The basic ideas and theoretical methods used in the description of hot nuclei are reviewed. In particular, a macroscopic approach to shape transitions is discussed in the framework of the Landau theory in which the quadrupole shape degrees of freedom play the role of the order parameters. This theory describes the universal features of the nuclear shape evolution with temperature and spin. A unified description of fluctuations in all five quadrupole degrees of freedom is introduced and plays an important role in the calculation of physical observables. A macroscopic approach to the giant dipole resonance (GDR) in hot nuclei is developed. With all parameters fixed by the zero temperature nuclear properties, the theory predicts both the GDR cross-section and angular anisotropy of the {gamma}-rays in very good agreement with recent experiments. The intrinsic shape fluctuations are the main cause for the resonance broadening at higher temperatures, while the orientation fluctuations are responsible for the observed attenuation in the angular anisotropy. Dissipation at finite temperature is discussed in the framework of a Langevin-like equation describing the time-dependent shape fluctuations. Non-adiabatic effects may cause motional narrowing of the resonance.

A rapid, inexpensive trace multi-element analysis of reactor moderator heavy water is described. Samples were analyzed for copper, silver, gold, and mercury at the low ppb level using Differential Pulse Stripping Voltametry (DPSV). These ions are kept below 25 ppb to avoid possible vessel corrosion. A high concentration of aluminum and iron in the samples prevented analysis by ICP spectroscopy. The DPSV method also avoided volatizing highly tritiated samples. Differential Pulse Stripping Voltametry is a commonly used electroanalytical technique for determining trace levels of metals in aqueous solutions. However, application of this method for routine analytical support in a plant laboratory environment was limited due to the method`s sensitivity to interferences. This paper describes a DPSV method which is rugged enough to be used for routine analytical support and addresses method interferences.

Both silver catalyzed and direct electrochemical oxidation of organic species are examined in analytical detail. This paper describes the mechanisms, reaction rates, products, intermediates, capabilities, limitations, and optimal reaction conditions of the electrochemical destruction of organic waste. A small bench-top electrocell being tested for the treatment of small quantities of laboratory waste is described. The 200-mL electrochemical cell used has a processing capacity of 50 mL per day, and can treat both radioactive and nonradioactive waste. In the silver catalyzed process, Ag(I) is electrochemically oxidized to Ag(II), which attacks organic species such as tributylphosphate (TBP), tetraphenylborate (TPB), and benzene. In direct electrochemical oxidation, the organic species are destroyed at the surface of the working electrode without the use of silver as an electron transfer agent. This paper focuses on the destruction of tributylphosphate (TBP), although several organic species have been destroyed using this process. The organic species are converted to carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic acids.

We investigate the potential for discovery of super-symmetry during the next Tevatron Collider run in the light of new results fro LEP and CDF.

The chemical decomposition of aqueous alkaline solutions of sodium tetraphenylborate, NaTPB, has been investigated. The focus of the investigation is on the determination of components which influence NaTPB decomposition. Copper(II) ions, solution temperature, and solution pH (hydroxide ion concentration) have all been demonstrated to affect NaTPB stability. Their relationship with each other and the stability of NaTPB has been determined. Based upon this knowledge, a method for stabilizing NaTPB was determined. Decomposition of a NaTPB solution was delayed with the addition of sodium hydroxide. In additional work, the elimination of oxygen from the reaction environment did not prevent NaTPB decomposition in the presence of copper(II) ions but did, however, affect the course of decomposition.

Construction of well-posed scenarios for the range of conditions possible at any proposed repository site is a critical first step to assessing total system performance. Event tree construction is the method that is being used to develop potential failure scenarios for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. An event tree begins with an initial event or condition. Subsequent events are listed in a sequence, leading eventually to release of radionuclides to the accessible environment. Ensuring the validity of the scenarios requires iteration between problems constructed using scenarios contained in the event tree sequence, experimental results, and numerical analyses. Details not adequately captured within the tree initially may become more apparent as a result of analyses. To illustrate this process, the authors discuss the iterations used to develop numerical analyses for PACE-90 (Performance Assessment Calculational Exercises) using basaltic igneous activity and human-intrusion event trees.

We have used Auger photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy to study the M{sub 4,5}VV Auger spectra of GaAs(110). Using this technique, the Ga and As spectra can be separated and studied independently. The lineshape of the As-M{sub 4,5}VV measured in coincidence with the As 3d photoemission line differs significantly from the conventional Auger spectrum. We attribute this to the surface electronic properties of the system. In addition, we have found that the ss-component of the As spectrum is more intense than expected based on calculations using atomic matrix elements. The Ga-M{sub 4,5}VV spectrum, of which only the pp-component is observed, agrees well with that expected from an independent electron model. A first principles electronic structure calculation of a 5-layer GaAs(110) slab has been performed to aid in the interpretation of the Auger spectra.

Ion exchange is used in nearly every part of the nuclear fuel cycle -- from the purification of uranium from its ore to the final recovery of uranium and transmutation products. Ion exchange also plays a valuable role in the management of nuclear wastes generated in the fuel cycle.

During pilot scale operations of the Scale Glass Melter for the US Department of Energy a team of engineers and scientists was formed to assess the need for continued melter design development to support the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), and prioritize future efforts. Recently this has taken on new importance because of selection of the DWPF Melter design as the reference for the Hanford Waste Vitrification Project (HWVP), and increased interest at the West Valley Demonstration Project on melter life and replacement. Results of the study are summarized, and goals produced by the study are compared to the results of current programs at the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL).

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) will immobilize Savannah River Site High Level Waste as a durable borosilicate glass for permanent disposal in a repository. The DWPF will be controlled based on glass composition. The following discussion is a preliminary analysis of the capability of the laboratory methods that can be used to control the glass composition, and the relationships between glass durability and glass properties important to glass melting. The glass durability and processing properties will be controlled by controlling the chemical composition of the glass. The glass composition will be controlled by control of the melter feed transferred from the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) to the Melter Feed Tank (MFT). During cold runs, tests will be conducted to demonstrate the chemical equivalence of glass sampled from the pour stream and glass removed from cooled canisters. In similar tests, the compositions of glass produced from slurries sampled from the SME and MFT will be compared to final product glass to determine the statistical relationships between melter feed and glass product. The total error is the combination of those associated with homogeneity in the SME or MFT, sampling, preparation of samples for analysis, instrument calibration, analysis, and the composition/property model. …

A necessary step in Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) melter feed preparation for the immobilization of High Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) is reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(0), permitting steam stripping of the Hg. Denitrition and associated NOx evolution is a secondary effect of the use of formic acid as the mercury-reducing agent. Under certain conditions the presence of transition or noble metals can result in significant formic acid decomposition, with associated CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2} evolution. These processes can result in varying redox properties of melter feed, and varying sequential gaseous evolution of oxidants and hydrogen. Electrochemical methods for monitoring the competing processes are discussed. Laboratory scale techniques have been developed for simulating the large-scale reactions, investigating the relative effectiveness of the catalysts, and the effectiveness of catalytic poisons. The reversible nitrite poisoning of formic acid catalysts is discussed.

Therefore, biomonitoring studies of once-through cooling reservoirs for nuclear reactors not only provide field and laboratory information for environmental compliance, but also offer results which benefit lake and reservoir management constructs and limnetic community ecology. Biomonitoring programs have been performed at the Department of Energy`s Savannah River Site to provide information fro compliance with Section 316a of the Clean Water Act. On Par Pond and Pond B comprehensive field efforts monitored nutrient chemistry, plankton populations, fisheries, benthic assemblages, and littoral zone biota from 1983 through 1985. A similar effort, begun in 1985 and continuing through 1992, is in progress on L Lake. Results have indicated that nonplanned whole-basin manipulations and the comprehensive intensity of monitoring studies offer new insights into how limnetic communities function.

In is paper, we will discuss the design and calibration of a CO{sub 2}-laser nephelometer for angular light scattering measurements to determine the effective radiative properties of pulverized-coal particles in a non-flame, planar system in-situ. A nephelometer is an instrument used for angular detection of scattered light incident on a cloud of particles. Its essential elements include a collimated light source and an arm which houses light collection optics and detectors. The arm can be rotated to record the angular scattered intensity distribution. A major problem when conducting experiments of this nature is that the intensity of the scattered light by pulverized-coal particles at angles other than the forward scattering direction can be as much as two to three orders of magnitude lower than the intensity at angles close to {theta} = O{sup o}. This effect is more pronounced for larger size parameters. In order to have sufficiently strong signals at a wide range of angles, a 50 watt CO{sub 2}-laser operating at 10.6 {mu}m is used in the experiments.

This paper concludes that a 70/30 wt % salt/bentonite mixture is preferable to pure crushed salt as backfill for disposal rooms in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, near Carlsbad, NM, is designed to be the first mined geologic repository for the safe disposal of transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste generated by DOE defense programs since 1970. The repository is located about 655 m below the land surface in an extensive bedded salt formation. This report examines the performance of two backfill materials with regard to various selection criteria, such as the need for low permeability after closure, chemical stability, strength, ease of emplacement, and sorption potential for brine and radionuclides. Both salt and salt/bentonite are expected to consolidate to a state of permeability {le} 10{sup {minus}18} m{sup 2} that is adequate for satisfying regulations for nuclear repositories. The results of finite-element calculations that were used to arrive at this conclusion will be described. The real advantage of the salt/bentonite. backfill depends, therefore, on bentonite`s potential for sorbing brine and radionuclides. Estimates of the impact of these properties on backfill performance are presented.

A review of the Savannah River Site production reactor systems was initiated in 1980 and led to implementation of the Reactor Materials Program in 1984 to assess reactor safety and reactor service life. The program evaluated performance of the reactor tanks, primary coolant piping, and thermal shields, components of welded construction that were fabricated from Type 304 stainless steel. The structural integrity analysis of the primary coolant system has shown that the pressure boundary is not susceptible to gross rupture, including a double ended guillotine break or equivalent large area bank. Residual service life is potentially limited by two material degradation modes, irradiation damage and intergranular stress corrosion cracking. Analysis of the structural integrity of the tanks and piping has shown that continued safe operation of the reactors for several additional decades is not limited by the material performance of the primary coolant system. Although irradiation damage has not degraded material behavior to an unacceptable level, past experience has revealed serious difficulties with repair welding on irradiated stainless steel. Stress corrosion can be mitigated by newly identified limits on impurity concentrations in the coolant water and by stress mitigation of weld residual stresses. Work continues in several areas: the effects …

Intergranular stress corrosion (IGSC) cracking has been observed in the primary coolant system of the Savannah River Site Reactors. There have been several cases during the over one hundred reactor-years of plant operating experience when IGSC cracks have grown through-wall and minor leaks have occurred. Approximately 7% of the heat affected zones of pipe-to-pipe butt welds show indications of IGSC cracking during ultrasonic testing (UT). Other piping and component areas, sensitized by flame washing or hot forming, have also developed IGSC cracks. The entire system was fabricated in the 1950`s from Type 304 stainless steel. All joining was by the metal inert gas welding process. IGSC crack growth rates have been measured on compact tension specimens under controlled environmental conditions that encompass the observed conditions in the SRS reactor primary coolant systems. Growth rates were measured extending from less than 10{sup {minus}9} to approximately 10{sup {minus}5} millimeter per second. These growth rates bound the growth rates that have been inferred from a statistical analysis of UT indications. The UT data were collected since 1984 from weld heat affected zones in pipe-to-pipe butt welds in the SRS reactor primary coolant piping. Chloride and sulfate anions, dissolved oxygen, and peroxide have been …

Using the regular finite element method for analyzing wave propagation problems presents difficulties: (a) The finite element mesh gives spurious reflection of the traveling wave and (b) Since a finite element model has to have a finite boundary, the wave is reflected by the outside boundary. However, for underwater shock problems, only the response of the structure is of major interest, not the behavior of the wave itself, and the shock wave can be assumed to be spherical. By taking advantage of the limited scope of the underwater shock problem, a finite element procedure can be developed that eliminates the above difficulties. This procedure not only can give very accurate solutions but it may also include structural nonlinearities and effect of cavitation.

The acceptable operating limits of a nuclear reactor are set to prevent fuel cladding damage. Critical Heat Flux (CHF) is the limiting criterion for the high pressure systems such as the BWRs (6.9 MPa) and the PWRs (13.8 MPa). However, the Onset of Flow Instability (OFI) is the limiting criterion of the low pressure system such as the existing Savannah River Site (SRS) production reactors (0.2 MPa). The physical basis of this difference is presented. 3 refs.

The radioactive waste glass melter used at Savannah River Site (SRS) is a liquid slurry feed joule-heated ceramic melter. The physical nature of a joule-heated meter is complex and involves interactions between electric, thermal, and flow fields. These interactions take place through strongly temperature-dependent glass properties, natural convection, advection, diffusion, and volumetrically distributed joule heating sources. The cold feed on top of heated glass distabilizes the flow field and develops unsteady asymmetric flow motions underneath. Thus waste glass modeling requires solving a full 3-D, unsteady, momentum, energy, and electric equation with temperature-dependent properties. Simulation of noble metal deposit process requires an additional mass diffusion equation that is coupled to the momentum equation through mass advection term. The objective of this paper is to identify critical issues anticipated in the Defense Waste Process Facility (DWPF) melter operation and address how these issues can be resolved with current state-of-the-art mathematical modeling techniques.

The boundary perturbation method, suggested by Zhang and (independently) by Chatard-Moulin, Cooper, and their colleagues, is employed to the wakefield calculations for geometrical discontinuities in accelerators. Results are compared with that obtained from the mesh calculations using TBCI. When the perturbation is small and the geometry is suitable for TBCI, agreement is good. Discrepancies observed in other cases are also discussed.

Lysimeters are large-scale, field experiments used at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to measure the effect of percolating rainfall on the release of contaminants from wasteforms. The saltstone lysimeters described are demonstrations of a disposal concept for a low-level radioactive waste resulting from the processing of high-level defense waste for vitrification. Results from the lysimeters confirm the efficacy of the slag formulation in retaining chromium and technetium. Lysimeter results were also useful in validating mathematical models used in predicting environmental effects of saltstone disposal in engineered vaults. 7 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs.

The Savannah River Site has conducted a study to statistically quantify differences in metals concentrations as a function of sampling device and filter treatment. Twelve wells screened in unconsolidated coastal plain sediments were sampled for the study. All wells had histories of detectable toxic metals concentrations. Unfiltered and filtered (using 10 and 0.45 micron filters) samples were collected from all wells to evaluate the effects of filtering. To compare the effects of sampling device, the wells were sampled twice, once with a bladder pump and once with a centrifugal pump. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) method was used to assess the effects of sampling device and filtration on metals concentrations considering the variation in pH, conductivity, and turbidity among samples. This study demonstrates that when controlled sampling techniques are employed, differences in toxic metals concentrations between filtered and unfiltered samples are not statistically significant. However, variations in sampling devices yield samples with statistically different metals concentrations. The centrifugal pumps, which cause more agitation of the sample and the screened zone than bladder pumps, yield samples with statistically higher metals concentrations.

We have presented evidence that the functional thyroid follicles (follicular units, FU) which are formed in grafts of monodispersed rat thyroid cells, and hence the thyroid tumors which later develop in such grafts, are clonal in origin. Recent studies have been designed to investigate: whether cell number-dependent inhibition of promotion-progression is mediated by remote hormonal feed-back, local cell-cell interactions, or both; the cell population kinetics of the clonogen subpopulation during goitrogenesis and goiter involution; and the effect of prolonged exposure to high levels of TSH (thyrotropin) on the capacity of the clonogens to give rise to functional FU. The results indicate that local cell-cell interactions play an important role in the cell number-dependent suppression of neoplastic promotion-progression. They also show that if sufficient thyroid cells are grafted, the thyroid-pituitary axis can be reestablished in thyroidectomized rats fed normal diets. In such animals given iodine deficient diets, the FU that develop in the thyroid grafts shift their secretory pattern to increase the ratio of T3 (triiodothyronine) to T4 (thyroxine), and thus conserve the available iodine. Finally, the clonogenic subpopulation is conserved during both goitrogenesis and goiter involution. When they are transplanted to thyroidectomized recipients, clonogens from two types of goiters form …

High-level radioactive sludge at the Savannah River Site (SRS) will be processed at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) into durable borosilicate glass wasteforms. The sludges are analyzed for elemental content before processing to ensure compatibility with the glass-making processes. Noble metal fission products in sludge, can under certain conditions, cause problems in the glass melter. Therefore, reliable noble metal determinations are important. The scheme used to measure noble metals in SRS sludges consists of dissolving sludge with hot aqua regia followed by determinations with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and ICP-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) techniques. ICP-MS is the preferred method for measuring trace levels of noble metals in SRS radioactive waste because of superior sensitivity. Analytical results are presented for the two major types of SRS sludge.