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The technical paper summarizes the project work conducted in the development of Kerf-Free silicon wafering equipment for silicon solar wafering. This new PolyMax technology uses a two step process of implantation and cleaving to exfoliate 50um to 120um wafers with thicknesses ranging from 50um to 120um from a 125mm or 156mm pseudo-squared silicon ingot. No kerf is generated using this method of wafering. This method of wafering contrasts with the current method of making silicon solar wafers using the industry standard wire saw equipment. The report summarizes the activity conducted by Silicon Genesis Corporation in working to develop this technology further and to define the roadmap specifications for the first commercial proto-type equipment for high volume solar wafer manufacturing using the PolyMax technology.

The goal of this project is to study the fundamental physical phenoena associated with air ingress in very high temperature reactors (VHTRs). Air ingress may occur due to a nupture of primary piping and a subsequent breach in the primary pressure boundary in helium-cooled and graphite-moderated VHTRs. Significant air ingress is a concern because it introduces potential to expose the fuel, graphite support rods, and core to a risk of severe graphite oxidation. Two of the most probable air ingress scenarios involve rupture of a control rod or fuel access standpipe, and rupture in the main coolant pipe on the lower part of the reactor pressure vessel. Therefor, establishing a fundamental understanding of air ingress phenomena is critical in order to rationally evaluate safety of existing VHTRs and develop new designs that mimimize these risks. But despite this importance, progress toward development these predictive capabilities has been slowed by the complex nature of the underlaying phenomena. The combination of interdiffusion among multiple species, molecular diffusion, natural convection, and complex geometries, as well as the multiple chemical reactions involved, impose significant roadblocks to both modeling and experiment design. The project team will employ a coordinated experimental and computational effort that will …

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