Research progress in briefly described, and details are presented in the attached preprints and reprints: (1) precision mass differences in light rubidium and krypton isotopes utilizing beta endpoint measurements; (2) precision mass measurements utilizing beta endpoints; (3) Monte Carlo calculations predicting the response of intrinsic GE detectors to electrons and positrons; and (4) reactor antineutrino spectra and nuclear spectroscopy of isotopes far from beta stability. (WHK)

Possibilities for setting up a basic and applied research program that would be responsive to the Conservation and Solar energy base needs are considered with emphasis on the area of materials research. Several organizational arrangements for the implementation of this basic and applied research program are described and analyzed. The key functions of the system such as resources allocation, and program coordination and management follow from two fundamental characteristics: assignment of lead responsibility (CS and the Office of Energy Research, ER); and nature of the organizational chain-of-command. Three options are categorized in terms of these two characteristics and discussed in detail. The first option retains lead responsibility in ER, with CS personnel exercising sign-off authority and filling the coordination role. Option 2 places lead responsibility with CS program office management, and utilizes the existing chain-of-command, but adds a Basic and Applied Research Division to each program office. Option 3 also places lead responsibility with CS, but within a new Office of Basic and Applied Research, which would include a Research Coordinator to manage interactions with ER, and Research Managers for each CS program area. (MCW)

During the past three months effort has concentrated on formulating a method to predict the enhancement of electrode surface field and power input occasioned by the presence of a projection on the electrode surface, during the ion sheath development period which attends the scavenging a contact gap following current interruption in vacuum. In addition, experimental evidence has been obtained to support the theory, postulated earlier, of a turn-around interval for electrons left in the gap, which preceeds the rise of the transient recovery voltage.

During a span of 640 days, a periodicity of 1.5158 +- 0.0008 days was discovered in successive heater equilibria on Calorimeter No. 127. Measurements were taken at 12-h intervals, with occasional changes of exactly 3 or 6 h in the schedule of measurements. This schedule eliminated all other possible periods except a period of 0.150156 days. Periods of 1.519125 and 1.511283 days were discovered in data on the excess length of day as obtained by the US Naval Observatory over a period of 24 y. These two periods could equally well represent periods of 0.150189 and 0.150112 days, since measurements were obtained only once every 24 h. It is suggested that periods observed in sensitive calorimeters and in length of day data may be related. 1 reference, 6 figures, 5 tables.

Information is presented concerning assessments of current seismic design methods; systematic evaluation program for older operating reactors; seismic vulnerability of fuel reprocessing facilities; and advisability of seismic scram.

The conceptual design of an ICF tritium production reactor is described. The chamber design uses a beryllium multiplier and a liquid lithium breeder to achieve a tritium breeding ratio of 2.08. The annual net tritium production of this 532 MW/sub t/ plant is 16.9 kg, and the estimated cost of tritium is $8100/g.

Recent events, such as Three Mile Island-2, Brown's Ferry-3, and Crystal River-3, have demonstrated that complex accidents can occur as a result of dependent (common-cause/mode) failures. These events are now being called Systems Interactions. A procedure for the identification and evaluation of Systems Interactions is being developed by the NRC. Several national laboratories and utilities have contributed preliminary procedures. As a result, there are several important views of the Systems Interaction problem. This report reviews some fundamental mathematical background of both fault-oriented and success-oriented risk analyses in order to bring out the advantages and disadvantages of each. In addition, it outlines several fault-oriented/dependency analysis approaches and several success-oriented/digraph-matrix approaches. The objective is to obtain a broad perspective of present options for solving the Systems Interaction problem.

Extensive modifications to the multi-source reactive sputtering deposition apparatus, including the installation of a larger vacuum chamber on the existing pumping system, have been completed. The new chamber provides improved inter-source shielding, an improved substrate mounting and heating system, and a vacuum interlock for introducing substrates. The investigation of CdS resistivity control by In doping has been continued. It has been established that the resistivity of CdS coatings deposited from an In doped target by reactive sputtering in an Ar - H/sub 2/S working gas is very sensitive to the H/sub 2/S injection rate. Thus coatings varying in resistivity from 10/sup 3/ ..cap omega..-cm to 10/sup -1/ ..cap omega..-cm were deposited from a target doped with 1 at. % In as the H/sub 2/S injection rate was varied by only 25%. Microprobe analysis confirmed that the In content in the coatings was identical to that in the target. The resistivity variations are believed to result from variations in the Cd vacancy level and the associated vacancy acceptor compensation of the In donors. The sputter-deposited solar cells fabricated thus far are characterized by a low short circuit current. Cell current-voltage characteristics and capacitance-voltage measurements under solar illumination indicate that the cause …

Parametric studies were carried out for a heavy ion beam (HIB) fusion electric power plant to investigate the effects on the cost of electricity (COE) of variations in several design parameters. In particular, we examined the effects of maximum achievable chamber pulse rate, driver cost, target gain, electric conversion efficiency, and net electric power. We find that with a combination of improvements over our base case, HIB fusion can be economically competitive with other future power sources.

A screening study was performed on a laboratory scale downfired combustor to determine the effect of various variables on the effectiveness of the reburning process as a technique for NO{sub X} abatement. The objective was to define optimum conditions under which reburning can be used and to be able to compare the reburning performance of our combustor to those reported by others. For this purpose, a statistically designed parametric investigation was conducted to determine how a set of controlled variables (primary and secondary stoichiometric ratios, location and length of the reburn zone and primary fuel load) would affect the reduction in NO emissions due to reburning. Also, the effects of other variables (NO in the primary zone, temperatures in the primary, reburn and burnout zones and the residence time in the reburn zone) were also investigated.

A nonlinear, multivariable, blanket optimization technique is applied to the Cascade inertial confinement fusion reactor concept. The thickness of a two-zone blanket, which consists of a BeO multiplier region followed by a LiAlO/sub 2/ breeding region, is minimized subject to constraints on the tritium breeding ratio, neutron leakage, and heat generation rate in Al/SiC tendons that support the chamber wall.

Initial plasma potential control experiments used plates in the end fan, insulated from the end walls of TMX-U, which mapped along field lines to the plasma core (r/sub c/ less than or equal to 12.9 cm). Measurements in which these plates are shorted to ground during plugging demonstrate that floating the plates increases the buildup rate of the central cell plasma, steepens the core density profile, and affects the plasma throughout the entire cross section. Floating the plates decreases the ion radial transport rate in the core by a factor of at least 1.5. Because of these encouraging results, in the next series of experiments more plates will be added, extending to a larger radius (r/sub c/ less than or equal to 19.4 cm).

Shielding calculations were performed for the DIII-D facility at La Jolla to independently assess the biological dose from radiation emitted during operation. These calculations for both the fully shielded and bare configurations are in essential agreement with those done by General Atomics. In addition to the basic test problems run by General Atomics, a bare configuration with additional air outside the facility area was calculated. The addition of air to the bare configuration caused the dose at 100 meters from the DIII-D center-line to increase by fifty-five percent. The inclusion of the various elemental constituents in the soil composition may change the calculated dose, but will not change the shielding factor nor invalidate the overall conclusion of this report. The overall conclusion is that General Atomics and LLNL results are in general agreement. 5 refs., 11 figs., 5 tabs.

The absolute cross sections for the single, double, triple and quadruple ionization of Cs/sup +/ ions by electron impact have been measured from below their respective thresholds to approximately 5000 eV. This determination has been accomplshed using a crossed beam facility in which monoenergetic beams of ions and electrons are caused to intersect at right angles in a well-defined collision volume. Multiply charged, product ions born as a result of the electron impact are deflected into their respective detectors by cascaded electrostatic analyzers. The multiply charged beam current component is measured by means of a vibrating reed electrometer operating in the rate-of-charge mode.

We discuss the design and implementation of a suite of test matrix generators for testing linear algebra software. These routines generate random matrices with certain properties which are useful for testing linear equation solving, least squares, and eigendecomposition software. These properites include the spectrum, symmetry, bandwidth, norm, sparsity, conditioning (with respect to inversion or for the eigenproblem), type (real or complex), and storage scheme (dense, packed or banded).

We discuss the design and implementation of a suite of test matrix generators for testing linear algebra software. These routines generate random matrices with certain properties which are useful for testing linear equation solving, least squares, and eigendecomposition software. These properites include the spectrum, symmetry, bandwidth, norm, sparsity, conditioning (with respect to inversion or for the eigenproblem), type (real or complex), and storage scheme (dense, packed or banded).

Each of the seven tasks defined under this contract are discussed here. They include: (1) design support for an x-ray spectrometer for the ``Panchuela`` down-hole experiment at the Nevada Test Site; (2) development and demonstration of an optical alignment method for aligning the 180 degree bend achromatic magnetic section of the Ground Test Accelerator; (3) development of magnet support and manipulation concepts for the 17 magnets of the Ground Test Accelerator; (4) design support for the triplett magnet telescope assembly and its support structure (Neutral Particle Beam Program); (5) design and support for the beam diagnostic system for the Argonne Particle Beam experiment; (6) conceptual design for the modification of an Antares Marx tank for use in the Aurora Laser Program; and (7) design of poloidal gap for the Los Alamos ZTH reversed-field pinch machine.

Extensive data analysis and theoretical analysis has been done to complete the extensive decay scheme investigation of /sup 206/ /sup 208/Fr and the level structures of /sup 206/ /sup 208/Rn. A final version of a journal article is presented in preprint form. Extensive Monte Carlo calculations have been made to correct the end point energies of positron spectra taken with intrinsic Ge detectors for annihilation radiation interferences. These calculations were tested using the decay of /sup 82/Sr which has previously measured positron branches. This technique was applied to the positron spectra collected at the on-line UNISOR isotope separator. The reactions used were /sup 60/Ni(/sup 20/Ne;p2n)/sup 77/Rb and /sup 60/Ni(/sup 20/Ne;pn)/sup 78/Rb. Values for 5, ..gamma..-..beta../sup +/ coincidence positron end point energies are given for the decay of /sup 77/Rb. The implied Q-value is 5.075 +- 0.010 MeV. A complete paper on the calculated corrections is presented. A flow chart of a more complete program which accounts for positrons scattering out of the detector and for bremsstralung radiation is also presented. End-point energies of four ..beta../sup +/ branches in /sup 77/Rb are given as well as a proposed energy level scheme of /sup 75/Kr based on ..gamma..-..gamma.. coincidence data taken at …

A screening study was performed on a laboratory scale downfired combustor to determine the effect of various variables on the effectiveness of the reburning process as a technique for NO{sub X} abatement. The objective was to define optimum conditions under which reburning can be used and to be able to compare the reburning performance of our combustor to those reported by others. For this purpose, a statistically designed parametric investigation was conducted to determine how a set of controlled variables (primary and secondary stoichiometric ratios, location and length of the reburn zone and primary fuel load) would affect the reduction in NO emissions due to reburning. Also, the effects of other variables (NO in the primary zone, temperatures in the primary, reburn and burnout zones and the residence time in the reburn zone) were also investigated.

None