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2025.09.30
Dr. Kayo Yanagisawa, researcher of the Research Group for Nuclear Chemistry, received the “Bunseki Kagaku” Article Award for the article “Flow peak detection using penalized asymmetric least squares in on-line isotope dilution-laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry” published in Bunseki Kagaku, the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Fukushima University.
In recent years, advances in instrumental analysis have increased the need for the rapid processing of large measurement datasets. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) can visualize elemental compositions on solid sample surfaces via laser ablation. This technique is widely used for various purposes such as assessing semiconductor impurities, studying pharmacokinetics in biological tissues, and characterizing geological samples. However, as the number of measurement targets increases, so does the volume of data, making the processing of large datasets time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this study, we developed an automated processing program based on penalized asymmetric least squares and applied it to LA-ICP-MS data. As a result, tasks that previously required 20 hours of manual processing now take 30 seconds, substantially reducing working time. This program can be used not only for LA-ICP-MS, but also for quickly processing data from various instrumental analyses. It is expected to contribute to analytical chemistry.
【Awarded paper】https://doi.org/10.2116/bunsekikagaku.73.515
2025.09.25
Dr. Shunsuke Endo, researcher of the Nuclear Data Center, received the 2025 Nuclear Data Division Encouragement Award. The awarded paper, “Circular polarization measurement for individual gamma rays in capture reactions with intense pulsed neutrons,” was published in the European Physical Journal A.
The resonance spin is one of the fundamental nuclear quantities listed in nuclear data libraries, but because of the technical difficulty of the measurement, available data have so far been limited. In some cases, spins are even assigned randomly in nuclear data libraries, resulting in a lack of accuracy. The awardee and collaborators focused on the fact that the circular polarization of gamma rays emitted in neutron capture reactions depends on the spin of the incident neutron, the spin of the compound nucleus, and the spin of the final state. To address this, they newly developed a gamma-ray polarimeter, a dedicated instrument for circular polarization measurements. Using this device, they achieved the first successful measurement of the circular polarization of capture gamma rays at a pulsed neutron source, at the ANNRI beamline of the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) at J-PARC.
With the use of this newly developed polarimeter, further determination of resonance spins is expected to enhance the reliability of nuclear data and contribute to the advancement of nuclear physics research.
【Awarded paper】https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-024-01392-6
2025.09.24
Drs. Osamu Iwamoto et al. of the Nuclear Data Research Group received the JNST Most Popular Article Award for the paper "Japanese evaluated nuclear data library version 5: JENDL-5" (J. Nucl. Sci. Technol., Vol. 60, 1-60 (2023)) on September 11, 2025,
The nuclear data library is a database containing basic data on the reactions of radiation and atomic nuclei and is used for simulation calculations of various radiation sources, including nuclear reactors. JENDL-5 utilizes experimental data measured at J-PARC and other facilities, as well as the latest theoretical nuclear reaction models, to nearly double the number of nuclides in neutron reaction data from the previous version, JENDL-4.0, to 795 nuclides. These data cover almost all naturally occurring nuclides and radioactive nuclides with half-lives of one day or longer, making them applicable to materials containing a variety of nuclides. In addition, consistency and usability have been improved by consolidating activation cross sections, high-energy nuclear data, and nuclear reaction data for protons, deuterons, alpha particles, photons, etc., which have been released separately for each purpose. Furthermore, extensive benchmark tests have been conducted, and improvements have been made regarding the nuclear characteristics of nuclear reactors, which are the main target of use, and prediction performance has been improved since JENDL-4.0.
【Awarded paper】https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2141903
2025.09.24
Dr. Osamu Iwamoto, group leader of the Nuclear Data Center, received the 57th (2024) Atomic Energy Society of Japan Article Award for his research conducted in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The paper, titled "EXFOR-based simultaneous evaluation of neutron-induced uranium and plutonium fission cross sections for JENDL-5," was published in the Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology.
JENDL-5 is the latest version of the nuclear data library being developed in Japan. The nuclear data library compiles nuclear data in a format that can be used as input data for radiation simulation calculations. The award-winning paper reports the results of an evaluation of the fission cross sections of the major actinides uranium and six plutonium nuclides for fast neutron induced reactions, based on the international experimental nuclear reaction data library EXFOR, as part of the development of JENDL-5. Highly reliable data was selected from the extensive data stored in EXFOR, and evaluation values were obtained using the generalized least squares method. The evaluation value was expanded significantly from the upper energy limit of 20 MeV in the previous version, JENDL-4.0, to 200 MeV. The calculation results using this result for the measurements of the effective neutron multiplication factor of a small core were improved compared to JENDL-4.0.
【Awarded paper】https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2030259
2025.07.16
Dr. Takahito Aoyama, a researcher at the Research Group for Corrosion Resistant Materials, has been awarded the 2025 JSCE Award for the Promising Researcher for his research on “Effects of Radiation Species on Localized Corrosion of Stainless Steel and Development of Corrosion Protection Technologies.”
This prestigious award recognizes researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of corrosion science and engineering. Dr. Aoyama has developed a novel technique to suppress crevice corrosion in stainless steel using copper ion chelate complexes, and has worked to elucidate the mechanisms that inhibit active dissolution of stainless steel.
In recent years, his research has focused on corrosion of structural materials during the decommissioning process of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, particularly investigating the effects of radiation—especially beta rays—on stainless steel corrosion. These findings have provided new insights into corrosion science and have been highly regarded for their academic contribution through publications and presentations at the society’s conferences.
2025.05.14
The paper I. Lobzenko, T. Tsuru, H. Mori, D. Matsunaka, Y. Shiihara, "Implementation of Atomic Stress Calculations with Artificial Neural Network Potentials", Materials Transactions, 64 (10), 2023, pp. 2481-2488 DOI https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2023093 received the Paper Award for Physical Sciences (論文賞物性部門) from the Japan Institute of Metals (日本金属学会)
The concept of atomic stress in a discrete system is a powerful tool for studying complex processes such as heat flux, crack propagation, and void growth. The connection between the continuous stress field and the atomic stress has been established by the Irvin-Kirkwood procedure, but the existence of multiple variations of the procedure makes the definition of atomic stress unclear. In addition, special attention should be paid to the implementation of the atomic stress calculations for each type of interatomic potential. In principle, it is necessary to use pair forces to satisfy the linear momentum balance. Artificial neural network potentials (ANN potentials) have recently attracted wide attention due to their high accuracy. Before this study, no formulation of atomic stress existed that was suitable for the framework of ANN potentials. In the awarded paper, the rigorous formulation of the atomic stress was derived for the ANN potentials. Specifically, for two types of descriptors - Behler-Parinello functions and Chebyshev polynomials - the contributions to the pair forces were written. The requirements needed to preserve the balance of momentum are discussed and implemented. Also, the formulation was implemented in software that can be used in the widely known classical molecular dynamics code 'lammps'. That ensured the possibility of atomic stress calculations with ANN potentials to be used for a large variety of atomic systems. The verification was done by calculating stress distribution near the low-Miller-index surfaces in Fe and Al. It was shown that the distribution of stress in the direction perpendicular to the surface exhibits oscillations. In previous studies by first-principles calculations, such oscillations were associated with the Friedel-type oscillations of the charge distribution. In the awarded paper, the comparison of results obtained with the conventional EAM potentials and the ANN potentials shows that only the latter can reproduce the stress oscillations. This allows authors to claim that the ANN potentials can capture electronic properties despite their classical nature. Even though electronic properties are not included in the training, and therefore ANN potentials do not deal with electrons, there is an indirect influence of electronic properties. It can be understood as an influence on energies of structures in the dataset used for ANN potentials training, calculated from first principles (and therefore with the electronic sub-system fully accounted for).
【Awarded paper】https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2023093
2025.04.30
Dr. Osamu Iwamoto, Dr. Nobuyuki Iwamoto, and Dr. Kenichi Tada of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Center received the "Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Science and Technology Award" for the "Development of the Evaluated Nuclear Data Library JENDL."
The evaluated nuclear data library is a core database for numerical simulation technology involving nuclear reactions. Previous libraries had issues with completeness and reliability in meeting various needs such as the development of new reactors for GX, the treatment and disposal of radioactive waste, and the use of radiation in accelerators. In this development, a unique nuclear reaction model calculation code was constructed and used for evaluation to improve the reliability of nuclear reaction data for various radiation. For neutron-induced reactions, the completeness of the data was improved, including almost all nuclides with half-lives longer than one day, and the accuracy of nuclear analysis calculations in reactors was enhanced. This will enable use in research and development in a wide range of fields, including nuclear power, medicine, space, and basic science, while also improving the reliability of numerical simulations of radiation, such as by significantly enhancing the accuracy of predicting the criticalities for plutonium-containing cores and fast reactors. It is expected that this result will contribute to the development of new nuclear reactors toward carbon neutrality and the promotion of various radiation uses with accelerators.
2025.01.27
Dr. Kayo Yanagisawa of the Research Group for Nuclear Chemistry received the “New Century Award for Young Researchers” from the Kanto Branch of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry for “Analysis of trace elements and radioisotopes using ICP-MS combined with flow injection analysis”.
Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is widely used in various fields, including nuclear engineering. However, conventional methods for radioisotopes require complicated preparation, skilled operators, and constant attention to avoid radioactive contamination and exposure when handling radioactive standards. In this study, a new automatic analysis that does not require standards was developed by combining an automated sample preparation system with isotope dilution method. This method was successfully applied to the automated analysis of difficult-to-measure Sr-90 and to the quantitative mapping analysis of trace elements. These achievements contribute to making the analysis of trace elements and radioactive isotopes using ICP-MS simpler, faster, and less skilled, while also enhancing safety in the decommissioning of the Fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, radioactive waste disposal, and environmental radiation monitoring.
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