The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Superconducting Technology Program is conducted as part of a national effort by the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to develop the science and technology base needed by US industry for development of electric power applications of high-temperature superconductivity. The two major elements of this program are wire development and applications development. A new part of the wire research effort was the Accelerated Coated Conductor Initiative. This document describes the major research and development activities for this program together with related accomplishments. The technical progress reported was summarized from recent open literature publications, presentations, and information prepared for the FY 2001 Annual Program Review held August 1-3, 2001. Aspects of ORNL's work that were presented at the International Cryogenic Materials Conference/Cryogenic Engineering Conference (July 2001) are included in this report as well. This ORNL program is highly leveraged by the staff and other resources of US industry and universities. Interlaboratory teams are also in place on a number of industry-driven projects. Working group meetings, staff exchanges, and joint publications and presentations ensure that there is technology transfer with US industry. Working together, the collaborative teams are making rapid progress …

Nickel hexacyanoferrate is a polynuclear inorganic ion intercalation material that loads (intercalates) and elutes (deintercalates) alkali cations from its structure when electrochemically reduced and oxidized, respectively. Nickel hexacyanoferrrate (NiHCF) is known to preferentially intercalate cesium over all other alkali cations, thus providing a basis for a separation scheme that can tackle DOE's radiocesium contamination problem. This program studied fundamental issues in alkalization intercalation and deintercalation in nickel hexacyanoferrate compounds, with the goal of (1) quantifying the ion exchange selectivity properties from cation mixtures, (2) enhancing ion exchange capacities, and (3) and understanding the electrochemically-switched ion exchange process (ESIX).

The U.S. concept for actinide transmutation is currently envisioned as a system to destroy plutonium as well as minor actinides in a single or two tier system. In order to maximize the actinide destruction rate, an inert matrix fuel is used. The effectiveness of transmutation in reducing the actinide inventory is linked to the development of a robust fuel system, capable of achieving very high burnup. Very little fuel performance data has been generated to date on inert matrix systems, and there are several issues specific to the behavior of higher actinides that do not allow extension of the existing uranium-plutonium fuel database to these new fuels. These issues include helium production, fuel-cladding-chemical-interaction, and americium migration. In the early 1990's, two U-Pu-Zr metal alloy fuel elements containing 1.2 wt.% Am and 1.3 wt.% Np were fabricated and irradiated to approximately 6 at.% burnup in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. Postirradiation examination results were not published; however the recent interest in fuel for actinide transmutation has prompted a reexamination of this data. The results of the postirradiation examination of this experiment, including gas sampling, metallography, and gamma scanning are discussed. Available data on inert matrix fuels and other fuels incorporating actinides are …

We use molecular-dynamics simulation to examine the order-disorder behavior in pure ferroelectric KNbO{sub 3} and in KNbO{sub 3}-KTaO{sub 3} ferroelectric-paraelectric solid solutions and superlattices. We find that the order-disorder behavior is remarkably robust and plays an important role in both the polarization rotation associated with switching of the perfect crystal and in the dynamical behavior of the solid solutions and superlattices.

This report presents work conducted on the following main projects tasks undertaken in the Yield Improvement in Steel Casting research program: Improvement of Conventional Feeding and Risering Methods, Use of Unconventional Yield Improvement Techniques, and Case Studies in Yield Improvement. Casting trials were conducted and then simulated using the precise casting conditions as recorded by the participating SFSA foundries. These results present a statistically meaningful set of experimental data on soundness versus feeding length. Comparisons between these casting trials and casting trials performed more than forty years ago by Pellini and the SFSA are quite good and appear reasonable. Comparisons between the current SFSA feeding rules and feeding rules based on the minimum Niyama criterion reveal that the Niyama-based rules are generally less conservative. The niyama-based rules also agree better with both the trials presented here, and the casting trails performed by Pellini an d the SFSA years ago. Furthermore, the use of the Niyama criterion to predict centerline shrinkage for horizontally fed plate sections has a theoretical basis according to the casting literature reviewed here. These results strongly support the use of improved feeding rules for horizontal plate sections based on the Niyama criterion, which can be tailored to …

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We discuss new theoretical results on the decay of deformed and near-spherical nuclei. We interpret the latest experimental results on deformed odd-A proton emitters, including fine structure, and discuss the use of particle-vibration coupling to calculate the decay rates of near-spherical emitters.

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We survey techniques for finding a CP-odd Higgs boson, A{sup 0}, at the Linear Collider that do not depend upon the presence of other light Higgs bosons. The potential reach in [m{sub A{sup 0}}, tan {beta}] parameter space for various production/discovery modes is evaluated and regions where discovery might not be possible at a given {radical}s are delineated. We give, for the first time, results for e{sup +}e{sup -} {yields} {nu}{bar {nu}} A{sup 0} one-loop W boson fusion production.

Sub-Angstrom TEM of materials at intermediate voltages requires a sub-Angstrom information limit for the microscope. With a Scherzer resolution of 1.7 Angstrom, but a sub-Angstrom information limit, the one-Angstrom microscope (OAM) project at the NCEM is able to generate resolution below 0.8 Angstrom. Microscope information limit comes from damping of transfer by the temporal coherence. A major term contributing to temporal coherence is energy spread in the electron beam. We derive a new expression for the energy spread, and show how it can be measured from the result that is obtained using a standard electron spectrometer.

The core of the MARIA high flux multipurpose research reactor is highly heterogeneous. It consists of beryllium blocks arranged in 6 x 8 matrix, tubular fuel assemblies, control rods and irradiation channels. The reflector is also heterogeneous and consists of graphite blocks clad with aluminum. Its structure is perturbed by the experimental beam tubes. This paper presents methods and codes used to calculate the MARIA reactor neutronics characteristics and experience gained thus far at IAE and ANL. At ANL the methods of MARIA calculations were developed in connection with the RERTR program. At IAE the package of programs was developed to help its operator in optimization of fuel utilization.

In principle, intense spallation neutron sources can be used not only to irradiate materials (e.g. window materials) and to validate different target geometries/concepts, but also to irradiate structural materials (samples, pins or even full assemblies) in order to characterize their behavior under irradiation (in a fast neutron field). However, a question arises concerning the ''representativity'' of such irradiations to reproduce the conditions encountered in a typical fast reactor. The present paper documents an investigation aimed at understanding phenomena related to the representativity of an irradiation using an intense spallation source, with regards to neutron damage and Helium production. Two different designs of a spallation neutron source are considered. The first is an Intense Spallation Neutron Source (ISNS) proposed at CEA, France as a potential irradiation tool. The second is one of the current models for the TMT (Target for Material Testing) of the ADTF (Accelerator Driven Test Facility) program. In our calculations we used the MCNPX Version 2.1.5 Monte Carlo code.

The DOE Industry Matching Grant Program, which began in 1992, is designed to encourage collaborative support for nuclear engineering education as well as research between the nation's nuclear industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Over the past two decades nuclear engineering programs in the United States have witnessed a serious decline in student enrollments, number of faculty members and support from their host universities. Despite this decline, the discipline of nuclear engineering remains important to the advancement of the mission goals of the U.S. Department of Energy. These academic programs are also critically important in maintaining a viable workforce for the nation's nuclear industry. As conceived by Commonwealth Edison, this program has focused on creating a partnership between DOE and private sector businesses, which employ nuclear engineers. The program is designed to ensure that academic programs in nuclear engineering are maintained and enhanced in universities throughout the United States.

Although soft hadronic observables do not probe the early stages of a nucleus-nucleus collision directly, the data can be used to constrain the evolutionary path of the system. I review some of the experimental data from the first year of RHIC operations with Au+Au at sqrt(s)=130 GeV. This data includes particle yields, momentum spectra, and two-particle correlations. The data point to a system that develops strong radial flow and expands to roughly twice the size of the initial system before kinetic freeze-out. The data also suggest a multi-stage freeze-out, where the particle abundances are fixed at an earlier time compared to the end of elastic interactions.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been actively and continuously engaged in Russian geologic disposal activities since 1995. The first joint US-Russian meeting on Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium was held in January 1995 at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The meeting resulted in the appointment of Dr. L. J. Jardine from LLNL and Dr. T. A. Gupalo from the All-Russian Research and Design Institute of Production Engineering (VNIPIPT) as the US-Russian Federation (RF) joint co-chairs for geologic disposal of plutonium-containing materials, respectively. The initial joint studies focused on the geologic disposal of plutonium-containing materials and immobilized plutonium waste forms. These studies started in 1995, and continue in 2002. The first joint work of LLNL and VNIPIPT was documented in the October 1996 Paris P8 Nuclear Experts Meeting [1]. In summary, LLNL has been actively and continuously involved in various ways since 1995 in developing and participating in the current Russian geologic disposal program activities near the Mayak and MCC K-26 sites. Figure 1 illustrates how these various LLNL activities have been integrated, coordinated, and focused on developing geologic disposal in Russia. The various LLNL contracts are shown in the figure with the specific LLNL contract number. Reference 13 provides …