This paper discusses the past and the future of Oak Ridge National Laboratories and its many contributions. (FSD)

Organic aerogels are a special type of low density foam produced from the supercritical drying of resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) gels. These aerogels have continuous porosity, ultrafine cell/pore sizes (<1000 {angstrom}), and a microstructure composed of interconnected colloidal-like particles with diameters ranging from 30-175 {angstrom}. The particle size, surface area, density, and mechanical properties of the aerogels are largely determined by the catalysts concentration used in the sol-gel polymerization. In order to gain some insight into the crosslinks between RF particles, aerogels were labeled with C-13 formaldehyde at various times in the polymerization. CPMAS and IRCP techniques were used to correlate the relaxation behavior of the C-13 enriched aerogels with their different microstructures. 9 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.

Two uses of the Perkin-Elmer (PE) robotic system will be presented. In the first, a PE robot functions as an automatic sample changer for up to five low energy photon spectrometry (LEPS) detectors operated with a Nuclear Data ND 6700 system. The entire system, including the robot, is controlled by an IBM PC-AT using software written in compiled BASIC. Problems associated with the development of the system and modifications to the robot will be presented. In the second, an evaluation study was performed to assess the abilities of the PE robotic system for performing complex analytical sample preparation procedures. For this study, a robotic system based upon the PE robot and auxiliary devices was constructed and programmed to perform the preparation of final product samples (UO{sub 3}) for accountability and impurity specification analyses. These procedures require sample dissolution, dilution, and liquid-liquid extraction steps. The results of an in-depth evaluation of all system components will be presented.

The Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) Seepage Basins are located in the northeastern section of the 700 Area at the Savannah River Site. Currently the four basins are out of service and are awaiting closure in accordance with the Consent Decree settled under Civil Act No. 1:85-2583. Groundwater monitoring data from the detection monitoring network around the SRL Basins was recently analyzed using South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations R.61-79.264.92 methods to determine if groundwater in the immediate vicinity of the SRL Basins had been impacted. Results from the data analysis indicate that the groundwater has been impacted by both volatile organic constituents (VOCs) and inorganic constituents. The VOCs, specifically trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, are currently being addressed under the auspices of the SRS Hazardous Waste Permit Application (Volume III, Section J.6.3). The impacts resulting from elevated levels of inorganic constituent, such as barium, calcium, and zinc in the water table, do not pose a threat to human health and the environment. In order to determine if vertical migration of the inorganic constituents has occurred three detection monitoring wells are proposed for installation in the upper portion of the Congaree Aquifer.

In the summer of 1988, the Department of Nuclear Engineering (NE) at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville was selected to carry out a research program in ``Enhancing the Operation of Nuclear Power plants through the use of Artificial Intelligence, This program is sponsored by the Department of Energy`s Office of Energy Research under 10CFR605 for Nuclear Engineering Research. The objective of the research is to advance the state-of-the-art of nuclear power plant control, safety, management, and instrumentation systems through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, including both expert systems and neural networks. The emphasis will be placed on methods that can be implemented on a rapid or real-time basis. A second, but equally important, objective is to build a broadly based critical mass of expertise in the artificial intelligence, field that can be brought to bear on the technology of nuclear power plants. Both of these goals are being met. This overview and the attached technical reports describe the work that is being carried out. Although in some cases, the scope of the work differs somewhat from the specific tasks described in the original proposal, all activities are clearly within the overall scope of the contract.

Accomplishments of this program include the following: (1) Scalable, chemical generation of oxygen atoms by reaction of fluorine atoms and water vapor. (2) Production of nitrogen atom densities of 1 {times} 10{sup 1}5 cm{sup {minus}3} with 5% electrical efficiency by injecting trace amounts of fluorine into microwave discharged nitrogen. (3) Production of cyanide radicals by reaction of high densities of N atoms with cyanogen. (4) Production of carbon atoms by reaction of nitrogen atoms with cyanogen or with fluorine atoms and hydrogen cyanide. (5) Confirmation that the reaction of carbon atoms and carbonyl sulfide produces CS(a{sup 3} {Pi}{sub r}), as predicted by conservation of electron spin and orbital angular momenta and as proposed by others under another SWCL program. (6) Production of cyanide radicals by injection of cyanogen halides into active nitrogen and use as spectroscopic calibration source. (7) Demonstration that sodium atoms react with cyanogen chloride, bromide and iodide and with cyanuric trifluoride to produce cyanide radicals. (8) Demonstration of the potential utility of the fluorine atom plus ammonia reaction system in the production of NF(b{sup l}{Sigma}{sup +}) via N({sup 2}D) + F{sub 2}.

The BEAR program was a joint effort to launch, and demonstrate the feasibility of operating, a 1 MeV 10 ma Neutral Particle Beam (NPB) accelerator from a space platform. The accelerator design and manufacture were the responsibility of Los Alamos National Lab (LANL); diagnostics associated with accelerator operation and beam-plasma effects were also to be undertaken by LANL and NRL. Payload Integration and Telemetry was provided by the Air Force Geophysical Lab (AFGL) and Northeastern University (NEU). Beam effects on the local plasma in addition to accelerator produced vehicle effects (e.g., charging) were the responsibility of NRL as outlined herein. The BEAR rocket was launched successfully during the early morning hours of July 13 from White Sands Missile Range, White Sands, N.M. The NRL contribution to this effort included three instrument packages designed to diagnose beam-plasma and vehicle-plasma interactions. The instruments included: (1) Langmuir probe (LP) design consisting of 4 separate sensors; (2) High voltage (HIV) Langmuir Probe designed to monitor vehicle charging through current polarity changes; and (3) Plasma Wave Receive (PWR) designed to characterize the plasma wave emissions covering a broad frequency range from near DC to 50 MHz.

Constant extension rate tests (CERT) were run on ten irradiated specimens in continuation of a study of environmental effects on intergranular stress corrosion cracking of type 304 stainless steel. Specimens of both furnace sensitized and annealed material were irradiated to fluences of 1 to 2 {times} 10{sup 21} neutrons (E {ge} 0.1 Mev) per square centimeter at a temperature of {approximately}150{degree}C in a reflector position of the High Flux Isoptope Reactor at ORNL. CERT test conditions duplicated conditions for testing of non-irradiated specimens. The time-to-failure for the sensitized and irradiated specimens showed the same pattern of dependence on test variables as the non-irradiated specimens in an associated study. The annealed and irradiated specimens showed no evidence of irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking.

The basic goal of the Limestone Injection Mitigation Burner (LIMB) demonstration is to extend LIMB technology development to a full- scale application on a representative wall-fired utility boiler. The successful retrofit of LIMB to an existing boiler is expected to demonstrate that (a) reductions of 50 percent or greater in SO{sub x} and NO{sub x} emissions can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of add-on FGD systems, (b) boiler reliability, operability, and steam production can be maintained at levels existing prior to LIMB retrofit, and (c) technical difficulties attributable to LIMB operation, such as additional slagging and fouling, changes in ash disposal requirements, and an increased particulate load, can be resolved in a cost-effective manner. The primary fuel to be used will be an Ohio bituminous coal having a nominal sulfur content of 3 percent or greater.

The objective of this project is to produce one or more microorganisms capable of removing the organic and inorganic sulfur in coal. The original specific technical objectives of the project were to: Clone and characterize the genes encoding the enzymes of the ``4S`` pathway (sulfoxide/sulfone/sulfonate/sulfate) for release of organic sulfur from coal; return multiple copies of genes to the original host to enhance the biodesulfurization activity of that organism; transfer this pathway into a fast-growing chemolithotropic bacterium; conduct a batch-mode optimization/analysis of scale-up variables.

This report describes the Action Plan for the upgrade of the Chapter 15 Accident Analysis in the SRS Production Reactor SAR required for K-Restart. This Action Plan will be updated periodically to reflect task accomplishments and issue resolutions.

The basic goal of the Limestone Injection Multistage Burner (LIMB) demonstration is to extend LIMB technology development to a full- scale application on a representative wall-fired utility boiler. The successful retrofit of LIMB to an existing boiler is expected to demonstrate that (a) reductions of 50 percent or greater in SO{sub x} and NO{sub x} emissions can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of add-on FGD systems, (b) boiler reliability, operability, and steam production can be maintained at levels existing prior to LIMB retrofit, and (c) technical difficulties attributable to LIMB operation, such as additional slagging and fouling, changes in ash disposal requirements, and an increased particulate load, can be resolved in a cost-effective manner. The primary fuel to be used will be an Ohio bituminous coal having a nominal sulfur content of 3 percent or greater.

The basic goal of the Limestone Injection Multistage Burner (LIMB) demonstration is to extend LIMB technology development to a full- scale application on a representative wall-fired utility boiler. The successful retrofit of LIMB to an existing boiler is expected to demonstrate that (a) reductions of 50 percent or greater in SO{sub x} and NO{sub x} emissions can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of add-on FGD systems, (b) boiler reliability, operability, and steam production can be maintained at levels existing prior to LIMB retrofit, and (c) technical difficulties attributable to LIMB operation, such as additional slagging and fouling, changes in ash disposal requirements, and an increased particulate load, can be resolved in a cost-effective manner. The primary fuel to be used will be an Ohio bituminous coal having a nominal sulfur content of 3 percent or greater.

This report provides guideline estimates for Pu-239 mass loadings in selected burial ground culverts. The relatively high recorded Pu-239 contents of these culverts have been appraised as suspect relative to criticality concerns, because they were assayed only with the solid waste monitor (SWM) per gamma-ray counting. After 1985, subsequent waste was also assayed with the neutron coincidence counter (NCC), and a comparison of the assay methods showed that the NCC generally yielded higher assays than the SWM. These higher NCC readings signaled a need to conduct non-destructive/non-intrusive nuclear interrogations of these culverts, and a technical team conducted scoping measurements to illustrate potential assay methods based on neutron and/or gamma counting. A fast/slow neutron method has been developed to estimate the Pu-239 in the culverts. In addition, loading records include the SWM assays of all Pu-239 cuts of some of the culvert drums and these data are useful in estimating the corresponding NCC drum assays from NCC vs SWM data. Together, these methods yield predictions based on direct measurements and statistical inference.

In work carried out on this project, the usual mathematical modeling of ultrasonic wave scattering by flaws is being extended to account for several typical characteristics of fatigue and stress-corrosion cracks, and the environment of such cracks. Work has been completed on scattering by macrocrack-microcrack configurations. We have also investigated reflection and transmission by a flaw plane consisting of an infinite array of randomly oriented cracks. In another investigation the propagation of mechanical disturbances in solids with periodically distributed cracks has been studied.

This report describes work performed under grant No. DE-FG03-88ER13911 for the period June 15, 1988 through June 14, 1989. During this time, significant progress was made in the derivation of the fundamental equations describing suspensions and multicomponent fluid flow. We first considered a system consisting of spherical heavy (Brownian) particles immersed in a bath of spherical particles. The deviations of the bath from equilibrium are due to the nonequilibrium motions of the Brownian particles. The densities of the bath and of a Brownian particle are similar. An expansion in powers of the mass ratio, yields a Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution function of the Brownian particles, including the effects of direct and hydrodynamic interactions amongst these particles. The effect of the Brownian particle motion on the bath properties has been described. The conditions under which a closed equation for the coordinate space distribution function, can be obtained have been investigated and a Smoluchowski equation for this quantity has been derived.

None

During the present report period, our framework for correlating saturation properties using the scaled-variable-reduced coordinate approach was used to develop a correlation for saturated liquid densities of pure fluids at temperatures from the triple point to the critical point. The new correlation results in precise representation of liquid densities of diverse chemical species with average errors of 0.12% when two adjustable parameters are used to characterize each substance. In addition, the proposed model compares favorably with the modified Rackett and the Hankinson-Thomson correlations with the added advantages of covering the full saturation range and obeying scaling-law behavior in the near-critical region. Although the approach is essentially empirical, the results obtained suggest an underlying physical significance for the model parameters and show an excellent potential for generalized predictions. This is demonstrated by the results given here for saturated liquid densities where fully generalized predictions yield average errors of less than 1.0%.

My remarks are concerned with employing the Compact Torus magnetic field configuration to produce fusion energy. In particular, I would like to consider high energy density regimes where the pressures generated extend well beyond the strength of materials. Under such conditions, where nearby walls are vaporized and pushed aside each shot, the technological constraints are very different from usual magnetic fusion and may admit opportunities for an improved fusion reactor design. 5 refs., 3 figs.

The concept presented here is an adaptation of a recently completed conceptual design of a compact high-fluence D-T neutron source for accelerated end-of-life testing of fusion reactor materials. Although this preliminary assessment serves to illustrate the main features of a linear plasma-based tritium breeder, it is not necessarily an optimized design. We believe that proper design choices for the breeder application will certainly reduce costs, perhaps as much as a factor of two. We also point out that Q (the ratio of fusion power produced to power input to the plasma) increases with system length and that the cost per kg of tritium decreases for longer systems with higher output. In earlier studies of linear two-component plasma systems, Q values as high as three were predicted. At this level of performance and with energy recovery, operating power requirements of the breeder could approach zero. 5 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.

This report presents the first complete microstructural and analytical electron microscopy study of Alloy AX5, one of a series of advanced austenitic steels developed by Maziasz and co-workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for their potential application as reheater and superheater materials in power plants that will reach the end of their design lives in the 1990's. The advanced steels are modified with carbide forming elements such as titanium, niobium and vanadium. When combined with optimized thermo-mechanical treatments, the advanced steels exhibit significantly improved creep rupture properties compared to commercially available 316 stainless steels, 17--14 Cu--Mo and 800 H steels. The importance of microstructure in controlling these improvements has been demonstrated for selected alloys, using stress relaxation testing as an accelerated test method. The microstructural features responsible for the improved creep strengths have been identified by studying the thermal aging kinetics of one of the 16Ni--14Cr advanced steels, Alloy AX5, in both the solution annealed and the solution annealed plus cold worked conditions. Time-temperature-precipitation diagrams have been developed for the temperature range 600 C to 900 C and for times from 1 h to 3000 h. 226 refs., 88 figs., 10 tabs.

The integrity of the SRS reactor tanks is a key factor affecting their suitability for continued service since, unlike the external piping system and components, the tanks are virtually irreplaceable. Cracking in various areas of the process water piping systems has occurred beginning in 1960 as a result of several degradation mechanisms, chiefly intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) and chloride-induced transgranular cracking. IGSCC, currently the primary degradation mechanism, also occurred in the knuckle'' region (tank wall-to-bottom tube sheet transition piece) unique to C Reactor and was eventually responsible for that reactor being deactivated in 1985. A program of visual examinations of the SRS reactor tanks was initiated in 1968, which used a specially designed immersible periscope. Under that program the condition of the accessible tank welds and associated heat affected zones (HAZ) was evaluated on a five-year frequency. Prior to 1986, the scope of these inspections comprised approximately 20 percent of the accessible weld area. In late 1986 and early 1987 the scope of the inspections was expanded and a 100 percent visual inspection of accessible welds was performed of the P-, L-, and K-Reactor tanks. Supplemental dye penetrant examinations were performed in L Reactor on selected areas which showed …

In the summer of 1988, the Department of Nuclear Engineering (NE) at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville was selected to carry out a research program in Enhancing the Operation of Nuclear Power plants through the use of Artificial Intelligence, This program is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Research under 10CFR605 for Nuclear Engineering Research. The objective of the research is to advance the state-of-the-art of nuclear power plant control, safety, management, and instrumentation systems through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, including both expert systems and neural networks. The emphasis will be placed on methods that can be implemented on a rapid or real-time basis. A second, but equally important, objective is to build a broadly based critical mass of expertise in the artificial intelligence, field that can be brought to bear on the technology of nuclear power plants. Both of these goals are being met. This overview and the attached technical reports describe the work that is being carried out. Although in some cases, the scope of the work differs somewhat from the specific tasks described in the original proposal, all activities are clearly within the overall scope of the contract.

The Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) Seepage Basins are located in the northeastern section of the 700 Area at the Savannah River Site. Currently the four basins are out of service and are awaiting closure in accordance with the Consent Decree settled under Civil Act No. 1:85-2583. Groundwater monitoring data from the detection monitoring network around the SRL Basins was recently analyzed using South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations R.61-79.264.92 methods to determine if groundwater in the immediate vicinity of the SRL Basins had been impacted. Results from the data analysis indicate that the groundwater has been impacted by both volatile organic constituents (VOCs) and inorganic constituents. The VOCs, specifically trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, are currently being addressed under the auspices of the SRS Hazardous Waste Permit Application (Volume III, Section J.6.3). The impacts resulting from elevated levels of inorganic constituent, such as barium, calcium, and zinc in the water table, do not pose a threat to human health and the environment. In order to determine if vertical migration of the inorganic constituents has occurred three detection monitoring wells are proposed for installation in the upper portion of the Congaree Aquifer.