Development of the technology for preventing radioactive particles' dispersion during the fuel debris retrieval (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

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

JAEA-Review 2020-043, 116 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-043.pdf:7.74MB

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 FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of the technology for preventing radioactive particles' dispersion during the fuel debris retrieval" conducted in FY2019. In this study, a technique to effectively suppress the scattering of fine particles has been developed, and as a result of experiments, a method of spraying with water mist was found to be an effective and applicable method for improving aerosol removal efficiency and removal rate. As a method of solidifying fuel debris to suppress fine particle scattering during cutting, geopolymer was evaluated for its strength, thermal conductivity and cutting powder. In addition, flow status of geopolymer and the temperature distribution inside RPV covered by geopolymer were simulated.

Development of technology for rapid analysis of strontium-90 with low isotopic abundance using laser resonance ionization (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

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

JAEA-Review 2020-024, 75 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-024.pdf:5.43MB

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 FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of Technology for Rapid Analysis of Strontium-90 with Low Isotopic Abundance using Laser Resonance Ionization" conducted in FY2019. In this study, we will develop a rapid analysis technique for strontium-90 using diode laser-based resonance ionization with elemental and isotopic selectivity. Strontium-90 is one of the major difficult-to-measure nuclides released into the environment due to the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Our method is particularly intended for real samples which contain high concentrations of strontium stable isotopes such as marine samples.

Development of laser cutting technology of thick steel plates for nuclear facilities

Tamura, Koji*; Toyama, Shinichi

Nippon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi, 62(5), p.268 - 271, 2020/05

The laser cutting technology is expected to be a promising candidate for the decommissioning measure of nuclear facilities, because it has a lot of advantage such as its high controllability and excellent suitability to remote handling by robot arm, etcetera. This report describes the recent result from laser cutting technology development for thick steel materials summarizing the cutting demonstration of 300 mm thick steels and dummy pressure vessel, the analysis of cutting condition of thick steel cutting, the observation of cutting process, remote controlled cutting system, the cutting in pile of steels by the system, and countermeasure for fume produce by cutting process.

Identification of altered phases of fuel debris by laser fluorescence spectroscopy (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 2019-030, 66 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-030.pdf:7.11MB

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. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Identification of Altered Phases of Fuel Debris by Laser Fluorescence Spectroscopy". In the present study, we focus on uranium that is the main component element in debris, and identify the altered phase produced on the debris surface under various conditions by time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) with high sensitivity to hexavalent uranium (U(VI)) that is stable in oxidation environment. In particular, further high-sensitive and high-resolution measurements are implemented by improving the fluorescence yields and suppressing the broadening of the peaks through the measurements at ultra-low temperature. In addition, with the supports by quantum chemical calculations, multivariate analysis, and machine learning, the method will lead to the identification of multicomponent and heterogeneous altered phase of fuel debris.

Development of technology for rapid analysis of strontium-90 with low isotopic abundance using laser resonance ionization (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 2019-027, 70 Pages, 2020/01

JAEA-Review-2019-027.pdf:5.18MB

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 for Rapid Analysis of Strontium-90 with Low Isotopic Abundance Using Laser Resonance Ionization". In this study, we will develop a rapid analysis technique for strontium-90 using diode laser-based resonance ionization with elemental and isotopic selectivity. Strontium-90 is one of the major difficult-to-measure nuclides released into the environment due to the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Our method is particularly intended for real samples which contain high concentrations of strontium stable isotopes such as marine samples.

Improving fatigue performance of laser-welded 2024-T3 aluminum alloy using dry laser peening

Sano, Tomokazu*; Eimura, Takayuki*; Hirose, Akio*; Kawahito, Yosuke*; Katayama, Seiji*; Arakawa, Kazuto*; Masaki, Kiyotaka*; Shiro, Ayumi*; Shobu, Takahisa; Sano, Yuji*

Metals, 9(11), p.1192_1 - 1192_13, 2019/11

https://doi.org/10.3390/met9111192

The purpose of the present study was to verify the effectiveness of dry laser peening (DryLP), which is the peening technique without a sacrificial overlay under atmospheric conditions using femtosecond laser pulses on the mechanical properties such as hardness, residual stress, and fatigue performance. After DryLP treatment of the laser-welded 2024 aluminum alloy, the softened weld metal recovered to the original hardness of base metal, while residual tensile stress in the weld metal and heat-affected zone changed to compressive stresses. The fatigue life almost doubled at a stress amplitude of 180 MPa and increased by a factor of more than 50 at 120 MPa. As a result, DryLP was found to be more effective for improving the fatigue performance of laser-welded aluminum specimens with welding defects at lower stress amplitudes.

Experimental evaluation of wall shear stress in a double contraction nozzle using a water mock-up of a liquid Li target for an intense fusion neutron source

Kondo, Hiroo*; Kanemura, Takuji*; Park, C. H.*; Oyaizu, Makoto*; Hirakawa, Yasushi; Furukawa, Tomohiro

Fusion Engineering and Design, 146(Part A), p.285 - 288, 2019/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2018.12.047

Herein, the wall shear stress in a double contraction nozzle has been evaluated experimentally to produce a liquid lithium (Li) target as a beam target for intense fusion neutron sources such as the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF), the Advanced Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS), and the DEMO Oriented Neutron Source (DONES). The boundary layer thickness and wall shear stress are essential physical parameters to understand erosion-corrosion by the high-speed liquid Li flow in the nozzle, which is the key component in producing a stable Li target. Therefore, these parameters were experimentally evaluated using an acrylic mock-up of the target assembly. The velocity distribution in the nozzle was measured by a laser-doppler velocimeter and the momentum thickness along the nozzle wall was calculated using an empirical prediction method. The resulting momentum thickness was used to estimate the variation of the wall shear stress along the nozzle wall. Consequently, the wall shear stress was at the maximum in the second convergent section in front of the nozzle exit.

Development of two-mirror multi-pass laser system to reduce laser power for laser stripping injection at J-PARC 3-GeV RCS

Saha, P. K.; Harada, Hiroyuki; Kinsho, Michikazu; Sato, Atsushi*; Yoneda, Hitoki*; Michine, Yurina*

Proceedings of 16th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.841 - 845, 2019/07

https://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2019/proceedings/index.html

A New measuring method for elemental ratio and Vickers hardness of metal-oxide-boride materials based on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

Abe, Yuta; Otaka, Masahiko; Okazaki, Kodai*; Kawakami, Tomohiko*; Nakagiri, Toshio

Proceedings of 2019 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2019) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2019/05

Since the hardness of fuel debris containing boride from BC pellet in control rod is estimated to be two times higher as that of oxide, such as UO and ZrO, it is necessary to select the efficient and appropriate operation for removal of fuel debris formed in the severe accident of nuclear power plants. We focused on the characteristics of LIBS, an innovative rapid chemical in-situ analysis technology that enables simultaneous detection of B, O, and other metal elements in fuel debris. Simulated solidified melt specimens were obtained in the plasma heating tests (CMMR-0/-2, performed by JAEA) of simulated fuel assembly (ZrO is used to simulated UO pellet, other materials such as stainless steel, BC are same as fuel assembly). The LIBS signals of (B/O)/Zr ratio showed good linear relationship with Vickers hardness. This technique can be also applied as in-situ assessment tool for elemental composition and Vickers hardness of metal-oxide-boride materials.

Development of remote sensing technique using radiation resistant optical fibers under high-radiation environment

Ito, Chikara; Naito, Hiroyuki; Ishikawa, Takashi; Ito, Keisuke; Wakaida, Ikuo

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 24, p.011038_1 - 011038_6, 2019/01

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.24.011038

A high-radiation resistant optical fiber has been developed in order to investigate the interiors of the reactor pressure vessels and the primary containment vessels at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The tentative dose rate in the reactor pressure vessels is assumed to be up to 1 kGy/h. We developed a radiation resistant optical fiber consisting of a 1000 ppm hydroxyl doped pure silica core and 4 % fluorine doped pure silica cladding. We attempted to apply the optical fiber to remote imaging technique by means of fiberscope. The number of core image fibers was increased from 2000 to 22000 for practical use. The transmissive rate of infrared images was not affected after irradiation of 1 MGy. No change in the spatial resolution of the view scope by means of image fiber was noted between pre- and post-irradiation. We confirmed the applicability of the probing system, which consists of a view scope using radiation-resistant optical fibers.