Importance and Ranking Evaluation of Cost Overrun Factors for Oil Transmission Pipeline Projects

Over the recent years, the cost escalation in oil pipeline projects in Iran has been inevitable due to the political and economic conditions. On the other hand, due to Iran\u27s 20-year vision plan, several projects and plans have been defined by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC); therefore, to achieve the vision plan\u27s goal and deliver the projects on-budget, identification of the cost overrun causes is the first step. In this research, a list of important cost overrun factors in oil pipeline projects was extracted after a detailed literature review, study the executed projects document, semistructured interview, and a questionnaire survey among clients, consultants, and contractors who are involved in such projects. The results show that the political and economic sanctions, rise in the price of material, delay in payments, unrealistic price proposal to win the tender, inflation, change in orders/extra works, type of bidding award, delay by vendors/suppliers, slow speed in obtaining permits/massive bureaucracy, and unrealistic time and cost estimation are ranked in the top ten cost overrun factors

Production of the ¹⁰³Pd via Cyclotron and Preparation of the Brachytherapy Seed

This study will briefly explain the production of 103Pd via cyclotron for brachytherapy use. The excitation functions of 103Rh(p,n)103Pd and 103Rh(d,2n)103Pd reactions were calculated using ALICE/91, ALICE/ASH, and TALYS-1.2 codes and compared with published data. Production of 103Pd was done via 103Rh(p,n)103Pd nuclear reaction. The target was bombarded with 18 MeV protons at 200 μA beam current for 15 h. After irradiation and radiochemical separation of the electroplated rhodium target, at the optimum condition, 103Pd was absorbed into Amberlite®IR-93 resin. The preparation of the brachytherapy seed, which is loaded by the resin beads, has also been presented. At least, the method to determine the dosimetric parameters for the seed by experimental measurement has been presented

Modelling, Simulation and Dosimetry of ¹⁰³-Pd Eye Plaque Brachytherapy

In this study, the dose distribution has been calculated for the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) eye plaques at various diameters 10–22 mm, loaded with the 103-Pd brachytherapy seeds (Model IR06-103Pd). Several Monte Carlo (MC) simulations have been employed to carry out the gold backing and Silastic insert effect on dose distribution around the eye plaque. Version 5 of the Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP) code has been used to carry out the simulations. The new palladium seed was modelled in three geometric orientations (ideal, vertical and diagonal). Results are compared with the calculated data for COMS eye plaque loaded with Theragenics model 200 and Best model 2335 palladium-103 seeds and model 6711 iodine-125 seeds. The calculated dose rate constant of the IR06-103Pd seed was found to be 0.692 ± 0.020 cGy h−1 U−1. The air kerma strength to deliver 85 Gy to tumour apex in a water medium was found to be 4.10 U/seed. The dosimetric parameters calculated in this work for the new palladium seed indicate the IR06-103Pd seed is suitable for use in brachytherapy. In COMS plaques, the dose distribution to points of interest was compared for three 103-Pd seed models. With the exception of sclera dose and for a given prescription dose, the IR06 seed delivers lower dose ocular points of interest

Excitation functions of 3He-particle-induced nuclear reactions on 103Rh: Experimental and theoretical investigations

Excitation functions for the 3He-induced reactions on 103Rh as alternative pathway for the production of the medically used 103Pd were studied by the stacked foil technique. Excitation functions of the 103Rh(3α, x) 103Pd, 103,104,104m,105Ag and 100,101,101m,102,102mRh reactions were determined up to 27 MeV by detecting only the characteristic γ-rays obtained from the decay of residual nuclei. The experimental results were compared with the theoretical ones obtained from the EMPIRE-3.2 code and ‎the TENDL nuclear data library. From the measured cross-section data integral production yields were calculated