Aging phenomenon in metallic plutonium

Today, as with weapons science issues, the monitoring of plutonium aging becomes an important issue for surveillance. The reasons for this are many-fold. First, and perhaps most important, plutonium is radioactive, primarily through the process of alpha decay. This process has many consequences. One pragmatic one is that the alpha particles ejected near the surface can be used with an ionization gauge-type detector to assess the presence of fine plutonium particulates, allowing plutonium handlers and facilities to detect the presence of contamination in virtual real time. But this alpha decay has other consequences for weapon integrity which are not well known. The same surface alpha particles which allow it`s detection, can also cause a variety of problems with materials which may be found in contact with plutonium over extended time periods. However, when this alpha emission occurs within the bulk of the plutonium metal, it is essentially trapped. Within the metal atom lattice, it acquires valence electrons and becomes a helium atom. At the same time that these helium atoms accumulate within the lattice, atomic displacements and damage to the plutonium lattice occurs due to collisions with the energetic uranium and alpha particles. At the current time, the authors have insufficient data to either assess or postulate how or when such defect structures may cause a deleterious change in the plutonium or effect other indirect changes. The Laboratory is currently initiating a variety of enhanced surveillance technologies to asses such effects. Results of these studies to understand aging phenomena in plutonium will be reviewed

Development of ion beam techniques for the study of special nuclear materials related problems

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The scientific objective of this project was to develop the ion beam techniques for the characterization of actinides and their effects on other materials. It was designed to enhance their ability to quantitatively understand the oxidation, corrosion, diffusion, stability, and radiation damage of actinides and the materials with which they are in contact. The authors developed and applied several low-energy nuclear techniques (resonant and nonresonant backscattering, nuclear reaction analysis, and particle-induced x-ray emission) to the quantitative study of the near surfaces of actinide and tritide materials, and determined the absolute accuracy and precision of ion beam measurements on these materials. They also demonstrated the use of variable-energy alpha beams for the study of accelerated aging of polymeric materials in contact with actinide materials

Avaliação de modelos matemáticos para o estudo da cinética de passagem de partículas e de fluidos por bovinos em pastagem recebendo suplementos contendo diferentes níveis de proteína não-degradável no rúmen Evaluation of mathematical models for estimating the kinetics of ruminal Passage of particles and liquid of grazing steers Supplemented with different rumen-undegradable protein levels

Estudaram-se os comportamentos dos parâmetros da cinética de passagem de partículas e de fluidos em bovinos mantidos em pastagem de Brachiaria brizantha, em duas épocas (época 1 = meses de maio, junho e julho/2000; e época 2 = meses de março, abril e maio/2001), recebendo suplementos contendo diferentes níveis de proteína não-degradável no rúmen (PNDR). Na época 1 os animais foram alimentados com suplementos contendo 20, 40 e 60% de PNDR, feno de Brachiaria brizantha e mistura mineral ad libitum, enquanto na época 2, foram distribuídos nos tratamentos: T0 = pastagem de capim-braquiária + mistura mineral ad libitum; T40 = pastagem + suplemento com 40% de PNDR; e T60 = pastagem + suplemento com 60% de PNDR. Na estimativa da taxa de passagem de partículas pelo rúmen, utilizou-se como indicador o Cr-mordente, enquanto a cinética de passagem de fluidos foi estimada com Co-EDTA, durante três períodos, de agosto a setembro/2001, utilizando-se os mesmos animais e tratamentos da época 2. As estimativas dos parâmetros da cinética de passagem de partículas foram determinadas a partir do ajuste dos dados aos modelos bicompartimentais (G1G1, G2G1, G3G1, G4G1, G5G1 e G6G1), enquanto, para a cinética de passagem de fluidos, foi utilizado o modelo G1G1. Os critérios de escolha do melhor modelo foram a freqüência observada dos valores mínimos para o quadrado médio residual, obtido com os ajustes dos diferentes modelos e o número de corridas de sinal dos resíduos padronizados. Os modelos G2G1 e G3G1 mostraram-se mais eficientes na determinação das estimativas dos parâmetros de cinética de passagem de partículas, nas épocas 1 e 2, respectivamente. As estimativas do tempo médio de retenção ruminal de partículas e de fluidos não foram influenciadas pelos diferentes níveis de PNDR do suplemento.<br>The effects of supplements containing different rumen-undegradable protein (RUP) levels on the ruminal passage rate of particles and liquid of steers grazing Brachiaria brizantha were evaluated in this study. Samples were collected in two seasons of the year (season 1 May, June and July/2000 and season 2 March, April and May/2001). In season 1, animals were housed in individual stalls and were fed supplements containing 20, 40 or 60% RUP plus Brachiaria brizantha hay and had free access to a mineral mix. In season 2, steers were distributed to one of three treatments as follows: T0 = Brachiaria brizantha pasture + ad libitum mineral mix, T40 = pasture + 40% RUP supplement, or T60 = pasture + 60% RUP supplement. Chromium mordant was used to estimate ruminal passage rate of particles; fluid passage rate was estimated using Co-EDTA during three periods from August to September/2001 using the same animals of season 2. Estimation of the kinetic parameters of ruminal passage of particles was obtained by adjusting data to different bicompartimental models (G1G1, G2G1, G3G1, G4G1, G5G1 e G6G1) while the model G1G1 was used to estimate the kinetic parameters of ruminal passage of liquid. The criteria to choose the best model were the observed frequency of minimum values for the mean residual square obtained with the adjustment of different models and the number of signal runs of standardized residues. The models G2G1 e G3G1 were the most efficient to estimate the kinetic parameters of ruminal passage of particles in seasons 1 and 2, respectively. Different supplement RUP levels did not affect the estimation of mean ruminal retention time of both particles and liquid