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Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kashiwaya, Koki*; Oketani, Kazuki*; Fujii, Hirokazu*; Zhao, Y.*; Kato, Masaji*; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ozaki, Yusuke; Matsui, Hiroya; Kono, Masanori*
Zairyo, 73(3), p.220 - 225, 2024/03
The fractures in the rock are the main pass of groundwater flow and solute transport. The filling of fine-grained particle, such as clay minerals, was confirmed to decrease the permeability of rock by laboratory experiment. This research aimed to verify the occurance of the phoenomena in the fild. The water containing the clay minerals was injected into the rock at the 200m stage of the Mizunami undearground research laboratory. The hydraulic conductivity decreased two order before and after the injection. This result suggested that the decrease of hydraulic conductivity by the filling of fine-grained particle in the fractures occured in the real field.
Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kato, Masaji*; Sato, Tsutomu*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori
Journal of MMIJ, 138(4), p.44 - 50, 2022/04
It is important to understand the long-term migration of radionuclides when considering rock engineering projects such as the geological disposal of radioactive waste. The network of fractures and pores in a rock mass plays a major role in fluid migration as it provides a pathway for fluid flow. The geometry of a network can change due to fracture sealing by some fine-grained materials over long-term periods. In the present study, we use a macro-fractured granite sample to investigate the change of permeability that occurs under the flow of water that includes two different amounts of clay. Findings showed that clay accumulated in a fracture and that the permeability (hydraulic conductivity) of the granite sample decreased over time, which was greater in for the higher clay content. We concluded that the accumulation of clay minerals in the fracture decreased the permeability of the rock. Furthermore, we consider that the filling and closure of fractures in rock is possible under the flow of groundwater that includes clay minerals.
Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kato, Masaji*; Sato, Tsutomu*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori
Proceedings of 5th ISRM Young Scholars' Symposium on Rock Mechanics and International Symposium on Rock Engineering for Innovative Future (YSRM 2019 and REIF 2019) (USB Flash Drive), 6 Pages, 2019/12
It is important to understand the long-term migration of radionuclides considering carious rock engineering projects such as the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. The network of fractures and pores in a rock mass can play important roles as the pathway of the fluid flow of rock. Usually groundwater contains fine-grained minerals such as clays. It is probable that the accumulation of the fine-grained minerals occurs in a fracture if the groundwater flows in a fracture in a rock. In this study, we have conducted the permeability measurement using water including clays. Specifically, we used a macro-fractured granite as a rock sample, and investigated the change of the permeability under the flow of the water including clays. It was shown that the hydraulic conductivity decreased with elapsed time.
Kato, Masaji*; Nara, Yoshitaka*; Okazaki, Yuki*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori; Sato, Tsutomu*; Takahashi, Manabu*
Materials Transactions, 59(9), p.1427 - 1432, 2018/09
Times Cited Count：6 Percentile：32.61(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)To ensure the safe geological disposal of radioactive waste, it is important to determine the permeability (hydraulic conductivity) of clays. The transient pulse method is suitable for low-permeability materials because it requires a relatively short time to determine their permeability. Upstream pore pressure typically increases in the measurement conducted via the transient pulse method. However, this procedure cannot be used to determine the permeability of clays due to the increase in pore pressure. Therefore, the transient pulse method has never been applied to determine clay permeability. In this study, we applied the transient pulse method to a clay sample to determine its permeability while decreasing the downstream pore pressure.
Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kuwatani, Ryuta*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori; Kashiwaya, Koki*
Zairyo, 67(7), p.730 - 737, 2018/07
Information of confining ability of rock is important for the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. To maintain or improve the confining ability of rocks, it is important to seal pores and cracks. In this study, we investigated the precipitation of minerals on the rock surface. As rock samples, we used Berea sandstone and Toki granite in this study. It was shown that precipitation occurred on the surface of rock specimens kept in calcium hydroxide solution for 1 month if the concentration was high. Specifically, if the concentration of calcium hydroxide solution was higher than 300 mg/l, the precipitation occurred obviously. After keeping rock specimens in calcium hydroxide solution, the weight of the rock samples increased and the concentration of calcium ion decreased by the precipitation. It is considered that the calcium ion in water was used for the precipitation on rock surfaces. Since the precipitation has been recognized for rock surfaces, it is possible to seal pores and cracks in rocks. Therefore, it is also possible to keep or decrease the permeability of rocks by the precipitation of calcium compounds.
Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kato, Masaji*; Niri, Ryuhei*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori; Fukuda, Daisuke*; Sato, Tsutomu*; Takahashi, Manabu*
Pure and Applied Geophysics, 175(3), p.917 - 927, 2018/03
Times Cited Count：14 Percentile：58.67(Geochemistry & Geophysics)Information on the permeability of rock is essential for various geoengineering projects. It is especially important to investigate how fractures and pores influence the physical and transport properties of rock. Infiltration of groundwater through the damage zone fills fractures in granite with fine-grained minerals. However, the permeability of rock possessing a fracture naturally filled with fine-grained mineral grains has yet to be investigated. In this study, the permeabilities of granite samples, including a macro-fracture filled with clay and a mineral vein, are investigated. The permeability of granite with a fine-grained mineral vein agrees well with that of the intact sample, whereas the permeability of granite possessing a macro-fracture filled with clay is lower than that of the macro-fractured sample. The decrease in the permeability is due to the filling of fine-grained minerals and clay in the macro-fracture. It is concluded that the permeability of granite increases due to the existence of the fractures, but decreases upon filling them with fine-grained minerals.
Kato, Masaji*; Nara, Yoshitaka*; Okazaki, Yuki*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori; Sato, Tsutomu*; Takahashi, Manabu*
Zairyo, 67(3), p.318 - 323, 2018/03
To ensure the safe geological disposal of radioactive wastes, it is important to determine the permeability of clays. The transient pulse test is suitable to apply to the low permeability materials, because it takes relatively short term to determine the permeability. Usually we increase the upstream pore pressure in the measurement with the transient pulse test. However, it is impossible to determine the permeability of clay in this procedure because of the increase of pore pressure. Therefore, the transient pulse test has never been applied to the determination of permeability of clays. In this study, we tried to apply the transient pulse test to a clay obtained in Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory to determine the permeability with decreasing the downstream pore pressure. It was clarified that the transient pulse test with decreasing downstream pore pressure is appropriate from the measurements of granite and sandstone. It was shown that the permeability of a clay was determined by the transient pulse test with decreasing the downstream pore pressure, which agreed with the permeability determined from the falling head test. The measurement time of the transient pulse test is much shorter than that of the falling head test. It is concluded that the transient pulse test is appropriate for the determination of the permeability of clays.
Kato, Masaji*; Nara, Yoshitaka*; Fukuda, Daisuke*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori; Sato, Tsutomu*; Takahashi, Manabu*
Zairyo, 65(7), p.489 - 495, 2016/07
Rock masses serve a vital function as natural barriers for geological disposal of radioactive waste; therefore, information on rock permeability is essential. Highly accurate measurement of permeability requires understanding of how temperature changes in the surrounding environment influence measurement results. We performed permeability measurement under conditions with dramatic changes of temperature in the surrounding environment to investigate the influence of such changes on the experimental results. Measurement of permeability with no temperature change was also conducted as reference. All measurements were conducted using the transient pulse method, and the sample material used was Toki granite obtained from Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. We found that temperature changes in the surrounding environment remarkably affected the pressure in reservoirs upstream and downstream, the pressure difference between them, and the confining pressure; all increased when temperature increased for our experimental system. Notably, pressure difference was affected immediately. This difference directly relates to estimation of permeability.
Fujita, Hiroki; Nagaoka, Mika; Kono, Takahiko; Takeyasu, Masanori; Kawasaki, Masatsugu; Okura, Takehisa; Tsujimura, Norio; Sumiya, Shuichi; Momose, Takumaro; Furuta, Sadaaki
Proceedings of 13th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA-13) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2012/05
The nuclear accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) was caused by the Tohoku District-off the Pacific Ocean Earthquake. Various kinds of radionuclides were released from the power station right after the accident occurred and then reached our laboratories. Therefore, environmental monitoring was reinforced by observation of air absorbed dose rate, periodic collection of airborne dust, precipitation. The collected samples were used to determine radioactivity of 
ray emitters by High pure Germanium semiconductor detector. Moreover, rainwater and humidity were collected to do the usual routine monitoring. In some samples, 
Sr, 
I, 
Cs and 
Cs were detected with radioactivity released from the Fukushima station. In other samples such as seawater, seabed soil and etc., similar radionuclides were detected including the influence of the accident.
Furuta, Sadaaki; Sumiya, Shuichi; Watanabe, Hitoshi; Nakano, Masanao; Imaizumi, Kenji; Takeyasu, Masanori; Nakada, Akira; Fujita, Hiroki; Mizutani, Tomoko; Morisawa, Masato; et al.
JAEA-Review 2011-035, 89 Pages, 2011/08
JAEA-Review-2011-035.pdf:2.97MB
As a correspondence to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the environmental radiation monitoring was performed at the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories, JAEA. This report presented the measurement results of ambient radiation dose rate, radioactivity concentration in the air and radioactivity concentration in fallout and meteorological observation result until May 31, 2011. The ambient radiation dose rate increased, with the peak dose rate of several thousand nGy/h at 7 o'clock in March 15, at 5 o'clock in March 16, and at 4 o'clock in March 21. The variation on the radioactivity concentration in the air and in fallout showed the almost same tendency as that of the dose rate. The concentration ratio of I-131/Cs-137 in the air increased to about 100. The dose was estimated resulting from internal exposure due to inhalation.
(P
O
OD) by inelastic neutron scattering measurementsHase, Masashi*; Matsuda, Masaaki; Kakurai, Kazuhisa; Ozawa, Kiyoshi*; Kitazawa, Hideaki*; Tsujii, Naohito*; D
nni, A.*; Kono, Masanori*; Hu, X.*
Physical Review B, 76(6), p.064431_1 - 064431_5, 2007/08
Times Cited Count：28 Percentile：71.35(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)The magnetism of spin-1/2 trimer chain system Cu(POOD) is studied by means of inelastic neutron scattering. A spin excitation gap of 9.8meV corresponding to singlet -triplet excitation is observed and together with the magnetization plateau data the AF exchange interaction parameters of the trimer system could be determined as J
=111K and J=30K.
Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kuwatani, Ryuta*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori
no journal, ,
Precipitation of calcium compound to silicate rock was studied.
Kato, Masaji*; Nara, Yoshitaka*; Okazaki, Yuki*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori; Sato, Tsutomu*; Fukuda, Daisuke*; Takahashi, Manabu*
no journal, ,
Hydraulic aperture of fracture with in-filling minerals in granite are estimated using result of hydraulic test.
Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kato, Masaji*; Okazaki, Yuki*; Kono, Masanori*; Fukuda, Daisuke*; Sato, Tsutomu*; Sato, Toshinori; Takahashi, Manabu*
no journal, ,
Change of permeability in macro-fractured granite under flow of water including clays was observed. The result indicated that permeability decreased 3 to 4 orders of magnitude due to filling of clay to macro-fracture in granite.
