In 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) Chief of Nuclear Safety and Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS), with the support of industry experts in atmospheric sciences and accident dose consequences analysis, performed detailed analyses of the basis for the dry deposition velocity (DV) values used in the MACCS2 computer code. As a result of these analyses, DOE concluded that the historically used default DV values of 1 centimeter/second (cm/s) for unfiltered/unmitigated releases and 0.1 cm/s for filtered/mitigated releases may not be reasonably conservative for all DOE sites and accident scenarios. HSS recently issued Safety Bulletin 2011-02, Accident Analysis Parameter Update, recommending the use of the newly developed default DV, 0.1 cm/s for an unmitigated/unfiltered release. Alternatively site specific DV values can be developed using GENII version 2 (GENII v2) computer code. Key input parameters for calculating DV values include surface roughness, maximum wind speed for calm, particle size, particle density and meteorological data (wind speed and stability class). This paper will include reasonably conservative inputs, and a truncated parametric study. In lieu of the highly-conservative recommended DV value (0.1cm/s) for unmitigated/unfiltered release, GENII v2 has been used to justify estimated 95th percentile DV values. Also presented here are …

Density-functional formalism is applied to study the ground state properties of {gamma}-U-Zr and {gamma}-U-Mo solid solutions. Calculated heats of formation are compared with CALPHAD assessments. We discuss how the heat of formation in both alloys correlates with the charge transfer between the alloy components. The decomposition curves for {gamma}-based U-Zr and U-Mo solid solutions are derived from Ising-type Monte Carlo simulations. We explore the idea of stabilization of the {delta}-UZr{sub 2} compound against the {alpha}-Zr (hcp) structure due to increase of Zr d-band occupancy by the addition of U to Zr. We discuss how the specific behavior of the electronic density of states in the vicinity of the Fermi level promotes the stabilization of the U{sub 2}Mo compound. The mechanism of possible Am redistribution in the U-Zr and U-Mo fuels is also discussed.

We report variations in the currents of CdZnTe semiconductor crystals during exposure to a series of light emitting diodes of various wavelengths ranging from 470 to 950 nm. The changes in the steady-state current of one CdZnTe crystal with and without illumination along with the time dependence of the illumination effects are discussed. Analysis of the de-trapping and transient bulk currents during and after optical excitation yield insight into the behaviour of charge traps within the crystal. Similar behaviour is observed for illumination of a second CdZnTe crystal suggesting that the overall illumination effects are not crystal dependent.