An experimental program to evaluate candidate metals for use in the fabrication of canisters for long-term storage of vitrified radioactive wastes is described. The long-term compatibility of the candidate metal both with the contained vitrified radioactive waste and with the external environments expected in possible final storage locations will be determined. These tests involve heating combinations of waste forms and canister metals in intimate contact for up to 50,000 hr to accelerate any reactions that occur.

Several experimental routes can be used to develop a better understanding of the polymeric constitution (polyanionic and/or polyhedral distribution) of borate, germanate, and silicate glasses. Spectral, chemical, physical-chemical, and mechanical property information can be determined directly for the glass compositions of interest. Generally, only physical-chemical information is readily accessible for the corresponding high temperature liquids. It will be shown that information on each state of matter has its own particular merits. Most of the evidence thus far published suggests an excellent agreement between polyhedral distributions in an oxide glass and its corresponding high temperature liquid state. There is no well known oxide glass forming system for which such a state of affairs does not exist. In spite of this, occasional efforts are put forth which ignore some of what is known for oxide liquids, glasses, and crystals. Such attempts therefore invariably imply, if only indirectly, that significant changes occur in the polyhedral distributions close to the glass transition temperature region. Specific examples to be discussed will include efforts that avoid well known coordination change equilibria such as BO/sub 3/ reversible BO/sub 4/ and GeO/sub 4/ reversible GeO/sub 6/.

The mechanical structure of the LLL/GA Mirror Hybrid Reactor vessel is briefly discussed. Functional requirements and over-all design considerations leading to selection of a post-tensioned concrete reactor vessel and a modular blanket approach are indicated. Module design life of four years, module replacement, capability and remote fueling are provided by the chosen structural design. (RME)

A waste management strategy for future nuclear fusion power systems is developed using existing regulatory methodology. The first step is the development of a reference fuel cycle. Next, the waste streams from such a facility are identified. Then a waste management system is defined to safely handle and dispose of these wastes. The future regulator must identify the decisions necessary to establish waste management performance criteria. The data base and methodologies necessary to make these decisions must then be developed. Safe management of nuclear fusion wastes is not only a technological challenge, but encompasses significant social, political, and ethical questions as well.

Mechanical design criteria for high-energy neutral beam injectors capable of prolonged operation are examined. The generalized structural, heat transfer, and hydraulics equations are presented for convectively cooled grids. The effectiveness of helium, liquid sodium, and subcooled water for cooling a 2-mm-diameter, 8-m-long grid tube is shown. Cooling effectiveness is determined as a function of the number of tubes in series vs heat flux, where the number of tubes in series ranges from 1 to 100 and the heat flux ranges from 100 to 10,000 W/cm/sup 2/. The stress analysis of the grid tube walls is presented, enabling data to be added to the heat transfer graphs and giving an upper flux limit for some grid materials. Sputtering is found to be a possible limiting factor for the grid lifetimes. In injectors designed for continuous use, long-term operation without excessive maintenance is required and sputtering must be minimized. To accomplish this, several procedures are proposed.

Neutral beams, which effectively heat and fuel mirror reactors, provide high-energy particles that readily cross magnetic fields to penetrate, heat, and fuel confined plasmas. The potential reliability, efficiency, and cost of large neutral-beam injectors make them desirable components of an operating mirror reactor. Because neutral beams are a poor source of low-energy particles, some other means of fueling large Tokamaks is needed.

Argus is a twin beam, 20 cm output aperture, Nd:glass laser system that has delivered 4TW to a laser fusion target. This performance is based on the concepts that multiple spatial filtering can prevent beam fill factors. Damage to optics due to self focusing and filamentation does not occur on Argus. The only form of damage is induced by broadband radiation from xenon flashlamps interacting with contaminants on or in the Nd:glass. The severity of damage is measured by the fraction of the beam obscured by the damage sites. This averages 0.1% per surface or 0.75% per arm. The amount of damage does not appear to be strongly related to the number of amplifier firings and generally occurs during the first few firings.

A calorimeter has been designed for use with the TFTR prototype neutral beam injection system. It consists of three vees each having two 18.8-mm-thick (0.75 in.) copper plates at a 6-deg angle, relative to the beam centerline. The maximum power density on a plate with this arrangement will be 2.0 kW/cm/sup 2/, resulting in a front surface temperature rise of about 420/sup 0/C. A support and retraction system moves the calorimeter in and out of the beam centerline. Various factors used in the selection of the absorber plate material will be discussed and also some experimental test results will be presented.

Two types of direct converters at up to 100 keV were tested. A beam direct converter was tested on a reduced area TFTR source at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). After surface conditioning and outgassing, the efficiency was over 60% at the beginning of a pulse. During a pulse, the efficiency decreased as the gas density built up. A single-stage plasma direct converter with immersed grids is being tested on a steady-state ion beam with 6 kW of beam power. The power density at the grids can be varied by adjusting the beam focus. Recovery efficiencies over 70% are measured and we are now studying various loss mechanisms.

A crossed molecular beam study was made of the reactions of U with inorganic oxidizers (O/sub 2/, NO, SO/sub 2/, N/sub 2/O, CO/sub 2/), water, alcohols, acetone, and halogenated methanes. Results show that U in the gas phase behaves very much like most other heavy metals, and may be called a heavy Ba or Sn atom. 8 figures. (DLC)

A brief history of Decontamination and Decommissioning (D and D) experience at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory is presented as an introduction to the status of current projects. Details are then presented as an introduction to the status of current projects. Details are then presented on a project to remove sodium from some major components of the Hallam reactor and on the Organic Moderated Reactor Experiment (OMRE) decommissioning project. Cost, schedule, waste volume, and other technical data from these projects are presented. In addition, a brief summary of the future INEL D and D program is presented.

Recent results obtained by using a 10 channel, filtered XRD detector system to record sub-keV x-ray emission from laser-irradiated targets are reported. Targets materials were Be, Al, Ti, Sn, Au and U, with Z ranging from 4 to 92. Targets were irradiated with 1ns FWHM, 1.06 ..mu..m wavelength pulses at an intensity of 5 x 10/sup 14/ W/cm/sup 2/. Time-resolved x-ray emission pulses show systematic and striking variations with Z. These variations can most probably be attributed to the onset of inhibited electron conduction. Time-integrated x-ray yields are obtained as a function of target Z as well as calculated charge states anti Z, indicating the type of physical processes that give rise to the x-ray emission. Typical sub-keV x-ray spectra are presented; in some cases such as Ti where prominent lines are present, the charge state of the plasma can be directly deduced from line ratios, agreement with numerical simulation is very good.

Advanced imaging methods have been evaluated for the purpose of constructing images of objects from ultrasonic data. Feasibility of imaging surfaces which are off-normal to the sound beam has been established. Laboratory results are presented which show a complete image of a typical core component. Using the previous system developed for under sodium viewing (USV), only normal surfaces of this object could be imaged. Using advanced methods, surfaces up to 60 degrees off-normal have been imaged. Details of equipment and procedures used for this image construction are described. Additional work on high temperature transducers, electronics, and signal analysis is required in order to adapt the off-normal viewing process described here to an eventual USV application.

A high-speed rotating shutter was designed to operate in a 10/sup -6/ Torr vacuum at the optical focus of a laser spatial filter. The shutter is basically a wheel, with a single 3 x 10-mm slot at the perimeter, which rotates with a peripheral speed of 1 km/s. The motor to drive the rotating wheel is magnetically suspended and synchronously wound. The wheel achieves a 4 ..mu..s opening time and a timing accuracy of better than 0.2 ..mu..s. (MOW)

Shiva is a 20 beam Nd:Glass Laser and Target Irradiation Facility at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. The laser system and integrated target facility evolved during the last year from a large, untested, experimental laser system to a target irradiation facility which has provided significant laser driven inertial confinement fusion data. The operation of the facility is discussed.

Different chemical pretreatments and filtration methods were evaluated as a possible means of clarifying and improving the injectivity of hypersaline brines. Six different downflow media combinations were evaluated over three geopressurized sites, using test data from 4 inch diameter filters. Also, tests were conducted with one hollow fiber ultrafilter unit and two types of disposable cartridge filters. The test procedures are mentioned briefly. (MHR)

Simulated transient tests were conducted on 234 cladding specimens from EBR-II irradiated mixed oxide fuel pins; approximately 75% of the specimens were from the fuel column region, with the remainder from the plenum and below the fuel column. The cladding specimens were taken from the N-E, N-F,, PNL-9, PNL-10, PNL-11, P-23A, P-23B, P-23C, and WSA-3 fuel pins irradiated at 15.2 to 37 KW/cm to burnup levels from 11 to 110 MWd/Kg. All the fuel pins used 20% cold worked Type 316 stainless steel cladding. Irradiation temperatures ranged from 370 to 725/sup 0/C with a peak fluence of 10/sup 23/ n/cm/sup 2/ (E > 0.1 MeV).

A scoping experiment to characterize the neutron field generated from a Light Water Reactor spent fuel assembly has been successfully completed. Solid State Track Recorder (SSTR) neutron dosimeters have been exposed at the surface of a spent fuel assembly from a Pressurized Water Reactor. Acceptable track densities were obtained. From these SSTR neutron dosimetry observations, an absolute neutron flux of roughly 8000 n/(cm/sup 2/.sec) was obtained at the surface of the spent fuel assembly three years after discharge. The deduced neutron energy spectrum, with a mean neutron energy of roughly 1.3 MeV, is intimately dependent upon the actinide content of the spent fuel. Hence, the results of this preliminary experiment have demonstrated that, with suitable calibration, SSTR neutron dosimetry can be successfully applied for non-destructive spent fuel actinide assay and for characterization of the radiation environment associated with spent reactor fuel assemblies.

The PLT or ISX-B ion source has been operated at 40-keV, 60-A, and 0.3-sec pulses with H(D) neutral injected power of 750 kW (approximately 1000 kW) on the PLT device. This report gives a brief description of this system and some future plans. (MOW)

Theoretically, the geochemical barrier can provide a major line of defense in protecting the biosphere from the hazards of nuclear waste. The most likely processes involved are easily identified. Preliminary investigations using computer modeling techniques suggest that retardation is an effective control on radionuclide concentrations. Ion exchange reactions slow radionuclide migration and allow more time for radioactive decay and dispersion. For some radionuclides, solubility alone may limit concentrations to less than the maximum permissible now considered acceptable by the Federal Government. The effectiveness of the geochemical barrier is ultimately related to the repository site characteristics. Theory alone tells us that geochemical controls will be most efficient in an environment that provides for maximum ion exchange and the precipitation of insoluble compounds. In site selection, consideration should be given to rock barriers with high ion exchange capacity that might also act as semi-permeable membranes. Also important in evaluating the site's potential for effective geochemical controls are the oxidation potentials, pH and salinity of the groundwater.

A technique is described for the noncontact testing of materials using laser deposition to generate a stress pulse and interferometry to record the transient surface displacement. The dilatational wave speed can be measured and, in the particular case of rod or plate specimens, sufficient information can be obtained to evaluate the two elastic constants of an isotropic material. Several applications illustrating the advantages of the approach are summarized.

This paper describes an experimental program to evaluate candidate metals for use in the fabrication of canisters for long-term storage of vitrified radioactive wastes.

Advances in electrochemical engineering are reviewed and the methodology of analysis of electrochemical systems outlined. Examples illustrative of current research concern simultaneous reactions for flow-through porous electrodes and the more fundamental system of a rotating-disk electrode. Here the undesirable side reaction is the formation of dissolved hydrogen, and the main reaction is the deposition of copper from sulfuric acid solutions. Distributions of reaction rate, concentration, and potential describe the detailed system behavior. The side reaction is responsible for the poorly defined limiting-current plateau on the disk electrode and provides a limit for the maximum flow rate at which good recovery can be achieved with the porous electrode. 16 figures.

Volume II of the report comprises copies of the slides from the talks presented at the second session of the National Waste Terminal Storage Program information meeting. This session was devoted to geologic studies. (LK)