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Kikuchi, Shin; Sakamoto, Kan*; Takai, Toshihide; Yamano, Hidemasa
Nippon Kikai Gakkai 2020-Nendo Nenji Taikai Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 4 Pages, 2020/09
In a postulated severe accidental condition of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), eutectic melting between boron carbide (B
C) as control rod element and stainless steel (SS) as control rod cladding or related structure may occur. Thus, behavior of BC-SS eutectic melting is one of the phenomena to evaluate the core disruptive accidents in SFR. In order to clarify the kinetic feature of BC-SS eutectic melting process in the interface, the thinning test for SS crucibles using the pellets of BC or SS with low BC concentration were performed to obtain the rate constant with dependence of BC concentration against SS. It was found that the rate constants of eutectic melting between SS and SS low BC concentration were smaller than that of BC-SS in the high temperature range. Besides, the rate constant of eutectic melting between SS and BC containing SS became small when decreasing the BC concentration against SS.
Takata, Takashi*; Yamano, Hidemasa; Narumiya, Yoshiyuki*
Nippon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi, 62(8), p.448 - 451, 2020/08
This report describes risk analysis applicable to selection and evaluation of external hazards in risk assessment. Volcanic ash hazard evaluation is shown as one of hazard evaluations. The objective of the risk assessment is to secure and improve the safety of nuclear installation. This report also describes discussion on the process of response informed based on risk evaluation against external hazards.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2020/08
One of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors is eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation. Such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses in the past, therefore it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study focuses on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in a range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a severe accident computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies conducted until 2018. Specific results in this paper are boron concentration distributions of solidified BC-SS eutectic sample in the eutectic melting experiments, which would be used for the validation of the eutectic physical model implemented into the computer code.
Kikuchi, Shin; Yamano, Hidemasa; Nakamura, Kinya*
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2020/08
In a postulated severe accidental condition of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), eutectic melting between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) may take place. Thus, kinetic behavior of BC-SS eutectic melting is one of the important phenomena to be considered when evaluating the core disruptive accidents in SFR. In this study, for the first step to obtain the fundamental information on kinetic feature of BC-SS eutectic melting, the thermal analysis using the pellet type samples of BC and Type 316L SS as different experimental technique was performed. The differential thermal analysis endothermic peaks for the BC-SS eutectic melting appeared from 1483K to 1534K and systematically shifted to higher temperatures when increasing heating rate. Based on this kinetic feature, apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the BC-SS eutectic melting were determined by Kissinger method. It was found that the kinetic parameters obtained by thermal analysis were comparable to the literature values.
Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2020/08
Liu, X.*; Morita, Koji*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2020/08
In our previous study, a two-dimensional fast reactor safety analysis code, SIMMER-III, was extended to include a physical model to simulate the eutectic reaction between stainless steel (SS) and BC. Based on experimental knowledge on eutectic reaction, the growth of eutectic material was modeled according to a parabolic rate law. Heat and mass transfer behaviors among reactor materials including a eutectic composition in solid and liquid phases were also modeled considering both equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes in phase change. Physical properties of the eutectic composition were also formulated based on experimental measurements for 5 mass% BC-SS composition. In this study, we extended the eutectic reaction model to SIMMER-IV, a three-dimensional counterpart of SIMMER-III. We performed validation analysis using SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV with the developed model based on an experiment, where a BC pellet was immersed into a molten SS pool. Boron concentration in the pool was measured at several time points and the boron concentration after solidification of the molten pool was compared with the experiment post analysis result. Simulation results of boron distribution are comparable to the experimental results.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro
Nippon Kikai Gakkai Rombunshu (Internet), 86(883), p.19-00360_1 - 19-00360_13, 2020/03
It is necessary to simulate a eutectic melting reaction and relocation behavior of boron carbide (BC) as a control rod material and stainless steel (SS) during a core disruptive accident in an advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor designed in Japan because the BC-SS eutectic relocation behavior has a large uncertainty in the reactivity history based on a simple calculation. A physical model simulating the eutectic melting reaction and relocation was developed and implemented into a severe accident simulation code. The developed model must be validated by using test data. To validate the physical model, therefore, the visualization tests of SS-BC eutectic melting reaction was carried out by contacting SS melts of several kg with a BC pellet heated up to about 1500 
C. The tests have shown the eutectic reaction visualization as well as freezing and relocation of the BC-SS eutectic in upper part of the solidified test piece due to the density separation. Post-test material analyses by using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope techniques have indicated that FeB appeared at the BC-SS contact interface and (Fe,Cr)
B at the top surface of the test piece. Glow discharge optical emission spectrometry has been applied to quantitative analysis of boron concentration distributions. The boron concentration was high at the upper surface and near the original position of the BC pellet.
CFukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Nuclear Technology, 205(9), p.1154 - 1163, 2019/09
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：11.19(Nuclear Science & Technology)An electromagnetic-levitation technique performed in a static magnetic field was used to measure the density, surface tension, normal spectral emissivity, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity of molten 316L stainless steel (SS316L) and SS316L that contained 5mass%BC. The addition of 5mass%BC to SS316L yielded reductions of 111 K, 6%, 19%, and 6% in the liquidus temperature, density, normal spectral emissivity, and thermal conductivity at the liquidus temperature of SS316L, respectively. The heat capacity increased by 5% with this addition. Although the 5mass%BC addition had no clear effect on the surface tension, sulfur dissolved in the SS316L resulted in a significant decrease in the surface tension.
C in the solid phaseTakai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Yamano, Hidemasa
Nuclear Technology, 205(9), p.1164 - 1174, 2019/09
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：100(Nuclear Science & Technology)Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.418 - 427, 2019/09
Eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation are one of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors. Since such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses, it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study is focusing on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in the range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a severe accident computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies by 2017. Specific results in this paper is boron concentration distributions of solidified BC-SS eutectic sample in the eutectic melting experiments, which would be used for the validation of the eutectic physical model implemented into the computer code.
Ota, Hirokazu*; Ohgama, Kazuya; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.30 - 39, 2019/09
C addition on viscosity of austenitic stainless steel in liquid stateOta, Hiromichi*; Kokubo, Hiroki*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.858 - 860, 2019/09
A viscosity measurement apparatus has been developed. It is known that the measurement of the viscosity of molten alloy at elevated temperatures is difficult due to the difficulty of handling for low viscosity fluids such as the stainless steel (SS)+BC alloy. In this study, the viscosities of the molten nickel (Ni) and stainless steel (SS) were measured by the oscillating crucible method to confirm the performance of the viscosity measurement apparatus as a first step. This method is suitable for high temperature molten alloys. A crucible containing molten metal is suspended, and a rotational oscillation is given to the crucible electromagnetically. The oscillation was damped by the friction of molten metal. The viscosity is determined from the period of oscillation and the logarithmic decrement. The crucible was connected to a mirror block and an inertia disk made of aluminum, and whole of them was suspended by a wire made of platinum-13% rhodium alloy. A laser light is irradiated to the mirror. The reflection light is detected by the photo-detectors, and then, the logarithmic decrement of molten metal is determined. The viscosities of molten nickel and SS melts were measured up to 1823 K. In these results, the measured viscosity values of molten Ni and SS were close to those of the literature values of molten Ni and SS. By the equipment, the viscosity of molten SS+BC alloys are measured. The BC concentration dependence of the viscosity of molten SS+BC alloys is to be clarified.
C addition on thermophysical properties of austenitic stainless steel in a liquid stateFukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.853 - 857, 2019/09
Thermophysical properties of molten mixture of 316L stainless steel (SS316L) and control-rod material (BC) are necessary for the development of computer simulation codes that describe core degradation mechanisms during severe accidents in nuclear power plants involving sodium-cooled fast reactors. The effect of BC addition to SS316L on the solidus and liquidus temperatures were first measured by differential scanning calorimetry. An electromagnetic levitation technique performed in a static magnetic field was used to measure the density, surface tension, normal spectral emissivity, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity of molten SS316L and SS316L containing BC. The effects of BC addition to SS316L on the thermophysical properties were studied up to 10 mass%.
CLiu, X.*; Morita, Koji*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.47 - 51, 2019/09
Investigation of the eutectic reaction in a core disruptive accident of sodium cooled reactor is of importance since reactor criticality will be affected by the change in reactivity after eutectic reaction. In this study, we performed 1st step of validation analysis using a fast reactor safety analysis code, SIMMER-III, with the developed model based on a new series of experiments, where a BC pellet was immersed into a molten stainless steel (SS) pool. The simulation results showed the general behavior of eutectic material formation measured in the experiments reasonably. The eutectic reaction consumes solid BC and liquid SS, and then the liquid eutectic composition is produced at the early stage of reaction due to the high temperature of molten SS. Movement of the eutectic material in the molten pool leads to the redistribution of boron element. Molten SS pool then freezes to solid SS and movement of eutectic material is stopped by surrounding solid SS. Boron concentration in the pool was measured after molten SS freezes into a solid. Simulation results indicate that boron tends to accumulate in the upper part of the molten pool. This is attributed to the buoyancy force acting on lighter boron in the molten SS pool. A parametric study was also conducted by changing the initial temperature of BC pellet and SS to investigate the temperature sensitivity on the eutectic reaction behavior.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Nishida, Akemi; Choi, B.; Takada, Tsuyoshi*
Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT-25) (USB Flash Drive), 10 Pages, 2019/08
The objective of this study is to assess cliff edge effects, which are greatly important for nuclear power plants. Through assessments of failure probabilities (fragility), this study examined seismic margins of simulated two kinds of thin- and thick-walled reactor vessels by using response waveforms of the reactor building with/without a seismic isolation system obtained by seismic response analyses. The fragility analyses showed that the seismic isolation technology largely reduced the structural response effects nearly twice as much as that of the non-isolated plant. In focusing on uncertainty of response factor of components, the seismic isolation plant has a significant margin compared to the non-isolated plant even if factors from 0.5 to 2.0 are taken into account. This study concluded that the seismic isolation technology is effective to avoid cliff-edge effects.
Nishida, Akemi; Choi, B.; Yamano, Hidemasa; Itoi, Tatsuya*; Takada, Tsuyoshi*
Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT-25) (USB Flash Drive), 9 Pages, 2019/08
In this research, the seismic safety of a nuclear power plant (NPP) is treated as a system in which the various cliff edge effects are identified and quantified based on the concepts of risk and defense in depth. An aim of this research is to develop a methodology for avoiding these cliff edge effects. In order to examine how the cliff edge state specified and evaluated in the seismic response analysis of the building system, we investigated the seismic isolation mechanism related to physical cliff edges and the modeling effects of the building system related to knowledge oriented cliff edges. In particular, with regard to knowledge-oriented cliff edges, we quantitatively evaluated the uncertainty within the same floor which is evaluated by a three-dimensional building model and tried to reflect it on the fragility evaluation. This paper presents and discusses these results.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Vasile, A.*; Kang, S.-H.*; Summer, T.*; Tsige-Tamirat, H.*; Wang, J.*; Ashurko, I.*
Proceedings of 27th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-27) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2019/05
The Generation IV (GEN-IV) international forum is a framework for international co-operation in research and development for the next generation of nuclear energy systems. Within the GEN-IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) system arrangement, the SFR Safety and Operation (SO) project addresses the areas of safety technology and reactor operation technology developments. The aims of the SO project include (1) analyses and experiments that support establishing safety approaches and validating performance of specific safety features, (2) development and verification of computational tools and validation of models employed in safety assessment and facility licensing, and (3) acquisition of reactor operation technology, as determined largely from experience and testing in operating SFR plants. The tasks in the SO topics are categorized into the following three work packages (WP): WP-SO-1 "Methods, Models and Codes", WP-SO-2 "Experimental Programs and Operational Experience", and WP-SO-3 "Studies of Innovative Design and Safety Systems". This paper reports recent activities within the SO project.
Matsunaga, Shoko*; Matsubara, Shinichiro*; Kato, Atsushi; Yamano, Hidemasa; D
derlein, C.*; Guillemin, E.*; Hirn, J.*
Proceedings of 27th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-27) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2019/05
This paper presents a design of Curie Point Electro-Magnet (CPEM) which will be installed as a passive shutdown system for a French Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (ASTRID) development program which is conducted in collaboration between France and Japan. To confirm CPEM design validity, a qualification program for CPEM is developed on the basis of past comprehensive test series of Self-Actuated Shutdown System (SASS) in Japan. The main outcome of this paper is results of holding force tests in hot gas, which satisfy design requirements. Moreover, the result of a numerical magnetic field analysis showed the same tendency as that of the holding force test.
Matsuo, Eiji*; Sasa, Kyohei*; Koyama, Kazuya*; Yamano, Hidemasa; Kubo, Shigenobu; Hourcade, E.*; Bertrand, F.*; Marie, N.*; Bachrata, A.*; Dirat, J. F.*
Proceedings of 27th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-27) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2019/05
Discharged molten-fuel from the core during Core Disruptive Accident (CDA) could become solidified particle debris by fuel-coolant interaction in the lower sodium plenum, and then the debris could form a bed on a core catcher located at the bottom of the reactor vessel. Coolability evaluations for the debris bed are necessary for the design of the core catcher. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the coolability of the debris bed on the core catcher for the ASTRID design. For this purpose, as a first step, the coolability calculations of the debris beds formed both in short term and later phase have been performed by modeling only the debris bed itself. Thus, details of core catcher design and decay heat removal system are not described in this paper. In all the calculations, coolant temperature around the debris bed is a parameter. The calculation tool is the debris bed module implemented into a one-dimensional plant dynamics code, Super-COPD. The evaluations have shown that the debris beds formed both in short term and later phase are coolable by the design which secures sufficient coolant flow around the core catcher located in the cold pool.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Tobita, Yoshiharu
Proceedings of 11th Korea-Japan Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS-11) (Internet), 3 Pages, 2018/11
Based on the event tree analysis, the present numerical analyses investigated the capability of fuel discharge through the one-dimensional single fuel assembly geometry and the two-dimensional geometry of a CRGT channel with neighboring fuel assemblies. The single fuel assembly analyses showed that the fuel blockage formed in the lower shielding region because fuel solidified by contacting with cold sodium in case of no fission gas release. On the assumption that fission gas was released, the molten fuel successfully relocated below the core. The next analyses using the CRGT channel indicated a significant fuel discharge through the CRGT channel. This is because the fuel temperature was still high just after the CRGT wall failure and sodium in the CRGT channel was quickly voided just after the ingress of a small amount of molten fuel.
