Water-Moderated and -Reflected Slabs of Uranium Oxyfluoride

A series of ten experiments were conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Critical Experiment Facility in December 1955, and January 1956, in an attempt to determine critical conditions for a slab of aqueous uranium oxyfluoride (UO2F2). These experiments were recorded in an Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Logbook and results were published in a journal of the American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Science and Engineering, by J. K. Fox, L. W. Gilley, and J. H. Marable (Reference 1). The purpose of these experiments was to obtain the minimum critical thickness of an effectively infinite slab of UO2F2 solution by extrapolation of experimental data. To do this the slab thickness was varied and critical solution and water-reflector heights were measured using two different fuel solutions. Of the ten conducted experiments eight of the experiments reached critical conditions but the results of only six of the experiments were published in Reference 1. All ten experiments were evaluated from which five critical configurations were judged as acceptable criticality safety benchmarks. The total uncertainty in the acceptable benchmarks is between 0.25 and 0.33 % ?k/keff. UO2F2 fuel is also evaluated in HEU-SOL-THERM-043, HEU-SOL-THERM-011, and HEU-SOL-THERM-012, but these those evaluation reports are for large reflected and unreflected spheres. Aluminum cylinders of UO2F2 are evaluated in HEU-SOL-THERM-050

CONCRETE REFLECTED ARRAYS OF U(93.2) METAL

During the period from 1963 – 1973, experiments involving highly enriched uranium units were performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Critical Experiments Facility to determine various critical configurations of three-dimensional arrays. The experiments formed a four-part series, and were reported by several different experimenters; the results of interest for this evaluation are those reported for the fourth experimentation, Critical Three-Dimensional Arrays of Neutron Interacting Units: Part IV, published and performed by D.W.Magnuson (Ref 1). Information is also available in the logbook . This set of experiments utilized subcritical metal units on a split table apparatus to determine critical configurations for 2×2×2 arrangements of highly enriched uranium reflected by concrete. Magnuson manipulated the configuration of several uranium cylinders and blocks within a concrete reflector. The different permutations utilized uranium cylinders of two different heights in various positions in the three dimensional array; certain cases also placed thin uranium blocks on top of the cylinders. The thickness of the surrounding concrete, as well as the inner dimensions of the concrete reflector was also varied in certain cases. The variations resulted in fourteen different experimental permutations or configurations. All fourteen configurations were judged to be unacceptable for use as criticality safety benchmarks. All experiments were initially evaluated; however only three configurations were evaluated in detail. Configurations 2, 4, 6 and 12 were not evaluated in detail because they are subcritical and configurations 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 were also were not evaluated in detail because they were supercritical by more than beta effective (~0.007), or prompt critical. The experiments evaluated in detail for this benchmark were configurations 1, 3, and 11. The experimental report also contains the information for HEU-MET-FAST-056. Closely related work has been recorded in HEU-MET-FAST-053, which is a benchmark evaluation of a different series of three dimensional array experiments with four different moderator materials. HEU-MET-FAST-023 and HEU-MET-FAST-026 are also related because they utilize the same metal cylinders as these experiments

Development of an ICSBEP Benchmark Evaluation, Nearly 20 Years of Experience

The basic structure of all ICSBEP benchmark evaluations is essentially the same and includes (1) a detailed description of the experiment; (2) an evaluation of the experiment, including an exhaustive effort to quantify the effects of uncertainties on measured quantities; (3) a concise presentation of benchmark-model specifications; (4) sample calculation results; and (5) a summary of experimental references. Computer code input listings and other relevant information are generally preserved in appendixes. Details of an ICSBEP evaluation is presented

Centennial-scale variability of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt in the eastern Pacific over the past two millennia

We present the first high-resolution (sub-annual) dust particle data set from West Antarctica, developed from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide deep ice core (79.468° S, 112.086° W), and use it to reconstruct changes in atmospheric circulation over the past 2400 years. We find a background dust flux of ~4 mg m−2 year−1 and a mode particle size of 5–8 μm diameter. Through comparing the WAIS Divide record with other Antarctic ice core particle records, we observe that coastal and lower-elevation sites have higher dust fluxes and coarser particle size distributions (PSDs) than sites on the East Antarctic plateau, suggesting input from local dust sources at these lower-elevation sites. In order to explore the use of the WAIS Divide dust PSD as a proxy for past atmospheric circulation, we make quantitative comparisons between both mid-latitude zonal wind speed and West Antarctic meridional wind speed and the dust size record, finding significant positive interannual relationships. We find that the dust PSD is related to mid-latitude zonal wind speed via cyclonic activity in the Amundsen Sea region. Using our PSD record, and through comparison with spatially distributed climate reconstructions from the Southern Hemisphere (SH) middle and high latitudes, we infer that the SH westerlies occupied a more southerly position from circa 1050 to 1400 CE (Common Era), coinciding with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). Subsequently, at ca. 1430 CE, the wind belt shifted equatorward, where it remained until the mid-to-late twentieth century. We find covariability between reconstructions of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the mid-latitude westerly winds in the eastern Pacific, suggesting that centennial-scale circulation changes in this region are strongly influenced by the tropical Pacific. Further, we observe increased coarse particle deposition over the past 50 years, consistent with observations that the SH westerlies have been shifting southward and intensifying in recent decades

Educating Next Generation Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineers at the Idaho National Laboratory

One of the challenges in educating our next generation of nuclear safety engineers is the limitation of opportunities to receive significant experience or hands-on training prior to graduation. Such training is generally restricted to on-the-job-training before this new engineering workforce can adequately provide assessment of nuclear systems and establish safety guidelines. Participation in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) can provide students and young professionals the opportunity to gain experience and enhance critical engineering skills. The ICSBEP and IRPhEP publish annual handbooks that contain evaluations of experiments along with summarized experimental data and peer-reviewed benchmark specifications to support the validation of neutronics codes, nuclear cross-section data, and the validation of reactor designs. Participation in the benchmark process not only benefits those who use these Handbooks within the international community, but provides the individual with opportunities for professional development, networking with an international community of experts, and valuable experience to be used in future employment. Traditionally students have participated in benchmarking activities via internships at national laboratories, universities, or companies involved with the ICSBEP and IRPhEP programs. Additional programs have been developed to facilitate the nuclear education of students while participating in the benchmark projects. These programs include coordination with the Center for Space Nuclear Research (CSNR) Next Degree Program, the Collaboration with the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office to train nuclear and criticality safety engineers, and student evaluations as the basis for their Master's thesis in nuclear engineering

Benchmark Evaluation of the NRAD Reactor LEU Core Startup Measurements

The Neutron Radiography (NRAD) reactor is a 250-kW TRIGA-(Training, Research, Isotope Production, General Atomics)-conversion-type reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory; it is primarily used for neutron radiography analysis of irradiated and unirradiated fuels and materials. The NRAD reactor was converted from HEU to LEU fuel with 60 fuel elements and brought critical on March 31, 2010. This configuration of the NRAD reactor has been evaluated as an acceptable benchmark experiment and is available in the 2011 editions of the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP Handbook) and the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook). Significant effort went into precisely characterizing all aspects of the reactor core dimensions and material properties; detailed analyses of reactor parameters minimized experimental uncertainties. The largest contributors to the total benchmark uncertainty were the 234U, 236U, Er, and Hf content in the fuel; the manganese content in the stainless steel cladding; and the unknown level of water saturation in the graphite reflector blocks. A simplified benchmark model of the NRAD reactor was prepared with a keff of 1.0012 {+-} 0.0029 (1s). Monte Carlo calculations with MCNP5 and KENO-VI and various neutron cross section libraries were performed and compared with the benchmark eigenvalue for the 60-fuel-element core configuration; all calculated eigenvalues are between 0.3 and 0.8% greater than the benchmark value. Benchmark evaluations of the NRAD reactor are beneficial in understanding biases and uncertainties affecting criticality safety analyses of storage, handling, or transportation applications with LEU-Er-Zr-H fuel

Providing Nuclear Criticality Safety Analysis Education through Benchmark Experiment Evaluation

One of the challenges that today's new workforce of nuclear criticality safety engineers face is the opportunity to provide assessment of nuclear systems and establish safety guidelines without having received significant experience or hands-on training prior to graduation. Participation in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and/or the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) provides students and young professionals the opportunity to gain experience and enhance critical engineering skills

Semiconductor Noise

Contains reports on two research projects

Water-Moderated and -Reflected Slabs of Uranium Oxyfluoride

A series of ten experiments were conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Critical Experiment Facility in December 1955, and January 1956, in an attempt to determine critical conditions for a slab of aqueous uranium oxyfluoride (UO2F2). These experiments were recorded in an Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Logbook and results were published in a journal of the American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Science and Engineering, by J. K. Fox, L. W. Gilley, and J. H. Marable (Reference 1). The purpose of these experiments was to obtain the minimum critical thickness of an effectively infinite slab of UO2F2 solution by extrapolation of experimental data. To do this the slab thickness was varied and critical solution and water-reflector heights were measured using two different fuel solutions. Of the ten conducted experiments eight of the experiments reached critical conditions but the results of only six of the experiments were published in Reference 1. All ten experiments were evaluated from which five critical configurations were judged as acceptable criticality safety benchmarks. The total uncertainty in the acceptable benchmarks is between 0.25 and 0.33 % ?k/keff. UO2F2 fuel is also evaluated in HEU-SOL-THERM-043, HEU-SOL-THERM-011, and HEU-SOL-THERM-012, but these those evaluation reports are for large reflected and unreflected spheres. Aluminum cylinders of UO2F2 are evaluated in HEU-SOL-THERM-050

Electron Tomography of the Contact between T Cells and SIV/HIV-1: Implications for Viral Entry

The envelope glycoproteins of primate lentiviruses, including human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV and SIV), are heterodimers of a transmembrane glycoprotein (usually gp41), and a surface glycoprotein (gp120), which binds CD4 on target cells to initiate viral entry. We have used electron tomography to determine the three-dimensional architectures of purified SIV virions in isolation and in contact with CD4+ target cells. The trimeric viral envelope glycoprotein surface spikes are heterogeneous in appearance and typically ∼120 Å long and ∼120 Å wide at the distal end. Docking of SIV or HIV-1 on the T cell surface occurs via a neck-shaped contact region that is ∼400 Å wide and consistently consists of a closely spaced cluster of five to seven rod-shaped features, each ∼100 Å long and ∼100 Å wide. This distinctive structure is not observed when viruses are incubated with T lymphocytes in the presence of anti-CD4 antibodies, the CCR5 antagonist TAK779, or the peptide entry inhibitor SIVmac251 C34. For virions bound to cells, few trimers were observed away from this cluster at the virion–cell interface, even in cases where virus preparations showing as many as 70 envelope glycoprotein trimers per virus particle were used. This contact zone, which we term the “entry claw”, provides a spatial context to understand the molecular mechanisms of viral entry. Determination of the molecular composition and structure of the entry claw may facilitate the identification of improved drugs for the inhibition of HIV-1 entry