Improvement of the resuspension model for OSCAAR using the atmosphere-soil-vegetation model SOLVEG-R (Contract research)

Nakanishi, Chika*; Ota, Masakazu; Hirouchi, Jun; Takahara, Shogo

JAEA-Research 2023-012, 29 Pages, 2024/02

JAEA-Research-2023-012.pdf:6.05MB

The OSCAAR program is a probabilistic risk assessment program for reactor accidents developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. To improve the model included in the OSCAAR program, which is about long-term exposure caused by the resuspension of radioactive materials deposited on soil surfaces, we calculated resuspension factors for Cs-137. The one- dimensional atmosphere-SOiL-VEGetation model, SOLVEG-R was utilized to compute resuspension factor. The wind velocity was kept constant in this study since it significantly affects particle resuspension behavior. Our calculations indicate that wind velocities below 6 m s resulted in little variation in the annual mean resuspension factor at a height of 1 m. However, as wind velocities increased above 6 m s, the resuspension factor significantly increased. The resuspension factors ranged from 10 to 10 m for wind velocities ranging from 1 m s to 7 m s.

Dirac Kondo effect under magnetic catalysis

Hattori, Koichi*; Suenaga, Daiki*; Suzuki, Kei; Yasui, Shigehiro*

Physical Review B, 108(24), p.245110_1 - 245110_11, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.245110

We develop a mean-field theory of a novel Kondo effect emerging in systems without a Fermi surface, which instead emerges under strong magnetic fields. We determine the magnitude of the Kondo condensate, which is a particle pairing composed of conducting Dirac fermions and localized impurities. We focus on the competition between the Kondo effect and the energy gap formation that stems from the pairing among the Dirac fermions leading to the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. We find that this competition induces a quantum critical point. We also investigate finite-temperature effects. This system at vanishing fermion density can be studied with Monte Carlo lattice simulations, which do not suffer from the sign problem.

Thirty-year simulation of environmental fate of Cs in the Abukuma River basin considering the characteristics of Cs behavior in land uses

Ikenoue, Tsubasa; Shimadera, Hikari*; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Kondo, Akira*

Science of the Total Environment, 876, p.162846_1 - 162846_12, 2023/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162846

We conducted 30 years simulation of environmental fate of Cs in the Abukuma River basin considering the characteristics of the Cs behavior in land uses. Overall, in the Abukuma River basin, the Cs transported into the ocean for 30 years was estimated to correspond to 4.6% of the initial deposition in the basin, and the effective half-life of Cs deposited in the basin was estimated to be 3.7 years shorter (by 11.6%) than its physical half-life. These results suggested that Cs deposited from the accident could still remain for decades. Based on the analysis of the Cs behavior in land use, in 2011, the contribution of Cs export to the ocean from urban lands was estimated to correspond to 70% of the total Cs export. Meanwhile, from 2012 to 2040, the contribution of Cs export from agricultural lands was estimated to correspond to 75% of the total Cs export. The reduction ratios excluding radioactive decay of Cs remained in areas with and without human activities for 30 years after the accident, defined as the ratios of the total outflow to the initial deposition, were estimated to be 11.5%-17.7% and 0.4%-1.4%, respectively. These results suggested that human activities enhance the reduction of Cs remaining in land in the past and future.

Anomalous behavior of liquid molecules near solid nanoparticles; Novel interpretation on thermal conductivity enhancement in nanofluids

Hashimoto, Shunsuke*; Yamaguchi, Satoshi*; Harada, Masashi*; Nakajima, Kenji; Kikuchi, Tatsuya*; Oishi, Kazuki*

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 638, p.475 - 486, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2023.01.101

Recently, it has been reported that anomalous improvement in the thermal conductivity of nanofluid composed of base liquids and dispersed solid nanoparticles, compared to the theoretically predicted value calculated from the particle fraction. Generally, the thermal conductivity values of gases and liquids are dominated by the mean free path of the molecules during translational motion. Herein, we present solid evidence showing the possible contribution of the vibrational behavior of liquid molecules around nanoparticles to increasing these thermal conductivities.

Improved immobilization of Re(VII) from aqueous solutions bimetallic Ni/Fe nanoparticles; Implications towards Tc(VII) removal

Maamoun, I.; Tokunaga, Kohei; Dohi, Terumi; Kanno, Futoshi*; Falyouna, O.*; Eljamal, O.*; Tanaka, Kazuya

Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering (Internet), 2, p.1142823_1 - 1142823_17, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnuen.2023.1142823

Recently, the rapid development of nuclear power technologies and the continuous energy demand around the world exhibited massive amounts of contaminated water with radionuclides. Technetium-99 (Tc) is one of the long-lived radionuclides with a highly mobile anionic form (Tc(VII)) in aqueous solutions. Hence, the rapid and efficient Tc(VII) removal from radioactive water has emerged as a challenging issue. In this work, bimetallic nickel/iron nanoparticles (Ni/Fe) were prepared to enhance the immobilization of rhenium (Re(VII)) from aqueous solutions, as the surrogate of Tc(VII).

Magnonic Casimir effect in ferrimagnets

Nakata, Koki; Suzuki, Kei

Physical Review Letters, 130(9), p.096702_1 - 096702_6, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.096702

Quantum fluctuations of quantum fields induce a zero-point energy shift under spatial boundary conditions. This quantum phenomenon, called the Casimir effect, has been attracting much attention beyond the hierarchy of energy scales, whereas its application to spintronics has not yet been investigated enough, particularly to ferrimagnetic thin films. Here we fill this gap. Using the lattice field theory, we investigate the Casimir effect induced by quantum fields for magnons and find that the magnonic Casimir effect can arise not only in antiferromagnets but also in ferrimagnets (e.g., YIG). Thus, we pave the way for magnonic Casimir engineering.

Study on evaluation method of kernel migration of TRISO fuel for High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor

Fukaya, Yuji; Okita, Shoichiro; Sasaki, Koei; Ueta, Shohei; Goto, Minoru; Ohashi, Hirofumi; Yan, X.

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 399, p.112033_1 - 112033_9, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2022.112033

Kernel migration of TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel for High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) has been analyzed to investigate the potential dominating effects. Kernel migration is a major fuel failure mode and dominant to determine the lifetime of the fuel for High Temperature engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). However, this study shows that the result and reliability depend on the evaluation method. The evaluation method used in this study takes into account of actual distribution of Coated Fuel Particles (CFPs) and the resulting heterogeneous fuel temperature calculation with such distribution. The result shows that the Kernel Migration Rate (KMR) is predicted to be about 10% less compared with the most conservative evaluation.

Preparation of the particles containing isotope reference uranium for the determination of the low abundant U isotope ratios

Tomita, Jumpei; Tomita, Ryohei; Suzuki, Daisuke; Yasuda, Kenichiro; Miyamoto, Yutaka

KEK Proceedings 2022-2, p.154 - 158, 2022/11

Precise determination of minor U isotopes (U and U) of particles from the safeguard environmental samples is powerful method for detecting the undeclared nuclear activities. In this study, preparation method of U particle was examined to utilize for the minor U isotope determination. The porous silica particles were used as the particle matrix and lutetium was mixed to the impregnation solution as U impregnation indicator for the particle picking. The result of the Scanning Electron Microscope indicated that the contacting the solution with Si particles overnight gently could produce the impregnated particles effectively rather than the mixing them with PFA stick.

Development of particle removal technique by using bubble breakup phenomenon in converging-diverging nozzle

Uesawa, Shinichiro; Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Konsoryu Shimpojiumu 2022 Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 2 Pages, 2022/08

no abstracts in English

Radiocesium-bearing microparticles cause a large variation in Cs activity concentration in the aquatic insect (Tricoptera: Stenopsychidae) in the Ota River, Fukushima, Japan

Ishii, Yumiko*; Miura, Hikaru*; Jo, J.*; Tsuji, Hideki*; Saito, Rie; Koarai, Kazuma; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Urushidate, Tadayuki*; Nishikiori, Tatsuhiro*; Wada, Toshihiro*; et al.

PLOS ONE (Internet), 17(5), p.e0268629_1 - e0268629_17, 2022/05

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268629

We investigated the variability in Cs activity concentration in individual aquatic insects in detritivorous caddisfly () and carnivorous dobsonfly () larvae from the Ota River, Fukushima. Caddisfly larvae showed sporadically higher radioactivity, whereas no such outliers were observed in dobsonfly larvae. Autoradiography and scanning electron microscopy analyses confirmed that these caddisfly larvae samples contained radiocesium-bearing microparticles (CsMPs), which are insoluble Cs-bearing silicate glass particles. CsMPs were also found in potential food sources of caddisfly larvae, such as periphyton and drifting particulate organic matter, indicating that larvae may ingest CsMPs along with food particles of similar size. Although CsMPs distribution and uptake by organisms in freshwater ecosystems is relatively unknown, our study demonstrates that CsMPs can be taken up by aquatic insects.