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Okuno, Hiroshi; Kawakami, Takeshi; Watanabe, Fumitaka; Horikoshi, Hidehiko*
Journal of Disaster Research, 18(8), p.911 - 917, 2023/12
In response to residents' concerns about the radiation health effects following the nuclear accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of the Tokyo Electric Power Company in March 2011, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) established a telephone consultation system. Eight toll-free telephone lines were prepared, and employees with knowledge of radiation health effects were assigned for consultation. Approximately 35,000 consultations were conducted from March 17, 2011, to September 18, 2012. The results of the text mining analysis revealed that the greatest source of anxiety was the impact on children's health from radiation. The JAEA's system for telephone consultation was improved following this telephone consultation experience. The description of telephone hotlines in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guide, GSG-14, was discussed for further improvements of the JAEA's telephone consultation system.
Oikawa, Kenichi; Sato, Hirotaka*; Watanabe, Kenichi*; Su, Y. H.; Shinohara, Takenao; Kai, Tetsuya; Kiyanagi, Yoshiaki*; Hasemi, Hiroyuki
Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 2605, p.012013_1 - 012013_6, 2023/10
Katata, Genki*; Yamaguchi, Takashi*; Watanabe, Makoto*; Fukushima, Keitaro*; Nakayama, Masataka*; Nagano, Hirohiko*; Koarashi, Jun; Tateno, Ryunosuke*; Kubota, Tomohiro
Atmospheric Environment, 298, p.119640_1 - 119640_12, 2023/04
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:62.67(Environmental Sciences)Yamamoto, Kazami; Kinsho, Michikazu; Hayashi, Naoki; Saha, P. K.; Tamura, Fumihiko; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Tani, Norio; Takayanagi, Tomohiro; Kamiya, Junichiro; Shobuda, Yoshihiro; et al.
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(9), p.1174 - 1205, 2022/09
Times Cited Count:3 Percentile:80.29(Nuclear Science & Technology)In the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, the purpose of the 3 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) is to accelerate a 1 MW, high-intensity proton beam. To achieve beam operation at a repetition rate of 25 Hz at high intensities, the RCS was elaborately designed. After starting the RCS operation, we carefully verified the validity of its design and made certain improvements to establish a reliable operation at higher power as possible. Consequently, we demonstrated beam operation at a high power, namely, 1 MW. We then summarized the design, actual performance, and improvements of the RCS to achieve a 1 MW beam.
Uchiyama, Yusuke*; Tokunaga, Natsuki*; Azuma, Kohei*; Kamidaira, Yuki; Tsumune, Daisuke*; Iwasaki, Toshiki*; Yamada, Masatoshi*; Tateda, Yutaka*; Ishimaru, Takashi*; Ito, Yukari*; et al.
Science of the Total Environment, 816, p.151573_1 - 151573_13, 2022/04
Times Cited Count:5 Percentile:71.31(Environmental Sciences)no abstracts in English
Hamamoto, Shimpei; Shimizu, Atsushi; Inoi, Hiroyuki; Tochio, Daisuke; Homma, Fumitaka; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Sekita, Kenji; Watanabe, Shuji; Furusawa, Takayuki; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; et al.
Nuclear Engineering and Design, 388, p.111642_1 - 111642_11, 2022/03
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:33.72(Nuclear Science & Technology)Following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency adapted High-Temperature engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) to meet the new regulatory requirements that began in December 2013. The safety and seismic classifications of the existing structures, systems, and components were discussed to reflect insights regarding High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs) that were acquired through various HTTR safety tests. Structures, systems, and components that are subject to protection have been defined, and countermeasures to manage internal and external hazards that affect safety functions have been strengthened. Additionally, measures are in place to control accidents that may cause large amounts of radioactive material to be released, as a beyond design based accident. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rigorously and appropriately reviewed this approach for compliance with the new regulatory requirements. After nine amendments, the application to modify the HTTR's installation license that was submitted in November 2014 was approved in June 2020. This response shows that facilities can reasonably be designed to meet the enhanced regulatory requirements, if they reflect the characteristics of HTGRs. We believe that we have established a reference for future development of HTGR.
Sugawara, Takanori; Watanabe, Nao; Ono, Ayako; Nishihara, Kenji; Ichihara, Kyoko*; Hanzawa, Kohei*
Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2022/03
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has investigated an accelerator-driven system (ADS) to transmute minor actinides (MAs) included in high level wastes discharged from nuclear power plants. The ADS is a lead-bismuth cooled tank-type reactor with 800 MW thermal power. It is supposed that the ADS is safer than conventional critical reactors because it is operated in a subcritical state. The previous study performed the transient analyses for the typical ADS accidents such as unprotected loss of flow or beam overpower. It was shown that all calculation cases except loss of heat sink (LOHS) satisfied the no-damage criteria. To avoid the damage by LOHS, the ADS equips Direct Reactor Auxiliary Cooling System (DRACS) to remove the decay heat. The most important points of a DRACS operation are its reliability and to ensure the flowrate in a natural circulation state. This study aims to perform the CFD analysis of the natural circulation to clarify the flowrate in the ADS reactor vessel.
Nagano, Hirohiko; Nakayama, Masataka*; Katata, Genki*; Fukushima, Keitaro*; Yamaguchi, Takashi*; Watanabe, Makoto*; Kondo, Toshiaki*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Kubota, Tomohiro*; Tateno, Ryunosuke*; et al.
Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 67(5), p.606 - 616, 2021/10
Times Cited Count:2 Percentile:20.69(Plant Sciences)We analyzed the relationships between nitrogen deposition (deposition of nitrate and ammonium ions) and soil microbial properties in a cool temperate forest surrounded by normally fertilized pasture grasslands in northern Japan. The aim of the present study was to gain the primary information on soil microbial response to moderately elevated nitrogen deposition ( 10 kg N ha y). We established three experimental plots in the forest edge adjacent to grasslands and other three plots in the forest interior at least 700 m away from the grasslands. During May to November 2018, nitrogen deposition in each plot was measured. In August 2018, litter and soil (0-5 cm depth) samples were collected from all plots to measure net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates as indicators of microbial activity, and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and various gene abundances (i.e. bacterial 16S rRNA, fungal ITS, bacterial amoA, and archaeal amoA genes) as indicators of microbial abundance and structure. Nitrogen deposition in the forest edge was 1.4-fold greater than that in the forest interior, even while the maximum deposition was 3.7 kg N ha. Nitrogen deposition was significantly correlated to the net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates and the 16S rRNA and bacterial amoA gene abundances. Microbial community structures were different between litter and soil samples but were similar between the forest edge and interior. Significant correlations of nitrogen deposition to the soil carbon to nitrogen ratio, and the nitrate and ammonium contents were also observed. Thus, our results show that moderately elevated nitrogen deposition in nitrogen-limited forest edges can stimulate microbial activities and abundances in soils.
Watanabe, Nao; Sugawara, Takanori; Okubo, Nariaki; Nishihara, Kenji
JAEA-Technology 2020-026, 59 Pages, 2021/03
As a part of partitioning and transmutation technology development to reduce the burden of radioactive disposal, an investigation of Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) has been performed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. A beam window, which is an inherent structure of the ADS, is planned to be made from T91 steel and its shape is a thin hemisphere shell. However, it had never been tried to manufacture it out of T91 steel. In this investigation, we tried to manufacture miniature beam windows by cutting T91 steel, and to discuss the process, manufacturing accuracy and geometry measurement methods. As a result, considering a real scale ADS beam window, a figure error between designing and machining ones is estimated to be about 5%. Its effect would be very small to the structural strength.
Watanabe, Hiroshi*; Watanabe, Yutaka*; Hirayama, Yoshikazu*; Andreyev, A. N.; Hashimoto, Takashi*; Kondev, F. G.*; Lane, G. J.*; Litvinov, Yu. A.*; Liu, J. J.*; Miyatake, Hiroari*; et al.
Physics Letters B, 814, p.136088_1 - 136088_6, 2021/03
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:48.27(Astronomy & Astrophysics)Kubo, Shigenobu; Chikazawa, Yoshitaka; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Uchita, Masato*; Miyagawa, Takayuki*; Eto, Masao*; Suzuno, Tetsuji*; Matoba, Ichiyo*; Endo, Junji*; Watanabe, Osamu*; et al.
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00489_1 - 19-00489_16, 2020/06
The authors are developing the design concept of pool-type sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) that addresses Japan's specific siting conditions such as earthquakes and meets safety design criteria (SDC) and safety design guidelines (SDGs) for Generation IV SFRs. The development of this concept will broaden not only options for reactor types in Japan but also the range and depth of international cooperation. A design concept of 1,500 MWt (650 MWe) class pool-type SFR was thought up by applying design technology obtained from the design of advanced loop-type SFR, named JSFR, equipped with safety measures that reflect results from the feasibility study on commercialized fast reactor cycle systems and fast reactor cycle technology development, improved maintainability and repairability, and lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants accident.
Oikawa, Kenichi; Kiyanagi, Yoshiaki*; Sato, Hirotaka*; Omae, Kazuma*; Pham, A.*; Watanabe, Kenichi*; Matsumoto, Yoshihiro*; Shinohara, Takenao; Kai, Tetsuya; Harjo, S.; et al.
Materials Research Proceedings, Vol.15, p.207 - 213, 2020/02
Watanabe, Nao; Obayashi, Hironari; Sugawara, Takanori; Sasa, Toshinobu; Nishihara, Kenji; Castelliti, D.*
Proceedings of 18th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-18) (USB Flash Drive), p.248 - 261, 2019/08
For the R&D for lead-bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) cooled Accelerator Driven System (ADS), installation of experimental facility using LBE spallation target dedicated for ADS materials irradiation under flowing high temperature LBE environment is planned within the J-PARC project. JAEA has recently finalized the construction of "IMMORTAL", a demonstrative test loop representing a 1:1 model of the above LBE spallation target system. Such facility pursues several different objectives such as studies on the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the target, and validation of the LBE physical properties, the pressure drops and the heat transfer correlations. These results will be useful for design of the facility and LBE target/cooled ADS. In the frame of a bi-lateral collaboration between JAEA and SCK-CEN, a benchmark exercise on the experimental results from IMMORTAL has been carried out. The calculations have been performed with RELAP5-3D System Thermal-Hydraulic code. To assess and predict the thermal-hydraulic behavior of its primary loop, RELAP5-3D calculation models have been configured. The calculated results from these models represented that a valid contribution towards the validation of the LBE properties and empirical correlations present in RELAP5-3D code.
Wang, H.*; Otsu, Hideaki*; Chiga, Nobuyuki*; Kawase, Shoichiro*; Takeuchi, Satoshi*; Sumikama, Toshiyuki*; Koyama, Shumpei*; Sakurai, Hiroyoshi*; Watanabe, Yukinobu*; Nakayama, Shinsuke; et al.
Communications Physics (Internet), 2(1), p.78_1 - 78_6, 2019/07
Times Cited Count:7 Percentile:56.64(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Searching for effective pathways for the production of proton- and neutron-rich isotopes through an optimal combination of reaction mechanism and energy is one of the main driving forces behind experimental and theoretical nuclear reaction studies as well as for practical applications in nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste. We report on a study on incomplete fusion induced by deuteron, which contains one proton and one neutron with a weak binding energy and is easily broken up. This reaction study was achieved by measuring directly the cross sections for both proton and deuteron for Pd at 50 MeV/u via inverse kinematics technique. The results provide direct experimental evidence for the onset of a cross-section enhancement at high energy, indicating the potential of incomplete fusion induced by loosely-bound nuclei for creating proton-rich isotopes and nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste.
Kawamura, Seiko; Takahashi, Ryuta*; Ishikado, Motoyuki*; Yamauchi, Yasuhiro*; Nakamura, Masatoshi*; Ouchi, Keiichi*; Kira, Hiroshi*; Kambara, Wataru*; Aoyama, Kazuhiro*; Sakaguchi, Yoshifumi*; et al.
Journal of Neutron Research, 21(1-2), p.17 - 22, 2019/05
The Cryogenics and Magnets group in the Sample Environment team is responsible for operation of cryostats and magnets for user's experiments at the MLF in J-PARC. We have introduced a top-loading He cryostat, a bottom-loading He cryostat, a dilution refrigerator insert and a superconducting magnet. The frequency of use of them dramatically becomes higher in these two years, as the beam power and the number of proposal increase. To respond such situation, we have made efforts to enhance performance of these equipment as follows. The He cryostat originally involves an operation software for automatic initial cooling down to the base temperature and automatic re-charge of He. Recently we made an additional program for automatic temperature control with only the sorb heater. Last year, a new outer vacuum chamber of the magnet with an oscillating radial collimator (ORC) was fabricated. The data quality was drastically improved by introducing this ORC so that the magnet can be used even for the inelastic neutron scattering experiments.
Kawamura, Seiko; Hattori, Takanori; Harjo, S.; Ikeda, Kazutaka*; Miyata, Noboru*; Miyazaki, Tsukasa*; Aoki, Hiroyuki; Watanabe, Masao; Sakaguchi, Yoshifumi*; Oku, Takayuki
Neutron News, 30(1), p.11 - 13, 2019/05
In Japanese neutron scattering facilities, some SE equipment that are frequently used at an instrument, such as the closed-cycle refrigerator (CCR), have been prepared for the instrument as standard SE. They are operated for user experiments by the instrument group. The advantage of this practice is that they can optimize the design of the SE for the instrument and can directly respond to users' requests. On the other hand, the SE team in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) in J-PARC has managed commonly used SE to allow neutron experiments with more advanced SE. In this report, recent SE in the MLF is introduced. Highlighted are the SE in BL11, BL19, BL21 and BL17 and other SE recently progressed by the SE team.
Kubo, Shigenobu; Chikazawa, Yoshitaka; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Uchita, Masato*; Miyagawa, Takayuki*; Eto, Masao*; Suzuno, Tetsuji*; Matoba, Ichiyo*; Endo, Junji*; Watanabe, Osamu*; et al.
Proceedings of 27th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-27) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2019/05
The authors are developing the design concept of pool-type sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) that addresses Japan's specific siting conditions such as earthquakes and meets safety design criteria (SDC) and safety design guidelines (SDGs) for Generation IV SFRs. The development of this concept will broaden not only options for reactor types in Japan but also the range and depth of international cooperation. A design concept of 1,500 MWt (650 MWe) class pool-type SFR was thought up by applying design technology obtained from the design of advanced loop-type SFR, named JSFR, equipped with safety measures that reflect results from the feasibility study on commercialized fast reactor cycle systems and fast reactor cycle technology development, improved maintainability and repairability, and lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants accident.
Watanabe, Masao; Nojiri, Hiroyuki*; Ito, Shinichi*; Kawamura, Seiko; Kihara, Takumi*; Masuda, Takatsugu*; Sahara, Takuro*; Soda, Minoru*; Takahashi, Ryuta
JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 25, p.011024_1 - 011024_5, 2019/03
Recently, neutron scattering experiments have been rapidly progressed under high magnetic field. In the J-PARC, proto-type compact pulse magnet system with the power supply, the coil and the sample stick has been developed. Basic specifications of the power supply are as follows; maximum charged voltage with capacitor is 2 kV, maximum current is 8 kA, repetition rate is a pulse per several minutes and pulse duration is several msec. Maximum magnetic field in the coil is more than 30 Tesla. The sample stick is designed for Orange-Cryostat. In this presentation, We report the details of the pulsed magnet system and the performance of it on neutron scattering experiments at MLF beam line (HRC).
Imai, Yosuke*; Tokiwa, Yuhei*; Ueno, Shusaku*; Tanida, Hajime; Watanabe, Iwao*; Matsubara, Hiroki*; Takiue, Takanori*; Aratono, Makoto*
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, 91(10), p.1487 - 1494, 2018/10
Times Cited Count:2 Percentile:8.33(Chemistry, Multidisciplinary)Competitive binding of binary mixed counterions to the headgroups of adsorbed surfactant films has been investigated at solution surfaces by total reflection X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. The obtained extended XAFS spectra for bromide counterions are linear combinations of the spectra of fully hydrated bromide ions (free Br) and partially dehydrated bromide ions bound to the headgroups of the surfactant ions (bound Br). From the fraction of bound Br in counterion mixed systems, two series of the relative strengths of counterion binding are proposed for the trimethylammonium (TA) and 3-methylimidazolium (MIM) headgroups: (a) TA-SO TA-Cl TA-Br TA-BF and (b) MIM-Br TA-Br TA-BF MIM-BF. For the TA headgroup, matching the hydration of the headgroups and counterions gives series (a) according to Collins' law, which states that the tendency of contact ion pair formation becomes larger when the absolute values of the hydration enthalpies of the ions match. For the MIM headgroup, the number of binding sites of hydrogen bonds between the MIM headgroup and counterion is essential, which leads to series (b) because of competition between the counterion and water for interaction with the MIM headgroup.
Ito, Yuta*; Schury, P.*; Wada, Michiharu*; Arai, Fumiya*; Haba, Hiromitsu*; Hirayama, Yoshikazu*; Ishizawa, Satoshi*; Kaji, Daiya*; Kimura, Sota*; Koura, Hiroyuki; et al.
Physical Review Letters, 120(15), p.152501_1 - 152501_6, 2018/04
Times Cited Count:56 Percentile:93.55(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Masses of Es, Fm and the transfermium nuclei Md, and No, produced by hot- and cold-fusion reactions, in the vicinity of the deformed neutron shell closure, have been directly measured using a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph. The masses of Es and Md were measured for the first time. Using the masses of Md as anchor points for decay chains, the masses of heavier nuclei, up to Bh and Mt, were determined. These new masses were compared with theoretical global mass models and demonstrated to be in good agreement with macroscopic-microscopic models in this region. The empirical shell gap parameter derived from three isotopic masses was updated with the new masses and corroborate the existence of the deformed neutron shell closure for Md and Lr.