Annual report of the Ion Replacement Electrorefining Program at Aronne National Laboratory describing their research and activities. There are three key accomplishments highlighted for the year: (1) identification of a suitable sodium(beta){double_prime}-alumina/molten salt electrolyte system that functions reproducibly at 723 K, (2) actual separation of dysprosium and lanthanum in experiments, and (3) the identification of a metal alloy, Li{sub x}Sb, as an alternative ion replacement electrode.

Most casting defects occur during initial pouring and therefore the design of the running system, which guides the metal from the ladle into the mold, is crucial. Traditionally, the running system and mold filling are designed by trial and error, which is tedious, time consuming, and expensive. The uncertainties that remain can be overcome by a computer simulation that demonstrates the actual process of mold filling and subsequent solidification. Computer simulation of various processes has become more and more common in recent years. The cost-effectiveness of making flawless castings has made the foundry worker more aware of the process of mold filling, identification of hot spots, etc. The macroscopic Casting Process Simulator (CaPS) software combines heat transfer and fluid flow aspects and can describe a variety of solidification aspects, including mold filling. CaPS is a two-dimensional time-dependent computer code involving a finite-volume formulation for the mass, momentum. and energy equations. CaPS has the following characteristics. CaPS uses the PATRAN geometric modeling package for constructing the geometry, generating a neutral file consisting of a list of named components, and post-processing of the simulation results; building the geometry independently of the mesh is a time-saving procedure. A structured mesh generator of structured …

Progress report of the Argonne National Laboratory's Nuclear Technology Programs, including R&D in three areas: applied physical chemistry, separation science and technology, and nuclear waste management.