Article discussing K-shell ionization by low-velocity ions. K-shell x-ray-production measurements are reported for protons, deuterons, and alpha particles incident on thin foils of copper, niobium, silver, and antimony.

A report discussing the research and findings of the social and psychological aspects of the Judeo-Christian stance toward homosexuality.

Article on the use of tranquilizers and sleeping pills among older Texans.

Article on the use of tranquilizers and sleeping pills among older Texans.

Article on a thermodynamic model for liquid-liquid chromatography with a binary mobile phase.

The mined geologic burial of high level nuclear waste is now the favored option for disposal. The US National Waste Terminal Storage Program designed to achieve this disposal includes an extensive rock mechanics component related to the design of the wastes repositories. The plan currently considers five candidate rock types. This paper deals with the three hard rocks among them: basalt, granite, and tuff. Their behavior is governed by geological discontinuities. Salt and shale, which exhibit behavior closer to that of a continuum, are not considered here. This paper discusses both the generic rock mechanics R and D, which are required for repository design, as well as examples of projects related to hard rock waste storage. The examples include programs in basalt (Hanford/Washington), in granitic rocks (Climax/Nevada Test Site, Idaho Springs/Colorado, Pinawa/Canada, Oracle/Arizona, and Stripa/Sweden), and in tuff (Nevada Test Site).

Measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity have been made on two samples of Climax Stock quartz monzonite at pressures between 3 and 50 MPa and temperatures between 300 and 523{sup 0}K. Following those measurements the apparatus was calibrated with respect to the thermal conductivity measurement using a reference standard of fused silica. Corrected thermal conductivity of the rock indicates a value at room temperature of 2.60 +- 0.25 W/mK at 3 MPa increasing linearly to 2.75 +- 0.25 W/mK at 50 MPa. These values are unchanged (+- 0.07 W/mK) by heating under 50-MPa pressure to as high as 473{sup 0}K. The conductivity under 50-MPa confining pressure falls smoothly from 2.75 +- 0.25 W/mK at 313{sup 0}K to 2.15 +- 0.25 W/mK at 473{sup 0}K. Thermal diffusivity at 300{sup 0}K was found to be 1.2 +- 0.4 X 10{sup -6} m{sup 2}/s and shows approximately the same pressure and temperature dependencies as the thermal conductivity.

A facility-development effort is currently underway at Sandia National Laboratories in order to create an experimental capability for the study of two-phase, steam/water flows through a variety of porous media. The facility definition phase of this project is described. Equations are derived for the steady, adiabatic, macroscopically-linear two-phase flow of a single-component fluid through a porous medium, including energy transfer both by convection and conduction. These equations are then solved to give relative permeabilities for the steam and water phases as functions of known and/or measurable quantities. A viable experimental approach was thereby formulated, leading to the definition of facility components and instrumentation requirements, including the application of gamma-beam densitometry for the measurement of liquid-saturation distributions in porous media. Finally, a state-of-the-art computer code was utilized to numerically simulate the proposed experiments, providing an estimate of the facility operating envelope.

Scenarios are being constructed for the release of radioactive maerial from hypothetical repositories in different types of rock at NTS. Deductive event trees are constructed; each path through an event tree is a scenario. The complete set of NTS event trees comprises about 340 scenarios, not counting the multiple paths through the subtrees made by expanding complex events. Each of these scenarios is being analyzed for 10 different types of rocks. (DLC)

The Spent Fuel Test in the Climax granitic stock at the DOE Nevada Test Site is a test of the feasibility of storage and retrieval of spent nuclear reactor fuel in a deep geologic environment. Eleven spent fuel elements, together with six thermally identical electrical resistance heaters and 20 peripheral guard heaters, are emplaced 420 m below surface in a three-drift test array. This array was designed to simulate the near-field effects of thousands of canisters of nuclear waste and to evaluate the effects of heat alone, and heat plus ionizing radiation on the rock. Thermal calculations and measurements are conducted to determine thermal transport from the spent fuel and electrical resistance heaters. Calculations associated with the as-built Spent Fuel Test geometry and thermal source histories are presented and compared with thermocouple measurements made throughout the test array. Comparisons in space begin at the spent fuel canister and include the first few metres outside the test array. Comparisons in time begin at emplacement and progress through the first year of thermal loading in this multi-year test.

This paper considers the application of spatial estimation techniques to a groundwater aquifer and geological borehole data. It investigates the adequacy of these techniques to reliably develop contour maps from various data sets. The practice of spatial estimation is discussed and the estimator is then applied to a groundwater aquifer system and a deep geological formation. It is shown that the various statistical models must first be identified from the data and evaluated before reasonable results can be expected.

A generic test of retrievable geologic storage of spent fuel assemblies in an underground chamber is being conducted at the Nevada Test Site. The horizontal shrinkage of the pillars is not explainable, but the vertical pillar stresses are easily understood. A two-phase project was initiated to estimate the in-situ deformability of the Climax granite and to refine the in-situ stress field data, and to model the mine-by. (DLC)

A multifaceted development program is in progress in the United States to study techniques for in-service inspection (ISI) of heat transfer tubes in breeder reactor steam generators. Several steam generator designs are involved. Although there are some similarities in the approaches, many of the details of techniques and capabilities are specific to the steam generator design. This paper describes the ultrasonic, eddy-current and penetrating radiation techniques being studied for the various steam generators, including the Large Leak Test Rig, the Clinch River Breeder Reactor design, and alternate steam generators being developed by Westinghouse and Babcock and Wilcox.

As a contribution to the required quinquennial review of American National Standard for Nuclear Criticality Safety in Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside Reactors (ANSI N16.1-1975/ANS-8.1), limits for homogeneous 233U systems have been recalculated to confirm their sub-criticality or, where there were doubts, to propose more restrictive values. In addition, other limits were calculated to be proposed for inclusion, namely, limits for aqueous solutions of UO2(NO3)2 and limits for uranium oxides. The same three methods of calculation were used as in similar work done recently for plutonium and 235U systems. The validity of each was established by correlation with the results of pertinent critical experiments. This report discusses this study.

Electron microprobe analysis shows that iron, manganese, and nickel are inhomogeneously distributed in hot-cross-rolled plate and high-energy-rate forgings of 21Cr-6Ni-9Mn steel but that chromium is homogeneously distributed. Increases in iron content correlate with decreases in manganese and nickel. Rolling and forging flow lines occur in regions with high iron and low manganese and nickel. High-energy-rate forging increases inhomogeneity. Inhomogeneities are suspected to exist in the original ingot, where they are given directionality by rolling and are enhanced by high-energy-rate forging. This report discusses this study.

The kinetics of the depletion of sodium on glass surfaces during Auger Electron Spectroscopic analysis is investigated. The decay process is mathematically represented as a sum of two single decaying exponential functions. This behavior may be described by a mechanism that accounts for the neutralization of sodium ions by the electron beam. Sodium ions and neutral sodium atoms are depleted by several known processes.

The grain size and strain dependence of work hardening in Type 304L stainless steel were analyzed between 200 and 250 K where hydrogen damage is greatest. Tensile data were obtained for specimens of several grain sizes, both with and without prior exposure to hydrogen gas at 69 MPa pressure. The analysis suggests that hydrogen has little influence on lattice friction stress but has a large effect on dislocation interaction and the back stress of dislocation pileups. This report discusses this study.

Hydrogen solubility was directly measured in specimens of Types 304L, 21-6-9, and modified A-286 austenitic stainless steels saturated with hydrogen at 69 MPa pressure at 470 K. Nitrogen in Type 21-6-9 stainless steel and precipitate morphology in the modified Type A-286 stainless steel altered the hydrogen solubility. Cold work and surface treatment had only minor effects on hydrogen solubility in the three stainless steels. This reports discusses this study.

Article on thermochemical investigations of nearly ideal binary solvents and monomer and dimer models for solubility of benzoic acid in simple binary and ternary solvents.

Article on dose responses for Colletotrichum lindemuthianum elicitor-mediated enzyme induction in French bean cell suspension cultures.

From introduction: "Michael Grosso, in his elegant review of various hypotheses intended to explain near-death experiences as reductionistic and unable to account adequately for the NDE. The present paper is a restatement of the case for psychological interpretations of the NDE; it is intended to forestall the premature rejection of psychodynamic approaches to the study of NDEs."

From introduction: "With the refinement of modern resuscitation procedures increasing numbers of people have 'died' and then returned to life. Many individuals report that during the time of clinical death extraordinary phenomena occur, which challenge accepted ideas of what happens when we die. A remarkable degree of correlation in these reports demands serious consideration. This paper will address pertinent questions raised by these reports."

From introduction: "One of the commonest reactions to the visionary experiences of heaven by the critical observer has been to argue that these are nothing more than the projections of the expectations of the dying person, who was either consciously or subconsciously trained to expect heavenly scenery (etc.) by his cultural upbringing. [...] This paper is a preliminary report on the status of NDEs in Pure Land Buddhism in China, and is an important contribution to cross-cultural research for several reasons" (pp. 154-155).

Paper analyzing near-death experiences that involve a "tunnel experience" (TE) as a specific aspect of the phenomena.