Geological disposal and chemistry of high-level radioactive waste

Tachi, Yukio

Kagaku To Kyoiku, 71(10), p.420 - 423, 2023/10

no abstracts in English

Twisting an optomechanical cavity

Oue, Daigo*; Matsuo, Mamoru

Physical Review A, 106(4), p.L041501_1 - L041501_7, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.106.L041501

Motion-induced spin transfer

Oue, Daigo*; Matsuo, Mamoru

Physical Review B, 105(2), p.L020302_1 - L020302_5, 2022/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L020302

Prediction of RPV lower structure failure and core material relocation behavior with MPS method (Contract research)

Yoshikawa, Shinji; Yamaji, Akifumi*

JAEA-Research 2021-006, 52 Pages, 2021/09

JAEA-Research-2021-006.pdf:3.89MB

In Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (referred to as "FDNPS" hereafter) unit2 and unit3, failure of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and relocation of some core materials (CRD piping elements and upper tie plate, etc.) to the pedestal region have been confirmed. In boiling water reactors (BWRs), complicated core support structures and control rod drive mechanisms are installed in the RPV lower head and its upper and lower regions, so that the relocation behavior of core materials to pedestal region is expected to be also complicated. The Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method is expected to be effective in overviewing the relocation behavior of core materials in complicated RPV lower structure of BWRs, because of its Lagrangian nature in tracking complex interfaces. In this study, for the purpose of RPV ablation analysis of FDNPS unit2 and unit3, rigid body model, parallelization method and improved calculation time step control method were developed in FY 2019 and improvement of pressure boundary condition treatment, stabilization of rigid body model, and calculation cost reduction of debris bed melting simulation were achieved in FY2020. These improvements enabled sensitivity analyses of melting, relocation and re-distribution behavior of deposited solid debris in RPV lower head on various cases, within practical calculation cost. As a result of the analyses of FDNPS unit2 and unit3, it was revealed that aspect (particles/ingots) and distribution (degree of stratification) of solidified debris in lower plenum have a great impact on the elapsed time of the following debris reheat and partial melting and on molten pool formation process, further influencing RPV lower head failure behavior and fuel debris discharging behavior.

Transfer of Cs to web-building spiders, , and its pathways; A Preliminary study using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses

Tanaka, Sota; Kakinuma, Hotaru*; Adachi, Taro*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Koarashi, Jun

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(4), p.507 - 514, 2021/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2021.1894255

Understanding the pathways of Cs transfer to predatory spiders is useful to assess long-term behavior of Cs in the environment, because spiders obtain food resources from both the grazing and detritus food chains in terrestrial-aquatic linking forest ecosystems. In the present study, we collected spider samples at forest interior and riverside. The sample collection was approximately 6.5 years after the FDNPP accident. Moreover, a transfer factor value (T) for Cs in spiders was quantified. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (C and N) of the spiders were also investigated to estimate the transfer pathways of Cs to the spiders.

Development of technique for acquiring fracture void structure data for a single fracture and acquisition of hydraulic/mass transport properties in a fracture

Sato, Hisashi*; Sawada, Atsushi; Takayama, Yusuke

JAEA-Research 2020-012, 37 Pages, 2020/11

JAEA-Research-2020-012.pdf:2.66MB
JAEA-Research-2020-012-appendix(DVD-ROM).zip:468.23MB

In the safety assessment of the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, it is important to fully understand the permeability and mass transport properties of actual fractures when setting parameters for permeability and mass transport properties of fractures. Permeability and mass transport properties of a fracture are affected by the void structure of the fracture. Therefore, it is necessary not only to conduct a hydraulic test but also to evaluate hydraulic properties based on the void structure of the fracture. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a technique to acquire a three-dimensional void structure of a fracture from fracture surface shape data, and to obtain a dataset of three- dimensional void structure data and hydraulic data of the fracture. Specifically, we made a transparent replica sample of fracture and measure the fracture surface shape data in the exact coordinates. The three-dimensional void structure data was constituted from fracture surface shape data in the same coordinates. In addition, we conducted a permeability test and tracer test for the same sample to obtain a permeability and mass transport properties of the fracture. To assess the validity of the acquired data, we compared it with the apertures evaluated based on different methods. As a result, the average aperture from the fracture void structure was almost same as the average aperture acquired by different methods, from the above that the test result was validated.

Development of MIG2DF Version 2

Takai, Shizuka; Kimura, Hideo*; Uchikoshi, Emiko*; Munakata, Masahiro; Takeda, Seiji

JAEA-Data/Code 2020-007, 174 Pages, 2020/09

JAEA-Data-Code-2020-007.pdf:4.23MB

The MIG2DF computer code is a computer program that simulates groundwater flow and radionuclide transport in porous media for the safety assessment of radioactive waste disposal. The original version of MIG2DF was released in 1992. The original code employs a two-dimensional (vertical or horizontal cross-section, or an axisymmetric configuration) finite-element method to approximate the governing equations for density-dependent saturated-unsaturated groundwater flow and radionuclide transport. Meanwhile, for geological disposal of radioactive wastes, landscape evolution such as uplift and erosion needs to be assessed as a long-term geological and climate events, considering site conditions. In coastal areas, the impact to groundwater flow by change of salinity distribution to sea level change also needs to be considered. To deal with these events in the assessment, we have revised the original version of MIG2DF and developed the external program which enables MIG2DF to consider unsteady landscape evolution. In these developments, this report describes an upgrade of MIG2DF (Version 2) and presents the configuration, equations, methods, and verification. This reports also give the explanation external programs of MIG2DF: PASS-TRAC (the particle tracking code), PASS-PRE (the code for dataset preparation), and PASS-POST (the post-processing visualization system).

Role of filamentous fungi in migration of radioactive cesium in the Fukushima forest soil environment

Onuki, Toshihiko; Sakamoto, Fuminori; Kozai, Naofumi; Namba, Kenji*; Neda, Hitoshi*; Sasaki, Yoshito; Niizato, Tadafumi; Watanabe, Naoko*; Kozaki, Tamotsu*

Environmental Science; Processes & Impacts, 21(7), p.1164 - 1173, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EM00046A

The fate of radioactive Cs deposited after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident and its associated radiological impacts are largely dependent on its mobility from surface soils to forest ecosystems. We measured the accumulation of radioactive Cs in the fruit bodies of wild fungi in the forest at Iidate, Fukushima, Japan. The transfer factors (TFs) of radioactive Cs from soil to the fruit bodies of wild fungi were between 10 to 10, a range similar to those reported for the fruit bodies collected in Europe after the Chernobyl accident and in parts of Japan contaminated by nuclear bomb test fallout. Comparison of the TFs of the wild mushroom and that of the fungal hyphae of 704 stock strains grown on agar medium containing nutrients and radioactive Cs showed that the TFs of wild mushroom were lower. TF was less than 0.1 after addition of the minerals zeolite, vermiculite, phlogopite, smectite, or illite of 1% weight to the agar medium. These results indicate that the presence of minerals decrease Cs uptake by fungi grown in the agar medium.

Model calculation of Cr dissolution behavior of ODS ferritic steel in high-temperature flowing sodium environment

Otsuka, Satoshi; Tanno, Takashi; Oka, Hiroshi; Yano, Yasuhide; Kato, Shoichi; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kaito, Takeji

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 505, p.44 - 53, 2018/07

AA2017-0603.pdf:1.7MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.03.054

A calculation model was constructed to systematically study the effects of environmental conditions (i.e. Cr concentration in sodium, test temperature, axial temperature gradient of fuel pin, and sodium flow velocity) on Cr dissolution behavior. Chromium dissolution was largely influenced by small changes in Cr concentration (i.e. chemical potential of Cr) in liquid sodium in the model calculation. Chromium concentration in sodium coolant, therefore, should be recognized as a critical parameter for the prediction and management of Cr dissolution behavior in the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) core. Because the fuel column length showed no impact on dissolution behavior in the model calculation, no significant downstream effects possibly take place in the SFR fuel cladding tube due to the much shorter length compared with sodium loops in the SFR plant and the large axial temperature gradient. The calculated profile of Cr concentration along the wall-thickness direction was consistent with that measured in BOR-60 irradiation test where Cr concentration in sodium bulk flow was set at 0.07 wt ppm in the calculation.

Recontamination prevention technologies to prevent radioactive cesium from its runoff from not decontaminated forests to living areas

Nagasu, Ryosuke*; Tanabe, Daijiro*; Yokotsuka, Satoshi*; Kumazawa, Noriyuki*; Ajiki, Takaya*; Aizawa, Yusuke*; Naganawa, Hirochika; Nagano, Tetsushi; Yanase, Nobuyuki*; Mitamura, Hisayoshi*; et al.

Kankyo Joka Gijutsu, 17(2), p.58 - 61, 2018/03

A new technology to suppress cesium migration from forests has been developed collaboratively by Ibaraki University, Kumagai-gumi Co., Ltd. and its group company, Technos, and JAEA. The new technology utilizes polyelectrolytes (polymers with electric charges) and clay minerals to control Cs migration with the aid of natural forces such as rainfall and rainwater runoff. In Imitate-mura, Fukushima, verification tests of the new technology have been performed and its effect on controlling Cs migration from forests to grass farm adjoining the forests has been proven.