Analysis of the application of decontamination technologies to radioactive metal waste minimization using expert systems

Radioactive metal waste makes up a significant portion of the waste currently being sent for disposal. Recovery of this metal as a valuable resource is possible through the use of decontamination technologies. Through the development and use of expert systems a comparison can be made of laser decontamination, a technology currently under development at Ames Laboratory, with currently available decontamination technologies for applicability to the types of metal waste being generated and the effectiveness of these versus simply disposing of the waste. These technologies can be technically and economically evaluated by the use of expert systems techniques to provide a waste management decision making tool that generates, given an identified metal waste, waste management recommendations. The user enters waste characteristic information as input and the system then recommends decontamination technologies, determines residual contamination levels and possible waste management strategies, carries out a cost analysis and then ranks, according to cost, the possibilities for management of the waste. The expert system was developed using information from literature and personnel experienced in the use of decontamination technologies and requires validation by human experts and assignment of confidence factors to the knowledge represented within

Analysis of the application of decontamination technologies to radioactive metal waste minimization using expert systems

Radioactive metal waste makes up a significant portion of the waste currently being sent for disposal. Recovery of this metal as a valuable resource is possible through the use of decontamination technologies. Through the development and use of expert systems a comparison can be made of laser decontamination, a technology currently under development at Ames Laboratory, with currently available decontamination technologies for applicability to the types of metal waste being generated and the effectiveness of these versus simply disposing of the waste. These technologies can be technically and economically evaluated by the use of expert systems techniques to provide a waste management decision making tool that generates, given an identified metal waste, waste management recommendations. The user enters waste characteristic information as input and the system then recommends decontamination technologies, determines residual contamination levels and possible waste management strategies, carries out a cost analysis and then ranks, according to cost, the possibilities for management of the waste. The expert system was developed using information from literature and personnel experienced in the use of decontamination technologies and requires validation by human experts and assignment of confidence factors to the knowledge represented within

Psychobehavioral effects of divorced mother-headed one-child families on children in China

Owing to the national “One Child per Family” policy in China, almost all children are from one-child families. Recent economic development has led to an increase in the number of children living in single parent families. These children may suffer from more mental stress than those living in two parent families. This study aims at clarifying psychobehavioral characteristics of boys and girls from mother-headed one-child families due to divorce. Three questionnaire studies, i.e., Eysenck Personality Questionnaire for Children (EPQ), Mental Health Test (MHT), and Preliminary Problems Conduct Test (PPCT) were conducted on 465 children, aged 9 to 12 years, in three elementary schools of Chengdu, China. Twenty-one boys and 26 girls from divorced families and 186 boys and 217 girls from non-divorced families were selected as study subjects. The results of the multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that boys from divorced families suffered from neurosis, loneliness, impulsiveness, rebellious tendencies and untruthfulness, whereas girls from divorced families suffered from loneliness, horrible feelings and oppressed feelings. It is suggested that the common psychobehavioral characteristic of both boys and girls from divorced families in China is loneliness; the characteristic specific of boys is “antisocial” personality and that of girls is “anxious” personality