Development of an electrochemical measurement method for carbon steels in radiation source dissolved solution and a corroded specimen analysis method using an imaging plate

Yamashita, Naoki; Aoyama, Takahito; Kato, Chiaki; Sano, Naruto; Tagami, Susumu

JAEA-Technology 2023-028, 22 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Technology-2023-028.pdf:1.9MB

At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), which is currently undergoing decommissioning, there is growing interest in the effects of radiation-emitting radionuclides such as Sr and Cs on the structural integrity. In particular, the corrosion behavior of carbon steel, which is used in many parts of 1F, is known to change depending on metal cations in solution, but the effects of Sr and Cs on corrosion are not yet understood. In addition, it is important to investigate the distribution of Sr and Cs in the rust layer in order to understand the corrosion behavior, but the method has not yet been established. In this study, a glove box was prepared to conduct corrosion tests of carbon steel in NaCl containing Sr and Cs in the glove box. In addition, in order to clarify the influence of Sr and Cs, which exist as metal cations in the solution, on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel, we attempted to establish a detection method for radioactive materials in the rust layer using an imaging plate.

Development of a test method for electrochemical measurements of stainless steel in nitric acid solution containing neptunium-237 under gamma-ray irradiation

Yamashita, Naoki; Irisawa, Eriko; Kato, Chiaki; Sano, Naruto; Tagami, Susumu

JAEA-Technology 2022-035, 29 Pages, 2023/03

JAEA-Technology-2022-035.pdf:2.54MB

In the treatment process of the current commercial reprocessing plant (Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant), the high-level liquid waste concentrator is the equipment that treats the most corrosive solution. In the high-level liquid waste concentrator, the extracted liquid waste after separation of uranium and plutonium is heated, concentrated, and reduced in volume. Therefore, the amount of gamma- rays emitted from fission products and the concentration of corrosive metal ion species such as neptunium-237 (Np) are the highest in the reprocessing process, and the amount of corrosion in the high-level liquid waste concentrate canner is expected to be large. In this study, in order to clarify the effect of gamma-rays on the corrosion reaction of stainless steel in nitric acid solutions containing Np from the electrochemical viewpoint, the corrosion test apparatus for heat transfer surfaces in an airtight concrete cell at the Waste Safety TEsting Facility (WASTEF) of Nuclear Science Research Institute was modified to enable electrochemical measurements under gamma-ray irradiation. The effect of gamma-rays on the corrosion reaction taking place on the stainless steel surface was discussed from the electrochemical test results obtained. As a result, changes in the immersion potentials of stainless steel and the polarization curves due to chemical species caused by radiolysis of gamma-ray irradiation were confirmed.

Investigation of physical properties of glove for glove-box and estimation of its life-time

Kobayashi, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Masahiko; Nishida, Naoki; Miyoshi, Ryuta; Nemoto, Ryo*; Hayashi, Hiroyuki*; Kato, Keisuke; Nishino, Saki; Kuno, Takehiko; Kitao, Takahiko; et al.

Nihon Hozen Gakkai Dai-18-Kai Gakujutsu Koenkai Yoshishu, p.237 - 240, 2022/07

All gloves attached to glove-box in Tokai Reprocessing Plant have a fixed expiration date and have to be replaced every 4-year. However, degrees of glove deterioration are different depending on its usage environment (frequency, chemicals, radiation, etc.), because of rubber products. Therefore, physical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, hardness of gloves are measured, and the life-time of gloves are estimated. As a result, gloves without any defects in its appearance have enough physical property for acceptance criteria of new glove. The extrapolated physical property of glove is sufficiently larger than the reported values of damaged glove. No deterioration in physical properties of gloves, that are periodically replaced without any defects in its appearance, is observed and the usable life-time of the glove is estimated to be 8 years.

The Japan Health Physics Society Guideline on Dose Monitoring for the Lens of the Eye

Yokoyama, Sumi*; Tsujimura, Norio; Hashimoto, Makoto; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Kato, Masahiro*; Kurosawa, Tadahiro*; Tatsuzaki, Hideo*; Sekiguchi, Hiroshi*; Koguchi, Yasuhiro*; Ono, Koji*; et al.

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 47(1), p.1 - 7, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2021.00276

Background: In Japan, new regulations that revise the dose limit for the lens of the eye (the lens), operational quantities, and measurement positions for the lens dose were enforced in April 2021. Based on the international safety standards, national guidelines, the results of the Radiation Safety Research Promotion Fund of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, and other studies, the Working Group of Radiation Protection Standardization Committee, the Japan Health Physics Society (JHPS) developed a guideline for radiation dose monitoring for the lens. Materials and Methods: The Working Group of the JHPS discussed the criteria of non-uniform exposure and the management criteria set to not exceed the dose limit for the lens. Results and Discussion: In July 2020, the JHPS guideline was published. The guideline consists of three parts: main text, explanations, and 26 questions. In the questions, the corresponding answers were prepared, and specific examples were provided to enable similar cases to be addressed. Conclusion: With the development of guideline on radiation dose monitoring of the lens, radiation managers and workers will be able to smoothly comply with revised regulations and optimise radiation protection.

Development of guidelines on radiation protection for the lens of the eye in Japan

Yokoyama, Sumi*; Iwai, Satoshi*; Tsujimura, Norio; Hashimoto, Makoto; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Kato, Masahiro*; Kurosawa, Tadahiro*; Tatsuzaki, Hideo*; Sekiguchi, Hiroshi*; Koguchi, Yasuhiro*; et al.

Proceedings of 15th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA-15) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2022/00

https://irpa.net/irpa15/T3.1-O0124.pdf

Post irradiation experiment about SiC-coated oxidation-resistant graphite for high temperature gas-cooled reactor

Shibata, Taiju; Mizuta, Naoki; Sumita, Junya; Sakaba, Nariaki; Osaki, Takashi*; Kato, Hideki*; Izawa, Shoichi*; Muto, Takenori*; Gizatulin, S.*; Shaimerdenov, A.*; et al.

Proceedings of 9th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 7 Pages, 2018/10

Graphite materials are used for the in-core components of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR). Oxidation damage on the graphite components in air ingress accident is a crucial issue for the safety point of view. SiC coating on graphite surface is a possible technique to enhance oxidation resistance. However, it is important to confirm the integrity of this material against high temperature and neutron irradiation for the application of the in-core components. JAEA and Japanese graphite companies carried out the R&D to develop the oxidation-resistant graphite. JAEA and INP investigated the irradiation effects on the oxidation-resistant graphite by using a framework of ISTC partner project. This paper describes the results of post irradiation experiment about the neutron irradiated SiC-coated oxidation-resistant graphite. A brand of oxidation-resistant graphite shows excellent performance against oxidation test after the irradiation.

Achievement of a low-loss 1-MW beam operation in the 3-GeV rapid cycling synchrotron of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex

Hotchi, Hideaki; Harada, Hiroyuki; Hayashi, Naoki; Kato, Shinichi; Kinsho, Michikazu; Okabe, Kota; Saha, P. K.; Shobuda, Yoshihiro; Tamura, Fumihiko; Tani, Norio; et al.

Physical Review Accelerators and Beams (Internet), 20(6), p.060402_1 - 060402_25, 2017/06

AA2017-0154.pdf:4.88MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.20.060402

The 3-GeV rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) is the world's highest class of high-power pulsed proton driver, aiming for an output beam power of 1 MW. The most important issues in realizing such a high-power beam operation are to control and minimize beam loss for maintaining machine activations within permissible levels. In RCS, numerical simulation was successfully utilized along with experimental approaches to isolate the mechanism of beam loss and find its solution. By iteratively performing actual beam experiments and numerical simulations, and also by several hardware improvements, we have recently established a 1-MW beam operation with very low fractional beam loss of a couple of 10. In this paper, our recent efforts toward realizing such a low-loss high-intensity beam acceleration are presented.

Development of a control system at a 3 MeV linac in J-PARC

Sawabe, Yuki*; Ishiyama, Tatsuya; Takahashi, Daisuke; Kato, Yuko; Suzuki, Takahiro*; Hirano, Koichiro; Takei, Hayanori; Meigo, Shinichiro; Kikuzawa, Nobuhiro; Hayashi, Naoki

Proceedings of 13th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.647 - 651, 2016/11

http://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2016/proceedings/PDF/MOP0/MOP096.pdf

In the J-PARC, a 3 MeV linac has been developed for the tests of beam scraper irradiation and charge exchange by high-power laser. To accomplish tests efficiently and safely, the control system for 3 MeV was designed and developed, and this system consists of four subsystems, personal protection system, machine protection system, timing system, and remote control system using the EPICS. In this paper, the details of control system for a 3 MeV linac are presented.

High intensity beam trial of up to 540 kW in J-PARC RCS

Hotchi, Hideaki; Harada, Hiroyuki; Hayashi, Naoki; Kinsho, Michikazu; Saha, P. K.; Shobuda, Yoshihiro; Tamura, Fumihiko; Yamamoto, Kazami; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Yoshimoto, Masahiro; et al.

Proceedings of 4th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC '13) (Internet), p.3836 - 3838, 2014/07

https://accelconf.web.cern.ch/accelconf/IPAC2013/papers/thpwo033.pdf

In November 2012, we have performed a high intensity beam trial of up to 540 kW. The beam loss for 540 kW intensity beam was well reduced from 30% to 2% by injection painting. This remaining beam loss of 2%, arising from foil scattering and 100-kHz field ripple induced by injection bump field, corresponds to 650 W in power, which is still less than 1/6 of the current collimator capability of 4 kW. The numerical simulation well reproduced the experimental results. Accelerator modelling and quantitative benchmarking between experiment and numerical simulation becomes feasible. The numerical simulation very much helped us to understand the mechanism of observed beam loss. Also several beam loss mitigation ideas were proposed with a help of numerical simulation and verified by experiment.

Performance of the beam collimation system in the J-PARC RCS

Yamamoto, Kazami; Kato, Shinichi*; Harada, Hiroyuki; Yoshimoto, Masahiro; Yamazaki, Yoshio; Hayashi, Naoki; Saha, P. K.; Hotchi, Hideaki; Kinsho, Michikazu

Progress in Nuclear Science and Technology (Internet), 4, p.243 - 246, 2014/04

https://doi.org/10.15669/pnst.4.243

The most important issue in a high-intensity proton accelerator is achieving low beam loss operation in order to keep the accelerator tunnel in a hands-on-maintenance condition. To achieve such a condition, a collimation system was designed and installed in the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) 3GeV Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS). The experimental results indicated that the RCS collimation system performs well enough such that nearly all the ring components are maintained in good condition. However, as the beam power increased, unexpected losses downstream of the injection foil increased. Therefore, an additional collimator was installed that successfully reduced such unexpected losses.