The test obtective for April was to evaluate sodium thiosulfate in limestone scrubber slurry as inhibitor of sulfite oxidation. The resulting effect on saturation levels of calcium sulfate (CaSO/sub 4/.2 H/sub 2/O; gypsum) and scaling in the system was of prime importance. As an antioxidant, S/sub 2/O/sub 3//sup =/ functions as a scale inhibitor by reducing SO/sub 4//sup =/, a known scale former. To meet the test objective, the scrubber was operated in a scaling mode as a base case; finally, the changes resulting from addition of sodium thiosulfate were evaluated. Train 100 was operated at two pH levels and with low and high sulfur coal in April. Because of several delays explained below, only base cases were completed in April.

This paper discusses some of the general difficulties and problems encountered during the development of the technology of superconductors and superconducting magnets for fusion and expresses some personal concerns.

The remote fiber fluorimetric portion of the program is slightly ahead of schedule and proceeding well technically. Proof of principle has been demonstrated over a 0.2 km path length using an organic tracer material. Performance and design calculations have been made for the fiber optic components of the system. Optimized fibers have been ordered and special jigs and optical couplings are presently being fabricated. Progress on the high-sensitivity analyzer using coprecipitation techniques has proceeded well ahead of schedule with technical results far above expectations. Preliminary measurements in the UO/sub 2//sup 2 +//CaF/sub 2/ detection system has proved sensitivities well beyond the natural background limit. While further improvement of sensitivity (to 10/sup -15/ g) already is planned, emphasis will now be placed on locating and dealing with possible interferences and on determining how to improve and optimize quantitative accuracy. In addition, simplication of the sample preparation procedure and downscaling to use very small (< 1 ml) groundwater samples is planned. In the longer time frame, work on maximum chemical speciation and the possibility of isotopic speciation will be undertaken. Once the coprecipitation procedures, instrumentation, and spectroscopy have been fully refined for uranium, then the process will be repeated for plutonium and …

The database requirements for the Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA) project are outlined. ATA is a state-of-the-art electron accelerator capable of producing energetic (50 million electron volt), high current (10,000 ampere), short pulse (70 billionths of a second) beams of electrons for a wide variety of applications. Databasing is required for two applications. First, the description of the configuration of facility itself requires an extended database. Second, experimental data gathered from the facility must be organized and managed to insure its full utilization. The two applications are intimately related since the acquisition and analysis of experimental data requires knowledge of the system configuration. This report reviews the needs of the ATA program and current implementation, intentions, and desires. These database applications have several unique aspects which are of interest and will be highlighted. The features desired in an ultimate database system are outlined. 3 references, 5 figures.

About 11,000 m/sup 3/ of uranium ore residues and 180,000 m/sup 3/ of wastes (mostly slightly contaminated soils) are consolidated within a diked containment area at the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS) located about 30 km north of Buffalo, NY. The residues account for less than 6% of the total volume of contaminated materials but almost 99% of the radioactivty. The average /sup 226/Ra concentration in the residues is 67,000 pCi/g. Several alternatives for long-term management of the wastes and residues are being considered, including: improvement of the containment at NFSS, modification of the form of the residues, management of the residues separately from the wastes, management of the wastes and residues at another humid site (Oak Ridge, TN) or arid site (Hanford, WA), and dispersal of the wastes in the ocean. Potential radiological risks are expected to be smaller than the nonradiological risks of occupational and transportation-related injuries and deaths. Dispersal of the slightly contaminated wastes in the ocean is not expected to result in any significant impacts on the ocean environment or pose any significant radiological risk to humans. It will be necessary to take perpetual care of the near-surface burial sites because the residues and wastes will …

A summary of the problems (encountered as well as anticipated) associated with reinjection of heat-depleted brines and injection of other fluids such as imported brines and gases is presented. Covered are only injection and reinjection problems which are related to the exploitation of liquid-dominated resources by flash-cycle power plants. Suggestions (proven as well as probable) which may offer solutions to many of the identified problems are also covered. In addition, some ideas that should or could be implemented in planning of implementing and/or executing any new geothermal injection operation are described.

The revision of Chapter 18 of NUREG 0800, Human Factors Engineering Standard Review Plan (SRP) will be based on SECY 82-111 and guidance contained in NUREG 0700, NUREG 0801 and NUREG 0835, plus other references. In conducting field reviews of control rooms, the NRC has identified technical issues which can be used to enhance the development of the revised version of NUREG 0800, and to establish priorities among the list of possible Branch Technical Positions (BTP) in NUREG 0800, Rev. 0, Table 18.0-2. This report is a compilation of comments and suggestions from the people who used NUREG 0700 in the Control Room field reviews. This information was used to establish possible BTP topic priorities so that the most important BTPs could be issued first. The comments and suggestions are included for HFEB review in conjunction with the table of priorities.

This report documents the technical evaluation of the adequacy of the station electric distribution system voltages for the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1. The evaluation is to determine if the onsite distribution system, in conjunction with the offsite power sources, has sufficient capacity to automatically start and operate all Class 1E loads within the equipment voltage ratings under certain conditions established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The analysis submitted demonstrates that acceptable voltages will be supplied to the Class 1E equipment under worst case conditions.

Microearthquakes, defined as shocks having magnitudes less than 4, are commonly recorded in the vicinity of geothermal manifestations and volcanism. They have been mapped from producing geothermal fields as well as those not yet developed, in such places as Iceland, El Salvador, Japan, Kenya and the US. Microearthquakes have been recorded at several geothermal sites in the Imperial Valley and Coso Hot Springs, California; Kilbourne Hole, New Mexico; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; and The Geysers, California, where there is debate over whether or not the seismicity is induced by steam production. Seismicity occurs around active volcanoes, but appears reduced directly over zones of high temperature or magma, where the depth of the brittle fracture zone is shallow, as over Yellowstone caldera. In areas of active hydrothermalism, regional stress is likely to be relieved by low-level seismicity rather than occasional large ruptures, owing to the high temperatures, presence of fluids, and crustal weakening due to alteration and fracturing. Active faulting maintains the permeability of the system, which in its absence, might otherwise seal. on the microscopic scale, pore-fluid pressures rise as a result of heating, resulting in the decrease of effective pressure at the pore-mineral boundary. When this effective pressure becomes …

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This document summarizes the results of experiments which investigated the effects of radiation on simulated potassium tetraphenylborate slurries.