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At least 73 records · Page 4

Preface to the JPCM special issue on intense radiation sources in condensed matter and materials physics

This special issue is designed to honour the contributions of our colleague Neville Greaves who was among the first to apply newly-available synchrotron x-ray techniques to study the synthesis, structures and properties of advanced materials [1, 2]. His wide ranging work on ceramics, glasses and nanomaterials was celebrated in a recent issue of the J. Non-Cryst. Solids [3]. Neville's contributions to synchrotron research, highlighted here, focussed on design and construction of new beamline capabilities and sample environments to probe materials under different physical and chemical conditions, integrating various techniques to obtain complementary data on structure and bonding. The innovative nature of his work is illustrated by his studies of liquids and glasses, where he incorporated aerodynamic levitation into these experimental techniques, using both synchrotron x-ray and neutron beams to probe the structural transformations and dynamics combined with molecular dynamics simulations to study atomic scale organisation. His work has had a major impact on fundamental condensed matter physics and chemistry as well as applied materials science; and in this issue, we present contributions from colleagues using and developing new experimental techniques at current and next-generation synchrotron, neutron and free-electron laser sources and in their own laboratories, that probe the fundamental physics, chemistry and functional properties of novel materials and processes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Fuel Assembly Reference Information for SNF Radiation Source Term Calculations

This report consolidates publicly available information related to pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear fuel physical characteristics and operating conditions. The intent of this report is to provide reference information for use in shielding analyses of spent nuclear fuel transportation packages and storage casks.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Impacts of LEU+ and HBU Fuel on Decay Heat and Radiation Source Term

Using low-enriched uranium with 235 U enrichment slightly greater than 5.0 wt % (LEU+) fuel is desirable for light water reactors (LWR) because it can enable longer cycles and/or smaller fresh fuel batches. This report analyzes the impact of LEU+ on back-end considerations, such as its impact on the spent fuel pool, and on the thermal and shielding performance of dry storage systems. For both pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor LEU+ fuel, this report concludes that additional cooling time or regionalized loading plans are required to maintain the same level of thermal and shielding performance of dry storage systems loaded with LEU fuel. For PWR fuel, this report concludes that the impact of LEU+ fuel on the time-to-boil of a spent fuel pool (SFP) is minimal and does not require considerable changes in SFP management.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Risk of theft and malicious use of radiation sources in transit

Remote radioactive source applications require frequent transportation of sources from storage locations to remote sites. This introduces risk of theft of a source during the transportation process, with the level of risk proportional to the radioactivity of the source. To that end, theft of smaller sources, such as microcurie-level moisture density gauges, are of minor concern, but larger sources, such as those used for radiography and well logging, present more risk. Radiography sources include 192 Ir, 75 Se, or 60 Co radionuclides with radioactivity amounts at or exceeding IAEA Category 2. Well-logging sources, primarily 241 Am/Be, are used for their neutron-emission properties. 137 Cs is also used in well-logging at lower activities than in radiography but at levels that still present some risk. The vulnerability for malicious use of such sources to cause contamination and associated economic effects is dependent on the elemental chemical and physical properties, especially melting point and bulk modulus. Theft of radiography sources is somewhat common, well-logging sources less so. Theft of sources commonly occurs in concert with theft of the vehicle, with the source subsequently abandoned. There have been some instances where a source appears to have been specifically targeted. There are a variety of security measures and protocols, available and under development, to mitigate the risk of theft and assist in source recovery.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Analysis of radiative sources with both specular and diffuse characteristics in the visible and infrared spectrum

The application of analytical concepts developed to facilitate the design and analysis of the thermal simulator for the Apollo Soyuz docking module is discussed. The functions used to mathematically formulate the irradiance from a quartzline lamp and reflector are described with examples of applications to other geometries. General information is denoted for utilization of the functions in computer programs with approximate computer storage and statement requirements.

Williams, F. U.↗

Experimental study of cluster formation in binary mixture of H2O and H2SO4 vapors in the presence of an ionizing radiation source

Molecular clusters formed in pure nitrogen containing H2O and H2SO4 vapors and exposed to a 3 mCi Ni63 beta source were studied in the mass range 50 to 780 amu using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Measurements were made under several combinations of relative humidity and relative acidity ranging from 0.7 to 7.5 percent and 0.00047 to 0.06333 percent, respectively. The number of H2SO4 molecules in the clusters observed ranged from 1 to 7 whereas the number of H2O molecules ranged from 1 to 16. The experimental cluster spectra differ considerably from those calculated using the classical nucleation theory. First order calculations using modified surface tension values and including the effects of multipole moments of the nucleating molecules indicate that these effects may be enough to explain the difference between the measured and the calculated spectra.

Singh, J. J.↗

New estimates of asymmetric decomposition of racemic mixtures by natural beta-radiation sources

Some recent calculations that appeared to invalidate the Vester-Ulbricht hypothesis, which suggests that the chirality of biological molecules originates from the beta-radiolysis of prebiotic racemic mixtures, are reexamined. These calculations apparently showed that the radiolysis-induced chiral polarization can never exceed the chiral polarization produced by statistical fluctuations. It is here shown that several overly restrictive conditions were imposed on these calculations which, when relaxed, allow the radiolysis-induced polarization to exceed that produced by statistical fluctuations, in accordance with the Vester-Ulbricht hypothesis.

Hegstrom, R. A.↗