Sorption of americium and plutonium was measured in a controlled, oxygen-free atmosphere and in air on a series of tuff samples. Sorption of plutonium was greater in the controlled atmosphere than in air. Sorption of both elements is higher on zeolitized tuff than devitrified tuff. Sorption of strontium, cesium, barium, cerium, and europium is being measured on tuff samples of mineralogies not previously studied, and samples from the USW-G1 drill hole have been selected for study. Work on the dependence of the sorption ratio on element concentration (barium and europium) and on solution-to-solid ratios is reported. Progress on controlling Eh and making Eh measurements is presented. Some tuff-water systems exhibit reduced or negative Eh values under oxygen-free conditions. Development of a method for encasing cores for flow studies is discussed. Field geologic mapping is being conducted in the Lunar Crater volcanic field of central Nevada. Mineralogy-petrology studies are being conducted on core samples from the USW-G1 exploration hole in Yucca Mountain. Zeolite heating tests of core samples from UE25a-1 show density, volume, and weight changes that correlate with alteration of mineral assemblages. Hydrogen-deuterium ratios in water evolved from a clinoptilolite specimen from Yucca Mountain have been measured. Jacket seals leaked …

This report is divided into the following sections: (1) facility reports (Argus and Shiva); (2) Nova project; and (3) fusion experiments. In the Fusion Experiments section of this report, the author describes the results of a series of experiments on Shiva which further the understanding of the production and transport of suprathermal electrons. He found that of the suprathermal electrons which strike a laser irradiated disk target or which interact with the rear surface of a half Cairn hohlraum target, a significant fraction of these electrons orbit the target and strike the rear of the disk. These results have significant implications in the interpretation and modeling of the laser irradiated target experiments.

This report inventories the surface distribution of silicic tuffs in Nye, Esmeralda, and Lincoln Counties, NV, based on a review of available literature. The inventory was taken to provide a data base in evaluating tuff sites for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste. Silicic ash-flow tuffs that are about 11 to 34 million years (my) old are widespread in these counties. These rocks are locally deformed by right-lateral movement along Walker Lane and the Las Vegas Shear Zone, and left-lateral movement along a zone from near the Nevada Test Site (NTS) to the Utah border, and are commonly offset by steeply dipping normal faults. The normal faults that bound horsts, grabens, and tilted-fault blocks of the Basin-and-Range Province began to form 30 my ago; some are still active. Tuff distribution is discussed on a regional basis. Tuff thicknesses and alterations, structural complexity, and proximity to recent faulting, recent volcanism, and mineral resources are discussed for each area. Although the literature on which it is based is often incomplete and sketchy, this report is intended to serve as a basis for future, more detailed work that includes initial field inspection, detailed field and laboratory studies, and extrapolations to the subsurface.

A theoretical and experimental basis is being developed for analysis of radionuclide transport in jointed geologic media. Batch equilibration and rate experiments involving samples of Eleana argillite and Tertiary silicic tuffs in contact with solutions containing Cs, Sr or Pm indicated that most radionuclide sorption is associated with the surfaces of very small intergranular regions and that the rate of sorption is controlled by diffusion of the nuclides into such regions. Based on these experimental results, the continuity equations for radionuclides in the mobile and immobile phases were reduced to a model analogous to Rosen`s equations for packed beds and were solved similarly to Rosen`s solutions. Using the model and experimental data, limited radionuclide transport analyses were made which indicated that important parameters controlling transport include the intergranular porosity and nuclide penetration depth, fracture plate spacing and length, fluid velocity, and sorption distribution coefficient.

This document discusses the potential of the Climax pluton, at the Nevada Test Site, as the host for a granite mechanics test facility related to the geologic disposal of high-level nuclear waste. The Climax granitic pluton has been the site of three nuclear weapons effects tests: Hard Hat, Tiny Tot, and Piledriver. Geologic exploration and mapping of the granite body were performed at the occasion of these tests. Currently, it is the site Spent Fuel Test (SFT-C) conducted in the vicinity of and at the same depth as that of the Piledriver drifts. Significant exploration, mapping, and rock mechanics work have been performed and continue at this Piledriver level - the 1400 (ft) level - in the context of SFT-C. Based on our technical discussions, and on the review of the significant geological and rock mechanics work already achieved in the Climax pluton, based also on the ongoing work and the existing access and support, it is concluded that the Climax site offers great opportunities for a rock mechanics test facility. It is not claimed, however, that Climax is the only possible site or the best possible site, since no case has been made for another granite test facility in …

Electron microprobe analysis shows that iron, manganese, and nickel are inhomogeneously distributed in hot-cross-rolled plate and high-energy-rate forgings of 21Cr-6Ni-9Mn steel but that chromium is homogeneously distributed. Increases in iron content correlate with decreases in manganese and nickel. Rolling and forging flow lines occur in regions with high iron and low manganese and nickel. High-energy-rate forging increases inhomogeneity. Inhomogeneities are suspected to exist in the original ingot, where they are given directionality by rolling and are enhanced by high-energy-rate forging. This report discusses this study.

Following a description of salt resources in the salt domes of the gulf coast embayment, mining, particularly solution mining, is described. A scenario is constructed which could lead to release of radioactive waste stored in a salt dome via inadvertent solution mining and the consequences of this scenario are analyzed.

Previous research in this laboratory led to the conclusion that the low temperature intergranular fracture mode in Fe-Mn alloys is microstructurally determined, and does not require metalloid segregation or other chemical contamination. That conclusion was tested in the present investigation, which used high resolution scanning Auger microscopy to study the intergranular fracture surfaces. The fracture mode at liquid nitrogen temperature was found to be intergranular fracture whenever the alloy was quenched from the austenite field, irrespective of the austenization time or temperature. High resolution chemical analyses of the intergranular fracture surfaces failed to reveal any consistent segregation of P, S, 0, or N. The occasional appearance of sulfur or oxygen on the fracture surface was found to be due to a low density precipitation of MnS and MnO{sub 2} along the prior austenite grain boundaries. Excepting these dispersed precipitates, there was no evidence of manganese enrichment of the prior austenite grain boundaries. A slight segregation of carbon was found along the grain boundaries, but does not appear to be implicated in the tendency toward intergranular fracture. The present results hence reinforce the conclusion that the low temperature intergranular fracture of Fe-12Mn is microstructurally determined.

Categorization supports decision making, letting an analyst look at data from different perspectives and different levels of detail. An approach to data analysis is described in which membership in subjectively defined categories is modeled by the fuzzy nature of color categories and presented via computer graphics for visual inspection by the analyst.

Pressurized water reactor loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) phenomena are being simulated with a series of experiments in the U-2 loop of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. The first of these experiments includes up to 45 parametric thermal-hydraulic tests to establish the relationship among the reflood delay time of emergency coolant, the reflooding rate, and the resultant fuel rod cladding peak temperature. Subsequent experiments establish the fuel rod failure characteristics at selected peak cladding temperatures. Fuel rod cladding pressurization simulates high burnup fission gas pressure levels of modern PWRs. This document contains both an experiment overview of the LOCA simulation program and a review of the safety analyses performed by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) to define the expected operating conditions as well as to evaluate the worst case operating conditions. The primary intent of this document is to supply safety information required by the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL), to establish readiness to proceed from one test phase to the next and to establish the overall safety of the experiment. A hazards review summarizes safety issues, normal operation and three worst case accidents that have been addressed during the development of the experiment plan.

A beam of D{sup -} ions has been produced at 7-13 keV, with currents up to 2.2 {angstrom}, using charge exchange in sodium vapor. The beam profile is bi-Gaussian with angular divergence 0.7{sup o} x 2.8{sup o} and peak current density 15 mA/cm{sup 2}. The characteristics of the beam are in excellent agreement with predictions based on atomic cross sections. The sodium vapor target is formed by a jet directed across the beam. The sodium density drops rapidly in the beamline downstream from the charge exchange region, decreasing three orders of magnitude in 15 cm. Measurement and analysis of the plasma accompanying the beam demonstrate that plasma densities nearly equal to the beam density are obtained 1 m from the charge exchange medium. The plasma produced in the sodium is thus well confined to the charge exchange region and does not propagate along the beam.

The nuclear fluid dynamical model with final thermal breakup is used to study the reactions {sup 20}Ne + {sup 238}U and {sup 40}Ar + {sup 40}Ca at E{sub LAB} = 390 MeV/n. The calculated double differential cross sections d{sup 2}{sigma}/d{Omega}dE are in agreement with recent experimental data. However, it is shown that the azimuthal dependence of the triple differential distributions d{sup 3}{sigma}/dEdcos{theta}d{phi}, to be obtained from 4{pi} exclusive experiments with single event analysis, can yield considerably deeper insight into the collision process and allow for snapshots of the reactions. Strongly correlated jets of nuclear matter are predicted.

The adsorption of a variety of molecules on Ni(111) is studied UV/visible spectroscopic ellipsometry. The spectra were analyzed within a simple dielectric model. The absorption spectra of annealed, thin, condensed layers of pyrazine, pyridine, and naphthalene on the Ni(111) surface resemble bulk crystal spectra, indicating minimal perturbations due to the metal substrate. Chemisorption of molecules on the Ni(111) surface produced enhanced absorption between 2800{Angstrom} and 3100{Angstrom}. The wide range of adsorbate properties and surface chemistry suggest a modification of the optical response of the metal upon chemisorption. This enhanced optical absorption is attributed to nonvertical interband transitions made possible by loss of translational invariance at the surface.

The Geothermal Progress Monitor (GPM) is an information system that links the various elements of the public and private sectors of the geothermal industry. The monitoring effort emphasizes the identification and analysis of indicators of what the main participants in geothermal energy utilization--field developers, energy users and government agencies--are doing to foster the discovery, confirmation and use of this resource. The major indicators considered both important and measurable are leasing activities, drilling efforts, feasibility studies, construction plans and progress, costs of installations, levels of investment, environmental study and regulatory activities, legislative status and changes, and government monetary investments in projects and activities. The GPM is unique in that it is a network, a process, a project staff and a product. As a process, the GPM identifies, acquires stores, tabulates, analyzes and reports on the information obtained through its network structure. The GPM project staff maintains the other aspects of the GPM and in particular produces pertinent analyses and responds to queries by providing information or directing the requestors to the appropriate sources. Finally, the GPM is a periodic report which summarizes activities, status and trends in the geothermal industry.

Section 643 of the Energy Security Act of 1980 directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to develop rules to further encourage geothermal development by Small Power Production Facilities. This rule amends rules previously established in Dockets No. RM79-54 and 55 under Section 201 and 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). The analysis shows that the rules are expected to stimulate the development of up to 1,200 MW of capacity for electrical generation from geothermal facilities by 1995--1,110 MW more than predicted in the original PURPA EIS. This Final Supplemental EIS to the DEIS, issued by FERC in June 1980, forecasts likely near term development and analyzes environmental effects anticipated to occur due to development of geothermal resources in the Western United States as a result of this additional rulemaking.

The longitudinal stability of intense particle bunches is investigated theoretically in the limit of small wall resistivity compared to total reactance. It is shown that both in the absence of resistivity and to lowest order in the resistance that an intense bunch is stable against longitudinal collective modes. An expression is derived for the lowest order instability rate. Application of these results are made to drivers for heavy ion inertial fusion.

None

We discuss new anode geometries, employing position-dependent charge partitioning, which can be used with microchannel plates, planar proportional counters, and mesh dynode electron multipliers to obtain a two-dimensional position signal from each detected photon or particle. Only three or four anode electrodes and signal paths are required, yet images comprised of a number of detected events have little geometric distortion and the resolution is not limited by thermal noise inherent in resistive sheet anodes. We present an analysis of the geometrical image nonlinearity in the relationship between event centroid location and the charge partition ratios. Fabrication and testing of two wedge-and-strip anode systems are discussed. Images obtained with EUV radiation and microchannel plates that verify the predicted performance of this readout system are shown. We emphasize that the spatial resolution of the wedge-and-strip anode is in no way limited by the coarseness of the anode conductor pattern. The resolution is of the order of 0.4% of the image field size, and could be further improved by adopting low noise signal circuitry. Tradeoffs encountered in the design of practical x-ray, EUV, and charge particle image systems are discussed.

This monthly report for /sup 238/Pu Fuel Form Activities has two main sections: SRP-PuFF facility and SRL Fuel Form Activities. The program status, budget information, and milestone schedules are discussed in each main section. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for this program is shown. Only one monthly report per year is processed for EDB.

During the past three months effort has concentrated on formulating a method to predict the enhancement of electrode surface field and power input occasioned by the presence of a projection on the electrode surface, during the ion sheath development period which attends the scavenging a contact gap following current interruption in vacuum. In addition, experimental evidence has been obtained to support the theory, postulated earlier, of a turn-around interval for electrons left in the gap, which preceeds the rise of the transient recovery voltage.

The thermal properties of soils are reviewed with reference to the use of soils as heat sources, heat sinks, or thermal storage. Specific heat and thermal conductivity are discussed. (ACR)

Data on liquid and steam injections into sodium were recorded during a series of wastage experiments. These data are analyzed for acoustic power and spectral characteristics, expanding the data base up to 10 gm/sec injection rates from the earlier 0.5 gms/sec. No significant difference in acoustic power was measured between low temperature steam and liquid injections for the same mass flowrates. The bandwidth for steam injections is broader than for liquid injections. Reaction product deposition during water injections appears to cause a decrease in signal strength with test duration.

The status of technical activities of the Texasgulf Solar Cogeneration Program at the Comanche Creek Sulfur Mine is described. The program efforts reported focus on preparation of a system specification, selection of a site-specific configuration, conceptual design, and facility performance. Trade-off studies performed to select the site-specific cogeneration facility configuration that would be the basis for the conceptual design efforts are described. Study areas included solar system size, thermal energy storage, and field piping. The conceptual design status is described for the various subsystems of the Comanche Creek cogeneration facility. The subsystems include the collector, receiver, master control, fossil energy, energy storage, superheat boiler, electric power generation, and process heat subsystems. Computer models for insolation and performance are also briefly discussed. Appended is the system specification. (LEW)

An experimental task plan for the BWR/4 core spray task of the Refill-Reflood Test Program is presented. The test program will provide core spray distribution data for a 30 degree sector of the BWR/4 and 5-218 design. This design uses different nozzle types and different sparger elevations than the BWR/6-218 design which was tested previously. Test parameter ranges are specified; individual tests are defined; and measurement and data utilization plans are defined.