Gamma-ray spectrometric methods using high-resolution Ge(Li) and high purity Ge detectors have been used to quantify the concentrations and external exposure rates of radionuclides in the soil. These in situ methods have been used to study radionuclide deposition around nuclear power stations, the distribution of radionuclides at the Nevada Test Site, biogeochemical cycling of radionuclides, and the fate and impact of fallout radionuclides. Portable gamma-ray spectrometer systems used for various kinds of in situ field measurements include: large-volume coaxial Ge(Li) detectors for terrestrial gamma-ray surveys at several sites including preoperational nuclear power plants and for real-time measurements of nuclear reactor plume isotopic exposure rates; and planar, high purity Ge detectors for mapping /sup 241/Am and /sup 239/Pu soil concentrations, particularly at the Nevada Test Site. These applications are discussed along with a brief description of the methodology and techniques associated with in situ gamma-ray spectrometry.

Stress corrosion tests were conducted on 316 VIM/VAR stainless steel as part of the Tritium Facility's Quality Assurance Program. Initial results under severe conditions indicate earlier-than-expected failure. We are expanding our tests to further examine this problem.

Current analytical techniques for predicting the transport of nuclides in porous materials center on the Green's function approach - i.e., determining the response characteristics of a geologic pathway to an impulse function input. To data, the analyses all have set the boundary conditions needed to solve the 1-D transport equation as though each pathway were infinite in length. The purpose of this work is to critically examine the effect that this infinite pathway assumption has on Green's function models of nuclide transport in porous media. The work described herein has directly attacked the more difficult problem of obtaining suitable Green's functions for finite pathways whose dimensions, in fact, may not be much greater than the diffusion length. Two different finite media Green's functions describing the nuclide mass flux have been determined, depending on whether the pathway is terminated by a high or a low flow resistance at the outlet end. Pulse shapes and peak amplitudes have been computed for each Green's function over a wide range of geohydrologic parameters. These results have been compared to both infinite and semi-infinite medium solutions. It was found that predicted pulse shapes are quite sensitive to selection of a Green's function model for short …

Letter opinion 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, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: The constitutionality of Senate Bill 373, allowing the Texas Dept. of Corrections to grant temporary furloughs to inmates to attend to medical treatment or attend to family emergencies.

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 legislature to permit taxing districts to exempt automobiles from property tax on a local option basis.

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, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of Air Control Board to grant variances under the Clean Air Act.

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, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of county treasurer with respect to payment of jurors.

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, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Duty of clerks of court when called upon to file pleadings not certified as having been delivered or mailed to the adverse party or his attorneys.

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, Crawford Martin, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the nepotism statutes prohibit a member of one house of the Legislature from employing a person of his staff who is not related to him but is related within the second degree of affinity or the third degree of consanguinity to a member of the other house of the Legislature, and a related question.

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, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Are alien children whose parents are illegally residing in this county entitled to attend public schools.

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, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Difference between "pardon" and "restoration of citizenship" under article 42.12, section 24, Code of Criminal Procedure.

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The continuum ..gamma..-ray spectrum following neutron emission in a (HI,xn) reaction consists of a high-energy tail, the statistical cascade, and a lower-energy bump, the yrast cascade, which contains most of the intensity and consists mostly of stretched E2 transitions. Thus, a good approximation to the average angular momentum carried by the ..gamma..-rays is 2N/sub ..gamma../-bar. Under favourable conditions, effective moments of inertia can be deduced for states up to the top of the ..gamma..-ray cascade. The maximum angular momentum in the cascades is probably limited by ..cap alpha..-emission for nuclei with A < 150 and by fission for those with A > 150. 17 figures.

Increased cost of energy, depletion of domestic supplies of oil and natural gas, and dependence on foreign suppliers, have led to an investigation of energy storage as a means to displace the use of oil and gas presently being used to generate intermediate and peak-load electricity. Dedicated nuclear thermal energy storage is investigated as a possible alternative. An evaluation of thermal storage systems is made for several reactor concepts and economic comparisons are presented with conventional storage and peak power producing systems. It is concluded that dedicated nuclear storage has a small but possible useful role in providing intermediate and peak-load electric power.

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Reported are: analytical R and D for the nuclear explosives program, analytical R and D for the energy programs, and special projects. (DLC)

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.

A numerical solution technique is presented for determining the dynamic response of a thin, elastic, circular, cylindrical shell of constant wall thickness and density, immersed in a potential fluid. The shell may be excited by an arbitrary radial forcing function with a specified time history and spatial distribution. In addition, a pressure history may be specified over a segment of the fluid outer boundary. Any of the natural shell end conditions may be prescribed. A numerical instability prevented direct solutions where the ratio of the hydrodynamic forces to shell inertial forces is greater than two. This instability is believed to be the result of the weak coupling between the equations describing the fluid to those describing the shell. To circumvent this instability, an effective mass was calculated and added to the shell. Comparison of numerical to experimental results are made using a /sup 1///sub 12/ scale model of a nuclear reactor core support barrel. Natural frequencies and modes are determined for this model in air, water, and oil. The computed frequencies compare to experimental results to within 15%. The use of this numerical technique is illustrated by comparing it to an analytical solution for shell beam modes and an uncertainty …

Two types of MOS detector arrays were used to sense directly patterns of soft x-rays, in the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory experimental laser-fusion program. A linear self-scanning photodiode array (SSPA) is used in a wave-length-dispersive spectrometer. A frame transfer charge-coupled device (CCD) facilitates the use of an x-ray microscope. Measurements and calculations of the x-ray sensitivity of these devices are presented. Their linearity and dynamic range are discussed, as well as data recovery systems for each detector. Experiences in using these devices to detect pulses of x-rays in laser-fusion experiments are described.