Estimation of reliable displacements-per-atom based on athermal-recombination-corrected model in radiation environments at nuclear fission, fusion, and accelerator facilities

Iwamoto, Yosuke; Meigo, Shinichiro; Hashimoto, Shintaro

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 538, p.152261_1 - 152261_9, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152261

The displacements-per-atom (dpa) is widely used as an exposure unit to predict the operating lifetime of materials in radiation environments. Because the athermal-recombination-corrected dpa (arc-dpa) model is a more realistic model than the standard Norgertt-Robinson-Torrens (NRT) model, new evaluation of radiation damage will be performed using the arc-dpa model as a standard. In this work, the recent arc-dpa model of various materials are incorporated in PHITS, and the rescaling factors (NRT-dpa/arc-dpa) over a wide energy range are reported. For neutron incidences with the energy spectrum determined in selected nuclear facilities and proton incidences with energies of 600 MeV-50 GeV, the rescaling factor for each material is independent of these irradiation conditions with almost the same value for each material. Our findings will be beneficial for rescaling the NRT-dpa model used for radiation damage applications over a wide energy region.

Visualizing cation vacancies in Ce:GdAlGaO scintillators by gamma-ray-induced positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Fujimori, Kosuke*; Kitaura, Mamoru*; Taira, Yoshitaka*; Fujimoto, Masaki*; Zen, H.*; Watanabe, Shinta*; Kamada, Kei*; Okano, Yasuaki*; Kato, Masahiro*; Hosaka, Masahito*; et al.

Applied Physics Express, 13(8), p.085505_1 - 085505_4, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.35848/1882-0786/aba0dd

To clarify the existence of cation vacancies in Ce-doped GdAlGaO (Ce:GAGG) scintillators, we performed gamma-ray-induced positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (GiPALS). GiPAL spectra of GAGG and Ce:GAGG comprised two exponential decay components, which were assigned to positron annihilation at bulk and defect states. By an analogy with Ce:YAlO, the defect-related component was attributed to Al/Ga-O divacancy complexes. This component was weaker for Ce, Mg:GAGG, which correlated with the suppression of shallow electron traps responsible for phosphorescence. Oxygen vacancies were charge compensators for Al/Ga vacancies. The lifetime of the defect-related component was significantly changed by Mg co-doping. This was understood by considering aggregates of Mg ions at Al/Ga sites with oxygen vacancies, which resulted in the formation of vacancy clusters.

Material balance analysis for wide range of nuclear power generation scenarios

Nishihara, Kenji

JAEA-Data/Code 2020-005, 48 Pages, 2020/07

JAEA-Data-Code-2020-005.pdf:2.95MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2020-005-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:3.62MB

In order to discuss the technological development and human resource development necessary for the future nuclear fuel cycle, various quantitative analyzes were conducted assuming a wide range of future nuclear power generation scenarios. In the evaluation of quantities, the future power generation of LWR and fast reactor, the amount of spent fuel reprocessing, etc. were assumed, and the amount of uranium demand, the accumulation of spent fuel, plutonium, vitrified waste etc. were estimated.

FEMAXI-7 analysis for modeling benchmark for FeCrAl

Yamaji, Akifumi*; Susuki, Naomichi*; Kaji, Yoshiyuki

IAEA-TECDOC-1921, p.199 - 209, 2020/07

The thermo-physical models and irradiation behavior of FeCrAl as defined by the benchmark organizer have been implemented to FEMAXI-7. Analyses were carried out firstly for the specified normal operation condition. Then, some sensitivity analyses were carried out with different assumptions and model parameters. Under the normal operating condition, the predicted FeCrAl cladded fuel performance was similar to that of Zry cladded fuel with notable, but not major difference regarding late gap closure. Under the simulated LOCA conditions, the burst pressure could be evaluated. The predicted cladding creep strain at burst was mainly attributed to creep strain with negligible plastic strain. Overall, FEMAXI-7 analyses have demonstrated excellent robustness and flexibility in modeling FeCrAl-UO system under normal and LOCA conditions.

First- and second-order topological superconductivity and temperature-driven topological phase transitions in the extended Hubbard model with spin-orbit coupling

Kheirkhah, M.*; Yan, Z.*; Nagai, Yuki; Marsiglio, F.*

Physical Review Letters, 125(1), p.017001_1 - 017001_8, 2020/07

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.017001

no abstracts in English

Ensemble wind simulation using a mesh-refined lattice Boltzmann method

Hasegawa, Yuta; Onodera, Naoyuki; Idomura, Yasuhiro

Dai-25-Kai Nippon Keisan Kogaku Koenkai Rombunshu (CD-ROM), 4 Pages, 2020/06

We developed a GPU-based CFD code using a mesh-refined lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), which enables ensemble simulations for wind and plume dispersion in urban cities. The code is tuned for Pascal or Volta GPU architectures, and is able to perform real-time wind simulations with several kilometers square region and several meters of grid resolution. We examined the developed code against the field experiment JU2003 in Oklahoma City. In the comparison, wind conditions showed good agreements, and the ensemble-averaged and maximum values of tracer concentration satisfied the factor 2 agreements.

Atmospheric-dispersion database system that can immediately provide calculation results for various source term and meteorological conditions

Terada, Hiroaki; Nagai, Haruyasu; Tanaka, Atsunori*; Tsuzuki, Katsunori; Kadowaki, Masanao

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(6), p.745 - 754, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1709994

We have estimated source term and analyzed processes of atmospheric dispersion of radioactive materials released during the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident by the Worldwide version of System for Environmental Emergency Dose Information. On the basis of this experience, we developed an dispersion calculation method that can respond to various needs in a nuclear emergency and provide useful information for emergency-response planning. By this method, if a release point is known, it is possible to immediately obtain the prediction results by applying provided source term to the database of dispersion-calculation results prepared in advance. With this function, it is easy to compare results by applying various source term with monitoring data, and to find out the optimum source term, which was applied for the source term estimation of the FDNPS accident. By performing this calculation with past meteorological-analysis data, it is possible to immediately get dispersion-calculation results for various source term and meteorological conditions. This database can be used for pre-accident planning, such as optimization of a monitoring plan and understanding of events to be supposed in considering emergency countermeasures.

Numerical simulation of two-phase flow in 44 simulated bundle

Ono, Ayako; Yamashita, Susumu; Suzuki, Takayuki*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00583_1 - 19-00583_12, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1299/mej.19-00583

JAEA is implementing the 3D detailed nuclear-thermal-coupled analysis code to analyze the transition state of the core and to reduce the likelihood of the design. In the development plan, the computational fluid dynamics code based on the VOF method, JUPITER, is applied for TH part of the 3D detailed nuclear-thermal-coupled analysis code.

Two-parameter model for optimizing target beam distribution with an octupole magnet

Meigo, Shinichiro; Oi, Motoki; Fujimori, Hiroshi*

Physical Review Accelerators and Beams (Internet), 23(6), p.062802_1 - 062802_24, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.23.062802

As hadron accelerators for such as the ADS and spallation neutron source achieve increasing beam power, damage to targets is becoming increasingly severe. To mitigate this damage, nonlinear beam optics based on octupole magnets is attractive. Nonlinear optics can decrease the beam-focusing hazard due to failure of the rastering magnet. As a side effect of nonlinear optics, the beam size is known to expand drastically compared with linear optics. Nonlinear effects have been studied via a simplified filament model that ignores beam-divergence spread at the octupole magnet. In this study, a new generalized model is proposed for application to an octupole magnet, regardless of the filament-model approximation. It is found that the transverse distribution obtained by beam tracking can be specified by the introduction of only two parameters, namely the normalized octupole strength of and the of the phase advance. To achieve the two antagonistic requirements of reduction of the beam-peak density and minimization of the beam loss, the transverse distribution is surveyed for a large range of beam position. It is found that a bell-shaped distribution with 1 and 3 can satisfy requirements. This result is applied to beam transport in the spallation neutron source at J-PARC. The calculation result given by the present model shows good agreement with the experimental data, and the peak current density is reduced by 50% compared with the linear-optics case.

Complexation and bonding studies on [Ru(NO)(HO)] with nitrate ions by using density functional theory calculation

Kato, Akane*; Kaneko, Masashi; Nakashima, Satoru*

RSC Advances (Internet), 10(41), p.24434 - 24443, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA05042C

Complexation reactions of ruthenium-nitrosyl complexes in HNO solution were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations in order to predict the stability of Ru species in high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) solution. Equilibrium structure of [Ru(NO)(NO)(HO)] obtained by DFT calculations reproduced the experimental Ru-ligands bond lengths and IR frequencies reported previously. Comparison of the Gibbs energies among the geometrical isomers revealed that the complexation reactions of the ruthenium-nitrosyl complexes with NO proceed via the NO coordination to the equatorial plane toward the Ru-NO axis. We also estimated Gibbs energy differences on the stepwise complexation reactions to succeed in reproducing the fraction of Ru-NO species in 6 M HNO solution, such as in HLLW, by considering the association energy between the Ru-NO species and the substituting ligands. Electron density analyses of the complexes indicated that the strength of the Ru-ligands coordination bonds depends on the stability of the Ru species and the Ru complex without NO at the axial position is more stable than that wit NO, which might attribute to the difference in the trans influence between HO and NO. Finally, we demonstrated the complexation kinetics in the reactions . The present study is expected to enable us to model the precise complexation reactions of platinum-group metals in HNO solution.