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.

This report discusses the railway systems in China, United States and Canada. A number of Chinese PRC railroad officers, engineers, transportation specialists, and planning experts studied in the USA.

The debate over the existence of a new particle postulated to explain the narrow positron spectra seen in heavy ion collisions has focused attention on a region of mass/lifetime where such a particle may exist and yet would not have been seen. To obtain the best possible sensitivity to elementary particles coupling to the electron in this unexplored region, we propose an electron beam dump experiment which will make parasitic use of the newly constructed wide band electron beam.

Today's satellite remote sensing systems rely heavily on spectral signatures for scene identification from nadir observations. We propose to use angular signatures as complementary scene identifiers when off-nadir sensing is possible. Specifically, the hot spot (Heiligenschein) of plant canopies is recognized as an atmosphere-invariant angular reflectance signature that carries information about the plant stand architecture which may be useful for instant crop identification from off-nadir satellite measurements.

A standard method for calculating the total capital cost and the cost of electricity for a typical inertial confinement fusion electric power plant has been developed. A standard code of accounts at the two-digit level is given for the factors making up the total capital cost of the power plant. Equations are given for calculating the indirect capital costs, the project contingency, and the time-related costs. Expressions for calculating the fixed charge rate, which is necessary to determine the cost of electricity, are also described. Default parameters are given to define a reference case for comparative economic analyses.

Current plans propose placing subsurface markers within protective barriers to deter potential human intrusion into disposed radioactive wastes. The subsurface markers would provide warning to the digging intruder should surface markers be removed, destroyed, or ignored. This plan sets forth procedures for testing the survivability of the subsurface markers during construction of the barrier. After the tests described herein are concluded, a decision can be made as to whether subsurface markers will require protection during barrier construction. If protection is required, additional tests will be needed to test the effectiveness of various protective approaches.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Project planning in the area of x-ray lithography is discussed. Three technologies that are emphasized are the light source, the lithographic technology, and masking technology. The needs of the semiconductor industry in the lithography area during the next decade are discussed, particularly as regards large scale production of high density dynamic random access memory devices. Storage ring parameters and an overall exposure tool for x-ray lithography are addressed. Competition in this area of technology from Germany and Japan is discussed briefly. The design of a storage ring is considered, including lattice design, magnets, and beam injection systems. (LEW)

Triton induced reactions, such as the (t,p) reaction, can be used for in-beam gamma-ray and conversion-electron studies of nuclei that are somewhat neutron rich. We have developed systems for both conversion-electron and gamma-ray spectroscopy in coincidence with the outgoing energetic proton to identify the (t,p) reaction channel. Data from the /sup 142/Nd(t,p..gamma..) reaction illustrate several of the characteristics of this reaction for studying nuclear structure. Preliminary results from the study of /sup 96/Zr by conversion-electron spectroscopy, and /sup 240/U by gamma-ray spectroscopy, are reported. 4 refs., 4 figs.

We have shown that, despite funding delays since the passage of the Magnetic Fusion Engineering Act of 1980, fusion development could still be carried to the point of a demonstration plant by the year 2000 as called for in the Act if funding, now about $365 million per year, were increased to the $1 billion range over the next few years (see Table I). We have also suggested that there may be an economic incentive for the private sector to become in accelerating fusion development on account of the greater stability of energy production costs from fusion. Namely, whereas fossil fuel prices will surely escalate in the course of time, fusion fuel will always be abundantly available at low cost; and fusion technology poses less future risk to the public and the investor compared to conventional nuclear power. In short, once a fusion plant is built, the cost of generating electricity mainly the amortization of the plant capital cost - would be relatively fixed for the life of the plant. In Sec. V, we found that the projected capital cost of fusion plants ($2000 to $4000 per KW/sub e/) would probably be acceptable if fusion plants were available today.

Weekly report of the Texas Crop and Livestock Reporting Service on broiler chick numbers in Texas and compared with other states. It includes compiled statistics across six consecutive weeks, from the week ending April 19 to the week ending May 24, during 1985 and 1986 for broiler eggs set, chicks hatched, and chicks placed.

Longitudinal beam compression is an integral part of the US induction accelerator development effort for heavy ion fusion. Producing maximal performance for key accelerator components is an essential element of the effort to reduce driver costs. We outline here initial studies directed towards defining the limits of final beam compression including considerations such as: maximal available compression, effects of longitudinal dispersion and beam emittance, combining pulse-shaping with beam compression to reduce the total number of beam manipulations, etc. The use of higher ion charge state Z greater than or equal to 3 is likely to test the limits of the previously envisaged beam compression and final focus hardware. A more conservative approach is to use additional beamlets in final compression and focus. On the other end of the spectrum of choices, alternate approaches might consider new final focus with greater tolerances for systematic momentum and current variations. Development of such final focus concepts would also allow more compact (and hopefully cheaper) hardware packages where the previously separate processes of beam compression, pulse-shaping and final focus occur as partially combined and nearly concurrent beam manipulations.

A method is developed to compress a heavy-ion beam longitudinally in such a way that the compressed pulse has a constant line-charge density profile and uniform longitudinal momentum. These conditions may be important from the standpoint of final focusing. By realizing the similarity of the equations that describe the 1-D charged-particle motion to the equations that describe 1-D ideal gas flow, the evolution of lambda and the velocity tilt can be calculated using the method of characteristics developed for unsteady supersonic gasdynamics. Particle simulations confirm the theory. Various schemes for pulse shaping have been investigated.

We address a class of modified ion beam targets where the symmetry issues are ameliorated in the regime of short bursts of direct drive pulses. Short pulses are here defined so that the fractional change in target radii of peak beam energy deposition are assumed to be small (during each such direct drive burst with a fixed beam focal radius). This requirement is actually not stringent on the temporal pulse-length. In fact we show an explicit example where this can be satisfied by a greater than or equal to 60 ns direct drive pulse-train. A new beam placement scheme is used which systematically eliminated low order spherical harmonic asymmetries. The residual asymmetries of such pulses are studied with both simple model and numerical simulations.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

We consider in detail the effects of local mass anomalies in Eoetvoes-like experiments. It is shown that in the presence of an intermediate-range non-gravitational force, the dominant contributions to both the sign and magnitude of the Eoetvoes anomaly may come from nearby masses and not from the earth as a whole. This observation has important implications in the design and interpretation of future experiments, and in the formulation of unified theories incorporating new intermediate-range forces.

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.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

During isothermal multicomponent diffusion, interdiffusion fluxes of individual components can go to zero at zero-flux planes (ZFP) and exhibit flux reversals from one side to the other of such planes. Interdiffusion fluxes as well as the locations and compositions of ZFPs for components are determined directly from the concentration profiles of diffusion couples without the need for prior knowledge of interdiffusion coefficients. The development and identification of ZFPs is reviewed with the aid of single phase and two-phase diffusion couples investigated in the Cu-Ni-Zn system at 775/sup 0/C. ZFP locations in the diffusion zone nearly correspond to sections where the activity of a component is the same as its activity in either of the terminal alloys of a couple. Path slopes at ZFPs are uniquely dictated by the atomic mobility and thermodynamic data for the components. Discontinuous flux reversals for the components can also occur at interfaces in multiphase couples. Identification of ZFPs is also presented for diffusion in the Cu-Ni-Zn-Mn quaternary system. Analytical representation of diffusion paths for both ternary and quaternary diffusion couples is presented with the aid of characteristic path parameters.

This report contains the results of calculations for a resized nozzle on the D-Zero test cryostat. The nozzle neck in the inner vessel with be 6-inch schedule 10S pipe and 8-inch 10S will be used for the outer vessel. On top of the nozzle will be placed the D-Zero Endcap Calorimeter signal board feedthru dewar box. This box weighs approximately 250 lbs but the weight was conservatively taken to be 500 lbs. The allowable pressure from above does not exceed 15 psig per ASME, but it does exceed 7.5 psig required by CGA-341 therefore reinforcement is not required. Note that the reinforcement provided by the nozzle neck in combination with the excess shell thickness is probably sufficient to satisfy the ASME requirements.

Weekly report of the Texas Crop and Livestock Reporting Service on broiler chick numbers in Texas and compared with other states. It includes compiled statistics across six consecutive weeks, from the week ending April 12 to the week ending May 17, during 1985 and 1986 for broiler eggs set, chicks hatched, and chicks placed.

The Tandem Mirror exhibits several distinctive features which make the reactor embodiment of the principle very attractive: Simple low-technology linear central cell; steady-state operation; high-..beta.. operation; no driven current or disruptions; divertorless operation; direction conversion of end-loss power; low-surface heat loads; and advanced fusion fuel capability. In this paper, we examine these features in connection with two tandem mirror reactor designs, MARS and MINIMARS, and several advanced reactor concepts including the wall-stabilized reactor and the field-reversed mirror. With a novel compact end plug scheme employing octopole stabilization, MINIMARS is expressly designed for short construction times, factory-built modules, and a small (600 MWe) but economic reactor size. We have also configured the design for low radioactive afterheat and inherent/passive safety under LOCA/LOFA conditions, thereby obviating the need for expensive engineered safety systems. In contrast to the complex and expensive double-quadrupole end-cell of the MARS reactor, the compact octopole end-cell of MINIMARS enables ignition to be achieved with much shorter central cell lengths and considerably improves the economy of scale for small (approx.250 to 600 MWe) tandem mirror reactors. Finally, we examine the prospects for realizing the ultimate potential of the tandem mirror with regard to both innovative configurations and novel neutron …

The double-cone-shaped Cascade reaction chamber rotates at 50 rpm to keep a blanket of ceramic granules in place against the wall as they slide from the poles to the exit slots at the equator. The 1 m-thick blanket consists of layers of carbon, beryllium oxide, and lithium aluminate granules about 1 mm in diameter. The x rays and debris are stopped in the carbon granules; the neutrons are multiplied and moderated in the BeO and breed tritium in the LiAlO/sub 2/. The chamber wall is made up of SiO tiles held in compression by a network of composite SiC/Al tendons. Cascade operates at a 5 Hz pulse rate with 300 MJ in each pulse. The temperature in the blanket reaches 1600 K on the inner surface and 1350 K at the outer edge. The granules are automatically thrown into three separate vacuum heat exchangers where they give up their energy to high pressure helium. The helium is used in a Brayton cycle to obtain a thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency of 55%. Studies have been done on neutron activation, debris recovery, vaporization and recondensation of blanket material, tritium control and recovery, fire safety, and cost. These studies indicate that Cascade appears to …

We have conducted parametric economic studies for heavy-ion-fusion electric power plants. We examined the effects on the cost of electricity of several design parameters: cost and cost scaling for the reactor, driver, and target factory; maximum achievable chamber pulse rate; target gain; electric conversion efficiency; and net electric power. Using the most recent estimates for the heavy-ion-driver cost along with the Cascade reactor cost and efficiency, we found that a 1.5 to 3 GWe heavy-ion-fusion power plant, with a pulse rate of 5 to 10 Hz, can be competitive with nuclear and coal power plants.