Conceptual design of DEMO blanket materials test modules for A-FNS

A conceptual design of Advanced Fusion Neutron Source, A-FNS, has been conducted to achieve early realization of fusion-like neutron irradiation test for fusion reactor materials in Japan. A-FNS provides eight test modules to obtain irradiation data for fusion reactor materials. Conceptual design activities on Blanket Functional Materials Test Module (BFMTM), Tritium Release Test Module (TRTM) and Activated Corrosion Products Module (ACPM) were described among the A-FNS test modules. Also, basic concepts of the sub-system cells for the TRTM and the ACPM were also discussed

阪神パークのチンパンジー

“Hanshin Park” located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo prefecture was an amusement park owned and operated by the Hanshin electric railway company limited. The park was opened near Koshien Stadium in 1929, using the land after the exposition of accession for Emperor Showa. In the1930’s it had a chimpanzee, extremely unusual to see for the public in Japan. Unfortunately, the park was closed in 2003. We investigated the history of the facility the chimpanzees lived in, by checking documents, newspaper articles, and research papers. The female chimpanzee named“ Opera” was imported to Japan from Africa in 1934 and she became nationally famous, riding a bicycle, walking on stilts, and so on. Although it is not known when Opera died, it is estimated that she lived there for 2 to 5 years. A male chimpanzee named“ Bamboo” came to Kobe around 1940. Because the site of the park was using for military airport, he had to move to Higashiyama Zoo, Nagoya-city in 1943. By the end of World War II, he was the only chimpanzee still alive in Japan. Hanshin Park was opened again nearby in 1950 and a female chimpanzee named“ Birdie” arrived in 1973. Two of the three chimpanzees found in this research were not registered in the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums studbook. The information will be valuable not only for learning more about captive chimpanzees but also for improvement of their welfare

Use of the index of pulmonary vascular disease for predicting long-term outcome of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease

AimsLimited data exist on risk factors for the long-term outcome of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with congenital heart disease (CHD-PAH). We focused on the index of pulmonary vascular disease (IPVD), an assessment system for pulmonary artery pathology specimens. The IPVD classifies pulmonary vascular lesions into four categories based on severity: (1) no intimal thickening, (2) cellular thickening of the intima, (3) fibrous thickening of the intima, and (4) destruction of the tunica media, with the overall grade expressed as an additive mean of these scores. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between IPVD and the long-term outcome of CHD-PAH.MethodsThis retrospective study examined lung pathology images of 764 patients with CHD-PAH aged <20 years whose lung specimens were submitted to the Japanese Research Institute of Pulmonary Vasculature for pulmonary pathological review between 2001 and 2020. Clinical information was collected retrospectively by each attending physician. The primary endpoint was cardiovascular death.ResultsThe 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year cardiovascular death-free survival rates for all patients were 92.0%, 90.4%, 87.3%, and 86.1%, respectively. The group with an IPVD of ≥2.0 had significantly poorer survival than the group with an IPVD <2.0 (P = .037). The Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for the presence of congenital anomaly syndromes associated with pulmonary hypertension, and age at lung biopsy showed similar results (hazard ratio 4.46; 95% confidence interval: 1.45–13.73; P = .009).ConclusionsThe IPVD scoring system is useful for predicting the long-term outcome of CHD-PAH. For patients with an IPVD of ≥2.0, treatment strategies, including choosing palliative procedures such as pulmonary artery banding to restrict pulmonary blood flow and postponement of intracardiac repair, should be more carefully considered

ACTIVATION FOIL CANDIDATES FOR INTENSE D-LI NEUTRON MEASURMENT UP TO 60 MEV

In order to assess radiation damage of a fusion material before a decision of Japanese fusion DEMO reactor construction, we have been designing an intense d-Li neutron source facility, Advanced Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS) in Japan. A-FNS will be constructed before 2025. The main purpose of A_FNS is to acquire radiation damage data of the fusion material under fusion-like neutron irradiation testing. One of the characteristics of A-FNS is that large amounts of high energy neutrons (> MeV) are produced with an expected intensity around 6.8 x 10^16 n/s. In this study, we propose a neutron measurement system that is configured with multiple threshold reaction activation foils that are sensitive to high energy neutrons. The need to measure the cross-section data for the threshold reactions is also discussed

Preliminary Estimation of Tritium Migration for A-FNS Lithium Target System

In A-FNS, an accelerator-driven fusion-relevant neutron source, a few grams (3.5 g at full power operation) of tritium will be generated every year mainly in lithium target system. Since the generated tritium would migrate out of lithium target system, it is necessary to estimate the tritium migration in and out of the lithium target system for the design of detritiation systems for A-FNS, and therefore, a preliminary estimation is performed in the present study. As the results, it is found that almost all of the generated tritium in lithium target system would be trapped in impurity removal system, while less than 0.5% of that would migrate out. It is also indicated that the amount of tritium that would migrate out of lithium target system would be able to process with the existing techniques so far.Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE2020

Preliminary Estimation of Tritium Migration for A-FNS Lithium Target System

In A-FNS, an accelerator-driven fusion-relevant neutron source, a few grams (3.5 g at full power operation) of tritium will be generated every year mainly in lithium target system. Since the generated tritium would migrate out of lithium target system, it is necessary to estimate the tritium migration in and out of the lithium target system for the design of detritiation systems for A-FNS, and therefore, a preliminary estimation is performed in the present study. As the results, it is found that almost all of the generated tritium in lithium target system would be trapped in impurity removal system, while less than 0.5% of that would migrate out. It is also indicated that the amount of tritium that would migrate out of lithium target system would be able to process with the existing techniques so far

Study on turbulent heat transfer mechanism inside high-speed lithium jet irradiated by ion beam for fusion neutron sources

Liquid lithium (Li) jet is planned as a beam target in fusion neutron sources developed in Japan and EU. We have been studying the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Li jet experimentally and numerically. For the safety and the efficiency of fusion neutron sources, it is necessary to understand the heat transfer inside the Li target irradiated by ion beams. In this paper, in order to evaluate the heat transfer under the turbulent flow with complex vortex structure inside the Li jet, 3-dimensional simulation of it with beam irradiation is conducted using LES. As the first step of this study, the Li jet is modeled as single-phase for reducing the computational load, in which the Li surface is treated as the free-slip boundary condition. Simulation model is large-scale with over thirty million meshes for resolving the detailed vortex structure. In this simulation, it was found that the temperature peak was disturbed by wall turbulence near the bottom wall of the flow channel