Interaction of solute manganese and nickel atoms with dislocation loops in iron-based alloys irradiated with 2.8 MeV Fe ions at 400 C

Nguyen, B. V. C.*; 村上 健太*; Chena, L.*; Phongsakorn, P. T.*; Chen, X.*; 橋本 貴司; Hwang, T.*; 古澤 彰憲; 鈴木 達也*

Nuclear Materials and Energy (Internet), 39, p.101639_1 - 101639_9, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2024.101639

In reactor pressure vessel materials, the formation of Mn- and Ni-rich nanoclusters is a major cause of neutron irradiation embrittlement. The segregation of these solute atoms into dislocation loops has attracted attention as a mechanism to accelerate solute clustering. In this study, the behaviors of solute Mn and Ni atoms in Fe-0.6wt.%Ni, Fe-1.4wt.%Mn, and Fe-1.4wt.%Mn-0.6wt.%Ni alloys irradiated at 400 C up to 3 dpa were analyzed using three-dimensional atom probe tomography. Solute atom clusters were observed in all materials, and their shapes were spherical, flat, and torus in FeNi, FeMn, and FeMnNi, respectively. In ternary alloy FeMnNi, Mn and Ni atoms were concentrated in the sample in the form of arcs, and the orientation of the plane containing the arcs was estimated by comparing field desorption images. The size, number density, and orientation of this structure were found to be in good agreement with those of both types of dislocation loops, namely, b = 1/2 111 and b = 100, identified in a previous study using the same material. The positions of Ni and Mn enrichment did not fully overlap. Ni atoms tended to be concentrated more in the inner part of the loop than the Mn atoms. Mn atoms were enriched only in the vicinity of the dislocation loops, whereas Ni atoms showed a higher concentration inside the dislocation loops than in the bulk.

Ionic radii in halites

Vauchy, R.; 廣岡 瞬; 村上 龍敏

Materialia, 32, p.101943_1 - 101943_8, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2023.101943

The construction of the halite unit-cell from the ionic radii of the constitutive species is proposed with the use of our hybrid model, considering flexible anion and cation radii. 312 binary halite-structured stoichiometric compounds were analyzed. This systematic study focuses first on the revision of the ionic radii of the considered species then on the proposition of relations between the anionic radius as a function of the cation's size.

Molecular dynamics analysis of reactor graphite for preparing thermal neutron scattering law

沖田 将一朗; 後藤 実

Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2023) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2023/10

The recently released JENDL-5 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 have adopted porosity-dependent thermal neutron scattering law (TSL) data for reactor graphite, and they improve neutronic calculation accuracy of criticality for graphite-moderated cores. Currently, we can only handle neutronic calculations for three graphite porosities of 0%, 10%, and 30%. The uncertainties associated with the difference between the porosity of actual reactor graphite (20%) and the porosity remains. Toward the future update of JENDL-5, we are planning to preparing new TSL data of reactor graphite. As a first step, it is essential to evalute phonon density state distribution of reactor graphite. In this study, in order to evalute it, molecular dynamic (MD) analysis is performed for three MD models: ideal crystalline graphite (Ideal model), 20%-porous reactor graphite with monoatomic random pore (Monoatomic random model), and 20%-porous reactor graphite with atomic cluster random pore (Cluster random model). The ideal crystalline graphite is modeled without any pores for reference. The 20%-porous reactor graphite with monoatomic random pore is modeled by randomly removing atoms from the ideal crystalline graphite. The 20%-porous reactor graphite with cluster random pore is modeled by randomly removing atomic clusters of approximately 2 nm in diameter from the ideal crystalline graphite. Their interatomic interactions are on the basis of Reactive Empirical Bond Order (REBO) potential. Velocity autocorrelation functions and phonon density of states distributions are calculated for these models. For validation, specific heat for each model is evaluated, and they are compred with experimental values.

Reactor physics experiment on a graphite-moderated core to construct integral experiment database for HTGR

沖田 将一朗; 深谷 裕司; 左近 敦士*; 佐野 忠史*; 高橋 佳之*; 宇根崎 博信*

Nuclear Science and Engineering, 197(8), p.2251 - 2257, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2087836

In this paper, integral experiments on a graphite-moderated core were conducted at the B-rack of the Kyoto University Criticality Assembly in order to develop an integral experiment database for the applicability of data assimilation techniques to the neutronic design of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. The calculation/experiment-1 (C/E-1)values for the values at critical cores with the major nuclear data libraries, such as JENDL-4.0, JENDL-5, JEFF-3.2, ENDF/B-VII.1, and ENDF/B-VIII.0, were calculated for the core. Of these, the values with JENDL-5 with thermal neutron scattering law data for 30% porous graphite showed the best agreement with experimental values within 0.02% accuracy.

Automatic object recognition using deep learning for legacy waste treatment

吉田 幸彦

IL Nuovo Cimento, 46(2), p.33_1 - 33_8, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1393/ncc/i2023-23033-x

JAEA is addressing the back-end issues with the steadfast promotion of sustainable measures. The R&D plans are being rationally pursued by considering priorities based on indicators such as bottleneck issues in waste streams, relevance to WAC settings, and effectiveness of cost reduction. In addition, the future vision (JAEA 2050+) has been formulated to promote cross-disciplinary R&D through a new approach that cannot be reached by conventional methods, and active incorporation of information technologies, such as AI technologies. Currently, we are developing intelligent sensing that combines sensing and information processing technologies to realize automatic sorting technology, and non-destructive evaluation technology using high-energy X-ray CT, for legacy wastes. The core technology common to these technologies is image evaluation technology using deep learning models, which was confirmed to perform very well in the evaluation of waste object recognition.

New material exploration to enhance neutron intensity below cold neutrons; Nanosized graphene flower aggregation

勅使河原 誠; 池田 裕二郎*; Yan, M.*; 村松 一生*; 須谷 康一*; 福住 正文*; 能田 洋平*; 小泉 智*; 猿田 晃一; 大竹 淑恵*

Nanomaterials (Internet), 13(1), p.76_1 - 76_9, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13010076

冷中性子以下の中性子強度を高めるため、ナノサイズグラフェンの集合体が、ナノダイヤモンドと同様に中性子のコヒーレント散乱を促進できることを提案した。さらには、グラフェンの強いsp2結合は、高い耐放射線性を有する可能性を秘める。理研の加速器駆動型小型中性子源やJ-PARCのiMATERIAを用いて、ナノサイズグラフェンの中性子全断面積測定,中性子小角散乱測定を行った。測定結果より、ナノサイズのグラフェン集合体は、コヒーレント散乱に起因すると考えられる冷中性子エネルギー領域での全断面積と小角散乱を増大させ、ナノダイヤモンドと同様に高い中性子強度をもたらすことを世界で初めて明らかにした。

Evaluation of power distribution calculation of the very high temperature reactor critical assembly (VHTRC) with Monte Carlo MVP3 code

Simanullang, I. L.*; 中川 直樹*; Ho, H. Q.; 長住 達; 石塚 悦男; 飯垣 和彦; 藤本 望*

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 177, p.109314_1 - 109314_8, 2022/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109314

Power distribution plays a significant role in preventing the fuel temperature exceeds the safety limit of 1600C in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. The experiment to measure the power distribution in the graphite-moderated system was carried out with the Very High Temperature Reactor Critical Assembly facility. In the previous study, the power distribution in the VHTRC was calculated using a nuclear design code system based on diffusion calculation. The results showed a maximum discrepancy of up to 20 between the experiment and calculated values in the axial direction. The large discrepancy occurred near the boundary of fuel and reflector regions. This study describes the evaluation results of pin-wise power distribution of the VHTRC with the Monte Carlo MVP3 code. The calculation results were in good agreement with the measured results. In the axial direction, the discrepancy was less than 1 around the boundary of fuel and reflector regions.

GISを用いた火山体の地形解析によるマグマ供給系の推定方法(受託研究)

西山 成哲; 後藤 翠*; 塚原 柚子; 川村 淳; 梅田 浩司*; 丹羽 正和

JAEA-Testing 2022-003, 51 Pages, 2022/09

JAEA-Testing-2022-003.pdf:5.24MB
JAEA-Testing-2022-003-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:1.12MB

高レベル放射性廃棄物の地層処分における地質環境の長期安定性に係る評価のうち、火山・火成活動に関する技術的課題の一つとして、マグマ活動範囲の評価技術の高度化は必要不可欠である。そのための有効な手法として、火山体の地形解析による岩脈の分布範囲の把握が期待される。近年では、手作業では作業量が膨大で困難であった作業が、コンピュータによる地形解析技術の発達により、多くの作業量を簡易的に行えるようになった。本報告では、GISソフトウェアを用いた火山体を形作る等高線の形状解析手法について記述する。

Measurements of thermal-neutron capture cross-section of the Np(n, ) reaction with TC-Pn in KUR

中村 詔司; 遠藤 駿典; 木村 敦; 芝原 雄司*

KURNS Progress Report 2021, P. 93, 2022/07

https://www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/PUB/report/PR/ProgRep2021/ProgRep2021.html

核廃棄物中のマイナーアクチニドの核変換の観点から、本研究はNpを選定して、その熱中性子捕獲断面積を、良く熱化された中性子場を用いて放射化法により測定した。Np標準溶液を試料に使用した。熱中性子場は、中性子束モニタSc, Co, Mo, TaとAuを用いて測定した。Np試料は、モニタと一緒に、京大炉の黒鉛照射設備にて30分間照射した。結果の再現性を確認するために、同様の照射を繰り返した。照射後、Np試料は、Npと放射平衡の関係にあるPaからの312-keVガンマ線を用いて定量した。Npの反応率は、生成されたNpから放出されるガンマ線のピークカウント,検出効率,実験条件を用いて求めた。得られた反応率を熱中性子束で割り込むことで、Npの熱中性子捕獲断面積を173.84.7 barnと導出した。この結果は、飛行時間測定法で得られた報告値と不確かさの範囲内で一致した。

Preliminary experiment in a graphite-moderated core to avoid full mock-up experiment for the future first commercial HTGR

沖田 将一朗; 深谷 裕司; 左近 敦士*; 佐野 忠史*; 高橋 佳之*; 宇根崎 博信*

Proceedings of International Conference on Physics of Reactors 2022 (PHYSOR 2022) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2022/05

As a commercial reactor require high economic efficiency, the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) would be a more attractive proposition if a full mock-up experiment for the first commercial HTGR could be avoided in the future. In this paper, preliminary experiments were conducted in order to obtain basic core characteristics data, such as the criticality, necessary to demonstrate the applicability of a generalized bias factor method to neutronic design of HTGR. The graphite-moderated core with only highly enriched uranium fuels in the B-rack of Kyoto University Criticality Assembly (KUCA) was configured as a reference core. The C/E-1 values (Calculation/Experiment -1 values) for the keff values at the three critical states and the thermal neutron spectra with the major nuclear data libraries, such as JENDL-4.0, JEFF-3.2, ENDF/B-VII.1, and ENDF/B-VIII.0, were calculated for the core. The result shows that the keff values are overestimated for JEFF-3.2, ENDF/B-VII.1, and ENDF/B-VIII.0 by 0.14% - 0.18%, while they are underestimated for JENDL-4.0 by 0.07% - 0.09%. The calculation result with JENDL-4.0 shows a slightly better agreement with this experiment than the others. In addition, the thermal neutron spectrum calculated with ENDF/B-VIII.0 is softer than the others. The Thermal Scattering Law (TSL) data of graphite stored in ENDF/B-VIII.0 suggests that the thermal neutron spectrum become softer than that of traditional TSL data stored in the others. The core characteristics of the reference core, which are necessary for future studies, were obtained.