Recent status of the cryogenic sample environment at the MLF, J-PARC

Ishikado, Motoyuki*; Takahashi, Ryuta*; Yamauchi, Yasuhiro*; Nakamura, Masatoshi*; Ishimaru, Sora*; Yamauchi, Sara*; Kawamura, Seiko; Kira, Hiroshi*; Sakaguchi, Yoshifumi*; Watanabe, Masao; et al.

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 41, p.011010_1 - 011010_7, 2024/05

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.41.011010

Estimating the corrosion rate of stainless steel R-SUS304ULC in nitric acid media under concentrating operation

Irisawa, Eriko; Kato, Chiaki

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 591, p.154914_1 - 154914_10, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.154914

The amount of corrosion of austenitic stainless-steel R-SUS304ULC was evaluated considering the changes in solution composition and boiling during actual concentration operations. Austenitic stainless-steel R-SUS304ULC is the structural material of the highly radioactive liquid waste concentrator in Japanese spent fuel reprocessing plant, which treats highly corrosive nitric acid solutions during enrichment operations. The study results show that it is necessary to focus on nitric acid concentrations, oxidizing metal ion concentrations, and decompression boiling as factors that accelerate the corrosion rate of stainless steel because of cathodic reaction activation.

Radiation monitoring via manned helicopter around the nuclear power station in the fiscal year 2022 (Contract research)

Futemma, Akira; Sanada, Yukihisa; Nagakubo, Azusa; Kawasaki, Yoshiharu*; Iwai, Takeyuki*; Hiraga, Shogo*; Haginoya, Masashi*; Matsunaga, Yuki*; Akutsu, Yuichiro*; Arai, Yoshinori*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2023-027, 146 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Technology-2023-027.pdf:18.12MB

By the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO's) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), caused by tsunami triggered by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake, a large amount of radioactive material was released into the surrounding environment. After the accident, Airborne Radiation Monitoring (ARM) via manned helicopter has been applied as a method to quickly and extensively measure the distribution of radiation. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has continuously conducted ARM via manned helicopter around FDNPS. In this report, we summarize the results of the ARM around FDNPS in the fiscal year 2022, evaluate the changes of ambient dose rates and other parameters based on the comparison to the past ARM results, and discuss the causes of such changes. In order to contribute to improve the accuracy of ambient dose rate conversion, we analyzed the ARM data taking into account undulating topography, and evaluated the effect of this method. Furthermore, the effect of radon progenies in the air on the ARM was evaluated by applying the discrimination method to the measurement results.

Investigations on distribution of radioactive substances owing to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident in the fiscal year 2022 (Contract research)

Group for Fukushima Mapping Project

JAEA-Technology 2023-024, 176 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Technology-2023-024.pdf:22.16MB

This report presents results of the investigations on the distribution-mapping project of radioactive substances owing to TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) conducted in FY2022. Car-borne surveys, a measurement using survey meters, a walk survey and an unmanned helicopter survey were carried out to obtain air dose rate data to create their distribution maps, and temporal changes of the air dose rates were analyzed. Surveys on depth profile of radiocesium and in-situ measurements as for radiocesium deposition were performed. Based on these measurement results, effective half-lives of the temporal changes in the air dose rates and the deposition were evaluated. Score maps to classify the importance of the measurement points were created, and the factors causing changes in the score when monitoring data from multiple years were used were discussed. The range of fluctuation of past tritium concentration data in seawater was determined, and the causes of the fluctuation were discussed. Monitoring data in coastal area performed in 2022 owing to the comprehensive radiation monitoring plan was summarized, and temporal changes in cesium-137 were analyzed. Using the Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach, we obtained maps that integrated air dose rate distribution data acquired through surveys such as car-borne and walk surveys with respect to the region within 80 km from the FDNPS and Fukushima Prefecture. The measurement results for FY2022 were published on the "Database for Radioactive Substance Monitoring Data", and measurement data were stored as CSV format. Radiation monitoring and analysis of environmental samples owing to the comprehensive radiation monitoring plan were carried out.

Survey and proposal for Japanese-English bilingual translation of technical terms focusing on nuclear disaster prevention

Togawa, Orihiko; Okuno, Hiroshi

JAEA-Review 2023-043, 94 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Review-2023-043.pdf:1.53MB

In order to translate nuclear disaster prevention documents written in Japanese into English, the Basic Act on Disaster Management, the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, and the Convention on Nuclear Safety were surveyed for corresponding terms in Japanese and English. The survey results were integrated and unified English translations were selected. As a result, a Japanese-English correspondence table of technical terms in the field of nuclear disaster prevention was prepared and proposed.

Embedded system using a radiation-hardened processor (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Okayama University*

JAEA-Review 2023-038, 48 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Review-2023-038.pdf:2.58MB

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 FY2022. 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 FY2022, this report summarizes the research results of the "Embedded system using a radiation-hardened processor" conducted in FY2022. The present study aims to be developing a radiation-hardened optoelectronic processor with a 10 MGy total-ionizing-dose (TID) tolerance, a radiation-hardened processor without any optical component with a 4 MGy TID tolerance, a radiation-hardened memory with a 4 MGy TID tolerance, and a radiation-hardened power supply unit with a 1 MGy TID tolerance. Moreover, Japanese research group will support radiation- hardened field programmable gate arrays, power supply units, and radiation-hardened optical systems for radiation-hardened robot systems and radiation sensor systems developed by UK team.

Human resource development related to remote control technology for monitoring inside rpv pedestal during retrieval of fuel debris (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; The University of Tokyo*

JAEA-Review 2023-023, 99 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Review-2023-023.pdf:6.0MB

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 FY2022. 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 "Human Resource Development Related to Remote Control Technology for Monitoring Inside RPV Pedestal during Retrieval of Fuel Debris" conducted in FY2022. The present study aims to construct a monitoring platform for understanding the status inside a reactor during fuel debris removal, and measurement and visualization by sensors moving on the platform. In addition, to develop research personnel through research education by participating in such research projects, classroom lectures, and facility tours is also a goal of this project. In FY2022, each system was improved and expanded toward the final year, and verification experiments were conducted in simulated environments.

A Study on the effects of photogrammetry by the camera angle of view using computer simulation

Nakamura, Keita; Hanari, Toshihide; Matsumoto, Taku; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Yashiro, Hiroshi*

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, 36(1), p.115 - 124, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2024.p0115

Anisotropic electrical conductivity changes in FeTiO structure transition under high pressure

Yamanaka, Takamitsu*; Nakamoto, Yuki*; Sakata, Masafumi*; Shimizu, Katsuya*; Hattori, Takanori

Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 51(1), p.4_1 - 4_10, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-023-01261-6

Neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction and electric conductivity measurements of FeTiO ilmenite were performed under pressures. Ilmenite structure is retained up to 28 GPa. Structure analysis revealed that FeO and TiO are compressible and less compressible below 8 GPa, respectively. The resistivity is lowest along the Fe-Ti direction that has shortest interatomic distance among all the metal ion pairs. The resistivity in the direction normal to c-axis monotonically decreases with pressure, whereas that along c-axis shows hallow-shape with pressure. Maximum entropy analysis shows that electron configuration of Fe (3) is more strongly changed than Ti (3) under compression. The anisotropic electrical conductivity and non-uniform structure change of Fe-Ti interatomic distance can be explained by the possible spin transition from high-spin state to intermediate-spin state of Fe cation.

Annual report of Nuclear Human Resource Development Center (April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023)

Nuclear Human Resource Development Center

JAEA-Review 2023-034, 67 Pages, 2024/01

JAEA-Review-2023-034.pdf:2.32MB

This annual report summarizes the activities of Nuclear Human Resource Development Center (NuHRDeC) of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in the fiscal year (FY) 2022. In FY 2022, in addition to the regular training programs at NuHRDeC, we actively organized special training courses responding to the external training needs, cooperated with universities, offered international training courses for Asian countries and promoted activities of the Japan Nuclear Human Resource Development Network (JN-HRD.net). In FY2022, we were able to implement face-to-face training, etc., after thoroughly implementing measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Regular domestic training programs; training courses for radioisotopes and radiation engineers, nuclear energy engineers and national qualification examinations, were conducted as scheduled in the annual plan. We also delivered training for the Japan Atomic Power Company and other organizations outside the JAEA. We continued cooperative activities with universities, such as acceptance of postdoctoral researchers, and activities in line with the cooperative graduate school system, including the acceptance of students from Nuclear Professional School, the University of Tokyo. Furthermore, joint course among seven universities was successfully held by utilizing remote education system. The joint course and the intensive summer course and nuclear fuel cycle training were conducted as part of the collaboration network with universities. The Instructor Training Program (ITP) under the contract with Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, was continually offered to the ITP participating countries. As part of the ITP, the Instructor Training courses such as "Reactor Engineering Course", advanced instructor training course, and the nuclear technology seminar "Basic Radiation Knowledge for School Education" were conducted face-to-face at NuHRDeC.