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Suyama, Kenya; Ueki, Taro; Gunji, Satoshi; Watanabe, Tomoaki; Araki, Shohei; Fukuda, Kodai; Yamane, Yuichi; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Nagaya, Yasunobu; Kikuchi, Takeo; et al.
Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2023) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2023/10
To remove and store safely the fuel debris generated by the severe accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011 is one of the most important and challenging topics for decommissioning of the damaged reactors in Fukushima. To validate the adopted method for the evaluation of criticality safety control of the fuel debris through comparison with the experimental data obtained by the criticality experiments, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan funds a research and development project which was entrusted to the Nuclear Safety Research Center (NSRC) of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) from 2014. In this project, JAEA has been conducting such activities as i) comprehensive computation of the criticality characteristics of the fuel debris and making database (criticality map of the fuel debris), ii) development of new continuous energy Monte Carlo code, iii) evaluation of criticality accident and iv) modification of the critical assembly STACY for the experiments for validation of criticality safety control methodology. After the last ICNC2019, the project has the substantial progress in the modification of STACY which will start officially operation from May 2024 and the development of the Monte Carlo Code "Solomon" suitable for the criticality calculation for materials having spatially random distribution complies with the power spectrum. We present the whole picture of this research and development project and status of each technical topics in the session.
Suyama, Kenya; Ueki, Taro; Gunji, Satoshi; Watanabe, Tomoaki; Araki, Shohei; Fukuda, Kodai
Proceedings of 20th International Symposium on the Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials (PATRAM22) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/06
Since the 1990s, the importance of the handbook has changed significantly, as the computational power has improved and continuous energy Monte Carlo codes have become widely used, which enables highly accurate criticality calculations, when necessary, irrespective of the complexity of the system. Because the value of performing a large number of calculations in advance and summarizing the data has decreased, since the second edition was published publicly in 1999, there has been no revision of criticality safety handbooks in Japan for nearly a quarter of a century. In Japan, where the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident occurred in 2011, it became necessary to deal with criticality safety issues in the transport and storage of the fuel debris which contains complex constituent elements, and the summary the criticality safety management for such material is an urgent issue. In the area of burnup credit, the transport and storage of fuel assemblies with low achieved burnups due to the consequences of accidents might be the problem. In addition, nuclear data, which is the input for the continuous energy Monte Carlo code, has been improved several times, now JENDL-5 is available from the end of 2021, and its incorporation becomes a need in the field. This report provides an overview of the latest criticality safety research in Japan and the planned revision of the Criticality Safety Handbook, which could be applied to the transport and storage sectors.
/GaN interfaces with suppressed Ga-oxide interlayer via sputter deposition of SiOOnishi, Kentaro*; Kobayashi, Takuma*; Mizobata, Hidetoshi*; Nozaki, Mikito*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; Shimura, Takayoshi*; Watanabe, Heiji*
Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 62(5), p.050903_1 - 050903_4, 2023/05
While the formation of an GaO
interlayer is key to achieving SiO/GaN interfaces with low defect density, it can affect the reliability and stability of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices if the annealing conditions are not properly designed. In the present study, we aimed to minimize the growth of the GaO layer on the basis of the sputter deposition of SiO on GaN. Synchrotron radiation X-ray photoelectron spectrometry measurements confirmed the suppressed growth of the GaO layer compared with a SiO/GaN structure formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Negligible GaO growth was also observed when subsequent oxygen annealing up to 600
C was performed. A MOS device with negligible capacitance-voltage hysteresis, nearly ideal flat-band voltage, and low leakage current was demonstrated by performing oxygen and forming gas annealing at temperatures of 600C and 400C, respectively.
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
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：93.95(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)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.
Katata, Genki*; Yamaguchi, Takashi*; Watanabe, Makoto*; Fukushima, Keitaro*; Nakayama, Masataka*; Nagano, Hirohiko*; Koarashi, Jun; Tateno, Ryunosuke*; Kubota, Tomohiro
Atmospheric Environment, 298, p.119640_1 - 119640_12, 2023/04
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：58.15(Environmental Sciences)Kai, Takeshi; Toigawa, Tomohiro; Ukai, Masatoshi*; Fujii, Kentaro*; Watanabe, Ritsuko*; Yokoya, Akinari*
Journal of Chemical Physics, 158(16), p.164103_1 - 164103_8, 2023/04
New insight into water radiolysis and photolysis is indispensable in the dramatic progress of sciences and technologies in various research areas. In the radiation field, reactive hydrated electrons are considerably produced along radiation tracks. Although the formation results from a transient dynamic correlation between ejected electrons and water, the individual mechanisms of electron thermalization, delocalization, and polarization are unknown. Using a dynamic Monte Carlo code, we show herein that the ejected electrons are immediately delocalized by molecular excitations in parallel with phonon polarization and gradually thermalized by momentum transfer with an orientation polarization in a simultaneous manner. Our results show that these mechanisms heavily depend on the intermolecular vibration and rotation modes peculiar to water. We expect our approach to be a powerful technique for connecting physical and chemical processes in various solvents.
, Zr, and stainless steel and leaching behavior of the fission products and matrix elementsTonna, Ryutaro*; Sasaki, Takayuki*; Kodama, Yuji*; Kobayashi, Taishi*; Akiyama, Daisuke*; Kirishima, Akira*; Sato, Nobuaki*; Kumagai, Yuta; Kusaka, Ryoji; Watanabe, Masayuki
Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 55(4), p.1300 - 1309, 2023/04
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：72.91(Nuclear Science & Technology)Simulated debris was synthesized using UO, Zr, and stainless steel and a heat treatment method under inert or oxidizing conditions. The primary U solid phase of the debris synthesized at 1473 K under inert conditions was UO, whereas a (U,Zr)O solid solution formed at 1873 K. Under oxidizing conditions, a mixture of U
O
and (Fe,Cr)UO
phases formed at 1473 K whereas a (U,Zr)O
solid solution formed at 1873 K. The leaching behavior of the fission products from the simulated debris was evaluated using two methods: the irradiation method, for which fission products were produced via neutron irradiation, and the doping method, for which trace amounts of non-radioactive elements were doped into the debris. The dissolution behavior of U depended on the properties of the debris and aqueous medium the debris was immersed in. Cs, Sr, and Ba leached out regardless of the primary solid phases. The leaching of high-valence Eu and Ru ions was suppressed, possibly owing to their solid-solution reaction with or incorporation into the uranium compounds of the simulated debris.
Watanabe, Jin*; Araki, Yasufumi; Kobayashi, Koji*; Ozawa, Akihiro*; Nomura, Kentaro*
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 91(8), p.083702_1 - 083702_5, 2022/08
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：58.88(Physics, Multidisciplinary)We investigate magnetic orderings on kagome lattice numerically from the tight-binding Hamiltonian of electrons, governed by the filling factor and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of electrons. We find that even a simple kagome lattice model can host both ferromagnetic and noncollinear antiferromagnetic orderings depending on the electron filling, reflecting gap structures in the Dirac and flat bands characteristic to the kagome lattice. Kane-Mele- or Rashba-type SOC tends to stabilize noncollinear orderings, such a magnetic spirals and 120-degree antiferromagnetic orderings, due to the effective Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction from SOC. The obtained phase structure helps qualitative understanding of magnetic orderings in various kagome-layered materials with Weyl or Dirac electrons.
-ironHirayama, Shintaro*; Sato, Koichi*; Kato, Daiji*; Iwakiri, Hirotomo*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Watanabe, Yoshiyuki*; Nozawa, Takashi*
Nuclear Materials and Energy (Internet), 31, p.101179_1 - 101179_9, 2022/06
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：68.71(Nuclear Science & Technology)no abstracts in English
Nagano, Hirohiko; Nakayama, Masataka*; Katata, Genki*; Fukushima, Keitaro*; Yamaguchi, Takashi*; Watanabe, Makoto*; Kondo, Toshiaki*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Kubota, Tomohiro*; Tateno, Ryunosuke*; et al.
Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 67(5), p.606 - 616, 2021/10
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：19.73(Plant Sciences)We analyzed the relationships between nitrogen deposition (deposition of nitrate and ammonium ions) and soil microbial properties in a cool temperate forest surrounded by normally fertilized pasture grasslands in northern Japan. The aim of the present study was to gain the primary information on soil microbial response to moderately elevated nitrogen deposition (
10 kg N ha
y). We established three experimental plots in the forest edge adjacent to grasslands and other three plots in the forest interior at least 700 m away from the grasslands. During May to November 2018, nitrogen deposition in each plot was measured. In August 2018, litter and soil (0-5 cm depth) samples were collected from all plots to measure net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates as indicators of microbial activity, and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and various gene abundances (i.e. bacterial 16S rRNA, fungal ITS, bacterial amoA, and archaeal amoA genes) as indicators of microbial abundance and structure. Nitrogen deposition in the forest edge was 1.4-fold greater than that in the forest interior, even while the maximum deposition was 3.7 kg N ha. Nitrogen deposition was significantly correlated to the net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates and the 16S rRNA and bacterial amoA gene abundances. Microbial community structures were different between litter and soil samples but were similar between the forest edge and interior. Significant correlations of nitrogen deposition to the soil carbon to nitrogen ratio, and the nitrate and ammonium contents were also observed. Thus, our results show that moderately elevated nitrogen deposition in nitrogen-limited forest edges can stimulate microbial activities and abundances in soils.
Araki, Yasufumi; Watanabe, Jin*; Nomura, Kentaro*
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 90(9), p.094702_1 - 094702_9, 2021/09
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：16.57(Physics, Multidisciplinary)While nodal-line semimetals with magnetism have been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed in a few compounds, idea on the relation between the magnetic order and the electronic structure is still limited. We theoretically explore the electronic structure in bulk and boundary of such a magnetic nodal-line state by introducing magnetism in topological Dirac semimetal (TDSM). TDSMs, such as 
and 
,are characterized by a pair of spin-degenerate Dirac points protected by rotational symmetries of crystals. By introducing local magnetic moments coupled to the electron spins in the lattice model of TDSM, we show that the TDSM can turn into either a Weyl semimetal or a nodal-line semimetal, which is determined by the orbital dependence in the exchange coupling and the direction of magnetization formed by the magnetic moments. In this magnetic nodal-line semimetal state, we find zero modes with drumhead-like band structure at the boundary that are characterized by the topological number of 
. Those zero modes are numerically demonstrated by introducing magnetic domain walls in the lattice model.
Chiera, N. M.*; Sato, Tetsuya; Eichler, R.*; Tomitsuka, Tomohiro; Asai, Masato; Adachi, Sadia*; Dressler, R.*; Hirose, Kentaro; Inoue, Hiroki*; Ito, Yuta; et al.
Angewandte Chemie; International Edition, 60(33), p.17871 - 17874, 2021/08
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：14.88(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)The formation and the chemical characterization of single atoms of dubnium (Db, element 105), in the form of its volatile oxychloride, was investigated using the on-line gas phase chromatography technique, in the temperature range 350 - 600 
C. Under the exact same chemical conditions, comparative studies with the lighter homologs of group-5 in the Periodic Table clearly indicate the volatility sequence being NbOCl
TaOCl
DbOCl. From the obtained experimental results, thermochemical data for DbOCl were derived. The present study delivers reliable experimental information for theoretical calculations on the chemical properties of transactinides.
Okumura, Takuma*; Azuma, Toshiyuki*; Bennet, D. A.*; Caradonna, P.*; Chiu, I.-H.*; Doriese, W. B.*; Durkin, M. S.*; Fowler, J. W.*; Gard, J. D.*; Hashimoto, Tadashi; et al.
IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 31(5), p.2101704_1 - 2101704_4, 2021/08
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：11.15(Engineering, Electrical & Electronic)A superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter is an ideal X-ray detector for experiments at accelerator facilities because of good energy resolution and high efficiency. To study the performance of the TES detector with a high-intensity pulsed charged-particle beam, we measured X-ray spectra with a pulsed muon beam at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) in Japan. We found substantial temporal shifts of the X-ray energy correlated with the arrival time of the pulsed muon beam, which was reasonably explained by pulse pileup due to the incidence of energetic particles from the initial pulsed beam.
X raysOkumura, Takuma*; Azuma, Toshiyuki*; Bennet, D. A.*; Caradonna, P.*; Chiu, I. H.*; Doriese, W. B.*; Durkin, M. S.*; Fowler, J. W.*; Gard, J. D.*; Hashimoto, Tadashi; et al.
Physical Review Letters, 127(5), p.053001_1 - 053001_7, 2021/07
Times Cited Count：13 Percentile：79.44(Physics, Multidisciplinary)We observed electronic X rays emitted from muonic iron atoms using a superconducting transition-edge-type sensor microcalorimeter. The energy resolution of 5.2 eV in FWHM allowed us to observe the asymmetric broad profile of the electronic characteristic and 
X rays together with the hypersatellite X rays around 6 keV. This signature reflects the time-dependent screening of the nuclear charge by the negative muon and the 
-shell electrons, accompanied by electron side-feeding. Assisted by a simulation, this data clearly reveals the electronic - and -shell hole production and their temporal evolution during the muon cascade process.
Kubota, Tomohiro; Kuroda, Hisao*; Watanabe, Mirai*; Takahashi, Akiko*; Nakazato, Ryoji*; Tarui, Mika*; Matsumoto, Shunichi*; Nakagawa, Keita*; Numata, Yasuko*; Ouchi, Takao*; et al.
Atmospheric Environment, 243, p.117856_1 - 117856_9, 2020/12
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：15.82(Environmental Sciences)The dry and wet depositions of atmospheric ammonia (NH) is one of the important pathways of nitrogen loads to aquatic ecosystems. Crop and livestock agriculture, one of the largest emitters of NH in Asian countries, are known to cause high spatial and seasonal variation of NH and influence the surrounding lake basin areas via its dry and wet deposition. However, the spatial characteristics of the NH concentration in basin scale are not completely understood for regulation in NH emission. Here we aim to clarify dominant factors of spatial and seasonal variations of the NH concentration in a eutrophic lake basin surrounded by agricultural areas in Japan. Passive sampling over various land use categories in the basin was conducted at 36 sites in total from October 2018 to January 2020. Interestingly, the observed NH concentration near the livestock houses were higher in winter than summer, which was inconsistent with knowledge of seasonal changes of current NH emission inventory based on temperature-driven volatilization process. Comparing monthly NH concentrations with various meteorological factors, we suggested the importance of seasonal advection of NH from high emission sources to which has been rarely paid attention by the previous past studies. As for this, should be considered for lake ecosystem management since deposition of NH is known to be closely related to the ecological processes such as phytoplankton blooming.
ZnO using polyethylene by accelerator neutronsTsukada, Kazuaki; Nagai, Yasuki*; Hashimoto, Shintaro; Minato, Futoshi; Kawabata, Masako*; Hatsukawa, Yuichi*; Hashimoto, Kazuyuki*; Watanabe, Satoshi*; Saeki, Hideya*; Motoishi, Shoji*
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 89(3), p.034201_1 - 034201_7, 2020/03
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：22.16(Physics, Multidisciplinary)We found anomalously large yields of 
Ga, 
Ga, 
Zn and 
Cu by neutron irradiation on a ZnO sample in a polyethylene shield. Neutron beams are generated from the 
Be(
) reaction for 50 MeV deuterons. The yields obtained were more than 20 times larger than those in the unshielded sample. On the other hand, the yields of Ga, Ga, Zn and Cu from a metallic Zn sample and the yields of Cu, 
Ni and Zn from the ZnO and Zn samples were almost insensitive to the shield conditions. This finding would provide us a unique capability of accelerator neutrons to simultaneously produce a large amount of several radioisotopes, including proton induced reaction products, by using a single sample. The experimental data were compared with the yields estimated by using the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System and the result was discussed.
Mishima, Ria; Inaba, Yusuke*; Tachioka, Sotaro*; Harigai, Miki*; Watanabe, Shinta*; Onoe, Jun*; Nakase, Masahiko*; Matsumura, Tatsuro; Takeshita, Kenji*
Chemistry Letters, 49(1), p.83 - 86, 2020/01
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：21.18(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)Separation of platinum group metals (PGMs) from high-level liquid waste generated from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels is important to produce good quality vitrified glass for final disposal. A new sorbent, Aluminum hexacyanoferrate (AlHCF), was synthesized and the general sorption behavior of PGMs from concentrated nitric acid was examined. Nitric acid caused substantial elution of AlHCF but the sorption of Pd stabilized the structure. Consequently, Rh was sorbed in the presence of Pd, whereas single Rh sorption caused complete dissolution of AlHCF. Relation between sorbed mount of Pd vs eluted Al and Fe revealed that the elution ratio of Al and Fe was not the same as molar ratio of synthesized AlHCF, indicating the re-sorption of Fe resulted in formation of new structure. The sorption mechanism of PGMs by this new sorbent, AlHCF, not only the simple ion exchange, but also oxidation reduction reaction as well as kinetics play important rule. Understanding the general sorption and dissolution behavior will help improve the sorption performance of PGMs by AlHCF.
Tonoike, Kotaro; Watanabe, Tomoaki; Gunji, Satoshi; Yamane, Yuichi; Nagaya, Yasunobu; Umeda, Miki; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Ogawa, Kazuhiko
Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC 2019) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2019/09
Criticality control of the fuel debris in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station would be a risk-informed control to mitigate consequences of criticality events, instead of a deterministic control to prevent such events. The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan has administrated a research and development program to tackle this challenge since 2014. The Nuclear Safety Research Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency, commissioned by the authority, is conducting activities such as computations of criticality characteristics of the fuel debris, development of a criticality analysis code, preparation of criticality experiments, and development of a criticality risk analysis method.
Watanabe, Tomoaki; Okubo, Kiyoshi*; Araki, Shohei; Tonoike, Kotaro
Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC 2019) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2019/09
Kai, Takeshi; Yokoya, Akinari*; Fujii, Kentaro*; Watanabe, Ritsuko*
Hoshasen Kagaku (Internet), (106), p.21 - 29, 2018/11
It is thought to that the biological effects such as cell death or mutation are induced by complex DNA damage which are formed by several damage sites within a few nm. As the prediction of complex DNA damage at an electron track end, we report our outcomes. These results indicate that DNA damage sites comprising multiple nucleobase lesions with a single strand breaks can be formed by multiple collisions of the electrons within 1 nm. This multiple damage site cannot be processed by base excision repair enzymes. Pre-hydrated electrons can also be produced resulting in an additional base lesion over a few nm from the multi-damage site. This clustered damage site may be finally converted into a double strand break. These DSBs include another base lesion(s) at their termini that escape from the base excision process and which may result in biological effect. Our simulation is useful to reveal phenomena involved in radiation physico-chemistry as well as the DNA damage prediction.
