The behavior, basic assumptions, and limitations of ten different models for calculating the drift deposition rate from wet cooling towers are reviewed and then their predicted results for such deposition with a common set of input parameters are compared. The predicted maximum deposition differs among the models by two orders of magnitude with a wide range in peak location. Comments and suggestions to improve the models are included.

A review is presented of results obtained using an X-ray spectroscopy technique to study the electron-beam welding process. Results show that the technique is well suited for this kind of study. In particular, accurate voltage control is possible, and such control reduces weld-penetration variations significantly. Analytical techniques developed for studying noise on electron beams have general applicability for signal analysis. The work also shows that no voltage or current pulses were seen, and that the noise on the beam is probably not significant with respect to weld variations.

The status of the following programs is reported: isotope separation of carbon, argon, helium, krypton, neon, xenon, oxygen, and sulfur; metal hydride research; separation chemistry; and separation research. (LK)

The thermal cylinder experiment was designed both to provide information for evaluating the capability of analytical methods to predict the time-dependent stress-strain behavior of a /sup 1///sub 6/-scale model of the barrel section of a single-cavity prestressed concrete reactor vessel and to demonstrate the structural behavior under design and off-design thermal conditions. The model was a thick-walled cylinder having a height of 1.22 m, a thickness of 0.46 m, and an outer diameter of 2.06 m. It was prestressed both axially and circumferentially and subjected to 4.83 MPa internal pressure together with a thermal crossfall imposed by heating the inner surface to 338.8 K and cooling the outer surface to 297.1 K. The initial 460 days of testing were divided into time periods that simulated prestressing, heatup, reactor operation, and shutdown. At the conclusion of the simulated operating period, the model was repressurized and subjected to localized heating at 505.4 K for 84 days to produce an off-design hot-spot condition. Comparisons of experimental data with calculated values obtained using the SAFE-CRACK finite-element computer program showed that the program was capable of predicting time-dependent behavior in a vessel subjected to normal operating conditions, but that it was unable to accurately predict …

Experimental data from local sodium boiling tests with and without argon gas injection have been analyzed. The experiments were conducted with a 19-rod simulated LMFBR subassembly having the six central flow channels (12% of flow area) blocked in the heated section of the bundle. The data analysis shows that, without gas injection, local boiling in the blockage wake does not radially propagate to the surrounding free stream during two quasi-steady-state boiling periods of 13 and 27 sec. However, in tests with argon gas void fractions of 0.001 and 0.004, there is some evidence that the local boiling zone did spread but did not encompass the entire bundle cross section. An idealized extrapolation to full-size LMFBR subassemblies shows that the results with the 19-rod bundle are conservative. Analysis of data from nonboiling tests with gas injection shows that for void fractions between 0.00009 and 0.00354, the maximum temperature increase in the blockage wake due to gas injection is 40/sup 0/C (70/sup 0/F).

New double-shell storage tanks are constructed with ASTM A-516 Grade 65 steel. This study had two main objectives: To characterize the corrosivity of synthetic nonradioactive terminal waste solutions to ASTM A-516 Grade 65 steel and to determine the severity of stress-corrosion cracking of carbon steel in terminal waste solutions. The information developed provides guidance in the characterization of the aggressiveness of actual terminal liquors and in the design and operation of fail-safe tanks. Corrosion behavior was measured over a range of oxidizing conditions by the potentiodynamic polarization technique. Oxidizing conditions in a solution likely to promote general corrosion, pitting or stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) were identified. Absolute stress-corrosion cracking susceptibility was determined by constant strain rate procedure for ASTM A-516 Grade 65 steel for conditions identified by polarization experiments as likely to promote SCC. Based on the results of this study, terminal waste storage tanks are safe from stress-corrosion cracking under freely corroding conditions. Corrosion potential of steel in solutions within anticipated compositions is at the positive end of the critical range for stress-corrosion cracking, and no conditions were observed which would lower the potential to more negative values within the cracking range under freely corroding conditions. Measurement of corrosion potential …

Acoustic data from boiling stability tests on the THORS (Thermal-Hydraulic Out-of-Reactor Safety) facility are presented and discussed. The THORS sodium loop is a high temperature test facility that contains the bundle 6A, a full length stimulated fuel subassembly with nineteen electrically heated pins. Boiling stability tests on the THORS facility were designed to determine if a stable boiling region exists during the thermal hydraulic test at normal and off-normal conditions. Boiling was observed and the stable boiling region was determined. The acoustic data observed by three ANL sodium-immersible microphones have provided the following information: (1) the boiling signal is clearly observed and shows a correlation with the inlet flow fluctuations; (2) the signal level and the repetition rate of the boiling signal are directly related to the applied heat flux; (3) a typical boiling pulse consists of a high frequency signal due mainly to the bubble collapse and a low frequency (approximately 75 Hz) void oscillation; (4) a boiling pulse yields a frequency spectrum with significant amplitudes up to 80 KHz as compared with 4 KHz for background pulses; and (5) the frequency content of a boiling pulse can be mostly explained in terms of various resonance frequencies of the …

The program plan is presented for developing an electric vehicle incorporating a flywheel regenerative power system with design considerations and goals for safety and for vehicle body construction using lightweight fiber-reinforced composite material. Schedules are included for each of the major steps in the program. (LCL)

This technical progress report summarizes the research work accomplished during the first six months of the investigation on the significance of radiation heat transfer in attenuating the radiological consequences from LMFBR core disruptive accidents. Considerable progress has been made in modeling and computing the effects of radiative cooling on a rising HCDA bubble buoyant through a sodium pool. Our results reveal that most of the fuel vapor within the bubble can be effectively condensed out by radiating cooling. The finding has a profound implication as it could lead to a substantial reduction in subsequent aerosal releases.