Long-lived isotopes in nuclear waste can have the greatest impact on man and the environment because of the integrated dose over a long time period. Many long-lived radioactive isotopes are present in the waste at Savannah River Plant. Actinide elements make up a significant portion of these isotopes. But when the waste is incorporated into a glass waste form, the actinides are converted to chemically stable oxide species that are released at extremely low and controlled rates, even after the waste form has degraded. Because of their different chemistry, radioactive isotopes of carbon, technetium, and iodine could be released at a significantly higher rate. To establish the potential hazard from these isotopes, their concentration in waste forms for final disposal must be known. The concentrations of C-14 and T{sub c}-99 in SRP waste were previously estimated. Additional analytical data has now been obtained for I-129 in H-Area soluble waste to estimate its concentration in SRP waste. Because of the nature of processes at SRP, most of the I-129 in the waste is in the H-Area waste tanks.

This paper describes a 650 mm long liquid hydrogen targetr constructed for use in the high intensity electron beam at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The main design problem was to construct a target that would permit the heat deposited by the electron beam to be removed rapidly without boiling the hydrogen so as to maintain constant target density for optimum data taking. Design requirements, cosntruction details and operating experience are discussed.

Wyoming subbituminous coal was liquefied using three different two-stage process configurations in bench-scale tests. These process configurations differed in the type of fractionated deashing resid being recycled to the individual stages. The objective of these runs was to determine whether, by recycle of specific resid streams to the thermal stage, the second stage catalyst life could be improved without detrimentally affecting distillate yield or hydrogen consumption. The results indicate that the two-stage process configuration consisting of hydrotreating the Light Deashed Resid and direct recycle of heavy Deashed Resid to the thermal stage produced the best results. This process configuration resulted in a distillate yield of 54 wt % (MAF coal basis) and overall coal conversion in the 93 to 95% range, as measured by pyridine-soluble analytical test while operating in a total distillate mode. These results are very encouraging from the lower rank Wyoming subbituminous coal. Among the three two-stage process configurations tested, the particular process configuration of hydrotreating Light Deashed Resid resulted in the least amount of catalyst deactivation. As a part of this research effort, a test procedure for quick evaluation of various resids and catalysts in terms of coke precursors was also developed. This procedure utilizing as-produced …

The development of new and advanced energy systems often requires the tailoring of new alloys or alloy combinations to meet the novel and often stringent requirements of those systems. Longer life at higher temperatures and stresses in aggressive environments is the most common goal. Alloy theory helps in achieving this goal by suggesting uses of multiphase systems and intermediate phases, where solid solutions were traditionally used. However, the use of materials under non-equilibrium conditions is now quite common - as with rapidly solidified metals - and the application of alloy theory must be modified accordingly. Under certain conditions, as in a reactor core, the rate of approach to equilibrium will be modified; sometimes a quasi-equilibrium is established. Thus an alloy may exhibit enhanced general diffusion at the same time as precipitate particles are being dispersed and solute atoms are being carried to vacancy sinks. We are approaching an understanding of these processes and can begin to model these complex systems.

The use of discharge cleaning and a mesh structure for the flux conserver have led to hotter, less resistive, spheromak configurations in the CTX experiment. Achievement of these conditions has been accompanied by the appearance of oscillations - most notably seen on magnetic probe signals - that were previously not present. These oscillations are observed both during the sustainment (V/sub gun/ not equal to 0) and the decaying (V/sub gun/ = 0) phases of the discharge and are attributed to the presence of internal kink modes driven by the departure of the plasma current distribution from the Taylor state: j/B = const. Computations suggest that an n-1 mode becomes unstable when j/B increases away from the magnetic axis (sustained spheromak) whereas an n=2 mode becomes unstable for radially decreasing j/B (decaying spheromak). The results reported are from an 80-cm-diameter mesh flux conserver constructed form 0.5''-diameter copper stock. It is of the same oblate rooftop design as used for previous work with a dimension of 40 cm from front to back.

A significant fraction of the product energy from oil shale retorting is contained in the retort off gas. Most oil shale processes use the retort off gas from plant fuel. The H/sub 2/S and NH/sub 3/ in retort off gas produce too much SO/sub 2/ and NOX to allow burning without a pollution control system. We used the ASPEN flowsheet simulator to model retort off-gas cleanup by venturi scrubbers. Venturi scrubbers are commonly used to remove particulates from gas streams, but the scrubbing liquid also absorbs some NH/sub 3/ and H/sub 2/S from the gas. The ASPEN venturi scrubber model makes good predictions of the particulate removal efficiency. The ASPEN estimates for H/sub 2/S and NH/sub 3/ absorption are higher than the equilibrium absorption predictions made by a state-of-the-art sour water vapor-liquid equilibrium model, TIDES. The discrepancy probably results from trying to simulate an electrolyte system with a vapor-liquid equilibrium model that is designed for molecular systems. The simulation indicates that a venturi scrubber may absorb enough NH/sub 3/ to serve as the primary NH/sub 3/ removal system. The H/sub 2/S absorption is quite low, however, and some other process is needed to remove the H/sub 2/S. 17 references, 6 …

Thermal damage to susceptible materials in accessible regions shows damage-distribution patterns that indicate nonuniform intensity of exposure. No clear explanation for nonuniformity is found in existing evidence; e.g., in some regions a lack of thermally susceptible materials frustrates analysis. Elsewhere, burned materials are present next to materials that seem similar but appear unscathed - leading to conjecture that the latter materials preferentially absorb water vapor during periods of high local steam concentration. Most of the polar crane pendant shows heavy burns on one half of its circumferential surface. This evidence suggests that the polar crane pendant side that experienced heaviest burn damage was exposed to intense radiant energy from a transient fire plume in the reactor containment volume. Tests and simple heat-transfer calculations based on pressure and temperature records from the accident show that the atmosphere inside the reactor building was probably 8% hydrogen in air, a value not inconsistent with the extent of burn damage. Burn-pattern geography indicates uniform thermal exposure in the dome volume to the 406-ft level (about 6 ft below the polar crane girder), partial thermal exposure in the volume between the 406- and 347-ft levels as indicated by the polar crane cable, and lack of …

A series of parametric calculations was run with the S-CUBED geopressured-geothermal simulator MUSHRM to assess the effects of important formation, fluid and well parameters on brine and gas recovery from geopressured reservoir systems. The specific parameters considered are formation permeability, pore-fluid salinity, temperature and gas content, well radius and location with respect to reservoir boundaries, desired flow rate, and possible shale recharge. It was found that the total brine and gas recovered (as a fraction of the resource in situ) were most sensitive to formation permeability, pore-fluid gas content, and shale recharge.

An experiment to determine the electron neutrino mass is being performed with the precision of a few electron volts by measuring the tritium beta decay energy distribution near the endpoint. At the few electron volt level, a major consideration in the choice of a tritium source is the effect of excited final atomic or molecular states on the beta decay distribution. It is important to choose a source for which the initial and final states can be accurately calculated. Frozen tritium was chosen as the source since the states of molecular tritium and those of the HeT/sup +/ daughter ion have electronic wavefunctions that can be calculated with high accuracy. The effects of final excited states on the neutrino mass determination and the results of these calculations are described.

A method was published, based on the integral method of characteristics, by which the junction and boundary conditions needed in computation of a flow in a piping network can be accurately formulated. The method for the junction and boundary conditions formulation together with the two-step Lax-Wendroff scheme are used in a computer program; the program in turn, is used here in calculating sample problems related to the blowdown transient of a two-phase flow in the piping network downstream of a PWR pressurizer. Independent, nearly exact analytical solutions also are obtained for the sample problems. Comparison of the results obtained by the hybrid numerical technique with the analytical solutions showed generally good agreement. The good numerical accuracy shown by the results of our scheme suggest that the hybrid numerical technique is suitable for both benchmark and design calculations of PWR pressurizer blowdown transients.

The primary purpose of this project is to develop an understanding of chemical processes that significantly influence the migration of radionuclides at commercial low-level waste (LLW} burial sites. Chemical measurements of waste trench leachate and identification of chanical changes in leachate during migration will provide a basis for geochemical waste transport models. This project will produce for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory C011mission (NRC) information to support guidance for implementation of 10 CFR 61, particularly in the developnent of criteria for low level waste disposal site selection, management, permanent closure and monitoring. This project will also produce information needed by the Canmonwealth of Kentucky as they finalize plans to stabilize. close and monitor the Maxey Flats site.

Auger electron spectroscopy and depth Auger profiling were used to study the surfaces of Inconel 718 and Hastelloy C-276. The metal surfaces were processed in the same manner as is presently being used in the manufacturing of glass-ceramic headers. At each step in the process, samples were studied with Auger spectroscopy to determine their resultant elemental surface composition and film thickness. In addition, the effect of a final plasma cleaning operation on the metal surface was examined. The results show that the type and concentration of surface species and the thickness of the surface oxides are dependent on the processing technique.

The synthesis of epsilon-Fe/sub 2.7/N is confirmed by Moessbauer spectroscopy. Carburization of epsilon-iron nitride for 2.5 hours in 3H/sub 2//CO at 523 K starts the formation of a bulk structure similar to that seen during ..gamma..'-iron nitride carburization. Reaction of ..gamma..'-Fe/sub 4/N in 3CO/H/sub 2/ synthesis gas at 523 K shows a better bulk stability than reaction in 3H/sub 2//CO. Kinetic analysis of the product distribution at the higher CO ratio confirms greater activity and selectivity maintainance. The kinetics of denitriding in both He and H/sub 2/ was studied with a mass spectrometer. Extremely rapid nitrogen loss was observed from both ..gamma..'-Fe/sub 4/N and epsilon-Fe/sub 2.7/N catalysts in H/sub 2/ at 523 K. In both cases a initial exposure to H/sub 2/ produced a significant amount of NH/sub 3/ which we ascribe to an active surface species. Hydrogenation of the bulk continued with a slow rise to a maximum about 90 seconds after the introduction of H/sub 2/. The denitriding activity of the epsilon-Fe/sub 2.7/N catalyst was significantly higher than that of the ..gamma..'-Fe/sub 4/N catalyst. In contrast, the denitriding rate of epsilon-Fe/sub 2.7/N in He was significantly slower than that in H/sub 2/ until high temperatures (773K) were reached. …

The work performed during this first period includes equipment modification, development of analytical methods, oxidative pretreatment runs and combustion runs. The coal feeding section of an existing furnace was modified for uninterrupted feeding and better control of residence time. Analytical methods for sulfur and calcium in the coal and ash and for gaseous SO/sub 2/ were standardized. Oxidative pretreatment experiments were conducted in a fluidized bed at temperatures about 200/sup 0/C to evaluate the potential of this method for increasing the ion exchange capacity of coals and determine the accompanying loss of heating value. Combustion experiments were carried out at very high particle temperatures (2000/sup 0/K) at which a large fraction of the calcium additive was vaporized while 50 to 80% of the sulfur evolved as sulfur oxide. Continuing combustion experiments will be conducted at lower particle temperatures.

This annual report describes progress during FY 1983 relating to technologies under development by the Commercial Waste Treatment Program, including: development of glass waste form and vitrification equipment for high-level wastes (HLW); waste form development and process selection for transuranic (TRU) wastes; pilot-scale operation of a radioactive liquid-fed ceramic melter (LFCM) system for verifying the reliability of the reference HLW treatment proces technology; evaluation of treatment requirements for spent fuel as a waste form; second-generation waste form development for HLW; and vitrification process control and product quality assurance technologies.

An annotated bibliography of journal articles related to comparative studies on the carbohydrate composition of marine macroalgae produced for the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI).

CONC/11 is a computer program designed for calculating the performance of dish-type solar thermal collectors and power systems. It is intended to aid the system or collector designer in evaluating the performance to be expected with possible design alternatives. From design or test data on the characteristics of the various subsystems, CONC/11 calculates the efficiencies of the collector and the overall power system as functions of the receiver temperature for a specified insolation. If desired, CONC/11 will also determine the receiver aperture and the receiver temperature that will provide the highest efficiencies at a given insolation. The program handles both simple and compound concentrators. CONC/11 is written in Athena Extended Fortran (similar to Fortran 77) to operate primarily in an interactive mode on a Sperry 1100/81 computer. It could also be used on many small computers.

We present a case for discrete, constructive physics that generates four scale constants, a connection to laboratory events and scattering theory that ties these to the dimensional constants c, h, m/sub p/, and G, and a tentative quantum number assignment consistent with standard model for leptons and quarks with three generations. Current first approximations from the theory are dirac constant c/e/sup 2/ = 137 +- O(1/137), dirac constant c/Gm/sup 2//sub p/ - 2/sup 127/ + 136 approx. = 1.7 x 10/sup 38/(1 +- 0(1/137)), and m/sub p//m/sub e/ = 1836.151497... +-. Our understanding of wave-particle dualism and observational cosmology creates no more experimental paradoxes than currently accepted views - perhaps fewer. 19 references.

Eleven portable air cleaning devices have been evaluated for control of indoor concentrations of respirable particles and radon progeny. Following injection of cigarette smoke and radon in a room-size chamber, decay rates for particles and radon progeny concentrations were measured with and without air cleaner operation. Particle concentrations were obtained for total number concentration and for number concentration by particle size. In tests with no air cleaner the natural decay rate for cigarette smoke was observed to be 0.2 hr/sup -1/. Air cleaning rates for particles were found to be negligible for several small panel-filters, a residential ion-generator, and a pair of mixing fans. The electrostatic precipitators and extended surface filters tested had significant particle removal rates, and a HEPA-type filter was the most efficient air cleaner. The evaluation of radon progeny control produced similar results; the air cleaners which were effective in removing particles were also effective in removing radon progeny. At low particle concentrations plateout of the unattached radon progeny is an important removal mechanism. Based on data from these tests, the plateout rate for unattached progeny was found to be 15 hr/sup -1/. The unattached fraction and the overall removal rate due to deposition of attached and …

It is of current interest to examine the costs incurred to date to build Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and to determine what those costs are when stated in FY 1984 constant dollars. The appended tables are in support of this exercise and are based on all costs for Equipment items (reduced by obsolescence) and all Plant Projects which have been appropriated through FY 1984. Also included are non-plant costs which are required to complete the Energy Saver, Tevatron I and II projects (i.e., Equipment and R and D in support of Construction). This study makes the assumption that all funding through FY 1984 will have been costed by the end of FY 1986. Those costs incurred in FY 1985 and FY 1986 have been deflated to FY 1984 dollars. See Appendix A for the DOE inflation factors used in the conversion to FY 1984 dollars. The costs are identified in three categories. The Accelerator Facilities include all accelerator components, the buildings which enclose them and utilities which support them. The Experimental Facilities include all beam lines, enclosures, utilities and experimental equipment which are usable in current experimental programs. The Support Facilities include lab and office space, shops, assembly facilities, roads, …

The results obtained in a criticality experiments program performed for British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd. (BNFL) under contract with the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) are presented in this report along with a complete description of the experiments. The experiments involved low enriched UO/sub 2/ and PuO/sub 2/-UO/sub 2/ fuel rods in water containing dissolved gadolinium, and are in direct support of BNFL plans to use soluble compounds of the neutron poison gadolinium as a primary criticality safeguard in the reprocessing of low enriched nuclear fuels. The experiments were designed primarily to provide data for validating a calculation method being developed for BNFL design and safety assessments, and to obtain data for the use of gadolinium as a neutron poison in nuclear chemical plant operations - particularly fuel dissolution. The experiments program covers a wide range of neutron moderation (near optimum to very under-moderated) and a wide range of gadolinium concentration (zero to about 2.5 g Gd/l). The measurements provide critical and subcritical k/sub eff/ data (1 greater than or equal to k/sub eff/ greater than or equal to 0.87) on fuel-water assemblies of UO/sub 2/ rods at two enrichments (2.35 wt % and 4.31 wt % /sup 235/U) and …

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The feasibility of using polarized deuterium (D) and tritium (T) plasmas in fusion reactors may be seriously affected by recycling in material walls. Theoretical and experimental results are reviewed which show how the depolarization rates of absorbed D and T depend on first wall parameters such as the temperature, the bulk and surface diffusivities, the density of electronic states at the Fermi surface, the spectral density of microscopic fluctuating electric field gradients, and the concentration of paramagnetic impurities. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of hydrogenated and deuterated amorphous semiconductors suggests that low-Z nonmetallic materials may provide a satisfactory first wall or limiter coating under reactor conditions with characteristic depolarization times of several seconds. Experiments are proposed to test the consequences of our analysis.

A passive neutron monitor has been designed and built for determining the residual transuranic (TRU) and plutonium content of chopped leached fuel hulls and other solid wastes from spent Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) fuel. The system was designed to measure as little as 8 g of plutonium or 88 mg of TRU in a waste package as large as a 208-l drum which could be emitting up to 220,000 R/hr of gamma radiation. For practical purposes, maximum assay times were chosen to be 10,000 sec. The monitor consists of 96 /sup 10/BF/sub 3/ neutron sensitive proportional counting tubes each 5.08 cm in diameter and 183 cm in active length. Tables of neutron emission rates from both spontaneous fission and (..cap alpha..,n) reactions on oxygen are given for all contributing isotopes expected to be present in spent FFTF fuel. Tables of neutron yeilds from isotopic compositions predicted for various exposures and cooling times are also given. Methods of data reduction and sources, magnitude, and control of errors are discussed. Backgrounds and efficiencies have been measured and are reported. A section describing step-by-step operational procedures is included. Guidelines and procedures for quality control and troubleshooting are also given. 13 references, 15 …