A nodal method for multidimensional light water reactor (LWR) static and transient analysis is presented in this report. This method efficiently solves one- or two-group diffusion equations using an analytic solution procedure. This report details significant improvements made to those aspects of the method previously reported in the literature. Eigenvalues and power distributions are presented for several static benchmark problems. Time-dependent results for a difficult two-dimensional BWR kinetics benchmark problem are presented. A reference solution for this benchmark problem is also presented. The results presented in this report are summarized, and suggestions are made as to appropriate ways to extend this work to multi-group fast breeder reactor analysis.

Quarterly report on the activities of the Argonne National Laboratory Materials Science Division regarding studies on ceramic (refractory) and metallic materials being used or intended for use in coal-conversion processes.

Techniques for probabilistic response-surface analysis have been developed to obtain the probability distributions of the consequences of postulated nuclear-reactor accidents. The uncertainties of the consequences are caused by the variability of the system and model input parameters used in the accident analysis. Probability distributions are assigned to the input parameters, and parameter values are systematically chosen from these distributions. These input parameters are then used in deterministic consequence analyses performed by mechanistic accident-analysis codes. The results of these deterministic consequence analyses are used to generate the coefficients for analytical functions that approximate the consequences in terms of the selected input parameters. These approximating functions are used to generate the probability distributions of the consequences with random sampling being used to obtain values for the accident parameters from their distributions. A computer code PROSA has been developed for implementing the probabilistic response-surface technique. Special features of the code generate or treat sensitivities, statistical moments of the input and output variables, region-wise response surfaces, correlated input parameters, and conditional distributions. The code can also be used for calculating important distributions of the input parameters. The use of the code is illustrated in conjunction with the fast-running accident-analysis code SACO to provide probability …

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to ecology. This report includes studies on the effects of sulfur dioxide on Midwestern grain crops and the addition of the new research vessel, the Ekos.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to atmospheric chemistry. This report includes studies on dispersion of pollutants to the surface of water near shorelines and steam fog and the exchange of gases across an air-water interface.

Report on various studies in the physics division of Argonne National Laboratory.

The objective of the proposed Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) is to provide precision beams of heavy ions for nuclear physics research in the region of projectile energies comparable to nuclear binding energies (5-25 MeV/A). By using the demonstrated potential of superconducting radiofrequency technology, beams of exceptional quality and flexibility can be obtained. The system is designed to provide beams with tandem-like energy resolution and ease of energy variation, the energy range is comparable to that of approximately 50 MV tandem and, in addition, the beam will be bunched into very short (approximately 50 psec) pulses, permitting fast-timing measurements that can open up major new experimental approaches.

This revised proposal for the construction of the Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) is in all essentials the same as the proposal originally presented to NUSAC in March 1978. The only differences worth mentioning are the plan to expand the experimental area somewhat more than was originally proposed and an increased cost, brought about principally by inflation. The outline presented is the same (with minor change in wording) as in the original document, reproduced here for the convenience of the reader.

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 Liu and Jordan method of calculating long term average energy collection of flat plate collectors is simplified (by about a factor of 4), and generalized to all collectors, concentration and non-concentrating. The only meteorological input needed are the long term average daily total hemispherical insolation H/sub h/ on a horizontal surface and, for thermal collectors the average ambient temperature. The collector is characterized by optical efficiency, heat loss (or U-value), heat extraction efficiency, concentration ratio and tracking mode. An average operating temperature is assumed. Interaction with storage can be included by combining the present model with the f-chart method of Beckman, Klein and Duffie. Formulas and examples are presented for five collector types: flat plate, compound parabolic concentrator, concentrator with E.-W. tracking axis, concentrator with polar tracking axis, and concentrator with two axis tracking. The examples show that even for relatively low temperature applications and cloudy climates (50 degrees C in New York in February), concentrating collectors can outperform the flat plate. The method has been validated against hourly weather data (with measurements of hemispherical and beam insolation), and has been found to have an average accuracy better than 3% for the long term average radiation available to solar …

Report on electrochemical energy development, including development of advanced, high-temperature lithium/metal sulfide batteries for vehicle propulsion and stationary energy storage.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward understanding and improving the components of molten-carbonate-electrolyte fuel cells operated at temperatures near 925 K.

A transient, two-dimensional code has been developed to provide a detailed description of fuel-clad conditions during a TOP accident. Emphasis has been directed toward development of a framework within which fuel motion and ejection can be viewed following pin failure. All code modules have been rigorously verified. Illustrative application of the code, with the exercise of its many and varied features, have been included.

This report describes the Fuel Dynamics Test E6 and analyzes the test data. A cluster of six fresh FTR-type fuel pins surrounding a previously irradiated pin was tested to failure in a simulated $3/s FFTF accident.

Type 308 CRE stainless steel weld specimens were subjected to metallographic and fractographic analysis after failure in elevated temperature (593 degrees C) creep-fatigue tests. The failure mode for specimens tested under continuous-cycle fatigue conditions were predominantly transgranular. When the test cycle was modified to include a hold time at the maximum tensile strain, the failure mode became predominantly inter-phase. Sigma phase was observed within the delta-ferrite regions of the weld. However, the presence of sigma phase did not appear to affect the failure mode.

Distribution coefficients were determined for the adsorption of more than 40 elements on anion-exchange resins from mixtures of HCl (0.1 to 12M) and HF (0.1-8M). Two resins, Dowex 1 x 10, 200 to 400 mesh and Dowex 1 x 4, 100 to 200 mesh, were used. Distribution coefficients were also determined for the adsorption of many elements on both resins from 0.1 to 12M HCl and 0.1 to 12M HF. Anion exchange in the presence of HF was found useful for separating impurities from various materials for their subsequent determination, and specific procedures used in our spectrochemical laboratory for this purpose are outlined. The results of a literature search on the use of anion exchange in hydrofluoric acid and fluoride-containing media are presented in an extensive bibliography.

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Materials Science Division, including studies on ceramic (refractory) and metallic materials for use in coal-conversion processes as well as studies of erosive wear, nondestructive testing, corrosion, refractory degradation, and failure analysis.

The degenerate parabolic equation has been used to model the flow of gas through a porous medium. Error estimates for continuous and discrete time finite element procedures to approximate the solution of this equation are proved and a new regularity result is described.

Test L5 simulated a hypothetical loss-of-flow accident in an LMFBR using three (plutonium, uranium) dioxide fuel elements of the FTR type. The test elements were irradiated before TREAT Test L5 in the General Electric Test Reactor to 8 at. % burnup at about 40 kW/m. The pre-irradiation in GETR caused a fuel-restructuring range characteristic of moderate-power structure relative to the FTR. The test transient was devised so that a power burst would be initiated at incipient cladding melting after the loss of flow. The test simulation corresponds to a scenario for FTR in which fuel in high-power-structure subassemblies slump, resulting in a power excursion. The remaining subassemblies are subjected to this power burst. Test L5 addressed the fuel-motion behavior of the subassemblies in this latter category. Data from test-vehicle sensors, hodoscope, and post-mortem examinations were used to construct the sequence of events within the test zone. From these observations, the fuel underwent a predominantly dispersive event just after reaching a peak power six times nominal at, or after, scram. The fuel motion was apparently driven by the release of entrained fission-product gases, since fuel vapor pressure was deliberately kept below significant levels for the transient. The test remains show a …

Quarterly progress report summarizing work on water-reactor-safety problems: loss of coolant accident research, transient fuel response and fission-product release program, and mechanical properties of zircaloy containing oxygen.

Annual report discussing results of environmental monitoring program to determine Argonne operations' effect on environment.

A nondestructive autoradiographic method is described which can provide a verification that rods in the interior of unirradiated LWR fuel assemblies contain low-enriched uranium. Sufficient absorber must be used to reduce contributions to image density by beta radiation from uranium-238 daughters. When appropriate absorbers are used, the density of the image of a uranium-containing fuel rod is proportional to the uranium-235 enrichment in that rod. Exposure times as short as 1.5 hours can be achieved by using fast film and intensifying screens. Methods are discussed for reducing contributions to the image density of any single rod from radiation produced by all other rods in the assembly. The technique is useful for detecting missing rods, dummy rods, and rods containing depleted uranium. These defects can be detected by visual inspection of the autoradiographs. In its present state of development, the technique is not sensitive enough to reliably detect the difference between the various uranium-235 enrichments encountered in current BWR fuel assemblies. Results are presented for field tests of the technique at BWR and PWR facilities.

In the analysis of LMFBR core-containment and heat-removal problems associated with hypothetical core-disruptive accidents, viscosity data on molten ceramics are needed to help analyze the convective heat transfer and flow patterns within liquid pools. An oscillating cup viscometer has been used to measure the viscosity of molten alumina in the temperature range from 2400 to 2750/sup 0/K. The data are represented by the equation: log eta = 11448/T - 8.2734 where the viscosity, eta, is given in Pascal seconds and the temperature, T, is in Kelvins.

Ultrasonic inspections of austenitic stainless steel weld metal are particularly difficult because of the dendritic structure and anisotropy of the material. The acoustic properties of stainless steel weld metal are discussed. Data on frequency spectra and variations in longitudinal and shear velocities with wave-propagation direction are presented. The difference in detectability of artificial reflectors using shear waves of varying polarization is presented, and it is demonstrated that, in some cases, horizontally polarized shear waves can detect a reflector in the weld metal, whereas the traditional vertically polarized shear waves cannot.