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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The calculation of the J integral proved to be a successful method for characterizing the stress and displacement fields around a crack tip under mixed mode loading. A computer program was written to determine the symmetric and antisymmetric J integral quantities. The stress intensity factors from these J integral calculations were in excellent agreement with other calculations. The compact shear specimen used contains three loading holes, the load applied at the center hole being the opposite direction to the load applied at the two outer holes. For 7075-T6 aluminum, K/sub IIc/ was 1.9 times larger than K/sub Ic/. In the brittle photoelastic material K/sub IIc/ was less than K/sub Ic/. Failure of the 4330V steel compact shear specimens came as a result of the average shear stress in the region ahead of the crack tip exceeding the material flow shear stress. The experimental results suggest that the angle of crack growth is best predicted by the maximum tangential stress theory.

The paper describes the control and instrumentation for the Mirror Fusion Test Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, USA. This large-scale scientific experiment in controlled thermonuclear fusion, which is currently being expanded, originally had 3000 devices to control and 7000 sensors to monitor. A hierarchical computer control system, is used with nine minicomputers forming the supervisory system. There are approximately 55 local control and instrumentation microcomputers. In addition, each device has its own monitoring equipment, which in some cases consists of a small computer. After describing the overall system a more detailed account is given of the control and instrumentation for two large superconducting magnets.

This ARES user's manual provides detailed instructions for a general understanding of the Automated Response Function Code and gives step by step instructions for using the complete code package on a HP-1000 system. This code is designed to calculate response functions of NaI gamma-ray detectors, with cylindrical or rectangular geometries.

Aryl hydrocarbon mono-oxygenase (AHM), an enzyme of key importance in metabolism of xenobiotic chemicals such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNA), is present in human lymphocytes. Studies investing the relation of activity of AHM in human lymphocytes to parameters such as disease state, PNA exposure, in vitro mitogen stimulation, etc. have been summarized in this report. Some studies have demonstrated increased AHM activity in lymphocytes from cigarette smokers (compared to nonsmokers), and in lung cancer patients when compared to appropriate control groups. These observations are confused by extreme variability in human lymphocyte AHM activities, such variability arising from factors such as genetic variation in AHM activity, variation in in vitro culture conditions which affect AHM activity, and the problematical relationship of common AHM assays to actual PNA metabolism taking place in lymphocytes. If some of the foregoing problems can be adequately addressed, lymphocyte AHM activity could hold the promise of being a useful biomarker system for human PNA exposure.

This report represents a technical assessment of the following advanced coal gasification processes: AVCO High Throughput Gasification (HTG) Process, Bell Single - Stage High Mass Flux (HMF) Process, Cities Service/Rockwell (CS/R) Hydrogasification Process, and the Exxon Catalytic Coal Gasification (CCG) Process. Each process is evaluated for its potential to produce SNG from a bituminous coal. In addition to identifying the new technology these processes represent, key similarities/differences, strengths/weaknesses, and potential improvements to each process are identified. The AVCO HTG and the Bell HMF gasifiers share similarities with respect to: short residence time (SRT), high throughput rate, slagging and syngas as the initial raw product gas. The CS/R Hydrogasifier is also SRT but is non-slagging and produces a raw gas high in methane content. The Exxon CCG gasifier is a long residence time, catalytic fluidbed reactor producing all of the raw product methane in the gasifier.

A comparative analysis of solar thermal concepts that are potentially suitable for development as large process heat systems (50 to 600 MWt) was performed. The concepts considered can be classified into three categories based on the type of solar tracking used by the collector: (1) two-axis tracking, in which concentrators track the sun's motion in both azimuth and altitude; (2) one-axis tracking, in which concentrators track changes in either azimuth or altitude; and (3) non-tracking, in which the concentrators are fixed. Seven generic types of collectors were considered. Conceptual designs developed for the seven systems were based on common assumptions of available technology in the 1990 to 2000 time frame. Costs were estimated on the basis of identical assumptions, ground rules, methodologies, and unit costs of materials and labor applied uniformly to all of the concepts.

Recommendations for carrying out surveys which achieve 15, 10 and 5 microgal precisions are presented. Achieving the smaller standard deviations will require more field effort and will be more costly. For a 60 station survey, at commercial rates in 1981, typical costs are estimated to be $20,000, $26,000 and $35,000 respectively, for data collection, reduction and interpretation. These figures exclude instrument purchase or rental. Twenty geothermal areas in the western United States which might be suitable for precise repetitive gravity monitoring were evaluated. The evaluation criteria included capability for subsidence on a geological basis, estimated electrical production, environmental impact, and anticipation of production in the near future. It is felt that the most promising areas in order of priority are: (1) the Salton Sea field, California; (2) Valles Caldera, New Mexico; (3) The Geysers-Clear Lake; and (4) Westmorland, California; (5) Roosevelt Hot Springs, Utah; and (6) Heber; (7) Brawley; and (8) Long Valley, California.