The initiation of inertial confinement fusion reactions with a heavy ion particle beam has been under intensive study since 1976, and the progress of this study is principally documented in the proceedings of annual workshops held by US National Laboratories. At this time a 3MJ, 150 TW, ion beam is a good choice to initiate microexplosions with energy gain of 100. The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory has made systems studies based on a Linear Induction Accelerator to meet the beam requirements. The accelerator system, expected performance and cost, and technical problems to be addressed in the near future are discussed.

Monthly newsletter of the Alamo Area Council of Governments describing news and events of relevance to the agencies.

Absorption spectra obtained from SmBr/sub 3/, SmBr/sub 2/, and Sm0Br were used in identifying the samarium species in several mixed-valence Sm(II/III) compounds produced by H/sub 2/ reduction of SmBr/sub 3/. The nature of the absorption of Sm0Br made it possible to detect even traces of Sm0Br in the Sm bromides.

To calculate the expected dose rate from fusion reactors as a function of geometry, composition, and time after shutdown a computer code, ACDOS2, was written, which utilizes up-to-date libraries of cross-sections and radioisotope decay data. ACDOS2 is in ANSI FORTRAN IV, in order to make it readily adaptable elsewhere.

Newsletter issued by the Advisory Council for Technical-Vocational Education in Texas discussing news, events, and other relevant information related to technical and vocational education for adults in Texas.

Environmental conditions simulating the HCDA on a reduced scale provided the following information: Aerosols resulting from the condensation of gaseous constituents without sodium generally comprise small, spherical particles (diameter 0.01 to 0.25 um) and branched chain-like structures. Aerosols resulting from the condensation of gaseous constituents with sodium generally comprise spherical, small (diameter 0.01 to 0.50 um) particles, with some branched chain-like structures and some agglomerating particles. Electron diffraction analyses identified actinide dioxides, the constituents of stainless steel, an oxide of sodium (Na2O), sodium uranates (Na3UO4 and Na4UO5), and a sodium plutonate compound (Na4PuO5). Initial solubility studies indicated that 12.1% of the plutonium-239 dissolved in distilled water when a mixed-oxide (Pu, U) stainless steel pellet was vaporized with sodium. Reaction products are controlled kinetically during cooling rather than by equilibrium thermodynamics.

Final report analyzing aerial gamma ray and magnetic data in the Marion quadrangle, Ohio, including a detailed geologic summary, interpretation report, reduced scale copies of all maps and profiles, histograms, and statistical tables for the quadrangle.

Final report analyzing aerial gamma ray and magnetic data in the Toledo quadrangle, Ohio and Michigan, including a detailed geologic summary, interpretation report, reduced scale copies of all maps and profiles, histograms, and statistical tables for the quadrangle.

The ACIR Library is composed of publications that study the interactions between different levels of government. This document addresses the federal role in the federal system and the dynamics of growth.

An airborne predawn radiometric temperature survey was flown over the Long Valley KGRA. Radiometric temperatures were recorded at 10 to 12 ..mu..m and 4.5 to 5.5 ..mu..m. They were corrected to obtain true land-surface temperatures in agreement with field data. After accounting for thermal effects from surface features, there remained a thermal anomaly. The anomalous zone encompassed 2 km/sup 2/. It was a dry land area with a predawn surface temperature which averaged 1.4 +- 0.3/sup 0/C warmer than ambient. This area coincided with a thermal discharge zone where deep temperature gradients were 5 to 30 times normal. The predawn radiometric survey clarified and supplemented conclusions drawn from 6 to 30m deep field surveys. Heat from hydrothermal discharge was stored in a shallow aquifer and conducted to the surface.

The Critical Assemblies Facility of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has been in existence for thirty-five years. In that period, many thousands of measurements have been made on assemblies of /sup 235/U, /sup 233/U, and /sup 239/Pu in various configurations, including the nitrate, sulfate, fluoride, carbide, and oxide chemical compositions and the solid, liquid, and gaseous states. The present complex of eleven operating machines is described, and typical applications are presented.

Fissionable materials are handled and processed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Although the probability of a nuclear criticality accident is very remote, it must be considered. Los Alamos maintains a broad spectrum of dose assessment capabilities. This report describes the methods employed for personnel neutron, area neutron, and photon dose evaluations with passive dosimetry systems.

Alpha spectroscopic techniques have not often been used to measure radon daughter concentrations in field studies because the equipment required is bulky and expensive. With advances in integrated circuit technology, less expensive, portable instruments have been developed that now make it possible to use these techniques to measure the low concentrations of radon daughters typically found indoors. One of two procedures may be used, two-count or single-count, depending on whether precision of measurement or rapidity of measurement is the more important objective. We have analyzed the effectiveness of both procedures. The results show that the two-count method permits individual radon daughter concentrations to be measured at the low level of one picocurie per liter with a relative standard deviation of about 20% within a total measurement time of 40 minutes (assuming the product of detector efficiency and sampling flow rate is one liter per minute). With the single-count procedure, using the same assumption, potential alpha energy concentration can be estimated within a total measurement time of 11 minutes with less than 20% relative procedural error for common equilibrium conditions; the relative standard deviation is about 20% at 0.005 working level. These findings are compared with results obtained by other commonly …

The workshop was organized to focus on a specific confinement scheme: the tokamak. The workshop was divided into two parts: systems and physics. The topics discussed in the systems session were narrowly focused on systems and engineering considerations in the tokamak geometry. The workshop participants reviewed the status of system studies, trade-offs between d-t and d-d based reactors and engineering problems associated with the design of a high-temperature, high-field reactor utilizing advanced fuels. In the physics session issues were discussed dealing with high-beta stability, synchrotron losses and transport in alternate fuel systems. The agenda for the workshop is attached.

A two stage approach to reducing residential water heating bills is described. In Stage I, simple conservation measures were included to reduce the daily hot water energy consumption and the energy losses from the water tank. Once these savings are achieved, Stage II considers more costly options for further reducing the water heating bill. Four alternatives are considered in Stage II: gas water heaters; solar water heaters (two types); heat pump water heaters; and heat recovery from a heat pump or air conditioner. To account for variations within the MASEC region, information on water heating in Rapid City, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City is presented in detail. Information on geography, major population centers, fuel prices, climate, and state solar incentives is covered. (MCW)

To insure adequate supplies of plutonium and tritium for defense purposes, an independent evaluation was made by Los Alamos National Laboratory of the numerous alternatives to the proposed replacement production reactors (RPR). This effort concentrated on the defense fuel cycle operation and its technical implications in identifying the principal alternatives for the 1990s. The primary options were identified as (1) existing commercial reactors, (2) existing and planned government-owned facilities (not now used for defense materials production), and (3) other RPRs (not yet proposed) such as CANDU or CANDU-type heavy-water reactors (HWR) for both plutonium and tritium production. The evaluation considered features and differences of various options that could influence choice of RPR alternatives. Barring a change in the US approach to civilian and defense fuel cycles and precluding existing commercial reactors at government-owned sites, the most significant alternatives were identified as a CANDU-type HWR at Savannah River Plant (SRP) site or the Three Mile Island commercial reactor with reprocessing capability at Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant and at SRP.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is conducting a generic test of retrievable geologic storage of nuclear spent fuel assemlbies, in an underground chamber, at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. This generic test is located 420 m below the surface, in the Climax granitic stock. Eleven canisters of spent fuel approximately 2.5 years out of reactor core (about 1.6 kW/canister thermal output) are now emplaced in a storage drift, along with 6 electrical heaters which simulate fuel canisters. Two adjacent drifts contain other electrical heaters, which will be operated to simulate the thermal field of a large repository. An analysis of the mine-by at SFT-C was performed by means of refined finite element models using the JPLAXD code (Jointed, PLane and AXisymmetric, Dilatant). The input for the new models was derived from our field program, which is reported separately. Stress results obtained by modeling methods are compared. All models show that, during mining of the center drift, all caverns close vertically, and the center drift closes horizontally. The walls of the two heater drifts move toward the center drift, with a slight opening or a slight closing of the heater drifts, depending upon the geology. All calculations show …

Project activities and publications are listed. (MHR)

This report describes the mathematical analysis, the physical scale modeling, and a full-scale crash test of a railcar spent-nuclear-fuel shipping system. The mathematical analysis utilized a lumped-parameter model to predict the structural response of the railcar and the shipping cask. The physical scale modeling analysis consisted of two crash tests that used 1/8-scale models to assess railcar and shipping cask damage. The full-scale crash test, conducted with retired railcar equipment, was carefully monitored with onboard instrumentation and high-speed photography. Results of the mathematical and scale modeling analyses are compared with the full-scale test. 29 figures.

Hand calculations of radiation flux and dose rates are often useful in evaluating radiation shielding and in determining the scope of a problem. The flux formulas appropriate to such calculations are almost always based on the point kernel and allow for at most the consideration of laminar slab shields. These formulas often require access to tables of values of integral functions for effective use. Flux formulas and function tables appropriate to calculations involving homogeneous source regions with the shapes of lines, disks, slabs, truncated cones, cylinders, and spheres are presented. Slab shields may be included in most of these calculations, and the effect of a cylindrical shield surrounding a cylindrical source may be estimated. Detector points may be located axially, laterally, or interior to a cylindrical source. Line sources may be tilted with respect to a slab shield. All function tables are given for a wide range of arguments.

This report describes the work done to further develop the infrared spectroscopic analytical method for the analysis of atmospheric aerosol particles, as well as some exploratory work on a new procedure for determining proton acidity in aerosol samples. Earlier work had led to the successful use of infrared (ir) spectrophotometry for the analysis of nitrate, ammonium, and neutral and acidic sulfates in aerosol samples collected by an impactor on a Mylar-film substrate. In this work, a filter-extraction method was developed to prepare filter-collected aerosol samples for ir analysis. A study was made comparing the ir analytical results on filter-collected samples with impactor-collected samples. Also, the infrared analytical technique was compared in field studies with light-scattering techniques for aerosol analysis. A highly sensitive instrument for aerosol analysis using attenuated total internal reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy was designed, built, and tested. This instrument provides a measurement sensitivity much greater (by a factor of 6 for SO4²⁻) than that obtainable using the KBr-pellet method. This instrument collects size- and time-resolved samples and is potentially capable of providing automated, near real-time aerosol analysis. Exploratory work on a novel approach to the determination of proton acidity in filter- or impactor-collected aerosol samples is also described. …

Work done to further develop the infrared spectroscopic analytical method for the analysis of atmospheric aerosol particles, as well as some exploratory work on a new procedure for determining proton acidity in aerosol samples is described. Earlier work had led to the successful use of infrared (ir) spectrophotometry for the analysis of nitrate, ammonium, and neutral and acidic sulfates in aerosol samples collected by an impactor on a Mylar-film substrate. In this work, a filter-extraction method was developed to prepare filter-collected aerosol samples for ir analysis. A study was made comparing the ir analytical results on filter-collected samples with impactor-collected samples. Also, the infrared analytical technique was compared in field studies with light-scattering techniques for aerosol analysis. A highly sensitive instrument for aerosol analysis using attenuated total internal reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy was designed, built, and tested. This instrument provides a measurement sensitivity much greater (by a factor of 6 for SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/) than that obtainable using the KBr-pellet method. This instrument collect size- and time-resolved samples and is potentially capable of providing automated, near real-time aerosol analysis. Exploratory work on a novel approach to the determination of proton acidity in filter- or impactor-collected aerosol samples is also …

Emphasis during the past year has been on studies of the effects of potential promoting agents on radiation transformation, and of transformation by internal radionuclides emitting high LET radiation. We have also carried out a detailed investigation of the dosimetry of our alpha radiation source. Preliminary studies on the mechanisms of radiation transformation have been initiated as described in the previous proposal. Studies on promotion have focused on the effects of: (1) the endogenous steroid hormone 17-..beta..-estradiol; (2) the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent indomethacin; (3) the endogenous growth factor called Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF); and (4) Melittin, a stimulator of prostaglandins synthesis.

Tables presenting well water, stream sediment and field data for samples collected from the Broken Bow Quadrangle for a reconnaissance geochemical survey.