Newsletter of the Texas Industrial Commission discussing activities of the Commission as well as other news, events, and announcements related to industrial development in the state.

Monthly newsletter of the Texas State Securities Board documenting authorization for the sale of securities in the state, listing the permit date, information about the company, and total offering for each one. It also includes other notices or updates about policy changes and the agency's activities.

Magazine discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.

Newsletter dedicated to traveling in Texas, including information about news, locations, and events of interest to visitors as well as statistics and summaries of travel in the state.

Monthly newsletter of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1, discussing the field of underground water. Topics include profiles of water conservation research, annual pre-plant soil moisture survey data, annual Winter Water Level measurement data, and information about the latest water conservation tips.

Newsletter issued by the Advisory Council for Technical-Vocational Education in Texas discussing news, events, and other relevant information related to technical and vocational education for adults in Texas.

Newsletter from the Governor's Job Matching Campaign in Texas discussing news, events, and accomplishments of the program, as well as other relevant information.

Appendix containing data summary and site descriptions for sampled containment areas to accompany a report on low-ground-pressure construction equipment for use in dredged material containment area operation and maintenance as part of a study on various methods of improving the efficiency and acceptability of facilities for confining dredged material on land.

A set of coupled rate equations for densities and energies in a tandem mirror machine have been incorporated into a fast-running code. The code is suitable for parameter-searching and studying time-dependent processes. The code has been used to study buildup of thermalized alphas in a tandem mirror reactor, and cyclic schemes for limiting the alpha population. The principal findings are: Q/sub av/ is drastically reduced as alphas build up from a steady-state in which alphas were artificially eliminated; running in a pulsed mode to clean out alphas improves the time-averaged Q significantly, but not enough; elimination of 80% of the alphas by nonadiabatic loss and running in pulsed mode allows a reasonable time-averaged Q.

The Pulp, Paper and Boardmaking Industries (PPBI) are major energy consumers in the U.S. economy, ranking fourth among all industry groups in this respect. Including the consumption of waste streams generated within the industry's manufacturing processes, the overall energy consumption in 1972 was 2.2 x 10/sup 15/ Btu (2.2 quads or 2.3 x 10/sup 18/ joules). Energy consumption is almost equally distributed between pulpmaking and recovery or regeneration of pulping chemicals, on the one hand, and pulp drying, papermaking and boardmaking, on the other. The impact of proposed near-term pollution abatement regulations upon the industry's overall energy consumption is expected to be modest, with additional energy use for discharge control to both air and water aggregating less than 5%. Zero Pollution Discharge (ZPD) regulations could nearly double the energy requirements per ton of product however, due mainly to liquid effluent treatment requirements. The energy savings predicted by the industry, assuming that ZPD is not required, is approximately 10% below the 1972 level, per unit of product, by 1980. Full utilization of all industry alternatives for conservation could probably double this savings.

This report presents the measured elastic-plastic-creep responses of eight simply supported type 304 stainless steel beams and circular plates that were subjected to time-varying loadings at elevated temperature. The tests were performed to provide experimental benchmark problem data suitable for assessing inelastic analysis methods and for validating computer programs. Beams and plates exhibit the essential features of inelastic structural behavior; yet they are relatively simple and the experimental results are generally easy to interpret. The stress fields are largely uniaxial in beams, while multiaxial effects are introduced in plates. The specimens tested were laterally loaded at the center and subjected to either a prescribed load or a center deflection history. The specimens were machined from a common well-characterized heat of material, and all the tests were performed at a temperature of 593/sup 0/C (1100/sup 0/F). Test results are presented in terms of the load and center deflection behaviors, which typify the overall structural behavior. Additional deflection data, as well as strain gage results and mechanical properties data for the beam and plate material, are provided in the appendices.

Space charge neutralization of ion beams results from plasma generated by the beam. The two dimensional flow of plasma to walls surrounding a beam is analyzed to provide spatial distributions. Negative ion beams receive particular attention; the results are applied to electron control in beams subject to post-acceleration.

A final report is given for an Energy Research and Development Administration effort aimed at a preliminary design of an energy-efficient electric commuter car. An electric-powered passenger vehicle using a regenerative power system was designed to meet the near-term ERDA electric automobile goals. The program objectives were to (1) study the parameters that affect vehicle performance, range, and cost; (2) design an entirely new electric vehicle that meets performance and economic requirements; and (3) define a program to develop this vehicle design for production in the early 1980's. The design and performance features of the preliminary (baseline) electric-powered passenger vehicle design are described, including the baseline power system, system performance, economic analysis, reliability and safety, alternate designs and options, development plan, and conclusions and recommendations. All aspects of the baseline design were defined in sufficient detail to verify performance expectations and system feasibility.

Eight shallow (30-foot-deep) holes were drilled in four formations to determine if the reduction in penetration rate that usually occurs when air drilling is changed to mist drilling might be due to the physical action of drilling a wet, soapy rock. The results showed an average loss of 9.3%, with the greatest loss occurring in limestone. The softest formation (claystone) showed only a 1.2% reduction in penetration rate; the two sandstones averaged 10.0-percent loss; and the limestone showed a significant 15.8% loss. This indicates that the loss of penetration rate due to wetting the rock while mist drilling is small but would be significant when drilling a long interval. The findings indicate that when drilling hard rocks at the surface with mist instead of air, a penetration rate loss of approximately 12% (compared to the drilling rate with air) will occur due to the effect of jetting the soapy water through the bit onto the formation being drilled.

The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory is studying various reactor power plants for space applications in the range of 10 to 100 kWe to meet space missions in the late 1980's and 1990's. The study is concentrating on a high-temperature, compact, fast reactor that could be coupled with various radiation shielding systems and thermoelectric, thermionic, or dynamic electrical power conversion systems, depending on the mission. Though the study is continuing, this report provides a description of what a typical power plant might contain in the time period and at the power levels of interest.

Optical measurement techniques have been developed for determining the solar absorptance, ..cap alpha../sub s/, and emittance, epsilon, of solar coatings. The optical equipment includes a Beckman DK-2 Spectroreflectometer and a Gier Dunkle Solar Reflectometer (Model MS-251) for ..cap alpha../sub s/ measurements and a Gier Dunkle Infrared Reflectometer (Model DB-100) for epsilon measurements. Because all this equipment is designed to accommodate flat samples, special calibration and measurement procedures were developed for the determination of the optical properties of coatings deposited on cylindrical surfaces. In addition, a small zero offset associated with the MS-251 is discussed, and its incorporation in the measurement procedure for this instrument is presented. The accuracy of the MS-251 for measurements of the ..cap alpha../sub s/ properties of black chrome coatings was determined to be better than +- 0.03 absorptance units. Although the Gier Dunkle Infrared Reflectometer is designed to measure the room temperature emittance, two modifications of the instrument's capability are discussed. The first modification involves removal of an internally mounted polyethylene filter so that the measurement spectrum shifts to approximately a 100/sup 0/C blackbody. The accuracy of the emittance values determined in this mode of operation is better than +- 0.02 emittance units for the black …

Mathematical simulation of radionuclide transport was conducted by applying the finite element sediment and contaminant transport model, SERATRA, to the Columbia River between the Priest Rapids and McNary Dams near the ERDA Hanford Reservation. Model computations were performed to solve time-dependent, longitudinal and vertical distributions of sediments and radionuclides by taking into account sediment-radionuclide interaction. Sediment transport was modeled for three sediment size fractions (i.e., sand, silt, and clay), and radionuclide transport was simulated for dissolved and particulate nuclides. Particulate radionuclides were analyzed for those adsorbed by sediment in each sediment size fraction. Five cases were simulated in this study to identify the effects of river sediments on radionuclide migration: continuous release of /sup 65/Zn without adsorption mechanics; continuous release of /sup 65/Zn with adsorption; instantaneous release of /sup 65/Zn without adsorption; instantaneous release of /sup 65/Zn with adsorption; and radionuclide resuspension. Sediment and radionuclide results indicate very good agreement with measured data.

The neutronic calculation for the Livermore mirror fusion/fission hybrid reactor blanket was performed using the PPPL cross section library. Significant differences were found in the tritium breeding and plutonium production in comparison to the results of the LLL calculation. The cross section sensitivity study for tritium breeding indicates that the response is sensitive to the cross section of /sup 238/U in the neighborhood of 14 MeV and 1 MeV. The response is also sensitive to the cross sections of iron in the vicinity of 14 MeV near the first wall. Neutron transport in the resonance region is not important in this reactor model.

Two engineering-scale in-can melting runs were completed. One run evaluated the melting of PW-8a-2 type waste containing cesium and ruthenium with 76-101 type frit. The other run established a melting rate of 30.9 kg/hr for an 8-in.-diam can containing a drop-in fin assembly made from an alloy having an expansion coefficient similar to that of the glass. High sodium feed was successfully spray calcined by lowering the calciner chamber temperature and using an additive in the feed material. The fluidized-bed calciner testing continued with emphasis on developing several mechanical components and engineering a hot cell installation and a full-scale prototype. A variable speed, weigh belt-type solids feeder was evaluated as a frit feeding device. A 76-183 melt composition was developed for PW-7a waste. Leach testing of thermally treated glasses was continued and feeders were evaluated. Comprehensive examination of 72-68 glass samples annealed for 1 year has been completed and has indicated no significant change over the results observed at 2 months. Additionally, characterization and identification work performed on the high-neodymium rare earth phase has indicated that an apatite-type structure exists within the temperature range of 500 to 750/sup 0/C but only after a minimum time of 1 week at temperature. …

The Semiscale Mod-1 Program has utilized two different break nozzle configurations in the test system. An evaluation has been made to determine the effect these break nozzle configurations have on system thermal-hydraulic response during a 200 percent double-ended cold leg break loss-of-coolant accident simulation. The first nozzle was a convergent-divergent nozzle (Henry nozzle) and the second, an elongated constant area throat nozzle. Analysis is confined primarily to system response phenomena observed to be affected by the nozzle configuration and concentrates on the fluid response at the break and the resulting core behavior during subcooled and saturated blowdown. The evaluation shows that considerable difference in system response occurs as a result of the difference in break nozzle configuration. The elongated throat nozzle was scaled from the Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) nozzle geometry and since the LOFT counterpart tests were designed to provide results for the LOFT Program, the elongated throat nozzle was used in the subsequent LOFT counterpart tests.

A preliminary design of an electrostatically plugged cusp reactor was presented in (UCRL-52142(1976)). The capital costs of the various components of this reactor are estimated and totaled for two different blanket configurations: one having an energy multiplication factor M = 1.2, and the other having M = 1.68. The unoptimized direct capital costs for these cases are found to be about 1400 and 950 $/kWe, respectively.

This study introduces mathematical modeling of accelerator beams from data collected by wire scanners. Details about a beam core D(x,x',y,y') are examined in several situations: (a) for a discretization of the projection into xy-space, a maximum-entropy solution and a minimum-norm solution are developed and discussed, (b) for undiscretized xy-subspace, a two-dimensional Gaussian approximation D(x,.,y,.) = a exp (..cap alpha..(x-x/sub 0/)/sup 2/ + ..beta..(x-x/sub 0/)(y-y/sub 0/) + ..gamma..(y-y/sub 0/)/sup 2/) is obtained by least squares, and (c) for four-dimensional space, the fit of a single Gaussian to data from a succession of wire scanners is investigated.

Results are presented of a study to evaluate whether sufficient information is available to establish conservative limits for the safe use of cation-exchange resins in separating radionuclides and, if not, to recommend what new data should be acquired. The study was also an attempt to identify in-line analytical techniques for the evaluation of resin degradation during radionuclide processing. The report is based upon a review of the published literature and upon discussions with many people engaged in the use of these resins. It was concluded that the chief hazard in the use of cation-exchange resins for separating radionuclides is a thermal explosion if nitric acid or other strong oxidants are present in the process solution. Thermal explosions can be avoided by limiting process parameters so that the rates of heat and gas generation in the system do not exceed the rates for their transfer to the surroundings. Such parameters include temperature, oxidant concentration, the amounts of possible catalysts, the radiation dose absorbed by the resin and the diameter of the resin column. Current information is not sufficient to define safe upper limits for these parameters. They can be evaluated, however, from equations derived from the Frank-Kamenetskii theory of thermal explosions …

The management program is outlined and the objectives are discussed. The development procedure and implementation of the plan are described. (MHR)