The DOE Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and Generation IV reactor programs are developing new fuel types for use in the current Light Water Reactors and future advanced reactor concepts. The Advanced Gas Reactor program is planning to test fuel to be used in the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) nuclear reactor. Preliminary information for assessing performance of the fuel will be obtained from irradiations performed in the Advanced Test Reactor large ''B'' experimental facility. A test configuration has been identified for demonstrating fuel types typical of gas cooled reactors or fast reactors that may play a role in closing the fuel cycle or increasing efficiency via high temperature operation Plans are to have 6 capsules, each containing 12 compacts, for the test configuration. Each capsule will have its own temperature control system. Passing a helium-neon gas through the void regions between the fuel compacts and the graphite carrier and between the graphite carrier and the capsule wall will control temperature. This design with three compacts per axial level was evaluated for thermal performance to ascertain the temperature distributions in the capsule and test specimens with heating rates that encompass the range of initial heat generation rates.

From Summary: "This report, which will be updated, examines a number of issues as Congress considers codification of an NCTC. One issue is whether the centralization remedy the commission has recommended fits the problems associated specifically with the 9/11 intelligence failure, and perhaps more broadly, the systematic maladies affecting the Intelligence Community. There are at least four options for congressional consideration: (1) NCTC with intelligence and operational planning duties, (2) NCTC restricted to an intelligence role, (3) NCTC restricted to an operational planning role, and (4) status quo plus-viewing the newly forming collected entity as a pilot potential NCTC. As one of its 41 recommendations, the 9/11 Commission recommended the creation of a National Counterterroism Center (NCTC)."

Conventional world oil production is expected to peak within a decade. Shortfalls in production of liquid fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel) from conventional oil sources are expected to be offset by increased production of fuels from heavy oils and tar sands that are primarily located in the Western Hemisphere (Canada, Venezuela, the United States, and Mexico). Simultaneously, there is a renewed interest in liquid fuels from biomass, such as alcohol; but, biomass production requires fertilizer. Massive quantities of hydrogen (H2) are required (1) to convert heavy oils and tar sands to liquid fuels and (2) to produce fertilizer for production of biomass that can be converted to liquid fuels. If these liquid fuels are to be used while simultaneously minimizing greenhouse emissions, nonfossil methods for the production of H2 are required. Nuclear energy can be used to produce H2. The most efficient methods to produce H2 from nuclear energy involve thermochemical cycles in which high-temperature heat (700 to 850 C) and water are converted to H2 and oxygen. The peak nuclear reactor fuel and coolant temperatures must be significantly higher than the chemical process temperatures to transport heat from the reactor core to an intermediate heat transfer loop and …

This report describes technical modifications implemented by INVAP to improve the safety of the Research Reactors the company designs and builds.

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During the last quarter of FY2004, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) conducted a brief study of power plant options for a z-pinch-based inertial fusion energy (Z-IFE) power plant. Areas that were covered include chamber design, thick-liquid response, neutronics and activation, and systems studies. This report summarizes the progress made in each of these areas, provides recommendations for improvements to the basic design concept, and identifies future work that is needed. As a starting point to the LLNL studies, we have taken information provided in several publications and presentations. In particular, many of the basic parameters were taken from the ZP-3 study, which is described in reference 4. The ZP-3 design called for 12 separate target chambers, with any 10 of them operating at a given time. Each chamber would be pulsed at a repetition rate of 0.1 Hz with a target yield of 3 GJ. Thus, each chamber would have a fusion power of 300 MW for a power plant total of 3000 MW. The ZP-3 study considered several options for the recyclable transmission lines (RTL). Early in the study, the LLNL group questioned the use of many chambers as well as the yield limitation of 3 GJ. The feeling …

An LDRD (Laboratory Directed Research and Development) project is ongoing at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for applying the three-dimensional multi-group deterministic neutron transport code (Attila{reg_sign}) to criticality, flux and depletion calculations of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). This paper discusses the model development, capabilities of Attila, generation of the cross-section libraries, and comparisons to an ATR MCNP model and future.

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A dinucleotide repeat polymorphism (5-, 6-, 7-, or 8-TA units) has been identified within the promoter region of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 gene (UGT1A1). The 7-TA repeat allele has been associated with elevated serum bilirubin levels that cause a mild hyperbilirubinemia (Gilbert's syndrome). Studies suggest that promoter transcriptional activity of UGT1A1 is inversely related to the number of TA repeats and that unconjugated bilirubin concentration increases directly with the number of TA repeat elements. Because bilirubin is a known antioxidant, we hypothesized that UGT1A1 repeats associated with higher bilirubin may be protective against oxidative damage. We examined the effect of UGT1A1 genotype on somatic mutant frequency in the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HPRT) gene in human lymphocytes and the glycophorin A (GPA) gene of red blood cells (both N0, NN mutants), and the frequency of lymphocyte micronuclei (both kinetochore (K) positive or micronuclei K negative) in 101 healthy smoking and nonsmoking individuals. As hypothesized, genotypes containing 7-TA and 8-TA displayed marginally lower GPA{_}NN mutant frequency relative to 5/5, 5/6, 6/6 genotypes (p<0.05). In contrast, our analysis showed that lower expressing UGT1A1 alleles (7-TA and 8-TA) were associated with modestly increased HPRT mutation frequency (p<0.05) while the same low expression genotypes were not significantly associated …

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The worldwide demand for potable water has been steadily growing and is projected to accelerate, driven by a continued population growth and industrialization of emerging countries. This growth is reflected in a recent market survey by the World Resources Institute, which shows a doubling in the installed capacity of seawater desalination plants every ten years. The production of desalinated water is energy intensive, requiring approximately 3-6 kWh/m3 of produced desalted water. At current U.S. water use rates, a dedicated 1000 MW power plant for every one million people would be required to meet our water needs with desalted water. Nuclear energy plants are attractive for large scale desalination application. The thermal energy produced in a nuclear plant can provide both electricity and desalted water without the production of greenhouse gases. A particularly attractive option for nuclear desalination is to couple a desalination plant with an advanced, modular, passively safe reactor design. The use of small-to-medium sized nuclear power plants allows for countries with smaller electrical grid needs and infrastructure to add new electrical and water capacity in more appropriate increments and allows countries to consider siting plants at a broader number of distributed locations. To meet these needs, a modified …

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This report, the first of two reports, presents side-by-side comparisons of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and legislation proposed by Senators Feinstein, Bob Graham, Daschle, and Roberts; and Representatives Harman and Goss, and relevant provisions of current law. A second report (CRS Report RL32601) presents a side-by-side comparison of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and legislation proposed by Senators Collins, Lieberman, and McCain; President Bush; and relevant provisions of current law.

This report, the second of two reports, presents side-by-side comparisons of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and current law and legislation proposed by Senators Collins and Lieberman (S. 2845) and unanimously approved by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on September 22, 2004, as amended; House Speaker Dennis Hastert (H.R. 10), as reported out be the House Committee on Rules; Senators McCain and Lieberman (S. 2774); Representative Pelosi (H.R. 5024); and President Bush. CRS Report RL32600 presents side-by-side comparisons of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and current law; and legislation proposed by Senators Feinstein, Bob Graham, Daschle, and Roberts; President Bush; and relevant provisions of current law.

A new Research Reactor (ARR) has been under design by KAERI since 2002. In this work, as a first step for the design of the fuel assembly of the ARR, the conceptual design has been carried out. The vibration characteristics of the tubular fuel model and the locking performance of the preliminary designed locking devices were investigated. In order to investigate the effects of the stiffener on the vibration characteristics of the tubular fuel, a modal analysis was performed for the finite element models of the tubular fuels with stiffeners and without stiffeners. The analysis results show that the vibration characteristics of the tubular fuel with stiffeners are better than those of the tubular fuel without stiffeners. To investigate the locking performance of the preliminary designed locking devices for the fuel assembly of the ARR, the elements of the locking devices were fabricated. Then the torsional resistance, fixing status and vibration characteristics of the locking devices were tested. The test results show that using the locking device with fins on the bottom guide can prevent the torsional motion of the fuel assembly, and that additional springs or guides on the top of the fuel assembly are needed to suppress the …

A pilot plant for treating 1,000 m3/day of dyeing wastewater with e-beam has been constructed and operated since 1998 in Daegu, Korea together with the biological treatment facility. The wastewater from various stages of the existing purification process has been treated with electron beam in this plant, and it gave rise to elaborate the optimal technology of the electron beam treatment of wastewater with increased reliability at instant changes in the composition of wastewater. Installation of the e-beam pilot plant resulted in decolorizing and destructive oxidation of organic impurities in wastewater, appreciable to reduction of chemical reagent consumption, in reduction of the treatment time, and in increase in flow rate limit of existing facilities by 30-40%. Industrial plant for treating 10,000 m3/day, based upon the pilot experimental result, is under construction and will be finished by 2005. This project is supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Korean Government.

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As a central plant of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Hi-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor, the HANARO, has been playing an important role in nuclear technology development and the utilization of radiation technology. HANARO's reputation such as a stable operation, build up of various research results and the support of the government picks up more research needs. Major utilizations of the HANARO reactor in Korea have focused on its irradiation service. It offers various types of irradiation tests for fuel and materials, which provides us with very useful information for designing and evaluating reactor materials. A number of irradiation capsules have been developed and installed in HANARO. Necessary technologies regarding HANARO are still being developed. The on-going and future researches, especially, about fuel and material irradiation including university programs and the current utilization statistics of the HANARO research reactor, are described in this article.

In this paper the design of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) equilibrium core using thorium is presented; a heterogeneous blanket-seed core arrangement concept was adopted. The design was developed in three steps: in the first step two different assemblies were designed based on the integrated blanket-seed concept, they are the blanket-dummy assembly and the blanket-seed assembly. The integrated blanketseed concept comes from the fact that the blanket and the seed rods are located in the same assembly, and are burned-out in a once-through cycle. In the second step, a core design was developed to achieve an equilibrium cycle of 365 effective full power days in a standard BWR with a reload of 104 fuel assemblies designed with an average 235U enrichment of 7.5 w/o in the seed sub-lattice. The main operating parameters, like power, linear heat generation rate and void distributions were obtained as well as the shutdown margin. It was observed that the analyzed parameters behave like those obtained in a standard BWR. The shutdown margin design criterion was fulfilled by addition of a burnable poison region in the assembly. In the third step an in-house code was developed to evaluate the thorium equilibrium core under transient conditions. A …

Radioisotopes have been used for power sources in heart pacemakers and space applications dating back to the 50's. Two key properties of radioisotope power sources are high energy density and long half-life compared to chemical batteries. The tritium battery used in heart pacemakers exceeds 500 mW-hr, and is being evaluated by the University of Florida for feasibility as a MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) power source. Conversion of radioisotope sources into electrical power within the constraints of nano-scale dimensions requires cutting-edge technologies and novel approaches. Some advances evolving in the III-V and II-IV semiconductor families have led to a broader consideration of radioisotopes rather free of radiation damage limitations. Their properties can lead to novel battery configurations designed to convert externally located emissions from a highly radioactive environment. This paper presents results for the analytical computational assisted design and modeling of semiconductor prototype nano-scale radioisotope nuclear batteries from MCNP and EGS programs. The analysis evaluated proposed designs and was used to guide the selection of appropriate geometries, material properties, and specific activities to attain power requirements for the MEMS batteries. Plans utilizing high specific activity radioisotopes were assessed in the investigation of designs employing multiple conversion cells and graded junctions with varying …

Enhanced proliferation resistance and physical protection (PR&PP) is one of the technology goals for advanced nuclear concepts, such as Generation IV systems. Under the auspices of the Generation IV International Forum, the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology of the U.S. DOE, the Office of Nonproliferation Policy of the National Nuclear Security Administration, and participating organizations from six other countries are sponsoring an international working group to develop an evaluation methodology for PR&PP. This methodology will permit an objective PR&PP comparison between alternative nuclear systems (e.g., different reactor types or fuel cycles) and support design optimization to enhance robustness against proliferation, theft and sabotage. The paper summarizes the proposed assessment methodology including the assessment framework, measures used to express the PR&PP characteristics of the system, threat definition, system element and target identification, pathway identification and analysis, and estimation of the measures.

The Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program has been tasked with the conversion of research reactors from highly enriched to low-enriched uranium (LEU). To convert several high power reactors, monolithic fuel, a new fuel type, is being developed. This fuel type replaces the standard fuel dispersion with a fuel alloy foil, which allows for fuel densities far in excess of that found in dispersion fuel. The single-piece fuel foil also contains a significantly lower interface area between the fuel and the aluminum in the plate than the standard fuel type, limiting the amount of detrimental fuel-aluminum interaction that can occur. Implementation of monolithic fuel is dependant on the development of a suitable fabrication method as traditional roll-bonding techniques are inadequate.