Reactor physics studies in the Engineering Mockup Critical (EMC) assembly of the Fast Test Reactor (FTR) facility are reported. The study included measurements of the neutron spectrum, Doppler effect, sodium-void worth, reaction rates, subassembly worths, material replacement worths, and FTR control, safety and shim rod worths. Each of these physics studies were made in a clean plutonium (low-Pu-240) fuel composition environment and a dirty plutonium (high-Pu-240) fuel composition environment. The fuel studies were in support of determining the attendant effects of operation and safety of utilizing Light Water Reactor (LWR) plutonium fuel in the FTR. Comparison of the measured and calculated results are presented.

The germanium-lithium argon scanning system (GLASS) was installed in EBR-II to monitor and analyze the gamma activity of the reactor cover gas and the reactor building air. GLASS has the capability to identify and measure 20 or more gamma peaks. Applied to the reactor cover gas, this capability has proven useful in identifying the source of fission-gas leakage from fuel elements. The gamma-peak data can clearly distinguish a carbide-fuel source from an oxide-fuel source and can often help distinguish and oxide-fuel source from a metallic-fuel source.

Quarterly report describing the research and management efforts of the program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) on lithium/metal sulfide batteries during the period April-June 1976. These batteries are being developed for energy storage on utility networks and for electric-vehicle propulsion. The present cells, which operate at 400-4503C, are vertically oriented, prismatic cells with a central positive electrode of FeS or FeS2, two facing negative electrodes of lithium-aluminum alloy, and an electrolyte of molten LiCl-KCl.

THI3D-1 is an improved version of the THI3D computer program for steady-state, single-phase, thermal-hydraulic multichannel analysis. The program accounts for conservation of mass, energy, and momentum subject to pressure-drop boundary conditions, and leads to a nonlinear multipoint boundary-value problem. Turbulent interchange, radial thermal conduction, and forced flow due to wire wraps or grids between channels are explicitly taken into account. Temperature distributions in the coolant, cladding, fuel, and duct wall and the size of the central void of the oxide fuel after thermal restructuring are computed. Also included are program-input description and format, and a sample problem reflecting these improvements.

Significant increases in energy utilization efficiency can be achieved through the recovery of low-temperature rejected heat. This energy conserving possibility provides incentive for the development of heat exchangers which could be employed in applications where conventional units cannot be used. Some unique anticorrosion and nonstick characteristics of plastics make this material very attractive for heat recovery where condensation, especially sulfuric acid, and fouling occur. Some of the unique characteristics of plastics led to the commercial success of DuPont's heat exchangers utilizing polytetrafluoroethylene (trade name Teflon) tubes. Attributes which were exploited in this application were the extreme chemical inertness of the material and its flexibility, which enabled utilization in odd-shaped spaces. The wide variety of polymeric materials available ensures chemical inertness for almost any application. Lower cost, compoundability with fillers to improve thermal/mechanical properties, and versatile fabrication methods are incentives for many uses. Also, since many plastics resist corrosion, they can be employed in lower temperature applications (< 436 K), where condensation can occur and metal units have been unable to function. It is clear that if application and design can be merged to produce a cost-effective alternate to present methods of handling low-temperature rejected heat, then there is significant incentive …

Argonne National Laboratory is decommissioning a facility used to fabricate reactor fuel elements. The equipment is contaminated with alpha emitters. The objective of decontamination is to reduce the TRU concentrations below 10 nCi/g of waste. A portable NDA procedure using Na I (TI ) gamma-spectrometric techniques was selected to measure the residual Pu and 2i 1 Am in the glove boxes. Assays were performed at different stages in the decontamination process to estimate the detection system sensitivity and the effectiveness of the cleaning efforts.

Report of highlights of Argonne program on the development of lithium/metal sulfide batteries. These batteries are being developed for electric-vehicle propulsion and for stationary energy-storage applications.

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is engaged in a project to determine the impact of advanced scientific computers on Argonne's computing workload. The CRAY-1 was chosen to begin our investigation because it was the only machine currently available that qualifies as an advanced scientific computer, or Class VI (one capable of executing 20 to 60 million floating point operations per second).

The author proves the mean ergodic theorem for nonlinear non-expansive mappings in Banach spaces, extends it by a different argument, deduces several consequences, and points out open problems.

By perturbing a linear program to a quadratic program, it is possible to solve the latter in its dual variable space by iterative techniques such as successive over-relaxation (SOR) methods. This provides a solution to the original linear program.

The creep-fatigue life results for five different heats of Type 304 stainless steel at 593 degrees C (1100 degrees F), generated under push-pull conditions in the axial strain-control mode, are presented. The life predictions for the various heats based on the linear-damage rule, strain-range partitioning method, and damage-rate approach are discussed. The appropriate material properties required for computation of fatigue life are also included.

The bilinear cyclic stress-strain parameters for Types 304 and 316 stainless steel are described. The bilinear properties of solution-annealed and aged Type 304 stainless steel (heat 9T2796) and solution-annealed Type 3l6 stainless steel (heat 8092297) under cyclic-loading conditions at a strain rate of 8.6 x 10⁵ s⁻¹, total strain range between 0.2 and 0.8 percent, and temperatures from 22 to 593 degrees C were determined. The dependence of bilinear parameters on maximum strain epsilon and temperature is discussed.

An analysis has been made of the combined motion of fuel and coolant due to fuel-coolant interactions following a massive fuel failure in a high-ramp overpower transient. The motion of fuel and coolant was described using a two-fluid model formulation in which the mixture of sodium liquid and vapor and of fission gas, on the one hand, and the fuel particles, on the other, were treated as two superimposed continua. The method of solution employed a numerical procedure called the ACE method, a modified version of the IMF technique.

The PTA-1 code for computing pressure transients in piping networks includes a computational model to treat the significant effect of plastic deformation of the piping on pulse propagation. Stanford Research Institute has completed an experimental program on the response of piping systems to internal pressure pulses which plastically deform portions of the piping. This report makes extensive comparisons between PTA-1 computations and these experimental results. The excellent agreement obtained for both pressure histories and strain histories for all the experiments indicates that the PTA-1 computational model for pipe plasticity effects is accurate. The computation-experiment comparisons also permit a number of observations and conclusions to be made on other aspects of computational modeling of pressure transients, particularly with respect to pulse propagation around elbows.

Quarterly progress report discussing projects by Argonne National Laboratories and subcontractors related to high-temperature batteries.

The present cladding-relocation model was applied to L- and R-series test conditions in which the pin bundles were small. The results were consistent with the experimental observation and with SAS calculations. One of the key assumptions of this model was that total pressure drop over the voided channel could be supplied as a boundary condition for the vapor-momentum equation. The parametric study of the total pressure drop was carefully performed for the FFTF-type subassembly, and the oscillatory pressure effect to the streaming sodium vapor generated by the chugging of the lower level of liquid sodium was also investigated.

Report describing the formulation of a finite-element procedure for the implicit transient and static analysis of plate/shell-type structure sin three-dimensional space. It includes a development of the analysis, sample results, a summary, and related appendices.

The R3 was the first of the R-series fuel-element meltdown tests performed to support modeling and code development for analysis of hypothetical, whole-core accidents in LMFBRs. Test R3 served as a proof test for the subsequent R4-R8 sequence of seven-pin tests examining coolant, cladding, and fuel behavior under thermal and hydraulic conditions representative of a hypothetical loss-of-coolant (LOF) with failure to scram in FFTF.

Report describing the research and development activities related to reactor fuels and fast-reactor programs conducted by the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division.

Suspected fission-product releases from 18 subassemblies between April 1977 and May 1978 are presented. Post-irradiation examinations pm 15 of the suspect subassemblies confirmed that all contained one or more breached elements. Except for two untagged subassemblies, xenon tagging was the primary method of identification, although other methods were used where appropriate. Methods to monitor and identify fission product sources are discussed. Problems encountered elements on plant availability were minimal during this reporting period. From all evidence, cladding breaching on elements in EBR-II continues to be a benign process.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding studies of nuclear waste migration in geologic media. This report discusses research regarding nuclide migration and cesium absorption on limestone.

Available information on the corrosion behavior and mechanical properties of structural materials in a high-temperature sodium environment has been reviewed to compile a data base for selection of materials for advanced central-receiver solar-power systems, for which sodium is being considered as a heat-transfer fluid and thermal-storage medium. Candidate materials for this application (e.g., Types 304, 316, and 321 stainless steel, Alloy 800, and Fe-2 1/4 Cr-1Mo and Fe-9Cr-1Mo ferritic steels) have been used in the construction of various components for liquid-metal fast-breeder reactors in this country and abroad with considerable success. Requirements for additional information on material properties in a sodium environment are identified. The additional data coupled with more quantitative deformation models, failure criteria, and component design rules will further reduce uncertainties in the assessment of performance limits and component reliability in large sodium heat-transport systems.

Report issued by the Argonne National Laboratory discussing the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Nuclear Safety Program. The work completed by the program between 1969 and 1970 is presented. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.