Environmental monitoring results continue to demonstrate that, except for penetrating radiation, environmental radiological impact due to SLAC operation is not distinguishable from natural environmental sources. During 1979, the maximum measured neutron dose near the site boundary was not distinguishable from the cosmic ray neutron background. There have been no measurable increases in radioactivity in ground water attributable to SLAC operations since 1966. Because of major new construction, well water samples were not collected and analyzed during 1979. Construction activities have also temporarily placed our sampling stations for the sanitary and storm sewers out of service. They will be reestablished as soon as construction activities permit (mid 1980). Airborne radioactivity released from SLAC continues to make only a negligible environmental impact, and results in a site boundary annual dose of less than 0.3 mrem; this represents less than 0.3% of the annual dose from the natural radiation environment, and about 0.06% of the technical standard.

International meetings under the BEFAST program and under INFCE Working Group No. 6 during 1978 and 1979 continue to indicate that no cases of fuel cladding degradation have developed on pool-stored fuel from water reactors. A section from a spent fuel rack stand, exposed for 1.5 y in the Yankee Rowe (PWR) pool had 0.001- to 0.003-in.-deep (25- to 75-..mu..m) intergranular corrosion in weld heat-affected zones but no evidence of stress corrosion cracking. A section of a 304 stainless steel spent fuel storage rack exposed 6.67 y in the Point Beach reactor (PWR) spent fuel pool showed no significant corrosion. A section of 304 stainless steel 8-in.-dia pipe from the Three Mile Island No. 1 (PWR) spent fuel pool heat exchanger plumbing developed a through-wall crack. The crack was intergranular, initiating from the inside surface in a weld heat-affected zone. The zone where the crack occurred was severely sensitized during field welding. The Kraftwerk Union (Erlangen, GFR) disassembled a stainless-steel fuel-handling machine that operated for 12 y in a PWR (boric acid) spent fuel pool. There was no evidence of deterioration, and the fuel-handling machine was reassembled for further use. A spent fuel pool at a Swedish PWR was decontaminated. …

As a service element within the Federal Wind Energy Program, the Wind Characteristics Program Element (WCPE) is established to provide the appropriate wind characteristics information to those involved in: the design and evaluation of wind energy conversion systems (WECS); energy program planning; selecting sites for WECS installation; and the operation of WECS. To effectively produce the information needed in these four categories, the WCPE, for which the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has the responsibility for management and technical assistance, has been divided into four technical program areas. During this reporting period PNL was also assigned the management responsibility for the data collection at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) candidate sites, as well as the task of providing technical assistance to DOE evaluation and site selection panels for new candidate sites.

Appendix to report "Test PCM-5 Fuel Rod Materials Behavior" presenting pretest physical characteristics of the Power-Cooling-Mismatch Test Series PCM-5 fuel rod components.

Report presenting details of Test-PCM-5 fuel rod axial power profiles as determined by two methods: gamma scanning of the fuel bundle flux wires and radiochemical burnup analysis of fuel samples from Rods 205-1, -2, -3, -5, -7, -8, and -9. (p. B-2)

Appendix presenting postest bundle and individual fuel rod photographs for report "Test PCM-5 Fuel Rod Materials Behavior."

Report presenting rod-to-rod spacing measurements and individual rod diameter measurements for fuel rods used in the Power-Cooling-Mismatch Test Series PCM-5.

Report presenting preparation of the Power-Cooling-Mismatch Test Series PCM-5 fuel rods and fuel rod sections for metallographic examination and the metallographic examination results from Rods 205-1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, and -8.

Report presenting cladding axial and circumferential temperature estimates, fuel rod radial temperature estimates, and the techniques used to estimate the cladding and fuel temperatures for Power-Cooling-Mismatch Test Series PCM-5.

Report presenting microprobe examination results of fuel Rods 205-1, 205-2, and 205-8 for test Power-Cooling-Mismatch Test Series PCM-5.

Report presenting fuel rod particle sizes and size distributions as determined for the two failed Test PCM-5 fuel rods.

Report presenting scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examinations used to analyze one cladding fracture surface of Rod 205-4 for Power-Cooling-Mismatch Test Series PCM-5.

The public exposure from spent fuel shipment is very low. In view of this low exposure and the perfect safety record for spent fuel shipment, existing systems can be considered satisfactory. On the other hand, occupational exposure reduction merits consideration and technology improvement to decrease dose should concentrate on this exposure. Practices that affect the age of spent fuel in shipment and the number of times the fuel must be shipped prior to disposal have the largest impact. A policy to encourage a 5-year spent fuel cooling period prior to shipment coupled with appropriate cask redesign to accommodate larger loads would be consistent with ALARA and economic principles. And finally, bypassing high population density areas will not in general reduce shipment dose.

Nondestructive gamma-ray and neutron techniques were used to characterize the irradiation exposures of irradiated fuel assemblies. Techniques for the rapid measurement of the axial-activity profiles of fuel assemblies have been developed using ion chambers and Be(..gamma..,n) detectors. Detailed measurements using high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry and passive neutron techniques were correlated with operator-declared values of cooling times and burnup.

The four phases of ongoing work at SERI that examines many unresolved questions regarding the purpose, solar applicability, economics, and energy modeling of industral parks are presented. The first phase involved site visits to approximately 300 parks in 12 major metropolitan areas of 9 states. Phase 2 entails an analysis of four parks selected from those parks surveyed. Phase 3 narrows the focus to two parks to be examined for detailed technical and engineering analysis. Phase 4 incorporates all of the work of the earlier phases with economic criteria to produce an energy allocation model describing energy delivery and consumption within the park.

The purpose of this handbook is to assist in understanding the various procedures and requirements necessary for the development of geothermal energy in the State of Arizona. It contains the names of key persons and agencies who are directly or indirectly involved in the institutional process. A detailed assessment of all agencies and the role they play in geothermal energy development is provided. The handbook is divided into four sections: State and Local rules and regulations, the Federal rules and regulations, references, and a technical bibliography. (MHR)

A computer code, ASHMET, has been developed by MSFC to estimate the amount of solar insolation incident on the surfaces of solar collectors. Both tracking and fixed-position collectors have been included. Climatological data for 248 US locations are built into the code. This report describes the methodology of the code, and its input and output. The basic methodology used by ASHMET is the ASHRAE clear-day insolation relationships modified by a clearness index derived from SOLMET-measured solar radiation data to a horizontal surface.

Simulation of the response of a waste repository to events that could initiate a fault tree to breach and failure is currently a keystone to the Battelle Waste Isolation Safety Assessment Program (WISAP). The repository simulation, which is part of the Disruptive Event Analysis Task, models the repository for its entire design life, one million years. This is clearly a challenging calculation, requiring input unlike any other response analysis by virtue of the long design life of the facility. What technology will provide design criteria for a million year design life. Answers to questions like this can, to some extent, be based on data, but always require some subjective judgments. The subjectivity, which is sometimes driven by inadequate or incomplete data or by a lack of understanding of the physical process, is therefore a crucial ingredient in an analysis of initiating events. Because of the variety of possible initiating events (glaciation, man-caused disruption, volcanism, etc.), many expert opinions will be solicited as input. The complexity of the simulation, the variety of experts involved, and the volume of applicable data all suggest that there may be a more direct, economical method to solicit the expert opinion. This report addresses the feasibility …

Air classified municipal solid waste (MSW) was fired in an atmospheric fluidized bed combustor at low excess air to simulate boiler conditions. The 7 ft/sup 2/ combustor at Combustion Power Company's energy laboratory in Menlo Park, CA, incorporates water tubes for heat extraction and recycles elutriated particles to the bed. System operation was stable while firing processed MSW for the duration of a 300-h test. Low excess air, low exhaust gas emissions, and constant bed temperature demonstrated feasibility of steam generation from fluidized bed combustion of MSW. During the 300-h test, combustion efficiency averaged 99%. Excess air was typically 44% while an average bed temperature of 1400/sup 0/F and an average superficial gas velocity of 4.6 fps were maintained. Typical exhaust emission levels were 30 ppM SO/sub 2/, 160 ppM NO/sub x/, 200 ppM CO, and 25 ppM hydrocarbons. No agglomeration of bed material or detrimental change in fluidization properties was experienced. A conceptual design study of a full scale plant to be located at Stanford University was based on process conditions from the 300-h test. The plant would produce 250,000 lb/hr steam at the maximum firing rate of 1000 tons per day (TPD) processed MSW. The average 800 TPD …

The sulfur retention by the inherent alkali, and added limestone sorbent, perform about the same and are reasonably predictable within a range of about +-10% retention by application of alkali to sulfur ratio. Temperature has a substantial effect on the retention of sulfur by the inherent alkali or limestone. The temperature effect is not yet fully understood but it appears to be different for different coals and operational conditions. The emission of SO/sub 2/ from the fluid bed burning the Beulah lignite sample used for these tests can be controlled to meet or better the current emission standards. The injection of limestone to an alkali-to-sulfur molar ratio of 1.5 to 1, should lower the SO/sub 2/ emissions below the current requirement of 0.6 lb SO/sub 2//10/sup 6/ Btu to 0.4 lb SO/sub 2//10/sup 6/ Btu, a safe 33% below the standard. Agglomeration of bed material, and consequent loss of fluidization quality can be a problem when burning high sodium lignite in a silica bed. There appears, however, to be several ways of controlling the problem including the injection of calcium compounds, and careful control of operating conditions. The heat transfer coefficients measured in the CPC and GFETC tests are comparable …

Atom-probe field-ion microscope analyses were performed on specimens of ordered Ni/sub 4/Mo. The (211) fundamentl and (101) superlattice planes of the body-centered tetragonal (BCT) lattice were analyzed chemically on a layer-by-layer basis. In the case of (211)/sub BCT/ fundamental planes the chemistry of each individual plane was determined as a function of depth; for eight successive (211)/sub BCT/ layers an average Mo concentration of 17.2 at. % was measured - as compared to 19.4 at. % Mo by conventional chemical techniques. Possible sources of this discrepancy were discussed. The (101)/sub BCT/ superlattice planes were found to exhibit a more complicated field evaporation behavior; the characteristic step-like field evaporation behavior was due to the partial field evaporation of a plane of Mo atoms followed by the continued field evaporation of this Mo plane, intermixed with the field evaporation of the following three planes of Ni atoms. Finally, a plane of Ni atoms was found to field evaporate. This field evaporation behavior was the result of the required crystallographic stacking of planes in the ordered Ni/sub 4/Mo structure and it repeated itself throughout the specimen. Our observations demonstrated that complicated field-evaporation processes - as well as chemistry - could be followed as …

An instrument is described which employs a dichotomous sampler to acquire fine particulate samples on a continuous tape filter, Analyses for elemental sulfur are performed immediately following acquisition using a sensitive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Sample sequencing, data acquisition, and calculation of concentrations are performed continuously using an on-line calculator, Precision and accuracy of the method are discussed and results obtained from ambient measurements are presented. The increased emission of sulfur-containing compounds into the atmosphere has become a major consideration in the design of air pollution monitoring and control strategies. This has stimulated considerable interest in the development of monitoring equipment capable of analyzing the atmospheric aerosol for sulfur-containing compounds. We describe a rapid, sensitive and accurate X-ray fluorescence method for the analysis of elemental sulfur collected from ambient aerosol samples. The instrument includes a dichotomous sampler, air filter transport system and high-sensitivity wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analyzer. An associated calculator/controller enables one to obtain real-time measurements of ambient particulate sulfur concentrations over short time intervals.

An automatic visual inspection system using a minicomputer and a video digitizer was developed for inspecting hybrid microcircuits (HMC) and thin-film networks (TFN). The system performed well in detecting missing components on HMCs and reduced the testing time for each HMC by 75%.

Quantitative estimates of the potential effectiveness of backfill barriers based on a linear sorption model are presented. Using getters such as clays (known sorbents), a backfill approximately 1-foot-thick can delay by 10/sup 4/ to 10/sup 5/ years the breakthrough of transuranics. A delay of 10/sup 3/ years is possible for major cationic fission products. These delays can be achieved provided that (1) the distribution coefficient (K/sub d/, a measure of affinity for sorbed species) for the barrier material is equal to or greater than 2000 ml/g for transuranics and 200 ml/g for fission products; (2) the interstitial groundwater velocity through the barrier is limited to 1 ft/year or less; (3) the effective porosity of the barrier is equal to or less than 0.1; and (4) the physical integrity of the barrier is maintained (no channels or cracks). Mixtures containing expanding clays such as smectites and other getters are expected to satisfy these criteria.