The feasibility of the coated metal crucible as a container for eutectic Al-Si alloy has been proven by test. Small, enamel-coated cast iron pots has been proven by test. Small, enamel-coated cast iron pots have successfully withstood the chemically aggressive Al-Si alloy and the adverse influence of an oxidizing atmosphere for a period of 3 months at 725°C. A similarly coated castiron crucible containing 450 pounds of eutectic Al-Si alloy was successfully tested for 144 days in a jacketing operation conducted at 595°-650°C. Under the same conditions, the normal service life of clay-bonded graphite and silicon carbide crucibles rarely exceeds 45 days. The coating material is a commercially available enamel capable of withstanding temperatures up to 790°C (1450°F). It is readily applied to the surface of a variety of ferrous metals and alloys; however, best results are obtained with alloys low in chromium and nickel which also have a low thermal expansion coefficient.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of the use of soluble poisons (neutron absorbers) to supplement mechanical control rods are summarized. Experimental evaluation of poisons of interest includes in-pile and out-of-pile tests simulating anticipated reactor operating conditions. Other phases of the investigation included methods of poison injection, removal, and cleanup of poison-diluted reactor systems, as well as studies to evaluate possible application of soluble poison control in existing and proposed reactors.

Thermal cycling tests on uranium have shown that the dimensional changes that occur on cycling in the alpha range are directly related to both the texture of the material and its grain size: cold rolled rods generally elongate in the direction of rolling, while the same rods, after a beta-treatment, grow at rates several orders of magnitude lower. This considerable improvement by beta-treatment has been attributed to the texture randomization accompanying the heat-treatment. In the course of this heat-treatment, however, considerable grain growth occurs, which ahs the effect of causing surface roughening on cycling (also referred to as "bumping"); fine grained material generally retains a smooth surface. These observations led to the speculation that the most desirable structure in uranium, from standpoint of dimensional stability, is one that combines both a random texture and a fine grain size. Heat treatment of rolled rod offered no easy method to obtain such a product; powder metallurgical techniques, however, appeared ideally suited for the purpose. To this end, early in 1949, the Sylvania Electric Products Company initiated a program to develop suitable techniques for producing uranium powder compacts having the above-mentioned desired characteristics. Because of the availability of thermal cycling equipment at Argonne, …

This technical report describes experimental nuclear physics, mass spectroscopy, crystallography, experimental reactor physics, theoretical physics (general), reactor theory, electronic digital computers, and applied mathematics and computations (general).

The results of this study are tabulated in Summary Tables A and B below. For the most part, these values were read from smoothed curves drawn thru the plotted experimental data. The values for aluminum (i.e., 0 w/o Li) were taken from the 1948 Edition of the ASM Metals Handbook. The room temperature properties are reported for lithium contents of 0, 3.5, 7 and 10 weight per cent. In the case of the high temperature properties, there were insufficient data to allow extrapolation and interpolation to pre-chosen compositions: these properties are therefore reported only for the compositions of the actual samples.

This report discusses the development of ultrasonic testing, acoustic microscopy, dye-enhanced radiography, holographic interferometry, and infrared scanning techniques for flaw detection in silicon carbide (SiC) heat-exchanger tubing. Both preservice and in-service testing requirements are discussed. An ultrasonic boreside probe and an acoustic microscope stage have been designed for continuous monitoring of SiC tubing. Preliminary results with these acoustic systems are presented. In addition, a novel technique for detecting small surface flaws using holographic interferometry is discussed. Fracture mechanics analysis suggests that detection of flaws on the order of 100 um is necessary to assure good reliability of ceramic heat exchangers. The acoustic and holographic techniques have been shown to be capable of detecting flaws of this size. However, the sensitivity of ultrasonic flaw detection in SiC is affected by the microstructure of the component. The practical considerations involved in the use of these techniques are discussed.

This document reports on the work done by the Nuclear Waste Programs of the Chemical Technology Division (CMT), Argonne National Laboratory, in the period October 1991-March 1992. In these programs, studies are underway on the performance of waste glass and spent fuel in projected nuclear repository conditions to provide input to the licensing of the nation's high-level waste repositories.

The computer program PTA-1 performs pressure-transient analysis of large piping networks using the one-dimensional method of characteristics applied to a fluid-hammer formulation. The effect of elastic-plastic deformation of piping on pulse propagation is included in the computation. The program is particularly oriented toward the analysis of the effects of a sodium/water reaction on the intermediate heat-transport system of a liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder reactor, but may be applied just as usefully to other pulse sources and other piping systems. PTA-1 is capable of treating complex piping networks and includes a variety of junction types. Pipe friction and nonlinear velocity terms are included in the formulation. The program requires a minimum of input-data preparation and is designed to be easily used and modified. This report contains the governing equations, program structure, input requirements, program listing, and other information for PTA-1.

Presented here are notes for a course in PL/I. They might serve as a guide to those who are developing a course, or as class notes for that course. They might be useful as a textbook independent of any course; as such a textbook, however, they are not self-contained because of the built-in assumption that they will supplement lectures and be accompanied by manuals. Very nearly the full language is taught here, with the emphasis on concepts rather than practical details. Discussion of I/O is avoided until roughly the midpoint of the course. The hoped-for consequence for students is an enhanced perception and understanding of the many concepts and their logical relationships. The dawning of the age of transportability for PL/I programs gives the user a reason, for the first time, to avoid convenient but illegal language.

Biaxial creep-rupture tests were conducted on 12 prototypic GCFR fuel-cladding specimens at 650 deg C and a nominal hoop stress of 241.3 MPa. All test specimens were fabricated from 20% cold-worked Type 316 stainless steel tubes that were ribbed on the outer surface by mechanical grinding or electro-chemical etching. Test variables included specimen length and the presence or absence of weld-reinforcing end collars.

This report critically reviews the available information pertinent to the potential use of uranium-plutonium-zirconium alloy fuels clad with stainless steel in LMFBR's. The areas considered include breeding potential, burnup potential, thermal performance, fuel fabricability, fuel reprocessing, and safety considerations. Because information on uranium-plutonium-zirconium alloys is limited, wide use is made of experience with EBR-II metallic driver fuel to infer advantages and limitations of uranium-plutonium-zirconium fuels. It is concluded that sufficient potential exists for the applicability of uranium-plutonium-zirconium fuels to LMBFR's to warrant additional analytical and experimental studies.

These annual meetings bring together contractors of the Division of Chemical Sciences in its basic research program on solar photochemical energy conversion to exchange information and to give interested government officials an opportunity to assess the current status of the program. This year's meeting was joined by 12 Canadian scientists with similar interests in solar photochemistry. This volume contains the program of the meeting, a list of attendees, the abstracts of 29 formal presentations and 36 posters, and a record of questions and answers following each presentation.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). These efforts have been directed toward seeking alternative cathode materials to NiO for molten carbonate fuel cells. Particular emphasis has been placed on studying the relationship between synthesis conditions and the resistivity of doped and undoped LiFeO2 and Li2 MnO3 and on achieving a better understanding of the crystalline defect structures of the thermodynamically stable phases.

COMMIX-SA-1 is a three-dimensional, transient, single-phase, compressible-flow, component computer program for thermohydrodynamic analysis. It was developed for solar applications in general, and for analysis of thermocline storage tanks in particular. The conservation equations (in cylindrical coordinates) for mass, momentum, and energy are solved as an initial-boundary-value problem. The detailed numerical-solution procedure based on a modified ICE (Implicit Continuous-Fluid Eulerian) technique is described. A method for treating the singularity problem arising at the origin of a cylindrical-coordinate system is presented. In addition, the thermal interactions between fluid and structures (tank walls, baffles, etc.) are explicitly accounted for. Finally, the COMMIX-SA-1 code structure is delineated, and an input description and sample problems are presented.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to the Center for Human Radiobiology. This report discusses studies on the health effects of radium.

Quarterly report on the activities of the Argonne National Laboratory Materials Science Division regarding economical conversion of coal into clean and usable fuels through the use of durable materials systems. This project is designed to provide part of the materials information necessary for successful operation of coal-conversion systems.

Abstract: A network of five atmospheric aerosol samplers was established in the northeastern US starting in February 1977. Size-fractionated samples of the aerosol were collected continuously with four-hour time resolution until the network was dismantled in February 1980. The aerosol-loading and aerosol-chemistry data obtained over this three-year period are summarized in this report. In particular, the samples were analyzed for the sulfate acidity of the aerosol. The acidity was found to be quite high over prolonged periods of time, with the monthly averaged acidity approaching that of ammonium bisulfate at several of the sites. Monthly, seasonal, daily, and diurnal variations in aerosol particle loading and acidity, and sulfate, ammonium, and nitrate ion concentrations are presented. The aerosol-chemistry data are tabulated separately for each of the sampling sites.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the applicability of isotope correlation techniques (ICT) to the Light Water Reactor (LWR) and the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) fuel cycles for nuclear material accountancy and safeguards surveillance. The isotopic measurement of the inventory input to the reprocessing phase of the fuel cycle is the primary direct determination that an anomaly may exist in the fuel management of nuclear material. The nuclear materials accountancy gap which exists between the fabrication plant output and the input to the reprocessing plant can be minimized by using ICT at the dissolver stage of the reprocessing plant. The ICT allows a level of verification of the fabricator's fuel content specifications, the irradiation history, the fuel and blanket assemblies management and scheduling within the reactor, and the subsequent spent fuel assembly flows to the reprocessing plant. The investigation indicates that there exist relationships between isotopic concentration which have predictable, functional behavior over a range of burnup. Several cross-correlations serve to establish the initial core assembly-averaged composition. The selection of the more effective functionals will depend not only on the level of reliability of ICT for verification, but also on the capability, accuracy and difficulty of …

DISPL is a software package for solving systems of nonlinear partial differential equations of initial value type over a two-dimensional spatial domain. This report described an extension of the approximation procedure to include spatial domains described by polar geometry. More generally the extension includes problems for which there is periodicity in one of the spatial directions.

This report describes the implementation of an algorithm of Stoer and Schittkowski for solving linearly constrained linear least-squares problems. These problems arise in many areas, particularly in data fitting where a model is provided and parameters in the model are selected to be a best least-squares fit to known experimental observations. By adding constraints to the least-squares fit, one can force user-specified properties on the parameters selected. The algorithm used applies a numerically stable implementation of the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization procedure to deal with a factorization approach for solving the constrained least-squares problem. The software developed allows for either a user-supplied feasible starting point or the automatic generation of a feasible starting point, re-decomposition after solving the problem to improve numerical accuracy, and diagnostic printout to follow the computations in the algorithm. In addition to a description of the actual method used to solve the problem, a description of the software structure and the user interfaces is provided, along with a numerical example.

Waste forms of hydrogen-3, iodine-129, carbon-14, and krypton-85 separated from fuel reprocessing streams and procedures for managing them were analyzed regarding compliance with regulations. Transportation of these wastes in certain DOT-specification packagings would be permissible, but some of these packagings may not be acceptable in some disposal situations. Transportation of gaseous krypton-85 in a currently certified cylinder is possible, but a fuel reprocessor may wish to ship larger quantities per package. Disposal of tritium using a package designed by a DOE contractor and shallow land burial, in accord with the regulations of 10 CFR 61, seems practicable. Although 10 CFR 61 permits shallow land burial of iodine-129, the concentration limit requires distribution in a volume that may seem impractical to commercial fuel reprocessors. The concentration limit of 10 CFR 61 for shallow land burial of carbon-14 requires distribution in a lesser, although still large, volume. For both iodine-129 and carbon-14, management as high-level waste offers the advantage of smaller volumes. Similar advantages may be offered by greater confinement or non-near surface concepts for disposal. The concrete waste forms developed for these nuclides may not meet technical criteria being formulated for geologic disposal. The lack of accommodation of krypton-85 at disposal …

The Experimental Boiling-Water Reactor (EBWR) was designed, built, and operated to provide experience and engineering data that would demonstrate the feasibility of the direct-cycle, boiling-water reactor and be applicable to improved, larger nuclear power stations; and was based on information obtained in the first test boiling-water reactors, the BORAX series. EBWR initially produced 20 MW(t), 5 MW(e); later modified and upgraded, as described and illustrated, it was operated at up to 100 MW(t). The facility fulfilled its primary mission - demonstrating the practicality of the direct-boiling concept - and, in fact, was the prototype of some of the first commercial plants and of reactor programs in some other countries. After successful completion of the Water-Cooled Reactor Program, EBWR was utilized in the joint Argonne-Hanford Plutonium Recycle Program to develop data for the utilization of plutonium as a fuel in light-water thermal systems. Final shutdown of the EBWR facility followed the termination of the latter program.

This thesis involved the construction of (1) a grammar that incorporates knowledge on base invariancy and secondary structure in a molecule and (2) a parser engine that uses the grammar to position bases into the structural subunits of the molecule. These concepts were combined with a novel pinning technique to form a tool that semi-automates insertion of a new species into the alignment for the 16S rRNA molecule (a component of the ribosome) maintained by Dr. Carl Woese`s group at the University of Illinois at Urbana. The tool was tested on species extracted from the alignment and on a group of entirely new species. The results were very encouraging, and the tool should be substantial aid to the curators of the 16S alignment. The construction of the grammar was itself automated, allowing application of the tool to alignments for other molecules. The logic programming language Prolog was used to construct all programs involved. The computational linguistics approach used here was found to be a useful way to attach the problem of insertion into an alignment.

DISPL is a software package for solving some second-order nonlinear systems of partial differential equations including parabolic, elliptic, hyperbolic, and some mixed types such as parabolic-elliptic equations. Fairly general nonlinear boundary conditions are allowed as well as interface conditions for problems in an inhomogeneous media. The spatial domain is one- or two-dimensional with Cartesian, cylindrical, or spherical (in one dimension only) geometry. The numerical method is based on the use of Galerkin's procedure combined with the use of B-splines in order to reduce the system of PDE's to a system of ODE's. The latter system is then solved with a sophisticated ODE software package. Software features include extensive dump/restart facilities, free format input, moderate printed output capability, dynamic storage allocation, and three graphics packages.