AGR-2 Data Qualification Interim Report

Projects for the very high temperature reactor (VHTR) Technology Development Office program provide data in support of Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of the VHTR. Fuel and materials to be used in the reactor are tested and characterized to quantify performance in high temperature and high fluence environments. The VHTR program established the NGNP Data Management and Analysis System (NDMAS) to manage and document VHTR data qualification, for storage of the data in a readily accessible electronic form, and to assist in the analysis and presentation of the data. This document gives the status of NDMAS processing and qualification of data associated with the initial reactor cycle (147A) of the second Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR-2) experiment which began on June 21, 2010. Because it is early in the AGR-2 experiment, data from only two AGR-2 data streams are reported on: Fuel Fabrication and Fuel Irradiation data. As of August 1, 2010, approximately 311,000 irradiation data records have been stored in NDMAS, and qualification tests are in progress. Preliminary information indicates that TC 2 in Capsule 2 failed prior to start of the experiment, and NDMAS testing has thus far identified only two invalid data values from the METSO data collection system Data from the Fission Product Monitoring System (FPMS) are not currently processed until after reactor cycle shutdown and have not yet been received. A description of the ATR operating conditions data associated with the AGR-2 experiment (e.g., power levels) are summarized in the AGR-1 data qualification report (INL/EXT-09-16460). Since ATR data are collected under ATR program data quality requirements (i.e., outside the VHTR program), the NGNP program and NDMAS do not take additional actions to qualify these data other than NDMAS capture testing. Data qualification of graphite characterization data collected under the Graphite Technology Development Project is reported in a separate status report (Hull 2010)

Environmental Sampling FY03 Annual Report - Understanding the Movement of Mercury on the INEEL

Environmental mercury measurements were started in Fy-01 at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEEL) to monitor downwind impacts from on-going waste treatment operations at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) and to improve our scientific understanding of mercury fate and transport in this region. This document provides a summary of the sampling done in FY04. Continuous total gaseous mercury (TGM) measurements were made using a Tekran Model 2537A mercury vapor analyzer during October 2002 and from February through July 2003. The equipment was deployed in a self-contained field trailer at the Experimental Field Station (EFS) four kilometers downwind (northeast) of INTEC. Mercury surface-to-air flux measurements were made in October 2002 and from February through May 2003 to better understand the fate of the estimated 1500 kg of mercury emitted from 36 years of calciner operations at INTEC and to improve our scientific understanding of mercury environmental cycling in this region. Flux was measured using an INEEL-designed dynamic flux chamber system with a Tekran automated dual sampling (TADS) unit. Diel flux was positively correlated with solar radiation (r = 0.65), air temperature (r = 0.64), and wind speed (r = 0.38), and a general linear model for flux prediction at the INEEL was developed. Reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) was measured at EFS in July using a Tekran Model 1130 mercury speciation unit. Based on comparisons with other published data around the U.S., mercury air concentrations and surface flux rates directly downwind from INTEC were not distinguishable from remote area (non-industrial) background levels during the monitoring period

Confinement in a Higgs Model on R3×S1R^{3}\times S^{1}

We determine the phase structure of an SU(2) gauge theory with an adjoint scalar on $R^{3}\times S^{1}$ using semiclassical methods. There are two global symmetries: a $Z(2)_{H}$ symmetry associated with the Higgs field and a $Z(2)_{C}$ center symmetry. We analyze the order of the deconfining phase transition when different deformation terms are used. After finding order parameters for the global symmetries, we show that there are four distinct phases: a deconfined phase, a confined phase, a Higgs phase, and a mixed confined phase. The mixed confined phase occurs where one might expect a phase in which there is both confinement and the Higgs mechanism, but the behavior of the order parameters distinguishes the two phases. In the mixed confined phase, the $Z(2)_{C}\times Z(2)_{H}$ global symmetry breaks spontaneously to a Z(2) subgroup that acts non-trivially on both the scalar field and the Polyakov loop. We find explicitly the BPS and KK monopole solutions of the Euclidean field equations in the BPS limit. In the mixed phase, a linear combination of $\phi$ and $A_{4}$ enters into the monopole solutions. In all four phases, Wilson loops orthogonal to the compact direction are expected to show area-law behavior. We show that this confining behavior can be attributed to a dilute monopole gas in a broad region that includes portions of all four phases. A duality argument similar to that applied recently [Poppitz and Unsal, 2011] to the Seiberg-Witten model on $R^3 \times S^1$ shows that the monopole gas picture, arrived at using Euclidean instanton methods, can be interpreted as a gas of finite-energy dyons.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

Immobilization of Polymer-Decorated Liquid Crystal Droplets on Chemically Tailored Surfaces

We demonstrate that the assembly of an amphiphilic polyamine on the interfaces of micrometer-sized droplets of a thermotropic liquid crystal (LC) dispersed in aqueous solutions can be used to facilitate the immobilization of LC droplets on chemically functionalized surfaces. Polymer 1 was designed to contain both hydrophobic (alkylfunctionalized) and hydrophilic (primary and tertiary amine-functionalized) side chain functionality. The assembly of this polymer at the interfaces of aqueous dispersions of LC droplets was achieved by the spontaneous adsorption of polymer from aqueous solution. Polymer adsorption triggered transitions in the orientational ordering of the LCs, as observed by polarized light and bright-field microscopy. We demonstrate that the presence of polymer 1 on the interfaces of these droplets can be exploited to immobilize LC droplets on planar solid surfaces through covalent bond formation (e.g., for surfaces coated with polymer multilayers containing reactive azlactone functionality) or through electrostatic interactions (e.g., for surfaces coated with multilayers containing hydrolyzed azlactone functionality). The characterization of immobilized LC droplets by polarized, fluorescence, and laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed the general spherical shape of the polymer-coated LC droplets to be maintained after immobilization, and that immobilization led to additional ordering transitions within the droplets that were dependent on the nature of the surfaces with which they were in contact. Polymer 1-functionalized LC droplets were not immobilized on polymer multilayers treated with poly(ethylene imine) (PEI). We demonstrate that the ability to design surfaces that promote or prevent the immobilization of polymer-functionalized LC droplets can be exploited to pattern the immobilization of LC droplets on surfaces. The results of this investigation provide the basis of an approach that could be used to tailor the properties of dispersed LC emulsions and to immobilize these droplets on functional surfaces of interest in a broad range of fundamental and applied contexts

The Neighborhood’s Catalogue: Lower East Side Planning and Design File

This catalogue was designed to support the process of slow redevelopment over time, combined with conservation of diverse social and historical continuity and the exploration of new land and building uses. The catalogue shows how to involve neighborhoods in participation, supportive design, incremental planning and phased development. This project was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Reprinted in 1987.https://dc.uwm.edu/caupr_mono/1047/thumbnail.jp

Atmospheric Mercury near Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir in Southern Idaho

Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) were measured over two-week seasonal field campaigns near Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir in south-central Idaho from the summer of 2005 through the fall of 2006 and over the entire summer of 2006 using automated Tekran mercury analyzers. GEM, RGM, and particulate mercury (HgP) were also measured at a secondary site 90 km to the west in southwestern Idaho during the summer of 2006. The study was performed to characterize mercury air concentrations in the southern Idaho area for the first time, estimate mercury dry deposition rates, and investigate the source of observed elevated concentrations. High seasonal variability was observed with the highest GEM (1.91 ± 0.9 ng m-3) and RGM (8.1 ± 5.6 pg m-3) concentrations occurring in the summer and lower values in the winter (1.32 ± 0.3 ng m-3, 3.2 ± 2.9 pg m-3 for GEM, RGM respectively). The summer-average HgP concentrations were generally below detection limit (0.6 ± 1 pg m-3). Seasonally-averaged deposition velocities calculated using a resistance model were 0.034 ± 0.032, 0.043 ± 0.040, 0.00084 ± 0.0017 and 0.00036 ± 0.0011 cm s-1 for GEM (spring, summer, fall, and winter, respectively) and 0.50 ± 0.39, 0.40 ± 0.31, 0.51 ± 0.43 and 0.76 ± 0.57 cm s-1 for RGM. The total annual RGM + GEM dry deposition estimate was calculated to be 11.9 ± 3.3 µg m-2, or about 2/3 of the total (wet + dry) deposition estimate for the area. Periodic elevated short-term GEM (2.2 – 12 ng m-3) and RGM (50 - 150 pg m-3) events were observed primarily during the warm seasons. Back-trajectory modeling and PSCF analysis indicated predominant source directions from the southeast (western Utah, northeastern Nevada) through the southwest (north-central Nevada) with fewer inputs from the northwest (southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho)

AGR-2 Data Qualification Report for ATR Cycles 149B, 150A, 150B, 151A, and 151B

This report provides the data qualification status of AGR-2 fuel irradiation experimental data from Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) cycles 149B, 150A, 150B, 151A, and 151B), as recorded in the Nuclear Data Management and Analysis System (NDMAS). The AGR-2 data streams addressed include thermocouple temperatures, sweep gas data (flow rate, pressure, and moisture content), and fission product monitoring system (FPMS) data for each of the six capsules in the experiment. A total of 3,307,500 5-minute thermocouple and sweep gas data records were received and processed by NDMAS for this period. There are no AGR-2 data for cycle 150A because the experiment was removed from the reactor. Of these data, 82.2% were determined to be Qualified based on NDMAS accuracy testing and data validity assessment. There were 450,557 Failed temperature records due to thermocouple failures, and 138,528 Failed gas flow records due to gas flow cross-talk and leakage problems that occurred in the capsules after cycle 150A. For FPMS data, NDMAS received and processed preliminary release rate and release-to-birth rate ratio (R/B) data for the first three reactor cycles (cycles 149B, 150B, and 151B). This data consists of 45,983 release rate records and 45,235 R/B records for the 12 radionuclides reported. The qualification status of these FPMS data has been set to In Process until receipt of QA-approved data generator reports. All of the above data have been processed and tested using a SAS®-based enterprise application software system, stored in a secure Structured Query Language database, and made available on the NDMAS Web portal (http://ndmas.inl.gov) for both internal and external VHTR project participants

Dynamic Ordering Transitions of Liquid Crystals Driven by Interfacial Complexes Formed Between Polyanions and Amphiphilic Polyamines

We report the design of an amphiphilic polyamine (polymer 1) based on poly(2-alkenyl azlactone) that strongly couples the formation of polyelectrolyte complexes at aqueous/liquid crystal (LC) interfaces to ordering transitions in the LC. We demonstrate that the addition of a strong anionic polyelectrolyte to aqueous solutions in contact with polymer 1-laden LC interfaces (prepared by Langmuir-Schaefer transfer of monolayers of polymer 1 onto micrometerthick films of nematic LC) triggers ordering transitions in the LCs. We further demonstrate that changes in the ordering of the LCs (i) are driven by electrostatic interactions between the polyelectrolytes, (ii) involve multivalent interactions between the polyelectrolytes, and (iii) are triggered by reorganization of the hydrophobic side chains of amphiphilic polymer 1 upon formation of the interfacial complexes. The results presented in this paper lead us to conclude that ordering transitions in LCs can be used to provide insights into the structure and dynamics of interfacial complexes formed between polyelectrolytes

Langmuir Films of Flexible Polymers Transferred to Aqueous/Liquid Crystal Interfaces Induce Uniform Azimuthal Alignment of the Liquid Crystal

We reported recently that amphiphilic polymers can be assembled at interfaces created between aqueous phases and thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs) in ways that: (i) couple the organization of the polymer to the order of the LC and (ii) respond to changes in the properties of aqueous phases that can be characterized as changes in the optical appearance of the LC. This investigation sought to characterize the behavior of aqueous-LC interfaces decorated with uniaxially compressed thin films of polymers transferred by Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) transfer. Here, we report physicochemical characterization of interfaces created between aqueous phases and the thermotropic LC 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) decorated with Langmuir films of a novel amphiphilic polymer (polymer 1), synthesized by the addition of hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains to poly(2-vinyl-4,4′-dimethylazlactone). Initial characterization of this system resulted in the unexpected observation of uniform azimuthal alignment of 5CB after LS transfer of the polymer films to aqueous-5CB interfaces. This paper describes characterization of Langmuir films of polymer 1 hosted at aqueous-5CB interfaces as well as the results of our investigations into the origins of the uniform ordering of the LC observed upon LS transfer. Our results, when combined, support the conclusion that uniform azimuthal alignment of 5CB is the result of long-range ordering of polymer chains in the Langmuir films (in a preferred direction orthogonal to the direction of compression) that is generated during uniaxial compression of the films prior to LS transfer. Although past studies of Langmuir films of polymers at aqueous-air interfaces have demonstrated that in-plane alignment of polymer backbones can be induced by uniaxial compression, these past reports have generally made use of polymers with rigid backbones. One important outcome of this current study is thus the observation of anisotropy and long-range order in Langmuir films of a novel flexible polymer. A second important outcome is the observation that the existence, extent, and dynamics of this order can be identified and characterized optically by transfer of the Langmuir film to a thin film of LC. Additional characterization of Langmuir films of two other flexible polymers [poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(vinyl stearate)] using this method also resulted in uniform azimuthal alignment of 5CB, suggesting that the generation of long-range order in uniaxially compressed Langmuir films of polymers may also occur more generally over a broader range of polymers with flexible backbones