A Science-based mixed oxide property model for developing advanced oxide nuclear fuels

Kato, Masato; Oki, Takumi; Watanabe, Masashi; Hirooka, Shun; Vauchy, R.; Ozawa, Takayuki; Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Ikusawa, Yoshihisa; Nakamura, Hiroki; Machida, Masahiko

Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 107(5), p.2998 - 3011, 2024/05

https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.19609

Slightly hydrogen-ordered state of ice IV evidenced by neutron diffraction

Kobayashi, Hiroki*; Komatsu, Kazuki*; Ito, Hayate*; Machida, Shinichi*; Hattori, Takanori; Kagi, Hiroyuki*

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (Internet), 14(47), p.10664 - 10669, 2023/11

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02563

Ice IV is a metastable high-pressure phase of ice in which the water molecules exhibit orientational disorder. Although orientational ordering is commonly observed for other ice phases, it has not been reported for ice IV. We conducted powder neutron diffraction experiments for DCl-doped DO ice IV to investigate hydrogen ordering in ice IV. We found abrupt changes in the temperature derivative of unit cell volume, dV/dT, at about 120 K, and revealed their slightly ordered structure at low temperatures based on the Rietveld method. The occupancy of the D1 site deviates from 0.5; it increased when samples were cooled at higher pressures and reached 0.282(5) at 2.38 GPa, 58 K. Our results evidence the presence of a low-symmetry hydrogen-ordered state corresponding to ice IV. It seems, however, difficult to experimentally access the completely ordered phase corresponding to ice IV by slow cooling at high pressure.

R&D of digital technology on inverse estimation of radioactive source distributions and related source countermeasures; R&D status of digital platform including 3D-ADRES-indoor

Machida, Masahiko; Yamada, Susumu; Kim, M.; Okumura, Masahiko; Miyamura, Hiroko; Shikaze, Yoshiaki; Sato, Tomoki*; Numata, Yoshiaki*; Tobita, Yasuhiro*; Yamaguchi, Takashi; et al.

RIST News, (69), p.2 - 18, 2023/09

https://www.rist.or.jp/rnews/69/69s2.pdf

The contamination of radioactive materials leaked from the reactor has resulted in numerous hot spots in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) building, posing obstacles to its decommissioning. In order to solve this problem, JAEA has conducted research and development of the digital technique for inverse estimation of radiation source distribution and countermeasures against the estimated source in virtual space for two years from 2021 based on the subsidy program "Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management" performed by the funds from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In this article, we introduce the results of the project and the plan of the renewal project started in April 2023. For the former project, we report the derivative method for LASSO method considering the complex structure inside the building and the character of the source and show the result of the inverse estimation using the method in the real reactor building. Moreover, we explain the platform software "3D-ADRES-Indoor" which integrates these achievements. Finally, we introduce the plan of the latter project.

Simulation study on H behavior in the Fukushima coastal region; Comparison of influences of discharges from the Fukushima Daiichi and rivers

Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Yamada, Susumu; Machida, Masahiko; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Misono, Toshiharu; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Iijima, Kazuki

Marine Pollution Bulletin, 192, p.115054_1 - 115054_10, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115054

Fundamental research of X-ray absorption imaging for elemental identification using a secondary target

Nakae, Masanori*; Matsuyama, Tsugufumi*; Murakami, Masashi; Yoshida, Yukihiko; Machida, Masahiko; Tsuji, Koichi*

Advances in X-Ray Chemical Analysis, Japan, 54, p.89 - 99, 2023/03

Fundamental research on X-ray absorption imaging for elemental identification was studied. A secondary target was applied to obtain X-ray absorption images above and below the X-ray absorption edge of the target element. X-rays from an X-ray tube were irradiated to the secondary target, where the characteristic X-rays were emitted that were irradiated to the sample. X-ray absorption images were acquired with an exposure time of a few seconds with an X-ray camera. In this technique, it is difficult to change the energy of X-rays as we want, however we can apply this technique for imaging the specific element. Metal foil sample composed of Al, Cu, and Ni was analyzed. To obtain an X-ray elemental image of Ni, two X-ray absorption images were taken using the X-rays above and below the Ni K-edge. X-rays of Cu K and Zn K were prepared by using Cu and Zn plates as the secondary target. Finally, the Ni elemental image was obtained by subtracting two images. Furthermore, the X-ray camera had a function of setting critical energies for imaging, thus it was demonstrated that an X-ray elemental image of Ni was obtained using a single secondary target without changing the secondary target.

LASSO reconstruction scheme to predict radioactive source distributions inside reactor building rooms; Theory & demonstration

Shi, W.*; Machida, Masahiko; Yamada, Susumu; Yoshida, Toru*; Hasegawa, Yukihiro*; Okamoto, Koji*

Proceedings of Waste Management Symposia 2023 (WM2023) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2023/02

Tritium inventory and its temporal variation in Fukushima Front Sea Area; Comparison between coastal and offshore tritium inventories and 1f treated water and operational target values for discharge per year

Machida, Masahiko; Iwata, Ayako; Yamada, Susumu; Otosaka, Shigeyoshi*; Kobayashi, Takuya; Funasaka, Hideyuki*; Morita, Takami*

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi (Internet), 22(1), p.12 - 24, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J22.001

We estimate inventory of tritium in two sea areas corresponding to coastal and offshore ones around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F) based on the measurement results of sea-water tritium concentration monitored constantly from 2013 to Jan. 2021 by using Voronoi tessellation scheme. The obtained results show that the offshore area inventory and its temporal variation amount correspond to approximately 1/5 and 1/40 of that of the treated-water accumulated inside 1F, respectively. These results just suggest that the presence of tritium already included in sea-water as the background is non negligible in evaluating the environmental impact by releasing the accumulated treated-water into the sea region. We also estimate the offshore area inventory before 1F accident and find that it had exceeded over 1F stored inventory over about 30 years from 1960s to 1980s with approximately 4 times larger in the peak decade, 1960s. This fact means that we had already experienced more contaminated situation over 30 years in the past compared to the conservative case appeared by just releasing whole the present 1F inventory. Here, it should be also emphasized that the past contaminated situation was shared by the entire world. We further extend the estimation region into a wider region including an offshore area from Miyagi to Chiba prefectures and find that the area average inventory is now comparable to a half of the present 1F one. Finally, we estimate internal dose per year via ingesting fishes caught inside the area when 1F inventory is just added inside the area and kept for a year. The result indicates that it approximately corresponds to 1.0 of the dose from natural radiation sources. From these estimation results, it is found that all the tritium inventory stored inside 1F never contribute to significant dose increment even when it is instantly released into the area.

Materials science and fuel technologies of uranium and plutonium mixed oxide

Kato, Masato; Machida, Masahiko; Hirooka, Shun; Nakamichi, Shinya; Ikusawa, Yoshihisa; Nakamura, Hiroki; Kobayashi, Keita; Ozawa, Takayuki; Maeda, Koji; Sasaki, Shinji; et al.

Materials Science and Fuel Technologies of Uranium and Plutonium mixed Oxide, 171 Pages, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003298205

Innovative and advanced nuclear reactors using plutonium fuel has been developed in each country. In order to develop a new nuclear fuel, irradiation tests are indispensable, and it is necessary to demonstrate the performance and safety of nuclear fuels. If we can develop a technology that accurately simulates irradiation behavior as a technology that complements the irradiation test, the cost, time, and labor involved in nuclear fuel research and development will be greatly reduced. And safety and reliability can be significantly improved through simulation of nuclear fuel irradiation behavior. In order to evaluate the performance of nuclear fuel, it is necessary to know the physical and chemical properties of the fuel at high temperatures. And it is indispensable to develop a behavior model that describes various phenomena that occur during irradiation. In previous research and development, empirical methods with fitting parameters have been used in many parts of model development. However, empirical techniques can give very different results in areas where there is no data. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to construct a scientific descriptive model that can extrapolate the basic characteristics of fuel to the composition and temperature, and to develop an irradiation behavior analysis code to which the model is applied.

Zeeman effects on Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states

Machida, Tadashi*; Nagai, Yuki; Hanaguri, Tetsuo*

Physical Review Research (Internet), 4(3), p.033182_1 - 033182_12, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033182

no abstracts in English

Estimation of temporal variation of discharged tritium from port of Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant; Analysis of the temporal variation and comparison with released tritium from Japan and major nuclear facilities worldwide

Machida, Masahiko; Iwata, Ayako; Yamada, Susumu; Otosaka, Shigeyoshi*; Kobayashi, Takuya; Funasaka, Hideyuki*; Morita, Takami*

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 21(1), p.33 - 49, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J20.036

We estimate monthly discharge inventory of tritium from the port of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F) from Jun 2013 to Mar 2020 by using the Voronoi tessellation scheme, following that the tritium monitoring inside the port has started since Jun 2013. As for the missing period from the initial month, Apr 2011 to May 2013, we calculate it by utilizing the concentration ratio of tritium to that of Cs in stagnant contaminant water during the initial direct discharged period to Jun 2011 and the discharge inventory correlation between tritium and Cs for the next-unknown continuously-discharged period up to May 2013. From the all- estimated results over 9 years, we find that the monthly discharge inventory sharply dropped just after closing the sea-side impermeable sea-wall in Oct. 2015 and subsequently coincided well with the sum of those of drainage and subdrain. By comparing the estimated results with those in the normal operation period before the accident, we point out that the discharge inventory from 1F port is not so large compared to those during the normal operation. Even the estimated one in year 2011 is found to be comparable to the maximum of operating pressurized water reactors discharging relatively large inventory in the order. In the nation level, the whole Japan domestic discharge inventory significantly decreased after the accident due to operation shutdown of most plants. Furthermore, 1F and even Japanese total discharge inventory are found to be entirely minor when comparing those of nuclear reprocessing plants and heavy-water reactors in world-wide level. From the above, we suggest that various scenarios can be openly discussed on the management in tritium stored inside 1F with help of the present estimated data and its comparison with the past discharge inventory.