This report summarizes the results of a one-year study on the future availability of materials used in the manufacture distribution equipment.

This report documents the methodology and the results of a one-year study on the availability of input materials for electrical distribution equipment.

These appendixes are referenced in Volume II of this report. They contain the detailed electrical distribution equipment requirements and input material requirements forecasts. Forecasts are given for three electric energy usage scenarios. Also included are data on worldwide reserves and demand for 30 raw materials required for the manufacture of electrical distribution equipment.

This report covers the benefits received by former presidents of the United States.

Effort continues to determine the parameters for maximizing the operating efficiency of the off-gas systems and the venturi scrubber. Results for the month show a decrease in particulate emissions from the system. Engineering designs are being finalized for enclosures to permit the introduction of radioactive waste into the incinerator and the handling of the resultant ash. Concurrent with these improvements, the cooling system capacity will be increased to handle more heat in the off-gas as a result of continuous operation. Additional cooling capacity will also be required to protect the burning chamber enclosure. In July, a HEPA filter was installed on the final exhaust to demonstrate that premature loading of the filter would not be a problem when incinerating radioactive waste.

The rate of assimilated nitrogen transfer from phytoplankton to zooplankton was measured under field conditions for natural mixed zooplankton populations using a nitrogen-15 tracer technique. The variability in rates, which ranged from 0.261 to 1.792 gram-atoms of phytoplankton nitrogen/gram-atoms of zooplankton nitrogen/24 hours, are thought to reflect a variability in the age frequency distribution of the zooplankton population. The data were used to calculate assimilation efficiencies which were found to range from 25.4 to 66.1 percent. The efficiency of 66.1 percent was taken to be the most accurate measurement for reasons discussed in the text.

The experimental procedure for irradiation testing of the above specimens is presented. No results are given. (MOW)

The most important factors affecting the economics of geothermal electricity production are the wellhead temperature or enthalpy, the well flow rate, and the cost of the wells. The capital cost of the powerplant is significant, but not highly sensitive to these resource characteristics. The optimum geothermal plant size will remain small, usually in the 50-100 MWe range. Therefore, the opportunities for achieving significant cost reductions through ''economies of scale'' are small. The steam and binary power cycles are closely competitive; the binary cycle appears better when the brine temperature is below 200-230/sup 0/C, and the flashed steam cycle appears better above this range. Geothermal electricity production is capital intensive; over 75 percent of the generation costs are fixed costs related to capital investment. Technological advances are needed to reduce costs from marginal geothermal resources and thus to stimulate geothermal energy development. Significant reduction in power costs would be achieved by reducing well drilling costs, stimulating well flow rates, reducing powerplant capital costs, increasing powerplant efficiency and utilization, and developing more effective exploration techniques for locating and assessing high-quality resources. (auth)

Equilibrium water vapor pressure and total moisture content were measured for samples of TATB-10 percent Kel-F, TATB-6 percent Estane, and TATB-9 percent Viton in a temperature range from 296 to 365/sup 0/K. Heats of vaporization were obtained for temperatures from 296 to 333/sup 0/K. Below 333/sup 0/K the water in the samples behaved as dissolved water and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation was applicable, while above 333/sup 0/K the water dissolved in the samples became very mobile and for practical purposes it was considered to be available in its entirety in the gas phase. The total moisture content of the samples was found to be <0.0021, 0.0102, and 0.0165 wt. percent for TATB-Kel-F, TATB-Estane, and TATB-Viton, respectively. The data indicate that the transport of water in the samples was controlled by the permeation characteristics of the binders. Fair agreement was found between published relative permeation constants for the three binders and those derived from the experimental results.

The objectives of this task are to: (1) develop and demonstrate the use of /sup 10/B and /sup 6/Li helium accumulation fluence monitors (HAFM's) as a reliable and accurate method of measuring reactor neutron fluence; (2) develop and apply an expanded set of HAFM's which will provide fluence responses in different but overlapping neutron energy ranges; (3) identify, through the precise measurement of spectrum-integrated helium production cross sections, those elements which produce significant helium when used individually or as components of advanced alloys in FTR and LMFBR neutron environments, so that their use might be eliminated, minimized, or controlled; (4) use this information to predict, with confidence, the helium production rate for any alloy or material considered for fast reactor use, and (5) maintain a centralized helium measurements laboratory available to the research community, and upgrade the sample throughput capacity to handle FTR dosimetry requirements.

This study of the feasibility of further automating the Central Laboratories deals specifically with the combined laboratory operations in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Denver, Colorado and is prepared with the understanding that such a system will also be implemented at the Central Laboratories in Atlanta, Georgia, and Albany, New York. The goals of automation are defined in terms of the mission of a water analysis laboratory, propose alternative computer systems for meeting such goals, and evaluate these alternatives in terms of cost effectiveness and other specified criteria. It is found that further automation will be beneficial and an in-house system that incorporates dual minicomputers is recommended: one for time-shared data acquisition, processing, and control; the second for data management. High-use analytical instruments are placed on-line to the time-shared minicomputer, with a terminal at each instrument and backup data storage on magnetic tape. A third, standby computer is switched in manually should the time-shared computer go down. Field-proven, modular hardware and software are chosen. Also recommended is the incorporation of the highly developed, computer-integrated instruments that are commercially available for determining petrochemicals and other organic substances, and are essential to the Laboratories' mission. (auth)

Efforts were concentrated on plant operating modes. The Heber plant, which was previously designed for consistant brine temperature, was reviewed and changes necessary to accomodate declining brine temperature were determined. Resultant required modifications to the computer code GEOTHM were made. The engineering, in terms of sketches and equipment lists, needed to support the capital cost estimate was determined. Attempts to use the computer program GEOTHM to develop the heat and mass balances for plants with declining geothermal fluid temperature disclosed that this code alone cannot be used for this purpose because it does not include turbine stage pressure-drop equations. It was determined that the most expedient method for obtaining the data needed for this study would be to develop a separate small computer program containing these turbine equations. With the assistance of a turbine consultant, the detailed methodology for the program was developed, and coding was started. (MHR)

The following topics are covered: construction status, system operation, other start-up activities, and task force modifications. (MHR)

A special unannounced exercise, called HOT SPOT Exercise--1975 (HSX-75), was prepared to test the general capability of the LLL ALERT Program to activate and deploy the LLL and Sandia Laboratory, Livermore (SLL) component of the ERDA/ARG. The exercise activities were limited to the LLL facilities in Livermore and the Site 300 explosive test facility located approximately 15 miles southeast of Livermore. The exercise simulated an accident at a U.S. Army storage facility (Site 300). The simulated accident involved two LLL designed weapons (W-70). One weapon was dropped during unloading operations and ignited the gas tank of the weapon transporter. The subsequent fire caused a low-order detonation of the high explosive component. The fire caused dispersal of fissile material downwind from the site. A second weapon was damaged in the explosion by fragments from the first weapon. The extent of damage to the second weapon was initially unknown. The exercise was conducted on September 23, 1975. A complete description of the specific nature of the simulated accident is contained in the scenario. Umpires were assigned to evaluate and subsequently report on the effectiveness of the response. All test objectives were accomplished. The following appendices are included: operational safety procedures, photographs and …

KOVEC is a one-dimensional, Lagrangian, elastic--plastic material motion code that is available for both 7600 and STAR computers. The elastic--plastic formulation is in the principal stress coordinate system; the von Mises yield condition is used. Models for work hardening and temperature- and pressure-dependent yield strength and shear modulus are available. The hydrodynamic equations of state are analytic functions of relative volume and total internal energy. The coding allows an unlimited number of voids to open and close. The present document describes both the physics models and the user features of the KOVEC code. 3 figures, 5 tables.

Objectives were to review the Annular Linear Induction Pump (ALIP) concept and program status, determine the desirability for such a concept for large scale plant Main Heat Transport systems, and establish the extent of interest and support for preceeding with development.

Continued fundamental studies are proposed on both the formation and properties of new materials for high-energy, gas-phase lasers. As originally proposed, attention will be focused mainly (but not wholly) on systems which have bound excited states but unbound ground states. An important class of such excimer/exciplex systems has a van der Waals dimer/oligomer as its ground state. In the original proposal for this work, a new method for the preparation of excimers and exciplexes was presented in which van der Waals complexes are formed as intermediates. Systems under study include the excited states of dimers, oxides and halides of inert gases.

Medium- and low-resolution field-ionization and high-resolution 70-eV electron-impact mass spectral data were obtained for thirty-eight gel permeation chromatographic (GPC) fractions obtained from a coal-derived liquid. Empirical formulas were deduced from the high-resolution electron-impact data. The field-ionization data were acquired for eventual calculation of quantitative distributions for the coal-derived liquid. The field-ionization mass-spectral data obtained for the GPC fractions from a Synthoil sample are being converted into quantitative compositional data. In conjunction with subcommittee ASTM D-2, a blend of aromatic hydrocarbons obtained from twelve crude oils was analyzed.

The report describes how transport by the wind is modeled in the 2-D atmospheric transport and chemical kinetics codes SPHERNEW and TRACER. The description includes the equations for transport by a specified velocity field, the eddy diffusion approximation for short-term fluctuations in the velocity, other simplifying approximations, the geometric grid, the difference equations, and the coefficient matrix of the grid. The assumption of a constant vertical density distribution was used to derive mass-consistent forms of the difference equations. These forms eliminate the instabilities and unrealistic solutions associated with specified wind fields which are not exactly mass-consistent. An option is allowed for variable weighting between central (second-order) and upstream (first-order) forms of the spatial differencing of the advection terms, to modulate phase and amplitude errors in the advection model.

A simple model for calculating the temperature-dependent deposition of silica scale from geothermal brine is outlined. A finite-difference technique for solving the moving boundary problem is described. The implicit formulation is solved directly, using matrix inverse methods appropriate for banded matrices. The multimaterial problem is defined in a way that maintains the compact matrix bandwidth of a single material. Sample problems are presented in dimensionless form, including a comparison between the finite-difference results and an analytical solution for a single-material slab problem. These initial studies show that the temperature at the brine-scale interface is not significantly perturbed by the growth of a thin scale layer, although pipe thickness and different experimental scale-deposition curves significantly affect the total amount of scale forming over a given period of time.

A unique and relatively simple method is described for modifying a 1965-vintage hardwired numerical control (N/C) for a machine tool so that it can operate in the SI (Metric) as well as the Inch mode. The modification procedure will be valuable during the transition from Inch to SI measurements, as it allows a numerically-controlled machine tool originally designed to operate only in the Inch mode to be ''recycled'' for SI use. The system digital logic of a Hughes N/C Model 2000 Control on an EE Monarch lathe was modified by changing the modulus of the Command Phase and Reference counters so that the control system has a SI modulus as well as an Inch modulus. The modified system thus allows selection of either the SI operating mode or the Inch mode by a front panel switch.

Recently a preliminary program at Savannah River Plant was began to measure I-129 concentrations in a variety of environmental samples. The objectives of the study were three-fold: First, to at least qualitatively estimate the impact of Savannah River Plant (SRP) operations on the I-129 inventory in the surrounding area; second, to determine prominent pathways of I-129 to man and to obtain, where possible, estimates of their associated dose rates; and third, to provide necessary input data to help in the design and implementation of more comprehensive follow-up studies.

A DOT Specification 7A, fiberglass-coated plywood box for shipping alpha-emitting transuranic waste has been developed. Nominal size for the box is 4 by 4 by 7 ft; maximum gross weight is 5000 lb. Construction is of /sup 3///sub 4/-in. plywood with internal framing members of 2- by 4-in. lumber. The entire box, including the glued and nailed lid, is covered with a 0.12-in.-thick fiberglass coating. The required four-foot drop tests were passed without the box being damaged. Additional drops from 12 ft resulted in some cracking in a 2600-lb box and in cracking plus some loss of contents in a test box loaded to 5700 lb. A static load of 25,000 lb caused no deformation or damage. This box costs $3.50/ft/sup 3/, which is approximately half the cost of steel drums with rigid polyethylene liners.

This report compares two models for converting beta backscatter count readings into thickness measurements. The necessary formulas to be used in an unweighted and weighted regression analysis are listed. The question of whether one should perform a regression analysis using the five available standard thicknesses or whether one should, in addition to these standard thicknesses, use zero as a standard thickness is decided. A weighted regression analysis is compared with an unweighted one for each model. The ''best'' model is selected, and the conclusions of the analysis are presented.