First demonstration of a single-end readout position-sensitive optical fiber radiation sensor inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station based on wavelength-resolving analysis

Terasaka, Yuta; Sato, Yuki; Uritani, Akira*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1062, p.169227_1 - 169227_6, 2024/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.169227

Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Nagoya University*

JAEA-Review 2022-033, 80 Pages, 2022/12

JAEA-Review-2022-033.pdf:4.08MB

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 (1F), 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 "Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor" 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 an optical fiber type radiation sensor that can measure the radiation distribution one-dimensionally along the fiber under a high radiation field for the decommissioning of 1F. Based on the conventional time-of-flight method, we found several promising sensor candidates for the radiation distribution measurement under high dose rate and many scattered gamma-rays.

Identification of carbon in glassy cesium-bearing microparticles using electron microscopy and formation mechanisms of the microparticles

Hidaka, Akihide

Nuclear Technology, 208(2), p.318 - 334, 2022/02

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1929767

The author previously proposed that the Cs bearing microparticle (Type A) may have been formed by melting and atomization of glass fibers (GF) of the HEPA filter in the SGTS due to flame and blast during the hydrogen explosion in Unit 3. If this hypothesis is correct, the Type A could contain or accompany carbon (C), that ignites spontaneously above 623 K, because of the limited time to be heated up, inclusion of C in the binder applied on the GF surface and closely located charcoal filter. As the previous studies did not focus on C, the present analyses were performed with EPMA whether the Type A contains C. The results showed that the Type A contained C originating from the binder, and non-spherical particles accompanied by the Type A and the film surrounding the Type A contained more C, which is thought to originate from the charcoal filter. These results cannot be explained by the other mechanisms proposed so far, and can be explained consistently by the author proposed hypothesis.

Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Nagoya University*

JAEA-Review 2021-033, 55 Pages, 2021/12

JAEA-Review-2021-033.pdf:2.9MB

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 FY2020. 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 "Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor" conducted in FY2020. We are developing a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor that can estimate the radioactive source distribution "along lines" instead of "at points". To improve the conventional time-of-flight optical fiber radiation sensor for the application under high dose rate environment, basic evaluation tests were conducted using various optical fibers with different diameters and materials.

Improvement of adsorption performances of Sr adsorption fiber and investigation for realizing simple Sr analysis

Horita, Takuma; Asai, Shiho*; Konda, Miki; Matsueda, Makoto; Hanzawa, Yukiko; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro

Bunseki Kagaku, 69(10/11), p.619 - 626, 2020/10

https://doi.org/10.2116/bunsekikagaku.69.619

We have developed a Sr adsorption fiber for rapid analysis of Sr. The prepared Sr adsorption fiber has a Sr-extraction layer that densely retains a Sr-selective extractant, an 18-crown-6 ether derivative, on the fiber surface. Hydrophobic group-containing polymer chains embedded onto the surface of the fiber allow to form a hydrophobic phase, incorporating Sr-selective extractants. This unique surface structure provides high adsorption capacity, leading to rapid and highly efficient adsorption of Sr. The adsorption capacity of the Sr adsorption fiber was 3 times higher than commercially available 18-crown-6 ether derivative-impregnated resin (Sr Resin). The equilibrium adsorption capacity of the Sr adsorption fiber was comparable to the Sr Resin. The retained Sr was finally determined by a GM counter. The total analysis time including the Sr adsorption and measurement was about 1 hour.

Long-term monitoring of the stability of the gallery in Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory

Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Sakurai, Akitaka; Miyara, Nobukatsu; Sugita, Yutaka

JAEA-Research 2020-004, 68 Pages, 2020/06

JAEA-Research-2020-004.pdf:6.4MB
JAEA-Research-2020-004-appendix1(DVD-ROM).zip:636.84MB
JAEA-Research-2020-004-appendix2(DVD-ROM).zip:457.72MB
JAEA-Research-2020-004-appendix3(DVD-ROM).zip:595.19MB

In construction and operational phase of a high-level radioactive waste disposal project, it is necessary to monitor on mechanical stability of underground facility for long term. In this research, we measured the displacement of the rock around the gallery and the stress acting on support materials. Furthermore, we investigated the durability of measurement sensor installed in the rock mass and the support material such as concreate lining and steel support. As a result, optical fiber sensor is appropriate for measurement of the displacement of rock mass around the gallery, while it is enough to apply the conventional electric sensor for the measurement of stress acting on the support material in the geological environment (soft rock and low inflow). The result of the measurement in the fault zone in 350 m gallery, show that the stresses acting on both shotcrete and steel arch lib exceeded the value which will cause the instability of the gallery. However, as, we found no crack on the surface of the shotcrete. By observation on the surface of shotcrete, thus, it was concluded that careful observation of shotcrete around that section in addition to the monitoring the measured stress was necessary to continue. In other measurement sections, there was no risk for the instability of the gallery as a result of the investigation of the measurement result.

Development of laser cutting technology of thick steel plates for nuclear facilities

Tamura, Koji*; Toyama, Shinichi

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi ATOMO, 62(5), p.268 - 271, 2020/05

The laser cutting technology is expected to be a promising candidate for the decommissioning measure of nuclear facilities, because it has a lot of advantage such as its high controllability and excellent suitability to remote handling by robot arm, etcetera. This report describes the recent result from laser cutting technology development for thick steel materials summarizing the cutting demonstration of 300 mm thick steels and dummy pressure vessel, the analysis of cutting condition of thick steel cutting, the observation of cutting process, remote controlled cutting system, the cutting in pile of steels by the system, and countermeasure for fume produce by cutting process.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and related resonance spectroscopy for nuclear fuel cycle management and for decommissioning of "Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station"

Wakaida, Ikuo; Oba, Hironori; Miyabe, Masabumi; Akaoka, Katsuaki; Oba, Masaki; Tamura, Koji; Saeki, Morihisa

Kogaku, 48(1), p.13 - 20, 2019/01

By Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and by related resonance spectroscopy, elemental and isotope analysis of Uranium and Plutonium for nuclear fuel materials and in-situ remote analysis under strong radiation condition for melt downed nuclear fuel debris at damaged core in "Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station", are introduced and performed as one of the application in atomic energy research field.

Environmental measurement using plastic scintillation fiber after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Sanada, Yukihisa

Kogaku, 45(8), p.300 - 305, 2016/08

http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40020939422

For the purpose of environmental radiation measurement, decontamination effect and detection of leakage of radionuclide plastic scintillation fiber (PSF) had been used for the wide area as technique to measure radiation distribution quickly after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in March, 2011. The PSF can easily measure radiation distribution due to position sensing of radiation source. The PSF was used for the measurement before and after the decontamination by considering features that PSF obtained many point data at one time. The PSF was used for the measurement of radiocesium concentration in sediment of irrigation pond by considering features that PSF has high water resistance. This paper described the principle of PSF and the application example after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Interactive visualization for singular fibers of functions :

Sakurai, Daisuke; Saeki, Osamu*; Carr, H.*; Wu, H.-Y.*; Yamamoto, Takahiro*; Duke, D.*; Takahashi, Shigeo*

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 22(1), p.945 - 954, 2016/01

https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2015.2467433

Scalar topology in the form of Morse theory has provided computational tools that analyze and visualize data from scientific and engineering tasks. Contracting isocontours to single points encapsulates variations in isocontour connectivity in the Reeb graph. For multivariate data, isocontours generalize to fibers inverse images of points in the range, and this area is therefore known as fiber topology. However, fiber topology is less fully developed than Morse theory, and current efforts rely on manual visualizations. This paper therefore shows how to accelerate and semi-automate this task through an interface for visualizing fiber singularities of multivariate functions : . This interface exploits existing conventions of fiber topology, but also introduces a 3D view based on the extension of Reeb graphs to Reeb spaces. Validation of the interface is performed by assessing whether the interface supports the mathematical workflow both of experts and of less experienced mathematicians.