The Study of oxidative stress status in the organs exposed to low dose/low dose-rate radiation (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2021-050, 82 Pages, 2022/01

JAEA-Review-2021-050.pdf:2.89MB

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 FY2020. 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 FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "The study of oxidative stress status in the organs exposed to low dose/low dose-rate radiation" conducted in FY2020. The present study aims to investigate the biological effects of low dose/low dose-rate radiation exposure, which is of great social interest, on the oxidative stress status of individual organs and will contribute to the collection of scientific data in a dose range to be required. An interdisciplinary collaborative study discussed the correlation between radiation dose and the biological effect by analyzing the samples of wild Japanese macaques exposed to radiation due to the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and of animal experiments.

Comprehensive exposure assessments from the viewpoint of health in a unique high natural background radiation area, Mamuju, Indonesia

Nugraha, E. D.*; Hosoda, Masahiro*; Kusdiana*; Untara*; Mellawati, J.*; Nurokhim*; Tamakuma, Yuki*; Ikram, A.*; Syaifudin, M.*; Yamada, Ryohei; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 11(1), p.14578_1 - 14578_16, 2021/07

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93983-2

Mamuju is one of the regions in Indonesia which retains natural conditions but has relatively high exposure to natural radiation. The goals of the present study were to characterize exposure of the entire Mamuju region as a high natural background radiation area (HNBRA) and to assess the existing exposure as a means for radiation protection of the public and the environment. A cross-sectional study method was used with cluster sampling areas by measuring all parameters that contribute to external and internal radiation exposures. It was determined that Mamuju was a unique HNBRA with the annual effective dose between 17 and 115 mSv, with an average of 32 mSv. The lifetime cumulative dose calculation suggested that Mamuju residents could receive as much as 2.2 Sv on average which is much higher than the average dose of atomic bomb survivors for which risks of cancer and non-cancer diseases are demonstrated. The study results are new scientific data allowing better understanding of health effects related to chronic low-dose-rate radiation exposure and they can be used as the main input in a future epidemiology study.

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.

Determination of parameters for an equation to obtain natural background radiation using KURAMA-II loaded with C12137-01 type CsI(Tl) detector

Ando, Masaki; Matsuda, Norihiro; Saito, Kimiaki

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 20(1), p.34 - 39, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J20.007

We measured count rates and air dose rates at 11 measurement points where the influence of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident could be ignored to obtain parameters for a background equation applying to KURAMA-II loaded with the high sensitivity CsI(Tl) detector, C12137-01. It was found that the sensitivity of KURAMA-II (C12137-01) was about 10 times or more for background measurement, compared with KURAMA-II loaded with the standard type CsI(Tl) detector, C12137. A background equation for the energy range of 1400-2000 keV was determined as, y (Sv/h)=0.062 x (cps). We evaluated background air dose rates using KURAMA-II (C12137-01) for 71 municipalities and compared them with the previous study using KURAMA-II (C12137). Evaluated background air dose rates in this study were almost equal to those in the previous study. We confirmed that the background equation evaluated in this study was applicable for the KURAMA-II (C12137-01).

Radiation tolerant rapid criticality monitoring with radiation-hardened FPGAs (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Shizuoka University*

JAEA-Review 2020-059, 42 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-059.pdf:3.07MB

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 FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Radiation tolerant rapid criticality monitoring with radiation-hardened FPGAs". This research is developing a radiation-hardened optoelectronic FPGA with a 1 Grad total-ionizing-dose tolerance on which optical technologies are introduced onto a semiconductor technology and a radiation hardened FPGA with a 200 Mrad total-ionizing-dose tolerance not using any optical component. Moreover, Japanese research group will support hardware acceleration on FPGAs used for neutron-detection system developed by UK team. Finally, we will provide our radiation-hardened FPGA for the UK neutron-detection system.

A Unique high natural background radiation area; Dose assessment and perspectives

Hosoda, Masahiro*; Nugraha, E. D.*; Akata, Naofumi*; Yamada, Ryohei; Tamakuma, Yuki*; Sasaki, Michiya*; Kelleher, K.*; Yoshinaga, Shinji*; Suzuki, Takahito*; Rattanapongs, C. P.*; et al.

Science of the Total Environment, 750, p.142346_1 - 142346_11, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142346

The biological effects of low dose-rate radiation exposures on humans remains unknown. In fact, the Japanese nation still struggles with this issue after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Recently, we have found a unique area in Indonesia where naturally high radiation levels are present, resulting in chronic low dose-rate radiation exposures. We aimed to estimate the comprehensive dose due to internal and external exposures at the particularly high natural radiation area, and to discuss the enhancement mechanism of radon. A car-borne survey was conducted to estimate the external doses from terrestrial radiation. Indoor radon measurements were made in 47 dwellings over three to five months, covering the two typical seasons, to estimate the internal doses. Atmospheric radon gases were simultaneously collected at several heights to evaluate the vertical distribution. The absorbed dose rates in air in the study area vary widely between 50 nGy h and 1109 nGy h. Indoor radon concentrations ranged from 124 Bq m to 1015 Bq m. That is, the indoor radon concentrations measured exceed the reference levels of 100 Bq m recommended by the World Health Organization. Furthermore, the outdoor radon concentrations measured were comparable to the high indoor radon concentrations. The annual effective dose due to external and internal exposures in the study area was estimated to be 27 mSv using the median values. It was found that many residents are receiving radiation exposure from natural radionuclides over the dose limit for occupational exposure to radiation workers. This enhanced outdoor radon concentration might be as a result of the stable atmospheric conditions generated at an exceptionally low altitude. Our findings suggest that this area provides a unique opportunity to conduct an epidemiological study related to health effects due to chronic low dose-rate radiation exposure.

Development of dosimeter for severe radiation environment near reactor pressure vessel (Contract research); FY2018 Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; National Institute of Technology, Kisarazu College*

JAEA-Review 2019-033, 57 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-033.pdf:3.17MB

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 "Development of Dosimeter for Severe Radiation Environment near Reactor Pressure Vessel". Since the radiation level in the reactors and buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (1F) is extremely high due to the accident, it is required to develop radiation measurement technology based on the needs at the 1F working site. In the previous studies, it has been verified that dosimeters using solar cell devices can be used for dose evaluation under high dose rate near the reactor pressure vessel because they have advantages such as unnecessity of a high-voltage source, ultra-compactness, lightweight, and high radiation resistance. Through this study, we will develop technologies towards practical application of revolutionary radiation measurement system based on the dose measurement technology utilizing solar cell devices.

Modelling the effect of mechanical remediation on dose rates above radiocesium contaminated land

Malins, A.; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Kitamura, Akihiro; Machida, Masahiko

Remediation Measures for Radioactively Contaminated Areas, p.259 - 272, 2019/00

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73398-2_12

Using two detectors concurrently to monitor ambient dose equivalent rates in vehicle surveys of radiocesium contaminated land

Takeishi, Minoru; Shibamichi, Masaru; Malins, A.; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Murakami, Mitsuhiro*; Saegusa, Jun; Yoneya, Masayuki

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 177, p.1 - 12, 2017/10

AA2016-0534.pdf:1.79MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.05.010

By convention radiation measurements from vehicle-borne surveys are converted to the dose rate at 1 m above the ground in the absence of the vehicle. To improve the accuracy of the converted results from vehicle-borne surveys, we investigated combining measurements from two detectors mounted on the vehicle at different heights above the ground. A dual-detector setup was added to a JAEA monitoring car and compared against hand-held survey meter measurements in Fukushima Prefecture. The dose rates obtained by combining measurements from two detectors were within 20% of the hand-held reference measurements. The combined results from the two detectors were more accurate than those from either the roof-mounted detector, or the detector inside the vehicle, taken alone. When radiocesium is deficient on a road compared to the adjacent land, mounting detectors high on vehicles yields dose rates closer to the values adjacent to the road. We also investigated mounting heights for vehicle-borne detectors using Monte Carlo -ray simulations.

Characterization of radionuclides formed by high-energy neutron irradiation

Yokoyama, Sumi; Sato, Kaoru; Noguchi, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Susumu; Iida, Takao*; Furuichi, Shinya*; Kanda, Yukio*; Oki, Yuichi*; Kaneto, Taihei*

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 116(1-4), p.401 - 405, 2005/12

https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/nci020

The physicochemical property of radionuclides suspended in the air is an important parameter to evaluate internal doses due to the inhalation of the airborne radionuclides and to develop the air monitoring system in high-energy proton accelerator facilities. This study focuses on the property of radioactive airborne chlorine (Cl and Cl) and sulfur (S) formed from Ar gas by irradiation with high-energy neutrons. As a result of the irradiation to a mixture of Ar gas and dry air, Cl and Cl existed as non-acidic gas and S was present as acidic gas. Further, it was found that in the high-energy neutron irradiation to aerosol containing-Ar gas, the higher the amount of radioactive aerosols becomes, the lower that of radioactive acidic gas becomes.