An experimental and calculational study has been performed to understand and prevent inadvertent activation of the criticality alarm system (CAS) from fuel-handling operations at the Irradiated Fuel Storage Facility. In conjunction with the study, the CAS neutron detectors were tested to verify the design specifications for gamma rejection capability and zero response limit. A minimum physical restrictive boundary around the CAS location was established based on a gamma ray dose rate limit of 10 rad/hr. The canister loaded with spent nuclear fuel must be moved in the area outside the exclusion zone so as not to trigger a false alarm from the CAS detectors.

In May and June of 1998, the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Chemistry Program conducted an aircraft and surface based field campaign in Phoenix, Arizona, with the overall goal of obtaining a mechanistic understanding of O{sub 3} formation in the metropolitan area. Participants in the study included scientists from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. On most days, afternoon O{sub 3} levels in the Phoenix air basin were within 20 ppb of morning levels, indicating a relatively inactive photochemistry, despite ample sunshine and high NO{sub x} levels. Maximum O{sub 3} levels were about 100 ppb, in contrast to the situation later in the summer when there are usually violations of the Federal 1 hour 120 ppb standard. In this article we present a preliminary analysis of the DOE G-1 aircraft observations pertinent to understanding the slow rate of O{sub 3} production in the Phoenix air basin. Comparisons will be made to other locations where higher levels of O{sub 3} and more rapid O{sub 3} production have been observed.

Certain safety-related core internal structural components of light water reactors, usually fabricated from Type 304 or 316 austenitic stainless steels (SSs), accumulate very high levels of irradiation damage (20--100 displacement per atom or dpa) by the end of life. The data bases and mechanistic understanding of, the degradation of such highly irradiated components, however, are not well established. A key question is the nature of irradiation-assisted intergranular cracking at very high dose, i.e., is it purely mechanical failure or is it stress-commotion cracking? In this work, hot-cell tests and microstructural characterization were performed on Type 304 SS from the hexagonal fuel can of the decommissioned EBR-11 reactor after irradiation to {approximately}50 dpa at {approximately}370 C. Slow-strain-rate tensile tests were conducted at 289 C in air and in water at several levels of electrochemical potential (ECP), and microstructural characteristics were analyzed by scanning and transmission electron microcopies. The material deformed significantly by twinning and exhibited surprisingly high ductility in air, but was susceptible to severe intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) at high ECP. Low levels of dissolved O and ECP were effective in suppressing the susceptibility of the heavily irradiated material to IGSCC, indicating that the stress corrosion process associated with …

Investigators at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) are developing technologies that will enhance the feasibility of generating electrical power from a hydrothermal resource. One of the concepts investigated is the use of modified inlet conditions in geothermal binary power plant turbines to increase the power generation. An inlet condition of interest allows the expanding vapor to enter the two-phase region, a mode of operation typically avoided because of concern that condensate would form and damage the turbine, degrading performance. INEEL investigators postulated that initially a supersaturated vapor would be supported, and that no turbine damage would occur. This paper summarizes the investigation of these expansions that began with testing of their condensation behavior, and culminated with the incorporation of these expansions into the operation of several commercial binary plant turbines.

In May and June of 1998, the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Chemistry Program conducted an aircraft and surface based field campaign in Phoenix, Arizona, with the overall goal of obtaining a mechanistic understanding of O{sub 3} formation in the metropolitan area. Participants in the study included scientists from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. On most days, afternoon O{sub 3} levels in Phoenix air basin were within 20 ppb of morning levels, indicating a relatively inactive photochemistry, despite ample sunshine and high NO{sub x} levels. Maximum O{sub 3} levels were about 100 ppb, in contrast to the situation later in the summer when there are usually violations of the Federal 1 hour 120 ppb standard. In this article the authors present a preliminary analysis of the DOE G-1 aircraft observations pertinent to understanding the slow rate of O{sub 3} production in the Phoenix air basin. Comparisons will be made to other locations where higher levels of O{sub 3} and more rapid O{sub 3} production have been observed.

The ATLAS Electromagnetic (EM) calorimeter (EMCAL) Front End Board (FEB) will be located in custom-designed enclosures solidly connected to the feedtroughs. It is a complex mixed signal board which includes the preamplifier, shaper, switched capacitor array analog memory unit (SCA), analog to digital conversion, serialization of the data and related control logic. It will be described in detail elsewhere in these proceedings. The electromagnetic interference (either pick-up from the on board digital activity, from power supply ripple or from external sources) which affects coherently large groups of channels (coherent noise) is of particular concern in calorimetry and it has been studied in detail.

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This paper describes a portable one-sided communication library GPSHMEM that follows the interfaces of the successful SHMEM library introduced by Cray Research Inc. for their distributed memory systems: the Cray T3D and T3E. The portability is achieved by relying on ARMCI, a low-level communication library developed to support one-sided communication in distributed array libraries and compiler run-time systems, and the MPI message passing interface. The paper discusses implementation, requirements, and initial experience with GPSHMEM.

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We report on several irradiation studies performed on BTeV preFPIX2 pixel readout chip prototypes exposed to a 200 MeV proton beam at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility. The preFPIX2 pixel readout chip has been implemented in standard 0.25 micron CMOS technology following radiation tolerant design rules. The tests confirmed the radiation tolerance of the chip design to proton total dose of 26 MRad. In addition, non destructive radiation-induced single event upsets have been observed in on-chip static registers and the single bit upset cross section has been measured.

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Prior laboratory corrosion studies along with experience at the black liquor gasifier in New Bern, North Carolina, clearly demonstrate that serious material problems exist with the gasifier's refractory lining. Mullite-based and alumina-based refractories used at the New Bern facility suffered significant degradation even though they reportedly performed adequately in smaller scale systems. Oak Ridge National Laboratory's involvement in the failure analysis, and the initial exploration of suitable replacement materials, led to the realization that a simple and reliable, complementary method for refractory screening was needed. The development of a laboratory test system and its suitability for simulating the environment of black liquor gasifiers was undertaken. Identification and characterization of corrosion products were used to evaluate the test system as a rapid screening tool for refractory performance and as a predictor of refractory lifetime. Results from the test systems and pl ants were qualitatively similar.

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Several publications during the last 10 years by Woodward and colleagues have: (1) indicated a theory based on special relativity, that predicted transient mass fluctuations; (2) cited specific embodiments where a net average force would be present; (3) suggested a few ways that this theory might be tested in the laboratory; and (4) reported such test results incorporating these embodiments, which are interpreted to support theory (1) to (3) above. In this paper we show that: (1) the average force predicted by Woodward's theory occurred only because of a neglected term in a product derivative, and that when the neglected term is correctly returned, the average force identically vanishes; (2) this vanishment of the average force occurs for arbitrary forcing functions, not just the sinusoidal one considered by Woodward; (3) the transient mass fluctuation, predicted by Woodward, was developed in a theory which neglected local gravitational forces which are several dozen orders of magnitude greater; (4) additionally considering the dominant local gravitational forces produces a vastly smaller transient mass fluctuation; (5) several inconsistencies between Woodward's referents and the development of his wave equation lead to a formulation that does not follow from the antecedents even in the absence of the …

This paper highlights future developments in the field of in-situ transmission electron microscopy, as applied specifically to the issues of deformation in thin films and nanostructured materials. Emphasis is place on the forthcoming technical advances that will aid in extraction of improved quantitative experimental data using this technique.

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The governing equations for transient natural convection in eccentric annular space are solved with two high-order accurate numerical algorithms. The equation set is transformed into bipolar coordinates and split into two one-dimensional equations: finite elements are used in the direction normal to the cylinder surfaces; the pseudospectral technique is used in the azimuthal direction. This report discusses those equations.

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