Half-Lives and Gamma-Ray Energies of Short-Lived Molybdenum Isotopes

Short-lived molybdenum isotopes produced by the ²³⁶U(n, f) reaction were isolated by rapid paper electrophoretic technique. Gamma-ray spectra of the isolated molybdenum fraction were measured with high resolution Ge(Li) detector. The half-lives of ¹⁰³Mo (70±1 sec), ¹⁰⁴Mo (66±2 sec) and ¹⁰⁵Mo (30±3 and 40±5 sec) were determined by analyzing the genetic relationships of the known photopeaks of their technetium daughters. Decay analysis of observed photopeaks free from interference resulted in the detection of many new short-lived photopeaks with half-lives of 10–70 sec, and which were not relevant to technetium isotopes. These new photopeaks were ascribed to ^103-106Mo, based on examination of their decay behavior.     

Void Swelling in Electron Irradiated High Purity Fe-Cr-Ni Austenitic Alloys

High-purity Fe-Cr-Ni austenitic alloys corresponding to commercial Type-316 stainless steel and Hastelloy-X were used to investigate the void swelling mechanism of the austenitic steels. The alloys were irradiated with 1 MeV electrons in a high voltage electron microscope in the temperature range of 300~600°C to a total dose of about 30 dpa. Low void swelling in Ni-base alloy is attributed to both low void number density and small void size. Void embryos in Fe-base alloy are stabilized by strain field arised from Ni solute segregation around the void surface. The stabilization does not occur in Ni-base alloy, which results in extremely low void number density at high temperatures (>500°C). Higher void growth rates in Fe-base alloy than in Ni-base alloy are attributable to large climbing rate of dislocations produced during the irradiation.     

New Technical Approach to Monitoring of Low-Level Environmental Gamma Radiation Using NaX(Tl) Scintillation Instrument

The environmental dose evaluation around a nuclear facility is usually performed by means of calculational methods on the basis of effluent monitoring at a release point. It has been desired to develop practical techniques of direct monitoring in the environment, because the Japan Atomic Energy Commission set up 5 mrem/yr as an objective dose value for the whole-body exposure due to normal operation of LWRs on a single site.

In evaluating gaseous plume doses less than 5 mrem/yr in routine monitoring, there are many difficult problems to be solved. We have developed two techniques for separation of the plume exposures less than 1 mrem/yr from the background radiation, using a NaI(Tl) scintillation counter having flat energy response.

One technique is based on the difference in energy spectrum distribution between plume gamma and natural gamma radiation. And, separation of the respective exposures is made by analysis of the two informations obtained by a two-channel monitoring system. Another technique is to reduce the natural gamma radiation components by using a special concave lead shield for the NaI(Tl) scintillation probe. A combination of the techniques can much improve the efficiency of separation of ⁴¹Ar plume radiation from fluctuating background radiation.     

Irradiation of Escherichia Coli in Reactor Core

¹⁰B(n, α)⁷Li is a promising reaction for radiation therapy which can be selectively used for tumor cell killing sparing surrounding normal tissue. (Boron Neutron Capture Therapy: BNCT)

Despite the apparent success in application, basic studies to evaluate the biological effects of the reaction are in sparsity in terms of relative biological effectiveness (RBE) measurements and of adverse effects of the reaction such as mutagenesis. While the efficiency of the reaction is largely dependent on the selectiveness or localization of ¹⁰B compounds in tumor tissues, the lethal and mutagenic (or carcinogenic) effect of the reaction on normal cells must be carefully evaluated.

Towards this end developed here is a new experimental approach using as a model system Escherichia Coli cells which allows us to examine specific effects of the boron- neutron capture reaction in terms of lethality and mutagenecity as an example.

Isotropic irradiation of biological system in the core of a small research reactor is thought tobe an advantage for this experiment in that it simulates actual medical irradiations though it requires data analysis for individual radiation effects.     

Analysis of Contour Map of Natural Radiation in Japan

Natural background radiation in Japan was analyzed based on surveyed data which were rearranged from macroscopic points of view. The background levels were classified into seventeen groups from which a contour map was made by simple interpolations. The general pattern obtained showed that high levels are prominent in Hida Mountains-Wakasa Bay area and Joetsu-northern Kanto provinces, and low levels are prominent in Hokkaido and northern Tohoku districts along with Kanto Plain. The whole area was further divided into two classes according to whether the level is higher than the country-wide mean level. A boundary between the two classes seen in Chubu District was found almost exactly coincides with Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line. Kanto Mountainland was found to have higher levels than its neighborhood, which supports the current idea that old geology of granitic rocks gives high level radiation. A good correspondence could be seen between the radiation contours and every tectonic line proposed as the eastern border of Fossa Magna which is important in the tectonics of Japan Islands. It was then anticipated that informations of the natural radiation will give valuable side evidences to infer the geologic history of Japan Islands.     

Anode Performance of Electron Irradiated Mesocarbon Microbeads for Secondary Lithium Batteries

Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) heat-treated at 1,273 and 3,073 K were irradiated with an electron beam current density ~1.34μA/cm² of 0.5–1.5 MeV for 0–600 s, and the irradiated MCMBs were examined as anode materials for secondary lithium-ion batteries. Charge capacity of both materials irradiated for short time within 100 s became larger than that before irradiation. Improvement of discharge capacity of MCMB annealed at 3,073 K was achieved by irradiation with 0.5 and 1.5 MeV electrons for 600 s. Good performance of cyclical discharge of MCMB annealed at 3,073 K was also attained by the irradiation with 0.5–1.5 MeV electrons for 600 s.     

Integrity Confirmation Tests and Post-irradiation Test Plan of the HTTR First-Loading Fuel

Since the first-loading fuel of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) is the first mass-production High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) fuel in Japan, their quality should be carefully inspected. For the quality control related to the fabrication process, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) carried out the tests to certify the fuel integrity during operation. The tests comprise (1) as-fabricated SiC failure fraction measurement, (2) high-temperature heatup test of irradiated fuel and (3) accelerated irradiation test. For (1), the SiC failure fraction was measured independently in JAERI in addition to the measurement in the fabrication process. The measured failure fractions agreed within 95% confidence limit. In order to confirm the integrity of the SiC layer with respect to the 1,600°C criterion, the high-temperature heatup test of irradiated fuel compact was carried out. The result showed that no failed particle was present in the fuel compact after heating. The diffusion coefficient of metallic fission products in SiC layer was also examined in a series of post-irradiation heating tests. The measured diffusion coefficient of ¹³⁷Cs showed a good holding ability as those obtained for research and development fuel specimen. The measured fission gas release rate in accelerated irradiation test showed no additional failure up to 60 GWd/t which was about two times higher than 33 GWd/t of the maximum burnup in the HTTR core. Through the tests, integrity of as-fabricated first-loading fuel of the HTTR was finally confirmed. The future post-irradiation test plan, which will be carried out to confirm the fuel irradiation performance and to obtain the data on its irradiation characteristics in the core, is also described.     

Demonstration of a Method to Suppress Radon Emanation from Uranium-bearing Wastes

The authors have previously done a theoretical study of radon emanation and quantitatively demonstrated that a small pore of even nanometer size with moisture in its microscopic grain structure can give as high a radon emanation coefficient as around 0.18. Therefore, it was concluded necessary to remove pores of any size in the grain in order to suppress radon emanation. Melting of uranium-bearing wastes is one of the best technologies for this purpose. In order to verify this theoretical finding, a series of experiments was carried out using three test samples; unprocessed, cemented and vitrified calcium superphosphate. Calcium superphosphate was chosen because it resembles a uranium-bearing waste like sludge in terms of both radioactive nuclide adhesion on the grain surface of the waste matrix (surface contamination) and the grain geometric shape. As expected from the theory, radon emanation from the vitrified sample was extremely low compared to the unprocessed sample. On the other hand, radon emanation from the cemented sample remained very high. The present study opens doors to suppression of radiation exposure from radon and to safe disposal which does not depend on integrity of the final waste form and the site cover soil.     

Radiation Dose as a Barrier against Proliferation for Advanced Fuel Compositions

The paper deals with the analysis of radiation barriers against proliferation focusing on denatured plutonium compositions and associated with the process of plutonium denaturing by some other heavy metals. The issue is discussed from the viewpoint of radiation dose induced by both gamma and neutron radiation, thus reflecting the technical and human resources the potential proliferators should have to meet the challenge of making a nuclear explosive.     

Effect of thermal spike energy created in CuFe2O4 by 150 MeV Ni swift heavy ion irradiation

Effects of 150 MeV Ni¹¹⁺ swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation on copper ferrite nanoparticles have been studied at the fluences of 1 × 10¹¹, 1 × 10¹², 1 × 10¹³, 1 × 10¹⁴ and 5 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The XRD pattern shows the irradiation fluence dependant preferential orientation. Scanning electron microscope analysis displays fine blocks of material for pristine while partial agglomeration on irradiation. Notably, a large number of holes are present at the fluence of 5 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The magnetization measurements performed in these samples exposes that the coercivity and remanence magnetization value increases due to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy up to the fluence of 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm². At 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm² fluence, the induced thermal energy overcomes the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant and causes a decrease in coercivity and remanence values. The saturation magnetization decreases up to the fluence of 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm² and then it increases for further irradiation. The change of crystalline orientation observed from XRD, the creation of holes from SEM and the change in magnetic properties are discussed on the basis of electro-phonon coupling and it invokes the thermal spike theory.