Sample records for absolute thorium abundances

  1. Thorium: Crustal abundance, joint production, and economic availability

    DOE PAGES

    Jordan, Brett W.; Eggert, Roderick G.; Dixon, Brent W.; ...

    2015-03-02

    Recently, interest in thorium's potential use in a nuclear fuel cycle has been renewed. Thorium is more abundant, at least on average, than uranium in the earth's crust and, therefore, could theoretically extend the use of nuclear energy technology beyond the economic limits of uranium resources. This paper provides an economic assessment of thorium availability by creating cumulative-availability and potential mining-industry cost curves, based on known thorium resources. These tools provide two perspectives on the economic availability of thorium. In the long term, physical quantities of thorium likely will not be a constraint on the development of a thorium fuelmore » cycle. In the medium term, however, thorium supply may be limited by constraints associated with its production as a by-product of rare earth elements and heavy mineral sands. As a result, environmental concerns, social issues, regulation, and technology also present issues for the medium and long term supply of thorium.« less

  2. Absolute quantification of microbial taxon abundances.

    PubMed

    Props, Ruben; Kerckhof, Frederiek-Maarten; Rubbens, Peter; De Vrieze, Jo; Hernandez Sanabria, Emma; Waegeman, Willem; Monsieurs, Pieter; Hammes, Frederik; Boon, Nico

    2017-02-01

    High-throughput amplicon sequencing has become a well-established approach for microbial community profiling. Correlating shifts in the relative abundances of bacterial taxa with environmental gradients is the goal of many microbiome surveys. As the abundances generated by this technology are semi-quantitative by definition, the observed dynamics may not accurately reflect those of the actual taxon densities. We combined the sequencing approach (16S rRNA gene) with robust single-cell enumeration technologies (flow cytometry) to quantify the absolute taxon abundances. A detailed longitudinal analysis of the absolute abundances resulted in distinct abundance profiles that were less ambiguous and expressed in units that can be directly compared across studies. We further provide evidence that the enrichment of taxa (increase in relative abundance) does not necessarily relate to the outgrowth of taxa (increase in absolute abundance). Our results highlight that both relative and absolute abundances should be considered for a comprehensive biological interpretation of microbiome surveys.

  3. Revised Thorium Abundances for Lunar Red Spots

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hagerty, J. J.; Lawrence, D. J.; Elphic, R. C.; Feldman, W. C.; Vaniman, D. T.; Hawke, B. R.

    2005-01-01

    Lunar red spots are features on the nearside of the Moon that are characterized by high albedo and by a strong absorption in the ultraviolet. These red spots include the Gruithuisen domes, the Mairan domes, Hansteen Alpha, the southern portion of Montes Riphaeus, Darney Chi and Tau, Helmet, and an area near the Lassell crater. It has been suggested that many of the red spots are extrusive, nonmare, volcanic features that could be composed of an evolved lithlogy enriched in thorium. In fact, Hawke et al. used morphological characteristics to show that Hansteen Alpha is a nonmare volcanic construct. However, because the apparent Th abundances (6 - 7 ppm) were lower than that expected for evolved rock types, Hawke et al. concluded that Hansteen Alpha was composed of an unknown rock type. Subsequent studies by Lawrence et al. used improved knowledge of the Th spatial distribution for small area features on the lunar surface to revisit the interpretation of Th abundances at the Hansteen Alpha red spot. As part of their study, Lawrence et al. used a forward modeling technique to show that the Th abundance at Hansteen Alpha is not 6 ppm, but is more likely closer to 25 ppm, a value consistent with evolved lithologies. This positive correlation between the morphology and composition of Hansteen Alpha provides support for the presence of evolved lithologies on the lunar surface. It is possible, however, that Hansteen Alpha represents an isolated occurrence of non-mare volcanism. That is why we have chosen to use the forward modeling technique of Lawrence et al. to investigate the Th abundances at other lunar red spots, starting with the Gruithuisen domes. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

  4. Thorium abundances of basalt ponds in South Pole-Aitken basin: Insights into the composition and evolution of the far side lunar mantle

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hagerty, Justin J.; Lawrence, D.J.; Hawke, B.R.

    2011-01-01

    Imbrian-aged basalt ponds, located on the floor of South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, are used to provide constraints on the composition and evolution of the far side lunar mantle. We use forward modeling of the Lunar Prospector Gamma Ray Spectrometer thorium data, to suggest that at least five different and distinct portions of the far side lunar mantle contain little or no thorium as of the Imbrian Period. We also use spatial correlations between local thorium enhancements and nonmare material on top of the basalt ponds to support previous assertions that lower crustal materials exposed in SPA basin have elevated thorium abundances, consistent with noritic to gabbronoritic lithologies. We suggest that the lower crust on the far side of the Moon experienced multiple intrusions of thorium-rich basaltic magmas, prior to the formation of SPA basin. The fact that many of the ponds on the lunar far side have elevated titanium abundances indicates that the far side of the Moon experienced extensive fractional crystallization that likely led to the formation of a KREEP-like component. However, because the Imbrian-aged basalts contain no signs of elevated thorium, we propose that the SPA impact event triggered the transport of a KREEP-like component from the lunar far side and concentrated it on the nearside of the Moon. Because of the correlation between basaltic ponds and basins within SPA, we suggest that Imbrian-aged basaltic volcanism on the far side of the Moon was driven by basin-induced decompressional melting.

  5. Thorium abundances on the aristarchus plateau: Insights into the composition of the aristarchus pyroclastic glass deposits

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hagerty, Justin J.; Lawrence, D.J.; Hawke, B.R.; Gaddis, Lisa R.

    2009-01-01

    Thorium (Th) data from the Lunar Prospector gamma ray spectrometer (LP-GRS) are used to constrain the composition of lunar pyroclastic glass deposits on top of the Aristarchus plateau. Our goal is to use forward modeling of LP-GRS Th data to measure the Th abundances on the plateau and then to determine if the elevated Th abundances on the plateau are associated with the pyroclastic deposits or with thorium-rich ejecta from Aristarchus crater. We use a variety of remote sensing data to show that there is a large, homogenous portion of the pyroclastics on the plateau that has seen little or no contamination from the Th-rich ejecta of Aristarchus crater. Our results show that the uncontaminated pyroclastic glasses on Aristarchus plateau have an average Th content of 6.7 ppm and ???7 wt % TiO2. These Th and Ti values are consistent with Th-rich, intermediate-Ti yellow glasses from the lunar sample suite. On the basis of this information, we use petrologic equations and interelement correlations for the Moon to estimate the composition of the source region from which the Aristarchus glasses were derived. We find that the source region for the Aristarchus glasses contained high abundances of heat-producing elements, which most likely served as a thermal driver for the prolonged volcanic activity in this region of the Moon. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

  6. An absolute sodium abundance for a cloud-free 'hot Saturn' exoplanet.

    PubMed

    Nikolov, N; Sing, D K; Fortney, J J; Goyal, J M; Drummond, B; Evans, T M; Gibson, N P; De Mooij, E J W; Rustamkulov, Z; Wakeford, H R; Smalley, B; Burgasser, A J; Hellier, C; Helling, Ch; Mayne, N J; Madhusudhan, N; Kataria, T; Baines, J; Carter, A L; Ballester, G E; Barstow, J K; McCleery, J; Spake, J J

    2018-05-01

    Broad absorption signatures from alkali metals, such as the sodium (Na I) and potassium (K I) resonance doublets, have long been predicted in the optical atmospheric spectra of cloud-free irradiated gas giant exoplanets 1-3 . However, observations have revealed only the narrow cores of these features rather than the full pressure-broadened profiles 4-6 . Cloud and haze opacity at the day-night planetary terminator are considered to be responsible for obscuring the absorption-line wings, which hinders constraints on absolute atmospheric abundances 7-9 . Here we report an optical transmission spectrum for the 'hot Saturn' exoplanet WASP-96b obtained with the Very Large Telescope, which exhibits the complete pressure-broadened profile of the sodium absorption feature. The spectrum is in excellent agreement with cloud-free, solar-abundance models assuming chemical equilibrium. We are able to measure a precise, absolute sodium abundance of logε Na  = [Formula: see text], and use it as a proxy for the planet's atmospheric metallicity relative to the solar value (Z p /Z ʘ  = [Formula: see text]). This result is consistent with the mass-metallicity trend observed for Solar System planets and exoplanets 10-12 .

  7. An absolute sodium abundance for a cloud-free `hot Saturn' exoplanet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nikolov, N.; Sing, D. K.; Fortney, J. J.; Goyal, J. M.; Drummond, B.; Evans, T. M.; Gibson, N. P.; De Mooij, E. J. W.; Rustamkulov, Z.; Wakeford, H. R.; Smalley, B.; Burgasser, A. J.; Hellier, C.; Helling, Ch.; Mayne, N. J.; Madhusudhan, N.; Kataria, T.; Baines, J.; Carter, A. L.; Ballester, G. E.; Barstow, J. K.; McCleery, J.; Spake, J. J.

    2018-05-01

    Broad absorption signatures from alkali metals, such as the sodium (Na i) and potassium (K i) resonance doublets, have long been predicted in the optical atmospheric spectra of cloud-free irradiated gas giant exoplanets1-3. However, observations have revealed only the narrow cores of these features rather than the full pressure-broadened profiles4-6. Cloud and haze opacity at the day-night planetary terminator are considered to be responsible for obscuring the absorption-line wings, which hinders constraints on absolute atmospheric abundances7-9. Here we report an optical transmission spectrum for the `hot Saturn' exoplanet WASP-96b obtained with the Very Large Telescope, which exhibits the complete pressure-broadened profile of the sodium absorption feature. The spectrum is in excellent agreement with cloud-free, solar-abundance models assuming chemical equilibrium. We are able to measure a precise, absolute sodium abundance of logɛNa = 6.9-0.4+0.6, and use it as a proxy for the planet's atmospheric metallicity relative to the solar value (Zp/Zʘ = 2.3-1.7+8.9). This result is consistent with the mass-metallicity trend observed for Solar System planets and exoplanets10-12.

  8. The Cosmological Impact of AGN Outflows: Measuring Absolute Abundances and Kinetic Luminosities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arav, Nahum

    2009-07-01

    AGN outflows are increasingly invoked as a major contributor to the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes, their host galaxies, the surrounding IGM, and cluster cooling flows. Our HST/COS proposal will determine reliable absolute chemical abundances in six AGN outflows, which influences several of the processes mentioned above. To date there is only one such determination, done by our team on Mrk 279 using 16 HST/STIS orbits and 100 ksec of FUSE time. The advent of COS and its high sensitivity allows us to choose among fainter objects at redshifts high enough to preclude the need for FUSE. This will allow us to determine the absolute abundances for six AGN {all fainter than Mrk 279} using only 40 HST COS orbits. This will put abundances studies in AGN on a firm footing, an elusive goal for the past four decades. In addition, prior FUSE observations of four of these targets indicate that it is probable that the COS observations will detect troughs from excited levels of C III. These will allow us to measure the distances of the outflows and thereby determine their kinetic luminosity, a major goal in AGN feedback research. We will use our state of the art column density extraction methods and velocity-dependent photoionization models to determine the abundances and kinetic luminosity. Previous AGN outflow projects suffered from the constraints of deciding what science we could do using ONE of the handful of bright targets that were observable. With COS we can choose the best sample for our experiment. As an added bonus, most of the spectral range of our targets has not been observed previously, greatly increasing the discovery phase space.

  9. Parametric scaling from species relative abundances to absolute abundances in the computation of biological diversity: a first proposal using Shannon's entropy.

    PubMed

    Ricotta, Carlo

    2003-01-01

    Traditional diversity measures such as the Shannon entropy are generally computed from the species' relative abundance vector of a given community to the exclusion of species' absolute abundances. In this paper, I first mention some examples where the total information content associated with a given community may be more adequate than Shannon's average information content for a better understanding of ecosystem functioning. Next, I propose a parametric measure of statistical information that contains both Shannon's entropy and total information content as special cases of this more general function.

  10. Absolute Quantification of Middle- to High-Abundant Plasma Proteins via Targeted Proteomics.

    PubMed

    Dittrich, Julia; Ceglarek, Uta

    2017-01-01

    The increasing number of peptide and protein biomarker candidates requires expeditious and reliable quantification strategies. The utilization of liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the absolute quantitation of plasma proteins and peptides facilitates the multiplexed verification of tens to hundreds of biomarkers from smallest sample quantities. Targeted proteomics assays derived from bottom-up proteomics principles rely on the identification and analysis of proteotypic peptides formed in an enzymatic digestion of the target protein. This protocol proposes a procedure for the establishment of a targeted absolute quantitation method for middle- to high-abundant plasma proteins waiving depletion or enrichment steps. Essential topics as proteotypic peptide identification and LC-MS/MS method development as well as sample preparation and calibration strategies are described in detail.

  11. Map of Martian Thorium at Mid-Latitudes

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2003-03-13

    This gamma ray spectrometer map of the mid-latitude region of Mars is based on gamma-rays from the element thorium. Thorium is a naturally radioactive element that exists in rocks and soils in extremely small amounts. The region of highest thorium content, shown in red, is found in the northern part of Acidalia Planitia (50 degrees latitude, -30 degrees longitude). Areas of low thorium content, shown in blue, are spread widely across the planet with significant low abundances located to the north of Olympus Mons (near 55 degrees latitude, -155 degrees longitude), to the east of the Tharsis volcanoes (-10 degrees latitude, -80 degrees longitude) and to the south and east of Elysium Mons (20 degrees latitude, 160 degrees longitude). Contours of constant surface elevation are also shown. The long continuous contour line running from east to west marks the approximate separation of the younger lowlands in the north from the older highlands in the south. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04257

  12. Potential of Melastoma malabathricum as bio-accumulator for uranium and thorium from soil

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Saat, Ahmad, E-mail: ahmad183@salam.uitm.edu.my; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam; Kamsani, Ain Shaqina

    2015-04-29

    Uranium and Thorium are naturally occuring radionuclides. However, due to anthropogenic activities in some locations their concentrations in the soils could be elevated. This study explores the potential of Melastoma malabathricum (locally known as ‘pokok senduduk’) as bio-accumulator of uranium and thorium from soils of three different study areas, namely former tin mining, industrial and residential/commercial areas in Peninsular Malaysia. The study found elevated concentrations of uranium and thorium in former tin mining soils as compared to natural abundance. However in industral and residential/commercial areas the concentrations are within the range of natural abundance. In terms of transfer factor (TF),more » in ex-mining areas TF > 1 for uranium in the leaf, stem and roots, indicating accumulation of uranium from soil. However for thorium TF < 1, indicating the occurence of transfer from soil to root, stem and leaf, but no accumulation. For other areas only transfer of uranium and thorium were observed. The results indicated the potential of Melastoma malabathricum to be used as bio-accumulatior of uranium, especially in areas of elevated concentration.« less

  13. The solar photospheric abundance of hafnium and thorium. Results from CO5BOLD 3D hydrodynamic model atmospheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caffau, E.; Sbordone, L.; Ludwig, H.-G.; Bonifacio, P.; Steffen, M.; Behara, N. T.

    2008-05-01

    Context: The stable element hafnium (Hf) and the radioactive element thorium (Th) were recently suggested as a suitable pair for radioactive dating of stars. The applicability of this elemental pair needs to be established for stellar spectroscopy. Aims: We aim at a spectroscopic determination of the abundance of Hf and Th in the solar photosphere based on a CO5BOLD 3D hydrodynamical model atmosphere. We put this into a wider context by investigating 3D abundance corrections for a set of G- and F-type dwarfs. Methods: High-resolution, high signal-to-noise solar spectra were compared to line synthesis calculations performed on a solar CO5BOLD model. For the other atmospheres, we compared synthetic spectra of CO5BOLD 3D and associated 1D models. Results: For Hf we find a photospheric abundance A(Hf) = 0.87 ± 0.04, in good agreement with a previous analysis, based on 1D model atmospheres. The weak Th II 401.9 nm line constitutes the only Th abundance indicator available in the solar spectrum. It lies in the red wing of a Ni-Fe blend exhibiting a non-negligible convective asymmetry. Accounting for the asymmetry-related additional absorption, we obtain A(Th) = 0.08 ± 0.03, consistent with the meteoritic abundance, and about 0.1 dex lower than obtained in previous photospheric abundance determinations. Conclusions: Only for the second time, to our knowledge, has a non-negligible effect of convective line asymmetries on an abundance derivation been highlighted. Three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations should be employed to measure Th abundances in dwarfs if similar blending is present, as in the solar case. In contrast, 3D effects on Hf abundances are small in G- to mid F-type dwarfs and sub-giants, and 1D model atmospheres can be conveniently used.

  14. Safety and Regulatory Issues of the Thorium Fuel Cycle

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ade, Brian; Worrall, Andrew; Powers, Jeffrey

    2014-02-01

    Thorium has been widely considered an alternative to uranium fuel because of its relatively large natural abundance and its ability to breed fissile fuel (233U) from natural thorium (232Th). Possible scenarios for using thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle include use in different nuclear reactor types (light water, high temperature gas cooled, fast spectrum sodium, molten salt, etc.), advanced accelerator-driven systems, or even fission-fusion hybrid systems. The most likely near-term application of thorium in the United States is in currently operating light water reactors (LWRs). This use is primarily based on concepts that mix thorium with uranium (UO2 + ThO2),more » add fertile thorium (ThO2) fuel pins to LWR fuel assemblies, or use mixed plutonium and thorium (PuO2 + ThO2) fuel assemblies. The addition of thorium to currently operating LWRs would result in a number of different phenomenological impacts on the nuclear fuel. Thorium and its irradiation products have nuclear characteristics that are different from those of uranium. In addition, ThO2, alone or mixed with UO2 fuel, leads to different chemical and physical properties of the fuel. These aspects are key to reactor safety-related issues. The primary objectives of this report are to summarize historical, current, and proposed uses of thorium in nuclear reactors; provide some important properties of thorium fuel; perform qualitative and quantitative evaluations of both in-reactor and out-of-reactor safety issues and requirements specific to a thorium-based fuel cycle for current LWR reactor designs; and identify key knowledge gaps and technical issues that need to be addressed for the licensing of thorium LWR fuel in the United States.« less

  15. The Earth's Thorium and Uranium Abundance and Distribution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDonough, W. F.; Guo, M.; Wipperfurth, S. A.

    2017-12-01

    The abundance and distribution of thorium (Th) and uranium (U) and its Th/U value have been assessed for the bulk silicate Earth (BSE), core, modern mantle and continental crust. These heat producing elements power the Earth's engine and are recorders of atmospheric oxidation and biologically mediated processes. More than 50,000 measured Th/U values (Kappa) and a couple of thousand Kappa-Pb values, the time-integrated Pb isotopic values from the decay of Th and U, are evaluated for the BSE, continental crust (CC) and modern mantle (MM), with the latter represented by mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and ocean island basalt (OIB). The Kappa-Pb values for these complementary enriched and depleted domains of the BSE (i.e., CC_Kappa-Pb = 4.1 +/- 0.2 and MM_Kappa-Pb = 3.8 +/- 0.1, respectively) narrowly bracket the solar system initial (SSi_Kappa-Pb = 3.88 +/- 0.02) with an uncertainty of +/-5%) and demonstrate that negligible Th/U fractionation accompanied accretion, core formation, and crust - mantle differentiation. Experimental studies find marked differences in the partitioning of U and Th during core formation and thus, the BSE_Kappa-Pb = of 3.9 +/- 0.2 dictates that Th and U were excluded from the core. The <4% differences between the CC_Kappa-Pb and MM_Kappa-Pb reveals that U6+ recycling back into the mantle has either been a relatively recent process or that its recycling following atmospheric oxygenation at 2.4 Ga was limited and evolved slowly with time. Recent data from geoneutrino flux measurements at KamLAND observes a Th/U of 4.1 (+5.5, -3.3); although these uncertainties are large, future experiments, with annual count rates that are 10 to 40 times greater than that at KamLAND, will provide greater statistics, a critical measure of the planetary Th/U ratio, and an assessment of the assumption of chondritic ratio for the Earth.

  16. The Use of Thorium within the Nuclear Power Industry - 13472

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Miller, Keith

    2013-07-01

    Thorium is 3 to 4 times more abundant than uranium and is widely distributed in nature as an easily exploitable resource in many countries. Unlike natural uranium, which contains ∼0.7% fissile {sup 235}U isotope, natural thorium does not contain any fissile material and is made up of the fertile {sup 232}Th isotope only. Therefore thorium and thorium-based fuel as metal, oxide or carbide, has been utilized in combination with fissile {sup 235}U or {sup 239}Pu in nuclear research and power reactors for conversion to fissile {sup 233}U, thereby enlarging fissile material resources. During the pioneering years of nuclear energy, frommore » the mid 1950's to mid 1970's, there was considerable interest worldwide to develop thorium fuels and fuel cycles in order to supplement uranium reserves. Thorium fuels and fuel cycles are particularly relevant to countries having large thorium deposits but very limited uranium reserves for their long term nuclear power programme. The feasibility of thorium utilization in high temperature gas cooled reactors (HTGR), light water reactors (LWR), pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs), liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors (LMFBR) and molten salt breeder reactors (MSBR) were demonstrated. The initial enthusiasm for thorium fuels and fuel cycles was not sustained among the developing countries later, due to new discovery of uranium deposits and their improved availability. However, in recent times, the need for proliferation-resistance, longer fuel cycles, higher burnup, and improved waste form characteristics, reduction of plutonium inventories and in situ use of bred-in fissile material has led to renewed interest in thorium-based fuels and fuel cycles. (authors)« less

  17. Absolute Single Photoionization Cross Sections of Se^3+ For the Determination of Elemental Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esteves, David; Sterling, Nicholas; Aguilar, Alex; Kilcoyne, A. L. David; Phaneuf, Ronald; Bilodeau, Rene; Red, Eddie; McLaughlin, Brendan; Norrington, Patrick; Balance, Connor

    2009-05-01

    Numerical simulations show that derived elemental abundances in astrophysical nebulae can be uncertain by factors of two or more due to atomic data uncertainties alone, and of these uncertainties, absolute photoionization cross sections are the most important. Absolute single photoionization cross sections for Se^3+ ions have been measured from 42 eV to 56 eV at the ALS using the merged beams photo-ion technique. Theoretical photoionization cross section calculations were also performed for these ions using the state-of-the-art fully relativistic Dirac R-matrix code (DARC). The calculations show encouraging agreement with the experimental measurements.

  18. Thorium fueled reactor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sipaun, S.

    2017-01-01

    Current development in thorium fueled reactors shows that they can be designed to operate in the fast or thermal spectrum. The thorium/uranium fuel cycle converts fertile thorium-232 into fissile uranium-233, which fissions and releases energy. This paper analyses the characteristics of thorium fueled reactors and discusses the thermal reactor option. It is found that thorium fuel can be utilized in molten salt reactors through many configurations and designs. A balanced assessment on the feasibility of adopting one reactor technology versus another could lead to optimized benefits of having thorium resource.

  19. Helium on Venus - Implications for uranium and thorium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prather, M. J.; Mcelroy, M. B.

    1983-01-01

    Helium is removed at an average rate of 10 to the 6th atoms per square centimeter per second from Venus's atmosphere by the solar wind following ionization above the plasmapause. The surface source of helium-4 on Venus is similar to that on earth, suggesting comparable abundances of crustal uranium and thorium.

  20. Map of Martian Thorium at Mid-Latitudes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    This gamma ray spectrometer map of the mid-latitude region of Mars is based on gamma-rays from the element thorium. Thorium is a naturally radioactive element that exists in rocks and soils in extremely small amounts. The region of highest thorium content, shown in red, is found in the northern part of Acidalia Planitia (50 degrees latitude, -30 degrees longitude). Areas of low thorium content, shown in blue, are spread widely across the planet with significant low abundances located to the north of Olympus Mons (near 55 degrees latitude, -155 degrees longitude), to the east of the Tharsis volcanoes (-10 degrees latitude, -80 degrees longitude) and to the south and east of Elysium Mons (20 degrees latitude, 160 degrees longitude). Contours of constant surface elevation are also shown. The long continuous contour line running from east to west marks the approximate separation of the younger lowlands in the north from the older highlands in the south.

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The gamma ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona, Tucson. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

  1. β-decay Rates for Exotic Nuclei and r-process Nucleosynthesis up to Thorium and Uranium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suzuki, Toshio; Shibagaki, Shota; Yoshida, Takashi; Kajino, Toshitaka; Otsuka, Takaharu

    2018-06-01

    Beta-decay rates for exotic nuclei with neutron magic number of N = 126 relevant to r-process nucleosynthesis are studied up to Z = 78 by shell-model calculations. The half-lives for the waiting-point nuclei obtained, which are short compared to a standard finite-range-droplet model, are used to study r-process nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosions and binary neutron star mergers. The element abundances are obtained up to the third peak as well as beyond the peak region up to thorium and uranium. The position of the third peak is found to be shifted toward a higher mass region in both CCSN explosions and neutron star mergers. We find that thorium and uranium elements are produced more with the shorter shell-model half-lives and their abundances come close to the observed values in CCSN explosions. In the case of binary neutron star mergers, thorium and uranium are produced consistently with the observed values independent of the half-lives.

  2. Abundances in very metal-poor stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, Jennifer Anne

    We measured the abundances of 35 elements in 22 field red giants and a red giant in the globular cluster M92. We found the [Zn/Fe] ratio increases with decreasing [Fe/H], reaching ~0.3 at [Fe/H] = -3.0. While this is a larger [Zn/Fe] than found by previous investigators, it is not sufficient to account for the [Zn/Fe] observed in the damped Lyα systems. We test different models for the production of the s-process elements by comparing our [Y/Zr] values, which have been produced by the r- process, to predictions of what the s-process does not produce. We find that the models of Arlandini et al. (1999), which calculate s-process production in a model AGB star, agree the best. We then look at the r-process abundances across a wide range in mass. The [Y/Ba] values for most of our stars cluster around -0.30, but there are three outliers with [Y/Ba] values up to 1 dex higher. Thus the heavy element abundances do not show the same pattern from Z = 39 to Z = 56. However, our abundances ratios from Pd (Z = 46) to Yb (Z = 70) are consistent with a scaled solar system r- process pattern, arguing that at least the heavy r- process elements are made in a universal pattern. If we assume that this same pattern hold through thorium, we can determine the ages of our stars from the present abundance of radioactive thorium and an initial thorium abundance based on the abundance of stable heavy elements. Our results for five stars are consistent with those stars being the same age. Our mean age is 10.8 +/- 2 Gyr. However that result depends critically on the assumed Th/stable ratio, which we adopt from models of the r-process. For an average age of 15 Gyrs, the initial Th/Eu ratio we would need is 0.590. Finally, the [element/Fe] ratios for elements in the iron group and lower do not show any dispersion, unlike for the r- process elements such as Y and Ba. Therefore the individual contributions of supernovae have been erased for the lighter elements.

  3. Analysis of key safety metrics of thorium utilization in LWRs

    DOE PAGES

    Ade, Brian J.; Bowman, Stephen M.; Worrall, Andrew; ...

    2016-04-08

    Here, thorium has great potential to stretch nuclear fuel reserves because of its natural abundance and because it is possible to breed the 232Th isotope into a fissile fuel ( 233U). Various scenarios exist for utilization of thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle, including use in different nuclear reactor types (e.g., light water, high-temperature gas-cooled, fast spectrum sodium, and molten salt reactors), along with use in advanced accelerator-driven systems and even in fission-fusion hybrid systems. The most likely near-term application of thorium in the United States is in currently operating light water reactors (LWRs). This use is primarily based onmore » concepts that mix thorium with uranium (UO 2 + ThO 2) or that add fertile thorium (ThO 2) fuel pins to typical LWR fuel assemblies. Utilization of mixed fuel assemblies (PuO 2 + ThO 2) is also possible. The addition of thorium to currently operating LWRs would result in a number of different phenomenological impacts to the nuclear fuel. Thorium and its irradiation products have different nuclear characteristics from those of uranium and its irradiation products. ThO 2, alone or mixed with UO 2 fuel, leads to different chemical and physical properties of the fuel. These key reactor safety–related issues have been studied at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and documented in “Safety and Regulatory Issues of the Thorium Fuel Cycle” (NUREG/CR-7176, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2014). Various reactor analyses were performed using the SCALE code system for comparison of key performance parameters of both ThO 2 + UO 2 and ThO 2 + PuO 2 against those of UO 2 and typical UO 2 + PuO 2 mixed oxide fuels, including reactivity coefficients and power sharing between surrounding UO 2 assemblies and the assembly of interest. The decay heat and radiological source terms for spent fuel after its discharge from the reactor are also presented. Based on this evaluation, potential impacts on safety requirements and

  4. ZIRCONIUM-CLADDING OF THORIUM

    DOEpatents

    Beaver, R.J.

    1961-11-21

    A method of cladding thorium with zirconium is described. The quality of the bond achieved between thorium and zirconium by hot-rolling is improved by inserting and melting a thorium-zirconium alloy foil between the two materials prior to rolling. (AEC)

  5. Establishing Ion Ratio Thresholds Based on Absolute Peak Area for Absolute Protein Quantification using Protein Cleavage Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Loziuk, Philip L.; Sederoff, Ronald R.; Chiang, Vincent L.; Muddiman, David C.

    2014-01-01

    Quantitative mass spectrometry has become central to the field of proteomics and metabolomics. Selected reaction monitoring is a widely used method for the absolute quantification of proteins and metabolites. This method renders high specificity using several product ions measured simultaneously. With growing interest in quantification of molecular species in complex biological samples, confident identification and quantitation has been of particular concern. A method to confirm purity or contamination of product ion spectra has become necessary for achieving accurate and precise quantification. Ion abundance ratio assessments were introduced to alleviate some of these issues. Ion abundance ratios are based on the consistent relative abundance (RA) of specific product ions with respect to the total abundance of all product ions. To date, no standardized method of implementing ion abundance ratios has been established. Thresholds by which product ion contamination is confirmed vary widely and are often arbitrary. This study sought to establish criteria by which the relative abundance of product ions can be evaluated in an absolute quantification experiment. These findings suggest that evaluation of the absolute ion abundance for any given transition is necessary in order to effectively implement RA thresholds. Overall, the variation of the RA value was observed to be relatively constant beyond an absolute threshold ion abundance. Finally, these RA values were observed to fluctuate significantly over a 3 year period, suggesting that these values should be assessed as close as possible to the time at which data is collected for quantification. PMID:25154770

  6. PRODUCTION OF THORIUM FLUORIDE

    DOEpatents

    Zachariasen, W.H.

    1959-08-11

    A process is presented for producing anhydrous thorium fluoride comprising the step of contacting a saturated aqueous solution of thorium nitrate with an aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid having a concentration of about 45 to 50% by weight at a temperature above 70 deg C whereby anhydrous thorium fluoride precipitates.

  7. METHOD OF RECOVERING THORIUM

    DOEpatents

    Fisher, R.W.

    1957-12-10

    A method is described for recovering thorium from impurities found in a slag containing thorium and said impurities, comprising leaching a composition containing thorium with water, removing the water solution, treating the residue with hydrochloric acid, separating the solution from the insoluble residue, adjusting its acidity to 1 to 3 normal, adding oxalic acid, and thereafter separating the precipitated thorium oxalate digesting the residue from the hydrochloric acid treatment with a strong solution of sodium hydroxide at an elevated temperature, removing said solution and treating the insoluble residue with hydrochloric acid, separating the solution from the insoluble residue, adjusting the acidity of this solution to 1 to 3 normal, adding nitric acid to oxidize the iron present, adding oxalic acid and thereafter separating the thorium oxalate thus precipitated.

  8. Radionuclide Basics: Thorium

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive metal found at trace levels in soil, rocks, plants and animals. Thorium is used very little in industry, but can be found in heat-resistant alloys and paints and optical lenses.

  9. ELECTROLYSIS OF THORIUM AND URANIUM

    DOEpatents

    Hansen, W.N.

    1960-09-01

    An electrolytic method is given for obtaining pure thorium, uranium, and thorium-uranium alloys. The electrolytic cell comprises a cathode composed of a metal selected from the class consisting of zinc, cadmium, tin, lead, antimony, and bismuth, an anode composed of at least one of the metals selected from the group consisting of thorium and uranium in an impure state, and an electrolyte composed of a fused salt containing at least one of the salts of the metals selected from the class consisting of thorium, uranium. zinc, cadmium, tin, lead, antimony, and bismuth. Electrolysis of the fused salt while the cathode is maintained in the molten condition deposits thorium, uranium, or thorium-uranium alloys in pure form in the molten cathode which thereafter may be separated from the molten cathode product by distillation.

  10. Thorium: Issues and prospects in Malaysia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    AL-Areqi, Wadeeah M.; Majid, Amran Ab.; Sarmani, Sukiman; Bahri, Che Nor Aniza Che Zainul

    2015-04-01

    In Malaysia, thorium exists in minerals and rare earth elements production residue. The average range of thorium content in Malaysian monazite and xenotime minerals was found about 70,000 and 15,000 ppm respectively. About 2,636 tonnes of Malaysian monazite was produced for a period of 5 years (2006-2010) and based on the above data, it can be estimated that Malaysian monazite contains about 184.5 tonnes of thorium. Although thorium can become a major radiological problem to our environment, but with the significant deposit of thorium in Malaysian monazite, it has a prospect as a future alternative fuel in nuclear technology. This paper will discuss the thorium issues in Malaysia especially its long term radiological risks to public health and environment at storage and disposal stages, the prospect of exploring and producing high purity thorium from our rare earth elements minerals for future thorium based reactor. This paper also highlights the holistic approach in thorium recovery from Malaysian rare earth element production residue to reduce its radioactivity and extraction of thorium and rare earth elements from the minerals with minimum radiological impact to health and environment.

  11. Thorium: Issues and prospects in Malaysia

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    AL-Areqi, Wadeeah M.; Majid, Amran Ab.; Sarmani, Sukiman

    2015-04-29

    In Malaysia, thorium exists in minerals and rare earth elements production residue. The average range of thorium content in Malaysian monazite and xenotime minerals was found about 70,000 and 15,000 ppm respectively. About 2,636 tonnes of Malaysian monazite was produced for a period of 5 years (2006-2010) and based on the above data, it can be estimated that Malaysian monazite contains about 184.5 tonnes of thorium. Although thorium can become a major radiological problem to our environment, but with the significant deposit of thorium in Malaysian monazite, it has a prospect as a future alternative fuel in nuclear technology. This papermore » will discuss the thorium issues in Malaysia especially its long term radiological risks to public health and environment at storage and disposal stages, the prospect of exploring and producing high purity thorium from our rare earth elements minerals for future thorium based reactor. This paper also highlights the holistic approach in thorium recovery from Malaysian rare earth element production residue to reduce its radioactivity and extraction of thorium and rare earth elements from the minerals with minimum radiological impact to health and environment.« less

  12. THORIUM DISPERSION IN BISMUTH

    DOEpatents

    Bryner, J.S.

    1961-07-01

    The growth of thorium bismutaide particles, which are formed when thorium is suspended in liquid bismuth, is inhibited when the liquid metal suspension is being flowed through a reactor and through a heat exchanger in sequence. It involves the addition of as little as 1 part by weight of tellurium to 100 parts of thorium. This addition is sufficient to inhibit particle growth and agglomeration.

  13. STUDY OF THE U/Th RATIO IN A THORITE FROM KIVU (BELGIAN CONGO) WITH REGARD TO ITS UTILIZATION IN THE PREPARATION OF THORIUM STANDARDS FOR GAMMA SPECTROMETRY (in French)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Poulaert, G.

    1958-01-01

    The uranium and thorium contents of a thorite from Kivu were determined. The very low U/Th ratio found makes this mineral a good standard for gamma spectrometry and fer all other direct radiometric measurements of thorium. The mineral was used in the preparation of ThB standards for the determination of the absolute age of rocks and minerals. (tr-auth)

  14. COMBINED ANALYSIS OF THORIUM AND FAST NEUTRON DATA AT THE LUNAR SURFACE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    O. GASNAULT; W. FELDMAN; ET AL

    2001-01-01

    The global distribution of the radioactive elements (U, K, Th) at the lunar surface is an important parameter for an understanding of lunar evolution, because they have provided continuous heat over the lifetime of the Moon. Today, only the thorium distribution is available for the whole lunar surface [1]. Another key parameter that characterize the surface of the Moon is the presence of mare basalts. These basalts are concentrated on the nearside and are represented by materials with high-Fe content, sometimes associated with high-Ti. We demonstrated elsewhere that the fast neutron measurement made by Lunar Prospector is representative of themore » average soil atomic mass [2]. is primarily dominated by Fe and Ti in basaltic terranes, and therefore the map of the fast neutrons provides a good delineation of mare basalts. We focus here on the correlated variations of thorium abundances and fast neutron fluxes averaged over areas of 360 km in diameter, in an attempt to provide a better understanding of the thorium emplacement on the surface of the Moon.« less

  15. Natural thorium resources and recovery: Options and impacts

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ault, Timothy; Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Krahn, Steven; Croff, Allen

    2016-01-01

    This paper reviews the front end of the thorium fuel cycle, including the extent and variety of thorium deposits, the potential sources of thorium production, and the physical and chemical technologies required to isolate and purify thorium. Thorium is frequently found within rare earth element–bearing minerals that exist in diverse types of mineral deposits, often in conjunction with other minerals mined for their commercial value. It may be possible to recover substantial quantities of thorium as a by-product from active titanium, uranium, tin, iron, and rare earth mines. Incremental physical and chemical processing is required to obtain a purified thorium product from thorium minerals, but documented experience with these processes is extensive, and incorporating thorium recovery should not be overly challenging. The anticipated environmental impacts of by-product thorium recovery are small relative to those of uranium recovery since existing mining infrastructure utilization avoids the opening and operation of new mines and thorium recovery removes radionuclides from the mining tailings.

  16. SEPARATION OF THORIUM FROM URANIUM

    DOEpatents

    Bane, R.W.

    1959-09-01

    A description is given for the separation of thorium from uranium by forming an aqueous acidic solution containing ionic species of thorium, uranyl uranium, and hydroxylamine, flowing the solution through a column containing the phenol-formaldehyde type cation exchange resin to selectively adsorb substantially all the thorium values and a portion of the uranium values, flowing a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid through the column to desorb the uranium values, and then flowing a dilute aqueous acidic solution containing an ion, such as bisulfate, which has a complexing effect upon thortum through the column to desorb substantially all of the thorium.

  17. SEPARATION OF URANIUM FROM THORIUM

    DOEpatents

    Hellman, N.N.

    1959-07-01

    A process is presented for separating uranium from thorium wherein the ratio of thorium to uranium is between 100 to 10,000. According to the invention the thoriumuranium mixture is dissolved in nitric acid, and the solution is prepared so as to obtain the desired concentration within a critical range of from 4 to 8 N with regard to the total nitrate due to thorium nitrate, with or without nitric acid or any nitrate salting out agent. The solution is then contacted with an ether, such as diethyl ether, whereby uranium is extracted into ihe organic phase while thorium remains in the aqueous phase.

  18. Thorium

    Cancer.gov

    Learn about thorium, which can raise the risk of liver, lung, and pancreatic cancers. The primary ways people are exposed are inhalation, intravenous injection, ingestion, and absorption through the skin.

  19. Safeguards Considerations for Thorium Fuel Cycles

    DOE PAGES

    Worrall, Louise G.; Worrall, Andrew; Flanagan, George F.; ...

    2016-04-21

    We report that by around 2025, thorium-based fuel cycles are likely to be deployed internationally. States such as China and India are pursuing research, development, and deployment pathways toward a number of commercial-scale thorium fuel cycles, and they are already building test reactors and the associated fuel cycle infrastructure. In the future, the potential exists for these emerging programs to sell, export, and deploy thorium fuel cycle technology in other states. Without technically adequate international safeguards protocols and measures in place, any future potential clandestine misuse of these fuel cycles could go undetected, compromising the deterrent value of these protocolsmore » and measures. The development of safeguards approaches for thorium-based fuel cycles is therefore a matter of some urgency. Yet, the focus of the international safeguards community remains mainly on safeguarding conventional 235U- and 239Pu-based fuel cycles while the safeguards challenges of thorium-uranium fuel cycles remain largely uninvestigated. This raises the following question: Is the International Atomic Energy Agency and international safeguards system ready for thorium fuel cycles? Furthermore, is the safeguards technology of today sufficiently mature to meet the verification challenges posed by thorium-based fuel cycles? In defining these and other related research questions, the objectives of this paper are to identify key safeguards considerations for thorium-based fuel cycles and to call for an early dialogue between the international safeguards and the nuclear fuel cycle communities to prepare for the potential safeguards challenges associated with these fuel cycles. In this paper, it is concluded that directed research and development programs are required to meet the identified safeguards challenges and to take timely action in preparation for the international deployment of thorium fuel cycles.« less

  20. The mechanism of thorium biosorption by Rhizopus arrhizus

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tsezos, M.; Volesky, B.

    1982-04-01

    Inactive cells of Rhizopus arrhizus have been documented to exhibit a high thorium biosorptive uptake (170 mg/g) from aqueous solutions. The mechanism of thorium sequestering by this biomass type was investigated following the same method as for the uranium biosorption emchanism. The thorium sequestering mechanism appeared somewhat different from that of uranium. Experimental evidence is presented which indicates that, at optimum biosorption pH (4), thorium coordinates with the nitroge of the chitin cell wall network and, in addition, more thorium is adsorbed by the external section of the fungal cell wall. At pH 2 the overall thorium uptake is reduced.more » The kinetic study of thorium biosorption revealed a very rapid rate of uptake. Unlike uranium at optimum solution pH, Fe/sup 2 +/ and Zn/sup 2 +/ did not interfere significantly with the thorium biosorptive uptake capacity of R. arrhizus.« less

  1. Mineral resource of the month: thorium

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    ,

    2009-01-01

    This article provides information on thorium. Thorium is a natural radioactive element that can be found with other minerals. It can be used to generate power, produce light and transmit energy. Thorium has a potential to be used as a nuclear fuel. This element was discovered by Swedish chemist and mineralogist Jóns Jakob Berzelius in 1828.

  2. Absolute Infrared Intensities and Interstellar Ice Abundances- From Neutrals to Ions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerakines, Perry

    Infrared (IR) telescopes, such as Spitzer and SOFIA, have revealed a rich variety of chemical species trapped in interstellar ices. However, quantifying the abundances of these species has been difficult because some molecules, such as formaldehyde (H2CO), and some ions, such as ammonium (NH4+), have poorly-known IR optical parameters, such as band strengths and optical constants. In the case of NH4+, the most widely used band-intensity values are from a mere two measurements published over a decade ago. Those two experiments cannot be repeated or checked as the original publication provided no information on reaction temperature, heating rate, spectral resolution, and so forth, and the two authors are no longer active in the field. Moreover, neither kinetic data nor statistics on the two measurements were provided, clearly an unsatisfactory situation. Exacerbating the problem is that NH4+ is sometimes used as a check on the IR spectral intensities of other ions, such as OCN- (cyanate), which has its own checkered past. We propose to correct these problems associated with abundance determinations of selected interstellar ices. We will combine two recent successful efforts from our laboratory and measure band intensities for NH4+ and OCN-, as well as HCOO- (formate). To unravel the interstellar formate band requires that we also properly determine its spectral baseline to distinguish from co-absorbing species, primarily formaldehyde (H2CO). Since the latter also has, at best, poorly-determined IR absolute intensities, we will measure them at multiple temperatures and ice phases for this project. This work will build on our recent success in deriving optical constants from IR spectra for interstellar hydrocarbon and nitrile ices (Hudson et al., 2014a, 2014b), and in generating NH4+ in situ for a study of Jupiter's atmosphere (Loeffler and Hudson, 2015). As a bonus, the proposed measurements also will enable the determination of band-strengths for such ions as CN-, NO

  3. Mechanisms of thorium migration in a semiarid soil.

    PubMed

    Bednar, A J; Gent, D B; Gilmore, J R; Sturgis, T C; Larson, S L

    2004-01-01

    Thorium concentrations at Kirtland Air Force Base training sites in Albuquerque, NM, have been previously described; however, the mechanisms of thorium migration were not fully understood. This work describes the processes affecting thorium mobility in this semiarid soil, which has implications for future remedial action. Aqueous extraction and filtration experiments have demonstrated the colloidal nature of thorium in the soil, due in part to the low solubility of thorium oxide. Colloidal material was defined as that removed by a 0.22-microm or smaller filter after being filtered to nominally dissolved size (0.45 microm). Additionally, association of thorium with natural organic matter is suggested by micro- and ultrafiltration methods, and electrokinetic data, which indicate thorium migration as a negatively charged particle or anionic complex with organic matter. Soil fractionation and digestion experiments show a bimodal distribution of thorium in the largest and smallest size fractions, most likely associated with detrital plant material and inorganic oxide particles, respectively. Plant uptake studies suggest this could also be a mode of thorium migration as plants grown in thorium-containing soil had a higher thorium concentration than those in control soils. Soil erosion laboratory experiments with wind and surface water overflow were performed to determine bulk soil material movement as a possible mechanism of mobility. Information from these experiments is being used to determine viable soil stabilization techniques at the site to maintain a usable training facility with minimal environmental impact.

  4. METHOD FOR PRODUCING THORIUM TETRACHLORIDE

    DOEpatents

    Mason, E.A.; Cobb, C.M.

    1960-03-15

    A process for producing thorium tetrachloride from thorium concentrate comprises reacting thorium concentrates with a carbonaceous reducing agent in excess of 0.05 part by weight per part of thoriferous concentrate at a temperature in excess of 1300 deg C, cooling and comminuting the mass, chlorinating the resulting comminuting mass by suspending in a gaseous chlorinating agent in a fluidized reactor at a temperatare maintained between about l85 deg C and 770 deg C, and removing the resulting solid ThCl/sub 4/ from the reaction zone.

  5. Fabrication of thorium bearing carbide fuels

    DOEpatents

    Gutierrez, Rueben L.; Herbst, Richard J.; Johnson, Karl W. R.

    1981-01-01

    Thorium-uranium carbide and thorium-plutonium carbide fuel pellets have been fabricated by the carbothermic reduction process. Temperatures of 1750.degree. C. and 2000.degree. C. were used during the reduction cycle. Sintering temperatures of 1800.degree. C. and 2000.degree. C. were used to prepare fuel pellet densities of 87% and >94% of theoretical, respectively. The process allows the fabrication of kilogram quantities of fuel with good reproducibility of chemicals and phase composition. Methods employing liquid techniques that form carbide microspheres or alloying-techniques which form alloys of thorium-uranium or thorium-plutonium suffer from limitation on the quantities processed of because of criticality concerns and lack of precise control of process conditions, respectively.

  6. PREPARATION OF HIGH-DENSITY, COMPACTIBLE THORIUM OXIDE PARTICLES

    DOEpatents

    McCorkle, K.H.; Kleinsteuber, A.T.; Schilling, C.E.; Dean, O.C.

    1962-05-22

    A method is given for preparing millimeter-size, highdensity thorium oxide particles suitable for fabrication into nuclear reactor feel elements by means of vibratory compaction. A thorium oxide gel containing 3.7 to 7 weight per cent residual volatile nitrate and water is prepared by drying a thorium oxide sol. The gel is then slowly heated to a temperature of about 450DEC, and the resulting gel fragments are calcined. The starting sol is prepared by repeated dispersion of oxalate-source thorium oxide in a nitrate system or by dispersion of steam-denitrated thorium oxide in water. (AEC)

  7. The Absolute Abundance of Iron in the Solar Corona.

    PubMed

    White; Thomas; Brosius; Kundu

    2000-05-10

    We present a measurement of the abundance of Fe relative to H in the solar corona using a technique that differs from previous spectroscopic and solar wind measurements. Our method combines EUV line data from the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory with thermal bremsstrahlung radio data from the VLA. The coronal Fe abundance is derived by equating the thermal bremsstrahlung radio emission calculated from the EUV Fe line data to that observed with the VLA, treating the Fe/H abundance as the sole unknown. We apply this technique to a compact cool active region and find Fe&solm0;H=1.56x10-4, or about 4 times its value in the solar photosphere. Uncertainties in the CDS radiometric calibration, the VLA intensity measurements, the atomic parameters, and the assumptions made in the spectral analysis yield net uncertainties of approximately 20%. This result implies that low first ionization potential elements such as Fe are enhanced in the solar corona relative to photospheric values.

  8. Potential synergy: the thorium fuel cycle and rare earths processing

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ault, T.; Wymer, R.; Croff, A.

    2013-07-01

    The use of thorium in nuclear power programs has been evaluated on a recurring basis. A concern often raised is the lack of 'thorium infrastructure'; however, for at least a part of a potential thorium fuel cycle, this may less of a problem than previously thought. Thorium is frequently encountered in association with rare earth elements and, since the U.S. last systematically evaluated the large-scale use of thorium (the 1970's,) the use of rare earth elements has increased ten-fold to approximately 200,000 metric tons per year. Integration of thorium extraction with rare earth processing has been previously described and top-levelmore » estimates have been done on thorium resource availability; however, since ores and mining operations differ markedly, what is needed is process flowsheet analysis to determine whether a specific mining operation can feasibly produce thorium as a by-product. Also, the collocation of thorium with rare earths means that, even if a thorium product stream is not developed, its presence in mining waste streams needs to be addressed and there are previous instances where this has caused issues. This study analyzes several operational mines, estimates the mines' ability to produce a thorium by-product stream, and discusses some waste management implications of recovering thorium. (authors)« less

  9. Principal thorium resources in the United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Staatz, Mortimer Hay; Armbrustmacher, T.J.; Olson, J.C.; Brownfield, I.K.; Brock, M.R.; Lemons, J.F.; Coppa, L.V.; Clingan, B.V.

    1979-01-01

    Lemhi Pass and Wet Mountains Districts. The first district has reserves of 68,000 tons of ThO2 and probable potential resources of 124,000 tons that can be produced at less than $15 per pound; the second district has 54,000 tons of reserves and 141,000 tons of probable potential resources producible at less than $15 per pound. Rare earths are a common byproduct, and in many veins they are from one-half to several times as abundant as thorium. Massive carbonatite bodies are large-tonnage low-grade deposits. Thorium in these deposits would be a byproduct either of rare earth or of niobium mining. The Iron Hill carbonatite body in the Powderhorn district, Colorado, and the Sulfide Queen carbonatite body in the Mountain Pass district, California, were evaluated. These two deposits contain 40,800 tons of ThO2 in reserves and 125,000 tons of ThO2 in probable potential resources. More than 80 percent of this total is in the Iron Hill carbonatite. This thorium is entirely a byproduct and is producible at less than $15 per pound of ThO2. The Sulphide Queen massive carbonatite deposit was being mined in 1977 for rare earths, and thorium could be recovered by adding an extra circuit to the existing mill. Stream placers in North and South Carolina occur both in the Piedmont and just east of the Fall Line. The reserves of these deposits total 5,270 tons of ThO2, and the probable potential resources are 36,800 tons of ThO2. The Piedmont placers are all too small to produce ThO2 at a cost of less than $50 per pound. One placer on Hollow Creek, S.C., just east of the Fall Line had reserves of 2,040 tons of ThO2 that is producible at between $15 and $30 per pound. Thorium occurs in monazite in these placers. Other heavy minerals that would be recovered with the monazite include rutile, zircon, and ilmenite. In addition to thorium, monazite contains large amounts of rare earths and small amounts of uranium; both can be recovered during the process that separates thorium fr

  10. SEPARATION PROCESS FOR THORIUM SALTS

    DOEpatents

    Bridger, G.L.; Whatley, M.E.; Shaw, K.G.

    1957-12-01

    A process is described for the separation of uranium, thorium, and rare earths extracted from monazite by digesting with sulfuric acid. By carefully increasing the pH of the solution, stepwise, over the range 0.8 to 5.5, a series of selective precipitations will be achieved, with the thorium values coming out at lower pH, the rare earths at intermediate pH and the uranium last. Some mixed precipitates will be obtained, and these may be treated by dissolving in HNO/sub 3/ and contacting with dibutyl phosphate, whereby thorium or uranium are taken up by the organic phase while the rare earths preferentially remain in the aqueous solution.

  11. Method of separating thorium from plutonium

    DOEpatents

    Clifton, David G.; Blum, Thomas W.

    1984-01-01

    A method of chemically separating plutonium from thorium. Plutonium and thorium to be separated are dissolved in an aqueous feed solution, preferably as the nitrate salts. The feed solution is acidified and sodium nitrite is added to the solution to adjust the valence of the plutonium to the +4 state. A chloride salt, preferably sodium chloride, is then added to the solution to induce formation of an anionic plutonium chloride complex. The anionic plutonium chloride complex and the thorium in solution are then separated by ion exchange on a strong base anion exchange column.

  12. Abundances of uranium, thorium, and potassium for some Australian crystalline rocks

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bunker, Carl Maurice; Bush, C.A.; Munroe, Robert J.; Sass, J.H.

    1975-01-01

    This report contains a tabulation of the basic radioelement and radiogenic heat data obtained during an Australian National University (ANU) - United States Geological Survey (USGS) heat-flow project, directed jointly by J. C. Jaeger (ANU) and J. H. Sass (USGS). Most samples were collected during the periods June through September, 1971 and 1972. The measurements were made subsequently by two of us (C. M. Bunker and C. A. Bush) using the gamma-ray spec trometric techniques described by Bunker and Bush (1966, 1967). Interpreting the spectra for quantitative analyses of the radioelements was accomplished with an iterative leastsquares computer program modified from one by Schonfeld (1966). Uranium content determined by gamma-ray spectrometry is based on a measurement of the daughter products of 226Ra. Equilibrium in the uranium-decay series was assumed for these analyses . Throughout the report, when U content is stated, radium-equivalent uranium is implied. The coefficient of variation for the accuracy of the radioelement data, when compared to ana lyses by isotope dilution and flame photometry is about 3 percent for radium-equivalent uranium and thorium and about 1 percent for potassium. These percentages are in addition to minimum standard deviations of about 0.05 ppm for U and Th, and about 0.03 percent for K.

  13. Analysis of the effects of stirring condition of separation of thorium in the elution process of monazite partial solution by solvent impregnated resin method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prassanti, R.; Putra, D. S.; Kusuma, B. P.; Nawawi, F. W.

    2018-01-01

    Monazite is a natural mineral which contains abundant valuable element such as Radioactive Element and Rare Earth Element(REE). In this experiment, it is proven that solution of residual Thorium Sulfate from Monazite mineral process, can be seperated selectively by using extracting method of Solvent Impregnated Resin(SIR), with the elutant solution HNO3. In the earlier process, Thorium solution is conditioned at PH 1 by using H2SO4. Then REE, Thorium and Uranium elements are seperated. This seperation is conducted by using adsorption method by Amberlite XAD-16 Resin, which has been impregnated by Tributhyl Phosphate extractant. It is continued with elution process, which is aimed to obtain Thorium solution of a higher level of concentration. This elution process is conducted by using HNO3, with the elution variables of the lenght of mixing and amount concentration elutant. Based on this experiment, SIR extracting method is able to dissolve Thorium solution until 63,2%grade and a higher level of %grade about 92,40%. It can be concluded that this SIR method can extracted Thorium elements selectively, improve extracting process recovery, and determine optimum stripping condition in the 45th minutes with elutant concentration of 1,0M HNO3.

  14. Method of separating thorium from plutonium

    DOEpatents

    Clifton, D.G.; Blum, T.W.

    A method of chemically separating plutonium from thorium is claimed. Plutonium and thorium to be separated are dissolved in an aqueous feed solution, preferably as the nitrate salts. The feed solution is acidified and sodium nitrite is added to the solution to adjust the valence of the plutonium to the +4 state. A chloride salt, preferably sodium chloride, is then added to the solution to induce formation of an anionic plutonium chloride complex. The anionic plutonium chloride complex and the thorium in solution are then separated by ion exchange on a strong base anion exchange column.

  15. Method of separating thorium from plutonium

    DOEpatents

    Clifton, D.G.; Blum, T.W.

    1984-07-10

    A method is described for chemically separating plutonium from thorium. Plutonium and thorium to be separated are dissolved in an aqueous feed solution, preferably as the nitrate salts. The feed solution is acidified and sodium nitrite is added to the solution to adjust the valence of the plutonium to the +4 state. A chloride salt, preferably sodium chloride, is then added to the solution to induce formation of an anionic plutonium chloride complex. The anionic plutonium chloride complex and the thorium in solution are then separated by ion exchange on a strong base anion exchange column.

  16. PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SEPARATING IRRADIATION PRODUCTS OF THORIUM

    DOEpatents

    Hatch, L.P.; Miles, F.T.; Sheehan, T.V.; Wiswall, R.H.; Heus, R.J.

    1959-07-01

    A method is presented for separating uranium-233 and protactinium from thorium-232 containing compositions which comprises irradiating finely divided particles of said thorium with a neutron flux to form uranium-233 and protactinium, heating the neutron-irradiated composition in a fluorine and hydrogen atmosphere to form volatile fluorides of uranium and protactinium and thereafter separating said volatile fluorides from the thorium.

  17. Raman Spectroscopy for Analysis of Thorium Compounds

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Su, Yin-Fong; Johnson, Timothy J.; Olsen, Khris B.

    2016-05-12

    The thorium fuel cycle is an alternative to the uranium fuel cycle in that when 232Th is irradiated with neutrons it is converted to 233U, another fissile isotope. There are several chemical forms of thorium which are used in the Th fuel cycle. Recently, Raman spectroscopy has become a very portable and facile analytical technique useful for many applications, including e.g. determining the chemical composition of different materials such as for thorium compounds. The technique continues to improve with the development of ever-more sensitive instrumentation and better software. Using a laboratory Fourier-transform (FT)-Raman spectrometer with a 785 nm wavelength laser,more » we were able to obtain Raman spectra from a series of thorium-bearing compounds of unknown origin. These spectra were compared to the spectra of in-stock-laboratory thorium compounds including ThO2, ThF4, Th(CO3)2 and Th(C2O4)2. The unknown spectra showed very good agreement to the known standards, demonstrating the applicability of Raman spectroscopy for detection and identification of these nuclear materials.« less

  18. SALICYLATE PROCESS FOR THORIUM SEPARATION FROM RARE EARTHS

    DOEpatents

    Cowan, G.A.

    1959-08-25

    The separation of thorium from rare earths is accomplished by forming an aqueous solution of salts of thorium and rare earths and sufficient acetate buffer to provide a pH of between 2 and 5, adding an ammonium salicylate to the aqueous buffered solution, contacting the resultant solution with a substantially water-immiscible organic solvent mixture of an ether and an ester, and separating the solvent extract phase containing thorium salicylate from the aqueous phase containing the rare earths.

  19. Thoron-tartaric acid systems for spectrophotometric determination of thorium

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Grimaldi, F.S.; Fletcher, M.H.

    1956-01-01

    Thoron is commonly used for the spectrophotometric determination of thorium. An undesirable feature of its use is its high sensitivity to zirconium. This study describes the use of tartaric acid as a masking reagent for zirconium. Three tartaric acid-thoron systems, developed for the determination of thorium, differ with respect to the concentrations of thoron and tartaric acid. Mesotartaric acid, used in one of the systems, is most effective in masking zirconium. The behavior of rarer elements, usually associated with thorium ores, is determined in two systems, and a dilution method is described for the direct determination of thorium in monazite concentrates.

  20. ADSORPTION METHOD FOR SEPARATING THORIUM VALUES FROM URANIUM VALUES

    DOEpatents

    Boyd, G.E.; Russell, E.R.; Schubert, J.

    1959-08-01

    An improved ion exchange method is described for recovery of uranium and thorium values as separate functions from an aqueous acidic solution containing less than 10/sup -3/ M thorium ions and between 0.1 and 1 M uranyl ions. The solution is passed through a bed of cation exchange resin in the acid form to adsorb all the thorium ions and a portion of the uranyl ions. The uranium is eluted by means of aqueous 0.1 to 0.4 M sulfuric acid. The thorium may then be stripped from the resin by elution with aqueous 0.5 M oxalic acid.

  1. ADSORPTION METHOD FOR SEPARATING THORIUM VALUES FROM URANIUM VALUES

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Boyd, G.E.; Russell, E.R.; Schubert, J.

    An improved ion exchange method is described for recovery of uranium and thorium values as separate functions from an aqueous acidic solution containing less than 10/sup -3/ M thorium ions and between 0.1 and 1 M uranyl ions. The solution is passed through a bed of cation exchange resin in the acid form to adsorb all the thorium ions and a portion of the uranyl ions. The uranium is eluted by means of aqueous 0.1 to 0.4 M sulfuric acid. The thorium may then be stripped from the resin by elution with aqueous 0.5 M oxalic acid.

  2. Preliminary summary review of thorium-bearing mineral occurrences in Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bates, Robert G.; Wedow, Helmuth

    1952-01-01

    Thorium-bearing minerals are known at 47 localities in Alaska. At these localities the thorium occurs as a major constituent or in minor amounts as an impurity in one or more of the following 12 minerals: allanite, columbite, ellsworthite, eschynite, gummite, monazite, orangite, parisite, thorianite, thorite, xenotime, and zircon. In addition other minerals, such as biotite and sphene, are radioactive and may contain thorium. Several unidentified columbate minerals with uranium or thorium and uranium as major constituents have been recognized at some localities. The distribution, by type of deposit, of the 57 thorium occurrences is as follows: lode - 3, lode and placer - 1, granitic rock - 3, granitic rock and related placer - 14, and placer - 26. Of the four lode occurrences only the radioactive veins at Salmon Bay in southeastern Alaska and the contact metamorphic deposit in the Nixon Fork area of central Alaska warrant further consideration, although insufficient data are available to determine whether these two deposits have commercial possibilities. The remaining occurrences of thorium-bearing minerals in Alaska are limited to placer deposits and disseminations of accessory minerals in granitic rocks. In most of these occurrences the thorium-bearing minerals occur in only trace amounts and consequently warrent little further consideration. More data are needed to determine the possibilities of byproduct recovery of thorium-bearing minerals from several of the gold and tin placers.

  3. Preliminary report on uranium and thorium content of intrusive rocks in northeastern Washington and northern Idaho

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Castor, S.B.; Berry, M.R.; Robins, J.W.

    1977-11-01

    This study delineates favorable areas for uranium resources in northeastern Washington and northern Idaho by identifying granitic rocks with relatively large amounts of uranium and (or) thorium. Results are based on analysis of 344 rock samples. Uranium analyses obtained by gamma-ray spectrometric data correlate closely with fluorometric determinations. On the basis of cumulative frequency distribution curves, more than 8 ppM equivalent uranium and more than 20 ppM equivalent thorium are considered anomalous for granitic rocks in northeastern Washington and northern Idaho. Granitic rocks anomalously high in uranium and (or) thorium are concentrated in two northeast-trending belts. The most prominent, themore » Midnite-Hall Mountain belt, includes the Midnite and Sherwood uranium mines, and two lesser but productive areas farther north. This belt follows the contact between Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks, which is also the locus of the Kootenai arc fold belt. The second belt of anomalously radioactive granitic rocks is along the Republic graben, a prominent linear structure in an area with no recorded uranium production. Anomalously radioactive granitic rocks are generally massive quartz monzonite, alaskite, or pegmatite, which contain abundant quartz and potash feldspar. They are also characterized by pink potash feldspar, commonly as large phenocrysts, and by the presence of muscovite. Several uranium and thorium minerals have been identified in these rocks. The two belts of anomalously radioactive plutons are considered favorable for uranium resources. Deposits could occur in the intrusive rocks themselves or in favorable environments in adjacent rocks. 13 figs., 2 tables.« less

  4. 49 CFR 173.434 - Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... natural thorium. 173.434 Section 173.434 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation....434 Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium. The table of activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium are as follows: Thorium and uranium enrichment 1(Wt% 235 U present...

  5. 49 CFR 173.434 - Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... natural thorium. 173.434 Section 173.434 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation....434 Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium. The table of activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium are as follows: Thorium and uranium enrichment 1(Wt% 235 U present...

  6. SOLID STATE BONDING OF THORIUM WITH ALUMINUM

    DOEpatents

    Storchhelm, S.

    1959-12-01

    A method is described for bonding thorium and aluminum by placing clean surfaces of thorium and aluminum in contact with each other and hot pressing the metals together in a protective atmosphere at a temperature of about 375 to 575 deg C and at a pressure of at least 10 tsi to effect a bond.

  7. Sensitivity of thermal transport in thorium dioxide to defects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Jungkyu; Farfán, Eduardo B.; Mitchell, Katherine; Resnick, Alex; Enriquez, Christian; Yee, Tien

    2018-06-01

    In this research, the reverse non-equilibrium molecular dynamics is employed to investigate the effect of vacancy and substitutional defects on the thermal transport in thorium dioxide (ThO2). Vacancy defects are shown to severely alter the thermal conductivity of ThO2. The thermal conductivity of ThO2 decreases significantly with increasing the defect concentration of oxygen vacancy; the thermal conductivity of ThO2 decreases by 20% when 0.1% oxygen vacancy defects are introduced in the 100 unit cells of ThO2. The effect of thorium vacancy defect on the thermal transport in ThO2 is even more detrimental; ThO2 with 0.1% thorium vacancy defect concentration exhibits a 38.2% reduction in its thermal conductivity and the thermal conductivity becomes only 8.2% of that of the pristine sample when the thorium vacancy defect concentration is increased to 5%. In addition, neutron activation of thorium produces uranium and this uranium substitutional defects in ThO2 are observed to affect the thermal transport in ThO2 marginally when compared to vacancy defects. This indicates that in the thorium fuel cycle, fissile products such as 233U is not likely to alter the thermal transport in ThO2 fuel.

  8. Thoron-meso-tartaric acid system for determination of thorium

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fletcher, M.H.; Grimaldi, F.S.; Jenkins, L.B.

    1957-01-01

    In the spectrophotometric determination of thorium with thoron, mesotartaric acid is used as a masking reagent for zirconium. The effects of different experimental variables such as the concentrations of the reagents, time, and temperature, and the behavior of 35 ions which might be present in thorium ores are discussed. A dilution procedure is given for the direct determination of thorium in zircon (ZrSiO4) that is also generally applicable to other materials.

  9. RECOVERY OF URANIUM AND THORIUM FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

    DOEpatents

    Calkins, G.D.

    1958-06-10

    >A process is described for the recovery of uranium and thorium from monazite sand, which is frequently processed by treating it with a hot sodium hydroxide solution whereby a precipitate forms consisting mainly of oxides or hydroxides of the rare earths, thorium and uranium. The precipitate is dissolved in mineral acid, and the acid solution is then neutralized to a pH value of between 5.2 and 6.2 whereby both the uranium and thorium precipitate as the hydroxides, while substantially all the rare earth metal values present remain in the solution. The uranium and thoriunn can then be separated by dissolving the precipitate in a solution containing a mixture of alkali carbonate and alkali bicarbonate: and contacting the carbonate solution with a strong-base anion exchange resin whereby the uranium values are adsorbed on the resin while the thorium remains in solution.

  10. Actinide abundances in ordinary chondrites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hagee, B.; Bernatowicz, T. J.; Podosek, F. A.; Johnson, M. L.; Burnett, D. S.

    1990-01-01

    Measurements of actinide and light REE (LREE) abundances and of phosphate abundances in equilibrated ordinary chondrites were obtained and were used to define the Pu abundance in the solar system and to determine the degree of variation of actinide and LREE abundances. The results were also used to compare directly the Pu/U ratio with the earlier obtained ratio determined indirectly, as (Pu/Nd)x(Nd/U), assuming that Pu behaves chemically as a LREE. The data, combined with high-accuracy isotope-dilution data from the literature, show that the degree of gram-scale variability of the Th, U, and LREE abundances for equilibrated ordinary chondrites is a factor of 2-3 for absolute abundances and up to 50 percent for relative abundances. The observed variations are interpreted as reflecting the differences in the compositions and/or proportions of solar nebula components accreted to ordinary chondrite parent bodies.

  11. Fabrication of thorium bearing carbide fuels

    DOEpatents

    Gutierrez, R.L.; Herbst, R.J.; Johnson, K.W.R.

    Thorium-uranium carbide and thorium-plutonium carbide fuel pellets have been fabricated by the carbothermic reduction process. Temperatures of 1750/sup 0/C and 2000/sup 0/C were used during the reduction cycle. Sintering temperatures of 1800/sup 0/C and 2000/sup 0/C were used to prepare fuel pellet densities of 87% and > 94% of theoretical, respectively. The process allows the fabrication of kilogram quantities of fuel with good reproductibility of chemical and phase composition.

  12. SEPARATION OF URANIUM FROM THORIUM AND PROTACTINIUM

    DOEpatents

    Musgrave, W.K.R.

    1959-06-30

    This patent relates to the separation of uranium from thorium and protactinium; such mixtures of elements usually being obtained by neutron irradiation of thorium. The method of separating the constituents has been first to dissolve the mixture of elements in concertrated nitric acid and then to remove the protactinium by absorption on manganese dioxide and the uranium by solvent extraction with ether. Prior to now, comparatively large amounts of thorium were extracted with the uranium. According to the invention this is completely prevented by adding sodium diethyldithiocarbamate to the mixture of soluble nitrate salts. The organic salt has the effect of reacting only with the uranyl nitrate to form the corresponding uranyl salt which can then be selectively extracted from the mixture with amyl acetate.

  13. Feasibility study on AFR-100 fuel conversion from uranium-based fuel to thorium-based fuel

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Heidet, F.; Kim, T.; Grandy, C.

    2012-07-30

    Although thorium has long been considered as an alternative to uranium-based fuels, most of the reactors built to-date have been fueled with uranium-based fuel with the exception of a few reactors. The decision to use uranium-based fuels was initially made based on the technology maturity compared to thorium-based fuels. As a result of this experience, lot of knowledge and data have been accumulated for uranium-based fuels that made it the predominant nuclear fuel type for extant nuclear power. However, following the recent concerns about the extent and availability of uranium resources, thorium-based fuels have regained significant interest worldwide. Thorium ismore » more abundant than uranium and can be readily exploited in many countries and thus is now seen as a possible alternative. As thorium-based fuel technologies mature, fuel conversion from uranium to thorium is expected to become a major interest in both thermal and fast reactors. In this study the feasibility of fuel conversion in a fast reactor is assessed and several possible approaches are proposed. The analyses are performed using the Advanced Fast Reactor (AFR-100) design, a fast reactor core concept recently developed by ANL. The AFR-100 is a small 100 MW{sub e} reactor developed under the US-DOE program relying on innovative fast reactor technologies and advanced structural and cladding materials. It was designed to be inherently safe and offers sufficient margins with respect to the fuel melting temperature and the fuel-cladding eutectic temperature when using U-10Zr binary metal fuel. Thorium-based metal fuel was preferred to other thorium fuel forms because of its higher heavy metal density and it does not need to be alloyed with zirconium to reduce its radiation swelling. The various approaches explored cover the use of pure thorium fuel as well as the use of thorium mixed with transuranics (TRU). Sensitivity studies were performed for the different scenarios envisioned in order to

  14. Separation of thorium ions from wolframite and scandium concentrates using graphene oxide.

    PubMed

    Jankovský, Ondřej; Sedmidubský, David; Šimek, Petr; Klímová, Kateřina; Bouša, Daniel; Boothroyd, Chris; Macková, Anna; Sofer, Zdeněk

    2015-10-14

    The separation of rare metals from the ores and commercially available compounds is an important issue due to the need of their high purity in advanced materials and devices. Important examples of two highly important elements that co-exist in the ores are scandium and thorium. Scandium containing ores and consequently also commercially available scandium compounds often contain traces of thorium which is very difficult to separate. We used graphene oxide for the selective sorption of thorium ions from scandium and thorium mixtures originating from the mined ores as well as from commercially available scandium salts. Our results showed that graphene oxide has an extreme affinity towards thorium ions. After the sorption process the graphene oxide contained over 20 wt% of thorium while the amount of scandium sorbed on GO was very low. This phenomenon of high sorption selectivity of graphene oxide can be applied in industry for the purification of various chemicals containing scandium and for separation of thorium containing mixtures. Alternatively, this methodology can be used for preconcentration of thorium from low-grade ores and its further use in the new generation of nuclear reactors.

  15. Selective Precipitation of Thorium lodate from a Tartaric Acid-Hydrogen Peroxide Medium Application to Rapid Spectrophotometric Determination of Thorium in Silicate Rocks and in Ores

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Grimaldi, F.S.

    1957-01-01

    This paper presents a selective iodate separation of thorium from nitric acid medium containing d-tartaric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is prevented by the use of 8quinolinol. A few micrograms of thorium are separated sufficiently clean from 30 mg. of such oxides as cerium, zirconium, titanium, niobium, tantalum, scandium, or iron with one iodate precipitation to allow an accurate determination of thorium with the thoronmesotartaric acid spectrophotometric method. The method is successful for the determination of 0.001% or more of thorium dioxide in silicate rocks and for 0.01% or more in black sand, monazite, thorite, thorianite, eschynite, euxenite, and zircon.

  16. LWR First Recycle of TRU with Thorium Oxide for Transmutation and Cross Sections

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrea Alfonsi; Gilles Youinou; Sonat Sen

    2013-02-01

    Thorium has been considered as an option to uranium-based fuel, based on considerations of resource utilization (thorium is approximately three times more plentiful than uranium) and as a result of concerns about proliferation and waste management (e.g. reduced production of plutonium, etc.). Since the average composition of natural Thorium is dominated (100%) by the fertile isotope Th-232, Thorium is only useful as a resource for breeding new fissile materials, in this case U-233. Consequently a certain amount of fissile material must be present at the start-up of the reactor in order to guarantee its operation. The thorium fuel can bemore » used in both once-through and recycle options, and in both fast and thermal spectrum systems. The present study has been aimed by the necessity of investigating the option of using reprocessed plutonium/TRU, from a once-through reference LEU scenario (50 GWd/ tIHM), mixed with natural thorium and the need of collect data (mass fractions, cross-sections etc.) for this particular fuel cycle scenario. As previously pointed out, the fissile plutonium is needed to guarantee the operation of the reactor. Four different scenarios have been considered: • Thorium – recycled Plutonium; • Thorium – recycled Plutonium/Neptunium; • Thorium – recycled Plutonium/Neptunium/Americium; • Thorium – recycled Transuranic. The calculations have been performed with SCALE6.1-TRITON.« less

  17. LWR First Recycle of TRU with Thorium Oxide for Transmutation and Cross Sections

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrea Alfonsi; Gilles Youinou

    2012-07-01

    Thorium has been considered as an option to uranium-based fuel, based on considerations of resource utilization (thorium is approximately three times more plentiful than uranium) and as a result of concerns about proliferation and waste management (e.g. reduced production of plutonium, etc.). Since the average composition of natural Thorium is dominated (100%) by the fertile isotope Th-232, Thorium is only useful as a resource for breeding new fissile materials, in this case U-233. Consequently a certain amount of fissile material must be present at the start-up of the reactor in order to guarantee its operation. The thorium fuel can bemore » used in both once-through and recycle options, and in both fast and thermal spectrum systems. The present study has been aimed by the necessity of investigating the option of using reprocessed plutonium/TRU, from a once-through reference LEU scenario (50 GWd/ tIHM), mixed with natural thorium and the need of collect data (mass fractions, cross-sections etc.) for this particular fuel cycle scenario. As previously pointed out, the fissile plutonium is needed to guarantee the operation of the reactor. Four different scenarios have been considered: • Thorium – recycled Plutonium; • Thorium – recycled Plutonium/Neptunium; • Thorium – recycled Plutonium/Neptunium/Americium; • Thorium – recycled Transuranic. The calculations have been performed with SCALE6.1-TRITON.« less

  18. Spectrophotometric study of the thorium-morin mixed-color system

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fletcher, M.H.; Milkey, R.G.

    1956-01-01

    A spectrophotometric study was made of the thoriummorin reaction to evaluate the suitability of morin as a reagent for the determination of trace amounts of thorium. At pH 2, the equilibrium constant for the reaction is 1 ?? 106, and a single complex having a thorium-morin ratio of 1 to 2 is formed. The complex shows maximum absorbance at a wave length of 410 m??, and its absorbance obeys Beer's law. The absorbance readings are highly reproducible, and the sensitivity is relatively high, an absorbance difference of 0.001 being equivalent to 0.007 ?? of ThO2 per sq. cm. The effects of acid, alcohol, and morin concentration, time, temperature, and age of the morin reagent as well as the behavior of morin with zirconium(IV), iron(III), aluminum(III), ytterbium(III), yttrium(III), uranium(VI), praseodymium(III), lead(II), lanthanum(III), and calcium(II) ions are discussed. A method is presented for the determination of thorium in pure solutions. Appropriate separations for the isolation of thorium may extend the usefulness of the method and permit the determination of trace amounts of thorium in complex materials.

  19. RECOVERY OF THORIUM AND URANIUM VALUES FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

    DOEpatents

    Calkins, G.D.

    1958-02-18

    This patent deals with the separation and recovery of uranium from monazite sand. After initial treatment of the sand with sodium hydroxide, a precipitate is obtuined which contains the uranium, thorium, rare earths and some phosphorus. This precipitate is then dissolved in nitric acid. The bulk of the rare earths are removed from thls soiution by adding aa excess of alkali carbonate, causing precipitation of the rare earths together with part of the thorium present. The solution still contains a considerable amount of thorium, some rare earths, and practically all of the uranium originally present. Thorium and rare earth values are readily precipitated from such solution, and the uranium values thus isolated, by the addition of an excess hydrogen peroxide. The pH value of the solution is preferably adjusted to at least 9 prior to the addition of the peroxide.

  20. Electrostatic Radionuclide Separation: A New Version of Rutherford's "Thorium Cow".

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eiswirth, Marcus; And Others

    1982-01-01

    Describes three experiments (also useful as demonstrations) using a "thorium cow," a device which concentrates the daughter products from thorium compounds by precipitation on a charged electrode. (JN)

  1. Establishing bounding internal dose estimates for thorium activities at Rocky Flats.

    PubMed

    Ulsh, Brant A; Rich, Bryce L; Chew, Melton H; Morris, Robert L; Sharfi, Mutty; Rolfes, Mark R

    2008-07-01

    As part of an evaluation of a Special Exposure Cohort petition filed on behalf of workers at the Rocky Flats Plant, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was required to demonstrate that bounding values could be established for radiation doses due to the potential intake of all radionuclides present at the facility. The main radioactive elements of interest at Rocky Flats were plutonium and uranium, but much smaller quantities of several other elements, including thorium, were occasionally handled at the site. Bounding potential doses from thorium has proven challenging at other sites due to the early historical difficulty in detecting this element through urinalysis methods and the relatively high internal dose delivered per unit intake. This paper reports the results of NIOSH's investigation of the uses of thorium at Rocky Flats and provides bounding dose reconstructions for these operations. During this investigation, NIOSH reviewed unclassified reports, unclassified extracts of classified materials, material balance and inventory ledgers, monthly progress reports from various groups, and health physics field logbooks, and conducted interviews with former Rocky Flats workers. Thorium operations included: (1) an experimental metal forming project with 240 kg of thorium in 1960; (2) the use of pre-formed parts in weapons mockups; (3) the removal of Th from U; (4) numerous analytical procedures involving trace quantities of thorium; and (5) the possible experimental use of thorium as a mold coating compound. The thorium handling operations at Rocky Flats were limited in scope, well-monitored and documented, and potential doses can be bounded.

  2. REGENERATION OF FISSION-PRODUCT-CONTAINING MAGNESIUM-THORIUM ALLOYS

    DOEpatents

    Chiotti, P.

    1964-02-01

    A process of regenerating a magnesium-thorium alloy contaminated with fission products, protactinium, and uranium is presented. A molten mixture of KCl--LiCl-MgCl/sub 2/ is added to the molten alloy whereby the alkali, alkaline parth, and rare earth fission products (including yttrium) and some of the thorium and uranium are chlorinated and

  3. Separation of protactinum, actinium, and other radionuclides from proton irradiated thorium target

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fassbender, Michael E.; Radchenko, Valery

    Protactinium, actinium, radium, radiolanthanides and other radionuclide fission products were separated and recovered from a proton-irradiated thorium target. The target was dissolved in concentrated HCl, which formed anionic complexes of protactinium but not with thorium, actinium, radium, or radiolanthanides. Protactinium was separated from soluble thorium by loading a concentrated HCl solution of the target onto a column of strongly basic anion exchanger resin and eluting with concentrated HCl. Actinium, radium and radiolanthanides elute with thorium. The protactinium that is retained on the column, along with other radionuclides, is eluted may subsequently treated to remove radionuclide impurities to afford a fractionmore » of substantially pure protactinium. The eluate with the soluble thorium, actinium, radium and radiolanthanides may be subjected to treatment with citric acid to form anionic thorium, loaded onto a cationic exchanger resin, and eluted. Actinium, radium and radiolanthanides that are retained can be subjected to extraction chromatography to separate the actinium from the radium and from the radio lanthanides.« less

  4. An optical chemical sensor for thorium (IV) determination based on thorin.

    PubMed

    Rastegarzadeh, S; Pourreza, N; Saeedi, I

    2010-01-15

    A selective method for the determination of thorium (IV) using an optical sensor is described. The sensing membrane is prepared by immobilization of thorin-methyltrioctylammonium ion pair on triacetylcellulose polymer. The sensor produced a linear response for thorium (IV) concentration in the range of 6.46 x 10(-6) to 9.91 x 10(-5)mol L(-1) with detection limit of 1.85 x 10(-6)mol L(-1). The regeneration of optode was accomplished completely at a short time (less than 20s) with 0.1 mol L(-1) of oxalate ion solution. The relative standard deviation for ten replicate measurements of 2.15 x 10(-5) and 8.62 x 10(-5)mol L(-1) of thorium was 2.71 and 1.65%, respectively. The optode membrane exhibits good selectivity for thorium (IV) over several other ionic species and are comparable to those obtained in case of spectrophotometric determination of thorium using thorin in solution. A good agreement with the ICP-MS and spiked method was achieved when the proposed optode was applied to the determination of thorium (IV) in dust and water samples.

  5. 49 CFR 173.434 - Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Activity-mass relationships for uranium and....434 Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium. The table of activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium are as follows: Thorium and uranium enrichment 1(Wt% 235 U present...

  6. 49 CFR 173.434 - Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Activity-mass relationships for uranium and....434 Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium. The table of activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium are as follows: Thorium and uranium enrichment 1(Wt% 235 U present...

  7. 49 CFR 173.434 - Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Activity-mass relationships for uranium and....434 Activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium. The table of activity-mass relationships for uranium and natural thorium are as follows: Thorium and uranium enrichment 1(Wt% 235 U present...

  8. Design study of long-life PWR using thorium cycle

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Subkhi, Moh. Nurul; Su'ud, Zaki; Waris, Abdul

    2012-06-06

    Design study of long-life Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) using thorium cycle has been performed. Thorium cycle in general has higher conversion ratio in the thermal spectrum domain than uranium cycle. Cell calculation, Burn-up and multigroup diffusion calculation was performed by PIJ-CITATION-SRAC code using libraries based on JENDL 3.2. The neutronic analysis result of infinite cell calculation shows that {sup 231}Pa better than {sup 237}Np as burnable poisons in thorium fuel system. Thorium oxide system with 8%{sup 233}U enrichment and 7.6{approx} 8%{sup 231}Pa is the most suitable fuel for small-long life PWR core because it gives reactivity swing less than 1%{Delta}k/kmore » and longer burn up period (more than 20 year). By using this result, small long-life PWR core can be designed for long time operation with reduced excess reactivity as low as 0.53%{Delta}k/k and reduced power peaking during its operation.« less

  9. A strategy for absolute proteome quantification with mass spectrometry by hierarchical use of peptide-concatenated standards.

    PubMed

    Kito, Keiji; Okada, Mitsuhiro; Ishibashi, Yuko; Okada, Satoshi; Ito, Takashi

    2016-05-01

    The accurate and precise absolute abundance of proteins can be determined using mass spectrometry by spiking the sample with stable isotope-labeled standards. In this study, we developed a strategy of hierarchical use of peptide-concatenated standards (PCSs) to quantify more proteins over a wider dynamic range. Multiple primary PCSs were used for quantification of many target proteins. Unique "ID-tag peptides" were introduced into individual primary PCSs, allowing us to monitor the exact amounts of individual PCSs using a "secondary PCS" in which all "ID-tag peptides" were concatenated. Furthermore, we varied the copy number of the "ID-tag peptide" in each PCS according to a range of expression levels of target proteins. This strategy accomplished absolute quantification over a wider range than that of the measured ratios. The quantified abundance of budding yeast proteins showed a high reproducibility for replicate analyses and similar copy numbers per cell for ribosomal proteins, demonstrating the accuracy and precision of this strategy. A comparison with the absolute abundance of transcripts clearly indicated different post-transcriptional regulation of expression for specific functional groups. Thus, the approach presented here is a faithful method for the absolute quantification of proteomes and provides insights into biological mechanisms, including the regulation of expressed protein abundance. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Thorium resources of selected regions in the United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Staatz, Mortimer Hay; Hall, R.B.; Macke, D.L.; Armbrustmacher, T.J.; Brownfield, I.K.

    1980-01-01

    ) Long Valley, (2) Bear Valley, (3) Burgdorf-Warren area, (4) Boise Basin, and (5) Ell City-Newsome area. These five areas have reserves of 10,100 short tons of ThO2 and probable potential resources of 10,300 tons. Long Valley contains about half the reserves--5,680 tons of ThO2--and all the probable potential resources. Monazite is the most important heavy mineral in all except the Bear Valley deposit. Here euxenite, although not quite as abundant as monazite, is a more important mineral, because it contains approximately 14.5 percent U3O8 in addition to 5 percent ThO2. Reserves in this placer amount to 1,605 short tons of ThO2 and 1,475 tons of U3O8. Eighty-two percent of the reserves and all of the probable potential resources can be produced at less than $30/1b of ThO2. The lower cost reserves are concentrated in the Long and Bear Valley areas. Here 64 percent of the ThO2 can be produced for less than $15/1b and another 29 percent of the ThO2 at between $15 and $30/lb. Sixteen veins and pipelike bodies are evaluated in the Bokan Mountain area of southeastern Alaska. The district contains other deposits that are too poorly exposed to make meaningful resource estimates. Reserves estimated in this district are 1,440 short tons of ThO2; probable potential resources amount to 2,320 tons of ThO2. About 99 percent of these resources are in deposits whose grade is at least 0.2 percent ThO2. In addition, these deposits contain reserves of 420 tons of U3O8 and probable potential resources of 820 tons of U3O8. Eighty-two percent of the reserves and probable potential resources can be produced at less than $15/lb. The average grade of this ore is 0.54 percent ThO2 and 0 15 percent U3O8. Some carbonatite dikes, although generally not as high grade as the veins, contain resources of thorium. Carbonatite dikes in the following six districts were investigated: (1) Wet Mountains, Colo.; (2) Powderhorn district, Colorado; (3) Mountain Pass area, California; (4) Bearpaw

  11. The thoron-tartaric acid systems for the spectrophotometric determination of thorium

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Grimaldi, F.S.; Fletcher, Mary H.

    1955-01-01

    Thoron is popularly used for the spectrophotometric determination of thorium.  An undesirable feature of its use is the high sensitivity of the reagent toward zirconium. This study describes the use of tartaric acid as a masking reagent for zirconium. Three tartaric acid-thoron systems, developed for the determination of thorium, differ with respect to the concentrations of thoron and tartaric acid. Mesotataric acid, used in one of the systems, is found to be most effective in masking zirconium. The behavior of various rarer elements, usually found associated with thorium ores, is determined in two of the systems, and a dilution method is described for the direct determination of thorium in monazite concentrates.

  12. Thorium-phosphorus triamidoamine complexes containing Th-P single- and multiple-bond interactions.

    PubMed

    Wildman, Elizabeth P; Balázs, Gábor; Wooles, Ashley J; Scheer, Manfred; Liddle, Stephen T

    2016-09-29

    Despite the burgeoning field of uranium-ligand multiple bonds, analogous complexes involving other actinides remain scarce. For thorium, under ambient conditions only a few multiple bonds to carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, selenium and tellurium are reported, and no multiple bonds to phosphorus are known, reflecting a general paucity of synthetic methodologies and also problems associated with stabilising these linkages at the large thorium ion. Here we report structurally authenticated examples of a parent thorium(IV)-phosphanide (Th-PH 2 ), a terminal thorium(IV)-phosphinidene (Th=PH), a parent dithorium(IV)-phosphinidiide (Th-P(H)-Th) and a discrete actinide-phosphido complex under ambient conditions (Th=P=Th). Although thorium is traditionally considered to have dominant 6d-orbital contributions to its bonding, contrasting to majority 5f-orbital character for uranium, computational analyses suggests that the bonding of thorium can be more nuanced, in terms of 5f- versus 6d-orbital composition and also significant involvement of the 7s-orbital and how this affects the balance of 5f- versus 6d-orbital bonding character.

  13. PLUTONIUM-THORIUM ALLOYS

    DOEpatents

    Schonfeld, F.W.

    1959-09-15

    New plutonium-base binary alloys useful as liquid reactor fuel are described. The alloys consist of 50 to 98 at.% thorium with the remainder plutonium. The stated advantages of these alloys over unalloyed plutonium for reactor fuel use are easy fabrication, phase stability, and the accompanying advantuge of providing a means for converting Th/sup 232/ into U/sup 233/.

  14. Absolute quantitation of low abundance plasma APL1β peptides at sub-fmol/mL Level by SRM/MRM without immunoaffinity enrichment.

    PubMed

    Sano, Shozo; Tagami, Shinji; Hashimoto, Yuuki; Yoshizawa-Kumagaye, Kumiko; Tsunemi, Masahiko; Okochi, Masayasu; Tomonaga, Takeshi

    2014-02-07

    Selected/multiple reaction monitoring (SRM/MRM) has been widely used for the quantification of specific proteins/peptides, although it is still challenging to quantitate low abundant proteins/peptides in complex samples such as plasma/serum. To overcome this problem, enrichment of target proteins/peptides is needed, such as immunoprecipitation; however, this is labor-intense and generation of antibodies is highly expensive. In this study, we attempted to quantify plasma low abundant APLP1-derived Aβ-like peptides (APL1β), a surrogate marker for Alzheimer's disease, by SRM/MRM using stable isotope-labeled reference peptides without immunoaffinity enrichment. A combination of Cibacron Blue dye mediated albumin removal and acetonitrile extraction followed by C18-strong cation exchange multi-StageTip purification was used to deplete plasma proteins and unnecessary peptides. Optimal and validated precursor ions to fragment ion transitions of APL1β were developed on a triple quadruple mass spectrometer, and the nanoliquid chromatography gradient for peptide separation was optimized to minimize the biological interference of plasma. Using the stable isotope-labeled (SI) peptide as an internal control, absolute concentrations of plasma APL1β peptide could be quantified as several hundred amol/mL. To our knowledge, this is the lowest detection level of endogenous plasma peptide quantified by SRM/MRM.

  15. A fluorimetric study of the thorium-morin system

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Milkey, Robert G.; Fletcher, Mary H.

    1956-01-01

    Thorium reacts with morin to yield a yellow complex that fluoresces when irradiated with ultraviolet light. The effect on the fluorescence of such variable as concentration of acid, alcohol, thorium, morin, and complex; time, temperature, and wavelength of exciting light are studied to determine experimental conditions yielding maximum fluorescence. The effects of Zr4+, Al3+, Fe3+, Ca2+, and La3+ are discussed. The fundamental relationships between light absorption and fluorescence are expressed in a general equation which applied to a three-component system when the fluorescence is measured in a transmission-type fluorimeter. This general equation is used to obtain an expression for the fluorescence of the thorium-morin system. Equations, derived from experimental data, related both the fraction of thorium reacted to form complex and the fraction of unquenched fluorescence to the concentration of uncombined morin. These functions, when combined with the general equation, give an expression which relates the total net fluorescence to the amount of uncombined morin in the solution. This last equation can be used to determine the one region for the concentration of uncombined morin that gives maximum sensitivity for the system. Calculated standard curves are in excellent agreement with experimental curves.

  16. Thorium Energy Resources and its Potential of Georgian Republic, The Caucasus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gogoladze, Salome; Okrostsvaridze, Avtandil

    2017-04-01

    Energy resources, currently consumed by modern civilization, are represented by hydrocarbons - 78-80 %, however these reserves are exhausting. In light of these challenges, search of new energy resources is vital importance problem for the modern civilization. Based on the analysis of existing energy reserves and potential, as the main energy resources for the future of our civilization, the renewable and nuclear energy should be considered. However, thorium has a number of advantages compared to Uranium (Kazimi, 2003; et al.): It is concentrated in the earth crust 4-5 times more than uranium; extraction and enrichment of thorium is much cheaper than uranium's; It is less radioactive; complete destruction of its waste products is possible; thorium yields much more energy than uranium. Because of unique properties and currently existed difficult energetic situation thorium is considered as the main green energy resource in the 3rd millennium of the human civilization (Martin, 2009). Georgia republic, which is situated in the central part of Caucasus, poor of hydrocarbons, but has a thorium resource important potential. In general the Caucasus represents a collisional orogen, that formed along the Eurasian North continental margin and extends over 1200 km from Caspian to Black Sea. Three major units are distinguished in its construction: the Greater and Lesser Caucasian mobile belts and the Transcaucasus microplate. Currently it represents the Tethyan segment connecting the Mediterranean and Iran-Himalayan orogenic belts, between the Gondvana-derived Arabian plate and East European platform. Now in Georgian Republic are marked thorium four ore occurrences (Okrostsvaridze, 2014): 1- in the Sothern slope of the Greater Caucasus, in the quartz -plagioclases veins (Th concentrations vary between 51g/t - 3882 g/t); 2- in the Transcaucasus Dzirula massif hydrothermally altered rocks of the Precambrian quartz-diorite gneisses (Th concentrations vary between 117 g/t -266 g

  17. Method of synthesis of anhydrous thorium(IV) complexes

    DOEpatents

    Kiplinger, Jaqueline L; Cantat, Thibault

    2013-04-30

    Method of producing anhydrous thorium(IV) tetrahalide complexes, utilizing Th(NO.sub.3).sub.4(H.sub.2O).sub.x, where x is at least 4, as a reagent; method of producing thorium-containing complexes utilizing ThCl.sub.4(DME).sub.2 as a precursor; method of producing purified ThCl.sub.4(ligand).sub.x compounds, where x is from 2 to 9; and novel compounds having the structures: ##STR00001##

  18. SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC DETERMINATION OF TRACES OF BORON IN THORIUM

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Onishi, H.; Ishiwatari, N.; Nagai, H.

    1960-12-01

    A procedure is described for the spectrophotometric determination of a few tenths of a pant per million of boron ia thorium oxide or thorium. The sample is dissolved in strong phosphoric acid. After diluting the solution with water, boron is separated by distillation as methyl borate and finally determined by the curcumin method. The error is not likely to exceed plus or minus O.l ppm for 0.2 to 1 ppm of boron. (auth)

  19. Thorium Deposits of the United States - Energy Resources for the Future?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Gillerman, Virginia S.; Armbrustmacher, Theodore J.

    2009-01-01

    Many nations are exploring new ways to meet their growing energy supply needs, with a particular focus upon methods that produce lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional oil, natural gas, and coal power plants. As a result, thorium-based nuclear power has experienced renewed attention as a potential energy source. Thus, it benefits the United States and other countries to identify and evaluate their indigenous thorium resources. This report describes the geology and resources of the principal thorium districts of the United States.

  20. Self-Sustaining Thorium Boiling Water Reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Greenspan, Ehud; Gorman, Phillip M.; Bogetic, Sandra

    The primary objectives of this project are to: Perform a pre-conceptual design of a core for an alternative to the Hitachi proposed fuel-self- sustaining RBWR-AC, to be referred to as a RBWR-Th. The use of thorium fuel is expected to assure negative void coefficient of reactivity (versus positive of the RBWR-AC) and improve reactor safety; Perform a pre-conceptual design of an alternative core to the Hitachi proposed LWR TRU transmuting RBWR-TB2, to be referred to as the RBWR-TR. In addition to improved safety, use of thorium for the fertile fuel is expected to improve the TRU transmutation effectiveness; Compare themore » RBWR-Th and RBWR-TR performance against that of the Hitachi RBWR core designs and sodium cooled fast reactor counterparts - the ARR and ABR; and, Perform a viability assessment of the thorium-based RBWR design concepts to be identified along with their associated fuel cycle, a technology gap analysis, and a technology development roadmap. A description of the work performed and of the results obtained is provided in this Overview Report and, in more detail, in the Attachments. The major findings of the study are summarized.« less

  1. 229Thorium-doped calcium fluoride for nuclear laser spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Dessovic, P; Mohn, P; Jackson, R A; Winkler, G; Schreitl, M; Kazakov, G; Schumm, T

    2014-03-12

    The (229)thorium isotope presents an extremely low-energy isomer state of the nucleus which is expected around 7.8 eV, in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regime. This unique system may bridge between atomic and nuclear physics, enabling coherent manipulation and precision spectroscopy of nuclear quantum states using laser light. It has been proposed to implant (229)thorium into VUV transparent crystal matrices to facilitate laser spectroscopy and possibly realize a solid-state nuclear clock. In this work, we validate the feasibility of this approach by computer modelling of thorium doping into calcium fluoride single crystals. Using atomistic modelling and full electronic structure calculations, we find a persistent large band gap and no additional electronic levels emerging in the middle of the gap due to the presence of the dopant, which should allow direct optical interrogation of the nuclear transition.Based on the electronic structure, we estimate the thorium nuclear quantum levels within the solid-state environment. Precision laser spectroscopy of these levels will allow the study of a broad range of crystal field effects, transferring Mössbauer spectroscopy into the optical regime.

  2. Stellar Abundance Observations and Heavy Element Formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowan, J. J.

    2005-05-01

    Abundance observations indicate the presence of rapid-neutron capture (i.e., r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the earliest generations of stars in the Galaxy -- the progenitors of the halo stars -- responsible for neutron-capture synthesis of the heavy elements. Abundance comparisons among the r-process-rich halo stars show that the heaviest neutron-capture elements (i.e., Ba and above) are consistent with a scaled solar system r-process abundance distribution, while the lighter neutron-capture elements do not conform to the solar pattern. These comparisons suggest the possibility of two r-process sites in stars. The large star-to-star scatter observed in the abundances of neutron-capture element/iron ratios at low metallicities -- which disappears with increasing metallicity or [Fe/H] -- suggests the formation of these heavy elements (presumably from certain types of supernovae) was rare in the early Galaxy. The stellar abundances also indicate a change from the r-process to the slow neutron capture (i.e., s-) process at higher metallicities in the Galaxy and provide insight into Galactic chemical evolution. Finally, the detection of thorium and uranium in halo and globular cluster stars offers an independent age-dating technique that can put lower limits on the age of the Galaxy, and hence the Universe. This work has been supported in part by NSF grant AST 03-07279 (J.J.C.) and by STScI grants GO-8111, GO-8342 and GO-9359.

  3. Uranium- and thorium-bearing pegmatites of the United States

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Adams, J.W.; Arengi, J.T.; Parrish, I.S.

    1980-04-01

    This report is part of the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) Program designed to identify criteria favorable for the occurrence of the world's significant uranium deposits. This project deals specifically with uranium- and thorium-bearing pegmatites in the United States and, in particular, their distribution and origin. From an extensive literature survey and field examination of 44 pegmatite localities in the United States and Canada, the authors have compiled an index to about 300 uranium- and thorium-bearing pegmatites in the United States, maps giving location of these deposits, and an annotated bibliography to some of the most pertinent literature on themore » geology of pegmatites. Pegmatites form from late-state magma differentiates rich in volatile constituents with an attendant aqueous vapor phase. It is the presence of an aqueous phase which results in the development of the variable grain size which characterizes pegmatites. All pegmatites occur in areas of tectonic mobility involving crustal material usually along plate margins. Those pegmatites containing radioactive mineral species show, essentially, a similar distribution to those without radioactive minerals. Criteria such as tectonic setting, magma composition, host rock, and elemental indicators among others, all serve to help delineate areas more favorable for uranium- and thorium-bearing pegmatites. The most useful guide remains the radioactivity exhibited by uranium- and thorium-bearing pegmatites. Although pegmatites are frequently noted as favorable hosts for radioactive minerals, the general paucity and sporadic distribution of these minerals and inherent mining and milling difficulties negate the resource potential of pegmatites for uranium and thorium.« less

  4. RADIATION HAZARD IN THE TREATMENT OF SKIN DISEASES WITH THORIUM X

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wiskemann, A.; Janssen, U.

    Possible hazards, particularly to the dermatologist and his assistants, in the use of local applications of thorium X (Ra/sup 224/) in salves and ointments for the treatment of skin diseases, such as psoriasis, nevus flammeus, and lichen ruber verrucosus, were assessed. The decay scheme of thorium X through its daughter products (thoron and thorium A, B, C, C', C", and D), the half lives of the products, and their emission characteristics are discussed. Studies in rats showed that topically applied ointment containing thorium X leads to measurable blood levels of radioactivity and deposition of daughter products in various tissues, includingmore » gonads. Radioautographs of rat lung and ovary demonstrated alpha -particle tracks in various tissue constituents. In humans receiving skin treatments with 1000 units thorium X (70 mu C/cm/sup 3/) the blood dose reached 2 rem, from which it was estimated that the whole-body dose would be approximates 3 rem/yr. In the treatment of a number of patients with a total of 30000 units thorium X, it was calculated that the whole-body to the person giving the treatment would be approximates 15 mr, although at chest level as much as 473 mr would be received. However, this is only 1/4 to 1/7 the permissible weekly gamma dose. Use of film dosimeters by persons applying treatments showed that the permissible dose was not being exceeded. Measurements of the radiation dose received by the personnel showed that it is mostly from inhalation of air in the treatment room. (TCO)« less

  5. The Growth of Monoraphidium sp. and Scenedesmus sp. Cells in the Presence of Thorium

    PubMed Central

    de Queiroz, Juliana Cristina; Ferreira, Ana Cristina de Melo; da Costa, Antonio Carlos Augusto

    2012-01-01

    Toxicity of thorium by Monoraphidium sp. and Scenedesmus sp. was studied. Microalgal cultures were inoculated in ASM-1 medium in presence and absence of thorium. Its effect was monitored by direct counting on Fuchs-Rosenthal chamber and with software. The toxicity of thorium over the species was observed for concentrations over 50.0 mg/L. After 30 days, Monoraphidium cells decreased their concentration from 4.23 × 106 to 4.27 × 105 and 8.57 × 105 cells/mL, in the presence of 50.0 and 100.0 mg/L of thorium, respectively. Scenedesmus sp. cells were more resistant to thorium: for an initial cell concentration of 7.65 × 104 cells/mL it was observed a change to 5.25 × 105 and 5.12 × 105 cells/mL, in the presence of thorium at 50.0 and 100.0 mg/L, respectively. This is an indication that low concentrations of the radionuclide favored the growth, and that Scenedesmus cells are more resistant to thorium than Monoraphidium cells. The software used for comparison with direct count method proved to be useful for the improvement of accuracy of the results obtained, a decrease in the uncertainty and allowed recording of the data. The presence of thorium suggests that low concentrations have a positive effect on the growth, due to the presence of the nitrate, indicating its potential for ecotoxicological studies. PMID:22649297

  6. Separation of thorium and uranium in nitric acid solution using silica based anion exchange resin.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yanliang; Wei, Yuezhou; He, Linfeng; Tang, Fangdong

    2016-09-30

    To separate thorium and uranium in nitric acid solution using anion exchange process, a strong base silica-based anion exchange resin (SiPyR-N4) was synthesized. Batch experiments were conducted and the separation factor of thorium and uranium in 9M nitric acid was about 10. Ion exchange chromatography was applied to separate thorium and uranium in different ratios. Uranium could be eluted by 9M nitric acid and thorium was eluted by 0.1M nitric acid. It was proved that thorium and uranium can be separated and recovered successfully by this method. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. SEPARATION OF THORIUM FROM URANIUM BY EXTRACTION

    DOEpatents

    Bohlmann, E.G.

    1959-07-28

    A method is presented for the recovery and separation of uranium and thorium values contained in an aqueous nitric acid solution which is more than 3 M in nitric acid. The uranium and thorium containing solution preferable about 7 M in nitric acid is contacted with tributyl phosphatekerosene mixture. Both U and Th are extracted by the immiscible organic. After phase separation the Th is selectively back extracted by contacting with an aqueous nitric acid solution preferably between 0.1 to 1.5 M in nitric acid. The uranium which is still in the organic extractant phase may be recovered by contacting with water.

  8. OPTIMIZATION OF HETEROGENEOUS UTILIZATION OF THORIUM IN PWRS TO ENHANCE PROLIFERATION RESISTANCE AND REDUCE WASTE.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    TODOSOW,M.; KAZIMI,M.

    2004-08-01

    Issues affecting the implementation, public perception and acceptance of nuclear power include: proliferation, radioactive waste, safety, and economics. The thorium cycle directly addresses the proliferation and waste issues, but optimization studies of core design and fuel management are needed to ensure that it fits within acceptable safety and economic margins. Typical pressurized water reactors, although loaded with uranium fuel, produce 225 to 275 kg of plutonium per gigawatt-year of operation. Although the spent fuel is highly radioactive, it nevertheless offers a potential proliferation pathway because the plutonium is relatively easy to separate, amounts to many critical masses, and does notmore » present any significant intrinsic barrier to weapon assembly. Uranium 233, on the other hand, produced by the irradiation of thorium, although it too can be used in weapons, may be ''denatured'' by the addition of natural, depleted or low enriched uranium. Furthermore, it appears that the chemical behavior of thoria or thoria-urania fuel makes it a more stable medium for the geological disposal of the spent fuel. It is therefore particularly well suited for a once-through fuel cycle. The use of thorium as a fertile material in nuclear fuel has been of interest since the dawn of nuclear power technology due to its abundance and to potential neutronic advantages. Early projects include homogeneous mixtures of thorium and uranium oxides in the BORAX-IV, Indian Point I, and Elk River reactors, as well as heterogeneous mixtures in the Shippingport seed-blanket reactor. However these projects were developed under considerably different circumstances than those which prevail at present. The earlier applications preceded the current proscription, for non-proliferation purposes, of the use of uranium enriched to more than 20 w/o in {sup 235}U, and has in practice generally prohibited the use of uranium highly enriched in {sup 235}U. They were designed when the expected

  9. The temperatures, abundances and gravities of F dwarf stars.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bell, R. A.

    1971-01-01

    Theoretical colors computed from laboratory line data and from model stellar atmospheres have been used to interpret the colors of about 150 F and early G dwarfs. Effective temperatures have been derived from the H-beta index and from R-I, abundances have been obtained from m(sub 1) and from b-y, and gravities have been obtained from c(sub 1) and from b-y. The effective temperatures and gravities are in good agreement with values obtained from spectral scans. Absolute magnitudes have been obtained from the effective temperatures and gravities, the latter being used with assumed stellar masses to yield radii. The present results provide theoretical justification of the empirical formulas given by Crawford and by Stroemgren for the determination of absolute magnitudes and abundances from uvby photometry.

  10. Liquid fuel molten salt reactors for thorium utilization

    DOE PAGES

    Gehin, Jess C.; Powers, Jeffrey J.

    2016-04-08

    Molten salt reactors (MSRs) represent a class of reactors that use liquid salt, usually fluoride- or chloride-based, as either a coolant with a solid fuel (such as fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactors) or as a combined coolant and fuel with fuel dissolved in a carrier salt. For liquid-fuelled MSRs, the salt can be processed online or in a batch mode to allow for removal of fission products as well as introduction of fissile fuel and fertile materials during reactor operation. The MSR is most commonly associated with the 233U/thorium fuel cycle, as the nuclear properties of 233U combined with themore » online removal of parasitic absorbers allow for the ability to design a thermal-spectrum breeder reactor; however, MSR concepts have been developed using all neutron energy spectra (thermal, intermediate, fast, and mixed-spectrum zoned concepts) and with a variety of fuels including uranium, thorium, plutonium, and minor actinides. Early MSR work was supported by a significant research and development (R&D) program that resulted in two experimental systems operating at ORNL in the 1960s, the Aircraft Reactor Experiment and the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. Subsequent design studies in the 1970s focusing on thermal-spectrum thorium-fueled systems established reference concepts for two major design variants: (1) a molten salt breeder reactor (MSBR), with multiple configurations that could breed additional fissile material or maintain self-sustaining operation; and (2) a denatured molten salt reactor (DMSR) with enhanced proliferation-resistance. T MSRs has been selected as one of six most promising Generation IV systems and development activities have been seen in fast-spectrum MSRs, waste-burning MSRs, MSRs fueled with low-enriched uranium (LEU), as well as more traditional thorium fuel cycle-based MSRs. This study provides an historical background of MSR R&D efforts, surveys and summarizes many of the recent development, and provides analysis comparing

  11. THE SPECTRUM OF THORIUM FROM 250 nm TO 5500 nm: RITZ WAVELENGTHS AND OPTIMIZED ENERGY LEVELS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Redman, Stephen L.; Nave, Gillian; Sansonetti, Craig J.

    2014-03-01

    We have made precise observations of a thorium-argon hollow cathode lamp emission spectrum in the region between 350 nm and 1175 nm using a high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer. Our measurements are combined with results from seven previously published thorium line lists to re-optimize the energy levels of neutral, singly, and doubly ionized thorium (Th I, Th II, and Th III). Using the optimized level values, we calculate accurate Ritz wavelengths for 19, 874 thorium lines between 250 nm and 5500 nm (40, 000 cm{sup –1} to 1800 cm{sup –1}). We have also found 102 new thorium energy levels. A systematicmore » analysis of previous measurements in light of our new results allows us to identify and propose corrections for systematic errors in Palmer and Engleman and typographical errors and incorrect classifications in Kerber et al. We also found a large scatter with respect to the thorium line list of Lovis and Pepe. We anticipate that our Ritz wavelengths will lead to improved measurement accuracy for current and future spectrographs that make use of thorium-argon or thorium-neon lamps as calibration standards.« less

  12. A generalized population dynamics model for reproductive interference with absolute density dependence.

    PubMed

    Kyogoku, Daisuke; Sota, Teiji

    2017-05-17

    Interspecific mating interactions, or reproductive interference, can affect population dynamics, species distribution and abundance. Previous population dynamics models have assumed that the impact of frequency-dependent reproductive interference depends on the relative abundances of species. However, this assumption could be an oversimplification inappropriate for making quantitative predictions. Therefore, a more general model to forecast population dynamics in the presence of reproductive interference is required. Here we developed a population dynamics model to describe the absolute density dependence of reproductive interference, which appears likely when encounter rate between individuals is important. Our model (i) can produce diverse shapes of isoclines depending on parameter values and (ii) predicts weaker reproductive interference when absolute density is low. These novel characteristics can create conditions where coexistence is stable and independent from the initial conditions. We assessed the utility of our model in an empirical study using an experimental pair of seed beetle species, Callosobruchus maculatus and Callosobruchus chinensis. Reproductive interference became stronger with increasing total beetle density even when the frequencies of the two species were kept constant. Our model described the effects of absolute density and showed a better fit to the empirical data than the existing model overall.

  13. Alterations of thorium oxalate morphology by changing elementary precipitation conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tyrpekl, V.; Beliš, M.; Wangle, T.; Vleugels, J.; Verwerft, M.

    2017-09-01

    Oxalates of actinide elements are widely used in research and industry mainly due to their low solubility in aqueous solution and easy conversion to oxide. Although thorium oxide is worldwide mostly produced by the oxalate precipitation and conversion route, the powder morphology obtained through this process is known to inhibit the packing and sintering step of the pellet production. The presented work investigates the effects of oxalate precipitation conditions on the final powder morphology. Among the precipitation conditions considered are: pH of the thorium feed solution, concentration, temperature and the order of addition (thorium solution in oxalic acid solution and vice versa) known as reverse/direct strike. Herein, we show that the morphology of the final oxalate depends significantly on the above mentioned precipitation parameters.

  14. THORIUM OXALATE-URANYL ACETATE COUPLED PROCEDURE FOR THE SEPARATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS

    DOEpatents

    Gofman, J.W.

    1959-08-11

    The recovery of fission products from neutronirradiated uranium is described. The neutron-irradiated uranium is dissolved in acid and thorium oxalate is precipitated in ihe solution formed, whereby the fission products are carried on the thorium oxalate. The separated thorium oxalate precipitate is then dissolved in an aqueous oxalate solution and the solution formed is acidified, limiting ihe excess acidity to a maximum of 2 N, whereby thorium oxalate precipitates and carries lanthanum-rareearth- and alkaline-earth-metal fission products while the zirconium-fission-product remains in solution. This precipitate, too, is dissolved in an aqaeous oxalate solution at elevated temperature, and lanthanum-rare-earth ions are added to the solution whereby lanthanum-rare-earth oxalate forms and the lanthanum-rare-earth-type and alkalineearth-metal-type fission products are carried on the oxalate. The precipitate is separated from the solution.

  15. Estimating terrestrial uranium and thorium by antineutrino flux measurements.

    PubMed

    Dye, Stephen T; Guillian, Eugene H

    2008-01-08

    Uranium and thorium within the Earth produce a major portion of terrestrial heat along with a measurable flux of electron antineutrinos. These elements are key components in geophysical and geochemical models. Their quantity and distribution drive the dynamics, define the thermal history, and are a consequence of the differentiation of the Earth. Knowledge of uranium and thorium concentrations in geological reservoirs relies largely on geochemical model calculations. This article describes the methods and criteria to experimentally determine average concentrations of uranium and thorium in the continental crust and in the mantle by using site-specific measurements of the terrestrial antineutrino flux. Optimal, model-independent determinations involve significant exposures of antineutrino detectors remote from nuclear reactors at both a midcontinental and a midoceanic site. This would require major, new antineutrino detection projects. The results of such projects could yield a greatly improved understanding of the deep interior of the Earth.

  16. Estimating terrestrial uranium and thorium by antineutrino flux measurements

    PubMed Central

    Dye, Stephen T.; Guillian, Eugene H.

    2008-01-01

    Uranium and thorium within the Earth produce a major portion of terrestrial heat along with a measurable flux of electron antineutrinos. These elements are key components in geophysical and geochemical models. Their quantity and distribution drive the dynamics, define the thermal history, and are a consequence of the differentiation of the Earth. Knowledge of uranium and thorium concentrations in geological reservoirs relies largely on geochemical model calculations. This article describes the methods and criteria to experimentally determine average concentrations of uranium and thorium in the continental crust and in the mantle by using site-specific measurements of the terrestrial antineutrino flux. Optimal, model-independent determinations involve significant exposures of antineutrino detectors remote from nuclear reactors at both a midcontinental and a midoceanic site. This would require major, new antineutrino detection projects. The results of such projects could yield a greatly improved understanding of the deep interior of the Earth. PMID:18172211

  17. SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR THE SEPARATION OF URANIUM AND THORIUM FROM PROTACTINIUM AND FISSION PRODUCTS

    DOEpatents

    Rainey, R.H.; Moore, J.G.

    1962-08-14

    A liquid-liquid extraction process was developed for recovering thorium and uranium values from a neutron irradiated thorium composition. They are separated from a solvent extraction system comprising a first end extraction stage for introducing an aqueous feed containing thorium and uranium into the system consisting of a plurality of intermediate extractiorr stages and a second end extractron stage for introducing an aqueous immiscible selective organic solvent for thorium and uranium in countercurrent contact therein with the aqueous feed. A nitrate iondeficient aqueous feed solution containing thorium and uranium was introduced into the first end extraction stage in countercurrent contact with the organic solvent entering the system from the second end extraction stage while intro ducing an aqueous solution of salting nitric acid into any one of the intermediate extraction stages of the system. The resultant thorium and uranium-laden organic solvent was removed at a point preceding the first end extraction stage of the system. (AEC)

  18. Investigations of systems ThO 2-MO 2-P 2O 5 (M=U, Ce, Zr, Pu). Solid solutions of thorium-uranium (IV) and thorium-plutonium (IV) phosphate-diphosphates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dacheux, N.; Podor, R.; Brandel, V.; Genet, M.

    1998-02-01

    In the framework of nuclear waste management aiming at the research of a storage matrix, the chemistry of thorium phosphates has been completely re-examined. In the ThO 2-P 2O 5 system a new compound thorium phosphate-diphosphate Th 4(PO 4) 4P 2O 7 has been synthesized. The replacement of Th 4+ by a smaller cation like U 4+ and Pu 4+ in the thorium phosphate-diphosphate (TPD) lattice has been achieved. Th 4- xU x(PO 4) 4P 2O 7 and Th 4- xPu x(PO 4) 4P 2O 7 solid solutions have been synthesized through wet and dry processes with 0< x<3.0 for uranium and 0< x<1.0 for plutonium. From the variation of the unit cell parameters, an upper x value equal to 1.67 has been estimated for the thorium-plutonium (IV) phosphate-diphosphate solid solutions. Two other tetravalent cations, Ce 4+ and Zr 4+, cannot be incorporated in the TPD lattice: cerium (IV) because of its reduction into Ce (III) at high temperature, and zirconium probably because of its too small radius compared to thorium.

  19. PREPARATION OF HIGH-DENSITY THORIUM OXIDE SPHERES

    DOEpatents

    McNees, R.A. Jr.; Taylor, A.J.

    1963-12-31

    A method of preparing high-density thorium oxide spheres for use in pellet beds in nuclear reactors is presented. Sinterable thorium oxide is first converted to free-flowing granules by means such as compression into a compact and comminution of the compact. The granules are then compressed into cubes having a density of 5.0 to 5.3 grams per cubic centimeter. The cubes are tumbled to form spheres by attrition, and the spheres are then fired at 1250 to 1350 deg C. The fired spheres are then polished and fired at a temperature above 1650 deg C to obtain high density. Spherical pellets produced by this method are highly resistant to mechanical attrition hy water. (AEC)

  20. Integral experiments on thorium assemblies with D-T neutron source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Rong; Yang, Yiwei; Feng, Song; Zheng, Lei; Lai, Caifeng; Lu, Xinxin; Wang, Mei; Jiang, Li

    2017-09-01

    To validate nuclear data and code in the neutronics design of a hybrid reactor with thorium, integral experiments in two kinds of benchmark thorium assemblies with a D-T fusion neutron source have been performed. The one kind of 1D assemblies consists of polyethylene and depleted uranium shells. The other kind of 2D assemblies consists of three thorium oxide cylinders. The capture reaction rates, fission reaction rates, and (n, 2n) reaction rates in 232Th in the assemblies are measured by ThO2 foils. The leakage neutron spectra from the ThO2 cylinders are measured by a liquid scintillation detector. The experimental uncertainties in all the results are analyzed. The measured results are compared to the calculated ones with MCNP code and ENDF/B-VII.0 library data.

  1. SELECTIVE SEPARATION OF URANIUM FROM THORIUM, PROTACTINIUM AND FISSION PRODUCTS BY PEROXIDE DISSOLUTION METHOD

    DOEpatents

    Seaborg, G.T.; Gofman, J.W.; Stoughton, R.W.

    1959-08-18

    A method is described for separating U/sup 233/ from thorium and fission products. The separation is effected by forming a thorium-nitric acid solution of about 3 pH, adding hydrogen peroxide to precipitate uranium and thorium peroxide, treating the peroxides with sodium hydroxide to selectively precipitate the uranium peroxide, and reacting the separated solution with nitric acid to re- precipitate the uranium peroxide.

  2. Thoron and Hazards Associated with the Handling of Thorium Compounds; LE THORON ET LES RISQUES ASSOCIES DANS LA MANIPULATION DES COMPOSES DU THORIUM

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pradel, J.f Billard, F.

    1959-10-31

    Thoron and its daughters are continually released from thorium compounds, and their radiations present a danger to persons handling the compounds. A study was made of various methods for the determination of thoron in equilibrium with ThA in the air. The danger presented by thoron in the immediate vicinity of Th sources in a plant extracting thorium from uranothorianite ores was evaluated. A comparison was made of a continuous and a discontinuous method for the determination of thoron alone in air. The determination of thoron and radon with a scintillation chamber is described in detail. The evaluation of the dangersmore » associated with the handling of thorium ore and compounds showed that the maximum permissible concentration for thoron in equilibrium with ThA is 10/sup -6/ mu c/cm/sup 3/ and is 10/sup -10/ mu c/cm/ sup 3/ for ThB in equilibrium with its daughters. (J.S.R.)« less

  3. Occurrence and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural soil receiving dairy manure.

    PubMed

    McKinney, Chad W; Dungan, Robert S; Moore, Amber; Leytem, April B

    2018-03-01

    Animal manures are commonly used to enhance soil fertility, but there are growing concerns over the impact of this practice on the development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this field study was to determine the effect of annual dairy manure applications on the occurrence and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in an agricultural soil during four years of crop production. Treatments included (i) control (no fertilizer or manure), (ii) inorganic fertilizer and (iii) dairy manure at three application rates. Quantitative PCR was used to determine absolute (per g dry soil) and relative (per 16S rRNA gene) abundances of ARGs in DNA extracted from soils. Six ARGs and one class 1 integron were targeted. This study found that (i) manure application increases ARG abundances above background soil levels; (ii) the higher the manure application rate, the higher the ARG abundance in soil; (iii) the amount of manure applied is more important than reoccurring annual applications of the same amount of manure; (iv) absolute abundance and occurrence of ARGs decreases with increasing soil depth, but relative abundances remained constant. This study demonstrated that dairy manure applications to soil significantly increase the abundance of clinically relevant ARGs when compared to control and inorganic fertilized plots.

  4. 76 FR 30696 - Reimbursement for Costs of Remedial Action at Active Uranium and Thorium Processing Sites

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Reimbursement for Costs of Remedial Action at Active Uranium and Thorium...) acceptance of claims in FY 2011 from eligible active uranium and thorium processing site licensees for... incurred by licensees at active uranium and thorium processing sites to remediate byproduct material...

  5. Absolute irradiance of the Moon for on-orbit calibration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stone, T.C.; Kieffer, H.H.; ,

    2002-01-01

    The recognized need for on-orbit calibration of remote sensing imaging instruments drives the ROLO project effort to characterize the Moon for use as an absolute radiance source. For over 5 years the ground-based ROLO telescopes have acquired spatially-resolved lunar images in 23 VNIR (Moon diameter ???500 pixels) and 9 SWIR (???250 pixels) passbands at phase angles within ??90 degrees. A numerical model for lunar irradiance has been developed which fits hundreds of ROLO images in each band, corrected for atmospheric extinction and calibrated to absolute radiance, then integrated to irradiance. The band-coupled extinction algorithm uses absorption spectra of several gases and aerosols derived from MODTRAN to fit time-dependent component abundances to nightly observations of standard stars. The absolute radiance scale is based upon independent telescopic measurements of the star Vega. The fitting process yields uncertainties in lunar relative irradiance over small ranges of phase angle and the full range of lunar libration well under 0.5%. A larger source of uncertainty enters in the absolute solar spectral irradiance, especially in the SWIR, where solar models disagree by up to 6%. Results of ROLO model direct comparisons to spacecraft observations demonstrate the ability of the technique to track sensor responsivity drifts to sub-percent precision. Intercomparisons among instruments provide key insights into both calibration issues and the absolute scale for lunar irradiance.

  6. The Fission of Thorium with Alpha Particles

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Newton, Amos S.

    1948-04-15

    The fission distribution of fission of thorium with alpha particle of average energy 37.5 Mev has been measured by the chemical method. The distribution found shows that the characteristic dip in the fission yield mass spectrum has been raised to within a factor of two of the peaks compared to a factor of 600 in slow neutron fission of U{sup 235}. The raise in the deip has caused a corresponding lowering in fission yield of these elements at the peaks. The cross section for fission of thorium with 37.5 Mev alphas was found to be about 0.6 barn, and themore » threshold for fission was found to be 23 to 24 Mev.« less

  7. Determination of thorium and of rare earth elements in cerium earth minerals and ores

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Carron, M.K.; Skinner, D.L.; Stevens, R.E.

    1955-01-01

    The conventional oxalate method for precipitating thorium and the rare earth elements in acid solution exhibits definite solubilities of these elements. The present work was undertaken to establish conditions overcoming these solubilities and to find optimum conditions for precipitating thorium and the rare earth elements as hydroxides and sebacates. The investigations resulted in a reliable procedure applicable to samples in which the cerium group elements predominate. The oxalate precipitations are made from homogeneous solution at pH 2 by adding a prepared solution of anhydrous oxalic acid in methanol instead of the more expensive crystalline methyl oxalate. Calcium is added as a carrier. Quantitative precipitation of thorium and the rare earth elements is ascertained by further small additions of calcium to the supernatant liquid, until the added calcium precipitates as oxalate within 2 minutes. Calcium is removed by precipitating the hydroxides of thorium and rare earths at room temperature by adding ammonium hydroxide to pH > 10. Thorium is separated as the sebacate at pH 2.5, and the rare earths are precipitated with ammonium sebacate at pH 9. Maximum errors for combined weights of thorium and rare earth oxides on synthetic mixtures are ??0.6 mg. Maximum error for separated thoria is ??0.5 mg.

  8. A fluorimetric study of the thorium-morin system

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Milkey, R.G.; Fletcher, M.H.

    1957-01-01

    Thorium reacts with morin to yield a yellow complex that fluoresces when irradiated with ultraviolet light. The effect on the fluorescence of such variables as concentration of acid, alcohol, thorium, morin, and complex; time, temperature and wave length of exciting light are studied to determine experimental conditions yielding maximum fluorescence. The effects of Zr+4, Al+3, Fe+3, Ca+2 and La+3 are discussed. The fundamental relationships between light absorption and fluorescence are expressed in a general equation that applies to a three-component system when the fluorescence is measured in a transmission-type fluorimeter. This general equation is used to obtain an expression for the fluorescence of the thoriummorin system. Equations, derived from experimental data, relate both the fraction of thorium reacted to form complex and the fraction of unquenched fluorescence to the concentration of uncombined morin. These functions, when combined with the general equation, give an expression whichrelates the total net fluorescence to the amount of uncombined morin in the solution. This last equation can be used to determine the one region for the concentration of uncombined morin that gives maximum sensitivity for the system. Calculated standard curves are in good agreement with experimental curves.

  9. Chloro-, methyl-, and (tetrahydroborato)tris((hexamethyldisilyl)amido)thorium(IV) and -uranium(IV). Crystal structure of (tetrahydroborato)tris((hexamethyldisilyl)amido)thorium(IV)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Turner, H.W.; Andersen, R.A.; Zalkin, A.

    1979-05-01

    Reaction of sodium (hexamethyldisilyl)amide with thorium tetrachloride or uranium tetrachloride yields chlorotris-((hexamethyldisilyl)amido)thorium(IV) or -uranium(IV), respectively. The chloroamides of thorium or uranium react with dimethylmagnesium or methyllithium yielding the methyl derivatives MeTh(N(SiMe/sub 3/)/sub 2/)/sub 3/ or MeU(N(SiMe/sub 3/)/sub 2/)/sub 3/, respectively. The chloro compounds yield BH/sub 4/M(N(SiMe/sub 3/)/sub 2/)/sub 3/ upon reaction with lithium tetrahydroborate, where M is thorium or uranium. Infrared spectra of the tetrahydroborate derivatives suggest that BH/sub 4/ is bonded in a tridentate fashion in both compounds, the metal atoms being six-coordinate. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of the thorium borohydride confirms the infrared result. The white BH/sub 4/Th(N(Si(CH/sub 3/))/submore » 2/)/sub 3/ crystals are rhombohedral with cell dimensions a/sub r/ = 11.137 A and ..cap alpha../sub r/ = 113.61/sup 0/; the triply primitive hexagonal cell has a/sub h/ = 18.640 (3) A c/sub h/ = 8.604 (1) A, V = 2489 A/sup 3/, Z = 3, and D/sub x/ = 1.40 g/cm/sup 3/, space group R3m. The structure was refined by full-matrix least squares to a conventional R factor of 0.031 for 1014 data. The Th atom is on a threefold axis 2.32 A from three nitrogen atoms and 2.61 A from the boron atom, a distance which represents a triple bridge bond between Th and B. The three (dimethylsilyl)amide ligands are disordered by a mirror plane parallel to the threefold axis. CH/sub 3/Th(N(Si(CH/sub 3/)/sub 3/)/sub 2/)/sub 3/ is isomorphous with BH/sub 4/Th(N(Si(CH/sub 3/)/sub 3/)/sub 2/)/sub 3/ with cell dimensions a/sub h/ = 18.68 (1) A and c/sub h/ = 8.537 (6) A. The diffraction data yielded integral'' = 12.16 +- 0.33 e for the imaginary scattering term for Th with Cu K..cap alpha.. radiation.« less

  10. Mortality among male workers at a thorium-processing plant.

    PubMed

    Polednak, A P; Stehney, A F; Lucas, H F

    1983-01-01

    The long-term health effects of exposure to thorium are of interest because of the possible increased use of thorium as an energy source in reactors using 232Th to produce 233U. Mortality is described in a cohort of 3039 men who were employed between 1940 and 1973 at a company involved in the production of thorium and rare earth chemicals from monazite sand. Based on deaths ascertained by the Social Security Administration and mortality rates for U.S. white males, the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for all causes was 1.05 with 95% confidence limits (95% CL) of 0.96 and 1.15. Much of the excess mortality was attributable to non-occupational motor vehicle accidents (SMR = 1.64; 95% CL = 1.16 and 2.23), but SMRs were also high for lung cancer (1.44; 95% CL = 0.98 and 2.02), pancreatic cancer (2.01; 95% CL = 0.92 and 3.82), and diseases of the respiratory system (1.31; 95% CL = 0.92 and 1.83). In a subgroup of 592 men who worked for at least one year in selected jobs (indicative of highest exposure to thorium and thoron) that was followed up more intensively, the SMR for pancreatic cancer was significantly elevated (i.e. 4.13; 95% confidence limits = 1.34 and 9.63). The SMR for lung cancer was 1.68 (95% CL = 0.81 and 3.09), while that for respiratory diseases was 1.20 (95% CL = 0.52 and 2.37). Information on smoking habits in a sample of survivors suggested that smoking could have explained at least part of the excess mortality from lung and pancreatic cancer and from diseases of the respiratory system. Continued follow-up of the cohort through morbidity and mortality studies is needed to evaluate further the possible long-term effects of exposure to radioactivity and chemicals in the thorium extraction process.

  11. Solar Flare Abundances of Potassium, Argon, and Sulphur

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oegerle, William (Technical Monitor); Phillips, K. J. H.; Sylwester, J.; Sylwester, B.; Landi, E.

    2003-01-01

    The absolute coronal abundances of potassium has been determined for the first time from X-ray solar flare line and continuous spectra together with absolute and relative abundances of Ar and S. Potassium is of importance in the continuing debate concerning the nature of the coronal/photospheric element abundance ratios which are widely considered to depend on first ionization potential since it has the lowest FIP of any common element in the Sun. The measurements were obtained with the RESIK crystal spectrometer on the Coronas-F spacecraft. A differential emission measure DEM = const. x exp (-(beta)T(sub e) was found to be the most consistent with the data out of three models considered. We find that the coronal ratio [K/H] = 3.7 x 10(exp - 7), a factor 3 times photospheric, in agreement with other observations using line-to-line ratios. Our measured value for the coronal ratio [Ar/H] = 1.5 x 10(exp -6) is significantly less than photospheric, indicating that there is a slight depletion of this high-FIP element in the corona. For S (an intermediate-FIP element) we obtained [S/H] = 2.2 x 10(exp - 5), approximately the same as in previous work.

  12. The Crystal Structure of Thorium and Zirconium Dihydrides by X-ray and Neutron Diffraction

    DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

    Rundle, R.E.; Shull, C.G.; Wollan, E.O.

    1951-04-20

    Thorium forms a tetragonal lower hydride of composition ThH{sub 2}. The hydrides ThH{sub 2}, ThD{sub 2}, and ZrD{sub 2} have been studied by neutron diffraction in order that hydrogen positions could be determined. The hydrides are isomorphous, and have a deformed fluorite structure. Metal-hydrogen distances in thorium hydride are unusually large, as in UH{sub 3}. Thorium and zirconium scattering amplitudes and a revised scattering amplitude for deuterium are reported.

  13. Comparison of the Environment, Health, And Safety Characteristics of Advanced Thorium- Uranium and Uranium-Plutonium Fuel Cycles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ault, Timothy M.

    The environment, health, and safety properties of thorium-uranium-based (''thorium'') fuel cycles are estimated and compared to those of analogous uranium-plutonium-based (''uranium'') fuel cycle options. A structured assessment methodology for assessing and comparing fuel cycle is refined and applied to several reference fuel cycle options. Resource recovery as a measure of environmental sustainability for thorium is explored in depth in terms of resource availability, chemical processing requirements, and radiological impacts. A review of available experience and recent practices indicates that near-term thorium recovery will occur as a by-product of mining for other commodities, particularly titanium. The characterization of actively-mined global titanium, uranium, rare earth element, and iron deposits reveals that by-product thorium recovery would be sufficient to satisfy even the most intensive nuclear demand for thorium at least six times over. Chemical flowsheet analysis indicates that the consumption of strong acids and bases associated with thorium resource recovery is 3-4 times larger than for uranium recovery, with the comparison of other chemical types being less distinct. Radiologically, thorium recovery imparts about one order of magnitude larger of a collective occupational dose than uranium recovery. Moving to the entire fuel cycle, four fuel cycle options are compared: a limited-recycle (''modified-open'') uranium fuel cycle, a modified-open thorium fuel cycle, a full-recycle (''closed'') uranium fuel cycle, and a closed thorium fuel cycle. A combination of existing data and calculations using SCALE are used to develop material balances for the four fuel cycle options. The fuel cycle options are compared on the bases of resource sustainability, waste management (both low- and high-level waste, including used nuclear fuel), and occupational radiological impacts. At steady-state, occupational doses somewhat favor the closed thorium option while low

  14. Chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil.

    PubMed

    Perriot, Rodolphe; Breme, Katharina; Meierhenrich, Uwe J; Carenini, Elise; Ferrando, Georges; Baldovini, Nicolas

    2010-02-10

    Since decades mimosa (Acacia dealbata) absolute oil has been used in the flavor and perfume industry. Today, it finds an application in over 80 perfumes, and its worldwide industrial production is estimated five tons per year. Here we report on the chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil. Straight-chain analogues from C6 to C26 with different functional groups (hydrocarbons, esters, aldehydes, diethyl acetals, alcohols, and ketones) were identified in the volatile fraction. Most of them are long-chain molecules: (Z)-heptadec-8-ene, heptadecane, nonadecane, and palmitic acid are the most abundant, and constituents such as 2-phenethyl alcohol, methyl anisate, and ethyl palmitate are present in smaller amounts. The heavier constituents were mainly triterpenoids such as lupenone and lupeol, which were identified as two of the main components. (Z)-Heptadec-8-ene, lupenone, and lupeol were quantified by GC-MS in SIM mode using external standards and represents 6%, 20%, and 7.8% (w/w) of the absolute oil. Moreover, odorant compounds were extracted by SPME and analyzed by GC-sniffing leading to the perception of 57 odorant zones, of which 37 compounds were identified by their odorant description, mass spectrum, retention index, and injection of the reference compound.

  15. Critical review of analytical techniques for safeguarding the thorium-uranium fuel cycle

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hakkila, E.A.

    1978-10-01

    Conventional analytical methods applicable to the determination of thorium, uranium, and plutonium in feed, product, and waste streams from reprocessing thorium-based nuclear reactor fuels are reviewed. Separations methods of interest for these analyses are discussed. Recommendations concerning the applicability of various techniques to reprocessing samples are included. 15 tables, 218 references.

  16. 49 CFR 173.426 - Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... uranium or thorium. 173.426 Section 173.426 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation....426 Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium. A manufactured article in which the sole Class 7 (radioactive) material content is natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium...

  17. 49 CFR 173.426 - Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... uranium or thorium. 173.426 Section 173.426 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation....426 Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium. A manufactured article in which the sole Class 7 (radioactive) material content is natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium...

  18. 49 CFR 173.426 - Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... uranium or thorium. 173.426 Section 173.426 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation....426 Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium. A manufactured article in which the sole Class 7 (radioactive) material content is natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium...

  19. THE QUESTIONS OF HEALTH HAZARDS FROM THE INHALATION OF INSOLUBLE URANIUM AND THORIUM OXIDES

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hodge, H.C.; Thomas, R.G.

    1958-10-31

    The insoluble compounds of uranium and thorium, particularly the oxides, are important in the development of atomic energy. Thc questions of health hazards from exposures to dusts of these insoluble compounds are strikily simlar in many but not all respects, Among the similarities may be listed the following facts: The insoluble compounds present no chemical hazard. Both uranium and thorium dioxides, for example, are remarkably inert physiologically. No radiation injuries have so far been described in the lungs of experimental animals inhaling dust concentrations many times the recommended MAC. The lungs of a few dogs studied seven years after excessivemore » inhalation exposures to ThO/sub 2/ gave negative histological findings although high concentrations of thorium were present. The MACs for insoluble uranium and for inxoluble thorium dusts are identical, specifically 3 x 10/sup -11/ c/1. Calculated on a radiation basis, a lower MAC is appropriate for thorium. Based on a considerable body of information from cted. For both uranium and thorium dioxides fecal excretion reflects the immediate exposure to dusty atmospheres. Urine analyses are a prime index of uranium exposure whereas the presence of the much less soluble thorium dioxide in the lung cannot be thus assessed. Breath thoron extimnations or possibly measurements using a whole body counter have been recommended as indices of thorium exposure. The fundamental question depends on the radiosensitivity of the lung and of the pulmonary lymph nodes; neither the production of radiation injury nor the production of cancer are evaluated at present with respect to dosage of radiation. The lung tissues of the dogs described above must have received several thousand rem during the 7 year period. The pulmonary lymph modes must have received considerably more radiation because the concentrations in these nodes e use of the insoluble oxides and the low MACs combine to raise recurring questions of health hazards. (auth)« less

  20. Monitoring Butterfly Abundance: Beyond Pollard Walks

    PubMed Central

    Pellet, Jérôme; Bried, Jason T.; Parietti, David; Gander, Antoine; Heer, Patrick O.; Cherix, Daniel; Arlettaz, Raphaël

    2012-01-01

    Most butterfly monitoring protocols rely on counts along transects (Pollard walks) to generate species abundance indices and track population trends. It is still too often ignored that a population count results from two processes: the biological process (true abundance) and the statistical process (our ability to properly quantify abundance). Because individual detectability tends to vary in space (e.g., among sites) and time (e.g., among years), it remains unclear whether index counts truly reflect population sizes and trends. This study compares capture-mark-recapture (absolute abundance) and count-index (relative abundance) monitoring methods in three species (Maculinea nausithous and Iolana iolas: Lycaenidae; Minois dryas: Satyridae) in contrasted habitat types. We demonstrate that intraspecific variability in individual detectability under standard monitoring conditions is probably the rule rather than the exception, which questions the reliability of count-based indices to estimate and compare specific population abundance. Our results suggest that the accuracy of count-based methods depends heavily on the ecology and behavior of the target species, as well as on the type of habitat in which surveys take place. Monitoring programs designed to assess the abundance and trends in butterfly populations should incorporate a measure of detectability. We discuss the relative advantages and inconveniences of current monitoring methods and analytical approaches with respect to the characteristics of the species under scrutiny and resources availability. PMID:22859980

  1. Concentration and purification of plutonium or thorium

    DOEpatents

    Hayden, John A.; Plock, Carl E.

    1976-01-01

    In this invention a first solution obtained from such as a plutonium/thorium purification process or the like, containing plutonium (Pu) and/or thorium (Th) in such as a low nitric acid (HNO.sub.3) concentration may have the Pu and/or Th separated and concentrated by passing an electrical current from a first solution having disposed therein an anode to a second solution having disposed therein a cathode and separated from the first solution by a cation permeable membrane, the Pu or Th cation permeating the cation membrane and forming an anionic complex within the second solution, and electrical current passage affecting the complex formed to permeate an anion membrane separating the second solution from an adjoining third solution containing disposed therein an anode, thereby effecting separation and concentration of the Pu and/or Th in the third solution.

  2. Crystal chemistry of thorium nitrates and chromates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sigmon, Ginger E.; Burns, Peter C., E-mail: pburns@nd.ed

    2010-07-15

    The structures and infrared spectra of six novel thorium compounds are reported. Th(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}(OH){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2} (1) crystallizes in space group C2/c, a=14.050(1), b=8.992(7), c=5.954(5) A, {beta}=101.014(2){sup o}. K{sub 2}Th(NO{sub 3}){sub 6} (2), P-3, a=13.606(1), c=6.641(6) A. (C{sub 12}H{sub 28}N){sub 2}Th(NO{sub 3}){sub 6} (3), P2{sub 1}/c, a=14.643(4), b=15.772(5), c=22.316(5) A, {beta}=131.01(1){sup o}. KTh(NO{sub 3}){sub 5}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2} (4), P2{sub 1}/c, a=10.070(8), b=12.731(9), c=13.231(8) A, {beta}=128.647(4){sup o}. Th(CrO{sub 4}){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2} (5), P2{sub 1}/n, a=12.731(1), b=9.469(8), c=12.972(1) A, {beta}=91.793(2){sup o}. K{sub 2}Th{sub 3}(CrO{sub 4}){sub 7}(H{sub 2}O){sub 10} (6), Ama2, a=19.302(8), b=15.580(6), c=11.318(6) A. The coordination polyhedra about Thmore » in these structures are diverse. Th is coordinated by 9 O atoms in 5 and 6, seven of which are from monodentate (CrO{sub 4}) tetrahedra and two are (H{sub 2}O). The Th in compound 1 is coordinated by ten O atoms, four of which are O atoms of two bidentate (NO{sub 3}) triangles and six of which are (OH) and (H{sub 2}O). In compounds 2, 3 and 4 the Th is coordinate by 12 O atoms. In 2 and 3 there are six bidentate (NO{sub 3}) triangles, and in 4 ten of the O atoms are part of five bidentate (NO{sub 3}) triangles and the others are (H{sub 2}O) groups. The structural units of these compounds consist of a chain of thorium and nitrate polyhedra (1), isolated thorium hexanitrate clusters (2, 3), an isolated thorium pentanitrate dihydrate cluster (4), and a sheet (6) and framework (5) of thorium and chromate polyhedra. These structures illustrate the complexity inherent in the crystal chemistry of Th. - Graphical Abstract: The structures and infrared spectra of four new Th nitrates and two Th chromates are reported. The coordination numbers of the Th cations range from nine to 12 in these compounds. Structural units consist of isolated clusters, chains

  3. PROCESS FOR DECONTAMINATING THORIUM AND URANIUM WITH RESPECT TO RUTHENIUM

    DOEpatents

    Meservey, A.A.; Rainey, R.H.

    1959-10-20

    The control of ruthenium extraction in solvent-extraction processing of neutron-irradiated thorium is presented. Ruthenium is rendered organic-insoluble by the provision of sulfite or bisulfite ions in the aqueous feed solution. As a result the ruthenium remains in the aqueous phase along with other fission product and protactinium values, thorium and uranium values being extracted into the organic phase. This process is particularly applicable to the use of a nitrate-ion-deficient aqueous feed solution and to the use of tributyl phosphate as the organic extractant.

  4. Calculation evaluation of multiplying properties of LWR with thorium fuel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shamanin, I. V.; Grachev, V. M.; Knyshev, V. V.; Bedenko, S. V.; Novikova, N. G.

    2017-01-01

    The results of multiplying properties design research of the unit cell and LWR fuel assembly with the high temperature gas-cooled thorium reactor fuel pellet are presented in the work. The calculation evaluation showed the possibility of using thorium in LWR effectively. In this case the amount of fissile isotope is 2.45 times smaller in comparison with the standard loading of LWR. The research and numerical experiments were carried out using the verified accounting code of the program MCU5, modern libraries of evaluated nuclear data and multigroup approximations.

  5. Radiotoxicity Characterization of Multi-Recycled Thorium Fuel - 12394

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Franceschini, F.; Wenner, M.; Fiorina, C.

    2012-07-01

    As described in companion papers, Westinghouse is proposing the implementation of a thorium based fuel cycle to burn the transuranic (TRU) contained in the used nuclear fuel. The potential of thorium as a TRU burner is described in another paper presented at this conference. This paper analyzes the long-term impact of thorium on the front-end and backend of the fuel cycle. This is accomplished by an assessment of the isotopic make-up of Th in a closed cycle and its impact on representative metrics, such as radiotoxicity, decay heat and gamma heat. The behavior in both thermal and fast neutron energymore » ranges has been investigated. Irradiation in a Th fuel PWR has been assumed as representative of the thermal range, while a Th fuel fast reactor (FR) has been employed to characterize the behavior in the high-energy range. A comparison with a U-fuel closed-cycle FR has been undertaken in an attempt of a more comprehensive evaluation of each cycle's long-term potential. As the Th fuel undergoes multiple cycles of irradiation, the isotopic composition of the recycled fuel changes. Minor Th isotopes are produced; U-232 and Pa-231 build up; the U vector gradually shifts towards increasing amounts of U-234, U-235 etc., eventually leading to the production of non negligible amounts of TRU isotopes, especially Pu-238. The impact of the recycled fuel isotopic makeup on the in-core behavior is mild, and for some aspects beneficial, i.e. the reactivity swing during irradiation is reduced as the fertile characteristics of the fuel increase. On the other hand, the front and the back-end of the fuel cycle are negatively affected due to the presence of Th-228 and U-232 and the build-up of higher actinides (Pu-238 etc.). The presence of U-232 can also be seen as advantageous as it represents an obstacle to potential proliferators. Notwithstanding the increase in the short-term radiotoxicity and decay heat in the multi-recycled fuel, the Th closed cycle has some potentially

  6. DE-NE0000735 - FINAL REPORT ON THORIUM FUEL CYCLE NEUP PROJECT

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Krahn, Steven; Ault, Timothy; Worrall, Andrew

    The report is broken into six chapters, including this executive summary chapter. Following an introduction, this report discusses each of the project’s three major components (Fuel Cycle Data Package (FCDP) Development, Thorium Fuel Cycle Literature Analysis and Database Development, and the Thorium Fuel Cycle Technical Track and Proceedings). A final chapter is devoted to summarization. Various outcomes, publications, etc. originating from this project can be found in the Appendices at the end of the document.

  7. NEON AND OXYGEN ABUNDANCES AND ABUNDANCE RATIO IN THE SOLAR CORONA

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Landi, E.; Testa, P., E-mail: elandi@umich.edu

    2015-02-20

    In this work we determine the Ne/O abundance ratio from Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/Solar Ultraviolet Measurement of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) off-disk observations of quiescent streamers over the 1996-2008 period. We find that the Ne/O ratio is approximately constant over solar cycle 23 from 1996 to 2005, at a value of 0.099 ± 0.017; this value is lower than the transition region determinations from the quiet Sun used to infer the neon photospheric abundance from the oxygen photospheric abundance. Also, the Ne/O ratio we determined from SUMER is in excellent agreement with in situ determinations from ACE/SWICS. In 2005-2008, the Ne/O abundancemore » ratio increased with time and reached 0.25 ± 0.05, following the same trend found in the slowest wind analyzed by ACE/SWICS. Further, we measure the absolute abundance in the corona for both oxygen and neon from the data set of 1996 November 22, obtaining A {sub o} = 8.99 ± 0.04 and A {sub Ne} = 7.92 ± 0.03, and we find that both elements are affected by the first ionization potential (FIP) effect, with oxygen being enhanced by a factor of 1.4-2.1 over its photospheric abundance, and neon being changed by a factor of 0.75-1.20. We conclude that the Ne/O ratio is not constant in the solar atmosphere, both in time and at different heights, and that it cannot be reliably used to infer the neon abundance in the photosphere. Also, we argue that the FIP effect was less effective during the minimum of solar cycle 24, and that the Ne/O = 0.25 ± 0.05 value measured at that time is closer to the true photospheric value, leading to a neon photospheric abundance larger than assumed by ≈40%. We discuss the implications of these results for the solar abundance problem, for the FIP effect, and for the identification of the source regions of the solar wind.« less

  8. PRETREATING THORIUM FOR ELECTROPLATING

    DOEpatents

    Beach, J.G.; Schaer, G.R.

    1959-07-28

    A method is presented for pretreating a thorium surface prior to electroplating the surface. The pretreatment steps of the invention comprise cleaning by vapor blasting the surface, anodically pickling in a 5 to 15% by volume aqueous hydrochloric acid bath with a current of 125 to 250 amp/sq ft for 3 to 5 min at room temperature, chemically pickling the surface in a 5 to 15% by volume of aqueous sulfuric acid for 3 to 5 min at room temperature, and rinsing the surface with water.

  9. Geochemistry of Thorium and Uranium in Soils of the Southern Urals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asylbaev, I. G.; Khabirov, I. K.; Gabbasova, I. M.; Rafikov, B. V.; Lukmanov, N. A.

    2017-12-01

    Specific features of the horizontal and vertical distribution of uranium and thorium in soils and parent materials of the Southern Urals within the Bashkortostan Republic have been studied with the use of mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma. The dependence of distribution patterns of these elements on the local environmental conditions is shown. A scale for soil evaluation according to the concentrations of uranium and thorium (mg/kg) is suggested: the low level, up to 3; medium, up to 9; high, up to 15; and very high, above 15 mg/kg. On the basis of to this scale, the ecological state of the soils is evaluated, and the schematic geochemical map of the region is compiled. The territory of Bashkortostan is subdivided into two parts according to the contents of radioactive elements in soils: the western part with distinct accumulation of uranium and the eastern part with predominant thorium accumulation. This finding supports the charriage (thrust fault) nature of the fault zone of the Southern Urals. The vertical distribution patterns of uranium and thorium in soils of the region are of the same character. The dependence between the contents of these two elements and rare-earth elements has been established. The results of this study are applied for assessing the ecological state of soils in the region.

  10. Antineutrino monitoring of thorium reactors

    DOE PAGES

    Akindele, Oluwatomi A.; Bernstein, Adam; Norman, Eric B.

    2016-09-30

    Various groups have demonstrated that antineutrino monitoring can be successful in assessing the plutonium content in water-cooled nuclear reactors for nonproliferation applications. New reactor designs and concepts incorporate nontraditional fuel types and chemistry. Understanding how these properties affect the antineutrino emission from a reactor can extend the applicability of antineutrino monitoring. Thorium molten salt reactors breed 233U, that if diverted constitute a direct use material as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The antineutrino spectrum from the fission of 233U has been estimated for the first time, and the feasibility of detecting the diversion of 8 kg ofmore » 233U, within a 30 day timeliness goal has been evaluated. The antineutrino emission from a thorium reactor operating under normal conditions is compared to a diversion scenario by evaluating the daily antineutrino count rate and the energy spectrum of the detected antineutrinos at a 25 m standoff. It was found that the diversion of a significant quantity of 233U could not be detected within the current IAEA timeliness detection goal using either tests. In conclusion, a rate-time based analysis exceeded the timeliness goal by 23 days, while a spectral based analysis exceeds this goal by 31 days.« less

  11. Antineutrino monitoring of thorium reactors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akindele, Oluwatomi A.; Bernstein, Adam; Norman, Eric B.

    2016-09-01

    Various groups have demonstrated that antineutrino monitoring can be successful in assessing the plutonium content in water-cooled nuclear reactors for nonproliferation applications. New reactor designs and concepts incorporate nontraditional fuel types and chemistry. Understanding how these properties affect the antineutrino emission from a reactor can extend the applicability of antineutrino monitoring. Thorium molten salt reactors breed 233U, that if diverted constitute a direct use material as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The antineutrino spectrum from the fission of 233U has been estimated for the first time, and the feasibility of detecting the diversion of 8 kg of 233U, within a 30 day timeliness goal has been evaluated. The antineutrino emission from a thorium reactor operating under normal conditions is compared to a diversion scenario by evaluating the daily antineutrino count rate and the energy spectrum of the detected antineutrinos at a 25 m standoff. It was found that the diversion of a significant quantity of 233U could not be detected within the current IAEA timeliness detection goal using either tests. A rate-time based analysis exceeded the timeliness goal by 23 days, while a spectral based analysis exceeds this goal by 31 days.

  12. METHOD OF PREPARING URANIUM, THORIUM, OR PLUTONIUM OXIDES IN LIQUID BISMUTH

    DOEpatents

    Davidson, J.K.; Robb, W.L.; Salmon, O.N.

    1960-11-22

    A method is given for forming compositions, as well as the compositions themselves, employing uranium hydride in a liquid bismuth composition to increase the solubility of uranium, plutonium and thorium oxides in the liquid bismuth. The finely divided oxide of uranium, plutonium. or thorium is mixed with the liquid bismuth and uranium hydride, the hydride being present in an amount equal to about 3 at. %, heated to about 5OO deg C, agitated and thereafter cooled and excess resultant hydrogen removed therefrom.

  13. Kinetics of dissolution of thorium and uranium doped britholite ceramics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dacheux, N.; Du Fou de Kerdaniel, E.; Clavier, N.; Podor, R.; Aupiais, J.; Szenknect, S.

    2010-09-01

    In the field of immobilization of actinides in phosphate-based ceramics, several thorium and uranium doped britholite samples were submitted to leaching tests. The normalized dissolution rates determined for several pH values, temperatures and acidic media from the calcium release range from 4.7 × 10 -2 g m -2 d -1 to 21.6 g m -2 d -1. Their comparison with that determined for phosphorus, thorium and uranium revealed that the dissolution is clearly incongruent for all the conditions examined. Whatever the leaching solution considered, calcium and phosphorus elements were always released with higher RL values than the other elements (Nd, Th, U). Simultaneously, thorium was found to quickly precipitate as alteration product, leading to diffusion phenomena for uranium. For all the media considered, the uranium release is higher than that of thorium, probably due to its oxidation from tetravalent oxidation state to uranyl. Moreover, the evaluation of the partial order related to proton concentration and the apparent energy of activation suggest that the reaction of dissolution is probably controlled by surface chemical reactions occurring at the solid/liquid interface. Finally, comparative leaching tests performed in sulphuric acid solutions revealed a significant influence of such media on the chemical durability of the leached pellets, leading to higher normalized dissolution rates for all the elements considered. On the basis of the results of chemical speciation, this difference was mainly explained in the light of higher complexion constants by sulfate ions compared to nitrate, chloride and phosphate.

  14. Selective uptake of uranium and thorium by some vegetables

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yusof, A.M.; Ghazali, Z.; Rahman, S.A.

    1996-12-31

    Uranium and thorium are trace elements in the actinide series found naturally in the atmosphere and can enter the human body through ingestion of food or by drinking. To establish baseline information for current and future environmental assessment due to pollution, especially in foodstuff, by heavy and trace metals, biological samples such as locally grown vegetables were analyzed for uranium and thorium contents. The terrain in most parts of the Malaysian peninsula consists of monazite-bearing rocks or soil that can be found extensively in areas related to tin-mining operations. Abandoned mining areas provide suitable sites for vegetable cultivation where mostmore » vegetables in the lowlands are grown.« less

  15. ORNL experience and perspectives related to processing of thorium and 233U for nuclear fuel

    DOE PAGES

    Croff, Allen G.; Collins, Emory D.; Del Cul, G. D.; ...

    2016-05-01

    Thorium-based nuclear fuel cycles have received renewed attention in both research and public circles since about the year 2000. Much of the attention has been focused on nuclear fission energy production that utilizes thorium as a fertile element for producing fissionable 233U for recycle in thermal reactors, fast reactors, or externally driven systems. Here, lesser attention has been paid to other fuel cycle operations that are necessary for implementation of a sustainable thorium-based fuel cycle such as reprocessing and fabrication of recycle fuels containing 233U.

  16. Thorium-uranium fission radiography

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Haines, E. L.; Weiss, J. R.; Burnett, D. S.; Woolum, D. S.

    1976-01-01

    Results are described for studies designed to develop routine methods for in-situ measurement of the abundance of Th and U on a microscale in heterogeneous samples, especially rocks, using the secondary high-energy neutron flux developed when the 650 MeV proton beam of an accelerator is stopped in a 42 x 42 cm diam Cu cylinder. Irradiations were performed at three different locations in a rabbit tube in the beam stop area, and thick metal foils of Bi, Th, and natural U as well as polished silicate glasses of known U and Th contents were used as targets and were placed in contact with mica which served as a fission track detector. In many cases both bare and Cd-covered detectors were exposed. The exposed mica samples were etched in 48% HF and the fission tracks counted by conventional transmitted light microscopy. Relative fission cross sections are examined, along with absolute Th track production rates, interaction tracks, and a comparison of measured and calculated fission rates. The practicality of fast neutron radiography revealed by experiments to data is discussed primarily for Th/U measurements, and mixtures of other fissionable nuclei are briefly considered.

  17. Thorium-uranium fractionation by garnet - Evidence for a deep source and rapid rise of oceanic basalts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Latourrette, T. Z.; Kennedy, A. K.; Wasserburg, G. J.

    1993-01-01

    Mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) and ocean island basalts (OIBs) are derived by partial melting of the upper mantle and are marked by systematic excesses of thorium-230 activity relative to the activity of its parent, uranium-238. Experimental measurements of the distribution of thorium and uranium between the melt and solid residue show that, of the major phases in the upper mantle, only garnet will retain uranium over thorium. This sense of fractionation, which is opposite to that caused by clinopyroxene-melt partitioning, is consistent with the thorium-230 excesses observed in young oceanic basalts. Thus, both MORBs and OIBs must begin partial melting in the garnet stability field or below about 70 kilometers. A calculation shows that the thorium-230-uranium-238 disequilibrium in MORBs can be attributed to dynamic partial melting beginning at 80 kilometers with a melt porosity of 0.2 percent or more. This result requires that melting beneath ridges occurs in a wide region and that the magma rises to the surface at a velocity of at least 0.9 meter per year.

  18. Conceptual design study of small long-life PWR based on thorium cycle fuel

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Subkhi, M. Nurul; Su'ud, Zaki; Waris, Abdul

    2014-09-30

    A neutronic performance of small long-life Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) using thorium cycle based fuel has been investigated. Thorium cycle which has higher conversion ratio in thermal region compared to uranium cycle produce some significant of {sup 233}U during burn up time. The cell-burn up calculations were performed by PIJ SRAC code using nuclear data library based on JENDL 3.3, while the multi-energy-group diffusion calculations were optimized in whole core cylindrical two-dimension R-Z geometry by SRAC-CITATION. this study would be introduced thorium nitride fuel system which ZIRLO is the cladding material. The optimization of 350 MWt small long life PWRmore » result small excess reactivity and reduced power peaking during its operation.« less

  19. PRODUCTION OF URANIUM AND THORIUM COMPOUNDS

    DOEpatents

    Arden, T.V.; Burstall, F.H.; Linstead, R.P.; Wells, R.A.

    1955-12-27

    Compounds of Th and U are extracted with an organic solvent in the presence of an adsorbent substance which has greater retentivity for impurities present than for the uranium and/or thorium. The preferred adsorbent material is noted as being cellulose. The uranium and thoriumcontaining substances treated are preferably in the form of dissolved nitrates, and the preferred organic solvent is diethyl ether.

  20. A Radioactivity Based Quantitative Analysis of the Amount of Thorium Present in Ores and Metallurgical Products; ANALYSE QUANTITATIVE DU THORIUM DANS LES MINERAIS ET LES PRODUITS THORIFERES PAR UNE METHODE BASEE SUR LA RADIOACTIVITE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Collee, R.; Govaerts, J.; Winand, L.

    1959-10-31

    A brief resume of the classical methods of quantitative determination of thorium in ores and thoriferous products is given to show that a rapid, accurate, and precise physical method based on the radioactivity of thorium would be of great utility. A method based on the utilization of the characteristic spectrum of the thorium gamma radiation is presented. The preparation of the samples and the instruments needed for the measurements is discussed. The experimental results show that the reproducibility is very satisfactory and that it is possible to detect Th contents of 1% or smaller. (J.S.R.)

  1. Biomedical and environmental aspects of the thorium fuel cycle: a selected, annotated bibliography

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Faust, R.A.; Fore, C.S.; Cone, M.V.

    1979-07-01

    This bibliography was compiled to assist in the evaluation of the health and environmental consequences of high specific activity thorium and related nuclides which could be released to the environment by activities related to the Thorium Fuel Cycle. The general scope covers studies regarding potential releases, environmental transport, metabolism, dosimetry, dose assessment, and overall risk assessment for radionuclides specific to the NASAP project. This publication of 740 abstracted references highlights the biological and medical aspects of thorium 228 and thorium 232 in man and animals. Similar studies on related nuclides such as radium 224, radium 226, radium 228, and thoriummore » 230 are also emphasized. Additional categories relevant to these radionuclides are included as follows: chemical analysis; ecological aspects; energy; geological aspects; instrumentation; legal and political aspects; monitoring, measurement and analysis; physical aspects; production; radiation safety and control; and waste disposal and management. Environmental assessment and sources categories were used for entries which contain a multiple use of categories. Leading authors appear alphabetically within each category. Indexes are provided for : author(s), geographic location, keywords, title, and publication description. The bibliography contains literature dating from December 1925 to February 1978.« less

  2. Hematoma induced by thorium dioxide

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mann, N.S.; Chaudhry, A.; Thaler, S.

    1976-04-01

    A 74-year-old man complained of anorexia and weight loss. Twenty-six years earlier he had received an injection of Thorotrast. A needle biopsy of the liver showed thorium dioxide granules and periportal fibrosis. On laparotomy, a hepatoma of the left lobe of the liver was discovered. Hepatic malignancy should be suspected in any patient with abnormal results of liver function tests, particularly an elevated level of alkaline phosphatase, who previously has had an injection of Thorotrast.

  3. Point defects in thorium nitride: A first-principles study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pérez Daroca, D.; Llois, A. M.; Mosca, H. O.

    2016-11-01

    Thorium and its compounds (carbides and nitrides) are being investigated as possible materials to be used as nuclear fuels for Generation-IV reactors. As a first step in the research of these materials under irradiation, we study the formation energies and stability of point defects in thorium nitride by means of first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory. We focus on vacancies, interstitials, Frenkel pairs and Schottky defects. We found that N and Th vacancies have almost the same formation energy and that the most energetically favorable defects of all studied in this work are N interstitials. These kind of results for ThN, to the best authors' knowledge, have not been obtained previously, neither experimentally, nor theoretically.

  4. Checkerboard seed-blanket thorium fuel core concepts for heavy water moderated reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bromley, B.P.; Hyland, B.

    2013-07-01

    New reactor concepts to implement thorium-based fuel cycles have been explored to achieve maximum resource utilization. Pressure tube heavy water reactors (PT-HWR) are highly advantageous for implementing the use of thorium-based fuels because of their high neutron economy and on-line re-fuelling capability. The use of heterogeneous seed-blanket core concepts in a PT-HWR where higher-fissile-content seed fuel bundles are physically separate from lower-fissile-content blanket bundles allows more flexibility and control in fuel management to maximize the fissile utilization and conversion of fertile fuel. The lattice concept chosen was a 35-element bundle made with a homogeneous mixture of reactor grade Pu (aboutmore » 67 wt% fissile) and Th, and with a central zirconia rod to help reduce coolant void reactivity. Several checkerboard heterogeneous seed-blanket core concepts with plutonium-thorium-based fuels in a 700-MWe-class PT-HWR were analyzed, using a once-through thorium (OTT) cycle. Different combinations of seed and blanket fuel were tested to determine the impact on core-average burnup, fissile utilization, power distributions, and other performance parameters. It was found that various checkerboard core concepts can achieve a fissile utilization that is up to 26% higher than that achieved in a PT-HWR using more conventional natural uranium fuel bundles. Up to 60% of the Pu is consumed; up to 43% of the energy is produced from thorium, and up to 303 kg/year of Pa-233/U-233/U-235 are produced. Checkerboard cores with about 50% of low-power blanket bundles may require power de-rating (65% to 74%) to avoid exceeding maximum limits for channel and bundle powers and linear element ratings. (authors)« less

  5. Annular seed-blanket thorium fuel core concepts for heavy water moderated reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bromley, B.P.; Hyland, B.

    2013-07-01

    New reactor concepts to implement thorium-based fuel cycles have been explored to achieve maximum resource utilization. Pressure tube heavy water reactors (PT-HWR) are highly advantageous for implementing the use of thorium-based fuels because of their high neutron economy and on-line re-fuelling capability. The use of heterogeneous seed-blanket core concepts in a PT-HWR where higher-fissile-content seed fuel bundles are physically separate from lower-fissile-content blanket bundles allows more flexibility and control in fuel management to maximize the fissile utilization and conversion of fertile fuel. The lattice concept chosen is a 35-element bundle made with a homogeneous mixture of reactor grade Pu andmore » Th, and with a central zirconia rod to help reduce coolant void reactivity. Several annular heterogeneous seed-blanket core concepts with plutonium-thorium-based fuels in a 700-MWe-class PT-HWR were analyzed, using a once-through thorium (OTT) cycle. Different combinations of seed and blanket fuel were tested to determine the impact on core-average burnup, fissile utilization, power distributions, and other performance parameters. It was found that the various core concepts can achieve a fissile utilization that is up to 30% higher than is currently achieved in a PT-HWR using conventional natural uranium fuel bundles. Up to 67% of the Pu is consumed; up to 43% of the energy is produced from thorium, and up to 363 kg/year of U-233 is produced. Seed-blanket cores with ∼50% content of low-power blanket bundles may require power de-rating (∼58% to 65%) to avoid exceeding maximum limits for peak channel power, bundle power and linear element ratings. (authors)« less

  6. Closed fuel cycle with increased fuel burn-up and economy applying of thorium resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kulikov, G. G.; Apse, V. A.

    2017-01-01

    The possible role of existing thorium reserves in the Russian Federation on engaging thorium in being currently closed (U-Pu)-fuel cycle of nuclear power of the country is considered. The application efficiency of thermonuclear neutron sources with thorium blanket for the economical use of existing thorium reserves is demonstrated. The aim of the work is to find solutions of such major tasks as the reduction of both front-end and back-end of nuclear fuel cycle and an enhancing its protection against the uncontrolled proliferation of fissile materials by means of the smallest changes in the fuel cycle. During implementation of the work we analyzed the results obtained earlier by the authors, brought new information on the number of thorium available in the Russian Federation and made further assessments. On the basis of proposal on the inclusion of hybrid reactors with Th-blanket into the future nuclear power for the production of light uranium fraction 232+233+234U, and 231Pa, we obtained the following results: 1. The fuel cycle will shift from fissile 235U to 233U which is more attractive for thermal power reactors. 2. The light uranium fraction is the most "protected" in the uranium component of fuel and mixed with regenerated uranium will in addition become a low enriched uranium fuel, that will weaken the problem of uncontrolled proliferation of fissile materials. 3. 231Pa doping into the fuel stabilizes its multiplying properties that will allow us to implement long-term fuel residence time and eventually to increase the export potential of all nuclear power technologies. 4. The thorium reserves being near city Krasnoufimsk (Russia) are large enough for operation of large-scale nuclear power of the Russian Federation of 70 GWe capacity during more than a quarter century under assumption that thorium is loaded into blankets of hybrid TNS only. The general conclusion: the inclusion of a small number of hybrid reactors with Th-blanket into the future nuclear

  7. Ariadne's Thread: A Robust Software Solution Leading to Automated Absolute and Relative Quantification of SRM Data.

    PubMed

    Nasso, Sara; Goetze, Sandra; Martens, Lennart

    2015-09-04

    Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) MS is a highly selective and sensitive technique to quantify protein abundances in complex biological samples. To enhance the pace of SRM large studies, a validated, robust method to fully automate absolute quantification and to substitute for interactive evaluation would be valuable. To address this demand, we present Ariadne, a Matlab software. To quantify monitored targets, Ariadne exploits metadata imported from the transition lists, and targets can be filtered according to mProphet output. Signal processing and statistical learning approaches are combined to compute peptide quantifications. To robustly estimate absolute abundances, the external calibration curve method is applied, ensuring linearity over the measured dynamic range. Ariadne was benchmarked against mProphet and Skyline by comparing its quantification performance on three different dilution series, featuring either noisy/smooth traces without background or smooth traces with complex background. Results, evaluated as efficiency, linearity, accuracy, and precision of quantification, showed that Ariadne's performance is independent of data smoothness and complex background presence and that Ariadne outperforms mProphet on the noisier data set and improved 2-fold Skyline's accuracy and precision for the lowest abundant dilution with complex background. Remarkably, Ariadne could statistically distinguish from each other all different abundances, discriminating dilutions as low as 0.1 and 0.2 fmol. These results suggest that Ariadne offers reliable and automated analysis of large-scale SRM differential expression studies.

  8. Utilization of thorium and U-ZrH1.6 fuels in various heterogeneous cores for TRIGA PUSPATI Reactor (RTP)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Damahuri, Abdul Hannan Bin; Mohamed, Hassan; Aziz Mohamed, Abdul; Idris, Faridah

    2018-01-01

    The use of thorium as nuclear fuel has been an appealing prospect for many years and will be great significance to nuclear power generation. There is an increasing need for more research on thorium as Malaysian government is currently active in the national Thorium Flagship Project, which was launched in 2014. The thorium project, which is still in phase 1, focuses on the research and development of the thorium extraction from mineral processing ore. Thus, the aim of the study is to investigate other alternative TRIGA PUSPATI Reactor (RTP) core designs that can fully utilize thorium. Currently, the RTP reactor has an average neutron flux of 2.797 x 1012 cm-2/s-1 and an effective multiplication factor, k eff, of 1.001. The RTP core has a circular array core configuration with six circular rings. Each ring consists of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 or 36 U-ZrH1.6 fuel rods. There are three main type of uranium weight, namely 8.5, 12 and 20 wt.%. For this research, uranium zirconium hydride (U-ZrH1.6) fuel rods in the RTP core were replaced by thorium (ThO2) fuel rods. Seven core configurations with different thorium fuel rods placements were modelled in a 2D structure and simulated using Monte Carlo n-particle (MCNPX) code. Results show that the highest initial criticality obtained is around 1.35101. Additionally there is a significant discrepancy between results from previous study and the work because of the large estimated leakage probability of approximately 21.7% and 2D model simplification.

  9. Thorium Fuel Cycle Option Screening in the United States

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Taiwo, Temitope A.; Kim, Taek K.; Wigeland, Roald A.

    2016-05-01

    As part of a nuclear fuel cycle Evaluation and Screening (E&S) study, a wide-range of thorium fuel cycle options were evaluated and their performance characteristics and challenges to implementation were compared to those of other nuclear fuel cycle options based on criteria specified by the Nuclear Energy Office of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The evaluated nuclear fuel cycles included the once-through, limited, and continuous recycle options using critical or externally-driven nuclear energy systems. The E&S study found that the continuous recycle of 233U/Th in fuel cycles using either thermal or fast reactors is an attractive promising fuel cyclemore » option with high effective fuel resource utilization and low waste generation, but did not perform quite as well as the continuous recycle of Pu/U using a fast critical system, which was identified as one of the most promising fuel cycle options in the E&S study. This is because compared to their uranium counterparts the thorium-based systems tended to have higher radioactivity in the short term (about 100 years post irradiation) because of differences in the fission product yield curves, and in the long term (100,000 years post irradiation) because of the decay of 233U and daughters, and because of higher mass flow rates due to lower discharge burnups. Some of the thorium-based systems also require enriched uranium support, which tends to be detrimental to resource utilization and waste generation metrics. Finally, similar to the need for developing recycle fuel fabrication, fuels separations and fast reactors for the most promising options using Pu/U recycle, the future thorium-based fuel cycle options with continuous recycle would also require such capabilities, although their deployment challenges are expected to be higher since such facilities have not been developed in the past to a comparable level of maturity for Th-based systems.« less

  10. Tables for determining lead, uranium, and thorium isotope ages

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schonfeld, E.

    1974-01-01

    Tables for determining lead, uranium, and thorium isotope ages are presented in the form of computer printouts. Decay constants, analytical expressions for the functions evaluated, and the precision of the calculations are briefly discussed.

  11. Influence of nuclear data uncertainties on thorium fusion-fission hybrid blanket nucleonic performance

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cheng, E.T.; Mathews, D.R.

    1979-09-01

    The fusion-fission hybrid blanket proposed for the Tandem Mirror Hybrid Reactor employs thorium metal as the fertile material. Based on the ENDF/B-IV nuclear data, the /sup 233/U and tritium production rate and blanket energy multiplication averaged over the blanket lifetime of about 9 MW-yr/m/sup 2/ are 0.76 and 1.12 per D-T neutron and 4.8, respectively. At the time of the blanket discharge, the /sup 233/U enrichment in the thorium metal is about 3%. The thorium cross sections given by the ENDF/B-IV and V were reviewed, and the important partial cross sections such as (n,2n), (n,3n), and (n,..gamma..) were found tomore » be known to +-10 to 20% in the respective energy range of interest. A sensitivity study showed that the /sup 233/U and tritium production rate and blanket energy multiplication are relatively sensitive to the thorium capture and fission cross section uncertainties. In order to predict the above parameters within +-1%, the Th(n,..gamma..) and Th(n,..nu..f) cross sections must be measured within about +-2% in the energy range 3 to 3000 keV and 13.5 to 15 MeV, respectively.« less

  12. First-principles study of point defects in thorium carbide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pérez Daroca, D.; Jaroszewicz, S.; Llois, A. M.; Mosca, H. O.

    2014-11-01

    Thorium-based materials are currently being investigated in relation with their potential utilization in Generation-IV reactors as nuclear fuels. One of the most important issues to be studied is their behavior under irradiation. A first approach to this goal is the study of point defects. By means of first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory, we study the stability and formation energies of vacancies, interstitials and Frenkel pairs in thorium carbide. We find that C isolated vacancies are the most likely defects, while C interstitials are energetically favored as compared to Th ones. These kind of results for ThC, to the best authors' knowledge, have not been obtained previously, neither experimentally, nor theoretically. For this reason, we compare with results on other compounds with the same NaCl-type structure.

  13. Optimization of small long-life PWR based on thorium fuel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Subkhi, Moh Nurul; Suud, Zaki; Waris, Abdul; Permana, Sidik

    2015-09-01

    A conceptual design of small long-life Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) using thorium fuel has been investigated in neutronic aspect. The cell-burn up calculations were performed by PIJ SRAC code using nuclear data library based on JENDL 3.2, while the multi-energy-group diffusion calculations were optimized in three-dimension X-Y-Z geometry of core by COREBN. The excess reactivity of thorium nitride with ZIRLO cladding is considered during 5 years of burnup without refueling. Optimization of 350 MWe long life PWR based on 5% 233U & 2.8% 231Pa, 6% 233U & 2.8% 231Pa and 7% 233U & 6% 231Pa give low excess reactivity.

  14. A Review of Stellar Abundance Databases and the Hypatia Catalog Database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hinkel, Natalie Rose

    2018-01-01

    The astronomical community is interested in elements from lithium to thorium, from solar twins to peculiarities of stellar evolution, because they give insight into different regimes of star formation and evolution. However, while some trends between elements and other stellar or planetary properties are well known, many other trends are not as obvious and are a point of conflict. For example, stars that host giant planets are found to be consistently enriched in iron, but the same cannot be definitively said for any other element. Therefore, it is time to take advantage of large stellar abundance databases in order to better understand not only the large-scale patterns, but also the more subtle, small-scale trends within the data.In this overview to the special session, I will present a review of large stellar abundance databases that are both currently available (i.e. RAVE, APOGEE) and those that will soon be online (i.e. Gaia-ESO, GALAH). Additionally, I will discuss the Hypatia Catalog Database (www.hypatiacatalog.com) -- which includes abundances from individual literature sources that observed stars within 150pc. The Hypatia Catalog currently contains 72 elements as measured within ~6000 stars, with a total of ~240,000 unique abundance determinations. The online database offers a variety of solar normalizations, stellar properties, and planetary properties (where applicable) that can all be viewed through multiple interactive plotting interfaces as well as in a tabular format. By analyzing stellar abundances for large populations of stars and from a variety of different perspectives, a wealth of information can be revealed on both large and small scales.

  15. Thorium and Molten Salt Reactors: Essential Questions for Classroom Discussions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DiLisi, Gregory A.; Hirsch, Allison; Murray, Meredith; Rarick, Richard

    2018-04-01

    A little-known type of nuclear reactor called the "molten salt reactor" (MSR), in which nuclear fuel is dissolved in a liquid carrier salt, was proposed in the 1940s and developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960s. Recently, the MSR has generated renewed interest as a remedy for the drawbacks associated with conventional uranium-fueled light-water reactors (LWRs) in use today. Particular attention has been given to the "thorium molten salt reactor" (TMSR), an MSR engineered specifically to use thorium as its fuel. The purpose of this article is to encourage the TPT community to incorporate discussions of MSRs and the thorium fuel cycle into courses such as "Physics and Society" or "Frontiers of Physics." With this in mind, we piloted a pedagogical approach with 27 teachers in which we described the underlying physics of the TMSR and posed five essential questions for classroom discussions. We assumed teachers had some preexisting knowledge of nuclear reactions, but such prior knowledge was not necessary for inclusion in the classroom discussions. Overall, our material was perceived as a real-world example of physics, fit into a standards-based curriculum, and filled a need in the teaching community for providing unbiased references of alternative energy technologies.

  16. Quantitative determination of environmental levels of uranium, thorium and plutonium in bone by solvent extraction and alpha spectrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, Narayani P.; Zimmerman, Carol J.; Lewis, Laura L.; Wrenn, McDonald E.

    1984-06-01

    Solvent extraction and alpha-spectrometry have been emplyed in the quantitative simultaneous determination of uranium. thorium and plutonium. The bone specimens, spiked with 232U, 229Th and 242Pu tracers, are wet ashed with HNO 3 followed by alternate additions of a new drops of HNO 3 and H 2O 2. Uranium is reduced to the tetravalent state with 200 mg SnCl 2 and 25 ml HI. Uranium, thorium and plutonium are then coprecipitated with calcium as oxalate, heated to 550°C, dissolved in 50 ml HCl, and the acidity adjusted to 10 M. Uranium and plutonium are extracted into a 20% tri-lauryl amine (TLA) solution in xylene, leaving thorium in the aqueous phase. Plutonium is first back-extracted from the TLA phase by shaking with a 1:1.5 volume of 0.05 M NH 4I in 8 M HCl, which reduces Pu(IV) to Pu(III). Uranium is then back-extracted with an equal volume of 0.1 M HCl. Thorium, which was left in the aqueous phase, is evaporated to dryness, dissolved in 4 M HNO 3, and the acidity adjusted to 4 M. Thorium is then extracted into 20% TLA solution in xylene pre-equilibrated with 4 M HNO 3, and back-extracted with 10 M HCl. Uranium, thorium, and plutonium are then electrodeposited separately onto platinum discs and counted by an alpha-spectrometer with a multi-channel analyzer and surface barrier silicon diodes. The mean recoveries of uranium, thorium, and plutonium in bovine, dog, and human bones were over 70%.

  17. Absolute dimensions of eclipsing binaries. XXVI.. Setting a new standard: Masses, radii, and abundances for the F-type systems AD Bootis VZ Hydrae, and WZ Ophiuchi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clausen, J. V.; Torres, G.; Bruntt, H.; Andersen, J.; Nordström, B.; Stefanik, R. P.; Latham, D. W.; Southworth, J.

    2008-09-01

    Context: Accurate mass, radius, and abundance determinations from binaries provide important information on stellar evolution, fundamental to central fields in modern astrophysics and cosmology. Aims: We aim to determine absolute dimensions and abundances for the three F-type main-sequence detached eclipsing binaries AD Boo, VZ Hya, and WZ Oph and to perform a detailed comparison with results from recent stellar evolutionary models. Methods: uvby light curves and uvbyβ standard photometry were obtained with the Strömgren Automatic Telescope at ESO, La Silla, radial velocity observations at CfA facilities, and supplementary high-resolution spectra with ESO's FEROS spectrograph. State-of-the-art methods were applied for the analyses: the EBOP and Wilson-Devinney binary models, two-dimensional cross-correlation and disentangling, and the VWA abundance analysis tool. Results: Masses and radii that are precise to 0.5-0.7% and 0.4-0.9%, respectively, have been established for the components, which span the ranges of 1.1 to 1.4 M⊙ and 1.1 to 1.6 R⊙. The [Fe/H] abundances are from -0.27 to +0.10, with uncertainties between 0.07 and 0.15 dex. We find indications of a slight α-element overabundance of [α/Fe] ˜ + 0.1 for WZ Oph. The secondary component of AD Boo and both components of WZ Oph appear to be slightly active. Yale-Yonsai and Victoria-Regina evolutionary models fit the components of AD Boo and VZ Hya almost equally well, assuming coeval formation, at ages of about 1.75/1.50 Gyr (AD Boo) and 1.25/1.00 Gyr (VZ Hya). BaSTI models, however, predict somewhat different ages for the primary and secondary components. For WZ Oph, the models from all three grids are significantly hotter than observed. A low He content, decreased envelope convection coupled with surface activity, and/or higher interstellar absorption would remove the discrepancy, but its cause has not been definitively identified. Conclusions: We have demonstrated the power of testing and comparing

  18. Thorium isotopes in colloidal fraction of water from San Marcos Dam, Chihuahua, Mexico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabral-Lares, M.; Melgoza, A.; Montero-Cabrera, M. E.; Renteria-Villalobos, M.

    2013-07-01

    The main interest of this stiidy is to assess the contents and distribution of Th-series isotopes in colloidal fraction of surface water from San Marcos dam, because the suspended particulate matter serves as transport medium for several pollutants. The aim of this work was to assess the distribution of thorium isotopes (232Th and 230Th) contained in suspended matter. Samples were taken from three surface points along the San Marcos dam: water input, midpoint, and near to dam wall. In this last point, a depth sampling was also carried out. Here, three depth points were taken at 0.4, 8 and 15 meters. To evaluate the thorium behavior in surface water, from every water sample the colloidal fraction was separated, between 1 and 0.1 μm. Thorium isotopes concentraron in samples were obtained by alpha spectrometry. Activity concentrations obtained of 232Th and 230Th in surface points ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 Bq ṡ L-1, whereas in depth points ranged from 0.4 to 3.2 Bq ṡ L-1, respectively. The results show that 230Th is in higher concentration than 232Th in colloidal fraction. This can be attributed to a preference of these colloids to adsorb uranium. Thus, the activity ratio 230Th/232Th in colloidal fraction showed values from 2.3 to 10.2. In surface points along the dam, 230Th activity concentration decreases while 232Th concentration remains constant. On the other hand, activity concentrations of both isotopes showed a pointed out enhancement with depth. The results have shown a possible lixiviation of uranium from geological substrate into the surface water and an important fractionation of thorium isotopes, which suggest that thorium is non-homogeneously distributed along San Marcos dam.

  19. Teaching Absolute Value Meaningfully

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wade, Angela

    2012-01-01

    What is the meaning of absolute value? And why do teachers teach students how to solve absolute value equations? Absolute value is a concept introduced in first-year algebra and then reinforced in later courses. Various authors have suggested instructional methods for teaching absolute value to high school students (Wei 2005; Stallings-Roberts…

  20. Optimization of small long-life PWR based on thorium fuel

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Subkhi, Moh Nurul, E-mail: nsubkhi@students.itb.ac.id; Physics Dept., Faculty of Science and Technology, State Islamic University of Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung Jalan A.H Nasution 105 Bandung; Suud, Zaki, E-mail: szaki@fi.itb.ac.id

    2015-09-30

    A conceptual design of small long-life Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) using thorium fuel has been investigated in neutronic aspect. The cell-burn up calculations were performed by PIJ SRAC code using nuclear data library based on JENDL 3.2, while the multi-energy-group diffusion calculations were optimized in three-dimension X-Y-Z geometry of core by COREBN. The excess reactivity of thorium nitride with ZIRLO cladding is considered during 5 years of burnup without refueling. Optimization of 350 MWe long life PWR based on 5% {sup 233}U & 2.8% {sup 231}Pa, 6% {sup 233}U & 2.8% {sup 231}Pa and 7% {sup 233}U & 6% {supmore » 231}Pa give low excess reactivity.« less

  1. Thorium and Uranium in the Rock Raw Materials Used For the Production of Building Materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pękala, Agnieszka

    2017-10-01

    Thorium and uranium are constant components of all soils and most minerals thereby rock raw materials. They belong to the particularly dangerous elements because of their natural radioactivity. Evaluation of the content of the radioactive elements in the rock raw materials seems to be necessary in the early stage of the raw material evaluation. The rock formations operated from deposits often are accumulated in landfills and slag heaps where the concentration of the radioactive elements can be many times higher than under natural conditions. In addition, this phenomenon may refer to buildings where rock raw materials are often the main components of the construction materials. The global control system of construction products draws particular attention to the elimination of used construction products containing excessive quantities of the natural radioactive elements. In the presented study were determined the content of thorium and uranium in rock raw materials coming from the Bełachatów lignite deposit. The Bełchatów lignite deposit extracts mainly lignite and secondary numerous accompanying minerals with the raw material importance. In the course of the field works within the framework of the carried out work has been tested 92 samples of rocks of varied petrographic composition. There were carried out analyses of the content of the radioactive elements for 50 samples of limestone of the Jurassic age, 18 samples of kaolinite clays, and 24 samples of siliceous raw materials, represented by opoka-rocks, diatomites, gaizes and clastic rocks. The measurement of content of the natural radioactive elements thorium and uranium based on measuring the frequency counts of gamma quantum, recorded separately in measuring channels. At the same time performed measurements on volume patterns radioactive: thorium and uranium. The studies were carried out in Mazar spectrometer on the powdered material. Standardly performed ten measuring cycles, after which were calculated

  2. The feasibility study of small long-life gas cooled fast reactor with mixed natural Uranium/Thorium as fuel cycle input

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ariani, Menik; Su'ud, Zaki; Waris, Abdul

    2012-06-06

    A conceptual design study of Gas Cooled Fast Reactors with Modified CANDLE burn-up scheme has been performed. In this study, design GCFR with Helium coolant which can be continuously operated by supplying mixed Natural Uranium/Thorium without fuel enrichment plant or fuel reprocessing plant. The active reactor cores are divided into two region, Thorium fuel region and Uranium fuel region. Each fuel core regions are subdivided into ten parts (region-1 until region-10) with the same volume in the axial direction. The fresh Natural Uranium and Thorium is initially put in region-1, after one cycle of 10 years of burn-up it ismore » shifted to region-2 and the each region-1 is filled by fresh natural Uranium/Thorium fuel. This concept is basically applied to all regions in both cores area, i.e. shifted the core of i{sup th} region into i+1 region after the end of 10 years burn-up cycle. For the next cycles, we will add only Natural Uranium and Thorium on each region-1. The calculation results show the reactivity reached by mixed Natural Uranium/Thorium with volume ratio is 4.7:1. This reactor can results power thermal 550 MWth. After reactor start-up the operation, furthermore reactor only needs Natural Uranium/Thorium supply for continue operation along 100 years.« less

  3. Effect of Using Thorium Molten Salts on the Neutronic Performance of PACER

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Acır, Adem; Übeyli, Mustafa

    2010-04-01

    Utilization of nuclear explosives can produce a significant amount of energy which can be converted into electricity via a nuclear fusion power plant. An important fusion reactor concept using peaceful nuclear explosives is called as PACER which has an underground containment vessel to handle the nuclear explosives safely. In this reactor, Flibe has been considered as a working coolant for both tritium breeding and heat transferring. However, the rich neutron source supplied from the peaceful nuclear explosives can be used also for fissile fuel production. In this study, the effect of using thorium molten salts on the neutronic performance of the PACER was investigated. The computations were performed for various coolants bearing thorium and/or uranium-233 with respect to the molten salt zone thickness in the blanket. Results pointed out that an increase in the fissile content of the salt increased the neutronic performance of the reactor remarkably. In addition, higher energy production was obtained with thorium molten salts compared to the pure mode of the reactor. Moreover, a large quantity of 233U was produced in the blanket in all cases.

  4. Global Uranium And Thorium Resources: Are They Adequate To Satisfy Demand Over The Next Half Century?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lambert, I. B.

    2012-04-01

    This presentation will consider the adequacy of global uranium and thorium resources to meet realistic nuclear power demand scenarios over the next half century. It is presented on behalf of, and based on evaluations by, the Uranium Group - a joint initiative of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, of which the author is a Vice Chair. The Uranium Group produces a biennial report on Uranium Resources, Production and Demand based on information from some 40 countries involved in the nuclear fuel cycle, which also briefly reviews thorium resources. Uranium: In 2008, world production of uranium amounted to almost 44,000 tonnes (tU). This supplied approximately three-quarters of world reactor requirements (approx. 59,000 tU), the remainder being met by previously mined uranium (so-called secondary sources). Information on availability of secondary sources - which include uranium from excess inventories, dismantling nuclear warheads, tails and spent fuel reprocessing - is incomplete, but such sources are expected to decrease in market importance after 2013. In 2008, the total world Reasonably Assured plus Inferred Resources of uranium (recoverable at less than 130/kgU) amounted to 5.4 million tonnes. In addition, it is clear that there are vast amounts of uranium recoverable at higher costs in known deposits, plus many as yet undiscovered deposits. The Uranium Group has concluded that the uranium resource base is more than adequate to meet projected high-case requirements for nuclear power for at least half a century. This conclusion does not assume increasing replacement of uranium by fuels from reprocessing current reactor wastes, or by thorium, nor greater reactor efficiencies, which are likely to ameliorate future uranium demand. However, progressively increasing quantities of uranium will need to be mined, against a backdrop of the relatively small number of producing facilities around the world, geopolitical uncertainties and

  5. Alkalic rocks and resources of thorium and associated elements in the Powderhorn District, Gunnison County, Colorado

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Olson, J.C.; Hedlund, D.C.

    1981-01-01

    Alkalic igneous rocks and related concentrations of thorium, niobium, rare-earth elements, titanium, and other elements have long been known in the Powderhorn mining district and have been explored intermittently for several decades. The deposits formed chiefly about 570 m.y. (million years) ago in latest Precambrian or Early Cambrian time. They were emplaced in lower Proterozoic (Proterozoic X) metasedimentary, metavolcanic, and plutonic rocks. The complex of alkalic rocks of Iron Hill occupies 31 km 2 (square kilometers) and is composed of pyroxenite, uncompahgrite, ijolite, nepheline syenite, and carbonatite, in order of generally decreasing age. Fenite occurs in a zone, in places more than 0.6 km (kilometer) wide, around a large part of the margin of the complex and adjacent to alkalic dikes intruding Precambrian host rock. The alkalic rocks have a radioactivity, chiefly due to thorium, greater than that of the surrounding Powderhorn Granite (Proterozoic X) and metamorphic rocks. The pyroxenite, uncompahgrite, ijolite, and nepheline syenite, which form more than 80 percent of the complex, have fairly uniform radioactivity. Radioactivity in the carbonatite stock, carbonatite dikes, and the carbonatite-pyroxenite mixed rock zone, however, generally exceeds that in the other rocks of the complex. The thorium concentrations in the Powderhorn district occur in six types of deposits: thorite veins, a large massive carbonatite body, carbonatite dikes, trachyte dikes, magnetite-ilmeniteperovskite dikes or segregations, and disseminations in small, anomalously radioactive plutons chiefly of granite or quartz syenite that are older than rocks of the alkalic complex. The highest grade thorium concentrations in the district are in veins that commonly occur in steeply dipping, crosscutting shear or breccia zones in the Precambrian rocks. They range in thickness from a centimeter or less to 5 m (meters) and are as much as 1 km long. The thorite veins are composed chiefly of

  6. PLUTONIUM PURIFICATION PROCESS EMPLOYING THORIUM PYROPHOSPHATE CARRIER

    DOEpatents

    King, E.L.

    1959-04-28

    The separation and purification of plutonium from the radioactive elements of lower atomic weight is described. The process of this invention comprises forming a 0.5 to 2 M aqueous acidffc solution containing plutonium fons in the tetravalent state and elements with which it is normally contaminated in neutron irradiated uranium, treating the solution with a double thorium compound and a soluble pyrophosphate compound (Na/sub 4/P/sub 2/O/sub 7/) whereby a carrier precipitate of thorium A method is presented of reducing neptunium and - trite is advantageous since it destroys any hydrazine f so that they can be removed from solutions in which they are contained is described. In the carrier precipitation process for the separation of plutonium from uranium and fission products including zirconium and columbium, the precipitated blsmuth phosphate carries some zirconium, columbium, and uranium impurities. According to the invention such impurities can be complexed and removed by dissolving the contaminated carrier precipitate in 10M nitric acid, followed by addition of fluosilicic acid to about 1M, diluting the solution to about 1M in nitric acid, and then adding phosphoric acid to re-precipitate bismuth phosphate carrying plutonium.

  7. Retardation of uranium and thorium by a cementitious backfill developed for radioactive waste disposal.

    PubMed

    Felipe-Sotelo, M; Hinchliff, J; Field, L P; Milodowski, A E; Preedy, O; Read, D

    2017-07-01

    The solubility of uranium and thorium has been measured under the conditions anticipated in a cementitious, geological disposal facility for low and intermediate level radioactive waste. Similar solubilities were obtained for thorium in all media, comprising NaOH, Ca(OH) 2 and water equilibrated with a cement designed as repository backfill (NRVB, Nirex Reference Vault Backfill). In contrast, the solubility of U(VI) was one order of magnitude higher in NaOH than in the remaining solutions. The presence of cellulose degradation products (CDP) results in a comparable solubility increase for both elements. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) data suggest that the solubility-limiting phase for uranium corresponds to a becquerelite-type solid whereas thermodynamic modelling predicts a poorly crystalline, hydrated calcium uranate phase. The solubility-limiting phase for thorium was ThO 2 of intermediate crystallinity. No breakthrough of either uranium or thorium was observed in diffusion experiments involving NRVB after three years. Nevertheless, backscattering electron microscopy and microfocus X-ray fluorescence confirmed that uranium had penetrated about 40 μm into the cement, implying active diffusion governed by slow dissolution-precipitation kinetics. Precise identification of the uranium solid proved difficult, displaying characteristics of both calcium uranate and becquerelite. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Dosimetric assessment from 212Pb inhalation at a thorium purification plant.

    PubMed

    Campos, M P; Pecequilo, B R S

    2004-01-01

    At the Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Sao Paulo, Brazil, there is a facility (thorium purification plant) where materials with high thorium concentrations are manipulated. In order to estimate afterwards the lung cancer risk for the workers, the thoron daughter (212Pb) levels were assessed and the committed effective and lung committed equivalent doses for workers in place. A total of 28 air filter samples were measured by total alpha counting through the modified Kusnetz method, to determine the 212Pb concentraion. The committed effective dose and lung committed equivalent dose due to 212Pb inhalation were derived from compartmental analysis following the ICRP 66 lung compartmental model, and ICRP 67 lead metabolic model.

  9. Neutronics Design of a Thorium-Fueled Fission Blanket for LIFE (Laser Inertial Fusion-based Energy)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Powers, J; Abbott, R; Fratoni, M

    The Laser Inertial Fusion-based Energy (LIFE) project at LLNL includes development of hybrid fusion-fission systems for energy generation. These hybrid LIFE engines use high-energy neutrons from laser-based inertial confinement fusion to drive a subcritical blanket of fission fuel that surrounds the fusion chamber. The fission blanket contains TRISO fuel particles packed into pebbles in a flowing bed geometry cooled by a molten salt (flibe). LIFE engines using a thorium fuel cycle provide potential improvements in overall fuel cycle performance and resource utilization compared to using depleted uranium (DU) and may minimize waste repository and proliferation concerns. A preliminary engine designmore » with an initial loading of 40 metric tons of thorium can maintain a power level of 2000 MW{sub th} for about 55 years, at which point the fuel reaches an average burnup level of about 75% FIMA. Acceptable performance was achieved without using any zero-flux environment 'cooling periods' to allow {sup 233}Pa to decay to {sup 233}U; thorium undergoes constant irradiation in this LIFE engine design to minimize proliferation risks and fuel inventory. Vast reductions in end-of-life (EOL) transuranic (TRU) inventories compared to those produced by a similar uranium system suggest reduced proliferation risks. Decay heat generation in discharge fuel appears lower for a thorium LIFE engine than a DU engine but differences in radioactive ingestion hazard are less conclusive. Future efforts on development of thorium-fueled LIFE fission blankets engine development will include design optimization, fuel performance analysis work, and further waste disposal and nonproliferation analyses.« less

  10. Easy Absolute Values? Absolutely

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Sharon E.; Mittag, Kathleen Cage

    2015-01-01

    The authors teach a problem-solving course for preservice middle-grades education majors that includes concepts dealing with absolute-value computations, equations, and inequalities. Many of these students like mathematics and plan to teach it, so they are adept at symbolic manipulations. Getting them to think differently about a concept that they…

  11. Experimental studies of thorium ion implantation from pulse laser plasma into thin silicon oxide layers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borisyuk, P. V.; Chubunova, E. V.; Lebedinskii, Yu Yu; Tkalya, E. V.; Vasilyev, O. S.; Yakovlev, V. P.; Strugovshchikov, E.; Mamedov, D.; Pishtshev, A.; Karazhanov, S. Zh

    2018-05-01

    We report the results of experimental studies related to implantation of thorium ions into thin silicon dioxide by pulsed plasma flux expansion. Thorium ions were generated by laser ablation from a metal target, and the ionic component of the laser plasma was accelerated in an electric field created by the potential difference (5, 10 and 15 kV) between the ablated target and a SiO2/Si (0 0 1) sample. The laser ablation system installed inside the vacuum chamber of the electron spectrometer was equipped with a YAG:Nd3  +  laser having a pulse energy of 100 mJ and time duration of 15 ns in the Q-switched regime. The depth profile of thorium atoms implanted into the 10 nm thick subsurface areas together with their chemical state as well as the band gap of the modified silicon oxide at different conditions of implantation processes were studied by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and reflected electron energy loss spectroscopy methods. Analysis of the chemical composition showed that the modified silicon oxide film contains complex thorium silicates. Depending on the local concentration of thorium atoms, the experimentally established band gaps were located in the range 6.0–9.0 eV. Theoretical studies of the optical properties of the SiO2 and ThO2 crystalline systems were performed by ab initio calculations within hybrid functional. The optical properties of the SiO2/ThO2 composite were interpreted on the basis of the Bruggeman effective medium approximation. A quantitative assessment of the yield of isomeric nuclei in ‘hot’ laser plasma at the early stages of expansion was performed. The estimates made with experimental results demonstrated that the laser implantation of thorium ions into the SiO2 matrix can be useful for further research of low-lying isomeric transitions in a 229Th isotope with energy of 7.8 +/- 0.5 eV.

  12. Actinide abundances in ordinary chondrites

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hagee, B.; Bernatowicz, T.J.; Podosek, F.A.; Johnson, M.L.; Burnett, D.S.; Tatsumoto, M.

    1990-01-01

    Measurements of 244Pu fission Xe, U, Th, and light REE (LREE) abundances, along with modal petrographic determinations of phosphate abundances, were carried out on equilibrated ordinary chondrites in order to define better the solar system Pu abundance and to determine the degree of variation of actinide and LREE abundances. Our data permit comparison of the directly measured Pu/ U ratio with that determined indirectly as (Pu/Nd) ?? (Nd/U) assuming that Pu behaves chemically as a LREE. Except for Guaren??a, and perhaps H chondrites in general, Pu concentrations are similar to that determined previously for St. Se??verin, although less precise because of higher trapped Xe contents. Trapped 130Xe 136Xe ratios appear to vary from meteorite to meteorite, but, relative to AVCC, all are similar in the sense of having less of the interstellar heavy Xe found in carbonaceous chondrite acid residues. The Pu/U and Pu/Nd ratios are consistent with previous data for St. Se??verin, but both tend to be slightly higher than those inferred from previous data on Angra dos Reis. Although significant variations exist, the distribution of our Th/U ratios, along with other precise isotope dilution data for ordinary chondrites, is rather symmetric about the CI chondrite value; however, actinide/(LREE) ratios are systematically lower than the CI value. Variations in actinide or LREE absolute and relative abundances are interpreted as reflecting differences in the proportions and/or compositions of more primitive components (chondrules and CAI materials?) incorporated into different regions of the ordinary chondrite parent bodies. The observed variations of Th/U, Nd/U, or Ce/U suggest that measurements of Pu/U on any single equilibrated ordinary chondrite specimen, such as St. Se??verin, should statistically be within ??20-30% of the average solar system value, although it is also clear that anomalous samples exist. ?? 1990.

  13. Application of hollow cylindrical wheat stem for electromembrane extraction of thorium in water samples

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khajeh, Mostafa; Pedersen-Bjergaard, Stig; Barkhordar, Afsaneh; Bohlooli, Mousa

    2015-02-01

    In this study, wheat stem was used for electromembrane extraction (EME) for the first time. The EME technique involved the use of a wheat stem whose channel was filled with 3 M HCl, immersed in 10 mL of an aqueous sample solution. Thorium migrated from aqueous samples, through a thin layer of 1-octanol and 5%v/v Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) immobilized in the pores of a porous stem, and into an acceptor phase solution present inside the lumen of the stem. The pH of donor and acceptor phases, extraction time, voltage, and stirring speed were optimized. At the optimum conditions, an enrichment factor of 50 and a limit of detection of 0.29 ng mL-1 was obtained for thorium. The developed procedure was then applied to the extraction and determination of thorium in water samples and in reference material.

  14. Absolutely relative or relatively absolute: violations of value invariance in human decision making.

    PubMed

    Teodorescu, Andrei R; Moran, Rani; Usher, Marius

    2016-02-01

    Making decisions based on relative rather than absolute information processing is tied to choice optimality via the accumulation of evidence differences and to canonical neural processing via accumulation of evidence ratios. These theoretical frameworks predict invariance of decision latencies to absolute intensities that maintain differences and ratios, respectively. While information about the absolute values of the choice alternatives is not necessary for choosing the best alternative, it may nevertheless hold valuable information about the context of the decision. To test the sensitivity of human decision making to absolute values, we manipulated the intensities of brightness stimuli pairs while preserving either their differences or their ratios. Although asked to choose the brighter alternative relative to the other, participants responded faster to higher absolute values. Thus, our results provide empirical evidence for human sensitivity to task irrelevant absolute values indicating a hard-wired mechanism that precedes executive control. Computational investigations of several modelling architectures reveal two alternative accounts for this phenomenon, which combine absolute and relative processing. One account involves accumulation of differences with activation dependent processing noise and the other emerges from accumulation of absolute values subject to the temporal dynamics of lateral inhibition. The potential adaptive role of such choice mechanisms is discussed.

  15. FAST NEUTRON DOSIMETER FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATION BY MEASUREMENT OF THE AMOUNT OF CESIUM 137 FORMED FROM A THORIUM WIRE

    DOEpatents

    McCune, D.A.

    1964-03-17

    A method and device for measurement of integrated fast neutron flux in the presence of a large thermal neutron field are described. The device comprises a thorium wire surrounded by a thermal neutron attenuator that is, in turn, enclosed by heat-resistant material. The method consists of irradiating the device in a neutron field whereby neutrons with energies in excess of 1.1 Mev cause fast fissions in the thorium, then removing the thorium wire, separating the cesium-137 fission product by chemical means from the thorium, and finally counting the radioactivity of the cesium to determine the number of fissions which have occurred so that the integrated fast flux may be obtained. (AEC)

  16. Facile and Efficient Decontamination of Thorium from Rare Earths Based on Selective Selenite Crystallization.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yaxing; Lu, Huangjie; Dai, Xing; Duan, Tao; Bai, Xiaojing; Cai, Yawen; Yin, Xuemiao; Chen, Lanhua; Diwu, Juan; Du, Shiyu; Zhou, Ruhong; Chai, Zhifang; Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E; Liu, Ning; Wang, Shuao

    2018-02-19

    The coexistence of radioactive contaminants (e.g., thorium, uranium, and their daughters) in rare earth minerals introduces significant environmental, economic, and technological hurdles in modern rare earth production. Efficient, low cost, and green decontamination strategies are therefore desired to ameliorate this problem. We report here a single-step and quantitative decontamination strategy of thorium from rare earths based on a unique periodic trend in the formation of crystalline selenite compounds across the lanthanide series, where Ce(III) is fully oxidized in situ to Ce(IV). This gives rise to a crystallization system that is highly selective to trap tetravalent f-blocks while all other trivalent lanthanides completely remain in solution when coexist. These results are bolstered by first-principles calculations of lattice energies and an examination of bonding in these compounds. This system is contrasted with typical natural and synthetic systems, where trivalent and tetravalent f-block elements often cocrystallize. The separation factors after one round of crystallization were determined from binary systems of Th(IV)/La(III), Th(IV)/Eu(III), and Th(IV)/Yb(III) to reach 2.1 × 10 5 , 1.2 × 10 5 , and 9 × 10 4 , respectively. Selective crystallization of thorium from a simulated monazite composite yields a separation factor of 1.9 × 10 3 with nearly quantitative removal of thorium.

  17. Feasibility of recycling thorium in a fusion-fission hybrid/PWR symbiotic system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Josephs, J.M.

    1980-12-31

    A study was made of the economic impact of high levels of radioactivity in the thorium fuel cycle. The sources of this radioactivity and means of calculating the radioactive levels at various stages in the fuel cycle are discussed and estimates of expected levels are given. The feasibility of various methods of recycling thorium is discussed. These methods include direct recycle, recycle after storage for 14 years to allow radioactivity to decrease, shortening irradiation times to limit radioactivity build up, and the use of the window in time immediately after reprocessing where radioactivity levels are diminished. An economic comparison ismore » made for the first two methods together with the throwaway option where thorium is not recycled using a mass energy flow model developed for a CTHR (Commercial Tokamak Hybrid Reactor), a fusion fission hybrid reactor which serves as fuel producer for several PWR reactors. The storage option is found to be most favorable; however, even this option represents a significant economic impact due to radioactivity of 0.074 mills/kW-h which amounts to $4 x 10/sup 9/ over a 30 year period assuming a 200 gigawatt supply of electrical power.« less

  18. Solvent extraction method for determination of thorium in soft tissues

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Singh,N.P.; Ibrahim, S.A.; Cohen, N.

    1979-02-01

    A simple, precise and accurate analytical technique has been developed for the determination of thorium isotopes in soft tissues. The method consists of preliminary nitric acid digestion of tissues after adding /sup 229/Th tracer, followed by a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid with occasional addition of hydrogen peroxide; thorium is then coprecipitated with iron carrier by ammonium hydroxide. The precipitate is washed until free of sulfate ions, dissolved in 1:1 HNO/sub 3/ and finally adjusted to 4 M HNO/sub 3/. Thorium is extracted twice into 25% trilaurylamine (TLA) in xylene (pre-equilibrated with 4 M HNO/sub 3/) and backwashed twicemore » with 10 M HCl. The aqueous phase is evaporated to almost dryness, treated with H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ with frequent addition of a few drops of HNO/sub 3/, and electrodeposited onto a platinum planchet prior to ..cap alpha.. spectrometry with a surface-barrier silicon detector. The final total recovery ranged from 24 to 93% with a mean of 65% in 28 samples. Yield appeared to be independent of total iron when 10 to 100 mg Fe were added, and independent of total iron when 10 to 100 mg Fe were added, and independent of the amount of added tracer. The natural /sup 228/Th content of three different beef liver samples was 1.3, 1.4, and 3.0 pCi/kg wet weight. 4 tables.« less

  19. Molybdenum-99 production calculation analysis of SAMOP reactor based on thorium nitrate fuel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Syarip; Togatorop, E.; Yassar

    2018-03-01

    SAMOP (Subcritical Assembly for Molybdenum-99 Production) has the potential to use thorium as fuel to produce 99Mo after modifying the design, but the production performance has not been discovered yet. A study needs to be done to obtain the correlation between 99Mo production with the mixed fuel composition of uranium and with SAMOP power on the modified SAMOP design. The study aims to obtain the production of 99Mo based thorium nitrate fuel on SAMOP’s modified designs. Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX) is required to simulate the operation of the assembly by varying the composition of the uranium-thorium nitrate mixed fuel, geometry and power fraction on the SAMOP modified designs. The burnup command on the MCNPX is used to confirm the 99Mo production result. The assembly is simulated to operate for 6 days with subcritical neutron multiplication factor (keff = 0.97-0.99). The neutron multiplication factor of the modified design (keff) is 0.97, the activity obtained from 99Mo is 18.58 Ci at 1 kW power operation.

  20. 78 FR 21352 - Update on Reimbursement for Costs of Remedial Action at Active Uranium and Thorium Processing Sites

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Update on Reimbursement for Costs of Remedial Action at Active Uranium and Thorium Processing Sites AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of the Title X claims during fiscal... at active uranium and thorium processing sites to remediate byproduct material generated as an...

  1. Thorium aspartate tetrahydrate precursor to ThO2: Comparison of hydrothermal and thermal conversions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clavier, N.; Maynadié, J.; Mesbah, A.; Hidalgo, J.; Lauwerier, R.; Nkou Bouala, G. I.; Parrès-Maynadié, S.; Meyer, D.; Dacheux, N.; Podor, R.

    2017-04-01

    The synthesis of original crystalline thorium aspartate tetrahydrate, Th(C4NO4H6)4.4H2O, was performed using two different wet-chemistry routes, involving either L-asparagine or L-aspartic acid as complexing agent. Characterization of this compound through 13C NMR and PXRD led to confirm the terminal coordination mode of the aspartate group and to suggest a potential cubic lattice (Pn-3 space group). Vibrational spectroscopy data were also collected. The conversion of thorium aspartate tetrahydrate into thorium dioxide was further performed through classical high temperature heat treatment or under hydrothermal conditions. On the one hand, thermal treatment provided a pseudomorphic conversion which retained the starting morphology, and favored the increase of the average crystallite size, as well as the complete elimination of the residual carbon content. On the other, hydrothermal conversion could be used to tune the morphology of the final oxide, ThO2.nH2O microspheres being prepared when starting from L-asparagine.

  2. Minor actinide transmutation in thorium and uranium matrices in heavy water moderated reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bhatti, Zaki; Hyland, B.; Edwards, G.W.R.

    2013-07-01

    The irradiation of Th{sup 232} breeds fewer of the problematic minor actinides (Np, Am, Cm) than the irradiation of U{sup 238}. This characteristic makes thorium an attractive potential matrix for the transmutation of these minor actinides, as these species can be transmuted without the creation of new actinides as is the case with a uranium fuel matrix. Minor actinides are the main contributors to long term decay heat and radiotoxicity of spent fuel, so reducing their concentration can greatly increase the capacity of a long term deep geological repository. Mixing minor actinides with thorium, three times more common in themore » Earth's crust than natural uranium, has the additional advantage of improving the sustainability of the fuel cycle. In this work, lattice cell calculations have been performed to determine the results of transmuting minor actinides from light water reactor spent fuel in a thorium matrix. 15-year-cooled group-extracted transuranic elements (Np, Pu, Am, Cm) from light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel were used as the fissile component in a thorium-based fuel in a heavy water moderated reactor (HWR). The minor actinide (MA) transmutation rates, spent fuel activity, decay heat and radiotoxicity, are compared with those obtained when the MA were mixed instead with natural uranium and taken to the same burnup. Each bundle contained a central pin containing a burnable neutron absorber whose initial concentration was adjusted to have the same reactivity response (in units of the delayed neutron fraction β) for coolant voiding as standard NU fuel. (authors)« less

  3. Health effects of a thorium waste disposal site.

    PubMed Central

    Najem, G R; Voyce, L K

    1990-01-01

    A case-control study of 112 households residing in the vicinity of a thorium waste disposal site found a higher prevalence of birth defects (RR 2.1) and liver diseases (RR 2.3) among exposed than the unexposed group. The numbers were quite small and the confidence intervals wide, however, so that no definite conclusions can be drawn from these data. PMID:2316775

  4. Determination of the elemental concentration of uranium and thorium in the products and by-products of amang tin tailings process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alnour, I. A.; Wagiran, H.; Ibrahim, N.; Hamzah, S.; Elias, M. S.

    2017-01-01

    Amang or tin tailing is processed into concentrated ores and other economical valuable minerals such as monazite, zircon, xenotime, ilmenite etc. Besides that, the tailings from these ores may have a significant potential source of radiation exposure to amang plants' workers. This study was conducted to determine the elemental concentration of uranium and thorium in mineral samples collected from five amang tailing factories. The concentration of uranium and thorium was carried out by using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) relative technique. The concentration of uranium and thorium in ppm obtained in this study are as follows: raw (189-1064) and (622-4965); monazite (1076-1988) and (3467-33578); xenotime 4053 and 5540; zircon (309-3090) and (387-6339); ilmenite (104-583) and (88-1205); rutile (212-889) and (44-1119); pyrite (7-43) and (9-132); and waste (5-338) and (9-1218) respectively. The analysis results shows that the monazite, xenotime and zircon have high content of uranium and thorium, whereas ilmenite, rutile, pyrite and waste have lower concentration compare with raw materials after tailing process. The highest values of uranium and thorium concentrations (4053 ± 428 ppm and 33578 ± 873 ppm, respectively) were observed in xenotime and monazite; whereas the lowest value was 5.48 ± 0.86 ppm of uranium recorded in waste (sand) and 9 ± 0.32 ppm of thorium for waste (sand) and pyrite.

  5. Absolute biological needs.

    PubMed

    McLeod, Stephen

    2014-07-01

    Absolute needs (as against instrumental needs) are independent of the ends, goals and purposes of personal agents. Against the view that the only needs are instrumental needs, David Wiggins and Garrett Thomson have defended absolute needs on the grounds that the verb 'need' has instrumental and absolute senses. While remaining neutral about it, this article does not adopt that approach. Instead, it suggests that there are absolute biological needs. The absolute nature of these needs is defended by appeal to: their objectivity (as against mind-dependence); the universality of the phenomenon of needing across the plant and animal kingdoms; the impossibility that biological needs depend wholly upon the exercise of the abilities characteristic of personal agency; the contention that the possession of biological needs is prior to the possession of the abilities characteristic of personal agency. Finally, three philosophical usages of 'normative' are distinguished. On two of these, to describe a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' is to describe it as value-dependent. A description of a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' in the third sense does not entail such value-dependency, though it leaves open the possibility that value depends upon the phenomenon or upon the truth of the claim. It is argued that while survival needs (or claims about them) may well be normative in this third sense, they are normative in neither of the first two. Thus, the idea of absolute need is not inherently normative in either of the first two senses. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Transuranic Waste Burning Potential of Thorium Fuel in a Fast Reactor - 12423

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wenner, Michael; Franceschini, Fausto; Ferroni, Paolo

    Westinghouse Electric Company (referred to as 'Westinghouse' in the rest of this paper) is proposing a 'back-to-front' approach to overcome the stalemate on nuclear waste management in the US. In this approach, requirements to further the societal acceptance of nuclear waste are such that the ultimate health hazard resulting from the waste package is 'as low as reasonably achievable'. Societal acceptability of nuclear waste can be enhanced by reducing the long-term radiotoxicity of the waste, which is currently driven primarily by the protracted radiotoxicity of the transuranic (TRU) isotopes. Therefore, a transition to a more benign radioactive waste can bemore » accomplished by a fuel cycle capable of consuming the stockpile of TRU 'legacy' waste contained in the LWR Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) while generating waste which is significantly less radio-toxic than that produced by the current open U-based fuel cycle (once through and variations thereof). Investigation of a fast reactor (FR) operating on a thorium-based fuel cycle, as opposed to the traditional uranium-based is performed. Due to a combination between its neutronic properties and its low position in the actinide chain, thorium not only burns the legacy TRU waste, but it does so with a minimal production of 'new' TRUs. The effectiveness of a thorium-based fast reactor to burn legacy TRU and its flexibility to incorporate various fuels and recycle schemes according to the evolving needs of the transmutation scenario have been investigated. Specifically, the potential for a high TRU burning rate, high U-233 generation rate if so desired and low concurrent production of TRU have been used as metrics for the examined cycles. Core physics simulations of a fast reactor core running on thorium-based fuels and burning an external TRU feed supply have been carried out over multiple cycles of irradiation, separation and reprocessing. The TRU burning capability as well as the core isotopic content have been

  7. Production of medical isotopes from a thorium target irradiated by light charged particles up to 70 MeV

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duchemin, C.; Guertin, A.; Haddad, F.; Michel, N.; Métivier, V.

    2015-02-01

    The irradiation of a thorium target by light charged particles (protons and deuterons) leads to the production of several isotopes of medical interest. Direct nuclear reaction allows the production of Protactinium-230 which decays to Uranium-230 the mother nucleus of Thorium-226, a promising isotope for alpha radionuclide therapy. The fission of Thorium-232 produces fragments of interest like Molybdenum-99, Iodine-131 and Cadmium-115g. We focus our study on the production of these isotopes, performing new cross section measurements and calculating production yields. Our new sets of data are compared with the literature and the last version of the TALYS code.

  8. Production of medical isotopes from a thorium target irradiated by light charged particles up to 70 MeV.

    PubMed

    Duchemin, C; Guertin, A; Haddad, F; Michel, N; Métivier, V

    2015-02-07

    The irradiation of a thorium target by light charged particles (protons and deuterons) leads to the production of several isotopes of medical interest. Direct nuclear reaction allows the production of Protactinium-230 which decays to Uranium-230 the mother nucleus of Thorium-226, a promising isotope for alpha radionuclide therapy. The fission of Thorium-232 produces fragments of interest like Molybdenum-99, Iodine-131 and Cadmium-115g. We focus our study on the production of these isotopes, performing new cross section measurements and calculating production yields. Our new sets of data are compared with the literature and the last version of the TALYS code.

  9. An open-framework thorium sulfate hydrate with 11.5 A voids.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Richard E; Skanthakumar, S; Knope, Karah E; Cahill, Christopher L; Soderholm, L

    2008-10-20

    We report the synthesis of a thorium sulfate hydrate with 11.5 A open channels that propagate through the structure. The compound crystallizes in the tetragonal space group P4(2)/nmc, a = b = 25.890(4) A, c = 9.080(2) A, Z = 8, V = 6086.3(2) A(3). The thermal stability of the compound was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and high-energy X-ray scattering (HEXS) revealing that the compound begins to undergo decomposition near 200 degrees C with an accompanied loss in crystallinity. The immediate coordination environment about the thorium atoms remains intact through heating to 500 degrees C as demonstrated by HEXS. Further heating reveals the formation of at least two crystalline phases, Th(SO4)2 and ThO2, which ultimately decompose to ThO2.

  10. THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF MATERIAS ASSOCIATED WITH THORIUM-BASED NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLES FOR PHWRS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Prichard, Andrew W.; Niehus, Mark T.; Collins, Brian A.

    2011-07-17

    This paper reports the continued evaluation of the attractiveness of materials mixtures containing special nuclear materials (SNM) associated with thorium based nuclear fuel cycles. Specifically, this paper examines a thorium fuel cycle in which a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) is fueled with mixtures of natural uranium/233U/thorium. This paper uses a PHWR fueled with natural uranium as a base fuel cycle, and then compares material attractiveness of fuel cycles that use 233U/thorium salted with natural uranium. The results include the material attractiveness of fuel at beginning of life (BoL), end of life (EoL), and the number of fuel assemblies requiredmore » to collect a bare critical mass of plutonium or uranium. This study indicates what is required to render the uranium as having low utility for use in nuclear weapons; in addition, this study estimates the increased number of assemblies required to accumulate a bare critical mass of plutonium that has a higher utility for use in nuclear weapons. This approach identifies that some fuel cycles may be easier to implement the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards approach and have a more effective safeguards by design outcome. For this study, approximately one year of fuel is required to be reprocessed to obtain one bare critical mass of plutonium. Nevertheless, the result of this paper suggests that all spent fuel needs to be rigorously safeguarded and provided with high levels of physical protection. This study was performed at the request of the United States Department of Energy /National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA). The methodology and key findings will be presented.« less

  11. Thermal diffusivity and conductivity of thorium- uranium mixed oxides

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saoudi, M.; Staicu, D.; Mouris, J.; Bergeron, A.; Hamilton, H.; Naji, M.; Freis, D.; Cologna, M.

    2018-03-01

    Thorium-uranium oxide pellets with high densities were prepared at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) by co-milling, pressing, and sintering at 2023 K, with UO2 mass contents of 0, 1.5, 3, 8, 13, 30, 60 and 100%. At the Joint Research Centre, Karlsruhe (JRC-Karlsruhe), thorium-uranium oxide pellets were prepared using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique with 79 and 93 wt. % UO2. The thermal diffusivity of (Th1-xUx)O2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) was measured at CNL and at JRC-Karlsruhe using the laser flash technique. ThO2 and (Th,U)O2 with 1.5, 3, 8 and 13 wt. % UO2 were found to be semi-transparent to the infrared wavelength of the laser and were coated with graphite for the thermal diffusivity measurements. This semi-transparency decreased with the addition of UO2 and was lost at about 30 wt. % of UO2 in ThO2. The thermal conductivity was deduced using the measured density and literature data for the specific heat capacity. The thermal conductivity for ThO2 is significantly higher than for UO2. The thermal conductivity of (Th,U)O2 decreases rapidly with increasing UO2 content, and for UO2 contents of 60% and higher, the conductivity of the thorium-uranium oxide fuel is close to UO2. As the mass difference between the Th and U atoms is small, the thermal conductivity decrease is attributed to the phonon scattering enhanced by lattice strain due to the introduction of uranium in ThO2 lattice. The new results were compared to the data available in the literature and were evaluated using the classical phonon transport model for oxide systems.

  12. CATALYTIC RECOMBINATION OF RADIOLYTIC GASES IN THORIUM OXIDE SLURRIES

    DOEpatents

    Morse, L.E.

    1962-08-01

    A method for the coinbination of hydrogen and oxygen in aqueous thorium oxide-uranium oxide slurries is described. A small amount of molybdenum oxide catalyst is provided in the slurry. This catalyst is applicable to the recombination of hydrogen and/or deuterium and oxygen produced by irradiation of the slurries in nuclear reactors. (AEC)

  13. Chlamydia caviae infection alters abundance but not composition of the guinea pig vaginal microbiota

    PubMed Central

    Neuendorf, Elizabeth; Gajer, Pawel; Bowlin, Anne K.; Marques, Patricia X.; Ma, Bing; Yang, Hongqiu; Fu, Li; Humphrys, Michael S.; Forney, Larry J.; Myers, Garry S.A.; Bavoil, Patrik M.; Rank, Roger G.; Ravel, Jacques

    2015-01-01

    In humans, the vaginal microbiota is thought to be the first line of defense again pathogens including Chlamydia trachomatis. The guinea pig has been extensively used as a model to study chlamydial infection because it shares anatomical and physiological similarities with humans, such as a squamous vaginal epithelium as well as some of the long-term outcomes caused by chlamydial infection. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the guinea pig-C. caviae model of genital infection as a surrogate for studying the role of the vaginal microbiota in the early steps of C. trachomatis infection in humans. We used culture-independent molecular methods to characterize the relative and absolute abundance of bacterial phylotypes in the guinea pig vaginal microbiota in animals non-infected, mock-infected or infected by C. caviae. We showed that the guinea pig and human vaginal microbiotas are of different bacterial composition and abundance. Chlamydia caviae infection had a profound effect on the absolute abundance of bacterial phylotypes but not on the composition of the guinea pig vaginal microbiota. Our findings compromise the validity of the guinea pig-C. caviae model to study the role of the vaginal microbiota during the early steps of sexually transmitted infection. PMID:25761873

  14. Chlamydia caviae infection alters abundance but not composition of the guinea pig vaginal microbiota.

    PubMed

    Neuendorf, Elizabeth; Gajer, Pawel; Bowlin, Anne K; Marques, Patricia X; Ma, Bing; Yang, Hongqiu; Fu, Li; Humphrys, Michael S; Forney, Larry J; Myers, Garry S A; Bavoil, Patrik M; Rank, Roger G; Ravel, Jacques

    2015-06-01

    In humans, the vaginal microbiota is thought to be the first line of defense again pathogens including Chlamydia trachomatis. The guinea pig has been extensively used as a model to study chlamydial infection because it shares anatomical and physiological similarities with humans, such as a squamous vaginal epithelium as well as some of the long-term outcomes caused by chlamydial infection. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the guinea pig-C. caviae model of genital infection as a surrogate for studying the role of the vaginal microbiota in the early steps of C. trachomatis infection in humans. We used culture-independent molecular methods to characterize the relative and absolute abundance of bacterial phylotypes in the guinea pig vaginal microbiota in animals non-infected, mock-infected or infected by C. caviae. We showed that the guinea pig and human vaginal microbiotas are of different bacterial composition and abundance. Chlamydia caviae infection had a profound effect on the absolute abundance of bacterial phylotypes but not on the composition of the guinea pig vaginal microbiota. Our findings compromise the validity of the guinea pig-C. caviae model to study the role of the vaginal microbiota during the early steps of sexually transmitted infection. © FEMS 2015.

  15. Origin of central abundances in the hot intra-cluster medium. I. Individual and average abundance ratios from XMM-Newton EPIC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mernier, F.; de Plaa, J.; Pinto, C.; Kaastra, J. S.; Kosec, P.; Zhang, Y.-Y.; Mao, J.; Werner, N.

    2016-08-01

    The hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) is rich in metals, which are synthesised by supernovae (SNe) explosions and accumulate over time into the deep gravitational potential well of clusters of galaxies. Since most of the elements visible in X-rays are formed by type Ia (SNIa) and/or core-collapse (SNcc) supernovae, measuring their abundances gives us direct information on the nucleosynthesis products of billions of SNe since the epoch of the star formation peak (z ~ 2-3). In this study, we use the EPIC and RGS instruments on board XMM-Newton to measure the abundances of nine elements (O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, Fe, and Ni) from a sample of 44 nearby cool-core galaxy clusters, groups, and elliptical galaxies. We find that the Fe abundance shows a large scatter (~20-40%) over the sample, within 0.2r500 and especially 0.05r500. Unlike the absolute Fe abundance, the abundance ratios (X/Fe) are uniform over the considered temperature range (~0.6-8 keV) and with a limited scatter. In addition to an unprecedented treatment of systematic uncertainties, we provide the most accurate abundance ratios measured so far in the ICM, including Cr/Fe and Mn/Fe which we firmly detected (>4σ with MOS and pn independently). We find that Cr/Fe, Mn/Fe, and Ni/Fe differ significantly from the proto-solar values. However, the large uncertainties in the proto-solar abundances prevent us from making a robust comparison between the local and the intra-cluster chemical enrichments. We also note that, interestingly, and despite the large net exposure time (~4.5 Ms) of our dataset, no line emission feature is seen around ~3.5 keV.

  16. Sorption and coprecipitation of trace concentrations of thorium with various minerals under conditions simulating an acid uranium mill effluent environment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Landa, Edward R.; Le, Anh H.; Luck, Rudy L.; Yeich, Philip J.

    1995-01-01

    Sorption of thorium by pre-existing crystals of anglesite (PbSO4), apatite (Ca5(PO4)3(HO)), barite (BaSO4), bentonite (Na0.7Al3.3Mg0.7Si8O20(OH)4), celestite (SrSO4), fluorite (CaF2), galena (PbS), gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O), hematite (Fe2O3), jarosite (KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6), kaolinite (Al2O3·2SiO2·2H2O), quartz (SiO2) and sodium feldspar (NaAlSi3O8) was studied under conditions that simulate an acidic uranium mill effluent environment. Up to 100% removal of trace quantitiees of thorim (approx. 1.00 ppm in 0.01 N H2SO4) from solution occurred within 3 h with fluorite and within 48 h in the case of bentonite. Quartz, jarosite, hematite, sodium feldspar, gypsum and galena removed less than 15% of the thorium from solution. In the coprecipitation studies, barite, anglesite, gypsum and celestite were formed in the presence of thorium (approx. 1.00 ppm). Approximately all of the thorium present in solution coprecipitated with barite and celestite; 95% coprecipitated with anglesite and less than 5% with gypsum under similar conditions. When jarosite was precipitated in the presence of thorium, a significant amount of thorium (78%) was incorporated in the precipitate.

  17. Electrodeposition of uranium and thorium onto small platinum electrodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reichenberger, Michael A.; Ito, Takashi; Ugorowski, Philip B.; Montag, Benjamin W.; Stevenson, Sarah R.; Nichols, Daniel M.; McGregor, Douglas S.

    2016-03-01

    Preparation of thin U- and Th-coated 0.3 mm diameter Pt working electrodes by the cyclic potential sweep method is described. Uranyl- and thorium hydroxide layers were electrodeposited from ethanol solutions containing 0.02 M natural uranyl and 0.02 M natural thorium nitrate, each with 3.6 M ammonium nitrate. The cell for electrodeposition was specially developed in order to accommodate the small working electrodes for this research by including a working electrode probe, 3-D translation stage, and microscope. The source material deposition was analyzed using digital microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and confirmed using x-ray fluorescence measurements. The appropriate potential range for electrodeposition was determined to be -0.62 V to -0.64 V for a 0.3 mm diameter Pt working electrode placed 1 cm from the counter electrode. Smooth, uniform deposition was observed near the central region of the working electrode, while surface cracking and crystalline formations were found near the edge of the working electrode. The final procedure for sample substrate preparation, electrolytic solution preparation and electrodeposition are described.

  18. Geology and description of thorium and rare-earth deposits in the southern Bear Lodge Mountains, northeastern Wyoming

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Staatz, M.H.

    1983-01-01

    The Bear Lodge Mountains are a small northerly trending range approximately 16 km northwest of the Black Hills in the northeast corner of Wyoming. Thorium and rare-earth deposits occur over an area of 16 km 2 in the southern part of these mountains. These deposits occur in the core of the Bear Lodge dome in a large multiple intrusive body made up principally of trachyte and phonolite. Two types of deposits are recognized: disseminated deposits and veins. The disseminated deposits are made up of altered igneous rocks cut by numerous crisscrossing veinlets. The disseminated deposits contain thorium and rare-earth minerals in a matrix consisting principally of potassium feldspar, quartz, and iron and manganese oxides. Total rare-earth content of these deposits is about 27 times that of the thorium content. The general size and shape of the disseminated deposits were outlined by making a radiometric map using a scintillation counter of the entire Bear Lodge core, an area of approximately 30 km 2 . The most favorable part of this area, which was outlined by the 40 countJs (count-per-second) isograd on the radiometric map, was sampled in detail. A total of 341 samples were taken over an area of 10.6 km 2 and analyzed for as many as 60 elements. Rare earths and thorium are the principal commodities of interest in these deposits. Total rare-earth content of these samples ranged from 47 to 27,145 ppm (parts per million), and the thorium content from 9.3 to 990 ppm. The amount of total rare earths of individual samples shows little correlation with that of thorium. Contour maps were constructed using the analytical data for total rare earths, thorium, uranium, and potassium. The total rare-earth and thorium maps can be used to define the size of the deposits based on what cut-off grade may be needed during mining. The size is large as the 2,000 ppm total rare-earth isograd encloses several areas that total 3.22 km 2 in size, and the 200 ppm thorium isograd encloses several

  19. Thorium and rare earth minerals in the Powderhorn district, Gunnison County, Colorado

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Olson, Jerry C.; Wallace, Stewart R.

    1954-01-01

    Thorium has been found since 1949 in at least 33 deposits in an area 6 miles wide and 20 miles long in the Powderhorn district, Gunnison County, Colo. The district is composed largely of pre-Jurassic metamorphic and igneous rocks, which are chiefly if not entirely pre-Cambrian in age. The metamorphic and igneous rocks are overlain by sandstone of the Morrison formation of Jurassic age, and by volcanic rocks of the Alboroto group and Hinsdale formation of Miocene and Pliocene (?) age, respectively. The thorium deposits occur in or near alkalic igneous rocks in which such elements as titanium, rare earths, barium, strontium, and niobium occur in greater-than-average amounts. The greatest mass of the alkalic igneous rocks the Iron Hill composite stoc,- occupies an area of 12 square miles in the southeastern part of the district. The age of the thorium deposits, like that of the alkalic igneous rocks, is not known other than pre-Jurassic. The thorium veins and mineralized shear zones range from a few inches to 18 feet in thickness and from a few feet to 3,500 feet in length. The veins are composed of calcite,.dolomite, siderite, ankerite, quartz, barite, pyrite, sphalerite, galena, goethite,. apatite, alkali feldspar, and many other minerals. The thorium occurs at least partly in thorite or hydrothorite. Sparse xenotime has been tentatively identified in one deposit. Several minerals containing rare earths of the cerium group as major constituents are found in carbonate veins near Iron Hill. Bastnaesite has been identified by X-ray methods, and cerite and synchisite are probably present also.The fluorapatite in some veins and in parts of the carbonate rock mass that occupies 2 square miles in the central part of the Iron Hill complex contains rare earths of the cerium group, generally in amounts of a fraction of a percent of the rock. The radioactivity of the deposits appears to be due almost entirely to thorium and its daughter products The ThO2 content of selected

  20. Separation of thorium (IV) from lanthanide concentrate (LC) and water leach purification (WLP) residue

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    AL-Areqi, Wadeeah M.; Majid, Amran Ab.; Sarmani, Sukiman

    Thorium (IV) content in industrial residue produced from rare earth elements production industry is one of the challenges to Malaysian environment. Separation of thorium from the lanthanide concentrate (LC) and Water Leach Purification (WLP) residue from rare earth elements production plant is described. Both materials have been tested by sulphuric acid and alkaline digestions. Th concentrations in LC and WLP were determined to be 1289.7 ± 129 and 1952.9±17.6 ppm respectively. The results of separation show that the recovery of Th separation from rare earth in LC after concentrated sulphuric acid dissolution and reduction of acidity to precipitate Th wasmore » found 1.76-1.20% whereas Th recovery from WLP was less than 4% after concentrated acids and alkali digestion processes. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was used to determine Th concentrations in aqueous phase during separation stages. This study indicated that thorium maybe exists in refractory and insoluble form which is difficult to separate by these processes and stays in WLP residue as naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM)« less

  1. Electrotransport and diffusivity of molybdenum, rhenium, tungsten, and zirconium in beta-thorium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schmidt, F. A.; Beck, M. S.; Rehbein, D. K.; Conzemius, R. J.; Carlson, O. N.

    1984-01-01

    The electric mobilities, diffusivities, and effective valences were determined for molybdenum, rhenium, tungsten, and zirconium in beta-thorium. All four solutes migrated in the same direction as the electron flow. Rhenium and molybdenum were found to be very mobile, with tungsten somewhat slower. Zirconium was found to move at a rate near that of the self-diffusion of beta-thorium, viz., about 10 to the -11th sq m/s at 1500 C. The electromigration velocities showed a similar trend. A comparison was made between experimental data obtained by scanning laser mass spectrometry and theoretical transport equations for two purification experiments. Good agreement was obtained with both the concentration profile predicted by DeGroot and the purification ratio predicted by Verhoeven.

  2. Absolute Isotopic Abundance Ratios and the Accuracy of Δ47 Measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Daeron, M.; Blamart, D.; Peral, M.; Affek, H. P.

    2016-12-01

    Conversion from raw IRMS data to clumped isotope anomalies in CO2 (Δ47) relies on four external parameters: the (13C/12C) ratio of VPDB, the (17O/16O) and (18O/16O) ratios of VSMOW (or VPDB-CO2), and the slope of the triple oxygen isotope line (λ). Here we investigate the influence that these isotopic parameters exert on measured Δ47 values, using real-world data corresponding to 7 months of measurements; simulations based on randomly generated data; precise comparisons between water-equilibrated CO2 samples and between carbonate standards believed to share quasi-identical Δ47 values; reprocessing of two carbonate calibration data sets with different slopes of Δ47 versus T. Using different sets of isotopic parameters generally produces systematic offsets as large as 0.04 ‰ in final Δ47 values. What's more, even using a single set of isotopic parameters can produce intra- and inter-laboratory discrepancies in final Δ47 values, if some of these parameters are inaccurate. Depending on the isotopic compositions of the standards used for conversion to "absolute" values, these errors should correlate strongly with either δ13C or δ18O, or more weakly with both. Based on measurements of samples expected to display identical Δ47 values, such as 25°C water-equilibrated CO2 with different carbon and oxygen isotope compositions, or high-temperature standards ETH-1 and ETH-2, we conclude that the isotopic parameters used so far in most clumped isotope studies produces large, systematic errors controlled by the relative bulk isotopic compositions of samples and standards, which should be one of the key factors responsible for current inter-laboratory discrepancies. By contrast, the isotopic parameters of Brand et al. [2010] appear to yield accurate Δ47 values regardless of bulk isotopic composition. References:Brand, Assonov and Coplen [2010] http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REP-09-01-05

  3. A new thorium-229 reference material

    DOE PAGES

    Essex, Richard M.; Mann, Jaqueline L.; Williams, Ross W.; ...

    2017-07-27

    A new reference material was characterized for 229Th molality and thorium isotope amount ratios. This reference material is intended for use in nuclear forensic analyses as an isotope dilution mass spectrometry spike. The reference material value and expanded uncertainty (k = 2) for the 229Th molality is (1.1498 ± 0.0016)×10 -10 mol g -1 solution. The value and expanded uncertainty (k = 2) for the n( 230Th)/n( 229Th) ratio is (5.18 ± 0.26)×10 -5 and the n( 232Th)/n( 229Th) ratio is (3.815 ± 0.092)×10 -4.

  4. A new thorium-229 reference material

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Essex, Richard M.; Mann, Jaqueline L.; Williams, Ross W.

    A new reference material was characterized for 229Th molality and thorium isotope amount ratios. This reference material is intended for use in nuclear forensic analyses as an isotope dilution mass spectrometry spike. The reference material value and expanded uncertainty (k = 2) for the 229Th molality is (1.1498 ± 0.0016)×10 -10 mol g -1 solution. The value and expanded uncertainty (k = 2) for the n( 230Th)/n( 229Th) ratio is (5.18 ± 0.26)×10 -5 and the n( 232Th)/n( 229Th) ratio is (3.815 ± 0.092)×10 -4.

  5. Jasminum flexile flower absolute from India--a detailed comparison with three other jasmine absolutes.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Kohlenberg, Birgit; Sim, Sherina; Meier, Manfred; Hammerschmidt, Franz-Josef

    2009-09-01

    Jasminum flexile flower absolute from the south of India and the corresponding vacuum headspace (VHS) sample of the absolute were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Three other commercially available Indian jasmine absolutes from the species: J. sambac, J. officinale subsp. grandiflorum, and J. auriculatum and the respective VHS samples were used for comparison purposes. One hundred and twenty-one compounds were characterized in J. flexile flower absolute, with methyl linolate, benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, (2E,6E)-farnesol, and benzyl acetate as the main constituents. A detailed olfactory evaluation was also performed.

  6. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-05-15

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  7. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2010-07-13

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  8. Natural Transmutation of Actinides via the Fission Reaction in the Closed Thorium-Uranium-Plutonium Fuel Cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshalkin, V. Ye.; Povyshev, V. M.

    2017-12-01

    It is shown for a closed thorium-uranium-plutonium fuel cycle that, upon processing of one metric ton of irradiated fuel after each four-year campaign, the radioactive wastes contain 54 kg of fission products, 0.8 kg of thorium, 0.10 kg of uranium isotopes, 0.005 kg of plutonium isotopes, 0.002 kg of neptunium, and "trace" amounts of americium and curium isotopes. This qualitatively simplifies the handling of high-level wastes in nuclear power engineering.

  9. Thorium-Free Versus Thoriated Plasma Gun Electrodes: Statistical Evaluation of Coating Properties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colmenares-Angulo, Jose; Molz, Ronald; Hawley, David; Seshadri, Ramachandran Chidambaram

    2016-04-01

    Industries throughout the world today have an increased awareness of environmental, health, and safety issues. This, together with recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission changes concerning source material (e.g., thorium) has added complexity in the supply chain of thoriated tungsten commonly used in plasma spray gun spares. In the interest of a safer and more sustainable work environment, Oerlikon Metco has developed thorium-free material solutions proven to have longer service life than conventional thoriated spares. This work reports on the effect, if any, caused by tungsten compositional changes and extended service life in coating properties. Microstructure, coating efficiency parameters, hardness, particle state, in situ coating stress, and ex situ modulus are evaluated over the service life duration of the nozzle, comparing coatings with thoriated and non-thoriated nozzles and electrodes with the same spray parameters.

  10. Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison with light water reactor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bahri, Che Nor Aniza Che Zainul; Majid, Amran Ab.; Al-Areqi, Wadeeah M.

    2015-04-01

    Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design. LFTR is fluoride based liquid fuel, that use the thorium dissolved in salt mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride. Therefore, LFTR technology is fundamentally different from the solid fuel technology currently in use. Although the traditional nuclear reactor technology has been proven, it has perceptual problems with safety and nuclear waste products. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential advantages of LFTR in three aspects such as safety, fuel efficiency and nuclear waste as an alternative energy generator in the future. Comparisons between LFTR and Light Water Reactor (LWR), on general principles of fuel cycle, resource availability, radiotoxicity and nuclear weapon proliferation shall be elaborated.

  11. The crystal chemistry of four thorium sulfates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Albrecht, Amanda J.; Sigmon, Ginger E.; Moore-Shay, Laura

    2011-07-15

    Four thorium sulfate compounds have been synthesized and characterized. [Th(SO{sub 4}){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 7}].2H{sub 2}O (ThS1) crystallizes in space group P2{sub 1}/m, a=7.2488(4), b=12.1798(7), c=8.0625(5) A, {beta}=98.245(1){sup o}; Na{sub 10}[Th{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 9}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}].3H{sub 2}O (ThS2), Pna2{sub 1}, a=17.842(2), b=6.9317(8), c=27.550(3) A; Na{sub 2}[Th{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 5}(H{sub 2}O){sub 3}].H{sub 2}O (ThS3), C2/c, a=16.639(2), b=9.081(1), c=25.078(3) A, {beta}= 95.322(2){sup o}; [Th{sub 4}(SO{sub 4}){sub 7}(OH){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 6}].2H{sub 2}O (ThS4), Pnma, a=18.2127(9), b=11.1669(5), c=14.4705(7) A. In all cases the Th cations are coordinated by nine O atoms corresponding to SO{sub 4} tetrahedra, OH groups, and H{sub 2}O groups. The structural unitmore » of ThS1 is an isolated cluster consisting of a single Th polyhedron with two monodentate SO{sub 4} tetrahedra and seven H{sub 2}O groups. A double-wide Th sulfate chain is the basis of ThS2. The structures of ThS3 and ThS4 are frameworks of Th polyhedra and sulfate tetrahedra, and each contains channels that extend through the framework. One of the Th cations in ThS3 is coordinated by a bidentate SO{sub 4} tetrahedron, and ThS4 is unusual in the presence of a pair of Th cations that share a polyhedral face. - Graphical abstract: The structures of four hydrous thorium sulfates are reported that have structural units consisting of finite clusters, chains, and frameworks. Highlights: > Four hydrous thorium sulfates have structural units consisting of finite clusters, chains, and frameworks. > In each the Th cations are coordinated by nine O atoms from SO{sub 4} tetrahedra, OH groups, and H{sub 2}O groups. > The details of the linkages of ThO{sub 9} polyhedra and sulfate tetrahedra vary considerably in these structures.« less

  12. 10 CFR 40.28 - General license for custody and long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General license for custody and long-term care of uranium... long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal sites. (a) A general license is... in this part for uranium or thorium mill tailings sites closed under title II of the Uranium Mill...

  13. 10 CFR 40.28 - General license for custody and long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General license for custody and long-term care of uranium... long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal sites. (a) A general license is... in this part for uranium or thorium mill tailings sites closed under title II of the Uranium Mill...

  14. 10 CFR 40.28 - General license for custody and long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General license for custody and long-term care of uranium... long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal sites. (a) A general license is... in this part for uranium or thorium mill tailings sites closed under title II of the Uranium Mill...

  15. 10 CFR 40.28 - General license for custody and long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General license for custody and long-term care of uranium... long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal sites. (a) A general license is... in this part for uranium or thorium mill tailings sites closed under title II of the Uranium Mill...

  16. Some thorium prospects, Lemhi Pass area, Beaverhead County, Montana

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Armstrong, Frank C.

    1955-01-01

    The Last Chance group> Brown Bear and Shady Tree claims in Beaverhead County, Mont., were explored for thorium under a Defense Minerals Exploration Administration Contract in 1951 and 1952. The project was undertaken to explore northwest-trending moderately to steep dipping, thorite-bearing quartz-barite-hematite veins. The veins are wall-rock replacements and fissure fillings in faults and shears that cut rocks of the Precambrian Belt series. Recurrent movement along the faults has intense fractured the veins. Quartz iron-oxide minerals, and thorite have been deposited in these fractures. The iron oxides and thorite are intimately associated and were among the last minerals deposited. Because no rare earth or uranium minerals have been found in the veins, it is thought that the small amounts of these elements reported in the analyses must substitute for thorium in the thorite. Under the D. M. E. A. contract the Last Chance vein was traced on surface for a distance of about 1,300 feet; the thickness ranges from about 35 feet to a few inches. Two diamond drill holes cut the vein 240 and 290 feet below the outcrop.

  17. Thorium dioxide-related haemangiosarcoma of the liver.

    PubMed

    van Kampen, R J W; Erdkamp, F L G; Peters, F P J

    2007-09-01

    Rare tumours of the liver are occasionally seen; thorium dioxide-related haemangiosarcoma of the liver, with an estimated frequency of 0.14 to 0.25 per million in the normal population, is one of these. Causes, epidemiology and pathobiology are described related to a clinical case of angiosarcoma. A differentiation of hepatic tumours with imaging techniques is presented. Last, a short review on up-to-date treatment of haemangiosarcoma is discussed. Lessons can always be learned from history: will the contrast agent gadolinium be the Th232 of this era?

  18. The distribution of uranium and thorium in granitic rocks of the basin and range province, Western United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McNeal, J.M.; Lee, D.E.; Millard, H.T.

    1981-01-01

    Some secondary uranium deposits are thought to have formed from uranium derived by the weathering of silicic igneous rocks such as granites, rhyolites, and tuffs. A regional geochemical survey was made to determine the distribution of uranium and thorium in granitic rocks of the Basin and Range province in order to evaluate the potential for secondary uranium occurrences in the area. The resulting geochemical maps of uranium, thorium, and the Th:U ratio may be useful in locating target areas for uranium exploration. The granites were sampled according to a five-level, nested, analysis-of-variance design, permitting estimates to be made of the variance due to differences between:(1) two-degree cells; (2) one-degree cells; (3) plutons; (4) samples; and (5) analyses. The cells are areas described in units of degrees of latitude and longitude. The results show that individual plutons tend to differ in uranium and thorium concentrations, but that each pluton tends to be relatively homogeneous. Only small amounts of variance occur at the two degree and the between-analyses levels. The three geochemical maps that were prepared are based on one-degree cell means. The reproducibility of the maps is U > Th ??? Th:U. These geochemical maps may be used in three methods of locating target areas for uranium exploration. The first method uses the concept that plutons containing the greatest amounts of uranium may supply the greatest amounts of uranium for the formation of secondary uranium occurrences. The second method is to examine areas with high thorium contents, because thorium and uranium are initially highly correlated but much uranium could be lost by weathering. The third method is to locate areas in which the plutons have particularly high Th:U ratios. Because uranium, but not thorium, is leached by chemical weathering, high Th:U ratios suggest a possible loss of uranium and possibly a greater potential for secondary uranium occurrences to be found in the area. ?? 1981.

  19. Kinetic and thermodynamic study of the thorium phosphate-diphosphate dissolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, A. C.; Dacheux, N.; Le Coustumer, P.; Brandel, V.; Genet, M.

    2000-10-01

    The dissolution of the thorium phosphate-diphosphate (TPD), which was proposed for the actinides immobilization, was systematically studied as a function of several parameters such as surface, leaching flow, temperature, acidity or basicity of the leachate and phosphate concentration. The dependence of the normalized leaching rate on the temperature leads to an activation energy equal to about 42±3 kJ mol -1. The normalized leaching rate is slightly increased when increasing the acidity or the basicity of the leachate. The partial orders related to proton and hydroxide ions are equal to 0.31-0.35 and 0.35, respectively. For the pH range studied, i.e., 1thorium phosphate-hydrogen phosphate hydrate whose solubility product is very small. In these conditions, the thorium and phosphate concentrations measured in the leachate are controlled by the precipitation of such a compound and remain lower than 10 -5 M when the initial TPD is partly dissolved.

  20. A study of thorium exposure during tungsten inert gas welding in an airline engineering population.

    PubMed

    McElearney, N; Irvine, D

    1993-07-01

    To investigate the theoretic possibility of excessive exposure to thorium during the process of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding using thoriated rods we carried out a cross-sectional study of TIG welders and an age- and skill-matched group. We measured the radiation doses from inhaled thorium that was retained in the body and investigated whether any differences in health or biologic indices could have been attributable to the welding and tip-grinding process. Sixty-four TIG welders, 11 non-TIG welders, and 61 control subjects from an airline engineering population participated. All of the subjects were interviewed for biographic, occupational history and morbidity details. All of the welders and eight control subjects carried out large-volume urine sampling to recover thorium 232 and thorium 228; this group also had chest radiographs. All of the subjects had a blood sample taken to estimate liver enzymes, and they provided small-volume urine samples for the estimation of retinol-binding protein and beta 2-microglobulin. We found no excess of morbidity among the TIG or non-TIG welding groups, and the levels of retinol-binding protein and beta 2-microglobulin were the same for both groups. There was a higher aspartate aminotransferase level in the control group. The internal radiation doses were estimated at less than an annual level of intake in all cases, and considerably less if the exposure (as was the case) was assumed to be chronic over many years. Some additional precautionary measures are suggested to reduce further any potential hazard from this process.

  1. SEPARATION OF THORIUM FROM RARE EARTHS WITH TANNIN (in Russian)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vlodavets, N.I.

    1959-03-01

    Thorium is quantitatively precipitated with tannin in a 0.005 N solution of nitric or hydrochloric acid. This permits its separation from trivalent rare earths, which are not precipitated with tannin in such relatively weak acid solutions. The accuracy of the determinations is as usual at the gravimetric determinations of macroquantities of elements. (auth)

  2. Abundance ratios in dwarf elliptical galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Şen, Ş.; Peletier, R. F.; Boselli, A.; den Brok, M.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Hensler, G.; Janz, J.; Laurikainen, E.; Lisker, T.; Mentz, J. J.; Paudel, S.; Salo, H.; Sybilska, A.; Toloba, E.; van de Ven, G.; Vazdekis, A.; Yesilyaprak, C.

    2018-04-01

    We determine abundance ratios of 37 dwarf ellipticals (dEs) in the nearby Virgo cluster. This sample is representative of the early-type population of galaxies in the absolute magnitude range -19.0 < Mr < -16.0. We analyse their absorption line-strength indices by means of index-index diagrams and scaling relations and use the stellar population models to interpret them. We present ages, metallicities, and abundance ratios obtained from these dEs within an aperture size of Re/8. We calculate [Na/Fe] from NaD, [Ca/Fe] from Ca4227, and [Mg/Fe] from Mgb. We find that [Na/Fe] is underabundant with respect to solar, whereas [Mg/Fe] is around solar. This is exactly opposite to what is found for giant ellipticals, but follows the trend with metallicity found previously for the Fornax dwarf NGC 1396. We discuss possible formation scenarios that can result in such elemental abundance patterns, and we speculate that dEs have disc-like star formation history (SFH) favouring them to originate from late-type dwarfs or small spirals. Na-yields appear to be very metal-dependent, in agreement with studies of giant ellipticals, probably due to the large dependence on the neutron-excess in stars. We conclude that dEs have undergone a considerable amount of chemical evolution, they are therefore not uniformly old, but have extended SFH, similar to many of the Local Group galaxies.

  3. 800-MeV proton irradiation of thorium and depleted uranium targets

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Russell, G.J.; Brun, T.O.; Pitcher, E.J.

    As part of the Los Alamos Fertile-to-Fissile-Conversion (FERFICON) program in the late 1980`s, thick targets of the fertile materials thorium and depleted uranium were bombarded by 800-MeV protons to produce the fissile materials {sup 233}U and {sup 239}Pu, respectively. The amount of {sup 233}U made was determined by measuring the {sup 233}Pa activity, and the yield of {sup 239}Pu was deduced by measuring the activity of {sup 239}Np. For the thorium target, 4 spallation products and 34 fission products were also measured. For the depleted uranium target, 3 spallation products and 16 fission products were also measured. The number ofmore » fissions in each target was deduced from fission product mass-yield curves. In actuality, axial distributions of the products were measured, and the distributions were then integrated over the target volume to obtain the total number of products for each reaction.« less

  4. Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison with light water reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bahri, Che Nor Aniza Che Zainul, E-mail: anizazainul@gmail.com; Majid, Amran Ab.; Al-Areqi, Wadeeah M.

    2015-04-29

    Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design. LFTR is fluoride based liquid fuel, that use the thorium dissolved in salt mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride. Therefore, LFTR technology is fundamentally different from the solid fuel technology currently in use. Although the traditional nuclear reactor technology has been proven, it has perceptual problems with safety and nuclear waste products. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential advantages of LFTR in three aspects such as safety, fuel efficiency and nuclearmore » waste as an alternative energy generator in the future. Comparisons between LFTR and Light Water Reactor (LWR), on general principles of fuel cycle, resource availability, radiotoxicity and nuclear weapon proliferation shall be elaborated.« less

  5. Determination of the calcium elemental abundance for 43 flares from SMM-XRP solar X-ray spectra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lemen, J. R.; Sylwester, J.; Bentley, R. D.

    The helium and lithium-like X-ray transitions of Ca XVIII-XIX have been used to make an absolute measurement of the coronal calcium elemental abundance relative to hydrogen (ACa) in solar flares. Cooling phase spectra of 43 flares obtained in channel 1 of the Bent Crystal Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission have been analyzed. The abundance is determined from the intensity ratio of the Ca XIX resonance line (1S0 - 1P1) and nearby continuum. Attempts to correlate the ACa measurements with other observable features are discussed.

  6. An investigation into the feasibility of thorium fuels utilization in seed-blanket configurations for TRIGA PUSPATI Reactor (RTP)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Damahuri, Abdul Hannan Bin; Mohamed, Hassan; Aziz Mohamed, Abdul; Idris, Faridah

    2018-01-01

    Thorium is one of the elements that needs to be explored for nuclear fuel research and development. One of the popular core configurations of thorium fuel is seed-blanket configuration or also known as Radkowsky Thorium Fuel concept. The seed will act as a supplier of neutrons, which will be placed inside of the core. The blanket, on the other hand, is the consumer of neutrons that is located at outermost of the core. In this work, a neutronic analysis of seed-blanket configuration for the TRIGA PUSPATI Reactor (RTP) is carried out using Monte Carlo method. The reactor, which has been operated since 1982 use uranium zirconium hydride (U-ZrH1.6) as the fuel and have multiple uranium weight which are 8.5, 12 and 20 wt.%. The pool type reactor is one and only research reactor that located in Malaysia. The design of core included the Uranium Zirconium Hydride located at the centre of the core that will act as the seed to supply neutron. The thorium oxide that will act as blanket situated outside of seed region will receive neutron to transmute 232Th to 233U. The neutron multiplication factor or criticality of each configuration is estimated. Results show that the highest initial criticality achieved is 1.30153.

  7. A COMPARISON OF STELLAR ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCE TECHNIQUES AND MEASUREMENTS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hinkel, Natalie R.; Young, Patrick A.; Pagano, Michael D.

    2016-09-01

    Stellar elemental abundances are important for understanding the fundamental properties of a star or stellar group, such as age and evolutionary history, as well as the composition of an orbiting planet. However, as abundance measurement techniques have progressed, there has been little standardization between individual methods and their comparisons. As a result, different stellar abundance procedures determine measurements that vary beyond the quoted error for the same elements within the same stars. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the systematic variations between methods and offer recommendations for producing more accurate results in the future. We invited amore » number of participants from around the world (Australia, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States) to calculate 10 element abundances (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Fe, Ni, Ba, and Eu) using the same stellar spectra for four stars (HD 361, HD 10700, HD 121504, and HD 202206). Each group produced measurements for each star using (1) their own autonomous techniques, (2) standardized stellar parameters, (3) a standardized line list, and (4) both standardized parameters and a line list. We present the resulting stellar parameters, absolute abundances, and a metric of data similarity that quantifies the homogeneity of the data. We conclude that standardization of some kind, particularly stellar parameters, improves the consistency between methods. However, because results did not converge as more free parameters were standardized, it is clear there are inherent issues within the techniques that need to be reconciled. Therefore, we encourage more conversation and transparency within the community such that stellar abundance determinations can be reproducible as well as accurate and precise.« less

  8. Self-digitization microfluidic chip for absolute quantification of mRNA in single cells.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Alison M; Gansen, Alexander; Paguirigan, Amy L; Kreutz, Jason E; Radich, Jerald P; Chiu, Daniel T

    2014-12-16

    Quantification of mRNA in single cells provides direct insight into how intercellular heterogeneity plays a role in disease progression and outcomes. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the current gold standard for evaluating gene expression, is insufficient for providing absolute measurement of single-cell mRNA transcript abundance. Challenges include difficulties in handling small sample volumes and the high variability in measurements. Microfluidic digital PCR provides far better sensitivity for minute quantities of genetic material, but the typical format of this assay does not allow for counting of the absolute number of mRNA transcripts samples taken from single cells. Furthermore, a large fraction of the sample is often lost during sample handling in microfluidic digital PCR. Here, we report the absolute quantification of single-cell mRNA transcripts by digital, one-step reverse transcription PCR in a simple microfluidic array device called the self-digitization (SD) chip. By performing the reverse transcription step in digitized volumes, we find that the assay exhibits a linear signal across a wide range of total RNA concentrations and agrees well with standard curve qPCR. The SD chip is found to digitize a high percentage (86.7%) of the sample for single-cell experiments. Moreover, quantification of transferrin receptor mRNA in single cells agrees well with single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments. The SD platform for absolute quantification of single-cell mRNA can be optimized for other genes and may be useful as an independent control method for the validation of mRNA quantification techniques.

  9. Sustainable Thorium Nuclear Fuel Cycles: A Comparison of Intermediate and Fast Neutron Spectrum Systems

    DOE PAGES

    Brown, Nicholas R.; Powers, Jeffrey J.; Feng, B.; ...

    2015-05-21

    This paper presents analyses of possible reactor representations of a nuclear fuel cycle with continuous recycling of thorium and produced uranium (mostly U-233) with thorium-only feed. The analysis was performed in the context of a U.S. Department of Energy effort to develop a compendium of informative nuclear fuel cycle performance data. The objective of this paper is to determine whether intermediate spectrum systems, having a majority of fission events occurring with incident neutron energies between 1 eV and 10 5 eV, perform as well as fast spectrum systems in this fuel cycle. The intermediate spectrum options analyzed include tight latticemore » heavy or light water-cooled reactors, continuously refueled molten salt reactors, and a sodium-cooled reactor with hydride fuel. All options were modeled in reactor physics codes to calculate their lattice physics, spectrum characteristics, and fuel compositions over time. Based on these results, detailed metrics were calculated to compare the fuel cycle performance. These metrics include waste management and resource utilization, and are binned to accommodate uncertainties. The performance of the intermediate systems for this selfsustaining thorium fuel cycle was similar to a representative fast spectrum system. However, the number of fission neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed limits performance in intermediate spectrum systems.« less

  10. Estimating the absolute wealth of households.

    PubMed

    Hruschka, Daniel J; Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-07-01

    To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. The median absolute wealth estimates of 1,403,186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723-6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R(2)  = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality.

  11. [Study of spatial stratified sampling strategy of Oncomelania hupensis snail survey based on plant abundance].

    PubMed

    Xun-Ping, W; An, Z

    2017-07-27

    Objective To optimize and simplify the survey method of Oncomelania hupensis snails in marshland endemic regions of schistosomiasis, so as to improve the precision, efficiency and economy of the snail survey. Methods A snail sampling strategy (Spatial Sampling Scenario of Oncomelania based on Plant Abundance, SOPA) which took the plant abundance as auxiliary variable was explored and an experimental study in a 50 m×50 m plot in a marshland in the Poyang Lake region was performed. Firstly, the push broom surveyed data was stratified into 5 layers by the plant abundance data; then, the required numbers of optimal sampling points of each layer through Hammond McCullagh equation were calculated; thirdly, every sample point in the line with the Multiple Directional Interpolation (MDI) placement scheme was pinpointed; and finally, the comparison study among the outcomes of the spatial random sampling strategy, the traditional systematic sampling method, the spatial stratified sampling method, Sandwich spatial sampling and inference and SOPA was performed. Results The method (SOPA) proposed in this study had the minimal absolute error of 0.213 8; and the traditional systematic sampling method had the largest estimate, and the absolute error was 0.924 4. Conclusion The snail sampling strategy (SOPA) proposed in this study obtains the higher estimation accuracy than the other four methods.

  12. Design and Analysis of Thorium-fueled Reduced Moderation Boiling Water Reactors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gorman, Phillip Michael

    The Resource-renewable Boiling Water Reactors (RBWRs) are a set of light water reactors (LWRs) proposed by Hitachi which use a triangular lattice and high void fraction to incinerate fuel with an epithermal spectrum, which is highly atypical of LWRs. The RBWRs operate on a closed fuel cycle, which is impossible with a typical thermal spectrum reactor, in order to accomplish missions normally reserved for sodium fast reactors (SFRs)--either fuel self-sufficiency or waste incineration. The RBWRs also axially segregate the fuel into alternating fissile "seed" regions and fertile "blanket" regions in order to enhance breeding and leakage probability upon coolant voiding. This dissertation focuses on thorium design variants of the RBWR: the self-sufficient RBWR-SS and the RBWR-TR, which consumes reprocessed transuranic (TRU) waste from PWR used nuclear fuel. These designs were based off of the Hitachi-designed RBWR-AC and the RBWR-TB2, respectively, which use depleted uranium (DU) as the primary fertile fuel. The DU-fueled RBWRs use a pair of axially segregated seed sections in order to achieve a negative void coefficient; however, several concerns were raised with this multi-seed approach, including difficulty with controlling the reactor and unacceptably high axial power peaking. Since thorium-uranium fuel tends to have much more negative void feedback than uranium-plutonium fuels, the thorium RBWRs were designed to use a single elongated seed to avoid these issues. A series of parametric studies were performed in order to find the design space for the thorium RBWRs, and optimize the designs while meeting the required safety constraints. The RBWR-SS was optimized to maximize the discharge burnup, while the RBWR-TR was optimized to maximize the TRU transmutation rate. These parametric studies were performed on an assembly level model using the MocDown simulator, which calculates an equilibrium fuel composition with a specified reprocessing scheme. A full core model was

  13. Entry of uranium, thorium, and radium isotopes into plants from soils and fertilizers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shishkunova, L.V.; Grashchenko, S.M.; Strukov, V.N.

    1989-01-01

    We studied the effect of phosphorus fertilizers on the entry of /sup 238/U, /sup 234/U, /sup 228/Th, /sup 230/Th, /sup 232/Th, and /sup 226/Ra into crops from soils. Also examined was plant uptake of radionuclides originating from the fertilizers. Raising the phosphate content by incorporating the fertilizers into certain soils changed the ratio of the amount of radionuclide available to a plant to that fixed in the soil. A specific case was the addition of 4000 kg/ha of ammophos to soddy podzolic soils, which raised the thorium isotope buildup factor by 2 to 3. The uptake of thorium from ammophosmore » by plants, as measured by the entry ratio, was a hundred times lower than from the soils.« less

  14. Determination of uranium and thorium in materials associated with real time electronic solar neutrino detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fassett, J. D.; Kelly, W. R.

    1992-07-01

    The application of isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry to the determination of both uranium and thorium in four different target materials used or proposed for electronic neutrino detectors is described. Isotope dilution analysis is done using highly enriched 233U and 230Th separated isotopes. Sensitivity of the technique is such that sub-picogram amounts of material are readily measured. The overall limit to measurement is caused by contamination of these elements during the measurement process. Uranium is more easily measured than thorium because both the instrumental sensitivity is higher and contamination is better controlled. The materials analyzed were light and heavy water, pseudocumene, and mineral oil.

  15. SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF THORIUM VALUES FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

    DOEpatents

    Warf, J.C.

    1959-04-21

    The separation of thorium values from rare earth metals contained ln aqueous solutions by means of extraction with a water immiscible alkyl phosphate diluted with a hydrocarbon such as hexane is described. While the extraction according to this invention may be carried out from any aqueous salt solution, it is preferred to use solutions containing free mineral acid. Hydrochloric acid and in particular nitric acid are sultable in a concentration ranging from 0.1 to 7 normal. The higher acid concentration results in higher extraction values.

  16. Estimating the absolute wealth of households

    PubMed Central

    Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. Methods We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. Findings The median absolute wealth estimates of 1 403 186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723–6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R2 = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Conclusion Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality. PMID:26170506

  17. X-ray powder data for uranium and thorium minerals

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Frondel, Clifford; Riska, Daphne; Frondel, Judith Weiss

    1956-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey has in preparation a comprehensive volume on the mineralogy of uranium and thorium. This work has been done as part of a continuing systematic survey of data on uranium and thorium minerals on behalf of the Division of Raw Materials, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Pending publication of this volume and in response to a widespread demand among workers in uranium and thorium mineralogy, the X-ray powder diffraction data for the known minerals that contain uranium or thorium as an essential constituent are presented here. The coverage is complete except for a few minerals for which there are no reliable data owing to lack of authentic specimens. With the exception of that for ianthinite, the new data either originated in the Geological Survey or in the Mineralogical Laboratory of Harvard University. Data from the literature or other sources were cross-checked against the files of standard patterns of these laboratories; the sources are indicated in the references. Data not accompanied by a reference were obtained from films in the Harvard Standard File and cross-checked as to the identity of the film with the Geological Survey's file. Minor differences can be expected in the d-spacings reported for the same specimens by different investigators because of the manner of preparation of the mount, the conditions of X-ray irradiation, and the method of photography and measurement of the film or chart. The Harvard and Geological Survey data all were obtained from films taken in 114-mm diameter cameras, using either ethyl cellulose and toluene or collodion spindle mounts and Straumanis-type film mounting. Unless otherwise indicated all patterns were taken with copper radiation (Kα 1.5418 A.) and nickel filter and data are given in Angstrom units. The d-spacings are not corrected for film shrinkage. The correction ordinarily is small and in general is less than either the variation in spacing arising from differences in experimental technique of

  18. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent... are not under a retirement system. An absolute coverage group may include positions which were...

  19. Natural uranium and thorium isotopes in sediment cores off Malaysian ports

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yusoff, Abdul Hafidz; Sabuti, Asnor Azrin; Mohamed, Che Abd Rahim

    2015-06-01

    Sediment cores collected from three Malaysian marine ports, namely, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan and Klang were analyzed to determine the radioactivities of 234U, 238U, 230Th, 232Th and total organic carbon (TOC) content. The objectives of this study were to determine the factors that control the activity of uranium isotopes and identify the possible origin of uranium and thorium in these areas. The activities of 234U and 238U show high positive correlation with TOC at the middle of sediment core from Kota Kinabalu port. This result suggests that activity of uranium at Kota Kinabalu port was influenced by organic carbon. The 234U/238U value at the upper layer of Kota Kinabalu port was ≥1.14 while the ratio value at Labuan and Klang port was ≤ 1.14. These results suggest a reduction process occurred at Kota Kinabalu port where mobile U(VI) was converted to immobile U(IV) by organic carbon. Therefore, it can be concluded that the major input of uranium at Kota Kinabalu port is by sorptive uptake of authigenic uranium from the water column whereas the major inputs of uranium to Labuan and Klang port are of detrital origin. The ratio of 230Th/232Th was used to estimate the origin of thorium. Low ratio value (lt; 1.5) at Labuan and Klang ports support the suggestion that thorium from both areas were come from detrital input while the high ratio (> 1.5) of 230Th/232Th at Kota Kinabalu port suggest the anthropogenic input of 230Th to this area. The source of 230Th is probably from phosphate fertilizers used in the oil-palm cultivation in Kota Kinabalu that is adjacent to the Kota Kinabalu port.

  20. Process for removing thorium and recovering vanadium from titanium chlorinator waste

    DOEpatents

    Olsen, Richard S.; Banks, John T.

    1996-01-01

    A process for removal of thorium from titanium chlorinator waste comprising: (a) leaching an anhydrous titanium chlorinator waste in water or dilute hydrochloric acid solution and filtering to separate insoluble minerals and coke fractions from soluble metal chlorides; (b) beneficiating the insoluble fractions from step (a) on shaking tables to recover recyclable or otherwise useful TiO.sub.2 minerals and coke; and (c) treating filtrate from step (a) with reagents to precipitate and remove thorium by filtration along with acid metals of Ti, Zr, Nb, and Ta by the addition of the filtrate (a), a base and a precipitant to a boiling slurry of reaction products (d); treating filtrate from step (c) with reagents to precipitate and recover an iron vanadate product by the addition of the filtrate (c), a base and an oxidizing agent to a boiling slurry of reaction products; and (e) treating filtrate from step (d) to remove any remaining cations except Na by addition of Na.sub.2 CO.sub.3 and boiling.

  1. A thermodynamic study of the gaseous thorium carbides, ThC, ThC2, ThC3, ThC4, ThC5, and ThC6

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gupta, Satish K.; Gingerich, Karl A.

    1980-02-01

    Six gaseous carbides of thorium, ThCn(n=1-6), have been identified in a Knudsen effusion mass spectrometric investigation of the vapor phase above a thorium-uranium-rhodium-graphite system at high temperatures. The partial pressures of the thorium containing species were measured as a function of temperature in the 2300-2700 °K range. Third law enthalpies for the reactions Th(g)+nC(graphite) =ThCn, n=1 to 6, and of various other homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions were evaluated. By combining the experimental enthalpies with appropriate thermodynamic data taken from literature, the following values for the atomization energies ΔH °at,298, and standard heats of formation ΔH °f,298 of thorium carbides have been derived:

  2. Structural Characterization and Absolute Quantification of Microcystin Peptides Using Collision-Induced and Ultraviolet Photo-Dissociation Tandem Mass Spectrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Attard, Troy J.; Carter, Melissa D.; Fang, Mengxuan; Johnson, Rudolph C.; Reid, Gavin E.

    2018-05-01

    Microcystin (MC) peptides produced by cyanobacteria pose a hepatotoxic threat to human health upon ingestion from contaminated drinking water. While rapid MC identification and quantification in contaminated body fluids or tissue samples is important for patient treatment and outcomes, conventional immunoassay-based measurement strategies typically lack the specificity required for unambiguous determination of specific MC variants, whose toxicity can significantly vary depending on their structures. Furthermore, the unambiguous identification and accurate quantitation of MC variants using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)-based methods can be limited due to a current lack of appropriate stable isotope-labeled internal standards. To address these limitations, we have systematically examined here the sequence and charge state dependence to the formation and absolute abundance of both "global" and "variant-specific" product ions from representative MC-LR, MC-YR, MC-RR, and MC-LA peptides, using higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD)-MS/MS, ion-trap collision-induced dissociation (CID)-MS/MS and CID-MS3, and 193 nm ultraviolet photodissociation (UPVD)-MS/MS. HCD-MS/MS was found to provide the greatest detection sensitivity for both global and variant-specific product ions in each of the MC variants, except for MC-YR where a variant-specific product uniquely formed via UPVD-MS/MS was observed with the greatest absolute abundance. A simple methodology for the preparation and characterization of 18O-stable isotope-labeled MC reference materials for use as internal standards was also developed. Finally, we have demonstrated the applicability of the methods developed herein for absolute quantification of MC-LR present in human urine samples, using capillary scale liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high resolution / accurate mass spectrometry and HCD-MS/MS.

  3. 49 CFR 173.426 - Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Excepted packages for articles containing natural....426 Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium. A manufactured article in which the sole Class 7 (radioactive) material content is natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium...

  4. 49 CFR 173.426 - Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Excepted packages for articles containing natural....426 Excepted packages for articles containing natural uranium or thorium. A manufactured article in which the sole Class 7 (radioactive) material content is natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium...

  5. Health and Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings (40 CFR Part 192)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This regulation sets standards for the protection of public health, safety, and the environment from radiological and non-radiological hazards from uranium and thorium ore processing and disposal of associated wastes.

  6. Thorium normalization as a hydrocarbon accumulation indicator for Lower Miocene rocks in Ras Ghara area, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    El-Khadragy, A. A.; Shazly, T. F.; AlAlfy, I. M.; Ramadan, M.; El-Sawy, M. Z.

    2018-06-01

    An exploration method has been developed using surface and aerial gamma-ray spectral measurements in prospecting petroleum in stratigraphic and structural traps. The Gulf of Suez is an important region for studying hydrocarbon potentiality in Egypt. Thorium normalization technique was applied on the sandstone reservoirs in the region to determine the hydrocarbon potentialities zones using the three spectrometric radioactive gamma ray-logs (eU, eTh and K% logs). This method was applied on the recorded gamma-ray spectrometric logs for Rudeis and Kareem Formations in Ras Ghara oil Field, Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The conventional well logs (gamma-ray, resistivity, neutron, density and sonic logs) were analyzed to determine the net pay zones in the study area. The agreement ratios between the thorium normalization technique and the results of the well log analyses are high, so the application of thorium normalization technique can be used as a guide for hydrocarbon accumulation in the study reservoir rocks.

  7. SLURRY MIX EVAPORATOR BATCH ACCEPTABILITY AND TEST CASES OF THE PRODUCT COMPOSITION CONTROL SYSTEM WITH THORIUM AS A REPORTABLE ELEMENT

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Edwards, T.

    2010-10-07

    The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), which is operated by Savannah River Remediation, LLC (SRR), has recently begun processing Sludge Batch 6 (SB6) by combining it with Frit 418 at a nominal waste loading (WL) of 36%. A unique feature of the SB6/Frit 418 glass system, as compared to the previous glass systems processed in DWPF, is that thorium will be a reportable element (i.e., concentrations of elemental thorium in the final glass product greater than 0.5 weight percent (wt%)) for the resulting wasteform. Several activities were initiated based upon this unique aspect of SB6. One of these was anmore » investigation into the impact of thorium on the models utilized in DWPF's Product Composition and Control System (PCCS). While the PCCS is described in more detail below, for now note that it is utilized by Waste Solidification Engineering (WSE) to evaluate the acceptability of each batch of material in the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) before this material is passed on to the melter. The evaluation employs models that predict properties associated with processability and product quality from the composition of vitrified samples of the SME material. The investigation of the impact of thorium on these models was conducted by Peeler and Edwards [1] and led to a recommendation that DWPF can process the SB6/Frit 418 glass system with ThO{sub 2} concentrations up to 1.8 wt% in glass. Questions also arose regarding the handling of thorium in the SME batch acceptability process as documented by Brown, Postles, and Edwards [2]. Specifically, that document is the technical bases of PCCS, and while Peeler and Edwards confirmed the reliability of the models, there is a need to confirm that the current implementation of DWPF's PCCS appropriately handles thorium as a reportable element. Realization of this need led to a Technical Task Request (TTR) prepared by Bricker [3] that identified some specific SME-related activities that the Savannah River National Laboratory

  8. Bayesian change point analysis of abundance trends for pelagic fishes in the upper San Francisco Estuary.

    PubMed

    Thomson, James R; Kimmerer, Wim J; Brown, Larry R; Newman, Ken B; Mac Nally, Ralph; Bennett, William A; Feyrer, Frederick; Fleishman, Erica

    2010-07-01

    We examined trends in abundance of four pelagic fish species (delta smelt, longfin smelt, striped bass, and threadfin shad) in the upper San Francisco Estuary, California, USA, over 40 years using Bayesian change point models. Change point models identify times of abrupt or unusual changes in absolute abundance (step changes) or in rates of change in abundance (trend changes). We coupled Bayesian model selection with linear regression splines to identify biotic or abiotic covariates with the strongest associations with abundances of each species. We then refitted change point models conditional on the selected covariates to explore whether those covariates could explain statistical trends or change points in species abundances. We also fitted a multispecies change point model that identified change points common to all species. All models included hierarchical structures to model data uncertainties, including observation errors and missing covariate values. There were step declines in abundances of all four species in the early 2000s, with a likely common decline in 2002. Abiotic variables, including water clarity, position of the 2 per thousand isohaline (X2), and the volume of freshwater exported from the estuary, explained some variation in species' abundances over the time series, but no selected covariates could explain statistically the post-2000 change points for any species.

  9. Adsorption behavior of thorium on N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyldiglycolamide (TODGA) impregnated graphene aerogel.

    PubMed

    Chen, Mumei; Li, Zheng; Geng, Yiyun; Zhao, Haogui; He, Shuhua; Li, Qingnuan; Zhang, Lan

    2018-05-01

    As a kind of three-dimensional graphene architecture material with superhydrophobic, low density, high specific surface area and porosity, graphene aerogel (GA) can be used to immobilize extractant to constitute the solvent impregnated adsorbent. In this paper, the N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyldiglycolamide impregnated graphene aerogel ( GA-TODGA) was prepared to remove the thorium from aqueous solution. It is found that the adsorption of thorium on GA-TODGA is strongly dependent on the concentration of TODGA in GA and HNO 3 in aqueous solution. Compared with other solvent impregnated adsorbents, the adsorption capacity of GA-TODGA is much higher due to the high immobilization capacity of GA for TODGA. Furthermore, the GA-TODGA also possesses excellent stability and reusability, ensuring the application potential of using GA-TODGA in large scale. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Simulation on reactor TRIGA Puspati core kinetics fueled with thorium (Th) based fuel element

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohammed, Abdul Aziz; Pauzi, Anas Muhamad; Rahman, Shaik Mohmmed Haikhal Abdul; Zin, Muhamad Rawi Muhammad; Jamro, Rafhayudi; Idris, Faridah Mohamad

    2016-01-01

    In confronting global energy requirement and the search for better technologies, there is a real case for widening the range of potential variations in the design of nuclear power plants. Smaller and simpler reactors are attractive, provided they can meet safety and security standards and non-proliferation issues. On fuel cycle aspect, thorium fuel cycles produce much less plutonium and other radioactive transuranic elements than uranium fuel cycles. Although not fissile itself, Th-232 will absorb slow neutrons to produce uranium-233 (233U), which is fissile. By introducing Thorium, the numbers of highly enriched uranium fuel element can be reduced while maintaining the core neutronic performance. This paper describes the core kinetic of a small research reactor core like TRIGA fueled with a Th filled fuel element matrix using a general purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code.

  11. Forecasting Error Calculation with Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khair, Ummul; Fahmi, Hasanul; Hakim, Sarudin Al; Rahim, Robbi

    2017-12-01

    Prediction using a forecasting method is one of the most important things for an organization, the selection of appropriate forecasting methods is also important but the percentage error of a method is more important in order for decision makers to adopt the right culture, the use of the Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error to calculate the percentage of mistakes in the least square method resulted in a percentage of 9.77% and it was decided that the least square method be worked for time series and trend data.

  12. Infrared photoconductivity and photovoltaic response from nanoscale domains of PbS alloyed with thorium and oxygen

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arad-Vosk, N.; Beach, R.; Ron, A.; Templeman, T.; Golan, Y.; Sarusi, G.; Sa'ar, A.

    2018-03-01

    Thin films of lead sulfide alloyed with thorium and oxygen were deposited on GaAs substrates and processed to produce a photo-diode structure. Structural, optical and electrical characterizations indicate the presence of small nanoscale domains (NDs) that are characterized by dense packaging, high quality interfaces and a blue-shift of the energy bandgap toward the short wavelength infrared range of the spectrum. Photocurrent spectroscopy revealed a considerable photoconductivity that is correlated with excitation of carriers in the NDs of lead sulfide alloyed with thorium and oxygen. Furthermore, the appearance of a photovoltaic effect under near infrared illumination indicates a quasi-type II band alignment at the interface of the GaAs and the film of NDs.

  13. Infrared photoconductivity and photovoltaic response from nanoscale domains of PbS alloyed with thorium and oxygen.

    PubMed

    Arad-Vosk, N; Beach, R; Ron, A; Templeman, T; Golan, Y; Sarusi, G; Sa'ar, A

    2018-03-16

    Thin films of lead sulfide alloyed with thorium and oxygen were deposited on GaAs substrates and processed to produce a photo-diode structure. Structural, optical and electrical characterizations indicate the presence of small nanoscale domains (NDs) that are characterized by dense packaging, high quality interfaces and a blue-shift of the energy bandgap toward the short wavelength infrared range of the spectrum. Photocurrent spectroscopy revealed a considerable photoconductivity that is correlated with excitation of carriers in the NDs of lead sulfide alloyed with thorium and oxygen. Furthermore, the appearance of a photovoltaic effect under near infrared illumination indicates a quasi-type II band alignment at the interface of the GaAs and the film of NDs.

  14. On the equilibrium isotopic composition of the thorium-uranium-plutonium fuel cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshalkin, V. Ye.; Povyshev, V. M.

    2016-12-01

    The equilibrium isotopic compositions and the times to equilibrium in the process of thorium-uranium-plutonium oxide fuel recycling in VVER-type reactors using heavy water mixed with light water are estimated. It is demonstrated thEhfat such reactors have a capacity to operate with self-reproduction of active isotopes in the equilibrium mode.

  15. Short papers of the U.S. Geological Survey uranium-thorium symposium, 1977

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Campbell, John A.

    1977-01-01

    This circular contains expanded abstracts for the technical papers presented at the 1977 Uranium and Thorium Research and Resources Conference, sponsored by the Branch of Uranium and Thorium Resources, U.S. Geological Survey. This Conference was held April 27 and 28, 1977, at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden. This was the second conference sponsored by the Branch the first was held in December of 1975.Readers interested in additional information about a paper presented at the meeting should contact the author directly. U.S. Geological Survey authors stationed in Denver can be reached by writing to Box 25046, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225. Authors stationed in Reston, Virginia, can be reached by writing to the U.S. Geological Survey, National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia 22092. Current addresses for other authors appear at the beginning of their papers.Any use of trade names and trademarks in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey.

  16. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  17. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  18. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  19. Determination of thorium (IV) using isophthalaldehyde-tetrapyrrole as probe by resonance light scattering, second-order scattering and frequency-doubling scattering spectra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Jiao; Xue, Jinhua; Xiao, Xilin; Xu, Li; Jiang, Min; Peng, Pengcheng; Liao, Lifu

    2017-12-01

    The coordination reaction of thorium (IV) with a ditopic bidentate ligand to form supramolecular polymer was studied by resonance light scattering (RLS) spectra, second-order scattering (SOS) spectra and frequency-doubling scattering (FDS) spectra, respectively. The ditopic bidentate ligand is isophthalaldehyde-tetrapyrrole (IPTP). It was synthesized through a condensation reaction of isophthalaldehyde with pyrrole. The formation of supramolecular polymer results in remarkable intensity enhancements of the three light scattering signals. The maximum scattering wavelengths of RLS, FDS and SOS were 290, 568 and 340 nm, respectively. The reaction was used to establish new light scattering methods for the determination of thorium (IV) by using IPTP as probe. Under optimum conditions, the intensity enhancements of RLS, SOS and FDS were directly proportional to the concentration of thorium (IV) in the ranges of 0.01 to 1.2 μg mL- 1, 0.05 to 1.2 μg mL- 1 and 0.05 to 1.2 μg mL- 1, respectively. The detection limits were 0.003 μg mL- 1, 0.012 μg mL- 1 and 0.021 μg mL- 1, respectively. The methods were suitable for analyzing thorium (IV) in actual samples. The results show acceptable recoveries and precision compared with a reference method.

  20. Investigation of the system ThO 2-NpO 2-P 2O 5. Solid solutions of thorium-neptunium (IV) phosphate-diphosphate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dacheux, N.; Thomas, A. C.; Brandel, V.; Genet, M.

    1998-11-01

    Considering that phosphate matrices could be potential candidates for the immobilization of actinides or for the final disposal of the excess plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons, the chemistry of thorium phosphates has been re-examined. In the ThO 2-P 2O 5 system, the thorium phosphate-diphosphate Th 4(PO 4) 4P 2O 7 (TPD) can be synthesized by wet and dry chemical processes. The substitution of thorium by other tetravalent actinides like uranium or plutonium can be obtained for 0 < x < 3.0 and 0 < x < 1.63, respectively. In this work, we report the chemical conditions of synthesis of thorium-neptunium (IV) phosphate-diphosphate solid solutions Th 4- xNp x(PO 4) 4P 2O 7 (TNPD) with 0 < x < 1.6 from a mixture of thorium and neptunium (IV) nitrates and concentrated phosphoric acid. From the variation of the cell parameters and volume, the maximum substitution of Th 4+ by Np 4+ in the TPD structure is evaluated to 2.08 (which corresponds to about 52 mol% of thorium replaced by neptunium (IV)). The field of existence of solid solutions Th 4- xU- xNp- xPuU xUNp xNpPu xPu(PO 4)4P 2O 7 has been calculated. These solid solutions should be synthesized for 5 xU+7 xNp+9 xPu⩽15. In the NpO 2-P 2O 5 system, the unit cell parameters of Np 2O(PO 4) 2 were refined by analogy with U 2O(PO 4) 2 which crystallographic data have been published recently. For Np 2O(PO 4) 2 the unit cell is orthorhombic with the following cell parameters: a=7.033(2) Å, b=9.024(3) Å, c=12.587(6) Å and V=799(1) Å 3. The unit cell parameter obtained for α-NpP 2O 7 ( a=8.586(1) Å) is in good agreement with those already reported in literature.

  1. Simulation on reactor TRIGA Puspati core kinetics fueled with thorium (Th) based fuel element

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mohammed, Abdul Aziz, E-mail: azizM@uniten.edu.my; Rahman, Shaik Mohmmed Haikhal Abdul; Pauzi, Anas Muhamad, E-mail: anas@uniten.edu.my

    2016-01-22

    In confronting global energy requirement and the search for better technologies, there is a real case for widening the range of potential variations in the design of nuclear power plants. Smaller and simpler reactors are attractive, provided they can meet safety and security standards and non-proliferation issues. On fuel cycle aspect, thorium fuel cycles produce much less plutonium and other radioactive transuranic elements than uranium fuel cycles. Although not fissile itself, Th-232 will absorb slow neutrons to produce uranium-233 ({sup 233}U), which is fissile. By introducing Thorium, the numbers of highly enriched uranium fuel element can be reduced while maintainingmore » the core neutronic performance. This paper describes the core kinetic of a small research reactor core like TRIGA fueled with a Th filled fuel element matrix using a general purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code.« less

  2. Nuclear thermionic converter. [tungsten-thorium oxide rods

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Phillips, W. M.; Mondt, J. F. (Inventor)

    1977-01-01

    Efficient nuclear reactor thermionic converter units are described which can be constructed at low cost and assembled in a reactor which requires a minimum of fuel. Each converter unit utilizes an emitter rod with a fluted exterior, several fuel passages located in the bulges that are formed in the rod between the flutes, and a collector receiving passage formed through the center of the rod. An array of rods is closely packed in an interfitting arrangement, with the bulges of the rods received in the recesses formed between the bulges of other rods, thereby closely packing the nuclear fuel. The rods are constructed of a mixture of tungsten and thorium oxide to provide high power output, high efficiency, high strength, and good machinability.

  3. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates.

    PubMed

    Pfeiffer, R M; Petracci, E

    2011-07-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates.

  4. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates

    PubMed Central

    Pfeiffer, R.M.; Petracci, E.

    2011-01-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates. PMID:21643476

  5. Simultaneous determination of thorium, niobium, lead, and zinc by photon-induced x-ray fluorescence of lateritic material

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    LaBrecque, J.J.; Adames, D.; Parker, W.C.

    1981-01-01

    A rapid method is presented for the simultaneous determinations of thorium, niobium, lead, and zinc in lateritic material from Cerro Impacto, Estado Bolivar, Venezuela. This technique uses a PDP - 11/05 processor - based photon induced x-ray fluorescence system. The total variations of approximately 5% for concentrations of approximately 1 and 10% for concentrations of approximately 0.1% were obtained with only 500 s of fluorescent time. The values obtained by this method were in agreement with values measured by conventional flame atomic absorption spectroscopy for lead and zinc. The values for thorium measured were in agreement with the reported valuesmore » for the reference materials supplied by NBL.« less

  6. Absolute Summ

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phillips, Alfred, Jr.

    Summ means the entirety of the multiverse. It seems clear, from the inflation theories of A. Guth and others, that the creation of many universes is plausible. We argue that Absolute cosmological ideas, not unlike those of I. Newton, may be consistent with dynamic multiverse creations. As suggested in W. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and with the Anthropic Principle defended by S. Hawking, et al., human consciousness, buttressed by findings of neuroscience, may have to be considered in our models. Predictability, as A. Einstein realized with Invariants and General Relativity, may be required for new ideas to be part of physics. We present here a two postulate model geared to an Absolute Summ. The seedbed of this work is part of Akhnaton's philosophy (see S. Freud, Moses and Monotheism). Most important, however, is that the structure of human consciousness, manifest in Kenya's Rift Valley 200,000 years ago as Homo sapiens, who were the culmination of the six million year co-creation process of Hominins and Nature in Africa, allows us to do the physics that we do. .

  7. A procedural manual for measurement of uranium and thorium isotopes utilizing the USGS-Stanford Finnegan Mat 262

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Shamp, Donald D.

    2001-01-01

    Over the past several decades investigators have extensively examined the 238U-234U- 230Th systematics of a variety of geologic materials using alpha spectroscopy. Analytical uncertainty for 230Th by alpha spectroscopy has been limited to about 2% (2σ). The advantage of thermal ionization mass spectroscopy (TIMS), introduced by Edwards and co-workers in the late 1980’s is the increased detectability of these isotopes by a factor of ~200, and decreases in the uncertainty for 230Th to about 5‰ (2σ) error. This report is a procedural manual for using the USGS-Stanford Finnegan-Mat 262 TIMS to collect and isolate Uranium and Thorium isotopic ratio data. Chemical separation of Uranium and Thorium from the sample media is accomplished using acid dissolution and then processed using anion exchange resins. The Finnegan-Mat262 Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS) utilizes a surface ionization technique in which nitrates of Uranium and Thorium are placed on a source filament. Upon heating, positive ion emission occurs. The ions are then accelerated and focused into a beam which passes through a curved magnetic field dispersing the ions by mass. Faraday cups and/or an ion counter capture the ions and allow for quantitative analysis of the various isotopes.

  8. Conservation of protein abundance patterns reveals the regulatory architecture of the EGFR-MAPK pathway

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shi, T.; Niepel, M.; McDermott, J. E.

    It is not known whether cancer cells generally show quantitative differences in the expression of signaling pathway proteins that could dysregulate signal transduction. To explore this issue, we first defined the primary components of the EGF-MAPK pathway in normal human mammary epithelial cells, identifying 16 core proteins and 10 feedback regulators. We then quantified their absolute abundance across a panel of normal and cancer cell lines. We found that core pathway proteins were expressed at very similar levels across all cell types. In contrast, the EGFR and transcriptionally controlled feedback regulators were expressed at highly variable levels. The absolute abundancemore » of most core pathway proteins was between 50,000- 70,000 copies per cell, but the adaptors SOS1, SOS2, and GAB1 were found at far lower levels (2,000-5,000 per cell). MAPK signaling showed saturation in all cells between 3,000-10,000 occupied EGFR, consistent with the idea that low adaptor levels limit signaling. Our results suggest that the core MAPK pathway is essentially invariant across different cell types, with cell- specific differences in signaling likely due to variable levels of feedback regulators. The low abundance of adaptors relative to the EGFR could be responsible for previous observation of saturable signaling, endocytosis, and high affinity EGFR.« less

  9. Absolute optical metrology : nanometers to kilometers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dubovitsky, Serge; Lay, O. P.; Peters, R. D.; Liebe, C. C.

    2005-01-01

    We provide and overview of the developments in the field of high-accuracy absolute optical metrology with emphasis on space-based applications. Specific work on the Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging (MSTAR) sensor is described along with novel applications of the sensor.

  10. Fuel Breeding and Core Behavior Analyses on In Core Fuel Management of Water Cooled Thorium Reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Permana, Sidik; Department of Physics, Bandung Institute of Technology, Gedung Fisika, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132; Sekimoto, Hiroshi

    2010-12-23

    Thorium fuel cycle with recycled U-233 has been widely recognized having some contributions to improve the water-cooled breeder reactor program which has been shown by a feasible area of breeding and negative void reactivity which confirms that fissile of 233U contributes to better fuel breeding and effective for obtaining negative void reactivity coefficient as the main fissile material. The present study has the objective to estimate the effect of whole core configuration as well as burnup effects to the reactor core profile by adopting two dimensional model of fuel core management. About more than 40 months of cycle period hasmore » been employed for one cycle fuel irradiation of three batches fuel system for large water cooled thorium reactors. All position of fuel arrangement contributes to the total core conversion ratio which gives conversion ratio less than unity of at the BOC and it contributes to higher than unity (1.01) at the EOC after some irradiation process. Inner part and central part give the important part of breeding contribution with increasing burnup process, while criticality is reduced with increasing the irradiation time. Feasibility of breeding capability of water-cooled thorium reactors for whole core fuel arrangement has confirmed from the obtained conversion ratio which shows higher than unity. Whole core analysis on evaluating reactivity change which is caused by the change of voided condition has been employed for conservative assumption that 100% coolant and moderator are voided. It obtained always a negative void reactivity coefficient during reactor operation which shows relatively more negative void coefficient at BOC (fresh fuel composition), and it becomes less negative void coefficient with increasing the operation time. Negative value of void reactivity coefficient shows the reactor has good safety properties in relation to the reactivity profile which is the main parameter in term of criticality safety analysis. Therefore

  11. Calibration of Gephyrocapsa Coccolith Abundance in Holocene Sediments for Paleo-temperature Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bollmann, J.; Brabec, B.

    2001-12-01

    Abundance and assemblage compositions of microplankton, together with their chemical and stable isotopic composition, have been among the most successful methods in paleoceanography. One of the most frequently applied techniques for reconstruction of paleo-temperature is a transfer function using the relative abundance of planktic foraminifera in sediment samples. Here we present evidence, suggesting that absolute sea surface temperature for a given location can be also calculated from the relative abundance of Gephyrocapsa morphotypes in sediment samples with an accuracy comparable to foraminifera transfer functions. By extrapolating this finding, paleo-enviromental interpretations can be obtained for the Late Pleistocene and discrepancies between the different currently used methods (e.g., foraminifer, alkenone and Ca/Mg derived temperature estimates) might be resolved. Eighty-one Holocene sediment samples were selected from the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans covering a temperature gradient from 13.4° C to 29.4° C, a salinity gradient from 32.21 to 37.34 and a productivity gradient of 0.045 to 0.492μ g chlorophyll/L. Standard multiple linear regression analyses were applied to this data set, linking the relative abundance of Gephyrocapsa morphotypes to mean sea surface temperature. The best model revealed an r2 of 0.8 with a standard residual error of 1.8° C for calculation of the mean sea surface temperature.

  12. A global algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDougall, T. J.; Jackett, D. R.; Millero, F. J.; Pawlowicz, R.; Barker, P. M.

    2012-12-01

    The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater - 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density) than does Practical Salinity. When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic), Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg-1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p) in the world ocean. To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811). In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally).

  13. Absolute instability of the Gaussian wake profile

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hultgren, Lennart S.; Aggarwal, Arun K.

    1987-01-01

    Linear parallel-flow stability theory has been used to investigate the effect of viscosity on the local absolute instability of a family of wake profiles with a Gaussian velocity distribution. The type of local instability, i.e., convective or absolute, is determined by the location of a branch-point singularity with zero group velocity of the complex dispersion relation for the instability waves. The effects of viscosity were found to be weak for values of the wake Reynolds number, based on the center-line velocity defect and the wake half-width, larger than about 400. Absolute instability occurs only for sufficiently large values of the center-line wake defect. The critical value of this parameter increases with decreasing wake Reynolds number, thereby indicating a shrinking region of absolute instability with decreasing wake Reynolds number. If backflow is not allowed, absolute instability does not occur for wake Reynolds numbers smaller than about 38.

  14. Elemental gas-phase abundances of intermediate redshift type Ia supernova star-forming host galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moreno-Raya, M. E.; Galbany, L.; López-Sánchez, Á. R.; Mollá, M.; González-Gaitán, S.; Vílchez, J. M.; Carnero, A.

    2018-05-01

    The maximum luminosity of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) depends on the oxygen abundance of the regions of the host galaxies, where they explode. This metallicity dependence reduces the dispersion in the Hubble diagram (HD) when included with the traditional two-parameter calibration of SN Ia light-curve parameters and absolute magnitude. In this work, we use empirical calibrations to carefully estimate the oxygen abundance of galaxies hosting SNe Ia from the SDSS-II/SN (Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova) survey at intermediate redshift by measuring their emission-line intensities. We also derive electronic temperature with the direct method for a small fraction of objects for consistency. We find a trend of decreasing oxygen abundance with increasing redshift for the most massive galaxies. Moreover, we study the dependence of the HD residuals (HR) with galaxy oxygen abundance obtaining a correlation in line with those found in other works. In particular, the HR versus oxygen abundance shows a slope of -0.186 ± 0.123 mag dex-1 (1.52σ) in good agreement with theoretical expectations. This implies smaller distance modulii after corrections for SNe Ia in metal-rich galaxies. Based on our previous results on local SNe Ia, we propose this dependence to be due to the lower luminosity of the SNe Ia produced in more metal-rich environments.

  15. Actinide Corroles: Synthesis and Characterization of Thorium(IV) and Uranium(IV) bis(-chloride) Dimers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ward, Ashleigh L.; Buckley, Heather L.; Gryko, Daniel T.

    2013-12-01

    The first synthesis and structural characterization of actinide corroles is presented. Thorium(IV) and uranium(IV) macrocycles of Mes2(p-OMePh)corrole were synthesised and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, UV-Visible spectroscopy, variable-temperature 1H NMR, ESI mass spectrometry and cyclic voltammetry.

  16. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  17. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  18. Absolute Humidity and the Seasonality of Influenza (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaman, J. L.; Pitzer, V.; Viboud, C.; Grenfell, B.; Goldstein, E.; Lipsitch, M.

    2010-12-01

    Much of the observed wintertime increase of mortality in temperate regions is attributed to seasonal influenza. A recent re-analysis of laboratory experiments indicates that absolute humidity strongly modulates the airborne survival and transmission of the influenza virus. Here we show that the onset of increased wintertime influenza-related mortality in the United States is associated with anomalously low absolute humidity levels during the prior weeks. We then use an epidemiological model, in which observed absolute humidity conditions temper influenza transmission rates, to successfully simulate the seasonal cycle of observed influenza-related mortality. The model results indicate that direct modulation of influenza transmissibility by absolute humidity alone is sufficient to produce this observed seasonality. These findings provide epidemiological support for the hypothesis that absolute humidity drives seasonal variations of influenza transmission in temperate regions. In addition, we show that variations of the basic and effective reproductive numbers for influenza, caused by seasonal changes in absolute humidity, are consistent with the general timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks observed for 2009 A/H1N1 in temperate regions. Indeed, absolute humidity conditions correctly identify the region of the United States vulnerable to a third, wintertime wave of pandemic influenza. These findings suggest that the timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks is controlled by a combination of absolute humidity conditions, levels of susceptibility and changes in population mixing and contact rates.

  19. Metallicity and absolute magnitude calibrations for UBV photometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karataş, Y.; Schuster, W. J.

    2006-10-01

    Calibrations are presented here for metallicity ([Fe/H]) in terms of the ultraviolet excess, [δ(U - B) at B - V = 0.6, hereafter δ0.6], and also for the absolute visual magnitude (MV) and its difference with respect to the Hyades (ΔMHV) in terms of δ0.6 and (B - V), making use of high-resolution spectroscopic abundances from the literature and Hipparcos parallaxes. The relation [Fe/H]-δ0.6 has been derived for dwarf plus turn-off stars, and also for dwarf, turn-off, plus subgiant stars classified using the MV-(B - V)0 plane of Fig. 11, which is calibrated with isochrones from Bergbusch & VandenBerg (and also VandenBerg & Clem). The [Fe/H]-δ0.6 relations in our equations (5) and (6) agree well with those of Carney, as can be seen from Fig. 5(a). Within the uncertainties, the zero-points, +0.13(+/-0.05) of equation (5) and +0.13(+/-0.04) of equation (6), are in good agreement with the photometric ones of Cameron and of Carney, and close to the spectroscopic ones of Cayrel et al. and of Boesgaard & Friel for the Hyades open cluster. Good quantitative agreement between our estimated [Fe/H] abundances with those from uvby-β photometry and spectroscopic [Fe/H]spec values demonstrates that our equation (6) can be used in deriving quality photometric metal abundances for field stars and clusters using UBV data from various photometric surveys. For dwarf and turn-off stars, a new hybrid MV calibration is presented, based on Hipparcos parallaxes with σπ/π <= 0.1 and with a dispersion of +/-0.24 in MV. This hybrid MV calibration contains δ0.6 and (B - V) terms, plus higher order cross-terms of these, and is valid for the ranges of +0.37 <= (B - V)0 <= +0.88,- 0.10 <= δ0.6 <= +0.29 and 3.44 <= MV <= 7.23. For dwarf and turn-off stars, the relation for ΔMHV is revised and updated in terms of (B - V) and δ0.6, for the ranges of -0.10 <= δ0.6 <= +0.29, and +0.49 <= (B - V)0 <= +0.89, again making use of Hipparcos parallaxes with σπ/π <= 0.1. These parallaxes for

  20. Carbon chain abundance in the diffuse interstellar medium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Allamandola, L. J.; Hudgins, D. M.; Bauschlicher, C. W. Jr; Langhoff, S. R.

    1999-01-01

    Thanks to the mid-IR sensitivities of the ISO and IRTS orbiting spectrometers it is now possible to search the diffuse interstellar medium for heretofore inaccessible molecular emission. In view of the recent strong case for the presence of C(7-) (Kirkwood et al. 1998, Tulej et al. 1998),and the fact that carbon chains possess prominent infrared active modes in a very clean portion of the interstellar spectrum, we have analyzed the IRTS spectrum of the diffuse interstellar medium for the infrared signatures of these species. Theoretical and experimental infrared band frequencies and absolute intensities of many different carbon chain species are presented. These include cyanopolyynes, neutral and anionic linear carbon molecules, and neutral and ionized, even-numbered, hydrogenated carbon chains. We show that--as a family--these species have abundances in the diffuse ISM on the order of 10(-10) with respect to hydrogen, values consistent with their abundances in dense molecular clouds. Assuming an average length of 10 C atoms per C-chain implies that roughly a millionth of the cosmically available carbon is in the form of carbon chains and that carbon chains can account for a few percent of the visible to near-IR diffuse interstellar band (DIB) total equivalent width (not DIB number).

  1. Promises and Challenges of Thorium Implementation for Transuranic Transmutation - 13550

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Franceschini, F.; Lahoda, E.; Wenner, M.

    2013-07-01

    This paper focuses on the challenges of implementing a thorium fuel cycle for recycle and transmutation of long-lived actinide components from used nuclear fuel. A multi-stage reactor system is proposed; the first stage consists of current UO{sub 2} once-through LWRs supplying transuranic isotopes that are continuously recycled and burned in second stage reactors in either a uranium (U) or thorium (Th) carrier. The second stage reactors considered for the analysis are Reduced Moderation Pressurized Water Reactors (RMPWRs), reconfigured from current PWR core designs, and Fast Reactors (FRs) with a burner core design. While both RMPWRs and FRs can in principlemore » be employed, each reactor and associated technology has pros and cons. FRs have unmatched flexibility and transmutation efficiency. RMPWRs have higher fuel manufacturing and reprocessing requirements, but may represent a cheaper solution and the opportunity for a shorter time to licensing and deployment. All options require substantial developments in manufacturing, due to the high radiation field, and reprocessing, due to the very high actinide recovery ratio to elicit the claimed radiotoxicity reduction. Th reduces the number of transmutation reactors, and is required to enable a viable RMPWR design, but presents additional challenges on manufacturing and reprocessing. The tradeoff between the various options does not make the choice obvious. Moreover, without an overarching supporting policy in place, the costly and challenging technologies required inherently discourage industrialization of any transmutation scheme, regardless of the adoption of U or Th. (authors)« less

  2. On the role of fusion neutron source with thorium blanket in forming the nuclide composition of the nuclear fuel cycle of the Russian Federation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shmelev, A. N.; Kulikov, G. G.

    2016-12-01

    The possible role of available thorium resources of the Russian Federation in utilization of thorium in the closed (U-Pu)-fuel cycle of nuclear power is considered. The efficiency of application of fusion neutron sources with thorium blanket for economical use of available thorium resources is demonstrated. The objective of this study is the search for a solution of such major tasks of nuclear power as reduction of the amount of front-end operations in the nuclear fuel cycle and enhancement of its protection against uncontrolled proliferation of fissile materials with the smallest possible alterations in the fuel cycle. The earlier results are analyzed, new information on the amount of thorium resources of the Russian Federation is used, and additional estimates are made. The following basic results obtained on the basis of the assumption of involving fusion reactors with Th-blanket in future nuclear power for generation of the light uranium fraction 232+233+234U and 231Pa are formulated. (1) The fuel cycle would shift from fissile 235U to 233U, which is more attractive for thermal power reactors. (2) The light uranium fraction is the most "protected" in the uranium fuel component, and being mixed with regenerated uranium, it would become reduced-enrichment uranium fuel, which would relieve the problem of nonproliferation of the fissile material. (3) The addition of 231Pa into the fuel would stabilize its neutron-multiplying properties, thus making it possible to implement a long fuel residence time and, as a consequence, increase the export potential of the whole nuclear power technology. (4) The available thorium resource in the vicinity of Krasnoufimsk is sufficient for operation of the large-scale nuclear power industry of the Russian Federation with an electric power of 70 GW for more than one quarter of a century. The general conclusion is that involvement of a small number of fusion reactors with Th-blanket in the future nuclear power industry of the Russian

  3. Low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants.

    PubMed

    Kourtis, Athena P; Bramson, Brian; van der Horst, Charles; Kazembe, Peter; Ahmed, Yusuf; Chasela, Charles; Hosseinipour, Mina; Knight, Rodney; Lugalia, Lebah; Tegha, Gerald; Joaki, George; Jafali, Robert; Jamieson, Denise J

    2005-07-01

    Infants of African origin have a lower normal range of absolute neutrophil counts than white infants; this fact, however, remains under appreciated by clinical researchers in the United States. During the initial stages of a clinical trial in Malawi, the authors noted an unexpectedly high number of infants with absolute neutrophil counts that would be classifiable as neutropenic using the National Institutes of Health's Division of AIDS toxicity tables. The authors argue that the relevant Division of AIDS table does not take into account the available evidence of low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants and that a systematic collection of data from many African settings might help establish the absolute neutrophil count cutpoints to be used for defining neutropenia in African populations.

  4. Absolute colorimetric characterization of a DSLR camera

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guarnera, Giuseppe Claudio; Bianco, Simone; Schettini, Raimondo

    2014-03-01

    A simple but effective technique for absolute colorimetric camera characterization is proposed. It offers a large dynamic range requiring just a single, off-the-shelf target and a commonly available controllable light source for the characterization. The characterization task is broken down in two modules, respectively devoted to absolute luminance estimation and to colorimetric characterization matrix estimation. The characterized camera can be effectively used as a tele-colorimeter, giving an absolute estimation of the XYZ data in cd=m2. The user is only required to vary the f - number of the camera lens or the exposure time t, to better exploit the sensor dynamic range. The estimated absolute tristimulus values closely match the values measured by a professional spectro-radiometer.

  5. Preliminary reconnaissance survey for thorium, uranium, and rare-earth oxides, Bear Lodge Mountains, Crook County, Wyoming

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wilmarth, V.R.; Johnson, D.H.

    1953-01-01

    An area about 6 miles north of Sundance, in the Bear Lodge Mountains, in Crook County, Wyo., was examined during August 1950 for thorium, uranium, and rare-earth oxides and samples were collected. Uranium is known to occur in fluorite veins and iron-manganese veins and in the igneous rocks of Tertiary age that compose the core of the Bear Lodge Mountains. The uranium content of the samples ranges from 0.001 to 0.015 percent in those from the fluorite veins, from 0.005 to 0.018 percent in those from the iron-manganese veins, and from 0.001 to 0.017 percent in those from the igneous rocks. The radioactivity of the samples is more than that expected from the uranium content. Thorium accounts for most of this discrepancy. The thorium oxide content of samples ranges from 0.07 to 0.25 percent in those from the iron-manganese veins and from 0.07 to 0.39 percent in those from the sedimentary rocks, and from0.04 to 0.30 in those from the igneous rocks. Rare-earth oxides occur in iron-manganese veins and in zones of altered igneous rocks. The veins contain from 0.16 to 12.99 percent rare-earth oxides, and the igneous rocks, except for two localities, contain from 0.01 to 0.42 percent rare-earth oxides. Inclusions of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks in the intrusive rocks contain from 0.07 to 2.01 percent rare-earth oxides.

  6. Late-type giants with infrared excess. I. Lithium abundances

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jasniewicz, G.; Parthasarathy, M.; de Laverny, P.; Thévenin, F.

    1999-02-01

    de la Reza et al. (1997) suggested that all K giants become Li-rich for a short time. During this period the giants are associated with an expanding thin circumstellar shell supposedly triggered by an abrupt internal mixing mechanism resulting in the surface Li enrichment. In order to test this hypothesis twenty nine late-type giants with far-infrared excess from the list of Zuckerman et al. (1995) were observed in the Li-region to study the connection between the circumstellar shells and Li abundance. Eight giants have been found to have log epsilon (Li) > 1.0. In the remaining giants the Li abundance is found to be much lower. HD 219025 is found to be a rapidly rotating (projected rotational velocity of 23 +/-3 km s(-1) ), dusty and Li-rich (log epsilon (Li) = 3.0+/-0.2) K giant. Absolute magnitude derived from the Hipparcos parallax reveals that it is a giant and not a pre-main-sequence star. The evolutionary status of HD 219025 seems to be similar to that of HDE 233517 which is also a rapidly rotating, dusty and Li-rich K giant. The Hipparcos parallaxes of all the well studied Li-rich K giants show that most of them are brighter than the ``clump" giants. Their position in the H-R diagram indicates that they have gone through mixing and the initial abundance of Li is not preserved. There seems to be no correlations between Li abundances, rotational velocities and carbon isotope ratios. The only satisfactory explanation for the overabundance of lithium in these giants is the creation of Li by the extra deep mixing and the associated ``cool bottom processing". Based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile, and at the Observatoire de Haute Provence, France.

  7. Cryogenic, Absolute, High Pressure Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chapman, John J. (Inventor); Shams. Qamar A. (Inventor); Powers, William T. (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    A pressure sensor is provided for cryogenic, high pressure applications. A highly doped silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is bonded to a silicon substrate in an absolute pressure sensing configuration. The absolute pressure sensor is bonded to an aluminum nitride substrate. Aluminum nitride has appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion for use with highly doped silicon at cryogenic temperatures. A group of sensors, either two sensors on two substrates or four sensors on a single substrate are packaged in a pressure vessel.

  8. Metal contaminations impact archaeal community composition, abundance and function in remote alpine lakes.

    PubMed

    Compte-Port, Sergi; Borrego, Carles M; Moussard, Hélène; Jeanbille, Mathilde; Restrepo-Ortiz, Claudia Ximena; de Diego, Alberto; Rodriguez-Iruretagoiena, Azibar; Gredilla, Ainara; Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Silvia; Galand, Pierre E; Kalenitchenko, Dimitri; Rols, Jean-Luc; Pokrovsky, Oleg S; Gonzalez, Aridane G; Camarero, Lluis; Muñiz, Selene; Navarro-Navarro, Enrique; Auguet, Jean-Christophe

    2018-04-24

    Using the 16S rRNA and mcrA genes, we investigated the composition, abundance and activity of sediment archaeal communities within 18 high-mountain lakes under contrasted metal levels from different origins (bedrock erosion, past-mining activities and atmospheric depositions). Bathyarchaeota, Euryarchaeota and Woesearchaeota were the major phyla found at the meta-community scale, representing 48%, 18.3% and 15.2% of the archaeal community respectively. Metals were equally important as physicochemical variables in explaining the assemblage of archaeal communities and their abundance. Methanogenesis appeared as a process of central importance in the carbon cycle within sediments of alpine lakes as indicated by the absolute abundance of methanogen 16S rRNA and mcrA gene transcripts (10 5 to 10 9 copies g -1 ). We showed that methanogen abundance and activity were significantly reduced with increasing concentrations of Pb and Cd, two indicators of airborne metal contaminations. Considering the ecological importance of methanogenesis in sediment habitats, these metal contaminations may have system wide implications even in remote area such as alpine lakes. Overall, this work was pioneer in integrating the effect of long-range atmospheric depositions on archaeal communities and indicated that metal contamination might significantly compromise the contribution of Archaea to the carbon cycling of the mountain lake sediments. © 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Absolute Income, Relative Income, and Happiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ball, Richard; Chernova, Kateryna

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses data from the World Values Survey to investigate how an individual's self-reported happiness is related to (i) the level of her income in absolute terms, and (ii) the level of her income relative to other people in her country. The main findings are that (i) both absolute and relative income are positively and significantly…

  10. Simultaneous extraction and preconcentration of uranium and thorium in aqueous samples by new modified mesoporous silica prior to inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry determination.

    PubMed

    Yousefi, Seyed Reza; Ahmadi, Seyed Javad; Shemirani, Farzaneh; Jamali, Mohammad Reza; Salavati-Niasari, Masoud

    2009-11-15

    A new synthesized modified mesoporous silica (MCM-41) using 5-nitro-2-furaldehyde (fural) was applied as an effective sorbent for the solid phase extraction of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) ions from aqueous solution for the measurement by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). The influences of some analytical parameters on the quantitative recoveries of the analyte ions were investigated in batch method. Under optimal conditions, the analyte ions were sorbed by the sorbent at pH 5.5 and then eluted with 1.0 mL of 1.0 mol L(-1) HNO(3). The preconcentration factor was 100 for a 100mL sample volume. The limits of detection (LOD) obtained for uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) were 0.3 microg L(-1). The maximum sorption capacity of the modified MCM-41 was found to be 47 and 49 mg g(-1) for uranium(VI) and thorium(IV), respectively. The sorbent exhibited good stability, reusability, high adsorption capacity and fast rate of equilibrium for sorption/desorption of uranium and thorium ions. The applicability of the synthesized sorbent was examined using CRM and real water samples.

  11. Conceptual Core Analysis of Long Life PWR Utilizing Thorium-Uranium Fuel Cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rouf; Su'ud, Zaki

    2016-08-01

    Conceptual core analysis of long life PWR utilizing thorium-uranium based fuel has conducted. The purpose of this study is to evaluate neutronic behavior of reactor core using combined thorium and enriched uranium fuel. Based on this fuel composition, reactor core have higher conversion ratio rather than conventional fuel which could give longer operation length. This simulation performed using SRAC Code System based on library SRACLIB-JDL32. The calculation carried out for (Th-U)O2 and (Th-U)C fuel with uranium composition 30 - 40% and gadolinium (Gd2O3) as burnable poison 0,0125%. The fuel composition adjusted to obtain burn up length 10 - 15 years under thermal power 600 - 1000 MWt. The key properties such as uranium enrichment, fuel volume fraction, percentage of uranium are evaluated. Core calculation on this study adopted R-Z geometry divided by 3 region, each region have different uranium enrichment. The result show multiplication factor every burn up step for 15 years operation length, power distribution behavior, power peaking factor, and conversion ratio. The optimum core design achieved when thermal power 600 MWt, percentage of uranium 35%, U-235 enrichment 11 - 13%, with 14 years operation length, axial and radial power peaking factor about 1.5 and 1.2 respectively.

  12. Universal Cosmic Absolute and Modern Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostro, Ludwik

    The official Sciences, especially all natural sciences, respect in their researches the principle of methodic naturalism i.e. they consider all phenomena as entirely natural and therefore in their scientific explanations they do never adduce or cite supernatural entities and forces. The purpose of this paper is to show that Modern Science has its own self-existent, self-acting, and self-sufficient Natural All-in Being or Omni-Being i.e. the entire Nature as a Whole that justifies the scientific methodic naturalism. Since this Natural All-in Being is one and only It should be considered as the own scientifically justified Natural Absolute of Science and should be called, in my opinion, the Universal Cosmic Absolute of Modern Science. It will be also shown that the Universal Cosmic Absolute is ontologically enormously stratified and is in its ultimate i.e. in its most fundamental stratum trans-reistic and trans-personal. It means that in its basic stratum. It is neither a Thing or a Person although It contains in Itself all things and persons with all other sentient and conscious individuals as well, On the turn of the 20th century the Science has begun to look for a theory of everything, for a final theory, for a master theory. In my opinion the natural Universal Cosmic Absolute will constitute in such a theory the radical all penetrating Ultimate Basic Reality and will substitute step by step the traditional supernatural personal Absolute.

  13. Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from India and China--geographic variations.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Sim, Sherina

    2012-05-01

    Seven Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from different locations in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Focus was placed on 41 key ingredients to investigate geographic variations in this species. These seven absolutes were compared with an Indian bud absolute and commercially available J. sambac flower absolutes from India and China. All absolutes showed broad variations for the 10 main ingredients between 8% and 96%. In addition, the odor of Indian and Chinese J. sambac flower absolutes were assessed.

  14. Thorium Fuel Utilization Analysis on Small Long Life Reactor for Different Coolant Types

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Permana, Sidik

    2017-07-01

    A small power reactor and long operation which can be deployed for less population and remote area has been proposed by the IAEA as a small and medium reactor (SMR) program. Beside uranium utilization, it can be used also thorium fuel resources for SMR as a part of optimalization of nuclear fuel as a “partner” fuel with uranium fuel. A small long-life reactor based on thorium fuel cycle for several reactor coolant types and several power output has been evaluated in the present study for 10 years period of reactor operation. Several key parameters are used to evaluate its effect to the reactor performances such as reactor criticality, excess reactivity, reactor burnup achievement and power density profile. Water-cooled types give higher criticality than liquid metal coolants. Liquid metal coolant for fast reactor system gives less criticality especially at beginning of cycle (BOC), which shows liquid metal coolant system obtains almost stable criticality condition. Liquid metal coolants are relatively less excess reactivity to maintain longer reactor operation than water coolants. In addition, liquid metal coolant gives higher achievable burnup than water coolant types as well as higher power density for liquid metal coolants.

  15. Thermodynamic study of the gaseous thorium carbides, ThC, ThC/sub 2/, ThC/sub 3/, ThC/sub 4/, ThC/sub 5/, and ThC/sub 6/

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gupta, S.K.; Gingerich, K.A.

    Six gaseous carbides of thorium, ThC/sub n/(n=1--6), have been identified in a Knudsen effusion mass spectrometric investigation of the vapor phase above a thorium--uranium--rhodium--graphite system at high temperatures. The partial pressures of the thorium containing species were measured as a function of temperature in the 2300--2700 /sup 0/K range. Third law enthalpies for the reactions Th(g)+nC(graphite) =ThC/sub n/, n=1 to 6, and of various other homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions were evaluated. By combining the experimental enthalpies with appropriate thermodynamic data taken from literature, the following values for the atomization energies ..delta..H /sup 0//sub at,298/, and standard heats of formation ..delta..H/supmore » tsdegree//sub f/,298 of thorium carbides have been derived:« less

  16. Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

    2017-10-01

    We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

  17. Absolute radiometric calibration of advanced remote sensing systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.

    1982-01-01

    The distinction between the uses of relative and absolute spectroradiometric calibration of remote sensing systems is discussed. The advantages of detector-based absolute calibration are described, and the categories of relative and absolute system calibrations are listed. The limitations and problems associated with three common methods used for the absolute calibration of remote sensing systems are addressed. Two methods are proposed for the in-flight absolute calibration of advanced multispectral linear array systems. One makes use of a sun-illuminated panel in front of the sensor, the radiance of which is monitored by a spectrally flat pyroelectric radiometer. The other uses a large, uniform, high-radiance reference ground surface. The ground and atmospheric measurements required as input to a radiative transfer program to predict the radiance level at the entrance pupil of the orbital sensor are discussed, and the ground instrumentation is described.

  18. Theoretical analysis of uranium-doped thorium dioxide: Introduction of a thoria force field with explicit polarization

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shields, A. E.; Ruiz Hernandez, S. E.; Leeuw, N. H. de, E-mail: DeLeeuwN@Cardiff.ac.uk

    2015-08-15

    Thorium dioxide is used industrially in high temperature applications, but more insight is needed into the behavior of the material as part of a mixed-oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel, incorporating uranium. We have developed a new interatomic potential model including polarizability via a shell model, and commensurate with a prominent existing UO{sub 2} potential, to conduct configurational analyses and to investigate the thermophysical properties of uranium-doped ThO{sub 2}. Using the GULP and Site Occupancy Disorder (SOD) computational codes, we have analyzed the distribution of low concentrations of uranium in the bulk material, where we have not observed the formation of uraniummore » clusters or the dominance of a single preferred configuration. We have calculated thermophysical properties of pure thorium dioxide and Th{sub (1−x)}U{sub x}O{sub 2} which generated values in very good agreement with experimental data.« less

  19. Photochemical route to actinide-transition metal bonds: synthesis, characterization and reactivity of a series of thorium and uranium heterobimetallic complexes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ward, Ashleigh; Lukens, Wayne; Lu, Connie

    2014-04-01

    A series of actinide-transition metal heterobimetallics has been prepared, featuring thorium, uranium and cobalt. Complexes incorporating the binucleating ligand N[-(NHCH2PiPr2)C6H4]3 and Th(IV) (4) or U(IV) (5) with a carbonyl bridged [Co(CO)4]- unit were synthesized from the corresponding actinide chlorides (Th: 2; U: 3) and Na[Co(CO)4]. Irradiation of the isocarbonyls with ultraviolet light resulted in the formation of new species containing actinide-metal bonds in good yields (Th: 6; U: 7); this photolysis method provides a new approach to a relatively rare class of complexes. Characterization by single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that elimination of the bridging carbonyl is accompanied by coordination ofmore » a phosphine arm from the N4P3 ligand to the cobalt center. Additionally, actinide-cobalt bonds of 3.0771(5) and 3.0319(7) for the thorium and uranium complexes, respectively, were observed. The solution state behavior of the thorium complexes was evaluated using 1H, 1H-1H COSY, 31P and variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy. IR, UV-Vis/NIR, and variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements are also reported.« less

  20. Determination of nitrogen to carbon abundance ratios from transition layer emission lines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Boehm-Vitense, Erika

    1992-01-01

    We have finished studying the nitrogen to carbon abundance ratios for stars with different effective temperatures T(sub eff) and luminosities using transition layer emission lines and using spectra available in the IUE archives. The N/C abundance ratio determinations using transition layer emission lines are as accurate as the photospheric abundance determinations as found by comparison of results obtained by both methods for the same stars. Our measurements confirm photospheric abundance determinations in regions of the HR diagram where they can be obtained. Our studies have extended the temperature range to higher temperatures. They have shown the exact positions in the HR diagram where the mixing due to the outer convection zones reaches deep enough to bring nuclear processed material to the surface. This occurs at effective temperatures which are higher by delta log T(sub eff) approximately 0.04 or roughly 400 K than expected theoretically. Since the depth of the convection zone increases rapidly with decreasing T(sub eff) this may indicate considerable overshoot beyond the lower boundary of the convection zone. Our N/C abundance ratio determinations from transition layer emission lines have confirmed that the actual enrichment observed for some cool giants is larger than expected theoretically, again indicating a larger degree of mixing in several stars either from below or from above. For the supergiants it probably indicates overshoot above the convective core in the progenitor main sequence stars. For the more massive giants this may also be the case, though we did not find a correlation between delta log N/C and the absolute magnitudes, but these are rather uncertain. As byproducts of these studies we also found anomalies in Si/C and N/C abundance ratios for F giants which can be understood as the relict of surface abundance changes for their main sequence progenitors due to diffusion. This anomaly disappears for G giants, for which the depths of the

  1. On the role of fusion neutron source with thorium blanket in forming the nuclide composition of the nuclear fuel cycle of the Russian Federation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shmelev, A. N.; Kulikov, G. G., E-mail: ggkulikov@mephi.ru

    The possible role of available thorium resources of the Russian Federation in utilization of thorium in the closed (U–Pu)-fuel cycle of nuclear power is considered. The efficiency of application of fusion neutron sources with thorium blanket for economical use of available thorium resources is demonstrated. The objective of this study is the search for a solution of such major tasks of nuclear power as reduction of the amount of front-end operations in the nuclear fuel cycle and enhancement of its protection against uncontrolled proliferation of fissile materials with the smallest possible alterations in the fuel cycle. The earlier results aremore » analyzed, new information on the amount of thorium resources of the Russian Federation is used, and additional estimates are made. The following basic results obtained on the basis of the assumption of involving fusion reactors with Th-blanket in future nuclear power for generation of the light uranium fraction {sup 232+233+234}U and {sup 231}Pa are formulated. (1) The fuel cycle would shift from fissile {sup 235}U to {sup 233}U, which is more attractive for thermal power reactors. (2) The light uranium fraction is the most “protected” in the uranium fuel component, and being mixed with regenerated uranium, it would become reduced-enrichment uranium fuel, which would relieve the problem of nonproliferation of the fissile material. (3) The addition of {sup 231}Pa into the fuel would stabilize its neutron-multiplying properties, thus making it possible to implement a long fuel residence time and, as a consequence, increase the export potential of the whole nuclear power technology. (4) The available thorium resource in the vicinity of Krasnoufimsk is sufficient for operation of the large-scale nuclear power industry of the Russian Federation with an electric power of 70 GW for more than one quarter of a century. The general conclusion is that involvement of a small number of fusion reactors with Th-blanket in the

  2. Uranium and thorium in achondrites.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morgan, J. W.; Lovering, J. F.

    1973-01-01

    The abundances of U and Th in 19 achondrites and two pallasite olivines have been measured by radiochemical neutron activation analysis. Brecciated eucrites are enriched relative to chondrites in both elements by factors between 10 and 20, perhaps as a result of a magmatic differentiation process. Two unbrecciated eucrites are far less enriched, possibly due to their origin as igneous cumulates. The diogenites Johnstown and Shalka contain approximately chondritic levels of U and Th, but Ellemeet is 10 times lower. The abundances in three howardites are in good agreement with those expected from major element data for a mixing model with eucrite and diogenite end members. The high O-18 basaltic achondrites Nakhla, Shergotty and Angra dos Reis have a range of U and Th abundances similar to the brecciated eucrites and howardites, but have systematically higher Th/U ratios.

  3. Linking Comparisons of Absolute Gravimeters: A Proof of Concept for a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, H.; Palinkas, V.; Falk, R.; Vaľko, M.

    2016-12-01

    Since decades, absolute gravimeters are compared on a regular basis on an international level, starting at the International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BIPM) in 1981. Usually, these comparisons are based on constant reference values deduced from all accepted measurements acquired during the comparison period. Temporal changes between comparison epochs are usually not considered. Resolution No. 2, adopted by IAG during the IUGG General Assembly in Prague 2015, initiates the establishment of a Global Absolute Gravity Reference System based on key comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) under the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) in order to establish a common level in the microGal range. A stable and unique reference frame can only be achieved, if different AG are taking part in different kind of comparisons. Systematic deviations between the respective comparison reference values can be detected, if the AG can be considered stable over time. The continuous operation of superconducting gravimeters (SG) on selected stations further supports the temporal link of comparison reference values by establishing a reference function over time. By a homogenous reprocessing of different comparison epochs and including AG and SG time series at selected stations, links between several comparisons will be established and temporal comparison reference functions will be derived. By this, comparisons on a regional level can be traced to back to the level of key comparisons, providing a reference for other absolute gravimeters. It will be proved and discussed, how such a concept can be used to support the future absolute gravity reference system.

  4. Patterns in Abundance, Cell Size and Pigment Content of Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria along Environmental Gradients in Northern Lakes

    PubMed Central

    Fauteux, Lisa; Cottrell, Matthew T.; Kirchman, David L.; Borrego, Carles M.; Garcia-Chaves, Maria Carolina; del Giorgio, Paul A.

    2015-01-01

    There is now evidence that aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria are widespread across aquatic systems, yet the factors that determine their abundance and activity are still not well understood, particularly in freshwaters. Here we describe the patterns in AAP abundance, cell size and pigment content across wide environmental gradients in 43 temperate and boreal lakes of Québec. AAP bacterial abundance varied from 1.51 to 5.49 x 105 cells mL-1, representing <1 to 37% of total bacterial abundance. AAP bacteria were present year-round, including the ice-cover period, but their abundance relative to total bacterial abundance was significantly lower in winter than in summer (2.6% and 7.7%, respectively). AAP bacterial cells were on average two-fold larger than the average bacterial cell size, thus AAP cells made a greater relative contribution to biomass than to abundance. Bacteriochlorophyll a (BChla) concentration varied widely across lakes, and was not related to AAP bacterial abundance, suggesting a large intrinsic variability in the cellular pigment content. Absolute and relative AAP bacterial abundance increased with dissolved organic carbon (DOC), whereas cell-specific BChla content was negatively related to chlorophyll a (Chla). As a result, both the contribution of AAP bacteria to total prokaryotic abundance, and the cell-specific BChla pigment content were positively correlated with the DOC:Chla ratio, both peaking in highly colored, low-chlorophyll lakes. Our results suggest that photoheterotrophy might represent a significant ecological advantage in highly colored, low-chlorophyll lakes, where DOC pool is chemically and structurally more complex. PMID:25927833

  5. Patterns in Abundance, Cell Size and Pigment Content of Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria along Environmental Gradients in Northern Lakes.

    PubMed

    Fauteux, Lisa; Cottrell, Matthew T; Kirchman, David L; Borrego, Carles M; Garcia-Chaves, Maria Carolina; Del Giorgio, Paul A

    2015-01-01

    There is now evidence that aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria are widespread across aquatic systems, yet the factors that determine their abundance and activity are still not well understood, particularly in freshwaters. Here we describe the patterns in AAP abundance, cell size and pigment content across wide environmental gradients in 43 temperate and boreal lakes of Québec. AAP bacterial abundance varied from 1.51 to 5.49 x 105 cells mL-1, representing <1 to 37% of total bacterial abundance. AAP bacteria were present year-round, including the ice-cover period, but their abundance relative to total bacterial abundance was significantly lower in winter than in summer (2.6% and 7.7%, respectively). AAP bacterial cells were on average two-fold larger than the average bacterial cell size, thus AAP cells made a greater relative contribution to biomass than to abundance. Bacteriochlorophyll a (BChla) concentration varied widely across lakes, and was not related to AAP bacterial abundance, suggesting a large intrinsic variability in the cellular pigment content. Absolute and relative AAP bacterial abundance increased with dissolved organic carbon (DOC), whereas cell-specific BChla content was negatively related to chlorophyll a (Chla). As a result, both the contribution of AAP bacteria to total prokaryotic abundance, and the cell-specific BChla pigment content were positively correlated with the DOC:Chla ratio, both peaking in highly colored, low-chlorophyll lakes. Our results suggest that photoheterotrophy might represent a significant ecological advantage in highly colored, low-chlorophyll lakes, where DOC pool is chemically and structurally more complex.

  6. Investigating Absolute Value: A Real World Application

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kidd, Margaret; Pagni, David

    2009-01-01

    Making connections between various representations is important in mathematics. In this article, the authors discuss the numeric, algebraic, and graphical representations of sums of absolute values of linear functions. The initial explanations are accessible to all students who have experience graphing and who understand that absolute value simply…

  7. Stimulus probability effects in absolute identification.

    PubMed

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-05-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of presentation probability on both proportion correct and response times. The effects were moderated by the ubiquitous stimulus position effect. The accuracy and response time data were predicted by an exemplar-based model of perceptual cognition (Kent & Lamberts, 2005). The bow in discriminability was also attenuated when presentation probability for middle items was relatively high, an effect that will constrain future model development. The study provides evidence for item-specific learning in absolute identification. Implications for other theories of absolute identification are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Modeling CANDU-6 liquid zone controllers for effects of thorium-based fuels

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    St-Aubin, E.; Marleau, G.

    2012-07-01

    We use the DRAGON code to model the CANDU-6 liquid zone controllers and evaluate the effects of thorium-based fuels on their incremental cross sections and reactivity worth. We optimize both the numerical quadrature and spatial discretization for 2D cell models in order to provide accurate fuel properties for 3D liquid zone controller supercell models. We propose a low computer cost parameterized pseudo-exact 3D cluster geometries modeling approach that avoids tracking issues on small external surfaces. This methodology provides consistent incremental cross sections and reactivity worths when the thickness of the buffer region is reduced. When compared with an approximate annularmore » geometry representation of the fuel and coolant region, we observe that the cluster description of fuel bundles in the supercell models does not increase considerably the precision of the results while increasing substantially the CPU time. In addition, this comparison shows that it is imperative to finely describe the liquid zone controller geometry since it has a strong impact of the incremental cross sections. This paper also shows that liquid zone controller reactivity worth is greatly decreased in presence of thorium-based fuels compared to the reference natural uranium fuel, since the fission and the fast to thermal scattering incremental cross sections are higher for the new fuels. (authors)« less

  9. A Conceptual Approach to Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Mark W.; Bryson, Janet L.

    2011-01-01

    The absolute value learning objective in high school mathematics requires students to solve far more complex absolute value equations and inequalities. When absolute value problems become more complex, students often do not have sufficient conceptual understanding to make any sense of what is happening mathematically. The authors suggest that the…

  10. NUCLEAR MATERIAL ATTRACTIVENESS: AN ASSESSMENT OF MATERIAL FROM PHWR'S IN A CLOSED THORIUM FUEL CYCLE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sleaford, B W; Collins, B A; Ebbinghaus, B B

    2010-04-26

    This paper examines the attractiveness of material mixtures containing special nuclear materials (SNM) associated with reprocessing and the thorium-based LWR fuel cycle. This paper expands upon the results from earlier studies that examined the attractiveness of SNM associated with the reprocessing of spent light water reactor (LWR) fuel by various reprocessing schemes and the recycle of plutonium as a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in LWR. This study shows that {sup 233}U that is produced in thorium-based fuel cycles is very attractive for weapons use. Consistent with other studies, these results also show that all fuel cycles examined to date needmore » to be rigorously safeguarded and provided moderate to high levels of physical protection. These studies were performed at the request of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), and are based on the calculation of 'attractiveness levels' that has been couched in terms chosen for consistency with those normally used for nuclear materials in DOE nuclear facilities. The methodology and key findings will be presented.« less

  11. Nuclear Material Attractiveness: An Assessment of Material from PHWR's in a Closed Thorium Fuel Cycle

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sleaford, Brad W.; Ebbinghaus, B. B.; Bradley, Keith S.

    2010-06-11

    This paper examines the attractiveness of material mixtures containing special nuclear materials (SNM) associated with reprocessing and the thorium-based LWR fuel cycle. This paper expands upon the results from earlier studies [ , ] that examined the attractiveness of SNM associated with the reprocessing of spent light water reactor (LWR) fuel by various reprocessing schemes and the recycle of plutonium as a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in LWR. This study shows that 233U that is produced in thorium-based fuel cycles is very attractive for weapons use. Consistent with other studies, these results also show that all fuel cycles examined tomore » date need to be rigorously safeguarded and provided moderate to high levels of physical protection. These studies were performed at the request of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), and are based on the calculation of "attractiveness levels" that has been couched in terms chosen for consistency with those normally used for nuclear materials in DOE nuclear facilities [ ]. The methodology and key findings will be presented.« less

  12. Rotation, activity, and lithium abundance in cool binary stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strassmeier, K. G.; Weber, M.; Granzer, T.; Järvinen, S.

    2012-10-01

    We have used two robotic telescopes to obtain time-series high-resolution optical echelle spectroscopy and V I and/or by photometry for a sample of 60 active stars, mostly binaries. Orbital solutions are presented for 26 double-lined systems and for 19 single-lined systems, seven of them for the first time but all of them with unprecedented phase coverage and accuracy. Eighteen systems turned out to be single stars. The total of 6609 {R=55 000} échelle spectra are also used to systematically determine effective temperatures, gravities, metallicities, rotational velocities, lithium abundances and absolute Hα-core fluxes as a function of time. The photometry is used to infer unspotted brightness, {V-I} and/or b-y colors, spot-induced brightness amplitudes and precise rotation periods. An extra 22 radial-velocity standard stars were monitored throughout the science observations and yield a new barycentric zero point for our STELLA/SES robotic system. Our data are complemented by literature data and are used to determine rotation-temperature-activity relations for active binary components. We also relate lithium abundance to rotation and surface temperature. We find that 74 % of all known rapidly-rotating active binary stars are synchronized and in circular orbits but 26 % (61 systems) are rotating asynchronously of which half have {P_rot>P_orb} and {e>0}. Because rotational synchronization is predicted to occur before orbital circularization active binaries should undergo an extra spin-down besides tidal dissipation. We suspect this to be due to a magnetically channeled wind with its subsequent braking torque. We find a steep increase of rotation period with decreasing effective temperature for active stars, P_rot ∝ T_eff-7, for both single and binaries, main sequence and evolved. For inactive, single giants with {P_rot>100} d, the relation is much weaker, {P_rot ∝ T_eff-1.12}. Our data also indicate a period-activity relation for Hα of the form {R_Hα ∝ P

  13. Absolute pitch in a four-year-old boy with autism.

    PubMed

    Brenton, James N; Devries, Seth P; Barton, Christine; Minnich, Heike; Sokol, Deborah K

    2008-08-01

    Absolute pitch is the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated tone. We report on a 4-year-old boy with autism and absolute pitch, one of the youngest reported in the literature. Absolute pitch is thought to be attributable to a single gene, transmitted in an autosomal-dominant fashion. The association of absolute pitch with autism raises the speculation that this talent could be linked to a genetically distinct subset of children with autism. Further, the identification of absolute pitch in even young children with autism may lead to a lifelong skill.

  14. Hybrid fusion-fission reactor with a thorium blanket: Its potential in the fuel cycle of nuclear reactors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shmelev, A. N.; Kulikov, G. G.; Kurnaev, V. A.; Salahutdinov, G. H.; Kulikov, E. G.; Apse, V. A.

    2015-12-01

    Discussions are currently going on as to whether it is suitable to employ thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle. This work demonstrates that the 231Pa-232U-233U-Th composition to be produced in the thorium blanket of a hybrid thermonuclear reactor (HTR) as a fuel for light-water reactors opens up the possibility of achieving high, up to 30% of heavy metals (HM), or even ultrahigh fuel burnup. This is because the above fuel composition is able to stabilize its neutron-multiplying properties in the process of high fuel burnup. In addition, it allows the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) to be better protected against unauthorized proliferation of fissile materials owing to an unprecedentedly large fraction of 232U (several percent!) in the uranium bred from the Th blanket, which will substantially hamper the use of fissile materials in a closed NFC for purposes other than power production.

  15. Accelerator Driven Nuclear Energy: The Thorium Option

    ScienceCinema

    Raja, Rajendran

    2018-01-05

    Conventional nuclear reactors use enriched Uranium as fuel and produce nuclear waste which needs to be stored away for over 10,000 years.   At the current rate of use, existing sources of Uranium will last for 50-100 years.  We describe a solution to the problem that uses particle accelerators to produce fast neutrons that can be used to burn existing nuclear waste and produce energy.  Such systems, initially proposed by Carlo Rubbia and collaborators in the 1990's, are being seriously considered by many countries as a possible solution to the green energy problem.  Accelerator driven reactors operate in a sub-critical regime and, thus, are safer and can obtain energy from plentiful elements such as Thorium-232 and Uranium-238. What is missing is the high intensity (10MW) accelerator that produces 1 GeV protons. We will describe scenarios which if implemented will make such systems a reality.  

  16. Ab-initio calculations on melting of thorium

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mukherjee, D., E-mail: debojyoti@barc.gov.in; Sahoo, B. D.; Joshi, K. D.

    2016-05-23

    Ab-initio molecular dynamics study has been performed on face centered cubic structured thorium to determine its melting temperature at room pressure. The ion-electron interaction potential energy calculated as a function of temperature for three volumes (a{sub 0}){sup 3} and (1.02a{sub 0}){sup 3} and (1.04a{sub 0}){sup 3} increases gradually with temperature and undergoes a sharp jump at ~2200 K, ~2100 K and ~1800 K, respectively. Here, a{sub 0} = 5.043 Å is the equilibrium lattice parameter at 0 K obtained from ab-initio calculations. These jumps in interaction energy are treated as due to the onset of melting and corresponding temperatures asmore » melting point. The melting point of 2100 K is close to the experimental value of 2023 K. Further, the same has been verified by plotting the atomic arrangement evolved at various temperatures and corresponding pair correlation functions.« less

  17. An assessment of the attractiveness of material associated with thorium/uranium and uranium closed fuel cycles from a safeguards perspective

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bathke, Charles Gary; Wallace, Richard K; Hase, Kevin R

    2010-01-01

    This paper reports the continued evaluation of the attractiveness of materials mixtures containing special nuclear materials (SNM) associated with various proposed nuclear fuel cycles. Specifically, this paper examines two closed fuel cycles. The first fuel cycle examined is a thorium fuel cycle in which a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) is fueled with mixtures of plutonium/thorium and {sup 233}U/thorium. The used fuel is then reprocessed using the THOREX process and the actinides are recycled. The second fuel cycle examined consists of conventional light water reactors (LWR) whose fuel is reprocessed for actinides that are then fed to and recycled untilmore » consumed in fast-spectrum reactors: fast reactors and accelerator driven systems (ADS). As reprocessing of LWR fuel has already been examined, this paper will focus on the reprocessing of the scheme's fast-spectrum reactors' fuel. This study will indicate what is required to render these materials as having low utility for use in nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the results of this paper suggest that all reprocessing products evaluated so far need to be rigorously safeguarded and provided high levels of physical protection. These studies were performed at the request of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The methodology and key findings will be presented.« less

  18. Photochemical route to actinide-transition metal bonds: synthesis, characterization and reactivity of a series of thorium and uranium heterobimetallic complexes.

    PubMed

    Ward, Ashleigh L; Lukens, Wayne W; Lu, Connie C; Arnold, John

    2014-03-05

    A series of actinide-transition metal heterobimetallics has been prepared, featuring thorium, uranium, and cobalt. Complexes incorporating the binucleating ligand N[ο-(NHCH2P(i)Pr2)C6H4]3 with either Th(IV) (4) or U(IV) (5) and a carbonyl bridged [Co(CO)4](-) unit were synthesized from the corresponding actinide chlorides (Th: 2; U: 3) and Na[Co(CO)4]. Irradiation of the resulting isocarbonyls with ultraviolet light resulted in the formation of new species containing actinide-metal bonds in good yields (Th: 6; U: 7); this photolysis method provides a new approach to a relatively unusual class of complexes. Characterization by single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that elimination of the bridging carbonyl and formation of the metal-metal bond is accompanied by coordination of a phosphine arm from the N4P3 ligand to the cobalt center. Additionally, actinide-cobalt bonds of 3.0771(5) Å and 3.0319(7) Å for the thorium and uranium complexes, respectively, were observed. The solution-state behavior of the thorium complexes was evaluated using (1)H, (1)H-(1)H COSY, (31)P, and variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy. IR, UV-vis/NIR, and variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements are also reported.

  19. The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kogut, A. J.

    2010-01-01

    The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP) is an Explorer-class mission to map the absolute intensity and linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background and diffuse astrophysical foregrounds over the full sky from 30 GHz to 5 THz. The principal science goal is the detection and characterization of linear polarization from an inflationary epoch in the early universe, with tensor-to-scalar ratio r much greater than 1O(raised to the power of { -3}) and Compton distortion y < 10 (raised to the power of{-6}). We describe the ASP instrument and mission architecture needed to detect the signature of an inflationary epoch in the early universe using only 4 semiconductor bolometers.

  20. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities.

    PubMed

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-06-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1).

  1. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities

    PubMed Central

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-01-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1). PMID:27248566

  2. Thorium Copper Phosphides: More Diverse Metal-Phosphorus and Phosphorus-Phosphorus Interactions than U analogues

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jin, Geng Bang; Malliakas, Christos D.; Lin, Jian

    To explore the chemical analogy between thorium and heavier actinides in soft anionic environments, three new thorium phosphides (ThCuP 2, beta-ThCu 2P 2, and ThCu 5P 3) have been prepared through solid-state reactions using CuI as a reaction promoter. The structure of ThCuP 2 can be described as a filled UTe 2-type with both dimeric P 2 4- and monomeric P 3- anions, in which Th is coordinated by eight P atoms in a bicapped trigonal prismatic arrangement and Cu is tetrahedrally coordinated by four P atoms. β-ThCu 2P 2 contains only P 3- anions and is isostructural with BaCumore » 2S 2. In this structure, Th is coordinated by seven P atoms in monocapped trigonal prismatic geometry and Cu is tetrahedrally coordinated by four P atoms. ThCu 5P 3 adopts the YCo 5P 3-type structure consisting of P 3- anions. This structure contains Th atoms coordinated by six P atoms in a trigonal prismatic arrangement and Cu atoms that are either tetrahedrally coordinated by four P atoms or square pyramidally coordinated by five P atoms. Electric resistivity measurements and electronic structure calculations on β-ThCu 2P 2 indicate a metal. These new compounds may be charge-balanced and formulated as Th 4+Cu +(P 2 4-) 1/2P 3-, Th 4+(Cu +) 2(P 3-) 2, and Th 4+(Cu +) 5(P 3-) 3, respectively. The structural, bonding, and property relationships between these Th compounds and related actinide and rare-earth phases are discussed. In conclusion, titled compounds display more diverse ion-ion interactions and different electronic structures from those in UCuP 2 and UCu 2P 2 that were synthesized under similar experimental conditions, suggesting divergence of thorium-phosphide chemistry from uranium-phosphide chemistry.« less

  3. Thorium Copper Phosphides: More Diverse Metal-Phosphorus and Phosphorus-Phosphorus Interactions than U analogues

    DOE PAGES

    Jin, Geng Bang; Malliakas, Christos D.; Lin, Jian

    2017-09-28

    To explore the chemical analogy between thorium and heavier actinides in soft anionic environments, three new thorium phosphides (ThCuP 2, beta-ThCu 2P 2, and ThCu 5P 3) have been prepared through solid-state reactions using CuI as a reaction promoter. The structure of ThCuP 2 can be described as a filled UTe 2-type with both dimeric P 2 4- and monomeric P 3- anions, in which Th is coordinated by eight P atoms in a bicapped trigonal prismatic arrangement and Cu is tetrahedrally coordinated by four P atoms. β-ThCu 2P 2 contains only P 3- anions and is isostructural with BaCumore » 2S 2. In this structure, Th is coordinated by seven P atoms in monocapped trigonal prismatic geometry and Cu is tetrahedrally coordinated by four P atoms. ThCu 5P 3 adopts the YCo 5P 3-type structure consisting of P 3- anions. This structure contains Th atoms coordinated by six P atoms in a trigonal prismatic arrangement and Cu atoms that are either tetrahedrally coordinated by four P atoms or square pyramidally coordinated by five P atoms. Electric resistivity measurements and electronic structure calculations on β-ThCu 2P 2 indicate a metal. These new compounds may be charge-balanced and formulated as Th 4+Cu +(P 2 4-) 1/2P 3-, Th 4+(Cu +) 2(P 3-) 2, and Th 4+(Cu +) 5(P 3-) 3, respectively. The structural, bonding, and property relationships between these Th compounds and related actinide and rare-earth phases are discussed. In conclusion, titled compounds display more diverse ion-ion interactions and different electronic structures from those in UCuP 2 and UCu 2P 2 that were synthesized under similar experimental conditions, suggesting divergence of thorium-phosphide chemistry from uranium-phosphide chemistry.« less

  4. Prediction of new high pressure structural sequence in thorium carbide: A first principles study

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sahoo, B. D., E-mail: bdsahoo@barc.gov.in; Joshi, K. D.; Gupta, Satish C.

    2015-05-14

    In the present work, we report the detailed electronic band structure calculations on thorium monocarbide. The comparison of enthalpies, derived for various phases using evolutionary structure search method in conjunction with first principles total energy calculations at several hydrostatic compressions, yielded a high pressure structural sequence of NaCl type (B1) → Pnma → Cmcm → CsCl type (B2) at hydrostatic pressures of ∼19 GPa, 36 GPa, and 200 GPa, respectively. However, the two high pressure experimental studies by Gerward et al. [J. Appl. Crystallogr. 19, 308 (1986); J. Less-Common Met. 161, L11 (1990)] one up to 36 GPa and other up to 50 GPa, onmore » substoichiometric thorium carbide samples with carbon deficiency of ∼20%, do not report any structural transition. The discrepancy between theory and experiment could be due to the non-stoichiometry of thorium carbide samples used in the experiment. Further, in order to substantiate the results of our static lattice calculations, we have determined the phonon dispersion relations for these structures from lattice dynamic calculations. The theoretically calculated phonon spectrum reveal that the B1 phase fails dynamically at ∼33.8 GPa whereas the Pnma phase appears as dynamically stable structure around the B1 to Pnma transition pressure. Similarly, the Cmcm structure also displays dynamic stability in the regime of its structural stability. The B2 phase becomes dynamically stable much below the Cmcm to B2 transition pressure. Additionally, we have derived various thermophysical properties such as zero pressure equilibrium volume, bulk modulus, its pressure derivative, Debye temperature, thermal expansion coefficient and Gruneisen parameter at 300 K and compared these with available experimental data. Further, the behavior of zero pressure bulk modulus, heat capacity and Helmholtz free energy has been examined as a function temperature and compared with the experimental data of Danan

  5. Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous communities

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Firn, Jennifer; Moore, Joslin L.; MacDougall, Andrew S.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Seabloom, Eric W.; HilleRisLambers, Janneke; Harpole, W. Stanley; Cleland, Elsa E.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Knops, Johannes M.H.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Pyke, David A.; Farrell, Kelly A.; Bakker, John D.; O'Halloran, Lydia R.; Adler, Peter B.; Collins, Scott L.; D'Antonio, Carla M.; Crawley, Michael J.; Wolkovich, Elizabeth M.; La Pierre, Kimberly J.; Melbourne, Brett A.; Hautier, Yann; Morgan, John W.; Leakey, Andrew D.B.; Kay, Adam; McCulley, Rebecca; Davies, Kendi F.; Stevens, Carly J.; Chu, Cheng-Jin; Holl, Karen D.; Klein, Julia A.; Fay, Phillip A.; Hagenah, Nicole; Kirkman, Kevin P.; Buckley, Yvonne M.

    2011-01-01

    Many ecosystems worldwide are dominated by introduced plant species, leading to loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function. A common but rarely tested assumption is that these plants are more abundant in introduced vs. native communities, because ecological or evolutionary-based shifts in populations underlie invasion success. Here, data for 26 herbaceous species at 39 sites, within eight countries, revealed that species abundances were similar at native (home) and introduced (away) sites - grass species were generally abundant home and away, while forbs were low in abundance, but more abundant at home. Sites with six or more of these species had similar community abundance hierarchies, suggesting that suites of introduced species are assembling similarly on different continents. Overall, we found that substantial changes to populations are not necessarily a pre-condition for invasion success and that increases in species abundance are unusual. Instead, abundance at home predicts abundance away, a potentially useful additional criterion for biosecurity programmes.

  6. Introducing the Mean Absolute Deviation "Effect" Size

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gorard, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    This paper revisits the use of effect sizes in the analysis of experimental and similar results, and reminds readers of the relative advantages of the mean absolute deviation as a measure of variation, as opposed to the more complex standard deviation. The mean absolute deviation is easier to use and understand, and more tolerant of extreme…

  7. Monolithically integrated absolute frequency comb laser system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wanke, Michael C.

    2016-07-12

    Rather than down-convert optical frequencies, a QCL laser system directly generates a THz frequency comb in a compact monolithically integrated chip that can be locked to an absolute frequency without the need of a frequency-comb synthesizer. The monolithic, absolute frequency comb can provide a THz frequency reference and tool for high-resolution broad band spectroscopy.

  8. Electronic Absolute Cartesian Autocollimator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B.

    2006-01-01

    An electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator performs the same basic optical function as does a conventional all-optical or a conventional electronic autocollimator but differs in the nature of its optical target and the manner in which the position of the image of the target is measured. The term absolute in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of the position measurement, which, unlike in a conventional electronic autocollimator, is based absolutely on the position of the image rather than on an assumed proportionality between the position and the levels of processed analog electronic signals. The term Cartesian in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of its optical target. Figure 1 depicts the electronic functional blocks of an electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator along with its basic optical layout, which is the same as that of a conventional autocollimator. Referring first to the optical layout and functions only, this or any autocollimator is used to measure the compound angular deviation of a flat datum mirror with respect to the optical axis of the autocollimator itself. The optical components include an illuminated target, a beam splitter, an objective or collimating lens, and a viewer or detector (described in more detail below) at a viewing plane. The target and the viewing planes are focal planes of the lens. Target light reflected by the datum mirror is imaged on the viewing plane at unit magnification by the collimating lens. If the normal to the datum mirror is parallel to the optical axis of the autocollimator, then the target image is centered on the viewing plane. Any angular deviation of the normal from the optical axis manifests itself as a lateral displacement of the target image from the center. The magnitude of the displacement is proportional to the focal length and to the magnitude (assumed to be small) of the angular deviation. The direction of the displacement is perpendicular to the axis about which the

  9. Fertile-to-fissile and fission measurements for depleted uranium and thorium bombarded by 800-MeV protons

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gilmore, J.S.; Russell, G.J.; Robinson, H.

    Axial distributions of fissions and of fertile-to-fissile conversions in thick depleted uranium and thorium targets bombarded by 800-MeV protons have been measured. The amounts of /sup 239/Pu and /sup 233/U produced were determined by measuring the yields of /sup 239/Np and /sup 233/Pa, respectively. The number of fissions was deduced from fission product mass-yield curves. Integration of the axial distributions gave the total number of conversions and fissions occurring in the targets. For the uranium target, experimental results were 5.90 +- 0.25 fissions and 3.81 +- 0.01 atoms of /sup 239/Pu produced per incident portion. Corresponding calculated results were 6.14more » +- 0.04 and 3.88 +- 0.03. In the thorium target, 1.56 +- 0.25 fissions and 1.25 +- 0.01 atoms of /sup 233/U per incident proton were measured; the calculated values were 1.54 +- 0.01 fissions and 1.27 +- 0.01 atom/proton.« less

  10. Hybrid fusion–fission reactor with a thorium blanket: Its potential in the fuel cycle of nuclear reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shmelev, A. N., E-mail: shmelan@mail.ru; Kulikov, G. G., E-mail: ggkulikov@mephi.ru; Kurnaev, V. A., E-mail: kurnaev@yandex.ru

    2015-12-15

    Discussions are currently going on as to whether it is suitable to employ thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle. This work demonstrates that the {sup 231}Pa–{sup 232}U–{sup 233}U–Th composition to be produced in the thorium blanket of a hybrid thermonuclear reactor (HTR) as a fuel for light-water reactors opens up the possibility of achieving high, up to 30% of heavy metals (HM), or even ultrahigh fuel burnup. This is because the above fuel composition is able to stabilize its neutron-multiplying properties in the process of high fuel burnup. In addition, it allows the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) to be bettermore » protected against unauthorized proliferation of fissile materials owing to an unprecedentedly large fraction of {sup 232}U (several percent!) in the uranium bred from the Th blanket, which will substantially hamper the use of fissile materials in a closed NFC for purposes other than power production.« less

  11. Estimating abundance

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sutherland, Chris; Royle, Andy

    2016-01-01

    This chapter provides a non-technical overview of ‘closed population capture–recapture’ models, a class of well-established models that are widely applied in ecology, such as removal sampling, covariate models, and distance sampling. These methods are regularly adopted for studies of reptiles, in order to estimate abundance from counts of marked individuals while accounting for imperfect detection. Thus, the chapter describes some classic closed population models for estimating abundance, with considerations for some recent extensions that provide a spatial context for the estimation of abundance, and therefore density. Finally, the chapter suggests some software for use in data analysis, such as the Windows-based program MARK, and provides an example of estimating abundance and density of reptiles using an artificial cover object survey of Slow Worms (Anguis fragilis).

  12. Abundances of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars as constraints on their formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hansen, C. J.; Nordström, B.; Hansen, T. T.; Kennedy, C. R.; Placco, V. M.; Beers, T. C.; Andersen, J.; Cescutti, G.; Chiappini, C.

    2016-04-01

    Context. An increasing fraction of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars is found as their iron abundance, [Fe/H], decreases below [Fe/H] =-2.0. The CEMP-s stars have the highest absolute carbon abundances, [C/H], and are thought to owe their enrichment in carbon and the slow neutron-capture (s-process) elements to mass transfer from a former asymptotic giant branch (AGB) binary companion. The most Fe-poor CEMP stars are normally single, exhibit somewhat lower [C/H] than CEMP-s stars, but show no s-process element enhancement (CEMP-no stars). Abundance determinations of CNO offer clues to their formation sites. Aims: Our aim is to use the medium-resolution spectrograph X-Shooter/VLT to determine stellar parameters and abundances for C, N, Sr, and Ba in several classes of CEMP stars in order to further classify and constrain the astrophysical formation sites of these stars. Methods: Atmospheric parameters for our programme stars were estimated from a combination of V-K photometry, model isochrone fits, and estimates from a modified version of the SDSS/SEGUE spectroscopic pipeline. We then used X-Shooter spectra in conjunction with the 1D local thermodynamic equilibrium spectrum synthesis code MOOG, 1D ATLAS9 atmosphere models to derive stellar abundances, and, where possible, isotopic 12C/13C ratios. Results: Abundances (or limits) of C, N, Sr, and Ba are derived for a sample of 27 faint metal-poor stars for which the X-Shooter spectra have sufficient signal-to-noise ratios (S/N). These moderate resolution, low S/N (~10-40) spectra prove sufficient to perform limited chemical tagging and enable assignment of these stars into the CEMP subclasses (CEMP-s and CEMP-no). According to the derived abundances, 17 of our sample stars are CEMP-s and 3 are CEMP-no, while the remaining 7 are carbon-normal. For four CEMP stars, the subclassification remains uncertain, and two of them may be pulsating AGB stars. Conclusions: The derived stellar abundances trace the formation

  13. Rb-Sr systematics and REE abundances in Shalka and several other diogenites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, K.; Yabuki, S.; Kagi, H.; Masuda, A.

    1994-07-01

    The diogenites have been regarded as igneous products in the early solar system and they have been considered to have genetically close relationship with eucrites. Depsite their simple mineralogical compositions and narrow range for major-element compositions, diogenites have been known to show wide Rare Earth Elements (REE) variations in absolute concentration and in mutual abundance ratios. Furthermore, some diogenites have peculiar Rb-Sr isotope systematics (ages younger than 4.5 b.y.). The Shalka meteorite belongs to the diogenites, and a unique REE abundance pattern has been reported. We performed Rb-Sr isotopic analyses and measured REE abundances in the Shalka diogenite with several other diogenites to discuss their genesis. Roughly speaking, REE patterns in diogenites are characterized by the negative Eu anomaly and the depletion of light REE. For Shalka, some heterogeneity in REE abundance patterns have been observed. While one sample chip shows the REE pattern with a large negative Eu anomaly and depleted light REE, particularly characterized by the concave curvature for the La-Nd span, other samples show the pattern nearly flat or the pattern enriched in light REE. These variations could not be explained easily by the simple mixing process of LREE-depleted components and LREE-enriched melt, but they imply some metamorphism process. The Rb-Sr isotopic data for Shalka are shown with the data for other several diogenites. These observations indicate that Shalka would undergo a significant extent of metamorphism followed by redistribution of REE and the disturbance of the Rb-Sr systematics. We are going to do further studies on Shalka to discuss the metamorphic process and compare it with other diogenites.

  14. Accident analysis of heavy water cooled thorium breeder reactor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yulianti, Yanti; Su'ud, Zaki; Takaki, Naoyuki

    2015-04-01

    Thorium has lately attracted considerable attention because it is accumulating as a by-product of large scale rare earth mining. The objective of research is to analyze transient behavior of a heavy water cooled thorium breeder that is designed by Tokai University and Tokyo Institute of Technology. That is oxide fueled, PWR type reactor with heavy water as primary coolant. An example of the optimized core has relatively small moderator to fuel volume ratio (MFR) of 0.6 and the characteristics of the core are burn-up of 67 GWd/t, breeding ratio of 1.08, burn-up reactivity loss during cycles of < 0.2% dk/k, and negative coolant reactivity coefficient. One of the nuclear reactor accidents types examined here is Unprotected Transient over Power (UTOP) due to withdrawing of the control rod that result in the positive reactivity insertion so that the reactor power will increase rapidly. Another accident type is Unprotected Loss of Flow (ULOF) that caused by failure of coolant pumps. To analyze the reactor accidents, neutron distribution calculation in the nuclear reactor is the most important factor. The best expression for the neutron distribution is the Boltzmann transport equation. However, solving this equation is very difficult so that the space-time diffusion equation is commonly used. Usually, space-time diffusion equation is solved by employing a point kinetics approach. However, this approach is less accurate for a spatially heterogeneous nuclear reactor and the nuclear reactor with quite large reactivity input. Direct method is therefore used to solve space-time diffusion equation which consider spatial factor in detail during nuclear reactor accident simulation. Set of equations that obtained from full implicit finite-difference method is solved by using iterative methods. The indication of UTOP accident is decreasing macroscopic absorption cross-section that results large external reactivity, and ULOF accident is indicated by decreasing coolant flow. The

  15. A theoretical study of thorium titanium-based alloys

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Obodo, K. O.; Chetty, N.

    2013-09-01

    Using theoretical quantum chemical methods, we investigate the dearth of ordered alloys involving thorium and titanium. Whereas both these elements are known to alloy very readily with various other elements, for example with oxygen, current experimental data suggests that Th and Ti do not alloy very readily with each other. In this work, we consider a variety of ordered alloys at varying stoichiometries involving these elements within the framework of density functional theory using the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange and correlation functional. By probing the energetics, electronic, phonon and elastic properties of these systems, we confirm the scarcity of ordered alloys involving Th and Ti, since for a variety of reasons many of the systems that we considered were found to be unfavorable. However, our investigations resulted in one plausible ordered structure: We propose ThTi3 in the Cr3Si structure as a metastable ordered alloy.

  16. Thermometric titration studies of mixed ligand complexes of thorium.

    PubMed

    Kugler, G C; Carey, G H

    1970-10-01

    Mixed-ligand chelates consisting of two different multidentate ligands linked to a central thorium(IV) ion have been prepared in aqueous solution and their heats of formation studied thermo metrically. Pyrocatechol, tiron, chromotropic acid, potassium hydrogen phthalate, 8-hydroxyquinoline-S-sulphonic acid, iminodiacetic acid, 5-sulphosalicylic acid and salicylic acid were used as the secondary ligands, while ethylenediaminetetra-acetate and 1, 2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetate were used as primary ligands. DeltaH values for the overall reactions are given, and where possible, the DeltaH and DeltaS values for the specific secondary ligand addition were calculated. The overall stability of the mixed-ligand chelates and the enhanced stability of EDTA mixed chelates relative to the analogous DCTA chelates were found to be due to entropy rather than enthalpy effects.

  17. Using, Seeing, Feeling, and Doing Absolute Value for Deeper Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ponce, Gregorio A.

    2008-01-01

    Using sticky notes and number lines, a hands-on activity is shared that anchors initial student thinking about absolute value. The initial point of reference should help students successfully evaluate numeric problems involving absolute value. They should also be able to solve absolute value equations and inequalities that are typically found in…

  18. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Prasad, Mano K.; Snyderman, Neal J.; Rowland, Mark S.

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  19. Planck absolute entropy of a rotating BTZ black hole

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riaz, S. M. Jawwad

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, the Planck absolute entropy and the Bekenstein-Smarr formula of the rotating Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black hole are presented via a complex thermodynamical system contributed by its inner and outer horizons. The redefined entropy approaches zero as the temperature of the rotating BTZ black hole tends to absolute zero, satisfying the Nernst formulation of a black hole. Hence, it can be regarded as the Planck absolute entropy of the rotating BTZ black hole.

  20. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-06-05

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  1. TRISO Fuel Performance: Modeling, Integration into Mainstream Design Studies, and Application to a Thorium-fueled Fusion-Fission Hybrid Blanket

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Powers, Jeffrey J.

    2011-12-01

    This study focused on creating a new tristructural isotropic (TRISO) coated particle fuel performance model and demonstrating the integration of this model into an existing system of neutronics and heat transfer codes, creating a user-friendly option for including fuel performance analysis within system design optimization and system-level trade-off studies. The end product enables both a deeper understanding and better overall system performance of nuclear energy systems limited or greatly impacted by TRISO fuel performance. A thorium-fueled hybrid fusion-fission Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) blanket design was used for illustrating the application of this new capability and demonstrated both the importance of integrating fuel performance calculations into mainstream design studies and the impact that this new integrated analysis had on system-level design decisions. A new TRISO fuel performance model named TRIUNE was developed and verified and validated during this work with a novel methodology established for simulating the actual lifetime of a TRISO particle during repeated passes through a pebble bed. In addition, integrated self-consistent calculations were performed for neutronics depletion analysis, heat transfer calculations, and then fuel performance modeling for a full parametric study that encompassed over 80 different design options that went through all three phases of analysis. Lastly, side studies were performed that included a comparison of thorium and depleted uranium (DU) LIFE blankets as well as some uncertainty quantification work to help guide future experimental work by assessing what material properties in TRISO fuel performance modeling are most in need of improvement. A recommended thorium-fueled hybrid LIFE engine design was identified with an initial fuel load of 20MT of thorium, 15% TRISO packing within the graphite fuel pebbles, and a 20cm neutron multiplier layer with beryllium pebbles in flibe molten salt coolant. It operated

  2. TRISO Fuel Performance: Modeling, Integration into Mainstream Design Studies, and Application to a Thorium-fueled Fusion-Fission Hybrid Blanket

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Powers, Jeffrey James

    2011-11-30

    This study focused on creating a new tristructural isotropic (TRISO) coated particle fuel performance model and demonstrating the integration of this model into an existing system of neutronics and heat transfer codes, creating a user-friendly option for including fuel performance analysis within system design optimization and system-level trade-off studies. The end product enables both a deeper understanding and better overall system performance of nuclear energy systems limited or greatly impacted by TRISO fuel performance. A thorium-fueled hybrid fusion-fission Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) blanket design was used for illustrating the application of this new capability and demonstrated both the importancemore » of integrating fuel performance calculations into mainstream design studies and the impact that this new integrated analysis had on system-level design decisions. A new TRISO fuel performance model named TRIUNE was developed and verified and validated during this work with a novel methodology established for simulating the actual lifetime of a TRISO particle during repeated passes through a pebble bed. In addition, integrated self-consistent calculations were performed for neutronics depletion analysis, heat transfer calculations, and then fuel performance modeling for a full parametric study that encompassed over 80 different design options that went through all three phases of analysis. Lastly, side studies were performed that included a comparison of thorium and depleted uranium (DU) LIFE blankets as well as some uncertainty quantification work to help guide future experimental work by assessing what material properties in TRISO fuel performance modeling are most in need of improvement. A recommended thorium-fueled hybrid LIFE engine design was identified with an initial fuel load of 20MT of thorium, 15% TRISO packing within the graphite fuel pebbles, and a 20cm neutron multiplier layer with beryllium pebbles in flibe molten salt coolant. It

  3. a Chiral Tagging Strategy for Determining Absolute Configuration and Enantiomeric Excess by Molecular Rotational Spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evangelisti, Luca; Caminati, Walther; Patterson, David; Thomas, Javix; Xu, Yunjie; West, Channing; Pate, Brooks

    2017-06-01

    The introduction of three wave mixing rotational spectroscopy by Patterson, Schnell, and Doyle [1,2] has expanded applications of molecular rotational spectroscopy into the field of chiral analysis. Chiral analysis of a molecule is the quantitative measurement of the relative abundances of all stereoisomers of the molecule and these include both diastereomers (with distinct molecular rotational spectra) and enantiomers (with equivalent molecular rotational spectra). This work adapts a common strategy in chiral analysis of enantiomers to molecular rotational spectroscopy. A "chiral tag" is attached to the molecule of interest by making a weakly bound complex in a pulsed jet expansion. When this tag molecule is enantiopure, it will create diastereomeric complexes with the two enantiomers of the molecule being analyzed and these can be differentiated by molecule rotational spectroscopy. Identifying the structure of this complex, with knowledge of the absolute configuration of the tag, establishes the absolute configuration of the molecule of interest. Furthermore, the diastereomer complex spectra can be used to determine the enantiomeric excess of the sample. The ability to perform chiral analysis will be illustrated by a study of solketal using propylene oxide as the tag. The possibility of using current methods of quantum chemistry to assign a specific structure to the chiral tag complex will be discussed. Finally, chiral tag rotational spectroscopy offers a "gold standard" method for determining the absolute configuration of the molecule through determination of the substitution structure of the complex. When this measurement is possible, rotational spectroscopy can deliver a quantitative three dimensional structure of the molecule with correct stereochemistry as the analysis output. [1] David Patterson, Melanie Schnell, John M. Doyle, Nature 497, 475 (2013). [2] David Patterson, John M. Doyle, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 023008 (2013).

  4. Kinetics of thorium and particle cycling along the U.S. GEOTRACES North Atlantic Transect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lerner, Paul; Marchal, Olivier; Lam, Phoebe J.; Buesseler, Ken; Charette, Matthew

    2017-07-01

    The high particle reactivity of thorium has resulted in its widespread use in tracing processes impacting marine particles and their chemical constituents. The use of thorium isotopes as tracers of particle dynamics, however, largely relies on our understanding of how the element scavenges onto particles. Here, we estimate apparent rate constants of Th adsorption (k1), Th desorption (k-1), bulk particle degradation (β-1), and bulk particle sinking speed (w) along the water column at 11 open-ocean stations occupied during the GEOTRACES North Atlantic Section (GA03). First, we provide evidence that the budgets of Th isotopes and particles at these stations appear to be generally dominated by radioactive production and decay sorption reactions, particle degradation, and particle sinking. Rate parameters are then estimated by fitting a Th and particle cycling model to data of dissolved and particulate 228,230,234Th, 228Ra, particle concentrations, and 234,238U estimates based on salinity, using a nonlinear programming technique. We find that the adsorption rate constant (k1) generally decreases with depth across the section: broadly, the time scale 1 /k1 averages 1.0 yr in the upper 1000 m and (1.4-1.5) yr below. A positive relationship between k1 and particle concentration (P) is found, i.e., k1 ∝Pb , where b ≥ 1 , consistent with the notion that k1 increases with the number of surface sites available for adsorption. The rate constant ratio, K =k1 / (k-1 +β-1) , which measures the collective influence of rate parameters on Th scavenging, averages 0.2 for most stations and most depths. We clarify the conditions under which K / P is equivalent to the distribution coefficient, KD, test that the conditions are met at the stations, and find that K / P decreases with P, in line with a particle concentration effect (dKD / dP < 0). In contrast to the influence of colloids as envisioned by the Brownian pumping hypothesis, we provide evidence that the particle

  5. Novalis' Poetic Uncertainty: A "Bildung" with the Absolute

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mika, Carl

    2016-01-01

    Novalis, the Early German Romantic poet and philosopher, had at the core of his work a mysterious depiction of the "absolute." The absolute is Novalis' name for a substance that defies precise knowledge yet calls for a tentative and sensitive speculation. How one asserts a truth, represents an object, and sets about encountering things…

  6. Population-based absolute risk estimation with survey data

    PubMed Central

    Kovalchik, Stephanie A.; Pfeiffer, Ruth M.

    2013-01-01

    Absolute risk is the probability that a cause-specific event occurs in a given time interval in the presence of competing events. We present methods to estimate population-based absolute risk from a complex survey cohort that can accommodate multiple exposure-specific competing risks. The hazard function for each event type consists of an individualized relative risk multiplied by a baseline hazard function, which is modeled nonparametrically or parametrically with a piecewise exponential model. An influence method is used to derive a Taylor-linearized variance estimate for the absolute risk estimates. We introduce novel measures of the cause-specific influences that can guide modeling choices for the competing event components of the model. To illustrate our methodology, we build and validate cause-specific absolute risk models for cardiovascular and cancer deaths using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our applications demonstrate the usefulness of survey-based risk prediction models for predicting health outcomes and quantifying the potential impact of disease prevention programs at the population level. PMID:23686614

  7. Absolute marine gravimetry with matter-wave interferometry.

    PubMed

    Bidel, Y; Zahzam, N; Blanchard, C; Bonnin, A; Cadoret, M; Bresson, A; Rouxel, D; Lequentrec-Lalancette, M F

    2018-02-12

    Measuring gravity from an aircraft or a ship is essential in geodesy, geophysics, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, and navigation. Today, only relative sensors are available for onboard gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints. Atom interferometry is a promising technology to obtain onboard absolute gravimeter. But, despite high performances obtained in static condition, no precise measurements were reported in dynamic. Here, we present absolute gravity measurements from a ship with a sensor based on atom interferometry. Despite rough sea conditions, we obtained precision below 10 -5  m s -2 . The atom gravimeter was also compared with a commercial spring gravimeter and showed better performances. This demonstration opens the way to the next generation of inertial sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) based on atom interferometry which should provide high-precision absolute measurements from a moving platform.

  8. Space-based measurements of elemental abundances and their relation to solar abundances

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Coplan, M. A.; Ogilvie, K. W.; Bochsler, P.; Geiss, J.

    1990-01-01

    The Ion Composition Instrument (ICI) aboard the ISEE-3/ICE spacecraft was in the solar wind continuously from August 1978 to December 1982. The results made it possible to establish long-term average solar wind abundance values for helium, oxygen, neon, silicon, and iron. The Charge-Energy-Mass instrument aboard the CCE spacecraft of the AMPTE mission has measured the abundance of these elements in the magnetosheath and has also added carbon, nitrogen, magnesium, and sulfur to the list. There is strong evidence that these magnetosheath abundances are representative of the solar wind. Other sources of solar wind abundances are Solar Energetic Particle experiments and Apollo lunar foils. When comparing the abundances from all of these sources with photospheric abundances, it is clear that helium is depleted in the solar wind while silicon and iron are enhanced. Solar wind abundances for carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and neon correlate well with the photospheric values. The incorporation of minor ions into the solar wind appears to depend upon both the ionization times for the elements and the Coulomb drag exerted by the outflowing proton flux.

  9. Experimental Cross Sections of Fission Fragments of Thorium-232 Irradiated with Medium-Energy Protons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Libanova, O. N.; Golubeva, E. S.; Ermolaev, S. V.; Matushko, V. L.; Botvina, A. S.

    2018-05-01

    This paper is focused on fission of Th-232 nuclei induced by protons with energies ranging from 20 to 140 MeV. This energy range is the most informative for studying the competition between asymmetric and symmetric fission modes. Experimental cross sections of production of radionuclides in thorium targets have been determined a year after irradiation. The corresponding theoretical values are calculated using the cascade-evaporation-fission model. The theoretical and experimental cross sections (literature data included) are compared.

  10. The permanent electric dipole moment of thorium sulfide, ThS.

    PubMed

    Le, Anh; Heaven, Michael C; Steimle, Timothy C

    2014-01-14

    Numerous rotational lines of the {18.26}1-X(1)Σ(+) band system of thorium sulfide, ThS, were recorded near 547.6 nm at a resolution of approximately 30 MHz. Measurements were made under field-free conditions, and in the presence of a static electric field. The field-free spectrum was analyzed to produce rotational and Λ-doubling parameters. The Stark shifts induced by the electric field were analyzed to determine permanent electric dipole moments, μ⃗el, of 4.58(10) D and 6.72(5) D for the X(1)Σ(+) (v = 0) and {18.26}1 states, respectively. The results are compared with the predictions of previous and new electronic structure calculations for ThS, and the properties of isovalent ThO.

  11. A theoretical study of alpha star populations in loaded nuclear emulsions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Senftle, F.E.; Farley, T.A.; Stieff, L.R.

    1954-01-01

    This theoretical study of the alpha star populations in loaded emulsions was undertaken in an effort to find a quantitative method for the analysis of less than microgram amounts of thorium in the presence of larger amounts of uranium. Analytical expressions for each type of star from each of the significantly contributing members of the uranium and thorium series as well as summation formulas for the whole series have been computed. The analysis for thorium may be made by determining the abundance of five-branched stars in a loaded nuclear emulsion and comparing of observed and predicted star populations. The comparison may also be used to check the half-lives of several members of the uranium and thorium series. ?? 1954.

  12. The absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bosch, Wolfgang; Savcenko, Roman

    The sea surface slopes relative to the geoid (an equipotential surface) basically carry the in-formation on the absolute velocity field of the surface circulation. Pure oceanographic models may remain unspecific with respect to the absolute level of the ocean topography. In contrast, the geodetic approach to estimate the ocean topography as difference between sea level and the geoid gives by definition an absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT). This approach requires, however, a consistent treatment of geoid and sea surface heights, the first being usually derived from a band limited spherical harmonic series of the Earth gravity field and the second observed with much higher spectral resolution by satellite altimetry. The present contribution shows a procedure for estimating the ADOT along the altimeter profiles, preserving as much sea surface height details as the consistency w.r.t. the geoid heights will allow. The consistent treatment at data gaps and the coast is particular demanding and solved by a filter correction. The ADOT profiles are inspected for their innocent properties towards the coast and compared to external estimates of the ocean topography or the velocity field of the surface circulation as derived, for example, by ARGO floats.

  13. Absolute configuration of a chiral CHD group via neutron diffraction: confirmation of the absolute stereochemistry of the enzymatic formation of malic acid

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bau, R.; Brewer, I.; Chiang, M.Y.

    Neutron diffraction has been used to monitor the absolute stereochemistry of an enzymatic reaction. (-)(2S)malic-3-d acid was prepared by the action of fumarase on fumaric acid in D/sub 2/O. After a large number of cations were screened, it was found that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylamine forms the large crystals necessary for a neutron diffraction analysis. The subsequent structure determination showed that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylammonium (-)(2S)malate-3-d has an absolute configuration of R at the CHD site. This result confirms the absolute stereochemistry of fumarate-to-malate transformation as catalyzed by the enzyme fumarase.

  14. Preliminary design study of small long life boiling water reactor (BWR) with tight lattice thorium nitride fuel

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Trianti, Nuri, E-mail: nuri.trianti@gmail.com, E-mail: szaki@fi.itba.c.id; Su'ud, Zaki, E-mail: nuri.trianti@gmail.com, E-mail: szaki@fi.itba.c.id; Arif, Idam, E-mail: nuri.trianti@gmail.com, E-mail: szaki@fi.itba.c.id

    2014-09-30

    Neutronic performance of small long-life boiling water reactors (BWR) with thorium nitride based fuel has been performed. A recent study conducted on BWR in tight lattice environments (with a lower moderator percentage) produces small power reactor which has some specifications, i.e. 10 years operation time, power density of 19.1 watt/cc and maximum excess reactivity of about 4%. This excess reactivity value is smaller than standard reactivity of conventional BWR. The use of hexagonal geometry on the fuel cell of BWR provides a substantial effect on the criticality of the reactor to obtain a longer operating time. Supported by a tightmore » concept lattice where the volume fraction of the fuel is greater than the moderator and fuel, Thorium Nitride give good results for fuel cell design on small long life BWR. The excess reactivity of the reactor can be reduced with the addition of gadolinium as burnable poisons. Therefore the hexagonal tight lattice fuel cell design of small long life BWR that has a criticality more than 20 years of operating time has been obtained.« less

  15. The Absolute Magnitude of the Sun in Several Filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Willmer, Christopher N. A.

    2018-06-01

    This paper presents a table with estimates of the absolute magnitude of the Sun and the conversions from vegamag to the AB and ST systems for several wide-band filters used in ground-based and space-based observatories. These estimates use the dustless spectral energy distribution (SED) of Vega, calibrated absolutely using the SED of Sirius, to set the vegamag zero-points and a composite spectrum of the Sun that coadds space-based observations from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared with models of the Solar atmosphere. The uncertainty of the absolute magnitudes is estimated by comparing the synthetic colors with photometric measurements of solar analogs and is found to be ∼0.02 mag. Combined with the uncertainty of ∼2% in the calibration of the Vega SED, the errors of these absolute magnitudes are ∼3%–4%. Using these SEDs, for three of the most utilized filters in extragalactic work the estimated absolute magnitudes of the Sun are M B = 5.44, M V = 4.81, and M K = 3.27 mag in the vegamag system and M B = 5.31, M V = 4.80, and M K = 5.08 mag in AB.

  16. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.; Oosterbeek, J. W.

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power is measured.

  17. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X.

    PubMed

    Moseev, D; Laqua, H P; Marsen, S; Stange, T; Braune, H; Erckmann, V; Gellert, F; Oosterbeek, J W

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power is measured.

  18. Preparation of an oakmoss absolute with reduced allergenic potential.

    PubMed

    Ehret, C; Maupetit, P; Petrzilka, M; Klecak, G

    1992-06-01

    Synopsis Oakmoss absolute, an extract of the lichen Evernia prunastri, is known to cause allergenic skin reactions due to the presence of certain aromatic aldehydes such as atranorin, chloratranorin, ethyl hematommate and ethyl chlorohematommate. In this paper it is shown that treatment of Oakmoss absolute with amino acids such as lysine and/or leucine, lowers considerably the content of these allergenic constituents including atranol and chloratranol. The resulting Oakmoss absolute, which exhibits an excellent olfactive quality, was tested extensively in comparative studies on guinea pigs and on man. The results of the Guinea Pig Maximization Test (GPMT) and Human Repeated Insult Patch Test (HRIPT) indicate that, in comparison with the commercial test sample, the allergenicity of this new quality of Oakmoss absolute was considerably reduced, and consequently better skin tolerance of this fragrance for man was achieved.

  19. Radioactivity of cigarettes and the importance of (210)Po and thorium isotopes for radiation dose assessment due to smoking.

    PubMed

    Kubalek, Davor; Serša, Gregor; Štrok, Marko; Benedik, Ljudmila; Jeran, Zvonka

    2016-05-01

    Tobacco and tobacco smoke are very complex mixtures. In addition to various chemical and organic compounds they also contain natural radioactive elements (radionuclides). In this work, the natural radionuclide activity concentrations ((234)U, (238)U, (228)Th, (230)Th, (232)Th, (226)Ra, (210)Pb and (210)Po) of nine different cigarette samples available on the Slovenian market are reported. In addition to (210)Po, the transfer of thorium isotopes from a cigarette to a smoker's body and lungs have been determined for the first time. Cigarette smoke and exhaled air from smokers' lungs were collected from volunteer smokers (C-4 brand) to determinate what quantity of (210)Po and thorium isotopes is transferred from the tobacco to the smoker's lungs. Cigarette ash and smoked filters were also collected and analysed. Among the determined isotopes, (210)Pb and (210)Po showed the highest activity concentrations. During the smoking of one cigarette approximately 22% of (210)Po (and presumably its predecessor (210)Pb), 0.6% of (228)Th, 24% of (230)Th, and 31% of (232)Th are transferred from the cigarette and retained in the smoker's body. The estimated annual effective dose for smokers is 61 μSv/year from (210)Po; 9 μSv/year from (210)Pb; 6 μSv/year from (228)Th; 47 μSv/year from (230)Th, and 37 μSv/year from (232)Th. These results show the importance of thorium isotopes in contributing to the annual effective dose for smoking. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Physics of negative absolute temperatures.

    PubMed

    Abraham, Eitan; Penrose, Oliver

    2017-01-01

    Negative absolute temperatures were introduced into experimental physics by Purcell and Pound, who successfully applied this concept to nuclear spins; nevertheless, the concept has proved controversial: a recent article aroused considerable interest by its claim, based on a classical entropy formula (the "volume entropy") due to Gibbs, that negative temperatures violated basic principles of statistical thermodynamics. Here we give a thermodynamic analysis that confirms the negative-temperature interpretation of the Purcell-Pound experiments. We also examine the principal arguments that have been advanced against the negative temperature concept; we find that these arguments are not logically compelling, and moreover that the underlying "volume" entropy formula leads to predictions inconsistent with existing experimental results on nuclear spins. We conclude that, despite the counterarguments, negative absolute temperatures make good theoretical sense and did occur in the experiments designed to produce them.

  1. Absolute gravimetry for monitoring geodynamics in Greenland.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsen, E.; Strykowski, G.; Forsberg, R.

    2015-12-01

    Here are presented the preliminary results of the absolute gravity measurements done in Greenland by DTU Space with their A10 absolute gravimeter (the A10-019). The purpose, besides establishing and maintaining a national gravity network, is to study geodynamics.The absolute gravity measurements are juxtaposed with the permanent GNET GNSS stations. The first measurements were conducted in 2009 and a few sites have been re-visited. As of present is there a gravity value at 18 GNET sites.There are challenges in interpreting the measurements from Greenland and several signals has to be taken into account, besides the geodynamical signals originating from the changing load of the ice, there is also a clear signal of direct attraction from different masses. Here are presented the preliminary results of our measurements in Greenland and attempts explain them through modelling of the geodynamical signals and the direct attraction from the ocean and ice.

  2. Numerical studies of acceleration of thorium ions by a laser pulse of ultra-relativistic intensity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Domanski, Jaroslaw; Badziak, Jan

    2018-01-01

    One of the key scientific projects of ELI-Nuclear Physics is to study the production of extremely neutron-rich nuclides by a new reaction mechanism called fission-fusion using laser-accelerated thorium (232Th) ions. This research is of crucial importance for understanding the nature of the creation of heavy elements in the Universe; however, they require Th ion beams of very high beam fluencies and intensities which are inaccessible in conventional accelerators. This contribution is a first attempt to investigate the possibility of the generation of intense Th ion beams by a fs laser pulse of ultra-relativistic intensity. The investigation was performed with the use of fully electromagnetic relativistic particle-in-cell code. A sub-μm thorium target was irradiated by a circularly polarized 20-fs laser pulse of intensity up to 1023 W/cm2, predicted to be attainable at ELI-NP. At the laser intensity 1023 W/cm2 and an optimum target thickness, the maximum energies of Th ions approach 9.3 GeV, the ion beam intensity is > 1020 W/cm2 and the total ion fluence reaches values 1019 ions/cm2. The last two values are much higher than attainable in conventional accelerators and are fairly promising for the planned ELI-NP experiment.

  3. Transmutation of uranium and thorium in the particle field of the Quinta sub-critical assembly

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hashemi-Nezhad, S. R.; Asquith, N. L.; Voronko, V. A.; Sotnikov, V. V.; Zhadan, Alina; Zhuk, I. V.; Potapenko, A.; Husak, Krystsina; Chilap, V.; Adam, J.; Baldin, A.; Berlev, A.; Furman, W.; Kadykov, M.; Khushvaktov, J.; Kudashkin, I.; Mar'in, I.; Paraipan, M.; Pronskih, V.; Solnyshkin, A.; Tyutyunnikov, S.

    2018-03-01

    The fission rates of natural uranium and thorium were measured in the particle field of Quinta, a 512 kg natural uranium target-blanket sub-critical assembly. The Quinta assembly was irradiated with deuterons of energy 4 GeV from the Nuclotron accelerator of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Dubna, Russia. Fission rates of uranium and thorium were measured using Gamma spectroscopy and fission track techniques. The production rate of 239Np was also measured. The obtained experimental results were compared with Monte Carlo predictions using the MCNPX 2.7 code employing the physics and fission-evaporation models of INCL4-ABLA, CEM03.03 and LAQGSM03.03. Some of the neutronic characteristics of the Quinta are compared with the "Energy plus Transmutation (EpT)" subcritical assembly, which is composed of a lead target and natU blanket. This comparison clearly demonstrates the importance of target material, neutron moderator and reflector types on the performance of a spallation neutron driven subcritical system. As the dimensions of the Quinta are very close to those of an optimal multi-rod-uranium target, the experimental and Monte Carlo calculation results presented in this paper provide insights on the particle field within a uranium target as well as in Accelerator Driven Systems in general.

  4. Strongly nonlinear theory of rapid solidification near absolute stability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kowal, Katarzyna N.; Altieri, Anthony L.; Davis, Stephen H.

    2017-10-01

    We investigate the nonlinear evolution of the morphological deformation of a solid-liquid interface of a binary melt under rapid solidification conditions near two absolute stability limits. The first of these involves the complete stabilization of the system to cellular instabilities as a result of large enough surface energy. We derive nonlinear evolution equations in several limits in this scenario and investigate the effect of interfacial disequilibrium on the nonlinear deformations that arise. In contrast to the morphological stability problem in equilibrium, in which only cellular instabilities appear and only one absolute stability boundary exists, in disequilibrium the system is prone to oscillatory instabilities and a second absolute stability boundary involving attachment kinetics arises. Large enough attachment kinetics stabilize the oscillatory instabilities. We derive a nonlinear evolution equation to describe the nonlinear development of the solid-liquid interface near this oscillatory absolute stability limit. We find that strong asymmetries develop with time. For uniform oscillations, the evolution equation for the interface reduces to the simple form f''+(βf')2+f =0 , where β is the disequilibrium parameter. Lastly, we investigate a distinguished limit near both absolute stability limits in which the system is prone to both cellular and oscillatory instabilities and derive a nonlinear evolution equation that captures the nonlinear deformations in this limit. Common to all these scenarios is the emergence of larger asymmetries in the resulting shapes of the solid-liquid interface with greater departures from equilibrium and larger morphological numbers. The disturbances additionally sharpen near the oscillatory absolute stability boundary, where the interface becomes deep-rooted. The oscillations are time-periodic only for small-enough initial amplitudes and their frequency depends on a single combination of physical parameters, including the

  5. Absolute far-ultraviolet spectrophotometry of hot subluminous stars from Voyager

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holberg, J. B.; Ali, B.; Carone, T. E.; Polidan, R. S.

    1991-01-01

    Observations, obtained with the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers, are presented of absolute fluxes for two well-known hot subluminous stars: BD + 28 deg 4211, an sdO, and G191 - B2B, a hot DA white dwarf. Complete absolute energy distributions for these two stars, from the Lyman limit at 912 A to 1 micron, are given. For BD + 28 deg 4211, a single power law closely represents the entire observed energy distribution. For G191 - B2B, a pure hydrogen model atmosphere provides an excellent match to the entire absolute energy distribution. Voyager absolute fluxes are discussed in relation to those reported from various sounding rocket experiments, including a recent rocket observation of BD + 28 deg 4211.

  6. From Hubble's NGSL to Absolute Fluxes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heap, Sara R.; Lindler, Don

    2012-01-01

    Hubble's Next Generation Spectral Library (NGSL) consists of R-l000 spectra of 374 stars of assorted temperature, gravity, and metallicity. Each spectrum covers the wavelength range, 0.18-1.00 microns. The library can be viewed and/or downloaded from the website, http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/stisngsll. Stars in the NGSL are now being used as absolute flux standards at ground-based observatories. However, the uncertainty in the absolute flux is about 2%, which does not meet the requirements of dark-energy surveys. We are therefore developing an observing procedure that should yield fluxes with uncertainties less than 1 % and will take part in an HST proposal to observe up to 15 stars using this new procedure.

  7. Advanced Burner Reactor with Breed-and-Burn Thorium Blankets for Improved Economics and Resource Utilization

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Greenspan, Ehud

    2015-11-04

    This study assesses the feasibility of designing Seed and Blanket (S&B) Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) to generate a significant fraction of the core power from radial thorium fueled blankets that operate on the Breed-and-Burn (B&B) mode without exceeding the radiation damage constraint of presently verified cladding materials. The S&B core is designed to maximize the fraction of neutrons that radially leak from the seed (or “driver”) into the subcritical blanket and reduce neutron loss via axial leakage. The blanket in the S&B core makes beneficial use of the leaking neutrons for improved economics and resource utilization. A specific objective ofmore » this study is to maximize the fraction of core power that can be generated by the blanket without violating the thermal hydraulic and material constraints. Since the blanket fuel requires no reprocessing along with remote fuel fabrication, a larger fraction of power from the blanket will result in a smaller fuel recycling capacity and lower fuel cycle cost per unit of electricity generated. A unique synergism is found between a low conversion ratio (CR) seed and a B&B blanket fueled by thorium. Among several benefits, this synergism enables the very low leakage S&B cores to have small positive coolant voiding reactivity coefficient and large enough negative Doppler coefficient even when using inert matrix fuel for the seed. The benefits of this synergism are maximized when using an annular seed surrounded by an inner and outer thorium blankets. Among the high-performance S&B cores designed to benefit from this unique synergism are: (1) the ultra-long cycle core that features a cycle length of ~7 years; (2) the high-transmutation rate core where the seed fuel features a TRU CR of 0.0. Its TRU transmutation rate is comparable to that of the reference Advanced Burner Reactor (ABR) with CR of 0.5 and the thorium blanket can generate close to 60% of the core power; but requires only one sixth of the reprocessing

  8. Fission-suppressed fusion breeder on the thorium cycle and nonproliferation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Moir, R. W.

    2012-06-19

    Fusion reactors could be designed to breed fissile material while suppressing fissioning thereby enhancing safety. The produced fuel could be used to startup and makeup fuel for fission reactors. Each fusion reaction can produce typically 0.6 fissile atoms and release about 1.6 times the 14 MeV neutron's energy in the blanket in the fission-suppressed design. This production rate is 2660 kg/1000 MW of fusion power for a year. The revenues would be doubled from such a plant by selling fuel at a price of 60/g and electricity at $0.05/kWh for Q=P{sub fusion}/P{sub input}=4. Fusion reactors could be designed to destroymore » fission wastes by transmutation and fissioning but this is not a natural use of fusion whereas it is a designed use of fission reactors. Fusion could supply makeup fuel to fission reactors that were dedicated to fissioning wastes with some of their neutrons. The design for safety and heat removal and other items is already accomplished with fission reactors. Whereas fusion reactors have geometry that compromises safety with a complex and thin wall separating the fusion zone from the blanket zone where wastes could be destroyed. Nonproliferation can be enhanced by mixing {sup 233}U with {sup 238}U. Also nonproliferation is enhanced in typical fission-suppressed designs by generating up to 0.05 {sup 232}U atoms for each {sup 233}U atom produced from thorium, about twice the IAEA standards of 'reduced protection' or 'self protection.' With 2.4%{sup 232}U, high explosive material is predicted to degrade owing to ionizing radiation after a little over 1/2 year and the heat rate is 77 W just after separation and climbs to over 600 W ten years later. The fissile material can be used to fuel most any fission reactor but is especially appropriate for molten salt reactors (MSR) also called liquid fluoride thorium reactors (LFTR) because of the molten fuel does not need hands on fabrication and handling.« less

  9. Absolute calibration of optical flats

    DOEpatents

    Sommargren, Gary E.

    2005-04-05

    The invention uses the phase shifting diffraction interferometer (PSDI) to provide a true point-by-point measurement of absolute flatness over the surface of optical flats. Beams exiting the fiber optics in a PSDI have perfect spherical wavefronts. The measurement beam is reflected from the optical flat and passed through an auxiliary optic to then be combined with the reference beam on a CCD. The combined beams include phase errors due to both the optic under test and the auxiliary optic. Standard phase extraction algorithms are used to calculate this combined phase error. The optical flat is then removed from the system and the measurement fiber is moved to recombine the two beams. The newly combined beams include only the phase errors due to the auxiliary optic. When the second phase measurement is subtracted from the first phase measurement, the absolute phase error of the optical flat is obtained.

  10. Accident analysis of heavy water cooled thorium breeder reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yulianti, Yanti; Su’ud, Zaki; Takaki, Naoyuki

    2015-04-16

    Thorium has lately attracted considerable attention because it is accumulating as a by-product of large scale rare earth mining. The objective of research is to analyze transient behavior of a heavy water cooled thorium breeder that is designed by Tokai University and Tokyo Institute of Technology. That is oxide fueled, PWR type reactor with heavy water as primary coolant. An example of the optimized core has relatively small moderator to fuel volume ratio (MFR) of 0.6 and the characteristics of the core are burn-up of 67 GWd/t, breeding ratio of 1.08, burn-up reactivity loss during cycles of < 0.2% dk/k,more » and negative coolant reactivity coefficient. One of the nuclear reactor accidents types examined here is Unprotected Transient over Power (UTOP) due to withdrawing of the control rod that result in the positive reactivity insertion so that the reactor power will increase rapidly. Another accident type is Unprotected Loss of Flow (ULOF) that caused by failure of coolant pumps. To analyze the reactor accidents, neutron distribution calculation in the nuclear reactor is the most important factor. The best expression for the neutron distribution is the Boltzmann transport equation. However, solving this equation is very difficult so that the space-time diffusion equation is commonly used. Usually, space-time diffusion equation is solved by employing a point kinetics approach. However, this approach is less accurate for a spatially heterogeneous nuclear reactor and the nuclear reactor with quite large reactivity input. Direct method is therefore used to solve space-time diffusion equation which consider spatial factor in detail during nuclear reactor accident simulation. Set of equations that obtained from full implicit finite-difference method is solved by using iterative methods. The indication of UTOP accident is decreasing macroscopic absorption cross-section that results large external reactivity, and ULOF accident is indicated by decreasing coolant flow

  11. Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite

    DOE PAGES

    Phillips, D. H.; Watson, D. B.

    2014-12-05

    The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the distribution of U and Th in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite, and (2) the removal of uranium from acidic groundwater by dolomitic gravel through precipitation with amorphous basaluminite at the U.S. DOE Oak Ridge Integrated Field Research Challenge (ORIFRC) field site west of the Oak Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex in East Tennessee. Media reactivity and sustainability are a technical concern with the deployment of any subsurface reactive media. Because the gravel was placed in the subsurface and exposed to contaminated groundwater for over 20 years, it provided amore » unique opportunity to study the solid and water phase geochemical conditions within the media after this length of exposure. This study illustrates that dolomite gravel can remove U from acidic contaminated groundwater with high levels of Al 3+, Ca 2+, NO 3-, and SO 4 2- over the long term. As the groundwater flows through high pH carbonate gravel, U containing amorphous basaluminite precipitates as the pH increases. This is due to an increase in groundwater pH from 3.2 to ~6.5 as it comes in contact with the gravel. Therefore, carbonate gravel could be considered as a possible treatment medium for removal and sequestration ofUand otherpHsensitive metals from acidic contaminated groundwater. Thorium concentrations are also high in the carbonate gravel. Thorium generally shows an inverse relationship with U from the surface down into the deeper saprolite. Barite precipitated in the shallow saprolite directly below the dolomitic gravel from barium present in the acidic contaminated groundwater.« less

  12. Probative value of absolute and relative judgments in eyewitness identification.

    PubMed

    Clark, Steven E; Erickson, Michael A; Breneman, Jesse

    2011-10-01

    It is well-accepted that eyewitness identification decisions based on relative judgments are less accurate than identification decisions based on absolute judgments. However, the theoretical foundation for this view has not been established. In this study relative and absolute judgments were compared through simulations of the WITNESS model (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) to address the question: Do suspect identifications based on absolute judgments have higher probative value than suspect identifications based on relative judgments? Simulations of the WITNESS model showed a consistent advantage for absolute judgments over relative judgments for suspect-matched lineups. However, simulations of same-foils lineups showed a complex interaction based on the accuracy of memory and the similarity relationships among lineup members.

  13. Determination of Absolute Zero Using a Computer-Based Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amrani, D.

    2007-01-01

    We present a simple computer-based laboratory experiment for evaluating absolute zero in degrees Celsius, which can be performed in college and undergraduate physical sciences laboratory courses. With a computer, absolute zero apparatus can help demonstrators or students to observe the relationship between temperature and pressure and use…

  14. Computationally Aided Absolute Stereochemical Determination of Enantioenriched Amines.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jun; Gholami, Hadi; Ding, Xinliang; Chun, Minji; Vasileiou, Chrysoula; Nehira, Tatsuo; Borhan, Babak

    2017-03-17

    A simple and efficient protocol for sensing the absolute stereochemistry and enantiomeric excess of chiral monoamines is reported. Preparation of the sample requires a single-step reaction of the 1,1'-(bromomethylene)dinaphthalene (BDN) with the chiral amine. Analysis of the exciton coupled circular dichroism generated from the BDN-derivatized chiral amine sample, along with comparison to conformational analysis performed computationally, yields the absolute stereochemistry of the parent chiral monoamine.

  15. Calculation and mitigation of isotopic interferences in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry assays and its application in supporting microdose absolute bioavailability studies.

    PubMed

    Gu, Huidong; Wang, Jian; Aubry, Anne-Françoise; Jiang, Hao; Zeng, Jianing; Easter, John; Wang, Jun-sheng; Dockens, Randy; Bifano, Marc; Burrell, Richard; Arnold, Mark E

    2012-06-05

    A methodology for the accurate calculation and mitigation of isotopic interferences in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays and its application in supporting microdose absolute bioavailability studies are reported for the first time. For simplicity, this calculation methodology and the strategy to minimize the isotopic interference are demonstrated using a simple molecule entity, then applied to actual development drugs. The exact isotopic interferences calculated with this methodology were often much less than the traditionally used, overestimated isotopic interferences simply based on the molecular isotope abundance. One application of the methodology is the selection of a stable isotopically labeled internal standard (SIL-IS) for an LC-MS/MS bioanalytical assay. The second application is the selection of an SIL analogue for use in intravenous (i.v.) microdosing for the determination of absolute bioavailability. In the case of microdosing, the traditional approach of calculating isotopic interferences can result in selecting a labeling scheme that overlabels the i.v.-dosed drug or leads to incorrect conclusions on the feasibility of using an SIL drug and analysis by LC-MS/MS. The methodology presented here can guide the synthesis by accurately calculating the isotopic interferences when labeling at different positions, using different selective reaction monitoring (SRM) transitions or adding more labeling positions. This methodology has been successfully applied to the selection of the labeled i.v.-dosed drugs for use in two microdose absolute bioavailability studies, before initiating the chemical synthesis. With this methodology, significant time and cost saving can be achieved in supporting microdose absolute bioavailability studies with stable labeled drugs.

  16. Use of Absolute and Comparative Performance Feedback in Absolute and Comparative Judgments and Decisions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Don A.; Klein, William M. P.

    2008-01-01

    Which matters more--beliefs about absolute ability or ability relative to others? This study set out to compare the effects of such beliefs on satisfaction with performance, self-evaluations, and bets on future performance. In Experiment 1, undergraduate participants were told they had answered 20% correct, 80% correct, or were not given their…

  17. Separation of thorium from lanthanides by solvent extraction with ionizable crown ethers.

    PubMed

    Du, H S; Wood, D J; Elshani, S; Wai, C M

    1993-02-01

    Thorium and the lanthanides are extracted by alpha-(sym-dibenzo-16-crown-5-oxy)acetic acid and its analogues in different pH ranges. At pH 4.5, Th is quantitatively extracted by the crown ether carboxylic acids into chloroform whereas the extraction of the lanthanides is negligible. Separation of Th from the lanthanides can be achieved by solvent extraction under this condition. The extraction does not require specific counteranions and is reversible with respect to pH. Trace amounts of Th in water can be quantitatively recovered using this extraction system for neutron activation analysis. The nature of the extracted Th complex and the mechanism of extraction are discussed.

  18. A Special Application of Absolute Value Techniques in Authentic Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stupel, Moshe

    2013-01-01

    There are at least five different equivalent definitions of the absolute value concept. In instances where the task is an equation or inequality with only one or two absolute value expressions, it is a worthy educational experience for learners to solve the task using each one of the definitions. On the other hand, if more than two absolute value…

  19. Structure elucidation and absolute stereochemistry of isomeric monoterpene chromane esters.

    PubMed

    Batista, João M; Batista, Andrea N L; Mota, Jonas S; Cass, Quezia B; Kato, Massuo J; Bolzani, Vanderlan S; Freedman, Teresa B; López, Silvia N; Furlan, Maysa; Nafie, Laurence A

    2011-04-15

    Six novel monoterpene chromane esters were isolated from the aerial parts of Peperomia obtusifolia (Piperaceae) using chiral chromatography. This is the first time that chiral chromane esters of this kind, ones with a tethered chiral terpene, have been isolated in nature. Due to their structural features, it is not currently possible to assess directly their absolute stereochemistry using any of the standard classical approaches, such as X-ray crystallography, NMR, optical rotation, or electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Herein we report the absolute configuration of these molecules, involving four chiral centers, using vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations. This work further reinforces the capability of VCD to determine unambiguously the absolute configuration of structurally complex molecules in solution, without crystallization or derivatization, and demonstrates the sensitivity of VCD to specify the absolute configuration for just one among a number of chiral centers. We also demonstrate the sufficiency of using the so-called inexpensive basis set 6-31G* compared to the triple-ζ basis set TZVP for absolute configuration analysis of larger molecules using VCD. Overall, this work extends our knowledge of secondary metabolites in plants and provides a straightforward way to determine the absolute configuration of complex natural products involving a chiral parent moiety combined with a chiral terpene adduct.

  20. Can Occupancy–Abundance Models Be Used to Monitor Wolf Abundance?

    PubMed Central

    Latham, M. Cecilia; Latham, A. David M.; Webb, Nathan F.; Mccutchen, Nicole A.; Boutin, Stan

    2014-01-01

    Estimating the abundance of wild carnivores is of foremost importance for conservation and management. However, given their elusive habits, direct observations of these animals are difficult to obtain, so abundance is more commonly estimated from sign surveys or radio-marked individuals. These methods can be costly and difficult, particularly in large areas with heavy forest cover. As an alternative, recent research has suggested that wolf abundance can be estimated from occupancy–abundance curves derived from “virtual” surveys of simulated wolf track networks. Although potentially more cost-effective, the utility of this approach hinges on its robustness to violations of its assumptions. We assessed the sensitivity of the occupancy–abundance approach to four assumptions: variation in wolf movement rates, changes in pack cohesion, presence of lone wolves, and size of survey units. Our simulations showed that occupancy rates and wolf pack abundances were biased high if track surveys were conducted when wolves made long compared to short movements, wolf packs were moving as multiple hunting units as opposed to a cohesive pack, and lone wolves were moving throughout the surveyed landscape. We also found that larger survey units (400 and 576 km2) were more robust to changes in these factors than smaller survey units (36 and 144 km2). However, occupancy rates derived from large survey units rapidly reached an asymptote at 100% occupancy, suggesting that these large units are inappropriate for areas with moderate to high wolf densities (>15 wolves/1,000 km2). Virtually-derived occupancy–abundance relationships can be a useful method for monitoring wolves and other elusive wildlife if applied within certain constraints, in particular biological knowledge of the surveyed species needs to be incorporated into the design of the occupancy surveys. Further, we suggest that the applicability of this method could be extended by directly incorporating some of its

  1. Bio-Inspired Stretchable Absolute Pressure Sensor Network

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Yue; Li, Yu-Hung; Guo, Zhiqiang; Kim, Kyunglok; Chang, Fu-Kuo; Wang, Shan X.

    2016-01-01

    A bio-inspired absolute pressure sensor network has been developed. Absolute pressure sensors, distributed on multiple silicon islands, are connected as a network by stretchable polyimide wires. This sensor network, made on a 4’’ wafer, has 77 nodes and can be mounted on various curved surfaces to cover an area up to 0.64 m × 0.64 m, which is 100 times larger than its original size. Due to Micro Electro-Mechanical system (MEMS) surface micromachining technology, ultrathin sensing nodes can be realized with thicknesses of less than 100 µm. Additionally, good linearity and high sensitivity (~14 mV/V/bar) have been achieved. Since the MEMS sensor process has also been well integrated with a flexible polymer substrate process, the entire sensor network can be fabricated in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner. Moreover, an accurate pressure contour can be obtained from the sensor network. Therefore, this absolute pressure sensor network holds significant promise for smart vehicle applications, especially for unmanned aerial vehicles. PMID:26729134

  2. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch.

    PubMed

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them.

  3. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R.

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them. PMID:29085275

  4. Moral absolutism and ectopic pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Kaczor, C

    2001-02-01

    If one accepts a version of absolutism that excludes the intentional killing of any innocent human person from conception to natural death, ectopic pregnancy poses vexing difficulties. Given that the embryonic life almost certainly will die anyway, how can one retain one's moral principle and yet adequately respond to a situation that gravely threatens the life of the mother and her future fertility? The four options of treatment most often discussed in the literature are non-intervention, salpingectomy (removal of tube with embryo), salpingostomy (removal of embryo alone), and use of methotrexate (MXT). In this essay, I review these four options and introduce a fifth (the milking technique). In order to assess these options in terms of the absolutism mentioned, it will also be necessary to discuss various accounts of the intention/foresight distinction. I conclude that salpingectomy, salpingostomy, and the milking technique are compatible with absolutist presuppositions, but not the use of methotrexate.

  5. The study of structure in 224-234 thorium nuclei within the framework IBM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Su Youn; Lee, Young Jun; Lee, J. H.

    2017-09-01

    An investigation has been made of the behaviour of nuclear structure as a function of an increase in neutron number from 224Th to 234Th. Thorium of mass number 234 is a typical rotor nucleus that can be explained by the SU(3) limit of the interacting boson model(IBM) in the algebraic nuclear model. Furthermore, 224-232Th lie on the path of the symmetry-breaking phase transition. Moreover, the nuclear structure of 224Th can be explained using X(5) symmetry. However, as 226-230Th nuclei are not fully symmetrical nuclei, they can be represented by adding a perturbed term to express symmetry breaking. Through the following three calculation steps, we identified the tendency of change in nuclear structure. Firstly, the structure of 232Th is described using the matrix elements of the Hamiltonian and the electric quadrupole operator between basis states of the SU(3) limit in IBM. Secondly, the low-lying energy levels and E2 transition ratios corresponding to the observable physical values are calculated by adding a perturbed term with the first-order Casimir operator of the U(5) limit to the SU(3) Hamiltonian in IBM. We compared the results with experimental data of 224-234Th. Lastly, the potential of the Bohr Hamiltonian is represented by a harmonic oscillator, as a result of which the structure of 224-234Th could be expressed in closed form by an approximate separation of variables. The results of these theoretical predictions clarify nuclear structure changes in Thorium nuclei over mass numbers of practical significance.

  6. High-resolution absolute position detection using a multiple grating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schilling, Ulrich; Drabarek, Pawel; Kuehnle, Goetz; Tiziani, Hans J.

    1996-08-01

    To control electro-mechanical engines, high-resolution linear and rotary encoders are needed. Interferometric methods (grating interferometers) promise a resolution of a few nanometers, but have an ambiguity range of some microns. Incremental encoders increase the absolute measurement range by counting the signal periods starting from a defined initial point. In many applications, however, it is not possible to move to this initial point, so that absolute encoders have to be used. Absolute encoders generally have a scale with two or more tracks placed next to each other. Therefore, they use a two-dimensional grating structure to measure a one-dimensional position. We present a new method, which uses a one-dimensional structure to determine the position in one dimension. It is based on a grating with a large grating period up to some millimeters, having the same diffraction efficiency in several predefined diffraction orders (multiple grating). By combining the phase signals of the different diffraction orders, it is possible to establish the position in an absolute range of the grating period with a resolution like incremental grating interferometers. The principal functionality was demonstrated by applying the multiple grating in a heterodyne grating interferometer. The heterodyne frequency was generated by a frequency modulated laser in an unbalanced interferometer. In experimental measurements an absolute range of 8 mm was obtained while achieving a resolution of 10 nm.

  7. CAMSS: A spectroscopic survey of meteoroid elemental abundances

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenniskens, P.; Gural, P.; Berdeu, A.

    2014-07-01

    The main element abundances (Mg, Fe, Na, ...) of some Near Earth Objects can be measured by meteor spectroscopy. The Cameras for All-sky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) Spectrograph project aims to scale up meteor spectroscopy in the same way as CAMS scaled up the measurement of precise meteoroid trajectories from multi-station video observations. Spectra are recorded with sixteen low-light video cameras, each equipped with a high 1379 lines/mm objective transmission grating. The cameras are operated in survey mode and have recorded spectra in the San Francisco Bay Area every clear night since March 12, 2013. An interactive software tool is being developed to calibrate the wavelength alignments projected on the focal plane and extract the meteor spectra. Because the meteoroid trajectory and pre-atmospheric orbit are also independently measured, the absolute abundances of elements in the meteoroid plasma can be calculated as a function of altitude, while the orbital information can tie the meteoroid back to its parent object. % 2007AdSpR..39..538A Berezhnoy, A. A., Borovička, J. 2012, ACM 2012, Abstract 6142 1993A&A...279..627B 1994A&AS..103...83B 2005Icar..174...15B 2011pimo.conf...28G Gural, P. S. 2012, M&PS, 47, 1405 1997ApJ...479..441J 2007AdSpR..39..491J 2011Icar..216...40J Gomez, N., Madiedo, J. M., & Trigo-Rodriguez, J. M. 2013, 44th LPSC, Abstract 1239 2007AdSpR..39..513K 2004AJ....128.2564M 2007AdSpR..39..583R 2007AdSpR..39..517T 2011A&A...526A.126W

  8. 10 CFR 40.28 - General license for custody and long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General license for custody and long-term care of uranium or thorium byproduct materials disposal sites. 40.28 Section 40.28 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SOURCE MATERIAL General Licenses § 40.28 General license for custody and...

  9. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Li abundances and velocities in F and G stars (Mallik+, 2003)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mallik, S. V.; Parthasarathy, M.; Pati, A.

    2003-09-01

    Lithium abundances have been determined in 127 F and G Pop I stars based on new measurements of the equivalent width of the λ6707Å Li I line from their high resolution CCD spectra. Distances and absolute magnitudes of these stars have been obtained from the Hipparcos Catalogue () and their masses and ages derived, enabling us to investigate the behaviour of lithium as a function of these parameters. Based on their location on the HR diagram superposed on theoretical evolutionary tracks, the sample of the stars has been chosen to ensure that they have more or less completed their Li depletion on the main sequence. (2 data files).

  10. Absolute Distance Measurement with the MSTAR Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lay, Oliver P.; Dubovitsky, Serge; Peters, Robert; Burger, Johan; Ahn, Seh-Won; Steier, William H.; Fetterman, Harrold R.; Chang, Yian

    2003-01-01

    The MSTAR sensor (Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging) is a new system for measuring absolute distance, capable of resolving the integer cycle ambiguity of standard interferometers, and making it possible to measure distance with sub-nanometer accuracy. The sensor uses a single laser in conjunction with fast phase modulators and low frequency detectors. We describe the design of the system - the principle of operation, the metrology source, beamlaunching optics, and signal processing - and show results for target distances up to 1 meter. We then demonstrate how the system can be scaled to kilometer-scale distances.

  11. Thorium binding by biochar fibres derived from Luffa Cylindrica after controlled surface oxidation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liatsou, Ioanna; Christodoulou, Eleni; Paschalidis, Ioannis

    2017-04-01

    Controlled surface modification of biochar fibres derived from Luffa Cylindrica sponges has been carried out by nitric acid and the degree of oxidation could be controlled by changing the acid concentration or the reaction time. The extent of surface oxidation has been quantified by acid-base titration and FTIR-spectroscopy. Furthermore, thorium binding has been studied as a function of various parameters and the experimental results show that even under strong acidic conditions the relative sorption is above 70% and the sorption capacity of the biochar fibres for Th(IV) at pH 3 is qmax= 70 gṡkg-1.

  12. Raman spectroscopic investigation of thorium dioxide-uranium dioxide (ThO₂-UO₂) fuel materials.

    PubMed

    Rao, Rekha; Bhagat, R K; Salke, Nilesh P; Kumar, Arun

    2014-01-01

    Raman spectroscopic investigations were carried out on proposed nuclear fuel thorium dioxide-uranium dioxide (ThO2-UO2) solid solutions and simulated fuels based on ThO2-UO2. Raman spectra of ThO2-UO2 solid solutions exhibited two-mode behavior in the entire composition range. Variations in mode frequencies and relative intensities of Raman modes enabled estimation of composition, defects, and oxygen stoichiometry in these compounds that are essential for their application. The present study shows that Raman spectroscopy is a simple, promising analytical tool for nondestructive characterization of this important class of nuclear fuel materials.

  13. Absolute and Relative Socioeconomic Health Inequalities across Age Groups

    PubMed Central

    van Zon, Sander K. R.; Bültmann, Ute; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.

    2015-01-01

    Background The magnitude of socioeconomic health inequalities differs across age groups. It is less clear whether socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by other factors that are known to affect the relation between socioeconomic position and health, like the indicator of socioeconomic position, the health outcome, gender, and as to whether socioeconomic health inequalities are measured in absolute or in relative terms. The aim is to investigate whether absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Methods The study sample was derived from the baseline measurement of the LifeLines Cohort Study and consisted of 95,432 participants. Socioeconomic position was measured as educational level and household income. Physical and mental health were measured with the RAND-36. Age concerned eleven 5-years age groups. Absolute inequalities were examined by comparing means. Relative inequalities were examined by comparing Gini-coefficients. Analyses were performed for both health outcomes by both educational level and household income. Analyses were performed for all age groups, and stratified by gender. Results Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome, and gender. Absolute inequalities were most pronounced for mental health by household income. They were larger in younger than older age groups. Relative inequalities were most pronounced for physical health by educational level. Gini-coefficients were largest in young age groups and smallest in older age groups. Conclusions Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed cross-sectionally across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Researchers should critically consider the implications of choosing a specific age group, in addition to the indicator of

  14. Some things ought never be done: moral absolutes in clinical ethics.

    PubMed

    Pellegrino, Edmund D

    2005-01-01

    Moral absolutes have little or no moral standing in our morally diverse modern society. Moral relativism is far more palatable for most ethicists and to the public at large. Yet, when pressed, every moral relativist will finally admit that there are some things which ought never be done. It is the rarest of moral relativists that will take rape, murder, theft, child sacrifice as morally neutral choices. In general ethics, the list of those things that must never be done will vary from person to person. In clinical ethics, however, the nature of the physician-patient relationship is such that certain moral absolutes are essential to the attainment of the good of the patient - the end of the relationship itself. These are all derivatives of the first moral absolute of all morality: Do good and avoid evil. In the clinical encounter, this absolute entails several subsidiary absolutes - act for the good of the patient, do not kill, keep promises, protect the dignity of the patient, do not lie, avoid complicity with evil. Each absolute is intrinsic to the healing and helping ends of the clinical encounter.

  15. Absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression in Europe.

    PubMed

    Dudal, Pieter; Bracke, Piet

    2016-09-01

    To investigate (1) the size of absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression, (2) their variation between European countries, and (3) their relationship with underlying prevalence rates. Analyses are based on the European Social Survey, rounds three and six (N = 57,419). Depression is measured using the shortened Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Education is coded by use of the International Standard Classification of Education. Country-specific logistic regressions are applied. Results point to an elevated risk of depressive symptoms among the lower educated. The cross-national patterns differ between absolute and relative measurements. For men, large relative inequalities are found for countries including Denmark and Sweden, but are accompanied by small absolute inequalities. For women, large relative and absolute inequalities are found in Belgium, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Results point to an empirical association between inequalities and the underlying prevalence rates. However, the strength of the association is only moderate. This research stresses the importance of including both measurements for comparative research and suggests the inclusion of the level of population health in research into inequalities in health.

  16. Outdoor 220Rn, 222Rn and terrestrial gamma radiation levels: investigation study in the thorium rich Fen Complex, Norway.

    PubMed

    Mrdakovic Popic, Jelena; Bhatt, Chhavi Raj; Salbu, Brit; Skipperud, Lindis

    2012-01-01

    The present study was done in the Fen Complex, a Norwegian area rich in naturally occurring radionuclides, especially in thorium ((232)Th). Measurement of radioactivity levels was conducted at the decommissioned iron (Fe) and niobium (Nb) mining sites (TENORM) as well as at the undisturbed wooded sites (NORM), all open for free public access. The soil activity concentrations of (232)Th (3280-8395 Bq kg(-1)) were significantly higher than the world and the Norwegian average values and exceeded the Norwegian screening level (1000 Bq kg(-1)) for radioactive waste, while radium ((226)Ra) was present at slightly elevated levels (89-171 Bq kg(-1)). Terrestrial gamma dose rates were also elevated, ranging 2.6-4.4 μGy h(-1). Based on long-term surveys, the air concentrations of thoron ((220)Rn) and radon ((222)Rn) reached 1786 and 82 Bq m(-3), respectively. Seasonal variation in the outdoor gamma dose rates and Rn concentrations was confirmed. Correlation analyses showed a linear relationship between air radiation levels and the abundance of (232)Th in soil. The annual outdoor effective radiation doses for humans (occupancy 5 h day(-1)) were estimated to be in the range of 3.0-7.7 mSv, comparable or higher than the total average (summarized indoor and outdoor) exposure dose for the Norwegian population (2.9 mSv year(-1)). On the basis of all obtained results, this Norwegian area should be considered as enhanced natural radiation area (ENRA).

  17. Relativistic Absolutism in Moral Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vogt, W. Paul

    1982-01-01

    Discusses Emile Durkheim's "Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education," which holds that morally healthy societies may vary in culture and organization but must possess absolute rules of moral behavior. Compares this moral theory with current theory and practice of American educators. (MJL)

  18. Separation of 103Ru from a proton irradiated thorium matrix: A potential source of Auger therapy radionuclide 103mRh

    PubMed Central

    Hopkins, Philip D.; Engle, Jonathan W.; Weidner, John W.; Copping, Roy; Brugh, Mark; Nortier, F. Meiring; Birnbaum, Eva R.; John, Kevin D.

    2017-01-01

    Ruthenium-103 is the parent isotope of 103mRh (t1/2 56.1 min), an isotope of interest for Auger electron therapy. During the proton irradiation of thorium targets, large amounts of 103Ru are generated through proton induced fission. The development of a two part chemical separation process to isolate 103Ru in high yield and purity from a proton irradiated thorium matrix on an analytical scale is described herein. The first part employed an anion exchange column to remove cationic actinide/lanthanide impurities along with the majority of the transition metal fission products. Secondly, an extraction chromatographic column utilizing diglycolamide functional groups was used to decontaminate 103Ru from the remaining impurities. This method resulted in a final radiochemical yield of 83 ± 5% of 103Ru with a purity of 99.9%. Additionally, measured nuclear reaction cross sections for the formation of 103Ru and 106Ru via the 232Th(p,f)103,106Ru reactions are reported within. PMID:29272318

  19. Ab initio modeling of point defects, self-diffusion, and incorporation of impurities in thorium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Daroca, D. Pérez

    2017-02-01

    Research on Generation-IV nuclear reactors has boosted the investigation of thorium as nuclear fuel. By means of first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory, structural properties and phonon dispersion curves of Th are obtained. These results agreed very well with previous ones. The stability and formation energies of vacancies, interstitial and divacancies are studied. It is found that vacancies are the energetically preferred defects. The incorporation energies of He, Xe, and Kr atoms in Th defects are analyzed. Self-diffusion, migration paths and activation energies are also calculated.

  20. Determining absolute protein numbers by quantitative fluorescence microscopy.

    PubMed

    Verdaasdonk, Jolien Suzanne; Lawrimore, Josh; Bloom, Kerry

    2014-01-01

    Biological questions are increasingly being addressed using a wide range of quantitative analytical tools to examine protein complex composition. Knowledge of the absolute number of proteins present provides insights into organization, function, and maintenance and is used in mathematical modeling of complex cellular dynamics. In this chapter, we outline and describe three microscopy-based methods for determining absolute protein numbers--fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, stepwise photobleaching, and ratiometric comparison of fluorescence intensity to known standards. In addition, we discuss the various fluorescently labeled proteins that have been used as standards for both stepwise photobleaching and ratiometric comparison analysis. A detailed procedure for determining absolute protein number by ratiometric comparison is outlined in the second half of this chapter. Counting proteins by quantitative microscopy is a relatively simple yet very powerful analytical tool that will increase our understanding of protein complex composition. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Synthesis of UiO-66-OH zirconium metal-organic framework and its application for selective extraction and trace determination of thorium in water samples by spectrophotometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moghaddam, Zahra Safaei; Kaykhaii, Massoud; Khajeh, Mostafa; Oveisi, Ali Reza

    2018-04-01

    In this study, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (Zr-MOF), named UiO-66-OH, was synthesized by the solvo-thermal method and characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This Zr-MOF was then employed as a sorbent for selective extraction and preconcentration of thorium ions after their complexation with 2-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-trihydroxychromen-4-one (morin) from environmental water samples prior to its spectrophotometrical determination. The experimental parameters affecting extraction, such as pH of sample solution, amount of Zr-MOF, type and volume of eluting solvent, adsorption and desorption time, and concentration of complexing agent were evaluated and optimized. Under the optimized conditions, an enrichment factor of 250 was achieved. The limit of detection was calculated to be 0.35 μg·L- 1 with a linear range between 10 and 2000 μg·L- 1of thorium. The maximum sorption capacity of MOF toward thorium was found to be 47.5 mg·g- 1. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to the analysis of real water samples.

  2. Stability of a new cubic monoxide of Thorium under pressure

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Weiwei; Luo, Wei; Ahuja, Rajeev

    2015-01-01

    Density functional theory has been applied to elucidate the stability of thorium monoxide (ThO). It is found out that the pressure can stabilize the rocksalt phase of ThO, and the transition pressure is estimated between 14 and 22 GPa. The stability of ThO can be attributed due to the gradually filling 5f orbitals at the expense of 7s and 6d electrons in Th metal. For ThO, the pressure induces stronger Th-O bond reflected by the newly established 6d-2p hybridization which is the dominant cause of its stability. The phonon dispersion curves of the rocksalt phase show the positive frequencies which indicates its dynamical stability. Our successful prediction of the stabilization of the metallic ThO has proposed a route to synthesize novel actinide monoxides. PMID:26337015

  3. Prospecting for Precious Metals in Ultra-Metal-Poor Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    French, R. S.

    2000-05-01

    The chemical compositions of the most metal-poor halo stars are living records of the very early nucleosynthetic history of the Galaxy. Only a few prior generations, if not a single one, of element-donating supernovae could have been responsible for the heavy elements observed in ultra-metal-poor (UMP; [Fe/H] < --2.5) stars. Abundances of the heavy neutron-capture elements (Z > 30) can yield direct information about the supernova progenitors to UMP stars, and abundances of unstable thorium and uranium (Z = 90, 92) can potentially provide age estimates for the Galactic halo. Already, many studies have demonstrated that abundances of rare-earth elements (56 <= Z <= 72) in UMP stars are completely consistent with their production in rapid neutron-capture synthesis (r-process) events, usually believed to occur during supernovae explosions. Therefore, mapping the entire abundance pattern of UMP stars is of significant interest. In particular, abundances of the most massive stable elements (Os -> Pb or 76 <= Z <= 82) could provide crucial information about the so-called ``third r-process peak,'' and are critical to the radioactive-dating technique that uses unstable thorium as a chronometer. Until recently, abundance determinations for these elements have been virtually non-existent, as the strongest relevant transitions lay in the vacuum UV, inaccessible to ground-based observation. The availability of high-resolution space-based spectrometers has opened up new regions of spectral coverage, including precisely the range in wavelength needed to make these sensitive measurements. We have undertaken a study of about 10 metal-poor halo giants to determine the abundances of several of the heaviest neutron-capture elements including platinum, osmium, lead, and gold. Preliminary results indicate that the abundance pattern of heavy neutron-capture elements (56 <= Z <= 82) in UMP stars does mimic a scaled solar system r-process. Thus, the ability to estimate the initial

  4. Essential Oils, Part VI: Sandalwood Oil, Ylang-Ylang Oil, and Jasmine Absolute.

    PubMed

    de Groot, Anton C; Schmidt, Erich

    In this article, some aspects of sandalwood oil, ylang-ylang oil, and jasmine absolute are discussed including their botanical origin, uses of the plants and the oils and absolute, chemical composition, contact allergy to and allergic contact dermatitis from these essential oils and absolute, and their causative allergenic ingredients.

  5. A characteristic oxygen abundance gradient in galaxy disks unveiled with CALIFA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sánchez, S. F.; Rosales-Ortega, F. F.; Iglesias-Páramo, J.; Mollá, M.; Barrera-Ballesteros, J.; Marino, R. A.; Pérez, E.; Sánchez-Blazquez, P.; González Delgado, R.; Cid Fernandes, R.; de Lorenzo-Cáceres, A.; Mendez-Abreu, J.; Galbany, L.; Falcon-Barroso, J.; Miralles-Caballero, D.; Husemann, B.; García-Benito, R.; Mast, D.; Walcher, C. J.; Gil de Paz, A.; García-Lorenzo, B.; Jungwiert, B.; Vílchez, J. M.; Jílková, Lucie; Lyubenova, M.; Cortijo-Ferrero, C.; Díaz, A. I.; Wisotzki, L.; Márquez, I.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Ellis, S.; van de Ven, G.; Jahnke, K.; Papaderos, P.; Gomes, J. M.; Mendoza, M. A.; López-Sánchez, Á. R.

    2014-03-01

    We present the largest and most homogeneous catalog of H ii regions and associations compiled so far. The catalog comprises more than 7000 ionized regions, extracted from 306 galaxies observed by the CALIFA survey. We describe the procedures used to detect, select, and analyze the spectroscopic properties of these ionized regions. In the current study we focus on characterizing of the radial gradient of the oxygen abundance in the ionized gas, based on the study of the deprojecteddistribution of H ii regions. We found that all galaxies without clear evidence of an interaction present a common gradient in the oxygen abundance, with a characteristic slope of αO/H = -0.1 dex/re between 0.3 and 2 disk effective radii (re), and a scatter compatible with random fluctuations around this value, when the gradient is normalized to the disk effective radius. The slope is independent of morphology, the incidence of bars, absolute magnitude, or mass. Only those galaxies with evidence of interactions and/or clear merging systems present a significantly shallower gradient, consistent with previous results. The majority of the 94 galaxies with H ii regions detected beyond two disk effective radii present a flattening in the oxygen abundance. The flattening is statistically significant. We cannot provide a conclusive answer regarding the origin of this flattening. However, our results indicate that its origin is most probably related to the secular evolution of galaxies. Finally, we find a drop/truncation of the oxygen abundance in the inner regions for 26 of the galaxies. All of them are non-interacting, mostly unbarred Sb/Sbc galaxies. This feature is associated with a central star-forming ring, which suggests that both features are produced by radial gas flows induced by resonance processes. Our result suggests that galaxy disks grow inside-out, with metal enrichment driven by the local star formation history and with a small variation galaxy-by-galaxy. At a certain

  6. Temporal Dynamics of Microbial Rhodopsin Fluorescence Reports Absolute Membrane Voltage

    PubMed Central

    Hou, Jennifer H.; Venkatachalam, Veena; Cohen, Adam E.

    2014-01-01

    Plasma membrane voltage is a fundamentally important property of a living cell; its value is tightly coupled to membrane transport, the dynamics of transmembrane proteins, and to intercellular communication. Accurate measurement of the membrane voltage could elucidate subtle changes in cellular physiology, but existing genetically encoded fluorescent voltage reporters are better at reporting relative changes than absolute numbers. We developed an Archaerhodopsin-based fluorescent voltage sensor whose time-domain response to a stepwise change in illumination encodes the absolute membrane voltage. We validated this sensor in human embryonic kidney cells. Measurements were robust to variation in imaging parameters and in gene expression levels, and reported voltage with an absolute accuracy of 10 mV. With further improvements in membrane trafficking and signal amplitude, time-domain encoding of absolute voltage could be applied to investigate many important and previously intractable bioelectric phenomena. PMID:24507604

  7. Exploring the Abundance and Diversity of Bacterial Communities and Quantifying Antibiotic-Related Genes Along an Elevational Gradient in Taibai Mountain, China.

    PubMed

    Peng, Chu; Wang, He; Jiang, Yingying; Yang, Jinhua; Lai, Hangxian; Wei, Xiaomin

    2018-05-10

    Thus far, no studies have investigated the soil microbial diversity over an elevational gradient in Taibai Mountain, the central massif of the Qinling Mountain Range. Here, we used Illumina sequencing and quantitative PCR of the 16S rRNA gene to assess the diversity and abundance of bacterial communities along an elevational gradient in representative vegetation soils in Taibai Mountain. We identified the soil, climate, and vegetation factors driving the variations in soil bacterial community structure by Pearson correlation and redundancy analysis. We also evaluated the potential for antibiotic discovery by quantitative PCR of the PKS-I, PKS-II, and NRPS genes from Actinobacteria. The results showed that soil bacterial alpha diversity increased first and then decreased with an elevational rise in both the northern and southern slopes of Taibai Mountain. The bacterial abundance was significantly correlated with soil organic matter and nitrate nitrogen. The average relative abundance of Actinobacteria in Taibai Mountain was markedly higher than those in other mountain forest soils. The absolute abundance of PKS and NPRS gene was significantly higher in the tested soils compared with the gene copy numbers reported in tropical urban soils. Taibai Mountain is rich in actinomycete resources and has great potential for antibiotic excavation.

  8. Synthesis of ion-exchange resin for selective thorium and uranyl ions sorption

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Konovalov, Konstantin; Sachkov, Victor

    2017-11-01

    In this work, the method of ion-exchange resin synthesis selective to radionuclides (uranium and thorium) is presented. The method includes synthesis of polymeric styrene-divinylbenzene macroporous matrix with size of 0.1-0.2 mm, and its subsequent transformation by nitration and then reduction by tin (II) chloride. For passivation of active primary amines partially oxidation by oxygen from air is used. Obtained ion-exchange resin has ratio of sorption sum U+Th to sorption sum of other total rare-earth elements as 1:1.88 at ratio of solid to liquid phase 1:200. The proposed method of ion-exchange resin synthesis is scaled-up for laboratory reactors with volume of 5 and 50 liters.

  9. 242Pu absolute neutron-capture cross section measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buckner, M. Q.; Wu, C. Y.; Henderson, R. A.; Bucher, B.; Chyzh, A.; Bredeweg, T. A.; Baramsai, B.; Couture, A.; Jandel, M.; Mosby, S.; O'Donnell, J. M.; Ullmann, J. L.

    2017-09-01

    The absolute neutron-capture cross section of 242Pu was measured at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center using the Detector for Advanced Neutron-Capture Experiments array along with a compact parallel-plate avalanche counter for fission-fragment detection. During target fabrication, a small amount of 239Pu was added to the active target so that the absolute scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section could be set according to the known 239Pu(n,f) resonance at En,R = 7.83 eV. The relative scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section covers four orders of magnitude for incident neutron energies from thermal to ≈ 40 keV. The cross section reported in ENDF/B-VII.1 for the 242Pu(n,γ) En,R = 2.68 eV resonance was found to be 2.4% lower than the new absolute 242Pu(n,γ) cross section.

  10. [Effect of stock abundance and environmental factors on the recruitment success of small yellow croaker in the East China Sea].

    PubMed

    Liu, Zun-lei; Yuan, Xing-wei; Yang, Lin-lin; Yan, Li-ping; Zhang, Hui; Cheng, Jia-hua

    2015-02-01

    Multiple hypotheses are available to explain recruitment rate. Model selection methods can be used to identify the best model that supports a particular hypothesis. However, using a single model for estimating recruitment success is often inadequate for overexploited population because of high model uncertainty. In this study, stock-recruitment data of small yellow croaker in the East China Sea collected from fishery dependent and independent surveys between 1992 and 2012 were used to examine density-dependent effects on recruitment success. Model selection methods based on frequentist (AIC, maximum adjusted R2 and P-values) and Bayesian (Bayesian model averaging, BMA) methods were applied to identify the relationship between recruitment and environment conditions. Interannual variability of the East China Sea environment was indicated by sea surface temperature ( SST) , meridional wind stress (MWS), zonal wind stress (ZWS), sea surface pressure (SPP) and runoff of Changjiang River ( RCR). Mean absolute error, mean squared predictive error and continuous ranked probability score were calculated to evaluate the predictive performance of recruitment success. The results showed that models structures were not consistent based on three kinds of model selection methods, predictive variables of models were spawning abundance and MWS by AIC, spawning abundance by P-values, spawning abundance, MWS and RCR by maximum adjusted R2. The recruitment success decreased linearly with stock abundance (P < 0.01), suggesting overcompensation effect in the recruitment success might be due to cannibalism or food competition. Meridional wind intensity showed marginally significant and positive effects on the recruitment success (P = 0.06), while runoff of Changjiang River showed a marginally negative effect (P = 0.07). Based on mean absolute error and continuous ranked probability score, predictive error associated with models obtained from BMA was the smallest amongst different

  11. [Prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia].

    PubMed

    Szerafin, László; Jakó, János; Riskó, Ferenc

    2015-04-01

    The low peripheral absolute lymphocyte and high monocyte count have been reported to correlate with poor clinical outcome in various lymphomas and other cancers. However, a few data known about the prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The aim of the authors was to investigate the impact of absolute monocyte count measured at the time of diagnosis in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia on the time to treatment and overal survival. Between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2012, 223 patients with newly-diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were included. The rate of patients needing treatment, time to treatment, overal survival and causes of mortality based on Rai stages, CD38, ZAP-70 positivity and absolute monocyte count were analyzed. Therapy was necessary in 21.1%, 57.4%, 88.9%, 88.9% and 100% of patients in Rai stage 0, I, II, III an IV, respectively; in 61.9% and 60.8% of patients exhibiting CD38 and ZAP-70 positivity, respectively; and in 76.9%, 21.2% and 66.2% of patients if the absolute monocyte count was <0.25 G/l, between 0.25-0.75 G/l and >0.75 G/l, respectively. The median time to treatment and the median overal survival were 19.5, 65, and 35.5 months; and 41.5, 65, and 49.5 months according to the three groups of monocyte counts. The relative risk of beginning the therapy was 1.62 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count <0.25 G/l or >0.75 G/l, as compared to those with 0.25-0.75 G/l, and the risk of overal survival was 2.41 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count lower than 0.25 G/l as compared to those with higher than 0.25 G/l. The relative risks remained significant in Rai 0 patients, too. The leading causes of mortality were infections (41.7%) and the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (58.3%) in patients with low monocyte count, while tumours (25.9-35.3%) and other events (48.1 and 11.8%) occurred in patients with medium or high monocyte counts. Patients with low and high monocyte

  12. Oxygen abundances in halo stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bessell, Michael S.; Sutherland, Ralph S.; Ruan, Kui

    1991-12-01

    The present study determines the oxygen abundance for a sample of metal-poor G dwarfs by analysis of OH lines between 3080 and 3200 A and the permitted high-excitation far-red O I triple. The oxygen abundances determined from the low-excitation OH lines are up to 0.55 dex lower than those measured from the high-excitation O I lines. The abundances for the far-red O I triplet lines agree with those rederived from Abia and Rebolo (1989), and the abundances from the OH lines in dwarfs and giants are in agreement with the rederived O abundances of Barbuy (1988) and others from the forbidden resonance O I line. Because the chi = 0.1.7 eV OH lines are formed in the same layers as the majority of Fe, Ti, and other neutral metal lines used for abundance analyses, it is argued that the OH lines and the forbidden O I line yield the true oxygen abundances relative to the metals.

  13. A non-symmetric pillar[5]arene based on triazole-linked 8-oxyquinolines as a sequential sensor for thorium(IV) followed by fluoride ions.

    PubMed

    Fang, Yuyu; Li, Caixia; Wu, Lei; Bai, Bing; Li, Xing; Jia, Yiming; Feng, Wen; Yuan, Lihua

    2015-09-07

    A novel non-symmetric pillar[5]arene bearing triazole-linked 8-oxyquinolines at one rim was synthesized and demonstrated as a sequential fluorescence sensor for thorium(iv) followed by fluoride ions with high sensitivity and selectivity.

  14. Confidence-Accuracy Calibration in Absolute and Relative Face Recognition Judgments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weber, Nathan; Brewer, Neil

    2004-01-01

    Confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration was examined for absolute and relative face recognition judgments as well as for recognition judgments from groups of stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially (i.e., simultaneous or sequential mini-lineups). When the effect of difficulty was controlled, absolute and relative judgments produced…

  15. Reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach for 3D measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Shuang; Zhang, Jing; Yu, Xiaoyang; Sun, Xiaoming; Wu, Haibin; Chen, Deyun

    2017-11-01

    The wrapped phase of phase-shifting approach can be unwrapped by using Gray code, but both the wrapped phase error and Gray code decoding error can result in period jump error, which will lead to gross measurement error. Therefore, this paper presents a reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach. The combination of unequal-period Gray code and phase shifting patterns at high frequencies are used to obtain high-frequency absolute analog code, and at low frequencies, the same unequal-period combination patterns are used to obtain the low-frequency absolute analog code. Next, the difference between the two absolute analog codes was employed to eliminate period jump errors, and a reliable unwrapped result can be obtained. Error analysis was used to determine the applicable conditions, and this approach was verified through theoretical analysis. The proposed approach was further verified experimentally. Theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can perform reliable analog code unwrapping.

  16. Auditory working memory predicts individual differences in absolute pitch learning.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Koch, Rachelle; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2015-07-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is typically defined as the ability to label an isolated tone as a musical note in the absence of a reference tone. At first glance the acquisition of AP note categories seems like a perceptual learning task, since individuals must assign a category label to a stimulus based on a single perceptual dimension (pitch) while ignoring other perceptual dimensions (e.g., loudness, octave, instrument). AP, however, is rarely discussed in terms of domain-general perceptual learning mechanisms. This is because AP is typically assumed to depend on a critical period of development, in which early exposure to pitches and musical labels is thought to be necessary for the development of AP precluding the possibility of adult acquisition of AP. Despite this view of AP, several previous studies have found evidence that absolute pitch category learning is, to an extent, trainable in a post-critical period adult population, even if the performance typically achieved by this population is below the performance of a "true" AP possessor. The current studies attempt to understand the individual differences in learning to categorize notes using absolute pitch cues by testing a specific prediction regarding cognitive capacity related to categorization - to what extent does an individual's general auditory working memory capacity (WMC) predict the success of absolute pitch category acquisition. Since WMC has been shown to predict performance on a wide variety of other perceptual and category learning tasks, we predict that individuals with higher WMC should be better at learning absolute pitch note categories than individuals with lower WMC. Across two studies, we demonstrate that auditory WMC predicts the efficacy of learning absolute pitch note categories. These results suggest that a higher general auditory WMC might underlie the formation of absolute pitch categories for post-critical period adults. Implications for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the

  17. Method and apparatus for two-dimensional absolute optical encoding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    This invention presents a two-dimensional absolute optical encoder and a method for determining position of an object in accordance with information from the encoder. The encoder of the present invention comprises a scale having a pattern being predetermined to indicate an absolute location on the scale, means for illuminating the scale, means for forming an image of the pattern; and detector means for outputting signals derived from the portion of the image of the pattern which lies within a field of view of the detector means, the field of view defining an image reference coordinate system, and analyzing means, receiving the signals from the detector means, for determining the absolute location of the object. There are two types of scale patterns presented in this invention: grid type and starfield type.

  18. New design and facilities for the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements (AGrav): A support for the Establishment of a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, Hartmut; Falk, Reinhard; Bonvalot, Sylvain; Rülke, Axel

    2017-04-01

    After about 10 years of successful joint operation by BGI and BKG, the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements "AGrav" (see references hereafter) was under a major revision. The outdated web interface was replaced by a responsive, high level web application framework based on Python and built on top of Pyramid. Functionality was added, like interactive time series plots or a report generator and the interactive map-based station overview was updated completely, comprising now clustering and the classification of stations. Furthermore, the database backend was migrated to PostgreSQL for better support of the application framework and long-term availability. As comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) become essential to realize a precise and uniform gravity standard, the database was extended to document the results on international and regional level, including those performed at monitoring stations equipped with SGs. By this it will be possible to link different AGs and to trace their equivalence back to the key comparisons under the auspices of International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) as the best metrological realization of the absolute gravity standard. In this way the new AGrav database accommodates the demands of the new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System as recommended by the IAG Resolution No. 2 adopted in Prague 2015. The new database will be presented with focus on the new user interface and new functionality, calling all institutions involved in absolute gravimetry to participate and contribute with their information to built up a most complete picture of high precision absolute gravimetry and improve its visibility. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be provided by BGI to contributors to give a better traceability and facilitate the referencing of their gravity surveys. Links and references: BGI mirror site : http://bgi.obs-mip.fr/data-products/Gravity-Databases/Absolute-Gravity-data/ BKG mirror site: http

  19. Thorium distributions in high- and low-dust regions and the significance for iron supply

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hayes, Christopher T.; Rosen, Jeffrey; McGee, David; Boyle, Edward A.

    2017-02-01

    Thorium and uranium isotopes (232Th, 230Th, 238U, and 234U) were investigated to refine their use for estimating mineral dust deposition and Fe delivery to the ocean. U concentrations and isotope ratios were consistent with conservative behavior and can safely be described using published U-salinity relationships and global average seawater isotopic composition. Near Barbados, waters affected by the Amazon outflow contained elevated 232Th. This signals one region where the thorium-dust method is inaccurate because of a confounding continental input. Dissolved 232Th fluxes in this region suggest that Amazonian Fe supply to the adjacent open ocean is much larger than local atmospheric deposition. The colloidal content of dissolved Th south of Bermuda was found to be quite small (2-6%), similar to that found north of Hawaii, despite the order of magnitude higher dust deposition in the Atlantic. This finding supports the assumption that dissolved 232Th and 230Th are scavenged at the same rate despite their different sources and also sheds light on the increase of dissolved 232Th fluxes with integrated depth. Outside the region influenced by Amazon River waters, dissolved 232Th fluxes are compared with Bermudan aerosol Fe deposition to estimate that fractional Th solubility is around 20% in this region. Finally, new dissolved and soluble Fe, Mn, and Cr data from the subtropical North Pacific support the idea that Fe concentrations in the remote ocean are highly buffered, whereas 232Th has a larger dynamic range between high- and low-dust regions.

  20. 237Np absolute delayed neutron yield measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doré, D.; Ledoux, X.; Nolte, R.; Gagnon-Moisan, F.; Thulliez, L.; Litaize, O.; Roettger, S.; Serot, O.

    2017-09-01

    237Np absolute delayed neutron yields have been measured at different incident neutron energies from 1.5 to 16 MeV. The experiment was performed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) facility where the Van de Graaff accelerator and the cyclotron CV28 delivered 9 different neutron energy beams using p+T, d+D and d+T reactions. The detection system is made up of twelve 3He tubes inserted into a polyethylene cylinder. In this paper, the experimental setup and the data analysis method are described. The evolution of the absolute DN yields as a function of the neutron incident beam energies are presented and compared to experimental data found in the literature and data from the libraries.

  1. An absolute measure for a key currency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oya, Shunsuke; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Hirata, Yoshito

    It is generally considered that the US dollar and the euro are the key currencies in the world and in Europe, respectively. However, there is no absolute general measure for a key currency. Here, we investigate the 24-hour periodicity of foreign exchange markets using a recurrence plot, and define an absolute measure for a key currency based on the strength of the periodicity. Moreover, we analyze the time evolution of this measure. The results show that the credibility of the US dollar has not decreased significantly since the Lehman shock, when the Lehman Brothers bankrupted and influenced the economic markets, and has increased even relatively better than that of the euro and that of the Japanese yen.

  2. Stellar Oxygen Abundances

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    King, Jeremy

    1994-04-01

    This dissertation addresses several issues concerning stellar oxygen abundances. The 7774 {\\AA} O I triplet equivalent widths of Abia & Rebolo [1989, AJ, 347, 186] for metal-poor dwarfs are found to be systematically too high. I also argue that current effective temperatures used in halo star abundance studies may be ~150 K too low. New color-Teff relations are derived for metal-poor stars. Using the revised Teff values and improved equivalent widths for the 7774A O I triplet, the mean [O/Fe] ratio for a handful of halo stars is found to be +0.52 with no dependence on Teff or [Fe/H]. Possible cosmological implications of the hotter Teff scale are discussed along with additional evidence supporting the need for a higher temperature scale for metal-poor stars. Our Teff scale leads to a Spite Li plateau value of N(Li)=2.28 +/- 0.09. A conservative minimal primordial value of N(Li)=2.35 is inferred. If errors in the observations and models are considered, consistency with standard models of Big Bang nucleosynthesis is still achieved with this larger Li abundance. The revised Teff scale raises the observed B/Be ratio of HD 140283 from 10 to 12, making its value more comfortably consistent with the production of the observed B and Be by ordinary spallation. Our Teff values are found to be in good agreement with values predicted from both the Victoria and Yale isochrone color-Teff relations. Thus, it appears likely that no changes in globular cluster ages would result. Next, we examine the location of the break in the [O/Fe] versus [Fe/H] plane in a quantitative fashion. Analysis of a relatively homogeneous data set does not favor any unique break point in the range -1.7 /= -3), in agreement with the new results for halo dwarfs. We find that the gap in the observed [O/H] distribution, noted by Wheeler et al

  3. Non-Invasive Method of Determining Absolute Intracranial Pressure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yost, William T. (Inventor); Cantrell, John H., Jr. (Inventor); Hargens, Alan E. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    A method is presented for determining absolute intracranial pressure (ICP) in a patient. Skull expansion is monitored while changes in ICP are induced. The patient's blood pressure is measured when skull expansion is approximately zero. The measured blood pressure is indicative of a reference ICP value. Subsequently, the method causes a known change in ICP and measured the change in skull expansion associated therewith. The absolute ICP is a function of the reference ICP value, the known change in ICP and its associated change in skull expansion; and a measured change in skull expansion.

  4. A highly accurate absolute gravimetric network for Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullrich, Christian; Ruess, Diethard; Butta, Hubert; Qirko, Kristaq; Pavicevic, Bozidar; Murat, Meha

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this project is to establish a basic gravity network in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to enable further investigations in geodetic and geophysical issues. Therefore the first time in history absolute gravity measurements were performed in these countries. The Norwegian mapping authority Kartverket is assisting the national mapping authorities in Kosovo (KCA) (Kosovo Cadastral Agency - Agjencia Kadastrale e Kosovës), Albania (ASIG) (Autoriteti Shtetëror i Informacionit Gjeohapësinor) and in Montenegro (REA) (Real Estate Administration of Montenegro - Uprava za nekretnine Crne Gore) in improving the geodetic frameworks. The gravity measurements are funded by Kartverket. The absolute gravimetric measurements were performed from BEV (Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying) with the absolute gravimeter FG5-242. As a national metrology institute (NMI) the Metrology Service of the BEV maintains the national standards for the realisation of the legal units of measurement and ensures their international equivalence and recognition. Laser and clock of the absolute gravimeter were calibrated before and after the measurements. The absolute gravimetric survey was carried out from September to October 2015. Finally all 8 scheduled stations were successfully measured: there are three stations located in Montenegro, two stations in Kosovo and three stations in Albania. The stations are distributed over the countries to establish a gravity network for each country. The vertical gradients were measured at all 8 stations with the relative gravimeter Scintrex CG5. The high class quality of some absolute gravity stations can be used for gravity monitoring activities in future. The measurement uncertainties of the absolute gravity measurements range around 2.5 micro Gal at all stations (1 microgal = 10-8 m/s2). In Montenegro the large gravity difference of 200 MilliGal between station Zabljak and Podgorica can be even used for calibration of relative gravimeters

  5. Measurement of absolute gravity acceleration in Firenze

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Angelis, M.; Greco, F.; Pistorio, A.; Poli, N.; Prevedelli, M.; Saccorotti, G.; Sorrentino, F.; Tino, G. M.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports the results from the accurate measurement of the acceleration of gravity g taken at two separate premises in the Polo Scientifico of the University of Firenze (Italy). In these laboratories, two separate experiments aiming at measuring the Newtonian constant and testing the Newtonian law at short distances are in progress. Both experiments require an independent knowledge on the local value of g. The only available datum, pertaining to the italian zero-order gravity network, was taken more than 20 years ago at a distance of more than 60 km from the study site. Gravity measurements were conducted using an FG5 absolute gravimeter, and accompanied by seismic recordings for evaluating the noise condition at the site. The absolute accelerations of gravity at the two laboratories are (980 492 160.6 ± 4.0) μGal and (980 492 048.3 ± 3.0) μGal for the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, respectively. Other than for the two referenced experiments, the data here presented will serve as a benchmark for any future study requiring an accurate knowledge of the absolute value of the acceleration of gravity in the study region.

  6. Absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Jian; Zhou, Tingting; Yuan, Bo; Wang, Liqiang

    2015-08-01

    A new encoding method for absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction was proposed in the present study. In this method, an encoder disc is specially designed that a series of elements are uniformly spaced in one circle and each element is consisted of four diffraction gratings, which are tilted in the directions of 30°, 60°, -60° and -30°, respectively. The disc is illuminated by a coherent light and the diffractive signals are received. The positions of diffractive spots are used for absolute encoding and their intensities are for subdivision, which is different from the traditional optical encoder based on transparent/opaque binary principle. Since the track's width in the disc is not limited in the diffraction pattern, it provides a new way to solve the contradiction between the size and resolution, which is good for minimization of encoder. According to the proposed principle, the diffraction pattern disc with a diameter of 40 mm was made by lithography in the glass substrate. A prototype of absolute angular encoder with a resolution of 20" was built up. Its maximum error was tested as 78" by comparing with a small angle measuring system based on laser beam deflection.

  7. Comparisons of plutonium, thorium, and cerium tellurite sulfates.

    PubMed

    Lin, Jian; Cross, Justin N; Diwu, Juan; Meredith, Nathan A; Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E

    2013-04-15

    The hydrothermal reaction of PuCl3 or CeCl3 with TeO2 in the presence of sulfuric acid under the comparable conditions results in the crystallization of Pu(TeO3)(SO4) or Ce2(Te2O5)(SO4)2, respectively. Pu(TeO3)(SO4) and its isotypic compound Th(TeO3)(SO4) are characterized by a neutral layer structure with no interlamellar charge-balancing ions. However, Ce2(Te2O5)(SO4)2 possesses a completely different dense three-dimensional framework. Bond valence calculation and UV-vis-NIR spectra indicate that the Ce compound is trivalent whereas the Pu and Th compounds are tetravalent leading to the formation of significantly different compounds. Pu(TeO3)(SO4), Th(TeO3)(SO4), and Ce2(Te2O5)(SO4)2 represent the first plutonium/thorium/cerium tellurite sulfate compounds. Our study strongly suggests that the chemistries of Pu and Ce are not the same, and this is another example of the failure of Ce as a surrogate.

  8. Relationship between abundance of blunt-nosed leopard lizards, Crotaphytus silus, and intensity of petroleum field development in Kern County, California, 1980

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    O'Farrell, T.P.; Kato, T.

    1980-11-01

    The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the distribution and relative abundance of blunt-nosed leopard lizards, Crotaphytus silus, on three sections of BLM land impacted by light to moderate petroleum developments; (2) correlate relative density estimates with absolute density estimates, characteristics of the dominant vegetation associations, density of animal burrows, percent open space, and level of oil field development; and (3) determine the radius of movement for the species. Relative densities of lizards in each section were measured by counting all lizards seen during four surveys conducted between May and July 1980.

  9. Absolute Radiometric Calibration of EUNIS-06

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, R. J.; Rabin, D. M.; Kent, B. J.; Paustian, W.

    2007-01-01

    The Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrometer (EUNIS) is a soundingrocket payload that obtains imaged high-resolution spectra of individual solar features, providing information about the Sun's corona and upper transition region. Shortly after its successful initial flight last year, a complete end-to-end calibration was carried out to determine the instrument's absolute radiometric response over its Longwave bandpass of 300 - 370A. The measurements were done at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in England, using the same vacuum facility and EUV radiation source used in the pre-flight calibrations of both SOHO/CDS and Hinode/EIS, as well as in three post-flight calibrations of our SERTS sounding rocket payload, the precursor to EUNIS. The unique radiation source provided by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) had been calibrated to an absolute accuracy of 7% (l-sigma) at 12 wavelengths covering our bandpass directly against the Berlin electron storage ring BESSY, which is itself a primary radiometric source standard. Scans of the EUNIS aperture were made to determine the instrument's absolute spectral sensitivity to +- 25%, considering all sources of error, and demonstrate that EUNIS-06 was the most sensitive solar E W spectrometer yet flown. The results will be matched against prior calibrations which relied on combining measurements of individual optical components, and on comparisons with theoretically predicted 'insensitive' line ratios. Coordinated observations were made during the EUNIS-06 flight by SOHO/CDS and EIT that will allow re-calibrations of those instruments as well. In addition, future EUNIS flights will provide similar calibration updates for TRACE, Hinode/EIS, and STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI.

  10. Laser interferometry method for absolute measurement of the acceleration of gravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hudson, O. K.

    1971-01-01

    Gravimeter permits more accurate and precise absolute measurement of g without reference to Potsdam values as absolute standards. Device is basically Michelson laser beam interferometer in which one arm is mass fitted with corner cube reflector.

  11. Absolute Coefficients and the Graphical Representation of Airfoil Characteristics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Munk, Max

    1921-01-01

    It is argued that there should be an agreement as to what conventions to use in determining absolute coefficients used in aeronautics and in how to plot those coefficients. Of particular importance are the absolute coefficients of lift and drag. The author argues for the use of the German method over the kind in common use in the United States and England, and for the Continental over the usual American and British method of graphically representing the characteristics of an airfoil. The author notes that, on the whole, it appears that the use of natural absolute coefficients in a polar diagram is the logical method for presentation of airfoil characteristics, and that serious consideration should be given to the advisability of adopting this method in all countries, in order to advance uniformity and accuracy in the science of aeronautics.

  12. Peripheral absolute threshold spectral sensitivity in retinitis pigmentosa.

    PubMed Central

    Massof, R W; Johnson, M A; Finkelstein, D

    1981-01-01

    Dark-adapted spectral sensitivities were measured in the peripheral retinas of 38 patients diagnosed as having typical retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and in 3 normal volunteers. The patients included those having autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive inheritance patterns. Results were analysed by comparisons with the CIE standard scotopic spectral visibility function and with Judd's modification of the photopic spectral visibility function, with consideration of contributions from changes in spectral transmission of preretinal media. The data show 3 general patterns. One group of patients had absolute threshold spectral sensitivities that were fit by Judd's photopic visibility curve. Absolute threshold spectral sensitivities for a second group of patients were fit by a normal scotopic spectral visibility curve. The third group of patients had absolute threshold spectral sensitivities that were fit by a combination of scotopic and photopic spectral visibility curves. The autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive modes of inheritance were represented in each group of patients. These data indicate that RP patients have normal rod and/or cone spectral sensitivities, and support the subclassification of patients described previously by Massof and Finkelstein. PMID:7459312

  13. OXYGEN ABUNDANCES IN CEPHEIDS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Luck, R. E.; Andrievsky, S. M.; Korotin, S. N.

    2013-07-01

    Oxygen abundances in later-type stars, and intermediate-mass stars in particular, are usually determined from the [O I] line at 630.0 nm, and to a lesser extent, from the O I triplet at 615.7 nm. The near-IR triplets at 777.4 nm and 844.6 nm are strong in these stars and generally do not suffer from severe blending with other species. However, these latter two triplets suffer from strong non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) effects and thus see limited use in abundance analyses. In this paper, we derive oxygen abundances in a large sample of Cepheids using the near-IR triplets from an NLTEmore » analysis, and compare those abundances to values derived from a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) analysis of the [O I] 630.0 nm line and the O I 615.7 nm triplet as well as LTE abundances for the 777.4 nm triplet. All of these lines suffer from line strength problems making them sensitive to either measurement complications (weak lines) or to line saturation difficulties (strong lines). Upon this realization, the LTE results for the [O I] lines and the O I 615.7 nm triplet are in adequate agreement with the abundance from the NLTE analysis of the near-IR triplets.« less

  14. Separation of 103Ru from a proton irradiated thorium matrix: A potential source of Auger therapy radionuclide 103mRh

    DOE PAGES

    Mastren, Tara; Radchenko, Valery; Hopkins, Philip D.; ...

    2017-12-22

    Ruthenium-103 is the parent isotope of 103mRh (t1/2 56.1 min), an isotope of interest for Auger electron therapy. During the proton irradiation of thorium targets, large amounts of 103Ru are generated through proton induced fission. Furthermore, the development of a two part chemical separation process to isolate 103Ru in high yield and purity from a proton irradiated thorium matrix on an analytical scale is described herein. The first part employed an anion exchange column to remove cationic actinide/lanthanide impurities along with the majority of the transition metal fission products. Secondly, an extraction chromatographic column utilizing diglycolamide functional groups was usedmore » to decontaminate 103Ru from the remaining impurities. This method then resulted in a final radiochemical yield of 83 ± 5% of 103Ru with a purity of 99.9%. Additionally, measured nuclear reaction cross sections for the formation of 103Ru and 106Ru via the 232Th(p,f) 103,106Ru reactions are reported within.« less

  15. Neural Sensitivity to Absolute and Relative Anticipated Reward in Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Vaidya, Jatin G.; Knutson, Brian; O'Leary, Daniel S.; Block, Robert I.; Magnotta, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Adolescence is associated with a dramatic increase in risky and impulsive behaviors that have been attributed to developmental differences in neural processing of rewards. In the present study, we sought to identify age differences in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards. To do so, we modified a commonly used monetary incentive delay (MID) task in order to examine brain activity to relative anticipated reward value (neural sensitivity to the value of a reward as a function of other available rewards). This design also made it possible to examine developmental differences in brain activation to absolute anticipated reward magnitude (the degree to which neural activity increases with increasing reward magnitude). While undergoing fMRI, 18 adolescents and 18 adult participants were presented with cues associated with different reward magnitudes. After the cue, participants responded to a target to win money on that trial. Presentation of cues was blocked such that two reward cues associated with $.20, $1.00, or $5.00 were in play on a given block. Thus, the relative value of the $1.00 reward varied depending on whether it was paired with a smaller or larger reward. Reflecting age differences in neural responses to relative anticipated reward (i.e., reference dependent processing), adults, but not adolescents, demonstrated greater activity to a $1 reward when it was the larger of the two available rewards. Adults also demonstrated a more linear increase in ventral striatal activity as a function of increasing absolute reward magnitude compared to adolescents. Additionally, reduced ventral striatal sensitivity to absolute anticipated reward (i.e., the difference in activity to medium versus small rewards) correlated with higher levels of trait Impulsivity. Thus, ventral striatal activity in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards develops with age. Absolute reward processing is also linked to individual differences in Impulsivity. PMID:23544046

  16. Absolute flux density calibrations of radio sources: 2.3 GHz

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Freiley, A. J.; Batelaan, P. D.; Bathker, D. A.

    1977-01-01

    A detailed description of a NASA/JPL Deep Space Network program to improve S-band gain calibrations of large aperture antennas is reported. The program is considered unique in at least three ways; first, absolute gain calibrations of high quality suppressed-sidelobe dual mode horns first provide a high accuracy foundation to the foundation to the program. Second, a very careful transfer calibration technique using an artificial far-field coherent-wave source was used to accurately obtain the gain of one large (26 m) aperture. Third, using the calibrated large aperture directly, the absolute flux density of five selected galactic and extragalactic natural radio sources was determined with an absolute accuracy better than 2 percent, now quoted at the familiar 1 sigma confidence level. The follow-on considerations to apply these results to an operational network of ground antennas are discussed. It is concluded that absolute gain accuracies within + or - 0.30 to 0.40 db are possible, depending primarily on the repeatability (scatter) in the field data from Deep Space Network user stations.

  17. Assessing epistemic sophistication by considering domain-specific absolute and multiplicistic beliefs separately.

    PubMed

    Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

    2016-06-01

    Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as disagreement with absolute statements. This article suggests considering absolutism and multiplicism as separate dimensions. Following our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a cautious and reluctant endorsement of both positions, we assume evaluativism (a contextually adaptive view of knowledge as personally constructed and evidence-based) to be reflected by low agreement with both generalized absolute and generalized multiplicistic statements. Three studies with a total sample size of N = 416 psychology students were conducted. A domain-specific inventory containing both absolute and multiplicistic statements was developed. Expectations were tested by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlational analyses. Results revealed a two-factor solution with an absolute and a multiplicistic factor. Criterion validity of both factors was confirmed. Cross-sectional analyses revealed that agreement to generalized multiplicistic statements decreases with study progress. Moreover, consistent with our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a reluctant attitude towards generalized epistemic statements, evidence for a negative relationship between epistemic sophistication and need for cognitive closure was found. We recommend including multiplicistic statements into epistemic belief questionnaires and considering them as a separate dimension, especially when investigating individuals in later stages of epistemic development (i.e., in higher education). © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  18. Estimating abundance: Chapter 27

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Royle, J. Andrew

    2016-01-01

    This chapter provides a non-technical overview of ‘closed population capture–recapture’ models, a class of well-established models that are widely applied in ecology, such as removal sampling, covariate models, and distance sampling. These methods are regularly adopted for studies of reptiles, in order to estimate abundance from counts of marked individuals while accounting for imperfect detection. Thus, the chapter describes some classic closed population models for estimating abundance, with considerations for some recent extensions that provide a spatial context for the estimation of abundance, and therefore density. Finally, the chapter suggests some software for use in data analysis, such as the Windows-based program MARK, and provides an example of estimating abundance and density of reptiles using an artificial cover object survey of Slow Worms (Anguis fragilis).

  19. Absolute photon-flux measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Samson, J. A. R.; Haddad, G. N.

    1974-01-01

    Absolute photon-flux measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet have extended to short wavelengths by use of rare-gas ionization chambers. The technique involves the measurement of the ion current as a function of the gas pressure in the ion chamber. The true value of the ion current, and hence the absolute photon flux, is obtained by extrapolating the ion current to zero gas pressure. Examples are given at 162 and 266 A. The short-wavelength limit is determined only by the sensitivity of the current-measuring apparatus and by present knowledge of the photoionization processes that occur in the rate gases.

  20. Stimulus Probability Effects in Absolute Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of…

  1. Absolute gravity measurements in California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zumberge, M. A.; Sasagawa, G.; Kappus, M.

    1986-08-01

    An absolute gravity meter that determines the local gravitational acceleration by timing a freely falling mass with a laser interferometer has been constructed. The instrument has made measurements at 11 sites in California, four in Nevada, and one in France. The uncertainty in the results is typically 10 microgal. Repeated measurements have been made at several of the sites; only one shows a substantial change in gravity.

  2. Relational versus absolute representation in categorization.

    PubMed

    Edwards, Darren J; Pothos, Emmanuel M; Perlman, Amotz

    2012-01-01

    This study explores relational-like and absolute-like representations in categorization. Although there is much evidence that categorization processes can involve information about both the particular physical properties of studied instances and abstract (relational) properties, there has been little work on the factors that lead to one kind of representation as opposed to the other. We tested 370 participants in 6 experiments, in which participants had to classify new items into predefined artificial categories. In 4 experiments, we observed a predominantly relational-like mode of classification, and in 2 experiments we observed a shift toward an absolute-like mode of classification. These results suggest 3 factors that promote a relational-like mode of classification: fewer items per group, more training groups, and the presence of a time delay. Overall, we propose that less information about the distributional properties of a category or weaker memory traces for the category exemplars (induced, e.g., by having smaller categories or a time delay) can encourage relational-like categorization.

  3. Standardization approaches in absolute quantitative proteomics with mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Calderón-Celis, Francisco; Encinar, Jorge Ruiz; Sanz-Medel, Alfredo

    2017-07-31

    Mass spectrometry-based approaches have enabled important breakthroughs in quantitative proteomics in the last decades. This development is reflected in the better quantitative assessment of protein levels as well as to understand post-translational modifications and protein complexes and networks. Nowadays, the focus of quantitative proteomics shifted from the relative determination of proteins (ie, differential expression between two or more cellular states) to absolute quantity determination, required for a more-thorough characterization of biological models and comprehension of the proteome dynamism, as well as for the search and validation of novel protein biomarkers. However, the physico-chemical environment of the analyte species affects strongly the ionization efficiency in most mass spectrometry (MS) types, which thereby require the use of specially designed standardization approaches to provide absolute quantifications. Most common of such approaches nowadays include (i) the use of stable isotope-labeled peptide standards, isotopologues to the target proteotypic peptides expected after tryptic digestion of the target protein; (ii) use of stable isotope-labeled protein standards to compensate for sample preparation, sample loss, and proteolysis steps; (iii) isobaric reagents, which after fragmentation in the MS/MS analysis provide a final detectable mass shift, can be used to tag both analyte and standard samples; (iv) label-free approaches in which the absolute quantitative data are not obtained through the use of any kind of labeling, but from computational normalization of the raw data and adequate standards; (v) elemental mass spectrometry-based workflows able to provide directly absolute quantification of peptides/proteins that contain an ICP-detectable element. A critical insight from the Analytical Chemistry perspective of the different standardization approaches and their combinations used so far for absolute quantitative MS-based (molecular and

  4. Towards absolute laser spectroscopic CO2 isotope ratio measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anyangwe Nwaboh, Javis; Werhahn, Olav; Ebert, Volker

    2017-04-01

    Knowledge of isotope composition of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is necessary to identify sources and sinks of this key greenhouse gas. In the last years, laser spectroscopic techniques such as cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) and tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) have been shown to perform accurate isotope ratio measurements for CO2 and other gases like water vapour (H2O) [1,2]. Typically, isotope ratios are reported in literature referring to reference materials provided by e.g. the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). However, there could be some benefit if field deployable absolute isotope ratio measurement methods were developed to address issues such as exhausted reference material like the Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard. Absolute isotope ratio measurements would be particularly important for situations where reference materials do not even exist. Here, we present CRDS and TDLAS-based absolute isotope ratios (13C/12C ) in atmospheric CO2. We demonstrate the capabilities of the used methods by measuring CO2 isotope ratios in gas standards. We compare our results to values reported for the isotope certified gas standards. Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM) compliant uncertainty budgets on the CRDS and TDLAS absolute isotope ratio measurements are presented, and traceability is addressed. We outline the current impediments in realizing high accuracy absolute isotope ratio measurements using laser spectroscopic methods, propose solutions and the way forward. Acknowledgement Parts of this work have been carried out within the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) ENV52 project-HIGHGAS. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union. References [1] B. Kühnreich, S. Wagner, J. C. Habig,·O. Möhler, H. Saathoff, V. Ebert, Appl. Phys. B 119:177-187 (2015). [2] E. Kerstel, L. Gianfrani, Appl. Phys. B 92, 439-449 (2008).

  5. Methane to methanol conversion induced by thorium oxide through the CH3Th(O)H intermediate in solid argon.

    PubMed

    Gong, Yu; Andrews, Lester; Jackson, Virgil E; Dixon, David A

    2012-10-15

    Reactions of ThO molecules and CH(4) have been investigated in solid argon near 4 K. The CH(3)Th(O)H molecule is produced when the sample is exposed to UV irradiation. Identification of this new intermediate is substantiated by observation of the Th═O and Th-H stretching vibrational modes with isotopic substitution via matrix infrared spectroscopy, and the assignments are supported by electronic structure frequency calculations. Methanol absorptions increase together with formation of the CH(3)Th(O)H molecule, suggesting a methane to methanol conversion induced by thorium oxide proceeding through the CH(3)Th(O)H intermediate. The formation of CH(3)Th(O)H from ThO + CH(4) is exothermic (ΔH(rxn) = -11 kcal/mol) with an energy barrier of 30 kcal/mol at the CCSD(T)//B3LYP level. Decomposition of this intermediate to form methanol involves spin crossing, and the overall reaction from the intermediate is endothermic by 127 kcal/mol. There is no activation energy for the reaction of thorium atoms with methanol to give CH(3)Th(O)H, as observed in separate experiments with Th and CH(3)OH.

  6. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes

    PubMed Central

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Background: Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. Objective: To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. Materials and Methods: We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Results: Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. Conclusion: These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. SUMMARY Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation.Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus

  7. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes.

    PubMed

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation. Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute Abbreviations used: HSF: Hibiscus syriacus L. flower

  8. The fading American dream: Trends in absolute income mobility since 1940.

    PubMed

    Chetty, Raj; Grusky, David; Hell, Maximilian; Hendren, Nathaniel; Manduca, Robert; Narang, Jimmy

    2017-04-28

    We estimated rates of "absolute income mobility"-the fraction of children who earn more than their parents-by combining data from U.S. Census and Current Population Survey cross sections with panel data from de-identified tax records. We found that rates of absolute mobility have fallen from approximately 90% for children born in 1940 to 50% for children born in the 1980s. Increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates alone cannot restore absolute mobility to the rates experienced by children born in the 1940s. However, distributing current GDP growth more equally across income groups as in the 1940 birth cohort would reverse more than 70% of the decline in mobility. These results imply that reviving the "American dream" of high rates of absolute mobility would require economic growth that is shared more broadly across the income distribution. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  9. 34 CFR 648.33 - What priorities and absolute preferences does the Secretary establish?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 34 Education 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What priorities and absolute preferences does the... AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED How Does the Secretary Make an Award? § 648.33 What priorities and absolute... area of national need and gives absolute preference to one or more of the general disciplines and sub...

  10. 34 CFR 648.33 - What priorities and absolute preferences does the Secretary establish?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What priorities and absolute preferences does the... AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED How Does the Secretary Make an Award? § 648.33 What priorities and absolute... area of national need and gives absolute preference to one or more of the general disciplines and sub...

  11. Absolute branching fraction measurements of exclusive D+ semileptonic decays.

    PubMed

    Huang, G S; Miller, D H; Pavlunin, V; Sanghi, B; Shipsey, I P J; Adams, G S; Chasse, M; Cravey, M; Cummings, J P; Danko, I; Napolitano, J; He, Q; Muramatsu, H; Park, C S; Park, W; Thorndike, E H; Coan, T E; Gao, Y S; Liu, F; Artuso, M; Boulahouache, C; Blusk, S; Butt, J; Dambasuren, E; Dorjkhaidav, O; Li, J; Menaa, N; Mountain, R; Nandakumar, R; Randrianarivony, K; Redjimi, R; Sia, R; Skwarnicki, T; Stone, S; Wang, J C; Zhang, K; Csorna, S E; Bonvicini, G; Cinabro, D; Dubrovin, M; Briere, R A; Chen, G P; Chen, J; Ferguson, T; Tatishvili, G; Vogel, H; Watkins, M E; Rosner, J L; Adam, N E; Alexander, J P; Berkelman, K; Cassel, D G; Crede, V; Duboscq, J E; Ecklund, K M; Ehrlich, R; Fields, L; Gibbons, L; Gittelman, B; Gray, R; Gray, S W; Hartill, D L; Heltsley, B K; Hertz, D; Hsu, L; Jones, C D; Kandaswamy, J; Kreinick, D L; Kuznetsov, V E; Mahlke-Krüger, H; Meyer, T O; Onyisi, P U E; Patterson, J R; Peterson, D; Phillips, E A; Pivarski, J; Riley, D; Ryd, A; Sadoff, A J; Schwarthoff, H; Shi, X; Shepherd, M R; Stroiney, S; Sun, W M; Urner, D; Weaver, K M; Wilksen, T; Weinberger, M; Athar, S B; Avery, P; Breva-Newell, L; Patel, R; Potlia, V; Stoeck, H; Yelton, J; Rubin, P; Cawlfield, C; Eisenstein, B I; Gollin, G D; Karliner, I; Kim, D; Lowrey, N; Naik, P; Sedlack, C; Selen, M; Williams, J; Wiss, J; Edwards, K W; Besson, D; Pedlar, T K; Cronin-Hennessy, D; Gao, K Y; Gong, D T; Hietala, J; Kubota, Y; Klein, T; Lang, B W; Li, S Z; Poling, R; Scott, A W; Smith, A; Dobbs, S; Metreveli, Z; Seth, K K; Tomaradze, A; Zweber, P; Ernst, J; Mahmood, A H; Severini, H; Asner, D M; Dytman, S A; Love, W; Mehrabyan, S; Mueller, J A; Savinov, V; Li, Z; Lopez, A; Mendez, H; Ramirez, J

    2005-10-28

    Using data collected at the psi(3770) resonance with the CLEO-c detector at the Cornell e+e- storage ring, we present improved measurements of the absolute branching fractions of D+decays to K0e+ve, pi0e+ve, K*0e+ve, and p0e+ve, and the first observation and absolute branching fraction measurement of D+ --> omega e+ve. We also report the most precise tests to date of isospin invariance in semileptonic D0 and D+ decays.

  12. The effect of modeled absolute timing variability and relative timing variability on observational learning.

    PubMed

    Grierson, Lawrence E M; Roberts, James W; Welsher, Arthur M

    2017-05-01

    There is much evidence to suggest that skill learning is enhanced by skill observation. Recent research on this phenomenon indicates a benefit of observing variable/erred demonstrations. In this study, we explore whether it is variability within the relative organization or absolute parameterization of a movement that facilitates skill learning through observation. To do so, participants were randomly allocated into groups that observed a model with no variability, absolute timing variability, relative timing variability, or variability in both absolute and relative timing. All participants performed a four-segment movement pattern with specific absolute and relative timing goals prior to and following the observational intervention, as well as in a 24h retention test and transfers tests that featured new relative and absolute timing goals. Absolute timing error indicated that all groups initially acquired the absolute timing, maintained their performance at 24h retention, and exhibited performance deterioration in both transfer tests. Relative timing error revealed that the observation of no variability and relative timing variability produced greater performance at the post-test, 24h retention and relative timing transfer tests, but for the no variability group, deteriorated at absolute timing transfer test. The results suggest that the learning of absolute timing following observation unfolds irrespective of model variability. However, the learning of relative timing benefits from holding the absolute features constant, while the observation of no variability partially fails in transfer. We suggest learning by observing no variability and variable/erred models unfolds via similar neural mechanisms, although the latter benefits from the additional coding of information pertaining to movements that require a correction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. A New Gimmick for Assigning Absolute Configuration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ayorinde, F. O.

    1983-01-01

    A five-step procedure is provided to help students in making the assignment absolute configuration less bothersome. Examples for both single (2-butanol) and multi-chiral carbon (3-chloro-2-butanol) molecules are included. (JN)

  14. Absolute Equilibrium Entropy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shebalin, John V.

    1997-01-01

    The entropy associated with absolute equilibrium ensemble theories of ideal, homogeneous, fluid and magneto-fluid turbulence is discussed and the three-dimensional fluid case is examined in detail. A sigma-function is defined, whose minimum value with respect to global parameters is the entropy. A comparison is made between the use of global functions sigma and phase functions H (associated with the development of various H-theorems of ideal turbulence). It is shown that the two approaches are complimentary though conceptually different: H-theorems show that an isolated system tends to equilibrium while sigma-functions allow the demonstration that entropy never decreases when two previously isolated systems are combined. This provides a more complete picture of entropy in the statistical mechanics of ideal fluids.

  15. Absolute instabilities of travelling wave solutions in a Keller-Segel model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, P. N.; van Heijster, P.; Marangell, R.

    2017-11-01

    We investigate the spectral stability of travelling wave solutions in a Keller-Segel model of bacterial chemotaxis with a logarithmic chemosensitivity function and a constant, sublinear, and linear consumption rate. Linearising around the travelling wave solutions, we locate the essential and absolute spectrum of the associated linear operators and find that all travelling wave solutions have parts of the essential spectrum in the right half plane. However, we show that in the case of constant or sublinear consumption there exists a range of parameters such that the absolute spectrum is contained in the open left half plane and the essential spectrum can thus be weighted into the open left half plane. For the constant and sublinear consumption rate models we also determine critical parameter values for which the absolute spectrum crosses into the right half plane, indicating the onset of an absolute instability of the travelling wave solution. We observe that this crossing always occurs off of the real axis.

  16. Kinetically and thermodynamically stable isomers of thorium chelates of polyaza polycarboxylic macrocycles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jacques, Vincent; Desreux, Jean F.

    1994-10-01

    The solution conformation of the thorium(IV) complexes of two polyaza polycarboxylic macrocycles, DOTA and HEHA (1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N, N', N(double prime), N(triple prime)-tetraacetic acid and 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaazacyclooctadecane-N, N', N(double prime), N(triple prime), N(double prime)(double prime), N(double prime)(triple prime)-hexaacetic acid), was investigated by one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. ThHEHA(2+) forms a kinetically stable topomer of C2 symmetry and a thermodynamically stable topomer of S6 symmetry. Both complexes are assigned an icosahedral geometry. The activation energy for the intermolecular exchange is very high (214 kJ/mol). The behavior of ThHEHA(2+) contrasts with the properties of the other Th(IV) chelates that are known to be fluxional.

  17. Solar abundance of silicon

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Holweger, H.

    1973-07-01

    An analysis of 19 photospheric Si I lines whose oscillator strengths have recently been detertmined by Garz (1973) leads to a solar abundance of silicon, log epsilon /sub Si/ = 7.65 plus or minus 0.07, on the scale where log epsilon /sub H/ = 12. Together with the sodium abundance determained earlier by the same method, a solar abundance ratio /sup epsilon /Na//sup epsilon /Si = 0.045 ( plus or minus 10%) results. Within the error limits this a grees wtth the meteoritic ratio found in carbonaceous chondrites. Results concerning line-broadening by hydrogen are discussed. (auth)

  18. Absolute Ages and Distances of 22 GCs Using Monte Carlo Main-sequence Fitting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Malley, Erin M.; Gilligan, Christina; Chaboyer, Brian

    2017-04-01

    The recent Gaia Data Release 1 of stellar parallaxes provides ample opportunity to find metal-poor main-sequence stars with precise parallaxes. We select 21 such stars with parallax uncertainties better than σ π /π ≤ 0.10 and accurate abundance determinations suitable for testing metal-poor stellar evolution models and determining the distance to Galactic globular clusters (GCs). A Monte Carlo analysis was used, taking into account uncertainties in the model construction parameters, to generate stellar models and isochrones to fit to the calibration stars. The isochrones that fit the calibration stars best were then used to determine the distances and ages of 22 GCs with metallicities ranging from -2.4 dex to -0.7 dex. We find distances with an average uncertainty of 0.15 mag and absolute ages ranging from 10.8 to 13.6 Gyr with an average uncertainty of 1.6 Gyr. Using literature proper motion data, we calculate orbits for the clusters, finding six that reside within the Galactic disk/bulge, while the rest are considered halo clusters. We find no strong evidence for a relationship between age and Galactocentric distance, but we do find a decreasing age-[Fe/H] relation.

  19. Enhanced fuel production in thorium/lithium hybrid blankets utilizing uranium multipliers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pitulski, R.H.

    1979-10-01

    A consistent neutronics analysis is performed to determine the effectiveness of uranium bearing neutron multiplier zones on increasing the production of U/sup 233/ in thorium/lithium blankets for use in a tokamak fusion-fission hybrid reactor. The nuclear performance of these blankets is evaluated as a function of zone thicknesses and exposure by using the coupled transport burnup code ANISN-CINDER-HIC. Various parameters such as U/sup 233/, Pu/sup 239/, and H/sup 3/ production rates, the blanket energy multiplication, isotopic composition of the fuels, and neutron leakages into the various zones are evaluated during a 5 year (6 MW.y.m/sup -2/) exposure period. Although themore » results of this study were obtained for a tokomak magnetic fusion device, the qualitative behavior associated with the use of the uranium bearing neutron multiplier should be applicable to all fusion-fission hybrids.« less

  20. NIST Stars: Absolute Spectrophotometric Calibration of Vega and Sirius

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deustua, Susana; Woodward, John T.; Rice, Joseph P.; Brown, Steven W.; Maxwell, Stephen E.; Alberding, Brian G.; Lykke, Keith R.

    2018-01-01

    Absolute flux calibration of standard stars, traceable to SI (International System of Units) standards, is essential for 21st century astrophysics. Dark energy investigations that rely on observations of Type Ia supernovae and precise photometric redshifts of weakly lensed galaxies require a minimum accuracy of 0.5 % in the absolute color calibration. Studies that aim to address fundamental stellar astrophysics also benefit. In the era of large telescopes and all sky surveys well-calibrated standard stars that do not saturate and that are available over the whole sky are needed. Significant effort has been expended to obtain absolute measurements of the fundamental standards Vega and Sirius (and other stars) in the visible and near infrared, achieving total uncertainties between1% and 3%, depending on wavelength, that do not meet the needed accuracy. The NIST Stars program aims to determine the top-of-the-atmosphere absolute spectral irradiance of bright stars to an uncertainty less than 1% from a ground-based observatory. NIST Stars has developed a novel, fully SI-traceable laboratory calibration strategy that will enable achieving the desired accuracy. This strategy has two key components. The first is the SI-traceable calibration of the entire instrument system, and the second is the repeated spectroscopic measurement of the target star throughout the night. We will describe our experimental strategy, present preliminary results for Vega and Sirius and an end-to-end uncertainty budget

  1. Camera traps and activity signs to estimate wild boar density and derive abundance indices.

    PubMed

    Massei, Giovanna; Coats, Julia; Lambert, Mark Simon; Pietravalle, Stephane; Gill, Robin; Cowan, Dave

    2018-04-01

    Populations of wild boar and feral pigs are increasing worldwide, in parallel with their significant environmental and economic impact. Reliable methods of monitoring trends and estimating abundance are needed to measure the effects of interventions on population size. The main aims of this study, carried out in five English woodlands were: (i) to compare wild boar abundance indices obtained from camera trap surveys and from activity signs; and (ii) to assess the precision of density estimates in relation to different densities of camera traps. For each woodland, we calculated a passive activity index (PAI) based on camera trap surveys, rooting activity and wild boar trails on transects, and estimated absolute densities based on camera trap surveys. PAIs obtained using different methods showed similar patterns. We found significant between-year differences in abundance of wild boar using PAIs based on camera trap surveys and on trails on transects, but not on signs of rooting on transects. The density of wild boar from camera trap surveys varied between 0.7 and 7 animals/km 2 . Increasing the density of camera traps above nine per km 2 did not increase the precision of the estimate of wild boar density. PAIs based on number of wild boar trails and on camera trap data appear to be more sensitive to changes in population size than PAIs based on signs of rooting. For wild boar densities similar to those recorded in this study, nine camera traps per km 2 are sufficient to estimate the mean density of wild boar. © 2017 Crown copyright. Pest Management Science © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Crown copyright. Pest Management Science © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  2. An Integrated Model of Choices and Response Times in Absolute Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Scott D.; Marley, A. A. J.; Donkin, Christopher; Heathcote, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    Recent theoretical developments in the field of absolute identification have stressed differences between relative and absolute processes, that is, whether stimulus magnitudes are judged relative to a shorter term context provided by recently presented stimuli or a longer term context provided by the entire set of stimuli. The authors developed a…

  3. Absolute branching fraction measurements of exclusive D0 semileptonic decays.

    PubMed

    Coan, T E; Gao, Y S; Liu, F; Artuso, M; Boulahouache, C; Blusk, S; Butt, J; Dambasuren, E; Dorjkhaidav, O; Li, J; Menaa, N; Mountain, R; Nandakumar, R; Redjimi, R; Sia, R; Skwarnicki, T; Stone, S; Wang, J C; Zhang, K; Csorna, S E; Bonvicini, G; Cinabro, D; Dubrovin, M; Briere, R A; Chen, G P; Chen, J; Ferguson, T; Tatishvili, G; Vogel, H; Watkins, M E; Rosner, J L; Adam, N E; Alexander, J P; Berkelman, K; Cassel, D G; Crede, V; Duboscq, J E; Ecklund, K M; Ehrlich, R; Fields, L; Gibbons, L; Gittelman, B; Gray, R; Gray, S W; Hartill, D L; Heltsley, B K; Hertz, D; Hsu, L; Jones, C D; Kandaswamy, J; Kreinick, D L; Kuznetsov, V E; Mahlke-Krüger, H; Meyer, T O; Onyisi, P U E; Patterson, J R; Peterson, D; Pivarski, J; Phillips, E A; Riley, D; Ryd, A; Sadoff, A J; Schwarthoff, H; Shepherd, M R; Stroiney, S; Sun, W M; Urner, D; Wilksen, T; Weinberger, M; Athar, S B; Avery, P; Breva-Newell, L; Patel, R; Potlia, V; Stoeck, H; Yelton, J; Rubin, P; Cawlfield, C; Eisenstein, B I; Gollin, G D; Karliner, I; Kim, D; Lowrey, N; Naik, P; Sedlack, C; Selen, M; Williams, J; Wiss, J; Edwards, K W; Besson, D; Pedlar, T K; Cronin-Hennessy, D; Gao, K Y; Gong, D T; Kubota, Y; Klein, T; Lang, B W; Li, S Z; Poling, R; Scott, A W; Smith, A; Dobbs, S; Metreveli, Z; Seth, K K; Tomaradze, A; Zweber, P; Ernst, J; Mahmood, A H; Severini, H; Asner, D M; Dytman, S A; Love, W; Mehrabyan, S; Mueller, J A; Savinov, V; Li, Z; Lopez, A; Mendez, H; Ramirez, J; Huang, G S; Miller, D H; Pavlunin, V; Sanghi, B; Shibata, E I; Shipsey, I P J; Adams, G S; Chasse, M; Cravey, M; Cummings, J P; Danko, I; Napolitano, J; He, Q; Muramatsu, H; Park, C S; Park, W; Thorndike, E H

    2005-10-28

    With the first data sample collected by the CLEO-c detector at the psi(3770) resonance we have studied four exclusive semileptonic decays of the D0 meson. Our results include the first observation and absolute branching fraction measurement for D0 --> p-e+ve and improved measurements of the absolute branching fractions for D0 decays to K-e+ve, pi-e+ve, and K*-e+ve.

  4. Improvements in absolute seismometer sensitivity calibration using local earth gravity measurements

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anthony, Robert E.; Ringler, Adam; Wilson, David

    2018-01-01

    The ability to determine both absolute and relative seismic amplitudes is fundamentally limited by the accuracy and precision with which scientists are able to calibrate seismometer sensitivities and characterize their response. Currently, across the Global Seismic Network (GSN), errors in midband sensitivity exceed 3% at the 95% confidence interval and are the least‐constrained response parameter in seismic recording systems. We explore a new methodology utilizing precise absolute Earth gravity measurements to determine the midband sensitivity of seismic instruments. We first determine the absolute sensitivity of Kinemetrics EpiSensor accelerometers to 0.06% at the 99% confidence interval by inverting them in a known gravity field at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (ASL). After the accelerometer is calibrated, we install it in its normal configuration next to broadband seismometers and subject the sensors to identical ground motions to perform relative calibrations of the broadband sensors. Using this technique, we are able to determine the absolute midband sensitivity of the vertical components of Nanometrics Trillium Compact seismometers to within 0.11% and Streckeisen STS‐2 seismometers to within 0.14% at the 99% confidence interval. The technique enables absolute calibrations from first principles that are traceable to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) measurements while providing nearly an order of magnitude more precision than step‐table calibrations.

  5. Absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical.

    PubMed

    Taatjes, Craig A; Osborn, David L; Selby, Talitha M; Meloni, Giovanni; Fan, Haiyan; Pratt, Stephen T

    2008-10-02

    The absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical has been measured using two completely independent methods. The CH3 photoionization cross-section was determined relative to that of acetone and methyl vinyl ketone at photon energies of 10.2 and 11.0 eV by using a pulsed laser-photolysis/time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry method. The time-resolved depletion of the acetone or methyl vinyl ketone precursor and the production of methyl radicals following 193 nm photolysis are monitored simultaneously by using time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry. Comparison of the initial methyl signal with the decrease in precursor signal, in combination with previously measured absolute photoionization cross-sections of the precursors, yields the absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical; sigma(CH3)(10.2 eV) = (5.7 +/- 0.9) x 10(-18) cm(2) and sigma(CH3)(11.0 eV) = (6.0 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2). The photoionization cross-section for vinyl radical determined by photolysis of methyl vinyl ketone is in good agreement with previous measurements. The methyl radical photoionization cross-section was also independently measured relative to that of the iodine atom by comparison of ionization signals from CH3 and I fragments following 266 nm photolysis of methyl iodide in a molecular-beam ion-imaging apparatus. These measurements gave a cross-section of (5.4 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.460 eV, (5.5 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.466 eV, and (4.9 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.471 eV. The measurements allow relative photoionization efficiency spectra of methyl radical to be placed on an absolute scale and will facilitate quantitative measurements of methyl concentrations by photoionization mass spectrometry.

  6. Absolute Stability Analysis of a Phase Plane Controlled Spacecraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jang, Jiann-Woei; Plummer, Michael; Bedrossian, Nazareth; Hall, Charles; Jackson, Mark; Spanos, Pol

    2010-01-01

    Many aerospace attitude control systems utilize phase plane control schemes that include nonlinear elements such as dead zone and ideal relay. To evaluate phase plane control robustness, stability margin prediction methods must be developed. Absolute stability is extended to predict stability margins and to define an abort condition. A constrained optimization approach is also used to design flex filters for roll control. The design goal is to optimize vehicle tracking performance while maintaining adequate stability margins. Absolute stability is shown to provide satisfactory stability constraints for the optimization.

  7. Including independent estimates and uncertainty to quantify total abundance of fish migrating in a large river system: walleye (Sander vitreus) in the Maumee River, Ohio

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pritt, Jeremy J.; DuFour, Mark R.; Mayer, Christine M.; Kocovsky, Patrick M.; Tyson, Jeffrey T.; Weimer, Eric J.; Vandergoot, Christopher S.

    2013-01-01

    Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie is a valuable and migratory species that spawns in tributaries. We used hydroacoustic sampling, gill net sampling, and Bayesian state-space modeling to estimate the spawning stock abundance, characterize size and sex structure, and explore environmental factors cuing migration of walleye in the Maumee River for 2011 and 2012. We estimated the spawning stock abundance to be between 431,000 and 1,446,000 individuals in 2011 and between 386,400 and 857,200 individuals in 2012 (95% Bayesian credible intervals). A back-calculation from a concurrent larval fish study produced an estimate of 78,000 to 237,000 spawners for 2011. The sex ratio was skewed towards males early in the spawning season but approached 1:1 later, and larger individuals entered the river earlier in the season than smaller individuals. Walleye migration was greater during low river discharge and intermediate temperatures. Our approach to estimating absolute abundance and uncertainty as well as characterization of the spawning stock could improve assessment and management of this species, and our methodology is applicable to other diadromous populations.

  8. Simultaneous Separation of Actinium and Radium Isotopes from a Proton Irradiated Thorium Matrix

    DOE PAGES

    Mastren, Tara; Radchenko, Valery; Owens, Allison; ...

    2017-08-15

    A new method has been developed for the isolation of 223,224,225Ra, in high yield and purity, from a proton irradiated 232Th matrix. We report an all-aqueous process using multiple solid-supported adsorption steps including a citrate chelation method developed to remove >99.9% of the barium contaminants by activity from the final radium product. Moreover, we developed a procedure involving the use of three columns in succession, and the separation of 223,224,225Ra from the thorium matrix was obtained with an overall recovery yield of 91 ± 3%, average radiochemical purity of 99.9%, and production yields that correspond to physical yields based onmore » previously measured excitation functions.« less

  9. Absolute Points for Multiple Assignment Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adlakha, V.; Kowalski, K.

    2006-01-01

    An algorithm is presented to solve multiple assignment problems in which a cost is incurred only when an assignment is made at a given cell. The proposed method recursively searches for single/group absolute points to identify cells that must be loaded in any optimal solution. Unlike other methods, the first solution is the optimal solution. The…

  10. The PMA Catalogue: 420 million positions and absolute proper motions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akhmetov, V. S.; Fedorov, P. N.; Velichko, A. B.; Shulga, V. M.

    2017-07-01

    We present a catalogue that contains about 420 million absolute proper motions of stars. It was derived from the combination of positions from Gaia DR1 and 2MASS, with a mean difference of epochs of about 15 yr. Most of the systematic zonal errors inherent in the 2MASS Catalogue were eliminated before deriving the absolute proper motions. The absolute calibration procedure (zero-pointing of the proper motions) was carried out using about 1.6 million positions of extragalactic sources. The mean formal error of the absolute calibration is less than 0.35 mas yr-1. The derived proper motions cover the whole celestial sphere without gaps for a range of stellar magnitudes from 8 to 21 mag. In the sky areas where the extragalactic sources are invisible (the avoidance zone), a dedicated procedure was used that transforms the relative proper motions into absolute ones. The rms error of proper motions depends on stellar magnitude and ranges from 2-5 mas yr-1 for stars with 10 mag < G < 17 mag to 5-10 mas yr-1 for faint ones. The present catalogue contains the Gaia DR1 positions of stars for the J2015 epoch. The system of the PMA proper motions does not depend on the systematic errors of the 2MASS positions, and in the range from 14 to 21 mag represents an independent realization of a quasi-inertial reference frame in the optical and near-infrared wavelength range. The Catalogue also contains stellar magnitudes taken from the Gaia DR1 and 2MASS catalogues. A comparison of the PMA proper motions of stars with similar data from certain recent catalogues has been undertaken.

  11. Development and validation of a cerebral oximeter capable of absolute accuracy.

    PubMed

    MacLeod, David B; Ikeda, Keita; Vacchiano, Charles; Lobbestael, Aaron; Wahr, Joyce A; Shaw, Andrew D

    2012-12-01

    Cerebral oximetry may be a valuable monitor, but few validation data are available, and most report the change from baseline rather than absolute accuracy, which may be affected by individuals whose oximetric values are outside the expected range. The authors sought to develop and validate a cerebral oximeter capable of absolute accuracy. An in vivo research study. A university human physiology laboratory. Healthy human volunteers were enrolled in calibration and validation studies of 2 cerebral oximetric sensors, the Nonin 8000CA and 8004CA. The 8000CA validation study identified 5 individuals with atypical cerebral oxygenation values; their data were used to design the 8004CA sensor, which subsequently underwent calibration and validation. Volunteers were taken through a stepwise hypoxia protocol to a minimum saturation of peripheral oxygen. Arteriovenous saturation (70% jugular bulb venous saturation and 30% arterial saturation) at 6 hypoxic plateaus was used as the reference value for the cerebral oximeter. Absolute accuracy was defined using a combination of the bias and precision of the paired saturations (A(RMS)). In the validation study for the 8000CA sensor (n = 9, 106 plateaus), relative accuracy was an A(RMS) of 2.7, with an absolute accuracy of 8.1, meeting the criteria for a relative (trend) monitor, but not an absolute monitor. In the validation study for the 8004CA sensor (n = 11, 119 plateaus), the A(RMS) of the 8004CA was 4.1, meeting the prespecified success criterion of <5.0. The Nonin cerebral oximeter using the 8004CA sensor can provide absolute data on regional cerebral saturation compared with arteriovenous saturation, even in subjects previously shown to have values outside the normal population distribution curves. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Absolute and convective instabilities in combined Couette-Poiseuille flow past a neo-Hookean solid

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patne, Ramkarn; Shankar, V.

    2017-12-01

    Temporal and spatio-temporal stability analyses are carried out to characterize the occurrence of convective and absolute instabilities in combined Couette-Poiseuille flow of a Newtonian fluid past a deformable, neo-Hookean solid layer in the creeping-flow limit. Plane Couette flow of a Newtonian fluid past a neo-Hookean solid becomes temporally unstable in the inertia-less limit when the parameter Γ = V η/(GR) exceeds a critical value. Here, V is the velocity of the top plate, η is the fluid viscosity, G is the shear modulus of the solid layer, and R is the fluid layer thickness. The Kupfer-Bers method is employed to demarcate regions of absolute and convective instabilities in the Γ-H parameter space, where H is the ratio of solid to fluid thickness in the system. For certain ranges of the thickness ratio H, we find that the flow could be absolutely unstable, and the critical Γ required for absolute instability is very close to that for temporal instability, thus making the flow absolutely unstable at the onset of temporal instability. In some cases, there is a gap in the parameter Γ between the temporal and absolute instability boundaries. The present study thus shows that absolute instabilities are possible, even at very low Reynolds numbers in flow past deformable solid surfaces. The presence of absolute instabilities could potentially be exploited in the enhancement of mixing at low Reynolds numbers in flow through channels with deformable solid walls.

  13. A vibration correction method for free-fall absolute gravimeters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qian, J.; Wang, G.; Wu, K.; Wang, L. J.

    2018-02-01

    An accurate determination of gravitational acceleration, usually approximated as 9.8 m s-2, has been playing an important role in the areas of metrology, geophysics, and geodetics. Absolute gravimetry has been experiencing rapid developments in recent years. Most absolute gravimeters today employ a free-fall method to measure gravitational acceleration. Noise from ground vibration has become one of the most serious factors limiting measurement precision. Compared to vibration isolators, the vibration correction method is a simple and feasible way to reduce the influence of ground vibrations. A modified vibration correction method is proposed and demonstrated. A two-dimensional golden section search algorithm is used to search for the best parameters of the hypothetical transfer function. Experiments using a T-1 absolute gravimeter are performed. It is verified that for an identical group of drop data, the modified method proposed in this paper can achieve better correction effects with much less computation than previous methods. Compared to vibration isolators, the correction method applies to more hostile environments and even dynamic platforms, and is expected to be used in a wider range of applications.

  14. An absolute photometric system at 10 and 20 microns

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rieke, G. H.; Lebofsky, M. J.; Low, F. J.

    1985-01-01

    Two new direct calibrations at 10 and 20 microns are presented in which terrestrial flux standards are referred to infrared standard stars. These measurements give both good agreement and higher accuracy when compared with previous direct calibrations. As a result, the absolute calibrations at 10 and 20 microns have now been determined with accuracies of 3 and 8 percent, respectively. A variety of absolute calibrations based on extrapolation of stellar spectra from the visible to 10 microns are reviewed. Current atmospheric models of A-type stars underestimate their fluxes by about 10 percent at 10 microns, whereas models of solar-type stars agree well with the direct calibrations. The calibration at 20 microns can probably be determined to about 5 percent by extrapolation from the more accurate result at 10 microns. The photometric system at 10 and 20 microns is updated to reflect the new absolute calibration, to base its zero point directly on the colors of A0 stars, and to improve the accuracy in the comparison of the standard stars.

  15. Wide-field absolute transverse blood flow velocity mapping in vessel centerline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Nanshou; Wang, Lei; Zhu, Bifeng; Guan, Caizhong; Wang, Mingyi; Han, Dingan; Tan, Haishu; Zeng, Yaguang

    2018-02-01

    We propose a wide-field absolute transverse blood flow velocity measurement method in vessel centerline based on absorption intensity fluctuation modulation effect. The difference between the light absorption capacities of red blood cells and background tissue under low-coherence illumination is utilized to realize the instantaneous and average wide-field optical angiography images. The absolute fuzzy connection algorithm is used for vessel centerline extraction from the average wide-field optical angiography. The absolute transverse velocity in the vessel centerline is then measured by a cross-correlation analysis according to instantaneous modulation depth signal. The proposed method promises to contribute to the treatment of diseases, such as those related to anemia or thrombosis.

  16. The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor: Energy Cheaper Than Coal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stone, Cavan

    2011-11-01

    This century, we face significant environmental challenges. Our demand for limited natural resources is rapidly increasing and much of humanity is concerned about the consequences. Our unsustainably growing population drives these challenges, and humanely stabilizing it would alleviate these pressures. Demographic data clearly shows that prosperity stabilizes population and it also shows that prosperity critically requires energy. In spite of the pressing and demonstrable nature of these challenges however, politically there is no international consensus on global energy policy. Developing nations simply will not accept a policy that will hamper their economic growth. Yet, we do have a solution to these challenges, an idea conceived and experimentally tested by Alvin Weinberg at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor. Presently, various laboratories and start-up companies, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences have begun efforts to commercialize the technology. By delivering the promise of inexpensive energy it will be in the economic interest of the developing nations to use this carbon-free energy source. By delivering superior performance on longstanding public concerns about nuclear energy, it will be technologically and politically feasible for developing nations to stabilize their population with the bounty of energy cheaper than coal.

  17. On determining absolute entropy without quantum theory or the third law of thermodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steane, Andrew M.

    2016-04-01

    We employ classical thermodynamics to gain information about absolute entropy, without recourse to statistical methods, quantum mechanics or the third law of thermodynamics. The Gibbs-Duhem equation yields various simple methods to determine the absolute entropy of a fluid. We also study the entropy of an ideal gas and the ionization of a plasma in thermal equilibrium. A single measurement of the degree of ionization can be used to determine an unknown constant in the entropy equation, and thus determine the absolute entropy of a gas. It follows from all these examples that the value of entropy at absolute zero temperature does not need to be assigned by postulate, but can be deduced empirically.

  18. Fingerprints of flower absolutes using supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Santerre, Cyrille; Vallet, Nadine; Touboul, David

    2018-06-02

    Supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-HRMS) was developed for fingerprint analysis of different flower absolutes commonly used in cosmetics field, especially in perfumes. Supercritical fluid chromatography-atmospheric pressure photoionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-APPI-HRMS) technique was employed to identify the components of the fingerprint. The samples were separated with a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) Hypercarb™ column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 3 μm) by gradient elution using supercritical CO 2 and ethanol (0.0-20.0 min (2-30% B), 20.0-25.0 min (30% B), 25.0-26.0 min (30-2% B) and 26.0-30.0 min (2% B)) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. In order to compare the SFC fingerprints between five different flower absolutes: Jasminum grandiflorum absolutes, Jasminum sambac absolutes, Narcissus jonquilla absolutes, Narcissus poeticus absolutes, Lavandula angustifolia absolutes from different suppliers and batches, the chemometric procedure including principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to classify the samples according to their genus and their species. Consistent results were obtained to show that samples could be successfully discriminated. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Telling in-tune from out-of-tune: widespread evidence for implicit absolute intonation.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Huang, Alex; Rutstein, Brooke; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2017-04-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name or produce an isolated musical note without the aid of a reference note. One skill thought to be unique to AP possessors is the ability to provide absolute intonation judgments (e.g., classifying an isolated note as "in-tune" or "out-of-tune"). Recent work has suggested that absolute intonation perception among AP possessors is not crystallized in a critical period of development, but is dynamically maintained by the listening environment, in which the vast majority of Western music is tuned to a specific cultural standard. Given that all listeners of Western music are constantly exposed to this specific cultural tuning standard, our experiments address whether absolute intonation perception extends beyond AP possessors. We demonstrate that non-AP listeners are able to accurately judge the intonation of completely isolated notes. Both musicians and nonmusicians showed evidence for absolute intonation recognition when listening to familiar timbres (piano and violin). When testing unfamiliar timbres (triangle and inverted sine waves), only musicians showed weak evidence of absolute intonation recognition (Experiment 2). Overall, these results highlight a previously unknown similarity between AP and non-AP possessors' long-term musical note representations, including evidence of sensitivity to frequency.

  20. Kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies on sorption of uranium and thorium from aqueous solutions by a selective impregnated resin containing carminic acid.

    PubMed

    Rahmani-Sani, Abolfazl; Hosseini-Bandegharaei, Ahmad; Hosseini, Seyyed-Hossein; Kharghani, Keivan; Zarei, Hossein; Rastegar, Ayoob

    2015-04-09

    In this work, the removal of uranium and thorium ions from aqueous solutions was studied by solid-liquid extraction using an advantageous extractant-impregnated resin (EIR) prepared by loading carminic acid (CA) onto Amberlite XAD-16 resin beads. Batch sorption experiments using CA/XAD-16 beads for the removal of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions were carried out as a function of several parameters, like equilibration time, metal ion concentration, etc. The equilibrium data obtained from the sorption experiments were adjusted to the Langmuir isotherm model and the calculated maximum sorption capacities in terms of monolayer sorption were in agreement with those obtained from the experiments. The experimental data on the sorption behavior of both metal ions onto the EIR beads fitted well in both Bangham and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models, indicating that the intra-particle diffusion is the rate-controlling step. The thermodynamic studies at different temperatures revealed the feasibility and the spontaneous nature of the sorption process for both uranium and thorium ions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.