A set of OS/370 Basic Assembly Language programs is described which provides a FORTRAN IV interface with OS/370 Macros.

Vapor explosions were produced by injecting small quantities of water into a container filled with molten sodium chloride. Minimum explosion efficiencies, as evaluated from reaction-impulse measurements, were relatively large. Subsurface movies showed that the explosions resulted from a two-step sequence: an initial bulk-mixing phase in which the two liquids intermix on a large scale, but remain locally separated by an insulating gas-vapor layer; and a second step, immediately following breakdown of the gas layer, during which the two liquids locally fragment, intermix, and pressurize very rapidly. The experimental results were compared with various mechanistic models that had been proposed to explain vapor explosions. Early models seemed inconsistent with the results. More recent theories suggest that vapor explosions may be caused by a nucleation limit or by dynamic mixing combined with high surface-heat-transfer rates. Both types of models are consistent with the results.

Progress report describing the research and management efforts of Argonne National Laboratory's program on high-performance lithium/metal sulfide batteries during the period July-December 1975. The batteries are being developed for two applications: off-peak energy storage in electric utility networks and electric-vehicle propulsion. The battery designs for the two applications differ, particularly in cell configuration and electrode design because of the differing performance requirements.

A simple conduction model with phase change has been developed for the transient analysis of a fuel pin based on average properties and lumped-parameter techniques. The transient behavior of fuel and cladding can be accurately described by simple analytical expressions that agree with conventional numerical approaches for under-cooling transient analysis. If it be assumed that the heat-transfer resistance between the fuel and cladding remains the same for both steady-state and transient periods, the phase-change problem for fuel and cladding melting can be significantly simplified. BY using the predetermined average overall heat-transfer coefficient across a fuel pin in the steady-state period, the average transient fuel and cladding temperatures can be formulated analytically. For loss of flow at constant power, the start of melting and complete melting for both the fuel and cladding can be estimated with considerable accuracy.

The methods applied or proposed for risk assessment of nuclear reactors are reviewed, particularly with respect to their applicability for risk assessment of future commercial fast breeder reactors. All methods are based on the calculation of accident consequences for relatively few accident scenarios. The role and general impact of uncertainties in fast-reactor accident analysis are discussed. The discussion shows the need for improvement of the methodology. A generalized and improved risk-assessment methodology is outlined and proposed (accident-spectra-progression approach). The generalization consists primarily of an explicit treatment of uncertainties throughout the accident progression. The results of this method are obtained in form of consequence distributions. The width and shape of the distributions depend in part on the superposition of the uncertainties. The first moment of the consequence distribution gives an improved prediction of the ''average'' consequence. The higher-consequence moments can be used for consideration of risk aversion. The assessment of the risk of one or a certain number of nuclear reactors can only provide an ''isolated'' risk assessment. The general problem of safety risk assessment and its relation to public acceptance of certain modes of power production is a much broader problem area, which is also discussed.

Hydrogen from the radiolysis of water by dissolved fission products is stripped from the solution and collected by bubbling carbon dioxide through the solution. Quantitative measurements of the G value for hydrogen show that the yield is essentially the same as would be obtained by external gamma radiolysis of nonradioactive solutions of the same chemical composition. The hydrogen yield can be enhanced by addition of a hydrogen-atom donor, such as formic acid, to the solution. The yield of hydrogen from fission-waste solutions is discussed with respect to the question of whether it represents a significant energy source.

Studies of unprotected loss-of-flow accidents in the CRBR for various rates of flow coast-down and with various options in the SAS 3A code did not lead to conditions for a violent disassembly. Maximum fuel temperatures using the SLUMPY module for disassembly were in the range 4000-4500 deg C. An approximate treatment of the LOF-driven TOP accident, not properly modeled by SAS 3A, indicates the possibility of some increase in accident severity. The effect of fission gas in dispersing fuel was not taken into account in these calculations. Parameter variations included the presence or absence of axial fuel expansion and of clad motion and use of the moving coolant film model versus the static film model. Study of severe pipe rupture accidents with scram indicated that pin power density and fuel-clad conductance were important parameters in determining what coolant flow rate was needed to prevent boiling after the rupture. It appears that for the CRBR when engineering hot channel factors are considered, this fraction would have to exceed 25 percent.

Current status of epidemiological studies of the late effects of internal radium in humans, and mechanistic investigations of those effects.

Quarterly report on activities of Argonne National Laboratory's Nuclear Technical Programs, including results of studies to measure the degradation of backfill materials after their exposure to temperature and humidity expected in high-level nuclear waste repositories.

The work described in this report represents research conducted in the first year of a three-year program to assess, characterize, and design thermoplastic piping for use in elevated-temperature district heating (DH) systems. The present report describes the results of a program to assess the potential usefulness of advanced thermoplastics as piping materials for use in DH systems.

Highlights of the Chemical Technology (CMT) Division's activities during 1985 are presented. In this period, CMT conducted research and development in areas that include advanced batteries--mainly lithium-alloy/metal sulfide and sodium/sulfur, advanced fuel cells with molten carbonate or solid oxide electrolytes, corrosion-protective coatings for high-strength steel, coal utilization, including the heat and seed recovery technology for coal-fired magnetohydrodynamics plants and the technology for fluidized-bed combustion, methodologies for recovery of energy from municipal waste nuclear technology related to waste management, the recovery processes for discharged fuel and the uranium blanket in a sodium-cooled fast reactor, and proof of breeding in a light water breeder reactor, and physical chemistry of selected materials in environments simulating those of fission and fusion energy systems.

An experimental study is reported to investigate the jump phenomenon in critical flow velocities for tube rows with different pitch-to-diameter ratios and the excited and intrinsic instabilities for a tube row with a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.75. The experimental data provide additional insights into the instability phenomena of tube arrays in crossflow.

Results of environmental monitoring program conducted at Palos Park.

A data bank of field experiences with heat exchanger tube vibration reveals numerous cases of tube failures at, or near, the baffle. The objective of this study is to provide qualitative impact/fretting wear information for heat exchanger tubes through the performance of a series of tests involving the pertinent parameters: impact force level, between the tube and its support; tube to support plate hole clearance; tube support plate thickness; and tube vibration frequency. The characteristics of impact/fretting wear relative to tube motion pattern, material combination and surrounding fluid were also investigated. The test apparatus consists of a cantilevered tube with a simulated tube support plate at the ''free end''. Tube vibration is induced by an electromagnetic exciter to simulate the flow-induced tube motion occurring in a real heat exchanger at the tube/tube support plate interface. Tests are conducted in air, water, and oil, all at room temperature. Wear rate increases significantly with the magnitude of the impact force between the tube and its support plate; the degree and trend of the wear rates are highly dependent on the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the tube/support material combination; the rate of impact/fretting wear decreases with increasing frequency. An empirical formula is …

Tests and analysis are made for tubes conveying fluid for two types of support conditions. The objectives are to study the characteristics of different types of instability, the transition of one instability mechanism to another, and the control of instability.

This report describes a system designed to provide a portable environment for the study of automated reasoning. The system is built on the LMA automated reasoning subroutine package. This program is not part of LMA itself but illustrates the level of inference-based system that can be constructed from the LMA package of tools. It is a clause-based reasoning system supporting a wide variety of techniques which have proven valuable over the years in a long-running automated deduction research project. In addition, it is designed to present a convenient, interactive interface to its user.

This report develops a framework for a universe of discourse usable by such non-human experts. It is based on the idea that a design has many features of a contract and may be described as a contract between humans and a machine, defining what each must do to attain a goal. Several points are discussed: the use of techniques in analytical redundancy and their place as analogues in administrative control for conventional techniques in physical control; the use of redundant computer systems to protect against hardware faults; the necessity to prove properties of software used in redundant hardware, because software faults are common modes across redundant hardware; and some issues in choosing a programming language for provable control software. Because proof of correctness is costly, it should be used only where necessary. This report concludes that the degree of reliability needed by the plant model used in analytic redundancy protection need not be nearly as reliable as the mechanism to detect discrepancy between plant and model.

The mathematical development and numerical solution of the finite-difference equations are summarized. The report provides a guide for user application and details the programming structure of DIF3D. Guidelines are included for implementing the DIF3D export package on several large scale computers. Optimized iteration methods for the solution of large-scale fast-reactor finite-difference diffusion theory calculations are presented, along with their theoretical basis. The computational and data management considerations that went into their formulation are discussed. The methods utilized include a variant of the Chebyshev acceleration technique applied to the outer fission source iterations and an optimized block successive over-relaxation method for the within-group iterations. A nodal solution option intended for analysis of LMFBR designs in two- and three-dimensional hexagonal geometries is incorporated in the DIF3D package and is documented in a companion report, ANL-83-1.

Highlights of the Chemical Engineering (CEN) Division's activities during 1981 are presented. In this period, CEN conducted research and development in the following areas: rechargeable lithium-alloy/iron sulfide batteries for electric vehicles and other applications, aqueous batteries--improved lead-acid, nickel/zinc, and nickel/iron--for electric vehicles, as well as advanced lead-acid batteries for electric.-utility load leveling, energy-efficient industrial electrochemical processes, molten carbonate fuel cells for use by electric utilities, coal technology, mainly fluidized-bed combustion of coal in the presence of an SO2 sorbent of limestone, heat- and seed-recovery technology for open-cycle magnetohydrodynamic systems.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward (1) improving understanding of component behavior in molten carbonate fuel cells and (2) developing alternative materials and concepts for components. The principal focus was changed during this period from the development of cathodes fabricated from NiO and electrolyte supports of sintered y-LiA102 to an investigation of NiO cathode dissolution and deposition and a search for alternative cathode materials.

This proceedings contains the summaries and contents of a number of papers presented at the 1982 NEANDC/NEACRP specialists meeting on fast-neutron capture cross sections. The table of contents has been summarized to provide a sketch of the topical matter.

As part of the Solar Reliability and Materials Program at Argonne National Laboratory, the atmospheric corrosion of candidate batten and enclosure materials were tested on outdoor racks parallel to the tilted solar-collected panels at nine National Solar Data Network (NSDN) sites, located in mild marine, mild industrial, and rural environments. The candidate materials evaluated include galvanized steel (G-90), aluminized steel (Type 2), aluminum (6061), and white polyester painted steel. Data analyses predicted that all the first three materials will last more than 20 years in the nine sites tested. However, repainting of the painted steel is probably needed within five years in a mild marine environment and five to ten years in a mild industrial or rural environment.

As part of the Solar Reliability and Materials Program at Argonne National Laboratory, metal corrosion associated with thermal cycling at 82 C circulating and 176 C stagnating temperatures of propylene glycol and ASTM corrosive water mixture (50% v/o) was investigated. Preliminary data indicate that in a mixed metal system of copper, steel, and aluminum specimens stagnating together in a glycol solution, the copper randomly pits and the pitting stops when the pit depth extends to about 1-1/2 mil. The addition of 1% molybdate as an inhibitor to the glycol solution is slightly beneficial for steel, but the added expense of adding and maintaining the concentration of an inhibitor may not be warranted. Dissolved copper rapidly deposits on the aluminum surface and promotes severe galvanic corrosion.

The TCLUST1 computer program was developed to study the transient thermal behavior of a subassembly of a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) that is thermally coupled to its six neighboring subassemblies. Each of the seven subassemblies may be either a reflector subassembly, which contains a single solid hexagonal rod, or a pin-bundle subassembly. The TCLUST1 analytical model was developed based on conservation of energy, and the temperature distribution in the subassembly was obtained using the successive over-relaxation (SOR) technique. Measured temperatures obtained from a natural-convection flow test performed in EBR-II compare well with those predicted by TCLUST1. Appendixes describe the code input and go through a sample program.