Radiation interactions for tomography. Revision 1 (open access)

Radiation interactions for tomography. Revision 1

There are new requirements emerging in the field of tomography: the need for spatial resolution in the micrometre range, atomic species specificity, and quantitative density discrimination.
Date: May 20, 1985
Creator: Zolnay, A.S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Resonance localization in tokamaks excited with ICRF waves (open access)

Resonance localization in tokamaks excited with ICRF waves

Advanced wave models used to evaluate ICRH in tokamaks typically use warm plasma theory and allow inhomogeneity in one dimension. The majority of these calculations neglect the fact that gyrocenters experience the inhomogeneity via their motion parallel to the magnetic field. The non-local effects of rotational transform and toroidicity can play a significant role in both the propagation and the absorption physics. In strongly driven systems, wave damping can distort the particle distribution function supporting the wave and this produces changes in the absorption. The most common approach is to use Maxwellian absorption rates. We have developed a bounce-averaged Fokker-Planck quasilinear computational model which evolves the population of particles on more realistic orbits. Each wave-particle resonance has its own specific interaction amplitude within any given volume element; these data need only be generated once, and appropriately stored for efficient retrieval. The wave-particle resonant interaction then serves as a mechanism by which the diffusion of particle populations can proceed among neighboring orbits. The local specific spectral energy absorption rate is directly calculable once the orbit geometry and populations are determined. The code is constructed in such fashion as to accommodate wave propagation models which provide the wave spectral energy density on …
Date: June 20, 1985
Creator: Kerbel, G. D. & McCoy, M. G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Materials accounting at Los Alamos National Laboratory (open access)

Materials accounting at Los Alamos National Laboratory

The materials accounting system at Los Alamos has evolved from an ''80-column'' card system to a very sophisticated near-real-time computerized nuclear material accountability and safeguards system (MASS). The present hardware was designed and acquired in the late 70's and is scheduled for a major upgrade in fiscal year 1986. The history of the system from 1950 through the DYMAC of the late 70's up to the present will be discussed. The philosophy of the system along with the details of the system will be covered. This system has addressed the integrated problems of management, control, and accounting of nuclear material successfully. 8 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.
Date: July 20, 1985
Creator: Roberts, N. J.; Erkkila, B. H. & Kelso, H. F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Formation of Pu amorphous alloys or metastable structures in Pu-Fe, Pu-Ta, and Pu-Si alloys (open access)

Formation of Pu amorphous alloys or metastable structures in Pu-Fe, Pu-Ta, and Pu-Si alloys

Sputter deposition technique was used to study the possible formation of amorphous structures in Pu-Fe, Pu-Ta, and Pu-Si systems. A triode sputtering system was used to prepare sputtered coatings: 13 to 59 at. % (a/o) Fe, 10 to 50 a/o Si, and 15 to 65 a/o Ta. Structure of the coatings was determined by x-ray diffraction techniques. The temperature stability of the obtained structures was determined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The Pu-Fe and Pu-Si binary systems showed strong evidence for the formation of amorphous phases in the sputtered coatings. X-ray analyses indicated the presence of Pu6Fe in the 13 to 20 a/o Fe range of Pu-Fe alloys and no apparent crystalline phases over the entire 10 to 50 a/o Si range of Pu-Si alloys. In the Pu-Ta system, the DSC data obtained for compositions below 50 a/o Ta did not show typical crystallization exotherms. At compositions above 50 a/o Ta, a metastable bcc alpha Ta structure was observed with an expanded lattice parameter. The calculated volume expansion (2.9%) corresponds to 29 a/o of Pu in solid solution if the lattice parameter is assumed to follow Vegards Law. After storage in a nitrogen glovebox atmosphere for over two years, …
Date: August 20, 1985
Creator: Rizzo, H.F. & Echeverria, A.W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluated Rayleigh integrals for pulsed planar expanding ring sources (open access)

Evaluated Rayleigh integrals for pulsed planar expanding ring sources

Time-domain analytic and semianalytic pressure fields acoustically radiated from expanding pulsed ring sources imbedded in a planar rigid baffle have been calculated. The source functions are radially symmetric delta-function distributions whose amplitude and argument have simple functional dependencies on radius and time. Certain cases yield closed analytic results, while others result in elliptic integrals, which are evaluated to high accuracy by Gauss-Chebyshev and modified Gauss-Legendre quadrature. These results are of value for calibrating computer simulations and convolution procedures, and estimating fields from more complex planar radiators. 3 refs., 4 figs.
Date: December 20, 1985
Creator: Warshaw, S.I.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for Neutrino Oscillations at the Brookhaven AGS (open access)

Search for Neutrino Oscillations at the Brookhaven AGS

We report on a search for neutrino oscillations of the type nu/sub ..mu../ ..-->.. nu/sub e/ in a detector located an effective distance of 96m from the neutrino source in the wide band neutrino beam at the Brookhaven AGS. No excess of electron events was observed. The resulting upper limit on the strength of the mixing between nu/sub ..mu../ and nu/sub e/ in the case of large mass difference ..delta..m/sup 2/ = absolute value m/sub 1//sup 2/ - m/sub 2//sup 2/ between the neutrino mass eigenstates m/sub 1/ and m/sub 2/ is sin/sup 2/2..cap alpha.. less than or equal to 3.4 x 10/sup -3/ at 90% CL. The corresponding upper limit for small mass difference is ..delta..m/sup 2/sin2..cap alpha.. < 0.43 eV/sup 2/. 9 refs.
Date: February 20, 1985
Creator: Ahrens, L. A.; Aronson, S. H.; Connolly, P. L.; Gibbard, B. G.; Murtagh, M. J.; Murtagh, S. J. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Funneling: an initial beam dynamics study (open access)

Funneling: an initial beam dynamics study

Funneling two H/sup -/ beams into a single beam of twice the current has been examined as a means of doubling beam current without significantly increasing transverse emittance. Using the PARMILA particle-following code, two 100-mA RFQ output beams at 2 MeV were injected into idealized transport lines for merging two beams into one. Two approaches were studied: (1) the minimum-element method, in which a minimum number of discrete elements such as quadrupole triplets, buncher cavities, and bending magnets were used to transport and deflect the beam; and (2) the quasi-adiabatic method, in which a periodic lattice similar to the RFQ provided focusing and minimized abrupt changes in the beam environment. The minimum-element method resulted in an emittance growth ratio epsilon/sub 0//epsilon/sub i/ = 2.5, whereas the quasi-adiabatic emittance growth ratio was about 1.1 (albeit with an idealized line configuration). 5 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.
Date: April 20, 1985
Creator: Guy, F. W. & Wangler, T. P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Study of neutron noise from reflected, metal assemblies with criticality safety applications in mind (open access)

Study of neutron noise from reflected, metal assemblies with criticality safety applications in mind

The author studied the statistics of detected neutrons that leaked from four subcritical reflected, enriched-uranium assemblies, to explore the feasibility of developing a criticality warning system based on neutron noise analysis. The calculated multiplication factors of the assemblies are 0.59, 0.74, 0.82, and 0.92. The author studied three possible discriminators, i.e., three signatures that might be used to discriminate among assemblies of various multiplications. They are: (1) variance-to-mean ratio of the counts in a time bin (V/M); (2) covariance-to-mean ratio of the counts in a common time bin from two different detectors (C/M); and (3) covariance-to-mean ratio of the counts from a single detector in two adjacent time bins of equal length, which the author calls the serial-covariance-to-mean ratio (SC/M). The performances of the three discriminators were not greatly different, but a hierarchy did emerge: SC/M greater than or equal to V/M greater than or equal to C/M. An example of some results: in the neighborhood of k = 0.6 the ..delta..k required for satisfactory discrimination varies from about 3% to 7% as detector solid angle varies from 19% to 5%. In the neighborhood of k = 0.8 the corresponding ..delta..ks are 1% and 2%. The noise analysis techniques studied …
Date: August 20, 1985
Creator: Barnett, C. S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Control algorithms for autonomous robot navigation (open access)

Control algorithms for autonomous robot navigation

This paper examines control algorithm requirements for autonomous robot navigation outside laboratory environments. Three aspects of navigation are considered: navigation control in explored terrain, environment interactions with robot sensors, and navigation control in unanticipated situations. Major navigation methods are presented and relevance of traditional human learning theory is discussed. A new navigation technique linking graph theory and incidental learning is introduced.
Date: September 20, 1985
Creator: Jorgensen, C. C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Corrosion performance of metals and alloys in a tuff geochemical environment (open access)

Corrosion performance of metals and alloys in a tuff geochemical environment

Reference and alternate alloy systems have been chosen for use in fabricating waste packages for a potential high-level nuclear waste repository in tuff. The main corrosion concerns have been identified. Testing performed to date indicates that austenitic stainless steels woul perform well as package materials under the expected conditions as well as the less likely extreme conditions so far postulated. Carbon steel appears to be adequate as a material for borehole liners. Copper-based alloys and Zircaloys are also undergoing corrosion testing, the former as alternate package materials, and the latter because of their presence as spent fuel cladding. 17 references, 2 tables.
Date: March 20, 1985
Creator: Van Konynenburg, R.A. & McCright, R.D.
System: The UNT Digital Library