Study on water stopping, repair and stabilization of lower PCV by geopolymer, etc. (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

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

JAEA-Review 2022-062, 121 Pages, 2023/03

JAEA-Review-2022-062.pdf:4.78MB

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 FY2021, this report summarizes the research results of the "Study on water stopping, repair and stabilization of lower PCV by geopolymer, etc." conducted in FY2021. The present study aims to propose a construction method to stop jet deflectors by improved geopolymer and ultra-heavy muddy water, and to repair the lower part of the dry well. In addition, in order to increase the options for on-site construction in unknown situations such as deposition conditions, we will examine a wide range of construction outside the pedestal, and evaluate the feasibility of the construction method by the latest thermal flow simulation method. When widely constructed, fuel debris and deposits discharged out of the pedestal are coated with water stop and repair materials and become waste ...

Safe, efficient cementation of challenging radioactive wastes using alkali activated materials with high-flowability and high-anion retention capacity (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Hokkaido University*

JAEA-Review 2022-050, 116 Pages, 2023/01

JAEA-Review-2022-050.pdf:11.41MB

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 "Safe, efficient cementation of challenging radioactive wastes using alkali activated materials with high-flowability and high-anion retention capacity" 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 explore alkali activated materials with high anionic nuclide retention and flowability and their recipes for safe storage and disposal of iron flocculant from the water treatment facility at 1F, and to propose a design of a solidification device that is feasible as an actual plant. In order to achieve these objectives, the following five items were carried out in this study.

Geopolymer and ordinary Portland cement interface analyzed by micro-Raman and SEM

Cantarel, V.; Yamagishi, Isao

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(7), p.888 - 897, 2022/07

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2021.2016510

Star-polymer-DNA gels showing highly predictable and tunable mechanical responses

Ohira, Masashi*; Katashima, Takuya*; Naito, Mitsuru*; Aoki, Daisuke*; Yoshikawa, Yusuke*; Iwase, Hiroki*; Takata, Shinichi; Miyata, Kanjiro*; Chung, U.-I.*; Sakai, Takamasa*; et al.

Advanced Materials, 34(13), p.2108818_1 - 2108818_9, 2022/01

https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202108818

Dynamics of water in a catalyst layer of a fuel cell by quasielastic neutron scattering

Ito, Kanae; Yamada, Takeshi*; Shinohara, Akihiro*; Takata, Shinichi; Kawakita, Yukinobu

Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 125(39), p.21645 - 21652, 2021/10

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c06014

Safe, efficient cementation of challenging radioactive wastes using alkali activated materials with high-flowability and high-anion retention capacity (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Hokkaido University*

JAEA-Review 2020-054, 72 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-054.pdf:5.62MB

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 "Safe, efficient cementation of challenging radioactive wastes using alkali activated materials with high-flowability and high-anion retention capacity". The purpose of this study is to find safe, efficient cementation of challenging radioactive wastes using alkali activated materials with high-flowability and high-anion retention capacity, and to propose the concept of a manufacturing apparatus that is established as an actual plant. As a result of study in this year, it was revealed that the K-based alkali activated material has high-flowability and quick curing, and that high-iodine retention capacity is achieved by incorporating silver ions during manufacturing of solidified waste.

Online measurement of the atmosphere around geopolymers under gamma irradiation

Cantarel, V.; Lambertin, D.*; Labed, V.*; Yamagishi, Isao

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(1), p.62 - 71, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1801531

The gas production of wasteforms is a major safety concern for encapsulating active nuclear wastes. For geopolymers and cements, the H produced by radiolytic processes is a key factor because of the large amount of water present in their porous structure. Herein, the gas composition evolution around geopolymers was monitored on line under Co gamma irradiation. Transient evolution of the hydrogen production yield was measured for samples with different formulations. The rate of its evolution and the final values are consistent with the presence of a chemical reaction of the pseudo-first order consuming hydrogen in the samples. The results show this phenomenon can significantly reduce the hydrogen source term of geopolymer wasteform provided their diffusion constant remains low. Lower hydrogen production rates and faster kinetics were observed with geopolymers formulations in which pore water pH was higher. Besides hydrogen production, a steady oxygen consumption was observed for all geopolymers samples. The oxygen consumption rates are proportional to the diffusion constants estimated in the modelization of hydrogen recombination by a pseudo first order reaction.

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.

Development of technology to prevent scattering of radioactive materials in fuel debris retrieval (Contract research); FY2018 Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development

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

JAEA-Review 2019-037, 90 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-037.pdf:7.0MB

JAEA/CLADS, had been conducting the Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2018. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. 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 FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of Technology to Prevent Scattering of Radioactive Materials in Fuel Debris Retrieval". The objective of the present study is to clarify the behavior of microparticles in gas and liquid phases in order to steadily confine radioactive microparticles at the time of debris retrieval in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In addition, as measures to prevent scattering, we will evaluate and develop methods by experiments and simulation as to; (1) a method to suppress the scattering with minimum amount of water utilizing water spray etc., and (2) a method to suppress the scattering by solidifying fuel debris.

On the hydrogen production of geopolymer wasteforms under irradiation

Cantarel, V.; Arisaka, Makoto; Yamagishi, Isao

Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 102(12), p.7553 - 7563, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.16642

The hydrogen gas (H) production of wasteforms is a major safety concern for encapsulating nuclear wastes. For geopolymers, the H produced by radiolytic processes is a key factor because of the large amount of water present in their porous structure. Herein, the hydrogen production was measured under Co gamma irradiation. The effect of water saturation and sample size were studied for pure geopolymers, or using zeolites as an example waste. When geopolymer monolithic samples were large and saturated by water, the hydrogen released was measured up to two orders of magnitude lower with a 40 cm long cylinder samples (1.910 mol/J) than a sample in powder form (2.210 mol/J). To interpret results, a simple model was used, considering only hydrogen production, a potential recombination and its diffusion in the geopolymer matrix. Knowing the diffusion constant of the matrix, the model was able to reproduce the evolution of the hydrogen release as a function of the water saturation level and predict the evolution when sample size is increased up to 40 cm.