Effects of monitoring post characteristics on radiation dose measurements in nuclear emergencies

Sato, Shun; Hokama, Tomonori*; Mikami, Satoshi; Takahashi, Fumiaki

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi (Internet), 25(3), p.93 - 105, 2026/08

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J25.009

Radiation dose rates measured by continuous monitoring posts (MPs) are essential for understanding spatial dose rate distributions and determining appropriate radiation protection measures during a nuclear emergency. However, MPs have different characteristics, such as height, measurement units, and monitor types. This study examined 1,692 MPs that are installed across Japan to investigate these characteristics. To quantitatively assess the effects of MP characteristics on radiation dose measurements, numerical simulations were conducted under assumed radionuclide distribution conditions following a light water reactor accident. The simulation model was validated through comparisons with observed monitoring data following the Fukushima accident. The simulation results showed that the variability in measured values due to differences in installation height and measurement units generally ranged from 0.7 to 1.1 times when the ambient dose equivalent rate at 1 m height was used as a reference. These findings provide important insights for the appropriate use of MP data and the improvement of emergency radiation monitoring systems in future nuclear accidents.

Development of a fiber laser-based method to generate Cs-bearing microparticles from glass fiber filters

Hagiwara, Hiroki; Kosuge, Atsushi; Saito, Junichi; Namie, Masanari; Kisohara, Naoyuki; Minehara, Eisuke*; Tsuboi, Akihiko; Ishimori, Yuu

Next Research (Internet), 8, p.101581_1 - 101581_9, 2026/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexres.2026.101581

Conceptual design of pilot ADS

Nishihara, Kenji; Fukushima, Masahiro; Abe, Takumi; Katano, Ryota; Yee-Rendon, B.; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Sugawara, Takanori; Obayashi, Hironari; Saito, Shigeru

JAEA-Research 2025-013, 125 Pages, 2026/03

JAEA-Research-2025-013.pdf:4.68MB

A conceptual design for a pilot Accelerator Driven subcritical System (ADS) was developed as a precursor to a commercial ADS aimed at partitioning and transmutation of minor actinides. The output of the pilot ADS was set at 200 MW. Based on safety assessment results, the design incorporates deep subcriticality and safety rods. Core design, accelerator design, target design, and in-vessel equipment design were performed, clarifying the specific concept.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 Accident analysis considering the thermal stratification and containment leakage

Nakamura, Yuki*; Kojima, Yoshihiro*; Yamashita, Takuya; Shimomura, Kenta; Mizokami, Shinya

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 62(12), p.1226 - 1230, 2025/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2025.2570371

Negligible tritium accumulation in Japanese flounder from treated water released from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; A Numerical simulation study

Ikenoue, Tsubasa; Tani, Takashi*; Kawamura, Hideyuki; Sato, Yuhi*

Environmental Science & Technology, 59(38), p.20588 - 20594, 2025/09

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c04474

Since 2023, ALPS-treated water containing tritium from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F) accident has been released into the ocean. Monitoring of seafood collected near the Fukushima coast has shown negligible increases in the tritium concentration. However, this monitoring has limitations, including delayed data release and a limited sample size. Therefore, a predictive estimation is necessary to assess the potential for high tritium accumulation in seafood. This study estimated tritium concentrations in Japanese flounder near the Fukushima coast using numerical simulations. The estimation combined an oceanic dispersion model for tritiated water (HTO) with a tritium transfer model for the marine food web. Tritium accumulation was evaluated as organically bound tritium (OBT), the long-retaining chemical form of tritium in organisms. First, the dispersion model's ability to reproduce HTO concentrations in seawater was validated using actual measurement data from the Fukushima coast, showing good agreement. Subsequently, the OBT concentrations in flounder were estimated under the hypothetical maximum release scenario of the treated water. The estimation suggested that even within 100 km of 1F, the maximum concentration of the OBT was comparable with natural levels of tritium in environmental waters. Additionally, the maximum concentration in the flounder remained at a negligible level for internal radiation exposure through consumption.

Verification of analytical model of MELCOR code for accident of evaporation to dryness by boiling of reprocessed high level liquid waste

Yoshida, Kazuo; Hiyama, Mina*; Tamaki, Hitoshi

JAEA-Research 2025-003, 24 Pages, 2025/06

JAEA-Research-2025-003.pdf:2.06MB

An accident of evaporation to dryness by boiling of high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) is postulated as one of the severe accidents caused by the loss of cooling function at a fuel reprocessing plant. In this case, volatile radioactive materials, such as ruthenium (RuO) are released from the tanks with water and nitric-acid mixed vapor into the atmosphere. Accurate quantitative estimation of released Ru is one of the important issues for risk assessment of those facilities. RuO is expected to be absorbed chemically into water dissolving nitrous acid. Condensation of mixed vapor plays an important role for Ru transporting behavior in the facility building. The thermal-hydraulic behavior in the facility building is simulated with MELCOR code. The latent heat, which is a governing factor for vapor condensing behavior, has almost same value for nitric acid and water at the temperature range under 120 centigrade. Considering this thermal characteristic, it is assumed that the amount of nitric acid is substituted with mole-equivalent water in MELCOR simulation. Compensating modeling induced deviation by this assumption have been assembled with control function features of MELCOR. The comparison results have been described conducted between original simulation and modified simulation with compensating model in this report. It has been revealed that the total amount of pool water in the facility was as same as both simulations.

Development of HCl-free solid-phase extraction combined with ICP-MS/MS for rapid assessment of difficult-to-measure radionuclides, 3; Measurement of Se concentration in concrete rubble

Banjarnahor, I. M.; Do, V.-K.; Furuse, Takahiro; Ota, Yuki; Tanaka, Kosuke

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 334(7), p.4997 - 5006, 2025/05

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-025-10143-w

Multiple knowledge exploration functions for advanced reactor design and safety in knowledge management system implemented in the ARKADIA

Seki, Akiyuki; Kondo, Yuki; Hashidate, Ryuta; Yoshikawa, Masanori; Yokoyama, Kenji; Takaya, Shigeru; Enuma, Yasuhiro; Hazama, Taira; Wakai, Takashi; Asayama, Tai

Proceedings of 31st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE31) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE31-131784

Trial analysis of chemical behavior in high-level radioactive liquid waste tank at accident of evaporation to dryness by boiling of reprocessing plant

Yoshida, Kazuo; Hiyama, Mina*; Tamaki, Hitoshi

JAEA-Research 2024-007, 24 Pages, 2024/08

JAEA-Research-2024-007.pdf:2.1MB

An accident of evaporation to dryness by boiling of high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) is postulated as one of the severe accidents caused by the loss of cooling function at a fuel reprocessing plant. In this case, volatile radioactive materials, such as ruthenium (Ru) are released from the tanks with water and nitric-acid mixed vapor into the atmosphere. Accurate quantitative estimation of released Ru is one of the important issues for risk assessment of those facilities. It has been observed experimentally that volatility of RuO is suppressed by HNO generated by HNO radiolysis. The analysis of chemical reactions of NO including HNO and HNO in the waste tank is essential to simulate of these phenomena. To resolve this issue, an analytical approach has been attempted to couple dynamically two computer codes SHAWED and SCHERN. The simulation of boiling behavior in the tank is conducted with SHAWED. SCHERN simulates chemical behaviors of HNO, HNO and NO in the tank. A programmatic coupling algorithm and a trial simulation of the accident are presented in this report.

Development of a surrogate system of a plant dynamics simulation model and an abnormal situation identification system for nuclear power plants using deep neural networks

Seki, Akiyuki; Yoshikawa, Masanori; Nishinomiya, Ryota*; Okita, Shoichiro; Takaya, Shigeru; Yan, X.

Nuclear Technology, 210(6), p.1003 - 1014, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2273566

Two types of deep neural network (DNN) systems have been constructed with the intent to assist safety operation of a nuclear power plant. One is a surrogate system (SS) that can estimate physical quantities of a nuclear power plant in a computational time of several orders less than a physical simulation model. The other is an abnormal situation identification system (ASIS) that can estimate the state of the disturbance causing an anomaly from physical quantities of a nuclear power plant. Both systems are trained and tested using data obtained from the analytical code for incore and plant dynamics (ACCORD), which reproduces the steady and dynamic behavior of the actual high Temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR) under various scenarios. The DNN models are built by adjusting, the main hyperparameters. Through these procedures, these systems are shown able to perform with a high degree of accuracy.