Japan Atomic Energy Agency; Contribution to the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture at the Naraha center for Remote Control technology development

Morimoto, Kyoichi; Ono, Takahiro; Kakutani, Satomi; Yoshida, Moeka; Suzuki, Soichiro

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, 36(1), p.125 - 133, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2024.p0125

The Naraha Center for Remote Control Technology Development was established for the purpose of developing and verifying remote control equipment for promoting the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and the external use of this center was started in 2016. The mission of this center is to contribute to the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and for the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture. In this review, we describe the equipment related to the full-scale mock-up test, the component test for a remote-control device and the virtual reality system in this center. In addition, the case examples for usage of these equipment are introduced.

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.

Reducing the effect of noise generated from stepper motor for H0 collimator in J-PARC RCS

Fujiyama, Hiroki*; Takahashi, Hiroki; Okabe, Kota; Ito, Yuichi*; Hatakeyama, Shuichiro; Suzuki, Takahiro*; Otsu, Satoru*; Yamakawa, Ryuto*

Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.529 - 531, 2023/01

http://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2022/proceedings/PDF/WEP0/WEP010.pdf

Stepper motors are used for mechanical drive in collimators and wire scanner monitors of J-PARC accelerators. Many of these drive unit hardware have been used since the beginning of J-PARC construction, and it is necessary to take measures against aging deterioration. Therefore, we started updating the motor and control system from around 2017. However, when the stepper motor was updated to the current product in the RCS H0 collimator, a malfunction occurred. This is because the drive unit control system cannot correctly recognize the state of the LS (limit switch) due to the noise generated by the motor driver, which hinders the operation. When the noise generated from the old and new stepper motors was measured in a simple test environment for confirmation, it was found that the current product was clearly larger. As a countermeasure, when the wiring of the stepper motor, which was bundled in a single multi-core cable, was separated into separate cables for the power system and LS signal system, the noise level was reduced to about 1/10 and normal operation was restored. I was able to. In this case, we report on noise countermeasures for the RCS H0 collimator drive unit.

Design and actual performance of J-PARC 3 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron for high-intensity operation

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

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2038301

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.

High-temperature antiferromagnetism in Yb based heavy fermion systems proximate to a Kondo insulator

Suzuki, Shintaro*; Takubo, Ko*; Kuga, Kentaro*; Higemoto, Wataru; Ito, Takashi; Tomita, Takahiro*; Shimura, Yasumichi*; Matsumoto, Yosuke*; Bareille, C.*; Wadachi, Hiroki*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 3(2), p.023140_1 - 023140_12, 2021/05

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023140

We report our experimental discovery of the transition temperature reaching 20 K in a Yb-based compound at ambient pressure. The Mn substitution at the Al site in an intermediate valence state of -YbAlB not only induces antiferromagnetic transition at a record high temperature of 20 K but also transforms the heavy-fermion liquid state in -YbAlB into a highly resistive metallic state proximate to a Kondo insulator.

Thermally altered subsurface material of asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Kitazato, Kohei*; Milliken, R. E.*; Iwata, Takahiro*; Abe, Masanao*; Otake, Makiko*; Matsuura, Shuji*; Takagi, Yasuhiko*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Hiroi, Takahiro*; Matsuoka, Moe*; et al.

Nature Astronomy (Internet), 5(3), p.246 - 250, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01271-2

Here we report observations of Ryugu's subsurface material by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of excavated material exhibit a hydroxyl (OH) absorption feature that is slightly stronger and peak-shifted compared with that observed for the surface, indicating that space weathering and/or radiative heating have caused subtle spectral changes in the uppermost surface. However, the strength and shape of the OH feature still suggests that the subsurface material experienced heating above 300 C, similar to the surface. In contrast, thermophysical modeling indicates that radiative heating does not increase the temperature above 200 C at the estimated excavation depth of 1 m, even if the semimajor axis is reduced to 0.344 au. This supports the hypothesis that primary thermal alteration occurred due to radiogenic and/or impact heating on Ryugu's parent body.

Development of a beam window protection system for the J-PARC Linac

Takahashi, Hiroki; Hatakeyama, Shuichiro; Sawabe, Yuki; Miyao, Tomoaki*; Ishiyama, Tatsuya*; Suzuki, Takahiro*

Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 1350, p.012142_1 - 012142_5, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1350/1/012142

At the J-PARC Linac, beam conditioning and study are performed using beam dumps (BDs). To be a partition with the high vacuum section, a beam window (material Ni, 0.38 mm thick, mirror-shape) is installed upstream of the BD along the beam line. Beams that can be accepted by the beam window are about 1/50 or less of rated beam according to thermal evaluation and experience. Therefore, when using a beam dump, it is necessary not to exceed this tolerance. In a 2018 beam study, the beam e that exceeded tolerance was incident on the 0-degree dump due to human error, and the beam window was cracked. Then, this has revealed the need for protection of the beam window by hardware. Therefore, based on the existing system for monitoring the per-hour beam amount, we began to develop a system to monitor one shot beam and one second beam amount. And, we succeeded in implementing a system that protects the beam window by monitoring the beam in a short time (one shot, and for one second). In addition, the performance tests using actual beams were performed, and it was confirmed that the developed system had sufficient performance requirements to protect the beam window.

Development of a beam window protection system for the J-PARC Linac

Takahashi, Hiroki; Hatakeyama, Shuichiro; Sawabe, Yuki; Miyao, Tomoaki*; Ishiyama, Tatsuya*; Suzuki, Takahiro*

Proceedings of 10th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC '19) (Internet), p.3886 - 3889, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2019-THPRB035

At the J-PARC Linac, beam conditioning and study are performed using beam dumps (BDs). To be a partition with the high vacuum section, a beam window (material Ni, 0.38 mm thick, mirror-shape) is installed upstream of the BD along the beam line. Beams that can be accepted by the beam window are about 1/50 or less of rated beam according to thermal evaluation and experience. Therefore, when using a beam dump, it is necessary not to exceed this tolerance. In a 2018 beam study, the beam e that exceeded tolerance was incident on the 0-degree dump due to human error, and the beam window was cracked. Then, this has revealed the need for protection of the beam window by hardware. Therefore, based on the existing system for monitoring the per-hour beam amount, we began to develop a system to monitor one shot beam and one second beam amount. And, we succeeded in implementing a system that protects the beam window by monitoring the beam in a short time (one shot, and for one second). In addition, the performance tests using actual beams were performed, and it was confirmed that the developed system had sufficient performance requirements to protect the beam window.

Distribution and fate of I in the seabed sediment off Fukushima

Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Sato, Yuhi*; Suzuki, Takashi; Kuwabara, Jun; Nakanishi, Takahiro

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 192, p.208 - 218, 2018/12

AA2017-0744.pdf:1.17MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.06.025

From August 2011 to October 2013, the concentration of iodine-129 (I) in the seabed sediment collected from 26 stations located within 160 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was estimated. The concentrations of I in seabed sediment off Fukushima in 2011 ranged between 0.02 and 0.45 mBq/kg. Although iodine is a biophilic element, the accident-derived radioiodine negligibly affects the benthic ecosystem. Until October 2013, a slightly increased activity of I in the surface sediment in the shelf-edge region (bottom depth: 200-400 m) was observed. The increase of the I concentrations in the shelf-edge sediments was affected by the (1) transport of I-bound particles from the land through rivers and (2) re-deposition of I desorbed from the contaminated coastal sediment to the shelf-edge sediments, which were considered to be dominant processes.

Improvement of motor control system in J-PARC linac and RCS

Takahashi, Hiroki; Miura, Akihiko; Sawabe, Yuki; Yoshimoto, Masahiro; Suzuki, Takahiro*; Kawase, Masato*

Proceedings of 9th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC '18) (Internet), p.2180 - 2182, 2018/06

https://doi.org/10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2018-WEPAL015

The stepping motor control system used in the profile monitor and RCS collimator of J-PARC is configured by VME-based. Most of these pieces of control equipment are in use for more than 10 years. Therefore, countermeasures against aging of equipment are necessary. In addition, it is necessary to implement countermeasures against malfunction of the control system, which is thought to be caused by radiation. In 2016, a malfunction occurred in the motor control system of the RCS collimator. Taking this as a starting point, we began developing a motor control system that can ensure equipment safety even if a malfunction occurs. In this paper, we show the inference of the cause of this malfunction and present details of the developed high-safety motor control system.