Judgment on convergence-in-distribution of Monte Carlo tallies under autocorrelation

Ueki, Taro

Nuclear Science and Engineering, 194(6), p.422 - 432, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2019.1710418

In Monte Carlo criticality calculation, the convergence-in-distribution check of the sample mean of tallies can be approached in terms of the influence range of autocorrelation. In this context, it is necessary to evaluate the attenuation of autocorrelation coefficients over lags. However, in just one replica of calculation, it is difficult to accurately estimate small ACCs at large lags because of the comparability with statistical uncertainty. This paper proposes a method to overcome such an issue. Its essential component is the transformation of a standardized time series of tallies so that the resulting series asymptotically converges in distribution to Brownian motion. The convergence-in-distribution check is constructed based on the independent increment property of Brownian motion. The judgment criterion is set by way of the spectral analysis of fractional Brownian motion. Numerical results are demonstrated for extreme and standard types of criticality calculation.

Monte Carlo radiation transport modelling of the current-biased kinetic inductance detector

Malins, A.; Machida, Masahiko; Vu, TheDang; Aizawa, Kazuya; Ishida, Takekazu*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 953, p.163130_1 - 163130_7, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2019.163130

Quantitative estimation of exposure inhomogeneity in terms of eye lens and extremity monitoring for radiation workers in the nuclear industry

Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Kowatari, Munehiko; Hagiwara, Masayuki*; Nagaguro, Seiji*; Nakamura, Hajime*

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 184(2), p.179 - 188, 2019/08

https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncy197

Dataset of TLD badge response and hair activation for criticality accident neutron dosimetry

Tsujimura, Norio; Takahashi, Fumiaki; Takada, Chie

Progress in Nuclear Science and Technology (Internet), 6, p.148 - 151, 2019/01

https://doi.org/10.15669/pnst.6.148

Review of the performance of a car-borne survey system, KURAMA-II, used to measure the dose rate after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Tsuda, Shuichi; Tanigaki, Minoru*; Yoshida, Tadayoshi; Saito, Kimiaki

Hoshasen, 44(3), p.109 - 118, 2018/11

JAEA has started to perform dose rate monitoring using a car-borne survey system KURAMA to rapidly produce the dose rate mappings of the deposited radionuclides in the environment after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. KURAMA is a car-borne survey system developed by Kyoto University to perform dose rate monitoring in a wide area in detail with rapidity. By improving KURAMA with continuous dose rate monitoring, the 2nd generation of KURAMA (KURAMA-II) succeeded in downsizing, durability and automated transmission of data so that enable detailed dose rate mapping in wide area in shorter period of time. This paper reports the radiation characteristics and the simulation analysis of KURAMA-II on the special issue of Hoshasen, the journal of Ionization Radiation Division in the Japan society of applied physics.

Development of an air dose rate evaluation system (3D-ADRES) for complex real environments in Fukushima Prefecture; Using remote sensing data and evaluating the influence of different features (topography, soil, buildings, trees, etc.)

Kim, M.; Malins, A.; Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Kitamura, Akihiro; Machida, Masahiko; Hasegawa, Yukihiro*; Yanagi, Hideaki*

RIST News, (64), p.3 - 16, 2018/09

To improve the accuracy of simulations for air dose rates over fallout contaminated areas, the distribution of the radionuclides within the environment should be modelled realistically, e.g. considering differences in radioactivity levels between agricultural land, urban surfaces, and forest compartments. Moreover simulations should model the shielding of rays by buildings, trees and land topography. Here we outline a system for generating three dimensional models of urban and rural areas in Fukushima Prefecture. The Cs and Cs radioactivity distribution can be set flexibly across the different components of the model. The models incorporate realistic representations of local buildings, based on nine common Japanese designs, individual conifer and broadleaf trees, and the topography of the land surface. Models are generated from Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM) datasets, and refined by users assisted with ortho-photographs of target sites. Completed models are exported from the system in a format suitable for the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) for the calculation of air dose rates and other radiological quantities. The system is demonstrated by modelling a suburban area 4 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that has yet to be decontaminated. Air dose rates calculated in PHITS were correlated with measurements taken across the site in a car-borne survey.

Assessment of equivalent dose of the lens of the eyes and the extremities to workers under nonhomogeneous exposure situation in nuclear and accelerator facilities by means of measurements using a phantom coupled with Monte Carlo simulation

Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Hagiwara, Masayuki*; Kowatari, Munehiko; Nishino, Sho; Sanami, Toshiya*; Iwase, Hiroshi*

Proceedings of 14th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA-14), Vol.3 (Internet), p.1188 - 1195, 2017/11

http://www.irpa.net/docs/IRPA14%20Proceedings%20Volume%203.pdf

The equivalent doses to the lens of the eye and extremities for radiation workers should be assessed properly to ensure that the dose limits are not exceeded. Recently, the following two issues has pressed demand on more appropriate evaluation of the equivalent doses of the lens of the eye and extremity. One is the new occupational dose limit for the lens of the eye the ICRP recommended. The other is growing demand on handling of highly activated materials in the maintenance works of an accelerator and contaminated materials during the decommissioning works of nuclear facility, which increases the potential exposure risk to the extremities to a wider variety of radio-nuclides. Since the points to be assessed for the exposures to the lens of the eye and the extremities are apart from the trunk, the homogeneity of the radiation fields would be significantly impact on the assessment of these equivalent doses. However, there has been no sufficient and available method to identify the nonhomogeneous situations systematically in terms of the eye lens or extremity monitoring. The goal of this study is to provide the framework to identify the nonhomogeneous exposure situations. In order to fulfil this purpose, newly proposed indices to represent the homogeneity were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation incorporated with mathematical phantom, verifying the benchmark measurements. Important parameters that significantly impact on these indices were also shown from the various trials of calculations of homogeneity indices.

Integral benchmark test of JENDL-4.0 for U-233 systems with ICSBEP Handbook

Kuwagaki, Kazuki*; Nagaya, Yasunobu

JAEA-Data/Code 2017-007, 27 Pages, 2017/03

JAEA-Data-Code-2017-007.pdf:4.77MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2017-007-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:0.37MB

The integral benchmark test of JENDL-4.0 for U-233 systems using the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP was conducted. The previous benchmark test was performed only for U-233 thermal solution and fast metallic systems in the ICSBEP handbook. In this study, MVP input files were prepared for uninvestigated benchmark problems in the handbook including compound thermal systems (mainly lattice systems) and integral benchmark test was performed. The prediction accuracy of JENDL-4.0 was evaluated for effective multiplication factors ('s) of the U-233 systems. As a result, a trend of underestimation was observed for all the categories of U-233 systems. In the benchmark test of ENDF/B-VII.1 for U-233 systems with the ICSBEP handbook, it is reported that a decreasing trend of calculated values in association with a parameter ATFF (Above-Thermal Fission Fraction) is observed. The ATFF values were also calculated in this benchmark test of JENDL-4.0 and the same trend as ENDF/B-VII.1 was observed.

Dynamic behavior of secondary electrons produced by a high-energy electron in liquid water

Kai, Takeshi; Yokoya, Akinari*; Fujii, Kentaro*; Watanabe, Ritsuko*

Yodenshi Kagaku, (8), p.11 - 17, 2017/03

It is thought to that the biological effects such as cell death or mutation are induced by complex DNA damage which are formed by several damage sites within a few nm. We calculated dynamic behavior of secondary electrons produced by primary electron and positon of high energy in water whose composition ratio is similar to biological context. The secondary electrons induce the ionization or electronic excitation near the parent cations. The decelerated electrons about 10% are distributed to their parent cations by the attractive Coulombic force. From the results, we predicted the following formation mechanism for the complex DNA damage. The electrons ejected from DNA could induce the ionization or the electronic excitation within the DNA. The electrons attracted by the Coulombic force are pre-hydrated in water layer of the DNA. The pre-hydrated electrons could induce to the DNA damage by dissociative electron transfer. As the results, the complex DNA damage with 1 nm could be formed by the interaction of not only the primary electron or positon but also the secondary electrons.

Accuracy check of Monte Carlo simulation in particle therapy using gel dosimeters

Furuta, Takuya

Igaku Butsuri, 37(3), p.177 - 180, 2017/00

https://doi.org/10.11323/jjmp.37.3_177

Gel dosimeters are gelated aqueous solutions of radiosensitive substances and useful tools to visualize three-dimensional dose distribution of radiations. A study which uses gel dosimeters to quantify the dose distribution in biological samples is explained. In this study, the measured distribution was compared with the simulation result of PHITS to check the accuracy of Monte Carlo simulation in particle therapy situations. The comparison shows that the measured complex distal edge structure of the dose distribution reflecting the particle transport in inhomogeneous biological sample was reproduced by simulation with a precision of 2 mm difference. The result also shows that gel dosimeters are powerful tools to visualize three-dimensional dose distribution and have potential to be used for various purposes such as quality assurance of treatment beams as well as accuracy check of simulations.