Studies are described which were performed for the Near Term Hybrid Vehicle program to determine passenger car usage patterns and to correlate these trip mission characteristics with vehicle design and performance specifications. (LCL)

The principal conclusions that can be made based on the estimated costs reported in this paper are twofold. First, hybrid reactors operating symbiotically with conventional fission reactors are a potentially attractive supply alternative. Estimated hybrid energy system costs are slightly greater than estimated costs of the most attractive alternatives. However, given the technological, economic, and institutional uncertainties associated with future energy supply, differences of such magnitude are of little significance. Second, to be economically viable, hybrid reactors must be both fuel producers and electricity producers. A data point representing each hybrid reactor driver-blanket concept is plotted as a function of net electrical production efficiency and annual fuel production. The plots illustrate that the most economically viable reactor concepts are those that produce both fuel and electricity.

Commercial nuclear power has grown to the point where 13 nations now operate commercial nuclear power plants. Another four countries should join this list before the end of 1980. In the Nonproliferation Alternative Systems Assessment Program (NASAP), the US DOE is evaluating a series of alternate possible power systems. The objective is to determine practical nuclear systems which could reduce proliferation risk while still maintaining the benefits of nuclear power. Part of that effort is the development of a data base denoting the energy needs, resources, technical capabilities, commitment to nuclear power, and projected future trends for various non-US countries. The data are presented by country for each of 28 non-US countries. This volume contains compiled data on Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, and Spain.

The UDD sensor bar with modified cross-section (0.0938-in. thick by 0.25-in. high overall) was analyzed to determine its resonant frequencies. Thermal and fluid-induced stresses due to steady-state and LOCE loads were also calculated. The sensor bar was shown not to be subject to vortex-shedding lock-in and was shown to meet applicable criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Seismic loads are insignificant compared to fluid loads.

Efforts of this task indicate that powerplant productivity is a complex issue that has to take into account economic factors, equipment limitations, and system-loading characteristics as well as external constraints such as regulatory requirements. Among the specific findings are: (1) utilities in Illinois use the industry-wide measures of performance such as capacity factor, availability factor, forced outage rates etc.; equivalent availability as a measure is not in common practice; (2) several unit performance statistics are collected on a routine basis such as the daily unit status, component outage data, monthly production figures etc.; (3) identifying major causes of lost productivity appears to be a relatively simple task, but finding economically and technically acceptable corrective actions are generally more difficult; (4) selection of improvement projects, as well as evaluating their future impacts, is mostly based on operating experience and engineering judgement, with no use of formal analytical/statistical models; (5) there generally is a group in every utility - typically called the power production department - with routine responsibilities for upkeep of unit productivity; and (6) recently the Commonwealth Edison Co. has developed a procedure for utilizing the Edison Electric Institute outage data base for analyzing productivity-related questions at nuclear plants; this …

Research progress on the thermoelectric materials evaluation program is reported covering the period January 1, 1976 to September 30, 1978. Topical reports are presented on (1) hot and cold end ..delta..T's, (2) hardware mobility, (3) p-leg sublimation suppression, (4) thermodynamic stability of p-legs, (5) n-leg material process improvements to reduce extraneous resistance, (6) n-leg cracking, (7) dynamic evaluation of converter, and (8) data base and degradation modes. Twenty attachments are included which present supporting drawings, specifications, procedures, and data. (WHK)

Contract management, technical monitoring and in-house research conducted by Brookhaven National Laboratory for the US Department of Energy, Division of Energy Storage as described. The status of each project within four major areas of investigation is summarize. Activities deal with: (1) Electrolytic Production of Hydrogen; (2) Hydrogen Storage Systems; (3) Hydrogen Storage Materials; and (4) Systems Studies/End-Use Applications. The BNL programmatic responsibilities encompass the direction of 17 contractors and a $3,200,000 budget.

The general operations and accomplishments of the Geothermal Loop Experimental Facility during the period from January 1, 1979 through March 31, 1979 are summarized. The construction and installation of a reactor clarifier/media filter system to treat the effluent brine continued. Startup is expected during the next reporting period. Operations of the facility evaluated the two stage flash cycle characteristics of brines from the second production well (Woolsey No. 1). The results were similar to the characteristics of the first production well (Magmamax No. 1) that were reported previously. The 1979 test program has been initiated and preliminary results documented.

The cost of thermionic converters has been estimated in support of the cost calculations for thermionic topping of central station powerplants. These calculations supersede the previous calculations made in 1975 and use a design concept similar to the current configuration of flame-heated converters. The cost of converters was estimated by obtaining quotations from manufactureres whenever possible. The selling cost was found to be $110 per kilowatt.

The current status of the HYCSOS chemical heat pump and energy conversion system based on metal hydrides is described. Heat transfer fluid loops were insulated and modified for isothermal operation. Software development for HYCSOS manual mode operation was completed. Routines to handle data acquisition, logging, compression, correction and plotting, using a Tektronix Graphics system with flexible disk data storage, provide a rapid and versatile means of presenting HYCSOS data for analysis. Advanced concept heat exchangers to improve the heat transfer of the hydride bed with the heat transfer fluid are discussed. Preliminary tests made with a LaNi5 loaded aluminum foam test unit showed that heat transfer properties are very markedly improved. Thermodynamic expressions are applied to the selection of alloys for use in HYCSOS. The substitution of aluminum for nickel in AB5 type alloys is shown to reduce hysteresis and permits the use of potentially lower cost materials with added flexibility for the optimization of engineering design and performance characteristics of the hydride heat pump system. Transient thermal measurements on hydride beds of CaNi5 and LaNi5 show no deterioration with cycling. Relatively slow heat transfer between the hydride beds and heat transfer fluid in the coiled tube heat exchangers is …

This report surveys waste production rates and disposal practices at EBR-II, a small-scale liquid-metal fast breeder reactor, for the past decade. Normal airborne wastes have been reduced by switching to low-sulfur fuel oil in auxiliary boilers and converting to use of reactor steam for part of the plant space heating. Atmospheric releases of gaseous radioactive wastes initially increased during the implementation of program for testing reactor fuels to and beyond cladding breach; but the effluent rates have now been reduced to far below permissible limits by use of a cryogenic distillation column. EBR-II's small production of liquid radioactive waste is handled by evaporation, followed by disposal of the evaporator sludge as solid waste. Liquid-waste releases meet all applicable state and federal standards. Solid wastes are sent to two storage/disposal areas- one of which is reserved primarily for storage of materials containing sodium, pending development of a facility for disposal of the sodium.

The engineering and economic feasibility of utilizing geothermal heat from the Heber KGRA for space heating/cooling and water heating for domestic and industrial process applications within the City of El Centro was investigated. The analysis proceeds through an engineering survey of present conventional energy utilization within the City to identify and evaluate those end uses which could potentially utilize geothermal heat as a substitute for fossil fuel or electrically produced heating and cooling. A general engineering and economic evaluation of heat and cold delivery alternatives followed including evaluations of geothermal fluid transmission options, alternative refrigeration techniques, heat and cold transmission media options, probable systems interfaces, materials evaluations, projected conventional energy costs, life cycle costs for existing conventional systems, projected pricing requirements for privately and municipally developed geothermal resources, the relative distribution costs of heat delivery options, and estimated residential and commercial retrofit costs. A cost-effective plan for large-scale utilization of geothermal energy in El Centro for district heating/cooling and industrial applications was developed from this evaluation and preliminary conclusions drawn. Institutional barriers and environmental impacts associated with geothermal development in the City were also evaluated. Potentially adverse impacts were identified along with mitigating measures that should either completely eliminate or …

Individual projects are indexed separately. (PCS)

This report includes the following: (1) acceptance test plan, (2) systems performance data, (3) pictures of completed system, (4) problems in building the system, (5) description of the system, (6) major maintenance problems, (7) revised blueprints, (8) installation, operation, and maintenance manuals, and (9) recommendations.(MOW)

Several 20 cm diameter silicon ingots, up to 6.3 kg, have been cast with good crystallinity. It has been found that the graphite heat zone can be purified by heating it to high temperatures in vacuum. This is important in reducing costs and purification of large parts. Electroplated wires with 45 ..mu..m synthetic diamonds and 30 ..mu..m natural diamonds have shown good cutting efficiency and lifetime. During slicing of a 10 cm x 10 cm workpiece, jerky motion occurred in the feed and rocking mechanisms. This problem is being corrected and at the same time modifications are being made to reduce the weight of the bladehead by 50%.

This report summarizes work completed by Golder Associates under Task 2 - Site Suitability specifically for modeling of fluid flow and mass transport in sedimentary basins containing thick shale or salt. It also describes ongoing and future work on the above topic. The purpose of the study is to develop a general model for a nuclear waste repository situated in a deep sedimentary basin environment. The model will be used in conjunction with Golder's fluid flow and mass transport codes to study specific aspects of nuclide transport by groundwater flow.

The system is based on a vapor cycle refrigeration system with the usual compressor, evaporator and condenser. It is designed to operate between a condensing temperature of 275/sup 0/C and an evaporating temperature of 125/sup 0/C. Water vapor is the refrigerant. The compressor is an electric motor driven three-stage positive displacement machine. The design output of the refrigerator is 50 watts cooling. The work described covers the development of the compressor with associated component development tests. The compressor was tested in a loop simulating downhole conditions. Short duration runs were accomplished where study state conditions of refrigerant and lubricant flows were established. However, because of various component failures, sustained operations, greater than 6 hours at a time, could not be made. (The design goal was 100 hours.)

The action assessed is the guaranty of a loan by DOE to finance geothermal exploration, development, and testing by Mapco Geothermal, Inc. and Republic Geothermal, Inc. in the Westmorland area of Imperial County, California. Initial drilling and flow testing of up to three production wells will occur in the exploratory phase. Exploration is proposed for either or both of two portions of the leasehold area. If exploration confirms the presence of a viable resource in the Sweetwater area, the preferred site based on limited temperature data, then up to 19 new production wells and three new injection wells may be drilled and tested there in preparation for the construction of a 55-MW double-flash electric power plant. If, however, the Sweetwater resource proves infeasible, further exploration and possible full-field development may occur instead at the Dearborn-Kalin-Landers area. At this site, up to 19 new production wells and three new injection wells may be drilled and tested, with six existing wells also used for injection. This environmental assessment chiefly addresses effects of the drilling and testing program. In summary, this paper discusses the proposed action, describes the existing environment and discusses the potential environmental impacts. 75 refs. (LSP)

Efforts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory toward the production of pure polycrystaline silicon are centered on the concept of silicon particle growth in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) and a continuous flow pyrolyzer (CFP). The CFP possibly can provide the seed particles which will be grown to larger sizes in the FBR. In both the reactors polycrystalline silicon is obtaned from the pyrolysis of silane. A part of the JPL effort is to develop a model of silicon particle growth for the purpose of predicting particle growth rates and product particle size distributions in the FBR and the CFP. This repot describes the mathematical models of silicon particle growth in the FBR and the CFP.

Major cations, anions, trace elements and dissolved organic C were measured in percolate from retorted oil shale collected from irrigated lysimeters in the field at Anvil Points, Colorado, over a two year period. The investigations indicated that chemical equilibrium was not established over the monitoring period and major changes occurred in percolate composition as a function of applied water volume and water residence time in the shale. Field and laboratory studies indicated that several factors contributed to changes in the chemistry of the shale on weathering, including recarbonization of the surface horizons with atmospheric CO/sub 2/ and the activities of microorganisms in surface and subsurface horizons. However, the principal mechanism responsible for the decreases in pH and salt concentrations appeared to be the conversion of major quantities of sulfide in the retorted shale to sulfate through a thiosulfate intermediate.

The quantized circulation of rotating superfluid helium 4 was measured by monitoring the time rate of precession of the plane of vibration of a vibrating wire lying along the cylindrical axis of the container. (GHT)

Extensive modifications were made to the TRIM (TRansport of Ions in Matter) Monte Carlo computer code which simulates the ion irradiation of amorphous solids. The original FORTRAN code was translated into BASIC for use on minicomputers with 32 K words of memory. Versions have been written to simulate very low-energy irradiations and the irradiation of binary alloys. Furthermore, a version was written which added the capability of following a lateral direction, in addition to the penetration depth of an ion. Subsequently, a version was written to simulate the production of collision cascades. Details of these modifications were discussed and examples of their use were given.

The successful performance of the CWP is of crucial importance to the overall OTEC system; the pipe itself is considered the most critical part of the entire operation. Because of the importance the CWP, a project for the analysis and design of CWP's was begun in the fall of 1978. The goals of this project were to study a variety of concepts for delivering cold water to an OTEC plant, to analyze and rank these concepts based on their relative cost and risk, and to develop preliminary design for those concepts which seemed most promising. Two representative platforms and sites were chosen: a spar buoy of a Gibbs and Cox design to be moored at a site off Punta Tuna, Puerto Rico, and a barge designed by APL/Johns Hopkins University, grazing about a site approximately 200 miles east of the coast of Brazil. The approach was to concentrate on the most promising concepts and on those which were either of general interest or espoused by others (e.g., steel and concrete concepts). Much of the overall attention, therefore, focused on analyzing rigid and compliant wall design, while stockade (except for the special case of the FRP stockade) and bottom-mounted concepts received …

The methodology that has been developed to analyze the impact of possible government actions on the development of small-scale hydroelectric power in the United States is described. The application of the methodology to a specific region of the United States is also described. Within the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) region, the methodology has been used to evaluate the significance of some of the existing institutional and economic constraints on hydroelectric development at existing dams. The basic process for the analysis and evaluation is estimation of the hydroelectric energy that can be developed for a given price of electricity. Considering the present constraints and a geographical region of interest, one should be able to quantify the potential hydroelectric energy supply versus price. Estimates of how the supply varies with possible changes in governmental policies, regulations, and actions should assist the government in making decisions concerning these governmental functions relative to hydroelectric development. The methodology for estimating the hydroelectric supply at existing dams is included.