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A brief overview is presented of potential uses for rf heating of plasmas in mirror devices. While some discussion relating to past experiments is given, the main emphasis is devoted to a review of potential experiments in presently existing devices, and devices under construction or planning. Some predictions are made for plasmas in mirror reactors.

As part of the Milliwatt Generator (MWG) Program, 12 simulant-fueled heat sources were fabricated double impact tested, and evaluated at Mound. Ten assemblies were tested at approx. 80 m/sec, and two were tested at approx. 105 m/sec. None of the strength members were breached; therefore, no fuel would have been released as a result of double impacts at the velocities and orientations tested at 450/sup 0/C. There was little difference in results for duplicate tests conducted approx. 80 and approx. 105 m/sec. Ten units contained liners that were embrittled prior to testing. This resulted in cracks in some of the liner that would not have occurred in normally fueled heat sources.

The system is based on a vapor cycle refrigeration system with the usual compressor, evaporator and condenser. It is designed to operate between a condensing temperature of 275/sup 0/C and an evaporating temperature of 125/sup 0/C. Water vapor is the refrigerant. The compressor is an electric motor driven three-stage positive displacement machine. The design output of the refrigerator is 50 watts cooling. The work described covers the development of the compressor with associated component development tests. The compressor was tested in a loop simulating downhole conditions. Short duration runs were accomplished where study state conditions of refrigerant and lubricant flows were established. However, because of various component failures, sustained operations, greater than 6 hours at a time, could not be made. (The design goal was 100 hours.)

This report documents the technical evaluation of the application to amend the Technical Specifications for the Ft. Calhoun Unit No. 1 Nuclear Generating Plant. The review criteria are based on the Technical Specifications of St. Lucie and Calvert Cliffs, IEEE Standards, Combustion Engineering Standard Technical Specifications, and the Code of Federal Regulations. The evaluation compares the submittal made by the licensee with the NRC staff position and the review criteria and presents the reviewer's conclusion on the acceptability of the application to amend the Technical Specifications.

A new encapsulation method was investigated in an attempt to develop an improved palladium packing material for hydrogen isotope separation. Porous wall hollow glass microspheres (PWHGMs) were produced by using a flame former, heat treating and acid leaching. The PWHGMs were then filled with palladium salt using a soak-and-dry process. The palladium salt was reduced at high temperature to leave palladium inside the microspheres.

This report describes the electrochemical corrosion scans and conditions for testing of SY-102 supernatant samples taken December 2004. The testing was performed because the tank was under a Justification for Continued Operation allowing the supernatant composition to be outside the chemistry limits of Administrative Control 5.16, 'Corrosion Mitigation program'. A new electrochemical working electrode of A516 Grade 60 carbon steel was used for each scan; all scans were measured against a saturated calomel electrode, with carbon counter electrodes, and all scans were carried out at 50 C. The samples were scanned twice, once as received and once sparged with argon to deoxygenate the sample. For those scans conducted after argon purging, the corrosion rates ranged from 0.012 to 0.019 mpy. A test for stress corrosion cracking was carried out on one sample (2SY-04-07) with negative results.

To predict the evolution of electron clouds and their effect on the beam, the high energy physics community has relied so far on the complementary use of 'buildup' and 'single/multi-bunch instability' reduced descriptions. The former describes the evolution of electron clouds at a given location in the ring, or 'station', under the influence of prescribed beams and external fields [1], while the latter (sometimes also referred as the 'quasi-static' approximation [2]) follows the interaction between the beams and the electron clouds around the accelerator with prescribed initial distributions of electrons, assumed to be concentrated at a number of discrete 'stations' around the ring. Examples of single bunch instability codes include HEADTAIL [3], QuickPIC [4, 5], and PEHTS [6]. By contrast, a fully self-consistent approach, in which both the electron cloud and beam distributions evolve simultaneously under their mutual influence without any restriction on their relative motion, is required for modeling the interaction of high-intensity beams with electron clouds for heavy-ion beam-driven fusion and warm-dense matter science. This community has relied on the use of Particle-In-Cell (PIC) methods through the development and use of the WARP-POSINST code suite [1, 7, 8]. The development of novel numerical techniques (including adaptive mesh refinement, …

Carbon nanotubes offer an outstanding platform for studying molecular transport at nanoscale, and have become promising materials for nanofluidics and membrane technology due to their unique combination of physical, chemical, mechanical, and electronic properties. In particular, both simulations and experiments have proved that fluid flow through carbon nanotubes of nanometer size diameter is exceptionally fast compared to what continuum hydrodynamic theories would predict when applied on this length scale, and also, compared to conventional membranes with pores of similar size, such as zeolites. For a variety of applications such as separation technology, molecular sensing, drug delivery, and biomimetics, selectivity is required together with fast flow. In particular, for water desalination, coupling the enhancement of the water flux with selective ion transport could drastically reduce the cost of brackish and seawater desalting. In this work, we study the ion selectivity of membranes made of aligned double-walled carbon nanotubes with sub-2 nm diameter. Negatively charged groups are introduced at the opening of the carbon nanotubes by oxygen plasma treatment. Reverse osmosis experiments coupled with capillary electrophoresis analysis of permeate and feed show significant anion and cation rejection. Ion exclusion declines by increasing ionic strength (concentration) of the feed and by lowering solution …

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The supply of calcium to the developing neonate via milk is an important physiological process. Until recently the mechanism for the enrichment of milk with calcium was thought to be almost entirely mediated via the secretory pathway. However, recent studies suggest that a specific isoform of the plasma membrane calcium ATPase, PMCA2, is the primary mechanism for calcium transport into milk, highlighting a major role for apical calcium transport. We compared the expression of the recently identified secretory calcium ATPase, SPCA2, and SPCA1, in the mouse mammary gland during different stages of development. SPCA2 levels increased over 35 fold during lactation, while SPCA1 increased only a modest two fold. The potential importance of SPCA2 in lactation was also highlighted by its localization to luminal secretory cells of the mammary gland during lactation, while SPCA1 was expressed throughout the cells of the mammary gland. We also observed major differences in the localization of PMCA2 and PMCA1 during lactation. Using the SCp2 mouse mammary epithelial cell 3D culture model, differences in the sub-cellular distribution of PMCA2 and PMCA1 were clear. These studies highlight the likely specific roles of PMCA2 and SPCA2 in lactation, and link the recently characterized SPCA2 calcium pump to …

We have constructed a regional 3D geologic model of the southern Great Basin, in support of a seismic wave propagation investigation of the 1993 Nonproliferation Experiment (NPE) at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The model is centered on the NPE and spans longitude -119.5{sup o} to -112.6{sup o} and latitude 34.5{sup o} to 39.8{sup o}; the depth ranges from the topographic surface to 150 km below sea level. The model includes the southern half of Nevada, as well as parts of eastern California, western Utah, and a portion of northwestern Arizona. The upper crust is constrained by both geologic and geophysical studies, while the lower crust and upper mantle are constrained by geophysical studies. The mapped upper crustal geologic units are Quaternary basin fill, Tertiary deposits, pre-Tertiary deposits, intrusive rocks of all ages, and calderas. The lower crust and upper mantle are parameterized with 5 layers, including the Moho. Detailed geologic data, including surface maps, borehole data, and geophysical surveys, were used to define the geology at the NTS. Digital geologic outcrop data were available for both Nevada and Arizona, whereas geologic maps for California and Utah were scanned and hand-digitized. Published gravity data (2km spacing) were used to determine …

Three layer insulating glass units with two low-e coatings and an effective gas fill are known to be highly insulating, with center-of-glass U-factors as low as 0.57 W/m{sup 2}-K (0.10 Btu/h-ft{sup 2}- F). Such units have historically been built with center layers of glass or plastic which extend all the way through the spacer system. This paper shows that triple glazing systems with non-structural center layers which do not create a hermetic seal at the edge have the potential to be as thermally efficient as standard designs, while potentially removing some of the production and product integration issues that have discouraged the use of triples.

This study investigates the effects of uncertainty inrockphysics models on estimates of reservoir parameters from jointinversion of seismic AVA and CSEMdata. The reservoir parameters arerelated to electrical resistivity using Archie's law, and to seismicvelocity and density using the Xu-White model. To account for errors inthe rock-physics models, we use two methods to handle uncertainty: (1)the model outputs are random functions with modes or means given by themodel predictions, and (2) the parameters of the models are themselvesrandom variables. Using a stochastic framework and Markov Chain MonteCarlo methods, we obtain estimates of reservoir parameters as well as ofthe uncertainty in the estimates. Synthetic case studies show thatuncertainties in both rock-physics models and their associated parameterscan have significant effects on estimates of reservoir parameters. Ourmethod provides a means of quantifying how the uncertainty in theestimated reservoir parameters increases with increasing uncertainty inthe rock-physics model and in the model parameters. We find that in theexample we present, the estimation of water saturation is relatively lessaffected than is the estimation of clay content and porosity.

During the 2007 calendar year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provided health physics support for the Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Transparency Program for external and internal radiation protection and technical expertise related to BDMS radioactive sources and Russian radiation safety regulatory compliance. For the calendar year 2007, there were 172 person-trips that required dose monitoring of the U.S. monitors. Of the 172 person-trips, 160 person-trips were SMVs and 12 person-trips were Transparency Monitoring Office (TMO) trips. There were 12 monitoring visits by TMO monitors to facilities other than UEIE and 10 to UEIE itself. There were two monitoring visits (source changes) that were back to back with 14 monitors. LLNL's Hazard Control Division laboratories provided the dosimetry services for the HEU Transparency monitors.

Renewables portfolio standards (RPS) have proliferated at the state level in the United States since the late 1990s. In combination with Federal tax incentives, state RPS requirements have emerged as one of the most important drivers of renewable energy capacity additions. The focus of most RPS activity in the U.S. has been within the states. Nonetheless, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have, at different times, each passed versions of a Federal RPS; a Federal RPS, however, has not yet been signed into law. The design of an RPS can and does vary, but at its heart an RPS simply requires retail electricity suppliers (also called load-serving entities, or LSEs) to procure a certain minimum quantity of eligible renewable energy. An RPS establishes numeric targets for renewable energy supply, applies those targets to retail electricity suppliers, and seeks to encourage competition among renewable developers to meet the targets in a least-cost fashion. RPS purchase obligations generally increase over time, and retail suppliers typically must demonstrate compliance on an annual basis. Mandatory RPS policies are backed by various types of compliance enforcement mechanisms, and many--but not all--such policies include the trading of renewable energy certificates (RECs). Renewables portfolio standards are …

Maintaining the structural integrity of the piping system of Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) is essential to the safe operation of the reactor and steam supply systems. In the safety analysis various transient loads can be imposed on the piping systems, which may pose threats to the integrity of the piping structure. These transient loads can be classified into two categories. The first represents dynamic loads resulting from the hydrodynamic pressure-wave propagation or seismic events. The second represents static or quasi-dynamic loads generated by thermal wave propagation, normal operation transient, or creep phenomena. At Argonne National Laboratory, a multi-dimensional method has been developed for the integrated analysis of piping systems under these transient loading conditions. It utilizes a 2-D implicit finite-difference hydrodynamics in conjunction with a 3-D explicit finite-element structural analysis.

The failure of a vent line on the LOFT control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) would result in the quick blowdown of the top of the CRDM with high pressure in the lower region. This large pressure drop across the lead screw could possibly eject the control rod assembly (CRA) from the reactor core. The rod ejection accident has been analyzed for the LOFT core but in this case a common mode failure may cause the loss of all four vent lines. Therefore, orifices must be installed in each CRDM pressure cap in order to ensure that the simultaneous failure of all four vent lines will not cause a quick pressure loss in the top of the CRDM's and subsequent ejection of all four CRA's.

This paper discusses the results of recent experiments at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) and Hamburger Synchrotronstrahlungslabor (HASYLAB) which were designed to explore the feasibility of using synchrotron radiation in high-resolution, computerized, critical-absorption tomography. The results demonstrate that it is possible, using absorption-edge differencing, to identify adjacent elements in the periodic table with high sensitivity. Furthermore, by using the fine structure in the absorption spectra, it is possible to distinguish between regions of different chemical states. Methods of using synchrotron radiation for high-resolution, three-dimensional chemical-state mapping in small samples are discussed.

The purpose of this report is to provide some guidance in the structuring of state rules for the implementation of Public Utility Regulatory Practices Act (PURPA) of 1978. The problem posed here is how might rules be structured to allow for the development of biomass facilities which qualify, but which are not biased in favor of non-renewable resources. Such protects are likely to have different requirements necessary for their development than, for example, hydroelectric facilities. In a general comparison of the two, biomass projects will be fuel and fuel contract dependent, less capital intensive, and more likely to be dispatchable on an annual basis. In addition, biomass facilities may be cogenerators and have available to them more than one revenue stream. Biomass facilities may also be more likely than the hydros to go out of business during the term of the contract.

The study focuses on improving the load modeling technique of Seasonal Performance Model (SPM) in order to estimate a more realistic load for seasonal analysis calculations on an hourly basis. A computer simulation program, Seasonal Performance Model Load (SPMLD), was used to calculate the cooling and heating loads for a typical residence in Caribou, Maine; Columbia, Missouri; and Fort Worth, Texas. The derivation of the SPMLD is described and changes made to improve cooling and heating load estimates are identified. (MCW)

Installation of the Secure Automated Fabrication (SAF) line has been completed. It is located in the Fuel Cycle Plant (FCP) at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford site near Richland, Washington. The SAF line was designed to fabricate advanced reactor fuel pellets and assemble fuel pins by automated, remote operation. This paper describes powder handling equipment and techniques utilized for automated powder processing and powder conditioning systems in this line. 9 figs.

The phi factory (Superconducting Mini-Collider or SMC) proposed for construction at UCLA is a single storage ring with circulating currents of 2 A each of electrons and positrons. The small circumference exacerbates the difficulties of handling the gas load due to photo-desorption from the chamber walls. We analyze the vacuum system for the phi factory to specify design choices. 7 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

An initial calculation was performed for hot-dry-rock (HDR) systems with emphasis on drilling costs. Using currently available data, a preliminary calculation for the net energy ratio of a 50 MW HDR plant was performed. The effect of using dynamic input-output models as opposed to static models is discussed. (MHR)