In this report we present estimates of radionuclide release rates from waste packages into salt. This conservative and bounding analysis shows that release rates from waste packages in salt are well below the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's performance objectives for the engineered barrier system. 2 refs., 2 figs.

We describe progress made during 1986 in the development of direct-drive hydrocarbon foam targets for laser fusion. The foam materials are polystyrene and resorcinolformaldehyde. The processes for making the foams, their properties, characterization techniques, and the relationships of their properties to target specifications are presented. In the final section, we discuss statistical experimental design techniques that are being used to optimize the foams. 12 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.

A multi-feedzone wellbore simulator has been developed. This computer code is quite general as it enables one to compute downhole conditions in wells with an arbitrary number of feedzones during discharge or injection. The simulator is applied to flowing pressure and temperature surveys from various wells in Mexico, Iceland and Kenya. It is demonstrated that such a model can be used to estimate flow rates and enthalpies of individual feedzones.

Separate abstracts were prepared for the individual papers in this report. (JDB)

The nuclear reactor industry has been in a state of decline for more than a decade in most of the world. The reasons are numerous and often unique to the energy situation of individual countries. Two commonly cited issues influence decisions relating to construction of reactors: costs and the need, or lack thereof, for additional generating capacity. Public concern has ''politicized'' the nuclear industry in many non-communist countries, causing a profound effect on the economics of the option. The nuclear installations and future plans are reviewed on a country-by-country basis for 36 countries in the light of the resources and objectives of each. Because oil and gas for power production throughout the world are being phased out as much as possible, coal-fired generation currently tends to be the chosen alternative to nuclear power production. Exceptions occur in many of the less developed countries that collectively have a very limited operating experience with nuclear reactors. The Chernobyl accident in the USSR alarmed the public; however, national strategies and plans to build reactors have not changed markedly in the interim. Assuming that the next decade of nuclear power generation is uneventful, additional electrical demand would cause the nuclear power industry to experience …

After a qualitative introduction into the dynamics underlying charm decays the author describes in some detail three different theoretical treatments: the Stech et al. description based on factorization, the 1/N approach and an ansatz employing QCD sum rules. The overall agreement of the emerging theoretical picture with the data is rather encouraging and indicates that the effects of hadronization on these decays are under reasonable control. Yet more and more detailed data are needed to confirm (hopefully) this simple picture. The author lists the processes most relevant in this respect and emphasizes the need for increasing our theoretical sophistication. Once this is achieved we have on one hand acquired the theoretical tools to deal with B physics; on the other hand we will then be ready to exploit charm physics to the fullest in searching for exotic D decays, D/sup 0/ - anti D/sup 0/ mixing and CP violation.

The paper describes a model for the prediction of the thermodynamic properties of multicomponent aqueous solutions and discusses its applications. The model was initially developed for solutions near room temperature, but has been found to be applicable to aqueous systems up to 300/sup 0/C or slightly higher. A liquid-like density and relatively small compressibility are assumed. A typical application is the prediction of the equilibrium between an aqueous phase (brine) and one or more solid phases (minerals). (ACR)

This report presents work accomplished in preparing equipment for study of evaporative electron beam sources. Faraday cups and x-ray imaging equipment were developed. Due to other commitments, the future of this work is uncertain. (JDH)

A program is being conducted to investigate the significance of in-service embrittlement of cast duplex stainless steels under light-water operating conditions. Mechanical property data are presented from Charpy-impact, tensile, and J-R curve tests for several heats of cast stainless steel aged up to 10,000 h at 450, 400, 350, 320, and 290/sup 0/C. The results indicate that thermal aging increases the tensile strength and decreases the impact energy, J/sub IC/, and tearing modulus of the steels. Also, the ductile-to-brittle transition curve shifts to higher temperatures. The fracture toughness results are consistent with the Charpy-impact data, i.e., the relative reduction in J/sub IC/ is similar to the relative decrease in impact energy. The ferrite content and concentration of C in the steel have a strong effect on the overall process of low-temperature embrittlement. The low-carbon CF-3 steels are the most resistant and Mo-containing CF-8M steels are most susceptible to embrittlement. Weakening of the ferrite/austenite phase boundaries by carbide precipitates has a significant effect on the kinetics and extent of embrittlement of the high-carbon CF-8 and CF-8M steels, particularly after aging at temperatures greater than or equal to400/sup 0/C. The influence of N content and distribution of ferrite on loss of toughness …

Factors that limit the capabilities of semiconductor detectors at photon energies below 5 keV include energy resolution, detector efficiency, and detector-related continuum background. These properties can be controlled to a certain extent by optimal detector design and fabrication techniques. We describe measurements on the low-energy response of Si(Li) detectors obtained using a tunable, low-energy monochromatic source. Window thicknesses have been measured for a number of devices using different materials for the entry contact. The interpretation of these results in terms of existing detector window models is discussed. Results obtained using a new contact structure demonstrate that a dramatic reduction in window-related absorption in Si(Li) detectors can be achieved.

We investigated the propagation of MV electrical pulses along coaxial transmission lines (TL) in vacuum with network simulations and experiments. One goal was to establish how well a 3 m-long TL would sharpen the output pulse of a relativistic electron beam accelerator. Sharpening occurs as the cathode of the TL emits electrons and the current flow forces the TL into magnetic cut-off. The other goal was to determine how well field emission must be suppressed in a TL to avoid distortion of a propagating pulse. Simulations predict a four-fold risetime improvement (8 ns to 2 ns) through magnetic insulation in a TL with an electrical length (10 ns) comparable to the risetime of the input pulse. In the laboratory we have shown a five-fold improvement (15 to 3 ns) with a velvet covered 3-m line and a 7.5 fold improvement (2 ns) when a vacuum flashover switch was incorporated between the first third and the last two thirds of the TL. Simple arguments and TL simulations suggest that even a small fraction (1 or 2%) of Child-Langmuir (CL) space charge limited emission will distort a propagating voltage pulse. This result is of particular importance when the TL is part of …

Fine-grained, sinterable lithium oxide powder was prepared by high-temperature vacuum calcination of molten lithium carbonate. The product was ball milled, cold pressed, and fired in an oxygen atmosphere. The fired density, grain size, and surface roughness varied widely with firing schedule. Most variations were attributed to moisture content. Rings of high-density, sintered lithium oxide will be used in an in-reactor experiment to measure tritium release. 2 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.

The purpose of the work summarized in this paper has been to investigate and quantify the sensitivity of both the adjacent-rod and in-sequence Successful Shutdown Margin (SDM) tests to local reactivity anomalies. This was accomplished by introducing reactivity perturbations at selected four-bundle cell locations, and by evaluating their effect on core reactivity in each of the two tests.

The physics of the electroweak and strong interactions in the standard model are reviewed, especially as they apply to the tau lepton and to charm and heavy quark physics.

Diagonal Pade approximations to the time evolution operator for initial value problems are applied in a novel way to the numerical solution of these problems by explicitly factoring the polynomials of the approximation. A remarkable gain over conventional methods in efficiency and accuracy of solution is obtained. 20 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

This report describes studies on hydrodynamics of bubble columns for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. These studies were carried out in columns of 0.051 m and 0.229 m in diameter and 3 m tall to determine effects of operating conditions (temperature and gas flow rate), distributor type (sintered metal plate and single and multi-hole perforated plates) and liquid media (paraffin and reactor waxes) on gas hold-up and bubble size distribution. In experiments with the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) derived paraffin wax (FT-300) for temperatures between 230 and 280/sup 0/C there is a range of gas velocities (transition region) where two values of gas hold-up (i.e., two flow regimes) are possible. Higher hold-ups were accompanied by the presence of foam (''foamy'' regime) whereas lower values were obtained in the absence of foam (''slug flow'' in the 0.051 m column, or ''churn-turbulent'' flow regime in the 0.229 m column). This type of behavior has been observed for the first time in a system with molten paraffin wax as the liquid medium. Several factors which have significant effect on foaming characteristics of this system were identified. Reactor waxes have much smaller tendency to foam and produce lower hold-ups due to the presence of larger bubbles. Finally, new correlations …

The report consists of viewgraphs. Topics covered are (1) basic ripple processes, (2) simulations of combined processes, (3) modeling issues, (4) new physics problems, and (5) consequences for ETR/ITER. (WRF)

After the end of a neutral-beam injection pulse into a low-density TFTR plasma, once the beam-injected deuterons have thermalized, the neutron emission is dominated by the 14-MeV neutron production from D-D triton burnup. Ordinary fission detectors can measure the 14-MeV emission rate, which can be extrapolated back in time to estimate the equilibrium triton burnup fraction. The fractional burnup determined by this method is in the range of 0.3 to 1.5% for TFTR discharges to date, and is consistent with classical confinement and slowing down. 10 refs., 3 figs.

A creep measurement was made to prove the capability of a unidirectionally reinforced, epoxy-fiberglass rod to hold stable dimensions in compression over a 10 year period, during which operating temperatures of 40/sup 0/C (104/sup 0/F) could occur. This material has a high modulus of elasticity in tension and compression (approx.6 x 10/sup 6/ psi) and strengths in excess of 100,000 psi. Its high strength and low thermal conductivity in the range from 300K to cryogenic temperatures make it ideally suited for cryogenic supports. The sample was tested in compression at 52 MPa (7500 psi) at 40/sup 0/C for 1000 hours. The measured fractional deflection due to creep after 1000 hours was 3 x 10/sup -5/. Extrapolation of the data to 10 years under the test load of 52 MPa predicts a fractional deflection of 6 x 10/sup -5/. The low stress level was appropriate to a conservative design for the dipole magnet support struts for the Superconducting Super Collider cryostat (alternate design), an application requiring long-term accurate positioning of the magnet. The struts carry the weight of the magnet, at liquid helium temperature, to the base at ambient temperature. An elevated ambient standby or storage temperature is the critical temperature …

The subject of meson productions in nuclei, a new direction in pion-nucleus physics, is discussed. Recent experimental results at LAMPF and AGS on the (..pi..,eta) and (..pi../sup +/,K/sup +/) reactions in nuclei are presented. 37 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs.

The topic of this report is high spin research with the High Energy Resolution Array (HERA) at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. This is a 21 Ge detector system, the first with bismuth germanate (BGO) Compton suppression. The array is described briefly and some of the results obtained during the past year using this detector facility are discussed. Two types of studies are described: observation of superdeformation in the light Nd isotopes, and rotational damping at high spin and excitation energy in the continuum gamma ray spectrum.

This paper contains viewgraphs on benchmarking a INTOR thermonuclear tokamak design. Parameter evaluations are made in comparison with other existing tokamaks as well as other reactor characteristics. (LSP)

A comparative survey of established meson states with the predictions of a q anti q (quarkonium) model by Godfrey and Isgur shows that most meson states are well described, from pion to UPSILON(6S). However, a number of states in the light- quark isoscalar sector are not predicted at all in their model, pointing to a need for glueballs, hybrids and multi-quark states to fully account for recently reported meson states. 48 refs.

This report describes a control system modeling capability that has been developed for the analysis of control schemes for advanced liquid metal reactors. The general class of control equations that can be represented using the modeling capability is identified, and the numerical algorithms used to solve these equations are described. The modeling capability has been implemented in the SASSYS-1 systems analysis code. A description of the card input, a sample input deck and some guidelines for running the code are given.