Research on improvement of HTGR core power-density, 4; Feasibility study for a reactor core

Okita, Shoichiro; Mizuta, Naoki; Takamatsu, Kuniyoshi; Goto, Minoru; Yoshida, Katsumi*; Nishimura, Yosuke*; Okamoto, Koji*

Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2023/05

Development of tailor-made adsorbents for uranium recovery from seawater on the basis of uranyl coordination chemistry (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tokyo Institute of Technology*

JAEA-Review 2022-028, 54 Pages, 2022/11

JAEA-Review-2022-028.pdf:2.97MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2021. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of Tailor-made Adsorbents for Uranium Recovery from Seawater on the Basis of Uranyl Coordination Chemistry" conducted from FY2019 to FY2021. Since the final year of this proposal was FY2021, the results for three fiscal years were summarized. The present study aims to develop a new ligand class for efficient and selective capture of uranium from seawater. On the basis of deep understanding on uranyl coordination chemistry, we design molecular structures of pentadentate ligands as functional moieties for uranium adsorption from seawater and study fundamental coordination chemistry of uranyl ion with those ligands in order to resolve current problems in uranium recovery technology …

Design and actual performance of J-PARC 3 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron for high-intensity operation

Yamamoto, Kazami; Kinsho, Michikazu; Hayashi, Naoki; Saha, P. K.; Tamura, Fumihiko; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Tani, Norio; Takayanagi, Tomohiro; Kamiya, Junichiro; Shobuda, Yoshihiro; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(9), p.1174 - 1205, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2038301

In the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, the purpose of the 3 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) is to accelerate a 1 MW, high-intensity proton beam. To achieve beam operation at a repetition rate of 25 Hz at high intensities, the RCS was elaborately designed. After starting the RCS operation, we carefully verified the validity of its design and made certain improvements to establish a reliable operation at higher power as possible. Consequently, we demonstrated beam operation at a high power, namely, 1 MW. We then summarized the design, actual performance, and improvements of the RCS to achieve a 1 MW beam.

Development of the unified cross-section set ADJ2017R

Yokoyama, Kenji; Maruyama, Shuhei; Taninaka, Hiroshi; Oki, Shigeo

JAEA-Data/Code 2021-019, 115 Pages, 2022/03

JAEA-Data-Code-2021-019.pdf:6.21MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2021-019-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:435.94MB

In JAEA, several versions of unified cross-section set for fast reactors have been developed so far; we have developed a new unified cross-section set ADJ2017R, which is an improved version of the unified cross-section setADJ2017 for fast reactors. The unified cross-section set is used for reflecting information of C/E values (analysis / experiment values) obtained by integral experiment analyses in reactor core design via the cross-section adjustment methodology; the values are stored in the standard database for FBR core design. In the methodology, the cross-section set is adjusted by integrating the information such as uncertainty (covariance) of nuclear data, uncertainty of integral experiment / analysis, sensitivity of integral experiment with respect to nuclear data. ADJ2017R basically has the same performance as ADJ2017, but we conducted an additional investigation on ADJ2017 and revised the following two points. The first is to unify the evaluation method of the correlation coefficient of uncertainty caused by experiments (hereinafter referred to as the experimental correlation coefficient). Because it was found that the common uncertainty used in the evaluation of the experimental correlation coefficient was evaluated by two different methods, the experimental correlation coefficients were revised for all experimental data, and the evaluation method was unified. The second is the review of the integral experiment data used for the cross-section adjustment calculation. It was found that one of the experimental values of composition ratio after irradiation of the Am-243 sample has a problem in uncertainty evaluation because its experimental uncertainty is extremely small compared to the others. The cross-section adjustment calculation was, therefore, redone by excluding the experimental value. In the creation of ADJ2017, a total of 719 data sets were analyzed and evaluated, and eventually adopted 620 integral experimental data sets. In contrast, a total of 61

Study of rational safeguards for the treatment of radioactive waste containing nuclear materials

Nakatani, Takayoshi; Shimizu, Ryo; Tazaki, Makiko; Kimura, Takashi; Tamai, Hiroshi; Suda, Kazunori

Dai-42-Kai Nihon Kaku Busshitsu Kanri Gakkai Nenji Taikai Kaigi Rombunshu (Internet), 4 Pages, 2021/11

Currently, JAEA is in the advancing of decommissioning own nuclear facilities, and some facilities have been handling nuclear materials. In decommissioning, it is necessary to consider rational methods while keeping nuclear non-proliferation and transparency, including treatment of radioactive waste generated from these facilities and methods for terminating safeguards. In this study, we considered the above issues regarding waste treatment with reference to the guidance of Safeguards by Design (SBD) published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Great achievements of M. Salvatores for nuclear data adjustment study with use of integral experiments

Yokoyama, Kenji; Ishikawa, Makoto*

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 154, p.108100_1 - 108100_11, 2021/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2020.108100

In the design of innovative nuclear reactors such as fast reactors, the improvement of the prediction accuracies for neutronics properties is an important task. The nuclear data adjustment is a promising methodology for this issue. The idea of the nuclear data adjustment was first proposed in 1964. Toward its practical application, however, a great deal of study has been conducted over a long time. While it took about 10 years to establish the theoretical formulation, the research and development for its practical application has been conducted for more than half a century. Researches in this field are still active, and the fact suggests that the improvement of the prediction accuracies is indispensable for the development of new types of nuclear reactors. Massimo Salvatores, who passed away in March 2020, was one of the first proposers to develop the nuclear data adjustment technique, as well as one of the great contributors to its practical application. Reviewing his long-time works in this area is almost the same as reviewing the history of the nuclear data adjustment methodology. The authors intend that this review would suggest what should be done in the future toward the next development in this area. The present review consists of two parts: a) the establishment of the nuclear data adjustment methodology and b) the achievements related to practical applications. Furthermore, the former is divided into two aspects: the study on the nuclear data adjustment theory and the numerical solution for sensitivity coefficient that is requisite for the nuclear data adjustment. The latter is separated to three categories: the use of integral experimental data, the uncertainty quantification and design target accuracy evaluation, and the promotion of nuclear data covariance development.

High temperature gas-cooled reactors

Takeda, Tetsuaki*; Inagaki, Yoshiyuki; Aihara, Jun; Aoki, Takeshi; Fujiwara, Yusuke; Fukaya, Yuji; Goto, Minoru; Ho, H. Q.; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Imai, Yoshiyuki; et al.

High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors; JSME Series in Thermal and Nuclear Power Generation, Vol.5, 464 Pages, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/C2018-0-05383-9

As a general overview of the research and development of a High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) in JAEA, this book describes the achievements by the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) on the designs, key component technologies such as fuel, reactor internals, high temperature components, etc., and operational experience such as rise-to-power tests, high temperature operation at 950C, safety demonstration tests, etc. In addition, based on the knowledge of the HTTR, the development of designs and component technologies such as high performance fuel, helium gas turbine and hydrogen production by IS process for commercial HTGRs are described. These results are very useful for the future development of HTGRs. This book is published as one of a series of technical books on fossil fuel and nuclear energy systems by the Power Energy Systems Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Criticality configuration design methodology applied to the design of fuel debris experiment in the new STACY

Gunji, Satoshi; Tonoike, Kotaro; Clavel, J.-B.*; Duhamel, I.*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(1), p.51 - 61, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1798825

The new critical assembly STACY will be able to contribute to the validation of criticality calculations related to the fuel debris. The experimental core designs are in progress in the frame of JAEA/IRSN collaboration. This paper presents the method applied to optimize the design of the new STACY core to measure the criticality characteristics of pseudo fuel debris that simulated Molten Core Concrete Interaction (MCCI) of the fuel debris. To ensure that a core configuration is relevant for code validation, it is important to evaluate the reactivity worth of the main isotopes of interest and their k sensitivity to their cross sections. In the case of the fuel debris described in this study, especially for the concrete composition, silicon is the nucleus with the highest k sensitivity to the cross section. For this purpose, some parameters of the core configuration, as for example the lattice pitches or the core dimensions, were adjusted using optimization algorithm to find efficiently the optimal core configurations to obtain high sensitivity of silicon capture cross section. Based on these results, realistic series of experiments for fuel debris in the new STACY could be defined to obtain an interesting feedback for the MCCI. This methodology is useful to design other experimental conditions of the new STACY.

Development of tailor-made adsorbents for uranium recovery from seawater on the basis of uranyl coordination chemistry (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tokyo Institute of Technology*

JAEA-Review 2020-026, 41 Pages, 2020/12

JAEA-Review-2020-026.pdf:3.25MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2019. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of Tailor-Made Adsorbents for Uranium Recovery from Seawater on the Basis of Uranyl Coordination Chemistry". On the basis of deep understanding on uranyl coordination chemistry, we design molecular structures of pentadentate ligands as functional moieties for uranium adsorption from seawater and study coordination chemistry of uranyl ion with those ligands in order to resolve current problems in uranium recovery technology from seawater and to develop novel selective and efficient adsorbents for this purpose.

Pressure resistance thickness of disposal containers for spent fuel direct disposal

Sugita, Yutaka; Taniguchi, Naoki; Makino, Hitoshi; Kanamaru, Shinichiro*; Okumura, Taisei*

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 19(3), p.121 - 135, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J19.007

A series of structural analysis of disposal containers for direct disposal of spent fuel was carried out to provide preliminary estimates of the required pressure resistance thickness of the disposal container. Disposal containers were designed to contain either 2, 3 or 4 spent fuel assemblies in linear, triangular or square arrangements, respectively. The required pressure resistance thickness was evaluated using separation distance of the housing space for each spent fuel assembly as a key model parameter to obtain the required thickness of the body and then the lid of the disposal container. This work also provides additional analytical technical knowledge, such as the validity of the setting of the stress evaluation line and the effect of the model length on the analysis. These can then be referred to and used again in the future as a basis for conducting similar evaluations under different conditions or proceeding with more detailed evaluations.