On October 5, 1979, the Lithium Processing Test Loop (LPTL) developed a lithium leak in the electromagnetic (EM) pump channel, which damaged the pump, its surrounding support structure, and the underlying floor pan. A thorough analysis of the causes and consequences of the pump failure was conducted by personnel from CEN and several other ANL divisions. Metallurgical analyses of the elliptical pump channel and adjacent piping revealed that there was a significant buildup of iron-rich crystallites and other solid material in the region of the current-carrying bus bars (region of high magnetic field), which may have resulted in a flow restriction that contributed to the deterioration of the channel walls. The location of the failure was in a region of high residual stress (due to cold work produced during channel fabrication); this failure is typical of other cold work/stress-related failures encountered in components operated in forced-circulation lithium loops. Another important result was the isolation of crystals of a compound characterized as Li/sub x/CrN/sub y/. Compounds of this type are believed to be responsible for much of the Fe, Cr, and Ni mass transfer encountered in lithium loops constructed of stainless steel. The importance of nitrogen in the mass-transfer mechanism has …

An algorithm is proposed for the problem of minimizing a quadratic function subject to an ellipsoidal constraint which is guaranteed to produce a nearly optimal solution in a finite number of iterations. A robust and efficient algorithm for this problem is required to compute the step between iterates in trust region methods for optimization problems. We also consider the use of our algorithm in a trust region Newton's method. In particular, we prove that under reasonable assumptions the sequence (X/sub k/) generated by Newton's method has a limit point X* which satisfies the first and second order necessary conditions for a minimizer of the objective function f. Numerical results for GQTPAR, which is a Fortran implementation of our algorithm, show that GQTPAR is quite successful in a trust region method. In our tests a call to GQTPAR only required 1.6 iterations on the average.

Necessary and sufficient conditions are given so that the Sobolev-type partial differential equations generate a contraction semigroup. It is shown that any nonlinear contraction from L/sup 1/(R) to itself that preserves the integral and commutes with translations satisfies maximum and minimum principles. This lemma is applied to the solution operator S/sub t/ to give necessary and sufficient conditions that S/t/ satisfy a maximum principle, despite the dispersive nature. Sufficient conditions are given so that the solutions converge, as nu and beta tend to zero, to the entropy solution of the conservation law. A larger class of monotone finite-difference schemes for the numerical solution of the conservation law motivated by finite-difference discretizations of the Sobolev equations, is introduced, and convergence results are proved for methods in this class. The methods analyzed include some that were previously used to approximate the solution of a linear waterflood problem in petroleum engineering.

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.

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 …

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward (1) developing alternative concepts for components for molten carbonate fuel cells and (2) improving our understanding of component behavior.

The general objective of the study is to perform a diversion analysis and an assessment of the available safeguards methods and systems for verifying inventory and flow of nuclear material in accessible and inaccessible areas of liquid-metal fast breeder reactor, LMFBR, systems. The study focuses primarily on the assembly-handling operations, assembly storage facilities, and reactor operations facilities relating to existing and/or near-term planned experimental, demonstration and prototypal reactor plants. The safeguards systems and methods presented are considered to be feasible for development and for implementation within the resource limitation of the IAEA and are considered to be consistent with the objectives, requirements, and constraints of the IAEA as outlined in the IAEA documents INFCIRC/153 and INFCIRC/66-Rev-2.

A neutronic analysis has been made with respect to the ex-core neutron detector response during the TMI-2 incident. A series of transport theory calculations quantified the impact upon the detector count rate of various core and down-comer conditions. In particular, various combinations of coolant void content and spatial distributions were investigated to yield the resulting transmission of the photo-neutron source to the detector. The impact of a hypothetical distributed source within the down-comer region was also examined in order to simulate the potential effect of the release of neutron producing fission products into the coolant. These results are then offered as potential explanations for the anomalous behavior of the detector during the period of approx. 20 minutes through approx. 3 hours following the reactor scram.

This report describes a conjugate gradient preconditioning scheme for solving a certain system of equations which arises in the solution of a three dimensional partial differential equation. The problem involves solving systems of equations where the matrices are large, sparse, and non-symmetric.

This report covers the processing and analysis of the fuel-bearing section (M-5138) of an irradiated experimental Light Water Breeder Reactor fuel rod, GRIP-II rod No. 79-453; this section has been designated the Validation Rod. Process steps included precision shearing of the rod into eight comminuted segments, dissolution of the segments, and chemical and radiometric analyses of the resulting solutions. The shearing and dissolution were carried out fully remotely in an existing pilot-scale facility installed in a shielded cell. Data are provided on physical parameters of the rod section and segments, uranium assays and isotopic abundances, and selected fission products. An error analysis of the individual measurements and analyses is included.

The successful operation of D-T fusion reactors will depend on the development of safe and reliable tritium-containment and fuel-recycle systems. The tritium handling requirements for D-T reactors were analyzed. The reactor facility was then designed from the viewpoint of tritium management. Recovery scenarios after a tritium release were generated to show the relative importance of various scenarios. A fusion-reactor tritium facility was designed which would be appropriate for all types of plants from the Engineering Test Facility (ETF), the International Tokamak Reactor (INTOR), and the Fusion Engineering Device (FED) to the full-scale power plant epitomized by the STARFIRE design.

When calculations of flux are done in less than three dimensions, bucklings are normally used to model leakages (flows) in the dimensions for which the flux is not calculated. If the net leakage for a given energy group is outward (positive), the buckling is positive, and buckling methods work well. However, if the new leakage for a given energy group is inward (negative), the buckling is negative and can lead to numerical instabilities (oscillations in the iterative flux calculation). This report discusses two equivalent non-buckling methods to model inward leakages. One method (the chi/sub g/ method) models these incoming neutrons by additional fission sources. The other method (the sigma/sub s/(1 --> g) method) models them by increased down-scatter sources. The derivation of the two methods is shown, and the flux spectra obtained by their use are compared with those obtained from two-dimensional (RZ) calculations.

A variance-to-mean noise technique, modified to eliminate systematic errors from drifting of reactor power, has been used to infer integral values of effective beta for uranium and plutonium fueled fast reactor modk-ups. The measurement technique, including corrections for a finite detector-electrometer time response, is described together with preliminary beta measurement results.

This manual summarizes the numerical software contained in the Applied Mathematics Division Subroutine Library (AMDLIB), the International Mathematical and Statistical Libraries, Inc. (IMSL), and the Numerical Algorithms Group, Ltd. (NAG) mathematical libraries. Seventeen numerical analysis subjects are discussed, and the appropriate subroutines available in the three libraries for solving each type of problem are listed, with our recommendations for particular types of applications.

Techniques for isolating and solidifying the nuclear wastes in the storage tanks at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center plant have been examined. One technique involves evaporating the water and forming a molten salt containing the precipitated sludge. The salt is allowed to solidify and is stored in canisters until processing into a final waste form is to be done. Other techniques involve calcining the waste material, then agglomerating the calcine with sodium silicate to reduce its dispersibility. This option can also involve a prior separation and decontamination of the supernatant salt. The sludge and all resins containing fission-product activity are then calcined together. The technique of removing the water and solidifying the salt may be the simplest method for removing the waste from the West Valley Plant.

The deformation of a thin elastic plate which is initially wrinkled when the plate is subjected to a constant compressive end thrust is considered. The singularly perturbed bifurcation theory of Reiss and Matkowsky is used. It is found that the initial deformation (imperfection) of the plate leads to solutions which explain the experimentally observed decrease in the buckling load from that predicted by bifurcation theory and the smooth transition to a buckled solution.

The research during 1980 in the Division of Biological and Medical Research, Argonne National Laboratory, is summarized. Research related to nuclear energy includes the delineation, in the6 eagle, of the responses to continuous low level Co gamma radiation and the development of cellular indicators of preclinical phases of leukemia; comparison of lifetime effects in mice of low level neutron and Co gamma radiation.

The construction and operation of a low energy electron bombardment machine designed to study the effects of extremely high doses and dose rates of ionization on materials is described.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to atmospheric physics. This report discusses research activities on the transport, removal and, to a lesser extent, transformation of pollutants in the lower atmosphere.

A previously developed perturbation method is used to obtain a new class of periodic motions for the nonlinear vibrations of rectangular, elastic plates. The dynamic von Karman plate theory is used in the analysis. The new solutions arise by secondary bifurcation from the periodic solutions that bifurcate from the natural frequencies of free vibrations of the linearized plate theory. The new motions are a linear combination of two modes of the linearized theory.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward (1) investigating alternative concepts for components of molten carbonate fuel cell stacks and (2) improving our understanding of component behavior.

The papers presented at the first annual workshop on ice storage for cooling applications by participants from the U.S. and Canada are summarized. Novel methods of preparing naturally frozen ice and storing it are described. Attention is given to technical and economic problems and related design considerations. Comparison is made with conventional air conditioning methods. Both industrial and residential applications are discussed with regard to cost.

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding activities related to properties and handling of radioactive materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and other relevant research.