Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Mark White, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county may purchase capital equipment with funds collected pursuant to article 7048a, V.T.C.S..

This Phase I summary report contains a description of the 8 kW wind energy conversion system developed by the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) for the Department of Energy. The wind turbine employs the UTRC Bearingless Rotor Concept in conjunction with a passive pendulum control system which controls blade pitch for start-up, efficient power generation, and high-speed survivability. The report contains a summary of the experimental and analytical programs in support of design efforts. These supporting programs include materials tests, a wind tunnel program, and aeroelastic analyses to evaluate system stability. An estimate is also made of the projected manufacturing cost of the system if produced in quantity.

The Composite Bearingless Wind Turbine was developed at the United Technologies Research Center following many years of bearingless rotor research and development for helicopter applications. The current 8 kW contract was begun in October 1977 with delivery of the prototype scheduled for November 1979. The contract consists of two phases. Phase I encompasses the complete design of the system and supporting analytical and experimental studies. The Phase I final report has been completed, and this executive summary highlights the principal findings described in that report.

The linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) is an electromechanical transducer which produces an ac voltage proportional to the displacement of a movable ferromagnetic core. When the core is connected to the cladding of a nuclear fuel rod, it is capable of producing extremely accurate measurements of fuel rod elongation caused by thermal expansion. The LVDT is used in the Thermal Fuels Behavior Program at the U.S. Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for measurements of nuclear fuel rod elongation and as an indication of critical heat flux and the occurrence of departure from nucleate boiling. These types of measurements provide important information about the behavior of nuclear fuel rods under normal and abnormal operating conditions. The objective of the paper is to provide a complete account of recent advances made in LVDT design and experimental data from in-core nuclear reactor tests which use the LVDT.

This progress report for the USNRC/LLL Liaison program with the Federal Republic of Germany regarding boiling water reactor containment multivent steam condensation tests being conducted by GKSS (Gesellschaft fuer Kernenergieverwertung in Schiffbau und Schiffahrt) address program activity during the period of May-June 1979. During this period the program scope was defined, initial contacts between LLL and GKSS were established, and the first trip by an LLL representative to the GKSS test facility was taken.

Kinetic models for the reaction between a gas and powder are presented and discussed. Rates from the progressive conversion model are dependent on the amount of material present. This model is described by an equation that yields both the rate constant and the reaction order. The phase boundary model produces rates for topochemical reactions which are dependent on the powder surface area. Applications of these models to uranium powder hydriding are discussed. Computer programs for analyzing data also are included. 6 figures.

A literature survey and analysis project has been performed to determine if recent (since mid-1975) data has been reported which could influence the current approach to predicting PWR relief valve capacity under ATWS conditions. This study was conducted by the Energy Technology Engineering Center for NRC. Results indicate that the current relief valve capacity model tends to predict less capacity than actually obtains; however, no experimental verification at PWR ATWS conditions was found. Other project objectives were to establish the availability of methods for evaluating reaction forces and back pressure effects on relief valve capacity, and to determine if facilities exist which are capable of testing PWR relief valves at ATWS conditions.