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.

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.

This project was conducted to evaluate the practicality of using laboratory groundwater stream experiments to model a hydraulic breach of a nuclear waste repository located deep in a bedded salt environment. A test plan is included in this report that gives details of the apparatus, rocks, solutions, and analyses to be used in a groundwater stream experiment. Preliminary experiments revealed the essential impermeability of halite; only a small concentration of water (about 75 ppm) moved in halite by diffusion, with a coefficient of 2.0 x 10⁻⁷/ cm sq./s. From work completed in this program, groundwater stream experiments appear to be a practical method of establishing the chemical interactions that would occur in a breached repository in bedded salt.

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.

This report describes a coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian code, ICECO-CEL, for analyzing the response of the primary system during hypothetical core disruptive accidents. The implicit Eulerian method is used to calculate the fluid motion so that large fluid distortion, two-dimensional sliding interface, flow around corners, flow through coolant passageways, and out-flow boundary conditions can be treated. The explicit Lagrangian formulation is employed to compute the response of the containment vessel and other elastic-plastic solids inside the reactor containment. Large displacements, as well as geometrical and material nonlinearities are considered in the analysis. Marker particles are utilized to define the free surface or the material interface and to visualize the fluid motion. The basic equations and numerical techniques used in the Eulerian hydrodynamics and Lagrangian structural dynamics are described. Treatment of the above-core hydrodynamics, sodium spillage, fluid cavitation, free-surface boundary conditions and heat transfer are also presented. Examples are given to illustrate the capabilities of the computer code. Comparisons of the code predictions with available experimental data are also made.

This paper describes a computational method for improving the accuracy of a given eigenvalue and its associated eigenvector. The method is analogous to iterative improvement for the solution of linear systems. An iterative algorithm using working precision arithmetic is applied to increase the accuracy of the eigenpair. The only extended precision computation is the residual calculation. The method is related to inverse iteration and to Newton's method applied to the eigenvalue problem.

A comprehensive methodology for characterizing the results of impact fracture of brittle waste forms is presented, and its use illustrated by application to available particle-size data obtained in impact tests of various materials. The respirable-size fraction and the total surface area of the fracture particulates are the major criteria for characterization. Particle-size distributions were all found to be characterized approximately by the two parameters of the lognormal probability function (the geometric mean diameter D/sub g/ and the geometric standard deviation sigma/sub g/). These results are explained in terms of the brittle-fracture process as it is described in the technical literature. The methodology appears promising both for standardized evaluation of the impact strength of various solid-waste compositions, either vitreous or crystalline, and for studying the deformation of canistered waste forms in scale-model tests.

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.

This report covers the research, development, and management activities of the programs involving high-performance lithium-aluminum/iron sulfide batteries at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and at contractors' laboratories during the period October 1979 through September 1980. These batteries, which are being developed for electric-vehicle propulsion and stationary energy storage applications, consist of vertically oriented prismatic cells with one or more inner positive electrodes of FeS or FeS2 facing negative electrodes of lithium-aluminum, and molten LiCl-KCl electrolyte.

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.

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.

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 …

The Review Panel on Neutron Scattering has recommended an expanded budget to allow systematic development of the field. An alternative plan for the future of neutron research on condensed matter is presented here, in case it is not possible to fund the expanded budget. This plan leads, in a rational and logical way, to a world-class neutron source that will ensure the vitality of the field and exploit the many benefits that state-of-the-art neutron facilities can bring to programs in the materials and biological sciences.

"In recent years, the increasing sophistication of transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies of materials has necessitated more exacting methods of specimen preparation. The present report describes improved equipment and techniques for electropolishing and chemically polishing a wide variety of specimens. Many of the specimens used in developing or improving the techniques to be described were irradiated with heavy ions such as nickel or vanadium to study radiation damage. The high cost of these specimens increased the need for reproducible methods of initial preparation, postirradiaton processing, and final thinning for TEM examination. A technique was also developed to salvage specimens that had previously been thinned but were unusable for various reasons. Jet polishing is, in general, the method of choice for surface polishing, sectioning, and thinning. The older beaker electropolishing method is included in this report because it is inexpensive and simple, and gives some insight into how the more recent methods were developed. 29 figures, 8 tables. (ERA citation 07:004650)."--NTIS abstract.

This report describes the development of the computer code POLYFAIL for identification of fuel failures in fast reactors or light-water reactors that use gas tagging. POLYFAIL implements a sophisticated numerical algorithm known as the method of barycentric coordinates. The code can treat problems involving up to four simultaneous tag releases in a tagging system characterized by three independent tag ratios. The sensitivity of the multiple-failure-resolution technique has been optimized by incorporation of a newly developed ratio weighting scheme. Several example problems are provided to demonstrate operation of the code under single-leaker and various postulated multiple-leaker situations.

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.

Although the Dirac theory of the hydrogen atom was proposed more than half a century ago, extension of the theory and its practical applications to complex atomic spectra took decades to mature. Development of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in its modern form, advances in high precision experimental techniques, and invention of high-speed computers have made atomic spectroscopy one of the most accurate branches of physics today, both in theory and experiment. In addition to a long-standing need to identify line-spectra coming from far and near parts of the universe, necessities such as to test QED further and to provide reliable data for ions in tokamak plasmas require an understanding of the theory of relativistic atomic structure beyond the framework of the original Dirac theory. Twenty articles from the proceedings of the workshop are presented. Contributed papers are grouped into theoretical and experimental subjects and presented after the papers for the second (atomic structure calculations) and third (experiment) sessions of the Workshop. Alphabetical listing of the authors is presented in Appendix 1, program of the Workshop in Appendix 2, and the list of the participants in Appendix 3.

Response-surface techniques have been developed for obtaining probability distributions of the consequences of postulated nuclear reactor accidents. In these techniques, probability distributions are assigned to the system and model parameters of the accident analysis. A limited number of parameter values (called knot points) are selected and input to a deterministic accident-analysis code. The results of the deterministic analyses are used to generate analytical functions (called response surfaces) that approximate the accident consequences in terms of selected system and model parameters. The response-surface methodology of this report includes both systematical and random knot-point selection schemes, second- and third-degree response surfaces, functional transformations of both input parameters and consequence variables, smooth synthesis of region-wise response surfaces and the treatment of random conditions for conditional distributions. The computer code PROSA-2 developed for implementing these techniques is independent of the deterministic accident-analysis codes.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to the Center for Human Radiobiology. This report discusses an inquiry into the mechanisms and dosimetry for induction of malignancies by radium, and studies of individuals exposed to radium and thorium, as well as to other radionuclides,.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to ecology. This report discuses programs including a development project for microcosm screening systems, two initiatives in ecological modeling, and a program of field experiments for a national assessment of crop losses due to air pollution.

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.

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.

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.

This report assesses the development of the electronic power-factor control technology as it applies to use with alternating-current induction motors and to identify the potential market of this device and the potential savings this device could produce in the United States energy economy. Included are a status report of the Interagency Agreement between NASA and DOE and the recommendations regarding future efforts of the DOE in the demonstration and commercialization of the power-factor control technology.