US-Japan Student Exchange Program
List of Research Subjects for US graduate course students
(From June 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011)

URL at US side: http://www.dep.anl.gov/p_graduate/ISEP/index.html

(Replace @ instead of @@ in the following e-mail list.)

Subject 1: Synthesis and investigation of zirconium hydride
Summary: For evaluation of the fracture behavior of hydrogenised cladding tube, it is necessary to investigate physical properties of the precipitated hydride. In this theme bulky zirconium hydride will be prepared by Sievert's apparatus and the mechanical properties are investigated.
Requirements: Solid state physics, Thermodynamics
Period:
Responsible person: Shinsuke Yamanaka
Affiliation: Osaka University, Japan
Location: 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
Email: yamanaka@@see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www.see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/seems/seems/

Subject 2: Thermo-mechanical properties of thorium compounds
Summary: Thorium related fuel have attracted attention because of the superior properties. In this theme several thorium based compounds are prepared and the thermo-mechanical properties are experimentally investigated.
Requirements: Solid state physics, Thermodynamics
Period:
Responsible person: Shinsuke Yamanaka
Affiliation: Osaka University, Japan
Location: 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
Email: yamanaka@@see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www.see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/seems/seems/

Subject 3: Thermal hydraulic and safety study of Sodium Fast Reactor (Generation IV Reactor Project)
Summary: A sodium cooled fast reactor is one of the most promising concepts as the next generation reactor. Usage of the sodium as the coolant is a concern of design and the safety viewpoints. The applicant will participate in the simulation code development in corporation with experiment team.
Requirements: Fundamentals in thermal hydraulics, reactor engineering, and computational engineering
Period:
Responsible person: Akira Yamaguchi
Affiliation: Osaka University
Location: 2-1 Yamadaoka Suita, Osaka 565-0871 Japan
Email: yamaguchi@@see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www.see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/seeqe/seeqe/homepage/

Subject 4: Study of interaction between materials and laser beam using infrared free electron laser
Summary: Free electron laser (FEL) at Osaka University is a new coherent optical source using an electron beam in a magnetic field. We are studying about interaction between materials and laser beam to develop new technique of laser cutting.
Requirements: basic knowledge of thermal hydraulics
Period:
Responsible person: Hiroshi Horiike, Professor
Affiliation: Quantum System Engineering, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University
Location: 2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Email: horiike@@nucl.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
URL:

Subject 5: Experimental and numerical study on a free-surface flow of liquid metal lithium
Summary: Liquid metal lithium (Li) is used as a deuterium ion beam target to generate neutrons in the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF). The Li target flows with a free surface and the control of the free-surface behavior is one of key technologies for IFMIF. There is a Li loop facility at Osaka University and we investigate the Li free-surface flow using both experimental and numerical approaches.
Requirements:
Period:
Responsible person: Hiroshi Horiike, Professor
Affiliation: Quantum System Engineering, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University
Location: 2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
E-mail: horiike@@nucl.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
URL:

Subject 6: Development of advanced thermal hydraulic device for nuclear power plant
Summary: Experimental study on thermal hydraulic investigation of new advanced devices for nuclear power plant operations and safety.
Requirements: Thermodynamics and Hydrodynamics
Period:
Responsible person: Yutaka Abe
Affiliation: University of Tsukuba
Location: 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan
E-mail: abe@@kz.tsukuba.ac.jp
URL: http://www.kz.tsukuba.ac.jp/~abe/eng/index_e.html

Subject 7: Hydrogen and Tritium Inventory in Plasma Facing Materials
Summary: Hydrogen recycling and tritium inventory are the critical issues for next step fusion reactors to realize steady state operation. Our study is now focused on bulk hydrogen retention and the analysis of transport and desorption kinetics in graphite and tungsten to understand the hydrogen behavior in these materials.
Requirements: Fundamental knowledge on Materials Science
Period:
Responsible person: Prof. Hisao Atsumi
Affiliation: Department of Electric and Electronic Engineering, Kinki University
Location: Kowakae 3-4-1, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan
Email: atsumi@@ele.kindai.ac.jp
URL: http://ccpc01.cc.kindai.ac.jp/english/

Subject 8: Isotope Analysis Technique Based on Laser Spectroscopy
Summary: Laser spectroscopy, such as Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry, is a powerful tool for isotope analysis. New mass analysis instruments based on laser spectroscopy are developed and utilized for some applications to nuclear engineering.
Requirements: Fundamental knowledge on quantum physics
Period: about 1-3 months
Responsible person: Prof. Tetsuo Iguchi
Affiliation: Grad School of Engineering, Nagoya University
Location: Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan
Email: t-iguchi@@nucl.nagoya-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www3.nucl.nagoya-u.ac.jp/

Subject 9: Environmental radionuclide transfer modeling
Summary: Numerical modeling of radionuclide behavior in the atmospheric and terrestrial environments is carried out. Emphasis will be given on the atmospheric transport of naturally occurring radionuclides, especially radon and its decay products, and atmosphere-soil transfer of carbon-14 and tritium.
Requirements: Good command of unix and fortran. Knowledge in numerical simulation and/or environmental radionuclides
Period:
Responsible person: Prof. Hiromi Yamazawa
Affiliation: Department of Energy Engineering and Science, Nagoya University
Location: Nagoya, Aichi
Email: yamazawa@@nucl.nagoya-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www.ees.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~env_eng/en/index.html

Subject 10: Investigation of efficient iteration methods for inner iteration of diffusion equation
Summary: Various latest iteration methods for a non-homogeneous matrix equation will be applied to inner iteration of finite-difference diffusion equation and their performance will be compared from the viewpoint of computation time and memory storage.
Requirements: Knowledge of c++ or fortran90 is necessary.
Period:
Responsible person: Prof. Akio YAMAMOTO
Affiliation: Nagoya University
Location: Nagoya, Japan
Email: a-yamamoto@@nucl.nagoya-u.ac.jp
URL:

Subject 11: Thermal　Hydraulics in Nuclear Energy Systems.
Summary: Thermal and fluid engineering are basic subjects in nuclear energy systems. We are investigating the complex flow, such as high Reynolds number, multi-phase flow, high Schmidt flow, and their applications using the laser visualization technique and direct numerical simulation.
Requirements: basic knowledge of thermal hydraulics
Period:
Responsible person: Prof. Yoshiyuki Tsuji
Affiliation: Grad School of Engineering, Nagoya University
Location: Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan
Email: y-tsuji@@nucl.nagoya-u.ac.jp
URL:

Subject 12: Materials irradiation effects by high energy particles
Summary: For the development of nuclear materials, the study of irradiation effects is important. We study the defect structural evolution in materials by neutron irradiation, ion irradiation and electron irradiation experimentally and theoretically.
Requirements: Basic knowledge on physics
Period:
Responsible person: Toshimasa　Yoshiie
Affiliation: Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University
Location: Kumatori-cho, Sennan-gun, Osaka-fu 590-0494, Japan
Email: yoshiie@@rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/RD/index.html