Contrast dependence of scattering profiles for poly(ethylene glycol) in water; Investigation by small-angle neutron scattering with He spin filter and small-angle X-ray scattering

Ryoki, Akiyuki*; Watanabe, Fumi*; Okudaira, Takuya*; Takahashi, Shingo*; Oku, Takayuki; Hiroi, Kosuke; Motokawa, Ryuhei; Nakamura, Yo*

Journal of Chemical Physics, 160(11), p.114907_1 - 114907_9, 2024/03

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0192680

Step unbunching phenomenon on 4H-SiC (0001) surface during hydrogen etching

Sakakibara, Ryotaro*; Bao, J.*; Yuhara, Keisuke*; Matsuda, Keita*; Terasawa, Tomoo; Kusunoki, Michiko*; Norimatsu, Wataru*

Applied Physics Letters, 123(3), p.031603_1 - 031603_4, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0153565

We here report a step unbunching phenomenon, which is the inverse of the phenomenon of step bunching. When a 4H-SiC (0001) surface is annealed at a high temperature, step bunching arises due to the different velocities of the step motion in adjacent steps, resulting in steps with a height of more than several nanometers. We found that the bunched steps, thus, obtained by hydrogen etching in an Ar/H atmosphere were "unbunched" into lower height steps when annealed subsequently at lower temperatures. This unbunching phenomenon can be well explained by the consequence of the competition between energetics and kinetics. Our findings provide another approach for the surface smoothing of SiC by hydrogen etching and may give significant insight into the application of SiC power devices and two-dimensional materials growth techniques in general.

Neutron/-ray discrimination based on the property and thickness controls of scintillators using Li glass and LiCAF(Ce) in a -ray field

Kaburagi, Masaaki; Shimazoe, Kenji*; Terasaka, Yuta; Tomita, Hideki*; Yoshihashi, Sachiko*; Yamazaki, Atsushi*; Uritani, Akira*; Takahashi, Hiroyuki*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1046, p.167636_1 - 167636_8, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2022.167636

We focus on the thickness and property controls of inorganic scintillators used for thermal neutron detection in intense -ray fields without considering pulse shape discrimination techniques. GS20 (a lithium glass) and LiCaAlF:Ce(LiCAF:Ce) cintillators with thicknesses of 0.5 and 1.0 mm, respectively, have been employed. Pulse signals generated by photomultiplier tubes, to which the scintillators were coupled, were inserted into a digital pulse processing unit with 1 Gsps, and the areas of waveforms were integrated for 360 ns. In a Co -ray field, the neutron detection for GS20 with a 0.5-mm thickness was possible at dose rates of up to 0.919 Gy/h; however, for LiCAF:Ce, neutron detection was possible at 0.473 Gy/h, and it failed at 0.709 Gy/h. Threfore, in a Co -ray field, the neutron/-ray discrimination of GS20 was better than that of LiCAF:Ce due to its better energy resolution and higher detection efficiency.

Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Nagoya University*

JAEA-Review 2022-033, 80 Pages, 2022/12

JAEA-Review-2022-033.pdf:4.08MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2021. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor" conducted from FY2019 to FY2021. Since the final year of this proposal was FY2021, the results for three fiscal years were summarized. The present study aims to develop an optical fiber type radiation sensor that can measure the radiation distribution one-dimensionally along the fiber under a high radiation field for the decommissioning of 1F. Based on the conventional time-of-flight method, we found several promising sensor candidates for the radiation distribution measurement under high dose rate and many scattered gamma-rays.

Weinberg operator contribution to the -odd nuclear force in the quark model

Yamanaka, Nodoka*; Oka, Makoto

Physical Review D, 106(7), p.075021_1 - 075021_15, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.075021

The contribution of the violating three-gluon interaction, proposed by Weinberg, to the short-range -odd nuclear force is evaluated in the nonrelativistic quark model. We first show that the naive leading contribution generated by the quark exchange process vanishes at sufficiently short distance within the resonating group method, by considering the one-loop level gluon exchange -odd interquark potential induced by the Weinberg operator with massive quarks and gluons. We then estimate the true leading contribution by evaluating the gluonic correction to the -odd interquark potential in the closure approximation. It is found that the resulting irreducible -odd nuclear force is comparable to that generated by the chiral rotation of the -even short-range nuclear force, where the -odd mass calculated with QCD sum rules is used as input. The explicit calculation of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the He nucleus yields MeV. The total EDM, accounting for the intrinsic nucleon EDM, the pion-exchange and the short- range -odd nuclear force, is MeV, with the dominant effect coming from the intrinsic nucleon EDM.

First demonstration of a novel single-end readout type position-sensitive optical fiber radiation sensor based on wavelength-resolved photon counting

Terasaka, Yuta; Watanabe, Kenichi*; Uritani, Akira*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1034, p.166793_1 - 166793_6, 2022/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2022.166793

Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Nagoya University*

JAEA-Review 2021-033, 55 Pages, 2021/12

JAEA-Review-2021-033.pdf:2.9MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2020. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor" conducted in FY2020. We are developing a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor that can estimate the radioactive source distribution "along lines" instead of "at points". To improve the conventional time-of-flight optical fiber radiation sensor for the application under high dose rate environment, basic evaluation tests were conducted using various optical fibers with different diameters and materials.

Evaluation of a one-dimensional position-sensitive quartz optical fiber sensor based on the time-of-flight method for high radiation dose rate applications

Terasaka, Yuta; Watanabe, Kenichi*; Uritani, Akira*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 996, p.165151_1 - 165151_8, 2021/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165151

For the measurement of radiation distribution inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) buildings, the evaluation of a small-diameter quartz optical fiber as a one-dimensional position-sensitive sensor was conducted. The sensor determines the incident position of radiation into the fiber using the time-of-flight information of emitted Cerenkov photons in the optical fiber. Compared with the conventional sensor using the plastic scintillating fiber, the quartz optical fiber has much higher position resolution, which may be the result of the improvement of timing characteristics caused by the prompt emission mechanism of the Cerenkov radiation. Additionally, the response of position-sensitive quartz optical fiber sensor under high radiation field was evaluated, and good count rate linearity was confirmed using the 10 m long quartz optical fiber with a diameter of 0.4 mm up to the dose rate at least 20 mSv/h, and the radiation tolerance property up to the accumulated dose of 1 kGy was evaluated.

Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Nagoya University*

JAEA-Review 2020-063, 44 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-063.pdf:2.55MB

JAEA/CLADS had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project in FY2019. Among the adopted proposals in FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Measurement methods for the radioactive source distribution inside reactor buildings using a one-dimensional optical fiber radiation sensor" conducted in FY2019.

Characteristics in trace elements compositions of tephras (B-Tm and To-a) for identification tools

Nara, Fumiko*; Yokoyama, Tatsunori; Yamasaki, Shinichi*; Minami, Masayo*; Asahara, Yoshihiro*; Watanabe, Takahiro; Yamada, Kazuyoshi*; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi*; Yasuda, Yoshinori*

Geochemical Journal, 55(3), p.117 - 133, 2021/00

https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0619

The absolute date of the Millennium Eruption (ME) of Changbaishan Volcano is widely recognized as AD 946. The Baegdosan-Tomakomai (B-Tm) tephra dispersed during the ME is a robust-age key bed. In order to identify the tephra, refractive index and major-element compositions of volcanic glass shards are conventionally used. However, trace-element analysis has been rarely carried out, especially for rare-earth elements (REEs) and for tephra layer bulk sediments. Here we present the datasets of major- and trace-element compositions datasets for the glass shards and bulk sediments of the B-Tm and Towada caldera eruptions (To-a) tephra deposits from the Lake Ogawara sediment core, Tohoku region, northern Japan. The depth profiles of the major and trace elements show the significant peaks for the KO and some trace elements (Zn, Rb, Zr, Nb, Sn, Y, La, Ce, Nd, Th, and U) at the B-Tm tephra layer in the Lake Ogawara sediment core, but no peaks of these elements at the To-a tephra layer. High concentrations of the trace elements in the B-Tm tephra layer were observed in individual glass shards as well as in the bulk sediment. These concentrations are highlighted by the elemental abundance pattern normalized by the crustal abundance. The elemental pattern in individual glass shards from other Japanese tephras showed significant differences from those of the B-Tm tephra, especially in REEs compositions. The trace-element compositions of the glass shards and bulk sediment show strong advantages for distinguishing the B-Tm tephra from other Japanese tephras.