Neutron resonance fission neutron analysis for nondestructive fissile material assay

弘中 浩太; Lee, J.; 小泉 光生; 伊藤 史哲*; 堀 順一*; 寺田 和司*; 佐野 忠史*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1054, p.168467_1 - 168467_5, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2023.168467

We propose neutron resonance fission neutron analysis (NRFNA), an active nondestructive assay (NDA) technique, to improve the capability to identify and quantify a small amount of fissile material in a sample. NRFNA uses pulsed neutrons to induce fission reactions in the sample. Fission neutrons are detected by a neutron-gamma pulse shape discrimination (PSD) scintillation detector with time-of-flight (TOF) technique. The obtained nuclide-specific resonance peaks in the neutron energy spectrum provide information to identify and quantify a fissile material in the sample. The possibility of using PSD for NRFNA was confirmed through a test experiment using a natural uranium sample. We successfully observed the resonance peaks from U(n,f) reaction and showed that NRFNA would be useful for measuring a small amount of fissile material in a sample.

Impact of MOX fuel use in light-water reactors; Long-term radiological consequences of disposal of high-level waste in a geological repository

三成 映理子*; 樺沢 さつき; 三原 守弘; 牧野 仁史; 朝野 英一*; 中瀬 正彦*; 竹下 健二*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(7), p.793 - 803, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2146016

As a series of studies to evaluate impact of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in light-water reactors (LWRs), post-closure long-term safety for various vitrified high-level radioactive waste (HLW) arising from the different fuel cycle intends to recycle Pu are examined. In this study, four fuel cycle scenarios with different ratio of spent MOX generated and two reprocessing options for each fuel cycle scenario are considered. One reprocessing option considers disposal of vitrified HLW generated separately from the reprocessing of spent UO fuel and MOX fuel (separated HLW), and the other is blended vitrified UO-MOX HLW (blended HLW) generated during reprocessing whereby MOX spent fuel is diluted by UO spent fuel. First, the radionuclide inventories of those vitrified HLWs are discussed. Next, radionuclide migration analyses for geological disposal of those vitrified HLWs are evaluated. It has revealed that the disposal of blended HLW will not have an adverse effect on the long-term radiological impact compared to separated HLW. Results of this study can be used as a basis for considering the blending option as a viable alternative approach in the future for managing MOX fuel used in light-water reactors.

Study on borehole sealing corresponding to hydrogeological structures by groundwater flow analysis

澤口 拓磨; 高井 静霞; 笹川 剛; 打越 絵美子*; 嶋 洋佑*; 武田 聖司

MRS Advances (Internet), 8(6), p.243 - 249, 2023/06

https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-023-00528-y

放射性廃棄物の中深度処分では、モニタリング用のボーリング孔内が適切に閉塞されているかを確認するための手法を事前に整備しておく必要がある。そこで本研究では、堆積岩地域を想定し、どのような埋戻し設計条件であればボーリング孔内が有意な移行経路とならないかを把握し、ボーリング孔閉塞に係る確認ポイントを明らかにするため、埋戻されたボーリング孔を有する水理地質構造に対する地下水流動解析を実施した。その結果、ボーリング孔や掘削損傷領域(BDZ)が移行経路とならないための条件として、ベントナイト系材料の透水係数を母岩と同等以下にすること、BDZにグラウトを充填することなどが示された。

研究施設等廃棄物の埋設事業に係る安全規制制度整備の経緯

坂井 章浩

デコミッショニング技報, (64), p.24 - 33, 2023/05

原子力機構は、実施主体として研究施設等廃棄物の埋設事業を進めている。他方、原子力規制委員会では、埋設事業に関わる安全規制及び基準の整備が行われてきた。本報告は、原子力機構の埋設事業の計画とそれに対応した原子力規制委員会の規制及び基準の整備について紹介する。

Efforts for appropriate responses to safeguards activities, 1; Overview

青木 里英; 白藤 雅也; 野崎 天生; 阿久津 成美*; 宮地 紀子; 中村 仁宣

Proceedings of INMM & ESARDA Joint Annual Meeting 2023 (Internet), 7 Pages, 2023/05

In order to ensure transparency in the peaceful use of nuclear materials in Japan, it is important to appropriately respond to safeguards activities conducted by the IAEA/Japan. In order to strengthen activities to appropriately respond to safeguards activities, JAEA has started the following one activity of (1) for all employees in JAEA to promote understanding and raise awareness of safeguards and three activities of (2) for the employees involved in safeguards activities to appropriately respond on-site to the activities since FY2020: (1) Education on the basis of safeguards, (2-1) Lectures, (2-2) Case studies and (2-3) Standardization of procedures related to safeguards response. In Activity (1), the employees were required to understand Safeguards framework, safeguards activities and provisions of information to Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan with developed education material, and to pass a confirmation test in FY2022. Accordingly, it was confirmed that understanding for safeguards was successfully promoted since 100% employees passed the test. In Activity (2-1), lectures were provided by experts of safeguards to make the employees reacknowledged the importance of transparency in the peaceful use of nuclear materials and the effect of inappropriate response to safeguards activities. In Activity (2-2), a material for case studies was developed including examples of inappropriate response to safeguards activities and the case studies were conducted by the employees based on the material for recognizing familiar risks of safeguards. The result of questionnaire in FY2022 indicated participants tended to become deeply understanding of familiar risk in each site through the case studies. In Activity (2-3), standard safeguards procedure for whole JAEA was developed to improve the procedures in each site based on the standard procedure and to standardize the response to safeguards throughout JAEA.

Attention-based time series analysis for data-driven anomaly detection in nuclear power plants

Dong, F.*; Chen, S.*; 出町 和之*; 吉川 雅紀; 関 暁之; 高屋 茂

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 404, p.112161_1 - 112161_15, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112161

To ensure nuclear safety, timely and accurate anomaly detection is of utmost importance in the daily condition monitoring of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), as any slight anomaly in a plant may result in an irreversible and serious accident, as well as high costs of maintenance and management. Nevertheless, due to the unique inherent attributes of anomalies, the difficulty of automatic detection in NPPs is increased. Previous model-driven anomaly detection approaches required skilled priori knowledge, leading to their limited usability. Commonly adopted deep learning-based data-driven anomaly detection approaches may not easily acquire the most relevant features when dealing with sensor data containing redundant information with uneven distribution of anomalies. To alleviate these issues, this paper propose an attention-based time series model for anomaly detection to ensure safety in NPPs. First, we employ one-dimension convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) backbone for feature extraction to preserve original inherent features of time series inputs. Subsequently, we originally adopt soft-attention mechanism to automatically extract the most relevant temporal features considering the specificity of anomaly detection in NPPs. The performance of the proposed model was experimentally validated on the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) anomaly case dataset simulated using the analytical code. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model was capable of detecting anomalies in NPPs with superior performance to the baseline model, while ensuring fast detection at short time steps.

福島原子力発電所事故由来の難固定核種の新規ハイブリッド固化への挑戦と合理的な処分概念の構築・安全評価(委託研究); 令和3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 2022-072, 116 Pages, 2023/03

JAEA-Review-2022-072.pdf:6.32MB

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3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(1F)の廃炉等を始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、研究課題のうち、令和3年度に採択された「福島原子力発電所事故由来の難固定核種の新規ハイブリッド固化への挑戦と合理的な処分概念の構築・安全評価」の令和3年度の研究成果について取りまとめたものである。本研究は、1F事故で発生した多様な廃棄物を対象とし、固定化が難しく長期被ばく線量を支配するヨウ素(I)、核種のマイナーアクチノイド(MA)に注目し、これらのセラミクス1次固化体を、更に特性評価モデルに実績を有するSUSやジルカロイといったマトリクス材料中に熱間等方圧加圧法(HIP)等で固定化した"ハイブリッド固化体"とすることを提案する。核種閉じ込めの多重化、長期評価モデルの信頼性の向上により実効性・実用性のある廃棄体とし、処分概念を具体化する。潜在的有害度及び核種移行の観点から処分後の被ばく線量評価を行い、安全かつ合理的な廃棄体化法、処分方法の構築を目的としている。初年度の令和3年度は、1次固化体の合成と物性評価、核種浸出性の評価、放射線影響の解明、1次固化体の構造解析、放射光を用いた固化元素の電子状態、結合性、局所構造解析、計算科学を用いた1次固化体ならびにハイブリッド固化体物性の解明、溶出モデルの検討、ハイブリッド固化体の検討、処分概念・安全評価の検討について準備が完了し、リファレンスの1次固化体とHIP試料の作製、その物性評価、放射線照射実験、放射光実験、第一原理計算の成果が得られている。

Pore connectivity influences mass transport in natural rocks; Pore structure, gas diffusion and batch sorption studies

Yuan, X.*; Hu, Q.*; Lin, X.*; Zhao, C.*; Wang, Q.*; 舘 幸男; 深津 勇太; 濱本 昌一郎*; Siitari-Kauppi, M.*; Li, X.*

Journal of Hydrology, 618, p.129172_1 - 129172_15, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129172

Mass transport in geomedia as influenced by the pore structure is an important phenomenon. Six rocks (granodiorite, limestone, two chalks, mudstone, and dolostone) with different extents of heterogeneity at six different particle sizes were studied to describe the effects of pore connectivity on mass transport. The multiple methods applied were porosity measurement, gas diffusion test, and batch sorption test of multiple ions. Porosity measurement results reveal that with decreasing particle sizes, the effective porosities for the "heterogenous" group (granodiorite and limestone) increase, whereas the porosities of "homogeneous" group (chalks, mudstone, and dolostone) roughly remain constant. Gas diffusion results show that the intraparticle gas diffusion coefficient among these two groups, varying in the magnitude of 10 to 10 m/s. The batch sorption work displays a different affinity of these rocks for tracers, which are related to their mineral components. For granodiorite, mudstone, and dolostone, the adsorption capacity increases as the particle size decreases, due to higher specific surface area in smaller particle-size. In general, this integrated research of grain size distribution, rock porosity, intraparticle diffusivity, and ionic sorption capacity gives insights into the pore connectivity effect on both gas diffusion and chemical transport behaviors for different lithologies and/or different particle sizes.

Study on cesium compound formation by chemical interaction of CsOH and concrete at elevated temperatures

Luu, V. N.; 中島 邦久

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(2), p.153 - 164, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2089263

Recently, extremely high dose rates were detected in the three-layer concrete plugs of Units 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The high dose rates suggest that there are some trapping effects of radioactive materials on shield plugs when gas species and aerosols (e.g., CsOH, CsI) are released from reactor through the plug layers. To determine the trapping mechanism, concrete and commonly used aggregate and minerals are pulverized and mixed with CsOH, followed by heating at different temperatures to clarify the chemical interaction. The results showed that interactions of CsOH and CaCO in concrete occurred even at room temperature to form CsCO(HO). The interaction with aggregates occurred above 100C and resulted in the formation of CsAlSiO. Additionally, amorphous and crystalline SiO interacted with CsOH, forming a glass-like product above 200C. These results suggest that formation of CsCO(HO) would be one of the main trapping mechanism at shield plugs because CaCO is commonly formed on concrete surface and reacts with CsOH at room temperature.

東日本大震災に伴う原子力災害の住民対応に携わった原子力の研究開発機関職員のメンタルヘルス対策

友常 祐介; 矢嶋 まゆみ; 奥野 浩; 山本 一也

労働安全衛生研究, 16(1), p.29 - 43, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.2486/josh.JOSH-2021-0017-JI

2011年3月に起きた東日本大震災に伴い発生した東京電力福島第一原子力発電所における事故において、日本原子力研究開発機構では最初の1年間にのべ約45,000人の職員が本来の職場を離れて電話相談,一時帰宅支援,環境モニタリングなどの支援業務に従事した。特に、住民と直接に接する電話相談に従事した職員には、感情労働に伴うストレスがかかった。同機構の核燃料サイクル工学研究所ではこれらの支援業務に従事した職員に対して、組織的なメンタルヘルスケアを行った。本論文では今回の活動を「支援者の支援」の具体例と位置づけ、原子力災害において住民等の支援を行う職員のメンタルヘルスについて考察した。