This report describes the use of noise analysis to investigate in-core instrument tube vibrations in BWR-4 reactors. Neutron noise signals from in-core fission chambers and acoustic noise signals from externally mounted accelerometers were used in these studies. The results show that neutron noise can be used to detect vibration and, more importantly, impacting of instrument tubes against adjacent fuel channel boxes. Externally mounted accelerometers detect impacting but not rubbing of instrument tubes against fuel channel boxes. Accelerometers can monitor impacting only on the particular instrument tube where the accelerometer is mounted. Surveillance for instrument tube impacts can be accomplished using standard BWR-4 in-core power range neutron flux detectors at all instrument tube locations containing these detectors. Ex-vessel accelerometers can then be used to monitor instrument tubes that lack power range neutron flux detectors. However, noise on axial flux profiles obtained with movable in-core detectors is not a reliable indicator of impacting, because the recorder used to plot the flux profiles does not respond adequately to the noise frequency generated by impacting.

This report

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The general requirements of a breeding blanket for a mirror reactor are described. The following areas are discussed: (1) facility layout and blanket maintenance, (2) heat transfer and thermal conversion system, (3) materials, (4) tritium containment and removal, and (5) nuclear performance.

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This report addresses the findings and recommendations regarding global problems.

Tests were performed to determine the effect cleanliness of a surface exposed to tritium gas had on methane formation. These tests performed on 304 stainless steel vessels, cleaned in various ways, showed that the methane formation was reduced by the use of various cleaning procedures.

Interfacing of a Perkin Elmer model 3920 gas chromatograph to the CEC 21-110B mass spectrometer has been completed and the GC/MS system is operational. Detailed descriptions of the heated probe assembly and the rapid mass-scanning module are given. Initial emphasis has been placed on the utilization of GC/MS in conjunction with field ionization (FI). Satisfactory results have been obtained. The FI source for the CEC 21-110B mass spectrometer is routinely operational. Familiarity with its operation has improved ion-abundance reproducibility. For a mixture containing aromatic hydrocarbons, thiophenes, and furans, the average percent standard deviation in the average percent ionizations is 3.55 percent from three spectra. Application of the technique of FI mass spectrometry to quantitative analysis of coal type mixtures has been explored. The consequences of sensitivity data on the analytical results have been considered. Relative weight and mole sensitivities have been determined for 30 aromatic hydrocarbons, 20 thiophenes, and 7 heteroatom (oxygen and nitrogen) containing compounds with respect to ethylbenzene. Excellent analytical data has been obtained from three known mixtures using these sensitivities. Fifty three coal-liquid samples have been processed. Empirical formulas for 5000 ions have been determined from the high-resolution (70 eV) spectra recorded on photographic plates. FI spectra …

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The thermal fracture resistance of plutonia Multihundred Watt (MHW) fuel spheres was analyzed assuming boundary conditions of (1) constant heating or cooling rate for the sphere surface, (2) heating or cooling with a constant surface heat transfer coefficient at the sphere surface, and (3) heating or cooling the sphere surface solely by radiation. Thermal damage resistance (mechanical weakening) of MHW spheres was analyzed in terms of the fracture energy and crack system present in the fuel. Using available property data for porous PuO/sub 2/ between 400 and 1200 deg C, and estimating other properties from available data for UO/sub 2/ and ThO/sub 2/ the thermal shock conditions that cause fracture of the fuel sphere were estimated. Experimental values for the tensile fracture strength and the elastic modulus of the fuel as functions of temperature are presently not available and estimates were made of these properties. (auth)

This report outlines the history and use of Executive Orders in the United States.

Participants from thirteen member nations of the International Energy Agency and the Commission of European Communities have been conducting cooperative energy systems analyses, the goal of which is to evaluate the possible impacts of new and conservation technologies. Such studies are intended to provide analytical bases to aid future decisions on cooperative research and development projects. In the initial studies, a quantitative description of the 1974 energy system has been prepared for each participating nation. The nations accounted for approximately half of the world energy consumption in 1974. They imported more than 30 percent of their primary energy requirements from other nations of the world. Oil and natural gas supplied almost /sup 3///sub 4/ of the energy. Reference projections were made for the years 1985 and 2000 to provide base cases for studies of the impacts of new and conservation technologies. Although these projections are not intended to be forecasts, taken together they indicate an increasing gap between the demand for energy and foreseeable domestic supplies, thus underscoring the urgency for the vigorous introduction of new energy technologies as well as the need for strong efforts in energy conservation. Some preliminary evaluations of selected technologies were made as a function …

Solar One has been instrumented with sensors for weather data system temperatures and pressures, house electrical loads, and photovoltaic system data. An automatic data acquisition and handling system has been designed and installed to gather and then transmit data to a central computer. Programs to summarize these data and tabulate them in convenient forms have been prepared. Initial data have been obtained and analyzed to check the sensor system and to give preliminary performance characteristics of the solar system. (WDM)