This paper reviews current progress in the development of fusion power from the engineering point of view and highlights the most outstanding technical issues which must be resolved. (MOW)

To predict the dimensions and characteristics of impact- and explosion-induced craters, one must know the equation of state of the rocks in which the crater is formed. Recent experimental data shed light upon inelastic processes that influence the stress/strain behavior of rocks. We examine these data with a view to developing models that could be used in predicting cratering phenomena. New data is presented on the volume behavior of two dissimilar rocks subjected to tensile stresses.

The light emission time response of quenched NElll plastic scintillators has been measured using a streak camera (20 ps resolution) and 100 to 180 ps, 1.06 ..mu..m, laser-produced, pulsed, low energy x-ray excitation. Each light output pulse was obtained by deconvolution from the film data using the x-ray temporal response measured with an x-ray sensitive streak camera (10 ps resolution). Time response parameters are presented for benzophenone and acetophenone, quenching agents which most effectively reduce the decay time of the singlet component. Full width-half-maximums less than or equal to 260 ps were observed for NElll samples quenched with greater than or equal to 2 percent benzophenone. Results are given for unquenched samples consisting of different concentrations of butyl-PBD in PVT and for the phosphor ZnO doped with Ga.

Previous calculations of line emission were extended to higher density, lower temperature plasmas, typical of those expected in early ablative compression experiments. Emission from Ne-seeded fuel was analyzed in order to diagnose the density and temperature of the compressed core. The Stark/Doppler broadened emission profile is calculated for the H-like Ne resonance line. The observable lineshape is then obtained by time-averaging over expected density and temperature profiles and by including the effects of radiative transfer.

The formation of ozone from oxygen and the dissociation carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide and oxygen is studied in a gamma-neutron chemical process blanket associated with a controlled thermonuclear reactor. Materials used for reactor tube wall will affect the efficiency of the energy absorption by the reactants and consequently the yield of reaction products. Three kinds of materials, aluminum, stainless steel and fiber (Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)-aluminium are investigated for the tube wall material in the study.

Emphasis is on corrosion as related to waste storage canister. Most work has been done in support of the In-Can Melter (ICM) vitrification system. It is assumed that the canister goes through the ICM process and is then stored in a water basin. The most severe corrosion effect seen is oxidation of stainless steel (SS) surfaces in contact with gases containing oxygen during processing. The processing temperature is near 1100/sup 0/C and furnace atmosphere, used until now, has been air with unrestricted flow to the furnace. The oxidation rate at 1100/sup 0/C is 15.8 g/cm/sup 2/ for 304L SS. Techniques for eliminating this corrosion currently being investigated include the use of different materials, such as Inconel 601, and the use of an inert cover gas. Corrosion due to the waste melt is not as rapid as the air oxidation. This effect has been studied extensively in connection with the development of a metallic crucible melter at Battelle. Data are available on the corrosion rates of several waste compositions in contact with various materials. Long-term compatibility tests between the melt and the metal have been run; it was found the corrosion rates due to the melt or its vapor do not …

An improved method for measuring the peak power output from pulsed-injection laser diodes having risetimes of 10 ns or greater has been developed by the Bendix Kansas City Metrology Laboratory. Based on the combination of an integrating sphere and a silicon photodiode, the system provides the means for collecting all of the widely divergent pulsed output of laser diodes. System accuracy is estimated to be within +-15%. Methods of system calibration are described along with the circuitry used to pulse and measure the diode current.

The on-line control system interface for magnet beam steering and focusing in the Bevalac is described. An Aydin model 5205B display generator was chosen. This display generator will allow the computer to completely rewrite a monitor screen in less than 50 ms and is also capable of controlling a color monitor. (PMA)

The next generation of U.S. fusion experiments, which includes TFTR, MFTF, and Doublet III, will utilize neutral-beam injection for plasma heating. TFTR, for example, desires 20 MW of 120-keV deuterium atoms in pulses of 0.5-sec duration at 5-minute intervals from a total of 12 individual neutral-beam modules. A discussion is given of some of the design details of a 15-A, 120-keV, 0.5-sec ion-source module that has recently been built to test design concepts for TFTR sources, and some of the features of the facility where it is presently under test at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

A number of technical possibilities for isolating high level radioactive materials have been theoretically investigated at various times and places. Isolating such wastes deep underground to insure long-term removal from the biosphere is one such possibility which has been investigated. The present concept involves as a first step creating the necessary void space at considerable depth, say 2 to 5 km, in a very low permeability silicate medium such as shale. Waste in dry, calcined or vitrified form is then lowered into the void space, and the access hole or shaft sealed. Energy released by the radioactive decay raises the temperature to a point where the surrounding rock begins to melt. The waste is then dissolved in it. The extent of this melt region grows until the heat generated is balanced by conduction away from the molten zone. Resolidification then begins, and ends when the radioactive decay has progressed to the point that the temperature falls below the melting point of the rock-waste solution. Calculations are presented showing the growth and resolidification process. The use of a nuclear explosion presents one alternative way of creating the void space.

Damage rates of 5 MeV /sup 27/Al ions in Al have been measured as a function of the ion path length in Al. The technique developed for this study employed evaporated Al thin film (approximately 0.4 - 0.5 ..mu..m thick), electrical resistivity specimens, as a damage sensor and variation in ion path lengths were obtained by insertion of thin foils of Al immediately in front of the resistivity specimen. Irradiations and electrical resistance measurements were carried out below 10/sup 0/K to ''freeze in'' the displacement damage and to provide suitable conditions for precision electrical measurements. The resistance increase due to irradiation is a measure of the displacement damage resulting from ion-atom collisions in the specimen. The damage rates vary about an order of magnitude over the range of the ions and are in general agreement with calculated damage rates obtained from theory. 9 fig.

The energy future will be affected by decisions made in the next few years. The author speaks on the reality of the future, specifically for electric power generation in the Northwest United States. His four main thoughts are: decisions made today will stand for ten years or more and are irreversible; only coal and nuclear are options available in the Northwest; coal and nuclear must be utilized to alleviate power outages leading to rationing and allocation measures; and conservation of electricity will benefit all. After summing up all issues involved with these thoughts, the author told the teachers at the conference that they were obligated to prepare youth to participate knowledgeably in this decision process. (MCW)

It has been hoped that high-Z semiconductors would offer efficient ..gamma..-ray detection at or near ambient temperatures with energy resolution significantly better than NaI (Tl) scintillators. For use at X-ray energies, this goal has been achieved with both HgI/sub 2/, CdTe, and GaAs detectors. However, at higher energies (approximately 660 keV) all current detectors have one or more significant deficiencies in terms of attainable volume, charge collection efficiency, and polarization effects. Starting with first principles, all potential compounds which can be formed by the binary combination of elements from the periodic chart were considered as possible detector materials. A rank-ordered listing of the most promising materials for further development is given as well as an assessment of the prospects for future success. 25 references.

The next generation of U.S. fusion experiments which includes TFTR, MFTF, and Doublet III, will utilize neutral-beam injection for plasma heating. TFTR, for example, desires 20 MW of 120-keV deuterium atoms in pulses of 0.5-sec duration. In order to meet these requirements, a 15-A, 120-keV, 0.5-sec pulse per minute module is presently under test at the neutral-beam test facility at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. A 65-A, 120-keV, 0.5-sec module is under construction and is scheduled for assembly in April of this year. Some of the features of a calorimeter/beam dump that is presently being used in the testing and evaluation of these neutral beam sources are discussed.

The history and state-of-the-art of laser isotope separation at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory are reviewed. (TFD)

A flexible electronic product test and evaluation system is proposed. A system study was performed to determine how increasingly complex telemetry systems could be effectively evaluated during development and preproduction and after first production units were built. A primary requirement was that this system remain flexible with respect to configuration and mission and that it be easily maintainable. In addition, the system must be upgraded easily as old product requirements and definitions are replaced by new designs. As a result of this study it is concluded that this project would involve the expenditure of considerable funds and manpower at the beginning of the project and that the cost effectiveness of the system would be dependent upon its utilization and management. This study also demonstrates how the use of computer interface hardware standards (IEEE 583) can minimize requirements for expensive specially designed test equipment for each application.

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Large pools for storing spent fuel elements from nuclear reactors are being proposed to augment the present storage capacity of pools located at nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing plants. These pools will be part of either independent spent fuel storage installations or large reprocessing plants. Because of the large size of the pools, seismic loads are of significant interest, and in particular the adequacy of current design methods for calculating seismic loads was of special concern. An evaluation of design methods representative of current practice was carried out, and the results are summarized. The evaluation was based on a comparison of total structural loads obtained by these methods with those obtained using the LUSH code. The LUSH code offered a combination of latest technologies in structural analysis involving soil-structure interaction.

When projected to PLT-size tokamaks, the preliminary results for ..omega.. approx. 2..omega../sub ci/ fast wave heating obtained in the ST and ATC tokamaks indicate that very efficient heating of the central plasma region as opposed to the surface region should ensue when the rf energy is suitably coupled to the plasma waves. Ion banana orbit losses become negligible and a large number of propagating waves are available so that the radial rf energy disposition pattern can be properly selected at last. It is vital to the potential use of ICRF (Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies) heating in reactor scale plasmas that surface heating be controlled and minimized relative to heating the plasma core. A demonstration that this is possible in existing large tokamaks is essential to the development of the ICRF heating schemes for reactor use. Projections to TFTR and larger devices are considered briefly.

FeTi, TiFe/sub 0/./sub 79/Mn/sub 0/./sub 15/, and TiFe/sub 0/./sub 76/Mn/sub 0/./sub 14/ subjected to hydriding-dehydriding cycles showed no deterioration as a function of hydriding-dehydriding cycles. The presence of O/sub 2/ in the hydrogen gas phase has a poisoning effect on the reactivity of FeTi toward hydrogen. Manganese-containing FeTi alloys were used to determine minimum activation temperatures. Future work will be concerned primarily with two separate alloy systems, magnesium and titanium. (LK)

Additional subsurface investigations of the Rio Blanco detonation region and adjacent reservoir have been underway since the last technical meeting at IAEA. The lowermost explosion cavity has been reentered and a production test from it was performed. A dry gas volume of 7.6 x 10/sup 5/ m/sup 3/ (27 Mmscf) was withdrawn. Chemical and radiochemical analyses of this gas show that (1) the yield of the bottom explosive was 31 +- 2 kt; (2) the cavity/chimney volume was 2.4 x 10/sup 4/ m/sup 3/ (8.4 x 10/sup 5/ ft/sup 3/); (3) about 7 percent of the tritium produced is associated with the gas; and (4) a slight (approximately 0.1 percent) gas contribution from the middle explosion region was noted. The reservoir/chimney model implies an unstimulated reservoir flow capacity of 0.15 mdarcy-m (0.50 md-ft) connected to the bottom chimney region. A cavity radius of 21 +- 3 m (70 +- 10 ft) was deduced. Unstimulated reservoir production parameters were investigated in a well offset 190 m (625 ft) from the emplacement hole. Insufficient productivity was obtained in the Mesaverde formation (in which the bottom explosive was detonated) to evaluate reservoir properties. The productive sandstones in the Fort Union formation adjoining the …

A method of digital image processing is described which can be used to improve the quality of radiographic images. An image is modeled as the sum of background information, details of interest, and noise. The background is then modified in order to enhance the details. 5 figures.

This report summarizes the initial effort of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory involvement with the study of BWR Mark I pressure suppression pool dynamics. Analytical activity is described and calculational results are presented for several simplified geometries. Computer code authentication will be provided by a currently active program in benchmark tests. The experiment and some results are presented. A combined analytical and experimental program to evaluate air scaling hypotheses for hydrodynamic forces and pool motion is presented, along with some conclusions regarding model scaling.

Standards for the exchange of machine-readable data are discussed at five levels covering (1) physical characteristics of the medium used in the exchange, (2) overall structure of the data file, (3) format of individual records, (4) types of information contained in a record, (5) authority files for information definition. The standards are used by the National Geothermal Information Resource for compilations of geothermal energy data.