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At least 415 records · Page 23

Sulfur containing nanoporous materials, nanoparticles, methods and applications

Sulfur containing nanoparticles that may be used within cathode electrodes within lithium ion batteries include in a first instance porous carbon shape materials (i.e., either nanoparticle shapes or "bulk" shapes that are subsequently ground to nanoparticle shapes) that are infused with a sulfur material. A synthetic route to these carbon and sulfur containing nanoparticles may use a template nanoparticle to form a hollow carbon shape shell, and subsequent dissolution of the template nanoparticle prior to infusion of the hollow carbon shape shell with a sulfur material. Sulfur infusion into other porous carbon shapes that are not hollow is also contemplated. A second type of sulfur containing nanoparticle includes a metal oxide material core upon which is located a shell layer that includes a vulcanized polymultiene polymer material and ion conducting polymer material. The foregoing sulfur containing nanoparticle materials provide the electrodes and lithium ion batteries with enhanced performance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Controllable reductive method for synthesizing metal-containing particles

The invention is directed to a method for producing metal-containing particles, the method comprising subjecting an aqueous solution comprising a metal salt, E.sub.h, lowering reducing agent, pH adjusting agent, and water to conditions that maintain the E.sub.h value of the solution within the bounds of an E.sub.h-pH stability field corresponding to the composition of the metal-containing particles to be produced, and producing said metal-containing particles in said aqueous solution at a selected E.sub.h value within the bounds of said E.sub.h-pH stability field. The invention is also directed to the resulting metal-containing particles as well as devices in which they are incorporated.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Containment Sodium Chemistry Models in MELCOR.

To meet regulatory needs for sodium fast reactors’ future development, including licensing requirements, Sandia National Laboratories is modernizing MELCOR, a severe accident analysis computer code developed for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Specifically, Sandia is modernizing MELCOR to include the capability to model sodium reactors. However, Sandia’s modernization effort primarily focuses on the containment response aspects of the sodium reactor accidents. Sandia began modernizing MELCOR in 2013 to allow a sodium coolant, rather than water, for conventional light water reactors. In the past three years, Sandia has been implementing the sodium chemistry containment models in CONTAIN-LMR, a legacy NRC code, into MELCOR. These chemistry models include spray fire, pool fire and atmosphere chemistry models. Only the first two chemistry models have been implemented though it is intended to implement all these models into MELCOR. A new package called “NAC” has been created to manage the sodium chemistry model more efficiently. In 2017 Sandia began validating the implemented models in MELCOR by simulating available experiments. The CONTAIN-LMR sodium models include sodium atmosphere chemistry and sodium-concrete interaction models. This paper presents sodium property models, the implemented models, implementation issues, and a path towards validation against existing experimental data.

Louie, David↗

Detecting and quantifying materials in containers utilizing an inverse algorithm with adaptive regularization

A method, system and computer program product for automatically detecting and quantifying materials in containers (e.g., luggage, storage containers, equipment or componentry for processing or handling). An X-ray radiograph of a container is generated. A set of materials of interest (e.g., plutonium, steel) is selected to determine if the object comprises or contains materials of interest. An estimate of the areal densities or thicknesses of each of the selected materials of interest is obtained by minimizing an objective function with respect to the areal densities or thicknesses for each of the selected materials of interest. Adaptive regularization is implemented in the objective function to improve optimization results by adding a constraint to the objective function, where the constraint penalizes the objective function for solutions that do not line up with a prior belief about the solution form (e.g., the solution should not be negative or especially noisy).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Methods of forming aromatic containing compounds

Methods that include acylating an aromatic containing compound by reacting the aromatic containing compound with an anhydride containing compound to form an acylated aromatic containing compound.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Stretchable electronic systems with containment chambers

The present invention provides electronic systems, including device arrays, comprising functional device(s) and/or device component(s) at least partially enclosed via one or more containment chambers, such that the device(s) and/or device component(s) are at least partially, and optionally entirely, immersed in a containment fluid. Useful containment fluids for use in containment chambers of electronic devices of the invention include lubricants, electrolytes and/or electronically resistive fluids. In some embodiments, for example, electronic systems of the invention comprise one or more electronic devices and/or device components provided in free-standing and/or tethered configurations that decouple forces originating upon deformation, stretching or compression of a supporting substrate from the free standing or tethered device or device component.

Rogers, John A.↗

CLOSURE REPORT FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION UNIT 577 AREA 5 CHROMIUM CONTAINING WASTE DISPOSAL CELLS

Report will be submitted to the state of Nevada Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 577, “Area 5 Chromium Containing Waste Disposal Cells,” includes five low-level waste cells at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) where buried waste received from Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS), was subsequently determined to contain chromium that exceeded the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure regulatory limit, which would require the waste to carry hazardous waste code D007. CAU 577 was created to satisfy the requirements of the Settlement Agreement (SA) executed between the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) and the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office on April 25, 2019. The SA required that the chromium-containing waste received from NFS would be addressed following the closure process laid out in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO). The FFACO process ensures proper closure of the chromium-containing waste cells and documentation of that closure through FFACO-type documents (NDEP 2019). As stipulated in Paragraph 5C of the SA, a Corrective Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan (CADD/CAP) was prepared that identified and evaluated risks and corrective action alternatives (CAAs) for CAU 577, provided the plan for implementing the recommended CAA, and presented the post-closure plan (U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] Environmental Management [EM] Nevada Program 2021).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Systems and methods for enhancing isolation of high-temperature reactor containments

A high-temperature containment-isolation system for transferring heat from a nuclear reactor containment to a high-pressure heat exchanger is presented. The system uses a high-temperature, low-volatility liquid coolant such as a molten salt or a liquid metal, where the coolant flow path provides liquid free surfaces a short distance from the containment penetrations for the reactor hot-leg and the cold-leg, where these liquid free surfaces have a cover gas maintained at a nearly constant pressure and thus prevent high-pressures from being transmitted into the reactor containment, and where the reactor vessel is suspended within a reactor cavity with a plurality of refractory insulator blocks disposed between an actively cooled inner cavity liner and the reactor vessel.

Peterson, Per F.↗

Additively manufactured tamper evident container

A tamper evident container includes a container body having walls surrounding a cavity. The walls are composed of a non-electrically conductive material and at least one integrity sensor that is embedded in the non-electrically conductive material. A monitoring circuit is configured to monitor the tamper evident container using the at least one integrity sensor and determine a state-of-health of the tamper evident container.

Bernardin, John D.↗

Performance Evaluation of Decontamination Foam Containing Mesoporous silica NPs - 18453

It is necessary to secure decontamination technology that is easy to apply and minimizes the generation of secondary waste for large-scale equipment and large-area decontamination, which are difficult to be applied structurally when massive repairs or the decommissioning of a nuclear facility are required. In this respect, decontamination foam has a potentially wide application in the removal of contaminants from metallic walls, overhead surfaces, and elements of complex components and facilities. The decontamination efficiency can be enhanced by improving the contact time between the chemical decontamination agents and the contaminated surface through the introduction of stabilizers into the decontamination foam. In this study, the stability of a decontamination foam containing mesoporous silica NPs as a stabilizer and the decontamination performance of radioactive isotope contaminated specimens were evaluated. A process for waste liquid treatment after foam decontamination was also proposed. Decontamination performance tests using RI contaminated specimens were carried out in a decontamination foam prepared only with a solution containing only 1 wt% EM100 surfactant, and in a decontamination foam prepared with a solution containing 1 wt% EM100 surfactant and 1 wt% of various silica NPs. The stability of the decontamination foam was increased owing to the addition of various types of silica NPs. In particular, the liquid film thickness of the decontamination foam containing mesoporous silica NPs was the largest. As a result, the decontamination coefficient for RI contaminated specimens increased as the thickness of the foam liquid film increased owing to the longer contact time between the RI contaminated specimen and the chemical decontamination agent as the thickness of the foam liquid film increased. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Radionuclide Behaviour During Thermal Treatment of LLW and ILW Using In-Container Vitrification - 19239

Thermal treatment is being considered in the UK for the treatment of a wide range of low and intermediate level wastes (LLW and ILW). To support this objective, a range of in-container vitrification trials were conducted to test a wide range of simulated waste streams. The vitrified products have been visually inspected and samples removed for chemical analysis. This paper presents preliminary results of this analysis with some comment on the spatial and chemical heterogeneity of the products. Treatment of a sludge simulant in a steel skip failed to fully melt the metal and produced a glass encapsulated waste-form with clearly visible porosity. Clinoptilolite produced a dense uniform glass but with some chemical heterogeneity. Some operational issues were encountered when treating water-rich sludge, but these were successfully resolved and resulted in a broadly homogenous vitrified product. Melting simulated mixed decommissioning waste produced a chemically homogenous product, despite the heterogenous nature of the waste stream. Uranium and concrete contained in a steel 'top hat' presented significant treatment issues. The top hat failed to fully melt, and this appears to have prevented the waste contained within the top hat from mixing with the glass external to the top hat. As with the steel skip containing sludge, this again left a glass encapsulated, rather than fully vitrified, product. Attempts to melt bulk PVC (an analogue of soft PCM) initially led to significant operational issues with the melt being terminated early and the waste apparently combusting rather than melting. This was resolved by pre-treating the PVC by shredding it and mixing this with the frit to give a larger contact area for melting. This approach produced a homogenous well mixed glass. Overall it appears the properties of the melt product are highly dependent on the physical and chemical properties of the waste stream being treated. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Treatment of Problematic Reactive Metal Wastes Using the GeoMelt{sup R} In-Container Vitrification (ICV{sup TM}) Process - 20326

Decommissioning of sodium-cooled reactors and fast reactor technologies has generated a number of reactive metal waste configurations that are problematic to treat and typically lack cost effective treatment methods and disposition options. As a result, Veolia Nuclear Solutions, under contract with Idaho National Laboratory (owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC) demonstrated its GeoMelt{sup R} In-Container Vitrification (ICV){sup TM} technology to safely convert sodium metal to a non-reactive vitrified oxide form. The demonstration project, supported by glass formulation and crucible testing, consisted of a series of ICV{sup TM} melts that processed elemental sodium into stable non-reactive glass. INL is currently implementing GeoMelt{sup R} technology as a means to safely and reliably convert radioactive reactive metal residues that contaminate sodium cooled reactor components into waste forms that comply with existing disposition pathways. Reactive metal wastes require treatment in order to remove the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) reactivity and ignitability characteristics to comply with land disposal restrictions. GeoMelt{sup R}, which is an alternative to other potential treatment approaches, provides a robust approach that chemically converts the reactive metals to an inert oxide while also immobilizing radionuclides in a vitrified waste form with durability equal to or better than vitrified nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes (very robust and inert waste forms). Most other treatment approaches generate hydrogen gas which is problematic. In 2016, Veolia Nuclear Solutions first demonstrated the effectiveness of the GeoMelt{sup R} ICV{sup TM} process in deactivating reactive sodium metal. Crucible, bench-scale, and engineering-scale demonstrations were conducted on several surrogate waste configurations with various ratios of sodium metal and glass formers. Each ratio and configuration demonstrated complete deactivation of the surrogate sodium metal. Follow-on work in 2017 demonstrated the deactivation of reactive sodium by GeoMelt{sup R} ICV{sup TM} at a higher waste loading relative to previously demonstrated work performed in 2016; the higher waste loading optimized glass chemistry while enhancing the economical full-scale treatment of reactive metals. Additionally, follow-on demonstration testing in 2018 and 2019 focused on more complex shapes and other reactive-metals (mocked up Experimental Breeder Reactor II [EBR-II] subassembly, sodium filled heat exchanger, and a can containing sodium potassium alloy) which were all performed at engineering scale. Veolia Nuclear Solutions designed, installed, and commissioned in September 2018, at Perma-Fix Northwest in Richland Washington, a 10-metric ton full-scale GeoMelt unit (GeoMelt{sup R} Richland) for the treatment of reactive metal wastes. As of September 2019, over 900 55-gallon drums containing a total of around 3,500 lb of sodium with low levels of radioactivity have been treated at GeoMelt{sup R} Richland, with resulting glass monoliths disposed at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). A full-scale radiological demonstration melt on an actual EBR-II subassembly has also been performed using the full-scale melter in 2019. The GeoMelt{sup R} technology is a proven radioactive waste treatment technology capable of immobilizing radioactive wastes, including bulk rubble such as drums and other steel vessels usually without pretreatment. Utilizing the GeoMelt{sup R} technology to treat reactive metals eliminates pretreatment steps resulting from having to separate the reactive metal from steel containers or jackets as GeoMelt{sup R} can easily operate at temperatures sufficient to melt the steel and expose the reactive metal for treatment. Eliminating handling steps of reactive metals is a significant safety advantage since reactive metals are pyrophoric. The results generated as a part of the 2018-2019 demonstration program are presented in the paper. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Double-walled containment cell

Double-walled containment cells are described as may be used for storage, transport, and examination of a sample held within the cell by use of optical analysis techniques. A double-walled containment cell can include multiple types of windows that can be located as desired on the containment cells and thereby provide for optical access to a sample for multiple optical analysis techniques. Disclosed containment cells can be sized and designed for use with existing optical analysis systems, e.g., laser ablation, X-ray diffraction, spectral analysis (e.g., Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, etc.), imaging analysis, etc.

Villa-Aleman, Eliel↗

Closure Device For a Containment Vessel in a Small Gram Quantity Shipping Package

SRNL has been chartered by DOE Environmental Management (DOE-EM) to develop a new Type B shipping package for Small Gram Quantities (SGQ) of radioactive material. Design a containment vessel (CV) closure device that will reduce the operation time and improve the ease-of- use for Operations Personnel. The Containment Vessel (CV) includes a closure lid cap with spring shaft and locking tabs, multiple disc springs, and vessel with integral locking ring. The CV is assembled by aligning the tabs on the lid cap with the openings in the locking ring. Next, the lid cap is pushed down to compress the disc springs. Finally, the lid is rotated 45-degrees to locking location. When released, the tabs are secured against the locking ring. Disc springs (e.g. Belleville washers, coned-disc springs, Belleville spring, etc.) exert axial loads on the mating parts when compressed. The orientation of the disc springs can be configured to change the deflection and axial loads for specific designs. In addition to securing the lid cap to the vessel, the compressed disc springs can be used to apply a load to a containment seal (e.g. o-ring). A prototype of the CV closure was 3D printed to evaluate the locking mechanism design and functionality. A test plan will be developed to evaluate the mechanical properties (i.e. compression forces) and functionality of the CV closure design.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Electrification Analysis: Container Ports' Cargo Handling Equipment

This one-page highlight details the key takeaways from a project that utilized NREL's Fleet Research, Energy Data, and Insights (FleetREDI) data analysis pipeline, the Electrification Analysis of Container Ports' Cargo Handling Equipment project. This project created a scalable solution to model energy demand per shipping container moved (kWh/TEU) for an all-electric cargo handling equipment fleet located at a maritime port. The model allows stakeholders to understand energy demand at each electric vehicle (EV) equipment level and is easily scalable to container demand and EV adoption rate projections.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Advances in containment methods and plutonium recovery strategies that led to the structural characterization of plutonium(IV) tetrachloride tris-diphenylsulfoxide, PuCl 4 (OSPh 2 ) 3

In an attempt to further advance the understanding of plutonium coordination chemistry, we report a robust method for recycling and obtaining plutonium aqueous stock solutions that can be used as a convenient starting material in plutonium synthesis. This approach was used to prepare and characterize plutonium(IV) tetrachloride tris-diphenylsulfoxide, PuCl 4 (OSPh 2 ) 3 , by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The PuCl 4 (OSPh 2 ) 3 compound represents a rare example of a 7-coordinate plutonium(IV) complex. Structural characterization of PuCl 4 (OSPh 2 ) 3 by X-ray diffraction utilized a new containment method for radioactive crystals. The procedure makes use of epoxy, polyimide loops, and a polyester sheath to provide a robust method for safely containing and easily handling radioactive samples. Lastly, the described procedure is more user friendly than traditional containment methods that employ fragile quartz capillary tubes. Additionally, moving to polyester, instead of quartz, lowers the background scattering from the heavier silicon atoms.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Vortex breakdown in closed containers with polygonal cross sections

The vortex breakdown bubble in the confined flow generated by a rotating lid in closed containers with polygonal cross sections was analysed both experimentally and numerically for the height/radius aspect ratio equal to 2. The stagnation point locations of the breakdown bubble emergence and the corresponding Reynolds number were determined experimentally and in addition computed numerically by STAR-CCM+ CFD software for square, pentagonal, hexagonal, and octagonal cross section configurations. The flow pattern and the velocity were observed and measured by combining the seeding particle visualization and the temporal accuracy of laser Doppler anemometry. The vortex breakdown size and position on the container axis were determined for Reynolds numbers, ranging from 1450 to 2400. The obtained results were compared with the flow structure in the closed container of cubical and cylindrical configurations. It is shown that the measured evolution of steady vortex breakdown is in close agreement with the numerical results.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Development of sealed sample containers and high resolution micro-tomography

A sample container and a high resolution micro-tomography system have been developed at BL47XU at SPring-8. The container is made of a SiN membrane in a shape of truncated pyramid, which makes it possible to exclude oxygen and moisture in the air. The sample rotation stage for tomography is set downward to keep the sample in the container without any glue. The spatial resolution and field of view are 300 nm and 110 μm using a Fresnel zone plate objective with an outermost zone width of 100 nm at 8 keV, respectively. The scan time is about 20 minutes for 1800 projections. A 3-D image of an asteroid particle was successfully obtained without adhesive and contamination.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗