R&D status of digital technology on inverse estimation of radioactive source distributions and related source countermeasures; Fast Digital Twin Tech. in Decommissioning Field: 3D-ADRES-Indoor FrontEnd

Machida, Masahiko; Yamada, Susumu; Kim, M.; Tanaka, Satoshi*; Tobita, Yasuhiro*; Iwata, Ayako*; Aoki, Yuto; Aoki, Kazuhisa; Yanagisawa, Kenichi*; Yamaguchi, Takashi; et al.

RIST News, (70), p.3 - 22, 2024/09

Inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F), there are many locations with high radiation levels due to contamination by radioactive materials that leaked from the reactor. These pose a significant obstacle to the smooth progress of decommissioning work. To help solve this issue, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), under a subsidy from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry's decommissioning and contaminated water management project, is conducting research and development on digital technologies to improve the radiation environment inside the decommissioning site. This project, titled "Development of Technology to Improve the Environment Inside Reactor Buildings (Enhancing Digital Technology for Environment and Source Distribution to Reduce Radiation Exposure)," began in April of FY 2023. In this project, the aim is to develop three interconnected systems: FrontEnd, Pro, and BackEnd. The FrontEnd system, based on the previously developed 3D-ADRES-Indoor (prototype) from FY 2021-2022, will be upgraded to a high-speed digital twin technology usable on-site. The Pro system will carry out detailed analysis in rooms such as the new office building at 1F, while the BackEnd system will serve as a database to centrally manage the collected and analyzed data. This report focuses on the FrontEnd system, which will be used on-site. After point cloud measurement, the system will quickly create a 3D mesh model, estimate the radiation source from dose rate measurements, and refine the position and intensity of the estimated source using recalculation techniques (re-observation instructions and re-estimation). The results of verification tests conducted on Unit 5 are also presented. Furthermore, the report briefly discusses the future research and development plans for this project.

Thermal conductivity measurement of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide doped with Nd/Sm as simulated fission products

Horii, Yuta; Hirooka, Shun; Uno, Hiroki*; Ogasawara, Masahiro*; Tamura, Tetsuya*; Yamada, Tadahisa*; Furusawa, Naoya*; Murakami, Tatsutoshi; Kato, Masato

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 588, p.154799_1 - 154799_20, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154799

The thermal conductivities of near-stoichiometric (U,Pu,Am)O doped with NdO/SmO, which is major fission product (FP) generated by a uranium-plutonium mixed oxides (MOX) fuel irradiation, as simulated fission products are evaluated at 1073-1673 K. The thermal conductivities are calculated from the thermal diffusivities that are measured using the laser flash method. To evaluate the thermal conductivity from a homogeneity viewpoint of Nd/Sm cations in MOX, the specimens with different homogeneity of Nd/Sm are prepared using two kinds of powder made by ball-mill and fusion methods. A homogeneous Nd/Sm distribution decreases the thermal conductivity of MOX with increasing Nd/Sm content, whereas heterogeneous Nd/Sm has no influence. The effect of Nd/Sm on the thermal conductivity is studied using the classical phonon transport model (A+BT). The dependences of the coefficients A and B on the Nd/Sm content (C and C, respectively) are evaluated as: A(mK/W)=1.70 10 + 0.93C + 1.20C, B(m/W)=2.39 10.

Level structures of Ca cast doubt on a doubly magic Ca

Chen, S.*; Browne, F.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Lee, J.*; Obertelli, A.*; Tsunoda, Yusuke*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Chazono, Yoshiki*; Hagen, G.*; Holt, J. D.*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138025_1 - 138025_7, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138025

Gamma decays were observed in Ca and Ca following quasi-free one-proton knockout reactions from Sc. For Ca, a ray transition was measured to be 1456(12) keV, while for Ca an indication for a transition was observed at 1115(34) keV. Both transitions were tentatively assigned as the decays. A shell-model calculation in a wide model space with a marginally modified effective nucleon-nucleon interaction depicts excellent agreement with experiment for level energies, two-neutron separation energies, and reaction cross sections, corroborating the formation of a new nuclear shell above the N = 34 shell. Its constituents, the and orbitals, are almost degenerate. This degeneracy precludes the possibility for a doubly magic Ca and potentially drives the dripline of Ca isotopes to Ca or even beyond.

"Southwestern" boundary of the island of inversion; First study of low-lying bound excited states in V and V

Elekes, Z.*; Juhsz, M. M.*; Sohler, D.*; Sieja, K.*; Yoshida, Kazuki; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Achouri, N. L.*; Baba, Hidetada*; et al.

Physical Review C, 106(6), p.064321_1 - 064321_10, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.106.064321

The low-lying level structure of V and V was investigated for the first time. The neutron knockout reaction and inelastic proton scattering were applied for V while the neutron knock-out reaction provided the data for V. Four and five new transitions were determined for V and V, respectively. Based on the comparison to our shell-model calculations using the Lenzi-Nowacki-Poves-Sieja (LNPS) interaction, three of the observed rays for each isotope could be placed in the level scheme and assigned to the decay of the first 11/2 and 9/2 levels. The (,) excitation cross sections for V were analyzed by the coupled-channels formalism assuming quadrupole plus hexadecapole deformations. Due to the role of the hexadecapole deformation, V could not be unambiguously placed on the island of inversion.

A First glimpse at the shell structure beyond Ca; Spectroscopy of K, Ca, and Ca

Koiwai, Takuma*; Wimmer, K.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Barbieri, C.*; Duguet, T.*; Holt, J. D.*; Miyagi, Takayuki*; Navrtil, P.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 827, p.136953_1 - 136953_7, 2022/04

AA2021-0775.pdf:0.62MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2022.136953

no abstracts in English

Structural changes in pH-responsive gelatin/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate blends aimed at drug-release systems

Nogami, Satoshi*; Kadota, Kazunori*; Uchiyama, Hiromasa*; Arima-Osonoi, Hiroshi*; Iwase, Hiroki*; Tominaga, Taiki*; Yamada, Takeshi*; Takata, Shinichi; Shibayama, Mitsuhiro*; Tozuka, Yuichi*

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 190, p.989 - 998, 2021/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.09.074

Thermally altered subsurface material of asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Kitazato, Kohei*; Milliken, R. E.*; Iwata, Takahiro*; Abe, Masanao*; Otake, Makiko*; Matsuura, Shuji*; Takagi, Yasuhiko*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Hiroi, Takahiro*; Matsuoka, Moe*; et al.

Nature Astronomy (Internet), 5(3), p.246 - 250, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01271-2

Here we report observations of Ryugu's subsurface material by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of excavated material exhibit a hydroxyl (OH) absorption feature that is slightly stronger and peak-shifted compared with that observed for the surface, indicating that space weathering and/or radiative heating have caused subtle spectral changes in the uppermost surface. However, the strength and shape of the OH feature still suggests that the subsurface material experienced heating above 300 C, similar to the surface. In contrast, thermophysical modeling indicates that radiative heating does not increase the temperature above 200 C at the estimated excavation depth of 1 m, even if the semimajor axis is reduced to 0.344 au. This supports the hypothesis that primary thermal alteration occurred due to radiogenic and/or impact heating on Ryugu's parent body.

Oxygen potential measurement of (U,Pu,Am)O and (U,Pu,Am,Np)O

Hirooka, Shun; Matsumoto, Taku; Kato, Masato; Sunaoshi, Takeo*; Uno, Hiroki*; Yamada, Tadahisa*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 542, p.152424_1 - 152424_9, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152424

The measurement of oxygen potential was conducted at 1,673, 1,773, and 1,873 K for (UPuAm)O and at 1,873 and 1,923 K for (UPuAmNp)O by using a thermo-gravimeter and an oxygen sensor. Am inclusion in terms of substituting the U significantly increased the oxygen potential. Similarly, the inclusion of Np as a substitute for U increased the oxygen potential; however, the effect was not as large as that with the Pu or Am addition at the same rate. The results were analyzed via defect chemistry and certain defect formations were suggested in the reducing region and the near-stoichiometric region by plotting the relationship between PO and the deviation from the stoichiometry. The equilibrium constants of the defect reactions were arranged to reproduce the experiment such that Am/Np contents were included in the entropy with coefficients fitting the experimental data.

Status of study of long-term assessment of transport of radioactive contaminants in the environment of Fukushima (FY2018) (Translated document)

Nagao, Fumiya; Niizato, Tadafumi; Sasaki, Yoshito; Ito, Satomi; Watanabe, Takayoshi; Dohi, Terumi; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Funaki, Hironori; et al.

JAEA-Research 2020-007, 249 Pages, 2020/10

JAEA-Research-2020-007.pdf:15.83MB

The accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. occurred due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, Sanriku offshore earthquake, of 9.0 magnitude and the accompanying tsunami. As a result, large amount of radioactive materials was released into the environment. Under these circumstances, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting "Long-term Assessment of Transport of Radioactive Contaminants in the Environment of Fukushima" concerning radioactive materials released in environment, especially migration behavior of radioactive cesium since November 2012. This report is a summary of the research results that have been obtained in environmental dynamics research conducted by JAEA in Fukushima Prefecture.

Quasifree neutron knockout from Ca corroborates arising neutron magic number

Chen, S.*; Lee, J.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Barbieri, C.*; Chazono, Yoshiki*; Navrtil, P.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Raimondi, F.*; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 123(14), p.142501_1 - 142501_7, 2019/10

AA2019-0306.pdf:0.57MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.142501

no abstracts in English