Lattice parameters of fluorite-structured uranium-americium mixed oxides

Vauchy, R.; Hirooka, Shun; Watanabe, Masashi; Yokoyama, Keisuke; Murakami, Tatsutoshi

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 584, p.154576_1 - 154576_11, 2023/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154576

Differential pressure rise event for filters of HTTR primary helium gas circulators, 1; Investigation of differential pressure rise event

Nemoto, Takahiro; Arakawa, Ryoki; Kawakami, Satoru; Nagasumi, Satoru; Yokoyama, Keisuke; Watanabe, Masashi; Onishi, Takashi; Kawamoto, Taiki; Furusawa, Takayuki; Inoi, Hiroyuki; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2023-005, 33 Pages, 2023/05

JAEA-Technology-2023-005.pdf:5.25MB

During shut down of the HTTR (High Temperature engineering Test Reactor) RS-14 cycle, an increasing trend of filter differential pressure for the helium gas circulator was observed. In order to investigate this phenomenon, the blower of the primary helium purification system was disassembled and inspected. As a result, it is clear that the silicon oil mist entered into the primary coolant due to the deterioration of the charcoal filter performance. The replacement and further investigation of the filter are planning to prevent the reoccurrence of the same phenomenon in the future.

Materials science and fuel technologies of uranium and plutonium mixed oxide

Kato, Masato; Machida, Masahiko; Hirooka, Shun; Nakamichi, Shinya; Ikusawa, Yoshihisa; Nakamura, Hiroki; Kobayashi, Keita; Ozawa, Takayuki; Maeda, Koji; Sasaki, Shinji; et al.

Materials Science and Fuel Technologies of Uranium and Plutonium mixed Oxide, 171 Pages, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003298205

Innovative and advanced nuclear reactors using plutonium fuel has been developed in each country. In order to develop a new nuclear fuel, irradiation tests are indispensable, and it is necessary to demonstrate the performance and safety of nuclear fuels. If we can develop a technology that accurately simulates irradiation behavior as a technology that complements the irradiation test, the cost, time, and labor involved in nuclear fuel research and development will be greatly reduced. And safety and reliability can be significantly improved through simulation of nuclear fuel irradiation behavior. In order to evaluate the performance of nuclear fuel, it is necessary to know the physical and chemical properties of the fuel at high temperatures. And it is indispensable to develop a behavior model that describes various phenomena that occur during irradiation. In previous research and development, empirical methods with fitting parameters have been used in many parts of model development. However, empirical techniques can give very different results in areas where there is no data. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to construct a scientific descriptive model that can extrapolate the basic characteristics of fuel to the composition and temperature, and to develop an irradiation behavior analysis code to which the model is applied.

Hybrid process combining solvent extraction / low pressure loss extraction chromatography for a reasonable MA(III) recovery process

Sano, Yuichi; Sakamoto, Atsushi; Miyazaki, Yasunori; Watanabe, So; Morita, Keisuke; Emori, Tatsuya; Ban, Yasutoshi; Arai, Tsuyoshi*; Nakatani, Kiyoharu*; Matsuura, Haruaki*; et al.

Proceedings of International Conference on Nuclear Fuel Cycle; Sustainable Energy Beyond the Pandemic (GLOBAL 2022) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2022/07

We developed a hybrid MA(III) recovery process combining MA(III)+Ln(III) co-recovery flowsheet by solvent extraction with TBP and MA(III)/Ln(III) separation flowsheet by simulated moving bed chromatography using HONTA impregnated adsorbents with large particle size porous silica support.

Spark plasma sintering of SiC/graphite functionally graded materials

Watanabe, Masashi; Yokoyama, Keisuke; Imai, Yoshiyuki; Ueta, Shohei; Yan, X.

Ceramics International, 48(6), p.8706 - 8708, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2021.12.004

Previous studies have used various methods for sintering of SiC, carbon, and SiC/carbon functionally graded materials (FGM). However, no experimental studies on SiC/graphite FGM manufacturing using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method have been reported. In this study, a SiC/graphite FGM specimen has been fabricated using SPS. The interface between the adjacent layers of the sintered specimen exhibits no apparent defects such as gaps or delaminations. The SiC and graphite phases in the specimen show no substantial change before and after sintering.

PSTEP: Project for solar-terrestrial environment prediction

Kusano, Kanya*; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi*; Ishii, Mamoru*; Miyoshi, Yoshizumi*; Yoden, Shigeo*; Akiyoshi, Hideharu*; Asai, Ayumi*; Ebihara, Yusuke*; Fujiwara, Hitoshi*; Goto, Tadanori*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.159_1 - 159_29, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01486-1

The PSTEP is a nationwide research collaboration in Japan and was conducted from April 2015 to March 2020, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. It has made a significant progress in space weather research and operational forecasts, publishing over 500 refereed journal papers and organizing four international symposiums, various workshops and seminars, and summer school for graduate students at Rikubetsu in 2017. This paper is a summary report of the PSTEP and describes the major research achievements it produced.

Annual report on the environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant FY2018

Nakano, Masanao; Fujii, Tomoko; Nemoto, Masashi; Tobita, Keiji; Kono, Takahiko; Hosomi, Kenji; Nishimura, Shusaku; Matsubara, Natsumi; Maehara, Yushi; Narita, Ryosuke; et al.

JAEA-Review 2019-048, 165 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-048.pdf:2.69MB

Environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant has been performed by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories, based on "Safety Regulations for the Reprocessing Plant of Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Chapter IV - Environmental Monitoring". This annual report presents the results of the environmental monitoring and the dose estimation to the hypothetical inhabitant due to the radioactivity discharged from the plant to the atmosphere and the sea during April 2018 to March 2019. In this report, some data include the influence of the accidental release from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (the trade name was changed to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. on April 1, 2016) in March 2011. Appendices present comprehensive information, such as monitoring programs, monitoring methods, monitoring results and their trends, meteorological data and discharged radioactive wastes. In addition, the data which were influenced by the accidental release and exceeded the normal range of fluctuation in the monitoring, were evaluated.

Annual report on the environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant FY2017

Nakano, Masanao; Fujita, Hiroki; Mizutani, Tomoko; Nemoto, Masashi; Tobita, Keiji; Kono, Takahiko; Hosomi, Kenji; Hokama, Tomonori; Nishimura, Tomohiro; Matsubara, Natsumi; et al.

JAEA-Review 2018-025, 171 Pages, 2019/02

JAEA-Review-2018-025.pdf:3.81MB

Environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant has been performed by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories, based on "Safety Regulations for the Reprocessing Plant of Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Chapter IV - Environmental Monitoring". This annual report presents the results of the environmental monitoring and the dose estimation to the hypothetical inhabitant due to the radioactivity discharged from the plant to the atmosphere and the sea during April 2016 to March 2017. In this report, some data include the influence of the accidental release from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. in March 2011. Appendices present comprehensive information, such as monitoring programs, monitoring methods, monitoring results and their trends, meteorological data and discharged radioactive wastes. In addition, the data which were influenced by the accidental release and were exceeded the normal range of fluctuation in the monitoring, were evaluated.

Influence of linear energy transfer on the scintillation decay behavior in a lithium glass scintillator

Koshimizu, Masanori*; Iwamatsu, Kazuhiro*; Taguchi, Mitsumasa; Kurashima, Satoshi; Kimura, Atsushi; Yanagida, Takayuki*; Fujimoto, Yutaka*; Watanabe, Kenichi*; Asai, Keisuke*

Journal of Luminescence, 169(Part B), p.678 - 681, 2016/01

We analyzed the effects of linear energy transfer (LET) on the scintillation properties of a Li glass scintillator, GS20. The scintillation time profiles were measured by using pulsed ion beams having different LETs. The rise in the scintillation time profiles was faster for higher LET, whereas the decay part was not significantly different for largely different LETs. The LET effects in the rise was ascribed to the effects of excited states interaction during the energy transfer process from the host glass to the luminescent centers, Ce ions. Supposing that the light yield decreases with LET, the fast rise at high LET was explained in terms of the competition between the energy transfer and the quenching due to the excited states interaction.

SR study of impurity effects on the Cu-spin fluctuations in the overdoped regime of LaSrCuZnO

Risdiana*; Adachi, Tadashi*; Oki, Naoki*; Yairi, Satoshi*; Tanabe, Yoichi*; Omori, Keisuke*; Suzuki, Takao*; Watanabe, Isao*; Koda, Akihiro*; Higemoto, Wataru; et al.

Physica C, 460-462(2), p.874 - 875, 2007/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2007.03.372

Zero-field muon-spin-relaxation measurements have been carried out for LaSrCuZnO (LSCO)with = 0-0.10 in the overdoped regime up to = 0.30, in order to investigate whether the dynamical stripe correlations are pinned and stabilized even for the overdoped LSCO or not. It has been found that the Zn-induced slowing down of the Cu-spin fluctuations is weakened with increasing but takes place in the overdoped regime and disappears at = 0.30. This suggests that the stripe-pinning model holds good in the whole superconducting regime of LSCO and that there is no quantum critical point at 0.19.