A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

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; Authority of the Harris County Department of Education to expend tax funds by and mail Christmas cards.

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; Authority of the Governor to veto certain provisions of the General Appropriations Act.

This report details tester status and activities in support of testing of timers, actuators, detonators, firing sets, transducers, isolators, and pyrospacers for the period of April through June 1979.

For Mound Facility, the year 1978 was one of progress marked by enhanced mission assignments and significant milestones. The thirtieth anniversary of the site was celebrated, and Monsanto Research Corporation began a new 5 year contract to operate the Mound Facility. Long-standing production assignments were strengthened, and were were given a new responsibility: to develop and produce all ceramic parts used in Mound-build products. progress toward US energy objectives was bolstered by Mound programs supporting the development of nuclear fusion poser, unlocking previously us attainable fossil fuels, ensuring the safety and security of nuclear material handling operations, and exploring the real promise of energy form the sun. In 1978, we focused our attention on many efforts aimed at a brighter, more secure future.

Adsorption of several nuclides (Sr, Tc, Cs, Ba, Ce, Eu) on tuff, monzonite, and argillite was studied experimentally. 3 tables. (DLC)

A preliminary evaluation of the in-situ thermomechanical response of argillite to heating was obtained from a near-surface heater test in the Eleana Formation, at the Nevada Test Site. The experiment consisted of a 3.8 kW, 3-m long x 0.3-m diameter electrical heater in a central hole surrounded by peripheral holes containing instrumentation to measure temperature, gas pressures, and vertical displacement. A thermal model of the experiment agreed well with experimental results; a comparison of measured and predicted temperatures indicates that some nonmodeled vertical transport of water and water vapor occurred near the heater, especially at early times. A mechanical model indicated that contraction of expandable clays in the argillite produced a region 1.5 to 2.0 m in radius, in which opening of preexisting joints occurred as a result of volumetric contraction. Results of thermal and mechanical modeling, laboratory property measurements, experimental temperature measurements, and post-test observations are all self-consistent and provide preliminary information on the in situ response of argillaceous rocks to the emplacement of heat-producing nuclear waste. 9 figures, 2 tables.

The J-13 drill hole, located in Jackass Flats, Nevada Test Site, has penetrated 125 m of alluvium and 932 m of tuff. Most of the tuff deposits consist of welded tuffs; glass phases in the tuffs have been replaced by authigenic minerals, mainly K-feldspar, silica, and zeolites. The zonation of authigenic minerals, with depth, indictes that alteration of glass phases and filling of vugs occurred during welding and compaction of tuff units soon after deposition and by interaction with groundwater. Zonation of authigenic minerals in tuff deposits at Jackass Flats is similar to mineral zonation in tuffs elsewhere at the Nevada Test Site and in tuff deposits of west Texas. All appear to have been developed by leaching of glass phases and deposition of authigenic minerals in open hydrologic systems. 10 figures, 38 tables.

Siliceous tuff in southern Nevada occurs in a complex and locally active geological environment. Regional thrust faulting, Basin and Range faulting, and present-day seismicity complicate exploration and site characterization activities. The inherent variability of tuff and the complexity of caldera complexes also complicate siting efforts, but may serve to enhance long-term containment. Time--space trends of silicic volcanism are moderately well-established, while those of recent basaltic volcanism are not. At present, the final consequences for repository siting of the geologic complexities described in this paper are not known. Evidence from laboratory cation exchange measurements indicate that tuff and tuffaceous alluvium can serve as effective natural barriers to migration of radionuclides. This fact, coupled with multiple hydrologic barriers and long flow paths, as in the vicinity of the Nevada Test Site, might well result in tuff being a suitable medium for the safe long-term geologic disposal of nuclear wastes. Preliminary thermal modeling indicates the strong influence of varying assumptions regarding in situ fluid pressures and geothermal heat flux on acceptable initial areal power loadings.

Aqueous/solid distribution coefficients have been measured for {sup 137}Cs, {sup 85}Sr, {sup 99}Tc, {sup 152}Eu, {sup 144}Ce, {sup 238}Pu, {sup 243}Am and {sup 244}Cm on powdered argillite and hornfels obtained from the Nevada Test Site. The fluid phases included a groundwater simulant and deionized water preequilibrated with powdered argillite. Distribution coefficients for lanthanides and actinides are generally high and Eleana shale was found to effectively sorb technetium.

Tuff is of interest for use as an isolation medium for high heat producing wastes because it provides highly sorptive minerals and suitable thermomechanical properties. Also, tuff is widespread in areas that offer long and deep groundwater flow paths. The occurrence and geologic/hydrologic setting of tuff are discussed. The properties of the rock are discussed and compared with other isolation media. The favorable and unfavorable aspects are presented. Also, unresolved issues are discussed along with the investigative program for addressing these issues.

Numerical calculations for a near surface heater experiment in argillite conducted at the Nevada Test Site were performed using the finite element code ADINA assuming a two-dimensional axisymmetric geometry. The existence and extent of the region of tensional opening of joints surrounding the heater, predicted by the mechanical model, were confirmed by posttest borehole inspection, permeability measurements, and drillback. Exrapolation of near surface heater model to repository depths reveals the necessity for prior knowledge of the mechanical properties and state of stress in-situ. The extent of the joint opening zone, for example, is not altered by changes in the elastic modulus at the near surface, but is significantly decreased beyond certain depths depending upon the in-situ elastic modulus. Results of these calculations are presented. To further define the behavior at depth, and place bounds on the joint opening zone, far-field calculations were performed for a generic repository in argillite. Both spent fuel and high level waste heat sources were considered at different burial densities and depths. Results of a parametric study are presented in which the mechanical properties, in-situ stresses, and waste heat sources were varied.

Recent emphasis on research in geologic isolation of nuclear wastes and geoenergy resource development has created a renewed demand for engineering thermophysical property data for rocks and other geologic materials at elevated pressures and temperatures. In contrast to fabricated engineering materials, with properties which can be specified, rocks used in engineering design are complex, naturally occurring materials having properties which must be characterized, rather than specified, for engineering studies. Much difficulty in measuring, reporting, and using thermophysical properties of rocks results from (1) rock inhomogeneity and anisotropy on both microscopic and macroscopic scales; (2) inclusion of pore fluids, such as water; and (3) measurement of laboratory properties under conditions quite different from those of in situ material. Because measurements on in situ materials are scarce, many analyses must depend on extrapolated values of uncertain accuracy. A survey of thermophysical property data available for geologic thermal transport studies indicates that caution must be taken to effectively match data abstracted from the literature with project objectives.

Energy International is a leader in catalyst and process development as it relates to Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) technology. Through this activity, a concept evolved for a new technique for capturing the fuel value in the associated natural gas contained in crude oil. In the new concept, the dissolved natural gas would be processed via F-T technology to produce light hydrocarbons that would then, in one manifestation of this concept, be redissolved in the crude oil to produce a lighter crude than the original, containing all of the natural gas, but with the vapor pressure of the crude lowered to an acceptable level via the conversion process. This technique would be of particular interest in those instances where the alternative methods of collections and utilizing the associated natural gas were expensive. A study of the application of this technology was undertaken by EI with support from the DOE.

Two near-surface heater experiments were performed in argillaceous rocks for the purpose of determining the suitability of this rock type for the disposal of heat producing nuclear waste. Site instrumentation included provisions for monitoring both the thermal and mechanical response of the formation. The mechanical behavior of argillaceous rocks was found to be complex and illustrates the necessity of incorporating the dehydration behavior of clays into existing models. The thermal response also reflected the effects of water. Even in the presence of considerable ground water, however, conduction remains the principal method of heat transfer, and computer codes using this assumption give a realistic picture of the in-situ formation behavior.

The primary thrust of the NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project during FY 1978 was to continue an evaluation of the suitability of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for siting a commercial spent fuel or high-level waste repository. At the beginning of the year, three primary issues were identified. They are: (1) is waste isolation at the NTS compatible with weapons testing; (2) are there suitable geohydrologic settings available on the NTS; and (3) are there suitable disposal media available at NTS. The NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project has been organized primarily to address these three issues. The southwestern area of the NTS has been identified as compatible with both current and future weapons testing. The NTS and adjacent areas of southern Nevada contain media which are probably suitable for waste isolation and which occur in a region characterized by long groundwater flow paths through sorptive media. However, utilization of the southwestern part of NTS requires that several geotechnical issues be addressed intensively. These are: (1) the potential for earthquakes at and near NTS; (2) the potential for future volcanism at possible repository sites; (3) the location and nature of faults; and (4) the characterization of the groundwater flow system from …

Statistical methodology has been applied to the investigation of the regional hydrologic systems of a large area encompassing the Nevada Test Site (NTS) as a part of the overall evaluation of the NTS for deep geologic disposal of nuclear waste. Statistical techniques including Latin hypercube sampling were used to perform a sensitivity analysis on a two-dimensional finite-element code of 16 geohydrologic zones used to model the regional ground-water flow system. The Latin hypercube sample has been modified to include correlations between corresponding variables from zone to zone. From the results of sensitivity analysis it was found that: (1) the ranking of the relative importance of input variables between locations within the same geohydrologic zone were similar, but not identical; and (2) inclusion of a correlation structure for input variables had a significant effect on the ranking of their relative importance. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to the hydrology of the region.

The thermal response of layered tuffs in Yucca Mountain at NTS to radwaste emplacement at 711 m depth (Bullfrog tuff) was analyzed. Three in-situ boiling criteria were examined. No boiling is predicted for any burial depth with power densities up to 150 kW/acre. Allowable powerdensities are plotted vs depth below 711 m for both HLW and spent fuels. (DLC)

Near-surface heater tests have been conducted in two different geologic settings for argillaceous rocks. The results of these tests have provided the in situ data necessary to develop the thermomechanical models for predicting the response of argillaceous rock to thermal load representative of high-level nuclear waste.

A project is discussed in which the possibilities for economical waste heat recovery and utilization in the food industry were examined. Waste heat availability and applications surveys were performed at two manufacturing plants engaged in low temperature (freezing) and high temperature (cooking, sterilizing, etc.) food processing. The surveys indicate usable waste heat is available in significant quantities which could be applied to existing, on-site energy demands resulting in sizable reductions in factory fuel and energy usage. At the high temperature plant, the energy demands involve the heating of fresh water for boiler make-up, for the food processes and for the daily clean-up operation. Clean-up poses an opportunity for thermal energy storage since waste heat is produced during the one or two production shifts of each working day while the major clean-up effort does not occur until food production ends. At the frozen food facility, the clean-up water application again exists and, in addition, refrigeration waste heat could also be applied to warm the soil beneath the ground floor freezer space. Systems to recover and apply waste heat in these situations were developed conceptually and thermal/economic performance predictions were obtained. The results of those studies indicate the economics of waste heat …

Flux flow noise power spectra were investigated, and information obtained through such spectra is applied to describe flux flow and pinning in situations where volume pinning force data is also available. In one case, the application of noise data to PB/sub 80/In/sub 20/ samples after recovery and after high temperature annealing is discussed. This work is consistent with a recent model for flux flow noise generation. In the second case we discuss experiments designed to change the fluxoid transit path length, which according to the model should affect both the noise amplitude and the parameter ..cap alpha.. specifying the longest subpulse times in terms of the average transit time, tau/sub c/. Transient flux flow voltages when a current is switched on after field cycling a Pb/sub 60/In/sub 40/ sample have been discovered. Noise spectra have been measured during the transient. These observations are discussed along with a simple model which fits the data. A surprising result is that the transient decay times increase with the applied current. Other characteristics of Pb/sub 60/In/sub 40/ after cold working are also discussed.

As the applied magnetic fields are increased during acceleration, eddy currents are induced in the vacuum chamber. These result in magnetic field perturbations which we shall estimate for the Booster and X-Ray Rings. Our calculation follows that of Asner, in particular, we use image currents to satisfy the boundary conditions imposed by the iron poles of the magnets. The strength of the magnetic field perturbations is roughly three times greater with the iron poles present than absent.

The research discussed in this report was performed at the University of Oklahoma during the period January 1, 1979 through December 31, 1979. Efforts were directed principally to the following tasks: (1) comparisons of mixture and pure fluid cascade cycles, (2) development of guidelines for working fluid selection for single boiler cycles, (3) continued evaluation of mixtures as working fluids, (4) working fluid thermophysical property correlation and presentations of properties information.

Paleoenvironmental biofacies analysis of recent wells in dark Devonian shales in the Applachian Basin has shown that these facies can be projected to areas with no control points. In particular, the facies distribution in Perry County, Kentucky, were found to be precisely those that were predicted earlier from biofacies and organic geochemical data from the VA-1 well in Wise County, Virginia, and the KY-2 well in Martin County, Kentucky. This demonstrates the importance of these data in assessing the volume of gas in the shale throughout the basin as well as in selecting future test sites. The recent biofacies and geochemical work together with a review of the tectonics of the basin have contributed to an evolving interpretation of the geologic control of the biofacies. While a marine environment persisted throughout the Upper Devonian over the Applachian and Illinois Basin (and probably the Michigan Basin), dynamic emergent areas controlled an intermittent introduction of large amounts of organic matter. Large amounts of non-marine organic matter were periodically transported in the basin from a dynamic source province to the Southeast; massive "blooms" of Tasmanites intermittently spread both east and west from the edges of the emerging Cincinnati Arch. At times one or …