Research Group for High Temperature Science on Fuel Materials


Location : JAEA > Nuclear Science and Engineering Center > Research Group for High Temperature Science on Fuel Materials

Research Activities

Research Overview

 Further enhancement of nuclear reactor safety and safe and steady management of the radioactive wastes are most important issues for sustainable progress in nuclear energy. We are studying on fission product (FP) behavior in severe accident (SA) of light water reactor (LWR) for improvement of source term evaluation technology. We are also studying on nuclear fuels for transmutation of long-lived actinides (so called "minor actinides (MA)") included in spent nuclear fuels in the aspect of fabrication/reprocessing technologies, material properties, irradiation behavior, and resource recycling. Our research activities cover wide range of issues concerning high temperature science on fuel and FP materials, represented by characteristics of "fuel debris" for decommissioning of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F).

Research on minor actinides containing nuclear fuel

 It is well known that most of MA nuclides contained in the high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) are alpha-emitters with the long half-lives and/or large decay heat. From the viewpoint of mitigating the long-term toxicity of radioactive waste and the burden of final disposal of radioactive waste, an advanced fuel cycle with partitioning and transmutation (PT), in which MA are partitioned from HLLW and burnt in a transmutation system such as a fast reactor or accelerator driven system (ADS), has been investigated. Our group has been carrying out the R&D on the preparation of transuranium (TRU) compounds such as the oxide, nitride, chloride and alloy, the measurement of thermal properties, the fuel fabrication/pyrochemical-reprocessing technologies, and the evaluation of irradiation behavior in order to support the development of an advanced fuel cycle with PT.

Research activities related to MA-recycling

Research Output

  To the Nitride Fuel Property Database, please click here.

Research Topics


Research on fission product behavior

 FP is released from nuclear fuel and transported from the reactor core to the Primary Containment Vessel (PCV) and Reactor Building (RB) under LWR severe accident. We have conducted systematic experiments and analyses in order to construct the dataset on FP chemistry and model of each elemental process as FP chemistry database named “ECUME”. ECUME will become a fundamental basis for improvement of source term evaluation technology.

Research activities related to chemical behavior of fission products in SA

Research Output

  Fission product chemistry database ECUME(version 1.1).

Research Topics


Research on fuel debris

 Information on the properties of fuel debris is required for safe retrieval and storage of fuel debris formed during the 1F SA. Therefore, we fabricate simulated fuel debris by melting of uranium with core materials and concrete to acquire basic data on properties.

Research activities related to fuel debris

Research Topics

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