Feasibility study on tritium recoil barrier for neutron reflectors of research and test reactors

Kenzhina, I.*; Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Ho, H. Q.; Sakamoto, Naoki*; Okumura, Keisuke; Takemoto, Noriyuki; Chikhray, Y.*

Fusion Engineering and Design, 164, p.112181_1 - 112181_5, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2020.112181

Tritium release into the primary coolant during operation of the JMTR (Japan Materials Testing Reactor) and the JRR-3M (Japan Research Reactor-3M) had been studied. It is found that the recoil release by Li(n,)H reaction, which comes from a chain reaction of beryllium neutron reflectors, is dominant. To prevent tritium recoil release, the surface area of beryllium neutron reflectors needs to be minimum in the core design and/or be shielded with other material. In this paper, as the feasibility study of the tritium recoil barrier for the beryllium neutron reflectors, various materials such as Al, Ti, V, Ni, and Zr were evaluated from the viewpoint of the thickness of barriers, activities after long-term operations, and effects on the reactivities. From the results of evaluations, Al would be a suitable candidate as the tritium recoil barrier for the beryllium neutron reflectors.

Lattice Boltzmann modeling and simulation of forced-convection boiling on a cylinder

Saito, Shimpei*; De Rosis, A.*; Fei, L.*; Luo, K. H.*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*

Physics of Fluids, 33(2), p.023307_1 - 023307_21, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0032743

A Boiling phenomenon in a liquid flow field is known as forced-convection boiling. We numerically investigated the boiling system on a cylinder in a flow at a saturated condition. To deal with such a phenomenon, we developed a numerical scheme based on the pseudopotential lattice Boltzmann method. The collision was performed in the space of central moments (CMs) to enhance stability for high Reynolds numbers. Furthermore, additional terms for thermodynamic consistency were derived in a CMs framework. The effectiveness of the model was tested against some boiling processes, including nucleation, growth, and departure of a vapor bubble for high Reynolds numbers. Our model can reproduce all the boiling regimes without the artificial initial vapor phase. We found that the Nukiyama curve appears even though the focused system is the forced-convection system. Also, our simulations support experimental observations of intermittent direct solid-liquid contact even in the film-boiling regime.

Quantitative analysis of radioactivity distribution by imaging of high radiation field environment using gamma-ray imaging spectroscopy (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Kyoto University*

JAEA-Review 2020-044, 79 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-044.pdf:4.39MB

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 FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Quantitative analysis of radioactivity distribution by imaging of high radiation field environment using gamma-ray imaging spectroscopy" Conducted in FY2019. In this study, a gamma-ray imaging detector, ETCC, will be improved to operate under high dose conditions, and a portable system will be constructed to be installed in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear PowerStation (1F). In addition, the development and combination of ETCC-based quantitative radioactivity distribution analysis methods will lead to innovative advances in the six key issues to be solved for the decommissioning of the 1F. This system will enable us to quantitatively visualize the three-dimensional radiation distribution and its origin.

Estimation of the in-depth debris status of Fukushima Unit-2 and Unit-3 with Multi-physics modeling (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Waseda University*

JAEA-Review 2020-035, 102 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-035.pdf:6.82MB

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 “Estimation of the In-Depth Debris Status of Fukushima Unit-2 and Unit-3 with Multi-Physics Modeling". Continuous update on understanding of the damaged Fukushima reactors is important for safe and efficient decommissioning of the reactors. This study aims to estimate the in-depth debris status of the damaged Fukushima Unit-2 and Unit-3 through multi-physics modeling, which comprises of MPS method, simulated molten debris relocation experiment and high-temperature melt property data acquision in the three-year project from FY2019.

Development of radiation hard diamond image sensing devices (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology*

JAEA-Review 2020-027, 27 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-027.pdf:2.98MB

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 "Development of radiation hard diamond image sensing devices". The research objective of this project is to develop image sensing devices which work under the high radiation condition. The devices will be realized using radiation hard diamond semiconductor devices as charge transfer devices and photodetectors. The research project has mainly two targets such as to confirm charge coupled devices operation on diamond unipolar devices and to characterize photo conductivity of diamond detectors.

Evaluation of tritium release into primary coolant for research and testing reactors

Kenzhina, I.*; Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Okumura, Keisuke; Ho, H. Q.; Takemoto, Noriyuki; Chikhray, Y.*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(1), p.1 - 8, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1791760

The sources and mechanisms for the tritium release into the primary coolant in the JMTR and the JRR-3M containing beryllium reflectors are evaluated. It is found that the recoil release from chain reaction of Be is dominant and its calculation results agree well with trends derived from the measured variation of tritium concentration in the primary coolant. It also indicates that the simple calculation method used in this study for the tritium recoil release from the beryllium reflectors can be utilized for an estimation of the tritium release into the primary coolant for a research and testing reactors containing beryllium reflectors.

Chapter 18, Moving particle semi-implicit method

Wang, Z.; Duan, G.*; Koshizuka, Seiichi*; Yamaji, Akifumi*

Nuclear Power Plant Design and Analysis Codes, p.439 - 461, 2021/00

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818190-4.00018-8

Interdisciplinary evaluation of biological effect of internal exposure by inhaling alpha-ray emitting nuclides represented by radon (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Okayama University*

JAEA-Review 2020-029, 55 Pages, 2020/12

JAEA-Review-2020-029.pdf:2.08MB

JAEA/CLADS had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project in FY2019. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Biological Effect of Internal Exposure by Inhaling Alpha-ray Emitting Nuclides Represented by Radon" conducted in FY2019.

A Catalog showing distribution and features of lineaments and related landforms in an active shear zone with unclear fault displacement topography; An Example of an active left-lateral shear zone in southern Kyushu Island, southwest Japan (Contract research)

Goto, Akira; Sasaki, Akimichi*; Komatsu, Tetsuya; Miwa, Atsushi*; Terusawa, Shuji*; Kagohara, Kyoko*; Shimada, Koji

JAEA-Research 2020-013, 88 Pages, 2020/11

JAEA-Research-2020-013.pdf:22.86MB
JAEA-Research-2020-013-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:0.18MB

Improvement of the investigation techniques to identify active faults is important for the implementation of geological disposal projects from the viewpoint of avoiding locations where permeability increases due to fault displacement. Generally, the existence of active faults is confirmed by aerial photography interpretation of fault displacement topography, which is a topographical trace of fault movement, and on-site geological surveys. However, the investigation method for cases where the topographical traces are unclear is not sufficiently developed. Therefore, to improve existing topographical methods, this study deciphered lineaments up to the rank of poorly defined features, which are almost neglected in general active fault research. The investigation area is one of the geodetic strain concentration zone, called the southern Kyushu shear zone, where the seismogenic faults of the 1997 Kagoshima northwest earthquakes are concealed. We conducted aerial photography interpretation of 62 sheets of 1/25,000 topographic maps, and obtained 1,327 lineaments. Distribution density, direction and length of lineaments were also investigated with topographic and geologic information. As a result, it was clarified that the east-west lineaments in the south Kyushu shear zone predominate in the western part, and the lineaments are densely distributed in the aftershock distribution area of the Kagoshima northwest earthquake. Along with these results, we have compiled a catalog of typical 13 lineaments based on combinations of clarity, direction, length and geomorphic characters of lineaments.

Water distribution in Nafion thin films on hydrophilic and hydrophobic carbon substrates

Ito, Kanae; Harada, Masashi*; Yamada, Norifumi*; Kudo, Kenji*; Aoki, Hiroyuki; Kanaya, Toshiji*

Langmuir, 36(43), p.12830 - 12837, 2020/11

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01917