Observations on the effects of water level fluctuations in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, Washington, were made in 1976 and 1977. The two years provided contrasting flow regimes: high water and fluctuations of greater magnitude prevailed in 1976; low water and higher temperatures prevailed in 1977. Situations where fish and other aquatic organisms were destroyed by changing water levels were observed and evaluated each year in three study areas: Hanford, F-Area, and White Bluffs sloughs. Losses primarily were due to stranding, entrapment (with or without complete dewatering), and predation. Juvenile fish were more susceptible to entrapment and stranding than were adult fish. Estimates of actual losses were biased and conservative because relatively few fish could be found after each decline of water level and dewatering. The most valued species of fish affected by water level fluctuations at Hanford were the anadromus fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and the resident smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui). Crucial periods for chinook salmon occurred during winter when incubating eggs were in the gravel of the main channel, and before and during seaward migration in the spring when fry were abundant in shoreline zones. The crucial period for smallmouth bass was during spring and …

Field experiments are underway to determine the behavioral mechanisms by which largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, respond to rapid temperature changes in their natural environment. Laboratory experiments are clarifying the relationship between basking behavior of the turtle, Pseudemys scripta and its nutritional state. Important progress has been made in the development and miniaturization of a multichannel, temperature sensing, radio transmitter for fish. Theoretical analysis and mathematical modeling have defined the realized and fundamental climate space of P. scripta and allows the prediction of the behavior of this turtle.

A positive, northeast-trending gravity anomaly, 90 km long and 30 km wide, extends southwest from the Zuni uplift, New Mexico. The Zuni-Bandera volcanic field, an alignment of 74 basaltic vents, is parallel to the eastern edge of the anomaly. Lavas display a bimodal distribution of tholeiitic and alkalic compositions, and were erupted over a period from 4 Myr to present. A residual gravity profile taken perpendicular to the major axis of the anomaly was analyzed using linear programming and ideal body theory to obtain bounds on the density contrast, depth, and minimum thickness of the gravity body. Two-dimensionality was assumed. The limiting case where the anomalous body reaches the surface gives 0.1 g/cm/sup 3/ as the greatest lower bound on the maximum density contrast. If 0.4 g/cm/sup 3/ is taken as the geologically reasonable upper limit on the maximum density contrast, the least upper bound on the depth of burial is 3.5 km and minimum thickness is 2 km. A shallow mafic intrusion, emplaced sometime before Laramide deformation, is proposed to account for the positive gravity anomaly. Analysis of a magnetotelluric survey suggests that the intrusion is not due to recent basaltic magma associated with the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field. This …

Retort No. 23 has been heavily instrumented and was ignited on March 16, 1981. A total of 6588 barrels of shale oil have been recovered from Retort No. 24 to date; 6057 barrels of oil were recovered during the quarter, an average of 65 barrels per day. Approximately 4909 barrels of shale oil were shipped by tanker truck to the WESRECO refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the quarter. Drilling of re-entry process and instrumentation wells on Retort No. 25 was completed. A post-burn core sampling program for Retort No. 18 was developed and implemented.

Flexural and tensile tests were performed on PGX graphite oxidized to produce a steep surface oxidation gradient. Companion tensile specimens were oxidized under different conditions to produce uniform oxidation throughout the specimen, and their tensile strength and Young's modulus were measured. The flexural strength, flexural elastic modulus, and tensile strength were reduced much less by surface oxidation than by uniform oxidation. The test data were in good agreement with a simple linear elastic model in which Young's modulus at any point is a function of oxidation burnoff, and the strain at failure is independent of oxidation. The unoxidized interior of the specimens appears unaffected by the surface burnoff and remains able to fulfill its load-bearing function. 18 figures, 8 tables.

Peat in situ contains up to 90% moisture, with about 50% of this moisture trapped as a colloidal gel. This colloidal moisture cannot be removed by conventional dewatering methods (filter presses, etc.) and must be removed by thermal drying, solvent extraction, or solar drying before the peat can be utilized as a fuel feedstock for direct combustion or gasification. To circumvent the drying problem, alternative technologies such as wet oxidation, wet carbonization, and biogasification are possible for producing energy or enhanced fuel from peat. This report describes these three alternative technologies, calculates material balances for given raw peat feed rates of 1000 tph, and evaluates the environmental consequences of all process effluent discharges. Wastewater discharges represent the most significant effluent due to the relatively large quantities of water removed during processing. Treated process water returned to the harvested bog may force in situ, acidic bog water into recieving streams, disrupting local aquatic ecosystems.

Chemical compositional specifications have been generated for inert gases which reduce drill string corrosion when used in conjunction with mist drilling processes. These specifications are based on the assumption that the corrosion rate is dependent on the dissolved gaseous species concentrations. Data taken both from the literature and from a mist drilling field test with nitrogen in Valle Grande, NM, relate corrosion rates to fluid compositions. These solution compositions are then associated with gas phase compositions using equilibrium data available from the literature and material balances. Two sources of gas were considered: cryogenically purified nitrogen from air and exhaust gas from a diesel engine, which contain (in addition to N/sub 2/ and O/sub 2/) CO/sub 2/, NO/sub x/, SO/sub 2/, H/sub 2/O, and CO. A maximum concentration of 50 ppM O/sub 2/ in the gas phase is recommended to alleviate pitting corrosion.

The rift structure, volcanism, and earthquake activity of the Rio Grande Rift are reviewed. (MHR)

In response to Task A.63 of the International Safeguards Project Office (ISPO), to upgrade measurement technology used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a portable data-reduction microprocessor was designed and programmed which allows in-field reduction of gamma-ray spectra and interfaces with the IAEA's multichannel analyzers - the 1000 or 2000-channel memory Silena BS27/N. This report describes the components used in assembling the microprocessor unit: hardware, software used to control the unit, and the mathematical formulation used to obtain isotopic ratios from the gamma-ray data. A simple overview is presented of the unit's operation and the results of tests on gamma-ray spectra that sought to verify the unit's operating characteristics and to determine the precision and effectiveness of the software developed for data reduction.

As part of LLNL's program on radionuclide migration through fractured rock, major geologic discontinuities have been mapped and characterized at the 420 m level in the Climax Stock, adjacent to LLNL's Spent Fuel Test. Persistence or continuity of features was the principal sampling criterion, and ninety major fractures and faults were mapped in the main access and tail drifts. Although the purpose and nature of this study was different from previous fracture surveys in the Climax Stock, the results are generally consistent in that three predominant fracture sets are identified: NW strike/vertical, NE strike/vertical, NW strike/subhorizontal. The frequency of major features in the main access drift is somewhat higher than in the tail drift. Those mapped in the main access drift are generally braided, stepped, or en echelon, while those in the tail drift appear to be more distinct and planar. Several of the fractures in the tail drift lie in the NE/vertical set, while most form an entirely different set oriented N5E/55NW. Subhorizontal fractures were common to both drifts. An area of seepage associated with some of these low-angle features was mapped in the main access drift.

The objective of the program reported herein was to provide a Safety Analysis of the 1000 lb/day PDU located in Building 83 at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center. Risks to personnel from potential process hazards are largely controlled by installation of a major portion of the unit within a hot cell. This segregates and isolates personnel from a majority of potential equipment rupture and fire/explosion hazards. Equipment within the cell is subject to potential risks associated with overpressurization or excessively high temperature, and fire/explosion due to ignition of leaking flammable gas (i.e. H/sub 2/). There are some existing safeguards designed to protect against overpressure or high temperature. Additional safeguards are offered to minimize these risks. The hot cell is provided with general dilution ventilation and hydrogen monitoring. However, confinement effects and potential ignition sources are such that avoidance of formation and ignition of flammable mixtures cannot be assured. Potential health hazards relate to contact with coal-derived liquids or inhalation of irritant or toxic gases, vapors, or dusts, associated with slurry preparation, sampling, draw down of catch-pots, or cleaning of centrifuge bowls. No particularly serious workplace safety hazards were identified, and environmental concerns are largely limited by the relatively low throughput …

The flash photolysis resonance (FP-RF) technique was used to reexamine the Cl-H/sub 2/ system, (Cl + H/sub 2/ ..-->.. H + HCl), to eliminate wall effects encountered in the flow reactor. With the FP-RF technique, the reactions takes place in the center of the cell at a rate which is typically two orders of magnitude faster than the rate of diffusion to the walls. Fromthis study, it was concluded that the ratio of the forward to the reverse rate constant is equal to the equilibrium constant. The measurement of the rate constant of the reaction Cl + D/sub 2/ ..-->.. D + HCl was the second study carried out during FY 1981. Below 250/sup 0/K, an anomalous departure from Arrhenius behavior in the equilibrium constant, K/sub D/, was observed. This was attributed to an impurity in the deuterium gas. While the possibility that some highly reactive impurity is responsible for the anomalous temperature cannot be completely ruled out, it does appear that the non-Arrhenius behavior is real. A possible explanation of the data is that long range attractive forces increase the reactive cross section at low kinetic energies. For the faster H/sub 2/ this effect would occur only at lower …

Samples of SRC-II naphtha, middle distillate, and heavy distillate were received and analyzed. These samples are part of a planned study of the potential biological hazards of synthetic crudes. These oils will be hydrotreated when DOE provides blending instructions. Five drums of EDS syncrude made from Big Brown Texas lignite were received and analyzed. The boiling range and other properties of this syncrude are very similar to the properties of the previously studied H-Coal and SRC-II syncrudes. The hydrotreating severities, which were employed to upgrade the H-Coal and SRC-II syncrudes to transportation fuels, are expected to be close to the severities needed for the EDS syncrude.

The objective of the program reported herein was to provide a Safety Analysis of the CSTR-1 bench scale unit located in Building 167 at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center. It was apparent that considerable effort was expended in the design and construction of the unit, and in the development of operating procedures, with regard to safety. Exhaust ventilation, H/sub 2/ and H/sub 2/S monitoring, overpressure protection, overtemperature protection, and interlock systems have been provided. Present settings on the pressure and temperature safety systems are too high, however, to insure prevention of vessel deformation or damage in all cases. While the occurrence of catastrophic rupture of a system pressure vessel (e.g., reactor, high pressure separators) is unlikely, the potential consequences to personnel are severe. Feasibility of providing shielding for these components should be considered. A more probable mode of vessel failure in the event of overpressure or overtemperature and failure of the safety system is yielding of the closure bolts followed by high pressure flow across the mating surfaces. As a minimum, shielding should be designed to restrict travel of resultant spray. The requirements for personal protective equipment are presently stated in rather broad and general terms in the operating procedures. …

To help confirm correct functioning of an epithermal neutron sonde, we measured tightly bonded water content of selected Nevada Test Site (NTS) drill holes. Tuff and alluvium samples were dried overnight at 105/sup 0/C. The samples were then heated for 45 min in a split tube furnace at 700/sup 0/C. The water that came off due to this heating was collected and the amount recorded. The error in this procedure is +- 0.59 wt %. Total water can be calculated for samples from analyses of free and tightly bonded water contents. The maximum error in this calculation is equivalent to the error in determining the more tightly bonded water. Average total water content values have been assigned to geologic units. These values, in weight fraction, are alluvium 0.14 +- .05 and tuff 0.19 +- .04. Further division of the tuff gives values of Rainier Mesa 0.15 +- .01, Paintbrush 0.18 +- .03, Tunnel Beds 0.20 +- .04, and Grouse Canyon 0.29 +- .02. Statistically significant differences occur between the tuff and alluvium. Within the tuffs, these differences also occur between Grouse Canyon, Rainier Mesa, and Paintbrush/Tunnel Beds. Paintbrush and Tunnel Beds cannot be distinguished by this method.

This report describes the application of NMR spectroscopy to the chemical characterization without prior chromatographic separation of jet fuels and various fuel blends containing varying amounts of paraffinic and aromatic constituents. Equations are derived by which the total percent paraffins and aromatics as well as percent monoaromatics and diaromatics can be calculated. Computer programs for the various calculations are included. The results obtained by NMR are compared to those obtained by MS.

Geohydrologic Response Functions (GRFs) interrelate the three vital factors needed in the repository decision-making process: the quantity, arrival time, and location of contamination reaching the biosphere. GRFs further focus attention upon two related and additive parameters: the initial delay time and delay spread time. After the principal site selection, the GRFs may be applied to obtain more detailed performance evaluations concerning specific nuclides or waste components, specific results for various types of accidental release, and effects of a variety of contaminant source terms or leach models. The response functions may be applied to consider contaminant reductions and delays through material sorption as well as through a variety of other interactions and effects.

The purpose of this volume is to be helpful in providing a comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of contract types and agreements, including a consideration of small purchase procedures and multiyear procurement. In both format and content, it is designed to help those persons who influence the determination of the types of contracts and agreements to be employed in acquiring goods and services for the Department of Energy. Information is presented on selecting and negotiating types of contract compensation arrangements; fixed-price type contract compensation arrangements, including small purchases and multiyear procurement; cost-reimbursement type contract compensation arrangements; other types of contract compensation agreements; and basic agreements and basic ordering agreements. (LCL)

Environmental control aspects relating to release of radionuclides have been analyzed for the Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR). Information on environmental control systems was obtained for the most recent GCFR designs, and was used to evaluate the adequacy of these systems. The GCFR has been designed by the General Atomic Company as an alternative to other fast breeder reactor designs, such as the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR). The GCFR design includes mixed oxide fuel and helium coolant. The environmental impact of expected radionuclide releases from normal operation of the GCFR was evaluated using estimated collective dose equivalent commitments resulting from 1 year of plant operation. The results were compared to equivalent estimates for the Light Water Reactor (LWR) and High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR). A discussion of uncertainties in system performances, tritium production rates, and radiation quality factors for tritium is included.

A key aspect of high-level liquid-waste spray calcination is waste-feed atomization by using air atomizing nozzles. Atomization substantially increases the heat transfer area of the waste solution, which enhances rapid drying. Experience from the spray-calciner operations has demonstrated that nozzle flow conditions that produce 70-..mu.. median-volume-diameter or smaller spray droplets are required for small-scale spray calciners (drying capacity less than 80 L/h). For large-scale calciners (drying capacity greater than 300 L/h), nozzle flow conditions that produce 100-..mu.. median-volume-diameter or smaller spray droplets are required. Mass flow ratios of 0.2 to 0.4, depending on nozzle size, are required for proper operation of internal-mix atomizing nozzles. Both internal-mix and external-mix nozzles have been tested at PNL. Due to the lower airflow requirements and fewer large droplets produced, the internal-mix nozzle has been chosen for primary development in the spray calciner program at PNL. Several nozzle air-cap materials for internal-mix nozzles have been tested for wear resistance. Results show that nozzle air caps of stainless steel and Cer-vit (a machineable glass ceramic) are suceptible to rapid wear by abrasive slurries, whereas air caps of alumina and reaction-bonded silicon nitride show only slow wear. Longer-term testing is necessary to determine more accurately the actual …

The optimal SYNROC compositons for use with commercial waste are reviewed. Large amounts of powder (about 2.5 kg) were prepared by convention al ceramic operations to test the SYNROC concept on a processing scale. Samples, 15.2 cm in diameter, were hot pressed in graphite, and representative samples were cut for microstructural evaluations. Measured mechanical and thermophysical properties did not vary significantly as a function of sample location and were typical of titanate ceramic materials.

Theoretical computation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory's critical assembly THOR (a thorium-reflected plutonium sphere) yields a high eigenvalue when compared to the experimentally measured eigenvalue. Several calculational improvements are investigated in an effort to reduce the discrepancy. Finally, the experimental procedure of reducing the raw configuration to clean specifications is reviewed.

This report describes models and analyses devised at Los Alamos National Laboratory to determine the technical characteristics of different inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor elements required for component integration into a functional unit. We emphasize the generic properties of the different elements rather than specific designs. The topics discussed are general ICF reactor design considerations; reactor cavity phenomena, including the restoration of interpulse ambient conditions; first-wall temperature increases and material losses; reactor neutronics and hydrodynamic blanket response to neutron energy deposition; and analyses of loads and stresses in the reactor vessel walls, including remarks about the generation and propagation of very short wavelength stress waves. A discussion of analytic approaches useful in integrations and optimizations of ICF reactor systems concludes the report.

Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in muntjac chromosomes is generally proportional to the chromosomal DNA content, but the SCE frequency is reduced in the heterochromatic neck region of the X chromosome. The physical properties of muntjac DNA and the kinetics of repair of UV damage in muntjac heterochromatin and euchromatin were examined and compared with the distribution of sister chromatid exchange.