ORNL is conducting aging assessments of auxiliary feedwater pumps to provide recommendations for monitoring and assessing the severity of time-dependent degradation as well as to recommend maintenance and replacement practices. Cornerstones of these activities are the identification of failure modes and causes and ranking of causes. Failure modes and causes of interest are those due to aging and service wear. Design details, functional requirements, and operating experience data were used to identify failure modes and causes and to rank the latter. Based on this input, potentially useful inspection, surveillance, and condition monitoring methods that are currently available for use or in the developmental stage were examined and recommendations made. The methods selected are listed and discussed in terms of use and information to be obtained. Relationships between inspection, surveillance, and monitoring and maintenance practices entered prominently into maintenance recommendations. These recommendations, therefore, embrace predictive as well as corrective and preventative maintenance practices. The recommendations are described, inspection details are discussed, and periodic inspection and maintenance interval guidelines are given. Surveillance testing at low-flow conditions is also discussed. It is shown that this type of testing can lead to accelerated aging.

One of the major questions that is being addressed at present by Strategic Defense Initiative's Multimegawatt Space Power Project is whether or not space weapon power systems must be closed, i.e., whether effluents from the systems are tolerable. If they are not tolerable, the major penalty that must be paid to close space systems is increased mass. Open systems remove waste heat by producing effluents, e.g., hot hydrogen gas. Closed systems require radiators, thermal storage masses, effluent storage, or refrigeration to remove waste heat. The mass penalty incurred by addition of these devices is so severe that the option of closing space power systems should be avoided, if at all possible. The mass penalty is even more severe if the weapon system itself must also be closed.

After two surveys for indoor air pollutants (radon and other chemicals) the homeowners were surveyed for their reactions. The results of these participant evaluation surveys, assuming that the participants that responded to the survey were representative, indicate that homeowners will accept a significant level of monitoring activity as part of an indoor air quality field study. Those participants completing surveys overwhelmingly enjoyed being in the studies and would do it again. We believe that the emphasis placed on positive homeowner interactions and efforts made to inform participants throughout our studies were positive factors in this result. There was no substantial differences noted in the responses between the 70-house study, which included a homeowner compensation payment of $100, and the 300-house study, which did not include a compensation payment. These results provide encouragement to conduct future complex, multipollutant indoor air quality studies when they are scientifically sound and cost effective.

An explicit, workplace-specific training has been developed, implemented, and documented for all radiation workers. In addition to the radiation worker personnel located at reactors, accelerators, radiochemical laboratories, and waste treatment areas, we have trained other personnel who work in areas where a lesser potential for radiological/chemical exposure exists. These workforces include construction crews, site restoration crews, contracted special services such as scoping and site characterization teams, and short-term visitors. We are developing a comprehensive, integrated approach to radiation protection training suited for a multi-purpose research laboratory. 9 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.

US Department of Energy Orders, including those for Emergency Preparedness, require that DOE facility employees receive a preparatory course on certain basic work practices and employee responsibilities before receiving any job-specific training. Most of this general information is required for employees to either prevent or to handle emergency situations that may arise in the workplace. While the categories are general, the information should be given at both Laboratory and individual-site levels, if possible. A simple checklist developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory proved beneficial when assessing its general employee orientation compliance status. The checklist includes subject areas covered, organizational identities and responsibilities, and documentation needs.

Results of the first benchmark physics tests of a metallic-fueled, demonstration-size, liquid metal reactor are reported. A simple, two-zone, cylindrical conventional assembly was built with three distinctly different compositions to represent the stages of the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle. Experiments included criticality, control, power distribution, reaction rate ratios, reactivity coefficients, shielding, kinetics and spectrum. Analysis was done with 3-D nodal diffusion calculations and ENDFIB-V.2 cross sections. Predictions of the ZPPR-15 reactor physics parameters agreed sufficiently well with the measured values to justify confidence in design analyses for metallic-fueled LMRs.

This paper summarizes the operating cores, the /sup 235/U fuel element burnups, and the core physics measurements made in the ORR Whole-Core LEU Fuel Demonstration.

The final microstructure of ..cap alpha..-SiC sintered with the addition of densification aids of elemental carbon and B/sub 4/C consists of approx.8 ..mu..m ..cap alpha..-SiC grains, large (>1 ..mu..m) B/sub 4/C grains possibly containing a small amount of silicon, and free carbon (mostly graphite). The sintering of the SiC with a boron-containing phase causes the ..cap alpha..-SiC grains to become saturated with boron. During annealing experiments and high temperature, constant stress creep experiments, small (10 to 20 nm) B/sub 4/C precipitates nucleate and grow within the ..cap alpha..-SiC grains. This precipitate formation was independent of applied stress. No boron was detected on grain boundaries in the starting material or material which had been annealed or deformed. 6 refs., 7 figs.

The dependence of the T/sub c/ of ..beta..-(ET)/sub 2/X upon the anion X/sup -/ and applied pressure P is explained in terms of how the softness, and hence the electron-phonon coupling constant lambda, of the ..beta..-(ET)/sub 2/X lattice varies as a function of X/sup -/ and P. What really governs the lattice softness is the short hydrogen...anion and hydrogen...hydrogen contacts, which occur as a consequence of the attractive Coulombic interactions between layers of Et/sup 0.5+/ donors and those of X/sup -/ anions. In agreement with our analysis, the recent point-contact measurement on ..beta..-(ET)/sub 2/X indicates the presence of a very soft phonon strongly coupled to the electrons. 7 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab.

Finite difference approximations to the continuity, momentum, and energy equations in thermal hydraulics codes result in a system of N by N equations for a problem having N field points. In a three dimensional problem, N increases as the problem becomes larger or more complex, and more rapidly as the computational mesh size is reduced. As a consequence, the execution time required to solve the problem increases, which may lead to placing limits on the problem resolution or accuracy. A conventinal method of solution of these systems of equations is the Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) technique. However, for a wide range of problems the execution time may be reduced by using a more efficient linear equation solver. One such method is the conjugate gradient method which was implemented in COMMIX-1B thermal hydraulics code. It was found that the execution time required to solve the resulting system of equations was reduced by a factor of about 2 for some problems. This paper summarizes the characteristics of these iterative solution procedures and compares their performance in modeling of a variety of reactor thermal hydraulic problems, using the COMMIX-1B computer code.

Levels in /sup 136,138,140/Sm were populated by the beta decay of Eu, following (HI,pxn) reactions and on-line mass separation. Members of the ..gamma.. band were observed in all three daughter nuclei. Spectroscopic calculations were made using the triaxial rotor model, with all parameters derived microscopically from a Woods-Saxon deformed shell model. Comparison with the data supports the characterization of these nuclei in terms of a triaxial intrinsic shape. Improved decay schemes for /sup 132,134,136/Nd are given. 3 refs., 7 figs.

Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements on x-irradiated CaF/sub 2/:Mn (0.1 wt %) single crystals have been conducted in the interval 70 to 300 K. Prominent TSL peaks occur near 150 K (345- and 495-nm emission) and 200 K (predominantly 495-nm emission) with thermal decay of ESR centers at these same temperatures. Taken collectively the data suggest that 150 K TSL emission is due to mobile holes from V/sub K/ centers recombining with both trapped electrons and Mn/sup +/ ions, i.e., V/sub K/ + e/sup -/ ..-->.. 345-nm emission, and V/sub K/ + Mn/sup +/ ..-->.. (Mn/sup 2 +/)* + hv (495-nm emission). Additionally, H centers are formed by transformation of V/sub K/ centers. At 200 K, holes from H centers recombine with Mn/sup +/ to produce excited-state (Mn/sup 2 +/)* which decays by emitting 495-nm radiation.

Three entrance channels /sup 16/O + /sup 40/Ca, /sup 28/Si + /sup 28/Si, and /sup 32/S + /sup 24/Mg forming the /sup 56/Ni compound nucleus have been studied in the energy range 5 to 17 MeVnucleon. Time-of-flight measurements provided mass identification and allowed for extraction of velocity distributions. These distributions were used to identify evaporation residues and to decompose the evaporation residues yeilds into complete and incomplete fusion components using evaporation code calculations. The velocity centroids as function of angle and mass are found to put constraints on the possible pre-equilibrium emission of light particles. 16 refs., 6 figs

During the most recent circulating flow test of the Fenton Hill Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal reservoir, the geochemical behavior of the produced fluid was monitored continuously to determine the concentrations of dissolved anions and cations and dissolved gases. Chemistry results have aided in the development of reservoir models and in the determination of potential chemistry-related operation problems such as corrosion and gas handling in future energy extraction tests. Results of two radioactive tracer experiments suggest flow through a large, highly-fractured region of rock. This rock volume is equivalent to a sphere of diameter approximately equal to the separation distance between the injection and production points in the two wells.

Calculations have been carried out to model the alpha decay-induced conversion of a titanate ceramic (CaPuTi/sub 2/O/sub 7/) from the crystalline state to an amorphous condition. Experimental results have shown that the disordered state varies with irradiation temperature and extent of redamage, and so special consideration is given to those factors. Results of these calculations are applied to the analysis of dimensional changes during irradiation at various temperatures and release of stored energy on recovery to the crystalline state. Modeling results appear to show that it is possible to convert to the amorphous state under irradiation by two different processes. Modeling is also employed to extend experimental results on swelling from the present data base to a high damage rate characteristic of ion implantation and the low rates typical of nuclear waste storage and self-damage of natural mineral analogues. 15 refs., 5 figs.; 1 tab.

Multiple processes running on a VAX and on VME-based processors allow up to 16 detector sub-systems to run independently or coupled, with an aggregate throughput of 600 Kbytes/sec. VMS facilities are used extensively for command definition, message passing, controlling access to CAMAC and high voltage modules, and maintaining shared data structures.

The uncertainty regarding radionuclide distributions among Remedial Action Program (RAP) sites and long-term decommissioning and closure options for these sites requires a flexible approach capable of handling different levels of contamination, dose limits, and closure scenarios. We identified a commercially available pathway analysis model, DECOM, which had been used previously in support of remedial activities involving contaminated soil at the Savannah River Plant. The DECOM computer code, which estimates concentrations of radionuclides uniformly distributed in soil that correspond to an annual effective dose equivalent, is written in BASIC and runs on an IBM PC or compatible microcomputer. We obtained the latest version of DECOM and modified it to make it more user friendly and applicable to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) RAP. Some modifications involved changes in default parameters or changes in models based on approaches used by the EPA in regulating remedial actions for hazardous substances. We created a version of DECOM as a LOTUS spreadsheet, using the same models as the BASIC version of DECOM. We discuss the specific modeling approaches taken, the regulatory framework that guided our efforts, the strengths and limitations of each approach, and areas for improvement. We also demonstrate how the LOTUS version …

Multigroup P3 neutron, P0-P3 secondary gamma ray production (SGRP), and P6 gamma ray interaction (GRI) cross section libraries have been generated to support design work on the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor. The libraries, designated ANSL-V (Advanced Neutron Source Cross-Section Libraries), are data bases in a format suitable for subsequent generation of problem dependent cross sections. The ANSL-V libraries are available on magnetic tape from the Radiation Shielding Information Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Validity of selected data from the fine-group neutron library was satisfactorily tested in performance parameter calculations for the BAPL-1, TRX-1, and ZEEP-1 thermal lattice benchmarks. BAPL-2 is an H/sub 2/O moderated, uranium oxide lattice; TRX-1 is an H/sub 2/O moderated, 1.31 weight percent enriched uranium metal lattice; ZEEP-1 is a D/sub 2/O-moderated, natural uranium lattice. 26 refs., 1 tab.

The purpose of this paper is to present thermal benchmark data testing results for the BAPL-1, TRX-1, and SEEP-1 lattices, using selected processed cross-sections from the ANSL-V 99-group library. 7 refs., 1 tab.

Based upon a study of the independent variation of peak pressure and pulse duration upon the shock loading response of OFE copper, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) Increasing peak pressure or pulse duration was found to decrease the observed dislocation cell size and increase the yield strength and (2) the influence of pulse duration is attributed to the influence of reorganization time on the amount of dislocation generation during the rarefaction release.

Systematic shock recovery experiments have been performed on 6061-T6 Al shocked to pressures of 2, 8, and 13 GPa for 1 second pulse durations. Compression samples EDM machined from the recovered samples show that the mechanical behavior of 6061-T6 saturates rapidly under shock loading. Electron microscope examination reveals a random high dislocation density substructure, different from that observed in other shock-loaded aluminum alloys. Substructure evolution and mechanical response are discussed in light of the influence of strengthening mechanisms and shock recovery techniques.

Strong fieldwide gradients from southeast to northwest in gas/steam and {delta}{sup 18}O have been found in steam produced from wells at The Geysers. These gradients result from recharge from the southeast that has increased liquid saturation in the southern part of the reservoir and flushed gases and high {delta}{sup 18}O connate waters to the north and out of the system through surface vents. Variations in the steepness of the gradients are probably related to major venting in the Big Geysers area. Although lateral steam flow and condensation subsequent to flushing explain some local gradients in the southern area, these processes cannot explain the fieldwide variations. 1 tab., 24 refs., 5 figs.

A task group has been formed within the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifically to develop standards for measuring radiation dose for food processing. The task group, which has 78 members, including 16 from Europe, consists of a broad cross section of food industry, government, regulatory, manufacturing, and university interests. The group is working on seven standards; three specifically for food irradiation applications, and four for using specific dosimeter types for all radiation applications, including food processing. Together, this set of standards will specify acceptable methods of accomplishing the required irradiation treatment of food and other products, and will be available for adoption by regulatory agencies in food irradiation protocols. 1 tab.