Plutonium assay differences are frequently observed between laboratories exchanging plutonium dioxide powders. These differences are commonly the result of chemical changes and/or nonhomogeneities in sampled materials. The irregularities are often caused by moisture absorption during sampling, packaging, shipment, and storage of the materials. A method is proposed which eliminates the effects of chemical change in samples, particularly moisture absorption, and minimizes sampling error. A nondestructive thermal watts/gram test on every preweighed sampled and total dissolution of these samples for chemical assay are the primary features which make this method effective. Because this method minimizes the error related to exchange material, it is possible to design an interlaboratory exchange program which demonstrates the assay capabiliies of the participants. In an experiment performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, three PuO/sub 2/ batches of varying isotopic composition were synthesized at Mound to be used in the exchange tess. Powder sample aliquots from each batch were weighed directly into their vials under controlled atmospheric conditions. Calorimetric heat measurements were made on each vial to test homogeneity and verify sample weight. Six vials of each batch were chemically assayed at Mound and six at NBL (New Brunswick Laboratory). Both laboratories chose controlled-potential coulometry …

The 50-megawatt Baca geothermal demonstration powerplant project, located in northern New Mexico, was the Department of Energy's (DOE's) initial effort to demonstrate geothermal powerplant technology. The project, started in 1978, was believed to have a high probability of success, and its cost was to be shared equally with the industry participants. GAO's review showed that the project was terminated in January 1982 because sufficient geothermal steam to operate the powerplant could not be obtained. The early termination resulted in DOE paying a disproportionate share - $45 million, or 64% - of the $70 million spent on the project because it had paid the majority of the powerplant-related costs at that time. However, a portion of these costs may be recovered through the sale of powerplant equipment. DOE indicated that it learned lessons from this experience and will act to prevent these problems from occurring on other projects.

The purpose of the ARC78 forecasts and the ways in which they differ from those in the ARC77 are discussed. In a preliminary overview of the projection process, the relationship between energy prices, supply, and demand is addressed. Topics treated in detail include a description of energy-economic interactions, assumptions regarding world oil prices, and energy modeling in the long term beyond 1995. Subsequent sections present the general approach and methodology underlying the forecasts, and define and describe the alternative projection series and their associated assumptions. Short-term forecasting, midterm forecasting, long-term forecasting of petroleum, coal, and gas supplies are included. The role of nuclear power as an energy source is also discussed.

One of the possible options for generating electrical energy from ocean thermal gradients requires the use of a floating offshore platform. The platform would contain all OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) systems and power cycle components and consist of the hull, seawater, station-keeping, platform service, and mission support subsystems. It would be stationed at one of the designated OTEC sites, and would transmit the generated electricity to the shore power networks by means of an electrical transmission cable. The objective of the present study is to investigate the station-keeping subsystem (SKSS) requirements and develop preliminary SKSS designs for the two Modular Experiment Plant (MEP) candidates of 10/40 MW/sub e/ capacity for deployment at a specific site. The two MEP hull candidates are a Barge type platform and a Spar shaped hull with external heat exchangers. The specific site assigned for this study is Puerto Rico. The preliminary SKSS designs are developed for both platforms as follows: (1) an 8-leg spread catenary mooring system for the Spar, and (2) a 12-leg spread catenary mooring system for the Barge. Applicability of these designs to larger capacity commercial OTEC platforms is also investigated.

This volume presents the results of the first phase of the Station Keeping Subsystem (SKSS) design study for 40 MW/sub e/ capacity Modular Experiment OTEC Platforms. The objectives of the study were: (1) establishment of basic design requirements; (2) verification of technical feasibility of SKSS designs; (3) identification of merits and demerits; (4) estimates of sizes for major components; (5) estimates of life cycle costs; (6) deployment scenarios and time/cost/risk assessments; (7) maintenance/repair and replacement scenarios; (8) identifications of interface with other OTEC subsystems; (9) recommendations for and major problems in preliminary design; and (10) applicability of concepts to commercial plant SKSS designs. A brief site suitability study was performed with the objective of determining the best possible location at the Punta Tuna (Puerto Rico) site from the standpoint of anchoring. This involved studying the vicinity of the initial location in relation to the prevailing bottom slopes and distances from shore. All subsequent studies were performed for the final selected site. The two baseline OTEC platforms were the APL BARGE and the G and C SPAR. The results of the study are presented in detail. The overall objective of developing two conceptual designs for each of the two baseline OTEC …

This report documents the technical evaluation of the monitoring of electric power to the reactor protection system (RPS) at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The evaluation is to determine if the proposed design modification will protect the RPS from abnormal voltage and frequency conditions which could be supplied from the power supplies and will meet certain requirements set forth by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The proposed design modifications will protect the RPS from sustained abnormal voltage and frequency conditions from the supplying sources.

Minutes of the April 29, 1980, meeting of the American National Standards Institute steering committee on solar energy standards development are given. Attachments include correspondence from individuals and organizations which primarily describe the Solar Public Interest Coordination Committee (SPICC) and its recent activities. Also a report on the meeting of the ANSI subcommittee on international activity is attached. (WHK)

This volume of the report presents the results of the third through the sixth tasks of the Station Keeping Subsystem (SKSS) design studies for 10/40 MW/sub e/ capacity OTEC Modular Experiment platforms (MEP). Tasks 3 through 6 are: (3) complete preliminary designs for one SKSS for each of the two platforms (SPAR and BARGE); (4) development and testing recommendations for the MEP SKSS; (5) cost-time analysis; and (6) commercial plant recommendations. The overall conclusions and recommendations for the modular, as well as the commercial, OTEC platform station keeping subsystems are delineated. The basic design assumptions made during the process, the technical approach followed, and the results of design iterations, reliability and performance analyses are given. A complete description of the preliminary design SKSS concept is presented. The summary cost estimates for each of the alternative SKSS concepts considered are presented and a time schedule for the recommended concept is provided. The effects of varying some of the important parameters used in SKSS design on the performance and cost of the mooring system are investigated and results presented. The tests required and other developmental recommendations in order to verify and confirm the basic design assumptions are discussed. Finally, the experience gained …

Directions are given for a simple ventilation system to bring cool basement air to the living areas. Some results are given for electrical consumption for air conditioning before and after the retrofitting. (MHR)

More rigorous nuclear analysis, including the treatment of resonance self-shielding effects coupled with an optimization procedure, has resulted in improved performance of the Be/Li/Th blanket. Net U-233 breeding ratio has increased 36% (to 0.84) while at a U/Th ratio of 0.25 a/o energy multiplication has increased 12% (to 2.1) compared with earlier results.

The objective of the small-scale group of tests is to demonstrate that sodium will drain from the surface of the fire suppression deck into the catch pan without interference during a spill event, and to demonstrate that burning is terminated following the spill event by the accumulation of combustion products inside the drain pipes. The results of this series of tests will be used to validate the catch pan fire suppression deck design concept based on the criteria that sodium will drain freely from the surface of the fire suppression deck and that burning is terminated in an acceptably short time (less than or equal to 36 h). The objective of the large-scale group of tests is to provide experimental data on the consequences of sodium spills using prototypic leak rates and to demonstrate the effectiveness of a large-scale fire suppression Q-deck assembly.

This volume contains appendices to the Station Keeping Subsystem design study for the 40 MeW Modular Experiment OTEC platforms. Appendices presented include: detailed drag calculations; sample CALMS computer printouts for SPAR and BARGE static analyses; sample time domain computer printouts (Hydromechanics, Inc.) program; extreme value and fatigue load calculations; anchor design calculations; deployment calculations; bottom slope plots; time domain analysis report by Hydromechanics Inc.; detailed cost analysis; control systems study report by Sperry Systems Management; cost estimates for model basin tests; and hydrodynamic loading on the mooring cables. (WHK)

Integral experiments performed at the Institute for Reactor Development at Juelich, West Germany, have raised doubts about the adequacy of current nuclear data and calculational methods in predicting neutron multiplication and leakage from beryllium assemblies bombarded with 14-MeV neutrons. Experimental values of inferred neutron multiplication were reported to be less than calculated values by approx. 25%. We have performed calculations of the experiments using the TART Monte Carlo code. The ratio of measured leakage multiplication to our calculated leakage multiplication is 0.85 for 8-cm-thick beryllium and 0.99 for 12-cm-thick beryllium. However, much uncertainty exists in the procedure leading to the stated experiment values of apparent multiplication. We also performed calculations for a series of experiments done at LLNL from 1955 to 1956. A 14-MeV neutron source was placed in the center of a cylindrical beryllium assembly 8 in. in radius and 24 in. in height. The beryllium assembly was encased in an aluminum can surrounded by a manganese bath. The ratio of experimental to calculated neutron leakage multiplication is 0.88. Much uncertainty exists in both series of experiments.

This report presents the results of Task IA of the Energy Use in Office Buildings Project: an analysis in tabular form of the 1977 office building energy use data base of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). BOMA's approximately 4000 members directly manage over 500 million ft/sup 2/ of commercial office space, which is approximately 16% of total commercial office building space. BOMA annually collects data on office building characteristics and operating performance for presentation in its Experience Exchange Report. Data are collected from BOMA member and non-member buildings electing to participate in the reporting process; and, in addition, a number of Federal, state, and local government buildings have been participating since 1977. Summaries of the data are published by BOMA on an aggregate basis; the summaries, which are developed on a city or regional basis, provide a benchmark for use by building managers in comparing the results of specific building operations with the industry's aggregate experience. Access to the 1977 BOMA data base was obtained under a subcontract with BOMA. Data for 1342 buildings - 1059 commercial office buildings and 283 government office buildings in the United States and Canada - were delivered. Of the 1059 commercial office …

The beam breakup mode has been observed and measured on ETA. Comparison between the measurements and the results of a computer code indicate that the beam breakup instability will be the most important limitation on current transport thru ATA. ETA Experiments that will enable a more accurate determination of the magnitude of the instability on ATA are discussed.

Work on getting the Brookhaven National Laboratories computer program for modeling ground coil performance operational is described. Arrangements made to sink two 40 ft vertical wells for soil temperature measurements are described. Methods for evaluating the effect of pipe diameter, length, spacing, and material were investigated. Calculation results are shown. (MHR)

In the absence of coupling, beam emittance in the horizontal plane is given by the determinant of the beam sigma matrix. Dispersion introduced from the damping ring complex modifies the projection of the beam onto the horizontal phase space plane. These changes to the sigma matrix result in a larger apparent emittance. This can be expressed as a factor, F, times the zero eta - eta' emittance. It is generally believed that an eta - eta' contribution to the emittance of F + 1.10 will adversely affect the performance of the SLC.

This bibliography covers the field of electrical discharges in vacuum, comprising both electrical breakdown in vacuum and vacuum arcs. A brief review section lists some review papers which would be helpful to the novice in this field. The bulk of the paper consists of bibliographic listings, arranged by year of publication and within each year, alphabetically by first author. An author index refers one to all papers authored or coauthored by a particular person. There are 2450 papers listed through December 1980.

We propose to investigate new methods of particle acceleration using a short-pulse CO{sub 2} laser as the power source and grating-like structures as accelerator cavities''. Phase I of this program is intended to demonstrate the principle of the method. We will focus the laser light to a 3 mm line on the surface of the microstructure. The structure is used to transform the electric field pattern of the incoming transversely polarized laser beam to a mode which has a component along the electron beam direction in the vicinity of the surface. With 6 mJ of laser energy and a 6 ps pulse length, the electric field in the spot will be around 1 GV/m. The electron beam from the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) will be focused transversely within the few micron transverse dimension of the microstructure. The maximum expected acceleration for a 1 GV/m field and a 3 mm acceleration length is 3 MeV. 17 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs.

A three-dimensional thermal analysis using finite difference techniques was performed to determine the near-field response of a baseline spent fuel repository in a deep geologic salt medium. A baseline design incorporates previous thermal modeling experience and OWI recommendations for areal thermal loading in specifying the waste form properties, package details, and emplacement configuration. The base case in this thermal analysis considers one 10-year old PWR spent fuel assembly emplaced to yield a 36 kW/acre (8.9 W/m/sup 2/) loading. A unit cell model in an infinite array is used to simplify the problem and provide upper-bound temperatures. Boundary conditions are imposed which allow simulations to 1000 years. Variations studied include a comparison of ventilated and unventilated storage room conditions, emplacement packages with and without air gaps surrounding the canister, and room cool-down scenarios with ventilation following an unventilated state for retrieval purposes. It was found that at this low-power level, ventilating the emplacement room has an immediate cooling influence on the canister and effectively maintains the emplacement room floor near the temperature of the ventilating air.

The papers included in this progress report summarize some significant developments in understanding the South Atlantic Bight. Some of the results are summarized as follows: Onslow Bay flushing rates can be determined using a model based on an exponential dilution model; eddy induced nitrate flux accounts for most input of new nitrogen into shelf waters; and tarballs in the Gulf Stream are not transported to the nearshore because of an apparent inner shelf density front.

This report describes work accomplished under two tasks: Task A, mechanisms of donor-solvent coal liquefaction, and Task B, CO/H/sub 2/O conversion systems. Under Task A, we describe additional evidence relating to the question of the mechanism of the iron oxide catalyzed cleavage of hydroxydiphenylmethanes. o-Hydroxydiphenylmethane is relatively more sensitive to catalysis by Fe/sub 3/O/sub 4/, a possible one electron oxidant, and triphenylmethane is relatively more sensitive to catalyzed cleavage by SiO/sub 2//Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, a strong Bronsted acid catalyst. This provides further evidence that in the former case the reactions of radical cations are important in the cleavage mechanism. Tests with Cr/sub 2/O/sub 3/ show it to be ineffective under our reaction conditions as a catalyst for hydroxydiphenylmethane cleavage. We have also used the decomposition of diphenylether in tetralin, which we have previously shown to occur by a radical displacement reaction, as an indicator of steady state radical concentration in tetralin. The results of these experiments indicate that radical concentrations in tetralin are not significantly increased by spiking the tetralin with 1,2-dihydronaphthalene. This in turn suggests that rapid disproportionation of 1,2-dihydronaphthalene to tetralin and naphthalene takes place by way of a concerted reaction, in addition to a slower radical disproportionation …

In this report we investigate in some detail the geometry and the cost of two modifications in the configuration of the SSC. 3 refs., 7 figs.

This letter report was prepared in accordance with the scope of work for the preconceptual seismic evaluation of the (..cap alpha.. + T) Tandem Mirror Fusion Machine concrete vault. The scope of the work was developed with the assistance of the Bechtel site representative Dr. Sunil Ghose. The report contains comments and preconceptual recommendations on wall upgrading for an 150-ton crane installation, concrete vault seismic capability for (..cap alpha.. + T) conditions, and recommendations for future work.