Radioactivity estimation of radioactive hotspots using a Compton camera and derivation of dose rates in the surrounding environment

佐藤 優樹

Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 212, p.111421_1 - 111421_8, 2024/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111421

At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, radiation sources released in the accident were deposited on various equipment and building structures. During decommissioning, it is crucial to understand the distribution of radiation sources and ambient dose equivalent rates to reduce worker exposure and implement detailed work planning. In this study, the author introduces a method for visualizing radiation sources, estimates their radioactivity using a Compton camera, and derives the dose rate around the radiation sources. In the demonstration test, the Compton camera was used to visualize radioactive hotspots caused by Cs radiation sources deposited in the outdoor environment and estimated the radioactivity. Furthermore, the dose rate around the hotspots was calculated from the estimated radioactivity, which confirmed that the calculated dose rate correlated with the dose rate measured using a survey meter. This approach is novel, where a series of analyses were conducted using the Compton camera to visualize radioactive hotspots, estimate the radioactivity, and derive the dose rate in the surrounding environment.

Quantifying uncertainty induced by scattering angle distribution using maximum entropy method

丸山 修平; 山本 章夫*; 遠藤 知弘*

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 205, p.110591_1 - 110591_13, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2024.110591

This study developed a new method for evaluating the uncertainty in reactor core/shielding characteristics attributable to the scattering angle distribution, employing a random sampling (RS) technique integrated with continuous energy Monte Carlo (CEMC) calculations. The impact of neutron scattering angle is not negligible in the analysis of fast reactor cores and shielding. Recent advancements have enabled the high-accuracy assessment of nuclear data-induced uncertainty by merging CEMC calculations and the RS technique. Nonetheless, a method to quantify uncertainty due to scattering angle distribution remains unestablished. This study introduces a new approach for uncertainty quantification related to scattering angle distribution in CEMC-RS, utilizing the maximum entropy method. The effectiveness of this method was verified through comparison with results from the classical deterministic uncertainty quantification approach based on generalized perturbation theory. Overall, this method offers a more accurate tool for nuclear engineers and researchers in evaluating and managing uncertainties in reactor design and safety analysis.

Magnetoelastic coupling for Fe-Ga thin films epitaxially grown on different substrates

Ding, H.*; 伊藤 啓太*; 遠藤 恭*; 高梨 弘毅; 関 剛斎*

Journal of Physics D; Applied Physics, 57(38), p.385002_1 - 385002_10, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/ad58f0

This paper reports the systematic study on the structure, magnetic properties and magnetoelastic properties for the FeGa (001) thin films epitaxially grown on the different substrates of GaAs(001) and MgO(001) using the sputtering technique. The alloy composition dependence of effective magnetoelastic coupling coefficient B along the FeGa [110] direction indicated that the largest magnetoelastic coupling was obtained for the Fe-Ga layer with x = 30 grown on the MgO substrate. Considering the results of structural analysis and magnetization measurement, the different crystallite sizes depending on the kind of substrate may give rise to the different magnetoelastic coupling strengths between the Fe-Ga layers on the MgO and the GaAs. The magnetostriction along the FeGa [111] direction was also estimated with the assumption of plausible elastic property of Fe-Ga, and showed the values comparable to the reported value of bulk Fe-Ga. This means the large magnetostriction can be obtained even for the Fe-Ga thin films epitaxially grown not only on the GaAs(001) but also on the MgO(001). The findings in this work will give a guideline for designing spintronic applications with a Fe-Ga layer exhibiting a large magnetoelastic coupling.

Interaction of CsOH with structural steel 316L and simulated products of the steel-cladding reaction under assumed conditions relevant for the accident at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Unit 2 and 3

Pshenichnikov, A.; Zubekhina, B.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 597, p.155136_1 - 155136_12, 2024/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155136

A high radiation dose rate under the shield plugs of the Units 2 and 3 reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), raised an important question on volatile radioactive Cs migration, adsorption and retention on various structural materials during the accident. The high dose rate interferes with decommissioning work. The purpose of this study is to present basic knowledge on contamination mechanisms of a BWR reactor structural materials and post-accident debris by Cs compounds to help decommissioning companies consider the ways of decontamination and debris handling during 1F debris retrieval.

非接触測定法を用いた燃料デブリ臨界解析技術の高度化(委託研究); 令和4年度英知を結集した原子力科学技術・人材育成推進事業

廃炉環境国際共同研究センター; 東京工業大学*

JAEA-Review 2024-013, 48 Pages, 2024/07

JAEA-Review-2024-013.pdf:1.99MB

日本原子力研究開発機構(JAEA)廃炉環境国際共同研究センター(CLADS)では、令和4年度英知を結集した原子力科学技術・人材育成推進事業(以下、「本事業」という。)を実施している。本事業は、東京電力ホールディングス株式会社福島第一原子力発電所の廃炉等をはじめとした原子力分野の課題解決に貢献するため、国内外の英知を結集し、様々な分野の知見や経験を、従前の機関や分野の壁を越えて緊密に融合・連携させた基礎的・基盤的研究及び人材育成を推進することを目的としている。平成30年度の新規採択課題から実施主体を文部科学省からJAEAに移行することで、JAEAとアカデミアとの連携を強化し、廃炉に資する中長期的な研究開発・人材育成をより安定的かつ継続的に実施する体制を構築した。本研究は、令和3年度に採択された研究課題のうち、「非接触測定法を用いた燃料デブリ臨界解析技術の高度化」の令和4年度分の研究成果について取りまとめたものである。本研究は、非接触のアクティブ中性子法により燃料デブリの臨界安全上の特性を評価する測定システムの開発と、燃料デブリ取出し作業員の安全確保方策の確立に資する基盤技術として多領域積分型動特性解析コードの開発により燃料デブリ臨界解析技術を高度化することを目的としており、令和3年度から令和5年度の3年計画の2年目として東京工業大学、産業技術総合研究所、長岡技術科学大学が連携して実施した。検出器設計最適化のために新たに基礎実験を行って取得したデータを用いて、中性子輸送計算コードの妥当性及び不確かさを評価することで解析精度の向上を図った。この基礎データを基にした輸送計算コードを用いたパラメトリックサーベイにより、検出器の配置やHeガス圧、減速材、遮蔽材、中性子源配置の最適化を実施することにより検出器を設計した。遅発中性子による核分裂も考慮可能な多領域積分型動特性解析コードMIK2.0-MVPを開発し、予備検証としてGODIVA炉超臨界実験の再現解析を実施した。この結果より、MIK2.0-MVPコードでは、MIK1.0コードが有する計算機能に加えて、遅発中性子による核分裂の効果を考慮することができるようになり、MIK2.0-MVPコードと粒子法コードの弱連成解析の土台となる新たな機能を確立することができた。以上の活動により本研究の令和4年度の目的を達成することができた。

バックエンド技術部年報(2022年度)

バックエンド技術部

JAEA-Review 2024-004, 124 Pages, 2024/07

JAEA-Review-2024-004.pdf:3.39MB

本報告書は、日本原子力研究開発機構原子力科学研究部門原子力科学研究所バックエンド技術部における2022年度(2022年4月1日から2023年3月31日まで)の活動をまとめたものであり、所掌する施設の運転・管理、放射性廃棄物の処理・管理、施設の廃止措置に関する業務、これらに関連する技術開発及び研究成果の概要を取りまとめた。2022年度の放射性廃棄物の処理実績は、可燃性固体廃棄物が約262m、不燃性固体廃棄物が約113m、液体廃棄物が約203m(希釈処理約72mを含む)であった。新たな保管体の発生数は、200Lドラム缶換算527本であった。公益社団法人日本アイソトープ協会への保管体の返還作業及び保管廃棄していた廃棄物の減容処理を行うことにより、保管体数の削減に取り組んだ結果、最終的に2022年度末の累積保管体数は2021年度から3,902本減の122,925本となった。保管廃棄施設・Lの保管体健全性確認作業は、本格運用を継続して実施した。また、放射性廃棄物処理場が新規制基準に適合していることの確認を受けるため、設計及び工事方法の認可申請を原子力規制庁に対し、順次、実施した。廃止措置に関しては、再処理特別研究棟において、機器の撤去等を実施した。バックエンドに関連する研究・技術開発においては、廃棄物放射能評価法の構築に向けて、採取した廃棄物試料の放射能分析を実施した。また福島第一原子力発電所事故に伴い発生した除去土壌の埋立処分に関する実証事業について、埋立完了後のモニタリングを継続した。

The Behavior of a jet passing through a grid-type obstacle; An Experimental investigation

安部 諭; 柴本 泰照

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 202, p.110461_1 - 110461_16, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2024.110461

During a severe accident in a nuclear containment vessel, jets released from the primary system exhibit complex thermohydraulic behavior due to buoyancy effects and impingement on internal obstacles such as inner walls and floors. Thus, the obstacle-influenced jets are of interest in recent research activities. This paper describes an experimental investigation of the behavior of jets passing through a grid-type obstacle. The flow field was acquired by a particle image velocimetry system. The experiment captured the jet fragmentation by the grid-type obstacle and their recoupling. The mean velocity field obtained by postprocessing indicates a "Rectifying effect," with the axial velocity increasing at the center and the magnitude of the radial velocity decreasing. The meandering flow was suppressed due to this effect. In the near grid-obstacle region, the axial turbulence intensity was relatively large at the edge of each fragmented region due to shear stress. Moreover, the spatial distribution of the radial turbulence fluctuation became more complex. Further investigation is required to clarify the budget of the transport equation for turbulence fluctuation. The experimental data shown in this paper is useful for computational fluid dynamics validation.

Sintering behavior analysis of compacted dry recycled UPuO powder using master sintering curve theory

中道 晋哉; 砂押 剛雄*; 廣岡 瞬; Vauchy, R.; 村上 龍敏

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 595, p.155072_1 - 155072_11, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155072

Using dry recycled powders for uranium and plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel production can reduce unnecessary storage and accountability of nuclear material in facilities. The shrinkage behavior of green compacts of dry recycled powders differs from that of conventional raw powders because the dry recycled MOX powder is obtained from the fabrication scrap of sintered pellets. The shrinkage behavior of dry recycled MOX powder has been investigated by dilatometry. Based on the shrinkage curves, sintering apparent activation energies were evaluated using the master sintering curve (MSC) and the constant rate of heating methods. The obtained values were higher than the energy evaluated for raw powder experiments. The sigmoid sintering prediction equation using the MSC function was constructed. The accumulation of data on the activation energy for various sintering conditions will lead to the wide application of this prediction formula in the future.

The Development of Petri Net-based continuous Markov Chain Monte Carlo methodology applying to dynamic probability risk assessment for multi-state resilience systems with repairable multi-component interdependency under longtermly thereat

Li, C.-Y.; 渡部 晃*; 内堀 昭寛; 岡野 靖

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 61(7), p.935 - 957, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2290067

For all the nuclear reactor systems, quantitative assessment of the accident management (AM) effects against long-term external hazards became one of the essential issues after the lesson learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. However, the influence from the safety systems' stochastic and dynamic shifting between multiple working states, which is related to the interaction with the adjacent components/systems in general, has not been accounted for yet. Therefore, this research aims to develop a dynamic probability risk assessment tool considering repairable multi-component interdependency for investigating the AM influences on the multi-state safety systems under long-term external hazards. Based on the newly proposed methodology in this research via integrating the Petri Net (PN) model with the continuous Markov chain Monte Carlo (CMMC) method, a framework applying PN-CMMC methodology to a severe accident analysis code, SPECTRA, had been originally constructed. Different AM influences on the multi-state decay heat removal systems against long-term volcanic ashfall were also quantitatively confirmed, indicating that halving the repairing time is more influential in suppressing the core damage frequency than doubling the number of adjacent electricity support systems. Therefore, the PN-CMMC-SPECTRA framework can further assess the uncharted dynamic multi-state concerns, leading to a safer AM strategy.

Investigation of the influence of the magnitude of camera vibration on 3D reconstruction results by photogrammetry based on simulation

中村 啓太*; 羽成 敏秀; 今渕 貴志; 川端 邦明

Proceedings of 2024 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2024), p.7 - 8, 2024/07

写真測量法は、対象物を撮影した複数の画像から3次元的に復元する技術である。実際の撮影では、対象物を撮影するカメラの画角に振動が発生し、写真測量に適した画像を撮影できず、対象物を復元できない場合がある。そこで、この振動をシミュレーション上で乱数を用いて実装し、振動の大きさが写真測量法で得られる復元結果に与える影響を検証した。検証の結果、振動の大きさと3次元復元の成功率との関係が示された。