This report discussed progress made during the second year of a two-year study on the feasibility of using copper or a copper-base alloy as a container material for a waste package in a potential repository in tuff rock at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. Corrosion testing in potentially corrosive irradiated environments received emphasis during the feasibility study. Results of experiments to evaluate the effect of a radiation field on the uniform corrosion rate of the copper-base materials in repository-relevant aqueous environments are given as well as results of an electrochemical study of the copper-base materials in normal and concentrated J-13 water. Results of tests on the irradiation of J-13 water and on the subsequent formation of hydrogen peroxide are given. A theoretical study was initiated to predict the long-term corrosion behavior of copper in the repository. Tests were conducted to determine whether copper would adversely affect release rates of radionuclides to the environment because of degradation of the Zircaloy cladding. A manufacturing survey to determine the feasibility of producing copper containers utilizing existing equipment and processes was completed. The cost and availability of copper was also evaluated and predicted to the year 2000. Results of this feasibility assessment are …

High quality TRISCO-coated UCO and ThO{sub 2} particles with reference MHTGR dimensions were produced in a coating campaign in August and September 1986 for irradiation tests. The heavy metal contamination and the defect levels were below the limits established for the MHTGR fuel. Over 9 kg of uranium in UCO and 30 kg of thorium in ThO{sub 2} were TRISCO-coated in 4 fissile and 3 fertile batches in the 240mm Development Coater. These coated fuel particles will be used to produce fuel rods for testing in the irradiation validation tests to be conducted in capsules HRB-19, -20 and -21 on the DOE Fuel and Fission Product Technology Program. 3 refs., 6 figs., 6 tabs.

This report presents results of an analytical study on hydrological transport of a radionuclide released from sources of finite areal extent into a planar fracture. The purposes of this work are to predict the space-time-dependent concentrations of a radionuclide which is released from multiple-patch (or area) sources and transported by advection and transverse dispersion in a planar fracture and by molecular diffusion in rock matrix, and to investigate the effects of transverse dispersion in the fracture. 5 refs., 14 figs.

A bounce-averaged Monte Carlo operator is presented that simulates bounce-averaged perturbative Lorentz pitch angle scattering of particles in toroidal plasmas, in particular a tokamak. In conjunction with bounce-averaged expressions for the deterministic motion, this operator allows a quick and inexpensive simulation on time scales long compared to a bounce time. An analytically tractable model of transport due to toroidal magnetic field ripple is described.

Technical report analyzing the trends and recent habits of home buyers in Texas from 1982-85.

Spent fuel is being considered as a waste form for disposal in a repository located in salt. To adequately model spent fuel performance as a waste form that may be contacted by brine in a repository, it is necessary to describe the leach (dissolution) behavior of spent fuel and the chemical interactions of the released radionuclides with their environment. To this end, leach tests were conducted on: UO/sub 2/ in Permian Basin salt brine or deionized water at test temperatures of 25, 75, and 150/sup 0/C. Some tests were done in the presence of ductile cast iron, which is a representative overpack material, and/or oxidized Zircaloy, which is the usual fuel cladding material. Spent fuel (H.B. Robinson) in Permian Basin salt brine at 25 and 75/sup 0/C. Some of the tests were conducted in the presence of ductile cast iron. The release values for leach periods up to 60 days were determined for systems utilizing both UO/sub 2/ and spent fuel. This report is based upon data obtained during 1982 and 1983. The larger temperature dependence of the leach behavior that was observed for deionized water than was observed for brine is difficult to interpret on the basis of our …

A combination of pellets, off-axis heating, and current ramp is used to delay the onset of sawtooth oscillations for 3.4 seconds and achieve ignition with less than 0.2-second confinement time in a 1-1/2-D BALDUR simulation of the Compact Ignition Tokamak. Deuterium and tritium pellets are injected into an initially cold, relatively low density plasma, where they cool the center and produce a very centrally peaked density profile. A centrally peaked density profile (n/sub e0//<n/sub e/> = 4.0) is subsequently maintained by an inward particle pinch. Twenty megawatts of auxiliary heating is applied halfway between the magnetic axis and the edge of the plasma for 2 seconds after the pellets are injected. The plasma ignites and then burns from the time the auxiliary heating is turned off until the first large sawtooth crash occurs at 3.4 seconds. The burn would be expected to continue after that only if the sawtooth period is sufficiently long (roughly 0.3 seconds or longer).

Pacific Northwest Laboratory, supported by the US Department of Energy, developed advanced materials for use in open-cycle, closed cycle magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) power generation, an advanced energy conversion system in which the flow of electrically conducting fluid interacts with an electric field to convert the energy directly into electricity. The purpose of the PNL work was to develop electrodes for the MHD channel. Such electrodes must have: (1) electrical conductivity above 0.01 (ohm-cm)/sup -1/ from near room temperature to 1900/sup 0/K, (2) resistance to both electrochemical and chemical corrosion by both slag and potassium seed, (3) resistance to erosion by high-velocity gases and particles, (4) resistance to thermal shock, (5) adequate thermal conductivity, (6) compatibility with other channel components, particularly the electrical insulators, (7) oxidation-reduction stability, and (8) adequate thermionic emission. This report describes the concept and development of high-temperature, graded ceramic composite electrode materials and their electrical and structural properties. 47 refs., 16 figs., 13 tabs.

Four field theory models are studied: Periodic Quantum Electrodynamics (PQED) in (2 + 1) dimensions, free scalar field theory in (1 + 1) dimensions, the Quantum XY model in (1 + 1) dimensions, and the (1 + 1) dimensional Ising model in a transverse magnetic field. The last three parts deal exclusively with variational methods; the PQED part involves mainly the path-integral approach. The PQED calculation results in a better understanding of the connection between electric confinement through monopole screening, and confinement through tunneling between degenerate vacua. This includes a better quantitative agreement for the string tensions in the two approaches. Free field theory is used as a laboratory for a new variational blocking-truncation approximation, in which the high-frequency modes in a block are truncated to wave functions that depend on the slower background modes (Boron-Oppenheimer approximation). This ''adiabatic truncation'' method gives very accurate results for ground-state energy density and correlation functions. Various adiabatic schemes, with one variable kept per site and then two variables per site, are used. For the XY model, several trial wave functions for the ground state are explored, with an emphasis on the periodic Gaussian. A connection is established with the vortex Coulomb gas of …

The purpose of the Performance Evaluation of Electrical Equipment during Severe Accident States Program is to determine the performance of electrical equipment, important to safety, under severe accident conditions. In FY85, a method was devised to identify important electrical equipment and the severe accident environments in which the equipment was likely to fail. This method was used to evaluate the equipment and severe accident environments for Browns Ferry Unit 1, a BWR/Mark I. Following this work, a test plan was written in FY86 to experimentally determine the performance of one selected component to two severe accident environments.

Projectile excitation and charge transfer (capture) can occur simultaneously in a single encounter with a target atom through the electron-electron interaction between a projectile electron and a weakly bound target electron. This process is referred to as resonant transfer and excitation (RTE). L-shell RTE has been investigated for 230 to 610 MeV Nb/sup 31 +/ (neonlike) ions incident on H/sub 2/. 11 refs., 1 fig. (WRF)

The mineralogy of drill holes J-13, UE-25A No. 1, and USW G-1 was previously determined using qualitative and semiquantitative techniques, and most of the available data were neither complete nor accurate. New quantitative x-ray diffraction data were obtained for rocks from all three of these drill holes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. These quantitative analyses employed both external and internal standard x-ray powder diffraction methods and permitted the precise determination of all phases commonly found in the tuffs at Yucca Mountain, including glass and opal-CT. These new data supplant previous analyses and include numerous additional phases. New findings of particular importance include better constraints on the distribution of the more soluble silica polymorphs, cristobalite and opal-CT. Opal-CT was associated solely with clinoptilolite-bearing horizons, and cristobalite disappearance coincided with the appearance of analcime in USW G-1. Unlike previous analyses, we identified significant amounts of smectite in drill hole J-13. We found no evidence to support previous reports of the occurrence of erionite or phillipsite in these drill holes.

Since 1958, CO{sub 2} concentrations at Mauna Loa Observatory have been obtained using a nondispersive, dual detector, infrared gas analyzer. Air samples are obtained from air intakes at the top of four 7m towers and one 27m tower. Those involved in the monitoring project have attempted to improving sampling techniques, reduce possible contamination sources, and adjust data to represent uncontaminated, true conditions throughout the twenty-eight year sampling period. The gas analyzer is calibrated by standardized CO{sub 2}-in-nitrogen reference gases twice daily. Flask samples are taken twice a month for comparison to the data recorded using the infrared gas analyzer. Data are scrutinized daily for possible contamination and archived on magnetic tape for further scrutiny and adjustment. Daily, monthly, and annual averages are computed for the Mauna Loa data after deletion of contaminated samples and readjustment of the data. These averages have shown a steady rise in annual average concentration from 316 parts per million by volume (ppmv) in 1959 to 346 ppmv in 1986.

A type of Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) defueling canister, called a ''knockout'' canister, was subjected to a series of drop tests at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Drop Test Facility. These tests were designed to confirm the structural integrity of internal fixed neutron poisons in support of a request for NRC licensing of this type of canister for the shipment of TMI-2 reactor fuel debris to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for the Core Examination R and D Program. Work conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory included (1) precise physical measurements of the internal poison rod configuration before assembly, (2) canister assembly and welding, (3) nondestructive examination (an initial hydrostatic pressure test and an x-ray profile of the internals before and after each drop test), (4) addition of a simulated fuel load, (5) instrumentation of the canister for each drop test, (6) fabrication of a cask simulation vessel with a developed and tested foam impact limiter, (7) use of refrigeration facilities to cool the canister to well below freezing prior to three of the drops, (8) recording the drop test with still, high-speed, and normal-speed photography, (9) recording the accelerometer measurements during impact, (10) disassembly and …

The Transient Tracers in the Ocean (TTO) study was an experiment to investigate ocean mixing as deduced from the distribution of radiochemical tracers introduced into the atmosphere and subsequently into the oceans during the 1958-1962 nuclear bomb tests. The results of this study together with knowledge about the chemistry of oceanic CO{sub 2} can be used to help understand oceanic uptake of fossil fuel CO{sub 2}. The experiment lasted 4 years and consisted of the following parts: (1) (1981); (3) laboratory analysis (1982); and (4) completion, data analysis, and reporting (1983). Shipboard measurements were published by the Scripps Physical and Chemical Oceanographic Data Facility as the T.T.O. Preliminary Hydrographic Data Reports Vols. I-IV. Recently, revisions to some of the previously reported measurements have been made and estimates of total CO{sub 2} have been calculated.

The report presents philosophies and approaches for the design and conduct of stream habitat enhancement evaluation programs and projects. (ACR)

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.

This report is compiled by the Nuclear Waste Treatment Program 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 first 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, process/product modeling and control, and supporting studies.

The lead-iron-phosphate (Pb-Fe-P) glass developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was evaluated for its potential as an improvement over the current reference nuclear waste form, borosilicate (B-Si) glass. The evaluation was conducted as part of the Second Generation HLW Technology Subtask of the Nuclear Waste Treatment Program at Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The purpose of this work was to investigate possible alternatives to B-Si glass as second-generation waste forms. While vitreous Pb-Fe-P glass appears to have substantially better chemical durability than B-Si glass, severe crystallization or devitrification leading to deteriorated chemical durability would result if this glass were poured into large canisters as is the procedure with B-Si glass. Cesium leach rates from this crystallized material are orders of magnitude greater than those from B-Si glass. Therefore, to realize the potential performance advantages of the Pb-Fe-P material in a nuclear waste form, the processing method would have to cool the material rapidly to retain its vitreous structure.

The licensing of interim dry storage of light-water reactor spent fuel requires assurance that release limits of radioactive materials are not exceeded. The extent to which Zircaloy cladding can be relied upon as a barrier to prevent release of radioactive spent fuel and fission products depends upon its integrity. The internal pressure from helium and fission gases could become a source of hoop stress for creep rupture if pressures and temperatures were sufficiently high. Consequently, it is of interest to predict the condition of spent fuel cladding during interim storage for periods up to 40 years. To develop this prediction, deformation and fracture theories were used to develop maps. Where available, experimental deformation and fracture data were used to test the validity of the maps. Predictive equations were then developed and cumulative damage methodology was used to take credit for the declining temperature of spent fuel during storage. This methodology was then used to predict storage temperatures below which creep rupture would not be expected to occur except in fuel rods with pre-existing flaws. Predictions were also made and compared with results from tests conducted under abnormal conditions.

A photographic study of a hydrogen chloride gas jet reacting in an aqueous solution of ammonia was conducted. The high-speed motion pictures taken revealed that the behavior of the reacting gas jet was highly dynamic and complex. The gaseous jet penetration (''plume'') was not stationary, but underwent a change in shape and size with time, which appeared to be periodic or cyclic. Certain observations made, including a high-pitched sound, exhibited a striking similarity to the so-called ''singing flame'' phenomenon. Such dynamic plume behavior is attributed to the vaporization of the bath liquid due to reaction heat release. The plume length measurements for large concentrations of ammonia seem to confirm the prediction that when the extent of vaporization is large, the plume length is mainly determined by the distance required for condensation of the vapor.

Reactor system operation and procedures have a profound impact on the conception and design of power plants. These issues are studied here using a model tokamak system employing a solid-breeder blanket. The model blanket is one which has evolved from the STARFIRE and BCSS studies. The reactor parameters are similar to those characterizing near-term fusion engineering reactors such as INTOR or NET (Next European Tokamak). Plasma startup, burn analysis, and methods for operation at various levels of output power are studied. A critical, and complicating, element is found to be the self-consistent electromagnetic response of the system, including the presence of the blanket and the resulting forces and loadings. Fractional power operation, and the strategy for burn control, is found to vary depending on the scaling law for energy confinement, and an extensive study is reported. Full-power reactor operation is at a neutron wall loading pf 5 MW/m/sup 2/ and a surface heat flux of 1 MW/m/sup 2/. The blanket is a pressurized steel module with bare beryllium rods and low-activation HT-9-(9-C-) clad LiAlO/sub 2/ rods. The helium coolant pressure is 5 MPa, entering the module at 297/sup 0/C and exiting at 550/sup 0/C. The system power output is rated …

Since the early 1960s, the United States has been using radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), developed by the US Department of Energy and its predecessors, for a variety of environments including space. A recent concept in building RTGs uses modular components to allow for an advanced, lighter space mission generator that provides scaled power level outputs. The scalability feature of the modular isotopic thermoelectric generator (MITG) represents a major advance over earlier RTG designs. However, special problems are encountered in applying nondestructive testing methods because of the miniature size of parts that require inspection. This report describes the status of ultrasonic inspection methods being developed to examine the subcomponents and assemblies of the; MITG. The principal emphasis has been to evaluate various bonds between subcomponents using ultrasonic techniques that employ focused search units and a pulse-echo method.

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.