Utilization of gamma ray irradiation at the WASTEF Facility

Sano, Naruto; Yamashita, Naoki; Watanabe, Masaya; Tsukada, Manabu*; Hoshino, Kazutoyo*; Hirai, Koki; Ikegami, Yuta*; Tashiro, Shinsuke; Yoshida, Ryoichiro; Hatakeyama, Yuichi; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2023-029, 36 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Technology-2023-029.pdf:2.47MB

At the Waste Safety Testing Facility (WASTEF), the gamma ray irradiation device "Gamma Cell 220" was relocated from the 4th research building of the Nuclear Science Research Institute in FY2019, and the use of gamma ray irradiation has begun. Initially, Fuel Cycle Safety Research Group, Fuel Cycle Safety Research Division, Nuclear Safety Research Center, Sector of Nuclear Safety Research and Emergency Preparedness, the owner of this device, conducted the tests as the main user, but since 2022, other users, including those outside the organization, have started using it. The gamma ray irradiation device "Gamma Cell 220" is manufactured by Nordion International Inc. in Canada. Since it was purchased in 1989, the built-in 60Co radiation source has been updated once, and safety research related to nuclear fuel cycles, etc. It is still used for this purpose to this day. This report summarizes the equipment overview of the gamma ray irradiation device "Gamma Cell 220", its permits and licenses at WASTEF, usage status, maintenance and inspection, and future prospects.

Unique band structure of pressure induced semiconducting state in SmS characterized by S-nuclear magnetic resonance measurements

Yoshida, Shogo*; Haga, Yoshinori; Fujii, Takuto*; Nakai, Yusuke*; Mito, Takeshi*; 8 of others*

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 93(1), p.013702_1 - 013702_5, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.93.013702

Heterogeneity effects in micro-beam XRF scanning spectroscopy of binary powdered mixtures and lake sediments

Katsuta, Nagayoshi*; Umemura, Ayako*; Naito, Sayuri*; Masuki, Yuma*; Itayama, Yui*; Niwa, Masakazu; Shirono, Shinichi*; Yoshida, Hidekazu*; Kawakami, Shinichi*

Spectrochimica Acta, Part B, 210, p.106817_1 - 106817_11, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2023.106817

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning of lacustrine sediments has been used to extend the approach to a wider range of elemental records in both ages and timescales of variations in past environments and climates. However, one of severe problems with effects of the XRF intensity by grain size and mineralogical composition known as "heterogeneity effects" have been pointed out. This study investigated the heterogeneity effect of Fe intensities on X-ray beam using several binary powder mixtures and lacustrine sediment cores.

Investigation on behavior of a vortical liquid film of a wall-impinging liquid jet in a shallow pool

Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*

Nihon Kikai Gakkai Kanto Shibu Dai-29-Ki Sokai, Koenkai Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/10

https://doi.org/10.1299/jsmekanto.2023.29.17H19

To elucidate the behavior of molten fuels as a liquid jet in a shallow pool, which is assumed in a core meltdown accident of an LWR, and develop the evaluation method, we investigated the behavior of the vortical liquid film of the simulated wall-impinging liquid jet using 3-dimensional interface shape data obtained by the experiment in a liquid-liquid system.

Measurement of void fraction distribution at high pressure in 44 simulated fuel bundle for validation of thermal-hydraulics simulation codes

Nagatake, Taku; Shibata, Mitsuhiko; Uesawa, Shinichiro; Ono, Ayako; Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Dai-27-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/09

JAEA is developing a neutronics/thermal-hydraulics coupling simulation code for light-water reactors. Thermal-hydraulic simulation codes applied to the platform are expected to evaluate void fraction distributions in fuel assemblies under operational conditions, which is necessary for neutron transport simulation, and need to be validated using void fraction distribution data in a rod bundle under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions. To obtain the data for code validation, we have been measuring the instantaneous void fraction distribution in a 44 simulated fuel assembly by a wire mesh sensor. In this paper, we report the results of the experiments with pressure and flow rate as parameters at a maximum pressure of 2.6 MPa.

Numerical simulation method using a Cartesian grid for oxidation of core materials under steam-starved conditions

Yamashita, Susumu; Sato, Takumi; Nagae, Yuji; Kurata, Masaki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(9), p.1029 - 1045, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2162996

Description of the inclusive reaction with the semiclassical distorted-wave model

Nakada, Hibiki*; Yoshida, Kazuki; Ogata, Kazuyuki*

Physical Review C, 108(3), p.034603_1 - 034603_8, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.108.034603

The description of deuteron-induced inclusive reactions has been an important subject in direct nuclear reaction studies and nuclear data science. For proton-induced inclusive processes, the semiclassical distorted wave model (SCDW) is one of the most successful models based on quantum mechanics. We improve SCDW for deuteron-induced inclusive processes. The changes in the kinematics due to the distortion effect, the refraction effect, is taken into account by the local semiclassical approximation. The calculated cross section of reasonably reproduce experimental data in the small energy-transfer region and at forward and middle angles with some exceptions. The angular distributions of the cross section are improved by including the refraction effect. The effect on the cross section is significant compared to that on the proton-induced inclusive process because of the stronger distortion effect on the deuteron.

Study of fabrication of SiC-matrixed fuel compact for HTGR

Kawano, Takahiro*; Mizuta, Naoki; Ueta, Shohei; Tachibana, Yukio; Yoshida, Katsumi*

JAEA-Technology 2023-014, 37 Pages, 2023/08

JAEA-Technology-2023-014.pdf:2.35MB

Fuel compact for High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) is fabricated by calcinating a matrix consisting of graphite and binder with the coated fuel particle. The SiC-matrixed fuel compact uses a new matrix made of silicon carbide (SiC) replacing the conventional graphite. Applying the SiC-matrixed fuel compact for HTGRs is expected to improve their performance such as power densities. In this study, the sintering conditions for applying SiC as the matrix of fuel compacts for HTGR are selected, and the density and thermal conductivity of the prototype SiC are measured.

Development of a numerical simulation method for air cooling of fuel debris by JUPITER

Yamashita, Susumu; Uesawa, Shinichiro; Ono, Ayako; Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 10(4), p.22-00485_1 - 22-00485_25, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1299/mej.22-00485

A detailed evaluation for air cooling of fuel debris in actual reactors will be essential in fuel debris retrieval under dry conditions. To understand the heat transfer in and around fuel debris, which is assumed as a porous medium in the primary containment vessel (PCV) mechanistically, we newly applied the porous medium model to the multiphase and multicomponent computational fluid dynamics code named JUPITER (JAEA Utility Program for Interdisciplinary Thermal-hydraulics Engineering and Research). We applied the Darcy-Brinkman model as for the porous medium model. This model has high compatibility with JUPITER because it can treat both a pure fluid and a porous medium phase simultaneously in the same manner as the one-fluid model in multiphase flow simulation. We addressed the case of natural convection with a high-velocity flow standing out nonlinear effects by implementing the Forchheimer model, including the term of the square of the velocity as a nonlinear effect to the momentum transport equation of JUPITER. We performed some simple verification and validation simulations, such as the natural convection simulation in a square cavity and the natural convective heat transfer experiment with the porous medium, to confirm the validity of the implemented model. We confirmed that the result of JUPITER agreed well with these simulations and experiments. In addition, as an application of the updated JUPITER, we performed the preliminary simulation of air cooling of fuel debris in the condition of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station unit 2 including the actual core materials. As a result, JUPITER calculated the temperature and velocity field stably in and around the fuel debris inside the PCV. Therefore, JUPITER has the potential to estimate the detailed and accurate thermal-hydraulics behaviors of fuel debris.

Level structures of Ca cast doubt on a doubly magic Ca

Chen, S.*; Browne, F.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Lee, J.*; Obertelli, A.*; Tsunoda, Yusuke*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Chazono, Yoshiki*; Hagen, G.*; Holt, J. D.*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138025_1 - 138025_7, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138025

Gamma decays were observed in Ca and Ca following quasi-free one-proton knockout reactions from Sc. For Ca, a ray transition was measured to be 1456(12) keV, while for Ca an indication for a transition was observed at 1115(34) keV. Both transitions were tentatively assigned as the decays. A shell-model calculation in a wide model space with a marginally modified effective nucleon-nucleon interaction depicts excellent agreement with experiment for level energies, two-neutron separation energies, and reaction cross sections, corroborating the formation of a new nuclear shell above the N = 34 shell. Its constituents, the and orbitals, are almost degenerate. This degeneracy precludes the possibility for a doubly magic Ca and potentially drives the dripline of Ca isotopes to Ca or even beyond.