A prototype Compton scatter camera for imaging gamma rays has been built and tested. This camera addresses unique aspects of gamma-ray imaging at nuclear industrial sites, including gamma-ray energies in the 0.5 to 3.0 MeV range and polychromatic fields. Analytic models of camera efficiency, resolution and contaminating events are developed. The response of the camera bears strong similarity to emission computed tomography devices used in nuclear medicine. A direct Fourier based algorithm is developed to reconstruct two-dimensional images of measured gamma-ray fields. Iterative ART and MLE algorithms are also investigated. The point response of the camera to gamma rays of energies from 0.5 to 2.8 MeV is measured and compared to the analytic models. The direct reconstruction algorithm is at least ten times more efficient than the iterative algorithms are also investigated. The point response of the camera to gamma rays energies from 0.5 to 2.8 MeV is measured and compared to the analytic models. The direct reconstruction algorithm is at least ten times more efficient than the iterative algorithms and produces images that are, in general, of the same quality. Measured images of several phantoms are shown. Important results include angular resolutions as low as 4.4{degrees}, reproduction of phantom …

The behavior of two structural clay tile infilled frames subjected to dynamic loading is investigated. The testing was performed by USACERL using a biaxial shake table machine on which two framed infills were spaced nine feet apart and connected by steel trusses and an eight inch concrete roof slab. The infills were composed of structural clay tile block which were laid with the cores horizontal. The specimen was loaded in both the out-of-plane and in-plane directions using a site specific time history record. The testing focused on determining frame and panel load-deflection behavior, acceleration amplification, and frequency degradation characteristics. The out-of-plane tests resulted in little degradation of frequency which means there was little loss of stiffness. There was no evidence of the infill {open_quotes}walking-out{close_quotes} of the steel frame; in fact the infill still had substantial stability after completion of the out-of-plane tests. As a result of the gradual increase in ground motion in the in-plane testing, the stiffness of the specimen gradually decreased. Strength and stiffness characteristics obtained from the dynamic testing were comparable to results and behavior seen in static tests. Degradation in the panel was much more rapid under the stronger ground motions which were produced during the …

A lattice gas automaton was implemented on a massively parallel machine (the BBN TC2000) and a vector supercomputer (the CRAY C90). The automaton models Burgers equation {rho}t + {rho}{rho}{sub x} = {nu}{rho}{sub xx} in 1 dimension. The lattice gas evolves by advecting and colliding pseudo-particles on a 1-dimensional, periodic grid. The specific rules for colliding particles are stochastic in nature and require the generation of many billions of random numbers to create the random bits necessary for the lattice gas. The goal of the thesis was to speed up the process of generating the random bits and thereby lessen the computational bottleneck of the automaton.

In this dissertation, a novel nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique, variable angle correlation spectroscopy (VACSY) is described and demonstrated with {sup 13}C nuclei in rapidly rotating samples. These experiments focus on one of the basic problems in solid state NMR: how to extract the wealth of information contained in the anisotropic component of the NMR signal while still maintaining spectral resolution. Analysis of the anisotropic spectral patterns from poly-crystalline systems reveal information concerning molecular structure and dynamics, yet in all but the simplest of systems, the overlap of spectral patterns from chemically distinct sites renders the spectral analysis difficult if not impossible. One solution to this problem is to perform multi-dimensional experiments where the high-resolution, isotropic spectrum in one dimension is correlated with the anisotropic spectral patterns in the other dimensions. The VACSY technique incorporates the angle between the spinner axis and the static magnetic field as an experimental parameter that may be incremented during the course of the experiment to help correlate the isotropic and anisotropic components of the spectrum. The two-dimensional version of the VACSY experiments is used to extract the chemical shift anisotropy tensor values from multi-site organic molecules, study molecular dynamics in the intermediate time regime, …

Heavy ion fusion requires injection, transport and acceleration of high current beams. Detailed simulation of such beams requires fully self-consistent space charge fields and three dimensions. WARP3D, developed for this purpose, is a particle-in-cell plasma simulation code optimized to work within the framework of an accelerator`s lattice of accelerating, focusing, and bending elements. The code has been used to study several test problems and for simulations and design of experiments. Two applications are drift compression experiments on the MBE-4 facility at LBL and design of the electrostatic quadrupole injector for the proposed ILSE facility. With aggressive drift compression on MBE-4, anomalous emittance growth was observed. Simulations carried out to examine possible causes showed that essentially all the emittance growth is result of external forces on the beam and not of internal beam space-charge fields. Dominant external forces are the dodecapole component of focusing fields, the image forces on the surrounding pipe and conductors, and the octopole fields that result from the structure of the quadrupole focusing elements. Goal of the design of the electrostatic quadrupole injector is to produce a beam of as low emittance as possible. The simulations show that the dominant effects that increase the emittance are the …

Two-phase cross flow over heat exchanger tubes creates vibrations which contribute greatly to the wear on the tubes. Fluidelastic instability is a major mechanism by which tubes can fail. In this work, the fluidelastic instability of a tube placed in an array subjected to two-phase cross flow has been studied. For the determination of fluidelastic instability, a triangular tube array was used. The tubes were made of acrylic and were 2.2 cm or 2.37 cm in diameter and 20 cm in length. Eighteen tubes and 4 half tubes formed 5 rows with a pitch to diameter ratio of 1.4. All of the tubes except the test tube were rigidly supported at the text section wall. The test tube was flexibly supported with two cantilever beams. By installing cantilever beams horizontally and vertically, drag and lift direction tube vibration were studied. Parameters of tube mass, structural stiffness, natural frequency, and pitch to diameter ratio were varied. The drag coefficients on a rigidly held tube in an array subjected to two-phase cross flow were measured. The tube in an array was located at displaced positions as well as at the normal position in order to study the variation of fluid force as …

The longitudinal instability has potentially disastrous effects on the ion beams used for heavy ion driven inertial confinement fusion. This instability is a {open_quotes}resistive wall{close_quotes} instability with the impedance coining from the induction modules in the accelerator used as a driver. This instability can greatly amplify perturbations launched from the beam head and can prevent focusing of the beam onto the small spot necessary for fusion. This instability has been studied using the WARPrz particle-in-cell code. WARPrz is a 2 1/2 dimensional electrostatic axisymmetric code. This code includes a model for the impedance of the induction modules. Simulations with resistances similar to that expected in a driver show moderate amounts of growth from the instability as a perturbation travels from beam head to tail as predicted by cold beam fluid theory. The perturbation reflects off the beam tail and decays as it travels toward the beam head. Nonlinear effects cause the perturbation to steepen during reflection. Including the capacitive component of the, module impedance. has a partially stabilizing effect on the longitudinal instability. This reduction in the growth rate is seen in both cold beam fluid theory and in simulations with WARPrz. Instability growth rates for warm beams measured from …

Purpose of this study was to investigate use of XRF (x-ray fluorescence spectrometry) as a near real-time method to determine melter glass compositions. A range of glasses derived from wastewater treatment sludges associated with DOE sites was prepared. They were analyzed by XRF and wet chemistry digestion with atomic absorption/inductively coupled emission spectrometry. Results indicated good correlation between these two methods. A rapid sample preparation and analysis technique was developed and demonstrated by acquiring a sample from a pilot-scale simulated waste glass melter and analyzing it by XRF within one hour. From the results, XRF shows excellent potential as a process control tool for waste glass vitrification. Glasses prepared for this study were further analyzed for durability by toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and product consistency test and results are presented.

Many granular materials, including sedimentary rocks and soils, contain clay particles in the pores, grain contacts, or matrix. The amount and location of the clays and fluids can influence the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the granular material. This research investigated the mechanical effects of clay at grain-to-grain contacts in the presence of different fluids. Laboratory seismic wave propagation tests were conducted at ultrasonic frequencies using spherical glass beads coated with Montmorillonite clay (SWy-1) onto which different fluids were adsorbed. For all bead samples, seismic velocity increased and attenuation decreased as the contact stiffnesses increased with increasing stress demonstrating that grain contacts control seismic transmission in poorly consolidated and unconsolidated granular material. Coating the beads with clay added stiffness and introduced viscosity to the mechanical contact properties that increased the velocity and attenuation of the propagating seismic wave. Clay-fluid interactions were studied by allowing the clay coating to absorb water, ethyl alcohol, and hexadecane. Increasing water amounts initially increased seismic attenuation due to clay swelling at the contacts. Attenuation decreased for higher water amounts where the clay exceeded the plastic limit and was forced from the contact areas into the surrounding open pore space during sample consolidation. This work investigates …

Vitrification has been declared by the Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as the Best Demonstrated Available Technology (BDAT) for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Savannah River Site currently uses a sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) precipitation process to remove Cs-137 from a wastewater solution created from the processing of nuclear fuel. This process has several disadvantages such as the formation of a benzene waste stream. It has been proposed to replace the precipitation process with an ion exchange process using a new resorcinol-formaldehyde resin developed by Savannah River Technical Center (SRTC). Preliminary tests, however, showed that problems such as crust formation and a reduced final glass wasteform exist when the resin is placed in the melter environment. The newly developed stirred melter could be capable of overcoming these problems. This research explored the operational feasibility of using the stirred tank melter to vitrify an organic ion exchange resin. Preliminary tests included crucible studies to determine the reducing potential of the resin and the extent of oxygen consuming reactions and oxygen transfer tests to approximate the extent of oxygen transfer into the molten glass using an impeller and a combination of the impeller and an external oxygen transfer system. These preliminary studies …

The incidents at the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have triggered the need for better personnel dosimetry methods in mixed radiation fields. This thesis presents a detailed computational study of a new method for mixed radiation field dosimetry using single-element TL dosimeters with pulsed laser heating schemes. The main objective of this study was to obtain an optimum heating scheme so that the depth-dose distribution in a thick TL dosimeter could be accurately determined. The major parts of the study include: (a) heat conduction calculations for TL dosimeters with various heating schemes, (b) glow curve calculations for TL dosimeters based on a first-order kinetic model, (c) unfolding of the depth-dose distribution based on the glow curve data, and (d) estimation of shallow and deep doses from the unfolded depth-dose distribution. Two optimum heating schemes were obtained in this study. The first one was obtained for a focused laser beam, and the second one was obtained for a uniform laser beam. Both heating schemes consist of two processes: top surface heating and bottom surface heating, and each process in turn consists of a sequence of laser pulses with various heating durations and power levels. Compared to the ``true`` depth-dose distribution obtained …

Thousands of wildland firefighters are exposed to high levels of toxic materials every year. Carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and acrolein gases, along with high particulate concentrations, are the major toxics encountered. Currently, the only respiratory protection wildland firefighters use is a bandanna over the mouth and nose. In this study, a modem activated carbon cartridge with an electrostatic prefilter was compared to a typical bandanna for its ability to filter wildland smoke toxics such as formaldehyde and particulates. The results of the tests were disappointing; neither filter performed very well. The activated carbon cartridge and prefilter efficiently collected formaldehyde gas for up to 60 minutes; however, it only collected 85 percent of the challenge particulate. ]Me bandanna, as expected, was only partially effective at collecting smoke particulate and filtered no toxic gases.

Investigations of electronic and optical properties of semiconductors often require specimens with extremely homogeneous dopant distributions and precisely controlled net-carrier concentrations and compensation ratios. The previous difficulties in fabricating such samples are overcome as reported in this thesis by growing high-purity Ge single crystals of controlled {sup 75}Ge and {sup 70}Ge isotopic compositions, and doping these crystals by the neutron transmutation doping (NTD) technique. The resulting net-impurity concentrations and the compensation ratios are precisely determined by the thermal neutron fluence and the [{sup 74}Ge]/[{sup 70}Ge] ratios of the starting Ge materials, respectively. This method also guarantees unprecedented doping uniformity. Using such samples the authors have conducted four types of electron (hole) transport studies probing the nature of (1) free carrier scattering by neutral impurities, (2) free carrier scattering by ionized impurities, (3) low temperature hopping conduction, and (4) free carrier transport in samples close to the metal-insulator transition.

Multigrid methods are studied for solving elliptic partial differential equations. Focus is on parallel multigrid methods and their use for reservoir simulation. Multicolor Fourier analysis is used to analyze the behavior of standard multigrid methods for problems in one and two dimensions. Relation between multicolor and standard Fourier analysis is established. Multiple coarse grid methods for solving model problems in 1 and 2 dimensions are considered; at each coarse grid level we use more than one coarse grid to improve convergence. For a given Dirichlet problem, a related extended problem is first constructed; a purification procedure can be used to obtain Moore-Penrose solutions of the singular systems encountered. For solving anisotropic equations, semicoarsening and line smoothing techniques are used with multiple coarse grid methods to improve convergence. Two-level convergence factors are estimated using multicolor. In the case where each operator has the same stencil on each grid point on one level, exact multilevel convergence factors can be obtained. For solving partial differential equations with discontinuous coefficients, interpolation and restriction operators should include information about the equation coefficients. Matrix-dependent interpolation and restriction operators based on the Schur complement can be used in nonsymmetric cases. A semicoarsening multigrid solver with these operators …

The +5 oxidation state of U, Np, Pu, and Am is a linear dioxo cation (AnO{sub 2}{sup +}) with a formal charge of +1. These cations form complexes with a variety of other cations, including actinide cations. Other oxidation states of actinides do not form these cation-cation complexes with any cation other than AnO{sub 2}{sup +}; therefore, cation-cation complexes indicate something unique about AnO{sub 2}{sup +} cations compared to actinide cations in general. The first cation-cation complex, NpO{sub 2}{sup +}{center_dot}UO{sub 2}{sup 2+}, was reported by Sullivan, Hindman, and Zielen in 1961. Of the four actinides that form AnO{sub 2}{sup +} species, the cation-cation complexes of NpO{sub 2}{sup +} have been studied most extensively while the other actinides have not. The only PuO{sub 2}{sup +} cation-cation complexes that have been studied are with Fe{sup 3+} and Cr{sup 3+} and neither one has had its equilibrium constant measured. Actinides have small molar absorptivities and cation-cation complexes have small equilibrium constants; therefore, to overcome these obstacles a sensitive technique is required. Spectroscopic techniques are used most often to study cation-cation complexes. Laser-Induced Photacoustic Spectroscopy equilibrium constants for the complexes NpO{sub 2}{sup +}{center_dot}UO{sub 2}{sup 2+}, NpO{sub 2}{sup +}{center_dot}Th{sup 4+}, PuO{sub 2}{sup +}{center_dot}UO{sub 2}{sup 2+}, …

X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was performed on Photosystem II (PSII)-enriched membranes prepared from spinach to explore: (1) the correlation between structure and magnetic spin state of the Mn cluster in the oxygen evolving complex (OEC) in the S{sub 2} state; and (2) the oxidation state changes of the Mn cluster in the flash-induced S-states. The structure of the Mn cluster in the S{sub 2} state with the g{approx}4 electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal (S{sub 2}-g4 state) was compared with that in the S{sub 2} state with multiline signal (S{sub 2}-MLS state) and the S{sub 1} state. The S{sub 2}-g4 state has a higher XAS inflection point energy than that of the S{sub 1} state, indicating the oxidation of Mn in the advance from the S{sub 1} to the S{sub 2}-g4 state. Differences in the edge shape and in the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) show that the structure of the Mn cluster in the S{sub 2}-g4 state is different from that in the S{sub 2}-MLS or the S{sub 1} state. In the S{sub 2}-g4 state, the second shell of backscatterers from the Mn absorber contains two Mn-Mn distances of 2.73 {angstrom} and 2.85 {angstrom}. Very little distance disorder exists …

The flow of granular materials is common to many industrial processes. This dissertation suggests and validates image processing algorithms applied to high speed digital images to measure the dynamics (velocity, temperature and volume fraction) of dry granular solids flowing down an inclined chute under the action of gravity. Glass and acrylic particles have been used as granular solids in the experiment. One technique utilizes block matching for spatially averaged velocity measurements of the glass particles. This technique is compared with the velocity measurement using an optic probe which is a conventional granular flow velocity measurement device. The other technique for measuring the velocities of individual acrylic particles is developed with correspondence using a Hopfield network. This technique first locates the positions of particles with pattern recognition techniques, followed by a clustering technique, which produces point patterns. Also, several techniques are compared for particle recognition: synthetic discriminant function (SDF), minimum average correlation energy (MACE) filter, modified minimum average correlation energy (MMACE) filter and variance normalized correlation. The author proposes an MMACE filter which improves generalization of the MACE filter by adjusting the amount of averaged spectrum of training images in the spectrum whitening stages of the MACE filter. Variance normalized correlation …

Experiments were performed to characterize the creation and evolution of high-temperature (T{sub e}{approximately}100eV), high-density (n{sub e}>10{sup 22}cm{sup {minus}3}) plasmas created with intense ({approximately}10{sup 12}-10{sup 16}W/cm{sup 2}), ultra-short (130fs) laser pulses. The principle diagnostic was plasma reflectivity at optical wavelengths (614nm). An array of target materials (Al, Au, Si, SiO{sub 2}) with widely differing electronic properties tested plasma behavior over a large set of initial states. Time-integrated plasma reflectivity was measured as a function of laser intensity. Space- and time-resolved reflectivity, transmission and scatter were measured with a spatial resolution of {approximately}3{mu}m and a temporal resolution of 130fs. An amplified, mode-locked dye laser system was designed to produce {approximately}3.5mJ, {approximately}130fs laser pulses to create and nonintrusively probe the plasmas. Laser prepulse was carefully controlled to suppress preionization and give unambiguous, high-density plasma results. In metals (Al and Au), it is shown analytically that linear and nonlinear inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption, resonance absorption, and vacuum heating explain time-integrated reflectivity at intensities near 10{sup 16}W/cm{sup 2}. In the insulator, SiO{sub 2}, a non-equilibrium plasma reflectivity model using tunneling ionization, Helmholtz equations, and Drude conductivity agrees with time-integrated reflectivity measurements. Moreover, a comparison of ionization and Saha equilibration rates shows that plasma formed by intense, …

An integrated exposure and carcinogenic risk assessment model for organic contamination in soil, SoilRisk, was developed and used for evaluating the risk implications of both site-specific and uniform-concentration approaches to setting soil remediation goals at hazardous-waste-contaminated sites. SoilRisk was applied to evaluate the uncertainty in the risk estimate due to uncertainty in site conditions at a representative site. It was also used to evaluate the variability in risk across a region of sites that can occur due to differences in site characteristics that affect contaminant transport and fate when a uniform concentration approach is used. In evaluating regional variability, Ross County, Ohio and the State of Ohio were used as examples. All analyses performed considered four contaminants (benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), chlordane, and benzo[a]pyrene (BAP)) and four exposure scenarios (commercial, recreational and on- and offsite residential). Regardless of whether uncertainty in risk at a single site or variability in risk across sites was evaluated, the exposure scenario specified and the properties of the target contaminant had more influence than variance in site parameters on the resulting variance and magnitude of the risk estimate. In general, variance in risk was found to be greater for the relatively less degradable and more mobile …

Objectives of this field experiment were: (1) determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the radon concentrations of samples collected by EPA`s standard method, using a syringe, and an alternative, slow-flow method; (2) determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the measured radon concentrations of samples mailed vs samples not mailed; and (3) determine whether there was a temporal variation of water radon concentration over a 7-month period. The field experiment was conducted at 9 sites, 5 private wells, and 4 public wells, at various locations in North Carolina. Results showed that a syringe is not necessary for sample collection, there was generally no significant radon loss due to mailing samples, and there was statistically significant evidence of temporal variations in water radon concentrations.

A composite model of atmospheric, unsaturated and groundwater transport is developed to evaluate the processes determining the distribution of atmospherically derived contaminants in groundwater systems and to test the sensitivity of simulated contaminant concentrations to input parameters and model linkages. One application is to screen specific atmospheric emissions for their potential in determining groundwater age. Temporal changes in atmospheric emissions could provide a recognizable pattern in the groundwater system. The model also provides a way for quantifying the significance of uncertainties in the tracer source term and transport parameters on the contaminant distribution in the groundwater system, an essential step in using the distribution of contaminants from local, point source atmospheric emissions to examine conceptual models of groundwater flow and transport.

In this thesis tools of data reconciliation are used to integrate available information into scientific and policy models of greenhouse gases. The role of uncertainties in scientific and policy models of global climate change is examined, and implications for global change policy are drawn. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas. Global sources and sinks of methane have significant uncertainties. A chance constrained methodology was developed and used to perform inversions on the global methane cycle. Budgets of methane that are consistent with source fluxes, isotopic and ice core measurements were determined. While it is not possible to come up with a single budget for CH{sub 4}, performing the calculation with a number of sets of assumed priors suggests a convergence in the allowed range for sources. In some cases -- wetlands (70-130 Tg/yr), rice paddies (60-125 Tg/yr) a significant reduction in the uncertainty of the source estimate is achieved. Our results compare favorably with the most recent measurements of flux estimates. For comparison, a similar analysis using bayes monte carlo simulation was performed. The question of the missing sink for carbon remains unresolved. Two analyses that attempt to quantify the missing sink were performed. First, a steady state …

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) is preparing to upgrade their low-level radioactive waste (LLW) characterization and classification program. This thesis describes a survey study of three other DOE sites conducted in support of this effort. The LLW characterization/classification programs of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Savannah River Site, and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory were critically evaluated. The evaluation was accomplished through tours of each site facility and personnel interviews. Comparative evaluation of the individual characterization/classification programs suggests the WVDP should purchase a real-time radiography unit and a passive/active neutron detection system, make additional mechanical modifications to the segmented gamma spectroscopy assay system, provide a separate building to house characterization equipment and perform assays away from waste storage, develop and document a new LLW characterization/classification methodology, and make use of the supercompactor owned by WVDP.

Effects of various grain and subgrain morphologies on low temperature work hardening of pure Al is studied using tensile tests. Plotting the work hardening rate as a function of true stress, the work hardening is separable into two distinct regimes. Both regimes are approximated by a line {Theta} = {Theta}{sub 0} {minus} K{sub 2}{sigma}, where {Theta}{sub 0} is theoretical work hardening rate at zero stress and K{sub 2} is related to dynamic recovery rate. The first or early deformation regime exhibits greater values of {Theta}{sub 0} and K{sub 2} and can extend up to the first 10% strain of tensile deformation. This early deformation regime is contingent on the existence of a pre-existent dislocation substructure from previous straining. The {Theta}{sub 0} and K{sub 2} associated with the early deformation regime are dependent on the strength and orientation of the pre-existent dislocation substructure relative to the new strain path. At high enough temperatures, this pre-existent dislocation substructure is annealed out, resulting in the near elimination of the early deformation regime. In comparison, the latter regime is dominated by the initial grain and/or subgrain morphology and exhibit lower values of {Theta}{sub 0} and K{sub 2}. The actual value of K{sub 2} in …