Difference in accumulation of plutonium and curium isotopes formed in americium targets irradiated in Joyo and JMTR

Onishi, Takashi; Koyama, Shinichi*; Yokoyama, Keisuke; Morishita, Kazuki; Watanabe, Masashi; Maeda, Shigetaka; Yano, Yasuhide; Oki, Shigeo

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 432, p.113755_1 - 113755_17, 2025/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2024.113755

Pressure-induced polymerization of 1,4-difluorobenzene towards fluorinated diamond nanothreads

Che, G.*; Fei, Y.*; Tang, X.*; Zhao, Z.*; Hattori, Takanori; Abe, Jun*; Wang, X.*; Ju, J.*; Dong, X.*; Wang, Y.*; et al.

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 27(2), p.1112 - 1118, 2025/01

https://doi.org/10.1039/d4cp03751k

Pressure-induced polymerization (PIP) of aromatic molecules has emerged as an effective method for synthesizing various carbon-based materials. In this work, PIP of 1,4-difluorobenzene (1,4-DFB) was investigated. high-pressure investigations of 1,4-DFB reveal a phase transition at approximately 12.0 GPa and an irreversible chemical reaction at 18.7 GPa. Structural analysis of the product and the kinetics of the reaction uncovered the formation of pseudohexagonal stacked fluoro-diamond nanothreads with linear growth. Compared to the crystal structures of benzene under high pressure, 1,4-DFB exhibits higher compression along the [001] axis. The anisotropic compression is attributed to the stronger H interaction along the [01] axis and the potential compression-inhibiting HF interactions along the [100] and [010] axes, and it facilitates a possible reaction pathway along the [01] axis. This work emphasizes the crucial role of functionalization in modulating molecular stacking and influencing the reaction pathway.

Data report of ROSA/LSTF experiment SB-PV-03; 0.2% pressure vessel bottom break LOCA with SG depressurization and gas inflow

Takeda, Takeshi

JAEA-Data/Code 2024-014, 76 Pages, 2024/12

JAEA-Data-Code-2024-014.pdf:4.0MB

An experiment denoted as SB-PV-03 was conducted on November 19, 2002 using the Large Scale Test Facility (LSTF) in the Rig of Safety Assessment-V (ROSA-V) Program. The ROSA/LSTF experiment SB-PV-03 simulated a 0.2% pressure vessel bottom small-break loss-of-coolant accident in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The test assumptions included total failure of high pressure injection system of emergency core cooling system (ECCS) and noncondensable gas (nitrogen gas) inflow to the primary system from accumulator (ACC) tanks of ECCS. Secondary-side depressurization of both steam generators (SGs) as an accident management (AM) action to achieve the depressurization rate of 55 K/h in the primary system was initiated 10 min after the generation of a safety injection signal, and continued afterwards. Auxiliary feedwater injection into the secondary-side of both SGs was started for 30 min with some delay after the onset of the AM action. The AM action was effective on the primary depressurization until the ACC tanks began to discharge nitrogen gas into the primary system. The core liquid level recovered in oscillative manner because of intermittent coolant injection from the ACC system into both cold legs. Therefore, the core liquid level remained at a small drop. The pressure difference between the primary and SG secondary sides became larger after nitrogen gas ingress. Core uncovery occurred by core boil-off during reflux condensation in the SG U-tubes under nitrogen gas influx. When the maximum cladding surface temperature of simulated fuel rods exceeded the pre-determined value of 908 K, the core power was automatically reduced to protect the LSTF core. After the automatic core power reduction, coolant injection from low pressure injection (LPI) system of ECCS into both cold legs led to the whole core quench. After the continuous core cooling was confirmed through the actuation of the LPI system, the experiment was terminated.

Assessment of individual external exposure doses based on environmental radiation in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident

Sato, Rina; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Sanada, Yukihisa; Mikami, Satoshi; Yamada, Tsutomu*; Nakasone, Takamasa*; Kanaizuka, Seiichi*; Sato, Tetsuro*; Mori, Tsubasa*; Takagi, Marie*

Environmental Science & Technology, 194, p.109148_1 - 109148_8, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109148

Assessment of individual external doses from ambient dose equivalents is used for predictive and retrospective assessments where personal dosimeters are not applicable. However, it tends to contain more errors than assessment by personal dosimetry due to various parameters. Therefore, in order to accurately assess the individual dose from ambient dose equivalents, a model that estimates effective doses considering life patterns and the shielding effects by buildings and vehicles, were developed in this study. The model parameters were examined using robust datasets of environmental radiation measured in the areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in 2020 to 2021. The accuracy of the model was validated by comparison with 106 daily personal doses measured in Fukushima Prefecture in 2020. The measured personal dose was well reproduced by the model-estimated effective dose, showing that the model can be used to assess the individual exposure dose, similar to personal dosimetry. Furthermore, this model is an effective tool for radiation protection, as it can estimate the individual dose predictively and retrospectively by using environmental radiation data.

In-situ measurement of radiation driven back-conversion from para to ortho liquid hydrogen state in cold moderators at J-PARC

Teshigawara, Makoto; Lee, Y.*; Tatsumoto, Hideki*; Hartl, M.*; Aso, Tomokazu; Iverson, E. B.*; Ariyoshi, Gen; Ikeda, Yujiro*; Hasegawa, Takumi*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 557, p.165534_1 - 165534_10, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2024.165534

At Japanese Spallation Neutron Source in J-PARC, the para-hydrogen fraction was measured by using Raman spectroscopy in-situ for an integrated beam power of 9.4 MWh at 1 MW operation, to evaluate the functionality of the ferric oxyhydroxide catalyst. This result showed that full functionality of the catalyst was retained up to the 1 MW operation. We attempted to study the effect of neutron scattering driven para to ortho-hydrogen back-conversion rate in the absence of the catalyst effect with a bypass line without catalyst. The measured increase of ortho-hydrogen fraction was 0.44% for an integrated beam power of 2.4 MWh at 500 kW operation, however, which was considered to be due to not only to neutron collisions in cold moderators but also to the high ortho-hydrogen fraction of initially static liquid hydrogen in the bypass line and passive exudation of quasi-static hydrogen in the catalyst vessel to the main loop.

Development and evaluation of a real-time 3D positioning embedded system combining wireless UWB and camera image analysis (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tokai National Higher Education and Research System*

JAEA-Review 2024-027, 77 Pages, 2024/11

JAEA-Review-2024-027.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 FY2022, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development and evaluation of a real-time 3D positioning embedded system combining wireless UWB and camera image analysis" conducted in FY2022. The present study aims to realize an embedded system that combines two of the latest popular technologies, "wireless UWB (Ultra Width Band)" and "multi-camera object recognition," with the goal of simple realtime 3D positioning with less than 10 cm accuracy by a human or robot for measuring air doses in nuclear reactor buildings.

Thermodynamic properties and revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers equations of state parameters of the hydrated and dehydrated monomeric silica species at = 0.01-600C, = 1-3000 bars, = 0.35-1.1 g cm, and = 0

Walker, C. S.*; Arthur, R. C.*; Anraku, Sohtaro; Sasamoto, Hiroshi; Mihara, Morihiro

Applied Geochemistry, 175, p.106086_1 - 106086_17, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2024.106086

The thermodynamic properties and revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers equation of state (r-H-K-F EoS) parameters of the hydrated (Si(OH)(aq), SiO(OH) and SiO(OH)) and fictive dehydrated (SiO(aq), HSiO and SiO) monomeric silicon species are used extensively to describe the pH, composition, temperature, and pressure dependence of formation/breakdown reactions of all silicon-bearing compounds globally. Experimental log10 equilbrium constant, K values describing the formation reactions of the hydrated and dehydrated monomeric silicon species were therefore compiled from the literature, extrapolated to zero ionic strength by specific ion interaction theory as required and used to derive their thermodynamic properties and r-H-K-F EoS parameters. Consideration of all formation reactions in the same study provides a collective, internally consistent update to the thermodynamic properties and r-H-K-F EoS parameters of the monomeric silicon species that can provide a satisfactory match to the experimental log10 K values at = 0.01-600C, = 1-3000 bars, = 0.35-1.1 g cm, and zero ionic strength. These temperature and pressure limits comfortably bracket t=0.01-100C and P =1-270 bars relecant to the geological disposal of radioactive wastes at depths of up to 1 km.

Transmissivity prediction of the Excavation Damaged Zone fracture around the gallery at 500 m at the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory

Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ozaki, Yusuke; Tamura, Tomonori; Ishii, Eiichi

Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Coupled Processes in Fractured Geological Media; Observation, Modeling, and Application (CouFrac2024) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2024/11

In high-level radioactive waste disposal, it is crucial to estimate the transmissivity of gallery excavation-induced fractures, i.e., excavation damaged zone (EDZ) fractures, because EDZ fractures can be a radionuclide migration pathway after the backfilling of the facility is completed. From previous research, the transmissivity of the fracture can be estimated through the empirical equation using the parameter ductility index (DI), which corresponds to the effective mean stress normalized to the tensile strength of the rock. In this research, we performed a hydromechanical coupling analysis of a gallery excavation at the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory to estimate the transmissivity of the EDZ fracture before the excavation. At first, we simulated the gallery excavation at 350 m and showed that the measured transmissivity was within the range of the estimated transmissivity using the DI. After that, we also predicted the excavation of a gallery at 500 m by setting the hydromechanical parameters acquired from the laboratory tests before the excavation. The estimated transmissivity at 500 m was one order of magnitude less than that at 350 m. This result might be related to the closure of the fracture under high-stress conditions and low rock strength.

Uranium-plutonium-oxygen phase diagram; Investigating the solvus of fluorite's exsolution

Vauchy, R.; Hirooka, Shun; Horii, Yuta; Ogasawara, Masahiro*; Sunaoshi, Takeo*; Yamada, Tadahisa*; Tamura, Tetsuya*; Murakami, Tatsutoshi

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 599, p.155233_1 - 155233_11, 2024/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155233

The fluorite exsolution/recombination in UPuO (y = 0.30 and 0.45) and PuO was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. The results are in relatively good agreement with the literature data, except for plutonia. Our values indicate that the critical temperature of the miscibility gap in Pu-O is 3050 K lower than previously reported. Finally, the systematic experimental procedure allowed us refining the locus of the solvus existing in hypostoichiometric U0PuO, UPuO, and PuO dioxides.

Design and beam dynamics studies of a chopper for the JAEA-ADS LEBT

Yee-Rendon, B.; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Maekawa, Fujio; Meigo, Shinichiro

Proceedings of 21st Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.205 - 209, 2024/10

https://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2024/proceedings/PDF/WEP0/WEP001.pdf

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) designs a 30-MW CW proton linear accelerator (linac) as a key component for the accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS) project, aimed at nuclear waste management. The low energy beam transport (LEBT) in JAEA-ADS uses charge neutralization to minimize space-charge effects, which are the primary cause of beam loss in high-power accelerators. During commissioning and power ramp-up, precise control of the duty cycle is required for safety and machine protection; thus, a chopper system will be installed to manage the beam power. The chopper is located at the LEBT, to facilitate the disposal of the excess beam power, but its operation will affect the charge neutralization producing beam transients that could lead to beam loss. To shed light on this, we created a beam optics model for the chopper using an analytic approach to determine the required characteristics like voltage and dimensions, which was confirmed through TraceWin simulations. Subsequently, we analyzed the chopper's impact on space-charge compensation to evaluate the beam transients in the LEBT. This study reports the design of the chopper and its effects on beam performance for the JAEA-ADS LEBT.