Two types of transient tests were employed to model a one-exit nozzle LMFBR outlet plenum. Water was used as a test fluid in the simulation of constant flowrates, Transient Overpower (TOP) conditions. In the first test, simulated fuel flow was 85% and blanket flow was 15%, whereas in the second test, the fuel flow was 100%. This allowed the assessment of the mitigating effects of blanket flow upon the exit nozzle temperature transient. The flow field was clearly three-dimensional, and a less active, though not stagnant, region was observed diametrically opposite the exit nozzle. During steady state, oscillations above the fuel-blanket interface were found to be small. This is attributed to the existence above the reactor core of a recirculating flow field, which served as an effective mixing agent. A simple lumped-parameter model, EXIT1, was developed to simulate TOP transient conditions for the test with both fuel and blanket flows. The predicted temperature profiles for various regions in the plenum were in good agreement with the experimental profiles, except for the region immediately above the reactor blanket. In devising the computer model, the temperature in this region was assumed to remain constant throughout the transient. However, this constant temperature did …

None

The motion of an ion in a lower hybrid wave in a tokamak type plasma is studied. For ions with ..nu../sub perpendicular to/ approximately greater than ..omega../k/sub perpendicular to/ the motion is stochastic for fields satisfying E/B/sub 0/ greater than /sup 1///sub 4/ (..cap omega../sub i//..omega..)/sup /sup 1///sub 3//(..omega../k/sub perpendicular to/). Provided the perpendicular phase velocity, ..omega../k/sub perpendicular to/, can be slowed down to a few times the ion thermal speed, this stochastic ion motion may be an important mechanism by which injected rf power near the lower hybrid frequency can directly heat the ions.

To calculate heat extraction and thermal recovery in hot dry rock geothermal reservoirs, a computer code was written to solve the differential equations for rock-water heat conduction and convection by finite differences. Temperature versus time functions for multiple fractures separated by various spacings are presented in dimensional and in nondimensional plots. The results were specialized for the limiting case of a single fracture in unbounded rock and for the other limiting case where the rock is so extensively fractured that thermal breakthrough phenomena can occur. Fracture temperatures were calculated during the thermal recovery following various extraction periods. For the single-fracture case these temperature recoveries could, with slight approximation, be represented as a single curve depending only upon the ratio of the total elapsed time and the extraction time.

A method has been developed for attaching a completed hybrid microcircuit to a flatpack which can then be hermetically sealed. Ablefilm 517B and Epo-Tek H77 epoxies, in conjunction with an abraded flatpack and applied pressure during cure, were shown to provide HMC-to-flatpack bonds which meet all environmental and processing requirements of hybrid microcircuits in two recent programs.

None

A series of maps have been compiled to document the structure and stratigraphy of the sediments underlying the high-level radioactive waste storage tank farms located within the Energy Research and Development Administration Hanford Reservation. The primary purpose of these maps is to provide basic geologic information to be utilized to evaluate the impact of suspected and confirmed tank leaks.

An approach to extend the present ORNL sensitivity program to include functionals of the time-dependent nuclide density field is developed. An adjoint equation for the nuclide field was derived previously by using generalized perturbation theory; the present derivation makes use of a variational principle and results in the same equation. The physical significance of this equation is discussed and compared to that of the time-dependent neutron adjoint equation. Computational requirements for determining sensitivity profiles and uncertainties for functionals of the time-dependent nuclide density vector are developed within the framework of the existing FORSS system; in this way the current capability is significantly extended. The development, testing, and use of an adjoint version of the ORIGEN isotope generation and depletion code are documented. Finally, a sample calculation is given which estimates the uncertainty in the plutonium inventory at shutdown of a PWR due to assumed uncertainties in uranium and plutonium cross sections. 8 figures, 4 tables.

Separate abstracts were prepared for the two sections.

This project is an MHF of a previously untreated Mesaverde interval in a well in northwest Colorado. The rocks involved may have been deposited during a marine invasion of long-continued, swamp environments. If so, they would have possessed superior primary reservoir properties. The logging program, identical to those used in the nearby Rio Blanco Nuclear and MHF Project wells, supplied contradictory information. The frac could furnish better understanding of the log suite, better parameters for pre-frac judgments of productive potential and further proof of the commercial capabilities of the formation. The frac job was performed as designed. A total of 775,000 lbs of sand in a total of 276,000 gallons of gelled water (YF4PSD) were injected. The injection pressures ranged from 2,000 to 1,300 psig at rates from 37 to 10 BPM. During the post-frac clean up, 30% of the frac fluid flowed back in 36 hours. Following eight days of swabbing and a total fluid recovery of 46%, the well began continuous flow, which within an additional three days brought total fluid recovery to 70%. Then gas flow increased from gas-cut water to 800 MSCF/D and declined to about 200 MSCF/D within 22 days. After over four months of …

Studies reported on include solar cell design and solar cell variables, the presentation of three process sequences and attendant process steps, the definition of process variables, and discussion of the selection of evaluation techniques. (MHR)

A series of maps has been compiled to document the structure and stratigraphy of the sediments underlying the high-level radioactive waste storage tank farms located within the Energy Research and Development Administration Hanford Reservation. The primary purpose of these maps is to provide the basic geologic information to be utilized to evaluate the impact of suspected and confirmed tank leaks.

An evaluation of the performance potential of thorium-uranium carbide and nitride fuel in 1200 MW(e) homogeneous and heterogeneous LMFBR's has been completed. Comparisons were done with 9.40 mm outer diameter, 0.38 mm cladding fuel pins at a selected peak (3 sigma) linear power of 98.4 kW/m for all cores. Breeding ratios for the homogeneous (Th,U)C and (Th,U)N cores are 1.12 and 1.16, respectively. In the heterogeneous cores the breeding ratios are 0.08 to 0.09 greater. A comparative breeding ratio of 1.48 results for a sodium-bonded (U,Pu)C homogeneous LMFBR with similar design criteria. Compound inventory doubling times for the homogeneous and heterogeneous (Th,U)C cores are 82 and 53 years, respectively. Additional performance parameters have also been compared, including sodium void worths, specific inventories, fissile material gains, and equilibrium cycle reactivity losses.

A series of maps has been compiled to document the structure and stratigraphy of the sediments underlying the high-level radioactive waste storage tank farms located within the Energy Research and Development Administration Hanford Reservation. The primary purpose of these maps is to provide basic geologic information to be utilized to evaluate the impact of suspected and confirmed tank leaks.

A theoretical model describing the flow of a solution that foams during tube flow was developed. The larger viscosity and smaller density of the foam phase relative to the original solution are responsible for the large resistance to flow that occurs when foaming takes place. The experimental observations of P.B. Rand and K.C. Goettsche that describe a maximum in flow rate as the temperature is increased are explained by the model. The temperature-dependence of the Freon 12 vapor pressure causes the decrease in flow rate at higher temperatures. Though the viscosities of the foam and solution may decrease with increasing temperature, the higher foaming pressure causes a larger proportion of the tube to be filled with the more viscous foam. The result is a reduced mass flow rate. The practical implications of this result on the high-temperature performance of a foam delivery system must be considered by the design engineer since foaming has the greatest detrimental effect under those conditions. (These polymer solution systems serve as access deterrents in the Safeguard program).

Using the self-consistent solutions of the Eliashberg theory, the limitations on the superconducting critical temperature T/sub c/ of isotropic superconductors are discussed.

Work to develop a telemetry link between a Sperry downwell geothermal turbo-pump and the well-head, without the requirement for cables within the pipe-string, is described. Two methods were studied, built, and tested in a well at Heber, California, during the first field tests on the pump. These were: (a) an acoustic scheme which transmitted a modulated 4 kHz acoustic carrier on the pipe-string and (b) an electromagnetic scheme which used the exhaust steam pipe annulus as a coaxial transmission line operating at 100 MHz. After some problems with the small alternator powering the electronics, acoustic signals from downwell were received on November 13, 1976, which showed that the pipe-string could form a channel with about 21 dB insertion loss over 900 feet. Although surface tests had showed that low loss electromagnetic transmission should also have been possible, no signals were received, probably because of low pump speed giving low power-supply voltage. Acoustic transmission is the more practical to install, and it was concluded that this technique does provide a convenient method for transmission of downwell pump conditions to the well-head. Future development work on the geothermal pump will include provision for this telemetry channel.

A technique was established for attaching non-beam lead semiconductor devices to metallized ceramic substrates for hybrid microcircuits (HMCs). Conductive and non-conductive epoxies were shown to be capable of high shear strengths after exposure to high temperatures (125 to 200/sup 0/C) for significant periods of time (48 to 168 h). Chip-on-tab devices attached to the substrate with Ablefilm 517 non-conductive epoxy was the technology chosen.

Proton spin-lattice relaxation times T/sub 1/ were measured over a wide range of temperature (77 K to 470 K) and compositions (H/Ta = 0.155 to 0.677) in the tantalum-hydrogen system at a frequency of 40,000 MHz. In the high temperature solid solution ..cap alpha.. phase, the activation energy for hydrogen diffusion was found to be 0.140 +- 0.002 eV/atom, and the value of the jump rate (or its corresponding correlation time) was found to be essentially constant throughout the range of compositions studied. The conduction electron contribution to T/sub 1/ measured in the ..cap alpha.. phase agreed qualitatively with the trend shown by previously published susceptibility data. The single phase epsilon region and the ..cap alpha.. + epsilon two-phase region were particularly noted. It could also be concluded from the measurements that the hydrogen jump rate decreased by a factor of approximately 7.2 from the ..cap alpha.. phase to the ordered phases at low temperatures and slightly decreased further in the epsilon phase. Anomalous relaxation times were found in the low temperature range (77 K less than or equal to T less than or equal to K). In this region, T/sub 1/ remains essentially constant, and does not follow the …

None

A direct spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of 20 to 200 g/l of uranium in the presence of 3 to 5 M nitric acid. A dual-wavelength analysis is used to eliminate the enhancing effect of nitrate ion on the uranium visible spectra. The precision and accuracy of the simultaneous analysis of uranium and nitrate were compared using combinations of the four uranium wavelength maxima, occurring at 426, 416, 403 and 359 nm. Calculations based on 426 and 416 nm data yielded the most accurate results. The calculated relative standard deviation of uranium and nitrate concentrations was 5.4 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively. The photometric procedure is slightly affected by temperature; an increase of one degree centigrade results in a 0.2 g/l overestimation of uranium concentration. Because the method is non-destructive, it is directly applicable to the continuous in-line analysis of dissolved uranium in aqueous fuel reprocessing streams.

Research efforts on the development of a mobile fermentation system centered on the evaluation of various start-up procedures. Although good gas production has been achieved with a system operated at 125/sup 0/F/51.7/sup 0/C and with a total volatile acid concentration of 2000 to 4000 mg/l, it is suggested that these conditions might cause stresses on the system that would make it more susceptible to failure. Progress in tests on start-up and operation of the system at 135/sup 0/F/57.2/sup 0/C and total volatile acid concentration of 1000 mg/l is reported. (JGB)

Separate abstracts were prepared for three of the included sections. (MOW)

Graphs of neutron-induced distributions have been generated, based on the data found in the Experimental Cross Section Information Library (ECSIL) as of April 1, 1977. Angular and energy distributions as well as Legendre coefficients have been presented for all secondary particles emitted from the nucleus (e.g., neutrons, protons, deuterons, etc.). The data have been plotted with error bars when they have been available.