PLUTONIUM TRANSPORT PACKAGE CLOSURE SURVEY

In the fall of 1976, Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories conducted a survey of eight facilities receiving plutonium shipments to determine the condition of plutonium shipping packages during shipment. This survey followed a similar survey conducted by PNL in early 1974. The package types considered were the L-10, 6M and LLD-1 packages. A total of 6,700 packages were included in the survey. Compared to the earlier survey, a marked reduction was observed in nonstandard package closure conditions. One exception was an increase in the occurrence of extremely tight pipe plugs in the 2R inner container for the 6M package. This is not felt to be a significant safety problem. The reduction i n nonstandard package closure conditions was apparently due to the improved quality assurance in packing procedures

LOSS-OF-COOLANT ACIDENT SIMULATIONS IN THE NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSAL REACTOR

Pressurized water reactor loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) phenomena are being simulated with a series of experiments in the U-2 loop of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. The first of these experiments includes up to 45 parametric thermal-hydraulic tests to establish the relationship among the reflood delay time of emergency coolant, the reflooding rate, and the resultant fuel rod cladding peak temperature. Subsequent experiments establish the fuel rod failure characteristics at selected peak cladding temperatures. Fuel rod cladding pressurization simulates high burnup fission gas pressure levels of modern PWRs. This document contains both an experiment overview of the LOCA simulation program and a review of the safety analyses performed by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) to define the expected operating conditions as well as to evaluate the worst case operating conditions. The primary intent of this document is to supply safety information required by the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL), to establish readiness to proceed from one test phase to the next and to establish the overall safety of the experiment. A hazards review summarizes safety issues, normal operation and three worst case accidents that have been addressed during the development of the experiment plan

A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review [version 2; referees: 2 approved]

Peer review of research articles is a core part of our scholarly communication system. In spite of its importance, the status and purpose of peer review is often contested. What is its role in our modern digital research and communications infrastructure? Does it perform to the high standards with which it is generally regarded? Studies of peer review have shown that it is prone to bias and abuse in numerous dimensions, frequently unreliable, and can fail to detect even fraudulent research. With the advent of web technologies, we are now witnessing a phase of innovation and experimentation in our approaches to peer review. These developments prompted us to examine emerging models of peer review from a range of disciplines and venues, and to ask how they might address some of the issues with our current systems of peer review. We examine the functionality of a range of social Web platforms, and compare these with the traits underlying a viable peer review system: quality control, quantified performance metrics as engagement incentives, and certification and reputation. Ideally, any new systems will demonstrate that they out-perform and reduce the biases of existing models as much as possible. We conclude that there is considerable scope for new peer review initiatives to be developed, each with their own potential issues and advantages. We also propose a novel hybrid platform model that could, at least partially, resolve many of the socio-technical issues associated with peer review, and potentially disrupt the entire scholarly communication system. Success for any such development relies on reaching a critical threshold of research community engagement with both the process and the platform, and therefore cannot be achieved without a significant change of incentives in research environments

A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review

Peer review of research articles is a core part of our scholarly communication system. In spite of its importance, the status and purpose of peer review is often contested. What is its role in our modern digital research and communications infrastructure? Does it perform to the high standards with which it is generally regarded? Studies of peer review have shown that it is prone to bias and abuse in numerous dimensions, frequently unreliable, and can fail to detect even fraudulent research. With the advent of web technologies, we are now witnessing a phase of innovation and experimentation in our approaches to peer review. These developments prompted us to examine emerging models of peer review from a range of disciplines and venues, and to ask how they might address some of the issues with our current systems of peer review. We examine the functionality of a range of social Web platforms, and compare these with the traits underlying a viable peer review system: quality control, quantified performance metrics as engagement incentives, and certification and reputation. Ideally, any new systems will demonstrate that they out-perform and reduce the biases of existing models as much as possible. We conclude that there is considerable scope for new peer review initiatives to be developed, each with their own potential issues and advantages. We also propose a novel hybrid platform model that could, at least partially, resolve many of the socio-technical issues associated with peer review, and potentially disrupt the entire scholarly communication system. Success for any such development relies on reaching a critical threshold of research community engagement with both the process and the platform, and therefore cannot be achieved without a significant change of incentives in research environments

PLUTONIUM TRANSPORT PACKAGE CLOSURE SURVEY

In the fall of 1976, Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories conducted a survey of eight facilities receiving plutonium shipments to determine the condition of plutonium shipping packages during shipment. This survey followed a similar survey conducted by PNL in early 1974. The package types considered were the L-10, 6M and LLD-1 packages. A total of 6,700 packages were included in the survey. Compared to the earlier survey, a marked reduction was observed in nonstandard package closure conditions. One exception was an increase in the occurrence of extremely tight pipe plugs in the 2R inner container for the 6M package. This is not felt to be a significant safety problem. The reduction i n nonstandard package closure conditions was apparently due to the improved quality assurance in packing procedures

Consequences of postulated losses of LWR spent fuel and plutonium shipping packages at sea

The potential consequences of the loss of a large spent fuel cask and of a single 6M plutonium shipping package into the sea for two specific accident cases are estimated. The radiation dose to man through the marine food chain following the loss of undamaged and fire-damaged packages to the continental shelf and in the deep ocean are conservatively estimated. Two failure mechanisms that could lead to release of radioactive material after loss of packages into the ocean have been considered: corrosion and hydrostatic pressure. A third possible mechanism is thermal overpressurization following burial in marine sediments. It was determined that the seals or pressure relief devices on an undamaged spent fuel cask might fail from hydrostatic forces for losses on the continental shelf although some cask designs would retain their integrity at this depth. The population dose to man through the marine food chain following these scenarios has been estimated. The dose estimates are made relating the radioactive material released and the seafood productivity in the region of the release. Doses are based on a one-year consumption of contaminated seafood. The loss of a single plutonium package on the continental shelf is estimated to produce a population dose commitment of less than 250 man-rem for recycle plutonium. The dose commitment to the average individual is less than one millirem. Doses for losses of undamaged casks to the continental shelf and deep ocean and for loss of a fire-damaged cask to the deep ocean were determined to be several orders of magnitude smaller. 22 tables, 10 figures

Handbook for value-impact assessment

The basic purpose of this handbook is to document a set of systematic procedures for providing information that can be used in performing value-impact assessments of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulatory actions. The handbook describes a structured but flexible process for performing the assessment. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the value-impact assessment process. Chapter 2 describes the attributes most frequently affected by proposed NRC actions, provides guidance concerningthe appropriate level of effort to be devoted to the assessment, suggests a standard format for documenting the assessment, and discusses the treatment of uncertainty. Chapter 3 contains detailed methods for evaluating each of the attributes affected by a regulatory action. The handbook has five appendixes containing background information, technical data, and example applications of the value-impact assessment procedures. This edition of the handbook focuses primarily on assessing nuclear power reactor safety issues

LOSS-OF-COOLANT ACIDENT SIMULATIONS IN THE NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSAL REACTOR

Pressurized water reactor loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) phenomena are being simulated with a series of experiments in the U-2 loop of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. The first of these experiments includes up to 45 parametric thermal-hydraulic tests to establish the relationship among the reflood delay time of emergency coolant, the reflooding rate, and the resultant fuel rod cladding peak temperature. Subsequent experiments establish the fuel rod failure characteristics at selected peak cladding temperatures. Fuel rod cladding pressurization simulates high burnup fission gas pressure levels of modern PWRs. This document contains both an experiment overview of the LOCA simulation program and a review of the safety analyses performed by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) to define the expected operating conditions as well as to evaluate the worst case operating conditions. The primary intent of this document is to supply safety information required by the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL), to establish readiness to proceed from one test phase to the next and to establish the overall safety of the experiment. A hazards review summarizes safety issues, normal operation and three worst case accidents that have been addressed during the development of the experiment plan