The polyperfluoroethers are compatible with uranium hexafluoride (UF/sub 6/) and are suitable for use in diffusion pumps and in mechanical vacuum pumps which rely on oil as both the lubricant and the seal. The UF/sub 6/ is soluble in all fluids with which it is compatible. Because a number of vacuum pumps in the BOP facilities of the GCEP plant employ these perfluoroether oils as the working fluid and have oil chambers which are large, questions have been raised as to the relationships governing the solubility of UF/sub 6/ in these materials and the maximum quantities of UF/sub 6/ which could be dissolved in these oils under credible accident conditions. This report summarizes these solubility relations and the interaction of the UF/sub 6/ solubility and the pumping capability of this type of vacuum pump. It will be shown that, whereas the solubility of UF/sub 6/ in Fomblin Y25 fluoroether fluid under a UF/sub 6/ pressure of 760 torr and at the pump operating temperature of 160/sup 0/F is about 500 g of UF/sub 6/ per liter of oil, the system controls are such as to isolate the system from the pumps before the quantity of UF/sub 6/ dissolved in the …

Newsletter of the Texas Bureau of Disease Control and Epidemiology discussing the news, activities, and events of the organization and other information related to health in Texas.

Newsletter of the Texas Bureau of Disease Control and Epidemiology discussing the news, activities, and events of the organization and other information related to health in Texas.

The D phi experiment is a recently approved effort at FERMILAB to study proton-antiproton collisions at 2 TeV. A powerful new detector has been designed for this experiment and is described. The D phi detector has been designed to optimize its discovery potential in the mass range where deviations from the Standard Model might be expected to manifest themselves. Rather than discussing the detector's response to particular hypothetical new states (Higgses, squarks, etc.), we focus here on more technical capabilities (leptons, jets, etc.). After a brief physics summary to motivate our technical choices, we consider the detector design subsystem by subsystem. 9 references.

This report summarizes the results of an industry survey made during the summer of 1983. The survey was initiated in order to develop an information base on advanced engines that could be used in the solar thermal dish-electric program. Questionnaires inviting responses were sent to 39 companies known to manufacture or integrate externally heated engines. Follow-up telephone communication ensured uniformity of response.

A simple graphical method has been developed to undertake technical design trade-off studies for individual parabolic dish modules comprising a two-axis tracking parabolic dish with a cavity receiver and power conversion assembly at the focal point. The results of these technical studies can then be used in performing the techno-economic analyses required for determining appropriate subsystem sizing. Selected graphs that characterize the performance of subsystems within the module have been arranged in the form of a nomogram that would enable an investigator to carry out several design trade-off studies. Key performance parameters encompassed in the nomogram include receiver losses, intercept factor, engine rating, and engine efficiency. Design and operation parameters such as concentrator size, receiver type (open or windowed aperture), receiver aperture size, operating temperature of the receiver and engine, engine partial load characteristics, concentrator slope error, and the type of reflector surface, are also included in the graphical solution. Cost considerations are not included. The nomogram has been used to perform trade-off studies that have provided a basis for determining requirements for a single concentrator that could perform satisfactorily with either the selected Stirling or Brayton engine. This activity is summarized to illustrate the usage of the nomogram. Additionally, …

Electrical characterization of defects induced in FZ and CZ silicon stress in four-point bending above 1200/sup 0/C has been started. Techniques to study electrical activity that will permit correlation of defect activity with diffusion length and with room and low temperature EBIC are being developed. Preliminary characterization of defects in ribbon grown at very low speeds of less than 1 cm/min shows that the dislocation density is very low over significant regions of cross section, while regions of high dislocation density (approx. 5 x 10/sup 6//cm/sup 2/) occur in bands in a number of places. Additional measurements of stress distributions in EFG material have been obtained at the University of Illinois using shadow-Moire interferometry.

This document deals with the procurements planned for the construction of an Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) production plant. Several large-scale AVLIS facilities have already been built and tested; a full-scale engineering demonstration facility is currently under construction. The experience gained from these projects provides the procurement basis for the production plant construction and operation. In this document, the status of the AVLIS process procurement is presented from two viewpoints. The AVLIS Production Plant Work Breakdown Structure is referenced at the level of the items to be procured. The availability of suppliers for the items at this level is discussed. In addition, the work that will result from the AVLIS enrichment plant project is broken down by general procurement categories (construction, mechanical equipment, etc.) and the current AVLIS suppliers are listed according to these categories. A large number of companies in all categories are currently providing AVLIS equipment for the Full-Scale Demonstration Facility in Livermore, California. These companies form an existing and expanding supplier network for the AVLIS program. Finally, this document examines the relationship between the AVLIS construction project/operational facility and established commercial suppliers. The goal is to utilize existing industrial capability to meet the needs of the …

The work breakdown structure has been prepared for the AVLIS Production Plant to define, organize, and identify the work efforts and is summarized in Fig. 1-1 for the top three project levels. The work breakdown structure itself is intended to be the primary organizational tool of the AVLIS Production Plant and is consistent with the overall AVLIS Program Work Breakdown Structure. It is designed to provide a framework for definition and accounting of all of the elements that are required for the eventual design, procurement, and construction of the AVLIS Production Plant. During the present phase of the AVLIS Project, the conceptual engineering phase, the work breakdown structure is intended to be the master structure and project organizer of documents, designs, and cost estimates. As the master project organizer, the key role of the work breakdown structure is to provide the mechanism for developing completeness in AVLIS cost estimates and design development of all hardware and systems. The work breakdown structure provides the framework for tracking, on a one-to-one basis, the component design criteria, systems requirements, design concepts, design drawings, performance projections, and conceptual cost estimates. It also serves as a vehicle for contract reporting. 12 figures, 2 tables.

This report presents research results in the areas of industrial hygiene, radiation protection, fire safety, and instrument development. Items have been individually abstracted. (ACR)

This preliminary Quality Assurance Plan and Assessment establishes the Quality Assurance requirements for the AVLIS Production Plant Project. The Quality Assurance Plan defines the management approach, organization, interfaces, and controls that will be used in order to provide adequate confidence that the AVLIS Production Plant design, procurement, construction, fabrication, installation, start-up, and operation are accomplished within established goals and objectives. The Quality Assurance Program defined in this document includes a system for assessing those elements of the project whose failure would have a significant impact on safety, environment, schedule, cost, or overall plant objectives. As elements of the project are assessed, classifications are provided to establish and assure that special actions are defined which will eliminate or reduce the probability of occurrence or control the consequences of failure. 8 figures, 18 tables.

Following the executive summary, this document contains the following: (1) waste management facilities design objectives; (2) AVLIS production plant wastes; (3) waste management design criteria; (4) waste management plan description; and (5) waste management plan implementation. 17 figures, 18 tables.

Information is presented concerning the development of radioisotope thermoelectric generators for space applications. Budget information is also included.

The Argonne National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory have recently installed an activated barrier, the Access Denial System (ADS) for the upgrade of safeguards of special nuclear materials. The technology of this system was developed in the late 70's by Sandia National Laboratory-Albuquerque. The installation was the first for the Department of Energy. Subsequently, two additional installations have been completed. The Access Denial System, combined with physical restraints, provide the system delay. The principal advantages of the activated barrier are: (1) it provides an order of magnitude improvement in delay over that of a fixed barrier, (2) it can be added to existing vital areas with a minimum of renovations, (3) existing operations are minimally impacted, and (4) health and safety risks are virtually nonexistent. Hardening of the vital areas using the ADS was accomplished in a cost-effective manner. 3 references, 1 figure, 1 table.

This paper discusses a perspective which we have developed on the problem of demonstrating compliance of high-level waste repositories with system performance standards. Our viewpoint arises from two primary concerns - first, that the US Environmental Protection Agency's proposed environmental standard for high-level waste disposal appears to require demonstrations of compliance which are incompatible with scientific knowledge, and, second, that the federal agencies involved in the licensing process may not appreciate fully the extent of unquantifiable and uresolvable uncertainty in repository performance-assessment models. We propose a general approach to demonstrations of compliance which we feel is compatible with the kinds of technical information that will be available for judging repository performance. Our approach emphasizes the importance of investigation alternative conceptual models and lines of reasoning in evaluating repository performance and the importance of subjective scientific judgment in the desision-making process. 24 references, 1 figure.

Tests were performed on an improved battery charger manufactured by Lester Electrical of Nebraska, Inc. This charger was installed in a South Coast Technology Rabbit No. 4, which was equipped with lead-acid batteries produced by ESB Company. The primary purpose of the testing was to develop test methodologies for battery charger evaluation. To this end tests were developed to characterize the charger in terms of its charge algorithm and to assess the effects of battery initial state of charge and temperature on charger and battery efficiency. Tests showed this charger to be a considerable improvement in the state of the art for electric vehicle chargers.

Over the years the study of the confinement of high temperature plasma in magnetic mirror systems has presented researchers with many unusual physics problems. Many of these issues are by now understood theoretically and documented experimentally. With the advent of the tandem mirror idea, some new issues have emerged and are now under intensive study. These include: (1) the generation and control of ambipolar confining potentials and their effect on axial confinement and, (2) the combined influence of nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields (used to ensure MHD stability) and electric magnetic particle drifts on radial transport. Physics considerations associated with these two categories of issues will be reviewed, including concepts for the control of radial transport, under study or proposed.

The potential of a suitably designed and economically manufactured Stirling engine as the energy conversion subsystem of a paraboloidal dish-Stirling solar thermal power module has been estimated. Results obtained by elementary cycle analyses have been shown to match quite well the performance characteristics of an advanced kinematic Stirling engine, the United Stirling P-40, as established by current prototypes of the engine and by a more sophisticated analytic model of its advanced derivative. In addition to performance, brief consideration has been given to other Stirling engine criteria such as durability, reliability, and serviceability. Production costs have not been considered here.

Four-point bending studies have been continued to compare primary creep response of FZ and CZ silicon above 1200/sup 0/C. Results suggest that silicon can be treated as a completely plastic solid in the temperature range 1200 to 1400/sup 0/C in its response to thermal stress generated during sheet growth. In the stress range of 5 to 15 MPa, the strain rate dependence on stress is epsilon approx. sigma/sup 10/, and appears to be essentially temperature independent. Work is underway to compare stresses predicted for two different thermal models used for temperature field calculations. Stress analysis has been performed to illustrate the dependence of sheet stresses on growth parameters such as sheet width, thickness and growth speed, and the coupling of these parameters to the details of the temperature field calculations used as input to the stress model. The construction of a simplified EFG ribbon system to be used to test the stress model and to investigate means to achieve low stress growth configurations is completed. The first results of measurement of residual stress distributions in EFG sheet using shadow-Moire interferometry have been obtained at the University of Illinois.

This subgroup has focussed on detectors for fixed target experiments which have full azimuthal coverage. The general scope of the working group was to consider (1) the configuration of an idealized detector, and (2) various configurations of practical detectors that could be implemented on a relatively short time scale. The second category includes possible upgrades and modifications of existing experimental facilities. Beams of both 15 GeV/A sulphur at the AGS and 200 GeV/A oxygen at the SPS were considered.

The battery charger has a full-wave rectifier in series with a transformer isolated 20 kHz dc-dc converter with high frequency switches which are programmed to actively shape the input ac line current to be a mirror image of the ac line voltage. The power circuit is capable of operating at 2 kW peak and 1 kW average power. The BC/SCI has two major subsystems: (1) the battery charger power electronics with its controls; and (2) a microcomputer subsystem which is used to acquire battery terminal data and exercise the state-of-charge software programs. The state-of-charge definition employed is the energy remaining in the battery when extracted at a 10 kW rate divided by the energy capacity of a fully charged new battery. The battery charger circuit is an isolated boost converter operating at an internal frequency of 20 kHz. The switches selected for the battery charger are the single most important item in determining its efficiency. The combination of voltage and current requirements dictated the use of high power NPN Darlington switching transistors. The power circuit topology developed is a three switch design utilizing a power FET on the center tap of the isolation transformer and the power Darlingtons on each …

The dissolution of plutonium dioxide in nitirc acid (HNO/sub 3/) at high hydrofluoric acid (HF) concentrations has been investigated. Dissolution rate curves were obtained using 12M HNO/sub 3/ and HF at concentrations varying from 0.05 to 1.0 molar. The dissolution rate increased with HF concentration up to 0.2M and then decreased at higher concentrations. There was very little plutonium dissolved at 0.7 and 1.0M HF because of the formation of insoluble PuF/sub 4/. Various oxidizing agents were added to 12M HNO/sub 3/-1M HF dissolvent to oxidize Pu(IV) to Pu(VI) and prevent the formation of PuF/sub 4/. Ceric (Ce(IV)) and silver (Ag(II)) ions were the most effective in dissolving PuO/sub 2/. Although these two oxidants greatly increased the dissolution rate, the rates were not as rapid as those obtained with 12M HNO/sub 3/-0.2M HF.

The activities of the Biocatalysis Research Activity during FY 1983 were organized into the Biocatalysis and Molecular Modeling work elements and a supporting planning and analysis function. In the biocatalysis work element, progress was made in developing a method for stabilizing genetically engineered traits in microorganisms, refining a technique for monitoring cells that have been genetically engineered, identifying strains of fungi for highly efficient preprocessing of biomass for biocatalyzed processes, and determining molecular level conditions for optimizing the efficiency of bioreactors. In the Molecular Modeling work element, a preliminary model of the behavior of enzymes was developed. Also, a preliminary investigation of the potential for synthesizing enzymes for use in electrochemical processes was completed. As part of the Activity's supporting planning and analysis efforts, contact with industry and universities was made to define key biocatalysis technical issues and to broaden the range of potential participants in the Activity. Additionally, analyses were conducted to identify and evaluate potential concepts for future research funding by the Activity. 1 figure, 2 tables.

This report describes calculations and analysis performed in an attempt to provide a new estimate for the yield of the Hiroshima weapon. Newly discovered meteorological data was adapted for use in one- and two-dimensional hydrodynamic codes, and a series of calculations was then run for different values of yield. The objective was to determine what yield produced an overpressure record which could best be correlated with an actual trace measured at a parachute-dropped canister. Altitude of the bomb and canister-carrying aircraft at drop time was also a variable parameter. The analysis provides an estimate of 16.6 + 0.3 kt for the yield of the Hiroshima weapon. A drop altitude of near 35,500 feet is shown to be consistent with the signal time-of-arrival. This yield value is within the range of other estimates, but the drop altitude is higher than that previously assumed to be reasonable.