Two applications of microfabrication technology to thermionic converters have been investigated theoretically. The first is a novel method of maintaining micron or submicron spacings over large areas (>1 cm/sup 2/), using metals of different expansion coefficients to eliminate the shear stresses on the insulating pillars separating the electrodes. The second uses low-voltage field-emission sources to create ions in a large (approx. 1 mm) interelectrode gap for space charge neutralization. The theoretical results for both these approaches are highly encouraging.

This report is compiled by the Nuclear Waste Treatment Progrqam and the Hanford Waste Vitrification Program at Pacific Northwest Laboratory to document progress on liquid-fed ceramic melter (LFCM) vitrification technology. Progress in the following technical subject areas during the second quarter of FY 1986 is discussed: melting process chemistry and glass development, feed preparation and transfer systems, melter systems, canister filling and handling systems, off-gas systems, and process/product modeling and control.

Toroidal magnetic field configuration in a gravitational field is calculated both from a simple force-balance and from the calculation using magnetic surfaces. The configuration is found which is positionally stable in a star. The vibrational frequency near the equilibrium point is proportional to the hydrostatic frequency of a star multiplied by the ratio (W/sub B//W/sub M/)/sup 1/2/ where W/sub B/ is the magnetic field energy density, and W/sub M/ is the material pressure at the equilibrium point. It is proposed that this frequency may account for the observed solar spot cycles.

Liquid-junction photoelectrochemical cells can be used either for the direct conversion of solar energy to electricity or to generate stored chemical species available for later electrochemical discharge. The objectives of this program are to identify experimental approaches for electrochemical photovoltaic cells that not only show promise of high power-conversion efficiencies but also have the potential to achieve long life and the capacity for energy storage. The work is organized as follows: (1) selection of high-efficiency semiconductor photoelectrode/electrolyte systems, (2) development of long-life electrochemical photovoltaic cells, (3) all solid-state electrochemical photovoltaic cell with in situ storage, and (4) demonstration of laboratory-size photoelectrochemical cell with redox storage. This program is directed toward identifying a suitable match between the proposed semiconductor and the redox species present in aqueous, nonaqueous, and solid electrolytes for achieving the necessary performance and semiconductor stability requirements. Emphasis is on aqueous electrolyte-based systems where fast kinetics are favored. The proposed systems will be compatible with convenient storage of the electroactive species generated and its later electrochemical discharge in a redox cell. Progress is reported.

The design of test hardware and process development unit (PDU) modifications had been completed previously. Task VII involves the fabrication of test hardware and the modification of an existing 1-ton/h hydroliquefaction PDU at Rockwell's facilities for use as a hydrogasifier test facility. Test hardware fabrication has been completed. Modifications to the PDU were completed in July 1984. The modified facility can accommodate both 10- and 20-ft-long hydrogasifier reactors so that residence times will be in the range of 2 to 6 s when coal is fed at a nominal 1/2 ton/h into reactors at 1000 psia pressure. Provisions have been made for real-time analysis of the product gases using an on-line gas chromatograph system. Separate supplies of coal, hydrogen, oxygen, methane, and water (for steam generation) are provided so that short duration (1 to 2 h) hydrogasification tests along with preburner assembly performance evaluation tests can be conducted to meet the overall test program objectives. Performance characterization testing of the preburner assembly and two coal reactor tests to establish FHP reactor performance at baseline (low-steam concentration) hydrogasification conditions have been completed. Three reactor tests to investigate steam enhancement effects were conducted during this report period. An important program milestone was …

This report summarizes the progress of the Exploratory Research on Solvent Refined Coal Liquefaction project by The Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Co.'s Merriam Laboratory during 1979. In a series of experiments with varying feed gas composition, low levels (5 to 10 mole %) of carbon monoxide had little effect on the SRC II processing of Pittsburgh Seam coal (Powhatan No. 5 Mine) while higher levels (20 to 40 mole %) resulted in a general degradation of operability and reduced oil yields. Addition of finely divided (approx. 1 ..mu..m) pyrite to the reactive Powhatan coal had little effect on oil yields although the molecular weight of the distillation residue was apparently decreased. When finely divided pyrite and magnetite were added to the less reactive coals from the Loveridge and Blacksville No. 1 Mines (also Pittsburgh Seam), however, substantial increases in oil yields and product quality were obtained. In a comparison of upflow and downflow dissolver configurations with Powhatan coal in the SRC II mode, there was no difference in yields or product quality. A study characterizing specific reactors revealed a significantly higher conversion in the SRC I mode with a reactor approximating plug flow conditions compared to a completely backmixed …

Thomson scattering of ruby laser light was used to measure electron temperatures and densities in the ELMO Bumpy Torus-Scale (EBT-S) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The measurements were made primarily during May 1980, although some were taken during January 1980. The scattering system, which was designed for very low electron density measurements, features a 14-J ruby laser, a high-throughput spectrometer, and 15% quantum efficiency photomultipliers. The measured electron densities lie in the range 5 X 10/sup 11/ cm/sup -3/ to 2.2 X 10/sup 12/ cm/sup -3/ with electron temperatures from 50 to 500 eV. The radial profiles of T/sub e/ and n/sub e/ are reasonably flat over an 8-cm region from the plasma center outward. The dependence of T/sub e/ and n/sub e/ on microwave power input and on background pressure is discussed. The electron data are used to derive approximate values of the energy confinement time.

This report is an examination of the equipment preferences and decision-making methodology of the coal industry. The prime purpose is to indicate directions in which equipment research might proceed and also to indicate methods by which investment in new, more productive mining equipment could be encouraged. In addition to this, an investigation of the research and development decisions of major mining equipment manufacturers was conducted. The findings can best be condensed into three categories: needs for equipment in underground mining, needs for equipment in surface mining, and the purchase decision by coal mine operators.

A Doppler-shift spectroscopy system has been installed on the TFTR neutral beam injection system to measure species composition during both conditioning and injection pulses. Two intensified vidicon detectors and two spectrometers are utilized in a system capable of resolving data from up to twelve ion sources simultaneously. By imaging the light from six ion sources onto one detector, a cost-effective system has been achieved. Fiber optics are used to locate the diagnostic in an area remote from the hazards of the tokamak test cell allowing continuous access, and eliminating the need for radiation shielding of electronic components. Automatic hardware arming and interactive data analysis allow beam composition to be computed between tokamak shots for use in analyzing plasma heating experiments. Measurements have been made using lines of sight into both the neutralizer and the drift duct. Analysis of the data from the drift duct is both simpler and more accurate since only neutral particles are present in the beam at this location. Comparison of the data taken at these two locations reveals the presence of partially accelerated particles possessing an estimated 1/e half-angle divergence of 15/sup 0/ and accounting for up to 30% of the extracted power.

Research is reported concerning: (1) engineering materials, including materials compatibility, mechanical properties, nondestructive testing, pressure vessel technology, and welding and brazing; (2) fuels and processes consisting of ceramic technology, fuel cycle technology, fuels evaluation, fuel fabrication and metals processing; and (3) materials science which includes, ceramic studies, physical metallurgy properties, radiation effects and microstructural analysis, metastable and superconducting materials, structure and properties of surfaces, theroretical research and x-ray research and applications. Highlights of the work of the metallographic group and the current state of the High-Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) and the Materials and Structures Technology Management Center (MSTMC) are presented. (FS)

A novel power cycle for direct conversion of alpha-particle energy into electricity is proposed for an ignited plasma in a stellarator reactor. The plasma column is alternately compressed and expanded in minor radius by periodic variation of the toroidal magnetic field strength. As a result of the way a stellarator is expected to work, the plasma pressure during expansion is greater than the corresponding pressure during compression. Therefore, negative work is done on the plasma during a complete cycle. This work manifests itself as a back-voltage in the toroidal field coils, and direct electrical energy is obtained from this voltage. For a typical reactor, the average power obtained from this cycle (with a minor radius compression factor on the order of 50%) can be as much as 50% of the electrical power obtained from the thermonuclear neutrons without compressing the plasma. Thus, if it is feasible to vary the toroidal field strength, the power cycle provides an alternative scheme of energy conversion for a deuterium-tritium fueled reactor. The cycle may become an important method of energy conversion for advanced neutron-lean fueled reactors. By operating two or more reactors in tandem, the cycle can be made self-sustaining.

Electron-microscope photographs of soot lend support to the picture in which a soot particle is modeled as a collection of chains of small carbon spheres. The soot particle itself is typically considerably larger than the small carbon spheres making up the chains. Thus the soot particles might have a size approx.0.1 - 1 ..mu..m while the small carbon spheres might have a size approx.0.03 ..mu..m in typical situations. Further, measurements of the density of soot yield values much less than that of normal carbon, indicating that an individual soot particle has a rather small filling factor, i.e., the fraction of the volume of the particle tht is occupied by chains. If a soot particle is taken to be a sphere partially filled with carbon chains, what are its scattering and absorption properties. Several workers have adopted the view that the net scattering and absorption properties can be determined simply by summing the cross-sections for the individual small carbon spheres. We feel that such a procedure cannot be valid in general because it neglects coherence effects among the various randomly located scatterers within the soot particle. It appears that in a first rough approximation the scattering and absorption properties of soot …

The photoneutron cross sections for /sup 3/H and /sup 3/He have been measured from threshold to approx. 25 MeV with monoenergetic photons from the annihilation in flight of fast positrons at the LLL Electron-Positron Linear Accelerator facility. These reactions include the two-body breakup of /sup 3/H and the three-body breakup of both /sup 3/H and /sup 3/He; these measurements for /sup 3/H are the first to span the energy region across the peaks of the cross sections. An efficient BF/sub 3/-tube-and-paraffin neutron detector and high-pressure gaseous samples of several moles each (the activity of the /sup 3/H sample was approx. 200,000 Ci) were employed in these measurements. Measurements on /sup 16/O and /sup 2/H also were performed to verify the absolute cross-section scale. The results, when compared with each other and with results for the two-body breakup cross section for /sup 3/He from the literature, show that the two-body breakup cross sections for /sup 3/H and /sup 3/He have nearly the same shape, but the one for /sup 3/He lies lower in magnitude; the three-body breakup cross section for /sup 3/He lies higher in magnitude and is broader in the peak region and also rises less sharply from threshold than …

The Tupelo quadrangle covers a region immediately east of the Mississippi River flood plain in the northernmost Gulf Coastal Physiographic Province. Sediments of Teritary and Paleozoic basins shoal eastward. Tertiary exposures dominate the western half of the quadrangle. Cretaceous strata are exposed over most of the eastern half. A search of available literature revealed no known uranium deposits. A total of eighty-six uranium anomalies were detected and are discussed briefly. Few were considered significant, and most appear to relate to some cultural feature. Magnetic data appears, for the most part, to be in agreement with existing structural interpretations of the region.

An assessment is presented of water requirements and water supply availability for a proposed Geothermal Binary Demonstration Electric Generation Project near Heber, California. The following topics are discussed: principal findings, project description, water supply and availability, and effects of the project. (MHR)

The design and operation of catalyst-sprayed tube wall reactors for methanation are discussed. Reactor tubes were either coated on the inner surface or on the outer surface with a Raney nickel catalyst. A liquid coolant, which was opposite the catalyst-reactant gas-side, removed the heat of methanation. Catalyst performance, reactor operating conditions, spent catalyst analyses, and other results are presented for five PDU tests.

Between March 1 and June 15, 1980, the declared size of the commercial light waste reactor (LWR) nuclear power industry in the US has decreased another 9 GWe. For the presently declared size: the 165 declared reactors will peak at a capacity of 153 GWe in 2001 and will consume about 870,000 MTU as enrichment feed; the theoretical rate of enrichment requirements will peak at about 19,000,000 SWUs/y in the year 2014; as few as two repositories each with capacity equivalent to 100,000 MTU would hold the waste; and predisposal storage reactor basins and AFRs (away-from-reactor basins) would peak at <85,000 MTU in the year 2020 if the two respositories were commissioned in the years 1997 and 2020. It should be noted that the number of declared LWRs has dropped from 226 on December 31, 1974 to 165 as of this writing. The oil equivalent of the energy loss, assuming a 50% efficiency in use as in cars, is 17,000 million barrels. This is about 10 years of the current rate of US consumption of OPEC oil.

The measurement of the following thermophysical properties of Utah tar sands is in progress: thermal conductivity, specific heat relative permeability, and viscosity (of the recovered bitumen). During the report period (October 1, 1978 to November 1, 1979), experimental procedures have been developed and a basic data set has been measured. Additionally, standard core analysis has been performed for four drill sites in the Asphalt Ridge, Utah area.

The report presents a brief synopsis and discussion of wildlife activities undertaken by Bonneville Power Administration. The objectives of the program were wildlife protection, mitigation, and enhancement planning; and implementation of actions to protect, mitigate, and enhance wildlife affected by development and operation of hydroelectric facilities in the Columbia River Basin. (ACR)

Technological limitations restrict the commercial availability of US geothermal resources and prevent effective evaluation of large resources, as magma, to meet future US needs. The US Department of Energy has asked Sandia to serve as the lead laboratory for research in Geothermal Technologies and Magma Energy Extraction. In addition, technology development and field support has been provided to the US Continental Scientific Drilling Program. Published results for this work from January 1984 through December 1985 are listed in this bibliography.

A program was initiated to develop the arc saw as a tool capable of removing the end fittings from spent nuclear fuel bundles. A special arc saw for this purpose was designed, installed at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory and satisfactorily operated to remove end fittings from simulated, nonradioactive fuel bundles. The design of the arc saw included consideration of the cutting environment, power supply size, control equipment, and work piece size. Several simulated fuel bundles were cut to demonstrate that the arc saw met design specifications. Although the arc saw development program was curtailed before significant performance data could be collected, tests indicate that the arc saw is a good means of cropping spent fuel bundles and is well suited to remote operation and maintenance.

In high ..beta.. stellarator and tokamak reactors, the plasma pressure gradient in some regions of the plasma may exceed the critical pressure gradient set by ballooning instabilities. In these regions, convective cells break out to enhance the transport. As a result, the pressure gradient can rise only slightly above the critical gradient and the plasma is in another state of equilibrium - ''convective equilibrium'' - in these regions. Although the convective transport cannot be calculated precisely, it is shown that the density and temperature profiles in the convective region can still be estimated. A simple mixing-length theory, similar to that used for convection in stellar interiors, is introduced in this paper to provide a qualitative description of the convective cells and to show that the convective transport is highly efficient. A numerical example for obtaining the density and temperature profiles in a stellarator reactor is given.

This progress report is compiled from major contributions from three programs: (1) the Advanced Fuel Recycle Program at ORNL; (2) the Converter Fuel Reprocessing Program at Savannah River Laboratory; and (3) the reprocessing components of the HTGR Fuel Recycle Program, primarily at General Atomic and ORNL. The coverage is generally overview in nature; experimental details and data are limited.

Intermediate-level waste solution generated at ORNL is periodically mixed with a cement-base blend of dry solids and injected into an impermeable shale formation at an approximate depth of 240 m (800 ft). The grout mix sets shortly after the injection, permanently fixing the radionuclides in the shale formation. A series of four injections of intermediate-level waste solution was made between 1977 and 1979. A total of 1.2 million l (314,000 gal) of waste solution containing 81,780 Ci of radionuclides was injected. This report is an account of this injection series - preparations, injections, results, and conclusions. The volumes and activities that were injected are summarized. In Injection ILW-15 a small leak of grout to the waste pit eroded the drain valves and forced a shutdown of the injection while repairs were made. The injection was completed 2 days later. Injection ILW-16 was terminated about two-thirds through the injection when the diesel drive of the injection pump blew a connecting rod through the block. The facility and well were washed down with the standby pump. Prior to Injection ILW-17, air pads were installed on all bulk solids storage bins. All subsequent injections have been marked by a much more even flow …