Anisotropic thermal lattice expansion and crystallographic structure of strontium aluminide within Al-10Sr alloy as measured by in-situ neutron diffraction

Liss, K.-D.*; Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Aizawa, Kazuya; Xu, P. G.

Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 869, p.159232_1 - 159232_9, 2021/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.159232

Leaching behavior of radionuclides from samples prepared from spent fuel rod comparable to core debris in the 1F NPS

Onishi, Takashi; Maeda, Koji; Katsuyama, Kozo

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(4), p.383 - 398, 2021/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1822943

Evaluation of core material energy change during the in-vessel phase of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 based on observed pressure data utilizing GOTHIC code analysis

Sato, Ikken; Arai, Yuta*; Yoshikawa, Shinji

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(4), p.434 - 460, 2021/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1862718

Technical basis of ECCS acceptance criteria for light-water reactors and applicability to high burnup fuel

Nagase, Fumihisa; Narukawa, Takafumi; Amaya, Masaki

JAEA-Review 2020-076, 129 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Review-2020-076.pdf:3.9MB

Each light-water reactor (LWR) is equipped with the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) to maintain the coolability of the reactor core and to suppress the release of radioactive fission products to the environment even in a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) caused by breaks in the reactor coolant pressure boundary. The acceptance criteria for ECCS have been established in order to evaluate the ECCS performance and confirm the sufficient safety margin in the evaluation. The limits defined in the criteria were determined in 1975 and reviewed based on state-of-the-art knowledge in 1981. Though the fuel burnup extension and necessary improvements of cladding materials and fuel design have been conducted, the criteria have not been reviewed since then. Meanwhile, much technical knowledge has been accumulated regarding the behavior of high-burnup fuel during LOCAs and the applicability of the criteria to the high-burnup fuel. This report provides a comprehensive review of the history and technical bases of the current criteria and summarizes state-of-the-art technical findings regarding the fuel behavior during LOCAs. The applicability of the current criteria to the high-burnup fuel is also discussed.

Annual report of Department of Research Reactor and Tandem Accelerator, JFY2017 (Operation, utilization and technical development of JRR-3, JRR-4, NSRR, Tandem Accelerator, RI Production Facility and Tritium Process Laboratory)

Department of Research Reactor and Tandem Accelerator

JAEA-Review 2020-073, 113 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Review-2020-073.pdf:3.87MB

The Department of Research Reactor and Tandem Accelerator is in charge of the operation, utilization and technical development of JRR-3 (Japan Research Reactor No.3), JRR-4 (Japan Research Reactor No.4), NSRR (Nuclear Safety Research Reactor), Tandem Accelerator, RI Production Facility and Tritium Process Laboratory. This annual report describes the activities of our department in fiscal year of 2017. We carried out the operation and maintenance, utilization, upgrading of utilization techniques, safety administration and international cooperation. Also contained are lists of publications, meetings, granted permissions on laws and regulations concerning atomic energy, outcomes in service and technical developments and so on.

Investigation and consideration on evaluation of radiation doses to residents in the case of a nuclear emergency

Hashimoto, Makoto; Kinase, Sakae; Munakata, Masahiro; Murayama, Takashi; Takahashi, Masa; Takada, Chie; Okamoto, Akiko; Hayakawa, Tsuyoshi; Sukegawa, Masato; Kume, Nobuhide*; et al.

JAEA-Review 2020-071, 53 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Review-2020-071.pdf:2.72MB

In the case of a nuclear accident or a radiological emergency, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), as a designated public corporation assigned in the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act and the Armed Attack Situation Response Law, undertakes technical supports to the national government and local governments. The JAEA is requested to support to evaluate radiation doses to residents in a nuclear emergency, which is specified in the Basic Disaster Management Plan and the Nuclear Emergency Response Manual. For the dose evaluation, however, its strategy, target, method, structure and so on have not been determined either specifically or in detail. This report describes the results of investigation and consideration discussed in the "Working Group for Radiation Dose Evaluation at a Nuclear Emergency" established within the Nuclear Emergency Assistance and Training Center to discuss technical supports for radiation dose evaluation to residents in the case of a nuclear emergency, and aims at contributing to specific and detailed discussion and activities in the future for the national government and local governments, also within the JAEA.

Development of burnup/depletion calculation code based on ORIGEN2 cross-section libraries and Chebyshev rational approximation method, CRAMO

Yokoyama, Kenji; Jin, Tomoyuki*

JAEA-Data/Code 2021-001, 47 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Data-Code-2021-001.pdf:1.85MB

A new burnup/depletion calculation code, CRAMO, was developed by combining an ORIGEN2 cross-section library set, ORLIB, based on Japanese evaluated nuclear data library, JENDL, and a burnup/depletion solver based on Chebyshev rational approximation method. CRAMO uses the ORIGEN2 cross-section library set ORLIBJ40 based on JENDL-4.0, and the burnup/depletion solver implemented in the versatile reactor analysis code system, MARBLE. It was confirmed that results of CRAMO agreed well with those of ORIGEN2 for burnup/depletion and radioactivity calculation cases. The development of CRAMO made it possible to use ORLIB without using ORIGEN2. It will be possible to provide an easy-to-use processed JENDL data set for burnup/depletion and radioactivity calculations in combination with a burnup/depletion based on Chebyshev rational approximation method. The present version of CRAMO is a subset of ORIGEN2 and can compute only compositions and radioactivities after irradiation. However, since various kinds of outputs of ORIGEN2 can be evaluated by using the composition, it is possible to reproduce many functions of ORIGEN2 by adding post-processing modules.

Feasibility study on tritium recoil barrier for neutron reflectors of research and test reactors

Kenzhina, I.*; Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Ho, H. Q.; Sakamoto, Naoki*; Okumura, Keisuke; Takemoto, Noriyuki; Chikhray, Y.*

Fusion Engineering and Design, 164, p.112181_1 - 112181_5, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2020.112181

Tritium release into the primary coolant during operation of the JMTR (Japan Materials Testing Reactor) and the JRR-3M (Japan Research Reactor-3M) had been studied. It is found that the recoil release by Li(n,)H reaction, which comes from a chain reaction of beryllium neutron reflectors, is dominant. To prevent tritium recoil release, the surface area of beryllium neutron reflectors needs to be minimum in the core design and/or be shielded with other material. In this paper, as the feasibility study of the tritium recoil barrier for the beryllium neutron reflectors, various materials such as Al, Ti, V, Ni, and Zr were evaluated from the viewpoint of the thickness of barriers, activities after long-term operations, and effects on the reactivities. From the results of evaluations, Al would be a suitable candidate as the tritium recoil barrier for the beryllium neutron reflectors.

Reliability of J-PARC accelerator system over the past decade

Yamamoto, Kazami; Hasegawa, Kazuo; Kinsho, Michikazu; Oguri, Hidetomo; Hayashi, Naoki; Yamazaki, Yoshio; Naito, Fujio*; Yoshii, Masahito*; Toyama, Takeshi*

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011016_1 - 011016_7, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.33.011016

The Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) is a multipurpose facility for scientific experiments. The accelerator complex consists of a 400-MeV Linac, a 3-GeV Rapid-Cycling Synchrotron (RCS) and a 30-GeV Main Ring synchrotron (MR). The RCS delivers a proton beam to the neutron target and MR, and the MR delivers the beams to the neutrino target and the Hadron Experimental Facility. The first operation of the neutron experiments began in December 2008. Following this, the user operation has been continued with some accidental suspensions. These suspensions include the recovery work due to the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 and the radiation leak incident at the Hadron Experimental Facility. In this report, we summarize the major causes of suspension, and the statistics of the reliability of J-PARC accelerator system is analyzed. Owing to our efforts to achieve higher reliability, the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) has been improved.

Nuclide production cross sections of Ni and Zr irradiated with 0.4-, 1.3-, 2.2-, and 3.0-GeV protons

Takeshita, Hayato; Meigo, Shinichiro; Matsuda, Hiroki; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Maekawa, Fujio; Watanabe, Yukinobu*

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011045_1 - 011045_6, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.33.011045

To improve accuracy of nuclear design of accelerator driven nuclear transmutation systems, nuclide production cross sections on Ni and Zr, which were candidate materials to be used in ADS, were measured for GeV energy protons. The measured results were compared with PHITS calculations and JENDL/HE-2007.