Estimating the corrosion rate of stainless steel R-SUS304ULC in nitric acid media under concentrating operation

Irisawa, Eriko; Kato, Chiaki

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 591, p.154914_1 - 154914_10, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.154914

The amount of corrosion of austenitic stainless-steel R-SUS304ULC was evaluated considering the changes in solution composition and boiling during actual concentration operations. Austenitic stainless-steel R-SUS304ULC is the structural material of the highly radioactive liquid waste concentrator in Japanese spent fuel reprocessing plant, which treats highly corrosive nitric acid solutions during enrichment operations. The study results show that it is necessary to focus on nitric acid concentrations, oxidizing metal ion concentrations, and decompression boiling as factors that accelerate the corrosion rate of stainless steel because of cathodic reaction activation.

Standard guideline for the seismic response analysis method using three-dimensional finite element model of reactor buildings (Contract research) (Translated document)

Choi, B.; Nishida, Akemi; Kawata, Manabu; Shiomi, Tadahiko; Li, Y.

JAEA-Research 2024-001, 206 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Research-2024-001.pdf:9.12MB

In the assessment of seismic safety and the design of building structures in nuclear facilities, lumped mass models have been used as standard methods. Recent advances in computer capabilities allow the use of three-dimensional finite element (3D FE) models to account for the 3D behavior of buildings, material nonlinearity, and the nonlinear soil-structure interaction effect. While 3D analysis method has many advantages, it is necessary to ensure its reliability as a new approach. The International Atomic Energy Agency performed an international benchmark study using the 3D FE analysis model for reactor building of Unit 7 at TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station based on recordings from the Niigataken Chuetsu-oki Earthquake in 2007. Multiple organizations from different countries participated in this study and the variation in their analytical results was significant, indicating an urgent need to improve the reliability of the analytical results by standardization of the analytical methods using 3D FE models. Additionally, it has been pointed out that it is necessary to understand the 3D behavior in the seismic fragility assessment of buildings and equipment, using realistic seismic response analysis method based on 3D FE models. In view of these considerations, a guideline for the seismic response analysis method using a 3D FE model was developed by incorporating the latest knowledge and findings in this area. The purpose of the guideline is to improve the reliability of the seismic response analysis method using 3D FE model of reactor buildings. The guideline consists of a main body, commentaries, and appendixes. The standard procedures, recommendations, key points to note, and technological bases for conducting seismic response analysis on reactor buildings using 3D FE models are provided in the guideline. In addition, the guideline will be revised reflecting the latest knowledge.

A Study on improvement of three-dimensional seismic analysis method of nuclear building using a large-scale observation system, 2; Analysis of local response of the reactor building based on artificial waves

Nishida, Akemi; Kawata, Manabu; Choi, B.; Kunitomo, Takahiro; Shiomi, Tadahiko; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Yamakawa, Koki*

Transactions of the 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT 27) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2024/03

no abstracts in English

Nonlinear dynamic analysis by three-dimensional finite elements model considering uplift of foundation

Ito, Sho*; Ota, Akira*; Sonobe, Hideaki*; Ino, Susumu*; Choi, B.; Nishida, Akemi; Shiomi, Tadahiko

Transactions of the 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT 27) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2024/03

no abstracts in English

Study on response correlation during earthquakes using a three-dimensional detailed model and a Sway-Rocking model for nuclear building

Choi, B.; Nishida, Akemi; Takito, Kiyotaka; Tsutsumi, Hideaki*; Takada, Tsuyoshi

Transactions of the 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT 27) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2024/03

no abstracts in English

Fracture toughness evaluation of weld-HAZ in RPV steel using Mini-C(T) specimens

Ha, Yoosung; Shimodaira, Masaki; Katsuyama, Jinya

Transactions of the 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT 27) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2024/03

Heat-affected zone (HAZ) produced by butt-welding in reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steel is one of the representative materials for surveillance program. The fracture toughness values of HAZ may show a large uncertainty due to inhomogeneous metallurgical structures. Also, the inhomogeneous microstructure in HAZ may influence on the degree of uncertainty in the fracture toughness and the sensitivity to irradiation embrittlement. We investigated the fracture toughness in HAZ of unirradiated material with respect to its distance from the fusion line of welds, where the amount of mixed microstructures change due to the thermal history during the welding. Mini-C(T) specimens of HAZ were harvested from the crack position at 0.5 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm from the fusion line of welds. The uncertainty of fracture toughness in HAZ, from the fusion line at 0.5 mm in particular, was larger than those of base metal at a quarter thickness. From the results of fracture toughness evaluation considering the standard deviation, there was the difference of reference temperature, in each position of HAZ. in all positions of HAZ was significantly lower than that of base metal, which means the fracture toughness in HAZ was greater than that of base metal at a quarter thickness.

Joint clarification of contaminant plume and hydraulic transmissivity via a geostatistical approach using hydraulic head and contaminant concentration data

Takai, Shizuka; Shimada, Taro; Takeda, Seiji; Koike, Katsuaki*

Mathematical Geosciences, 56(2), p.333 - 360, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11004-023-10084-8

To enable proper remediation of accidental groundwater contamination, the contaminant plume evolution needs to be accurately estimated. In the estimation, uncertainties in both the contaminant source and hydrogeological structure should be considered, especially the temporal release history and hydraulic transmissivity. Although the release history can be estimated using geostatistical approaches, previous studies use the deterministic hydraulic property field. Geostatistical approaches can also effectively estimate an unknown heterogeneous transmissivity field via the joint data use, such as a combination of hydraulic head and tracer data. However, tracer tests implemented over a contaminated area necessarily disturb the in situ condition of the contamination. Conversely, measurements of the transient concentration data over an area are possible and can preserve the conditions. Accordingly, this study develops a geostatistical method for the joint clarification of contaminant plume and transmissivity distributions using both head and contaminant concentration data. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed method are demonstrated through two numerical experiments assuming a two-dimensional heterogenous confined aquifer. The use of contaminant concentration data is key to accurate estimation of the transmissivity. The accuracy of the proposed method using both head and concentration data was verified achieving a high linear correlation coefficient of 0.97 between the true and estimated concentrations for both experiments, which was 0.67 or more than the results using only the head data. Furthermore, the uncertainty of the contaminant plume evolution was successfully evaluated by considering the uncertainties of both the initial plume and the transmissivity distributions, based on their conditional realizations.

Opposing mixed convection heat transfer for turbulent single-phase flows

Motegi, Kosuke; Shibamoto, Yasuteru; Hibiki, Takashi*; Tsukamoto, Naofumi*; Kaneko, Junichi*

International Journal of Energy Research, 2024, p.6029412_1 - 6029412_22, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/6029412

Convection, wherein forced and natural convections are prominent, is known as mixed convection. Specifically, when a forced convection flow is downward, this flow is called opposing flow. Several heat transfer correlations have been reported related to single-phase opposing flow; however, these correlations are based on experiments conducted in various channel geometries, working fluids, and thermal flow parameter ranges. Because the definition of nondimensional parameters and their validated range confirmed by experiments differ for each correlation reported in previous studies, establishing a guideline for deciding which correlation should be selected based on its range of applicability and extrapolation performance is important. This study reviewed the existing heat transfer correlations for turbulent opposing-flow mixed convection and the single-phase heat transfer correlations implemented in the thermal-hydraulic system codes. Furthermore, we evaluated the predictive performance of each correlation by comparing them with the experimental data obtained under various experimental conditions. The Jackson and Fewster, Churchill, and Swanson and Catton correlations (Int. J Heat Mass Transf., 1987) can accurately predict all the experimental data. The effect of the difference in the thermal boundary conditions, i.e., uniform heat flux and uniform wall temperature, on the turbulent mixed-convection heat transfer coefficient is not substantial. We confirmed that heat transfer correlations using the hydraulic-equivalent diameter as a characteristic length can be used for predictions regardless of channel-geometry differences. Furthermore, correlations described based on nondimensional dominant parameters can be used for predictions regardless of the differences in working fluids.

Boundary layer measurements for validating CFD condensation model and analysis based on heat and mass transfer analogy in laminar flow condition

Soma, Shu; Ishigaki, Masahiro*; Abe, Satoshi; Shibamoto, Yasuteru

Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 10 Pages, 2024/00

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2024.02.011

Random media criticality analysis methods in Monte Carlo solver Solomon

Ueki, Taro

Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2023) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2023/10

A Monte Carlo Solver Solomon has been under development as an object-oriented code written in the C++14 standards. It consists of regular capabilities of criticality safety analysis and a special capability of random media criticality. In the latter capability, Solomon is equipped with a class for the random media modeled by the incomplete randomized Weierstrass function (IRWF). By this modeling, the uncertainty of random media criticality can be evaluated by executing criticality calculations over many IRWF-replicas. However, it is impossible to know beforehand how many IRWF-replicas should be computed. To deal with this issue, a bounded amplification (BA) technique has been newly equipped in Solomon. Applying BA to IRWF, it is possible to reduce the number of IRWF-replicas by more than 95% in terms of the upper limit estimation of neutron effective multiplication factor. Solomon is also equipped with a voxel-overlay (VO). This functionality is shown to be valuable for evaluating the resonance self-shielding effect.