This document reports on the work done by the Nuclear Waste Programs of the Chemical Technology Division (CMT), Argonne National Laboratory, in the period October 1991-March 1992. In these programs, studies are underway on the performance of waste glass and spent fuel in projected nuclear repository conditions to provide input to the licensing of the nation's high-level waste repositories.

The Experimental Boiling-Water Reactor (EBWR) was designed, built, and operated to provide experience and engineering data that would demonstrate the feasibility of the direct-cycle, boiling-water reactor and be applicable to improved, larger nuclear power stations; and was based on information obtained in the first test boiling-water reactors, the BORAX series. EBWR initially produced 20 MW(t), 5 MW(e); later modified and upgraded, as described and illustrated, it was operated at up to 100 MW(t). The facility fulfilled its primary mission - demonstrating the practicality of the direct-boiling concept - and, in fact, was the prototype of some of the first commercial plants and of reactor programs in some other countries. After successful completion of the Water-Cooled Reactor Program, EBWR was utilized in the joint Argonne-Hanford Plutonium Recycle Program to develop data for the utilization of plutonium as a fuel in light-water thermal systems. Final shutdown of the EBWR facility followed the termination of the latter program.

This thesis involved the construction of (1) a grammar that incorporates knowledge on base invariancy and secondary structure in a molecule and (2) a parser engine that uses the grammar to position bases into the structural subunits of the molecule. These concepts were combined with a novel pinning technique to form a tool that semi-automates insertion of a new species into the alignment for the 16S rRNA molecule (a component of the ribosome) maintained by Dr. Carl Woese`s group at the University of Illinois at Urbana. The tool was tested on species extracted from the alignment and on a group of entirely new species. The results were very encouraging, and the tool should be substantial aid to the curators of the 16S alignment. The construction of the grammar was itself automated, allowing application of the tool to alignments for other molecules. The logic programming language Prolog was used to construct all programs involved. The computational linguistics approach used here was found to be a useful way to attach the problem of insertion into an alignment.

This report outlines a treatment scheme for separating and concentrating the transuranic (TRU) elements present in aqueous waste solutions stored at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The treatment method selected is carrier precipitation. Potential carriers will be evaluated in future laboratory work, beginning with ferric hydroxide and magnetite. The process will result in a supernatant with alpha activity low enough that it can be treated in the existing evaporator/concentrator at ANL. The separated TRU waste will be packaged for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Motion-dependent magnetic forces are the key elements in the study of magnetically levitated vehicle (maglev) system dynamics. In the past, most maglevsystem designs were based on a quasisteady-motion theory of magnetic forces. This report presents an experimental and analytical study that will enhance our understanding of the role of unsteady-motion-dependent magnetic forces and demonstrate an experimental technique that can be used to measure those unsteady magnetic forces directly. The experimental technique provides a useful tool to measure motion-dependent magnetic forces for the prediction and control of maglev systems.

The dynamic load-balancing problem for mesh-connected parallel computers can be clearly described by introducing a function that identifies how much work is to be transmitted between neighboring processors. This function is a solution to an elliptic problem for which a wealth of knowledge exists. The non-uniqueness of the solution to the load-balancing problem is made explicit.

The IBM SP1 is IBM`s newest parallel distributed-memory computer. As part of a joint project with IBM, Argonne took delivery of an early system in order to evaluate the software environment and to begin porting programming packages and applications to this machine. This report discusses the results of those efforts once the high-performance switch was installed. An earlier report (ANL/MCS-TM-177) emphasized software usability and the initial ports to the SP1. This report contains performance results and discusses some applications and tools not covered in TM 177.

Using the transfer matrix method, we created the Excel worksheet "Beam" for analyzing vibrations in centrifugal contactors. With this worksheet, a user can calculate the first natural frequency of the motor/rotor system for a centrifugal contactor. We determined a typical value for the bearing stiffness (k(sub B)) of a motor after measuring the k(sub B) value for three different motors. The k(sub B) value is an important parameter in this model, but it is not normally available for motors. The assumptions that we made in creating the Beam worksheet were verified by comparing the calculated results with those from a VAX computer program, BEAM IV. The Beam worksheet was applied to several contactor designs for which we have experimental data and found to work well.

A comprehensive set of elementary functions has been implemented portably in Ada. The high accuracy of the implementation has been confirmed by rigorous analysis. Moreover, we present new test methods that are efficient and offer a high resolution of 0.005 unit in the last place. These test methods have been implemented portably here and confirm the accuracy of our implemented functions. Reports on the accuracy of other function libraries obtained by our test programs are also presented.

A conference at Argonne National Laboratory for executives and technical personnel in small and medium-size manufacturing companies summarized how materials evaluation and inspection by nondestructive methods are changing and broadening. The application of these rapidly emerging techniques in maintaining and improving the quality and competitiveness of manufactured products was stressed. Individual papers have been cataloged separately.

In horizontal flow through a rectangular channel, the channel cross section can be oriented so that the long side is either vertical or horizontal. The effect of cross-section orientation on the fluid dynamic characteristics of two-phase flow is of interest in plate-fin heat exchanger design because a heat exchanger can be similarly oriented to operate in either of the two orientations. An earlier study of two-phase flow patterns and frictional pressure gradients in a small rectangular channel with the channel cross section oriented with the long side vertical was performed and reported. This report presents the results of a complementary study of the same channel, but with the channel cross section oriented so that the long side was horizontal. Flow patterns were studied and a flow pattern map, using superficial gas and liquid velocities as co-ordinates, was developed. Measured two-phase frictional pressure drops were analyzed using the concept of two--phase flow multipliers. Results from the two channel orientations were compared. While there are some notable differences in flow patterns at low mass qualities and low mass fluxes, in the practical range of interest for plate-fin heat exchanger design the effects on frictional pressure gradient are minimal and the modified correlation …

Six alloys have been selected as candidate container materials for the storage of high-level nuclear waste at the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. These materials are Type 304L stainless steel (SS), Type 316L SS, Incoloy 825, P-deoxidized Cu, Cu-30%Ni, and Cu-7%A1. The present program has been initiated to determine whether any of these materials can survive for 300 years in the site environment without developing through-wall stress corrosion cracks, and to assess the relative resistance of these materials to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). A series of slow-strain-rate tests (SSRTs) jn simulated Well J-13 water which is representative of the groundwater present at the Yucca Mountain site has been completed, and crack-growth-rate (CGR) tests are also being conducted under the same environmental conditions.

A literature review on extractants for strontium removal was initially performed at Northern Illinois University to assess their potential in magnetically assisted chemical separation. A series of potential strontium extractants was systematically evaluated there using radioanalytical methods. Initial experiments were designed to test the uptake of strontium from nitric acid using several samples of magnetic extractant particles that were coated with various crown ether ligands. High partition coefficient (K(sub d)) values for stimulant tank waste were obtained. Further studies demonstrated that the large partitioning was due to uncoated particles.

The dynamic response of magnetically levitated (maglev) ground transportation systems has important consequences for safety and ride quality, guideway design, and system costs. Ride quality is determined by vehicle response and by environmental factors such as humidity and noise. The dynamic response of the vehicles is the key element in determining ride quality, while vehicle stability is an important safety-related element. To design a guideway that provides acceptable ride quality in the stable region, vehicle dynamics must be understood. Furthermore, the trade-off between guideway smoothness and levitation and control systems must be considered if maglev systems are to be economically feasible. The link between the guideway and the other maglev components is vehicle dynamics. For a commercial maglev system, vehicle dynamics must be analyzed and tested in detail. This report, which reviews various aspects of the dynamic characteristics, experiments and analysis, and design guidelines for maglev systems, discusses vehicle stability, motion dependent magnetic force components, guideway characteristics, vehicle/ guideway interaction, ride quality, suspension control laws, aerodynamic loads and other excitations, and research needs.

This report comprises the abstracts and papers for the talks presented at the Workshop on Compilation of (Symbolic) Languages for Parallel Computers, held October 31 - November 1, 1991, in San Diego. These unrefereed contributions were provided by the participants for the purpose of this workshop; many of them will be published elsewhere in peer-reviewed conferences and publications.

The yield of hydrogen from radiolysis of aqueous solutions is substantially reduced by the presence of nitrate and nitrite in the waste solutions. Nitrate is more efficient in scavenging the precursors to hydrogen than is nitrite, therefore, the latter should be maintained at higher levels if minimization of radiolytic gas production is required. Nitrate is the major scavenger for e(sub aq)(sup (minus)) and nitrite is the major scavenger for H atoms. At the concentration levels of the waste solutions some fraction of the radiation energy will be absorbed directly by the solutes, primarily the nitrate/nitrite components. Organic additive will increase the generation of hydrogen and mechanistic information is available to allow predictive modeling of trends in the rate of the generation. Physical parameters such as temperature, viscosity, and pressure will not significantly affect the gas generation relative to its generation under normal conditions. Radiolytic generation of N2O is very inefficient in the absence of organic solutes. No mechanistic information is available on its generation in the presence of organic additives. At the concentration levels of the inorganic salts in the waste solutions, it will be very difficult to find a chemical additive that could efficiently reduce the yield of the …

This report provides a description of the findings that resulted from a workshop to develop guidelines for handling hooked and entangled turtles, hosted by the NMFS Honolulu Laboratory March 15-17, 1995.

Abstract: Statistical guidelines are described for the development of a pilot scientific observer sampling program to collect turtle interactions data from the Hawaii longline fishery. The best available data are presented and potential sources of variability in longline turtle take rates are discussed. A stratified sampling design for a pilot survey is developed based on time and target species. An array of sample size choices for the pilot program is presented covering a range of tolerance levels and confidence levels for estimation of total turtle take.

The following report is the results of an observational research on the Hawaiian monk seal and green turtles along the Pearl and Hermes Reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands from May 17th to July 3rd 1988.

The following preliminary report is a computer analysis of HSSR data from the Montrose 1x2 Quadrangle, Colorado.