The purpose of the work reported here was to evaluate the relevance of biotic transport to the assessment of impacts and licensing of low-level waste disposal sites. Available computer models and their recent applications at low-level waste disposal sites are considered. Biotic transport mechanisms and processes for both terrestrial and aquatic systems are presented with examples from existing waste disposal sites. Following a proposed system for ranking radionuclides by their potential for biotic transport, recommendations for completing Phase I research are presented. To evaluate the long-term importance of biotic transport at low-level waste sites, scenarios for biotic pathways and mechanisms need to be developed. Scenarios should begin with a description of the waste form and should include a description of biotic processes and mechanisms, approximations of the magnitude of materials transported, and a linkage to processes or mechanisms in existing models. Once these scenarios are in place, existing models could be used to evaluate impacts resulting from biotic transport and to assess the relevance to site selection and licensing of low-level waste disposal sites.

The low molecular weight aromatic amines (anilines) are important water soluble constituents of coal liquids. The impact of anilines released to the terrestrial environment will largely depend on their mobility and persistence. Studies were conducted to investigate those processes governing the mobility and persistence of the alkylanilines, namely, soil sorption and chemical/microbial degradation. Soil sorption measurements were conducted on aniline and several methyl substituted anilines on A and B horizons of a soil profile collected from Davies County, Kentucky. The magnitude of sorption was large in all horizons. Sorption in the B horizons was larger than in the A horizon for many of the anilines studied, indicating the importance of both the mineral matrix and organic carbon content of the soil in determining the magnitude of sorption. Results of these measurements indicate that movement of the anilines through the soil would be significantly attenuated by sorption reactions. Aniline sorption measurement in the A horizon after removal of the organic matter and in the B/sub 22/ horizon after removal of amorphous iron oxides and crystalline iron oxides indicate that organic matter largely controls aniline sorption in the A horizon, while crystalline iron oxides and phyllosilicates are important in the B horizons. …

Uranium and thorium levels in excreta of uranium mill crushermen who are routinely exposed to airborne uranium ore dust were measured. The purpose was to determine whether /sup 230/Th was preferentially retained over either /sup 234/U or /sup 238/U in the body. Urine and fecal samples were obtained from fourteen active crushermen with long histories of exposure to uranium ore dust, plus four retired crushermen and three control individuals for comparison. Radiochemical procedures were used to separate out the uranium and thorium fractions, which were then electroplated on stainless steel discs and assayed by alpha spectrometry. Significantly greater activity levels of /sup 234/U and /sup 238/U were measured in both urine and fecal samples obtained from uranium mill crushermen, indicating that uranium in the inhaled ore dust was cleared from the body with a shorter biological half-time than the daughter product /sup 230/Th. The measurements also indicated that uranium and thorium separate in vivo and have distinctly different metabolic pathways and transfer rates in the body. The appropriateness of current ICRP retention and clearance parameters for /sup 230/Th in ore dust is questioned.

The Townsend ionization coefficient in the strong runaway regime is calculated within the framework of the two-term expansion. Results are compared to the 1-D model. General features of the two models are qualitatively similar, but quantitative differences by factors of approx. 2 are observed.

Some insight into the characteristic response of filters versus frequency and loading is presented. A computer program is provided which will allow the user to vary the filter model in order to assess the effect of specific conditions.

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) was asked to develop and recommend a regulatory position that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should adopt regarding the ability of reactor pressure vessels to withstand the effects of pressurized thermal shock (PTS). Licensees of eight pressurized water reactors provided NRC with estimates of remaining effective full power years before corrective actions would be required to prevent an unsafe operating condition. PNL reviewed these responses and the results of supporting research and concluded that none of the eight reactors would undergo vessel failure from a PTS event before several more years of operation. Operator actions, however, were often required to terminate a PTS event before it deteriorated to the point where failure could occur. Therefore, the near-term (less than one year) recommendation is to upgrade, on a site-specific basis, operational procedures, training, and control room instrumentation. Also, uniform criteria should be developed by NRC for use during future licensee analyses. Finally, it was recommended that NRC upgrade nondestructive inspection techniques used during vessel examinations and become more involved in the evaluation of annealing requirements.

The state of the laboratory address by LLNL Director Roger Batzel is summarized, and a breakdown of the laboratory funding is given. The Livermore defense-related committment is described, including the design and development of advanced nuclear weapons as well as research in inertial confinement fusion, nonnuclear ordnance, and particle beam technology. LLNL is also applying its scientific and engineering resources to the dual challenge of meeting future energy needs without degrading the quality of the biosphere. Some representative examples are given of the supporting groups vital for providing the specialized expertise and new technologies required by the laboratory's major research programs. (GHT)

The Mechanical Engineering Department publishes listings of technical abstracts twice a year to inform readers of the broad range of technical activities in the Department, and to promote an exchange of ideas. Details of the work covered by an abstract may be obtained by contacting the author(s). Overall information about current activities of each of the Department's seven divisions precedes the technical abstracts.

Summarized hourly meteorological data for 34 candidate and wind turbine generator sites for calendar year 1981 are presented. These data are collected for the purpose of evaluating the wind energy potential at these sites and are used to assist in selection of potential sites for installation and testing of large wind turbines in electric utility systems. For each site, wind speed, direction, and distribution data are given in eight tables. Use of information from these tables, with information about specific wind turbines, should allow the user to estimate the potential for wind energy production at each site.

The research program encompasses: reviewing calibration standards, regulations, and handbooks; assuring that calibration procedures used are in agreement with technically accepted methods; maintaining basic radioactive sources and instruments that serve as radiological standards; and providing traceability to the National Bureau of Standards where possible. In addition, major efforts are being expended to upgrade the 318 calibration facility. This report focuses on major accomplishments during FY-1981. However, most maintenance and quality assurance efforts involve routine support and only a summary report is provided. (PSB)

Sawtooth relaxation oscillations are analyzed using the Kadomtsev's disruption model and a thermal relaxation model. The sawtooth period is found to be very sensitive to the thermal conduction loss. Qualitative agreement between these calculations and the sawtooth period observed in several tokamaks is demonstrated.

Rates for resonant vibrational and rotational energy transfer from the 001 state by CO/sub 2/ + CO/sub 2/ collisions have been measured. All data were obtained by double resonance spectroscopy with CO/sub 2/ lasers in a 2.5 meter absorption cell at 700/sup 0/K. Results for rotation transfer include pumped-level relaxation and the response of other 001 levels with ..delta..J up to 18. These data are compared to four relevant collision models via a 35-level rate equation analysis. Sequence-band (002 ..-->.. 101) and hot-band (011 ..-->.. 110) lasting have been used to observe resonant nu/sub 3/-transfer relaxation involving 001 + 001 reversible 002 + 000, 001 + 100 reversible 101 + 000, and 001 + 010 reversible 011 + 000. A multilevel rate analysis has been utilized to determine the rate coefficients for 001 going to the 002, the 101, and the 011 levels. Part of the hot-band data has been interpreted as due to 110 + 000 reversible 100 + 010, and the associated rate constant has been estimated. The results of the study are compared to the theory and to other experiments.

The basic information in this report is from a vu-graph presentation prepared to acquaint new or prospective employees with the Nuclear Test Engineering Division (NTED). Additional information has been added here to enhance a reader's understanding when reviewing the material after hearing the presentation, or in lieu of attending a presentation.

Data were reduced from the voltage-time relations stored in files D7H001 to D7H090 on HP1000. The I-B calibration curve is included. The data base is shown and can be used by the 9845B. The data include the quench location, Q/sub 2/ layer 1 top, Q/sub 3/ layer 1 bottom and the quench current and its normalized value with respect to short sample, I/sub c/ = 4920A at 4.4 K, I/sub c/ = 6710 A at 1.8 K. The resistance (..cap omega../cm) was calculated using the propagation time according to the voltage change across the measured sections. The conductor potential length are L/sub 5/ /sub 9/ = 48.6 cm, L/sub 6/ /sub 10/ = 17.9 cm, L/sub 7/ /sub 11/ = 40.6 cm. The turn to turn velocity V/sub t/ was calculated dividing the nominal turn to turn distance (58 mil) by the propagation time (Trans. Time). The quench time T/sub q/ was measured from the time the resistive rise starts until the energy extraction system fires.

Calculations of disruption time and energy dissipation have been obtained by simulating the plasma as an electrical conducting loop that varies in resistivity, current density, major radius. The calculations provide results which are in good agreement with experimental observations. It is believed that this approach allows engineering designs for disruptions to be completed in large tokamaks such as INTOR or FED.

ACD0S3 is a computer code designed primarily to calculate the activities and dose rates produced by neutron activation in a variety of simple geometries. Neutron fluxes, in up to 50 groups and with energies up to 20 MeV, must be supplied as part of the input data. The neutron-source strength must also be supplied, or alternately, the code will compute it from neutral-beam operating parameters in the case where the source is a fusion-reactor injector. ACD0S3 differs from the previous version ACD0S2 in that additional geometries have been added, the neutron cross-section library has been updated, an estimate of the energy deposited by neutron reactions has been provided, and a significant increase in efficiency in reading the data libraries has been incorporated.

Neutral beam injection experiments on PLT and PDX have been conducted over a wider range in parameter space than previously. On PLT H/sup 0/ beams have been injected into well-confined high toroidal field, high density Ohmic plasmas, giving n/sub e/(0) tau/sub Ee/ products during injection of up to 5 x 10/sup 12/ sec cm/sup -3/. tau/sub Ee/ is found to rise slowly with increasing density in these experiments. Comparing these results with earlier (1979) discharges, which showed much lower heating efficiency, the importance of starting with a hot Ohmic plasma and a peaked density profile is striking. On PDX high power injection experiments over a range in plasma current have shown a significant variation with current of both ion heating and total stored plasma energy. Transport analysis of these results indicates that global confinement drops little when I/sup p/ is varied from 480 to 320 kA, but as I/sup p/ falls to 200 kA, tau/sub E/ deteriorates significantly.

Subsurface waters at Maxey Flats are anoxic systems with high alkalinity and high concentrations of dissolved ferrous ion. Americium and cobalt in these trench waters are made more soluble by the presence of EDTA, while strontium and cesium are unaffected under the same conditions. EDTA is the major organic complexing component in waste trench 27 leachate, but other polar, water-soluble organics are also present. Evidence points to the migration of plutonium between waste trench 27 and inert atmosphere wells as an EDTA complex. Polar organic compounds may influence the migration of /sup 90/Sr and /sup 137/Cs. The primary pathway of water entry into the waste burial trenches is through the trench caps, but major increases in water level have occurred in an experimental trench by subsurface flow. The areal distribution of radionuclides at Maxey Flats has been influenced by surface runoff, deposition from the evaporator plume, subsurface flow and the actions of burrowing animals or deep-rooted trees. Vegetal and surface contamination on site and near site are quite low, and only /sup 60/Co exceeds commonly observed fallout levels. Radionuclide concentrations in surface soil at Maxey Flats are comparable to concentrations resulting from normal fallout in other areas of high rainfall.

The development of a flowthrough sampler capable of obtaining fluid samples from geopressured wells at temperatures up to 400/sup 0/F and pressures up to 20,000 psi is described. The sampler has been designed, fabricated from MP35N alloy, laboratory tested, and used to obtain fluid samples from a geothermal well at The Geysers, California. However, it has not yet been used in a geopressured well. The design features, test results, and operation of this device are described. Alternative sampler designs are also discussed. Another activity was to review the chemistry and geochemistry of geopressured brines and reservoirs, and to evaluate the utility of available computer codes for modeling the chemistry of geopressured brines. The thermodynamic data bases for such codes are usually the limiting factor in their application to geopressured systems, but it was concluded that existing codes can be updated with reasonable effort and can usefully explain and predict the chemical characteristics of geopressured systems, given suitable input data.

This technical monthly report covers studies related to the use of /sup 238/PuO/sub 2/ in radioisotope power systems carried out for the Office of Coordination and Special Projects of the US Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most of the studies discussed here are ongoing. Results and conclusions described may change as the work continues. Published reference of the results cited in this report should not be made without the explicit permission of the person in charge of the work.

Radial distributions of fully ionized oxygen and carbon in the PDX tokamak plasma are reported. These ions were detected via radiation emitted in charge-exchange recombination reactions between the impurities and hydrogen atoms from a non-perturbing neutron beam. The C/sup 6 +/ and O/sup 8 +/ ions are observed out to radii beyond the limiter, which is in contrast to expectations based on coronal equilibrium but consistent with a simple diffusive transport model. Central values of Z/sub eff/ obtained with these measurements agree with values obtained from plasma resistivity and visible bremsstrahlung measurements.

Pacific Northwest Laboratory is developing design and performance guidelines for surface stabilization of inactive uranium mill tailings. In this work, vegetation and rock covers are being evaluated for maintaining long-term integrity of impoundment systems. Methods are being developed to estimate erosion rates associated with rock and/or vegetation covers, and to determine the effects of surface treatments on soil moisture. Interactions between surface treatments and barriers (radon and biological) are being studied as well. The product will be a set of guidelines to aid in designing surface covers. This report presents the status of this program and a discussion of considerations pertinent to the application of surface covers to tailings. Test plots located in Grand Junction, Colorado and Waterflow, New Mexico are being used to study: (1) the interactions between vegetation and radon and biological barriers, (2) the effects of surface covers on soil moisture, and (3) the effects of rock covers on vegetation.

The optical model code 2PLUS and the statistical model codes COMNUC and CASCADE were used to compute neutron cross sections for Cm-245 and Cm-247 between 10 keV and 10 MeV. Cross sections for elastic and inelastic scattering, radiative capture, fission, and the (n,2n) reactions were computed. The parameters for the fission model were selected to yield agreement with the cross sections from the Physics-8 bomb shot. Pu-239 cross sections were calculated and compared with existing cross section evaluations to demonstrate the validity of the calculational methods.

The Integrated Data Base program was set up to provide fully integrated and reconciled inventories, characteristics, and projections for spent nuclear fuel and all categories of radioactive waste. Eight summary papers, six of which were presented at an ANS special session in Los Angeles in June 1982, are included in this report: data base needs and functions: national planning; integrated data base for spent fuel and radwaste: inventories; integrated data base projections; RAWSYM: radioactive waste management system; NWTS program waste projection data needs; low-level waste management data base system; waste sludge composition at the Savannah River Plant; and summary of characteristics of transuranic waste found at DOE sites. (DLC)