Annual report for FY2021 on the activities of Naraha Center for Remote Control Technology Development (April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022)

Akiyama, Yoichi; Shibanuma, So; Yanagisawa, Kenichi*; Yamada, Taichi; Suzuki, Kenta; Yoshida, Moeka; Ono, Takahiro; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Watanabe, Kaho; Morimoto, Kyoichi; et al.

JAEA-Review 2023-015, 60 Pages, 2023/09

JAEA-Review-2023-015.pdf:4.78MB

Naraha Center for Remote Control Technology Development (NARREC) was established in Japan Atomic Energy Agency to promote a decommissioning work of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Fukushima Daiichi NPS). NARREC consists of a Full-scale Mock-up Test Building and Research Management Building. Various test facilities are installed in these buildings for the decommissioning work of Fukushima Daiichi NPS. These test facilities are intended to be used for various users, such as companies engaged in the decommissioning work, research and development institutions, educational institutions and so on. The number of NARREC facility uses was 84 in FY2021. We participated booth exhibitions and presentations on the decommissioning related events. Moreover, we also contributed to the development of human resources by supporting the 6th Creative Robot Contest for Decommissioning. As a new project, "Narahakko Children's Classroom" was implemented for elementary school students in Naraha Town. This report summarizes the activities of NARREC in FY2021, such as the utilization of facilities and equipment of NARREC, the development of remote-control technologies for supporting the decommissioning work, arrangement of the remote-control machines for emergency response, and training for operators by using the machines.

Dry synthesis of brannerite (UTiO) by mechanochemical treatment

Akiyama, Daisuke*; Mishima, Tomoki*; Okamoto, Yoshihiro; Kirishima, Akira*

High Temperature Materials and Processes, 42(1), p.20220268_1 - 20220268_9, 2023/04

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/htmp-2022-0268/html

A powder mixture of UO and TiO was mechanochemically treated in a planetary ball mill under Ar atmosphere for 1 h using a tungsten carbide vial and balls as the milling medium. Such mechanochemical (MC) treatment reduced the crystallinity of UO and TiO. The mechanochemically treated powder mixture was heated at 973-1573K for 6 h under Ar atmosphere and analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. UTiO did not form below 1373K without MC treatment and only the starting materials were observed. At 1473 and 1573K, a small amount of UTiO and equal amounts of UTiO and UO were formed, respectively. The mechanochemically treated sample produced nearly pure UTiO containing small amounts of UO impurities when heated above 1173K for 6 h. UTiO was highly crystalline and uniform regardless of the synthesis temperature.

Synchrotron analysis of simulated waste glasses different in boron isotope ingredient

Nagai, Takayuki; Tone, Masaya; Katsuoka, Nanako; Okamoto, Yoshihiro; Baba, Yuji*; Akiyama, Daisuke*

Photon Factory Activity Report 2022 (Internet), 3 Pages, 2023/00

https://pfwww.kek.jp/acr/2022pdf/u_reports/pf22b0056.pdf

no abstracts in English

Study on the relation between the crystal structure and thermal stability of FeUO and CrUO

Akiyama, Daisuke*; Kusaka, Ryoji; Kumagai, Yuta; Nakada, Masami; Watanabe, Masayuki; Okamoto, Yoshihiro; Nagai, Takayuki; Sato, Nobuaki*; Kirishima, Akira*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 568, p.153847_1 - 153847_10, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153847

FeUO, CrUO, and FeCrUO are monouranates containing pentavalent U. Even though these compounds have similar crystal structures, their formation conditions and thermal stability are significantly different. To determine the factors causing the difference in thermal stability between FeUO and CrUO, their crystal structures were evaluated in detail. A Raman band was observed at 700 cm in all the samples. This Raman band was derived from the stretching vibration of the O-U-O axis band, indicating that FeCrUO was composed of a uranyl-like structure in its lattice regardless of its "x"' value. Mssbauer measurements indicated that the Fe in FeUO and FeCrUO were trivalent. Furthermore, FeCrUO lost its symmetry around Fe with increasing electron densities around Fe, as the abundance of Cr increased. These results suggested no significant structural differences between FeUO and CrUO. Thermogravimetric measurements for UO, FeUO, and CrUO showed that the temperature at which FeUO decomposed under an oxidizing condition (approximately 800 C) was significantly lower than the temperature at which the decomposition of CrUO started (approximately 1250 C). Based on these results, we concluded that the decomposition of FeUO was triggered by an "in-crystal" redox reaction, i.e., Fe U Fe U, which would not occur in the CrUO lattice because Cr could never be reduced under the investigated condition. Finally, the existence of Cr in FexCrUO effectively suppressed the decomposition of the FeCrUO crystal, even at a very low Cr content.

Uranium dissolution and uranyl peroxide formation by immersion of simulated fuel debris in aqueous HO solution

Kumagai, Yuta; Kusaka, Ryoji; Nakada, Masami; Watanabe, Masayuki; Akiyama, Daisuke*; Kirishima, Akira*; Sato, Nobuaki*; Sasaki, Takayuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(8), p.961 - 971, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2021.2023055

We investigated potential degradation of fuel debris caused by HO, which is the oxidant of major impact from water radiolysis. We performed leaching experiments on different kinds of simulated debris comprising U, Fe, Cr, Ni, and Zr in an aqueous HO solution. Chemical analysis of the leaching solution showed that U dissolution was induced by HO. Raman analysis after the leaching revealed that uranyl peroxides were formed on the surface of the simulated debris. These results demonstrate that uranyl peroxides are possible alteration products of fuel debris from HO reaction. However, the sample in which the main uranium-containing phase was a U-Zr oxide solid solution showed much less uranium dissolution and no Raman signal of uranyl peroxides. Comparison of these results indicates that formation of an oxide solid solution of Zr with UO improves the stability of fuel debris against HO reaction.

Cross-scale analysis of temperature compensation in the cyanobacterial circadian clock system

Furuike, Yoshihiko*; Ouyang, D.*; Tominaga, Taiki*; Matsuo, Tatsuhito*; Mukaiyama, Atsushi*; Kawakita, Yukinobu; Fujiwara, Satoru*; Akiyama, Shuji*

Communications Physics (Internet), 5(1), p.75_1 - 75_12, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-022-00852-z

Speciation on the reaction of uranium and zirconium oxides treated under oxidizing and reducing atmospheres

Uehara, Akihiro*; Akiyama, Daisuke*; Ikeda, Atsushi; Numako, Chiya*; Terada, Yasuko*; Nitta, Kiyofumi*; Ina, Toshiaki*; Takeda-Homma, Shino*; Kirishima, Akira*; Sato, Nobuaki*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 559, p.153422_1 - 153422_11, 2022/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2021.153422

Crystal structure of ULnO (Ln = Gd, Er) solid solution

Pham, V. M.*; Arima, Tatsumi*; Inagaki, Yaohiro*; Idemitsu, Kazuya*; Akiyama, Daisuke*; Nagai, Takayuki; Okamoto, Yoshihiro

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 556, p.153189_1 - 153189_9, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2021.153189

The crystal structure change was evaluated for (1-x)UO-xLnO (Ln=Gd or Er; x = 0 to 0.4) samples sintered at 1973 K for 8 h under Ar and Ar-10%H atmospheres. The effect of LnO doping on the crystal structure of UO was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). LnO doping into UO reduced the lattice parameter of UO-LnO solid solutions up to 40mol% LnO. The lattice parameters of these samples were comparable to those of stoichiometric (U,Ln)O solid solutions, that is, the O/M ratios were close to 2.00. The U L-edge XANES analysis showed that higher U oxidation states of +5 or +6 formed, in addition to + 4. The EXAFS analysis indicated that the interatomic distances of U-O and Gd-O decreased with increasing x, whereas those of Er-O may not decrease monotonically.

Effects of residual stress on hydrogen embrittlement of a stretch-formed tempered martensitic steel sheet

Nishimura, Hayato*; Hojo, Tomohiko*; Ajita, Saya*; Shibayama, Yuki*; Koyama, Motomichi*; Saito, Hiroyuki*; Shiro, Ayumi*; Yasuda, Ryo*; Shobu, Takahisa; Akiyama, Eiji*

Tetsu To Hagane, 107(9), p.760 - 768, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.2355/tetsutohagane.TETSU-2021-055

no abstracts in English

Database for corrosion under irradiation conditions (Contract research)

Sato, Tomonori; Hata, Kuniki; Kaji, Yoshiyuki; Ueno, Fumiyoshi; Inoue, Hiroyuki*; Taguchi, Mitsumasa*; Seito, Hajime*; Tada, Eiji*; Abe, Hiroshi*; Akiyama, Eiji*; et al.

JAEA-Review 2021-001, 123 Pages, 2021/06

JAEA-Review-2021-001.pdf:10.33MB

In the implement of the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), there are many problems to be solved. Specially, the mitigation of the aging degradation by the corrosion of the structural materials is important to implement the decommissioning safely and continuously. However, there are limited data for the environmental factors of corrosion in 1F, and the condition of 1F is continuously changing. So, the literature data for the water radiolysis and the corrosion under irradiation are listed as the database of corrosion under irradiation in this report. And the new obtained radiolysis and corrosion data, which have not been reported in the literature and will be required in the decommissioning of 1F, are reported.