Thermal conductivity measurement of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide doped with Nd/Sm as simulated fission products

Horii, Yuta; Hirooka, Shun; Uno, Hiroki*; Ogasawara, Masahiro*; Tamura, Tetsuya*; Yamada, Tadahisa*; Furusawa, Naoya*; Murakami, Tatsutoshi; Kato, Masato

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 588, p.154799_1 - 154799_20, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154799

The thermal conductivities of near-stoichiometric (U,Pu,Am)O doped with NdO/SmO, which is major fission product (FP) generated by a uranium-plutonium mixed oxides (MOX) fuel irradiation, as simulated fission products are evaluated at 1073-1673 K. The thermal conductivities are calculated from the thermal diffusivities that are measured using the laser flash method. To evaluate the thermal conductivity from a homogeneity viewpoint of Nd/Sm cations in MOX, the specimens with different homogeneity of Nd/Sm are prepared using two kinds of powder made by ball-mill and fusion methods. A homogeneous Nd/Sm distribution decreases the thermal conductivity of MOX with increasing Nd/Sm content, whereas heterogeneous Nd/Sm has no influence. The effect of Nd/Sm on the thermal conductivity is studied using the classical phonon transport model (A+BT). The dependences of the coefficients A and B on the Nd/Sm content (C and C, respectively) are evaluated as: A(mK/W)=1.70 10 + 0.93C + 1.20C, B(m/W)=2.39 10.

Intruder configurations in Ne at the transition into the island of inversion; Detailed structure study of Ne

Wang, H.*; Yasuda, Masahiro*; Kondo, Yosuke*; Nakamura, Takashi*; Tostevin, J. A.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Poves, A.*; Shimizu, Noritaka*; Yoshida, Kazuki; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138038_1 - 138038_9, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138038

Detailed -ray spectroscopy of the exotic neon isotope Ne has been performed using the one-neutron removal reaction from Ne. Based on an analysis of parallel momentum distributions, a level scheme with spin-parity assignments has been constructed for Ne and the negative-parity states are identified for the first time. The measured partial cross sections and momentum distributions reveal a significant intruder p-wave strength providing evidence of the breakdown of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell gaps. Only a weak, possible f-wave strength was observed to bound final states. Large-scale shell-model calculations with different effective interactions do not reproduce the large p-wave and small f-wave strength observed experimentally, indicating an ongoing challenge for a complete theoretical description of the transition into the island of inversion along the Ne isotopic chain.

Investigation of the phonon dispersion associated with superlattice reflections in the BiS-based superconductor LaBiSOF

Tamatsukuri, Hiromu; Hasegawa, Takumi*; Sagayama, Hajime*; Mizumaki, Masaichiro*; Murakami, Yoichi*; Kajitani, Joe*; Higashinaka, Ryuji*; Matsuda, Tatsuma*; Aoki, Yuji*; Tsutsui, Satoshi*

Physical Review B, 107(2), p.024303_1 - 024303_8, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.024303

Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory Project, Annual report for fiscal year 2019

Takeuchi, Ryuji; Onoe, Hironori; Murakami, Hiroaki; Watanabe, Yusuke; Mikake, Shinichiro; Ikeda, Koki; Iyatomi, Yosuke; Nishio, Kazuhisa*; Sasao, Eiji

JAEA-Review 2021-003, 63 Pages, 2021/06

JAEA-Review-2021-003.pdf:12.67MB

The Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU) Project is being pursued by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to enhance the reliability of geological disposal technologies through investigations of the deep geological environment in the crystalline rock (granite) at Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. On the occasion of JAEA reformation in FY2014, JAEA identified three remaining important issues on the geoscientific research program based on the synthesized latest results of research and development (R&D): "Development of countermeasure technologies for reducing groundwater inflow", "Development of modeling technologies for mass transport" and "Development of drift backfilling technologies". At the MIU, the R&D are being pursued with a focus on the remaining important issues from FY2015, and satisfactory results have been achieved. Based on this situation, the R&D on the MIU Project were completed at the end of FY2019. In this report, the results of R&D and construction activities of the MIU Project in FY2019 are summarized.

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen in the iron-based superconductor LaFeAsOD measured with inelastic neutron spectroscopy

Yamaura, Junichi*; Hiraka, Haruhiro*; Iimura, Soshi*; Muraba, Yoshinori*; Bang, J.*; Ikeuchi, Kazuhiko*; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Honda, Takashi*; Hiraishi, Masatoshi*; et al.

Physical Review B, 99(22), p.220505_1 - 220505_6, 2019/06

AA2019-0126.pdf:0.9MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.220505

Inelastic neutron scattering was performed for an iron-based superconductor, where most of D (deuterium) replaces oxygen, while a tiny amount goes into interstitial sites. By first-principle calculation, we characterize the interstitial sites for D (and for H slightly mixed) with four equivalent potential minima. Below the superconducting transition temperature Tc = 26 K, new excitations emerge in the range 5-15 meV, while they are absent in the reference system LaFeAsOF. The strong excitations at 14.5 meV and 11.1 meV broaden rapidly around 15 K and 20 K, respectively, where each energy becomes comparable to twice of the superconducting gap. The strong excitations are ascribed to a quantum rattling, or a band motion of hydrogen, which arises only if the number of potential minima is larger than two.

Gapless magnetic excitation in a heavily electron-doped antiferromagnetic phase of LaFeAsOD

Tamatsukuri, Hiromu*; Hiraka, Haruhiro*; Ikeuchi, Kazuhiko*; Iimura, Soshi*; Muraba, Yoshinori*; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Sagayama, Hajime*; Yamaura, Junichi*; Murakami, Yoichi*; Kuramoto, Yoshio*; et al.

Physical Review B, 98(17), p.174415_1 - 174415_6, 2018/11

AA2018-0436.pdf:0.85MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.174415

Magnetic excitations in a heavily electron-doped antiferromagnet, LaFeAsOD, have been investigated using powder inelastic neutron scattering. Unlike other parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors, the magnetic excitation gap in LaFeAsOD was not detected down to the lowest measured temperature of 4 K. This result can be understood as a result of quasi-isotropy within the ab plane, which is consistent with the band calculation result that the orbital plays the dominant role in the magnetism of LaFeAsOH. In addition, the intensities of the magnetic excitations in this phase are much stronger than those in nondoped LaFeAsO. Even in the paramagnetic phase, the magnetic excitation in LaFeAsOD persists. These results corroborate recent studies showing that the electron doping enhances the localized nature in this system.

Using two detectors concurrently to monitor ambient dose equivalent rates in vehicle surveys of radiocesium contaminated land

Takeishi, Minoru; Shibamichi, Masaru; Malins, A.; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Murakami, Mitsuhiro*; Saegusa, Jun; Yoneya, Masayuki

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 177, p.1 - 12, 2017/10

AA2016-0534.pdf:1.79MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.05.010

By convention radiation measurements from vehicle-borne surveys are converted to the dose rate at 1 m above the ground in the absence of the vehicle. To improve the accuracy of the converted results from vehicle-borne surveys, we investigated combining measurements from two detectors mounted on the vehicle at different heights above the ground. A dual-detector setup was added to a JAEA monitoring car and compared against hand-held survey meter measurements in Fukushima Prefecture. The dose rates obtained by combining measurements from two detectors were within 20% of the hand-held reference measurements. The combined results from the two detectors were more accurate than those from either the roof-mounted detector, or the detector inside the vehicle, taken alone. When radiocesium is deficient on a road compared to the adjacent land, mounting detectors high on vehicles yields dose rates closer to the values adjacent to the road. We also investigated mounting heights for vehicle-borne detectors using Monte Carlo -ray simulations.

Volume-wise destruction of the antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state through quantum tuning

Frandsen, B. A.*; Liu, L.*; Cheung, S. C.*; Guguchia, Z.*; Khasanov, R.*; Morenzoni, E.*; Munsie, T. J. S.*; Hallas, A. M.*; Wilson, M. N.*; Cai, Y.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 7, p.12519_1 - 12519_8, 2016/08

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12519

Terahertz dynamics of water before and after water shedding from reverse micelles

Murakami, Hiroshi

Journal of Molecular Liquids, 210, Part A, p.37 - 43, 2015/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2015.03.015

Picosecond relaxation dynamics of water before and after water shedding from reverse micelles are studied using temperature-dependent terahertz time-domain spectroscopy measurements to clarify the confinement effect of the reverse micelle on the dynamics of water. Before water shedding, the relaxation process due to the collective motion of bulk-like water in the core of the reverse micelle exhibits a considerable slowing down in comparison with that in liquid water as the temperature decreases. This is attributed to the confinement effect of reverse micelles. Moreover, the time constant abruptly drops at the water shedding, and its temperature behavior is similar to that of liquid water afterwards. These results demonstrate that the water extracted from the reverse micelle attains the property of liquid water by reduction in the confinement imposed on the motion of the water.

Antiferromagnetic order of the Co high-spin state with a large orbital angular momentum in LaCaCoO

Okamoto, Jun*; Nakao, Hironori*; Yamasaki, Yuichi*; Wadachi, Hiroki*; Tanaka, Arata*; Kubota, Masato; Horigane, Kazumasa*; Murakami, Yoichi*; Yamada, Kazuyoshi*

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 83(4), p.044705_1 - 044705_6, 2014/04

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.83.044705