Uranium hydroxide/oxide deposits on uranyl reduction

Ouchi, Kazuki; Matsumura, Daiju; Tsuji, Takuya; Kobayashi, Toru; Otobe, Haruyoshi; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro

RSC Advances (Internet), 13(24), p.16321 - 16326, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.1039/D3RA02899B

We clarified the chemical state transformation of deposits following the reduction of uranyl ion (UO) from the results of electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, impedance spectra and X-ray absorption fine structure measurements. We propose the following deposition mechanism: (1) U is formed by the disproportionation of U. (2) U forms U hydroxide deposits, and (3) finally, the hydroxide deposits transform into U oxide, generally having a larger electrical resistance than the former.

Nuclear criticality benchmark analyses on TRIGA-type reactor systems by using continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP with JENDL-5

Yanagisawa, Hiroshi; Umeda, Miki; Motome, Yuiko; Murao, Hiroyuki

JAEA-Technology 2022-030, 80 Pages, 2023/02

JAEA-Technology-2022-030.pdf:2.57MB

Nuclear criticality benchmark analyses were carried out for TRIGA-type reactor systems in which uranium-zirconium hydride fuel rods are loaded by using the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP with the evaluated nuclear data library JENDL-5. The analyses cover two sorts of benchmark data, the IEU-COMP-THERM-003 and IEU-COMP-THERM-013 in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook, and effective neutron multiplication factors, reactivity worths for control rods etc. were calculated by JENDL-5 in comparison with those by the previous version of JENDL. As the results, it was confirmed that the effective neutron multiplication factors obtained by JENDL-5 were 0.4 to 0.6% greater than those by JENDL-4.0, and that there were no significant differences in the calculated reactivity worths by between JENDL-5 and JENDL-4.0. Those results are considered to be helpful for the confirmation of calculation accuracy in the analyses on NSRR control rod worths, which are planned in the future.

Oxygen potential, oxygen diffusion, and defect equilibria in UO

Watanabe, Masashi; Kato, Masato

Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering (Internet), 1, p.1082324_1 - 1082324_9, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnuen.2022.1082324

Since the oxygen potential and the oxygen coefficient of UO have a significant impact on fuel performance, many experimental data have been obtained. However, experimental data of the oxygen potential and the oxygen diffusion coefficient in the high temperature region above 1673 K are very limited. In the present study, we aimed to obtain these data and analyze them by defect chemistry. The oxygen potentials and the oxygen chemical diffusion coefficient of UO were measured by the gas equilibrium method in the near stoichiometric region at temperatures ranging from 1673 to 1873 K. A data set of oxygen potentials was made together with literature data and analyzed by defect chemistry. The oxygen potential of UO was determined as a function of O/U ratio and temperature, and an equation representing the relationship was derived. The oxygen chemical diffusion coefficient values obtained in this study were reasonably close to the literature values. The oxygen partial pressure dependence of the oxygen chemical diffusion coefficients was predicted from the evaluated results of the oxygen potential data, but no clear dependence was observed.

Numerical reproduction of the seasonal variation in dissolved uranium in Lake Biwa

Saito, Tatsuo; Yamazawa, Hiromi*; Mochizuki, Akihito

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 255, p.107035_1 - 107035_14, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2022.107035

The seasonal variation of dissolved U (DU) in Lake Biwa was reproduced by the following model and parameter research. The introduced models are the water-DU mass balance, and the ion exchange between UO and H on the lakeshore soil. The optimized parameters were the CEC of the lakeshore, TU as the sum of DU and AU (soil adsorbed U), kads and kdes as the first order reaction rate coefficients during rapid soil adsorption and desorption of U, respectively. Tabulated by the chemical equilibria constituting DU and analyzed the contribution of each chemical species, it is shown that the seasonal variation of DU is caused by the seasonal variation of pH. A correction to the ion-exchange equilibrium to shift to first order rate reaction only when the daily AU ratio increased above kads or decreased below kdes, improved the reproducibility of DU measurements and reproduced the delay of the DU peak from the pH peak.

Aerosol characterization during heating and mechanical cutting of simulated uranium containing debris; The URASOL project in the framework of Fukushima Daiichi fuel debris removal

Porcheron, E.*; Leblois, Y.*; Journeau, C.*; Delacroix, J.*; Molina, D.*; Suteau, C.*; Berlemont, R.*; Bouland, A.*; Lallot, Y.*; Roulet, D.*; et al.

Proceedings of International Topical Workshop on Fukushima Decommissioning Research (FDR2022) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2022/10

One of the important challenges for the decommissioning of the damaged reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) is the fuel debris retrieval. The URASOL project, which is undertaken by a French consortium consisting of ONET Technologies, CEA, and IRSN for JAEA/CLADS, is dedicated to acquiring basic scientific data on the generation and characteristics of radioactive aerosols from the thermal or mechanical processing of fuel debris simulant. Heating process undertaken in the VITAE facility simulates some representative conditions of thermal cutting by LASER. For mechanical cutting, the core boring technique is implemented in the FUJISAN facility. Fuel debris simulants have been developed for inactive and active trials. The aerosols are characterized in terms of mass concentration, real time number concentration, mass size distribution, morphology, and chemical properties. The chemical characterization aims at identifying potential radioactive particles released and the associated size distribution, both of which are important information for assessing possible safety and radioprotection measures during the fuel debris retrieval operations at 1F.

Effect of uranium deficiency on normal and superconducting properties in unconventional superconductor UTe

Haga, Yoshinori; Opletal, P.; Tokiwa, Yoshifumi; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Tokunaga, Yo; Kambe, Shinsaku; Sakai, Hironori

Journal of Physics; Condensed Matter, 34(17), p.175601_1 - 175601_7, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ac5201

Development of tailor-made adsorbents for uranium recovery from seawater on the basis of uranyl coordination chemistry (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tokyo Institute of Technology*

JAEA-Review 2021-041, 42 Pages, 2022/01

JAEA-Review-2021-041.pdf:2.03MB

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 "Development of tailor-made adsorbents for uranium recovery from seawater on the basis of uranyl coordination chemistry" conducted in FY2020. On the basis of deep understanding on uranyl coordination chemistry, we design molecular structures of pentadentate ligands as functional moieties for uranium adsorption from seawater and study coordination chemistry of uranyl ion with those ligands in order to resolve current problems in uranium recovery technology from seawater and to develop novel selective and efficient adsorbents for this purpose.

Fe, Mn and U accumulations in naturally growing at the mill tailings pond; Iron plaque formation possibly related to root-endophytic bacteria producing siderophores

Nakamoto, Yukihiro*; Doyama, Kohei*; Haruma, Toshikatsu*; Lu, X.*; Tanaka, Kazuya; Kozai, Naofumi; Fukuyama, Kenjin; Fukushima, Shigeru; Ohara, Yoshiyuki; Yamaji, Keiko*

Minerals (Internet), 11(12), p.1337_1 - 1337_17, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.3390/min11121337

Mine drainage is a vital water problem in the mining industry worldwide because of the heavy metal elements and low pH. Rhizofiltration using wetland plants is an appropriate method to remove heavy metals from the water via accumulation in the rhizosphere. is one of the candidate plants for this method because of metal accumulation, forming iron plaque around the roots. At the study site, which was the mill tailings pond in the Ningyo-toge uranium mine, has been naturally growing since 1998. The results showed that accumulated Fe, Mn, and U in the nodal roots without/with iron plaque compared with other plant tissues. Among the 837 bacterial colonies isolated from nodal roots, 88.6% showed siderophore production activities. Considering iron plaque formation around roots, we hypothesized that microbial siderophores might influence iron plaque formation because bacterial siderophores have catechol-like functional groups. The complex of catechol or other phenolics with Fe was precipitated due to the networks between Fe and phenolic derivatives. The experiment using bacterial products of root endophytes, such as spp. and spp., showed precipitation with Fe ions, and we confirmed that several spp. and spp. produced unidentified phenolic compounds. In conclusion, root-endophytic bacteria such as spp. and spp., isolated from metal-accumulating roots of , might influence iron plaque formation as the metal accumulation site. Iron plaque formation is related to tolerance in , and spp. and spp. might indirectly contribute to tolerance.

Numerical reproduction of dissolved U concentrations in a PO-treated column study of Hanford 300 area sediment using a simple ion exchange and immobile domain model

Saito, Tatsuo; Sato, Kazuhiko; Yamazawa, Hiromi*

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 237, p.106708_1 - 106708_9, 2021/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106708

We succeeded at numerical reproduction of dissolved U concentrations from column experiments with PO-treated Hanford 300 Area sediment. The time-series curves of dissolved U concentrations under various Darcy flow rate conditions were reproduced by the numerical model in the present study through optimization of the following parameters:(i) the mass of U in mobile domain (on surface soil connected to the stream) and the rest of the total U left as precipitation in immobile domain (isolated in deep soil);(ii) the mixing ratio between immobile and mobile domains, to fit the final recovering curve of concentration; and (iii) the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and equilibrium constant (k) of the exchange reaction of UO and H on simulated soil surface (), to fit the transient equilibrium concentration, forming the bed of the bathtub curve.

Growing need for humanities and social science studies in uranium waste disposal

Yasuda, Hiroshi*; Fumoto, Hiromichi*; Saito, Tatsuo

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi ATOMO, 63(8), p.610 - 614, 2021/08

https://doi.org/10.3327/jaesjb.63.8_610

Regarding the handling of uranium bearing waste, which is contaminated with uranium, which is a naturally occurring radionuclide, and its descendant nuclides, in recent years, the Japan Nuclear Regulatory Commission, etc. have been carefully and actively deliberated based on the knowledge of natural science and safety engineering. It was carried out, and as of March 2021, a certain policy has been shown. On the other hand, when disposing of uranium waste, which may cause dose exposure to future generations, the authors consider not only the science and engineering perspectives that have been conducted so far, but also the humanities and social science perspectives. We have been discussing with experts in related fields, thinking that it is necessary. In this report, we will introduce the background that brought about such an idea and the direction of future discussions.