HFB-1 borehole survey data collection

Miyakawa, Kazuya; Hayano, Akira; Sato, Naomi; Nakata, Kotaro*; Hasegawa, Takuma*

JAEA-Data/Code 2023-009, 103 Pages, 2023/09

JAEA-Data-Code-2023-009.pdf:9.29MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-009-appendix1(DVD-ROM).zip:271.51MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-009-appendix2(DVD-ROM).zip:883.78MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-009-appendix3(DVD-ROM).zip:10.29MB

This borehole investigation was carried out to confirm the validity of the distribution of low flow areas deep underground estimated based on the geophysical survey in FY 2020, as a part of an R&D supporting program titled "Research and development on Groundwater Flow Evaluation Technology in Bedrock" under contract to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2021, 2022 FY, Grant Number: JPJ007597). The borehole name is Horonobe Fossil seawater Boring-1 and is referred to as HFB-1 borehole. HFB-1 is a vertical borehole drilled adjacent to the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL), which was drilled from the surface to a depth of 200 m in FY2021 and from a depth of 200 m to 500 m in FY2022. This report summarizes information related to the drilling of HFB-1 and various data (rock core description, geophysical logging, chemical analysis, etc.) obtained from the borehole investigation.

Evolution of porewater in a Neogene sedimentary formation in the Horonobe area, Hokkaido, Japan: Modeling of burial diagenesis

Miyakawa, Kazuya; Kashiwaya, Koki*; Komura, Yuto*; Nakata, Kotaro*

Geochemical Journal, 57(5), p.155 - 175, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.GJ23014

In the thick marine sediments, groundwater altered from seawater during the burial diagenesis may exist. Such altered ancient seawater will be called fossil seawater. In such a field, groundwater flow is considered extremely slow because it is not affected by the seepage of meteoric water even after the uplift. During diagenesis, dehydration from silicates causes changes such as a decrease in the salinity of the porewater. However, dehydration reactions alone cannot quantitatively explain water chemistry changes. In this study, we developed an analytical model that considers the dehydration reaction from silicates during the burial process and the upward migration of porewater due to compaction and examined the possible evolution of porewater chemistry. The results showed that the water chemistry, which was strongly influenced by the dehydration reaction from opal-A to quartz and from smectite, was similar to the observations from boring surveys. The results suggest that the fossil seawater formed during the diagenesis may have been preserved since the uplift and strongly supports the slow groundwater flow in the area where the fossil seawater exists.

Novel strain induces severe corrosion by retrieving electrons from Fe under a freshwater environment

Hirano, Shinichi*; Ihara, Sota*; Wakai, Satoshi*; Dotsuta, Yuma; Otani, Kyohei; Kitagaki, Toru; Ueno, Fumiyoshi; Okamoto, Akihiro*

Microorganisms (Internet), 10(2), p.270_1 - 270_12, 2022/02

https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10020270

To understand the role of methanogens in corrosion under anoxic conditions in freshwater, we investigated the corrosion activities of methanogens in samples collected from groundwater and rivers. We enriched microorganisms that can grow with CO/NaHCO and Fe as the sole carbon source and electron donor, respectively, in ground fresh water. Electrochemical analysis revealed that strain can uptake electrons from the cathode at lower than -0.61 V vs SHE and has a redox-active component with electrochemical potential different from those of other previously reported methanogens with extracellular electron transfer ability. This study indicated the corrosion risk by methanogens capable of taking up electrons from Fe in anoxic freshwater environments and the necessity of understanding the corrosion mechanism to contribute to risk diagnosis.

Activities of Working Group on Verification of PASCAL; Fiscal years 2016 and 2017

Li, Y.; Hirota, Takatoshi*; Itabashi, Yu*; Yamamoto, Masato*; Kanto, Yasuhiro*; Suzuki, Masahide*; Miyamoto, Yuhei*

JAEA-Review 2020-011, 130 Pages, 2020/09

JAEA-Review-2020-011.pdf:9.31MB

For the improvement of the structural integrity assessment methodology on reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), the probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis code PASCAL has been developed and improved in Japan Atomic Energy Agency based on the latest knowledge. The PASCAL code evaluates the failure probabilities and frequencies of Japanese RPVs under transient events such as pressure thermal shock considering neutron irradiation embrittlement. In order to confirm the reliability of the PASCAL as a domestic standard code and to promote the application of PFM on the domestic structural integrity assessments of RPVs, it is important to perform verification activities, and summarize the verification processes and results as a document. On the basis of these backgrounds, we established a working group, composed of experts on this field besides the developers, on the verification of the PASCAL module and the source program of PASCAL was released to the members of working group. This report summarizes the activities of the working group on the verification of PASCAL in FY2016 and FY2017.

Genetic survey of indigenous microbial eukaryotic communities, mainly fungi, in sedimentary rock matrices of deep terrestrial subsurface

Saito, Yoshimoto*; Hirano, Shinichi*; Nagaoka, Toru*; Amano, Yuki

Ecological Genetics and Genomics, 12, p.100042_1 - 100042_9, 2019/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egg.2019.100042

Culture-independent molecular techniques enable us to analyze microflora in various environments. Many uncultured prokaryotes have been detected by the molecular methods from extreme environments, including anaerobic, no light, high-pressure, and high temperature. Recently, microbial eukaryotes were also detected in deep-sea environments, suggesting that microbial eukaryotes can adapt to a wider range of environments than previously thought. Here, we performed a culture-independent analysis of eukaryotes from approximately -250 m depth in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory at Horonobe, Japan. Our results indicate that fungi are the dominant eukaryotic flora in deep sedimentary rocks of Horonobe. We detected a wide range of species, including Zygomycete, Basidiomycete, and Ascomycete fungi from the rocks. This study is the first report of eukaryotic diversity in deep subsurface sedimentary rocks.

Verification of detailed core-bowing analysis code ARKAS_cellule with IAEA benchmark problems

Ota, Hirokazu*; Ohgama, Kazuya; Yamano, Hidemasa

Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.30 - 39, 2019/09

A Design study on a mixed oxide fuel sodium-cooled fast reactor core partially loading highly concentrated MA-containing metal fuel

Ohgama, Kazuya; Ota, Hirokazu*; Oki, Shigeo; Iizuka, Masatoshi*

Proceedings of 2019 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2019) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2019/05

A Study of the evaluation of the excavation damaged zone in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory, 1; Investigation in the 140 m gallery (Joint research)

Sugita, Yutaka; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Kubota, Kenji*; Nakata, Eiji*; Oyama, Takahiro*

JAEA-Research 2018-002, 72 Pages, 2018/06

JAEA-Research-2018-002.pdf:6.16MB

In a excavation of shafts and galleries in the deep underground for disposing radioactive waste, an excavation damaged zone (EDZ) is developed around the galleries and shafts owing to the stress redistribution. Since the characteristic changes of the rock mass in the EDZ affects the radionuclides migration behavior, it is important to understand the long-term behavior of the EDZ. Thus, we performed the in situ experiment to investigate the long-term behavior of EDZ as part of the collaborative research between Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry in the 140m gallery in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory. In this research, we investigated the extent, mechanism of the change of hydro-mechanical characteristic, and long-term behavior of the EDZ on the basis of the comprehensive estimation of the results of the observation of the drift wall and the various investigations using boreholes such as geological investigation, the seismic and resistivity tomography, hydraulic test, water content monitoring, borehole loading test, convergence measurement, and so on. In addition, we clarified applicability and future tasks of the testing method used in this research for the investigation of the long-term behavior of the EDZ.

Investigation of the excavation disturbed zone due to the excavation of horizontal galleries; Study in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory

Kubota, Kenji*; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Sugita, Yutaka

Koeki Shadan Hojin Butsuri Tansa Gakkai Dai-138-Kai (Heisei-30-Nendo Shuki) Gakujutsu Koenkai Koen Rombunshu, p.51 - 54, 2018/05

In an excavation of shafts and galleries in the deep underground for disposing high level radioactive waste, an excavation disturbed zone (EdZ) or excavation damaged zone (EDZ) is developed around the shafts and galleries owing to the stress redistribution. It is important to understand the behavior of the EdZ or EDZ because these zone could have an effect on the transfer behavior of radioactive nuclide. Therefore, the authors performed the in situ experiment to investigate the behavior of EdZ or EDZ in the 140m and 250m gallery in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory. From the result of the experiments, the authors compared the characteristics of EdZ or EDZ between those in 140m and 250m gallery. The extent of the fractures induced by the gallery excavation, i.e., EDZ was about 0.45m in the 140m gallery and about 1m in the 250m gallery. The extent of the unsaturated zones related with EdZ was about 1m in the 140m gallery, however, unsaturated zone was not appeared in the 250m gallery.

Characterization study of four candidate technologies for nuclear material quantification in fuel debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Nagatani, Taketeru; Komeda, Masao; Shiba, Tomooki; Nauchi, Yasushi*; Maeda, Makoto; Sagara, Hiroshi*; Kosuge, Yoshihiro*; Kureta, Masatoshi; Tomikawa, Hirofumi; Okumura, Keisuke; et al.

Energy Procedia, 131, p.258 - 263, 2017/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.447