The exposure of noncellulosic ultrafiltration membranes to a radioactive environment simulating up to 24 months of exposure to a beta dose of 10 ..mu..Ci/cm/sup 3/ and a gamma dose of 10/sup -5/ ..mu..Ci/cm/sup 3/ did not show any conclusive evidence of membrane degradation. Viscosity measurements for control membranes and irradiated membranes indicate no changes in polymer molecular weight were caused by the radiation exposure. This, in turn, suggests no physical or mechanical degradation took place. A continuous run on the ultrafiltration pilot plant was completed. The run lasted 33.5 hr; during this period, the flux declined from 4 gal/min to 0.8 gal/min while rejection of alpha activity increased slightly. A total of 20,000 gal were processed through the ultrafiltration system. The small laboratory column tests were continued with uranium-233 and americium-241. Several new resins were being evaluated along with the same type of resin as used before with uranium-233 and plutonium-238. Tests were continued with the 2-in. Engineering Columns using ultrafiltration product spiked with uranium-233.

Editor please delete 26456.<><DSN>16:026457<ABS>Work done in the P122 reactor control actuator area is summarized. Actuators were required to radially position the absorber blades in the core of the reactor. The P122C1 was a subsonic power plant and temperatures were low enough to permit the use of hydraulics in the actuator area. The program was reoriented and the power plant designated P122C3 which was a supersonic version of the folded flow power plant. The ambient temperature at maximum power was high enough to require pneumatic actuation of the control blades. The program was reoriented after two design iterations of the subsonic power plant. A test model of the actuating equipment and the entire linkage assembly was on hand and completed when the program was cancelled. The linkage was being redesigned for the supersonic application and special bearings were ordered for fabrication into the lower temperature rig. The actual mechanical concepts of the pneumatic actuator were under study when the program was cancelled. (auth)

This project is divided into four tasks. The Management Plan was developed in task 1. Task 2, Evaluation of Mechanisms in FGD Sorbent and Ash Interactions, focuses on the characteristics of binary mixtures of these distinct powders. Task 3, Evaluation of Mechanisms in Conditioning Agents and Ash, is designed to examine the effects of various conditioning agents on fine ash particles to determine the mechanisms by which these agents alter the physical properties of the ash. Tasks 2 and 3 began with an extensive literature search and the assembly of existing theories. This phase of the project is now complete. During the past quarter, initial preparations of laboratory equipment for laboratory testing have been made. A plan for initial laboratory tests has been submitted to the Project Manager for review. Laboratory testing will commence once these laboratory plans have been formally approved. The results of the work performed under task 2 and 3 will be included in a Flue Gas Conditioning Model that will be issued under task 4. The Final Report for the project will also be prepared under task 4.

The objectives of the study are to: Develop a baseline design for indirect liquefaction using advanced Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) technology. Prepare the capital and operating costs for the baseline design. Develop a process flowsheet simulation (PFS) model. The baseline design, the economic analysis, and the computer model will be the major research planning tools that Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center will use to plan, guide, and evaluate its ongoing and future research and commercialization programs relating to indirect coal liquefaction for the manufacture of synthetic liquid fuels from coal.

Process and product requirements to be met in the fabrication of Type 3 fuel elements are presented. The fuel elements specified consist of thin plates of a dispersion of highly enriched UO/sub 2/ and ZrB/sub 2/ in a stainless steel matrix which is clad with stainless steel on all surfaces. Quality assurance provisions are discussed. Process and material specifications and packaging and packing for shipment are described. Sample calculations and drawings are included. (M.C.G.)

This project is designed to develop methods for pre-combustion coal remediation by implementing recent advances in enzyme biochemistry. The novel approach of this study is incorporation of hydrophilic oxidative enzymes in reverse micelles in an organic solvent. Enzymes from commercial sources or microbial extracts are being investigated for their capacity to remove organic sulfur from coal by oxidation of the sulfur groups, splitting of C-S bonds and loss of sulfur as sulfuric acid. Dibenzothiophene (DBT) and ethylphenylsulfide (EPS) are serving as models of organic sulfur-containing components of coal in initial studies.

This report addresses the comparison of SNAP-50/SPUR System with MHD, Brayton, boiling reactor and thermionic systems.

Spatially resolved measurements of deuterium Balmer and Paschen line emission have been performed in the divertor region of the National Spherical Torus Experiment using a commercial 0.5 m Czerny-Turner spectrometer. While the Balmer emission lines, Balmer and Paschen continua in the ultraviolet and visible regions have been extensively used for tokamak divertor plasma temperature and density measurements, the diagnostic potential of infrared Paschen lines has been largely overlooked. We analyze Stark broadening of the lines corresponding to 2-n and 3-m transitions with principle quantum numbers n = 7-12 and m = 10-12 using recent Model Microfield Method calculations (C. Stehle and R. Hutcheon, Astron. Astrophys. Supl. Ser. 140, 93 (1999)). Densities in the range (5-50) x 10{sup 19} m{sup -3} are obtained in the recombining inner divertor plasma in 2-6 MW NBI H-mode discharges. The measured Paschen line profiles show good sensitivity to Stark effects, and low sensitivity to instrumental and Doppler broadening. The lines are situated in the near-infrared wavelength domain, where optical signal extraction schemes for harsh nuclear environments are practically realizable, and where a recombining divertor plasma is optically thin. These properties make them an attractive recombining divertor density diagnostic for a burning plasma experiment.

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The evolution of hunter-gatherer maritime adaptations in western North America has been a prominent topic of discussion among archaeologists in recent years (e.g. Arnold 1992; Erlandson and Colten 1991; Erlandson and Glassow 1997; Lightfoot 1993). Although vast coastal regions of the northeastern Pacific (for example, southern California) have been investigated in detail, our understanding of hunter-gatherer developments along the coast of northern California is limited. Previous research indicates that humans have exploited marine mammals, fish and shellfish along the northern California shoreline since the early Holocene (Schwaderer 1992). By the end of the late Holocene, some groups remained year-round on the coast subsisting primarily on marine resources (e.g. Gould 1975; Hildebrandt and Levulett 2002). However, a paucity of well-dated cultural deposits has hindered our understanding of these developments, particularly during the early and middle Holocene. The lack of a long and reliable chronological sequence has restricted our interpretations of behavioral change, including the adaptive strategies (such as foraging, mobility and settlement) used by human foragers to colonize and inhabit the coastal areas of this region. These shortcomings have also hindered comparative interpretations with other coastal and inland regions in western North America. Here we present a Holocene radiocarbon chronology of …

The Metals Processing Laboratory Users Facility (MPLUS) is a Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Industrial Technologies Program, user facility designated to assist researchers in key industries, universities, and federal laboratories in improving energy efficiency, improving environmental aspects, and increasing competitiveness. The goal of MPLUS is to provide access to the specialized technical expertise and equipment needed to solve metals processing issues that limit the development and implementation of emerging metals processing technologies. The scope of work can also extend to other types of materials. MPLUS has four primary user centers: (1) Processing--casting, powder metallurgy, deformation processing (including extrusion, forging, rolling), melting, thermomechanical processing, and high-density infrared processing; (2) Joining--welding, monitoring and control, solidification, brazing, and bonding; (3) Characterization--corrosion, mechanical properties, fracture mechanics, microstructure, nondestructive examination, computer-controlled dilatometry, and emissivity; and (4) Materials/Process Modeling--mathematical design and analyses, high-performance computing, process modeling, solidification/deformation, microstructure evolution, thermodynamic and kinetic, and materials databases A fully integrated approach provides researchers with unique opportunities to address technologically related issues to solve metals processing problems and probe new technologies. Access is also available to 16 additional Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) user facilities ranging from state-of-the-art materials characterization capabilities, and high-performance computing to …

High spatial-resolution secondaryion microprobespectrometry, synchrotron radiation Fourier-transform infraredspectroscopy and polyacrylamide gel analysis demonstrate the intimateassociation of proteins with spheroidal aggregates of biogenic zincsulfide nanocrystals, an example of extracellular biomineralization.Experiments involving synthetic ZnS nanoparticles and representativeamino acids indicate a driving role for cysteine in rapid nanoparticleaggregation. These findings suggest that microbially-derivedextracellular proteins can limit dispersal of nanoparticulatemetal-bearing phases, such as the mineral products of bioremediation,that may otherwise be transported away from their source by subsurfacefluid flow.

The fascinating shapes and hierarchical designs of biomineralized structures are an inspiration to materials scientists because of the potential they suggest for biomolecular control over materials synthesis. Conversely, the failure to prevent or limit tissue mineralization in the vascular, skeletal, and urinary systems is a common source of disease. Understanding the mechanisms by which organisms direct or limit crystallization has long been a central challenge to the biomineralization community. One prevailing view is that mineral-associated macromolecules are responsible for either inhibiting crystallization or initiating and stabilizing non-equilibrium crystal polymorphs and morphologies through interactions between anionic moieties and cations in solution or at mineralizing surfaces. In particular, biomolecules that present carboxyl groups to the growing crystal have been implicated as primary modulators of growth. Here we review the results from a combination of in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular modeling (MM) studies to investigate the effect of specific interactions between carboxylate-rich biomolecules and atomic steps on crystal surfaces during the growth of carbonates, oxalates and phosphates of calcium. Specifically, we how the growth kinetics and morphology depend on the concentration of additives that include citrate, simple amino acids, synthetic Asp-rich polypeptides, and naturally occurring Asp-rich proteins found in both …

We have built a velocity imaging (VMI) spectrometer optimized for angle-resolved photoionization experiments with synchrotron radiation (SR) in the VUV and soft X-tay range. The spectrometer is equiped with four electrostatic lenses that focus the charged photoionization products onto a position-sensitive multi-hit delay-line anode. The use of two additional electrostatic lens elements as compared to the standard design of Eppink and Parker [T.J.B. Eppink and D.H. Parker, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68 (1997) 3477]provides better focusing of an extended interaction region, which is crucial for most SR applications. Furthermore, the apparatus is equipped with a second micro-channel plate detector opposite to the VMI spectrometer, enabling electron-ion coincidence experiments and thereby mass-resolved ion spectroscopy independent of the time structure of the synchrotron radiation. First results for the photofragmentation of CO2 molecules are presented.

Traditionally, the susceptibility of Alloy 22 (N06022) to suffer crevice corrosion has been measured using the Cyclic Potentiodynamic Polarization (CPP) technique (ASTM G 61). When the alloy is not very susceptible to crevice corrosion, the values of repassivation potential obtained using the CPP technique are not highly reproducible. To circumvent the large uncertainty in the values of the repassivation potential by the CPP method, the repassivation potential of Alloy 22 may be measured using a slower method that combines sequentially potentiodynamic, galvanostatic and potentiostatic treatments (this method is called the Tsujikawa-Hisamatsu Electrochemical or THE method). In the THE method the anodic charge is applied to the specimen in a more controlled manner, which avoids driving the alloy to transpassivity and therefore results in more reproducible repassivation potential values. Results using THE method under various testing conditions are presented. A new standard has been prepared for ASTM balloting for the THE method. The round robin matrix results are also discussed.

Three different uranium oxide samples have been characterized with respect to the different preparation techniques. Results show that the water reaction with uranium metal occurs cyclically forming laminar layers of oxide which spall off due to the strain at the oxide/metal interface. Single laminae are released if liquid water is present due to the prizing penetration at the reaction zone. The rate of reaction of water with uranium is directly proportional to the amount of adsorbed water on the oxide product. Rapid transport is effected through the open hydrous oxide product. Dehydration of the hydrous oxide irreversibly forms a more inert oxide which cannot be rehydrated to the degree that prevails in the original hydrous product of uranium oxidation with water. 27 figures.

Results are reported of a study of consumers' energy attitudes and behavior. Household consumers and small business consumers (both retail and manufacturing) responded to the survey, but only the household results are reported. The study sought to understand energy-related behavior at the level where the various components of energy policy intersect. Attempts are made to attain this goal by determining the extent to which various properties of the individuals and firms are associated with various amounts of conservation. A representative sample of the adult population in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania was interviewed. Part I introduces the measures of household conservation to be used in the survey. Part II analyzes each of the types of energy conservation - general, winterization, heating, cooling, appliance, transportation, and electricity reductions - and relates them to demographic, situation, attitudinal, and perceptual variables in the household sample. Part III deals with the impacts of Project Pacesetter and the United Mine Workers' strike against the coal operators - particularly, the impact of the coal strike on household residents of Allegheny County. Part IV summarizes the findings and uses them for recommendations regarding energy conservation policy. Additional data are presented in 4 appendices. (MCW)

This report contains the following parts of the larger, companion report, DSE--8702-T2: (a) executive summary; (b) introduction; and (c) summary and recommendations.

Work on ICRF interaction with the edge plasma is reported. ICRF generated convective cells have been established as an important mechanism for influencing edge transport and interaction with the H-mode, and for controlling profiles in the tokamak scrape-off-layer. Power dissipation by rf sheaths has been shown to be significant for some misaligned ICRF and IIBW antenna systems. Near-field antenna sheath work has been extended to the far-field case, important for experiments with low single pass absorption. Impurity modeling and Faraday screen design support has been provided for the ICRF community. In the area of core-ICRF physics, the kinetic theory of heating by applied ICRF waves has been extended to retain important geometrical effects relevant to modeling minority heated tokamak plasmas, thereby improving on the physics base that is standard in presently employed codes. Both the quasilinear theory of ion heating, and the plasma response function important in wave codes have been addressed. In separate studies, it has been shown that highly anisotropic minority heated plasmas can give rise to unstable field fluctuations in some situations. A completely separate series of studies have contributed to the understanding of tokamak confinement physics. Additionally, a diffraction formalism has been produced which will be …

The ultrasonic imaging system described herein was developed to measure chest-wall thickness and the percentage of fat in the chest and around other body organs. The system uses pulse-echo techniques to transmit and detect sound waves reflected from the interfaces of body organs and adjacent tissue. A computer draws these interfaces on color scans, and a code is used to exponentially average data from several points on each scan to find the average thicknesses of the chest wall and fat layers. These average thicknesses are then used to adjust x-ray calibration factors for plutonium lung counters. The correction factor for three subjects measured for fat content ranging from 12.6 to 22.2% was 18 to 41%. The ultrasonic system also defines the shape and position of the kidneys and liver so we are able to more accurately place detectors on the body during in-vivo radiation measurements. We have also developed a technique for displaying the interfaces from a series of ultrasonic chest scans to produce a topographical map that enables us to better understand the shape and contour of the lung and chest-wall interface.

The Michigan Technological University Teacher Education Program received funding from the US Department of Energy for the purpose of providing capable and suitably inclined, MTU Engineering and Science students a chance to explore high school level science and mathematics teaching as a career option. Ten undergraduate students were selected from nominations and were paired with mentor teachers for the study. This report covers the experience of the first ten nominees and their participation in the program.

This KMS Fusion Semi-Annual Technical Report covers the period October 1989 through March 1990. It contains a review of work performed by KMS Fusion, Inc. (KMSF), in support of the national program to achieve inertially confined fusion (ICF). A major section of the report is devoted to target technology, a field which is expected to play an increasingly important role in the overall KMSF fusion effort. Among the highlights of our efforts in this area covered in this report are: improvements and new developments in target fabrication techniques, including a discussion of techniques for introducing gaussian bumps and bands on target surfaces. Development of a single automated system for the interferometric characterization of transparent shells. Residual gas analysis of the blowing gases contained in glass shells made from xerogels. These usually include CO{sub 2}, O{sub 2} and N{sub 2}, and are objectionable because they dilute the fuel. Efforts to observe the ice layers formed in the {beta}-layering process in cryogenic targets, and to simulate the formation of these layers. In addition to our work on target technology, we conducted experiments with the Chroma laser and supported the ICF effort at other labs with theoretical and computational support as well as …

This report discuss the design of the Plutonium Reclamation Facility the capacity of which will be 300 kilograms per month or 3600 kilograms per year or plutonium. The subject facility, as the name implies, must be extremely flexible in its ability to handle a wide variety of feed materials. The new facility will be operating on a three-shift day, five-day week, 40-week year with an overall efficiency of 75 percent; twelve weeks per year will be required for ``turnaround`` time to enable campaign operation for segregation of feed plutonium by isotopic content.

Since it is now possible to obtain a heat-treated U core that is randomly oriented and has a finer average grain size, it is necessary to irradiate measured, transformed fuel cores over the full range of grain sizes, in order to compare relative dimensional stabilities. An improved ultrasonic tester, Fuel Core Tester-UT-2, is used to test all fuel cores.