Operation, test, research and development of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) (FY2021)

Department of HTTR

JAEA-Review 2023-016, 82 Pages, 2023/09

JAEA-Review-2023-016.pdf:2.31MB

The High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) is the first Japanese High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) with 30MW in thermal power and 950C of maximum outlet coolant temperature that is constructed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency located at Oarai-machi, Higashiibaraki-gun, Ibaraki-ken, Japan. The purpose of the HTTR is establishment of basic HTGR technologies, demonstration of HTGR safety characteristics and so on. The HTTR has had a lot of experience of HTGRs' operation and maintenance throughout rated power operations, safety demonstration tests, long-term high temperature operations and demonstration tests relevant to HTGRs' R&Ds. In the fiscal year 2021, as the HTTR completed activities to conform to the New Regulatory Requirements of Nuclear Regulation Authority, The HTTR restarted since the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake and carried out the Loss-of-forced cooling test without Vessel Cooling System (VCS) operational at 9MW (Three gas circulators trip and VCS is stopped.) as the safety demonstration test. This report summarizes the activities carried out in the fiscal year 2021, which were the situation of the New Regulatory Requirements screening of the HTTR, the operation and maintenance of the HTTR, R&Ds relevant to commercial-scale HTGRs, the international cooperation on HTGRs and so on.

Neutron resonance fission neutron analysis for nondestructive fissile material assay

Hironaka, Kota; Lee, J.; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Ito, Fumiaki*; Hori, Junichi*; Terada, Kazushi*; Sano, Tadafumi*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1054, p.168467_1 - 168467_5, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2023.168467

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

Okita, Shoichiro; Fukaya, Yuji; Sakon, Atsushi*; Sano, Tadafumi*; Takahashi, Yoshiyuki*; Unesaki, Hironobu*

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

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2087836

Development of wide range monitor for HTTR; Improvement for heat resistance performance against heat cycle

Kozawa, Takayuki; Suganuma, Takuro; Homma, Fumitaka; Higashimura, Keisuke*; Ukai, Takayuki*; Saito, Kenji

JAEA-Technology 2023-007, 24 Pages, 2023/06

JAEA-Technology-2023-007.pdf:2.24MB

To improve the reliability of the HTTR wide range monitor in a high-temperature environment, structural changes of the wide range monitor were investigated. It was clear that the structure for directly joins of the MI cable core wire and metal tube instead of the joins with lead wire is the most reliable method with shortest way. From a result of the thermal cycle tests and high temperature endurance tests for a mock-up connecting this connection parts, it was clear that the soundness of the connection part was maintained under the usage conditions of the HTTR.

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 safety design philosophy of HTTR-Heat Application Test Facility

Aoki, Takeshi; Shimizu, Atsushi; Noguchi, Hiroki; Kurahayashi, Kaoru; Yasuda, Takanori; Nomoto, Yasunobu; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Sato, Hiroyuki; Sakaba, Nariaki

Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2023/05

The safety design philosophy is developed for the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) heat application test facility connecting high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) and the hydrogen production plant. The philosophy was proposed to apply proven conventional chemical plant standards to the hydrogen production facility for ensuring public safety against anticipated disasters caused by high pressure and combustible gases. The present study also proposed the safety design philosophy to meet specific safety requirements identified to the nuclear facilities with coupling to the hydrogen production facility such as measures to ensure a capability of normal operation of the nuclear facility against a fire and/or explosion of leaked combustible material, and fluctuation of amount of heat removal occurred in the hydrogen production plant. The safety design philosophy will be utilized to establish its basic and detailed designs of the HTTR-heat application test facility.

Improvement of cooling performance of reactor pressure vessel using passive cooling

Banno, Masaki*; Funatani, Shumpei*; Takamatsu, Kuniyoshi

Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2023/05

A fundamental study on the safety of a passive cooling system for the RPV with radiative cooling is conducted. The object of this study is to demonstrate that passive RPV cooling system with radiative cooling is extremely safe and reliable even in the event of natural disasters. Therefore, an experimental apparatus, which is about 1/20 scale of the actual cooling system, was fabricated with several stainless steel containers. The surface of the heating element in the experimental apparatus simulates the surface of the RPV, and the heating element generates natural convection and radiation. A comparison of the Grashof number between the actual cooling system and the experimental apparatus confirmed that both were turbulent, and the experimental results as a scale model are valuable. Moreover, the experimental results confirmed that the heat generated from the surface of the RPV during the rated operation can be removed.

A New application technique of a position-sensitive liquid light guide Cerenkov counter for the simultaneous position detection of Sr/Y and Cs radioactivity

Terasaka, Yuta; Uritani, Akira*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1049, p.168071_1 - 168071_7, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2023.168071

New measurement system based on small-angle neutron scattering for structural analysis of light-responsive materials

Iwase, Hiroki*; Akamatsu, Masaaki*; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Sakaguchi, Yoshifumi*; Morikawa, Toshiaki*; Kasai, Satoshi*; Ouchi, Keiichi*; Kobayashi, Kazuki*; Sakai, Hideki*

Journal of Applied Crystallography, 56(1), p.110 - 115, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576722011104

With the increasing importance of light-responsive materials, it is vital to analyze the relationship between function and structural changes induced by light irradiation. Small-angle scattering (SAS) is effective for such structural analysis. However, quantitatively capturing local molecular structure formation and molecular reactions at a scale of less than 1 nm via SAS is difficult. In this study, to analyze the structure of non-equilibrium phenomena in light-responsive materials, a new sample environment has been developed for a time-of-flight small- and wide-angle neutron scattering instrument (TAIKAN), comprising a UV-Vis irradiation system, UV-Vis absorption measurement equipment and photodetector. Simultaneous measurement of small-angle neutron scattering and UV-Vis absorption was achieved. This system was used to demonstrate the in situ observation of UV-Vis irradiation-induced structural change of micelles formed by a light-responsive surfactant sample in an aqueous solution.

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.