Neutron diffraction study on the deuterium composition of nickel deuteride at high temperatures and high pressures

Saito, Hiroyuki*; Machida, Akihiko*; Hattori, Takanori; Sano, Asami; Funakoshi, Kenichi*; Sato, Toyoto*; Orimo, Shinichi*; Aoki, Katsutoshi*

Physica B; Physics of Condensed Matter, 587, p.412153_1 - 412153_6, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2020.412153

The site occupancy of deuterium (D) atoms in face-centered-cubic nickel (fcc Ni) was measured along a cooling path from 1073 to 300 K at an initial pressure of 3.36 GPa via in situ neutron powder diffraction. Deuterium atoms predominantly occupy the octahedral (O) sites and slightly occupy the tetrahedral (T) sites of the fcc metal lattice. The O-site occupancy increases from 0.4 to 0.85 as the temperature is lowered from 1073 to 300 K. Meanwhile, the T-site occupancy remains c.a. 0.02. The temperature-independent behavior of the T-site occupancy is unusual, and its process is not yet understood. From the linear relation between the expanded lattice volume and D content, a D-induced volume expansion of 2.09(13) /D atom was obtained. This value is in agreement with the values of 2.14-2.2 /D atom previously reported for Ni and Ni Fe alloy.

Measurements of thermal-neutron capture cross-section of cesium-135 by applying mass spectrometry

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Kimura, Atsushi; Iwamoto, Osamu; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(4), p.388 - 400, 2020/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1691077

The thermal-neutron capture cross-section () and resonance integral(I) were measured for the Cs(n,)Cs reaction by an activation method and mass spectrometry. We used Cs contained as an impurity in a normally available Cs standard solution. An isotope ratio of Cs and Cs in a standard Cs solution was measured by mass spectrometry to quantify Cs. The analyzed Cs samples were irradiated at the hydraulic conveyer of the research reactor in Institute for Integral Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. Wires of Co/Al and Au/Al alloys were used as neutron monitors to measure thermal-neutron fluxes and epi-thermal Westcott's indices at an irradiation position. A gadolinium filter was used to measure the , and a value of 0.133 eV was taken as the cut-off energy. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to measure induced activities of Cs, Cs and monitor wires. On the basis of Westcott's convention, the and I values were derived as 8.570.25 barn, and 45.33.2 barn, respectively. The obtained in the present study agreed within the limits of uncertainties with the past reported value of 8.30.3 barn.

Development of thin SiC neutron detector with high radiation resistance (Contract research); FY2018 Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Kyoto University*

JAEA-Review 2019-042, 43 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-042.pdf:25.64MB

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 Thin SiC Neutron Detector with High Radiation Resistance". In the works for debris retrieval, it is required to install subcritical surveillance radiation monitors that can surely work for long time under extremely high gamma-ray radiation environment. However, there have been problems such as remote control of conventional radiation monitors is difficult because heavy radiation shields are needed. In the present study, we will develop a neutron detector using thin, light-weight and radiation-resistive silicon carbide (SiC) that has low sensitivity to gamma-rays as well as the data collection system in collaboration with the U.K. Using this system, the performance tests will be conducted supposing the real debris retrieval including the irradiation tests. Based on the results, we will conduct research and development aiming to make the system ready for use in real decommissioning works.

Research and development of transparent materials for radiation shield using nanoparticles (Contract research); FY2018 Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Kyushu University*

JAEA-Review 2019-039, 104 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-039.pdf:5.57MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 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. 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 FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Research and Development of Transparent Materials for Radiation Shield using Nanoparticles". The present study aims to reduce radiation exposure of workers in debris retrieval/analysis and reduce deterioration of optical and electronic systems in remote cameras. For these purposes, we develop transparent radiation shield by making the shield materials into nanoparticles, and dispersing/solidifying them in epoxy resin. By making BC and W into nanoparticles, we will also develop a radiation shield that shields both neutrons and gamma-rays, and also suppresses secondary gamma-rays produced from neutrons.

Estimation of uncertainty in lead spallation particle multiplicity and its propagation to a neutron energy spectrum

Iwamoto, Hiroki; Meigo, Shinichiro

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(3), p.276 - 290, 2020/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1671912

This paper presents an approach to uncertainty estimation of spallation particle multiplicity of lead (Pb), primarily focusing on proton-induced spallation neutron multiplicity () and its propagation to a neutron energy spectrum. The uncertainty is estimated from experimental proton-induced neutron-production double-differential cross sections (DDXs) and model calculations with the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS). Uncertainties in multiplicities for , , and reactions are then inferred from the estimated uncertainty and the PHITS calculation. Using these uncertainties, uncertainty in a neutron energy spectrum produced from a thick Pb target bombarded with 500 MeV proton beams, measured in a previous experiment, is quantified by a random sampling technique, and propagation to the neutron energy spectrum is examined. Relatively large uncertainty intervals (UIs) were observed outside the lower limit of the measurement range, which is prominent in the backward directions. Our findings suggest that a reliable assessment of spallation neutron energy spectra requires systematic DDX experiments for detector angles and incident energies below 100 MeV as well as neutron energy spectrum measurements at lower energies below 1.4 MeV with an accuracy below the quantified UIs.

Recent status of the pulsed spallation neutron source at J-PARC

Takada, Hiroshi; Haga, Katsuhiro

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 28, p.081003_1 - 081003_7, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.28.081003

At the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), the pulsed spallation neutron source has been in operation with a redesigned mercury target vessel from October 2017 to July 2018, during which the operational beam power was restored to 500 kW and the operation with a 1-MW equivalent beam was demonstrated for one hour. The target vessel includes a gas-micro-bubbles injector and a 2-mm-wide narrow mercury flow channel at the front end as measures to suppress the cavitation damage. After the operating period, it was observed that the cavitation damage at the 3-mm-thick front end of the target vessel could be suppressed less than 17.5 m.

Monte Carlo radiation transport modelling of the current-biased kinetic inductance detector

Malins, A.; Machida, Masahiko; Vu, T. D.; Aizawa, Kazuya; Ishida, Takekazu*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 953, p.163130_1 - 163130_7, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2019.163130

Segmental motions of proteins under non-native states evaluated using quasielastic neutron scattering

Fujiwara, Satoru*; Matsuo, Tatsuhito*; Sugimoto, Yasunobu*; Shibata, Kaoru

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (Internet), 10(23), p.7505 - 7509, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03196

Characterization of the dynamics of disordered polypeptide chains is required to elucidate the behavior of intrinsically disordered proteins and proteins under non-native states related to the folding process. Here we develop a method using quasielastic neutron scattering, combined with small-angle X-ray scattering and dynamic light scattering, to evaluate segmental motions of proteins as well as diffusion of the entire molecules and local side-chain motions. We apply this method to RNase A under the unfolded and molten-globule (MG) states. The diffusion coefficients arising from the segmental motions are evaluated and found to be different between the unfolded and MG states. The values obtained here are consistent with those obtained using the fluorescence-based techniques. These results demonstrate not only feasibility of this method but also usefulness to characterize the behavior of proteins under various disordered states.

Improvement of accumulator in cryogenic hydrogen system used for 1-MW pulsed spallation neutron source

Aso, Tomokazu; Tatsumoto, Hideki*; Otsu, Kiichi*; Kawakami, Yoshihiko*; Komori, Shinji*; Muto, Hideki*; Takada, Hiroshi

JAEA-Technology 2019-013, 77 Pages, 2019/09

JAEA-Technology-2019-013.pdf:5.59MB

At Materials and Life Science experimental Facility (MLF) of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), a 1-MW pulsed spallation neutron source is equipped with a cryogenic hydrogen system which circulates liquid hydrogen (20 K and 1.5 MPa) to convert high energy neutrons generated at a mercury target to cold neutrons at three moderators with removing nuclear heat of 3.8 kW deposited there. The cryogenic system includes an accumulator with a bellows structure in order to absorb pressure fluctuations generated by the nuclear heat deposition in the system. Welded inner bellows of the first accumulator was failured during operation, forcing us to improve the accumulator to have sufficient pressure resistance and longer life-time. We have developed elemental technologies for manufacturing welded bellows of the accumulator by a thick plate with high pressure resistance, succeeding to find optimum welding conditions. We fabricated a prototype bellows block and carried out an endurance test by adding a pressure change of 2 MPa repeatedly. As a result, the prototype bellows was successfully in use exceeding the design life of 10,000 times. Since distortions given during welding and assembling affect functionality and lifetime of the bellows, we set the levelness of each element of the bellows as within 0.1. The improved accumulator has already been in operation for about 25,000 hours as of January 2019, resulting that the number of strokes reached to 16,000. In July 2018, we demonstrated that the accumulator could suppress the pressure fluctuation generated by the 932 kW beam injection as designed. As current operational beam power is 500 kW, the current cryogenic hydrogen system could be applicable for stable operation at higher power in the future.

Experimental evaluation of wall shear stress in a double contraction nozzle using a water mock-up of a liquid Li target for an intense fusion neutron source

Kondo, Hiroo*; Kanemura, Takuji*; Park, C. H.*; Oyaizu, Makoto*; Hirakawa, Yasushi; Furukawa, Tomohiro

Fusion Engineering and Design, 146(Part A), p.285 - 288, 2019/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2018.12.047

Herein, the wall shear stress in a double contraction nozzle has been evaluated experimentally to produce a liquid lithium (Li) target as a beam target for intense fusion neutron sources such as the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF), the Advanced Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS), and the DEMO Oriented Neutron Source (DONES). The boundary layer thickness and wall shear stress are essential physical parameters to understand erosion-corrosion by the high-speed liquid Li flow in the nozzle, which is the key component in producing a stable Li target. Therefore, these parameters were experimentally evaluated using an acrylic mock-up of the target assembly. The velocity distribution in the nozzle was measured by a laser-doppler velocimeter and the momentum thickness along the nozzle wall was calculated using an empirical prediction method. The resulting momentum thickness was used to estimate the variation of the wall shear stress along the nozzle wall. Consequently, the wall shear stress was at the maximum in the second convergent section in front of the nozzle exit.