida, Mao; Nishiyama, Nariaki; Tanaka, Kiriha; et al.

JAEA-Review 2024-035, 29 Pages, 2024/09

JAEA-Review-2024-035.pdf:1.24MB

This report is a plan of research and development (R&D) on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), in fiscal year 2024. The objectives and contents of this research are described in detail based on the JAEA 4th Medium- and Long-term Plan (fiscal years 2022-2028). In addition, the background of this research is described from the necessity and the significance for site investigation and safety assessment, and the past progress. The plan framework is structured into the following categories: (1) Development and systematization of investigation techniques, (2) Development of models for long-term estimation and effective assessment, (3) Development of dating techniques.

Difference in peripherality of the inclusive and reactions and its implications for a phenomenological reaction model

Nakada, Hibiki*; Nakayama, Shinsuke; Yoshida, Kazuki; Watanabe, Yukinobu*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*

Physical Review C, 110(1), p.014616_1 - 014616_8, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.110.014616

Previous studies have revealed the importance of introducing surface correction into a phenomenological model for inclusive and reactions, and these findings have contributed significantly to the improvement of nuclear data evaluation. However, the necessity for the surface correction in an inclusive reaction has hardly been investigated. The energy spectra and their radial distributions for the and reactions are calculated by the one-step semiclassical distorted wave model. The radial distribution of the energy spectra for the reaction is shifted toward the outer region of the nucleus compared to the reaction. Based on this finding, we consider a larger surface correction into a phenomenological model for the reaction than that for the reaction, and calculated values reproduce the experimental spectra well. The peripherality of the reaction is more prominent than that of the reaction. The stronger surface correction thus should be introduced for the reaction than for the reaction.

Current numbers of qubits and their uses

Ichikawa, Tsubasa*; Hakoshima, Hideaki*; Inui, Koji*; Ito, Kosuke*; Matsuda, Ryo*; Mitarai, Kosuke*; Miyamoto, Koichi*; Mizukami, Wataru*; Mizuta, Kaoru*; Mori, Toshio*; et al.

Nature Reviews Physics (Internet), 6(6), p.345 - 347, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-024-00725-0

Degradation of a lithium cobalt oxide cathode under high voltage operation at an interface with an oxide solid electrolyte

Ito, Kotaro*; Tamura, Kazuhisa; Shimizu, Keisuke*; Yamada, Norifumi*; Watanabe, Kenta*; Suzuki, Kota*; Kanno, Ryoji*; Hirayama, Masaaki*

RSC Applied Interfaces (Internet), 1(4), p.790 - 799, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1039/D3LF00251A

LiCoO is widely used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. However, the reversible capacity of LiCoO at high voltage is not well known because of the oxidative degradation of the electrolyte. In this study, a thin-film all-solid-state battery was fabricated with epitaxially grown LiCoO cathode and LiPO solid electrolyte as a model battery that operates stably at high voltages, ranging up to 4.6 V, without drastic degradation. However, the charge-discharge capacities of the battery decreased with cycling at 4.7 V. synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies revealed that LiCoO was deactivated via a change in its crystal structure to O1 type, with narrow interlayer distances, at 4.7 V. The reduced distance between the interlayers in the O1 structure possibly prevents the re-intercalation of Li ions, leading to irreversibility.

Present status of the JAEA-AMS-TONO (2023FY)

Fujita, Natsuko; Miyake, Masayasu; Matsubara, Akihiro*; Ishii, Masahiro*; Takahashi, Yuto*; Watanabe, Takahiro; Jinno, Satoshi; Nishio, Tomohiro*; Ogawa, Yumi; Kimura, Kenji; et al.

Dai-25-Kai AMS Shimpojiumu Hokokushu (Internet), 3 Pages, 2024/03

The JAEA-AMS-TONO facility at the Tono Geoscience Center, JAEA has three accelerator mass spectrometers. We report the present status of the JAEA-AMS-TONO.

Intercalative and non-intercalative photo-recharge using all-solid-state cells for solar energy conversion and storage

Yoshimoto, Masataka*; Tamura, Kazuhisa; Watanabe, Kenta*; Shimizu, Keisuke*; Horisawa, Yuhei*; Kobayashi, Takeshi*; Tsurita, Hanae*; Suzuki, Kota*; Kanno, Ryoji*; Hirayama, Masaaki*

Sustainable Energy & Fuels (Internet), 8(6), p.1236 - 1244, 2024/03

https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SE01636F

Photo-rechargeable systems, which can efficiently convert and store solar energy into chemical energy within single devices, are essential to harness sunlight effectively. Photo-(de)intercalation plays a pivotal role in the functionality of photorechargeable systems. Nevertheless, the photo-(de)intercalation process has not been conclusively confirmed owing to potential interference from side reactions, such as the decomposition of liquid electrolytes and the elution of electrode materials. In this study, we successfully demonstrated photo-responsive Li-deintercalation using an all-solid-state thin-film battery comprised of epitaxially-grown anatase TiO doped with Nb (a-TiO:Nb) as the cathode. Under light irradiation, Li-deintercalation occurred and was subsequently reversibly intercalated into a-TiO:Nb during discharge.

Unstable stress-triaxiality development and contrasting weakening in two types of high-strength transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels; Insights from a new compact tensile testing method

Matsuno, Takashi*; Fujita, Taiki*; Matsuda, Tomoko*; Shibayama, Yuki; Hojo, Tomohiko*; Watanabe, Ikumu*

Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 322, p.118174_1 - 118174_16, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2023.118174

The impact of high stress triaxiality on work hardening in transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel has been widely acknowledged, particularly through measurements of the austenite fraction. Understanding this TRIP behavior is crucial for predicting material fracture in press-forming processes. However, the actual flow stresses under high-stress-triaxiality conditions remain largely undetermined. To address this gap, we developed a new tensile testing method using tiny notched round bars to investigate stress-triaxiality-induced work hardening in TRIP steels. The specimens were analyzed using two-dimensional micrometry to allow finite element analyses to identify the flow stress. Additionally, we conducted in situ tensile tests in which their crystal lattice stresses were monitored using synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) to realize mechanism analyses of the unexpected work-hardening behavior identified by the developed tensile testing method. Our combined approach revealed a mutual, unstable increase in the flow stress and stress triaxiality in the TRIP-aided bainitic ferrite steel, which reduced the hardening exponent coefficients and thus induced a higher stress triaxiality. In contrast, the TRIP-aided martensitic steel exhibited a weakening behavior, characterized by a significant decrease in the hardening exponent coefficients in the case of the sharpest notch. XRD analyses showed that microstructural heterogeneity led to an extraordinarily high hydrostatic stress in the austenite phase, accounting for these contrasting behaviors. This finding challenges the established consensus on TRIP steels and suggests the need for a revised framework for their application in press-forming, taking into account stress-triaxiality conditions.