RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS IN THE STANDARD ATOMIC WEIGHTS TABLE (open access)

RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS IN THE STANDARD ATOMIC WEIGHTS TABLE

In the 1949 Report of the Atomic Weights Commission, a series of new elements were added to the Atomic Weights Table. Since these elements had been produced in the laboratory and were not discovered in nature, the atomic weight value of these artificial products would depend upon the production method. Since atomic weight is a property of an element as it occurs in nature, it would be incorrect to assign an atomic weight value to that element. As a result of that discussion, the Commission decided to provide only the mass number of the most stable (or longest-lived) known isotope as the number to be associated with these entries in the Atomic Weights Table. As a function of time, the mass number associated with various elements has changed as longer-lived isotopes of a particular element has been found in nature, or as improved half-life values of an element's isotopes might cause a shift in the longest-lived isotope from one mass to another. In the 1957 Report of the Atomic Weights Commission, it was decided to discontinue the listing of the mass number in the Atomic Weights Table on the grounds that the kind of information supplied by the mass number …
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: Holden, N. E.; Holden, N. & Holden, N. E.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ideal MHD Stability of ITER Steady State Scenarios with ITBs (open access)

Ideal MHD Stability of ITER Steady State Scenarios with ITBs

One of ITER goals is to demonstrate feasibility of continuous operations using non-inductive current drive. Two main candidates have been identified for advanced operations: the long duration, high neutron fluency hybrid scenario and the steady state scenario, both operating at a plasma current lower than the reference ELMy scenario [1][2] to minimize the required current drive. The steady state scenario targets plasmas with current 7-10 MA in the flat-top, 50% of which will be provided by the self-generated, pressure-driven bootstrap current. It has been estimated that, in order to obtain a fusion gain Q > 5 at a current of 9 MA, it should be ΒN > 2.5 and H > 1.5 [3]. This implies the presence of an Internal Transport Barrier (ITB). This work discusses how the stability of steady state scenarios with ITBs is affected by the external heating sources and by perturbations of the equilibrium profiles.
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: Poli, F. M.; Kessel, C. E.; Jardin, S.; Manickam, J.; Chance, M. & Chen, J.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) Science Plan (open access)

The Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) Science Plan

The Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) field campaign will provide a detailed set of observations with which to (1) perform radiative and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) closure studies, (2) evaluate a new retrieval algorithm for aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the presence of clouds using passive remote sensing, (3) extend a previously developed technique to investigate aerosol indirect effects, and (4) evaluate the performance of a detailed regional-scale model and a more parameterized global-scale model in simulating particle activation and AOD associated with the aging of anthropogenic aerosols. To meet these science objectives, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility will deploy the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) and the Mobile Aerosol Observing System (MAOS) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for a 12-month period starting in the summer of 2012 in order to quantify aerosol properties, radiation, and cloud characteristics at a location subject to both clear and cloudy conditions, and clean and polluted conditions. These observations will be supplemented by two aircraft intensive observation periods (IOPs), one in the summer and a second in the winter. Each IOP will deploy one, and possibly two, aircraft depending on available resources. The first aircraft will be equipped with a suite of in situ …
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: Berkowitz, C. M.; Berg, L. K.; Cziczo, DJ; Flynn, C. J.; Kassianov, E. I.; Fast, J. D. et al.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dynamical Evolution of Pedestal Parameters in ELMy H-mode in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (open access)

Dynamical Evolution of Pedestal Parameters in ELMy H-mode in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Characterizations of the pedestal parameter dynamics throughout the edge localized modes(ELM) cycles are performed on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX, [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)]). A clear buildup of the pedestal height is observed between ELMs for three di erent plasma currents, which tends to saturate prior to the onset of ELM at low and medium plasma current. Similarly, the pedestal width increases with no clear evidence of saturation during an ELM cycle. The maximum pedestal gradient increases as a function of plasma current, reaches a nominal value after the ELM crash, and remains constant until the end of the ELM cycle. The pedestal height just prior to the onset of ELM is shown to increase quadratically with plasma current. The pedestal width Δ is proportional to the square-root of the poloidal Β at the top of the pedestal. Coherent density uctuations strongly increasing at the plasma edge are observed to be maximum after the ELM crash and to decay during the rest of the ELM cycle. Finally, the pedestal parameters evolution during the ELM cycle as well as the scaling with Ip of the pedestal pressure prior to the onset ELM are found to …
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: Diallo, A; Kubota, S; Sontag, A; Osborne, T; Podesta, M; Bell, R E et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
A REVISED METHOD FOR ESTIMATING OXIDE BASICITY PER THE SMITH SCALE WITH EXAMPLE APPLICATION TO GLASS DURABILITY (open access)

A REVISED METHOD FOR ESTIMATING OXIDE BASICITY PER THE SMITH SCALE WITH EXAMPLE APPLICATION TO GLASS DURABILITY

Previous researchers have developed correlations between oxide electronegativity and oxide basicity. The present paper revises those correlations using a newer method of calculating electronegativity of the oxygen anion. Basicity is expressed using the Smith {alpha} parameter scale. A linear relation was found between the oxide electronegativity and the Smith {alpha} parameter, with an R{sup 2} of 0.92. An example application of this new correlation to the durability of high-level nuclear waste glass is demonstrated. The durability of waste glass was found to be directly proportional to the quantity and basicity of the oxides of tetrahedrally coordinated network forming ions.
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: JG, REYNOLDS
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Forecast of Standard Atomic Weights for the Mononuclidic Elements – 2011 (open access)

Forecast of Standard Atomic Weights for the Mononuclidic Elements – 2011

In this short report, I will provide an early warning about potential changes to the standard atomic weight values for the twenty mononuclidic and the so-called pseudo-mononuclidic ({sup 232}Th and {sup 231}Pa) chemical elements due to the estimated changes in the mass values to be published in the next Atomic Mass Tables within the next two years. There have been many new measurements of atomic masses, since the last published Atomic Mass Table. The Atomic Mass Data Center has released an unpublished version of the present status of the atomic mass values as a private communication. We can not update the Standard Atomic Weight Table at this time based on these unpublished values but we can anticipate how many changes are probably going to be expected in the next few years on the basis of the forthcoming publication of the Atomic Mass Table. I will briefly discuss the procedures that the Atomic Weights Commission used in deriving the recommended Standard Atomic Weight values and their uncertainties from the atomic mass values. I will also discuss some concern raised about a proposed change in the definition of the mole. The definition of the mole is now connected directly to the mass …
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: Holden, N. E.; Holden, N. & Holden, N. E.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Possible Methods to Estimate Core Location in a Beyond-Design-Basis Accident at a GE BWR with a Mark I Containment Stucture (open access)

Possible Methods to Estimate Core Location in a Beyond-Design-Basis Accident at a GE BWR with a Mark I Containment Stucture

It is difficult to track to the location of a melted core in a GE BWR with Mark I containment during a beyond-design-basis accident. The Cooper Nuclear Station provided a baseline of normal material distributions and shielding configurations for the GE BWR with Mark I containment. Starting with source terms for a design-basis accident, methods and remote observation points were investigated to allow tracking of a melted core during a beyond-design-basis accident. The design of the GE BWR with Mark-I containment highlights an amazing poverty of expectations regarding a common mode failure of all reactor core cooling systems resulting in a beyond-design-basis accident from the simple loss of electric power. This design is shown in Figure 1. The station blackout accident scenario has been consistently identified as the leading contributor to calculated probabilities for core damage. While NRC-approved models and calculations provide guidance for indirect methods to assess core damage during a beyond-design-basis loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), there appears to be no established method to track the location of the core directly should the LOCA include a degree of fuel melt. We came to the conclusion that - starting with detailed calculations which estimate the release and movement of gaseous and …
Date: July 27, 2011
Creator: Walston, S; Rowland, M & Campbell, K
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library