The explanation of SN Type I by radioactive decay of /sup 56/Ni requires a relatively small value of the transparency function M/sub ej//v/sub 9//sup 2/ = 0.22 in units of M/sub solar/'s and 10/sup 9/ cm s/sup -1/ to explain the light curve. A minimum mass of /sup 56/Ni is required to explain the peak and near peak luminosity. Subsequent radioactive decay energy must escape in some other form than optical light in order to explain the rapid early and late time decay. Early ultraviolet and infrared radiation are excluded as sinks of energy by observations. PdV work is excluded by theory. The energy loss due to the escape of gamma rays and ..beta../sup +/'s with the above value of M/sub ej//v/sub 9//sup 2/ gives good agreement with the light curve after maximum, provided essentially all the trapped energy is converted to optical light. The peak of SN 1972e is explained with the above transparency value M/sub ej//v/sub 9//sup 2/ = 0.22 and mass of /sup 56/Ni of 0.25 M/sub solar/ or 0.4 M/sub solar/, and a distance of 3.2 Mpc or 4 Mpc, respectively. These values depend critically upon the prediscovery report of Austin (1972), and the assumption again …

Separate abstracts are prepared for twelve papers presented at the symposium. (MCW)

The friction, wear, and corrosion performance of several metallurgical coatings in 200 to 650/sup 0/C sodium are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on those coatings which have successfully passed the qualification tests necessary for acceptance in breeder reactor environments. Tests include friction, wear, corrosion, thermal cycling, self-welding, and irradiation exposure under as-prototypic-as-possible service conditions. Materials tested were coatings of various refractory metal carbides in metallic binders, nickel-base and cobalt-base alloys and intermetallic compounds such as the aluminides and borides. Coating processes evaluated included plasma spray, detonation gun, sputtering, spark-deposition, and solid-state diffusion.

Initial tandem mirror hybrid studies predict the ability to produce large amounts of fissile fuel (2 to 7 tons U233 per year from a 4000 MW plant) at a cost that adds less than 25% to the cost of power from a LWR.

Lasers for fusion experiments use thin-film dielectric coatings for reflecting, antireflecting and polarizing surface elements. Coatings are most important to the Nd:glass laser application. The most important requirements of these coatings are accuracy of the average value of reflectance and transmission, uniformity of amplitude and phase front of the reflected or transmitted light, and laser damage threshold. Damage resistance strongly affects the laser's design and performance. The success of advanced lasers for future experiments and for reactor applications requires significant developments in damage resistant coatings for ultraviolet laser radiation.

The U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Geothermal Energy and Division of Geothermal Resource Management, sponsored a Resource Assessment/Commercialization Planning meeting in Salt Lake City on January 21-24, 1980. The meeting included presentations by state planning and resource teams from all DOE regions. An estimated 130 people representing federal, state and local agencies, industry and private developers attended.

A computer simulation code has been developed and validated at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to predict the performance of a railgun electromagnetic accelerator. The code, called MAGRAC (MAGnetic Railgun ACcelerator), models the performance of a railgun driven by a magnetic flux compression current generator (MFCG). The MAGRAC code employs a time-step solution of the nonlinear time-varying element railgun circuit to determine rail currents. From the rail currents, the projectile acceleration, velocity, and position is found. The MAGRAC code was validated through a series of eight railgun tests conducted jointly with the Los Alamos Scientific National Laboratory. This paper describes the formulation of the MAGRAC railgun model and compares the predicted current waveforms with those obtained from full-scale experiments.

The incentives for separating and eliminating various elements from radioactive waste prior to final geologic disposal were investigated. Exposure pathways to humans were defined, and potential radiation doses to an individual living within the region of influence of the underground storage site were calculated. The assumed radionuclide source was 1/5 of the accumulated high-level waste from the US nuclear power economy through the year 2000. The repository containing the waste was assumed to be located in a reference salt site geology. The study required numerous assumptions concerning the transport of radioactivity from the geologic storage site to man. The assumptions used maximized the estimated potential radiation doses, particularly in the case of the intrusion water well scenario, where hydrologic flow field dispersion effects were ignored. Thus, incentives for removing elements from the waste tended to be maximized. Incentives were also maximized by assuming that elements removed from the waste could be eliminated from the earth without risk. The results of the study indicate that for reasonable disposal conditions, incentives for partitioning any elements from the waste in order to minimize the risk to humans are marginal at best.

The Spent Fuel Test-Climax (SFT-C) is a test of dry geologic storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel. The SFT-C is located at a depth of 420 m in the Climax granitic stock at the Nevada Test Site. Eleven canisters of spent commercial PWR fuel assemblies are to be stored for 3 to 5 years. Additional heat is supplied by electrical heaters, and more than 800 channels of technical information are being recorded. The measurements include rock temperature, rock displacement and stress, joint motion, and monitoring of the ventilation air volume, temperature, and dewpoint.