Pilot study on thermal, physico-chemical, and mechanical behavior of concrete to understand the failure behavior of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station reactor pressure vessel pedestals (Contract research); FY2023 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tokai National Higher Education and Research System*

JAEA-Review 2025-034, 83 Pages, 2025/12

JAEA-Review-2025-034.pdf:6.9MB

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 FY2023. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), 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 FY2023, this report summarizes the research results of the "Pilot study on thermal, physico-chemical, and mechanical behavior of concrete to understand the failure behavior of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station reactor pressure vessel pedestals" conducted in FY2023. The present study aims to examine the mechanism of the collapse of only concrete with rebar remaining in the pedestal in the containment vessel (PCV) of 1F. In verifying concrete-specific factors, (1) to clarify the short-term dissolution mechanism by high temperature, we investigated data acquisition methods in melting experiments, established an analytical framework for determining dissolution, and developed a numerical analysis method for volume change by heating. Additionally, (2) to clarify long-term dissolution mechanism by temperature history, we organized the temperature and water injection history, determined concrete exposure conditions during experiments, and established a method for selecting materials and measuring expansion. Furthermore, we summarized existing knowledge of the expansion phenomenon caused by water supply after high temperature heating. In the verification of special external environmental factors, (1) to evaluate thermal conditions of PCV concrete during an accident, a preliminary heat transfer analysis of fuel debris was conducted. In addition, (2) as elemental behavior tests and comprehensive tests, a preliminary high temperature storage test on concrete materials in a water vapor atmosphere and a preliminary reaction test on the reaction behavior of metal debris and concrete were conducted. Furthermore, uranium-containing suboxides were prepared. This study provided comprehensive insight into the mechanism of concrete failure in 1F Unit 1.

Corrigendum to "Neutron diffraction study on the deuterium composition of nickel deuteride at high temperatures and high pressures" [Phys. B Condens. Matter. 587 (2020) 412153]

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

Physica B; Condensed Matter, 714, p.417234_1 - 417234_3, 2025/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2025.417234

Corrigendum to "Neutron diffraction study on the deuterium composition of nickel deuteride at high temperatures and high pressures" [Phys. B Condens. Matter. 587 (2020) 412153] was reported.

Achievement of safety demonstration tests using HTTR; Loss of forced cooling test at 100% reactor power (30 MW)

Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Kubo, Shinji; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Shinohara, Masanori; Saikusa, Akio; Nojiri, Naoki; Saito, Kenji; Furusawa, Takayuki; et al.

JAEA-Research 2025-005, 23 Pages, 2025/07

JAEA-Research-2025-005.pdf:2.68MB

A safety demonstration test under abnormal operating conditions using the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) was conducted to demonstrate safety features of the HTGRs (High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors). Under a simulation of a control rod shutdown failure, all primary helium gas circulators were intentionally stopped during a steady-state operation at 100% reactor thermal power (30 MW), temporal changes of the reactor power and temperatures around the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) were obtained after the complete loss of forced heat removal from the reactor core. After the event (primary coolant flow stopped), the reactor power quickly decreased due to the negative reactivity feedback associated with the core temperature rise, and then the reactor power spontaneously shifted to a stable state of low power (about 1.2%) even after a recriticality. Heat dissipation from RPV surface to a surrounding vessel cooling system (water-cooled panels) ensured the amount of heat removal required to maintain the reactor temperature constant in the low power state. In this way, the transition from the event occurrence to the stable and safety state, i.e., inherent safety features of HTGRs, were demonstrated in the case of core forced cooling loss without active shutdown operations.

Density of a molten stainless steel-BC alloy measured in the electrostatic levitation furnace onboard the international space station

Ishikawa, Takehiko*; Oda, Hirohisa*; Koyama, Chihiro*; Shimonishi, Rina*; Ikeuchi, Rumiko*; Paradis, P.-F.*; Okada, Jumpei*; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Yamano, Hidemasa

International Journal of Microgravity Science and Application, 42(2), p.420202_1 - 420202_10, 2025/04

https://doi.org/10.15011/jasma.42.420202

Microstructural observation of simulated fuel kernels for Pu-burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor in Japan

Aihara, Jun; Ueta, Shohei; Honda, Masaki*; Kasahara, Seiji; Okamoto, Koji*

JAEA-Research 2024-012, 98 Pages, 2025/02

JAEA-Research-2024-012.pdf:32.24MB

Concept of Pu-burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) was proposed for the purpose of more safely reducing amount of recovered Pu. In Pu-burner HTGR concept, coated fuel particle (CFP), with ZrC coated yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) containing PuO (PuO-YSZ) small particle and with tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) coating, is employed for very high burn-up and high nuclear proliferation resistance. ZrC layer is oxygen getter. In research project of Pu-burner HTGR carried out from fiscal year of 2014 to fiscal year of 2017, simulated CFPs were fabricated using Ce to simulate Pu. Moreover, simulated fuel compacts were fabricated using fabricated simulated CFPs. In this report, results of microstructural observation of CeO-YSZ and ZrC layer at each fabrication step are reported.

New insight on the thermal impact on cementitious materials due to high-temperature with water supply; Continuous expansive spalling in water

Miura, Taito*; Miyamoto, Shintoro*; Maruyama, Ippei*; Aili, A.*; Sato, Takumi; Nagae, Yuji; Igarashi, Go*

Case Studies in Construction Materials, 21, p.e03571_1 - e03571_14, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2024.e03571

Martensitic transformation-governed Luders deformation enables large ductility and late-stage strain hardening in ultrafine-grained austenitic stainless steel at low temperatures

Mao, W.*; Gao, S.*; Gong, W.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Ito, Tatsuya; Harjo, S.; Tsuji, Nobuhiro*

Acta Materialia, 278, p.120233_1 - 120233_13, 2024/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2024.120233

Single-shot laser-driven neutron resonance spectroscopy for temperature profiling

Lan, Z.*; Arikawa, Yasunobu*; Mirfayzi, S. R.*; Morace, A.*; Hayakawa, Takehito*; Sato, Hirotaka*; Kamiyama, Takashi*; Wei, T.*; Tatsumi, Yuta*; Koizumi, Mitsuo; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 15, p.5365_1 - 5365_7, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49142-y

The Precipitation and redistribution of alloying element in Zircaloy-4 cladding tube oxidized in high-temperature steam

Amaya, Masaki

High Temperature Corrosion of Materials, 101(3), p.455 - 469, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-023-10216-9

High-temperature rupture failure of high-burnup LWR-MOX fuel under a reactivity-initiated accident condition

Taniguchi, Yoshinori; Mihara, Takeshi; Kakiuchi, Kazuo; Udagawa, Yutaka

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 195, p.110144_1 - 110144_11, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2023.110144