The mined geologic burial of high level nuclear waste is now the favored option for disposal. The US National Waste Terminal Storage Program designed to achieve this disposal includes an extensive rock mechanics component related to the design of the wastes repositories. The plan currently considers five candidate rock types. This paper deals with the three hard rocks among them: basalt, granite, and tuff. Their behavior is governed by geological discontinuities. Salt and shale, which exhibit behavior closer to that of a continuum, are not considered here. This paper discusses both the generic rock mechanics R and D, which are required for repository design, as well as examples of projects related to hard rock waste storage. The examples include programs in basalt (Hanford/Washington), in granitic rocks (Climax/Nevada Test Site, Idaho Springs/Colorado, Pinawa/Canada, Oracle/Arizona, and Stripa/Sweden), and in tuff (Nevada Test Site).

Measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity have been made on two samples of Climax Stock quartz monzonite at pressures between 3 and 50 MPa and temperatures between 300 and 523{sup 0}K. Following those measurements the apparatus was calibrated with respect to the thermal conductivity measurement using a reference standard of fused silica. Corrected thermal conductivity of the rock indicates a value at room temperature of 2.60 +- 0.25 W/mK at 3 MPa increasing linearly to 2.75 +- 0.25 W/mK at 50 MPa. These values are unchanged (+- 0.07 W/mK) by heating under 50-MPa pressure to as high as 473{sup 0}K. The conductivity under 50-MPa confining pressure falls smoothly from 2.75 +- 0.25 W/mK at 313{sup 0}K to 2.15 +- 0.25 W/mK at 473{sup 0}K. Thermal diffusivity at 300{sup 0}K was found to be 1.2 +- 0.4 X 10{sup -6} m{sup 2}/s and shows approximately the same pressure and temperature dependencies as the thermal conductivity.

A facility-development effort is currently underway at Sandia National Laboratories in order to create an experimental capability for the study of two-phase, steam/water flows through a variety of porous media. The facility definition phase of this project is described. Equations are derived for the steady, adiabatic, macroscopically-linear two-phase flow of a single-component fluid through a porous medium, including energy transfer both by convection and conduction. These equations are then solved to give relative permeabilities for the steam and water phases as functions of known and/or measurable quantities. A viable experimental approach was thereby formulated, leading to the definition of facility components and instrumentation requirements, including the application of gamma-beam densitometry for the measurement of liquid-saturation distributions in porous media. Finally, a state-of-the-art computer code was utilized to numerically simulate the proposed experiments, providing an estimate of the facility operating envelope.

Scenarios are being constructed for the release of radioactive maerial from hypothetical repositories in different types of rock at NTS. Deductive event trees are constructed; each path through an event tree is a scenario. The complete set of NTS event trees comprises about 340 scenarios, not counting the multiple paths through the subtrees made by expanding complex events. Each of these scenarios is being analyzed for 10 different types of rocks. (DLC)

The Spent Fuel Test in the Climax granitic stock at the DOE Nevada Test Site is a test of the feasibility of storage and retrieval of spent nuclear reactor fuel in a deep geologic environment. Eleven spent fuel elements, together with six thermally identical electrical resistance heaters and 20 peripheral guard heaters, are emplaced 420 m below surface in a three-drift test array. This array was designed to simulate the near-field effects of thousands of canisters of nuclear waste and to evaluate the effects of heat alone, and heat plus ionizing radiation on the rock. Thermal calculations and measurements are conducted to determine thermal transport from the spent fuel and electrical resistance heaters. Calculations associated with the as-built Spent Fuel Test geometry and thermal source histories are presented and compared with thermocouple measurements made throughout the test array. Comparisons in space begin at the spent fuel canister and include the first few metres outside the test array. Comparisons in time begin at emplacement and progress through the first year of thermal loading in this multi-year test.

This paper considers the application of spatial estimation techniques to a groundwater aquifer and geological borehole data. It investigates the adequacy of these techniques to reliably develop contour maps from various data sets. The practice of spatial estimation is discussed and the estimator is then applied to a groundwater aquifer system and a deep geological formation. It is shown that the various statistical models must first be identified from the data and evaluated before reasonable results can be expected.

A generic test of retrievable geologic storage of spent fuel assemblies in an underground chamber is being conducted at the Nevada Test Site. The horizontal shrinkage of the pillars is not explainable, but the vertical pillar stresses are easily understood. A two-phase project was initiated to estimate the in-situ deformability of the Climax granite and to refine the in-situ stress field data, and to model the mine-by. (DLC)

A multifaceted development program is in progress in the United States to study techniques for in-service inspection (ISI) of heat transfer tubes in breeder reactor steam generators. Several steam generator designs are involved. Although there are some similarities in the approaches, many of the details of techniques and capabilities are specific to the steam generator design. This paper describes the ultrasonic, eddy-current and penetrating radiation techniques being studied for the various steam generators, including the Large Leak Test Rig, the Clinch River Breeder Reactor design, and alternate steam generators being developed by Westinghouse and Babcock and Wilcox.

As a contribution to the required quinquennial review of American National Standard for Nuclear Criticality Safety in Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside Reactors (ANSI N16.1-1975/ANS-8.1), limits for homogeneous 233U systems have been recalculated to confirm their sub-criticality or, where there were doubts, to propose more restrictive values. In addition, other limits were calculated to be proposed for inclusion, namely, limits for aqueous solutions of UO2(NO3)2 and limits for uranium oxides. The same three methods of calculation were used as in similar work done recently for plutonium and 235U systems. The validity of each was established by correlation with the results of pertinent critical experiments. This report discusses this study.

Electron microprobe analysis shows that iron, manganese, and nickel are inhomogeneously distributed in hot-cross-rolled plate and high-energy-rate forgings of 21Cr-6Ni-9Mn steel but that chromium is homogeneously distributed. Increases in iron content correlate with decreases in manganese and nickel. Rolling and forging flow lines occur in regions with high iron and low manganese and nickel. High-energy-rate forging increases inhomogeneity. Inhomogeneities are suspected to exist in the original ingot, where they are given directionality by rolling and are enhanced by high-energy-rate forging. This report discusses this study.

The kinetics of the depletion of sodium on glass surfaces during Auger Electron Spectroscopic analysis is investigated. The decay process is mathematically represented as a sum of two single decaying exponential functions. This behavior may be described by a mechanism that accounts for the neutralization of sodium ions by the electron beam. Sodium ions and neutral sodium atoms are depleted by several known processes.

The grain size and strain dependence of work hardening in Type 304L stainless steel were analyzed between 200 and 250 K where hydrogen damage is greatest. Tensile data were obtained for specimens of several grain sizes, both with and without prior exposure to hydrogen gas at 69 MPa pressure. The analysis suggests that hydrogen has little influence on lattice friction stress but has a large effect on dislocation interaction and the back stress of dislocation pileups. This report discusses this study.

Hydrogen solubility was directly measured in specimens of Types 304L, 21-6-9, and modified A-286 austenitic stainless steels saturated with hydrogen at 69 MPa pressure at 470 K. Nitrogen in Type 21-6-9 stainless steel and precipitate morphology in the modified Type A-286 stainless steel altered the hydrogen solubility. Cold work and surface treatment had only minor effects on hydrogen solubility in the three stainless steels. This reports discusses this study.

A direct method for surface-structure determination from normal emission photoelectron diffraction (NPD) data is presented. Fourier transforms of the calculated NPD intensities yield peaks at adsorbate-substrate normal interlayer distances. Applications are demonstrated using theoretical NPD curves for the Se/Ni system calculated by dynamical theory. These results show that interplanar spacings between the overlayer and as many as four substrate layers could be determined with an accuracy of better than 3%.

A thermal shock test has been designed which permits the thermal fracture resistance and the mechanical strength of brittle materials to be quantitatively correlated. Thermal shock·results for two materials, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and SiC, have been accurately predicted from biaxial strength measurements and a transient thermal stress analysis (performed using a finite element method). General implications for the prediction of thermal shock resistance, with special reference to ceramic components, are discussed.

Inorganic arsenic and organoarsenic compounds were speciated in seven oil shale retort and process waters, including samples from simulated, true and modified in situ processes, using a high performance liquid chromatograph automatically coupled to a graphite furnace atomic absorption detector. The molecular forms of arsenic at ppm levels (({micro}g/mL) in these waters are identified for the first time, and shown to include arsenate, methylarsonic acid and phenylarsonic acid. An arsenic-specific fingerprint chromatogram of each retort or process water studied has significant impliestions regarding those arsenical species found and those marginally detected, such as dimethylarsinic acid and the suspected carcinogen arsenite. The method demonstrated suggests future means for quantifying environmental impacts of bioactive organometal species involved in oil shale retorting technology.

The purpose of this communication is threefold. 1) To confirm the presence of and to characterize the precipitates in the ferrite phase of the base + Nb and base + Mo steels, 2) to study any possible variation in precipitate density as the martensitic volume fraction is changed and 3) to determine the level of precipitation strengthening.

Both the magnitude and alignment of the transferred angular momentum in the reaction {sup 165}Ho + {sup 165}Ho have been measured as a function of Q-value via continuum {gamma}-ray multiplicity and anisotropy techniques. The spin transfer and the continuum {gamma}-ray anisotropy increase throughout the quasielastic region. The spin transfer as a function of Q-value saturates at ~35{bar h}/fragment, the anisotropy peaks at a value of ~2 and then decreases to near unity for the largest Q-values. The observed anisotropies are in good agreement with predictions from an equilibrium statistical model in which thermal excitation of angular-momentum-bearing collective modes and neutron evaporation give rise to in-plane components of the angular momentum.

Previous research in this laboratory led to the conclusion that the low temperature intergranular fracture mode in Fe-Mn alloys is microstructurally determined, and does not require metalloid segregation or other chemical contamination. That conclusion was tested in the present investigation, which used high resolution scanning Auger microscopy to study the intergranular fracture surfaces. The fracture mode at liquid nitrogen temperature was found to be intergranular fracture whenever the alloy was quenched from the austenite field, irrespective of the austenization time or temperature. High resolution chemical analyses of the intergranular fracture surfaces failed to reveal any consistent segregation of P, S, 0, or N. The occasional appearance of sulfur or oxygen on the fracture surface was found to be due to a low density precipitation of MnS and MnO{sub 2} along the prior austenite grain boundaries. Excepting these dispersed precipitates, there was no evidence of manganese enrichment of the prior austenite grain boundaries. A slight segregation of carbon was found along the grain boundaries, but does not appear to be implicated in the tendency toward intergranular fracture. The present results hence reinforce the conclusion that the low temperature intergranular fracture of Fe-12Mn is microstructurally determined.

The continuum ambiguity is defined as a phase factor not determined by those amplitude zeros near the physical region that can be directly deduced from the data; such a factor may be approximated by a polynomial whose zeros are far from the physical region. A study of recent TIN partial wave analysis (CUTKOSKY76 and HOHLER78) reveals that such a phase is either null or negligeable; CUTKOSKY76' s amplitude is found similar to that of a partial wave analysis based on Barrelet zeros. We give general arguments based on the notion of "peripheral resonances" to explain this situation. Our arguments imply that Atkinson"s {pi}{sup +}p "continuous ambiguity" is not relevant to the reliability of Barrelet-zero amplitude analysis.

A new type of reciprocating solar engine utilizing small particles to absorb concentrated sunlight directly within the cylinders is described. The engine operates by drawing an air particle mixture into the cylinder, compressing the mixture, opening an optical valve to allow concentrated sunlight to enter through a window in the top of the cylinder head, absorbing the solar flux with the particles, and converting the heat trapped by the air-particle mixture into mechanical energy with the downward stroke of piston. It differs from other gas driven heat engines using solar energy in three main respects. First, the radiant flux is deposited directly in the working fluid inside the cylinder; second, the heat is directed to the appropriate cylinder by controlling the solar flux by an optical system; third, the gas is heated during a significant portion of the compression stroke. The thermodynamic efficiency of the engine is calculated using an analytical model and is compared to several other engine cycles of interest.

An apparatus consisting of an optical microscope with a hot stage attachment capable of simultaneously non-uniformly heating and mechanically loading small single crystals of salt was used to measure the velocities of all-liquid inclusions in NaCl and KCl specimens under various conditions of temperature, temperature gradient, and uniaxial stress. The rate-controlling elementary step in the migration of the inclusions was found to be associated with interfacial processes, probably dissolution of the hot face. Dislocations are required for this step to take place. The small number of dislocation intersections with small inclusions in nearly perfect crystals causes substantial variations in the velocity, a sensitivity of the velocity to mechanical loading of the crystal, and a velocity which varies approximately as the square of the temperature gradient.

Onsager's analysis of the hydrodynamics of fluid circulation in the boundary layer on the rotor wall of a gas centrifuge is reviewed. The description of the flow in the boundary layers on the top and bottom end caps due to Carrier and Maslen is summarized. The method developed by Wood and Morton of coupling the flow models in the rotor wall and end cap boundary layers to complete the hydrodynamic analysis of the centrifuge is presented. Mechanical and thermal methods of driving the internal gas circulation are described. The isotope enrichment which results from the superposition of the elementary separation effect due to the centrifugal field in the gas and its internal circulation is analyzed by the Onsager-Cohen theory. The performance function representing the optimized separative power of a centrifuge as a function of throughput and cut is calculated for several simplified internal flow models. The use of asymmetric ideal cascades to exploit the distinctive features of centrifuge performance functions is illustrated.

Categorization supports decision making, letting an analyst look at data from different perspectives and different levels of detail. An approach to data analysis is described in which membership in subjectively defined categories is modeled by the fuzzy nature of color categories and presented via computer graphics for visual inspection by the analyst.