This paper describes the desktop computer/CAMAC-based system that controls the power source for the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) magnet power system. Presently it contains 42 dc rectifier power supplies connected to 24 magnet coils arranged in 17 circuits. During each shot, the system delivers 22.6 MW dc to the magnets for about 3 s. The system is presently being changed to add six power supplies, two solenoidal throttle coils, and two reverse C-coils. When complete, the delivered power will increase to 36.9 MW. The closed-loop control system usually provides current (and thus, magnetic field) that is within 1% of the requested current. Achieving this accuracy required using grounding, shielding, and isolation methods to reduce noise and related problems. These are also discussed.

The benign termination of the transition phase of a hypothetical LMFBR accident rests on the avoidance of highly energetic recriticalities prior to escape of bottled molten core materials from the active core region. In scenarios where molten fuel is trapped due to axial blockages, the maintenance of subcritical configurations until radial flow paths develop requires stable boil-up of the molten fuel/steel mixture. This paper describes the analysis of an experiment investigating the behavior of closed boiling pools using the two-fluid hydrodynamics module of TRANSIT-HYDRO, a deterministic transition-phase analysis code.

The hydriding of depleted uranium at 76 Torr hydrogen and 130/sup 0/C has been significantly reduced by implantation of oxygen ions. The high-dose implanted specimens had incubation times for the initiation of the reaction after exposure to hydrogen that exceeded those of the nonimplanted specimens by more than a factor of eight. Furthermore, the nonimplanted specimens consumed enough hydrogen to cause macroscopic flaking of essentially the entire surface in times much less than the incubation time for the high-dose implanted specimens. In contrast, the ion-implanted specimens reacted only at isolated spots with the major fraction of the surface area unaffected by the hydrogen exposure.