Unsaturated drip tests have been used to investigate the alteration of unirradiated UO{sub 2} and spent UO{sub 2} fuel in an unsaturated environment such as may be expected in the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. In these tests, simulated groundwater is periodically injected onto a sample at 90 C in a steel vessel. The solids react with the dripping groundwater and water condensed on surfaces to form a suite of U(VI) alteration phases. Solution chemistry is determined from leachate at the bottom of each vessel after the leachate stops interacting with the solids. A more detailed knowledge of the compositional evolution of the leachate is desirable. By providing just enough water to maintain a thin film of water on a small quantity of fuel in batch experiments, we can more closely monitor the compositional changes to the water as it reacts to form alteration phases.

The Laser Photolysis-Shock Tube (LP-ST) technique coupled with H-atom atomic resonance absorption spectrometry (ARAS) has been used to study reaction, H + CH{sub 2}CO {r_arrow} CH{sub 3} + CO, over the temperature range, 863-1400 K. The results can be represented by the Arrhenius expression, k = (4.85 {+-} 0.70) x 10{sup {minus}11} exp({minus}2328 {+-} 155 K/T) cm{sup 3} molecule{sup {minus}1} s{sup {minus}1}. The present data have been combined with the earlier low temperature flash photolysis-resonance fluorescence measurements to yield a joint three parameter expression, k = 5.44 x 10{sup {minus}14} T{sup 0.8513} exp({minus}1429 K/T) cm{sup 3} molecule{sup {minus}1} s{sup {minus}1}. This is a chemical activation process that proceeds through vibrationally excited acetyl radicals. However, due to the presence of a low lying forward dissociation channel to CH{sub 3} + CO, the present results refer to the high pressure limiting rate constants. Hence, transition state theory with Eckart tunneling is used to explain the data.

Many regulated entities today charge that environmental regulations have become inefficient and could be made more cost effective. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified several initiatives to help ''reinvent'' environmental regulations and address those charges. At the same time, the President and others are pursuing the development and use of new environmental technologies. Reflecting these trends, Argonne National Laboratory is helping develop a prototype multimedia environmental regulatory program for petroleum refineries operating in the Mure. The project differs from other regulatory reinvention efforts in that it is Mure-oriented and, as a result, may result in recommendations that depart significantly from those from existing regulatory systems. This paper notes the importance of communicating environmental information when developing and implementing regulatory approaches. Two approaches--one goal-based and the other risk-based--are being considered for the prototype regulatory program. Both are site-specific, and the implementation of both requires a significant amount of communication among refiners, regulators, and other stakeholders. Of even greater importance, however, is the communication involved in the development of these approaches. Because these new regulatory approaches could fundamentally change the way regulated entities operate, ideas and concerns of groups likely to be affected by the regulatory prototypes need to be …

Depletion calculations have been performed for the McClellan reactor history from January 1990 through August 1996. A database has been generated for continuing use by operations personnel which contains the isotopic inventory for all fuel elements and fuel-followed control rods maintained at McClellan. The calculations are based on the three-dimensional diffusion theory code REBUS-3 which is available through the Radiation Safety Information Computational Center (RSICC). Burnup-dependent cross-sections were developed at zero power temperatures and full power temperatures using the WIMS code (also available through RSICC). WIMS is based on discretized transport theory to calculate the neutron flux as a function of energy and position in a one-dimensional cell. Based on the initial depletion calculations, a method was developed to allow operations personnel to perform depletion calculations and update the database with a minimal amount of effort. Depletion estimates and calculations can be performed by simply entering the core loading configuration, the position of the control rods at the start and end of cycle, the reactor power level, the duration of the reactor cycle, and the time since the last reactor cycle. The depletion and buildup of isotopes of interest (heavy metal isotopes, erbium isotopes, and fission product poisons) are calculated …

Results of two-dimensional numerical computations of turbulent methane flames using detailed and reduced chemistry are analyzed in the context of a new theory for premixed turbulent combustion for high turbulence intensity. This theory defines the thin reaction zones regime, where the Kolmogorov scale is smaller than the preheat zone thickness, but larger than the reaction zone thickness. The two numerical computations considered in this paper fall clearly within this regime. A lean and a stoichiometric flame are considered. The former is characterized by a large ratio of the turbulence intensity to the laminar burning velocity and the latter by a smaller value of that ratio.