In 1976, DOE (FEA) sponsored the development of a systematic methodology for the identification and analysis of candidate projects which a utility might undertake to improve baseload unit reliability. This methodology also enabled the user to estimate a project's effect on the future performance of the unit. A project was sponsored in Illinois to demonstrate the methodology and to encourage increased power plant productivity in the state. A total of 8 improvement projects were conducted and analyzed at Illinois Power Company Wood River 5 and Commonwealth Edison Company Quad Cities 1 and 2 units. A general description of the approach followed in estimating costs and benefits and in presenting the results for the 8 projects is provided. A brief technical description of the projects and their total cost, total benefits, net present value, and benefit-to-cost ratio is given. Detailed cost and benefit summaries for each project are presented followed by a discussion of the results.

Creep data from the literature search is reinterpreted by SGI, resulting in a better understanding of the temperature and stress state dependence of the octahedral creep rate and the octahedral shear strength. The concept of a transition strength between the elastic and the plastic states is in agreement with the data. The elastic and rheological properties of salt are described, and a set of constitutive equations is presented. The dependence of material properties on parameters such as temperature is considered. Findings on the permeability of salt are summarized, and the in-situ behavior of openings in bedded salt is described based on extensive engineering experience. A stress measuring system utilizing a finite element computer code is discussed. Geological factors affecting the stability of salt openings are considered, and the Stress Control Technique for designing stable openings in bedded salt formations is explained.

A numerical method for modeling stimulated Brillouin scatter (SBS) in a hydrodynamic simulation code is discussed. Preliminary results using the model show that scattering is reduced as shorter wavelengths are used and for spherical symmetry that ion heating by SBS is not significant since the ions cool by expansion.

The problem of collisional particle and energy transport in open-ended systems, where the axial transport is dominant, is considered. The Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution function has previously been solved in two limits: when the mean-free-path lambda/sub mfp/ is long compared to the system length L, and when lambda/sub mfp/ << L. A Monte Carlo procedure is presented for the solution of the equation which is formally valid for any range of lambda/sub mfp/L, although it is most practical for lambda/sub mfp/ approx. L. Results are given for two problems relevant to mirror devices at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, namely, electron confinement in 2XIIB and ion confinement in the tandem mirror TMX.

Progress is summerized in LMFBR safety studies related to the characterization of sodium fires and fission products. Included are sections on SOMIX Code development, sodium splash dispersal, aerosol leakage, aerosol model improvement, characterization of aerosol source term, large scale molten fuel tests, fuel and fission product release from burning sodium, and iodine attenuation.

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A program has been developed for long-term management of high-level nuclear waste. The Savannah River Operations Office of the US Department of Energy is acting as the lead office for this program with technical advice from the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The purpose of the long-term program is to immobilize the DOE high-level waste in forms that act as highly efficient barriers against radionuclide release to the disposal site and to provide technology for similar treatment of commercial high-level waste in case reprocessing of commercial nuclear fuels is ever resumed. Descriptions of existing DOE and commercial wastes, program strategy, program expenditures, development of waste forms, evaluation and selection of waste forms, regulatory aspects of waste form selection, project schedules, and cost estimates for immobilization facilities are discussed.