Transient Effects in Turbulence Modelling.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

plenum region of a liquid-metal- cooled fast breeder reactor (LMFBR). The efficient heat transfer characteristics of liquid metal coolant, combined...Transients in Generalized Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Outlet Plenums," Nuclear Technology, Vol. 44, July 1979, p. 210. 135 15. Lorenz, J. J., "MIX... Sodium Coolant in the Outlet Plenum of a Fast Nuclear Reactor ," Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 21, 1978, pp. 1565-1579. 19. Chen, Y. B., Golay, M. W

Solar Power Satellites - A Review of the Space Transportation Options.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-03-01

already exists with such systems, gained mainly through liquid-metal breeder reactor programmes. 0 For example, inlet temperatures of 970 C can be handled...alternatives exist. In addition, there would be extreme reluctance on the part of most governments to allow large C- reactors , producing gigawatts of power, to...antenna. The reactors employed are high-temperature gas- cooled breeders , which convert U238 into fissile plutonium. Each of the modules includes a

Japan’s Nuclear Future: Policy Debate, Prospects, and U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-09

raised in particular over the construction of an industrial- scale reprocessing facility in Japan,. Additionally, fast breeder reactors also produce more...Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories. 10 A fast breeder reactor is a fast neutron reactor that produces more plutonium than it consumes, which can...Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) has built and is currently running active testing on a large - scale commercial reprocessing plant at Rokkasho-mura

Development of variable-width ribbon heating elements for liquid-metal and gas-cooled fast breeder reactor fuel-pin simulators

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

McCulloch, R.W.; Post, D.W.; Lovell, R.T.

1981-04-01

Variable-width ribbon heating elements that provide a chopped-cosine variable heat flux profile have been fabricated for fuel pin simulators used in test loops by the Breeder Reactor Program Thermal-Hydraulic Out-of-Reactor Safety test facility and the Gas-Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor-Core Flow Test Loop. Thermal, mechanical, and electrical design considerations are used to derive an analytical expression that precisely describes ribbon contour in terms of the major fabrication parameters. These parameters are used to generate numerical control tapes that control ribbon cutting and winding machines. Infrared scanning techniques are developed to determine the optimum transient thermal profile of the coils and relatemore » this profile to that generated by the coils in completed fuel pin simulators.« less

Method of locating a leaking fuel element in a fast breeder power reactor

DOEpatents

Honekamp, John R.; Fryer, Richard M.

1978-01-01

Leaking fuel elements in a fast reactor are identified by measuring the ratio of .sup.134 Xe to .sup.133 Xe in the reactor cover gas following detection of a fuel element leak, this ratio being indicative of the power and burnup of the failed fuel element. This procedure can be used to identify leaking fuel elements in a power breeder reactor while continuing operation of the reactor since the ratio measured is that of the gases stored in the plenum of the failed fuel element. Thus, use of a cleanup system for the cover gas makes it possible to identify sequentially a multiplicity of leaking fuel elements without shutting the reactor down.

Alternative nuclear technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schubert, E.

1981-10-01

The lead times required to develop a select group of nuclear fission reactor types and fuel cycles to the point of readiness for full commercialization are compared. Along with lead times, fuel material requirements and comparative costs of producing electric power were estimated. A conservative approach and consistent criteria for all systems were used in estimates of the steps required and the times involved in developing each technology. The impact of the inevitable exhaustion of the low- or reasonable-cost uranium reserves in the United States on the desirability of completing the breeder reactor program, with its favorable long-term result on fission fuel supplies, is discussed. The long times projected to bring the most advanced alternative converter reactor technologies the heavy water reactor and the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor into commercial deployment when compared to the time projected to bring the breeder reactor into equivalent status suggest that the country's best choice is to develop the breeder. The perceived diversion-proliferation problems with the uranium plutonium fuel cycle have workable solutions that can be developed which will enable the use of those materials at substantially reduced levels of diversion risk.

Fusion breeder

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

Moir, R.W.

1982-02-22

The fusion breeder is a fusion reactor designed with special blankets to maximize the transmutation by 14 MeV neutrons of uranium-238 to plutonium or thorium to uranium-233 for use as a fuel for fission reactors. Breeding fissile fuels has not been a goal of the US fusion energy program. This paper suggests it is time for a policy change to make the fusion breeder a goal of the US fusion program and the US nuclear energy program. The purpose of this paper is to suggest this policy change be made and tell why it should be made, and to outlinemore » specific research and development goals so that the fusion breeder will be developed in time to meet fissile fuel needs.« less

Fusion breeder

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

Moir, R.W.

1982-04-20

The fusion breeder is a fusion reactor designed with special blankets to maximize the transmutation by 14 MeV neutrons of uranium-238 to plutonium or thorium to uranium-233 for use as a fuel for fission reactors. Breeding fissile fuels has not been a goal of the US fusion energy program. This paper suggests it is time for a policy change to make the fusion breeder a goal of the US fusion program and the US nuclear energy program. The purpose of this paper is to suggest this policy change be made and tell why it should be made, and to outlinemore » specific research and development goals so that the fusion breeder will be developed in time to meet fissile fuel needs.« less

Flow Induced Vibration Program at Argonne National Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1984-01-01

The Argonne National Laboratory's Flow Induced Vibration Program, currently residing in the Laboratory's Components Technology Division is discussed. Throughout its existence, the overall objective of the program was to develop and apply new and/or improved methods of analysis and testing for the design evaluation of nuclear reactor plant components and heat exchange equipment from the standpoint of flow induced vibration. Historically, the majority of the program activities were funded by the US Atomic Energy Commission, the Energy Research and Development Administration, and the Department of Energy. Current DOE funding is from the Breeder Mechanical Component Development Division, Office of Breeder Technology Projects; Energy Conversion and Utilization Technology Program, Office of Energy Systems Research; and Division of Engineering, Mathematical and Geosciences, office of Basic Energy Sciences. Testing of Clinch River Breeder Reactor upper plenum components was funded by the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant Project Office. Work was also performed under contract with Foster Wheeler, General Electric, Duke Power Company, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Westinghouse.

Nuclear Engineering Computer Modules, Thermal-Hydraulics, TH-2: Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reihman, Thomas C.

This learning module is concerned with the temperature field, the heat transfer rates, and the coolant pressure drop in typical liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) fuel assemblies. As in all of the modules of this series, emphasis is placed on developing the theory and demonstrating the use with a simplified model. The heart of the module is…

Helium Leak Detection of Vessels in Fuel Transfer Cell (FTC) of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutta, N. G.

2012-11-01

Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI) is engaged in construction of 500MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpak am, Chennai. In this very important and prestigious national programme Special Product Division (SPD) of M/s Kay Bouvet Engg.pvt. ltd. (M/s KBEPL) Satara is contributing in a major way by supplying many important sub-assemblies like- Under Water trolley (UWT), Airlocks (PAL, EAL) Container and Storage Rack (CSR) Vessels in Fuel Transfer Cell (FTC) etc for PFBR. SPD of KBEPL caters to the requirements of Government departments like - Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), BARC, Defense, and Government undertakings like NPCIL, BHAVINI, BHEL etc. and other precision Heavy Engg. Industries. SPD is equipped with large size Horizontal Boring Machines, Vertical Boring Machines, Planno milling, Vertical Turret Lathe (VTL) & Radial drilling Machine, different types of welding machines etc. PFBR is 500 MWE sodium cooled pool type reactor in which energy is produced by fissions of mixed oxides of Uranium and Plutonium pellets by fast neutrons and it also breeds uranium by conversion of thorium, put along with fuel rod in the reactor. In the long run, the breeder reactor produces more fuel then it consumes. India has taken the lead to go ahead with Fast Breeder Reactor Programme to produce electricity primarily because India has large reserve of Thorium. To use Thorium as further fuel in future, thorium has to be converted in Uranium by PFBR Technology.

Safety approach to the selection of design criteria for the CRBRP reactor refueling system

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

Meisl, C J; Berg, G E; Sharkey, N F

1979-01-01

The selection of safety design criteria for Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) refueling systems required the extrapolation of regulations and guidelines intended for Light Water Reactor refueling systems and was encumbered by the lack of benefit from a commercially licensed predecessor other than Fermi. The overall approach and underlying logic are described for developing safety design criteria for the reactor refueling system (RRS) of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP). The complete selection process used to establish the criteria is presented, from the definition of safety functions to the finalization of safety design criteria in the appropriate documents.more » The process steps are illustrated by examples.« less

Corrosion-resistant fuel cladding allow for liquid metal fast breeder reactors

DOEpatents

Brehm, Jr., William F.; Colburn, Richard P.

1982-01-01

An aluminide coating for a fuel cladding tube for LMFBRs (liquid metal fast breeder reactors) such as those using liquid sodium as a heat transfer agent. The coating comprises a mixture of nickel-aluminum intermetallic phases and presents good corrosion resistance to liquid sodium at temperatures up to 700.degree. C. while additionally presenting a barrier to outward diffusion of .sup.54 Mn.

Status of liquid metal fast breeder reactor fuel development in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katsuragawa, M.; Kashihara, H.; Akebi, M.

1993-09-01

The mixed-oxide fuel technology for a liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) in Japan is progressing toward commercial deployment of LMFBR. Based on accumulated experience in Joyo and Monju fuel development, efforts for large scale LMFBR fuel development are devoted to improved irradiation performance, reliability and economy. This paper summarizes accomplishments, current activities and future plans for LMFBR fuel development in Japan.

The CANDU Reactor System: An Appropriate Technology.

PubMed

Robertson, J A

1978-02-10

CANDU power reactors are characterized by the combination of heavy water as moderator and pressure tubes to contain the fuel and coolant. Their excellent neutron economy provides the simplicity and low costs of once-through natural-uranium fueling. Future benefits include the prospect of a near-breeder thorium fuel cycle to provide security of fuel supply without the need to develop a new reactor such as the fast breeder. These and other features make the CANDU system an appropriate technology for countries, like Canada, of intermediate economic and industrial capacity.

Preliminary Design of a Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket for CFETR Based on the BIT Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xuebin; Liu, Songlin; Li, Jia; Pu, Yong; Chen, Xiangcun

2014-04-01

CFETR is the “ITER-like” China fusion engineering test reactor. The design of the breeding blanket is one of the key issues in achieving the required tritium breeding radio for the self-sufficiency of tritium as a fuel. As one option, a BIT (breeder insider tube) type helium cooled ceramic breeder blanket (HCCB) was designed. This paper presents the design of the BIT—HCCB blanket configuration inside a reactor and its structure, along with neutronics, thermo-hydraulics and thermal stress analyses. Such preliminary performance analyses indicate that the design satisfies the requirements and the material allowable limits.

EBR-II Reactor Physics Benchmark Evaluation Report

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

Pope, Chad L.; Lum, Edward S; Stewart, Ryan

This report provides a reactor physics benchmark evaluation with associated uncertainty quantification for the critical configuration of the April 1986 Experimental Breeder Reactor II Run 138B core configuration.

Steam generator for liquid metal fast breeder reactor

DOEpatents

Gillett, James E.; Garner, Daniel C.; Wineman, Arthur L.; Robey, Robert M.

1985-01-01

Improvements in the design of internal components of J-shaped steam generators for liquid metal fast breeder reactors. Complex design improvements have been made to the internals of J-shaped steam generators which improvements are intended to reduce tube vibration, tube jamming, flow problems in the upper portion of the steam generator, manufacturing complexities in tube spacer attachments, thermal stripping potentials and difficulties in the weld fabrication of certain components.

Eddy Current Flow Measurements in the FFTF

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

Nielsen, Deborah L.; Polzin, David L.; Omberg, Ronald P.

2017-02-02

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is the most recent liquid metal reactor (LMR) to be designed, constructed, and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The 400-MWt sodium-cooled, fast-neutron flux reactor plant was designed for irradiation testing of nuclear reactor fuels and materials for liquid metal fast breeder reactors. Following shut down of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) project in 1983, FFTF continued to play a key role in providing a test bed for demonstrating performance of advanced fuel designs and demonstrating operation, maintenance, and safety of advanced liquid metal reactors. The FFTF Program provides valuablemore » information for potential follow-on reactor projects in the areas of plant system and component design, component fabrication, fuel design and performance, prototype testing, site construction, and reactor control and operations. This report provides HEDL-TC-1344, “ECFM Flow Measurements in the FFTF Using Phase-Sensitive Detectors”, March 1979.« less

Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S. Programs in the Former Soviet Union

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-31

seeks to help Russia reconfigure its large - scale former BW-related facilities so that they can perform peaceful research issues such as infectious...opting instead for the construction of fast breeder reactors that could burn plutonium directly for energy production. The United States might not fund...this effort, as many in the United States argue that breeder reactors , which produce more plutonium than they consume, would undermine

Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S. Programs in the Former Soviet Union

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-26

large - scale former BW-related facilities so that they can perform peaceful research issues such as infectious diseases. The Global Threat Reduction...indicated that it may not pursue the MOX program to eliminate its plutonium, opting instead for the construction of fast breeder reactors that could...burn plutonium directly for energy production. The United States might not fund this effort, as many in the United States argue that breeder reactors

Safety and core design of large liquid-metal cooled fast breeder reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qvist, Staffan Alexander

In light of the scientific evidence for changes in the climate caused by greenhouse-gas emissions from human activities, the world is in ever more desperate need of new, inexhaustible, safe and clean primary energy sources. A viable solution to this problem is the widespread adoption of nuclear breeder reactor technology. Innovative breeder reactor concepts using liquid-metal coolants such as sodium or lead will be able to utilize the waste produced by the current light water reactor fuel cycle to power the entire world for several centuries to come. Breed & burn (B&B) type fast reactor cores can unlock the energy potential of readily available fertile material such as depleted uranium without the need for chemical reprocessing. Using B&B technology, nuclear waste generation, uranium mining needs and proliferation concerns can be greatly reduced, and after a transitional period, enrichment facilities may no longer be needed. In this dissertation, new passively operating safety systems for fast reactors cores are presented. New analysis and optimization methods for B&B core design have been developed, along with a comprehensive computer code that couples neutronics, thermal-hydraulics and structural mechanics and enables a completely automated and optimized fast reactor core design process. In addition, an experiment that expands the knowledge-base of corrosion issues of lead-based coolants in nuclear reactors was designed and built. The motivation behind the work presented in this thesis is to help facilitate the widespread adoption of safe and efficient fast reactor technology.

Generating unstructured nuclear reactor core meshes in parallel

DOE PAGES

Jain, Rajeev; Tautges, Timothy J.

2014-10-24

Recent advances in supercomputers and parallel solver techniques have enabled users to run large simulations problems using millions of processors. Techniques for multiphysics nuclear reactor core simulations are under active development in several countries. Most of these techniques require large unstructured meshes that can be hard to generate in a standalone desktop computers because of high memory requirements, limited processing power, and other complexities. We have previously reported on a hierarchical lattice-based approach for generating reactor core meshes. Here, we describe efforts to exploit coarse-grained parallelism during reactor assembly and reactor core mesh generation processes. We highlight several reactor coremore » examples including a very high temperature reactor, a full-core model of the Korean MONJU reactor, a ¼ pressurized water reactor core, the fast reactor Experimental Breeder Reactor-II core with a XX09 assembly, and an advanced breeder test reactor core. The times required to generate large mesh models, along with speedups obtained from running these problems in parallel, are reported. A graphical user interface to the tools described here has also been developed.« less

Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S, Programs in the Former Soviet Union

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-26

reconfigure its large - scale former BW-related facilities so that they can perform peaceful research issues such as infectious diseases. For FY2004, the Bush...program to eliminate its plutonium, opting instead for the construction of fast breeder reactors that could burn plutonium directly for energy production...The United States might not fund this effort, as many in the United States argue that breeder reactors , which produce more plutonium than they

Performance and economics analysis of several laser fusion breeder fueled electricity generation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berwald, D. H.; Maniscalco, J. A.

1981-01-01

The paper evaluates the potential of several future electricity generating systems composed of laser fusion-driven breeder reactors that provide fissile fuel for current technology light water fission power reactors (LWRs). The performance and economic feasibility of four fusion breeder blanket technologies for laser fusion drivers, namely uranium fast fission (UFF) blankets, uranium-thorium fast fission (UTFF) blankets, thorium fast fission (TFF) blankets and thorium-suppressed fission (TSF) blankets, are considered, including design and costs of two kinds, fixed (indirect) costs associated with plant capital and variable (direct) costs associated with fuel processing and operation and maintenance. Results indicate that the UTFF and TFF systems produce electricity most inexpensively and that any of the four breeder blanket concepts, including the TSF and UFF systems, can produce electricity for about 25 to 33% above the cost of electricity produced by a new LWR operating on the current once-through cycle. It is suggested that fusion breeders could supply most or all of our fissile fuel makeup requirements within about 20 years after commercial introduction.

BRENDA: a dynamic simulator for a sodium-cooled fast reactor power plant

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

Hetrick, D.L.; Sowers, G.W.

1978-06-01

This report is a users' manual for one version of BRENDA (Breeder Reactor Nuclear Dynamic Analysis), which is a digital program for simulating the dynamic behavior of a sodium-cooled fast reactor power plant. This version, which contains 57 differential equations, represents a simplified model of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project (CRBRP). BRENDA is an input deck for DARE P (Differential Analyzer Replacement, Portable), which is a continuous-system simulation language developed at the University of Arizona. This report contains brief descriptions of DARE P and BRENDA, instructions for using BRENDA in conjunction with DARE P, and some sample output. Amore » list of variable names and a listing for BRENDA are included as appendices.« less

Liquid metal fast breeder reactors, 1972--1973

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

None

1974-01-01

Reference to 1467 publications on liquid sodium fast breeder reactors cited in Nuclear Science Abstracts Volume 26 (1972) through Volume 27 (1973 through June) are contained in this citation to provide information on the contents of the document. References are arranged in order by the original NSA abstract number which approximately places them in chronological order. Sequence numbers appear beside each reference, and the personal author index refers to these sequence numbers. The subject index refers to the original abstract numbers. (auth)

Radial blanket assembly orificing arrangement

DOEpatents

Patterson, J.F.

1975-07-01

A nuclear reactor core for a liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactor is described in which means are provided for increasing the coolant flow through the reactor fuel assemblies as the reactor ages by varying the coolant flow rate with the changing coolant requirements during the core operating lifetime. (auth)

World Energy Data System (WENDS). Volume XI. Nuclear fission program summaries

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

Not Available

1979-06-01

Brief management and technical summaries of nuclear fission power programs are presented for nineteen countries. The programs include the following: fuel supply, resource recovery, enrichment, fuel fabrication, light water reactors, heavy water reactors, gas cooled reactors, breeder reactors, research and test reactors, spent fuel processing, waste management, and safety and environment. (JWR)

Analysis of the Gas Core Actinide Transmutation Reactor (GCATR)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, J. D.; Rust, J. H.

1977-01-01

Design power plant studies were carried out for two applications of the plasma core reactor: (1) As a breeder reactor, (2) As a reactor able to transmute actinides effectively. In addition to the above applications the reactor produced electrical power with a high efficiency. A reactor subsystem was designed for each of the two applications. For the breeder reactor, neutronics calculations were carried out for a U-233 plasma core with a molten salt breeding blanket. A reactor was designed with a low critical mass (less than a few hundred kilograms U-233) and a breeding ratio of 1.01. The plasma core actinide transmutation reactor was designed to transmute the nuclear waste from conventional LWR's. The spent fuel is reprocessed during which 100% of Np, Am, Cm, and higher actinides are separated from the other components. These actinides are then manufactured as oxides into zirconium clad fuel rods and charged as fuel assemblies in the reflector region of the plasma core actinide transmutation reactor. In the equilibrium cycle, about 7% of the actinides are directly fissioned away, while about 31% are removed by reprocessing.

A study of passive safety features by utilizing intra-subassembly-equipped self-actuated shutdown mechanism for future large fast breeder reactors

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

Uto, N.; Niwa, H.; Ieda, Y.

1996-08-01

Passive prevention of core disruptive accidents (CDAs) is desired in terms of enhancement of safety for future fast breeder reactors. In addition, mitigation of CDA`s consequences should be required because mitigation measures have a potential of applying to all accidents, while prevention measures are prepared for specific accident initiators. In this paper, the Intra-Subassembly-equipped Self-Actuated Shutdown System (IS-SASS) , which is considered effective on passive prevention and mitigation of CDAs, is described. The IS-SASS is introduced in a fuel subassembly and consists of absorber materials at the top of the active core and an inner duct through which molten fuelmore » can be excluded out of the core. The determination of the appropriate number of the IS-SASS units, their arrangement in the core and their suitable structure are found to be suited to prevention and mitigation of CDAs for liquid metal-cooled large fast breeder reactors.« less

Loss-of-flow-without-scram tests in Experimental Breeder Reactor-II and comparison with pretest predictions

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

Chang, L.K.; Mohr, D.; Planchon, H.P.

This article discusses a series of successful loss-of-flow-without-scram tests conducted in Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), a metal-fueled, sodium-cooled fast reactor. These May 1985 tests demonstrated the capability of the EBR to reduce reactor power passively during a loss of flow and to maintain reactor temperatures within bounds without any reliance on an active safety system. The tests were run from reduced power to ensure that temperatures could be maintained well below the fuel-clad eutectic temperature. Good agreement was found between selected test data and pretest predictions made with the EBR-II system analysis code NATDEMO and the hot channel analysis codemore » HOTCHAN. The article also discusses safety assessments of the tests as well as modifications required on the EBR-II reactor safety system for conducting required on the EBR-II reactor safety system for the conducting the tests.« less

Continuous production of tritium in an isotope-production reactor with a separate circulation system

DOEpatents

Cawley, W.E.; Omberg, R.P.

1982-08-19

A method is described for producing tritium in a fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid metal. Lithium is allowed to flow through the reactor in separate loops in order to facilitate the production and removal of tritium.

Fast breeder reactor protection system

DOEpatents

van Erp, J.B.

1973-10-01

Reactor protection is provided for a liquid-metal-fast breeder reactor core by measuring the coolant outflow temperature from each of the subassemblies of the core. The outputs of the temperature sensors from a subassembly region of the core containing a plurality of subassemblies are combined in a logic circuit which develops a scram alarm if a predetermined number of the sensors indicate an over temperature condition. The coolant outflow from a single subassembly can be mixed with the coolant outflow from adjacent subassemblies prior to the temperature sensing to increase the sensitivity of the protection system to a single subassembly failure. Coherence between the sensors can be required to discriminate against noise signals. (Official Gazette)

A Poor Buy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cochran, Thomas B.; And Others

1975-01-01

Both economic and environmental factors are affecting the further development of liquid metal fast breeder reactors. Rising costs of plant production and the possible environmental effects of the breeder system have caused the U.S. to consider carefully this method of energy production. Alternative energy sources are being studied also. (MA)

Carter's breeder policy has failed, claims Westinghouse manager

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

Not Available

1979-07-01

Nuclear nations developing liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) technology have not been dissuaded by President Carter's efforts to stop the breeder program as a way to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons. There is no evidence that Carter's policy of moral persuasion has had any impact on their efforts. A review of the eight leading countries cites their extensive progress in the areas of breeder technology and fuel reprocessing, while the US has made only slight gains. The Fast Flux Test Facility at Hanford is near completion, but the Clinch River project has been slowed to a minimum.

Homogeneous fast-flux isotope-production reactor

DOEpatents

Cawley, W.E.; Omberg, R.P.

1982-08-19

A method is described for producing tritium in a liquid metal fast breeder reactor. Lithium target material is dissolved in the liquid metal coolant in order to facilitate the production and removal of tritium.

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

Venkataraman, M.; Natarajan, R.; Raj, Baldev

The reprocessing of spent fuel from Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) has been successfully demonstrated in the pilot plant, CORAL (COmpact Reprocessing facility for Advanced fuels in Lead shielded cell). Since commissioning in 2003, spent mixed carbide fuel from FBTR of different burnups and varying cooling period, have been reprocessed in this facility. Reprocessing of the spent fuel with a maximum burnup of 100 GWd/t has been successfully carried out so far. The feed backs from these campaigns with progressively increasing specific activities, have been useful in establishing a viable process flowsheet for reprocessing the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)more » spent fuel. Also, the design of various equipments and processes for the future plants, which are either under design for construction, namely, the Demonstration Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant (DFRP) and the Fast reactor fuel Reprocessing Plant (FRP) could be finalized. (authors)« less

Level monitoring system with pulsating sensor—Application to online level monitoring of dashpots in a fast breeder reactor

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

Malathi, N.; Sahoo, P., E-mail: sahoop@igcar.gov.in; Ananthanarayanan, R.

2015-02-15

An innovative continuous type liquid level monitoring system constructed by using a new class of sensor, viz., pulsating sensor, is presented. This device is of industrial grade and it is exclusively used for level monitoring of any non conducting liquid. This instrument of unique design is suitable for high resolution online monitoring of oil level in dashpots of a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor. The sensing probe is of capacitance type robust probe consisting of a number of rectangular mirror polished stainless steel (SS-304) plates separated with uniform gaps. The performance of this novel instrument has been thoroughly investigated. The precision,more » sensitivity, response time, and the lowest detection limit in measurement using this device are <0.01 mm, ∼100 Hz/mm, ∼1 s, and ∼0.03 mm, respectively. The influence of temperature on liquid level is studied and the temperature compensation is provided in the instrument. The instrument qualified all recommended tests, such as environmental, electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility, and seismic tests prior to its deployment in nuclear reactor. With the evolution of this level measurement approach, it is possible to provide dashpot oil level sensors in fast breeder reactor for the first time for continuous measurement of oil level in dashpots of Control and Safety Rod Drive Mechanism during reactor operation.« less

UF6 breeder reactor power plants for electric power generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rust, J. H.; Clement, J. D.; Hohl, F.

1976-01-01

The reactor concept analyzed is a U-233F6 core surrounded by a molten salt (Li(7)F, BeF2, ThF4) blanket. Nuclear survey calculations were carried out for both spherical and cylindrical geometries. Thermodynamic cycle calculations were performed for a variety of Rankine cycles. A conceptual design is presented along with a system layout for a 1000 MW stationary power plant. Advantages of the gas core breeder reactor (GCBR) are as follows: (1) high efficiency; (2) simplified on-line reprocessing; (3) inherent safety considerations; (4) high breeding ratio; (5) possibility of burning all or most of the long-lived nuclear waste actinides; and (6) possibility of extrapolating the technology to higher temperatures and MHD direct conversion.

Wireless, in-vessel neutron monitor for initial core-loading of advanced breeder reactors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delorenzo, J. T.; Kennedy, E. J.; Blalock, T. V.; Rochelle, J. M.; Chiles, M. M.; Valentine, K. H.

1981-01-01

An experimental wireless, in-vessel neutron monitor was developed to measure the reactivity of an advanced breeder reactor as the core is loaded for the first time to preclude an accidental critically incident. The environment is liquid sodium at a temperature of approx. 220 C, with negligible gamma or neutron radiation. With ultrasonic transmission of neutron data, no fundamental limitation was observed after tests at 230 C for 2000 h. The neutron sensitivity was approx. 1 count/s-nv, and the potential data transmission rate was approx. 10,000 counts/s.

Thermal breeder fuel enrichment zoning

DOEpatents

Capossela, Harry J.; Dwyer, Joseph R.; Luce, Robert G.; McCoy, Daniel F.; Merriman, Floyd C.

1992-01-01

A method and apparatus for improving the performance of a thermal breeder reactor having regions of higher than average moderator concentration are disclosed. The fuel modules of the reactor core contain at least two different types of fuel elements, a high enrichment fuel element and a low enrichment fuel element. The two types of fuel elements are arranged in the fuel module with the low enrichment fuel elements located between the high moderator regions and the high enrichment fuel elements. Preferably, shim rods made of a fertile material are provided in selective regions for controlling the reactivity of the reactor by movement of the shim rods into and out of the reactor core. The moderation of neutrons adjacent the high enrichment fuel elements is preferably minimized as by reducing the spacing of the high enrichment fuel elements and/or using a moderator having a reduced moderating effect.

The long-term future for civilian nuclear power generation in France: The case for breeder reactors. Breeder reactors: The physical and physical chemistry parameters, associate material thermodynamics and mechanical engineering: Novelties and issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dautray, Robert

2011-06-01

The author firstly gives a summary overview of the knowledge base acquired since the first breeder reactors became operational in the 1950s. "Neutronics", thermal phenomena, reactor core cooling, various coolants used and envisioned for this function, fuel fabrication from separated materials, main equipment (pumps, valves, taps, waste cock, safety circuits, heat exchange units, etc.) have now attained maturity, sufficient to implement sodium cooling circuits. Notwithstanding, the use of metallic sodium still raises certain severe questions in terms of safe handling (i.e. inflammability) and other important security considerations. The structural components, both inside the reactor core and outside (i.e. heat exchange devices) are undergoing in-depth research so as to last longer. The fuel cycle, notably the refabrication of fuel elements and fertile elements, the case of transuranic elements, etc., call for studies into radiation induced phenomena, chemistry separation, separate or otherwise treatments for materials that have different radioactive, physical, thermodynamical, chemical and biological properties. The concerns that surround the definitive disposal of certain radioactive wastes could be qualitatively improved with respect to the pressurized water reactors (PWRs) in service today. Lastly, the author notes that breeder reactors eliminate the need for an isotope separation facility, and this constitutes a significant contribution to contain nuclear proliferation. Among the priorities for a fully operational system (power station - the fuel cycle - operation-maintenance - the spent fuel pool and its cooling system-emergency cooling system-emergency electric power-transportation movements-equipment handling - final disposal of radioactive matter, independent safety barriers), the author includes materials (fabrication of targets, an irradiation and inspection instrument), the chemistry of all sorting processes, equipment "refabrication" or rehabilitation, etc., radioprotection measures and treatment for the "transuranic" elements. For a long period of time, France was in the forefront of nuclear breeder power generation science, technological research and also in the knowledge base related to breeder reactors. It is in the country's interest to pursue these efforts and this could per se constitute one of the national priorities. Nous sommes naturellement bien conscients de l'énorme problème qui se pose au Japon actuellement comme suite au tremblement de terre et au tsunami de mars 2011 et leurs conséquences, notamment sur des installations électronucléaires. Le texte que nous présentons concerne des conditions totalement générales, indépendantes des problèmes spécifiques de sûreté qu'il faudra, de toute façon, traiter dans le cadre d'un développement éventuel de l'énergie nucléaire.We are aware, of course, of the huge problem that Japan has to deal with the aftermath of the quake and tsunami of March 2011 and their consequences on electronuclear power plants. The text that we present here concerns general physical topics independent of the specific safety problems, general physical topics which will have to be solved in the case of a contingent development of electronuclear power plants.

Application of a Self-Actuating Shutdown System (SASS) to a Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR)

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

Germer, J.H.; Peterson, L.F.; Kluck, A.L.

1980-09-01

The application of a SASS (Self-Actuated Shutdown System) to a GCFR (Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor) is compared with similar systems designed for an LMFBR (Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor). A comparison of three basic SASS concepts is given: hydrostatic holdup, fluidic control, and magnetic holdup.

Interim waste storage for the Integral Fast Reactor

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

Benedict, R.W.; Phipps, R.D.; Condiff, D.W.

1991-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR), which Argonne National Laboratory is developing, is an innovative liquid metal breeder reactor that uses metallic fuel and has a close coupled fuel recovery process. A pyrochemical process is used to separate the fission products from the actinide elements. These actinides are used to make new fuel for the reactor. As part of the overall IFR development program, Argonne has refurbished an existing Fuel Cycle Facility at ANL-West and is installing new equipment to demonstrate the remote reprocessing and fabrication of fuel for the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II). During this demonstration the wastes thatmore » are produced will be treated and packaged to produce waste forms that would be typical of future commercial operations. These future waste forms would, assuming Argonne development goals are fulfilled, be essentially free of long half-life transuranic isotopes. Promising early results indicate that actinide extraction processes can be developed to strip these isotopes from waste stream and return them to the IFR type reactors for fissioning. 1 fig.« less

Vented target elements for use in an isotope-production reactor. [LMFBR

DOEpatents

Cawley, W.E.; Omberg, R.P.

1982-08-19

A method is described for producing tritium gas in a fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid metal. Lithium target material is placed in pins equipped with vents, and tritium gas is recovered from the coolant.

Assemblies with both target and fuel pins in an isotope-production reactor

DOEpatents

Cawley, W.E.; Omberg, R.P.

1982-08-19

A method is described for producing tritium in a fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid metal. Lithium target material is placed in pins adjacent to fuel pins in order to increase the tritium production rate.

Fluid-structure interaction in fast breeder reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitra, A. A.; Manik, D. N.; Chellapandi, P. A.

2004-05-01

A finite element model for the seismic analysis of a scaled down model of Fast breeder reactor (FBR) main vessel is proposed to be established. The reactor vessel, which is a large shell structure with a relatively thin wall, contains a large volume of sodium coolant. Therefore, the fluid structure interaction effects must be taken into account in the seismic design. As part of studying fluid-structure interaction, the fundamental frequency of vibration of a circular cylindrical shell partially filled with a liquid has been estimated using Rayleigh's method. The bulging and sloshing frequencies of the first four modes of the aforementioned system have been estimated using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The finite element formulation of the axisymmetric fluid element with Fourier option (required due to seismic loading) is also presented.

Thermal baffle for fast-breeder reacton

DOEpatents

Rylatt, John A.

1977-01-01

A liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor includes a bridge structure for separating hot outlet coolant from relatively cool inlet coolant consisting of an annular stainless steel baffle plate extending between the core barrel surrounding the core and the thermal liner associated with the reactor vessel and resting on ledges thereon, there being inner and outer circumferential webs on the lower surface of the baffle plate and radial webs extending between the circumferential webs, a stainless steel insulating plate completely covering the upper surface of the baffle plate and flex seals between the baffle plate and the ledges on which the baffle plate rests to prevent coolant from washing through the gaps therebetween. The baffle plate is keyed to the core barrel for movement therewith and floating with respect to the thermal liner and reactor vessel.

Nuclear Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, J. D.; Kirby, K. D.

1973-01-01

Exploratory calculations were performed for several gas core breeder reactor configurations. The computational method involved the use of the MACH-1 one dimensional diffusion theory code and the THERMOS integral transport theory code for thermal cross sections. Computations were performed to analyze thermal breeder concepts and nonbreeder concepts. Analysis of breeders was restricted to the (U-233)-Th breeding cycle, and computations were performed to examine a range of parameters. These parameters include U-233 to hydrogen atom ratio in the gaseous cavity, carbon to thorium atom ratio in the breeding blanket, cavity size, and blanket size.

Fuel pins with both target and fuel pellets in an isotope-production reactor

DOEpatents

Cawley, W.E.; Omberg, R.P.

1982-08-19

A method is described for producing tritium in a fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid metal. Lithium target pellets are placed in close contact with fissile fuel pellets in order to increase the tritium production rate.

Cold Trap Dismantling and Sodium Removal at a Fast Breeder Reactor - 12327

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

Graf, A.; Petrick, H.; Stutz, U.

2012-07-01

The first German prototype Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor (KNK) is currently being dismantled after being the only operating Fast Breeder-type reactor in Germany. As this reactor type used sodium as a coolant in its primary and secondary circuit, seven cold traps containing various amounts of partially activated sodium needed to be disposed of as part of the dismantling. The resulting combined difficulties of radioactive contamination and high chemical reactivity were handled by treating the cold traps differently depending on their size and the amount of sodium contained inside. Six small cold traps were processed onsite by cutting them up intomore » small parts using a band saw under a protective atmosphere. The sodium was then converted to sodium hydroxide by using water. The remaining large cold trap could not be handled in the same way due to its dimensions (2.9 m x 1.1 m) and the declared amount of sodium inside (1,700 kg). It was therefore manually dismantled inside a large box filled with a protective atmosphere, while the resulting pieces were packaged for later burning in a special facility. The experiences gained by KNK during this process may be advantageous for future dismantling projects in similar sodium-cooled reactors worldwide. The dismantling of a prototype fast breeder reactor provides the challenge not only to dismantle radioactive materials but also to handle sodium-contaminated or sodium-containing components. The treatment of sodium requires additional equipment and installations to ensure a safe handling. Since it is not permitted to bring sodium into a repository, all sodium has to be neutralized either through a controlled reaction with water or by incinerating. The resulting components can be disposed of as normal radioactive waste with no further conditions. The handling of sodium needs skilled and experienced workers to minimize the inherent risks. And the example of the disposal of the large KNK cold trap shows the interaction with others and also foreign decommissioning projects can provide solutions with were unknown before. (authors)« less

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

Goldsmith, M.W.; Forbes, I.A.; Turnage, J.C.

The potential of new and future energy technologies is discussed, with information provided on availability, technical and economic feasibility, and limitations due to the form of the energy. Energy sources not presently in use (i.e., shale oil, garbage, geothermal, wind, tidal, breeder reactors, ocean thermal gradients, solar energy, and fusion) are expected to supply only 10 to 15% of the Nation's energy requirements in the year 2000. The following chapters are included: Energy Use and Supply; Extending Chemical Fuel Resources, which covers oil shale and tar sands, coal gasification and liquefaction, garbage, and biomass energy; Harnessing the Forces of Nature,more » which describes geothermal, tidal, hydro, wind, and solar energy; New Nuclear Technology (e.g., converter reactors, breeder reactors, fusion by magnetic confinement, and laser fusion); and Improving Energy Production Efficiency, with discussions on energy storage, MHD (magnetohydrodynamics), and combined cycles. (64 references) (BYB)« less

Design and testing of a self-actuated shut down system for the protection of liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs)

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

Josephson, J.; Sowa, E.S.

1977-04-01

The design and testing of a simple and reliable Self-Actuated Shutdown System (SASS) for the protection of Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) is described. A ferromagnetic Curie temperature permanent magnet holding device has been selected for the design of the Self-Actuated Shutdown System in order to enhance the safety of liquid metal cooled fast reactors (LMFBRs). The self-actuated, self-contained device operates such that accident conditions, resulting in increased coolant temperature or neutron flux reduce the magnetic holding force suspending a neutron absorber above the core by raising the temperature of the trigger mechanism above the Curie point. Neutron absorbermore » material is then inserted into the core, under gravity, terminating the accident. Two possible design variations of the selected concept are presented.« less

REACTOR

DOEpatents

Szilard, L.

1963-09-10

A breeder reactor is described, including a mass of fissionable material that is less than critical with respect to unmoderated neutrons and greater than critical with respect to neutrons of average energies substantially greater than thermal, a coolant selected from sodium or sodium--potassium alloys, a control liquid selected from lead or lead--bismuth alloys, and means for varying the quantity of control liquid in the reactor. (AEC)

The Birth of Nuclear-Generated Electricity

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

1999-09-01

The Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I), built in Idaho in 1949, generated the first usable electricity from nuclear power on December 20, 1951. More importantly, the reactor was used to prove that it was possible to create more nuclear fuel in the reactor than it consumed during operation -- fuel breeding. The EBR-I facility is now a National Historic Landmark open to the public.

Significance of breeding in fast nuclear reactors

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

Raza, S.M.; Abidi, S.B.M.

1983-12-01

Only breeder reactors--nuclear power plants that produce more fuel than they consume--are capable in principle of extracting the maximum amount of fission energy contained in uranium ore, thus offering a practical long-term solution to uranium supply problems. Uranium would then constitute a virtually inexhaustible fuel reserve for the world's future energy needs. The ultimate argument for breeding is to conserve the energy resources available to mankind. A long-term role for nuclear power with fast reactors is proven to be economically viable, environmentally acceptable and capable of wide scale exploitation in many countries. In this paper, various suggestions pertaining to themore » fuel fabrication route, fuel cycle economics, studies of the physics of fast nuclear reactors and of engineering design simplifications are presented. Fast reactors contain no moderator and inherently require enriched fuel. In general, the main aim is to suggest an improvement in the understanding of the safety and control characteristics of fast breeder power reactors. Development work is also being devoted to new carbide and nitride fuels, which are likely to exhibit breeding characteristics superior to those of the oxides of plutonium and uranium.« less

Modeling of tritium transport in a fusion reactor pin-type solid breeder blanket using the diffuse code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Rodger; Ghoniem, Nasr M.

1986-11-01

A pin-type fusion reactor blanket is designed using γ-LiAlO 2 solid tritium breeder. Tritium transport and diffusive inventory are modeled using the DIFFUSE code. Two approaches are used to obtain characteristic LiAlO 2 grain temperatures. DIFFUSE provides intragranular diffusive inventories which scale up to blanket size. These results compare well with a numerical analysis, giving a steady-state blanket tritium inventory of 13 g. Start-up transient inventories are modeled using DIFFUSE for both full and restricted coolant flow. Full flow gives rapid inventory buildup while restricted flow prevents this buildup. Inventories after shutdown are modeled: reduced cooling is found to have little effect on removing tritium, but preheating rapidly purges inventory. DIFFUSE provides parametric modeling of solid breeder density, radiation, and surface effects. 100% dense pins are found to give massive inventory and marginal tritium release. Only large trapping energies and concentrations significantly increase inventory. Diatomic surface recombination is only significant at high temperatures.

"Wandering in the Desert": The Clinch River Breeder Reactor Debate in the U.S. Congress, 1972-1983.

PubMed

Camp, Michael

2018-01-01

The experimental Clinch River breeder reactor, approved by the U.S. Congress in 1970 for construction in East Tennessee, would have used plutonium instead of uranium. The project drew the ire of environmentalists who insisted that plutonium was too dangerous for commercial use, along with opponents of nuclear proliferation. Tennessee's representatives in Congress, however, desired the jobs that the project would create, and formed legislative coalitions to ensure continued appropriations for the project. Funding lasted until 1983, when fiscal conservatives, concerned about ballooning cost projections, joined with environmentalists to defund the breeder. Interpretations of U.S. nuclear policy in the 1980s have often revolved around the Three Mile Island meltdown's aftermath, but Clinch River was not affected by the incident. Instead, the Clinch River controversy revolved around other unrelated issues. The Clinch River story therefore offers a corrective to accounts that privilege national public opinion at the expense of other variables.

Fuel pin cladding

DOEpatents

Vaidyanathan, Swaminathan; Adamson, Martyn G.

1986-01-01

An improved fuel pin cladding, particularly adapted for use in breeder reactors, consisting of composite tubing with austenitic steel on the outer portion of the thickness of the tube wall and with nickel and/or ferritic material on the inner portion of the thickness of the tube wall. The nickel forms a sacrificial barrier as it reacts with certain fission products thereby reducing fission product activity at the austenitic steel interface. The ferritic material forms a preventive barrier for the austenitic steel as it is immune to liquid metal embrittlement. The improved cladding permits the use of high density fuel which in turn leads to a better breeding ratio in breeder reactors, and will increase the threshold at which failure occurs during temperature transients.

An Ultrasonic Scanning Technique for In-Situ `Bowing' Measurement of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor Fuel Sub-Assembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swaminathan, K.; Asokane, C.; Sylvia, J. I.; Kalyanasundaram, P.; Swaminathan, P.

2012-02-01

An ultrasonic under-sodium scanner has been developed for deployment in Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which is in advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, India. Its purpose is to scan the above-core plenum for detection, if any, of displacement of sub-assemblies. During its burn-up in the reactor, the head of a Fuel Sub-Assembly (FSA) may undergo a lateral shift from its original position (called `bowing') due to the fast neutron induced damage on its structural material. A simple scanning technique has been developed for measuring the extent of bowing in-situ. This paper describes a PC-controlled mock-up of the scanner used to implement the scanning technique and the results obtained of scanning a mock-up FSA head under water. The details of the liquid-sodium proof transducer developed for use in the PFBR scanner and its performance are also discussed.

Control rod drive for reactor shutdown

DOEpatents

McKeehan, Ernest R.; Shawver, Bruce M.; Schiro, Donald J.; Taft, William E.

1976-01-20

A means for rapidly shutting down or scramming a nuclear reactor, such as a liquid metal-cooled fast breeder reactor, and serves as a backup to the primary shutdown system. The control rod drive consists basically of an in-core assembly, a drive shaft and seal assembly, and a control drive mechanism. The control rod is driven into the core region of the reactor by gravity and hydraulic pressure forces supplied by the reactor coolant, thus assuring that common mode failures will not interfere with or prohibit scramming the reactor when necessary.

Comparative studies for two different orientations of pebble bed in an HCCB blanket

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paritosh, CHAUDHURI; Chandan, DANANI; E, RAJENDRAKUMAR

2017-12-01

The Indian Test Blanket Module (TBM) program in ITER is one of the major steps in its fusion reactor program towards DEMO and the future fusion power reactor vision. Research and development (R&D) is focused on two types of breeding blanket concepts: lead-lithium ceramic breeder (LLCB) and helium-cooled ceramic breeder (HCCB) blanket systems for the DEMO reactor. As part of the ITER-TBM program, the LLCB concept will be tested in one-half of ITER port no. 2, whose materials and technologies will be tested during ITER operation. The HCCB concept is a variant of the solid breeder blanket, which is presently part of our domestic R&D program for DEMO relevant technology development. In the HCCB concept Li2TiO3 and beryllium are used as the tritium breeder and neutron multiplier, respectively, in the form of a packed bed having edge-on configuration with reduced activation ferritic martensitic steel as the structural material. In this paper two design schemes, mainly two different orientations of pebble beds, are discussed. In the current concept (case-1), the ceramic breeder beds are kept horizontal in the toroidal-radial direction. Due to gravity, the pebbles may settle down at the bottom and create a finite gap between the pebbles and the top cooling plate, which will affect the heat transfer between them. In the alternate design concept (case-2), the pebble bed is vertically (poloidal-radial) orientated where the side plates act as cooling plates instead of top and bottom plates. These two design variants are analyzed analytically and 2D thermal-hydraulic simulation studies are carried out with ANSYS, using the heat loads obtained from neutronic calculations. Based on the analysis the performance is compared and details of the thermal and radiative heat transfer studies are also discussed in this paper.

MOLTEN PLUTONIUM FUELED FAST BREEDER REACTOR

DOEpatents

Kiehn, R.M.; King, L.D.P.; Peterson, R.E.; Swickard, E.O. Jr.

1962-06-26

A description is given of a nuclear fast reactor fueled with molten plutonium containing about 20 kg of plutonium in a tantalum container, cooled by circulating liquid sodium at about 600 to 650 deg C, having a large negative temperature coefficient of reactivity, and control rods and movable reflector for criticality control. (AEC)

Analysis of Coolant Options for Advanced Metal Cooled Nuclear Reactors

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

24 Table 3.3 Hazards of Sodium Reaction Products, Hydride And Oxide...........................26 Table 3.4 Chemical Reactivity Of Selected...Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor ORIGEN Oak Ridge Isotope Generator ORIGENARP Oak Ridge Isotope Generator Automated Rapid Processing PWR ...nuclear reactors, both because of the possibility of increased reactivity due to boiling and the potential loss of effectiveness of coolant heat transfer

Light-Water Breeder Reactor

DOEpatents

Beaudoin, B. R.; Cohen, J. D.; Jones, D. H.; Marier, Jr, L. J.; Raab, H. F.

1972-06-20

Described is a light-water-moderated and -cooled nuclear breeder reactor of the seed-blanket type characterized by core modules comprising loosely packed blanket zones enriched with fissile fuel and axial zoning in the seed and blanket regions within each core module. Reactivity control over lifetime is achieved by axial displacement of movable seed zones without the use of poison rods in the embodiment illustrated. The seed is further characterized by a hydrogen-to-uranium-233 atom ratio in the range 10 to 200 and a uranium-233-to-thorium-232 atom ratio ranging from 0.012 to 0.200. The seed occupies from 10 to 35 percent of the core volume in the form of one or more individual islands or annuli. (NSA 26: 55130)

Fuel pin cladding

DOEpatents

Vaidyanathan, S.; Adamson, M.G.

1986-01-28

Disclosed is an improved fuel pin cladding, particularly adapted for use in breeder reactors, consisting of composite tubing with austenitic steel on the outer portion of the thickness of the tube wall and with nickel and/or ferritic material on the inner portion of the thickness of the tube wall. The nickel forms a sacrificial barrier as it reacts with certain fission products thereby reducing fission product activity at the austenitic steel interface. The ferritic material forms a preventive barrier for the austenitic steel as it is immune to liquid metal embrittlement. The improved cladding permits the use of high density fuel which in turn leads to a better breeding ratio in breeder reactors, and will increase the threshold at which failure occurs during temperature transients. 2 figs.

Fuel pin cladding

DOEpatents

Vaidyanathan, S.; Adamson, M.G.

1983-12-16

An improved fuel pin cladding, particularly adapted for use in breeder reactors, is described which consist of composite tubing with austenitic steel on the outer portion of the thickness of the tube wall and with nickel an/or ferritic material on the inner portion of the thickness of the tube wall. The nickel forms a sacrificial barrier as it reacts with certain fission products thereby reducing fission product activity at the austenitic steel interface. The ferritic material forms a preventive barrier for the austenitic steel as it is immune to liquid metal embrittlement. The improved cladding permits the use of high density fuel which in turn leads to a better breeding ratio in breeder reactors, and will increase the threshold at which failure occurs during temperature transients.

Industrial research for transmutation scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camarcat, Noel; Garzenne, Claude; Le Mer, Joël; Leroyer, Hadrien; Desroches, Estelle; Delbecq, Jean-Michel

2011-04-01

This article presents the results of research scenarios for americium transmutation in a 22nd century French nuclear fleet, using sodium fast breeder reactors. We benchmark the americium transmutation benefits and drawbacks with a reference case consisting of a hypothetical 60 GWe fleet of pure plutonium breeders. The fluxes in the various parts of the cycle (reactors, fabrication plants, reprocessing plants and underground disposals) are calculated using EDF's suite of codes, comparable in capabilities to those of other research facilities. We study underground thermal heat load reduction due to americium partitioning and repository area minimization. We endeavor to estimate the increased technical complexity of surface facilities to handle the americium fluxes in special fuel fabrication plants, americium fast burners, special reprocessing shops, handling equipments and transport casks between those facilities.

Light-water breeder reactor (LWBR Development Program)

DOEpatents

Beaudoin, B.R.; Cohen, J.D.; Jones, D.H.; Marier, L.J. Jr.; Raab, H.F.

1972-06-20

Described is a light-water-moderated and -cooled nuclear breeder reactor of the seed-blanket type characterized by core modules comprising loosely packed blanket zones enriched with fissile fuel and axial zoning in the seed and blanket regions within each core module. Reactivity control over lifetime is achieved by axial displacement of movable seed zones without the use of poison rods in the embodiment illustrated. The seed is further characterized by a hydrogen-to-uranium-233 atom ratio in the range 10 to 200 and a uranium-233-to-thorium-232 atom ratio ranging from 0.012 to 0.200. The seed occupies from 10 to 35 percent of the core volume in the form of one or more individual islands or annuli. (NSA 26: 55130)

U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement: Issues for Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-09

for nuclear cooperation in 1973 to allow for cooperation in controlled thermonuclear fusion, fast breeder reactors , and fundamental research. The...that a 123 agreement is needed to implement this action plan—for example, full scale technical cooperation on fast reactors and demonstration of...superpowers convened a Joint Coordinating Committee for Civilian Reactor Safety starting in 1988.10 After the fall of the Soviet Union and prior to July

The integral fast reactor and its role in a new generation of nuclear power plants, Tokai, Japan, November 19-21, 1986

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

Smith, R.R.

1986-01-01

This report presents information on the Integral Fast Reactor and its role in the future. Information is presented in the areas of: inherent safety; other virtues of sodium-cooled breeder; and solving LWR fuel cycle problems with IFR technologies. (JDB)

Nuclear-radiation-actuated valve. [Patent application; for increasing coolant flow to blanket

DOEpatents

Christiansen, D.W.; Schively, D.P.

1982-01-19

The present invention relates to a breeder reactor blanket fuel assembly coolant system valve which increases coolant flow to the blanket fuel assembly to minimize long-term temperature increases caused by fission of fissile fuel created from fertile fuel through operation of the breeder reactor. The valve has a valve first part (such as a valve rod with piston) and a valve second part (such as a valve tube surrounding the valve rod, with the valve tube having side slots surrounding the piston). Both valve parts have known nuclear radiation swelling characteristics. The valve's first part is positioned to receive nuclear radiation from the nuclear reactor's fuel region. The valve's second part is positioned so that its nuclear radiation induced swelling is different from that of the valve's first part. The valve's second part also is positioned so that the valve's first and second parts create a valve orifice which changes in size due to the different nuclear radiation caused swelling of the valve's first part compared to the valve's second part. The valve may be used in a nuclear reactor's core coolant system.

First-wall structural analysis of the self-cooled water blanket concept

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

O'Brien, D.A.; Steiner, D.; Embrechts, M.J.

1986-01-01

A novel blanket concept recently proposed utilizes water with small amounts of dissolved lithium compound as both coolant and breeder. The inherent simplicity of this idea should result in an attractive breeding blanket for fusion reactors. In addition, the available base of relevant information accumulated through water-cooled fission reactor programs should greatly facilitate the R and D effort required to validate this concept. First-wall and blanket designs have been developed first for the tandem mirror reactor (TMR) due to the obvious advantages of this geometry. First-wall and blanket designs will also be developed for toroidal reactors. A simple plate designmore » with coolant tubes welded on the back (side away from plasma) was chosen as the first wall for the TMR application. Dimensions and materials were chosen to minimize temperature differences and thermal stresses. A finite element code (STRAW), originally developed for the analysis of core components subjected to high-pressure transients in the fast breeder program, was utilized to evaluate stresses in the first wall.« less

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

Not Available

The SPS Concept Development and Evaluation Program includes a comparative assessment. An early first step in the assessment process is the selection and characterization of alternative technologies. This document describes the cost and performance (i.e., technical and environmental) characteristics of six central station energy alternatives: (1) conventional coal-fired powerplant; (2) conventional light water reactor (LWR); (3) combined cycle powerplant with low-Btu gasifiers; (4) liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR); (5) photovoltaic system without storage; and (6) fusion reactor.

Status of JUPITER Program

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

Inoue, T.; Shirakata, K.; Kinjo, K.

To obtain the data necessary for evaluating the nuclear design method of a large-scale fast breeder reactor, criticality tests with a large- scale homogeneous reactor were conducted as part of a joint research program by Japan and the U.S. Analyses of the tests are underway in both countries. The purpose of this paper is to describe the status of this project.

Fabrication Technological Development of the Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloy MA957 for Fast Reactor Applications

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

Hamilton, Margaret L.; Gelles, David S.; Lobsinger, Ralph J.

A significant amount of effort has been devoted to determining the properties and understanding the behavior of the alloy MA957 to define its potential usefulness as a cladding material in the fast breeder reactor program. The numerous characterization and fabrication studies that were conducted are documented in this report.

Installation of automatic control at experimental breeder reactor II

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

Larson, H.A.; Booty, W.F.; Chick, D.R.

1985-08-01

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) has been modified to permit automatic control capability. Necessary mechanical and electrical changes were made on a regular control rod position; motor, gears, and controller were replaced. A digital computer system was installed that has the programming capability for varied power profiles. The modifications permit transient testing at EBR-II. Experiments were run that increased power linearly as much as 4 MW/s (16% of initial power of 25 MW(thermal)/s), held power constant, and decreased power at a rate no slower than the increase rate. Thus the performance of the automatic control algorithm, the mechanical andmore » electrical control equipment, and the qualifications of the driver fuel for future power change experiments were all demonstrated.« less

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II seismic probabilistic risk assessment

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

Roglans, J; Hill, D J

1994-02-01

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) is a US Department of Energy (DOE) Category A research reactor located at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)-West in Idaho. EBR-II is a 62.5 MW-thermal Liquid Metal Reactor (LMR) that started operation in 1964 and it is currently being used as a testbed in the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) Program. ANL has completed a Level 1 Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) for EBR-II. The Level 1 PRA for internal events and most external events was completed in June 1991. The seismic PRA for EBR-H has recently been completed. The EBR-II reactor building contains the reactor, themore » primary system, and the decay heat removal systems. The reactor vessel, which contains the core, and the primary system, consisting of two primary pumps and an intermediate heat exchanger, are immersed in the sodium-filled primary tank, which is suspended by six hangers from a beam support structure. Three systems or functions in EBR-II were identified as the most significant from the standpoint of risk of seismic-induced fuel damage: (1) the reactor shutdown system, (2) the structural integrity of the passive decay heat removal systems, and (3) the integrity of major structures, like the primary tank containing the reactor that could threaten both the reactivity control and decay heat removal functions. As part of the seismic PRA, efforts were concentrated in studying these three functions or systems. The passive safety response of EBR-II reactor -- both passive reactivity shutdown and passive decay heat removal, demonstrated in a series of tests in 1986 -- was explicitly accounted for in the seismic PRA as it had been included in the internal events assessment.« less

Carter Revises the Science Budget

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science News, 1977

1977-01-01

Reviews budget changes made by President Carter in the following science areas: basic science research; fusion research and breeder reactor projects; oil and gas recovery; coal conversion techniques; and space exploration. (CS)

A Roadmap of Innovative Nuclear Energy System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sekimoto, Hiroshi

2017-01-01

Nuclear is a dense energy without CO2 emission. It can be used for more than 100,000 years using fast breeder reactors with uranium from the sea. However, it raises difficult problems associated with severe accidents, spent fuel waste and nuclear threats, which should be solved with acceptable costs. Some innovative reactors have attracted interest, and many designs have been proposed for small reactors. These reactors are considered much safer than conventional large reactors and have fewer technical obstructions. Breed-and-burn reactors have high potential to solve all inherent problems for peaceful use of nuclear energy. However, they have some technical problems with materials. A roadmap for innovative reactors is presented herein.

FUEL-BREEDER FUEL ELEMENT FOR NUCLEAR REACTOR

DOEpatents

Abbott, W.E.; Balent, R.

1958-09-16

A fuel element design to facilitate breeding reactor fuel is described. The fuel element is comprised of a coatainer, a central core of fertile material in the container, a first bonding material surrounding the core, a sheet of fissionable material immediately surrounding the first bonding material, and a second bonding material surrounding the fissionable material and being in coniact with said container.

Development of UO2/PuO2 dispersed in uranium matrix CERMET fuel system for fast reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, V. P.; Hegde, P. V.; Prasad, G. J.; Pal, S.; Mishra, G. P.

2012-08-01

CERMET fuel with either PuO2 or enriched UO2 dispersed in uranium metal matrix has a strong potential of becoming a fuel for the liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors (LMR's). In fact it may act as a bridge between the advantages and disadvantages associated with the two extremes of fuel systems (i.e. ceramic fuel and metallic fuel) for fast reactors. At Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), R & D efforts are on to develop this CERMET fuel by powder metallurgy route. This paper describes the development of flow sheet for preparation of UO2 dispersed in uranium metal matrix pellets for three different compositions i.e. U-20 wt%UO2, U-25 wt%UO2 and U-30 wt%UO2. It was found that the sintered pellets were having excellent integrity and their linear mass was higher than that of carbide fuel pellets used in Fast Breeder Test Reactor programme (FBTR) in India. The pellets were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique for phase analysis and lattice parameter determination. The optical microstructures were developed and reported for all the three different U-UO2 compositions.

Core design of a direct-cycle, supercritical-water-cooled fast breeder reactor

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

Jevremovic, T.; Oka, Yoshiaki; Koshizuka, Seiichi

1994-10-01

The conceptual design of a direct-cycle fast breeder reactor (FBR) core cooled by supercritical water is carried out as a step toward a low-cost FBR plant. The supercritical water does not exhibit change of phase. The turbines are directly driven by the core outlet coolant. In comparison with a boiling water reactor (BWR), the recirculation systems, steam separators, and dryers are eliminated. The reactor system is much simpler than the conventional steam-cooled FBRs, which adopted Loeffler boilers and complicated coolant loops for generating steam and separating it from water. Negative complete and partial coolant void reactivity are provided without muchmore » deterioration in the breeding performances by inserting thin zirconium-hydride layers between the seeds and blankets in a radially heterogeneous core. The net electric power is 1245 MW (electric). The estimated compound system doubling time is 25 yr. The discharge burnup is 77.7 GWd/t, and the refueling period is 15 months with a 73% load factor. The thermal efficiency is high (41.5%), an improvement of 24% relative to a BWR's. The pressure vessel is not thick at 30.3 cm.« less

Design optimization of first wall and breeder unit module size for the Indian HCCB blanket module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deepak, SHARMA; Paritosh, CHAUDHURI

2018-04-01

The Indian test blanket module (TBM) program in ITER is one of the major steps in the Indian fusion reactor program for carrying out the R&D activities in the critical areas like design of tritium breeding blankets relevant to future Indian fusion devices (ITER relevant and DEMO). The Indian Lead–Lithium Cooled Ceramic Breeder (LLCB) blanket concept is one of the Indian DEMO relevant TBM, to be tested in ITER as a part of the TBM program. Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder (HCCB) is an alternative blanket concept that consists of lithium titanate (Li2TiO3) as ceramic breeder (CB) material in the form of packed pebble beds and beryllium as the neutron multiplier. Specifically, attentions are given to the optimization of first wall coolant channel design and size of breeder unit module considering coolant pressure and thermal loads for the proposed Indian HCCB blanket based on ITER relevant TBM and loading conditions. These analyses will help proceeding further in designing blankets for loads relevant to the future fusion device.

Characterization of alternative electric generation technologies for the SPS comparative assessment. Volume 1: Summary of central station technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-08-01

The technologies selected for the detailed characterization were: solar technology; terrestrial photovoltaic (200 MWe); coal technologies; conventional high sulfur coal combustion with advanced fine gas desulfurization (1250 MWe), and open cycle gas turbine combined cycle plant with low Btu gasifier (1250 MWe); and nuclear technologies: conventional light water reactor (1250 MWe), liquid metal fast breeder reactor (1250 MWe), and magnetic fusion reactor (1320 MWe). A brief technical summary of each power plant design is given.

COUPLED FAST-THERMAL POWER BREEDER REACTOR

DOEpatents

Avery, R.

1961-07-18

A nuclear reactor having a region operating predominantly on fast neutrons and another region operating predominantly on slow neutrons is described. The fast region is a plutonium core and the slow region is a natural uranium blanket around the core. Both of these regions are free of moderator. A moderating reflector surrounds the uranium blanket. The moderating material and thickness of the reflector are selected so that fissions in the uranium blanket make a substantial contribution to the reactivity of the reactor.

Bolt failure detection

DOEpatents

Sutton, Jr., Harry G.

1984-01-01

Bolts of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor, each bolt provided with an internal chamber filled with a specific, unique radioactive tag gas. Detection of the tag gas is indicative of a crack in an identifiable bolt.

Light Water Breeder Reactor fuel rod design and performance characteristics (LWBR Development Program)

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

Campbell, W.R.; Giovengo, J.F.

1987-10-01

Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) fuel rods were designed to provide a reliable fuel system utilizing thorium/uranium-233 mixed-oxide fuel while simultaneously minimizing structural material to enhance fuel breeding. The fuel system was designed to be capable of operating successfully under both load follow and base load conditions. The breeding objective required thin-walled, low hafnium content Zircaloy cladding, tightly spaced fuel rods with a minimum number of support grid levels, and movable fuel rod bundles to supplant control rods. Specific fuel rod design considerations and their effects on performance capability are described. Successful completion of power operations to over 160 percentmore » of design lifetime including over 200 daily load follow cycles has proven the performance capability of the fuel system. 68 refs., 19 figs., 44 tabs.« less

In-situ method for treating residual sodium

DOEpatents

Sherman, Steven R.; Henslee, S. Paul

2005-07-19

A unique process for deactivating residual sodium in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) systems which uses humidified (but not saturated) carbon dioxide at ambient temperature and pressure to convert residual sodium into solid sodium bicarbonate.

In-Situ Method for Treating Residual Sodium

DOEpatents

Sherman, Steven R.; Henslee, S. Paul

2005-07-19

A unique process for deactivating residual sodium in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) systems which uses humidified (but not saturated) carbon dioxide at ambient temperature and pressure to convert residual sodium into solid sodium bicarbonate.

Heterogeneous sodium fast reactor designed for transmuting minor actinide waste isotopes into plutonium fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bays, Samuel Eugene

2008-10-01

In the past several years there has been a renewed interest in sodium fast reactor (SFR) technology for the purpose of destroying transuranic waste (TRU) produced by light water reactors (LWR). The utility of SFRs as waste burners is due to the fact that higher neutron energies allow all of the actinides, including the minor actinides (MA), to contribute to fission. It is well understood that many of the design issues of LWR spent nuclear fuel (SNF) disposal in a geologic repository are linked to MAs. Because the probability of fission for essentially all the "non-fissile" MAs is nearly zero at low neutron energies, these isotopes act as a neutron capture sink in most thermal reactor systems. Furthermore, because most of the isotopes produced by these capture reactions are also non-fissile, they too are neutron sinks in most thermal reactor systems. Conversely, with high neutron energies, the MAs can produce neutrons by fast fission. Additionally, capture reactions transmute the MAs into mostly plutonium isotopes, which can fission more readily at any energy. The transmutation of non-fissile into fissile atoms is the premise of the plutonium breeder reactor. In a breeder reactor, not only does the non-fissile "fertile" U-238 atom contribute fast fission neutrons, but also transmutes into fissile Pu-239. The fissile value of the plutonium produced by MA transmutation can only be realized in fast neutron spectra. This is due to the fact that the predominate isotope produced by MA transmutation, Pu-238, is itself not fissile. However, the Pu-238 fission cross section is significantly larger than the original transmutation parent, predominately: Np-237 and Am-241, in the fast energy range. Also, Pu-238's fission cross section and fission-to-capture ratio is almost as high as that of fissile Pu-239 in the fast neutron spectrum. It is also important to note that a neutron absorption in Pu-238, that does not cause fission, will instead produce fissile Pu-239. Given this fast fissile quality and also the fact that Pu-238 is transmuted from Np-237 and Am-241, these MAs are regarded as fertile material in the SFR design proposed by this dissertation. This dissertation demonstrates a SFR design which is dedicated to plutonium breeding by targeting Am-241 transmutation. This SFR design uses a moderated axial transmutation target that functions primarily as a pseudo-blanket fuel, which is reprocessed with the active driver fuel in an integrated recycling strategy. This work demonstrates the cost and feasibility advantages of plutonium breeding via MA transmutation by adopting reactor, reprocessing and fuel technologies previously demonstrated for traditional breeder reactors. The fuel cycle proposed seeks to find a harmony between the waste management advantages of transuranic burning SFRs and the resource sustainability of traditional plutonium breeder SFRs. As a result, the enhanced plutonium conversion from MAs decreases the burner SFR's fuel costs, by extracting more fissile value from the initial TRU purchased through SNF reprocessing.

Remote balance weighs accurately amid high radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eggenberger, D. N.; Shuck, A. B.

1969-01-01

Commercial beam-type balance, modified and outfitted with electronic controls and digital readout, can be remotely controlled for use in high radiation environments. This allows accurate weighing of breeder-reactor fuel pieces when they are radioactively hot.

Irradiation performance of PFBR MOX fuel after 112 GWd/t burn-up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venkiteswaran, C. N.; Jayaraj, V. V.; Ojha, B. K.; Anandaraj, V.; Padalakshmi, M.; Vinodkumar, S.; Karthik, V.; Vijaykumar, Ran; Vijayaraghavan, A.; Divakar, R.; Johny, T.; Joseph, Jojo; Thirunavakkarasu, S.; Saravanan, T.; Philip, John; Rao, B. P. C.; Kasiviswanathan, K. V.; Jayakumar, T.

2014-06-01

The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which is in advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, India, will use mixed oxide (MOX) fuel with a target burnup of 100 GWd/t. The fuel pellet is of annular design to enable operation at a peak linear power of 450 W/cm with the requirement of minimum duration of pre-conditioning. The performance of the MOX fuel and the D9 clad and wrapper material was assessed through Post Irradiation Examinations (PIE) after test irradiation of 37 fuel pin subassembly in Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) to a burn-up of 112 GWd/t. Fission product distribution, swelling and fuel-clad gap evolution, central hole diameter variation, restructuring, fission gas release and clad wastage due to fuel-clad chemical interaction were evaluated through non-destructive and destructive examinations. The examinations have indicated that the MOX fuel can safely attain the desired target burn-up in PFBR.

Designing a SCADA system simulator for fast breeder reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, E.; Abdullah, A. G.; Hakim, D. L.

2016-04-01

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system simulator is a Human Machine Interface-based software that is able to visualize the process of a plant. This study describes the results of the process of designing a SCADA system simulator that aims to facilitate the operator in monitoring, controlling, handling the alarm, accessing historical data and historical trend in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) type Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR). This research used simulation to simulate NPP type FBR Kalpakkam in India. This simulator was developed using Wonderware Intouch software 10 and is equipped with main menu, plant overview, area graphics, control display, set point display, alarm system, real-time trending, historical trending and security system. This simulator can properly simulate the principle of energy flow and energy conversion process on NPP type FBR. This SCADA system simulator can be used as training media for NPP type FBR prospective operators.

Special Analysis for the Disposal of the INL Waste Associated with the Unirradiated Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) Waste Stream at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site

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

Shott, Gregory

This special analysis (SA) evaluates whether the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Waste Associated with the Unirradiated Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) waste stream (INEL167203QR1, Revision 0) is suitable for shallow land burial (SLB) at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Disposal of the INL Waste Associated with the Unirradiated LWBR waste meets all U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Manual DOE M 435.1-1, “Radioactive Waste Management Manual,” Chapter IV, Section P performance objectives (DOE 1999). The INL Waste Associated with the Unirradiated LWBR waste stream is recommended for acceptance with the conditionmore » that the total uranium-233 ( 233U) inventory be limited to 2.7E13 Bq (7.2E2 Ci).« less

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY DIVISION ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT FOR PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1961

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

None

1962-02-01

Research and development progress is reported on analytlcal instrumentation, dlssolver-solution analyses, special research problems, reactor projects analyses, x-ray and spectrochemical analyses, mass spectrometry, optical and electron microscopy, radiochemical analyses, nuclear analyses, inorganic preparations, organic preparations, ionic analyses, infrared spectral studies, anodization of sector coils for the Analog II Cyclotron, quality control, process analyses, and the Thermal Breeder Reactor Projects Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. (M.C.G.)

Reactivity control assembly for nuclear reactor. [LMFBR

DOEpatents

Bollinger, L.R.

1982-03-17

This invention, which resulted from a contact with the United States Department of Energy, relates to a control mechanism for a nuclear reactor and, more particularly, to an assembly for selectively shifting different numbers of reactivity modifying rods into and out of the core of a nuclear reactor. It has been proposed heretofore to control the reactivity of a breeder reactor by varying the depth of insertion of control rods (e.g., rods containing a fertile material such as ThO/sub 2/) in the core of the reactor, thereby varying the amount of neutron-thermalizing coolant and the amount of neutron-capturing material in the core. This invention relates to a mechanism which can advantageously be used in this type of reactor control system.

Nuclear reactor for breeding U.sup.233

DOEpatents

Bohanan, Charles S.; Jones, David H.; Raab, Jr., Harry F.; Radkowsky, Alvin

1976-01-01

A light-water-cooled nuclear reactor capable of breeding U.sup.233 for use in a light-water breeder reactor includes physically separated regions containing U.sup.235 fissile material and U.sup.238 fertile material and Th.sup.232 fertile material and Pu.sup.239 fissile material, if available. Preferably the U.sup.235 fissile material and U.sup.238 fertile material are contained in longitudinally movable seed regions and the Pu.sup.239 fissile material and Th.sup.232 fertile material are contained in blanket regions surrounding the seed regions.

Monitoring of tritium

DOEpatents

Corbett, James A.; Meacham, Sterling A.

1981-01-01

The fluid from a breeder nuclear reactor, which may be the sodium cooling fluid or the helium reactor-cover-gas, or the helium coolant of a gas-cooled reactor passes over the portion of the enclosure of a gaseous discharge device which is permeable to hydrogen and its isotopes. The tritium diffused into the discharge device is radioactive producing beta rays which ionize the gas (argon) in the discharge device. The tritium is monitored by measuring the ionization current produced when the sodium phase and the gas phase of the hydrogen isotopes within the enclosure are in equilibrium.

Evaluation of tritium release properties of advanced tritium breeders

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

Hoshino, T.; Ochiai, K.; Edao, Y.

2015-03-15

Demonstration power plant (DEMO) fusion reactors require advanced tritium breeders with high thermal stability. Lithium titanate (Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3}) advanced tritium breeders with excess Li (Li{sub 2+x}TiO{sub 3+y}) are stable in a reducing atmosphere at high temperatures. Although the tritium release properties of tritium breeders are documented in databases for DEMO blanket design, no in situ examination under fusion neutron (DT neutron) irradiation has been performed. In this study, a preliminary examination of the tritium release properties of advanced tritium breeders was performed, and DT neutron irradiation experiments were performed at the fusion neutronics source (FNS) facility in JAEA. Consideringmore » the tritium release characteristics, the optimum grain size after sintering is <5 μm. From the results of the optimization of granulation conditions, prototype Li{sub 2+x}TiO{sub 3+y} pebbles with optimum grain size (<5 μm) were successfully fabricated. The Li{sub 2+x}TiO{sub 3+y} pebbles exhibited good tritium release properties similar to the Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles. In particular, the released amount of HT gas for easier tritium handling was higher than that of HTO water. (authors)« less

Applications of plasma core reactors to terrestrial energy systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Latham, T. S.; Biancardi, F. R.; Rodgers, R. J.

1974-01-01

Plasma core reactors offer several new options for future energy needs in addition to space power and propulsion applications. Power extraction from plasma core reactors with gaseous nuclear fuel allows operation at temperatures higher than conventional reactors. Highly efficient thermodynamic cycles and applications employing direct coupling of radiant energy are possible. Conceptual configurations of plasma core reactors for terrestrial applications are described. Closed-cycle gas turbines, MHD systems, photo- and thermo-chemical hydrogen production processes, and laser systems using plasma core reactors as prime energy sources are considered. Cycle efficiencies in the range of 50 to 65 percent are calculated for closed-cycle gas turbine and MHD electrical generators. Reactor advantages include continuous fuel reprocessing which limits inventory of radioactive by-products and thorium-U-233 breeder configurations with about 5-year doubling times.-

Functional materials for breeding blankets—status and developments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konishi, S.; Enoeda, M.; Nakamichi, M.; Hoshino, T.; Ying, A.; Sharafat, S.; Smolentsev, S.

2017-09-01

The development of tritium breeder, neutron multiplier and flow channel insert materials for the breeding blanket of the DEMO reactor is reviewed. Present emphasis is on the ITER test blanket module (TBM); lithium metatitanate (Li2TiO3) and lithium orthosilicate (Li4SiO4) pebbles have been developed by leading TBM parties. Beryllium pebbles have been selected as the neutron multiplier. Good progress has been made in their fabrication; however, verification of the design by experiments is in the planning stage. Irradiation data are also limited, but the decrease in thermal conductivity of beryllium due to irradiation followed by swelling is a concern. Tests at ITER are regarded as a major milestone. For the DEMO reactor, improvement of the breeder has been attempted to obtain a higher lithium content, and Be12Ti and other beryllide intermetallic compounds that have superior chemical stability have been studied. LiPb eutectic has been considered as a DEMO blanket in the liquid breeder option and is used as a coolant to achieve a higher outlet temperature; a SiC flow channel insert is used to prevent magnetohydrodynamic pressure drop and corrosion. A significant technical gap between ITER TBM and DEMO is recognized, and the world fusion community is working on ITER TBM and DEMO blanket development in parallel.

[Radiation ecological environment in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the vicinity of the reactors and on the territory of the Semipalatinsk Test Site].

PubMed

Kim, D S

2012-01-01

The results of research into the environmental conditions in the regions of location of the pressurized water reactor WWR-K, fast neutron breeder BN-350 and on the territory of the Semipalatinsk Test Site are represented. The effects of the exposure to aerosol emissions from WWR-K and BN-350 reactors on the environment are summarized. We present some arguments in favor of the safe operation of fission reactors in compliance with the rules and norms of nuclear and radiation protection and the efficient disposal of radioactive waste on the territory of the Republic.

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 thorium-based MSRs.« less

Li/sub 2/O microsphere fabrication. Monthly letter progress report No. 1 for the period ending May 31, 1977

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

Schluderberg, D C

1977-06-01

The purpose of this task is to establish process parameters for the fabrication of lithium oxide (Li/sub 2/O) microspheres having properties which as closely as possible approximate those required for the design characteristics of the University of Wisconsin design for a TOKAMAK-type fusion reactor utilizing the moving bed of Li/sub 2/O microspheres as both reactor coolant and tritium breeder.

Status report on the fusion breeder

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

Moir, R.W.

1980-12-12

The rationale for hybrid fusion-fission reactors is the production of fissile fuel for fission reactors. A new class of reactor, the fission-suppressed hybrid promises unusually good safety features as well as the ability to support 25 light-water reactors of the same nuclear power rating, or even more high-conversion-ratio reactors such as the heavy-water type. One 4000-MW nuclear hybrid can produce 7200 kg of /sup 233/U per year. To obtain good economics, injector efficiency times plasma gain (eta/sub i/Q) should be greater than 2, the wall load should be greater than 1 MW m/sup -2/, and the hybrid should cost lessmore » than 6 times the cost of a light-water reactor. Introduction rates for the fission-suppressed hybrid are unusually rapid.« less

Feasibility of processing the experimental breeder reactor-II driver fuel from the Idaho National Laboratory through Savannah River Site's H-Canyon facility

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

Magoulas, V. E.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was requested to evaluate the potential to receive and process the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) uranium (U) recovered from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) driver fuel through the Savannah River Site’s (SRS) H-Canyon as a way to disposition the material. INL recovers the uranium from the sodium bonded metallic fuel irradiated in the EBR-II reactor using an electrorefining process. There were two compositions of EBR-II driver fuel. The early generation fuel was U-5Fs, which consisted of 95% U metal alloyed with 5% noble metal elements “fissium” (2.5% molybdenum, 2.0% ruthenium, 0.3% rhodium, 0.1% palladium,more » and 0.1% zirconium), while the later generation was U-10Zr which was 90% U metal alloyed with 10% zirconium. A potential concern during the H-Canyon nitric acid dissolution process of the U metal containing zirconium (Zr) is the explosive behavior that has been reported for alloys of these materials. For this reason, this evaluation was focused on the ability to process the lower Zr content materials, the U-5Fs material.« less

Preliminary Evaluation of the Adequacy of Lithium Resources of the World and China for D-T Fusion Reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yongliang; Ni, Muyi; Jiang, Jieqiong; Wu, Yican; FDS-Team

2012-07-01

This paper studied the adequacy of the World and China lithium resources, considering the most promising uses in the future, involving nuclear fusion and electric-vehicles. The lithium recycle model for D-T fusion power plant and electric-vehicles, and the logistic growth prediction model of the primary energy for the World and China were constructed. Based on these models, preliminary evaluation of lithium resources adequacy of the World and China for D-T fusion reactors was presented under certain assumptions. Results show that: a. The world terrestrial reserves of lithium seems too limited to support a significant D-T power program, but the lithium reserves of China are relatively abundant, compared with the world case. b. The lithium resources contained in the oceans can be called the “permanent" energy. c. The change in 6Li enrichment has no obvious effect on the availability period of the lithium resources using FDS-II (Liquid Pb-17Li breeder blanket) type of reactors, but it has a stronger effect when PPCS-B (Solid Li4 SiO4 ceramics breeder blanket) is used.

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

None

Progress is reported on fundamental research in: crystal physics, reactions at metal surfaces, spectroscopy of ionic media, structure of metals, theory of alloying, physical properties, sintering, deformation of crystalline solids, x ray diffraction, metallurgy of superconducting materials, and electron microscope studies. Long-randge applied research studies were conducted for: zirconium metallurgy, materials compatibility, solid reactions, fuel element development, mechanical properties, non-destructive testing, and high-temperature materials. Reactor development support work was carried out for: gas-cooled reactor program, molten-salt reactor, high-flux isotope reactor, space-power program, thorium-utilization program, advanced-test reactor, Army Package Power Reactor, Enrico Fermi fast-breeder reactor, and water desalination program. Other programmore » activities, for which research was conducted, included: thermonuclear project, transuraniunn program, and post-irradiation examination laboratory. Separate abstracts were prepared for 30 sections of the report. (B.O.G.)« less

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.

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

Tritium well depth, tritium well time and sponge mechanism for reducing tritium retention

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, B. Q.; Li, Z. X.; Li, C. Y.; Feng, K. M.

2011-07-01

New simulation results are predicted in a fusion reactor operation process. They are somewhat similar to, but quite different from, the xenon poisoning effects resulting from fission-produced iodine during the restart-up process of a fission reactor. We obtained completely new results of tritium well depth and tritium well time in magnetic confinement fusion energy research area. This study is carried out to investigate the following: what will be the least amount of tritium storage required to start up a fusion reactor and how long the fusion reactor needs to be operated for achieving the tritium break-even during the initial start-up phase due to the finite tritium-breeding time, which is dependent on the tritium breeder, specific structure of the breeding zone, layout of the coolant flow pipes, tritium recovery scheme and applied extraction process, the tritium retention of plasma facing component (PFC) and other reactor components, unrecoverable tritium fraction in the breeder, leakage to the inertial gas container and the natural radioactive decay time constant. We describe these new issues and answer these problems by setting up and solving a set of equations, which are described by a dynamic subsystem model of tritium inventory evolution in a fusion experimental breeder (FEB). Reasonable results are obtained using our simulation model. It is found that the tritium well depth is about 0.319 kg and the tritium well time is approximately 235 full power operation days for the reference case of the designed FEB configuration, and it is also found that after one-year operation the tritium storage reaches 0.767 kg, which is more than the least amount of tritium storage required to start up another FEB-like fusion reactor. The results show that the tritium retention in the PFC is equivalent to 11.9% of tritium well depth that is fairly consistent with the result of 10-20% deduced from the integrated particle balance of European tokamaks. Based on our experimental and theoretical studies, some new mechanisms are proposed for reducing the tritium retention in PFC and structure materials of tritium-breeding blanket. In this paper, a qualitative analysis of the 'sponge effect' is carried out. The 'sponge effect' may help us to reduce tritium retention by ~20% in the PFC.

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

Gehin, Jess C.; Powers, Jeffrey J.

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 thorium-based MSRs.« less

Satellite nuclear power station: An engineering analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, J. R.; Clement, J. D.; Rosa, R. J.; Kirby, K. D.; Yang, Y. Y.

1973-01-01

A nuclear-MHD power plant system which uses a compact non-breeder reactor to produce power in the multimegawatt range is analyzed. It is shown that, operated in synchronous orbit, the plant would transmit power safely to the ground by a microwave beam. Fuel reprocessing would take place in space, and no radioactive material would be returned to earth. Even the effect of a disastrous accident would have negligible effect on earth. A hydrogen moderated gas core reactor, or a colloid-core, or NERVA type reactor could also be used. The system is shown to approach closely the ideal of economical power without pollution.

China’s Ace in the Hole Rare Earth Elements

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

before losing magnetism. 11 Europium sesquioxide (Eu203) has been tested as neutron absorbers for control rods in (fast breeder ) nuclear reactors ...sources of rare earth around the world, it could take anywhere from 10 to 15 years from the time of discovery to begin a full- scale rare earth...television/computer screens, it is being studied for possible use in nuclear reactors .11 Erbium is used as an amplifier for fiber optic data

DIissolution of low enriched uranium from the experimental breeder reactor-II fuel stored at the Idaho National Laboratory

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

Daniel, G.; Rudisill, T.; Almond, P.

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is actively engaged in the development of electrochemical processing technology for the treatment of fast reactor fuels using irradiated fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) as the primary test material. The research and development (R&D) activities generate a low enriched uranium (LEU) metal product from the electrorefining of the EBR-II fuel and the subsequent consolidation and removal of chloride salts by the cathode processor. The LEU metal ingots from past R&D activities are currently stored at INL awaiting disposition. One potential disposition pathway is the shipment of the ingots to the Savannah River Sitemore » (SRS) for dissolution in H-Canyon. Carbon steel cans containing the LEU metal would be loaded into reusable charging bundles in the H-Canyon Crane Maintenance Area and charged to the 6.4D or 6.1D dissolver. The LEU dissolution would be accomplished as the final charge in a dissolver batch (following the dissolution of multiple charges of spent nuclear fuel (SNF)). The solution would then be purified and the 235U enrichment downblended to allow use of the U in commercial reactor fuel. To support this potential disposition path, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) developed a dissolution flowsheet for the LEU using samples of the material received from INL.« less

Contributions from research on irradiated ferritic/martensitic steels to materials science and engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelles, D. S.

1990-05-01

Ferritic and martensitic steels are finding increased application for structural components in several reactor systems. Low-alloy steels have long been used for pressure vessels in light water fission reactors. Martensitic stainless steels are finding increasing usage in liquid metal fast breeder reactors and are being considered for fusion reactor applications when such systems become commercially viable. Recent efforts have evaluated the applicability of oxide dispersion-strengthened ferritic steels. Experiments on the effect of irradiation on these steels provide several examples where contributions are being made to materials science and engineering. Examples are given demonstrating improvements in basic understanding, small specimen test procedure development, and alloy development.

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

Not Available

Three solid-breeder water-cooled blanket concepts have been developed for ITER based on a multilayer configuration. The primary difference among the concepts is in the fabricated form of breeder and multiplier. All the concepts have beryllium for neutron multiplication and solid-breeder temperature control. The blanket design does not use helium gaps or insulator material to control the solid breeder temperature. Lithium oxide (Li{sub 2}O) and lithium zirconate (Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}) are the primary and the backup breeder materials, respectively. The lithium-6 enrichment is 95%. The use of high lithium-6 enrichment reduces the solid breeder volume required in the blanket and consequentlymore » the total tritium inventory in the solid breeder material. Also, it increases the blanket capability to accommodate power variation. The multilayer blanket configuration can accommodate up to a factor of two change in the neutron wall loading without violating the different design guidelines. The blanket material forms are sintered products and packed bed of small pebbles. The first concept has a sintered product material (blocks) for both the beryllium multiplier and the solid breeder. The second concept, the common ITER blanket, uses a packed bed breeder and beryllium blocks. The last concept is similar to the first except for the first and the last beryllium zones. Two small layers of beryllium pebbles are located behind the first wall and the back of the last beryllium zone to reduce the total inventory of the beryllium material and to improve the blanket performance. The design philosophy adopted for the blanket is to produce the necessary tritium required for the ITER operation and to operate at power reactor conditions as much as possible. Also, the reliability and the safety aspects of the blanket are enhanced by using low-pressure water coolant and the separation of the tritium purge flow from the coolant system by several barriers.« less

Apparatus and method for thermal power generation

DOEpatents

Cohen, Paul; Redding, Arnold H.

1978-01-01

An improved thermal power plant and method of power generation which minimizes thermal stress and chemical impurity buildup in the vaporizing component, particularly beneficial under loss of normal feed fluid and startup conditions. The invention is particularly applicable to a liquid metal fast breeder reactor plant.

Report Card on Nuclear Power

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novick, Sheldon

1974-01-01

Problems facing the nuclear power industry include skyrocketing construction costs, technical failures, fuel scarcity, power plant safety, and the disposal of nuclear wastes. Possible solutions include: reductions in nuclear power plant construction, a complete moratorium on new plant construction, the construction of fast breeder reactors and the…

Uranium and Thorium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finch, Warren I.

1978-01-01

The results of President Carter's policy on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons are expected to slow the growth rate in energy consumption, put the development of the breeder reactor in question, halt plans to reprocess and recycle uranium and plutonium, and expand facilities to supply enriched uranium. (Author/MA)

Oxidation of SUS-316 stainless steel for fast breeder reactor fuel cladding under oxygen pressure controlled by Ni/NiO oxygen buffer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Minoru; Furuya, Hirotaka; Sugisaki, Masayasu

1985-09-01

Oxidation of SUS-316 stainless steel for a fast breeder reactor fuel cladding was examined in the temperature range of 843-1010 K under the oxygen pressure of 1017 t - 10 t-13 Pa hy use of an experimental technique of a Ni/NiO oxygen buffer. The formation of the duplex oxide layer, i.e. an outer Fe 3O 4 layer and an inner (Fe, Cr, Ni)-spinel layer, was observed and the oxidation kinetics was found to obey the parabolic rate law. The oxygen pressure and temperature dependence of the parabolic rate constant kp( PO2, T) was determined as follows: kp( PO2, T)/ kg2 · m-1 · s-1 = 0.170( PO2/ Pa) 0.141exp[-114 × 10 3/( RT/ J)]. On the basis of the oxidation kinetics and the metallographic information, the outward diffusion of Fe in the outer oxide layer was assigned to be the rate-determining process.

Radiation-induced swelling of stainless steel.

PubMed

Shewmon, P G

1971-09-10

Significant swelling (1 to 10 percent due to small voids have been found in stainless steel when it is exposed to fast neutron doses less than expected in commercial fast breeder reactors. The main features of this new effect are: (i) the voids are formed by the precipitation of a small fraction of the radiation-produced vacancies; (ii) the voids form primarily in the temperature range 400 degrees to 600 degrees C (750 degrees to 1100 degrees F); and (iii) the volume increases with dose (fluence) at a rate between linear and parabolic. The limited temperature range of void formation can be explained, but the effects of fluence, microstructure, and composition are determined by a competition between several kinetic processes that are not well understood. This swelling does not affect the feasibility or safety of the breeder reactor,but will have a significant impact on the core design and economics of the breeder.Preliminary results indicate that one cannot eliminate the effect,but cold-working,heat treatment, or small changes in composition can reduce the swelling by a factor of 2 or more. Testing is hampered by the fact that several years in EBR-II are required to accumulate the fluence expected in demonstration plants. Heavyion accelerators,which allow damage rates corresponding to much higher fluxes than those found in EBR-II,hold great promise for short-term tests that will indicate the relative effect of the important variables.

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

Surveillance application using patten recognition software at the EBR-II Reactor Facility

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

Olson, D.L.

1992-01-01

The System State Analyzer (SSA) is a software based pattern recognition system. For the past several year this system has been used at Argonne National Laboratory's Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 (EBR-2) reactor for detection of degradation and other abnormalities in plant systems. Currently there are two versions of the SSA being used at EBR-2. One version of SSA is used for daily surveillance and trending of the reactor delta-T and startups of the reactor. Another version of the SSA is the QSSA which is used to monitor individual systems of the reactor such as the Secondary Sodium System, Secondary Sodiummore » Pumps, and Steam Generator. This system has been able to detect problems such as signals being affected by temperature variations due to a failing temperature controller.« less

Surveillance application using patten recognition software at the EBR-II Reactor Facility

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

Olson, D.L.

1992-05-01

The System State Analyzer (SSA) is a software based pattern recognition system. For the past several year this system has been used at Argonne National Laboratory`s Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 (EBR-2) reactor for detection of degradation and other abnormalities in plant systems. Currently there are two versions of the SSA being used at EBR-2. One version of SSA is used for daily surveillance and trending of the reactor delta-T and startups of the reactor. Another version of the SSA is the QSSA which is used to monitor individual systems of the reactor such as the Secondary Sodium System, Secondary Sodiummore » Pumps, and Steam Generator. This system has been able to detect problems such as signals being affected by temperature variations due to a failing temperature controller.« less

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

Soldevilla, M.; Salmons, S.; Espinosa, B.

The new application BDDR (Reactor database) has been developed at CEA in order to manage nuclear reactors technological and operating data. This application is a knowledge management tool which meets several internal needs: -) to facilitate scenario studies for any set of reactors, e.g. non-proliferation assessments; -) to make core physics studies easier, whatever the reactor design (PWR-Pressurized Water Reactor-, BWR-Boiling Water Reactor-, MAGNOX- Magnesium Oxide reactor-, CANDU - CANada Deuterium Uranium-, FBR - Fast Breeder Reactor -, etc.); -) to preserve the technological data of all reactors (past and present, power generating or experimental, naval propulsion,...) in a uniquemore » repository. Within the application database are enclosed location data and operating history data as well as a tree-like structure containing numerous technological data. These data address all kinds of reactors features and components. A few neutronics data are also included (neutrons fluxes). The BDDR application is based on open-source technologies and thin client/server architecture. The software architecture has been made flexible enough to allow for any change. (authors)« less

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. The power reactor has a peak value before reactor has new balance condition. The analysis showed that temperatures of fuel and claddings during accident are still below limitations which are in secure condition.« less

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 power reactor has a peak value before reactor has new balance condition. The analysis showed that temperatures of fuel and claddings during accident are still below limitations which are in secure condition.

Locked-wrap fuel rod

DOEpatents

Kaplan, Samuel; Chertock, Alan J.; Punches, James R.

1977-01-01

A method for spacing fast reactor fuel rods using a wire wrapper improved by orienting the wire-wrapped fuel rods in a unique manner which introduces desirable performance characteristics not attainable by previous wire-wrapped designs. Use of this method in a liquid metal fast breeder reactor results in: (a) improved mechanical performance, (b) improved rod-to-rod contact, (c) reduced steel volume, and (d) improved thermal-hydraulic performance. The method produces a "locked wrap" design which tends to lock the rods together at each of the wire cluster locations.

The MSFR as a flexible CR reactor: the viewpoint of safety

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

Fiorina, C.; Cammi, A.; Franceschini, F.

2013-07-01

In this paper, the possibility has first been discussed of using the liquid-fuelled Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) as a flexible conversion ratio (CR) reactor without design modification. By tuning the reprocessing rate it is possible to determine the content of fission products in the core, which in turn can significantly affect the neutron economy without incurring in solubility problems. The MSFR can thus be operated as U-233 breeder (CR>1), iso-breeder (CR=1) and burner reactor (CR<1). In particular a 40 year doubling time can be achieved, as well as a considerable Transuranics and MA (minor actinide) burning rate equal tomore » about 150 kg{sub HN}/GWE-yr. The safety parameters of the MSFR have then been evaluated for different fuel cycle strategies. Th use and a softer spectrum combine to give a strong Doppler coefficient, one order of magnitude higher compared to traditional fast reactors (FRs). The fuel expansion coefficient is comparable to the Doppler coefficient and is only mildly affected by core compositions, thus assisting the fuel cycle flexibility of the MSFR. βeff and generation time are comparable to the case of traditional FRs, if a static fuel is assumed. A notable reduction of βeff is caused by salt circulation, but a low value of this parameter is a limited concern in the MSFR thanks to the lack of a burnup reactivity swing and of positive feedbacks. A simple approach has also been developed to evaluate the MSFR capabilities to withstand all typical double-fault accidents, for different fuel cycle options.« less

The Emperor's New Clothes--1981.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Hippel, Frank

1981-01-01

Illustrates, with three case histories, that outside peer review of public policy analysis is critically needed, is feasible, and can have an important impact. These case histories are: (1) safety of today's commercial nuclear power plants; (2) necessity of plutonium breeder reactors; and (3) consequences of "limited" nuclear war.…

Reactor control rod timing system. [LMFBR

DOEpatents

Wu, P.T.K.

1980-03-18

A fluid driven jet-edge whistle timing system is described for control rods of a nuclear reactor for producing real-time detection of the timing of each control rod in its scram operation. An important parameter in reactor safety, particularly for liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR), is the time deviation between the time the control rod is released and the time the rod actually reaches the down position. The whistle has a nearly pure tone signal with center frequency (above 100 kHz) far above the frequency band in which the energy of the background noise is concentrated. Each control rod can be fitted with a whistle with a different frequency so that there is no ambiguity in differentiating the signal from each control rod.

IECEC '83; Proceedings of the Eighteenth Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, Orlando, FL, August 21-26, 1983. Volume 1 - Thermal energy systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Among the topics discussed are the nuclear fuel cycle, advanced nuclear reactor designs, developments in central status power reactors, space nuclear reactors, magnetohydrodynamic devices, thermionic devices, thermoelectric devices, geothermal systems, solar thermal energy conversion systems, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) developments, and advanced energy conversion concepts. Among the specific questions covered under these topic headings are a design concept for an advanced light water breeder reactor, energy conversion in MW-sized space power systems, directionally solidified cermet electrodes for thermionic energy converters, boron-based high temperature thermoelectric materials, geothermal energy commercialization, solar Stirling cycle power conversion, and OTEC production of methanol. For individual items see A84-30027 to A84-30055

Reactor control rod timing system

DOEpatents

Wu, Peter T. K.

1982-01-01

A fluid driven jet-edge whistle timing system for control rods of a nuclear reactor for producing real-time detection of the timing of each control rod in its scram operation. An important parameter in reactor safety, particularly for liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR), is the time deviation between the time the control rod is released and the time the rod actually reaches the down position. The whistle has a nearly pure tone signal with center frequency (above 100 kHz) far above the frequency band in which the energy of the background noise is concentrated. Each control rod can be fitted with a whistle with a different frequency so that there is no ambiguity in differentiating the signal from each control rod.

Deep-Earth reactor: nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field.

PubMed

Hollenbach, D F; Herndon, J M

2001-09-25

Geomagnetic field reversals and changes in intensity are understandable from an energy standpoint as natural consequences of intermittent and/or variable nuclear fission chain reactions deep within the Earth. Moreover, deep-Earth production of helium, having (3)He/(4)He ratios within the range observed from deep-mantle sources, is demonstrated to be a consequence of nuclear fission. Numerical simulations of a planetary-scale geo-reactor were made by using the SCALE sequence of codes. The results clearly demonstrate that such a geo-reactor (i) would function as a fast-neutron fuel breeder reactor; (ii) could, under appropriate conditions, operate over the entire period of geologic time; and (iii) would function in such a manner as to yield variable and/or intermittent output power.

Final environmental statement, Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program. Volume 1

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

None

1975-12-01

Information is presented under the following section headings: LMFBR program options and their compatibility with the major issues affecting commercial development, Proposed Final Environmental Statement for the LMFBR program, December 1974, WASH-1535, supplemental material, and material relating to Proposed Final Environmental Statement review. (DG)

Final environmental statement, Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program. Volume 3

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

None

1975-12-01

Included are copies of thirty-four comment letters on the Proposed Final Environmental Statement together with the ERDA replies to these letters. The letters were received from Federal, State, and local agencies, environmental and public interest groups, members of the academic and industrial communities, and individual citizens. (DG)

Fusion Breeding for Sustainable, Mid Century, Carbon Free Power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manheimer, Wallace

2015-11-01

If ITER achieves Q ~10, it is still very far from useful fusion. The fusion power, and the driver power will allow only a small amount of power to be delivered, <~50MW for an ITER scale tokamak. It is unlikely, considering ``conservative design rules'' that tokamaks can ever be economical pure fusion power producers. Considering the status of other magnetic fusion concepts, it is also very unlikely that any alternate concept will either. Laser fusion does not seem to be constrained by any conservative design rules, but considering the failure of NIF to achhieve ignition, at this point it has many more obstacles to overcome than magnetic fusion. One way out of this dilemma is to use an ITER size tokamak, or a NIF size laser, as a fuel breeder for searate nuclear reactors. Hence ITER and NIF become ends in themselves, instead of steps to who knows what DEMO decades later. Such a tokamak can easily live within the consrtaints of conservative design rules. This has led the author to propose ``The Energy Park'' a sustainable, carbon free, economical, and environmently viable power source without prolifertion risk. It is one fusion breeder fuels 5 conventional nuclear reactors, and one fast neutron reactor burns the actinide wastes.

Irradiation Microstructure of Austenitic Steels and Cast Steels Irradiated in the BOR-60 Reactor at 320°C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yong; Chen, Yiren; Huang, Yina; Allen, Todd; Rao, Appajosula

Reactor internal components are subjected to neutron irradiation in light water reactors, and with the aging of nuclear power plants around the world, irradiation-induced material degradations are of concern for reactor internals. Irradiation-induced defects resulting from displacement damage are critical for understanding degradation in structural materials. In the present work, microstructural changes due to irradiation in austenitic stainless steels and cast steels were characterized using transmission electron microscopy. The specimens were irradiated in the BOR-60 reactor, a fast breeder reactor, up to 40 dpa at 320°C. The dose rate was approximately 9.4x10-7 dpa/s. Void swelling and irradiation defects were analyzed for these specimens. A high density of faulted loops dominated the irradiated-altered microstructures. Along with previous TEM results, a dose dependence of the defect structure was established at 320°C.

Modifications to the NRAD Reactor, 1977 to present

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

Weeks, A.A.; Pruett, D.P.; Heidel, C.C.

1986-01-01

Argonne National Laboratory-West, operated by the University of Chicago, is located near Idaho Falls, ID, on the Idaho National Engineering laboratory Site. ANL-West performs work in support of the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program (LMFBR) sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The NRAD reactor is located at the Argonne Site within the Hot Fuel Examination Facility/North, a large hot cell facility where both non-destructive and destructive examinations are performed on highly irradiated reactor fuels and materials in support of the LMFBR program. The NRAD facility utilizes a 250-kW TRIGA reactor and is completely dedicated to neutron radiographymore » and the development of radiography techniques. Criticality was first achieved at the NRAD reactor in October of 1977. Since that time, a number of modifications have been implemented to improve operational efficiency and radiography production. This paper describes the modifications and changes that significantly improved operational efficiency and reliability of the reactor and the essential auxiliary reactor systems.« less

Technical Application of Nuclear Fission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denschlag, J. O.

The chapter is devoted to the practical application of the fission process, mainly in nuclear reactors. After a historical discussion covering the natural reactors at Oklo and the first attempts to build artificial reactors, the fundamental principles of chain reactions are discussed. In this context chain reactions with fast and thermal neutrons are covered as well as the process of neutron moderation. Criticality concepts (fission factor η, criticality factor k) are discussed as well as reactor kinetics and the role of delayed neutrons. Examples of specific nuclear reactor types are presented briefly: research reactors (TRIGA and ILL High Flux Reactor), and some reactor types used to drive nuclear power stations (pressurized water reactor [PWR], boiling water reactor [BWR], Reaktor Bolshoi Moshchnosti Kanalny [RBMK], fast breeder reactor [FBR]). The new concept of the accelerator-driven systems (ADS) is presented. The principle of fission weapons is outlined. Finally, the nuclear fuel cycle is briefly covered from mining, chemical isolation of the fuel and preparation of the fuel elements to reprocessing the spent fuel and conditioning for deposit in a final repository.

Radiant vessel auxiliary cooling system

DOEpatents

Germer, John H.

1987-01-01

In a modular liquid-metal pool breeder reactor, a radiant vessel auxiliary cooling system is disclosed for removing the residual heat resulting from the shutdown of a reactor by a completely passive heat transfer system. A shell surrounds the reactor and containment vessel, separated from the containment vessel by an air passage. Natural circulation of air is provided by air vents at the lower and upper ends of the shell. Longitudinal, radial and inwardly extending fins extend from the shell into the air passage. The fins are heated by radiation from the containment vessel and convect the heat to the circulating air. Residual heat from the primary reactor vessel is transmitted from the reactor vessel through an inert gas plenum to a guard or containment vessel designed to contain any leaking coolant. The containment vessel is conventional and is surrounded by the shell.

Development of a neutronics calculation method for designing commercial type Japanese sodium-cooled fast reactor

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

Takeda, T.; Shimazu, Y.; Hibi, K.

2012-07-01

Under the R and D project to improve the modeling accuracy for the design of fast breeder reactors the authors are developing a neutronics calculation method for designing a large commercial type sodium- cooled fast reactor. The calculation method is established by taking into account the special features of the reactor such as the use of annular fuel pellet, inner duct tube in large fuel assemblies, large core. The Verification and Validation, and Uncertainty Qualification (V and V and UQ) of the calculation method is being performed by using measured data from the prototype FBR Monju. The results of thismore » project will be used in the design and analysis of the commercial type demonstration FBR, known as the Japanese Sodium fast Reactor (JSFR). (authors)« less

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

Faidy, C.

Practical applications of the leak-before break concept are presently limited in French Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) compared to Fast Breeder Reactors. Neithertheless, different fracture mechanic demonstrations have been done on different primary, auxiliary and secondary PWR piping systems based on similar requirements that the American NUREG 1061 specifications. The consequences of the success in different demonstrations are still in discussion to be included in the global safety assessment of the plants, such as the consequences on in-service inspections, leak detection systems, support optimization,.... A large research and development program, realized in different co-operative agreements, completes the general approach.

POWER BREEDER REACTOR

DOEpatents

Monson, H.O.

1960-11-22

An arrangement is offered for preventing or minimizing the contraction due to temperature rise, of a reactor core comprising vertical fuel rods in sodium. Temperature rise of the fuel rods would normally make them move closer together by inward bowing, with a resultant undesired increase in reactivity. According to the present invention, assemblies of the fuel rods are laterally restrained at the lower ends of their lower blanket sections and just above the middle of the fuel sections proper of the rods, and thus the fuel sections move apart, rather than together, with increase in temperature.

The Role of Nuclear Power in Achieving the World We Want

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Driscoll, M. J.

1970-01-01

Supports the development of nuclear power plants and considers some problems and possible solutions: future power needs, power costs, thermal pollution, radionuclide discharge. Describes advantages and applications of dual purpose power plants for purifying water, producing phosphorus and ammonia, and serving as fast breeder reactors for Pu 239.…

Simulation of Radioactive Corrosion Product in Primary Cooling System of Japanese Sodium-Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matuo, Youichirou; Miyahara, Shinya; Izumi, Yoshinobu

Radioactive Corrosion Product (CP) is a main cause of personal radiation exposure during maintenance with no breached fuel in fast breeder reactor (FBR) plants. The most important CP is 54Mn and 60Co. In order to establish techniques of radiation dose estimation for radiation workers in radiation-controlled areas of the FBR, the PSYCHE (Program SYstem for Corrosion Hazard Evaluation) code was developed. We add the Particle Model to the conventional PSYCHE analytical model. In this paper, we performed calculation of CP transfer in JOYO using an improved calculation code in which the Particle Model was added to the PSYCHE. The C/E (calculated / experimentally observed) value for CP deposition was improved through use of this improved PSYCHE incorporating the Particle Model. Moreover, among the percentage of total radioactive deposition accounted for by CP in particle form, 54Mn was estimated to constitute approximately 20 % and 60Co approximately 40 % in the cold-leg region. These calculation results are consistent with the measured results for the actual cold-leg piping in the JOYO.

Experimental investigation of dynamo effect in the secondary pumps of the fast breeder reactor Superphenix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alemany, A.; Marty, Ph.; Plunian, F.; Soto, J.

2000-01-01

The fast breeder reactors (FBR) BN600 (Russia) and Phenix (France) have been the subject of several experimental studies aimed at the observation of dynamo action. Though no dynamo effect has been identified, the possibility was raised for the FBR Superphenix (France) which has an electric power twice that of BN600 and five times larger than Phenix. We present the results of a series of experimental investigations on the secondary pumps of Superphenix. The helical sodium flow inside one pump corresponds to a maximum magnetic Reynolds number (Rm) of 25 in the experimental conditions (low temperature). The magnetic field was recorded in the vicinity of the pumps and no dynamo action has been identified. An estimate of the critical flow rate necessary to reach dynamo action has been found, showing that the pumps are far from producing dynamo action. The magnetic energy spectrum was also recorded and analysed. It is of the form k[minus sign]11/3, suggesting the existence of a large-scale magnetic field. Following Moffatt (1978), this spectrum slope is also justified by a phenomenological approach.

The Potential of Different Concepts of Fast Breeder Reactor for the French Fleet Renewal

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

Massara, Simone; Tetart, Philippe; Lecarpentier, David

2006-07-01

The performances of different concepts of Fast Breeder Reactor (Na-cooled, He-cooled and Pb-cooled FBR) for the current French fleet renewal are analyzed in the framework of a transition scenario to a 100% FBR fleet at the end of the 21. century. Firstly, the modeling of these three FBR types by means of a semi-analytical approach in TIRELIRE - STRATEGIE, the EDF fuel cycle simulation code, is presented, together with some validation elements against ERANOS, the French reference code system for neutronic FBR analysis (CEA). Afterwards, performances comparisons are made in terms of maximum deployable power, natural uranium consumption and wastemore » production. The results show that the FBR maximum deployable capacity, independently from the FBR technology, is highly sensitive to the fuel cycle options, like the spent nuclear fuel cooling time or the Minor Actinides management strategy. Thus, some of the key parameters defining the dynamic of FBR deployment are highlighted, to inform the orientation of R and D in the development and optimization of these systems. (authors)« less

Deep-Earth reactor: Nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field

PubMed Central

Hollenbach, D. F.; Herndon, J. M.

2001-01-01

Geomagnetic field reversals and changes in intensity are understandable from an energy standpoint as natural consequences of intermittent and/or variable nuclear fission chain reactions deep within the Earth. Moreover, deep-Earth production of helium, having 3He/4He ratios within the range observed from deep-mantle sources, is demonstrated to be a consequence of nuclear fission. Numerical simulations of a planetary-scale geo-reactor were made by using the SCALE sequence of codes. The results clearly demonstrate that such a geo-reactor (i) would function as a fast-neutron fuel breeder reactor; (ii) could, under appropriate conditions, operate over the entire period of geologic time; and (iii) would function in such a manner as to yield variable and/or intermittent output power. PMID:11562483

A liquid-metal filling system for pumped primary loop space reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crandall, D. L.; Reed, W. C.

Some concepts for the SP-100 space nuclear power reactor use liquid metal as the primary coolant in a pumped loop. Prior to filling ground engineering test articles or reactor systems, the liquid metal must be purified and circulated through the reactor primary system to remove contaminants. If not removed, these contaminants enhance corrosion and reduce reliability. A facility was designed and built to support Department of Energy Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor tests conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This test program used liquid sodium to cool nuclear fuel in in-pile experiments; thus, a system was needed to store and purify sodium inventories and fill the experiment assemblies. This same system, with modifications and potential changeover to lithium or sodium-potassium (NaK), can be used in the Space Nuclear Power Reactor Program. This paper addresses the requirements, description, modifications, operation, and appropriateness of using this liquid-metal system to support the SP-100 space reactor program.

Nuclear reactor removable radial shielding assembly having a self-bowing feature

DOEpatents

Pennell, William E.; Kalinowski, Joseph E.; Waldby, Robert N.; Rylatt, John A.; Swenson, Daniel V.

1978-01-01

A removable radial shielding assembly for use in the periphery of the core of a liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor, for closing interassembly gaps in the reactor core assembly load plane prior to reactor criticality and power operation to prevent positive reactivity insertion. The assembly has a lower nozzle portion for inserting into the core support and a flexible heat-sensitive bimetallic central spine surrounded by blocks of shielding material. At refueling temperature and below the spine is relaxed and in a vertical position so that the tolerances permitted by the interassembly gaps allow removal and replacement of the various reactor core assemblies. During an increase in reactor temperature from refueling to hot standby, the bimetallic spine expands, bowing the assembly toward the core center line, exerting a radially inward gap-closing-force on the above core load plane of the reactor core assembly, closing load plane interassembly gaps throughout the core prior to startup and preventing positive reactivity insertion.

Eddy current position indicating apparatus for measuring displacements of core components of a liquid metal nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Day, Clifford K.; Stringer, James L.

1977-01-01

Apparatus for measuring displacements of core components of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor by means of an eddy current probe. The active portion of the probe is located within a dry thimble which is supported on a stationary portion of the reactor core support structure. Split rings of metal, having a resistivity significantly different than sodium, are fixedly mounted on the core component to be monitored. The split rings are slidably positioned around, concentric with the probe and symmetrically situated along the axis of the probe so that motion of the ring along the axis of the probe produces a proportional change in the probes electrical output.

Verification of Three Dimensional Triangular Prismatic Discrete Ordinates Transport Code ENSEMBLE-TRIZ by Comparison with Monte Carlo Code GMVP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homma, Yuto; Moriwaki, Hiroyuki; Ohki, Shigeo; Ikeda, Kazumi

2014-06-01

This paper deals with verification of three dimensional triangular prismatic discrete ordinates transport calculation code ENSEMBLE-TRIZ by comparison with multi-group Monte Carlo calculation code GMVP in a large fast breeder reactor. The reactor is a 750 MWe electric power sodium cooled reactor. Nuclear characteristics are calculated at beginning of cycle of an initial core and at beginning and end of cycle of equilibrium core. According to the calculations, the differences between the two methodologies are smaller than 0.0002 Δk in the multi-plication factor, relatively about 1% in the control rod reactivity, and 1% in the sodium void reactivity.

Liquid-metal dip seal with pneumatic spring

DOEpatents

Poindexter, Allan M.

1977-01-01

An improved liquid-metal dip seal for sealing the annulus between rotating plugs in the reactor vessel head of a liquid-metal fast-breeder nuclear reactor has two legs of differing widths communicating under a seal blade; the wide leg is also in communication with cover gas of the reactor and the narrow leg is also in communication with an isolated plug annulus above the seal. The annulus contains inert gas which acts as a pneumatic spring. Upon increasing cover gas pressure which depresses the level in the wide leg and greatly increases the level in the narrow leg, the pneumatic spring is compressed, and resists further level changes, thus preventing radioactive cover gas from bubbling through the seal.

Preparation of pyrolytic carbon coating on graphite for inhibiting liquid fluoride salt and Xe135 penetration for molten salt breeder reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Jinliang; Zhao, Yanling; He, Xiujie; Zhang, Baoliang; Xu, Li; He, Zhoutong; Zhang, DongSheng; Gao, Lina; Xia, Huihao; Zhou, Xingtai; Huai, Ping; Bai, Shuo

2015-01-01

A fixed-bed deposition method was used to prepare rough laminar pyrolytic carbon coating (RLPyC) on graphite for inhibiting liquid fluoride salt and Xe135 penetration during use in molten salt breeder reactor. The RLPyC coating possessed a graphitization degree of 44% and had good contact with graphite substrate. A high-pressure reactor was constructed to evaluate the molten salt infiltration in the isostatic graphite (IG-110, TOYO TANSO CO., LTD.) and RLPyC coated graphite under 1.01, 1.52, 3.04, 5.07 and 10.13 × 105 Pa for 12 h. Mercury injection and molten-salt infiltration experiments indicated the porosity and the salt-infiltration amount of 18.4% and 13.5 wt% under 1.52 × 105 Pa of IG-110, which was much less than 1.2% and 0.06 wt% under 10.13 × 105 Pa of the RLPyC, respectively. A vacuum device was constructed to evaluate the Xe135 penetration in the graphite. The helium diffusion coefficient of RLPyC coated graphite was 2.16 × 10-12 m2/s, much less than 1.21 × 10-6 m2/s of the graphite. Thermal cycle experiment indicated the coatings possessed excellent thermal stability. The coated graphite could effectively inhibit the liquid fluoride salt and Xe135 penetration.

Evaluation of nuclear fuel reprocessing strategies. 2. LWR fuel storage, recycle economics and plutonium logistics

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

Prince, B.E.; Hadley, S.W.

1983-10-27

This is the second of a two-part report intended as a critical review of certain issues involved with closing the Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel cycle and establishing the basis for future transition to commercial breeder applications. The report is divided into four main sections consisting of (1) a review of the status of the LWR spent fuel management and storage problem; (2) an analysis of the economic incentives for instituting reprocessing and recycle in LWRs; (3) an analysis of the time-dependent aspects of plutonium economic value particularly as related to the LWR-breeder transition; and (4) an analysis of themore » time-dependent aspects of plutonium requirements and supply relative to this transition.« less

Simulation of sodium pumps for nuclear power plants. Technical report 1 Oct 80-1 May 81

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

Boadu, H.O.

1981-05-01

A single-phase pump model for analysis of transients in sodium cooled fast breeder nuclear power plants has been presented, where homologous characteristic curves are used to predict the behavior of the pump during operating transients. The pump model has been incorporated into BRENDA and FFTF; two system cases to simulate Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) and the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) respectively. Two simulation test results for BRENDA which is one loop representation of a three loop plant have been presented. They are: (1) Primary pump coastdown to natural circulation coupled with scram failure, and (2) 10 percentmore » deviation of primary speed with plant controllers incorporated.« less

Developments of Spent Nuclear Fuel Pyroprocessing Technology at Idaho National Laboratory

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

Michael F. Simpson

This paper summarizes research in used fuel pyroprocessing that has been published by Idaho National Laboratory over the last decade. It includes work done both on treatment of Experimental Breeder Reactor-II and development of advanced technology for potential scale-up and commercialization. Collaborations with universities and other laboratories is included in the cited work.

Large-scale breeder reactor prototype mechanical pump conceptual design study, hot leg

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

Not Available

1976-09-01

Due to the extensive nature of this study, the report is presented as a series of small reports. The complete design analysis is placed in a separate section. The drawings and tabulations are in the back portion of the report. Other topics are enumerated and located as shown in the table of contents.

PLUTONIUM-URANIUM-TITANIUM ALLOYS

DOEpatents

Coffinberry, A.S.

1959-07-28

A plutonium-uranium alloy suitable for use as the fuel element in a fast breeder reactor is described. The alloy contains from 15 to 60 at.% titanium with the remainder uranium and plutonium in a specific ratio, thereby limiting the undesirable zeta phase and rendering the alloy relatively resistant to corrosion and giving it the essential characteristic of good mechanical workability.

Real-time LMR control parameter generation using advanced adaptive synthesis

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

King, R.W.; Mott, J.E.

1990-01-01

The reactor delta T'', the difference between the average core inlet and outlet temperatures, for the liquid-sodium-cooled Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 is empirically synthesized in real time from, a multitude of examples of past reactor operation. The real-time empirical synthesis is based on reactor operation. The real-time empirical synthesis is based on system state analysis (SSA) technology embodied in software on the EBR 2 data acquisition computer. Before the real-time system is put into operation, a selection of reactor plant measurements is made which is predictable over long periods encompassing plant shutdowns, core reconfigurations, core load changes, and plant startups.more » A serial data link to a personal computer containing SSA software allows the rapid verification of the predictability of these plant measurements via graphical means. After the selection is made, the real-time synthesis provides a fault-tolerant estimate of the reactor delta T accurate to {plus}/{minus}1{percent}. 5 refs., 7 figs.« less

EBR-II Static Neutronic Calculations by PHISICS / MCNP6 codes

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

Paolo Balestra; Carlo Parisi; Andrea Alfonsi

2016-02-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) launched a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on the Shutdown Heat Removal Tests (SHRT) performed in the '80s at the Experimental fast Breeder Reactor EBR-II, USA. The scope of the CRP is to improve and validate the simulation tools for the study and the design of the liquid metal cooled fast reactors. Moreover, training of the next generation of fast reactor analysts is being also considered the other scope of the CRP. In this framework, a static neutronic model was developed, using state-of-the art neutron transport codes like SCALE/PHISICS (deterministic solution) and MCNP6 (stochastic solution).more » Comparison between both solutions is briefly illustrated in this summary.« less

System for fuel rod removal from a reactor module

DOEpatents

Matchett, R.L.; Fodor, G.; Kikta, T.J.; Bacvinsicas, W.S.; Roof, D.R.; Nilsen, R.J.; Wilczynski, R.

1988-07-28

A robotic system for remote underwater withdrawal of the fuel rods from fuel modules of a light water breeder reactor includes a collet/grapple assembly for gripping and removing fuel rods in each module, which is positioned by use of a winch and a radial support means attached to a vertical support tube which is mounted over the fuel module. A programmable logic controller in conjunction with a microcomputer, provides control for the accurate positioning and pulling force of the rod grapple assembly. Closed circuit television cameras are provided which aid in operator interface with the robotic system. 7 figs.

System for fuel rod removal from a reactor module

DOEpatents

Matchett, Richard L.; Roof, David R.; Kikta, Thomas J.; Wilczynski, Rosemarie; Nilsen, Roy J.; Bacvinskas, William S.; Fodor, George

1990-01-01

A robotic system for remote underwater withdrawal of the fuel rods from fuel modules of a light water breeder reactor includes a collet/grapple assembly for gripping and removing fuel rods in each module, which is positioned by use of a winch and a radial support means attached to a vertical support tube which is mounted over the fuel module. A programmable logic controller in conjunction with a microcomputer, provides control for the accurate positioning and pulling force of the rod grapple assembly. Closed circuit television cameras are provided which aid in operator interface with the robotic system.

Assessment of a satellite power system and six alternative technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolsko, T.; Whitfield, R.; Samsa, M.; Habegger, L. S.; Levine, E.; Tanzman, E.

1981-01-01

The satellite power system is assessed in comparison to six alternative technologies. The alternatives are: central-station terrestrial photovoltaic systems, conventional coal-fired power plants, coal-gasification/combined-cycle power plants, light water reactor power plants, liquid-metal fast-breeder reactors, and fusion. The comparison is made regarding issues of cost and performance, health and safety, environmental effects, resources, socio-economic factors, and institutional issues. The criteria for selecting the issues and the alternative technologies are given, and the methodology of the comparison is discussed. Brief descriptions of each of the technologies considered are included.

Austenitic alloy and reactor components made thereof

DOEpatents

Bates, John F.; Brager, Howard R.; Korenko, Michael K.

1986-01-01

An austenitic stainless steel alloy is disclosed, having excellent fast neutron irradiation swelling resistance and good post irradiation ductility, making it especially useful for liquid metal fast breeder reactor applications. The alloy contains: about 0.04 to 0.09 wt. % carbon; about 1.5 to 2.5 wt. % manganese; about 0.5 to 1.6 wt. % silicon; about 0.030 to 0.08 wt. % phosphorus; about 13.3 to 16.5 wt. % chromium; about 13.7 to 16.0 wt. % nickel; about 1.0 to 3.0 wt. % molybdenum; and about 0.10 to 0.35 wt. % titanium.

Future Scenarios for Fission Based Reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, S.

2005-04-01

The coming century will see the exhaustion of standard fossil fuels, coal, gas and oil, which today represent 75% of the world energy production. Moreover, their use will have caused large-scale emission of greenhouse gases (GEG), and induced global climate change. This problem is exacerbated by a growing world energy demand. In this context, nuclear power is the only GEG-free energy source available today capable of responding significantly to this demand. Some scenarios consider a nuclear energy production of around 5 Gtoe in 2050, wich would represent a 20% share of the world energy supply. Present reactors generate energy from the fission of U-235 and require around 200 tons of natural Uranium to produce 1GWe.y of energy, equivalent to the fission of one ton of fissile material. In a scenario of a significant increase in nuclear energy generation, these standard reactors will consume the whole of the world's estimated Uranium reserves in a few decades. However, natural Uranium or Thorium ore, wich are not themselves fissile, can produce a fissile material after a neutron capture ( 239Pu and 233U respectively). In a breeder reactor, the mass of fissile material remains constant, and the fertile ore is the only material to be consumed. In this case, only 1 ton of natural ore is needed to produce 1GWe.y. Thus, the breeding concept allows optimal use of fertile ore and development of sustainable nuclear energy production for several thousand years into the future. Different sustainable nuclear reactor concepts are studied in the international forum "generation IV". Different types of coolant (Na, Pb and He) are studied for fast breeder reactors based on the Uranium cycle. The thermal Thorium cycle requires the use of a liquid fuel, which can be reprocessed online in order to extract the neutron poisons. This paper presents these different sustainable reactors, based on the Uranium or Thorium fuel cycles and will compare the different options in term of fissile inventory, capacity to be deployed, induced radiotoxicities, and R&D efforts.

Ceramic breeder research and development: progress and focus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Laan, J. G.; Kawamura, H.; Roux, N.; Yamaki, D.

2000-12-01

The world-wide efforts on ceramic breeder materials in the last two years concerned Li2O, Li4SiO4, Li2TiO3 and Li2ZrO3, with a clear emphasis on the development of Li2TiO3. Pebble-manufacturing processes have been developed up to a 10 kg scale. Characterisation of materials has advanced. A jump-wise progress is observed in the characterisation of pebble-beds, in particular of their thermo-mechanical behaviour. Thermal property data are still limited. A number of breeder materials have been or are being irradiated in material test reactors like HFR and JMTR. The EXOTIC-8 series of in-pile experiments is a major source of tritium release data. This paper discusses the technical advancements and proposes a focus for further research and development (R&D) : pebble-bed mechanical and thermal behaviour and its interactions with the blanket structure as a function of temperature, burn-up, irradiation dose and time; tritium release and retention properties; determination of the key factors limiting blanket life.

Characterization of fast neutron spectrum in the TRIGA for hardness testing of electronic components

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

Nelson, George W.

1986-07-01

Argonne National Laboratory-West, operated by the University of Chicago, is located near Idaho Falls, ID, on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Site. ANL-West performs work in support of the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program (LMFBR) sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The NRAD reactor is located at the Argonne Site within the Hot Fuel Examination Facility/North, a large hot cell facility where both non-destructive and destructive examinations are performed on highly irradiated reactor fuels and materials in support of the LMFBR program. The NRAD facility utilizes a 250-kW TRIGA reactor and is completely dedicated to neutron radiographymore » and the development of radiography techniques. Criticality was first achieved at the NRAD reactor in October of 1977. Since that time, a number of modifications have been implemented to improve operational efficiency and radiography production. This paper describes the modifications and changes that significantly improved operational efficiency and reliability of the reactor and the essential auxiliary reactor systems. (author)« less

Study on core radius minimization for long life Pb-Bi cooled CANDLE burnup scheme based fast reactor

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

Afifah, Maryam, E-mail: maryam.afifah210692@gmail.com; Su’ud, Zaki; Miura, Ryosuke

2015-09-30

Fast Breeder Reactor had been interested to be developed over the world because it inexhaustible source energy, one of those is CANDLE reactor which is have strategy in burn-up scheme, need not control roads for control burn-up, have a constant core characteristics during energy production and don’t need fuel shuffling. The calculation was made by basic reactor analysis which use Sodium coolant geometry core parameter as a reference core to study on minimum core reactor radius of CANDLE for long life Pb-Bi cooled, also want to perform pure coolant effect comparison between LBE and sodium in a same geometry design.more » The result show that the minimum core radius of Lead Bismuth cooled CANDLE is 100 cm and 500 MWth thermal output. Lead-Bismuth coolant for CANDLE reactor enable to reduce much reactor size and have a better void coefficient than Sodium cooled as the most coolant for FBR, then we will have a good point in safety analysis.« less

PLUTONIUM-URANIUM ALLOY

DOEpatents

Coffinberry, A.S.; Schonfeld, F.W.

1959-09-01

Pu-U-Fe and Pu-U-Co alloys suitable for use as fuel elements tn fast breeder reactors are described. The advantages of these alloys are ease of fabrication without microcracks, good corrosion restatance, and good resistance to radiation damage. These advantages are secured by limitation of the zeta phase of plutonium in favor of a tetragonal crystal structure of the U/sub 6/Mn type.

MOUND LABORATORY PROGRESS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 1960

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

None

Activities are reported in a program to investigate formulations and procedures which may lead to superior plastics and adhesives. In other work, processes for separating and purifying radioelements are being developed and supply sources are being evaluated. Research was initiated to determine the density, viscosity, thermal capacity, and thermal conductivity of Pu and Pu alloys for use in fast breeder reactors. (J.R.D.)

CRBR pump water test experience

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

Cook, M.E.; Huber, K.A.

1983-01-01

The hydraulic design features and water testing of the hydraulic scale model and prototype pump of the sodium pumps used in the primary and intermediate sodium loops of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) are described. The Hydraulic Scale Model tests are performed and the results of these tests are discussed. The Prototype Pump tests are performed and the results of these tests are discussed.

Alloys for a liquid metal fast breeder reactor

DOEpatents

Rowcliffe, Arthur F.; Bleiberg, Melvin L.; Diamond, Sidney; Bajaj, Ram

1979-01-01

An essentially gamma-prime precipitation-hardened iron-chromium-nickel alloy has been designed with emphasis on minimum nickel and chromium contents to reduce the swelling tendencies of these alloys when used in liquid metal fast breeder reactors. The precipitation-hardening components have been designed for phase stability and such residual elements as silicon and boron, also have been selected to minimize swelling. Using the properties of these alloys in one design would result in an increased breeding ratio over 20% cold worked stainless steel, a reference material, of 1.239 to 1.310 and a reduced doubling time from 15.8 to 11.4 years. The gross stoichiometry of the alloying composition comprises from about 0.04% to about 0.06% carbon, from about 0.05% to about 1.0% silicon, up to about 0.1% zirconium, up to about 0.5% vanadium, from about 24% to about 31% nickel, from 8% to about 11% chromium, from about 1.7% to about 3.5% titanium, from about 1.0% to about 1.8% aluminum, from about 0.9% to about 3.7% molybdenum, from about 0.04% to about 0.8% boron, and the balance iron with incidental impurities.

Manufacturing Technology of Ceramic Pebbles for Breeding Blanket.

PubMed

Lo Frano, Rosa; Puccini, Monica; Stefanelli, Eleonora; Del Serra, Daniele; Malquori, Stefano

2018-05-02

An open issue for the fusion power reactor is the choice of breeding blanket material. The possible use of Helium-Cooled Pebble Breeder ceramic material in the form of pebble beds is of great interest worldwide as demonstrated by the numerous studies and research on this subject. Lithium orthosilicate (Li₄SiO₄) is a promising breeding material investigated in this present study because the neutron capture of Li-6 allows the production of tritium, 6Li (n, t) 4He. Furthermore, lithium orthosilicate has the advantages of low activation characteristics, low thermal expansion coefficient, high thermal conductivity, high density and stability. Even if they are far from the industrial standard, a variety of industrial processes have been proposed for making orthosilicate pebbles with diameters of 0.1⁻1 mm. However, some manufacturing problems have been observed, such as in the chemical stability (agglomeration phenomena). The aim of this study is to provide a new methodology for the production of pebbles based on the drip casting method, which was jointly developed by the DICI-University of Pisa and Industrie Bitossi. Using this new (and alternative) manufacturing technology, in the field of fusion reactors, appropriately sized ceramic pebbles could be produced for use as tritium breeders.

Assessment of the importance of neutron multiplication for tritium production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiovaro, P.; Di Maio, P. A.

2017-01-01

One of the major requirements for a fusion power plant in the future is tritium self-sufficiency. For this reason the scientific community has dedicated a lot of effort to research activity on reactor tritium breeding blankets. In the framework of the international project DEMO, many concepts of breeding blanket have been taken into account and some of them will be tested in the experimental reactor ITER by means of appropriate test blanket modules (TBMs). All the breeding blanket concepts rely on the adoption of binary systems composed of a material acting as neutronic multiplier and another as a breeder. This paper addresses a neutronic feature of these kinds of systems. In particular, attention has been focused on the assessment of the importance of neutrons coming from multiplication reactions for the production of tritium. A theoretical framework has been set up and a procedure to evaluate the performance of the multiplier-breeder systems, under the aforementioned point of view, has been developed. Moreover, the model set up has been applied to helium cooled lithium lead and helium cooled pebble bad TBMs under irradiation in ITER and the results have been critically discussed.

Development of welding technologies for the manufacturing of European Tritium Breeder blanket modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poitevin, Y.; Aubert, Ph.; Diegele, E.; de Dinechin, G.; Rey, J.; Rieth, M.; Rigal, E.; von der Weth, A.; Boutard, J.-L.; Tavassoli, F.

2011-10-01

Europe has developed two reference Tritium Breeder Blankets concepts for a DEMO fusion reactor: the Helium-Cooled Lithium-Lead and the Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed. Both are using the reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic EUROFER-97 steel as structural material and will be tested in ITER under the form of test blanket modules. The fabrication of their EUROFER structures requires developing welding processes like laser, TIG, EB and diffusion welding often beyond the state-of-the-art. The status of European achievements in this area is reviewed, illustrating the variety of processes and key issues behind retained options, in particular with respect to metallurgical aspects and mechanical properties. Fabrication of mock-ups is highlighted and their characterization and performances with respect to design requirements are reviewed.

Apparatus for controlling coolant level in a liquid-metal-cooled nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Jones, Robert D.

1978-01-01

A liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor which has a thermal liner spaced inwardly of the pressure vessel and includes means for passing bypass coolant through the annulus between the thermal liner and the pressure vessel to insulate the pressure vessel from hot outlet coolant includes control ports in the thermal liner a short distance below the normal operating coolant level in the reactor and an overflow nozzle in the pressure vessel below the control ports connected to an overflow line including a portion at an elevation such that overflow coolant flow is established when the coolant level in the reactor is above the top of the coolant ports. When no makeup coolant is added, bypass flow is inwardly through the control ports and there is no overflow; when makeup coolant is being added, coolant flow through the overflow line will maintain the coolant level.

Beryllium for fusion application - recent results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khomutov, A.; Barabash, V.; Chakin, V.; Chernov, V.; Davydov, D.; Gorokhov, V.; Kawamura, H.; Kolbasov, B.; Kupriyanov, I.; Longhurst, G.; Scaffidi-Argentina, F.; Shestakov, V.

2002-12-01

The main issues for the application of beryllium in fusion reactors are analyzed taking into account the latest results since the ICFRM-9 (Colorado, USA, October 1999) and presented at 5th IEA Be Workshop (10-12 October 2001, Moscow Russia). Considerable progress has been made recently in understanding the problems connected with the selection of the beryllium grades for different applications, characterization of the beryllium at relevant operational conditions (irradiation effects, thermal fatigue, etc.), and development of required manufacturing technologies. The key remaining problems related to the application of beryllium as an armour in near-term fusion reactors (e.g. ITER) are discussed. The features of the application of beryllium and beryllides as a neutron multiplier in the breeder blanket for power reactors (e.g. DEMO) in pebble-bed form are described.

Sealed head access area enclosure

DOEpatents

Golden, Martin P.; Govi, Aldo R.

1978-01-01

A liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder power reactor is provided with a sealed head access area enclosure disposed above the reactor vessel head consisting of a plurality of prefabricated structural panels including a center panel removably sealed into position with inflatable seals, and outer panels sealed into position with semipermanent sealant joints. The sealant joints are located in the joint between the edge of the panels and the reactor containment structure and include from bottom to top an inverted U-shaped strip, a lower layer of a room temperature vulcanizing material, a separator strip defining a test space therewithin, and an upper layer of a room temperature vulcanizing material. The test space is tapped by a normally plugged passage extending to the top of the enclosure for testing the seal or introducing a buffer gas thereinto.

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

Qualls, A. L.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Betzler, Benjamin R.

The fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR) demonstration reactor (DR) is a concept for a salt-cooled reactor with 100 megawatts of thermal output (MWt). It would use tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel within prismatic graphite blocks. FLiBe (2 LiF-BeF 2) is the reference primary coolant. The FHR DR is designed to be small, simple, and affordable. Development of the FHR DR is a necessary intermediate step to enable near-term commercial FHRs. Lower risk technologies are purposely included in the initial FHR DR design to ensure that the reactor can be built, licensed, and operated within an acceptable budget and schedule. These technologiesmore » include TRISO particle fuel, replaceable core structural material, the use of that same material for the primary and intermediate loops, and tube-and-shell primary-to-intermediate heat exchangers. Several preconceptual and conceptual design efforts that have been conducted on FHR concepts bear a significant influence on the FHR DR design. Specific designs include the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) advanced high-temperature reactor (AHTR) with 3400/1500 MWt/megawatts of electric output (MWe), as well as a 125 MWt small modular AHTR (SmAHTR) from ORNL. Other important examples are the Mk1 pebble bed FHR (PB-FHR) concept from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), and an FHR test reactor design developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The MIT FHR test reactor is based on a prismatic fuel platform and is directly relevant to the present FHR DR design effort. These FHR concepts are based on reasonable assumptions for credible commercial prototypes. The FHR DR concept also directly benefits from the operating experience of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), as well as the detailed design efforts for a large molten salt reactor concept and its breeder variant, the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor. The FHR DR technology is most representative of the 3400 MWt AHTR concept, and it will demonstrate key operational features of that design. The FHR DR will be closely scaled to the SmAHTR concept in power and flows, so any technologies demonstrated will be directly applicable to a reactor concept of that size. The FHR DR is not a commercial prototype design, but rather a DR that serves a cost and risk mitigation function for a later commercial prototype. It is expected to have a limited operational lifetime compared to a commercial plant. It is designed to be a low-cost reactor compared to more mature advanced prototype DRs. A primary reason to build the FHR DR is to learn about salt reactor technologies and demonstrate solutions to remaining technical gaps.« less

Selection of alternative central-station technologies for the Satellite Power System (SPS) comparative assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Samsa, M.

1980-01-01

An important effort is the Satellite Power System (SPS) comparative Assessment is the selection and characterization of alternative technologies to be compared with the SPS concept. The ground rules, criteria, and screening procedure applied in the selection of those alternative technologies are summarized. The final set of central station alternatives selected for comparison with the SPS concept includes: (1) light water reactor with improved fuel utilization, (2) conventional coal combustion with improved environmental controls, (3) open cycle gas turbine with integral low Btu gasifier, (4) terrestrial photovoltaic, (5) liquid metal fast breeder reactor, and (6) magnetic confinement fusion.

Study of the Effect of Swelling on Irradiation Assisted Stress Corrosion Cracking

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

Teysseyre, Sebastien Paul

2016-09-01

This report describes the methodology used to study the effect of swelling on the crack growth rate of an irradiation-assisted stress corrosion crack that is propagating in highly irradiated stainless steel 304 material irradiated to 33 dpa in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. The material selection, specimens design, experimental apparatus and processes are described. The results of the current test are presented.

LMFBR with booster pump in pumping loop

DOEpatents

Rubinstein, H.J.

1975-10-14

A loop coolant circulation system is described for a liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) utilizing a low head, high specific speed booster pump in the hot leg of the coolant loop with the main pump located in the cold leg of the loop, thereby providing the advantages of operating the main pump in the hot leg with the reliability of cold leg pump operation.

Mechanical design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Design concepts for a 1000 mw thermal stationary power plant employing the UF6 fueled gas core breeder reactor are examined. Three design combinations-gaseous UF6 core with a solid matrix blanket, gaseous UF6 core with a liquid blanket, and gaseous UF6 core with a circulating blanket were considered. Results show the gaseous UF6 core with a circulating blanket was best suited to the power plant concept.

Mass tracking and material accounting in the integral fast reactor (IFR)

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

Orechwa, Y.; Adams, C.H.; White, A.M.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) which is a generic advanced liquid metal cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. There are a number of technical features of the IFR which contribute to its potential as a next-generation reactor. These are associated with large safety margins with regard to off-normal events involving the heat transport system, and the use of metallic fuel which makes possible the utilization of innovative fuel cycle processes. The latter feature permits fuel cycle closure with compact, low-cost reprocessing facilities, collocated with the reactor plant. These primary features are being demonstratedmore » in the facilities at ANL-West, utilizing Experimental Breeder Reactor II and the associated Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF) as an IFR prototype. The demonstration of this IFR prototype includes the design and implementation of the Mass-tracking System (MTG). In this system, data from the operations of the FCF, including weights and batch-process parameters, are collected and maintained by the MTG running on distributed workstations.« less

A Framework for Human Performance Criteria for Advanced Reactor Operational Concepts

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

Jacques V Hugo; David I Gertman; Jeffrey C Joe

2014-08-01

This report supports the determination of new Operational Concept models needed in support of the operational design of new reactors. The objective of this research is to establish the technical bases for human performance and human performance criteria frameworks, models, and guidance for operational concepts for advanced reactor designs. The report includes a discussion of operating principles for advanced reactors, the human performance issues and requirements for human performance based upon work domain analysis and current regulatory requirements, and a description of general human performance criteria. The major findings and key observations to date are that there is some operatingmore » experience that informs operational concepts for baseline designs for SFR and HGTRs, with the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) as a best-case predecessor design. This report summarizes the theoretical and operational foundations for the development of a framework and model for human performance criteria that will influence the development of future Operational Concepts. The report also highlights issues associated with advanced reactor design and clarifies and codifies the identified aspects of technology and operating scenarios.« less

Emergency core cooling system

DOEpatents

Schenewerk, William E.; Glasgow, Lyle E.

1983-01-01

A liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactor provided with an emergency core cooling system includes a reactor vessel which contains a reactor core comprising an array of fuel assemblies and a plurality of blanket assemblies. The reactor core is immersed in a pool of liquid metal coolant. The reactor also includes a primary coolant system comprising a pump and conduits for circulating liquid metal coolant to the reactor core and through the fuel and blanket assemblies of the core. A converging-diverging venturi nozzle with an intermediate throat section is provided in between the assemblies and the pump. The intermediate throat section of the nozzle is provided with at least one opening which is in fluid communication with the pool of liquid sodium. In normal operation, coolant flows from the pump through the nozzle to the assemblies with very little fluid flowing through the opening in the throat. However, when the pump is not running, residual heat in the core causes fluid from the pool to flow through the opening in the throat of the nozzle and outwardly through the nozzle to the assemblies, thus providing a means of removing decay heat.

Fusion Applications and Market Evaluation (FAME) Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-01

fuel from the breeder. Pyrochemical reprocessing is identified as having the potential for low cost, but needs development . The fast-fission designs... Development Administration, "Alternatives for Man- aging Wastes from Reactors and Post-Fission Operations in the LWR Fuel Cycle," ERDA-76-43 (1976). 5...of the ICF program to produce pulsed radiation for military development applications. X-rays can be converted into UV at about 50% energy efficiency

LMFBR system-wide transient analysis: the state of the art and US validation needs

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

Khatib-Rahbar, M.; Guppy, J.G.; Cerbone, R.J.

1982-01-01

This paper summarizes the computational capabilities in the area of liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) system-wide transient analysis in the United States, identifies various numerical and physical approximations, the degree of empiricism, range of applicability, model verification and experimental needs for a wide class of protected transients, in particular, natural circulation shutdown heat removal for both loop- and pool-type plants.

Manufacturing Technology of Ceramic Pebbles for Breeding Blanket

PubMed Central

Stefanelli, Eleonora; Del Serra, Daniele; Malquori, Stefano

2018-01-01

An open issue for the fusion power reactor is the choice of breeding blanket material. The possible use of Helium-Cooled Pebble Breeder ceramic material in the form of pebble beds is of great interest worldwide as demonstrated by the numerous studies and research on this subject. Lithium orthosilicate (Li4SiO4) is a promising breeding material investigated in this present study because the neutron capture of Li-6 allows the production of tritium, 6Li (n, t) 4He. Furthermore, lithium orthosilicate has the advantages of low activation characteristics, low thermal expansion coefficient, high thermal conductivity, high density and stability. Even if they are far from the industrial standard, a variety of industrial processes have been proposed for making orthosilicate pebbles with diameters of 0.1–1 mm. However, some manufacturing problems have been observed, such as in the chemical stability (agglomeration phenomena). The aim of this study is to provide a new methodology for the production of pebbles based on the drip casting method, which was jointly developed by the DICI-University of Pisa and Industrie Bitossi. Using this new (and alternative) manufacturing technology, in the field of fusion reactors, appropriately sized ceramic pebbles could be produced for use as tritium breeders. PMID:29724071

Preliminary Study of Gas Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor with Heterogen Percentage of Uranium-Plutonium Carbide based fuel and 300 MWt Power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clief Pattipawaej, Sandro; Su'ud, Zaki

2017-01-01

A preliminary design study of GFR with helium gas-cooled has been performed. In this study used natural uranium and plutonium results LWR waste as fuel. Fuel with a small percentage of plutonium are arranged on the inside of the core area, and the fuel with a greater percentage set on the outside of the core area. The configuration of such fuel is deliberately set to increase breeding in this part of the central core and reduce the leakage of neutrons on the outer side of the core, in order to get long-lived reactor with a small reactivity. Configuration of fuel as it is also useful to generate a peak power reactors with relatively low in both the direction of axial or radial. Optimization has been done to fuel fraction 45.0% was found that the reactor may be operating in more than 10 year time with excess reactivity less than 1%.

D-He-3 spherical torus fusion reactor system study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macon, William A., Jr.

1992-04-01

This system study extrapolates present physics knowledge and technology to predict the anticipated characteristics of D-He3 spherical torus fusion reactors and their sensitivity to uncertainties in important parameters. Reference cases for steady-state 1000 MWe reactors operating in H-mode in both the 1st stability regime and the 2nd stability regime were developed and assessed quantitatively. These devices would a very small aspect ratio (A=1,2), a major radius of about 2.0 m, an on-axis magnetic field less than 2 T, a large plasma current (80-120 MA) dominated by the bootstrap effect, and high plasma beta (greater than O.6). The estimated cost of electricity is in the range of 60-90 mills/kW-hr, assuming the use of a direct energy conversion system. The inherent safety and environmental advantages of D-He3 fusion indicate that this reactor concept could be competitive with advanced fission breeder reactors and large-scale solar electric plants by the end of the 21st century if research and development can produce the anticipated physics and technology advances.

Toward a Mechanistic Source Term in Advanced Reactors: A Review of Past U.S. SFR Incidents, Experiments, and Analyses

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

Bucknor, Matthew; Brunett, Acacia J.; Grabaskas, David

In 2015, as part of a Regulatory Technology Development Plan (RTDP) effort for sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), Argonne National Laboratory investigated the current state of knowledge of source term development for a metal-fueled, pool-type SFR. This paper provides a summary of past domestic metal-fueled SFR incidents and experiments and highlights information relevant to source term estimations that were gathered as part of the RTDP effort. The incidents described in this paper include fuel pin failures at the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) facility in July of 1959, the Fermi I meltdown that occurred in October of 1966, and the repeated meltingmore » of a fuel element within an experimental capsule at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) from November 1967 to May 1968. The experiments described in this paper include the Run-Beyond-Cladding-Breach tests that were performed at EBR-II in 1985 and a series of severe transient overpower tests conducted at the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) in the mid-1980s.« less

Micro-structural study and Rietveld analysis of fast reactor fuels: U-Mo fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, S.; Choudhuri, G.; Banerjee, J.; Agarwal, Renu; Khan, K. B.; Kumar, Arun

2015-12-01

U-Mo alloys are the candidate fuels for both research reactors and fast breeder reactors. In-reactor performance of the fuel depends on the microstructural stability and thermal properties of the fuel. To improve the fuel performance, alloying elements viz. Zr, Mo, Nb, Ti and fissium are added in the fuel. The first reactor fuels are normally prepared by injection casting. The objective of this work is to compare microstructure, phase-fields and hardness of as-cast four different U-Mo alloy (2, 5, 10 and 33 at.% Mo) fuels with the equilibrium microstructure of the alloys. Scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectrometer and optical microscope have been used to characterize the morphology of the as-cast and annealed alloys. The monoclinic α'' phase in as-cast U-10 at.% Mo alloy has been characterized through Rietveld analysis. A comparison of metallographic and Rietveld analysis of as-cast (dendritic microstructure) and annealed U-33 at.% Mo alloy, corresponding to intermetallic compound, has been reported here for the first time. This study will provide in depth understanding of microstructural and phase evolution of U-Mo alloys as fast reactor fuel.

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-05

Cooperation Organization (SCO; see below, Regional Tensions) that stated that “as large - scale military operations against terrorism have come to an end...the world’s top producers of low enriched uranium. Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only nuclear desalinization...Central Asia, Afghanistan, and eventually Pakistan and India.56 All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the

Depleted uranium startup of spent-fuel treatment operations at ANL-West

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

Goff, K.M.; Mariani, R.D.; Bonomo, N.L.

1995-12-31

At Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-West) there are several thousand kilograms of Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) spent nuclear fuel. This fuel will be treated using an electrometallurgical process in the fuel conditioning facility (FCF) at ANL-West to produce stable waste forms for storage and disposal. The process equipment is undergoing testing with depleted uranium in preparation for irradiated fuel operations during the summer of 1995.

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-20

Central Asia. Other officials have stated that a large - scale influx has not yet occurred. Actions of the IMU and IJU in Germany and Elsewhere Officials...Independence: Regional Tensions and Conflicts”) that stated that “as large - scale military operations against terrorism have come to an end in... breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only nuclear desalinization facility. In 1997 and 1999, U.S.-Kazakh accords were signed on

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-21

Service 25 to Peace and Independence: Regional Tensions and Conflicts”) that stated that “as large - scale military operations against terrorism have...Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only nuclear desalinization facility. In 1997 and 1999, U.S.-Kazakh accords...Trade and Investment. All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region becoming a “new silk road” of

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-10

United Press International, December 13, 2005. Organization (SCO; see above, Regional Tensions) that stated that “as large - scale military operations...reserves, and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been among the world’s top producers of low enriched uranium. Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau...Asia, Afghanistan, and eventually Pakistan and India.72 All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region

Architecture for nuclear energy in the 21st century

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

Arthu, E.D.; Cunningham, P.T.; Wagner, R.L. Jr.

1999-02-21

Global and regional scenarios for future energy demand have been assessed from the perspectives of nuclear materials management. From these the authors propose creation of a nuclear fuel cycle architecture which maximizes inherent protection of plutonium and other nuclear materials. The concept also provides technical and institutional flexibility for transition into other fuel cycle systems, particularly those involving breeder reactors. The system, its implementation timeline, and overall impact are described in the paper.

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

Bustraan, M.; Coehoorn, J.; Veenema, J.J.

This report is a collection of separate contributions on some aspects of the work done on STEK up to February 1970. A description is given of STEK together with the philosophy of its design, i.e. integral measurements of fission product cross sections by a sample oscillator technique in fast reactor spectra. The influences fission products may have on fast breeder reactors are briefly demonstrated by an example. A description of the facility and of the sample oscillator and sample exchange mechanism is given. Some preliminary results of measurements of reactor parameters and the neutron spectrum in the first fast zonemore » in STEK are given. For the use of lead as material for the buffer an argumentation is given. The proposed program for the measurements of the integral fission product cross sections is outlined. The procurement of some, highly active, samples of actual fission products is briefly sketched. (auth)« less

Advanced low-activation materials. Fibre-reinforced ceramic composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenici, P.; Scholz, H. W.

1994-09-01

A serious safety and environmental concern for thermonuclear fusion reactor development regards the induced radioactivity of the first wall and structural components. The use of low-activation materials (LAM) in a demonstration reactor would reduce considerably its potential risk and facilitate its maintenance. Moreover, decommissioning and waste management including disposal or even recycling of structural materials would be simplified. Ceramic fibre-reinforced SiC materials offer highly appreciable low activation characteristics in combination with good thermomechanical properties. This class of materials is now under experimental investigation for structural application in future fusion reactors. An overview on the recent results is given, covering coolant leak rates, thermophysical properties, compatibility with tritium breeder materials, irradiation effects, and LAM-consistent purity. SiC/SiC materials present characteristics likely to be optimised in order to meet the fusion application challenge. The scope is to put into practice the enormous potential of inherent safety with fusion energy.

Method of shielding a liquid-metal-cooled reactor

DOEpatents

Sayre, Robert K.

1978-01-01

The primary heat transport system of a nuclear reactor -- particularly for a liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor -- is shielded and protected from leakage by establishing and maintaining a bed of a powdered oxide closely and completely surrounding all components thereof by passing a gas upwardly therethrough at such a rate as to slightly expand the bed to the extent that the components of the system are able to expand without damage and yet the particles of the bed remain close enough so that the bed acts as a guard vessel for the system. Preferably the gas contains 1 to 10% oxygen and the gas is passed upwardly through the bed at such a rate that the lower portion of the bed is a fixed bed while the upper portion is a fluidized bed, the line of demarcation therebetween being high enough that the fixed bed portion of the bed serves as guard vessel for the system.

Analysis on Reactor Criticality Condition and Fuel Conversion Capability Based on Different Loaded Plutonium Composition in FBR Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Permana, Sidik; Saputra, Geby; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi; Saito, Masaki

2017-01-01

Reactor criticality condition and fuel conversion capability are depending on the fuel arrangement schemes, reactor core geometry and fuel burnup process as well as the effect of different fuel cycle and fuel composition. Criticality condition of reactor core and breeding ratio capability have been investigated in this present study based on fast breeder reactor (FBR) type for different loaded fuel compositions of plutonium in the fuel core regions. Loaded fuel of Plutonium compositions are based on spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of light water reactor (LWR) for different fuel burnup process and cooling time conditions of the reactors. Obtained results show that different initial fuels of plutonium gives a significant chance in criticality conditions and fuel conversion capability. Loaded plutonium based on higher burnup process gives a reduction value of criticality condition or less excess reactivity. It also obtains more fuel breeding ratio capability or more breeding gain. Some loaded plutonium based on longer cooling time of LWR gives less excess reactivity and in the same time, it gives higher breeding ratio capability of the reactors. More composition of even mass plutonium isotopes gives more absorption neutron which affects to decresing criticality or less excess reactivity in the core. Similar condition that more absorption neutron by fertile material or even mass plutonium will produce more fissile material or odd mass plutonium isotopes to increase the breeding gain of the reactor.

The future of nuclear power: The role of the IFR

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

Wilson, R.

1995-12-31

The author is in favor of nuclear energy for three major reasons: (1) a nuclear power station emits no particulates or sulfur; (2) a nuclear power station emits no carbon dioxide and therefore does not contribute (appreciably) to the possibility of global warming which is a major environmental issue of this century; (3) nuclear energy offers the opportunity to have an energy supply sustainable for the next hundred thousands years, and is the only supply presently known to be able to do so at a reasonable cost. He notes that at Rio de Janeiro, the USA joined other countries inmore » calling for an approach to an indefinitely sustainable future. Alas, they were not bold or honest enough to state that using nuclear power, combined with considerable increase in energy efficiency and prudent use of renewables, is the only known way of achieving one other than massive population reduction or poverty. It is unlikely that improved energy efficiency can do the job alone. If the first two were the only issues, ordinary light water reactors would be adequate. One would not need the breeder reactor. But unless huge quantities of high quality uranium are found, or a cheap way of extracting it from seawater, one will need to have a way of using the uranium 238 or thorium. This is the role of this meeting. The author arrives at a set of criteria for a breeder reactor system: (1) it must be safe (secure against major accidents); (2) the system must be proliferation resistant; (3) the cost of the produced electricity must be competitive with other sources of energy--with perhaps a small margin for environmental advantage; (4) it must be capable of rapid expansion if and when needed.« less

Summary of the thermal evaluation of LWBR (LWBR Development Program)

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

Lerner, S.; McWilliams, K.D.; Stout, J.W.

1980-03-01

This report describes the thermal evaluation of the core for the Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor. This core contains unique thermal-hydraulic features such as (1) close rod-to-rod proximity, (2) an open-lattice array of fuel rods with two different diameters and rod-to-rod spacings in the same flow region, (3) triplate orifices located at both the entrance and exit of fuel modules and (4) a hydraulically-balanced movable-fuel system coupled with (5) axial-and-radial fuel zoning for reactivity control. Performance studies used reactor thermal principles such as the hot-and-nominal channel concept and related nuclear/engineering design allowances. These were applied to models of three-dimensional roddedmore » arrays comprising the core fuel regions.« less

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

Adams, S.R.

A comprehensive evaluation was conducted of the radiation protection practices and programs at prototype LMFBRs with long operational experience. Installations evaluated were the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), Richland, Washington; Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), Idaho Falls, Idaho; Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) Dounreay, Scotland; Phenix, Marcoule, France; and Kompakte Natriumgekuhlte Kernreak Toranlange (KNK II), Karlsruhe, Federal Republic of Germany. The evaluation included external and internal exposure control, respiratory protection procedures, radiation surveillance practices, radioactive waste management, and engineering controls for confining radiation contamination. The theory, design, and operating experience at LMFBRs is described. Aspects of LMFBR health physics different frommore » the LWR experience in the United States are identified. Suggestions are made for modifications to the NRC Standard Review Plan based on the differences.« less

Fission and activation of uranium by fusion-plasma neutrons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, J. H.; Hohl, F.; Mcfarland, D. R.

1978-01-01

Fusion-fission hybrid reactors are discussed in terms of two main purposes: to breed fissile materials (Pu 233 and Th 233 from U 238 or Th 232) for use in low-reactivity breeders, and to produce tritium from lithium to refuel fusion plasma cores. Neutron flux generation is critical for both processes. Various methods for generating the flux are described, with attention to new geometries for multiple plasma focus arrays, e.g., hypocycloidal pinch and staged plasma focus devices. These methods are evaluated with reference to their applicability to D-D fusion reactors, which will ensure a virtually unlimited energy supply. Accurate observations of the neutron flux from such schemes are obtained by using different target materials in the plasma focus.

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-30

Regional Tensions) that stated that “as large - scale military operations against terrorism have come to an end in Afghanistan, the SCO member states...been among the world’s top producers of low enriched uranium. Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only nuclear...eventually Pakistan and India.58 All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region becoming a “new silk

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-08-06

during a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO; see above, Regional Tensions) that stated that “as large - scale military operations...Uzbekistan have been among the world’s top producers of low enriched uranium. Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only...the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region becoming a “new silk road” of trade and commerce. The

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-28

Organization (SCO; see above, “Obstacles to Peace and Independence: Regional Tensions and Conflicts”) that stated that “as large - scale military...producers of low enriched uranium. Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only nuclear desalinization facility. In 1997 and...88 All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region becoming a “new silk road” of trade and commerce

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-17

see above, “Obstacles to Peace and Independence: Regional Tensions and Conflicts”) that stated that “as large - scale military operations against...and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been among the world’s top producers of low enriched uranium. Kazakhstan had a fast breeder reactor at Aktau that...climate.86 All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region becoming a “new silk road” of trade and

TEMPEST: A three-dimensional time-dependent computer program for hydrothermal analysis: Volume 2, Assessment and verification results

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

Eyler, L L; Trent, D S; Budden, M J

During the course of the TEMPEST computer code development a concurrent effort was conducted to assess the code's performance and the validity of computed results. The results of this work are presented in this document. The principal objective of this effort was to assure the code's computational correctness for a wide range of hydrothermal phenomena typical of fast breeder reactor application. 47 refs., 94 figs., 6 tabs.

Multiple lead seal assembly for a liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Hutter, Ernest; Pardini, John A.

1977-03-15

A reusable multiple lead seal assembly provides leak-free passage of stainless-steel-clad instrument leads through the cover on the primary tank of a liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder nuclear reactor. The seal isolates radioactive argon cover gas and sodium vapor within the primary tank from the exterior atmosphere and permits reuse of the assembly and the stainless-steel-clad instrument leads. Leads are placed in flutes in a seal body, and a seal shell is then placed around the seal body. Circumferential channels in the body and inner surface of the shell are contiguous and together form a conduit which intersects each of the flutes, placing them in communication with a port through the wall of the seal shell. Liquid silicone rubber sealant is injected into the flutes through the port and conduit; the sealant fills the space in the flutes not occupied by the leads themselves and dries to a rubbery hardness. A nut, threaded onto a portion of the seal body not covered by the seal shell, jacks the body out of the shell and shears the sealant without damage to the body, shell, or leads. The leads may then be removed from the body. The sheared sealant is cleaned from the body, leads, and shell and the assembly may then be reused with the same or different leads.

Nuclear fuel requirements for the American economy - A model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtis, Thomas Dexter

A model is provided to determine the amounts of various fuel streams required to supply energy from planned and projected nuclear plant operations, including new builds. Flexible, user-defined scenarios can be constructed with respect to energy requirements, choices of reactors and choices of fuels. The model includes interactive effects and extends through 2099. Outputs include energy provided by reactors, the number of reactors, and masses of natural Uranium and other fuels used. Energy demand, including electricity and hydrogen, is obtained from US DOE historical data and projections, along with other studies of potential hydrogen demand. An option to include other energy demand to nuclear power is included. Reactor types modeled include (thermal reactors) PWRs, BWRs and MHRs and (fast reactors) GFRs and SFRs. The MHRs (VHTRs), GFRs and SFRs are similar to those described in the 2002 DOE "Roadmap for Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems." Fuel source choices include natural Uranium, self-recycled spent fuel, Plutonium from breeder reactors and existing stockpiles of surplus HEU, military Plutonium, LWR spent fuel and depleted Uranium. Other reactors and fuel sources can be added to the model. Fidelity checks of the model's results indicate good agreement with historical Uranium use and number of reactors, and with DOE projections. The model supports conclusions that substantial use of natural Uranium will likely continue to the end of the 21st century, though legacy spent fuel and depleted uranium could easily supply all nuclear energy demand by shifting to predominant use of fast reactors.

EBR-II Data Digitization

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

Yoon, Su-Jong; Rabiti, Cristian; Sackett, John

2014-08-01

1. Objectives To produce a validation database out of those recorded signals it will be necessary also to identify the documents need to reconstruct the status of reactor at the time of the beginning of the recordings. This should comprehends the core loading specification (assemblies type and location and burn-up) along with this data the assemblies drawings and the core drawings will be identified. The first task of the project will be identify the location of the sensors, with respect the reactor plant layout, and the physical quantities recorded by the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) data acquisition system. This firstmore » task will allow guiding and prioritizing the selection of drawings needed to numerically reproduce those signals. 1.1 Scopes and Deliverables The deliverables of this project are the list of sensors in EBR-II system, the identification of storing location of those sensors, identification of a core isotopic composition at the moment of the start of system recording. Information of the sensors in EBR-II reactor system was summarized from the EBR-II system design descriptions listed in Section 1.2.« less

Georgia Institute of Technology research on the Gas Core Actinide Transmutation Reactor (GCATR)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, J. D.; Rust, J. H.; Schneider, A.; Hohl, F.

1976-01-01

The program reviewed is a study of the feasibility, design, and optimization of the GCATR. The program is designed to take advantage of initial results and to continue work carried out on the Gas Core Breeder Reactor. The program complements NASA's program of developing UF6 fueled cavity reactors for power, nuclear pumped lasers, and other advanced technology applications. The program comprises: (1) General Studies--Parametric survey calculations performed to examine the effects of reactor spectrum and flux level on the actinide transmutation for GCATR conditions. The sensitivity of the results to neutron cross sections are to be assessed. Specifically, the parametric calculations of the actinide transmutation are to include the mass, isotope composition, fission and capture rates, reactivity effects, and neutron activity of recycled actinides. (2) GCATR Design Studies--This task is a major thrust of the proposed research program. Several subtasks are considered: optimization criteria studies of the blanket and fuel reprocessing, the actinide insertion and recirculation system, and the system integration. A brief review of the background of the GCATR and ongoing research is presented.

Cold worked ferritic alloys and components

DOEpatents

Korenko, Michael K.

1984-01-01

This invention relates to liquid metal fast breeder reactor and steam generator precipitation hardening fully ferritic alloy components which have a microstructure substantially free of the primary precipitation hardening phase while having cells or arrays of dislocations of varying population densities. It also relates to the process by which these components are produced, which entails solution treating the alloy followed by a final cold working step. In this condition, the first significant precipitation hardening of the component occurs during high temperature use.

Comparative evaluation of solar, fission, fusion, and fossil energy resources. Part 5: Conclusions and recomendations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, J. R.

1974-01-01

Air pollution resulting from the use of fossil fuels is discussed. Phenomena relating to the emission of CO2 such as the greenhouse effect and multiplier effect are explored. Particulate release is also discussed. The following recommendations are made for the elimination of fossil fuel combustion products in the United States: development of nuclear breeder reactors, use of solar energy systems, exploration of energy alternatives such as geothermal and fusion, and the substitution of coal for gas and oil use.

Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-13

Regional Tensions) that stated that “as large - scale military operations against terrorism have come to an end in Afghanistan, the SCO member states... breeder reactor at Aktau that was the world’s only nuclear desalinization facility. Shut down in 1999, it had nearly 300 metric tons of uranium and...investment climate.77 All the states of the region possess large - scale resources that could contribute to the region becoming a “new silk road” of trade and

Constitutional studies on carbide nuclear fuels for fast breeder reactors. III. The uranium-barium-carbon ternary system at 1400°C, with observations on the uranium-strontium-carbon system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peatfield, M.; Brett, N. H.; Potter, P. E.

1980-03-01

The ternary system U-Ba-C has been examined at 1400°C and the solid-state compatibility lines established. No compound formation was found to occur and solubility effects were found to be minimal. A tentative examination of compositions in the U-Sr-C system indicates that it is of a similar form to that of the U-Ba-C system.

Moon base reactor system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chavez, H.; Flores, J.; Nguyen, M.; Carsen, K.

1989-01-01

The objective of our reactor design is to supply a lunar-based research facility with 20 MW(e). The fundamental layout of this lunar-based system includes the reactor, power conversion devices, and a radiator. The additional aim of this reactor is a longevity of 12 to 15 years. The reactor is a liquid metal fast breeder that has a breeding ratio very close to 1.0. The geometry of the core is cylindrical. The metallic fuel rods are of beryllium oxide enriched with varying degrees of uranium, with a beryllium core reflector. The liquid metal coolant chosen was natural lithium. After the liquid metal coolant leaves the reactor, it goes directly into the power conversion devices. The power conversion devices are Stirling engines. The heated coolant acts as a hot reservoir to the device. It then enters the radiator to be cooled and reenters the Stirling engine acting as a cold reservoir. The engines' operating fluid is helium, a highly conductive gas. These Stirling engines are hermetically sealed. Although natural lithium produces a lower breeding ratio, it does have a larger temperature range than sodium. It is also corrosive to steel. This is why the container material must be carefully chosen. One option is to use an expensive alloy of cerbium and zirconium. The radiator must be made of a highly conductive material whose melting point temperature is not exceeded in the reactor and whose structural strength can withstand meteor showers.

Comparative health and safety assessment of the SPS and alternative electrical generation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habegger, L. J.; Gasper, J. R.; Brown, C. D.

1980-07-01

A comparative analysis of health and safety risks is presented for the Satellite Power System and five alternative baseload electrical generation systems: a low-Btu coal gasification system with an open-cycle gas turbine combined with a steam topping cycle; a light water fission reactor system without fuel reprocessing; a liquid metal fast breeder fission reactor system; a central station terrestrial photovoltaic system; and a first generation fusion system with magnetic confinement. For comparison, risk from a decentralized roof-top photovoltaic system with battery storage is also evaluated. Quantified estimates of public and occupational risks within ranges of uncertainty were developed for each phase of the energy system. The potential significance of related major health and safety issues that remain unquantitied are also discussed.

Liquid metal magnetohydrodynamics

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

Lielpeteris, J.; Moreau, R.

1989-01-01

Liquid metal MHD is the subject of this book. It is of central importance in fields like metals processing, energy conversion, nuclear engineering (fast breeders or fusion reactors), geomagnetism and astrophysics. In some circumstances fluid flow phenomena are controlled by an existing magnetic field; the melts in induction furnaces or the liquid metal blanket around future tokamak fusion reactors being significant examples. In other cases the application of an external magnetic field (or of an electric current) may generate drastic modifications in the fluid motion and in the transfer rates; such effects may be used to develop new technologies (electromagneticmore » shaping) or to improve existing techniques (electromagnetic stirring in continuous casting). In the core of the Earth, fluid motion and magnetic fields are both present and their interaction governs important phenomena.« less

Comparative health and safety assessment of the SPS and alternative electrical generation systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Habegger, L. J.; Gasper, J. R.; Brown, C. D.

1980-01-01

A comparative analysis of health and safety risks is presented for the Satellite Power System and five alternative baseload electrical generation systems: a low-Btu coal gasification system with an open-cycle gas turbine combined with a steam topping cycle; a light water fission reactor system without fuel reprocessing; a liquid metal fast breeder fission reactor system; a central station terrestrial photovoltaic system; and a first generation fusion system with magnetic confinement. For comparison, risk from a decentralized roof-top photovoltaic system with battery storage is also evaluated. Quantified estimates of public and occupational risks within ranges of uncertainty were developed for each phase of the energy system. The potential significance of related major health and safety issues that remain unquantitied are also discussed.

Thermal Hydraulic Design and Analysis of a Water-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket with Superheated Steam for CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xiaoman; Ma, Xuebin; Jiang, Kecheng; Chen, Lei; Huang, Kai; Liu, Songlin

2015-09-01

The water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket (WCCB) is one of the blanket candidates for China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR). In order to improve power generation efficiency and tritium breeding ratio, WCCB with superheated steam is under development. The thermal-hydraulic design is the key to achieve the purpose of safe heat removal and efficient power generation under normal and partial loading operation conditions. In this paper, the coolant flow scheme was designed and one self-developed analytical program was developed, based on a theoretical heat transfer model and empirical correlations. Employing this program, the design and analysis of related thermal-hydraulic parameters were performed under different fusion power conditions. The results indicated that the superheated steam water-cooled blanket is feasible. supported by the National Special Project for Magnetic Confined Nuclear Fusion Energy of China (Nos. 2013GB108004, 2014GB122000 and 2014GB119000), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207)

Atom probe tomography analysis of high dose MA957 at selected irradiation temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, Nathan A.; Stergar, Erich; Toloczko, Mychailo; Hosemann, Peter

2015-04-01

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys are meritable structural materials for nuclear reactor systems due to the exemplary resistance to radiation damage and high temperature creep. Summarized in this work are atom probe tomography (APT) investigations on a heat of MA957 that underwent irradiation in the form of in-reactor creep specimens in the Fast Flux Test Facility-Materials Open Test Assembly (FFTF-MOTA) for the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) program. The oxide precipitates appear stable under irradiation at elevated temperature over extended periods of time. Nominally, the precipitate chemistry is unchanged by the accumulated dose; although, evidence suggests that ballistic dissolution and reformation processes are occurring at all irradiation temperatures. At 412 °C-109 dpa, chromium enrichments - consistent with the α‧ phase - appear between the oxide precipitates, indicating radiation induced segregation. Grain boundaries, enriched with several elements including nickel and titanium, are observed at all irradiation conditions. At 412 °C-109 dpa, the grain boundaries are also enriched in molecular titanium oxide (TiO).

A promising tritium breeding material: Nanostructured 2Li2TiO3-Li4SiO4 biphasic ceramic pebbles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Chen; Yang, Mao; Gong, Yichao; Feng, Lan; Wang, Hailiang; Shi, Yanli; Shi, Qiwu; Qi, Jianqi; Lu, Tiecheng

2018-03-01

As an advanced tritium breeder material for the fusion reactor blanket of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Li2TiO3-Li4SiO4 biphasic ceramic has attracted widely attention due to its merits. In this paper, the uniform precursor powders were prepared by hydrothermal method, and nanostructured 2Li2TiO3-Li4SiO4 biphasic ceramic pebbles were fabricated by an indirect wet method at the first time. In addition, the composition dependence (x/y) of their microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties were investigated. The results indicated that the crush load of biphasic ceramic pebbles was better than that of single phase ceramic pebbles under identical conditions. The 2Li2TiO3-Li4SiO4 ceramic pebbles have good morphology, small grain size (90 nm), satisfactory crush load (37.8 N) and relative density (81.8 %T.D.), which could be a promising breeding material in the future fusion reactor.

Conceptual Design of Low-Temperature Hydrogen Production and High-Efficiency Nuclear Reactor Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukushima, Kimichika; Ogawa, Takashi

Hydrogen, a potential alternative energy source, is produced commercially by methane (or LPG) steam reforming, a process that requires high temperatures, which are produced by burning fossil fuels. However, as this process generates large amounts of CO2, replacement of the combustion heat source with a nuclear heat source for 773-1173K processes has been proposed in order to eliminate these CO2 emissions. In this paper, a novel method of nuclear hydrogen production by reforming dimethyl ether (DME) with steam at about 573K is proposed. From a thermodynamic equilibrium analysis of DME steam reforming, the authors identified conditions that provide high hydrogen production fraction at low pressure and temperatures of about 523-573K. By setting this low-temperature hydrogen production process upstream from a turbine and nuclear reactor at about 573K, the total energy utilization efficiency according to equilibrium mass and heat balance analysis is about 50%, and it is 75%for a fast breeder reactor (FBR), where turbine is upstream of the reformer.

Th/U-233 multi-recycle in pressurized water reactors : feasibility study of multiple homogeneous and heterogeneous assembly designs.

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

Yun, D.; Taiwo, T. A.; Kim, T. K.

2010-10-01

The use of thorium in current or advanced light water reactors (LWRs) has been of interest in recent years. These interests have been associated with the need to increase nuclear fuel resources and the perceived non-proliferation advantages of the utilization of thorium in the fuel cycle. Various options have been considered for the use of thorium in the LWR fuel cycle. The possibility for thorium utilization in a multi-recycle system has also been considered in past literature, primarily because of the potential for near breeders with Th/U-233 in the thermal energy range. The objective of this study is to evaluatemore » the potential of Th/U-233 fuel multi-recycle in current LWRs, focusing on pressurized water reactors (PWRs). Approaches for sustainable multi-recycle without the need for external fissile material makeup have been investigated. The intent is to obtain a design that allows existing PWRs to be used with minimal modifications.« less

Guideline for Performing Systematic Approach to Evaluate and Qualify Legacy Documents that Support Advanced Reactor Technology Activity

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

Honma, George

The establishment of a systematic process for the evaluation of historic technology information for use in advanced reactor licensing is described. Efforts are underway to recover and preserve Experimental Breeder Reactor II and Fast Flux Test Facility historical data. These efforts have generally emphasized preserving information from data-acquisition systems and hard-copy reports and entering it into modern electronic formats suitable for data retrieval and examination. The guidance contained in this document has been developed to facilitate consistent and systematic evaluation processes relating to quality attributes of historic technical information (with focus on sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) technology) that will bemore » used to eventually support licensing of advanced reactor designs. The historical information may include, but is not limited to, design documents for SFRs, research-and-development (R&D) data and associated documents, test plans and associated protocols, operations and test data, international research data, technical reports, and information associated with past U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews of SFR designs. The evaluation process is prescribed in terms of SFR technology, but the process can be used to evaluate historical information for any type of advanced reactor technology. An appendix provides a discussion of typical issues that should be considered when evaluating and qualifying historical information for advanced reactor technology fuel and source terms, based on current light water reactor (LWR) requirements and recent experience gained from Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP).« less

Analysis on burnup step effect for evaluating reactor criticality and fuel breeding ratio

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

Saputra, Geby; Purnama, Aditya Rizki; Permana, Sidik

Criticality condition of the reactors is one of the important factors for evaluating reactor operation and nuclear fuel breeding ratio is another factor to show nuclear fuel sustainability. This study analyzes the effect of burnup steps and cycle operation step for evaluating the criticality condition of the reactor as well as the performance of nuclear fuel breeding or breeding ratio (BR). Burnup step is performed based on a day step analysis which is varied from 10 days up to 800 days and for cycle operation from 1 cycle up to 8 cycles reactor operations. In addition, calculation efficiency based onmore » the variation of computer processors to run the analysis in term of time (time efficiency in the calculation) have been also investigated. Optimization method for reactor design analysis which is used a large fast breeder reactor type as a reference case was performed by adopting an established reactor design code of JOINT-FR. The results show a criticality condition becomes higher for smaller burnup step (day) and for breeding ratio becomes less for smaller burnup step (day). Some nuclides contribute to make better criticality when smaller burnup step due to individul nuclide half-live. Calculation time for different burnup step shows a correlation with the time consuming requirement for more details step calculation, although the consuming time is not directly equivalent with the how many time the burnup time step is divided.« less

Long-Term Planning for Nuclear Energy Systems Under Deep Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Lance Kyungwoo

Long-term planning for nuclear energy systems has been an area of interest for policy planners and systems designers to assess and manage the complexity of the system and the long-term, wide-ranging societal impacts of decisions. However, traditional planning tools are often poorly equipped to cope with the deep parametric, structural, and value uncertainties in long-term planning. A more robust, multiobjective decision-making method is applied to a model of the nuclear fuel cycle to address the many sources of complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity inherent to long-term planning. Unlike prior studies that rely on assessing the outcomes of a limited set of deployment strategies, solutions in this study arise from optimizing behavior against multiple incommensurable objectives, utilizing goal-seeking multiobjective evolutionary algorithms to identify minimax regret solutions across various demand scenarios. By excluding inferior and infeasible solutions, the choice between the Pareto optimal solutions depends on a decision-maker's preferences for the defined outcomes---limiting analyst bias and increasing transparency. Though simplified by the necessity of reducing computational burdens, the nuclear fuel cycle model captures important phenomena governing the behavior of the nuclear energy system relevant to the decision to close the fuel cycle---incorporating reactor population dynamics, material stocks and flows, constraints on material flows, and outcomes of interest to decision-makers. Technology neutral performance criteria are defined consistent with the Generation IV International Forum goals of improved security and proliferation resistance based on structural features of the nuclear fuel cycle, natural resource sustainability, and waste production. A review of safety risks and the economic history of the development of nuclear technology suggests that safety and economic criteria may not be decisive criteria as the safety risks posed by alternative fuel cycles may be comparable in aggregate and economic performance is uncertain and path dependent. Technology strategies impacting reactor lifetimes and advanced reactor introduction dates are evaluated against a high, medium, and phaseout scenarios of nuclear energy demand. Non-dominated, minimax regret solutions are found with the NSGA-II multiobjective evolutionary algorithm. Results suggest that more aggressive technology strategies featuring the early introduction of breeder and burner reactors, possibly combined with lifetime extension of once-through systems, tend to dominate less aggressive strategies under more demanding growth scenarios over the next century. Less aggressive technology strategies that delay burning and breeding tend to be clustered in the minimax regret space, suggesting greater sensitivity to shifts in preferences. Lifetime extension strategies can unexpectedly result in fewer deployments of once-through systems, permitting the growth of advanced systems to meet demand. Both breeders and burners are important for controlling plutonium inventories with breeders achieving lower inventories in storage by locking material in reactor cores while burners can reduce the total inventory in the system. Other observations include the indirect impacts of some performance measures, the relatively small impact of technology strategies on the waste properties of all material in the system, and the difficulty of phasing out nuclear energy while meeting all objectives with the specified technology options.

Neutron radiation damage studies in the structural materials of a 500 MWe fast breeder reactor using DPA cross-sections from ENDF / B-VII.1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Uttiyoarnab; Devan, K.; Bachchan, Abhitab; Pandikumar, G.; Ganesan, S.

2018-04-01

The radiation damage in the structural materials of a 500 MWe Indian prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) is re-assessed by computing the neutron displacement per atom (dpa) cross-sections from the recent nuclear data library evaluated by the USA, ENDF / B-VII.1, wherein revisions were taken place in the new evaluations of basic nuclear data because of using the state-of-the-art neutron cross-section experiments, nuclear model-based predictions and modern data evaluation techniques. An indigenous computer code, computation of radiation damage (CRaD), is developed at our centre to compute primary-knock-on atom (PKA) spectra and displacement cross-sections of materials both in point-wise and any chosen group structure from the evaluated nuclear data libraries. The new radiation damage model, athermal recombination-corrected displacement per atom (arc-dpa), developed based on molecular dynamics simulations is also incorporated in our study. This work is the result of our earlier initiatives to overcome some of the limitations experienced while using codes like RECOIL, SPECTER and NJOY 2016, to estimate radiation damage. Agreement of CRaD results with other codes and ASTM standard for Fe dpa cross-section is found good. The present estimate of total dpa in D-9 steel of PFBR necessitates renormalisation of experimental correlations of dpa and radiation damage to ensure consistency of damage prediction with ENDF / B-VII.1 library.

FABRICATION DEVELOPMENT OF UO$sub 2$-STAINLESS STEEL COMPOSITE FUEL PLATES FOR CORE B OF THE ENRICO FERMI FAST BREEDER REACTOR

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

Cherubini, J.H.; Beaver, R.J.; Leitten, C.F. Jr.

1961-04-18

The development of an inexpensive composite fuel plate with a high burnup potential for application in a 500 deg C sodium environment as Core B of the Enrico Fermi Fast Breeder Reactor is described. The dispersion fuel product consists of 35 wt.% spheroidal UO/sub 2/ dispersed in type 347B stainless steel powder and clad with wrought type 347 stainless steel. Nominal over-all dimensions of Type II design fuel plates are 18.97 in. long x 2.406 in. wide x 0.112 in. thick with 0.005-in. cladding. Reliable processing methods for achieving a uniform distribution of spheroidal UO/sub 2/ in the matrix powdermore » and cladding the sintered powder compact by roll bonding are described. Examination of experimental plates reveals that the degree of UO/sub 2/ fragmentation and stringering encountered during processing is primarily a function of the degree of cold work employed in the finishing operation snd the starting quality of the UO/sub 2/ powder. Cladding studies indicate that a sound metallurgical bond can be achieved with an 87.5% reduction in thickness at 1200 deg C and that close processing control is required to meet the stringent tolerances specified. The developed process meets all criteria except possibly the surface finish requirement; occasionally, pitting occurs due to scale embedded during hot working. Detailed procedures covering composite plate manufacture are presented. (auth)« less

Issues in electric power in India: Challenges and opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tongia, Rahul

This dissertation provides an examination of three facets of the Indian power program. The first issue we analyze is the current regulatory environment and guidelines in place for independent power producers and other generators, focusing on possible tradeoffs between prices and investor returns. The analysis shows that investor rates of return are significantly higher than the nominal 16% as stipulated by the Central Electricity Authority guidelines, and an uncertainty analysis reveals the relative importance of various input and project parameters. We discuss problems with the existing guidelines, and provide options for changes in policy. Adoption of modified guidelines that are more transparent and do not focus on project capital structures are likely to result in more affordable tariffs, less delays in project completion and yet provide adequate rates of return for investors. India's nuclear power program is based on indigenous materials and technology, with the potential for providing energy security for many decades. We examine the technical validity of this plan, especially the role of fast breeder reactors for extending the domestic uranium supplies. The analysis shows that breeding is unlikely to occur at anywhere near the rates envisioned, leading to a slow growth of fast breeder reactors. In addition, domestic uranium reserves restrict growth of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors, which are likely to be the main contributors to nuclear capacity in the short term. To increase the share of nuclear power in the coming decades, India should consider the construction of a number of large thermal reactors based on indigenous and imported uranium. We also present policy options for such changes to India's nuclear power program. This dissertation examines in detail the policy, technology, and economics of an overland pipeline supplying natural gas to India and Pakistan. Such a pipeline would be shared by both countries, and would be a strong confidence building measure, offering a unique opportunity for cooperation. As natural gas pipelines exhibit significant economies of scale, a shared pipeline would also offer the lowest price natural gas for both countries. This study addresses some of the potential concerns, suggesting options for overcoming security of supply worries. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Improved Delayed-Neutron Spectroscopy Using Trapped Ions

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

Norman, Eric B.

The neutrons emitted following the β decay of fission fragments (known as delayed neutrons because they are emitted after fission on a timescale of the β-decay half-lives) play a crucial role in reactor performance and control. Reviews of delayed-neutron properties highlight the need for high-quality data for a wide variety of delayed-neutron emitters to better understand the time dependence and energy spectrum of the neutrons as these properties are essential for a detailed understanding of reactor kinetics needed for reactor safety and to understand the behavior of these reactors under various accident and component-failure scenarios. For fast breeder reactors, criticalitymore » calculations require accurate delayed-neutron energy spectra and approximations that are acceptable for light-water reactors such as assuming the delayed-neutron and fission-neutron energy spectra are identical are not acceptable and improved β-delayed neutron data is needed for safety and accident analyses for these reactors. With improved nuclear data, the delayed neutrons flux and energy spectrum could be calculated from the contributions from individual isotopes and therefore could be accurately modeled for any fuel-cycle concept, actinide mix, or irradiation history. High-quality β-delayed neutron measurements are also critical to constrain modern nuclear-structure calculations and empirical models that predict the decay properties for nuclei for which no data exists and improve the accuracy and flexibility of the existing empirical descriptions of delayed neutrons from fission such as the six-group representation« less

Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program: Argonne facilities

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

Stephens, S. V.

1976-09-01

The objective of the document is to present in one volume an overview of the Argonne National Laboratory test facilities involved in the conduct of the national LMFBR research and development program. Existing facilities and those under construction or authorized as of September 1976 are described. Each profile presents brief descriptions of the overall facility and its test area and data relating to its experimental and testing capability. The volume is divided into two sections: Argonne-East and Argonne-West. Introductory material for each section includes site and facility maps. The profiles are arranged alphabetically by title according to their respective locationsmore » at Argonne-East or Argonne-West. A glossary of acronyms and letter designations in common usage to describe organizations, reactor and test facilities, components, etc., involved in the LMFBR program is appended.« less

Measurement of carbon distribution in nuclear fuel pin cladding specimens by means of a secondary ion mass spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bart, Gerhard; Aerne, Ernst Tino; Burri, Martin; Zwicky, Hans-Urs

1986-11-01

Cladding carburization during irradiation of advanced mixed uranium plutonium carbide fast breeder reactor fuel is possibly a life limiting fuel pin factor. The quantitative assessment of such clad carbon embrittlement is difficult to perform by electron microprobe analysis because of sample surface contamination, and due to the very low energy of the carbon K α X-ray transition. The work presented here describes a method developed at the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research (EIR) to use shielded secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) as an accurate tool to determine radial distribution profiles of carbon in radioactive stainless steel fuel pin cladding. Compared with nuclear microprobe analysis (NMA) [1], which is also an accurate method for carbon analysis, the SIMS method distinguishes itself by its versatility for simultaneous determination of additional impurities.

Lessons Learned about Liquid Metal Reactors from FFTF Experience

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

Wootan, David W.; Casella, Andrew M.; Omberg, Ronald P.

2016-09-20

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is the most recent liquid-metal reactor (LMR) to operate in the United States, from 1982 to 1992. FFTF is located on the DOE Hanford Site near Richland, Washington. The 400-MWt sodium-cooled, low-pressure, high-temperature, fast-neutron flux, nuclear fission test reactor was designed specifically to irradiate Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) fuel and components in prototypical temperature and flux conditions. FFTF played a key role in LMFBR development and testing activities. The reactor provided extensive capability for in-core irradiation testing, including eight core positions that could be used with independent instrumentation for the test specimens.more » In addition to irradiation testing capabilities, FFTF provided long-term testing and evaluation of plant components and systems for LMFBRs. The FFTF was highly successful and demonstrated outstanding performance during its nearly 10 years of operation. The technology employed in designing and constructing this reactor, as well as information obtained from tests conducted during its operation, can significantly influence the development of new advanced reactor designs in the areas of plant system and component design, component fabrication, fuel design and performance, prototype testing, site construction, and reactor operations. The FFTF complex included the reactor, as well as equipment and structures for heat removal, containment, core component handling and examination, instrumentation and control, and for supplying utilities and other essential services. The FFTF Plant was designed using a “system” concept. All drawings, specifications and other engineering documentation were organized by these systems. Efforts have been made to preserve important lessons learned during the nearly 10 years of reactor operation. A brief summary of Lessons Learned in the following areas will be discussed: Acceptance and Startup Testing of FFTF FFTF Cycle Reports« less

Irradiation effect on mechanical properties in structural materials of fast breeder reactor plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagae, Yuji; Takaya, Shigeru; Wakai, Eiichi; Aoto, Kazumi

2011-07-01

The effects of displacement per atom (dpa) level, helium content, and the ratio of helium content to dpa level on the tensile and creep properties have been investigated in the assumed irradiation damage range of FBR structural materials. The assumed irradiation damage range is up to about 1 dpa and about 30 appm for helium content. Austenitic stainless steel and high-chromium martensitic steel are considered as FBR structural materials. As a result, it is shown that the dpa level is a promising index for evaluating neutron irradiation damage.

Nuclear energy: salvation or suicide. [Contains glossary

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

Collins, C.C.

A collection of 700 editorials and feature articles collected from 125 US newspapers addresses the dominant areas of concern about nuclear power: plant safety, radioactive wastes, proliferation, and cost. The editorial debates present the pros and cons of Three Mile Island and other accidents, ocean dumping, evacuation plans, radioactive waste transport and storage, nuclear fuel processing, the Karen Silkwood case, and breeder reactors. The appendix raises the question of the future for fission and the possibility of nuclear fusion as an alternative. There is a subject index and a glossary of basic terms.

Fiber optic sensors for nuclear power plant applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasinathan, Murugesan; Sosamma, Samuel; BabuRao, Chelamchala; Murali, Nagarajan; Jayakumar, Tammana

2012-05-01

Studies have been carried out for application of Raman Distributed Temperature Sensor (RDTS) in Nuclear Power Plants (NPP). The high temperature monitoring in sodium circuits of Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) is important. It is demonstrated that RDTS can be usefully employed in monitoring sodium circuits and in tracking the percolating sodium in the surrounding insulation in case of any leak. Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) cable is commonly used as overhead power transmission cable in power grid. The suitability of RDTS for detecting defects in ACSR overhead power cable, is also demonstrated.

Analysis of Time-Dependent Tritium Breeding Capability of Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket for CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Fangfang; Zhang, Xiaokang; Pu, Yong; Zhu, Qingjun; Liu, Songlin

2016-08-01

Attaining tritium self-sufficiency is an important mission for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR) operating on a Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) fuel cycle. It is necessary to study the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) and breeding tritium inventory variation with operation time so as to provide an accurate data for dynamic modeling and analysis of the tritium fuel cycle. A water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket is one candidate of blanket concepts for the CFETR. Based on the detailed 3D neutronics model of CFETR with the WCCB blanket, the time-dependent TBR and tritium surplus were evaluated by a coupling calculation of the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP) and the fusion activation code FISPACT-2007. The results indicated that the TBR and tritium surplus of the WCCB blanket were a function of operation time and fusion power due to the Li consumption in breeder and material activation. In addition, by comparison with the results calculated by using the 3D neutronics model and employing the transfer factor constant from 1D to 3D, it is noted that 1D analysis leads to an over-estimation for the time-dependent tritium breeding capability when fusion power is larger than 1000 MW. supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China (Nos. 2013GB108004, 2015GB108002, and 2014GB119000), and by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207)

The Satellite Nuclear Power Station - An option for future power generation.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, J. R.; Clement, J. D.

1973-01-01

A new concept in nuclear power generation is being explored which essentially eliminates major objections to nuclear power. The Satellite Nuclear Power Station, remotely operated in synchronous orbit, would transmit power safely to the ground by a microwave beam. Fuel reprocessing would take place in space and no radioactive materials would ever be returned to earth. Even the worst possible accident to such a plant should have negligible effect on the earth. An exploratory study of a satellite nuclear power station to provide 10,000 MWe to the earth has shown that the system could weigh about 20 million pounds and cost less than $1000/KWe. An advanced breeder reactor operating with an MHD power cycle could achieve an efficiency of about 50% with a 1100 K radiator temperature. If a hydrogen moderated gas core reactor is used, its breeding ratio of 1.10 would result in a fuel doubling time of a few years. A rotating fluidized bed or NERVA type reactor might also be used. The efficiency of power transmission from synchronous orbit would range from 70% to 80%.

Monte Carol-based validation of neutronic methodology for EBR-II analyses

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

Liaw, J.R.; Finck, P.J.

1993-01-01

The continuous-energy Monte Carlo code VIM (Ref. 1) has been validated extensively over the years against fast critical experiments and other neutronic analysis codes. A high degree of confidence in VIM for predicting reactor physics parameters has been firmly established. This paper presents a numerical validation of two conventional multigroup neutronic analysis codes, DIF3D (Ref. 4) and VARIANT (Ref. 5), against VIM for two Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) core loadings in detailed three-dimensional hexagonal-z geometry. The DIF3D code is based on nodal diffusion theory, and it is used in calculations for day-today reactor operations, whereas the VARIANT code ismore » based on nodal transport theory and is used with increasing frequency for specific applications. Both DIF3D and VARIANT rely on multigroup cross sections generated from ENDF/B-V by the ETOE-2/MC[sup 2]-II/SDX (Ref. 6) code package. Hence, this study also validates the multigroup cross-section processing methodology against the continuous-energy approach used in VIM.« less

History of fast reactor fuel development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kittel, J. H.; Frost, B. R. T.; Mustelier, J. P.; Bagley, K. Q.; Crittenden, G. C.; Van Dievoet, J.

1993-09-01

The first fast breeder reactors, constructed in the 1945-1960 time period, used metallic fuels composed of uranium, plutonium, or their alloys. They were chosen because most existing reactor operating experience had been obtained on metallic fuels and because they provided the highest breeding ratios. Difficulties in obtaining adequate dimensional stability in metallic fuel elements under conditions of high fuel burnup led in the 1960s to the virtual worldwide choice of ceramic fuels. Although ceramic fuels provide lower breeding performance, this objective is no longer an important consideration in most national programs. Mixed uranium and plutonium dioxide became the ceramic fuel that has received the widest use. The more advanced ceramic fuels, mixed uranium and plutonium carbides and nitrides, continue under development. More recently, metal fuel elements of improved design have joined ceramic fuels in achieving goal burnups of 15 to 20 percent. Low-swelling fuel cladding alloys have also been continuously developed to deal with the unexpected problem of void formation in stainless steels subjected to fast neutron irradiation, a phenomenon first observed in the 1960s.

Mass tracking and material accounting in the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR)

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

Orechwa, Y.; Adams, C.H.; White, A.M.

1991-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is a generic advanced liquid metal cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). There are a number of technical features of the IFR which contribute to its potential as a next-generation reactor. These are associated with large safety margins with regard to off-normal events involving the heat transport system, and the use of metallic fuel which makes possible the utilization of innovative fuel cycle processes. The latter feature permits fuel cycle closure the compact, low-cost reprocessing facilities, collocated with the reactor plant. These primary features are being demonstrated in the facilities atmore » ANL-West, utilizing Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 and the associated Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF) as an IFR prototype. The demonstration of this IFR prototype includes the design and implementation of the Mass-Tracking System (MTG). In this system, data from the operations of the FCF, including weights and batch-process parameters, are collected and maintained by the MTG running on distributed workstations. The components of the MTG System include: (1) an Oracle database manager with a Fortran interface, (2) a set of MTG Tasks'' which collect, manipulate and report data, (3) a set of MTG Terminal Sessions'' which provide some interactive control of the Tasks, and (4) a set of servers which manage the Tasks and which provide the communications link between the MTG System and Operator Control Stations, which control process equipment and monitoring devices within the FCF.« less

Hardening neutron spectrum for advanced actinide transmutation experiments in the ATR.

PubMed

Chang, G S; Ambrosek, R G

2005-01-01

The most effective method for transmuting long-lived isotopes contained in spent nuclear fuel into shorter-lived fission products is in a fast neutron spectrum reactor. In the absence of a fast test reactor in the United States, initial irradiation testing of candidate fuels can be performed in a thermal test reactor that has been modified to produce a test region with a hardened neutron spectrum. Such a test facility, with a spectrum similar but somewhat softer than that of the liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR), has been constructed in the INEEL's Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). The radial fission power distribution of the actinide fuel pin, which is an important parameter in fission gas release modelling, needs to be accurately predicted and the hardened neutron spectrum in the ATR and the LMFBR fast neutron spectrum is compared. The comparison analyses in this study are performed using MCWO, a well-developed tool that couples the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP with the isotope depletion and build-up code ORIGEN-2. MCWO analysis yields time-dependent and neutron-spectrum-dependent minor actinide and Pu concentrations and detailed radial fission power profile calculations for a typical fast reactor (LMFBR) neutron spectrum and the hardened neutron spectrum test region in the ATR. The MCWO-calculated results indicate that the cadmium basket used in the advanced fuel test assembly in the ATR can effectively depress the linear heat generation rate in the experimental fuels and harden the neutron spectrum in the test region.

In-pile test of Li 2TiO 3 pebble bed with neutron pulse operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuchiya, K.; Nakamichi, M.; Kikukawa, A.; Nagao, Y.; Enoeda, M.; Osaki, T.; Ioki, K.; Kawamura, H.

2002-12-01

Lithium titanate (Li 2TiO 3) is one of the candidate materials as tritium breeder in the breeding blanket of fusion reactors, and it is necessary to show the tritium release behavior of Li 2TiO 3 pebble beds. Therefore, a blanket in-pile mockup was developed and in situ tritium release experiments with the Li 2TiO 3 pebble bed were carried out in the Japan Materials Testing Reactor. In this study, the relationship between tritium release behavior from Li 2TiO 3 pebble beds and effects of various parameters were evaluated. The ( R/ G) ratio of tritium release ( R) and tritium generation ( G) was saturated when the temperature at the outside edge of the Li 2TiO 3 pebble bed became 300 °C. The tritium release amount increased cycle by cycle and saturated after about 20 pulse operations.

TERNARY ALLOY-CONTAINING PLUTONIUM

DOEpatents

Waber, J.T.

1960-02-23

Ternary alloys of uranium and plutonium containing as the third element either molybdenum or zirconium are reported. Such alloys are particularly useful as reactor fuels in fast breeder reactors. The alloy contains from 2 to 25 at.% of molybdenum or zirconium, the balance being a combination of uranium and plutonium in the ratio of from 1 to 9 atoms of uranlum for each atom of plutonium. These alloys are prepared by melting the constituent elements, treating them at an elevated temperature for homogenization, and cooling them to room temperature, the rate of cooling varying with the oomposition and the desired phase structure. The preferred embodiment contains 12 to 25 at.% of molybdenum and is treated by quenching to obtain a body centered cubic crystal structure. The most important advantage of these alloys over prior binary alloys of both plutonium and uranium is the lack of cracking during casting and their ready machinability.

Preliminary comparative assessment of land use for the Satellite Power System (SPS) and alternative electric energy technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newsom, D. E.; Wolsko, T.

1980-01-01

A preliminary comparative assessment of land use for the satellite power system (SPS), other solar technologies, and alternative electric energy technologies was conducted. The alternative technologies are coal gasification/combined-cycle, coal fluidized-bed combustion (FBC), light water reactor (LWR), liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR), terrestrial photovoltaics (TPV), solar thermal electric (STE), and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). The major issues of a land use assessment are the quantity, purpose, duration, location, and costs of the required land use. The phased methodology described treats the first four issues, but not the costs. Several past efforts are comparative or single technology assessment are reviewed briefly. The current state of knowledge about land use is described for each technology. Conclusions are drawn regarding deficiencies in the data on comparative land use and needs for further research.

Nuclear reactor heat transport system component low friction support system

DOEpatents

Wade, Elman E.

1980-01-01

A support column for a heavy component of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor heat transport system which will deflect when the pipes leading coolant to and from the heavy component expand or contract due to temperature changes includes a vertically disposed pipe, the pipe being connected to the heavy component by two longitudinally spaced cycloidal dovetail joints wherein the distal end of each of the dovetails constitutes a part of the surface of a large diameter cylinder and the centerlines of these large diameter cylinders intersect at right angles and the pipe being supported through two longitudinally spaced cycloidal dovetail joints wherein the distal end of each of the dovetails constitutes a part of the surface of a large diameter cylinder and the centerlines of these large diameter cylinders intersect at right angles, each of the cylindrical surfaces bearing on a flat and horizontal surface.

Oxygen potentials of mixed oxide fuels for fast reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, M.; Tamura, T.; Konashi, K.

2009-03-01

Oxygen potentials of homogenous (Pu0.2U0.8)O2-x and (Am0.02Pu0.30Np0.02U0.66)O2-x which have been developed as fuels for fast breeder reactors were measured at temperatures of 1473-1623 K by a gas equilibrium method using an (Ar, H2, H2O) gas mixture. The measured oxygen potentials of (Pu0.2U0.8)O2-x were about 25 kJ mol-1 lower than those of (Pu0.3U0.7)O2-x measured previously and were consistent with the values calculated by Besmann and Lindemer's model. The measured oxygen potentials of (Am0.02Pu0.30Np0.02U0.66)O2-x were slightly higher than those of MOX without minor actinides. No fuel-cladding chemical interaction is affected significantly by adding their minor actinides.

Performance of low smeared density sodium-cooled fast reactor metal fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, D. L.; Chichester, H. J. M.; Medvedev, P. G.; Hayes, S. L.; Teague, M. C.

2015-10-01

An experiment was performed in the Experimental Breeder Rector-II (EBR-II) in the 1990s to show that metallic fast reactor fuel could be used in reactors with a single, once-through core. To prove the long duration, high burnup, high neutron exposure capability an experiment where the fuel pin was designed with a very large fission gas plenum and very low fuel smeared density (SD). The experiment, X496, operated to only 8.3 at.% burnup because the EBR-II reactor was scheduled for shut-down at that time. Many of the examinations of the fuel pins only funded recently with the resurgence of reactor designs using very high-burnup fuel. The results showed that, despite the low smeared density of 59% the fuel swelled radially to contact the cladding, fission gas release appeared to be slightly higher than demonstrated in conventional 75%SD fuel tests and axial growth was about the same as 75% SD fuel. There were axial positions in some of the fuel pins which showed evidence of fuel restructuring and an absence of fission products with low melting points and gaseous precursors (Cs and Rb). A model to investigate whether these areas may have overheated due to a loss of bond sodium indicates that it is a possible explanation for the fuel restructuring and something to be considered for fuel performance modeling of low SD fuel.

Comparison of early socialization practices used for litters of small-scale registered dog breeders and nonregistered dog breeders.

PubMed

Korbelik, Juraj; Rand, Jacquie S; Morton, John M

2011-10-15

OBJECTIVE-To compare early socialization practices between litters of breeders registered with the Canine Control Council (CCC) and litters of nonregistered breeders advertising puppies for sale in a local newspaper. DESIGN-Retrospective cohort study. Animals-80 litters of purebred and mixed-breed dogs from registered (n = 40) and non-registered (40) breeders. PROCEDURES-Registered breeders were randomly selected from the CCC website, and nonregistered breeders were randomly selected from a weekly advertising newspaper. The litter sold most recently by each breeder was then enrolled in the study. Information pertaining to socialization practices for each litter was obtained through a questionnaire administered over the telephone. RESULTS-Registered breeders generally had more breeding bitches and had more litters than did nonregistered breeders. Litters of registered breeders were more likely to have been socialized with adult dogs, people of different appearances, and various environmental stimuli, compared with litters of nonregistered breeders. Litters from registered breeders were also much less likely to have been the result of an unplanned pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE-Among those breeders represented, litters of registered breeders received more socialization experience, compared with litters of nonregistered breeders. People purchasing puppies from nonregistered breeders should focus on socializing their puppies between the time of purchase and 14 weeks of age. Additional research is required to determine whether puppies from nonregistered breeders are at increased risk of behavioral problems and are therefore more likely to be relinquished to animal shelters or euthanized, relative to puppies from registered breeders.

Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors: a bibliography

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

Raleigh, H.D.

1980-11-01

This bibliography includes 5465 selected citations on LMFBR development. The citations were compiled from the DOE Energy Data Base covering the period January 1978 (EDB File No. 78R1087) through August 1980 (EDB File No. 80C79142). The references are to reports from the Department of Energy and its contractors, reports from other government or private organizations, and journal articles, books, conference papers, and monographs from US originators. Report citations are arranged alphanumerically by report number; nonreport literature citations are arranged chronologically. Corporate, Personal Author, Subject, and Report Number Indexes are provided in Volume 2.

Analysis of the OPERA 15-pin experiment with SABRE-2P. [LMFBR

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

Rose, S.D.; Carbajo, J.J.

The OPERA (Out-of-Pile Expulsion and Reentry Apparatus) experiment simulates the initial phase of a pump coastdown without scram of a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor, specifically the Fast Flux Test Facility. The test section is a 15-pin 60/sup 0/ triangular sector designed to simulate a full-size 61-pin hexagonal bundle. A previous study indicates this to be an adequate simulation. In this paper, experimental results from the OPERA 15-pin experiment performed at ANL in 1982 are compared to analytical calculations obtained with the SABRE-2P code at ORNL.

Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors: a bibliography

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

Raleigh, H.D.

1980-11-01

This bibliogralphy includes 5465 selected citations on LMFBR development. The citations were compiled from the DOE Energy Data Base covering the period January 1978 (EDB File No. 78R1087) through August 1980 (EDB File No. 80C79142). The references are to reports from the Department of Energy and its contractors, reports from other government or private organizations, and journal articles, books, conference papers, and monographs from US originators. Report citations are arranged alphanumerically by report number; nonreport literature citations are arranged chronologically. Corporate, Personal Author, Subject, and Report Number Indexes are provided in Volume 2.

Ab-initio calculation for cation vacancy formation energy in anti-fluorite structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saleel, V. P. Saleel Ahammad; Chitra, D.; Veluraja, K.; Eithiraj, R. D.

2018-04-01

Lithium oxide (Li2O) has been suggested as a suitable breeder blanket material for fusion reactors. Li+ vacancies are created by neutron irradiation, forming bulk defect complex whose extra character is experimentally unclear. We present a theoretical study of Li2O using density functional theory (DFT) with a plane-wave basis set. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local-density approximation (LDA) were used for exchange and correlation. Here we address the total energy for defect free, cation defect, cation vacancy and vacancy formation energy in Li2O crystal in anti-fluorite structure.

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

Ellen M. Rabenberg; Brian J. Jaques; Bulent H. Sencer

The mechanical properties of AISI 304 stainless steel irradiated for over a decade in the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II) were measured using miniature mechanical testing methods. The shear punch method was used to evaluate the shear strengths of the neutron-irradiated steel and a correlation factor was empirically determined to predict its tensile strength. The strength of the stainless steel slightly decreased with increasing irradiation temperature, and significantly increased with increasing dose until it saturated above approximately 5 dpa. Ferromagnetic measurements were used to observe and deduce the effects of the stress-induced austenite to martensite transformation as a result of shearmore » punch testing.« less

Russia's nuclear elite on rampage

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

Popova, L.

1993-04-01

In July 1992, the Russian Ministry of Nuclear Industry began pressing the Russian government to adopt a plan to build new nuclear power plants. In mid-January 1993 the government announced that it will build at least 30 new nuclear power plants, and that the second stage of the building program will include construction of three fast-breeder reactors. In this article, the author addresses the rationale behind this massive building program, despite the country's economic condition and public dread of another Chernobyl-type accident. The viewpoints of both the Russian Ministry of Nuclear Industry and opposing interests are discussed.

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

Carvo, Alan E.

Between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s Sandia National Laboratory constructed eleven experimental assemblies to simulate debris beds formed in a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor. All but one of the assemblies were irradiated. The experimental assemblies were transferred to the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in 2007 and 2008 for storage, dismantlement, recovery of the uranium for reuse in the nuclear fuel cycle, and disposal of unneeded materials. This paper addresses the effort to dismantle the assemblies down to the primary containment vessel and repackage them for temporary storage until such time as equipment necessary for sodium separation is in place.

Two conceptual designs of helical fusion reactor FFHR-d1A based on ITER technologies and challenging ideas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagara, A.; Miyazawa, J.; Tamura, H.; Tanaka, T.; Goto, T.; Yanagi, N.; Sakamoto, R.; Masuzaki, S.; Ohtani, H.; The FFHR Design Group

2017-08-01

The Fusion Engineering Research Project (FERP) at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) is conducting conceptual design activities for the LHD-type helical fusion reactor FFHR-d1A. This paper newly defines two design options, ‘basic’ and ‘challenging.’ Conservative technologies, including those that will be demonstrated in ITER, are chosen in the basic option in which two helical coils are made of continuously wound cable-in-conduit superconductors of Nb3Sn strands, the divertor is composed of water-cooled tungsten monoblocks, and the blanket is composed of water-cooled ceramic breeders. In contrast, new ideas that would possibly be beneficial for making the reactor design more attractive are boldly included in the challenging option in which the helical coils are wound by connecting high-temperature REBCO superconductors using mechanical joints, the divertor is composed of a shower of molten tin jets, and the blanket is composed of molten salt FLiNaBe including Ti powers to increase hydrogen solubility. The main targets of the challenging option are early construction and easy maintenance of a large and three-dimensionally complicated helical structure, high thermal efficiency, and, in particular, realistic feasibility of the helical reactor.

Planning and supervision of reactor defueling using discrete event techniques

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

Garcia, H.E.; Imel, G.R.; Houshyar, A.

1995-12-31

New fuel handling and conditioning activities for the defueling of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II are being performed at Argonne National Laboratory. Research is being conducted to investigate the use of discrete event simulation, analysis, and optimization techniques to plan, supervise, and perform these activities in such a way that productivity can be improved. The central idea is to characterize this defueling operation as a collection of interconnected serving cells, and then apply operational research techniques to identify appropriate planning schedules for given scenarios. In addition, a supervisory system is being developed to provide personnel with on-line information on themore » progress of fueling tasks and to suggest courses of action to accommodate changing operational conditions. This paper provides an introduction to the research in progress at ANL. In particular, it briefly describes the fuel handling configuration for reactor defueling at ANL, presenting the flow of material from the reactor grid to the interim storage location, and the expected contributions of this work. As an example of the studies being conducted for planning and supervision of fuel handling activities at ANL, an application of discrete event simulation techniques to evaluate different fuel cask transfer strategies is given at the end of the paper.« less

Preconceptual design of a fluoride high temperature salt-cooled engineering demonstration reactor: Motivation and overview

DOE PAGES

Qualls, A. Louis; Betzler, Benjamin R.; Brown, Nicholas R.; ...

2016-12-21

Engineering demonstration reactors are nuclear reactors built to establish proof of concept for technology options that have never been built. Examples of engineering demonstration reactors include Peach Bottom 1 for high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) and Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) for sodium-cooled fast reactors. Historically, engineering demonstrations have played a vital role in advancing the technology readiness level of reactor technologies. Our paper details a preconceptual design for a fluoride salt-cooled engineering demonstration reactor. The fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR) demonstration reactor (DR) is a concept for a salt-cooled reactor with 100 megawatts of thermal output (MWt). It would usemore » tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel within prismatic graphite blocks. FLiBe (2 7LiF-BeF2) is the reference primary coolant. The FHR DR is designed to be small, simple, and affordable. Development of the FHR DR is a necessary intermediate step to enable near-term commercial FHRs. The design philosophy of the FHR DR was focused on safety, near-term deployment, and flexibility. Lower risk technologies are purposely included in the initial FHR DR design to ensure that the reactor can be built, licensed, and operated as an engineering demonstration with minimal risk and cost. These technologies include TRISO particle fuel, replaceable core structures, and consistent structural material selection for core structures and the primary and intermediate loops, and tube-and-shell primary-to-intermediate heat exchangers. Important capabilities to be demonstrated by building and operating the FHR DR include fabrication and operation of high temperature reactors; heat exchanger performance (including passive decay heat removal); pump performance; and reactivity control; salt chemistry control to maximize vessel life; tritium management; core design methodologies; salt procurement, handling, maintenance and ultimate disposal. It is recognized that non-nuclear separate and integral test efforts (e.g., heated salt loops or loops using simulant fluids) are necessary to develop the technologies that will be demonstrated in the FHR DR.« less

Preconceptual design of a fluoride high temperature salt-cooled engineering demonstration reactor: Motivation and overview

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

Qualls, A. Louis; Betzler, Benjamin R.; Brown, Nicholas R.

Engineering demonstration reactors are nuclear reactors built to establish proof of concept for technology options that have never been built. Examples of engineering demonstration reactors include Peach Bottom 1 for high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) and Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) for sodium-cooled fast reactors. Historically, engineering demonstrations have played a vital role in advancing the technology readiness level of reactor technologies. Our paper details a preconceptual design for a fluoride salt-cooled engineering demonstration reactor. The fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR) demonstration reactor (DR) is a concept for a salt-cooled reactor with 100 megawatts of thermal output (MWt). It would usemore » tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel within prismatic graphite blocks. FLiBe (2 7LiF-BeF2) is the reference primary coolant. The FHR DR is designed to be small, simple, and affordable. Development of the FHR DR is a necessary intermediate step to enable near-term commercial FHRs. The design philosophy of the FHR DR was focused on safety, near-term deployment, and flexibility. Lower risk technologies are purposely included in the initial FHR DR design to ensure that the reactor can be built, licensed, and operated as an engineering demonstration with minimal risk and cost. These technologies include TRISO particle fuel, replaceable core structures, and consistent structural material selection for core structures and the primary and intermediate loops, and tube-and-shell primary-to-intermediate heat exchangers. Important capabilities to be demonstrated by building and operating the FHR DR include fabrication and operation of high temperature reactors; heat exchanger performance (including passive decay heat removal); pump performance; and reactivity control; salt chemistry control to maximize vessel life; tritium management; core design methodologies; salt procurement, handling, maintenance and ultimate disposal. It is recognized that non-nuclear separate and integral test efforts (e.g., heated salt loops or loops using simulant fluids) are necessary to develop the technologies that will be demonstrated in the FHR DR.« less

Kinematic dynamo action in a network of screw motions; application to the core of a fast breeder reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plunian, F.; Marty, P.; Alemany, A.

1999-03-01

Most of the studies concerning the dynamo effect are motivated by astrophysical and geophysical applications. The dynamo effect is also the subject of some experimental studies in fast breeder reactors (FBR) for they contain liquid sodium in motion with magnetic Reynolds numbers larger than unity. In this paper, we are concerned with the flow of sodium inside the core of an FBR, characterized by a strong helicity. The sodium in the core flows through a network of vertical cylinders. In each cylinder assembly, the flow can be approximated by a smooth upwards helical motion with no-slip conditions at the boundary. As the core contains a large number of assemblies, the global flow is considered to be two-dimensionally periodic. We investigate the self-excitation of a two-dimensionally periodic magnetic field using an instability analysis of the induction equation which leads to an eigenvalue problem. Advantage is taken of the flow symmetries to reduce the size of the problem. The growth rate of the magnetic field is found as a function of the flow pitch, the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm) and the vertical magnetic wavenumber (k). An [alpha]-effect is shown to operate for moderate values of Rm, supporting a mean magnetic field. The large-Rm limit is investigated numerically. It is found that [alpha]=O(Rm[minus sign]2/3), which can be explained through appropriate dynamo mechanisms. Either a smooth Ponomarenko or a Roberts type of dynamo is operating in each periodic cell, depending on k. The standard power regime of an industrial FPBR is found to be subcritical.

Atmospheric Dispersion of Sodium Aerosol due to a Sodium Leak in a Fast Breeder Reactor Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Punitha, G.; Sudha, A. Jasmin; Kasinathan, N.; Rajan, M.

Liquid sodium at high temperatures (470 K to 825 K) is used as the primary and secondary coolant in Liquid Metal cooled Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBR). In the event of a postulated sodium leak in the Steam Generator Building (SGB) of a LMFBR, sodium readily combusts in the ambient air, especially at temperatures above 523 K. Intense sodium fire results and sodium oxide fumes are released as sodium aerosols. Sodium oxides are readily converted to sodium hydroxide in air due to the presence of moisture in it. Hence, sodium aerosols are invariably in the form of particulate sodium hydroxide. These aerosols damage not only the equipment and instruments due to their corrosive nature but also pose health hazard to humans. Hence, it is essential to estimate the concentration of sodium aerosols within the plant boundary for a sodium leak event. The Gaussian Plume Dispersion Model can obtain the atmospheric dispersion of sodium aerosols in an open terrain. However, this model does not give accurate results for dispersion in spaces close to the point of release and with buildings in between. The velocity field due to the wind is altered to a large extent by the intervening buildings and structures. Therefore, a detailed 3-D estimation of the velocity field and concentration has to be obtained through rigorous computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. PHOENICS code has been employed to determine concentration of sodium aerosols at various distances from the point of release. The dispersion studies have been carried out for the release of sodium aerosols at different elevations from the ground and for different wind directions.

Building on knowledge base of sodium cooled fast spectrum reactors to develop materials technology for fusion reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raj, Baldev; Rao, K. Bhanu Sankara

2009-04-01

The alloys 316L(N) and Mod. 9Cr-1Mo steel are the major structural materials for fabrication of structural components in sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs). Various factors influencing the mechanical behaviour of these alloys and different modes of deformation and failure in SFR systems, their analysis and the simulated tests performed on components for assessment of structural integrity and the applicability of RCC-MR code for the design and validation of components are highlighted. The procedures followed for optimal design of die and punch for the near net shape forming of petals of main vessel of 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR); the safe temperature and strain rate domains established using dynamic materials model for forming of 316L(N) and 9Cr-1Mo steels components by various industrial processes are illustrated. Weldability problems associated with 316L(N) and Mo. 9Cr-1Mo are briefly discussed. The utilization of artificial neural network models for prediction of creep rupture life and delta-ferrite in austenitic stainless steel welds is described. The usage of non-destructive examination techniques in characterization of deformation, fracture and various microstructural features in SFR materials is briefly discussed. Most of the experience gained on SFR systems could be utilized in developing science and technology for fusion reactors. Summary of the current status of knowledge on various aspects of fission and fusion systems with emphasis on cross fertilization of research is presented.

Energy transition strategies: a progress report

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

Manne, A.S.

1979-09-01

Energy Transition Strategies is an EPRI project that has examined different aspects of the long-term problem of transition from scarce to abundant energy resources. This report presents three papers that were produced as part of that project. The first paper, A Decision Analysis of the US Breeder Reactor Program by Alan S. Manne and Richard G. Richels, applies the ETA-MACRO model to the debate over breeder R and D strategy. The second paper, Alternative Models of Energy Demand by Sergio Granville (EAPA 5:2810), examines the econometric evidence on the elasticity of substitution. The third paper, Exhaustible Resource Models: The Valuemore » of Information by Hung-po Chao, extends the Hotelling-Nordhaus exhaustible resource model by (1) allowing for a gradual shift to the backstop technology and (2) allowing for uncertainty about the cost of this backstop and the price elasticity of energy demand. The Summary of the report also abstracts four other papers produced by the project: ETA-MACRO: A Model of Energy-Economy Interactions EAPA 4:2289, The Fable of the Elephant and the Rabbit; Probability Assessments and Decision Analysis of Alternative Nuclear Fuel Cycles; and Energy Transition Strategies for the Industrialized Nations.« less

Long-term proliferation and safeguards issues in future technologies

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

Keisch, B.; Auerbach, C.; Fainberg, A.

1986-02-01

The purpose of the task was to assess the effect of potential new technologies, nuclear and non-nuclear, on safeguards needs and non-proliferation policies, and to explore possible solutions to some of the problems envisaged. Eight subdivisions were considered: New Enrichment Technologies; Non-Aqueous Reprocessing Technologies; Fusion; Accelerator-Driven Reactor Systems; New Reactor Types; Heavy Water and Deuterium; Long-Term Storage of Spent Fuel; and Other Future Technologies (Non-Nuclear). For each of these subdivisions, a careful review of the current world-wide effort in the field provided a means of subjectively estimating the viability and qualitative probability of fruition of promising technologies. Technologies for whichmore » safeguards and non-proliferation requirements have been thoroughly considered by others were not restudied here (e.g., the Fast Breeder Reactor). The time scale considered was 5 to 40 years for possible initial demonstration although, in some cases, a somewhat optimistic viewpoint was embraced. Conventional nuclear-material safeguards are only part of the overall non-proliferation regime. Other aspects are international agreements, export controls on sensitive technologies, classification of information, intelligence gathering, and diplomatic initiatives. The focus here is on safeguards, export controls, and classification.« less

Comparison of computational results of the SABRE LMFBR pin bundle blockage code with data from well-instrumented out-of-pile test bundles (THORS bundles 3A and 5A)

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

Dearing, J.F.

The Subchannel Analysis of Blockages in Reactor Elements (SABRE) computer code, developed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, is currently the only practical tool available for performing detailed analyses of velocity and temperature fields in the recirculating flow regions downstream of blockages in liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) pin bundles. SABRE is a subchannel analysis code; that is, it accurately represents the complex geometry of nuclear fuel pins arranged on a triangular lattice. The results of SABRE computational models are compared here with temperature data from two out-of-pile 19-pin test bundles from the Thermal-Hydraulic Out-of-Reactor Safety (THORS) Facility atmore » Oak Ridge National Laboratory. One of these bundles has a small central flow blockage (bundle 3A), while the other has a large edge blockage (bundle 5A). Values that give best agreement with experiment for the empirical thermal mixing correlation factor, FMIX, in SABRE are suggested. These values of FMIX are Reynolds-number dependent, however, indicating that the coded turbulent mixing correlation is not appropriate for wire-wrap pin bundles.« less

Improved gas tagging and cover gas combination for nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Gross, K.C.; Laug, M.T.

1983-09-26

The invention discloses the use of stable isotopes of neon and argon, sealed as tags in different cladding nuclear fuel elements to be used in a liquid metal fast breeder reactor. Cladding failure allows fission gases and these tag isotopes to escape and to combine with the cover gas. The isotopes are Ne/sup 20/, Ne/sup 21/ and Ne/sup 22/ and Ar/sup 36/, Ar/sup 38/ and Ar/sup 40/, and the cover gas is He. Serially connected cryogenically operated charcoal beds are used to clean the cover gas and to separate out the tags. The first or cover gas cleanup bed is held between 0 and -25/sup 0/C to remove the fission gases from the cover gas and tags, and the second or tag recovery system bed between -170 and -185/sup 0/C to isolate the tags from the cover gas. Spectrometric analysis is used to identify the specific tags that are recovered, and thus the specific leaking fuel element. By cataloging the fuel element tags to the location of the fuel elements in the reactor, the location of the leaking fuel element can then be determined.

FUEL ELEMENT

DOEpatents

Fortescue, P.; Zumwalt, L.R.

1961-11-28

A fuel element was developed for a gas cooled nuclear reactor. The element is constructed in the form of a compacted fuel slug including carbides of fissionable material in some cases with a breeder material carbide and a moderator which slug is disposed in a canning jacket of relatively impermeable moderator material. Such canned fuel slugs are disposed in an elongated shell of moderator having greater gas permeability than the canning material wherefore application of reduced pressure to the space therebetween causes gas diffusing through the exterior shell to sweep fission products from the system. Integral fission product traps and/or exterior traps as well as a fission product monitoring system may be employed therewith. (AEC)

Iron-nickel-chromium alloy having improved swelling resistance and low neutron absorbence

DOEpatents

Korenko, Michael K.

1986-01-01

An iron-nickel-chromium age-hardenable alloy suitable for use in fast breeder reactor ducts and cladding which utilizes the gamma-double prime strengthening phase and characterized in having a delta or eta phase distributed at or near grain boundaries. The alloy consists essentially of about 33-39.5% nickel, 7.5-16% chromium, 1.5-4% niobium, 0.1-0.7% silicon, 0.01-0.2% zirconium, 1-3% titanium, 0.2-0.6% aluminum, and the remainder essentially all iron. Up to 0.4% manganese and up to 0.010% magnesium can be added to inhibit trace element effects.

LMFBR fuel assembly design for HCDA fuel dispersal

DOEpatents

Lacko, Robert E.; Tilbrook, Roger W.

1984-01-01

A fuel assembly for a liquid metal fast breeder reactor having an upper axial blanket region disposed in a plurality of zones within the fuel assembly. The characterization of a zone is dependent on the height of the axial blanket region with respect to the active fuel region. The net effect of having a plurality of zones is to establish a dispersal flow path for the molten materials resulting during a core meltdown accident. Upward flowing molten material can escape from the core region and/or fuel assembly without solidifying on the surface of fuel rods due to the heat sink represented by blanket region pellets.

TEMPEST: A three-dimensional time-dependent computer program for hydrothermal analysis: Volume 1, Numerical methods and input instructions

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

Trent, D.S.; Eyler, L.L.; Budden, M.J.

This document describes the numerical methods, current capabilities, and the use of the TEMPEST (Version L, MOD 2) computer program. TEMPEST is a transient, three-dimensional, hydrothermal computer program that is designed to analyze a broad range of coupled fluid dynamic and heat transfer systems of particular interest to the Fast Breeder Reactor thermal-hydraulic design community. The full three-dimensional, time-dependent equations of motion, continuity, and heat transport are solved for either laminar or turbulent fluid flow, including heat diffusion and generation in both solid and liquid materials. 10 refs., 22 figs., 2 tabs.

Superphenix: Restarting, with emphasis on research

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

NONE

1994-04-01

French Prime Minister Edouard Baladour announced on February 22 that the Superphenix fast reactor at Creys-Malville will be allowed to restart. Along with his industry minister, Gerard Longuet, and the environment minister, Michel Bamier, Baladour has accepted the recommendation for reissuance of an operating license submitted to the ministers in January by the nuclear installations safety directorate (DSIN). In announcing their approval for restart, the ministers emphasized that the reactor was to be used as a research and demonstration facility rather than a power station. In particular, they said it should be used to investigate the possibility of using fastmore » reactors as plutonium burners rather than breeders and for the incineration of other long-lived actinide wastes. This point was made also by DSIN Director Andre-Claude Lacoste in his recommendations, but appears to have been given more weight by the government ministers. The ministers also accepted the DSIN recommendation that restart be conditional on completion of improvements to fire protection systems for the secondary sodium coolant ducts. Baladour said that it would take several months to complete this work, but other sources have suggested that the reactor could be ready to operate this month. DSIN has also stipulated that the power level be limited for several months to around 50 percent of the plant`s 1200-MWe potential in order to check out all the systems carefully.« less

Occurence and prediction of sigma phase in fuel cladding alloys for breeder reactors. [LMFBR

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

Anantatmula, R.P.

1982-01-01

In sodium-cooled fast reactor systems, fuel cladding materials will be exposed for several thousand hours to liquid sodium. Satisfactory performance of the materials depends in part on the sodium compatibility and phase stability of the materials. This paper mainly deals with the phase stability aspect, with particular emphasis on sigma phase formation of the cladding materials upon extended exposures to liquid sodium. A new method of predicting sigma phase formation is proposed for austenitic stainless steels and predictions are compared with the experimental results on fuel cladding materials. Excellent agreement is obtained between theory and experiment. The new method ismore » different from the empirical methods suggested for superalloys and does not suffer from the same drawbacks. The present method uses the Fe-Cr-Ni ternary phase diagram for predicting the sigma-forming tendencies and exhibits a wide range of applicability to austenitic stainless steels and heat-resistant Fe-Cr-Ni alloys.« less

Development of martensitic steels for high neutron damage applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelles, D. S.

1996-12-01

Martensitic stainless steels have been developed for both in-core applications in advanced liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR) and for first wall and structural materials applications for commercial fusion reactors. It can now be shown that these steels can be expected to maintain properties to levels as high as 175 or 200 dpa, respectively. The 12Cr1Mo0.5W0.2C alloy HT-9 has been extensively tested for LMFBR applications and shown to resist radiation damage, providing a creep and swelling resistant alternative to austenitic steels. Degradation of fracture toughness and Charpy impact properties have been observed, but properties are sufficient to provide reliable service. In comparison, alloys with lower chromium contents are found to decarburize in contact with liquid sodium and are therefore not recommended. Tungsten stabilized martensitic stainless steels have appropriate properties for fusion applications. Radioactivity levels are benign less than 500 years after service, radiation damage resistance is excellent, including impact properties, and swelling is modest. This report describes the history of the development effort.

Structural response of 1/20-scale models of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor to a simulated hypothetical core-disruptive accident

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

Romander, C M; Cagliostro, D J

Five experiments were performed to help evaluate the structural integrity of the reactor vessel and head design and to verify code predictions. In the first experiment (SM 1), a detailed model of the head was loaded statically to determine its stiffness. In the remaining four experiments (SM 2 to SM 5), models of the vessel and head were loaded dynamically under a simulated 661 MW-s hypothetical core disruptive accident (HCDA). Models SM 2 to SM 4, each of increasing complexity, systematically showed the effects of upper internals structures, a thermal liner, core support platform, and torospherical bottom on vessel response.more » Model SM 5, identical to SM 4 but more heavily instrumented, demonstrated experimental reproducibility and provided more comprehensive data. The models consisted of a Ni 200 vessel and core barrel, a head with shielding and simulated component masses, and an upper internals structure (UIS).« less

Space or terrestrial energy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boulet, L.

Consideration is given to the possibility of generating sufficient energy at acceptable costs on earth to offset the need to build solar power satellite systems (SPS). Electricity usage, one of the basic driving forces of developed nations, grows with the population. Currently comprising 33 pct of the total world energy used, electricity is projected to grow to a 50-55 pct share in the 21st century. Future terrestrial electrical energy sources include carbon-based fuels, nuclear (fusion or fission), and the renewable solar technologies. Carbon-based fuel supplies can last until 2030 AD, about the same as fission plants with recycled fuel. Breeder reactors would stretch the nuclear fuels to the year 3000. Solar technologies offer more immediate solutions than fusion reactors and can produce 50 pct of the power available from the construction of the maximum number of nuclear power plants. The addition of SPS would further augment the total. Combinations of all the technologies are recommended, with local research for the most appropriate technology for each nation.

Nondestructive assay of EBR-II blanket elements using resonance transmission analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klann, Raymond Todd

1998-10-01

Resonance transmission analysis utilizing a filtered reactor beam was examined as a means of determining the 239Pu content in Experimental Breeder Reactor - II depleted uranium blanket elements. The technique uses cadmium and gadolinium filters along with a 239Pu fission chamber to isolate the 0.3 eV resonance in 239Pu. In the energy range of this resonance (0.1 eV to 0.5 eV), the total microscopic cross-section of 239Pu is significantly greater than the cross- sections of 238U and 235U. This large difference allows small changes in the 239Pu content of a sample to result in large changes in the mass signal response. Tests with small stacks of depleted uranium and 239Pu foils indicate a significant change in response based on the 239Pu content of the foil stack. In addition, the tests indicate good agreement between the measured and predicted values of 239Pu up to approximately two weight percent.

The interaction between nitride uranium and stainless steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shornikov, D. P.; Nikitin, S. N.; Tarasov, B. A.; Baranov, V. G.; Yurlova, M. S.

2016-04-01

Uranium nitride is most popular nuclear fuel for Fast Breeder Reactor New Generation. In-pile experiments at reactor BOR-60 was shown an interaction between nitride fuel and stainless steel in the range of 8-11% burn up (HA). In order to investigate this interaction has been done diffusion tests of 200 h and has been shown that the reaction occurs in the temperature range 1000-1100 ° C. UN interacted with steel in case of high pollution oxygen (1000-2000 ppm). Also has been shown to increase interaction UN with EP-823 steel in the presence of cesium. In this case the interaction layer had a thickness about 2-3 μm. Has been shown minimal interaction with new ODS steel EP-450. The interaction layer had a thickness less then 2 μm. Did not reveal the influence of tellurium and iodine increased interaction. It was show compatibility at 1000 °C between UN and EP-450 ODS steel, chrome steel, alloying aluminium and silicium.

Studies on sodium boiling phenomena in out of pile rod bundles for various accidental situations in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBR) experiments and interpretations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seiler, J. M.; Rameau, B.

Bundle sodium boiling in nominal geometry for different accident conditions is reviewed. Voiding of a subassembly is controlled by not only hydrodynamic effects but mainly by thermal effects. There is a strong influence of the thermal inertia of the bundle material compared to the sodium thermal inertia. Flow instability, during a slow transient, can be analyzed with numerical tools and estimated using simplified approximations. Stable boiling operational conditions under bundle mixed convection (natural convection in the reactor) can be predicted. Voiding during a fast transient can be approximated from single channel calculations. The phenomenology of boiling behavior for a subassembly with inlet completely blocked, submitted to decay heat and lateral cooling; two-phase sodium flow pressure drop in a tube of large hydraulic diameter under adiabatic conditions; critical flow phenomena and voiding rate under high power, slow transient conditions; and onset of dry out under local boiling remains problematical.

Metallography and fuel cladding chemical interaction in fast flux test facility irradiated metallic U-10Zr MFF-3 and MFF-5 fuel pins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carmack, W. J.; Chichester, H. M.; Porter, D. L.; Wootan, D. W.

2016-05-01

The Mechanistic Fuel Failure (MFF) series of metal fuel irradiations conducted in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) provides an important comparison between data generated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II) and that expected in a larger-scale fast reactor. The MFF fuel operated with a peak cladding temperature at the top of the fuel column, but developed peak burnup at the centerline of the core. This places the peak fuel temperature midway between the core center and the top of fuel, lower in the fuel column than in EBR-II experiments. Data from the MFF-3 and MFF-5 assemblies are most comparable to the data obtained from the EBR-II X447 experiment. The two X447 pin breaches were strongly influenced by fuel/cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) at the top of the fuel column. Post irradiation examination data from MFF-3 and MFF-5 are presented and compared to historical EBR-II data.

Updated neutronics analyses of a water cooled ceramic breeder blanket for the CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiaokang, ZHANG; Songlin, LIU; Xia, LI; Qingjun, ZHU; Jia, LI

2017-11-01

The water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket employing pressurized water as a coolant is one of the breeding blanket candidates for the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). Some updating of neutronics analyses was needed, because there were changes in the neutronics performance of the blanket as several significant modifications and improvements have been adopted for the WCCB blanket, including the optimization of radial build-up and customized structure for each blanket module. A 22.5 degree toroidal symmetrical torus sector 3D neutronics model containing the updated design of the WCCB blanket modules was developed for the neutronics analyses. The tritium breeding capability, nuclear heating power, radiation damage, and decay heat were calculated by the MCNP and FISPACT code. The results show that the packing factor and 6Li enrichment of the breeder should both be no less than 0.8 to ensure tritium self-sufficiency. The nuclear heating power of the blanket under 200 MW fusion power reaches 201.23 MW. The displacement per atom per full power year (FPY) of the plasma-facing component and first wall reach 0.90 and 2.60, respectively. The peak H production rate reaches 150.79 appm/FPY and the peak He production reaches 29.09 appm/FPY in blanket module #3. The total decay heat of the blanket modules is 2.64 MW at 1 s after shutdown and the average decay heat density can reach 11.09 kW m-3 at that time. The decay heat density of the blanket modules slowly decreases to lower than 10 W m-3 in more than ten years.

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

Selection of Breeding Stock among Australian Purebred Dog Breeders, with Particular Emphasis on the Dam

PubMed Central

Czerwinski, Veronika; McArthur, Michelle; Smith, Bradley; Hynd, Philip; Hazel, Susan

2016-01-01

Simple Summary One of the most important factors influencing the health and welfare of puppies is the decision made by the breeder on which dam and sire they will breed from. Unfortunately, our understanding of what dog breeders consider important when selecting their dogs, particularly the dam, is limited. In order to bridge this gap, we conducted an online survey of Australian purebred dog breeders. We identified four major factors that the breeder considered important in relation to the dam: Maternal Care; Offspring Potential; Dam Temperament; and Dam Genetics and Health. Overall, the priorities and practices of dog breeders surveyed were variable across breeds. Importantly, it seemed that not all breeders understood the importance of maternal care behaviour, despite the significant role it may play on future puppy behaviour. Abstract Every year, thousands of purebred domestic dogs are bred by registered dog breeders. Yet, little is known about the rearing environment of these dogs, or the attitudes and priorities surrounding breeding practices of these dog breeders. The objective of this study was to explore some of the factors that dog breeders consider important for stock selection, with a particular emphasis on issues relating to the dam. Two-hundred and seventy-four Australian purebred dog breeders, covering 91 breeds across all Australian National Kennel Club breed groups, completed an online survey relating to breeding practices. Most breeders surveyed (76%) reported specialising in one breed of dog, the median number of dogs and bitches per breeder was two and three respectively, and most breeders bred two litters or less a year. We identified four components, relating to the dam, that were considered important to breeders. These were defined as Maternal Care, Offspring Potential, Dam Temperament, and Dam Genetics and Health. Overall, differences were observed in attitudes and beliefs across these components, showing that there is variation according to breed/breed groups. In particular, the importance of Maternal Care varied according to dog breed group. Breeders of brachycephalic breeds tended to differ the most in relation to Offspring Potential and Dam Genetics and Health. The number of breeding dogs/bitches influenced breeding priority, especially in relation to Dam Temperament, however no effect was found relating to the number of puppies bred each year. Only 24% of breeders used their own sire for breeding. The finding that some breeders did not test for diseases relevant to their breed, such as hip dysplasia in Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds, provides important information on the need to educate some breeders, and also buyers of purebred puppies, that screening for significant diseases should occur. Further research into the selection of breeding dams and sires will inform future strategies to improve the health and behaviour of our best friend. PMID:27854338

Limiting nuclear proliferation

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

Gordon, L.; Cecelski, L.

1978-01-01

As a result of the 1977 experience, it is shown that the U.S. no longer dominates the world nuclear market and must change its approach from coercion to persuasion. President Carter, implementing his campaign promises on nuclear nonproliferation, has used direct pressure, negotiated with nuclear suppliers, and asked for legislation to impose rigid criteria for the export of nuclear materials. Unilateral actions included the deferment of facilities for fuel reprocessing and breeder reactors, but were followed by efforts for international cooperation as the year progressed. While global non-proliferation policies reinforced with international technical cooperation are seen as admirable goals, themore » response to U.S. initiatives is not seen to be encouraging.« less

Post-test analysis of dryout test 7B' of the W-1 Sodium Loop Safety Facility Experiment with the SABRE-2P code. [LMFBR

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

Rose, S.D.; Dearing, J.F.

An understanding of conditions that may cause sodium boiling and boiling propagation that may lead to dryout and fuel failure is crucial in liquid-metal fast-breeder reactor safety. In this study, the SABRE-2P subchannel analysis code has been used to analyze the ultimate transient of the in-core W-1 Sodium Loop Safety Facility experiment. This code has a 3-D simple nondynamic boiling model which is able to predict the flow instability which caused dryout. In other analyses dryout has been predicted for out-of-core test bundles and so this study provides additional confirmation of the model.

Piping support system for liquid-metal fast-breeder reactor

DOEpatents

Brussalis, Jr., William G.

1984-01-01

A pipe support consisting of a rigid link pivotally attached to a pipe and an anchor, adapted to generate stress or strain in the link and pipe due to pipe thermal movement, which stress or strain can oppose further pipe movement and generally provides pipe support. The pipe support can be used in multiple combinations with other pipe supports to form a support system. This support system is most useful in applications in which the pipe is normally operated at a constant elevated or depressed temperature such that desired stress or strain can be planned in advance of pipe and support installation. The support system is therefore especially useful in steam stations and in refrigeration equipment.

The phase state at high temperatures in the MOX-SiO 2 system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamichi, S.; Kato, M.; Sunaoshi, T.; Uchida, T.; Morimoto, K.; Kashimura, M.; Kihara, Y.

2009-06-01

Influence of impurity Si on microstructure in a plutonium and uranium mixed oxide (MOX), which is used for fast breeder reactor fuel, was investigated, and phase state in 25% SiO 2 - (U 0.7Pu 0.3)O 2 was observed as a function of oxygen chemical potential. Compounds composed of Pu and Si with other elements were observed at grain boundaries of the MOX parent phase in the specimens after annealing. These compounds were not observed in the grain interior and the MOX phase was not affected significantly by impurity Si. It was found that the compounds tended to form more observably with decreasing O/M ratio and with increasing annealing temperatures.

New stewards of the environment

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

Tucker, W.

1983-06-01

Environmentalists are getting interested in the free market and are moving toward supporting complete deregulation of energy prices. Christopher Palmer, the National Audubon Society's director of energy and environment, says, There is no way you can use energy efficiently when you have price controls. Environmental groups are particularly unhappy with the Synthetic Fuels Corporation and the Clinch River Breeder Reactor; they will waste more energy than they make, complains Palmer. When resources are cheap or free, they tend to be abused. Environmentalists have discovered the market helps allay this overuse. Ironically, this turnaround in philosophy turns environmentalists into political landlords,more » a new role of privileged minority, trying to play steward to the nation's resources.« less

Current status of nuclear engineering education

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

Palladino, N.J.

1975-09-01

The 65 colleges and universities offering undergraduate degrees in nuclear engineering and the 15 schools offering strong nuclear engineering options are, in general, doing a good job to meet the current spectrum of job opportunities. But, nuclear engineering programs are not producing enough graduates to meet growing demands. They currently receive little aid and support from their customers --industry and government--in the form of scholarships, grants, faculty research support, student thesis and project support, or student summer jobs. There is not enough interaction between industry and universities. Most nuclear engineering programs are geared too closely to the technology of themore » present family of reactors and too little to the future breeder reactors and controlled thermonuclear reactors. In addition, nuclear engineering programs attract too few women and members of minority ethnic groups. Further study of the reasons for this fact is needed so that effective corrective action can be taken. Faculty in nuclear engineering programs should assume greater initiative to provide attractive and objective nuclear energy electives for technical and nontechnical students in other disciplines to improve their technical understanding of the safety and environmental issues involved. More aggressive and persistent efforts must be made by nuclear engineering schools to obtain industry support and involvement in their programs. (auth)« less

Normal operation and maintenance safety lessons from the ITER US PbLi test blanket module program for a US FNSF and DEMO

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

L. C. Cadwallader; C. P. C. Wong; M. Abdou

2014-10-01

A leading power reactor breeding blanket candidate for a fusion demonstration power plant (DEMO) being pursued by the US Fusion Community is the Dual Coolant Lead Lithium (DCLL) concept. The safety hazards associated with the DCLL concept as a reactor blanket have been examined in several US design studies. These studies identify the largest radiological hazards as those associated with the dust generation by plasma erosion of plasma blanket module first walls, oxidation of blanket structures at high temperature in air or steam, inventories of tritium bred in or permeating through the ferritic steel structures of the blanket module andmore » blanket support systems, and the 210Po and 203Hg produced in the PbLi breeder/coolant. What these studies lack is the scrutiny associated with a licensing review of the DCLL concept. An insight into this process was gained during the US participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Test Blanket Module (TBM) Program. In this paper we discuss the lessons learned during this activity and make safety proposals for the design of a Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) or a DEMO that employs a lead lithium breeding blanket.« less

Conceptual design of fast-ignition laser fusion reactor FALCON-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, T.; Someya, Y.; Ogawa, Y.; Hiwatari, R.; Asaoka, Y.; Okano, K.; Sunahara, A.; Johzaki, T.

2009-07-01

A new conceptual design of the laser fusion power plant FALCON-D (Fast-ignition Advanced Laser fusion reactor CONcept with a Dry wall chamber) has been proposed. The fast-ignition method can achieve sufficient fusion gain for a commercial operation (~100) with about 10 times smaller fusion yield than the conventional central ignition method. FALCON-D makes full use of this property and aims at designing with a compact dry wall chamber (5-6 m radius). 1D/2D simulations by hydrodynamic codes showed a possibility of achieving sufficient gain with a laser energy of 400 kJ, i.e. a 40 MJ target yield. The design feasibility of the compact dry wall chamber and the solid breeder blanket system was shown through thermomechanical analysis of the dry wall and neutronics analysis of the blanket system. Moderate electric output (~400 MWe) can be achieved with a high repetition (30 Hz) laser. This dry wall reactor concept not only reduces several difficulties associated with a liquid wall system but also enables a simple cask maintenance method for the replacement of the blanket system, which can shorten the maintenance period. The basic idea of the maintenance method for the final optics system has also been proposed. Some critical R&D issues required for this design are also discussed.

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2008. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Amar, Ravnesh

2009-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2008 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder reactor components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988; allmore » subsequent radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. In May 2007, the D&D operations in Area IV were suspended by the DOE. The environmental monitoring programs were continued throughout the year. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2008 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Radioactive contamination of the environment and its effects on livestock and food of animal origin (in German)

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

Kreuzer, W.

External and internal natural radiation exposure seems to be relatively and absolutely higher in livestock, mainly in herbivores, than in man. The artificial internal and external radiation exposure hardly exists in animals, even not in the vicinity of nuclear reactors. The external radiation exposure resulting from the radionuclides of the fallout of nuclear weapon experiments was negligibly small in Central Europe. The internal radiation exposure after intake of radionuclides with food of animal origin and their accumulation in the organism of the consumer is important. Milk and dairy products may contain considerable amounts of/sup 131/I, /sup 137/Cs, and /sup 90/Sr.more » In meat, /sup 137/Cs-contaminations were found sporadically that were higher than the permissible maximal dose. In total, the artificial radiation exposure did not yet reach the dimensions of the natural radiation exposure, neither in livestock nor in men, even not in reindeers or their breeders in Lapland, where the extreme /sup 137/Cs-contamination of the lichen causes high /sup 137/Csactivity, both in reindeers and in reindeer breeders who live almost exclusively on meat, blood, and milk of the animals. The radioactive contamination of livestock and food of animal origin may cause concern in case of a crisis or emengency. (GE)« less

Performance of low smeared density sodium-cooled fast reactor metal fuel

DOE PAGES

Porter, D. L.; H. J. M. Chichester; Medvedev, P. G.; ...

2015-06-17

An experiment was performed in the Experimental Breeder Rector-II (EBR-II) in the 1990s to show that metallic fast reactor fuel could be used in reactors with a single, once-through core. To prove the long duration, high burnup, high neutron exposure capability an experiment where the fuel pin was designed with a very large fission gas plenum and very low fuel smeared density (SD). The experiment, X496, operated to only 8.3 at. % burnup because the EBR-II reactor was scheduled for shut-down at that time. Many of the examinations of the fuel pins only funded recently with the resurgence of reactormore » designs using very high-burnup fuel. The results showed that, despite the low smeared density of 59% the fuel swelled radially to contact the cladding, fission gas release appeared to be slightly higher than demonstrated in conventional 75%SD fuel tests and axial growth was about the same as 75% SD fuel. There were axial positions in some of the fuel pins which showed evidence of fuel restructuring and an absence of fission products with low metaling points and gaseous precursors (Cs and Rb). Lastly, a model to investigate whether these areas may have overheated due to a loss of bond sodium indicates that it is a possible explanation for the fuel restructuring and something to be considered for fuel performance modeling of low SD fuel.« less

Selection of Breeding Stock among Australian Purebred Dog Breeders, with Particular Emphasis on the Dam.

PubMed

Czerwinski, Veronika; McArthur, Michelle; Smith, Bradley; Hynd, Philip; Hazel, Susan

2016-11-16

Every year, thousands of purebred domestic dogs are bred by registered dog breeders. Yet, little is known about the rearing environment of these dogs, or the attitudes and priorities surrounding breeding practices of these dog breeders. The objective of this study was to explore some of the factors that dog breeders consider important for stock selection, with a particular emphasis on issues relating to the dam. Two-hundred and seventy-four Australian purebred dog breeders, covering 91 breeds across all Australian National Kennel Club breed groups, completed an online survey relating to breeding practices. Most breeders surveyed (76%) reported specialising in one breed of dog, the median number of dogs and bitches per breeder was two and three respectively, and most breeders bred two litters or less a year. We identified four components, relating to the dam, that were considered important to breeders. These were defined as Maternal Care, Offspring Potential, Dam Temperament, and Dam Genetics and Health. Overall, differences were observed in attitudes and beliefs across these components, showing that there is variation according to breed/breed groups. In particular, the importance of Maternal Care varied according to dog breed group. Breeders of brachycephalic breeds tended to differ the most in relation to Offspring Potential and Dam Genetics and Health. The number of breeding dogs/bitches influenced breeding priority, especially in relation to Dam Temperament, however no effect was found relating to the number of puppies bred each year. Only 24% of breeders used their own sire for breeding. The finding that some breeders did not test for diseases relevant to their breed, such as hip dysplasia in Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds, provides important information on the need to educate some breeders, and also buyers of purebred puppies, that screening for significant diseases should occur. Further research into the selection of breeding dams and sires will inform future strategies to improve the health and behaviour of our best friend.

Fission gas release restrictor for breached fuel rod

DOEpatents

Kadambi, N. Prasad; Tilbrook, Roger W.; Spencer, Daniel R.; Schwallie, Ambrose L.

1986-01-01

In the event of a breach in the cladding of a rod in an operating liquid metal fast breeder reactor, the rapid release of high-pressure gas from the fission gas plenum may result in a gas blanketing of the breached rod and rods adjacent thereto which impairs the heat transfer to the liquid metal coolant. In order to control the release rate of fission gas in the event of a breached rod, the substantial portion of the conventional fission gas plenum is formed as a gas bottle means which includes a gas pervious means in a small portion thereof. During normal reactor operation, as the fission gas pressure gradually increases, the gas pressure interiorly of and exteriorly of the gas bottle means equalizes. In the event of a breach in the cladding, the gas pervious means in the gas bottle means constitutes a sufficient restriction to the rapid flow of gas therethrough that under maximum design pressure differential conditions, the fission gas flow through the breach will not significantly reduce the heat transfer from the affected rod and adjacent rods to the liquid metal heat transfer fluid flowing therebetween.

Development of new ferritic steels as cladding material for metallic fuel fast breeder reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tokiwai, Moriyasu; Horie, Masaaki; Kako, Kenji; Fujiwara, Masayuki

1993-09-01

The excellent thermal, chemical and neutronic properties of metallic fuel (U-Pu-Zr alloy) will lead to drastic improvements in fast reactor safety and the related fuel cycle economy. Some new high molybdenum 12Cr ferritic stainless steel candidate cladding alloys have been designed to achieve the mechanical properties required for high performance metallic fuel elements. These candidate claddings were irradiated by ion bombardment and tested to determine their strength and creep rupture properties. A 12Cr-8Mo and a 12Cr-8Mo-0.1Y 2O 3 steel were fabricated into cladding via a powder metallurgy process and by a mechanical alloying process, respectively. These claddings had two and three times the creep rupture strength (pressurized at 650°C for 10000 h) of a conventional 12Cr ferritic steel (HT-9). These two steels also showed no void formation up to 350 dpa by Ni 3+ irradiation. A zircaloy-2 lined steel cladding tube has also been fabricated for the purpose of reducing fuel-cladding interdiffusion and chemical interaction.

Effects of breeder turnover and harvest on group composition and recruitment in a social carnivore

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ausband, David E.; Mitchell, Michael S.; Waits, Lisette P.

2017-01-01

Breeder turnover can influence population growth in social carnivores through changes to group size, composition and recruitment.Studies that possess detailed group composition data that can provide insights about the effects of breeder turnover on groups have generally been conducted on species that are not subject to recurrent annual human harvest. We wanted to know how breeder turnover affects group composition and how harvest, in turn, affects breeder turnover in cooperatively breeding grey wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758).We used noninvasive genetic sampling at wolf rendezvous sites to construct pedigrees and estimate recruitment in groups of wolves before and after harvest in Idaho, USA.Turnover of breeding females increased polygamy and potential recruits per group by providing breeding opportunities for subordinates although resultant group size was unaffected 1 year after the turnover. Breeder turnover had no effect on the number of nonbreeding helpers per group. After breeding male turnover, fewer female pups were recruited in the new males’ litters. Harvest had no effect on the frequency of breeder turnover.We found that breeder turnover led to shifts in the reproductive hierarchies within groups and the resulting changes to group composition were quite variable and depended on the sex of the breeder lost. We hypothesize that nonbreeding females direct help away from non-kin female pups to preserve future breeding opportunities for themselves. Breeder turnover had marked effects on the breeding opportunities of subordinates and the number and sex ratios of subsequent litters of pups. Seemingly subtle changes to groups, such as the loss of one individual, can greatly affect group composition, genetic content, and short-term population growth when the individual lost is a breeder.

Effects of breeder turnover and harvest on group composition and recruitment in a social carnivore.

PubMed

Ausband, David E; Mitchell, Michael S; Waits, Lisette P

2017-09-01

Breeder turnover can influence population growth in social carnivores through changes to group size, composition and recruitment. Studies that possess detailed group composition data that can provide insights about the effects of breeder turnover on groups have generally been conducted on species that are not subject to recurrent annual human harvest. We wanted to know how breeder turnover affects group composition and how harvest, in turn, affects breeder turnover in cooperatively breeding grey wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758). We used noninvasive genetic sampling at wolf rendezvous sites to construct pedigrees and estimate recruitment in groups of wolves before and after harvest in Idaho, USA. Turnover of breeding females increased polygamy and potential recruits per group by providing breeding opportunities for subordinates although resultant group size was unaffected 1 year after the turnover. Breeder turnover had no effect on the number of nonbreeding helpers per group. After breeding male turnover, fewer female pups were recruited in the new males' litters. Harvest had no effect on the frequency of breeder turnover. We found that breeder turnover led to shifts in the reproductive hierarchies within groups and the resulting changes to group composition were quite variable and depended on the sex of the breeder lost. We hypothesize that nonbreeding females direct help away from non-kin female pups to preserve future breeding opportunities for themselves. Breeder turnover had marked effects on the breeding opportunities of subordinates and the number and sex ratios of subsequent litters of pups. Seemingly subtle changes to groups, such as the loss of one individual, can greatly affect group composition, genetic content, and short-term population growth when the individual lost is a breeder. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

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, this evaluation has confirmed that breeding condition and negative coefficient can be obtained simultaneously for water-cooled thorium reactor obtains based on the whole core fuel arrangement.« less

SASSYS pretest analysis of the THORS-SHRS experiments. [LMFBR

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

Bordner, G.L.; Dunn, F.E.

The THORS Facility at ORNL was recently modified to allow the testing of two parallel 19-pin simulated fueled subassemblies under natural circulation conditions similar to those that might occur during a partial failure of the shutdown heat removal system (SHRS) of a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor. The planned experimental program included a series of tests at various inlet plenum temperatures to determine boiling threshold power levels and the power range for stable boiling during natural circulation operation. Pretest calculations were performed at ANL, which supplement those carried out at ORNL for the purposes of validating the SASSYS model in themore » natural circulation regime and of providing data which would be useful in planning the experiments.« less

A 3-D turbulent flow analysis using finite elements with k-ɛ model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okuda, H.; Yagawa, G.; Eguchi, Y.

1989-03-01

This paper describes the finite element turbulent flow analysis, which is suitable for three-dimensional large scale problems. The k-ɛ turbulence model as well as the conservation equations of mass and momentum are discretized in space using rather low order elements. Resulting coefficient matrices are evaluated by one-point quadrature in order to reduce the computational storage and the CPU cost. The time integration scheme based on the velocity correction method is employed to obtain steady state solutions. For the verification of this FEM program, two-dimensional plenum flow is simulated and compared with experiment. As the application to three-dimensional practical problems, the turbulent flows in the upper plenum of the fast breeder reactor are calculated for various boundary conditions.

Low friction and galling resistant coatings and processes for coating

DOEpatents

Johnson, Roger N.

1987-01-01

The present invention describes coating processes and the resultant coated articles for use in high temperature sodium environments, such as those found in liquid metal fast breeder reactors and their associated systems. The substrate to which the coating is applied may be either an iron base or nickel base alloy. The coating itself is applied to the substrate by electro-spark deposition techniques which result in metallurgical bonding between the coating and the substrate. One coating according to the present invention involves electro-spark depositing material from a cemented chromium carbide electrode and an aluminum electrode. Another coating according to the present invention involves electro-spark depositing material from a cemented chromium carbide electrode and a nickel-base hardfacing alloy electrode.

Decommissioning of German Nuclear Research Facilities under the Governance of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

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

Weigl, M.

2008-07-01

Since the announcement of the first nuclear program in 1956, nuclear R and D in Germany has been supported by the Federal Government under four nuclear programs and later on under more general energy R and D programs. The original goal was to help German industry to achieve safe, low-cost generation of energy and self-sufficiency in the various branches of nuclear technology, including the fast breeder reactor and the fuel cycle. Several national research centers were established to host or operate experimental and demonstration plants. These are mainly located at the sites of the national research centers at Juelich andmore » Karlsruhe. In the meantime, all these facilities were shut down and most of them are now in a state of decommissioning and dismantling (D and D). Meanwhile, Germany is one of the leading countries in the world in the field of D and D. Two big demonstration plants, the Niederaichbach Nuclear Power Plant (KKN) a heavy-water cooled pressure tube reactor with carbon-dioxide cooling and the Karlstein Superheated Steam Reactor (HDR) a boiling light water reactor with a thermal power of 100 MW, are totally dismantled and 'green field' is reached. For two other projects the return to 'green field' sites will be reached by the end of this decade. These are the dismantling of the Multi-Purpose Research Reactor (MZFR) and the Compact Sodium Cooled Reactor (KNK) both located at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. Within these projects a lot of new solutions und innovative techniques were tested, which were developed at German universities and in small and medium sized companies mostly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). For example, high performance underwater cutting technologies like plasma arc cutting and contact arc metal cutting. (authors)« less

Feasibility of Ground Testing a Moon and Mars Surface Power Reactor in EBR-II

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

Sheryl Morton; Carl Baily; Tom Hill

Ground testing of a surface fission power system would be necessary to verify the design and validate reactor performance to support safe and sustained human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has several facilities that could be adapted to support a ground test. This paper focuses on the feasibility of ground testing at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) facility and using other INL existing infrastructure to support such a test. This brief study concludes that the INL EBR-II facility and supporting infrastructure are a viable option for ground testing the surface power system. Itmore » provides features and attributes that offer advantages to locating and performing ground testing at this site, and it could support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration schedules for human exploration of the Moon. This study used the initial concept examined by the U.S. Department of Energy Inter-laboratory Design and Analysis Support Team for surface power, a lowtemperature, liquid-metal, three-loop Brayton power system. With some facility modification, the EBR-II can safely house a test chamber and perform long-term testing of the space reactor power system. The INL infrastructure is available to receive and provide bonded storage for special nuclear materials. Facilities adjacent to EBR-II can provide the clean room environment needed to assemble and store the test article assembly, disassemble the power system at the conclusion of testing, and perform posttest examination. Capability for waste disposal is also available at the INL.« less

Feasibility of Ground Testing a Moon and Mars Surface Power Reactor in EBR-II

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

Morton, Sheryl L.; Baily, Carl E.; Hill, Thomas J.

Ground testing of a surface fission power system would be necessary to verify the design and validate reactor performance to support safe and sustained human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has several facilities that could be adapted to support a ground test. This paper focuses on the feasibility of ground testing at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) facility and using other INL existing infrastructure to support such a test. This brief study concludes that the INL EBR-II facility and supporting infrastructure are a viable option for ground testing the surface power system. Itmore » provides features and attributes that offer advantages to locating and performing ground testing at this site, and it could support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration schedules for human exploration of the Moon. This study used the initial concept examined by the U.S. Department of Energy Inter-laboratory Design and Analysis Support Team for surface power, a low-temperature, liquid-metal, three-loop Brayton power system. With some facility modification, the EBR-II can safely house a test chamber and perform long-term testing of the space reactor power system. The INL infrastructure is available to receive and provide bonded storage for special nuclear materials. Facilities adjacent to EBR-II can provide the clean room environment needed to assemble and store the test article assembly, disassemble the power system at the conclusion of testing, and perform posttest examination. Capability for waste disposal is also available at the INL.« less

Role of ADS in the back-end of the fuel cycle strategies and associated design activities: The case of Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oigawa, Hiroyuki; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi; Nishihara, Kenji; Sugawara, Takanori; Kurata, Yuji; Takei, Hayanori; Saito, Shigeru; Sasa, Toshinobu; Obayashi, Hironari

2011-08-01

Reduction of burden caused by radioactive waste management is one of the most critical issues for the sustainable utilization of nuclear power. The Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) technology provides the possibility to reduce the amount of the radiotoxic inventory of the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) dramatically and to extend the repository capacity. The accelerator-driven system (ADS) is regarded as a powerful tool to effectively transmute minor actinides (MAs) in the "double-strata" fuel cycle strategy. The ADS has a potential to flexibly manage MA in the transient phase from light water reactors (LWRs) to fast breeder reactors (FBRs), and can co-exist with FBR symbiotically and complementarily to enhance the reliability and the safety of the commercial FBR cycle. The concept of ADS in JAEA is a lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) cooled, tank-type subcritical reactor with the power of 800 MWth driven by a 30 MW superconducting LINAC. By such an ADS, 250 kg of MA can be transmuted annually, which corresponds to the amount of MA produced in 10 units of LWR with 1 GWe. The design study was performed mainly for the subcritical reactor and the spallation target with a beam window. In Japan, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has implemented the check and review (C&R) on P&T technology from 2008 to 2009. In the C&R, the benefit of P&T technology, the current status of the R&D, and the way forward to promote it were discussed.

Feasibility of Ground Testing a Moon and Mars Surface Power Reactor in EBR-II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, Sheryl L.; Baily, Carl E.; Hill, Thomas J.; Werner, James E.

2006-01-01

Ground testing of a surface fission power system would be necessary to verify the design and validate reactor performance to support safe and sustained human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has several facilities that could be adapted to support a ground test. This paper focuses on the feasibility of ground testing at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) facility and using other INL existing infrastructure to support such a test. This brief study concludes that the INL EBR-II facility and supporting infrastructure are a viable option for ground testing the surface power system. It provides features and attributes that offer advantages to locating and performing ground testing at this site, and it could support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration schedules for human exploration of the Moon. This study used the initial concept examined by the U.S. Department of Energy Inter-laboratory Design and Analysis Support Team for surface power, a low-temperature, liquid-metal, three-loop Brayton power system. With some facility modification, the EBR-II can safely house a test chamber and perform long-term testing of the space reactor power system. The INL infrastructure is available to receive and provide bonded storage for special nuclear materials. Facilities adjacent to EBR-II can provide the clean room environment needed to assemble and store the test article assembly, disassemble the power system at the conclusion of testing, and perform posttest examination. Capability for waste disposal is also available at the INL.

Experimental Measurements at the MASURCA Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assal, W.; Bosq, J. C.; Mellier, F.

2012-12-01

Dedicated to the neutronics studies of fast and semi-fast reactor lattices, MASURCA (meaning “mock-up facility for fast breeder reactor studies at CADARACHE”) is an airflow cooled fast reactor operating at a maximum power of 5 kW playing an important role in the CEA research activities. At this facility, a lot of neutron integral experimental programs were undertaken. The purpose of this poster is to show a panorama of the facility from this experimental measurement point of view. A hint at the forthcoming refurbishment will be included. These programs include various experimental measurements (reactivity, distributions of fluxes, reaction rates), performed essentially with fission chambers, in accordance with different methods (noise methods, radial or axial traverses, rod drops) and involving several devices systems (monitors, fission chambers, amplifiers, power supplies, data acquisition systems ...). For this purpose are implemented electronics modules to shape the signals sent from the detectors in various mode (fluctuation, pulse, current). All the electric and electronic devices needed for these measurements and the relating wiring will be fully explained through comprehensive layouts. Data acquired during counting performed at the time of startup phase or rod drops are analyzed by the mean of a Neutronic Measurement Treatment (TMN in French) programmed on the basis of the MATLAB software. This toolbox gives the opportunity of data files management, reactivity valuation from neutronics measurements and transient or divergence simulation at zero power. Particular TMN using at MASURCA will be presented.

METHODS OF CALCULATION FOR THE TREATMENT OF SHIELD HETEROGENEITIES IN THE PROTOTYPE FAST REACTOR.

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

Broughton, J.; Butler, J.; Brimstone, M.

1969-10-31

The radial shield of the sodium-cooled Prototype Fast Reactor is composed of graphite rods enclosed in steel tubes which are arranged in a lattice of seven rows round the periphery of the breeder. The outside diameter of these rods increases by about a factor of 2 between the inner temperature of about 600 deg C. The dimensions of the steel, graphite and sodium regions are large compared with the mean free paths of the predomination neutrons at intermediate energies; and homogenisation of the shield seriously underestimates the penetration, which is also enhanced by the presence of numerous irregularities associated withmore » nucleonic instrument thimbels, refuelling mechanisms and the primary coolant circuit. Methods of calculation have been developed for the solution of these problems, using both diffusion-theory and Monte Carlo techniques. The diffusion calculations have been accomplished with the COMPRASH and ATTOW codes; and a prototype Monet Carlo code named MOB has been developed, which takes a proper account of the radial shield geometry. The theoretical predictions are compared with measurements made in typical shield arrays on LIDO at Harwell and on the zero-energy fast reactor, ZEBRA, at Winfrith. The diffusion-theory and Monte Carlo approaches are also assessed as design tools taking into consideration accuracy, data preparation and computing time requirements. (auth)« less

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2009. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Amar, Ravnesh

2010-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2009 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder reactor components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988, andmore » all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Liquid metal research and development ended in 2002. Since May 2007, the D&D operations in Area IV have been suspended by the DOE, but the environmental monitoring and characterization programs have continued. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2009 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2011. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Dassler, David

2012-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2011 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, operation and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder reactor components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988,more » and all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Liquid metal research and development ended in 2002. Since May 2007, the D&D operations in Area IV have been suspended by the DOE, but the environmental monitoring and characterization programs have continued. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2011 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2010. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Amar, Ravnesh

2011-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2010 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder reactor components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988, andmore » all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Liquid metal research and development ended in 2002. Since May 2007, the D&D operations in Area IV have been suspended by the DOE, but the environmental monitoring and characterization programs have continued. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2010 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Site Environmental Report For Calendar Year 2012. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Dassler, David

2013-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2012 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, operation and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder reactor components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988,more » and all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Liquid metal research and development ended in 2002. Since May 2007, the D&D operations in Area IV have been suspended by the DOE, but the environmental monitoring and characterization programs have continued. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2012 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Feasibility study of a fission-suppressed Tokamak fusion breeder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moir, R. W.; Lee, J. D.; Neef, W. S., Jr.; Berwald, D. H.; Garner, J. K.; Whitley, R. H.; Ghoniem, N.; Wong, C. P. C.; Maya, I.; Schultz, K. R.

1984-12-01

The preliminary conceptual design of a tokama fissile fuel producer is described. The blanket technology is based on the fission suppressed breeding concept where neutron multiplication occurs in a bed of 2 cm diameter beryllium pebbles which are cooled by helium at 50 atmospheres pressure. Uranium-233 is bred in thorium metal fuel elements which are in the form of snap rings attached to each beryllium pebble. Tritium is bred in lithium bearing material contained in tubes immersed in the pebble bed and is recovered by a purge flow of helium. The neutron wall load is 3 MW/m(2) and the blanket material is ferritic steel. The net fissile breeding ratio is 0.54 plus or minus 30% per fusion reaction. This results in the production of 4900 kg of (223)U per year from 3000 MW of fusion power. This quantity of fuel will provide makeup fuel for about 12 LWRs of equal thermal power or about 18 1 GW sub e LWRs. The calculated cost of the produced uranium-233 is between $23/g and $53/g or equivalent to $10/kg to $90/kg of U308 depending on government financing or utility financing assumptions. Additional topics discussed include the Tokamak operating mode (both steady state and long pulse considered), the design and breeding implications of using a poloidal divertor for impurity control, reactor safety, the choice of a tritium breeder, and fuel management.

Characterization of advertisements for puppies sold online: determinants of cost and a comparison with parent club breeders.

PubMed

Voris, H C; Wittum, T E; Rajala-Schultz, P J; Lord, L K

2011-07-01

The Internet is an increasingly common way for consumers to purchase puppies. Yet very little information is available about the types of puppies sold via the Internet. In addition these sales are not subject to United States Depart of Agriculture (USDA) regulation. The objectives of the study were to describe puppies sold via the Internet, to assess the characteristics that contribute to the cost of a puppy, and to compare puppies sold via the Internet with puppies sold by American Kennel Club (AKC) Parent Club breeders. Over 14 weeks in 2008, Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu, English Bulldog, Boxer, and Labrador Retriever puppies for sale on two large-scale online puppy sales sites were categorized based on their Internet advertisements. Data were collected in three categories: puppy characteristics, health characteristics, and policies (such as spay/neuter requirement, health guarantee, and return policy). After the survey was completed, 25 AKC Parent Club breeders and 25 other breeders who advertised via one of the puppy sales websites were randomly selected and interviewed over the phone. Small breed puppies were most frequently advertised with 35.2% (1228/3485) of advertisements for Yorkshire Terriers and 23.0% (802/3485) for Shih Tzus. Almost one quarter of Internet breeders 768/3474 (22.2%) advertised four or more different dog breeds. Champion bloodlines increased the cost of a puppy of all breeds. AKC Parent Club breeders 21/25 (84%) were more likely to mention breed-specific health screening tests when compared to Internet breeders 7/25 (28%). Consumers should apply the same standards for purchasing from a breeder found through a puppy sales site as they would for purchasing from a local breeder. Breeders who advertise at one of the large-scale puppy sales websites are less knowledgeable about breed-specific health issues compared to an AKC Parent Club breeder. Internet breeders are less likely to perform these screening tests on their breeding dogs and may breed dogs with undesirable heritable health risks. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Respiratory diseases and allergic sensitization in swine breeders: a population-based cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Galli, Luigina; Facchetti, Susanna; Raffetti, Elena; Donato, Francesco; D'Anna, Mauro

2015-11-01

The daily occupation as a swine breeder involves exposure to several bacterial components and organic dusts and inhalation of a large amount of allergens. To investigate the risk of respiratory diseases and atopy in swine breeders compared with the general population living in the same area. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in an agricultural area of northern Italy that enrolled a random sample of resident male breeders and non-breeders. Demographic features, comorbidities, and presence of allergic respiratory disease were retrieved through interview. Prick tests for common allergens were performed. An evaluation of pollen and mold in air samples taken inside and outside some swine confinement buildings also was performed. One hundred one male breeders (78 native-born, mean age ± SD 43.0 ± 11.1 years) and 82 non-breeders (43.0 ± 11.1 years) were enrolled. When restricting the analysis to native-born subjects, breeders vs non-breeders showed a lower prevalence of respiratory allergy (12.8% vs 31.1%, respectively, P = .002), asthma (6.4% vs 15.8%, P = .059), rhinitis (16.7% vs 51.2%, P < .001), persistent cough (5.1% vs 15.9%, P = .028), and sensitization to grass (7.7% vs 25.6%, P = .002). There was no difference in prick test positivity, polysensitization, nasal cytologic pattern, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity between breeders and non-breeders. Air concentration of molds and pollens was lower inside than outside the swine buildings investigated, particularly when the pigs were inside vs outside the buildings. This study suggests that swine breeding does not increase, and might decrease, the risk of pollen sensitization and allergic disease. Copyright © 2015 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Strategic growth decisions in helper cichlids.

PubMed Central

Heg, Dik; Bender, Nicole; Hamilton, Ian

2004-01-01

Recently, it has been shown that group-living subordinate clownfish Amphiprion percula increase their growth rate after acquiring the dominant breeder male position in the group. Evidence was found for strategic growth adjustments of subordinate fishes depending on the threat of eviction, i.e. subordinates adjust their growth rates so they remain smaller than the dominant fish and thereby limit the threat of being expelled from the territory. However, it is impossible to exclude several alternative factors that potentially could have influenced the observed changes in growth, owing to the nature of that experiment (removing the second-ranking fish--the breeder male--caused the third-ranking fish to change sex to become breeder male and change rank). We studied strategic growth decisions in the group-living Lake Tanganyika cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher under controlled laboratory conditions with ad libitum food availability. First, we show that male breeders grow faster than subordinate male helpers of the same initial size and confirm that N. pulcher shows status-dependent growth. Second, we improved on the experimental design by not removing the dominant breeder male in the group; instead we replaced the breeder male with a new breeder male in a full factorial design and measured growth of the subordinate male helpers is a function of the size difference with the old and the new breeder male. As predicted, male helpers showed strategic growth adjustments, i.e. growing faster when the size difference with the breeder male is large. Strategic growth adjustments were less pronounced than status-dependent growth adjustments. PMID:15801617

Strategic growth decisions in helper cichlids.

PubMed

Heg, Dik; Bender, Nicole; Hamilton, Ian

2004-12-07

Recently, it has been shown that group-living subordinate clownfish Amphiprion percula increase their growth rate after acquiring the dominant breeder male position in the group. Evidence was found for strategic growth adjustments of subordinate fishes depending on the threat of eviction, i.e. subordinates adjust their growth rates so they remain smaller than the dominant fish and thereby limit the threat of being expelled from the territory. However, it is impossible to exclude several alternative factors that potentially could have influenced the observed changes in growth, owing to the nature of that experiment (removing the second-ranking fish--the breeder male--caused the third-ranking fish to change sex to become breeder male and change rank). We studied strategic growth decisions in the group-living Lake Tanganyika cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher under controlled laboratory conditions with ad libitum food availability. First, we show that male breeders grow faster than subordinate male helpers of the same initial size and confirm that N. pulcher shows status-dependent growth. Second, we improved on the experimental design by not removing the dominant breeder male in the group; instead we replaced the breeder male with a new breeder male in a full factorial design and measured growth of the subordinate male helpers is a function of the size difference with the old and the new breeder male. As predicted, male helpers showed strategic growth adjustments, i.e. growing faster when the size difference with the breeder male is large. Strategic growth adjustments were less pronounced than status-dependent growth adjustments.

Territory inheritance in clownfish.

PubMed Central

Buston, Peter M

2004-01-01

Animal societies composed of breeders and non-breeders present a challenge to evolutionary theory because it is not immediately apparent how natural selection can preserve the genes that underlie non-breeding strategies. The clownfish Amphiprion percula forms groups composed of a breeding pair and 0-4 non-breeders. Non-breeders gain neither present direct, nor present indirect benefits from the association. To determine whether non-breeders obtain future direct benefits, I investigated the pattern of territory inheritance. I show that non-breeders stand to inherit the territory within which they reside. Moreover, they form a perfect queue for breeding positions; a queue from which nobody disperses and within which nobody contests. I suggest that queuing might be favoured by selection because it confers a higher probability of attaining breeding status than either dispersing or contesting. This study illustrates that, within animal societies, individuals may tolerate non-breeding positions solely because of their potential to realize benefits in the future. PMID:15252999

Territory inheritance in clownfish.

PubMed

Buston, Peter M

2004-05-07

Animal societies composed of breeders and non-breeders present a challenge to evolutionary theory because it is not immediately apparent how natural selection can preserve the genes that underlie non-breeding strategies. The clownfish Amphiprion percula forms groups composed of a breeding pair and 0-4 non-breeders. Non-breeders gain neither present direct, nor present indirect benefits from the association. To determine whether non-breeders obtain future direct benefits, I investigated the pattern of territory inheritance. I show that non-breeders stand to inherit the territory within which they reside. Moreover, they form a perfect queue for breeding positions; a queue from which nobody disperses and within which nobody contests. I suggest that queuing might be favoured by selection because it confers a higher probability of attaining breeding status than either dispersing or contesting. This study illustrates that, within animal societies, individuals may tolerate non-breeding positions solely because of their potential to realize benefits in the future.

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

Natesan, K.; Momozaki, Y.; Li, M.

This report gives a description of the activities in design, fabrication, construction, and assembling of a pumped sodium loop for the sodium compatibility studies on advanced structural materials. The work is the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) portion of the effort on the work project entitled, 'Sodium Compatibility of Advanced Fast Reactor Materials,' and is a part of Advanced Materials Development within the Reactor Campaign. The objective of this project is to develop information on sodium corrosion compatibility of advanced materials being considered for sodium reactor applications. This report gives the status of the sodium pumped loop at Argonne National Laboratory,more » the specimen details, and the technical approach to evaluate the sodium compatibility of advanced structural alloys. This report is a deliverable from ANL in FY2010 (M2GAN10SF050302) under the work package G-AN10SF0503 'Sodium Compatibility of Advanced Fast Reactor Materials.' Two reports were issued in 2009 (Natesan and Meimei Li 2009, Natesan et al. 2009) which examined the thermodynamic and kinetic factors involved in the purity of liquid sodium coolant for sodium reactor applications as well as the design specifications for the ANL pumped loop for testing advanced structural materials. Available information was presented on solubility of several metallic and nonmetallic elements along with a discussion of the possible mechanisms for the accumulation of impurities in sodium. That report concluded that the solubility of many metals in sodium is low (<1 part per million) in the temperature range of interest in sodium reactors and such trace amounts would not impact the mechanical integrity of structural materials and components. The earlier report also analyzed the solubility and transport mechanisms of nonmetallic elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen in laboratory sodium loops and in reactor systems such as Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, Fast Flux Test Facility, and Clinch River Breeder Reactor. Among the nonmetallic elements discussed, oxygen is deemed controllable and its concentration in sodium can be maintained in sodium for long reactor life by using cold-trap method. It was concluded that among the cold-trap and getter-trap methods, the use of cold trap is sufficient to achieve oxygen concentration of the order of 1 part per million. Under these oxygen conditions in sodium, the corrosion performance of structural materials such as austenitic stainless steels and ferritic steels will be acceptable at a maximum core outlet sodium temperature of {approx}550 C. In the current sodium compatibility studies, the oxygen concentration in sodium will be controlled and maintained at {approx}1 ppm by controlling the cold trap temperature. The oxygen concentration in sodium in the forced convection sodium loop will be controlled and monitored by maintaining the cold trap temperature in the range of 120-150 C, which would result in oxygen concentration in the range of 1-2 ppm. Uniaxial tensile specimens are being exposed to flowing sodium and will be retrieved and analyzed for corrosion and post-exposure tensile properties. Advanced materials for sodium exposure include austenitic alloy HT-UPS and ferritic-martensitic steels modified 9Cr-1Mo and NF616. Among the nonmetallic elements in sodium, carbon was assessed to have the most influence on structural materials since carbon, as an impurity, is not amenable to control and maintenance by any of the simple purification methods. The dynamic equilibrium value for carbon in sodium systems is dependent on several factors, details of which were discussed in the earlier report. The current sodium compatibility studies will examine the role of carbon concentration in sodium on the carburization-decarburization of advanced structural materials at temperatures up to 650 C. Carbon will be added to the sodium by exposure of carbon-filled iron tubes, which over time will enable carbon to diffuse through iron and dissolve into sodium. The method enables addition of dissolved carbon (without carbon particulates) in sodium that is of interest for materials compatibility evaluation. The removal of carbon from the sodium will be accomplished by exposing carbon-gettering alloys such as refractory metals that have a high partitioning coefficient for carbon and also precipitate carbides, thereby decreasing the carbon concentration in sodium.« less

A fission-fusion hybrid reactor in steady-state L-mode tokamak configuration with natural uranium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reed, Mark; Parker, Ronald R.; Forget, Benoit

2012-06-01

This work develops a conceptual design for a fusion-fission hybrid reactor operating in steady-state L-mode tokamak configuration with a subcritical natural or depleted uranium pebble bed blanket. A liquid lithium-lead alloy breeds enough tritium to replenish that consumed by the D-T fusion reaction. The fission blanket augments the fusion power such that the fusion core itself need not have a high power gain, thus allowing for fully non-inductive (steady-state) low confinement mode (L-mode) operation at relatively small physical dimensions. A neutron transport Monte Carlo code models the natural uranium fission blanket. Maximizing the fission power gain while breeding sufficient tritium allows for the selection of an optimal set of blanket parameters, which yields a maximum prudent fission power gain of approximately 7. A 0-D tokamak model suffices to analyze approximate tokamak operating conditions. This fission blanket would allow the fusion component of a hybrid reactor with the same dimensions as ITER to operate in steady-state L-mode very comfortably with a fusion power gain of 6.7 and a thermal fusion power of 2.1 GW. Taking this further can determine the approximate minimum scale for a steady-state L-mode tokamak hybrid reactor, which is a major radius of 5.2 m and an aspect ratio of 2.8. This minimum scale device operates barely within the steady-state L-mode realm with a thermal fusion power of 1.7 GW. Basic thermal hydraulic analysis demonstrates that pressurized helium could cool the pebble bed fission blanket with a flow rate below 10 m/s. The Brayton cycle thermal efficiency is 41%. This reactor, dubbed the Steady-state L-mode non-Enriched Uranium Tokamak Hybrid (SLEUTH), with its very fast neutron spectrum, could be superior to pure fission reactors in terms of breeding fissile fuel and transmuting deleterious fission products. It would likely function best as a prolific plutonium breeder, and the plutonium it produces could actually be more proliferation-resistant than that bred by conventional fast reactors. Furthermore, it can maintain constant total hybrid power output as burnup proceeds by varying the neutron source strength.

Effect of dietary canthaxanthin and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol supplementation on the performance of duck breeders under two different vitamin regimens.

PubMed

Ren, Zhouzheng; Jiang, Shizhen; Zeng, Qiufeng; Ding, Xuemei; Bai, Shiping; Wang, Jianping; Luo, Yuheng; Su, Zhuowei; Xuan, Yue; Yao, Bing; Cisneros, Fernando; Zhang, Keying

2016-01-01

Dietary canthaxanthin (CX), 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OH-D 3 ) and vitamins have been widely reported to be involved in productive and reproductive performance of broiler breeders. However, limited information is available for duck breeders. In this study, a total of 1,560 Cherry Valley SM3 duck breeder females and 312 males were used to assess if the addition of CX and 25-OH-D3 could increase the performance of duck breeders under two different dietary vitamin regimens. Four diets were used under a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with 2 kinds of vitamin premixes (REGULAR and HIGH; HIGH premix had higher levels of all vitamins except K3 than REGULAR premix), and with or without the supplementation of the mixture of CX (6 mg/kg) and 25-OH-D3 (0.069 mg/kg). The ducks were fed ad libitum with pelleted diets based on corn-soybean meal from 38 to 77 wk of age. HIGH vitamin premix decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) level (P < 0.001) of egg yolk, increased hatchability of fertile eggs (P = 0.029), increased hatchability of total eggs (P = 0.029), and decreased serum protein carbonyl level (P = 0.037) of breeder males. The mixture of CX and 25-OH-D3 increased serum calcium of breeder females (P = 0.010), decreased the cracked egg rate (P = 0.001), increased the pigmentation of egg yolk (P < 0.001) and male bill (P < 0.001), and decreased MDA level of egg yolk (P < 0.001) and male serum (P = 0.034). Interactive effects were observed in cracked egg rate (P = 0.038), shell thickness (P = 0.011) and serum phosphorus (P = 0.026) of breeder females. HIGH vitamin premix together with the mixture of CX and 25-OH-D3 decreased cracked egg rate and increased shell thickness of duck breeders. Serum phosphorus was decreased in duck breeder females fed REGULAR vitamin premix without the addition of the CX and 25-OH-D3 mixture. Dietary HIGH vitamin premix increased antioxidant status of eggs and breeder males, and increased hatchability. The mixture of CX and 25-OH-D3 enhanced egg shell quality, and promoted pigmentation and antioxidant status of eggs and breeder males.

Self-cooled liquid-metal blanket concept

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

Malang, S.; Arheidt, K.; Barleon, L.

1988-11-01

A blanket concept for the Next European Torus (NET) where 83Pb-17Li serves both as breeder material and as coolant is described. The concept is based on the use of novel flow channel inserts for a decisive reduction of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure drop and employs beryllium as neutron multiplier in order to avoid the need for breeding blankets at the inboard side of the torus. This study includes the design, neutronics, thermal hydraulics, stresses, MHDs, corrosion, tritium recovery, and safety of a self-cooled liquid-metal blanket. The results of the investigations indicate that the self-cooled blanket is an attractive alternative tomore » other driver blanket concepts for NET and that it can be extrapolated to the conditions of a DEMO reactor.« less

Indirect-cycle FBR cooled by supercritical steam-concept and design

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

Yoshiaki, Oka; Tatjana, Jevremovic; Sei-ichi, Koshizuka

1993-01-01

Neutronic and thermal-hydraulic design of an in direct-cycle supercritical steam-cooled fast breeder reactor (SCFBR-I) is carried out to find a way to make low-cost FBRs (Ref. 1). The advantages of supercritical steam cooling are high thermal efficiency, low pumping power, simplified system (no primary steam generators and no Loeffler boilers), and the use of experienced technology in fossil-fired power plants. The design goals are fissile fuel breeding (compound system doubling time below 30 yr), 1000-M(electric) class out-put, high fuel discharge burnup, and a long refueling period. The coolant void reactivity should be negative throughout fuel lifetime because the loss-of-coolant accidentmore » is the design-basis accident. These goals have never been satisfied simultaneously in previous SCFBRs.« less

Age, sex and social influences on adult survival in the cooperatively breeding Karoo Scrub-robin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lloyd, Penn; Martin, Thomas E.; Taylor, Andrew; Braae, Anne; Altwegg, Res

2016-01-01

Among cooperatively breeding species, helpers are hypothesised to increase the survival of breeders by reducing breeder workload in offspring care and increased group vigilance against predators. Furthermore, parental nepotism or other benefits of group living may provide a survival benefit to young that delay dispersal to help. We tested these hypotheses in the Karoo Scrub-robin (Cercotrichas coryphaeus), a long-lived, and facultative cooperatively breeding species in which male helpers make substantial contributions to the care of young. We found that annual breeder survival in the presence of helpers did not differ detectably from breeders without helpers or breeders that lost helpers. Furthermore, helpers did not gain a survival benefit from deferred breeding; apparent survival did not differ detectably between male helpers and male breeders followed from one year old. These results are consistent with other studies suggesting a lack of adult survival benefits among species where breeders do not substantially reduce workloads when helpers are present. They are also consistent with the hypothesis that males that delay dispersal make the ‘best of a bad job’ by helping on their natal territory to gain indirect fitness benefits when they are unable to obtain a territory vacancy nearby.

Allo-parental care in Damaraland mole-rats is female biased and age dependent, though independent of testosterone levels.

PubMed

Zöttl, Markus; Vullioud, Philippe; Goddard, Katy; Torrents-Ticó, Miquel; Gaynor, David; Bennett, Nigel C; Clutton-Brock, Tim

2018-05-02

In Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis), non-breeding subordinates contribute to the care of offspring born to the breeding pair in their group by carrying and retrieving young to the nest. In social mole-rats and some cooperative breeders, dominant females show unusually high testosterone levels and it has been suggested that high testosterone levels may increase reproductive and aggressive behavior and reduce investment in allo-parental and parental care, generating age and state-dependent variation in behavior. Here we show that, in Damaraland mole-rats, allo-parental care in males and females is unaffected by experimental increases in testosterone levels. Pup carrying decreases with age of the non-breeding helper while the change in social status from non-breeder to breeder has contrasting effects in the two sexes. Female breeders were more likely than female non-breeders to carry pups but male breeders were less likely to carry pups than male non-breeders, increasing the sex bias in parental care compared to allo-parental care. Our results indicate that testosterone is unlikely to be an important regulator of allo-parental care in mole-rats. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

SPLASH program for three dimensional fluid dynamics with free surface boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaguchi, A.

1996-05-01

This paper describes a three dimensional computer program SPLASH that solves Navier-Stokes equations based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) finite element method. SPLASH has been developed for application to the fluid dynamics problems including the moving boundary of a liquid metal cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR). To apply SPLASH code to the free surface behavior analysis, a capillary model using a cubic Spline function has been developed. Several sample problems, e.g., free surface oscillation, vortex shedding development, and capillary tube phenomena, are solved to verify the computer program. In the analyses, the numerical results are in good agreement with the theoretical value or experimental observance. Also SPLASH code has been applied to an analysis of a free surface sloshing experiment coupled with forced circulation flow in a rectangular tank. This is a simplified situation of the flow field in a reactor vessel of the FBR. The computational simulation well predicts the general behavior of the fluid flow inside and the free surface behavior. Analytical capability of the SPLASH code has been verified in this study and the application to more practical problems such as FBR design and safety analysis is under way.

ARC: A compact, high-field, disassemblable fusion nuclear science facility and demonstration power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorbom, Brandon; Ball, Justin; Palmer, Timothy; Mangiarotti, Franco; Sierchio, Jennifer; Bonoli, Paul; Kasten, Cale; Sutherland, Derek; Barnard, Harold; Haakonsen, Christian; Goh, Jon; Sung, Choongki; Whyte, Dennis

2014-10-01

The Affordable, Robust, Compact (ARC) reactor conceptual design aims to reduce the size, cost, and complexity of a combined Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) and demonstration fusion pilot power plant. ARC is a 270 MWe tokamak reactor with a major radius of 3.3 m, a minor radius of 1.1 m, and an on-axis magnetic field of 9.2 T. ARC has Rare Earth Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) superconducting toroidal field coils with joints to allow disassembly, allowing for removal and replacement of the vacuum vessel as a single component. Inboard-launched current drive of 25 MW LHRF power and 13.6 MW ICRF power is used to provide a robust, steady state core plasma far from disruptive limits. ARC uses an all-liquid blanket, consisting of low pressure, slowly flowing Fluorine Lithium Beryllium (FLiBe) molten salt. The liquid blanket acts as a working fluid, coolant, and tritium breeder, and minimizes the solid material that can become activated. The large temperature range over which FLiBe is liquid permits blanket operation at 800-900 K with single phase fluid cooling and allows use of a high-efficiency Brayton cycle for electricity production in the secondary coolant loop.

Structural response of 1/20-scale models of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor to a simulated hypothetical core disruptive accident. Technical report 4

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

Romander, C. M.; Cagliostro, D. J.

Five experiments were performed to help evaluate the structural integrity of the reactor vessel and head design and to verify code predictions. In the first experiment (SM 1), a detailed model of the head was loaded statically to determine its stiffness. In the remaining four experiments (SM 2 to SM 5), models of the vessel and head were loaded dynamically under a simulated 661 MW-sec hypothetical core disruptive accident (HCDA). Models SM 2 to SM 4, each of increasing complexity, systematically showed the effects of upper internals structures, a thermal liner, core support platform, and torospherical bottom on vessel response.more » Model SM 5, identical to SM 4 but more heavily instrumented, demonstrated experimental reproducibility and provided more comprehensive data. The models consisted of a Ni 200 vessel and core barrel, a head with shielding and simulated component masses, an upper internals structure (UIS), and, in the more complex models SM 4 and SM 5, a Ni 200 thermal liner and core support structure. Water simulated the liquid sodium coolant and a low-density explosive simulated the HCDA loads.« less

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2004. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Lee, Majelle

2005-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2004 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). In the past, the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder components. All nuclear work was terminated inmore » 1988; all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Closure of the liquid metal test facilities began in 1996. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2004 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2006. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil

2007-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2006 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). In the past, the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder components. All nuclear work was terminated inmore » 1988; all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Closure of the liquid metal test facilities began in 1996. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2006 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2003 DOE Operations at The Boeing Company, Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power

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

Liu, Ning; Rutherford, Phil; Samuels, Sandy

2004-09-30

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2003 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). In the past, the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations at ETEC included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities at ETEC involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing liquid metal fast breeder components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988; allmore » subsequent radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Closure of the liquid metal test facilities began in 1996. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2003 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling.« less

Calculation of natural convection test at Phenix using the NETFLOW++ code

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

Mochizuki, H.; Kikuchi, N.; Li, S.

2012-07-01

The present paper describes modeling and analyses of a natural convection of the pool-type fast breeder reactor Phenix. The natural convection test was carried out as one of the End of Life Tests of the Phenix. Objective of the present study is to assess the applicability of the NETFLOW++ code which has been verified thus far using various water facilities and validated using the plant data of the loop-type FBR 'Monju' and the loop-type experimental fast reactor 'Joyo'. The Phenix primary heat transport system is modeled based on the benchmark documents available from IAEA. The calculational model consists of onlymore » the primary heat transport system with boundary conditions on the secondary-side of IHX. The coolant temperature at the primary pump inlet, the primary coolant temperature at the IHX inlet and outlet, the secondary coolant temperatures and other parameters are calculated by the code where the heat transfer between the hot and cold pools is explicitly taken into account. A model including the secondary and tertiary systems was prepared, and the calculated results also agree well with the measured data in general. (authors)« less

Annual progress report on the NSRR experiments, (21)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1992-05-01

Fuel behavior studies under simulated reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) conditions have been performed in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) since 1975. This report gives the results of experiments performed from April, 1989 through March, 1990 and discussions of them. A total of 41 tests were carried out during this period. The tests are distinguished into pre-irradiated fuel tests and fresh fuel tests; the former includes 2 JMTR pre-irradiated fuel tests, 2 PWR pre-irradiated fuel tests, and 2 BWR pre-irradiated fuel tests, and the latter includes 6 standard fuel tests (6 SP(center dot)CP scoping tests), 7 power and cooling condition parameter tests (4 flow shrouded fuel tests, 1 bundle simulation test, 1 fully water-filled vessel test, 1 high pressure/high temperature loop test), 12 special fuel tests (3 stainless steel clad fuel tests, 3 improved PWR fuel tests, 6 improved BWR fuel tests), 3 severe fuel damage tests (1 high temperature flooding test, 1 flooding behavior observation test, 1 debris coolability test), 3 fast breeder reactor fuel tests (2 moderator material characteristic measurement tests, 1 fuel behavior observation test), and 2 miscellaneous tests (2 preliminary tests for pre-irradiated fuel tests).

IgM antiavian antibodies in sera from patients with pigeon breeder's disease.

PubMed

Martínez-Cordero, E; Aguilar León, D E; Retana, V N

2000-01-01

The authors' objective was to study the presence of IgM antiavian antibodies in sera from patients with pigeon breeder's disease. We studied 93 patients with interstitial lung disease admitted for the assessment of pigeon breeder's disease. Eighty sera from healthy donors with no history of bird contact and 47 asymptomatic pigeon breeders were included as controls. The presence of IgM, IgG, and IgA antiavian antibodies was detected by ELISA and Western blot using avian-pooled serum antigen. Fifty-three patients were classified as having definite pigeon breeder's disease, whereas 40 did not fulfill these diagnostic criteria. The levels of IgM antiavian-antibodies in pigeon breeder's disease by ELISA exceeded both the values of healthy subjects with no history of avian contact (P = 2.5 x 10(-8)) and the results of asymptomatic breeders (P = 0. 03). Positive IgA antiavian antibodies were the most frequent abnormalities in pigeon breeder's disease showing values over the reference levels of control groups that reach significant statistical differences. Both precipitin-positive and -negative samples demonstrated IgM reactivity. IgM antiavian antibodies were confirmed by Western blot. A relationship of IgM positive tests with a recent history of avian antigen exposure and acute disease was found. Additionally, the positive IgM group included patients having subacute and chronic lung disease. Antiavian antibodies have previously been considered of minor significance in hypersensitivity pneumonitis; nevertheless, recent studies support their use in clinical diagnosis. Although no specific laboratory tests can confirm the diagnosis in pigeon breeder's disease, IgM antiavian antibodies may be useful for detecting recent antigen exposure and the acute stage of the disease. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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

Curtis, Michael M.

As a result of NSG restrictions, India cannot import the natural uranium required to fuel its Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs); consequently, it is forced to rely on the expediency of domestic uranium production. However, domestic production from mines and byproduct sources has not kept pace with demand from commercial reactors. This shortage has been officially confirmed by the Indian Planning Commission’s Mid-Term Appraisal of the country’s current Five Year Plan. The report stresses that as a result of the uranium shortage, Indian PHWR load factors have been continually decreasing. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) operates a numbermore » of underground mines in the Singhbhum Shear Zone of Jharkhand, and it is all processed at a single mill in Jaduguda. UCIL is attempting to aggrandize operations by establishing new mines and mills in other states, but the requisite permit-gathering and development time will defer production until at least 2009. A significant portion of India’s uranium comes from byproduct sources, but a number of these are derived from accumulated stores that are nearing exhaustion. A current maximum estimate of indigenous uranium production is 430t/yr (230t from mines and 200t from byproduct sources); whereas, the current uranium requirement for Indian PHWRs is 455t/yr (depending on plant capacity factor). This deficit is exacerbated by the additional requirements of the Indian weapons program. Present power generation capacity of Indian nuclear plants is 4350 MWe. The power generation target set by the Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is 20,000 MWe by the year 2020. It is expected that around half of this total will be provided by PHWRs using indigenously supplied uranium with the bulk of the remainder provided by breeder reactors or pressurized water reactors using imported low-enriched uranium.« less

Neutron transport-burnup code MCORGS and its application in fusion fission hybrid blanket conceptual research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Xue-Ming; Peng, Xian-Jue

2016-09-01

Fusion science and technology has made progress in the last decades. However, commercialization of fusion reactors still faces challenges relating to higher fusion energy gain, irradiation-resistant material, and tritium self-sufficiency. Fusion Fission Hybrid Reactors (FFHR) can be introduced to accelerate the early application of fusion energy. Traditionally, FFHRs have been classified as either breeders or transmuters. Both need partition of plutonium from spent fuel, which will pose nuclear proliferation risks. A conceptual design of a Fusion Fission Hybrid Reactor for Energy (FFHR-E), which can make full use of natural uranium with lower nuclear proliferation risk, is presented. The fusion core parameters are similar to those of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. An alloy of natural uranium and zirconium is adopted in the fission blanket, which is cooled by light water. In order to model blanket burnup problems, a linkage code MCORGS, which couples MCNP4B and ORIGEN-S, is developed and validated through several typical benchmarks. The average blanket energy Multiplication and Tritium Breeding Ratio can be maintained at 10 and 1.15 respectively over tens of years of continuous irradiation. If simple reprocessing without separation of plutonium from uranium is adopted every few years, FFHR-E can achieve better neutronic performance. MCORGS has also been used to analyze the ultra-deep burnup model of Laser Inertial Confinement Fusion Fission Energy (LIFE) from LLNL, and a new blanket design that uses Pb instead of Be as the neutron multiplier is proposed. In addition, MCORGS has been used to simulate the fluid transmuter model of the In-Zinerater from Sandia. A brief comparison of LIFE, In-Zinerater, and FFHR-E will be given.

The role of inertial fusion energy in the energy marketplace of the 21st century and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

John Perkins, L.

The viability of inertial fusion in the 21st century and beyond will be determined by its ultimate cost, complexity, and development path relative to other competing, long term, primary energy sources. We examine this potential marketplace in terms of projections for population growth, energy demands, competing fuel sources and environmental constraints (CO 2), and show that the two competitors for inertial fusion energy (IFE) in the medium and long term are methane gas hydrates and advanced, breeder fission; both have potential fuel reserves that will last for thousands of years. Relative to other classes of fusion concepts, we argue that the single largest advantage of the inertial route is the perception by future customers that the IFE fusion power core could achieve credible capacity factors, a result of its relative simplicity, the decoupling of the driver and reactor chamber, and the potential to employ thick liquid walls. In particular, we show that the size, cost and complexity of the IFE reactor chamber is little different to a fission reactor vessel of the same thermal power. Therefore, relative to fission, because of IFE's tangible advantages in safety, environment, waste disposal, fuel supply and proliferation, our research in advanced targets and innovative drivers can lead to a certain, reduced-size driver at which future utility executives will be indifferent to the choice of an advanced fission plant or an advanced IFE power plant; from this point on, we have a competitive commercial product. Finally, given that the major potential customer for energy in the next century is the present developing world, we put the case for future IFE "reservations" which could be viable propositions providing sufficient reliability and redundancy can be realized for each modular reactor unit.

The interaction between reproductive cost and individual quality is mediated by oceanic conditions in a long-lived bird.

PubMed

Robert, Alexandre; Paiva, Vitor H; Bolton, Mark; Jiguet, Frédéric; Bried, Joël

2012-08-01

Environmental variability, costs of reproduction, and heterogeneity in individual quality are three important sources of the temporal and interindividual variations in vital rates of wild populations. Based on an 18-year monitoring of an endangered, recently described, long-lived seabird, Monteiro's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma monteiroi), we designed multistate survival models to separate the effects of the reproductive cost (breeders vs. nonbreeders) and individual quality (successful vs. unsuccessful breeders) in relation to temporally variable demographic and oceanographic properties. The analysis revealed a gradient of individual quality from nonbreeders, to unsuccessful breeders, to successful breeders. The survival rates of unsuccessful breeders (0.90 +/- 0.023, mean +/- SE) tended to decrease in years of high average breeding success and were more sensitive to oceanographic variation than those of both (high-quality) successful breeders (0.97 +/- 0.015) and (low-quality) nonbreeders (0.83 +/- 0.028). Overall, our results indicate that reproductive costs act on individuals of intermediate quality and are mediated by environmental harshness.

Molecular characterization of chicken infectious anemia viruses detected from breeder and broiler chickens in South Korea.

PubMed

Kim, H-R; Kwon, Y-K; Bae, Y-C; Oem, J-K; Lee, O-S

2010-11-01

In South Korea, 32 sequences of chicken infectious anemia virus (CIAV) from various flocks of breeder and commercial chickens were genetically characterized for the first time. Phylogenetic analysis of the viral protein 1 gene, including a hypervariable region of the CIAV genome, indicated that Korean CIAV strains were separated into groups II, IIIa, and IIIb. Strains were commonly identified in great-grandparent and grandparent breeder farms as well as commercial chicken farms. In the field, CIAV strains from breeder farms had no clinical effects, but commercial farm strains were associated with depression, growth retardation, and anemia regardless of the group from which the strain originated. In addition, we identified 7 CIAV genomes that were similar to vaccine strains from vaccinated and unvaccinated breeder flocks. These data suggest that further studies on pathogenicity and vaccine efficacy against the different CIAV group are needed, along with continuous CIAV surveillance and genetic analysis at breeder farms.

In Situ NDA Conformation Measurements Performed at Auxiliary Charcoal Bed and Other Main Charcoal Beds After Uranium Removal from Molten Salt Reactor Experiment ACB at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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

Haghighi, M. H.; Kring, C. T.; McGehee, J. T.

2002-02-26

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) site is located in Tennessee, on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). The MSRE was run by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to demonstrate the desirable features of the molten-salt concept in a practical reactor that could be operated safely and reliably. It introduced the idea of a homogeneous reactor using fuel salt media and graphite moderation for power and breeder reactors. The MSRE reactor and associated components are located in cells beneath the floor in the high-bay area of Building 7503. The reactor was operated from June 1965 tomore » December 1969. When the reactor was shut down, fuel salt was drained from the reactor circuit to two drain tanks. A ''clean'' salt was then circulated through the reactor as a decontamination measure and drained to a third drain tank. When operations ceased, the fuel and flush salts were allowed to cool and solidify in the drain tanks. At shutdown, the MSRE facility complex was placed in a surveillance and maintenance program. Beginning in 1987, it was discovered that gaseous uranium (U-233/U-232) hexafluoride (UF6) had moved throughout the MSRE process systems. The UF6 had been generated when radiolysis in the fluorine salts caused the individual constituents to dissociate to their component atoms, including free fluorine. Some of the free fluorine combined with uranium fluorides (UF4) in the salt to produce UF6. UF6 is gaseous at slightly above ambient temperatures; thus, periodic heating of the fuel salts (which was intended to remedy the radiolysis problems) and simple diffusion had allowed the UF6 to move out of the salt and into the process systems of MSRE. One of the systems that UF6 migrated into due to this process was the offgas system which is vented to the MSRE main charcoal beds and MSRE auxiliary charcoal bed (ACB). Recently, the majority of the uranium laden-charcoal material residing within the ACB was safely and successfully removed using the uranium deposit removal system and equipment. After removal a series of NDA measurements was performed to determine the amount of uranium material remaining in the ACB, the amount of uranium material removed from the ACB, and the amount of uranium material remaining in the uranium removal equipment due to removal activities.« less

ZPR-6 assembly 7 high {sup 240} PU core : a cylindrical assemby with mixed (PU, U)-oxide fuel and a central high {sup 240} PU zone.

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

Lell, R. M.; Schaefer, R. W.; McKnight, R. D.

Over a period of 30 years more than a hundred Zero Power Reactor (ZPR) critical assemblies were constructed at Argonne National Laboratory. The ZPR facilities, ZPR-3, ZPR-6, ZPR-9 and ZPPR, were all fast critical assembly facilities. The ZPR critical assemblies were constructed to support fast reactor development, but data from some of these assemblies are also well suited to form the basis for criticality safety benchmarks. Of the three classes of ZPR assemblies, engineering mockups, engineering benchmarks and physics benchmarks, the last group tends to be most useful for criticality safety. Because physics benchmarks were designed to test fast reactormore » physics data and methods, they were as simple as possible in geometry and composition. The principal fissile species was {sup 235}U or {sup 239}Pu. Fuel enrichments ranged from 9% to 95%. Often there were only one or two main core diluent materials, such as aluminum, graphite, iron, sodium or stainless steel. The cores were reflected (and insulated from room return effects) by one or two layers of materials such as depleted uranium, lead or stainless steel. Despite their more complex nature, a small number of assemblies from the other two classes would make useful criticality safety benchmarks because they have features related to criticality safety issues, such as reflection by soil-like material. The term 'benchmark' in a ZPR program connotes a particularly simple loading aimed at gaining basic reactor physics insight, as opposed to studying a reactor design. In fact, the ZPR-6/7 Benchmark Assembly (Reference 1) had a very simple core unit cell assembled from plates of depleted uranium, sodium, iron oxide, U3O8, and plutonium. The ZPR-6/7 core cell-average composition is typical of the interior region of liquid-metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs) of the era. It was one part of the Demonstration Reactor Benchmark Program,a which provided integral experiments characterizing the important features of demonstration-size LMFBRs. As a benchmark, ZPR-6/7 was devoid of many 'real' reactor features, such as simulated control rods and multiple enrichment zones, in its reference form. Those kinds of features were investigated experimentally in variants of the reference ZPR-6/7 or in other critical assemblies in the Demonstration Reactor Benchmark Program.« less

Blanket design and optimization demonstrations of the first wall/blanket/shield design and optimization system (BSDOS).

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

Gohar, Y.; Nuclear Engineering Division

2005-05-01

In fusion reactors, the blanket design and its characteristics have a major impact on the reactor performance, size, and economics. The selection and arrangement of the blanket materials, dimensions of the different blanket zones, and different requirements of the selected materials for a satisfactory performance are the main parameters, which define the blanket performance. These parameters translate to a large number of variables and design constraints, which need to be simultaneously considered in the blanket design process. This represents a major design challenge because of the lack of a comprehensive design tool capable of considering all these variables to definemore » the optimum blanket design and satisfying all the design constraints for the adopted figure of merit and the blanket design criteria. The blanket design capabilities of the First Wall/Blanket/Shield Design and Optimization System (BSDOS) have been developed to overcome this difficulty and to provide the state-of-the-art research and design tool for performing blanket design analyses. This paper describes some of the BSDOS capabilities and demonstrates its use. In addition, the use of the optimization capability of the BSDOS can result in a significant blanket performance enhancement and cost saving for the reactor design under consideration. In this paper, examples are presented, which utilize an earlier version of the ITER solid breeder blanket design and a high power density self-cooled lithium blanket design for demonstrating some of the BSDOS blanket design capabilities.« less

Blanket Design and Optimization Demonstrations of the First Wall/Blanket/Shield Design and Optimization System (BSDOS)

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

Gohar, Yousry

2005-05-15

In fusion reactors, the blanket design and its characteristics have a major impact on the reactor performance, size, and economics. The selection and arrangement of the blanket materials, dimensions of the different blanket zones, and different requirements of the selected materials for a satisfactory performance are the main parameters, which define the blanket performance. These parameters translate to a large number of variables and design constraints, which need to be simultaneously considered in the blanket design process. This represents a major design challenge because of the lack of a comprehensive design tool capable of considering all these variables to definemore » the optimum blanket design and satisfying all the design constraints for the adopted figure of merit and the blanket design criteria. The blanket design capabilities of the First Wall/Blanket/Shield Design and Optimization System (BSDOS) have been developed to overcome this difficulty and to provide the state-of-the-art research and design tool for performing blanket design analyses. This paper describes some of the BSDOS capabilities and demonstrates its use. In addition, the use of the optimization capability of the BSDOS can result in a significant blanket performance enhancement and cost saving for the reactor design under consideration. In this paper, examples are presented, which utilize an earlier version of the ITER solid breeder blanket design and a high power density self-cooled lithium blanket design for demonstrating some of the BSDOS blanket design capabilities.« less

Nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Yant, Howard W.; Stinebiser, Karl W.; Anzur, Gregory C.

1977-01-01

A nuclear reactor, particularly a liquid-metal breeder reactor, whose upper internals include outlet modules for channeling the liquid-metal coolant from selected areas of the outlet of the core vertically to the outlet plenum. The modules are composed of a highly-refractory, high corrosion-resistant alloy, for example, INCONEL-718. Each module is disposed to confine and channel generally vertically the coolant emitted from a subplurality of core-component assemblies. Each module has a grid with openings, each opening disposed to receive the coolant from an assembly of the subplurality. The grid in addition serves as a holdown for the assemblies of the corresponding subplurality preventing their excessive ejection upwardly from the core. In the region directly over the core the outlet modules are of such peripheral form that they nest forming a continuum over the core-component assemblies whose outlet coolant they confine. Each subassembly includes a chimney which confines the coolant emitted by its corresponding subassemblies to generally vertical flow between the outlet of the core and the outlet plenum. Each subplurality of assemblies whose emitted coolant is confined by an outlet module includes assemblies which emit lower-temperature coolant, for example, a control-rod assembly, or fertile assemblies, and assemblies which emit coolant of substantially higher temperature, for example, fuel-rod assemblies. The coolants of different temperatures are mixed in the chimneys reducing the effect of stripping (hot-cold temperature fluctuations) on the remainder of the upper internals which are composed typically of AISI-304 or AISI-316 stainless steel.

Reproductive partitioning and the assumptions of reproductive skew models in the cooperatively breeding American crow

PubMed Central

Townsend, Andrea K.; Clark, Anne B.; McGowan, Kevin J.; Lovette, Irby J.

2009-01-01

Understanding the benefits of cooperative breeding for group members of different social and demographic classes requires knowledge of their reproductive partitioning and genetic relatedness. From 2004-2007, we examined parentage as a function of relatedness and social interactions among members of 21 American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) family groups. Paired female breeders monopolized maternity of all offspring in their broods, whereas paired male breeders sired 82.7% of offspring, within-group auxiliary males sired 6.9% of offspring, and extragroup males sired 10.4% of offspring. Although adult females had fewer opportunities for direct reproduction as auxiliaries than males, they appeared to have earlier opportunities for independent breeding. These different opportunities for direct reproduction probably contributed to the male biased adult auxiliary sex ratio. Patterns of reproductive partitioning and conflict among males were most consistent with a synthetic reproductive skew model, in which auxiliaries struggled with breeders for a limited reproductive share, beyond which breeders could evict them. Counter to a frequent assumption of reproductive skew models, female breeders appeared to influence paternity, although their interests might have agreed with the interests of their paired males. Unusual among cooperative breeders, close inbreeding and incest occurred in this population. Incest avoidance between potential breeders did not significantly affect reproductive skew. PMID:20126287

Effects of dietary L-arginine on laying performance and antioxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, eggs, and offspring during the late laying period.

PubMed

Duan, Xiaoxue; Li, Feng; Mou, Shaoyang; Feng, Jiawei; Liu, Peifeng; Xu, Liangmei

2015-12-01

The effects of maternal L-arginine supplementation on laying performance and the antioxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, egg yolk, and their one-day-old offspring were investigated. In a 9 wk experiment, 210 60-week-old Arbor Acres healthy female broiler breeders were randomly divided into 5 treatments with 6 replicates of 7 females and fed a corn and soybean meal diet with 5 arginine levels (0.96%, 1.16%, 1.36%, 1.56%, and 1.76% digestible arginine). Laying performance and anti-oxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, eggs, and offspring were evaluated. Digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet had a significant effect on the laying rate (linear and quadratic effect, P<0.0001). The highest laying rate was obtained when the diet with 1.36% digestible arginine was fed. There was a significant effect of digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet on the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) concentration in the broiler breeder serum, egg yolk and serum, and liver and breast of one-day-old offspring (linear and quadratic effect, P<0.05). The T-AOC level was highest and the MDA concentration lowest in all tissues when a diet with 1.36% digestible arginine was fed. No difference in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity in the broiler breeder serum was observed. There were significant effects of digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet on the GSH-PX activity of the egg yolk (linear effect, P<0.01; quadratic effect, P<0.05) and serum, liver, and breast of one-day-old offspring (linear and quadratic effect, P≤0.01). The GSH-PX activity in all tissues measured in this experiment was highest when the dietary digestible arginine was 1.36%. These results indicate that the diet with 1.36% digestible arginine (1,972 mg/d) is optimal to satisfy the nutritional needs of a female broiler breeder during the late laying period.

The effect of low-density broiler breeder diets on performance and immune status of their offspring.

PubMed

Enting, H; Boersma, W J A; Cornelissen, J B W J; van Winden, S C L; Verstegen, M W A; van der Aar, P J

2007-02-01

Effects of low-density broiler breeder diets on offspring performance and mortality were studied using 2,100 female and 210 male Cobb 500 breeders. Breeder treatments involved 4 experimental groups and a control group with normal density diets (ND, 2,600 kcal of AME/kg during rearing and 2,800 kcal of AME/kg during laying). In treatment 2, nutrient densities were decreased by 12% (LD12) and 11% (LD11) during the rearing and laying periods, respectively, whereas in treatment 3, nutrient densities were decreased by 23% (LD23) and 21% (LD21) during the rearing and laying periods, respectively. The nutrient density in these treatments was decreased through inclusion of palm kernel meal, wheat bran, wheat gluten feed, and sunflower seed meal in the diets. Treatment 4 included diets with the same nutrient densities as in treatment 2 but included oats and sugar beet pulp (LD12(OP) and LD11(OP)). In treatment 5, the same low-density diet was given to the breeders as in treatment 2 during the rearing period, but it was followed by a normal density diet during the laying period (LD12-ND). Treatments were applied from 4 to 60 wk of age. On low-density diets, offspring showed an increased 1-d-old weight. As compared with offspring of breeders that received ND, the d 38 live weight of chickens from 29-wk-old breeders fed LD11 was improved. Mortality was reduced in offspring from 60-wk-old parent stock given low-density diets. The IgM titers in 35-d-old offspring from eggs with a lower-than-average weight were reduced when 29-wk-old broiler breeders were fed low-density diets. In offspring from eggs with a higher-than-average weight from 60-wk-old parent stock given LD11 or LD21 diets, IgM titers were higher compared with ND. It was concluded that low-density broiler breeder diets can improve offspring growth rates, reduce mortality, and reduce or increase immune responses, depending on breeder age and egg weight.

Food residue recycling by swine breeders in a developing economy: a case study in Da Nang, Viet Nam.

PubMed

Kato, Takaaki; Pham, Dung Thi Xuan; Hoang, Hai; Xue, Yonghai; Tran, Quang Van

2012-12-01

This study provides a detailed description of food residue collection by swine breeders in Da Nang, Viet Nam. In January 2011, the study surveyed 30 swine breeders in two villages with respect to locations, methods, prices, quantities, and prospects for food residue collection. The sampled swine breeders regularly visited 55 locations in central Da Nang to collect raw food residue. They then transferred the food residue to their piggeries, boiled it, and fed it to their swine. A regression analysis revealed that the total amount of food residue collected by a farm depends on the number of swine in the farm and the number of collections made per day. Swine breeders in Da Nang were estimated to collect 26.3 metric tons of organic waste per day, which amounted to 4.1% of domestic waste collected by the local government. Among the sampled swine breeders, 93% answered that they would continue using food residue for the next five years. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Full-length U-xPu-10Zr (x = 0, 8, 19 wt.%) fast reactor fuel test in FFTF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, D. L.; Tsai, Hanchung

2012-08-01

The Integral Fast Reactor-1 (IFR-1) experiment performed in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) was the only U-Pu-10Zr (Pu-0, 8 and 19 wt.%) metallic fast reactor test with commercial-length (91.4-cm active fuel-column length) conducted to date. With few remaining test reactors, there is little opportunity for performing another test with a long active fuel column. The assembly was irradiated to the goal burnup of 10 at.%. The beginning-of-life (BOL) peak cladding temperature of the hottest pin was 608 °C, cooling to 522 °C at end-of-life (EOL). Selected fuel pins were examined non-destructively using neutron radiography, precision axial gamma scanning, and both laser and spiral contact cladding profilometry. Destructive exams included plenum gas pressure, volume, and gas composition determinations on a number of pins followed by optical metallography, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and alpha and beta-gamma autoradiography on a single U-19Pu-10Zr pin. The post-irradiation examinations (PIEs) showed very few differences compared to the short-pin (34.3-cm fuel column) testing performed on fuels of similar composition in Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II). The fuel column grew axially slightly less than observed in the short pins, but with the same pattern of decreasing growth with increasing Pu content. There was a difference in the fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) in that the maximum cladding penetration by interdiffusion with fuel/fission products did not occur at the top of the fuel column where the cladding temperature is highest, as observed in EBR-II tests. Instead, the more exaggerated fission-rate profile of the FFTF pins resulted in a peak FCCI at ˜0.7 X/L axial location along the fuel column. This resulted from a higher production of rare-earth fission products at this location and a higher ΔT between fuel center and cladding than at core center, together providing more rare earths at the cladding and more FCCI. This behavior could actually help extend the life of a fuel pin in a "long pin" reactor design to a higher peak fuel burnup.

Thermal-hydraulic posttest analysis for the ANL/MCTF 360/sup 0/ model heat-exchanger water test under mixed convection. [LMFBR

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

Yang, C.I.; Sha, W.T.; Kasza, K.E.

As a result of the uncertainties in the understanding of the influence of thermal-buoyancy effects on the flow and heat transfer in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor heat exchangers and steam generators under off-normal operating conditions, an extensive experimental program is being conducted at Argonne National Laboratory to eliminate these uncertainties. Concurrently, a parallel analytical effort is also being pursued to develop a three-dimensional transient computer code (COMMIX-IHX) to study and predict heat exchanger performance under mixed, forced, and free convection conditions. This paper presents computational results from a heat exchanger simulation and compares them with the results from amore » test case exhibiting strong thermal buoyancy effects. Favorable agreement between experiment and code prediction is obtained.« less

Corrosion and stress corrosion cracking of ferritic/martensitic steel in super critical pressurized water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirose, T.; Shiba, K.; Enoeda, M.; Akiba, M.

2007-08-01

A water-cooled solid breeder (WCSB) blanket cooled by high temperature SCPW (super critical pressurized water) is a practical option of DEMO reactor. Therefore, it is necessary to check the compatibility of the steel with SCPW. In this work, reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steel, F82H has been tested through slow strain rate tests (SSRT) in 23.5 MPa SCPW. And weight change behavior was measured up to 1000 h. F82H did not demonstrated stress corrosion cracking and its weight simply increased with surface oxidation. The weight change of F82H was almost same as commercial 9%-Cr steels. According to a cross-sectional analysis and weight change behavior, corrosion rate of F82H in the 823 K SCPW is estimated to be 0.04 mm/yr.

Wavelet decomposition and radial basis function networks for system monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikonomopoulos, A.; Endou, A.

1998-10-01

Two approaches are coupled to develop a novel collection of black box models for monitoring operational parameters in a complex system. The idea springs from the intention of obtaining multiple predictions for each system variable and fusing them before they are used to validate the actual measurement. The proposed architecture pairs the analytical abilities of the discrete wavelet decomposition with the computational power of radial basis function networks. Members of a wavelet family are constructed in a systematic way and chosen through a statistical selection criterion that optimizes the structure of the network. Network parameters are further optimized through a quasi-Newton algorithm. The methodology is demonstrated utilizing data obtained during two transients of the Monju fast breeder reactor. The models developed are benchmarked with respect to similar regressors based on Gaussian basis functions.

Apparatus for detecting leakage of liquid sodium

DOEpatents

Himeno, Yoshiaki

1978-01-01

An apparatus for detecting the leakage of liquid sodium includes a cable-like sensor adapted to be secured to a wall of piping or other equipment having sodium on the opposite side of the wall, and the sensor includes a core wire electrically connected to the wall through a leak current detector and a power source. An accidental leakage of the liquid sodium causes the corrosion of a metallic layer and an insulative layer of the sensor by products resulted from a reaction of sodium with water or oxygen in the atmospheric air so as to decrease the resistance between the core wire and the wall. Thus, the leakage is detected as an increase in the leaking electrical current. The apparatus is especially adapted for use in detecting the leakage of liquid sodium from sodium-conveying pipes or equipment in a fast breeder reactor.

Non-Breeding Eusocial Mole-Rats Produce Viable Sperm—Spermiogram and Functional Testicular Morphology of Fukomys anselli

PubMed Central

Garcia Montero, Angelica; Vole, Christiane; Burda, Hynek; Malkemper, Erich Pascal; Holtze, Susanne; Morhart, Michaela; Saragusty, Joseph; Hildebrandt, Thomas B.; Begall, Sabine

2016-01-01

Ansell’s mole-rats (Fukomys anselli) are subterranean rodents living in families composed of about 20 members with a single breeding pair and their non-breeding offspring. Most of them remain with their parents for their lifetime and help to maintain and defend the natal burrow system, forage, and care for younger siblings. Since incest avoidance is based on individual recognition (and not on social suppression) we expect that non-breeders produce viable sperm spontaneously. We compared the sperm of breeding and non-breeding males, obtained by electroejaculation and found no significant differences in sperm parameters between both groups. Here, we used electroejaculation to obtain semen for the first time in a subterranean mammal. Spermiogram analysis revealed no significant differences in sperm parameters between breeders and non-breeders. We found significantly larger testes (measured on autopsies and on living animals per ultrasonography) of breeders compared to non-breeders (with body mass having a significant effect). There were no marked histological differences between breeding and non-breeding males, and the relative area occupied by Leydig cells and seminiferous tubules on histological sections, respectively, was not significantly different between both groups. The seminiferous epithelium and to a lesser degree the interstitial testicular tissue are characterized by lesions (vacuolar degenerations), however, this feature does not hinder fertilization even in advanced stages of life. The continuous production of viable sperm also in sexually abstinent non-breeders might be best understood in light of the mating and social system of Fukomys anselli, and the potential to found a new family following an unpredictable and rare encounter with an unfamiliar female (“provoked or induced dispersal”). Apparently, the non-breeders do not reproduce because they do not copulate but not because they would be physiologically infertile. The significantly increased testes volume of breeding males (compared to non-breeders) is in agreement with previously found higher testosterone levels of breeders. PMID:26934488

Risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and interstitial lung diseases among pigeon breeders.

PubMed

Cramer, Christine; Schlünssen, Vivi; Bendstrup, Elisabeth; Stokholm, Zara Ann; Vestergaard, Jesper Medom; Frydenberg, Morten; Kolstad, Henrik Albert

2016-09-01

We studied the risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) among pigeon breeders.This is a retrospective follow-up study from 1980 to 2013 of 6920 pigeon breeders identified in the records of the Danish Racing Pigeon Association. They were compared with 276 800 individually matched referents randomly drawn from the Danish population. Hospital based diagnoses of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other ILDs were identified in the National Patient Registry 1977-2013. Stratified Cox regression analyses estimated the hazard ratios (HR) of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other ILDs adjusted for occupation, residence and redeemed prescription of medication with ILDs as a possible side-effect. Subjects were censored at death, emigration or a diagnosis of connective tissue disease.The overall incidence rate of ILD was 77.4 per 100 000 person-years among the pigeon breeders and 50.0 among the referents. This difference corresponded to an adjusted HR of 1.56 (95% CI 1.26-1.94). The adjusted HRs of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other ILDs for pigeon breeders were 14.36 (95% CI 8.10-25.44) and 1.33 (95% CI 1.05-1.69), respectively.This study shows an increased risk of ILD among pigeon breeders compared with the referent population. Protective measures are recommended even though ILD leading to hospital contact remains rare among pigeon breeders. Copyright ©ERS 2016.

How the Kennel Club is tackling inherited disorders in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Sampson, Jeff

2011-08-01

Health screening of potential canine breeding stock can provide invaluable information to allow breeders to select against inherited diseases in their breeding programmes. This review details the screening programmes that are currently available to UK dog breeders and evaluates their impact as selective tools for dog breeders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A fission-fusion hybrid reactor in steady-state L-mode tokamak configuration with natural uranium

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

Reed, Mark; Parker, Ronald R.; Forget, Benoit

2012-06-19

This work develops a conceptual design for a fusion-fission hybrid reactor operating in steady-state L-mode tokamak configuration with a subcritical natural or depleted uranium pebble bed blanket. A liquid lithium-lead alloy breeds enough tritium to replenish that consumed by the D-T fusion reaction. The fission blanket augments the fusion power such that the fusion core itself need not have a high power gain, thus allowing for fully non-inductive (steady-state) low confinement mode (L-mode) operation at relatively small physical dimensions. A neutron transport Monte Carlo code models the natural uranium fission blanket. Maximizing the fission power gain while breeding sufficient tritiummore » allows for the selection of an optimal set of blanket parameters, which yields a maximum prudent fission power gain of approximately 7. A 0-D tokamak model suffices to analyze approximate tokamak operating conditions. This fission blanket would allow the fusion component of a hybrid reactor with the same dimensions as ITER to operate in steady-state L-mode very comfortably with a fusion power gain of 6.7 and a thermal fusion power of 2.1 GW. Taking this further can determine the approximate minimum scale for a steady-state L-mode tokamak hybrid reactor, which is a major radius of 5.2 m and an aspect ratio of 2.8. This minimum scale device operates barely within the steady-state L-mode realm with a thermal fusion power of 1.7 GW. Basic thermal hydraulic analysis demonstrates that pressurized helium could cool the pebble bed fission blanket with a flow rate below 10 m/s. The Brayton cycle thermal efficiency is 41%. This reactor, dubbed the Steady-state L-mode non-Enriched Uranium Tokamak Hybrid (SLEUTH), with its very fast neutron spectrum, could be superior to pure fission reactors in terms of breeding fissile fuel and transmuting deleterious fission products. It would likely function best as a prolific plutonium breeder, and the plutonium it produces could actually be more proliferation-resistant than that bred by conventional fast reactors. Furthermore, it can maintain constant total hybrid power output as burnup proceeds by varying the neutron source strength.« less

Evaluation of a formula that categorizes female gray wolf breeding status by nipple size

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barber-Meyer, Shannon M.; Mech, L. David

2015-01-01

The proportion by age class of wild Canis lupus (Gray Wolf) females that reproduce in any given year remains unclear; thus, we evaluated the applicability to our long-term (1972–2013) data set of the Mech et al. (1993) formula that categorizes female Gray Wolf breeding status by nipple size and time of year. We used the formula to classify Gray Wolves from 68 capture events into 4 categories (yearling, adult non-breeder, former breeder, current breeder). To address issues with small sample size and variance, we created an ambiguity index to allow some Gray Wolves to be classed into 2 categories. We classified 20 nipple measurements ambiguously: 16 current or former breeder, 3 former or adult non-breeder, and 1 yearling or adult non-breeder. The formula unambiguously classified 48 (71%) of the nipple measurements; based on supplemental field evidence, at least 5 (10%) of these were incorrect. When used in conjunction with an ambiguity index we developed and with corrections made for classifications involving very large nipples, and supplemented with available field evidence, the Mech et al. (1993) formula provided reasonably reliable classification of breeding status in wild female Gray Wolves.

Environmental Enrichment for Broiler Breeders: An Undeveloped Field.

PubMed

Riber, Anja B; de Jong, Ingrid C; van de Weerd, Heleen A; Steenfeldt, Sanna

2017-01-01

Welfare problems, such as hunger, frustration, aggression, and abnormal sexual behavior, are commonly found in broiler breeder production. To prevent or reduce these welfare problems, it has been suggested to provide stimulating enriched environments. We review the effect of the different types of environmental enrichment for broiler breeders, which have been described in the scientific literature, on behavior and welfare. Environmental enrichment is defined as an improvement of the environment of captive animals, which increases the behavioral opportunities of the animal and leads to improvements in biological function. This definition has been broadened to include practical and economic aspects as any enrichment strategy that adversely affects the health of animals (e.g., environmental hygiene), or that has too many economic or practical constraints will never be implemented on commercial farms and thus never benefit animals. Environmental enrichment for broiler breeders often has the purpose of satisfying the behavioral motivations for feeding and foraging, resting, and/or encouraging normal sexual behavior. Potentially successful enrichments for broiler breeders are elevated resting places, cover panels, and substrate (for broiler breeders housed in cage systems). However, most of the ideas for environmental enrichment for broiler breeders need to be further developed and studied with respect to the use, the effect on behavior and welfare, and the interaction with genotype and production system. In addition, information on practical use and the economics of the production system is often lacking although it is important for application in practice.

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 1999. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company, Rocketdyne

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

None

2000-09-01

OAK A271 Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 1999. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company, Rocketdyne. This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 1999 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of the Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). In the past, these operations included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials under the former Atomics International Division. Other activities included the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities for testing of liquid metal fast breeder components at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), amore » government-owned, company-operated test facility within Area IV. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988, and subsequently, all radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the previously used nuclear facilities and associated site areas. Large-scale D&D activities of the sodium test facilities began in 1996. This Annual Site Environmental Report provides information showing that there are no indications of any potential impact on public health and safety due to the operations conducted at the SSFL. All measures and calculations of off-site conditions demonstrate compliance with applicable regulations, which provide for protection of human health and the environment.« less

Pyroprocessing of Light Water Reactor Spent Fuels Based on an Electrochemical Reduction Technology

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

Ohta, Hirokazu; Inoue, Tadashi; Sakamura, Yoshiharu

A concept of pyroprocessing light water reactor (LWR) spent fuels based on an electrochemical reduction technology is proposed, and the material balance of the processing of mixed oxide (MOX) or high-burnup uranium oxide (UO{sub 2}) spent fuel is evaluated. Furthermore, a burnup analysis for metal fuel fast breeder reactors (FBRs) is conducted on low-decontamination materials recovered by pyroprocessing. In the case of processing MOX spent fuel (40 GWd/t), UO{sub 2} is separately collected for {approx}60 wt% of the spent fuel in advance of the electrochemical reduction step, and the product recovered through the rare earth (RE) removal step, which hasmore » the composition uranium:plutonium:minor actinides:fission products (FPs) = 76.4:18.4:1.7:3.5, can be applied as an ingredient of FBR metal fuel without a further decontamination process. On the other hand, the electroreduced alloy of high-burnup UO{sub 2} spent fuel (48 GWd/t) requires further decontamination of residual FPs by an additional process such as electrorefining even if RE FPs are removed from the alloy because the recovered plutonium (Pu) is accompanied by almost the same amount of FPs in addition to RE. However, the amount of treated materials in the electrorefining step is reduced to {approx}10 wt% of the total spent fuel owing to the prior UO{sub 2} recovery step. These results reveal that the application of electrochemical reduction technology to LWR spent oxide fuel is a promising concept for providing FBR metal fuel by a rationalized process.« less

DEVELOPMENT OF OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS FOR ADVANCED SMRs: THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

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

Jacques Hugo; David Gertman

Advanced small modular reactors (AdvSMRs) will use advanced digital instrumentation and control systems, and make greater use of automation. These advances not only pose technical and operational challenges, but will inevitably have an effect on the operating and maintenance (O&M) cost of new plants. However, there is much uncertainty about the impact of AdvSMR designs on operational and human factors considerations, such as workload, situation awareness, human reliability, staffing levels, and the appropriate allocation of functions between the crew and various automated plant systems. Existing human factors and systems engineering design standards and methodologies are not current in terms ofmore » human interaction requirements for dynamic automated systems and are no longer suitable for the analysis of evolving operational concepts. New models and guidance for operational concepts for complex socio-technical systems need to adopt a state-of-the-art approach such as Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) that gives due consideration to the role of personnel. This approach we report on helps to identify and evaluate human challenges related to non-traditional concepts of operations. A framework - defining operational strategies was developed based on the operational analysis of Argonne National Laboratory’s Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), a small (20MWe) sodium-cooled reactor that was successfully operated for thirty years. Insights from the application of the systematic application of the methodology and its utility are reviewed and arguments for the formal adoption of CSE as a value-added part of the Systems Engineering process are presented.« less

Atomistic modeling of high temperature uranium-zirconium alloy structure and thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, A. P.; Beeler, B.; Deo, C.; Baskes, M. I.; Okuniewski, M. A.

2015-12-01

A semi-empirical Modified Embedded Atom Method (MEAM) potential is developed for application to the high temperature body-centered-cubic uranium-zirconium alloy (γ-U-Zr) phase and employed with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the high temperature thermo-physical properties of U-Zr alloys. Uranium-rich U-Zr alloys (e.g. U-10Zr) have been tested and qualified for use as metallic nuclear fuel in U.S. fast reactors such as the Integral Fast Reactor and the Experimental Breeder Reactors, and are a common sub-system of ternary metallic alloys like U-Pu-Zr and U-Zr-Nb. The potential was constructed to ensure that basic properties (e.g., elastic constants, bulk modulus, and formation energies) were in agreement with first principles calculations and experimental results. After which, slight adjustments were made to the potential to fit the known thermal properties and thermodynamics of the system. The potentials successfully reproduce the experimental melting point, enthalpy of fusion, volume change upon melting, thermal expansion, and the heat capacity of pure U and Zr. Simulations of the U-Zr system are found to be in good agreement with experimental thermal expansion values, Vegard's law for the lattice constants, and the experimental enthalpy of mixing. This is the first simulation to reproduce the experimental thermodynamics of the high temperature γ-U-Zr metallic alloy system. The MEAM potential is then used to explore thermodynamics properties of the high temperature U-Zr system including the constant volume heat capacity, isothermal compressibility, adiabatic index, and the Grüneisen parameters.

North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

broiler and turkey flocks ( meat -type birds); • Commercial duck and goose meat -type production flocks; • Pullet production flocks; • Commercial...services, public health measures and communications. Notifiable Avian Influenza Hazard Specific Plan. This plan outlines the response to be undertaken by...terme_compartiment) • Broiler, turkey or layer breeder production flocks; • Duck breeder and upland game breeder flocks; • Commercial (grow out

Clearance of Escherichia coli After Intravenous Inoculation in Broiler Breeder Pullets Fed Skip a day, Every Day in the feeder and Every Day on the Litter

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The effect of feeding programs on the time of clearance of Escherichia coli in broiler breeder pullets was investigated. Broiler breeder pullets from a single grandparent flock were in ovo-vaccinated at 19 d of incubation with a vector HVT (vHVT) vector HVT + Infectious bursal disease (IBD) vaccine....

Prevention of inclusion body hepatitis/hydropericardium syndrome in progeny chickens by vaccination of breeders with fowl adenovirus and chicken anemia virus.

PubMed

Toro, H; González, C; Cerda, L; Morales, M A; Dooner, P; Salamero, M

2002-01-01

The hypothesis that an effective protection of progeny chickens against inclusion body hepatitis/hydropericardium syndrome (IBH/HP) can be achieved by dual vaccination of breeders with fowl adenovirus (FAV) serotype 4 and chicken anemia virus (CAV) was tested. Thus, 17-wk-old brown leghorn pullet groups were vaccinated by different schemes including single FAV (inactivated), single CAV (attenuated), FAV and CAV dually, or were not vaccinated (controls). Subsequent progenies of these breeders were challenged with the virulent strains FAV-341 and CAV-10343 following three strategies: 1) FAV-341 intramuscularly (i.m.) at day 10 of age (only FAV-vaccinated and control progenies); 2) FAV + CAV i.m. simultaneously at day 10 of age (all progenies); 3) CAV i.m. at day 1 and FAV orally at day 10 of age (all progenies). The induction of IBH/HP in these progenies was evaluated throughout a 10-day period. Both breeder groups vaccinated against FAV and those vaccinated against CAV increased virus neutralizing specific antibodies. Challenge strategy 1 showed 26.6% mortality in control progeny chickens and 13.3% in the progeny of FAV-vaccinated breeders. Presence of lesions in the liver of these groups showed no significant differences (P > 0.05), suggesting a discreet protective effect of the vaccine. Challenge strategy 2 showed 29.4% mortality in controls and 94% of chickens showed hepatic inclusion bodies (HIB). Single CAV vaccination of breeders did not demonstrate a beneficial effect, with both mortality and liver lesions resembling the nonvaccinated controls. FAV vaccination of breeders significantly reduced both mortality (7.4%) and liver lesions (26% HIB) (P < 0.05), providing protection against this challenge strategy. Dual vaccination of breeders with FAV and CAV proved to be necessary to achieve maximum protection of the progeny (no mortality and 7% HIB). Challenge strategy 3 produced no mortality but consistent liver damage in controls (96% HIB). In this case, both CAV and FAV + CAV-vaccinated breeders showed best protection results in terms of liver histopathology (8% and 0% HIB, respectively). FAV vaccination alone produced 24% HIB, similar to challenge strategy 2, demonstrating a lower protective effect.

Effect of the ratio of dietary n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on broiler breeder performance, egg quality, and yolk fatty acid composition at different breeder ages.

PubMed

Koppenol, A; Delezie, E; Aerts, J; Willems, E; Wang, Y; Franssens, L; Everaert, N; Buyse, J

2014-03-01

When added to the feed of broiler breeder hens, dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (FA) can be incorporated into the yolk and therefore become available to the progeny during their early development. The mechanism involved in lipid metabolism and deposition in the egg may be influenced by breeder age. Before the effect of an elevated concentration of certain polyunsaturated FA on the embryo can be investigated, the effect at breeder level and egg quality must be further assessed. The aim of the present experiment was to evaluate the effects of dietary n-6/n-3 ratios and dietary eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3) ratios, provided to broiler breeder hens, in terms of their zoo technical performance, egg quality, and yolk FA composition. Starting at 6 wk of age, 640 Ross-308 broiler breeder hens were fed 1 of 4 different diets. The control diet was a basal diet, rich in n-6 FA. The 3 other diets were enriched in n-3 FA, formulated to obtain a different EPA/DHA ratio of 1/1 (EPA = DHA), 1/2 (DHA), or 2/1 (EPA). In fact, after analysis the EPA/DHA ratio was 0.8, 0.4, or 2.1, respectively. Dietary EPA and DHA addition did not affect the performance of the breeder hens, except for egg weight. Egg weight was lower (P < 0.001) for all n-3 treatments. Dietary EPA improved number of eggs laid in the first 2 wk of the production cycle (P = 0.029). The absolute and relative yolk weight of eggs laid by EPA = DHA fed hens was lowest (P = 0.004 and P = 0.025, respectively). The EPA and DHA concentrations in the yolk were highly dependent on dietary EPA and DHA concentrations with a regression coefficient equal to 0.89. It can be concluded that dietary EPA and DHA can be incorporated in the breeder egg yolk to become available for the developing embryo, without compromising the performance and egg quality of the flock.

Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Monitoring Report for FY 2010

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

INL Cultural Resource Management Office

2010-10-01

This report describes the cultural resource monitoring activities of the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Office during fiscal year 2010 (FY 2010). Throughout the year, thirty-three cultural resource localities were revisited, including somethat were visited more than once, including: two locations with Native American human remains, one of which is a cave, two additional caves, twenty-six prehistoric archaeological sites, two historic stage stations, and Experimental Breeder Reactor-I, which is a designated National Historic Landmark. The resources that were monitored included seventeen that are routinely visited and sixteen that are located in INL project areas. Although impacts weremore » documented at a few locations and one trespassing incident (albeit sans formal charges) was discovered, no significant adverse effects that would threaten the National Register eligibility of any resources were observed. Monitoring also demonstrated that several INL projects generally remain in compliance with recommendations to protect cultural resources.« less

From breeder reactors to butterflies: risk, culture, and biotechnology.

PubMed

Lomax, G P

2000-10-01

Social theories of risk suggest that a combination of scientific and cultural perspectives converge to influence risk perception. This article first surveys sociological perspectives suggesting that risks from modern technological development have become predominant concerns in the social consciousness. Particular attention is given to those theses describing how social elements work to create perception of risks in relation to new technologies. The themes that emerge from this survey are then related to contemporary debates concerning biotechnology. Specific attention is given to recent controversies regarding genetically modified crops, and parallels are drawn between debates over nuclear power and biotechnology. A procedural ethic for public discourse and decision making over the diffusion of genetically modified foods is offered. Ethical and social theories are linked with the hope that by recognizing the social dimensions of debates over new technologies a broader framework for conducting risk analysis may emerge.

Precipitation hardenable iron-nickel-chromium alloy having good swelling resistance and low neutron absorbence

DOEpatents

Korenko, Michael K.; Merrick, Howard F.; Gibson, Robert C.

1980-01-01

An iron-nickel-chromium age-hardenable alloy suitable for use in fast breeder reactor ducts and cladding which utilizes the gamma-double prime strengthening phase and characterized in having a morphology of the gamma-double prime phase enveloping the gamma-prime phase and delta phase distributed at or near the grain boundaries. The alloy consists essentially of about 40-50% nickel, 7.5-14% chromium, 1.5-4% niobium, 0.25-0.75% silicon, 1-3% titanium, 0.1-0.5% aluminum, 0.02-0.1% carbon, 0.002-0.015% boron, and the balance iron. Up to 2% manganese and up to 0.01% magnesium may be added to inhibit trace element effects; up to 0.1% zirconium may be added to increase radiation swelling resistance; and up to 3% molybdenum may be added to increase strength.

An Analysis of Ripple and Error Fields Induced by a Blanket in the CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Guanying; Liu, Xufeng; Liu, Songlin

2016-10-01

The Chinese Fusion Engineering Tokamak Reactor (CFETR) is an important intermediate device between ITER and DEMO. The Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) blanket whose structural material is mainly made of Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic (RAFM) steel, is one of the candidate conceptual blanket design. An analysis of ripple and error field induced by RAFM steel in WCCB is evaluated with the method of static magnetic analysis in the ANSYS code. Significant additional magnetic field is produced by blanket and it leads to an increased ripple field. Maximum ripple along the separatrix line reaches 0.53% which is higher than 0.5% of the acceptable design value. Simultaneously, one blanket module is taken out for heating purpose and the resulting error field is calculated to be seriously against the requirement. supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207) and the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program of China (No. 2013GB108004)

Liquid-metal flows: Magnetohydrodynamics and applications; Proceedings of the Fifth Beersheba International Seminar on Magnetohydrodynamic Flows and Turbulence, University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel, Mar. 2-6, 1987

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

Branover, H.; Mond, M.; Unger, Y.

The present collection of papers on MHD-related uses of liquid metal flows and their applications discusses topics in laminar MHD flows, MHD power generation, metallurgical MHD applications, and two-phase MHD flows. Attention is given to MHD flows with closed streamlines, nonlinear waves in liquid metals under a transverse magnetic field, liquid-metal MHD conversion of nuclear energy to electricity, the testing of optimized MHD conversion (OMACON) systems, and aspects of a liquid-metal induction generator. Also discussed are MHD effects in liquid-metal breeder reactors, a plasma-driven MHD powerplant, modeling the recirculating flows in channel-induction surfaces, the hydrodynamics of aluminum reduction cells, free-surfacemore » determination in a levitation-melting process, the parametric interactions of waves in bubbly liquid metals, and the occurrence of cavitation in water jets.« less

Intermediate-Size Inducer Pump design report. [LMFBR

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

Boardman, T.J.

1979-06-15

This report summarizes the mechanical, structural, and hydrodynamic design of the Intermediate-Size Inducer Pump (ISIP). The design was performed under Atomics International's DOE Base Technology Program by the Atomics International and Rocketdyne Divisions of Rockwell International. The pump was designed to utilize the FFTF prototype pump frame as a test vehicle to test the inducer, impeller, and diffuser plus necessary adapter hardware under simulated Large Scale Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor service conditions. The report describes the design requirements including the purpose and objectives, and discusses those design efforts and considerations made to meet the requirements. Included in the reportmore » are appendices showing calculative methods and results. Also included are overall assembly and layout drawings plus some details used as illustrations for discussion of the design results and the results of water tests performed on a model of the inducer.« less

Analytical simulation of weld effects in creep range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dhalla, A. K.

1985-01-01

The inelastic analysis procedure used to investigate the effect of welding on the creep rupture strength of a typical Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) nozzle is discussed. The current study is part of an overall experimental and analytical investigation to verify the inelastic analysis procedure now being used to design LMFBR structural components operating at elevated temperatures. Two important weld effects included in the numerical analysis are: (1) the residual stress introduced in the fabrication process; and (2) the time-independent and the time-dependent material property variations. Finite element inelastic analysis was performed on a CRAY-1S computer using the ABAQUS program with the constitutive equations developed for the design of LMFBR structural components. The predicted peak weld residual stresses relax by as much as 40% during elevated temperature operation, and their effect on creep-rupture cracking of the nozzle is considered of secondary importance.

Rupture disc

DOEpatents

Newton, Robert G.

1977-01-01

The intermediate heat transport system for a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor includes a device for rapidly draining the sodium therefrom should a sodium-water reaction occur within the system. This device includes a rupturable member in a drain line in the system and means for cutting a large opening therein and for positively removing the sheared-out portion from the opening cut in the rupturable member. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention the rupturable member includes a solid head seated in the end of the drain line having a rim extending peripherally therearound, the rim being clamped against the end of the drain line by a clamp ring having an interior shearing edge, the bottom of the rupturable member being convex and extending into the drain line. Means are provided to draw the rupturable member away from the drain line against the shearing edge to clear the drain line for outflow of sodium therethrough.

Irradiation behavior of LiAlO 2 and Li 2ZrO 3 ceramics in the ALICE 3 experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasneur, B.; Thevenot, G.; Bouilloux, Y.

1992-09-01

Within the framework of the investigation of ceramic breeders for the DEMO relevant solid blankets developed in Europe, the ALICE 3 experiment was foreseen to study the irradiation behavior of the ceramics. The irradiation was performed in the core of the OSIRIS reactor for 46 FPD (full power days) at 400°C and 600°C. The three ceramics in the configuration contemplated in the BIT and BOT concepts were tested, i.e. LiAlO 2 and Li 2ZrO 3 pellets, Li 4SiO 4 and Li 2ZrO 3 pebbles, respectively. In this paper are reported the results of the post-irradiation examination carried out at CEA on CEA Li 2ZrO 3 and LiAlO 2 specimens: dimensions, X-ray diffraction, ultimate bending strength, diametral compressive strength and residual tritium.

Sodium-NaK engineering handbook. Volume III. Sodium systems, safety, handling, and instrumentation. [LMFBR

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

Foust, O J

1978-01-01

The handbook is intended for use by present and future designers in the Liquid Metals Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) Program and by the engineering and scientific community performing other type investigation and exprimentation requiring high-temperature sodium and NaK technology. The arrangement of subject matter progresses from a technological discussion of sodium and sodium--potassium alloy (NaK) to discussions of varius categories and uses of hardware in sodium and NaK systems. Emphasis is placed on sodium and NaK as heat-transport media. Sufficient detail is included for basic understanding of sodium and NaK technology and of technical aspects of sodium and NaK componentsmore » and instrument systems. Information presented is considered adequate for use in feasibility studies and conceptual design, sizing components and systems, developing preliminary component and system descriptions, identifying technological limitations and problem areas, and defining basic constraints and parameters.« less

Staphylococcus agnetis, a potential pathogen in broiler breeders.

PubMed

Poulsen, Louise Ladefoged; Thøfner, Ida; Bisgaard, Magne; Olsen, Rikke Heidemann; Christensen, Jens Peter; Christensen, Henrik

2017-12-01

In this study, four broiler parent flocks have been followed from the onset of the production period (week 20) until slaughter (week 60). Every week, approximately ten dead broiler breeders, randomly selected among birds dead on their own, were collected and subjected to a full post mortem analysis including bacteriological examination. In total 997 breeders were investigated and for the first time Staphylococcus agnetis was isolated in pure culture from cases of endocarditis and septicemia from 16 broiler breeders. In addition, the cloacal flora from newly hatched chickens originating from the same four flocks were characterized and S. agnetis was found in pure culture of several newly hatched chickens (n=12) and only in one case in combination with another species. Clonality of the isolates was examined by pulsed-field-gel-electrophoresis which showed indistinguishable patterns in isolates from both broiler breeders and broilers. Three isolates were whole genome sequenced to obtain knowledge on virulence genes. The isolates harbored a number of genes encoding different fibrinogen binding proteins and toxins which might be important for virulence. The present findings demonstrate that S. agnetis may be associated with mortality in broiler breeders. No disease was associated with the broilers which were found positive for S. agnetis in the cloaca. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Movement patterns of Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus during breeding and post-breeding periods at Qinghai Lake, China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cui, Peng; Hou, Yuansheng; Tang, Mingjie; Zhang, Haiting; Zuohua, Yuanchun; Yin, Zuohua; Li, Tianxian; Guo, Shan; Xing, Zhi; He, Yubang; Prosser, Diann J.; Newman, Scott H.; Takekawa, John Y.; Yan, Baoping; Lei, Fumin

2011-01-01

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak at Qinghai Lake, China, in 2005 caused the death of over 6,000 migratory birds, half of which were Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus. Understanding the movements of this species may inform monitoring of outbreak risks for HPAI viruses; thus, we investigated the movement patterns of 29 Bar-headed Geese at Qinghai Lake, China during 2007 and 2008 by using high resolution GPS satellite telemetry. We described the movements and distribution of marked Bar-headed Geese during the pre-nesting, nesting, and moulting periods. Of 21 Bar-headed Geese with complete transmission records, 3 moved to other areas during the nesting period: 2 to Jianghe wetland (50 km northwest of Qinghai Lake) and 1 to Cuolongka Lake (220 km northwest of Qinghai Lake) during the nesting period. We identified nesting attempts of 7 of the marked geese at Qinghai Lake. Four completed successful nesting attempts according to our rules of judgment for the breeding status, and 2 geese lost broods soon after hatching (hereafter referred to as unsuccessful breeders). Of 18 geese present at Qinghai Lake during the nesting period, 9 (6 non-breeders, 2 successful breeders and 1 unsuccessful breeder) remained at Qinghai Lake during the moulting period; and 9 (5 non-breeders, 4 unsuccessful breeders) left Qinghai Lake for moulting. Kuhai Lake, Donggeicuona Lake, Alake Lake, Zhaling-Eling Lake area and Huangheyuan wetland area were used as moulting sites. Geese that moulted at Qinghai Lake, Cuolongka Lake, Kuhai Lake, Donggeicuona Lake and Alake Lake also moved to Zhaling-Eling Lake area or Huangheyuan wetland area and stayed there for several days prior to autumn migration. Mean home range and core area estimates did not differ significantly by sex, year and between breeders and non-breeders.

Movement patterns of Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus during breeding and post-breeding periods at Qinghai Lake, China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cui, P.; Hou, Y.; Tang, M.; Zhang, H.; Zhou, Y.; Yin, Z.; Li, T.; Guo, S.; Xing, Z.; He, Y.; Prosser, D.J.; Newman, S.H.; Takekawa, John Y.; Yan, B.; Lei, F.

2011-01-01

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak at Qinghai Lake, China, in 2005 caused the death of over 6,000 migratory birds, half of which were Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus. Understanding the movements of this species may inform monitoring of outbreak risks for HPAI viruses; thus, we investigated the movement patterns of 29 Bar-headed Geese at Qinghai Lake, China during 2007 and 2008 by using high resolution GPS satellite telemetry. We described the movements and distribution of marked Bar-headed Geese during the pre-nesting, nesting, and moulting periods. Of 21 Bar-headed Geese with complete transmission records, 3 moved to other areas during the nesting period: 2 to Jianghe wetland (50 km northwest of Qinghai Lake) and 1 to Cuolongka Lake (220 km northwest of Qinghai Lake) during the nesting period. We identified nesting attempts of 7 of the marked geese at Qinghai Lake. Four completed successful nesting attempts according to our rules of judgment for the breeding status, and 2 geese lost broods soon after hatching (hereafter referred to as unsuccessful breeders). Of 18 geese present at Qinghai Lake during the nesting period, 9 (6 non-breeders, 2 successful breeders and 1 unsuccessful breeder) remained at Qinghai Lake during the moulting period; and 9 (5 non-breeders, 4 unsuccessful breeders) left Qinghai Lake for moulting. Kuhai Lake, Donggeicuona Lake, Alake Lake, Zhaling-Eling Lake area and Huangheyuan wetland area were used as moulting sites. Geese that moulted at Qinghai Lake, Cuolongka Lake, Kuhai Lake, Donggeicuona Lake and Alake Lake also moved to Zhaling-Eling Lake area or Huangheyuan wetland area and stayed there for several days prior to autumn migration. Mean home range and core area estimates did not differ significantly by sex, year and between breeders and non-breeders. ?? 2010 Dt. Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V.

General corrosion properties of modified PNC1520 austenitic stainless steel in supercritical water as a fuel cladding candidate material for supercritical water reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakazono, Y.; Iwai, T.; Abe, H.

2010-03-01

The Super-Critical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) has been designed and investigated because of its high thermal efficiency and plant simplification. There are some advantages including the use of a single phase coolant with high enthalpy but there are numerous potential problems, particularly with materials. As the operating temperature of supercritical water reactor will be between 280°C and 620°C with a pressure of 25MPa, the selection of materials is difficult and important. Austenitic stainless steels were selected for possible use in supercritical water systems because of their corrosion resistance and radiation resistance. The PNC1520 austenitic stainless steel developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) as a nuclear fuel cladding material for a Na-cooled fast breeder reactor. The corrosion data of PNC1520 in supercritical water (SCW) is required but does not exist. The purpose of the present study is to research the corrosion properties for PNC1520 austenitic stainless steel in supercritical water. The supercritical water corrosion test was performed for the standard PNC1520 (1520S) and the Ti-additional type of PNC1520 (1520Ti) by using a supercritical water autoclave. Corrosion tests on the austenitic 1520S and 1520Ti steels in supercritical water were performed at 400, 500 and 600°C with exposures up to 1000h. The amount of weight gain, weight loss and weight of scale were evaluated after the corrosion test in supercritical water for both austenitic steels. After 1000h corrosion test performed, the weight gains of both austenitic stainless steels were less than 2 g/m2 at 400°C and 500°C . But both weight gain and weight loss of 1520Ti were larger than those of 1520S at 600°C . By increasing the temperature to 600°C, the surface of 1520Ti was covered with magnetite formed in supercritical water and dissolution of the steel alloying elements has been observed. In view of corrosion, 1520S may have larger possibility than 1520Ti to adopt a supercritical water reactor core fuel cladding.

Hardware accelerated high performance neutron transport computation based on AGENT methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Shanjie

The spatial heterogeneity of the next generation Gen-IV nuclear reactor core designs brings challenges to the neutron transport analysis. The Arbitrary Geometry Neutron Transport (AGENT) AGENT code is a three-dimensional neutron transport analysis code being developed at the Laboratory for Neutronics and Geometry Computation (NEGE) at Purdue University. It can accurately describe the spatial heterogeneity in a hierarchical structure through the R-function solid modeler. The previous version of AGENT coupled the 2D transport MOC solver and the 1D diffusion NEM solver to solve the three dimensional Boltzmann transport equation. In this research, the 2D/1D coupling methodology was expanded to couple two transport solvers, the radial 2D MOC solver and the axial 1D MOC solver, for better accuracy. The expansion was benchmarked with the widely applied C5G7 benchmark models and two fast breeder reactor models, and showed good agreement with the reference Monte Carlo results. In practice, the accurate neutron transport analysis for a full reactor core is still time-consuming and thus limits its application. Therefore, another content of my research is focused on designing a specific hardware based on the reconfigurable computing technique in order to accelerate AGENT computations. It is the first time that the application of this type is used to the reactor physics and neutron transport for reactor design. The most time consuming part of the AGENT algorithm was identified. Moreover, the architecture of the AGENT acceleration system was designed based on the analysis. Through the parallel computation on the specially designed, highly efficient architecture, the acceleration design on FPGA acquires high performance at the much lower working frequency than CPUs. The whole design simulations show that the acceleration design would be able to speedup large scale AGENT computations about 20 times. The high performance AGENT acceleration system will drastically shortening the computation time for 3D full-core neutron transport analysis, making the AGENT methodology unique and advantageous, and thus supplies the possibility to extend the application range of neutron transport analysis in either industry engineering or academic research.

Comparative analysis of LWR and FBR spent fuels for nuclear forensics evaluation

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

Permana, Sidik; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi; Su'ud, Zaki

2012-06-06

Some interesting issues are attributed to nuclide compositions of spent fuels from thermal reactors as well as fast reactors such as a potential to reuse as recycled fuel, and a possible capability to be manage as a fuel for destructive devices. In addition, analysis on nuclear forensics which is related to spent fuel compositions becomes one of the interesting topics to evaluate the origin and the composition of spent fuels from the spent fuel foot-prints. Spent fuel compositions of different fuel types give some typical spent fuel foot prints and can be estimated the origin of source of those spentmore » fuel compositions. Some technics or methods have been developing based on some science and technological capability including experimental and modeling or theoretical aspects of analyses. Some foot-print of nuclear forensics will identify the typical information of spent fuel compositions such as enrichment information, burnup or irradiation time, reactor types as well as the cooling time which is related to the age of spent fuels. This paper intends to evaluate the typical spent fuel compositions of light water (LWR) and fast breeder reactors (FBR) from the view point of some foot prints of nuclear forensics. An established depletion code of ORIGEN is adopted to analyze LWR spent fuel (SF) for several burnup constants and decay times. For analyzing some spent fuel compositions of FBR, some coupling codes such as SLAROM code, JOINT and CITATION codes including JFS-3-J-3.2R as nuclear data library have been adopted. Enriched U-235 fuel composition of oxide type is used for fresh fuel of LWR and a mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for FBR fresh fuel. Those MOX fuels of FBR come from the spent fuels of LWR. Some typical spent fuels from both LWR and FBR will be compared to distinguish some typical foot-prints of SF based on nuclear forensic analysis.« less

Effects of different limestone particle sizes in the diet of broiler breeders post molting on their performance, egg quality, incubation results, and pre-starter performance of their progeny.

PubMed

Bueno, I J M; Surek, D; Rocha, C; Schramm, V G; Muramatsu, K; Dahlke, F; Maiorka, A

2016-04-01

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that a coarse limestone diet improves productivity, reproductive performance and the calcium utilization of molted broiler breeders. In total, 640 broiler breeder females, 73-week-old and sixty-four 27-week-old cockerels, Cobb 500, were evaluated during 10 weeks, according to a randomized block design composed of 4 treatments with 8 replicates each. Treatments consisted of diets with the inclusion of 100% fine limestone-fine PS (0.2 mm GMD-geometric mean diameter); PS1: 30% fine limestone+70% limestone with 1.0 mm GMD; PS2: 30% fine limestone+70% limestone with 2.0 mm GMD; and PS3: 30% fine limestone+70% limestone with 3.0 mm GMD. Calcium retention in the gizzard of the breeders, bone characteristics, and breeder performance, egg characteristics, eggshell quality, incubation performance, chick quality and yield, chick pre-starter live performance, and chick bone characteristics were determined. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the rate of lay, percentage of non-settable eggs, egg weight, egg shape index, egg specific gravity, eggshell weight, thickness, and percentage hatchability and egg weight loss of broiler breeders fed with diets with different limestone particle sizes. The chick quality and yield, chick pre-starter live performance, and chick bone characteristics were not affected (P>0.05) by any of the limestone particle sizes. It was concluded that live and reproductive performance parameters of broiler breeders post molting is not affected by limestone particle size in the feed. © 2016 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Effect of Salmonella vaccination of breeder chickens on contamination of broiler chicken carcasses in integrated poultry operations.

PubMed

Dórea, Fernanda C; Cole, Dana J; Hofacre, Charles; Zamperini, Katherine; Mathis, Demetrius; Doyle, Michael P; Lee, Margie D; Maurer, John J

2010-12-01

While measures to control carcass contamination with Salmonella at the processing plant have been implemented with some success, on-farm interventions that reduce Salmonella prevalence in meat birds entering the processing plant have not translated well on a commercial scale. We determined the impact of Salmonella vaccination on commercial poultry operations by monitoring four vaccinated and four nonvaccinated breeder (parental) chicken flocks and comparing Salmonella prevalences in these flocks and their broiler, meat bird progeny. For one poultry company, their young breeders were vaccinated by using a live-attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium vaccine (Megan VAC-1) followed by a killed Salmonella bacterin consisting of S. enterica serovar Berta and S. enterica serovar Kentucky. The other participating poultry company did not vaccinate their breeders or broilers. The analysis revealed that vaccinated hens had a lower prevalence of Salmonella in the ceca (38.3% versus 64.2%; P < 0.001) and the reproductive tracts (14.22% versus 51.7%; P < 0.001). We also observed a lower Salmonella prevalence in broiler chicks (18.1% versus 33.5%; P < 0.001), acquired from vaccinated breeders, when placed at the broiler farms contracted with the poultry company. Broiler chicken farms populated with chicks from vaccinated breeders also tended to have fewer environmental samples containing Salmonella (14.4% versus 30.1%; P < 0.001). There was a lower Salmonella prevalence in broilers entering the processing plants (23.4% versus 33.5%; P < 0.001) for the poultry company that utilized this Salmonella vaccination program for its breeders. Investigation of other company-associated factors did not indicate that the difference between companies could be attributed to measures other than the vaccination program.

Comparison of immunodiffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in the detection of abnormal antibodies in pigeon breeder's disease.

PubMed Central

Simpson, C.; Shirodaria, P. V.; Evans, J. P.; Simpson, D. I.; Stanford, C. F.

1992-01-01

AIMS: To compare the sensitivity of two methods for the detection of serum antibodies to pigeon faecal antigens in patients with pigeon breeder's disease. METHODS: Serum samples stored at -20 degrees C from 50 patients with pigeon breeder's disease, 50 control samples from patients with other respiratory diseases, and 50 healthy blood donors were examined for the precipitating antibodies and IgG antibodies to antigens present in extract of pigeon droppings by immunodiffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. RESULTS: Both antigen preparations of pigeon dropping extract were equally effective. A positive immunodiffusion reaction gave one or more precipitin lines and these antibodies were detected only in undiluted sera from 80% of the patients with pigeon breeder's disease. In the ELISA the sera were tested at a starting dilution of 1 in 100 because positive reactions were observed with sera from healthy blood donors at lower dilutions. All sera which gave optical density readings above 3 SD of the control value were considered to have IgG antibodies. These antibodies were detected in sera from all the patients with pigeon breeder's disease. The antibody titres were much higher in those patients who had precipitating antibodies (range 800-51,200) than those without (range 100-800). The antibodies were not detected in the sera of patients with respiratory diseases or healthy blood donors by either method. CONCLUSIONS: Antibodies to pigeon dropping antigens were detected by immunodiffusion and ELISA in sera from patients with pigeon breeder's disease but not in control sera. ELISA was a more sensitive method for detecting antibodies and therefore seems to have considerable potential as a routine technique in the serological diagnosis of pigeon breeder's disease. PMID:1624596

Effects of the tricothecene mycotoxin diacetoxyscirpenol on egg production of broiler breeders.

PubMed

Brake, J; Hamilton, P B; Kittrell, R S

2002-12-01

Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of 4,15-diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) on egg quality and egg production of broiler breeders. In Experiment 1, feed containing 0, 1.25, 2.5, or 5.0 mg DAS/ kg was fed from 67 to 69 wk of age followed by a 3-wk recovery period on a slat-litter floor. In Experiment 2, individually caged broiler breeder females were studied from 23 to 31 wk of age. The basal diet containing 0, 5, 10, or 20 mg DAS/kg was fed from 25 to 27 wk of age. In Experiment 3, individually caged broiler breeder hens were studied from 23 to 32 wk of age. DAS was fed at levels of 0 (basal), 5, 10, and 20 mg DAS/kg for 2 wk beginning at Week 24, followed by the basal breeder diet for 7 wk. Egg production was not affected by levels of up to 5 mg DAS/kg in the older hens of Experiment 1. When fed from 25 to 27 wk of age in Experiment 2, DAS decreased egg production at the 20 mg/kg level only. When fed from 24 to 25 wk of age in Experiment 3, DAS had no significant effect on egg production or egg quality. Short-term consumption of DAS at levels that might naturally occur appears to have little effect on broiler breeder egg production.

Advanced glycation end-products as markers of aging and longevity in the long-lived Ansell's mole-rat (Fukomys anselli).

PubMed

Dammann, Philip; Sell, David R; Begall, Sabine; Strauch, Christopher; Monnier, Vincent M

2012-06-01

Mole-rat of the genus Fukomys are mammals whose life span is strongly influenced by reproductive status with breeders far outliving nonbreeders. This raises the important question of whether increased longevity of the breeders is reflected in atypical expression of biochemical markers of aging. Here, we measured markers of glycation and advanced glycation end-products formed in insoluble skin collagen of Ansell's mole-rat Fukomys anselli as a function of age and breeding status. Glucosepane, pentosidine, and total advanced glycation end-product content significantly increased with age after correction for breeder status and sex. Unexpectedly, total advanced glycation end-products, glucosepane, and carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) were significantly higher in breeders versus nonbreeders suggesting that breeders have evolved powerful defenses against combined oxidant and carbonyl stress compared with nonbreeders. Most interestingly, when compared with other mammals, pentosidine formation rate was lower in mole-rat compared with other short-lived rodents confirming previous observations of an inverse relationship between longevity and pentosidine formation rates in skin collagen.

Advanced Glycation End-Products as Markers of Aging and Longevity in the Long-Lived Ansell’s Mole-Rat (Fukomys anselli)

PubMed Central

Dammann, Philip; Begall, Sabine; Strauch, Christopher; Monnier, Vincent M.

2012-01-01

Mole-rat of the genus Fukomys are mammals whose life span is strongly influenced by reproductive status with breeders far outliving nonbreeders. This raises the important question of whether increased longevity of the breeders is reflected in atypical expression of biochemical markers of aging. Here, we measured markers of glycation and advanced glycation end-products formed in insoluble skin collagen of Ansell’s mole-rat Fukomys anselli as a function of age and breeding status. Glucosepane, pentosidine, and total advanced glycation end-product content significantly increased with age after correction for breeder status and sex. Unexpectedly, total advanced glycation end-products, glucosepane, and carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) were significantly higher in breeders versus nonbreeders suggesting that breeders have evolved powerful defenses against combined oxidant and carbonyl stress compared with nonbreeders. Most interestingly, when compared with other mammals, pentosidine formation rate was lower in mole-rat compared with other short-lived rodents confirming previous observations of an inverse relationship between longevity and pentosidine formation rates in skin collagen. PMID:22156473

Impact of transportation duration on stress responses in day-old chicks from young and old breeders.

PubMed

Jacobs, Leonie; Delezie, Evelyne; Duchateau, Luc; Goethals, Klara; Ampe, Bart; Buyse, Johan; Tuyttens, Frank Andre Maurice

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess the interaction effect of transportation duration and parental age on physiological stress responses and quality in day-old chicks. After hatch, 3240 chicks from either 29-week old (young) or 60-week old (old) broiler breeders were transported for 1.5h (short) or 11h (long). Thereafter, 228 chicks were assessed for quality and blood plasma was assayed for corticosterone (CORT), lactate, glucose, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS, increased concentrations can indicate oxidative stress). No interaction effects of parental age and transportation duration were found (all P>0.10). Chicks from young breeders showed higher CORT levels (P=0.007) and were of higher quality (Tona method, P<0.001) than those from old breeders. After long transportation, chicks showed increased CORT (P<0.001) and lower TBARS levels (P<0.001) compared to after short transportation. No evidence was provided that long transportation differently affected the quality or stress responses of chicks from breeder flocks of two ages. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Broad spectrum protection of broiler chickens against inclusion body hepatitis by immunizing their broiler breeder parents with a bivalent live fowl adenovirus vaccine.

PubMed

Popowich, Shelly; Gupta, Ashish; Chow-Lockerbie, Betty; Ayalew, Lisanework; Ambrose, Neil; Ojkic, Davor; Gunawardana, Thushari; Kurukulasuriya, Shanika; Willson, Philip; Tikoo, Suresh K; Gomis, Susantha

2018-06-01

Historically, fowl adenovirus (FAdV) associated inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) was considered a secondary disease in broiler chickens associated with immunosuppression. However, we previously reported the occurrence of IBH as a primary disease in the broiler chicken industry in Canada as a result of infections with various FAdV serotypes. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to develop an immunization strategy in broiler breeders using live FAdV 11-1047 and FAdV8a-TR59 to confer homologous and heterologous protection in broiler progeny against IBH and to study the efficacy of natural exposure of naïve broiler breeders to a vaccine virus from live FAdV vaccinated birds as an immunization technique. Broiler breeders vaccinated orally with FAdV8a-TR59 (1 × 10 4 TCID 50 /bird) and FAdV11-1047 (1 × 10 4 TCID 50 /bird), FAdV8a-TR59 (1 × 10 6 TCID 50 /bird) and FAdV11-1047 (1 × 10 6 TCID 50 /bird) or FAdV8b (1 × 10 6 TCID 50 /bird) transferred substantial levels of neutralizing antibodies to their progeny. The efficacy of maternal antibodies was studied by challenging 14-day old broiler chickens with 1 × 10 7 TCID 50 of FAdV2-685, FAdV7-x11a like, FAdV8a-TR59, FAdV8b-SK or FAdV11-1047 which are the dominant serotypes causing IBH outbreaks in Canada. Broiler chickens from the low and high dose vaccinated breeders were significantly protected against all serotypes of FAdV (P < 0.05). Comingling of unvaccinated broiler breeders with FAdV-vaccinated broiler breeders was an effective immunization technique for in-contact naïve birds. This study confirms that IBH can be effectively controlled in Canada by vaccination of broiler breeder parents with a bivalent vaccine containing live FAdV8a-TR59 and FAdV11-1047. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal antibody transfer to broiler progeny varies among strains and is affected by grain source and cage density.

PubMed

Leandro, N M; Ali, R; Koci, M; Moraes, V; Eusebio-Balcazar, P E; Jornigan, J; Malheiros, R D; Wineland, M J; Brake, J; Oviedo-Rondón, E O

2011-12-01

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of broiler breeder dietary grain source and cage density on maternal antibody (MatAb) transfer to progeny in 2 genetic strains (A and B). Broiler breeders were assigned to 16 litter floor pens and fed either corn- or wheat-based diets. Breeders were administered 4 live vaccines against Newcastle disease virus (NDV). At 23 wk of age, pullets and cocks, which reflected the full BW distribution from each treatment, were moved to a cage breeder house and placed at 1 or 2 hens/cage. Breeders were artificially inseminated at 44 wk (experiment 1) and 52 wk of age (experiment 2). Eggs were collected for 8 d, incubated, and placed in individual pedigree bags at d 19 of incubation. Blood samples from 5 chicks per treatment combination were collected at hatch in both experiments. Spleen and bursa were collected from the same chicks for histomorphometry analyses in experiment 2. In the second experiment, 12 chicks per treatment were placed in cages. Progeny were provided diets based on the same grain (corn or wheat) as their parents. Serum samples were collected at 5, 9, and 13 d of age and analyzed for anti-NDV MatAb. Data were analyzed as a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design considering strain, dietary grain source, and cage density as main factors. Interaction effects were observed in breeders and progeny. Experiment 1 showed that strain A chicks had lower levels of MatAb when hens were housed at 2 hens/cage rather than 1 hen/cage. The MatAb levels of strain B chickens were not affected by cage density in either experiment. Experiment 2 demonstrated similar effects of cage density on MatAb levels and the area of bursa follicles for both strains. Progeny of breeders fed corn-based diets had smaller spleen white pulp only when hens were housed at 2 hens/cage compared with 1 hen/cage. The results of these experiments suggest that breeder strain and cage-density conditions affected MatAb transfer to progeny and embryo development of spleen and bursa.

Criticality safety strategy for the Fuel Cycle Facility electrorefiner at Argonne National Laboratory, West

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

Mariani, R.D.; Benedict, R.W.; Lell, R.M.

1993-09-01

The Integral Fast Reactor being developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) combines the advantages of metal-fueled, liquid-metal-cooled reactors and a closed fuel cycle. Presently, the Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF) at ANL-West in Idaho Falls, Idaho is being modified to recycle spent metallic fuel from Experimental Breeder Reactor II as part of a demonstration project sponsored by the Department of Energy. A key component of the FCF is the electrorefiner (ER) in which the actinides are separated from the fission products. In the electrorefining process, the metal fuel is anodically dissolved into a high-temperature molten salt and refined uranium or uranium/plutoniummore » products are deposited at cathodes. In this report, the criticality safety strategy for the FCF ER is summarized. FCF ER operations and processes formed the basis for evaluating criticality safety and control during actinide metal fuel refining. In order to show criticality safety for the FCF ER, the reference operating conditions for the ER had to be defined. Normal operating envelopes (NOES) were then defined to bracket the important operating conditions. To keep the operating conditions within their NOES, process controls were identified that can be used to regulate the actinide forms and content within the ER. A series of operational checks were developed for each operation that wig verify the extent or success of an operation. The criticality analysis considered the ER operating conditions at their NOE values as the point of departure for credible and incredible failure modes. As a result of the analysis, FCF ER operations were found to be safe with respect to criticality.« less

Turning the tide of public opinion on nuclear power

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

Cohen, B.L.

1997-04-01

Until the early 1970s, the tide of public opinion in the United States was strongly in favor of nuclear power. New power plants were coming on line frequently, and in 1973-74, there were close to 40 new orders per year for new reactors in the United States. Official government projections estimated 1000 operating reactors by the year 2000. Fuel reprocessing, plutonium recycle, and breeder reactor development were also proceeding smoothly and rapidly. But, in the mid-1970s, the tide suddenly turned against the nuclear industry. How did this come about? In the late 1960s, energetic and idealistic young people who hadmore » never experienced economic insecurity or World Wars came of age. Environmentalism was an attractive outlet for their activity in most of the Western world. In the United States, opposition to the Vietnam War, in which these young people had a personal stake, was even more popular at first, but by the early 1970s, Vietnam was winding down, and they turned also to Environmentalism. Numerous environmental groups started up, aided heavily by the favorable connotation of the very word {open_quotes}environmentalist{close_quotes} in the public mind. Their organizational experience, political savvy, and media connections gained from their antiwar protests were powerful assets. But the groups needed specific targets to attack, and they soon found that nuclear power was well-suited for that purpose. Here was a new technology, coming on at a very rapid pace. To the public, radiation was highly mysterious, and people were well aware that it could be dangerous. And, the word danger had taken on a new meaning. Previous generations were well acquainted with death and were much less averse to risk-taking than the generation of the 1970s.« less

Technical Information on the Carbonation of the EBR-II Reactor, Summary Report Part 2: Application to EBR-II Primary Sodium System and Related Systems

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

Steven R. Sherman; Collin J. Knight

Residual sodium is defined as sodium metal that remains behind in pipes, vessels, and tanks after the bulk sodium metal has been melted and drained from such components. The residual sodium has the same chemical properties as bulk sodium, and differs from bulk sodium only in the thickness of the sodium deposit. Typically, sodium is considered residual when the thickness of the deposit is less than 5-6 cm. This residual sodium must be removed or deactivated when a pipe, vessel, system, or entire reactor is permanently taken out of service, in order to make the component or system safer and/ormore » to comply with decontamination and decomissioning regulations. As an alternative to the established residual sodium deactivation techniques (steam-and-nitrogen, wet vapor nitrogen, etc.), a technique involving the use of moisture and carbon dioxide has been developed. With this technique, sodium metal is converted into sodium bicarbonate by reacting it with humid carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is emitted as a by-product. This technique was first developed in the laboratory by exposing sodium samples to humidifed carbon dioxide under controlled conditions, and then demonstrated on a larger scale by treating residual sodium within the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) secondary cooling system, followed by the primary cooling system, respectively. The EBR-II facility is located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in southeastern Idaho, USA. This report is Part 2 of a two-part report. This second report provides a supplement to the first report and describes the application of the humdidified carbon dioxide technique ("carbonation") to the EBR-II primary tank, primary cover gas systems, and the intermediate heat exchanger. Future treatment plans are also provided.« less

THE ECONOMICS OF REPROCESSING vs DIRECT DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL

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

Matthew Bunn; Steve Fetter; John P. Holdren

This report assesses the economics of reprocessing versus direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The breakeven uranium price at which reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from existing light-water reactors (LWRs) and recycling the resulting plutonium and uranium in LWRs would become economic is assessed, using central estimates of the costs of different elements of the nuclear fuel cycle (and other fuel cycle input parameters), for a wide range of range of potential reprocessing prices. Sensitivity analysis is performed, showing that the conclusions reached are robust across a wide range of input parameters. The contribution of direct disposal or reprocessing and recyclingmore » to electricity cost is also assessed. The choice of particular central estimates and ranges for the input parameters of the fuel cycle model is justified through a review of the relevant literature. The impact of different fuel cycle approaches on the volume needed for geologic repositories is briefly discussed, as are the issues surrounding the possibility of performing separations and transmutation on spent nuclear fuel to reduce the need for additional repositories. A similar analysis is then performed of the breakeven uranium price at which deploying fast neutron breeder reactors would become competitive compared with a once-through fuel cycle in LWRs, for a range of possible differences in capital cost between LWRs and fast neutron reactors. Sensitivity analysis is again provided, as are an analysis of the contribution to electricity cost, and a justification of the choices of central estimates and ranges for the input parameters. The equations used in the economic model are derived and explained in an appendix. Another appendix assesses the quantities of uranium likely to be recoverable worldwide in the future at a range of different possible future prices.« less

[Knowledge and practices concerning taeniasis-cysticercosis in Colombian pig-breeders].

PubMed

Agudelo-Flórez, Piedad; Restrepo, Berta N; Palacio, Luis G

2009-01-01

Describing knowledge and practices regarding taeniasis-cysticercosis and cysticercosis prevalence in the village of Andagoya, Colombia. The study design was qualitative and quantitative. The study population consisted of pig breeders and their families, local groups and pigs. Study participants had partial knowledge of the taeniasis-cysticercosis complex. They considered taeniasis to be an illness resulting from faecal transmission and not caused by becoming infected with cysticercosis after consuming pork. Pig breeding is not carried out in confined conditions and, although breeders know the right measures for controlling some parasitic illnesses, these practices are not observed. There was 8.7% presence of T. solium antibodies in pig breeders and their relatives and 20.9% in the pigs. An educational programme aimed at raising the population's awareness of the taeniasis-cysticercosis complex cycle should be developed; this will facilitate control measures being applied.

Improved structure and long-life blanket concepts for heliotron reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagara, A.; Imagawa, S.; Mitarai, O.; Dolan, T.; Tanaka, T.; Kubota, Y.; Yamazaki, K.; Watanabe, K. Y.; Mizuguchi, N.; Muroga, T.; Noda, N.; Kaneko, O.; Yamada, H.; Ohyabu, N.; Uda, T.; Komori, A.; Sudo, S.; Motojima, O.

2005-04-01

New design approaches are proposed for the LHD-type heliotron D-T demo-reactor FFHR2 to solve the key engineering issues of blanket space limitation and replacement difficulty. A major radius of over 14 m is selected to permit a blanket-shield thickness of about 1 m and to reduce the neutron wall loading and toroidal field, while achieving an acceptable cost of electricity. Two sets of optimization are successfully carried out. One is to reduce the magnetic hoop force on the helical coil support structures by adjustment of the helical winding coil pitch parameter and the poloidal coils design, which facilitates expansion of the maintenance ports. The other is a long-life blanket concept using carbon armour tiles that soften the neutron energy spectrum incident on the self-cooled flibe-reduced activation ferritic steel blanket. In this adaptation of the spectral-shifter and tritium breeder blanket (STB) concept a local tritium breeding ratio over 1.2 is feasible by optimized arrangement of the neutron multiplier Be in the carbon tiles, and the radiation shielding of the superconducting magnet coils is also significantly improved. Using constant cross sections of a helically winding shape, the 'screw coaster' concept is proposed to replace in-vessel components such as the STB armour tiles. The key R&D issues for developing the STB concept, such as radiation effects on carbon and enhanced heat transfer of Flibe, are elucidated.

Neutronics Comparison Analysis of the Water Cooled Ceramics Breeding Blanket for CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jia; Zhang, Xiaokang; Gao, Fangfang; Pu, Yong

2016-02-01

China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) is an ITER-like fusion engineering test reactor that is intended to fill the scientific and technical gaps between ITER and DEMO. One of the main missions of CFETR is to achieve a tritium breeding ratio that is no less than 1.2 to ensure tritium self-sufficiency. A concept design for a water cooled ceramics breeding blanket (WCCB) is presented based on a scheme with the breeder and the multiplier located in separate panels for CFETR. Based on this concept, a one-dimensional (1D) radial built breeding blanket was first designed, and then several three-dimensional models were developed with various neutron source definitions and breeding blanket module arrangements based on the 1D radial build. A set of nuclear analyses have been carried out to compare the differences in neutronics characteristics given by different calculation models, addressing neutron wall loading (NWL), tritium breeding ratio (TBR), fast neutron flux on inboard side and nuclear heating deposition on main in-vessel components. The impact of differences in modeling on the nuclear performance has been analyzed and summarized regarding the WCCB concept design. supported by the National Special Project for Magnetic Confined Nuclear Fusion Energy (Nos. 2013GB108004, 2014GB122000, and 2014GB119000), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207)

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2000. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company, Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power

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

Rutherford, Phil; Samuels, Sandy; Lee, Majelle

2001-09-01

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2000 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of the Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). In the past, these operations included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials, under the former Atomics International (AI) Division. Other activities included the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities for testing of liquid metal fast breeder components at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned company-operated, test facility within Area IV. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988, andmore » subsequently, all radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the previously used nuclear facilities and associated site areas. Large-scale D&D activities of the sodium test facilities began in 1996. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year of 2000 continue to indicate no significant releases of radioactive material from Rocketdyne sites. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling. All radioactive wastes are processed for disposal at DOE disposal sites and other sites approved by DOE and licensed for radioactive waste. Liquid radioactive wastes are not released into the environment and do not constitute an exposure pathway.« less

The thermal conductivity of mixed fuel U xPu 1-xO 2: molecular dynamics simulations

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

Liu, Xiang-Yang; Cooper, Michael William Donald; Stanek, Christopher Richard

2015-10-16

Mixed oxides (MOX), in the context of nuclear fuels, are a mixture of the oxides of heavy actinide elements such as uranium, plutonium and thorium. The interest in the UO 2-PuO 2 system arises from the fact that these oxides are used both in fast breeder reactors (FBRs) as well as in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The thermal conductivity of UO 2 fuel is an important material property that affects fuel performance since it is the key parameter determining the temperature distribution in the fuel, thus governing, e.g., dimensional changes due to thermal expansion, fission gas release rates, etc. Formore » this reason it is important to understand the thermal conductivity of MOX fuel and how it differs from UO 2. Here, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are carried out to determine quantitatively, the effect of mixing on the thermal conductivity of U xPu 1-xO 2, as a function of PuO 2 concentrations, for a range of temperatures, 300 – 1500 K. The results will be used to develop enhanced continuum thermal conductivity models for MARMOT and BISON by INL. These models express the thermal conductivity as a function of microstructure state-variables, thus enabling thermal conductivity models with closer connection to the physical state of the fuel.« less

Ionization efficiency studies with charge breeder and conventional electron cyclotron resonance ion source

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

Koivisto, H., E-mail: hannu.koivisto@phys.jyu.fi; Tarvainen, O.; Toivanen, V.

2014-02-15

Radioactive Ion Beams play an increasingly important role in several European research facility programs such as SPES, SPIRAL1 Upgrade, and SPIRAL2, but even more for those such as EURISOL. Although remarkable advances of ECRIS charge breeders (CBs) have been achieved, further studies are needed to gain insight on the physics of the charge breeding process. The fundamental plasma processes of charge breeders are studied in the frame of the European collaboration project, EMILIE, for optimizing the charge breeding. Important information on the charge breeding can be obtained by conducting similar experiments using the gas mixing and 2-frequency heating techniques withmore » a conventional JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS and the LPSC-PHOENIX charge breeder. The first experiments were carried out with noble gases and they revealed, for example, that the effects of the gas mixing and 2-frequency heating on the production of high charge states appear to be additive for the conventional ECRIS. The results also indicate that at least in the case of noble gases the differences between the conventional ECRIS and the charge breeder cause only minor impact on the production efficiency of ion beams.« less

Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii) Knowledge and Attitudes of Australian Cat Breeders and Their Husbandry Practices.

PubMed

Shapiro, A J; Norris, J M; Bosward, K L; Heller, J

2017-06-01

A Q fever outbreak in a small animal veterinary hospital, associated with a cat caesarean section, initiated a cat seroprevalence study (n = 712) that found circulating antibodies to Coxiella burnetii was highest in cattery-confined breeding cats (9.3%). These findings stimulated interest about potential sources of C. burnetii infection for cats and humans associated with cats. Cat breeders are potentially a group at increased risk of C. burnetii infection, and this study sought to identify potential risk factors. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted targeting all domestic cat breeders registered with an affiliate member body in Australia in 2015. Responses from 177 cat breeders across Australia were analysed. Forty per cent of responding cat breeders had not heard of Q fever. Raw meat was fed as an integral constituent of the diet by 89% of respondents. Eighty per cent of respondents allowed queens access to the home for parturition, and assistance of queens and resuscitation of kittens at the time of birth were reported by 97% of respondents. Respondents who perceived some level of exposure to Q fever through their breeding activities were three times less likely to perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation (OR 0.3 95% CI 0.1-0.9; P = 0.034) than those who did not perceive a risk of exposure. Similarly, respondents who perceived Q fever as a risk through breeding activities were close to eight times more likely to use personal protective equipment during parturition (OR 7.7 95% CI 1.5-39.9; P = 0.015) than those who did not. Husbandry practices of cat breeders that may increase the risk of C. burnetii transmission require further targeted investigations to assess the contribution of these risk factors to the acquisition of disease. Concurrent education forums are recommended to inform Australian cat breeders of the aetiopathogenesis of Q fever. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Apparent inferiority of first-time breeders in the kittiwake: The role of heterogeneity among age classes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cam, E.; Monnat, J.-Y.

2000-01-01

1. Many studies have provided evidence that first-time breeders have a lower survival, a lower probability of success, or of breeding, in the following year. Hypotheses based on reproductive costs have often been proposed to explain this. However, because of the intrinsic relationship between age and experience, the apparent inferiority of first-time breeders at the population level may result from selection, and experience may not influence performance within each individual. In this paper we address the question of phenotypic correlations between fitness components. This addresses differences in individual quality, a prerequisite for a selection process to occur. We also test the hypothesis of an influence of experience on these components while taking age and reproductive success into account: two factors likely to play a key role in a selection process. 2. Using data from a long-term study on the kittiwake, we found that first-time breeders have a lower probability of success, a lower survival and a lower probability of breeding in the next year than experienced breeders. However, neither experienced nor inexperienced breeders have a lower survival or a lower probability of breeding in the following year than birds that skipped a breeding opportunity. This suggests heterogeneity in quality among individuals. 3. Failed birds have a lower survival and a lower probability of breeding in the following year regardless of experience. This can be interpreted in the light of the selection hypothesis. The inferiority of inexperienced breeders may be linked to a higher proportion of lower-quality individuals in younger age classes. When age and breeding success are controlled for, there is no evidence of an influence of experience on survival or future breeding probability. 4. Using data from individuals whose reproductive life lasted the same number of years, we investigated the influence of experience on reproductive performance within individuals. There is no strong evidence that a process operating within individuals explains the improvement in performance observed at the population level.

The use of antibiotics in cattle in North-East Benin: pharmaceutical inventory and risk practices of cattle breeders.

PubMed

Dognon, S R; Antoine-Moussiaux, N; Douny, C; Gustin, P; Moula, N; Scippo, M L; Youssao, A K I

2018-05-07

This study's aim is to inventory antibiotics used in cattle in North-East Benin and assess risk practices that could be the cause of both food chain contamination by antibiotic residues and selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals and humans. A survey was conducted among 98 cattle breeders in the districts of Banikoara, Kandi, Bembereke, and Kalale in North Benin. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, covering breeder status, breeding system, and antibiotic use. Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical classification analysis were conducted to establish a breeder typology. Breeders mainly belonged to the Fulani ethnic group (71.4 ± 8.9%) and almost all of them received "no formal education" (96.9 ± 3.4%). Cattle herds were mainly composed of a single breed, the Borgou (76.4 ± 8.1%) or the Fulani Zebu (16.0 ± 7.0%). Some herds were mixed. Antibiotics groups used in cattle breeding were tetracyclines, beta-lactams, sulfonamides, aminoglycosides, and macrolides, used by respectively 100%, 69.4 ± 9.1%, 56.1 ± 9.8%, 44.9 ± 9.8%, and 34.7 ± 9.4% of breeders. These drugs were purchased in local markets (59.0 ± 15.4%) and veterinary pharmacy (41.0 ± 15.4%). They were mainly used against respiratory diseases, lameness, mastitis, omphalitis and neonatal enteritis, and skin diseases. Only 49.0 ± 9.9% of breeders seek veterinary services to treat animals and 92.9 ± 5.1% of them did not respect antibiotic withdrawal times. These practices suggest that both contamination of bovine meat with antibiotic residues and selection of resistant bacteria are to be expected, resulting in adverse health effects on consumers.

Unidentified Factors in Jojoba Meal Prevent Oviduct Development in Broiler Breeder Females.

PubMed

Vermaut; Onagbesan; Bruggeman; Verhoeven; Berghman; Flo; Cokelaere; Decuypere

1998-01-19

Supplementation of feed with jojoba meal, as a means for autonomous feed restriction, was successful in depressing feed intake and controlling body weight of broiler breeder pullets to the extent recommended by the breeder company. However, these broiler breeders never produced eggs. At the level of ovary, normal follicle development and maturation did occur. A considerable number of ovulations occurred which were not followed by oviposition. After ovulation, the ova could not be captured by the oviduct, because of the small size of the oviduct, resulting in "internal laying". The virtual absence of oviduct development cannot be explained presently but it must be due to some yet unidentified factor(s) in jojoba meal which prevent(s) the normal development of the oviduct. These factors may be acting by abnormally increasing plasma progesterone or triiodothyronin levels and/or directly by themselves interfering with oviduct development. The nature of these factors requires further investigations.

Effect of litter quality on foot pad dermatitis, hock burns and breast blisters in broiler breeders during the production period.

PubMed

Kaukonen, Eija; Norring, Marianna; Valros, Anna

2016-12-01

Foot pad dermatitis and hock burn lesions are a form of contact dermatitis, a condition affecting skin areas in contact with unsuitable or irritating material. Contact dermatitis is a common problem, reducing the welfare of broilers, and is believed to also affect broiler breeders. However, there is very little research on contact dermatitis in breeders. This study followed the severity of foot pad lesions in broiler breeders throughout the production period. At slaughter the presence of hock burns and breast blisters was also determined. In addition, changes in litter condition over time and the impact of litter quality on foot pads were evaluated. The study was performed on 10 broiler breeder farms, including altogether 18 flocks. Foot pads of 100 hens per flock were assessed at the end of rearing period, three times during the production period, and at slaughter. Foot pad and hock lesions, as well as litter condition were scored on a 5-point scale. Litter quality was evaluated as pH, moisture and ammonia content. The condition of foot pads deteriorated towards slaughter age, with the occurrence of severe lesions reaching a maximum of 64% on average at slaughter. Hock lesions and breast blisters were rare. The litter layer became drier over time. Although poorer litter condition and wetness influenced foot pad health negatively, the effect on severe lesions was not significant. We also observed a negative effect on foot pad condition of larger slat areas. In conclusion, maintaining good litter quality alone is not enough to ensure healthy foot pads in broiler breeders.

The broiler breeder paradox: ethical, genetic and physiological perspectives, and suggestions for solutions.

PubMed

Decuypere, E; Bruggeman, V; Everaert, N; Li, Yue; Boonen, R; De Tavernier, J; Janssens, S; Buys, N

2010-10-01

1. Due to intensive selection, broiler chickens became the most efficient meat-producing animals because of their fast growth, supported by a virtually unlimited voluntary feed intake. These characteristics cause many problems in the management of broiler breeder hens because of the negative correlation between muscle growth and reproduction effectiveness. 2. This problem, namely the fast muscle growth versus reproduction health paradox, induces a second paradox, acceptable reproduction and health versus hunger stress and impaired welfare, because broiler breeder hens require dedicated programmes of feed restriction (1) to maximise egg and chick production and (2) to avoid metabolic disorders and mortality in broiler breeders. 3. Given that poultry selection is a global large-scale business and chickens are a prolific species, improvement in profit can only be obtained by selecting on feed conversion and/or for higher breast meat percentage, which will intensify the broiler-breeder paradox. 4. New feeding strategies are being studied, but it is questionable if the paradox can be solved by management tools alone. Because breeding and selection are long-term processes, involving animals, farmers, consumers, industry, environment etc., a more sustainable breeding goal needs to be determined by a multidisciplinary approach and an open debate between several actors in the discussion. 5. Using dwarf broiler breeder hens could be one alternative, because dwarf hens combine relatively good reproductive fitness with ad libitum feeding. Another possibility is to accept lower broiler productivity by assigning economic values to welfare and including integrity traits in an extended breeding goal.

Cotton regeneration in vitro

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

H. F. Sakhanokho and K. Rajasekaran Over the years, plant breeders have improved cotton via conventional breeding methods, but these methods are time-consuming. To complement classical breeding and, at times, reduce the time necessary for new cultivar development, breeders have turned to in vitro ...

Cooperation and competition: nepotistic tolerance and intrasexual aggression in western bluebird winter groups

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dickinson, J.L.; Euaparadorn, M.; Greenwald, K.; Mitra, C.; Shizuka, Daizaburo

2009-01-01

Two hypothesized benefits of delayed dispersal are access to resources and prolonged brood care (or??parental nepotism). Resource abundance (mistletoe wealth) is a key factor influencing whether sons stay home in western bluebirds, Sialia mexicana, but nepotism is also observed. Western bluebird sons commonly remain in their family groups throughout the winter, whereas daughters usually disperse before winter. Because pairing often takes place in winter groups, with newly formed pairs settling on exclusive all-purpose territories in spring, selection for sexual competition and nepotism co-occur and may simultaneously influence patterns of aggression within groups. We measured aggression at mealworm feeder stations, finding evidence of (1) intrasexual aggression against unrelated group members by experienced breeders of both sexes and (2) nepotism towards sons and daughters by experienced breeder females but not by experienced breeder males. Females showed much higher levels of aggression towards same-sex immigrants than males did. Experienced breeder males did not evict their sons from the natal territory, but they were 12 times more aggressive towards sons than breeder females were towards daughters. They were also equally aggressive towards sons and immigrant males, suggesting that local breeding competition and the benefits of intrasexual dominance counter the benefits of paternal nepotism towards sons. ?? 2009 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Harvest and group effects on pup survival in a cooperative breeder

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ausband, David E.; Mitchell, Michael S.; Stansbury, Carisa R.; Stenglein, Jennifer L.; Waits, Lisette P.

2017-01-01

Recruitment in cooperative breeders can be negatively affected by changes in group size and composition. The majority of cooperative breeding studies have not evaluated human harvest; therefore, the effects of recurring annual harvest and group characteristics on survival of young are poorly understood. We evaluated how harvest and groups affect pup survival using genetic sampling and pedigrees for grey wolves in North America. We hypothesized that harvest reduces pup survival because of (i) reduced group size, (ii) increased breeder turnover and/or (iii) reduced number of female helpers. Alternatively, harvest may increase pup survival possibly due to increased per capita food availability or it could be compensatory with other forms of mortality. Harvest appeared to be additive because it reduced both pup survival and group size. In addition to harvest, turnover of breeding males and the presence of older, non-breeding males also reduced pup survival. Large groups and breeder stability increased pup survival when there was harvest, however. Inferences about the effect of harvest on recruitment require knowledge of harvest rate of young as well as the indirect effects associated with changes in group size and composition, as we show. The number of young harvested is a poor measure of the effect of harvest on recruitment in cooperative breeders.

A finite difference model used to predict the consolidation of a ceramic waste form produced from the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel.

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

Bateman, K. J.; Capson, D. D.

2004-03-29

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed a process to immobilize waste salt containing fission products, uranium, and transuranic elements as chlorides in a glass-bonded ceramic waste form. This salt was generated in the electrorefining operation used in the electrometallurgical treatment of spent Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) fuel. The ceramic waste process culminates with an elevated temperature operation. The processing conditions used by the furnace, for demonstration scale and production scale operations, are to be developed at Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-West). To assist in selecting the processing conditions of the furnace and to reduce the number of costly experiments, a finitemore » difference model was developed to predict the consolidation of the ceramic waste. The model accurately predicted the heating as well as the bulk density of the ceramic waste form. The methodology used to develop the computer model and a comparison of the analysis to experimental data is presented.« less

Precipitation behavior in austenitic and ferritic steels during fast neutron irradiation and thermal aging*1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawanishi, H.; Hajima, R.; Sekimura, N.; Arai, Y.; Ishino, S.

1988-07-01

Precipitation behavior has been studied using a carbon extraction replica technique in Ti-modified Type 316 stainless steels (JPCA-2) and 9Cr-2Mo ferritic/martensitic steels (JFMS) irradiated to 8.1 × 10 24 n/m 2 at 873 and 673 K, respectively, in the experimental fast breeder reactor JOYO. Precipitate identification and compositional analysis were carried out on extracted replicas. The results were compared to those from the as-received steel and a control which had been given the same thermal as-treatment as the specimens received during irradiations. Carbides, Ti-sulphides and phosphides were precipitated in JPCA-2. Precipitate observed in JFMS included carbides, Laves-phases and phosphides. The precipitates in both steels were concluded to be stable under irradiation except for MC and M 6C in JPCA-2. Small MC particles were found precipitated in JPCA-2 during both irradiation and aging. Irradiation proved to promote the precipitation of M 6C in JPCA-2.

Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Monitoring Report for FY 2009

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

Brenda R. Pace; Julie B. Braun

2009-10-01

This report describes the cultural resource monitoring activities of the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Office during fiscal year 2009 (FY 2009). Throughout the year, thirty-eight cultural resource localities were revisited including: two locations with Native American human remains, one of which is a cave, two additional caves, twenty-two prehistoric archaeological sites, six historic homesteads, two historic stage stations, two historic trails, and two nuclear resources, including Experimental Breeder Reactor-I, which is a designated National Historic Landmark. Several INL project areas were also monitored in FY 2009 to assess project compliance with cultural resource recommendations and monitormore » the effects of ongoing project activities. Although impacts were documented at a few locations and trespassing citations were issued in one instance, no significant adverse effects that would threaten the National Register eligibility of any resources were observed. Monitoring also demonstrated that several INL projects generally remain in compliance with recommendations to protect cultural resources.« less

System design description of forced-convection molten-salt corrosion loops MSR-FCL-3 and MSR-FCL-4

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

Huntley, W.R.; Silverman, M.D.

1976-11-01

Molten-salt corrosion loops MSR-FCL-3 and MSR-FCL-4 are high-temperature test facilities designed to evaluate corrosion and mass transfer of modified Hastelloy N alloys for future use in Molten-Salt Breeder Reactors. Salt is circulated by a centrifugal sump pump to evaluate material compatibility with LiF-BeF/sub 2/-ThF/sub 4/-UF/sub 4/ fuel salt at velocities up to 6 m/s (20 fps) and at salt temperatures from 566 to 705/sup 0/C (1050 to 1300/sup 0/F). The report presents the design description of the various components and systems that make up each corrosion facility, such as the salt pump, corrosion specimens, salt piping, main heaters, salt coolers,more » salt sampling equipment, and helium cover-gas system, etc. The electrical systems and instrumentation and controls are described, and operational procedures, system limitations, and maintenance philosophy are discussed.« less

Comparison of COBRA III-C and SABRE-1 (wire-wrap version) computational results with steady-state data from a 19-pin internally guard heated sodium-cooled bundle with a six-channel central blockage (THORS Bundle 3C). [LMFBR

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

Dearing, J F; Nelson, W R; Rose, S D

Computational thermal-hydraulic models of a 19-pin, electrically heated, wire-wrap liquid-metal fast breeder reactor test bundle were developed using two well-known subchannel analysis codes, COBRA III-C and SABRE-1 (wire-wrap version). These two codes use similar subchannel control volumes for the finite difference conservation equations but vary markedly in solution strategy and modeling capability. In particular, the empirical wire-wrap-forced diversion crossflow models are different. Surprisingly, however, crossflow velocity predictions of the two codes are very similar. Both codes show generally good agreement with experimental temperature data from a test in which a large radial temperature gradient was imposed. Differences between data andmore » code results are probably caused by experimental pin bowing, which is presently the limiting factor in validating coded empirical models.« less

Synthesis and characterization of carbon microsphere for extinguishing sodium fire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snehalatha, V.; Ponraju, D.; Nashine, B. K.; Chellapandi, P.

2013-06-01

In Sodium cooled Fast breeder Reactors (SFRs), accidental leakage of liquid sodium leads to sodium fire. Carbon microsphere is a promising and novel extinguishant for sodium fire since it possesses high thermal conductivity, chemical inertness and excellent flow characteristics. Low density Carbon microsphere (CMS) with high thermal stability was successfully synthesized from functionalized styrene divinyl benzene copolymer by carbonization under inert atmosphere. Protocol for stepwise carbonization was developed by optimizing heating rate and time of heating. The synthesized CMS was characterized by Densimeter, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transfer Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and RAMAN spectroscopy. CMS thus obtained was spherical in shape having diameters ranging between 60 to 80μm with narrow size distribution. The smooth surface of CMS ensures its free flow characteristics. The yield of carbonization process was about 38%. The performance of CMS was tested on small scale sodium. This paper describes the development of carbon microsphere for extinguishing sodium fire and its characteristics.

Sodium Handling Technology and Engineering Design of the Madison Dynamo Experiment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kendrick, R.; Forest, C. B.; O'Connell, R.; Wright, A.; Robinson, K.

1998-11-01

A new liquid metal MHD experiment is being constructed at the University of Wisconsin to test several key predictions of dynamo theory: magnetic instabilities driven by sheared flow, the effects of turbulence on current generation, and the back-reaction of the self-generated magnetic field on the fluid motion which brings saturation. This presentation describes the engineering design of the experiment, which is a 0.5 m radius spherical vessel, filled with liquid sodium at 150 degrees Celsius. The experiment is designed to achieve a magnetic Reynolds number in excess of 100, which requires approximately 80 Hp of mechanical drive, producing flow velocities in sodium of 15 m/s through impellers. Handling liquid sodium offers a number of technical challenges, but routine techniques have been developed over the past several decades for safely handling large quantities for the fast breeder reactor. The handling strategy is discussed, technical details concerning seals and pressurazation are presented, and safety elements are highlighted.

Initial operation with sodium in the Madison Dynamo Experiment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kendrick, R.; Spence, Ej; Forest, C. B.; O'Connell, R.; Nornberg, Md; Canary, Hw; Wright, A.; Robinson, K.

1999-11-01

A new liquid metal MHD experiment has been constructed at the University of Wisconsin to test several key predictions of dynamo theory: magnetic instabilities driven by sheared flow, the effects of turbulence on current generation, and the back-reaction of the self-generated magnetic field on the fluid motion which brings saturation. This presentation describes the engineering design of the experiment, which is a 0.5 m radius spherical vessel, filled with liquid sodium at 150 ^circC. The experiment is designed to achieve a magnetic Reynolds number in excess of 100, which requires approximately 80 Hp of mechanical drive, producing flow velocities in sodium of 15 m/s through impellers. Handling liquid sodium offers a number of technical challenges, but routine techniques have been developed over the past several decades for safely handling large quantities for the fast breeder reactor. The handling strategy is discussed, technical details concerning seals and pressurization are presented, and safety elements are highlighted.

A proposed intense slow positron source based on 58Co

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Benjamin L.; Denison, Art; Makowitz, Henry; Gidley, Dave; Frieze, Bill; Griffin, Henry; Encarnación, Pedro

1994-06-01

Positron beams have proven very useful for condensed matter and surface research. The highest intensity of the current operating positron beams is ˜109 slow e+/second. The goal of our proposal is to build an Intense Slow Positron Source (ISPS) demonstration beam (Phase I) of unprecedented brightness at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, INEL (up to 1010 slow e+/s at 5 keV over a <0.03 cm. diameter). This Phase I beam will prove the principles necessary to build a larger facility scale ISPS Phase II beam which will have a potential of 1013 e+/s, or ≳1012 e+/s over 0.03 cm. The INEL is an ideal location for the ISPS because of the fast breeder reactor EBR-II, which is perfectly suited to creating the positron emitting isotope 58Co, and the excellent radioactive materials handling capability and expertise. Sufficient expertise is available at INEL for the construction and operation of a user facility (Phase II).

An overview of research activities on materials for nuclear applications at the INL Safety, Tritium and Applied Research facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calderoni, P.; Sharpe, J.; Shimada, M.; Denny, B.; Pawelko, B.; Schuetz, S.; Longhurst, G.; Hatano, Y.; Hara, M.; Oya, Y.; Otsuka, T.; Katayama, K.; Konishi, S.; Noborio, K.; Yamamoto, Y.

2011-10-01

The Safety, Tritium and Applied Research facility at the Idaho National Laboratory is a US Department of Energy National User Facility engaged in various aspects of materials research for nuclear applications related to fusion and advanced fission systems. Research activities are mainly focused on the interaction of tritium with materials, in particular plasma facing components, liquid breeders, high temperature coolants, fuel cladding, cooling and blanket structures and heat exchangers. Other activities include validation and verification experiments in support of the Fusion Safety Program, such as beryllium dust reactivity and dust transport in vacuum vessels, and support of Advanced Test Reactor irradiation experiments. This paper presents an overview of the programs engaged in the activities, which include the US-Japan TITAN collaboration, the US ITER program, the Next Generation Power Plant program and the tritium production program, and a presentation of ongoing experiments as well as a summary of recent results with emphasis on fusion relevant materials.

Effect of titanium on the creep deformation behaviour of 14Cr-15Ni-Ti stainless steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latha, S.; Mathew, M. D.; Parameswaran, P.; Nandagopal, M.; Mannan, S. L.

2011-02-01

14Cr-15Ni-Ti modified stainless steel alloyed with additions of phosphorus and silicon is a potential candidate material for the future cores of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. In order to optimise the titanium content in this steel, creep tests have been conducted on the heats with different titanium contents of 0.18, 0.23, 0.25 and 0.36 wt.% at 973 K at various stress levels. The stress exponents indicated that the rate controlling deformation mechanism was dislocation creep. A peak in the variation of rupture life with titanium content was observed around 0.23 wt.% titanium and the peak was more pronounced at lower stresses. The variation in creep strength with titanium content was correlated with transmission electron microscopic investigations. The peak in creep strength exhibited by the material with 0.23 wt.% titanium is attributed to the higher volume fraction of fine secondary titanium carbide (TiC) precipitates.

Development of high purity large forgings for nuclear power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanaka, Yasuhiko; Sato, Ikuo

2011-10-01

The recent increase in the size of energy plants has been supported by the development of manufacturing technology for high purity large forgings for the key components of the plant. To assure the reliability and performance of the large forgings, refining technology to make high purity steels, casting technology for gigantic ingots, forging technology to homogenize the material and consolidate porosity are essential, together with the required heat treatment and machining technologies. To meet these needs, the double degassing method to reduce impurities, multi-pouring methods to cast the gigantic ingots, vacuum carbon deoxidization, the warm forging process and related technologies have been developed and further improved. Furthermore, melting facilities including vacuum induction melting and electro slag re-melting furnaces have been installed. By using these technologies and equipment, large forgings have been manufactured and shipped to customers. These technologies have also been applied to the manufacture of austenitic steel vessel components of the fast breeder reactors and components for fusion experiments.

Nuclear Power Plant Thermocouple Sensor-Fault Detection and Classification Using Deep Learning and Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, Shyamapada; Santhi, B.; Sridhar, S.; Vinolia, K.; Swaminathan, P.

2017-06-01

In this paper, an online fault detection and classification method is proposed for thermocouples used in nuclear power plants. In the proposed method, the fault data are detected by the classification method, which classifies the fault data from the normal data. Deep belief network (DBN), a technique for deep learning, is applied to classify the fault data. The DBN has a multilayer feature extraction scheme, which is highly sensitive to a small variation of data. Since the classification method is unable to detect the faulty sensor; therefore, a technique is proposed to identify the faulty sensor from the fault data. Finally, the composite statistical hypothesis test, namely generalized likelihood ratio test, is applied to compute the fault pattern of the faulty sensor signal based on the magnitude of the fault. The performance of the proposed method is validated by field data obtained from thermocouple sensors of the fast breeder test reactor.

Renewable energy - Target for 2050

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowe, W. D.

1982-02-01

The possibilities of various renewable energy technologies to supply a projected world demand for 40,000 GW years of energy each year by the year 2050 are examined. Noting that industrial processes consume 50% of all energy needs, fossil fuel reserves are shown to be sufficient for a maximum of 370 yr in the U.S., when all supplies become depleted. Breeder reactors have a doubling time which is 30 yr too long for meeting more than 0.5% of world energy demand in 2050, while fusion, even considering ocean-derived deuterium as a fuel source, will not be supplying energy for another 35-70 yr. Among the solar technologies, the installation of ten million 100 m tall 4 MW wind generators is feasible to meet all the projected energy needs, and solar cells with 10% conversion efficiency could do the same with 14 times less land. Further discussion is given to geothermal, fuel cell, and OTEC technologies, as well as the forty trillion dollars necessary to erect the fully renewable systems.

Concepts and Tests for the Remote-Controlled Dismantling of the Biological Shield and Form work of the KNK Reactor - 13425

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

Neff, Sylvia; Graf, Anja; Petrick, Holger

The compact sodium-cooled nuclear reactor facility Karlsruhe (KNK), a prototype Fast Breeder, is currently in an advanced stage of dismantling. Complete dismantling is based on 10 partial licensing steps. In the frame of the 9. decommissioning permit, which is currently ongoing, the dismantling of the biological shield is foreseen. The biological shield consists of heavy reinforced concrete with built-in steel fitments, such as form-work of the reactor tank, pipe sleeves, ventilation channels, and measuring devices. Due to the activation of the inner part of the biological shield, dismantling has to be done remote-controlled. During a comprehensive basic design phase amore » practical dismantling strategy was developed. Necessary equipment and tools were defined. Preliminary tests revealed that hot wire plasma cutting is the most favorable cutting technology due to the geometrical boundary conditions, the varying distance between cutter and material, and the heavy concrete behind the steel form-work. The cutting devices will be operated remotely via a carrier system with an industrial manipulator. The carrier system has expandable claws to adjust to the varying diameter of the reactor shaft during dismantling progress. For design approval of this prototype development, interaction between manipulator and hot wire plasma cutting was tested in a real configuration. For the demolition of the concrete structure, an excavator with appropriate tools, such as a hydraulic hammer, was selected. Other mechanical cutting devices, such as a grinder or rope saw, were eliminated because of concrete containing steel spheres added to increase the shielding factor of the heavy concrete. Dismantling of the biological shield will be done in a ring-wise manner due to static reasons. During the demolition process, the excavator is positioned on its tripod in three concrete recesses made prior to the dismantling of the separate concrete rings. The excavator and the manipulator carrier system will be operated alternately. Main boundary condition for all the newly designed equipment is the decommissioning housing of limited space within the reactor building containment. To allow for a continuous removal of the concrete rubble, an additional opening on the lowest level of the reactor shaft will be made. All equipment and the interaction of the tools have to be tested before use in the controlled area. Therefore a full-scale model of the biological shield will be provided in a mock-up. The tests will be performed in early 2014. The dismantling of the biological shield is scheduled for 2015. (authors)« less

Chemical compatibility study between ceramic breeder and EUROFER97 steel for HCPB-DEMO blanket

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukai, Keisuke; Sanchez, Fernando; Knitter, Regina

2017-05-01

Chemical compatibility between ceramic breeder (Li4SiO4 + 20 mol% addition of Li2TiO3) and EUROFER97 steel was examined in this study. These materials were contacted and heated at 623, 823 and 1073 K under He + 0.1 vol.% H2 atmosphere for up to 12 weeks. Limited influence was found in the breeder specimens, although losses of the constituent elements appeared near the surface of the breeder pellets heated at 1073 K. For the EUROFER specimens with formation of a corrosion layer, element diffusivity was estimated based on diffusion kinetics. In the temperature range, effective diffusion coefficients of oxygen into EUROFER steel were in the range from 3.5 × 10-14 to 2.5 × 10-12 cm2/s and found to be faster than that of Li. The coefficients yielded an activation energy of 0.93 eV for oxygen diffusion into EUROFER steel and predicted the possible thickness of the corrosion layer after operational periods.

Effect of dietary manipulation and vaccination of turkey breeder hens on immunoglobulin levels of yolk, yolk sac and neonate poults.

PubMed

Bhattacharyya, A; Majumdar, S; Bhanja, S K; Mandal, A B; Dash, B B

2018-04-01

Two hundred turkey breeder hens and 24 viable toms of 30-35 weeks age of small white variety were distributed into two treatment groups having four replicates of 25 hens and three toms in each treatment. First four replicates were offered a turkey breeder diet (Diet A) (Nutrient requirements of poultry, 1994, National Academic Press, Washington, DC) and the rest four replicates were maintained on a higher plane of nutrition (Diet B) for 8-week duration. After 6 weeks of experimental feeding, two replicates from each treatment groups were vaccinated with ND (R 2 B) vaccine. Yolk sac of embryo from birds fed Diet B had a significantly higher (p < .05) IgG, IgM level and HI titre (log 2) than those fed Diet A. HI titre values of embryonic yolk sac from the vaccinated birds fed Diet B were significantly higher (p < .05) than that of the control groups. In addition, HI titre values were significantly higher (p < .05) in the day-old poults of the birds fed Diet B than that of those fed Diet A. There was significantly (p < .01) positive correlation between serum IgG and IgM of the breeder birds and day-old chicks. Similarly, there was significantly (p < .05) positive correlation between yolk IgG and IgM after 1-month experimental feeding and yolk sac IgG and IgM. Positive correlation (p < .05) also existed between yolk sac IgM and day-old chick serum IgM. Furthermore, the HI titres of breeder birds' serum at 14 days post-vaccination were positively correlated with their egg yolk after 10 and 15 days post-vaccination, yolk sac and day-old chicks. Thus, the study envisaged that a higher immunity in neonate poults from turkey breeders maintained on a higher plane of nutrition may be elicited as there was maternal transfer of antibodies from the serum of breeder birds to their offsprings through their yolk sac. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Cellular structures with interconnected microchannels

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

Shaefer, Robert Shahram; Ghoniem, Nasr M.; Williams, Brian

A method for fabricating a cellular tritium breeder component includes obtaining a reticulated carbon foam skeleton comprising a network of interconnected ligaments. The foam skeleton is then melt-infiltrated with a tritium breeder material, for example, lithium zirconate or lithium titanate. The foam skeleton is then removed to define a cellular breeder component having a network of interconnected tritium purge channels. In an embodiment the ligaments of the foam skeleton are enlarged by adding carbon using chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) prior to melt-infiltration. In an embodiment the foam skeleton is coated with a refractory material, for example, tungsten, prior to meltmore » infiltration.« less

Ecological constraints influence the emergence of cooperative breeding when population dynamics determine the fitness of helpers.

PubMed

McLeod, David V; Wild, Geoff

2013-11-01

Cooperative breeding is a system in which certain individuals facilitate the production of offspring by others. The ecological constraints hypothesis states that ecological conditions deter individuals from breeding independently, and so individuals breed cooperatively to make the best of a bad situation. Current theoretical support for the ecological constraints hypothesis is lacking. We formulate a mathematical model that emphasizes the underlying ecology of cooperative breeders. Our goal is to derive theoretical support for the ecological constraints hypothesis using an ecological model of population dynamics. We consider a population composed of two kinds of individuals, nonbreeders (auxiliaries) and breeders. We suppose that help provided by an auxiliary increases breeder fecundity, but reduces the probability with which the auxiliary becomes a breeder. Our main result is a condition that guarantees success of auxiliary help. We predict that increasing the cost of dispersal promotes helping, in agreement with verbal theory. We also predict that increasing breeder mortality can either hinder helping (at high population densities), or promote it (at low population densities). We conclude that ecological constraints can exert influence over the evolution of auxiliary help when population dynamics are considered; moreover, that influence need not coincide with direct fitness benefits as previously found. © 2013 The Author(s). Evolution © 2013 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Analysis of signs and pathology of H5N1-infected ducks from the 2010-2011 Korean highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak suggests the influence of age and management practices on severity of disease.

PubMed

Rhyoo, Moon-Young; Lee, Kyung-Hyun; Moon, Oun-Kyung; Park, Woo-Hee; Bae, You-Chan; Jung, Ji-Youl; Yoon, Soon-Seek; Kim, Hye-Ryoung; Lee, Myoung-Heon; Lee, Eun-Joo; Ki, Mi-Ran; Jeong, Kyu-Shik

2015-01-01

We compared the clinical signs, histopathological lesions and distribution of viral antigens among infected young (meat-type) and older (breeder) ducks that were naturally infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus during the 2010-2011 Korean outbreak. The meat-type ducks had a high mortality rate (30%) and showed severe neurological signs such as head tremors and paresis. In contrast, HPAI-infected breeder ducks had minimal clinical signs but a decreased egg production rate. The histopathological characteristics of infected meat-type ducks included necrotic lesions of heart and brain, which may have primarily contributed to the high mortality rate. In contrast, the breeder ducks only presented necrotic splenitis, and viral antigens were only detected in the trachea, lungs and spleen. Younger ducks had a high viral titre in the organs, high levels of viral shedding and a high mortality rate after experimental HPAI virus infection. Compared to the breeder ducks, the meat-type ducks were raised in smaller farms that had poor quarantine and breeding facilities. It is therefore possible that better biosecurity in the breeder farms could have reduced the infection dose and subsequently the severity of the disease. Thus, age and management may be the influencing factors for HPAI susceptibility in ducks.

Experimental investigation of bubbling in particle beds with high solid holdup

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

Cheng, Songbai; Hirahara, Daisuke; Tanaka, Youhei

2011-02-15

A series of experiments on bubbling behavior in particle beds was performed to clarify three-phase flow dynamics in debris beds formed after core-disruptive accident (CDA) in sodium-cooled fast breeder reactors (FBRs). Although in the past, several experiments have been performed in packed beds to investigate flow patterns, most of these were under comparatively higher gas flow rate, which may be not expected during an early sodium boiling period in debris beds. The current experiments were conducted under two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) conditions separately, in which water was used as liquid phase, and bubbles were generated by injectingmore » nitrogen gas from the bottom of the viewing tank. Various particle-bed parameters were varied, including particle-bed height (from 30 mm to 200 mm), particle diameter (from 0.4 mm to 6 mm) and particle type (beads made of acrylic, glass, alumina and zirconia). Under these experimental conditions, three kinds of bubbling behavior were observed for the first time using digital image analysis methods that were further verified by quantitative detailed analysis of bubbling properties including surface bubbling frequency and surface bubble size under both 2D and 3D conditions. This investigation, which hopefully provides fundamental data for a better understanding and an improved estimation of CDAs in FBRs, is expected to benefit future analysis and verification of computer models developed in advanced fast reactor safety analysis codes. (author)« less

Microbial fouling community analysis of the cooling water system of a nuclear test reactor with emphasis on sulphate reducing bacteria.

PubMed

Balamurugan, P; Joshi, M Hiren; Rao, T S

2011-10-01

Culture and molecular-based techniques were used to characterize bacterial diversity in the cooling water system of a fast breeder test reactor (FBTR). Techniques were selected for special emphasis on sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Water samples from different locations of the FBTR cooling water system, in addition to biofilm scrapings from carbon steel coupons and a control SRB sample were characterized. Whole genome extraction of the water samples and SRB diversity by group specific primers were analysed using nested PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The results of the bacterial assay in the cooling water showed that the total culturable bacteria (TCB) ranged from 10(3) to 10(5) cfu ml(-1); iron-reducing bacteria, 10(3) to 10(5) cfu ml(-1); iron oxidizing bacteria, 10(2) to 10(3) cfu ml(-1) and SRB, 2-29 cfu ml(-1). However, the counts of the various bacterial types in the biofilm sample were 2-3 orders of magnitude higher. SRB diversity by the nested PCR-DGGE approach showed the presence of groups 1, 5 and 6 in the FBTR cooling water system; however, groups 2, 3 and 4 were not detected. The study demonstrated that the PCR protocol influenced the results of the diversity analysis. The paper further discusses the microbiota of the cooling water system and its relevance in biofouling.

Site environmental report for calendar year 2002. DOE operations at the Boeing Company, Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power

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

None

2003-09-30

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2002 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of Boeing' s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL)). In the past, the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations at ETEC included development, fabrication, and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities at ETEC involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing liquid metal fast breeder components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988, and,more » subsequently, all radiological work has been directed toward decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Closure of the liquid metal test facilities began in 1996. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2002 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property ( land, structures, waste), and recycling. All radioactive w astes are processed for disposal at DOE disposal sites and/or other licensed sites approved by DOE for radioactive waste disposal. No liquid radioactive wastes are released into the environment, and no structural debris from buildings w as transferred to municipal landfills or recycled in 2002.« less

Proposed Strategy for Selection Against Recessive Genetic Defects Through a Combination of Inbreeding and DNA Markers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recessive genetic defects are currently on the minds of many cattle breeders. The relatively rapid development of diagnostic DNA tests for recessive defects appears to be a major recent technological advancement. However, the attitude of breeders and breed associations toward recessive defects seems...

Breeder survey, tools, and resources to visualize diversity and pedigree relationships at MaizeGDB

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In collaboration with maize researchers, the MaizeGDB Team prepared a survey to identify breeder needs for visualizing pedigrees, diversity data, and haplotypes, and distributed it to the maize community on behalf of the Maize Genetics Executive Committee (Summer 2015). We received 48 responses from...

Status of the PHOENIX electron cyclotron resonance charge breeder at ISOLDE, CERN.

PubMed

Barton, Charles; Cederkall, Joakim; Delahaye, Pierre; Kester, Oliver; Lamy, Thierry; Marie-Jeanne, Mélanie

2008-02-01

We report here on the last progresses made with the PHOENIX electron cyclotron resonance charge breeder test bench at ISOLDE. Recently, an experiment was performed to test the trapping of (61)Fe daughter nuclides from the decay of (61)Mn nuclides. Preliminary results are given.

Sperm production and testicular development of broiler breeder males reared on shortened growth cycles

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Feed restriction is an important tool used in the rearing of broiler breeders to control growth and maintain body weight. Feed restriction during the growing phase typically provides 60-80% less than what birds would consume if provided feed ad libitum, resulting in a perceived animal welfare issu...

World directory of forest geneticists and tree breeders

Treesearch

F. Thomas Ledig; David B. Neale

1998-01-01

A formal task of the Forest Genetic Resources Study Group/North American Forestry Commission/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Working Party 2.04.09 / Division 2- Physiology and Genetics / International Union of Forest ResearchOrganizations, this international directory lists more than 1,800 forest geneticists and tree breeders from 86...

Interaction of resident sperm with sperm-storage tubule (SST) epithelial cell microvilli in the turkey breeder hen

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Interaction of resident sperm with sperm-storage tubule (SST) epithelial cell microvilli in the turkey breeder hen M.R. Bakst*1 and C. Murphy2, 1Animal Biosciences and Biotechnology Laboratory, 2Electron & Confocal Microscopy Unit, Beltsville Area, ARS, USDA, Beltsville MD Sustained fertilization o...

Parameter-based stochastic simulation of selection and breeding for multiple traits

Treesearch

Jennifer Myszewski; Thomas Byram; Floyd Bridgwater

2006-01-01

To increase the adaptability and economic value of plantations, tree improvement professionals often manage multiple traits in their breeding programs. When these traits are unfavorably correlated, breeders must weigh the economic importance of each trait and select for a desirable aggregate phenotype. Stochastic simulation allows breeders to test the effects of...

Mitochondrial DNA diversity of honey bees (Apis mellifera) from unmanaged colonies and swarms in the United States.

PubMed

Magnus, Roxane M; Tripodi, Amber D; Szalanski, Allen L

2014-06-01

To study the genetic diversity of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) from unmanaged colonies in the United States, we sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial DNA COI-COII region. From the 530 to 1,230 bp amplicon, we observed 23 haplotypes from 247 samples collected from 12 states, representing three of the four A. mellifera lineages known to have been imported into the United States (C, M, and O). Six of the 13 C lineage haplotypes were not found in previous queen breeder studies in the United States. The O lineage accounted for 9% of unmanaged colonies which have not yet been reported in queen breeder studies. The M lineage accounted for a larger portion of unmanaged samples (7%) than queen breeder samples (3%). Based on our mitochondrial DNA data, the genetic diversity of unmanaged honey bees in the United States differs significantly from that of queen breeder populations (p < 0.00001). The detection of genetically distinct maternal lineages of unmanaged honey bees suggests that these haplotypes may have existed outside the managed honey bee population for a long period.

Livestock Predation by Puma ( Puma concolor) in the Highlands of a Southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmeira, Francesca Belem Lopes; Trinca, Cristiano Trapé; Haddad, Claudio Maluf

2015-10-01

We evaluated local opinion about reducing livestock losses to puma ( Puma concolor) and the potential for conflict among livestock breeders inside a protected area in the highlands of a southeastern Brazilian Atlantic forest. We also quantified the number and type of livestock losses, and determined if predation by puma was correlated with property profile and landscape characteristics. We conducted semistructured interviews with 42 livestock breeders sampled in 36 rural properties. When asked how to reduce predation, 33 % of livestock breeders refused to answer, 26 % suggested improving livestock husbandry practices, 19 % stated that there was no appropriate action, 17 % favored removing the "problem" individual, and 5 % suggested killing the puma. Opinion on how to solve predation was independent of herd size and history of losses, and was correlated with respondent age class. Older respondents tended to suggest removing or killing pumas. Attitudes toward predation represented high potential for conflict among livestock breeders who demonstrated high discordance among responses. Horses were the most common prey (51 %), followed by cattle (28 %), sheep (17 %), and goats (4 %); totaling 47 animals attacked between 2004 and 2007. Annual predation was approximately 12 ± 5 animals, equivalent to 0.4 % of the total livestock. Property elevation and distance from the urban center were the main predictors of predation probability. This survey used a novel approach that has not been addressed directly in other studies on livestock predation and demonstrated that the high potential for conflict among livestock breeders should be considered before implementing management actions.

Characterization of stress coping style in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) juveniles and breeders for aquaculture.

PubMed

Ibarra-Zatarain, Z; Fatsini, E; Rey, S; Chereguini, O; Martin, I; Rasines, I; Alcaraz, C; Duncan, N

2016-11-01

The aim of this work was to characterize stress coping styles of Senegalese sole ( Solea senegalensis ) juveniles and breeders and to select an operational behavioural screening test (OBST) that can be used by the aquaculture industry to classify and select between behavioural phenotypes in order to improve production indicators. A total of 61 juveniles and 59 breeders were subjected to five individual behavioural tests and two grouping tests. At the end of the individual tests, all animals were blood sampled in order to measure cortisol, glucose and lactate. Three tests (restraining, new environment and confinement) characterized the stress coping style behaviour of Senegalese sole juveniles and breeders and demonstrated inter-individual consistency. Further, the tests when incorporated into a principal components analysis (PCA) (i) identified two principal axes of personality traits: 'fearfulness-reactivity' and 'activity-exploration', (ii) were representative of the physiological axis of stress coping style, and (iii) were validated by established group tests. This study proposed for the first time three individual coping style tests that reliably represented proactive and reactive personalities of Senegalese sole juveniles and breeders. In addition, the three proposed tests met some basic operational criteria (rapid testing, no special equipment and easy to apply and interpret) that could prove attractive for fish farmers to identify fish with a specific behaviour that gives advantages in the culture system and that could be used to establish selection-based breeding programmes to improve domestication and production.

Characterization of stress coping style in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) juveniles and breeders for aquaculture

PubMed Central

Fatsini, E.; Rey, S.; Chereguini, O.; Martin, I.; Rasines, I.; Duncan, N.

2016-01-01

The aim of this work was to characterize stress coping styles of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) juveniles and breeders and to select an operational behavioural screening test (OBST) that can be used by the aquaculture industry to classify and select between behavioural phenotypes in order to improve production indicators. A total of 61 juveniles and 59 breeders were subjected to five individual behavioural tests and two grouping tests. At the end of the individual tests, all animals were blood sampled in order to measure cortisol, glucose and lactate. Three tests (restraining, new environment and confinement) characterized the stress coping style behaviour of Senegalese sole juveniles and breeders and demonstrated inter-individual consistency. Further, the tests when incorporated into a principal components analysis (PCA) (i) identified two principal axes of personality traits: ‘fearfulness-reactivity’ and ‘activity-exploration’, (ii) were representative of the physiological axis of stress coping style, and (iii) were validated by established group tests. This study proposed for the first time three individual coping style tests that reliably represented proactive and reactive personalities of Senegalese sole juveniles and breeders. In addition, the three proposed tests met some basic operational criteria (rapid testing, no special equipment and easy to apply and interpret) that could prove attractive for fish farmers to identify fish with a specific behaviour that gives advantages in the culture system and that could be used to establish selection-based breeding programmes to improve domestication and production. PMID:28018634

Calling phenology of a diverse amphibian assemblage in response to meteorological conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plenderleith, T. Lynette; Stratford, Danial; Lollback, Gregory W.; Chapple, David G.; Reina, Richard D.; Hero, Jean-Marc

2017-12-01

The strong association between amphibian activity, breeding and recruitment with local environmental conditions raises concerns regarding how changes in climate may affect the persistence of species populations into the future. Additionally, in a highly diverse assemblage of anurans, competition for breeding sites affects the time and duration of activity, as species compete for limited resources such as water. Meteorological conditions are strong drivers of amphibian activity, so we assessed whether temperature, rainfall, atmospheric pressure and humidity were associated with the calling phenology of an assemblage of anurans in South East Queensland, Australia. We performed calling surveys and collected digital recordings at 45 ponds in an area known for high anuran diversity. We performed detection analyses to investigate the influence of 10 meteorological variables in detection of calling activity in 19 amphibian species. Our results suggest four breeding strategies in the assemblage: explosive summer breeders, prolonged breeders, opportunistic breeders and a winter breeder. Classifying these species into associations provides a framework for understanding how species respond to environmental conditions. Explosive breeders (i.e. species demonstrating short and highly synchronised breeding periods) were particularly responsive to temperature. Our findings help elucidate the breeding phenology of frogs and provide valuable information on their mating systems in native Australian forests. This study highlights the difficulties of surveying even common anurans. We highlight the importance of predictability and stability in climate and the vulnerability of species for which reproduction appears to require highly specific environmental cues.

Livestock Predation by Puma (Puma concolor) in the Highlands of a Southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

PubMed

Palmeira, Francesca Belem Lopes; Trinca, Cristiano Trapé; Haddad, Claudio Maluf

2015-10-01

We evaluated local opinion about reducing livestock losses to puma (Puma concolor) and the potential for conflict among livestock breeders inside a protected area in the highlands of a southeastern Brazilian Atlantic forest. We also quantified the number and type of livestock losses, and determined if predation by puma was correlated with property profile and landscape characteristics. We conducted semistructured interviews with 42 livestock breeders sampled in 36 rural properties. When asked how to reduce predation, 33% of livestock breeders refused to answer, 26% suggested improving livestock husbandry practices, 19% stated that there was no appropriate action, 17% favored removing the "problem" individual, and 5 % suggested killing the puma. Opinion on how to solve predation was independent of herd size and history of losses, and was correlated with respondent age class. Older respondents tended to suggest removing or killing pumas. Attitudes toward predation represented high potential for conflict among livestock breeders who demonstrated high discordance among responses. Horses were the most common prey (51%), followed by cattle (28%), sheep (17%), and goats (4%); totaling 47 animals attacked between 2004 and 2007. Annual predation was approximately 12 ± 5 animals, equivalent to 0.4% of the total livestock. Property elevation and distance from the urban center were the main predictors of predation probability. This survey used a novel approach that has not been addressed directly in other studies on livestock predation and demonstrated that the high potential for conflict among livestock breeders should be considered before implementing management actions.

Calling phenology of a diverse amphibian assemblage in response to meteorological conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plenderleith, T. Lynette; Stratford, Danial; Lollback, Gregory W.; Chapple, David G.; Reina, Richard D.; Hero, Jean-Marc

2018-05-01

The strong association between amphibian activity, breeding and recruitment with local environmental conditions raises concerns regarding how changes in climate may affect the persistence of species populations into the future. Additionally, in a highly diverse assemblage of anurans, competition for breeding sites affects the time and duration of activity, as species compete for limited resources such as water. Meteorological conditions are strong drivers of amphibian activity, so we assessed whether temperature, rainfall, atmospheric pressure and humidity were associated with the calling phenology of an assemblage of anurans in South East Queensland, Australia. We performed calling surveys and collected digital recordings at 45 ponds in an area known for high anuran diversity. We performed detection analyses to investigate the influence of 10 meteorological variables in detection of calling activity in 19 amphibian species. Our results suggest four breeding strategies in the assemblage: explosive summer breeders, prolonged breeders, opportunistic breeders and a winter breeder. Classifying these species into associations provides a framework for understanding how species respond to environmental conditions. Explosive breeders (i.e. species demonstrating short and highly synchronised breeding periods) were particularly responsive to temperature. Our findings help elucidate the breeding phenology of frogs and provide valuable information on their mating systems in native Australian forests. This study highlights the difficulties of surveying even common anurans. We highlight the importance of predictability and stability in climate and the vulnerability of species for which reproduction appears to require highly specific environmental cues.

Trade-offs between reproduction and health in free-ranging African striped mice.

PubMed

Schoepf, I; Pillay, N; Schradin, C

2017-05-01

Energy is limited and must be allocated among competing life-history traits. Reproduction is considered one of the most energetically demanding life-history stages. Therefore, the amount of energy an individual invests in reproduction might carry fitness costs through reduced energy allocation to other activities such as health maintenance. We investigated whether reproduction impacts health in the seasonally breeding African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio). We measured health in individuals that reproduced (breeders) and individuals that did not reproduce (their adult offspring) and tested whether: (1) breeders' health before reproduction was similar to that of their offspring (representing a baseline); (2) breeders' health deteriorated after reproduction; (3) breeders' health after reproduction was worse than that of their offspring. We collected blood samples from 12 breeding females and 11 breeding males both at the onset and at the end of the breeding season and from 12 adult daughters and 11 adult sons that did not reproduce at the end of the breeding season. Health was assessed using serum biochemistry analysis with VetScan Abaxis. Breeders differed considerably in their health before and after reproduction, particularly in parameters associated with digestion (lower amylase in males), metabolism (lower albumin, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine and glucose), osmoregulation (lower potassium and phosphorous in females) and immunity (higher globulin and altered alanine aminotransferase). Our results suggest that with the onset of breeding striped mice shifted their energy allocation from maintaining health to reproduction, indicating that investment into reproduction carries significant health costs.

Effects of breeder age and egg weight on morphological changes in the small intestine of chicks during the hatch window.

PubMed

Yalçin, S; Izzetoğlu, G T; Aktaş, A

2013-01-01

1. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of breeder age and egg weight on hatching performance and morphological changes in segments of the small intestine of broiler chicks during a 21 h hatch window. 2. Eggs from Ross broiler breeder flocks aged 29 (young) and 48 weeks (old) were classified as light (LE) or heavy (HE) and incubated at the same conditions. At 475 h of incubation, eggs were checked every 3 h to determine time of external pipping and hatching. The first 42 chicks to emerge from each group were weighed and chick length was measured and 14 chicks from each group were sampled to collect residual yolk and intestine segments. The rest of chicks were placed back in the incubator and chick weight and length were measured individually at 9, 15 and 21 h after chicks hatched. At the end of 21 h, 14 chicks from each group were sampled again and the same procedure was followed. 3. The HE chicks pipped and hatched later than LE, regardless of breeder age. From hatch to the end of the hatch window, chick weight, but not yolk-free chick weight, gradually reduced. Relative residual yolk weight of chicks from both egg weights was similar at hatch, however, yolk sac utilisation was higher for LE chicks during the 21 h post-hatch period. At hatch, jejunum and ileum villus development was very similar for HE and LE chicks but greater development was observed for villus area with an increase in the jejunum villus length, width and goblet cell numbers in HE chicks. 4. The longest jejunum villus and the widest duodenum and jejunum villus were obtained for HE chicks from old breeders indicating that HE chicks from old breeders would have a greater surface area for nutrient absorption.

Breeding Guild Determines Frog Distributions in Response to Edge Effects and Habitat Conversion in the Brazil's Atlantic Forest.

PubMed

Ferreira, Rodrigo B; Beard, Karen H; Crump, Martha L

2016-01-01

Understanding the response of species with differing life-history traits to habitat edges and habitat conversion helps predict their likelihood of persistence across changing landscape. In Brazil's Atlantic Forest, we evaluated frog richness and abundance by breeding guild at four distances from the edge of a reserve: i) 200 m inside the forest, ii) 50 m inside the forest, iii) at the forest edge, and iv) 50 m inside three different converted habitats (coffee plantation, non-native Eucalyptus plantation, and abandoned pastures, hereafter matrix types). By sampling a dry and a wet season, we recorded 622 individual frogs representing 29 species, of which three were undescribed. Breeding guild (i.e. bromeliad, leaf-litter, and water-body breeders) was the most important variable explaining frog distributions in relation to edge effects and matrix types. Leaf-litter and bromeliad breeders decreased in richness and abundance from the forest interior toward the matrix habitats. Water-body breeders increased in richness toward the matrix and remained relatively stable in abundance across distances. Number of large trees (i.e. DBH > 15 cm) and bromeliads best explained frog richness and abundance across distances. Twenty species found in the interior of the forest were not found in any matrix habitat. Richness and abundance across breeding guilds were higher in the rainy season but frog distributions were similar across the four distances in the two seasons. Across matrix types, leaf-litter species primarily used Eucalyptus plantations, whereas water-body species primarily used coffee plantations. Bromeliad breeders were not found inside any matrix habitat. Our study highlights the importance of primary forest for bromeliad and leaf-litter breeders. We propose that water-body breeders use edge and matrix habitats to reach breeding habitats along the valleys. Including life-history characteristics, such as breeding guild, can improve predictions of frog distributions in response to edge effect and matrix types, and can guide more effective management and conservation actions.

Effects of individual quality, reproductive success and environmental variability on survival of a long-lived seabird.

PubMed

Lescroël, Amélie; Dugger, Katie M; Ballard, Grant; Ainley, David G

2009-07-01

1. Heterogeneity in individual quality (i.e. individuals having different performance levels that are consistent throughout life) can drive the demography of iteroparous species, but quality in the context of environmental variability has rarely been evaluated. 2. We investigated the demographic responses of a long-lived seabird, the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), to contrasting environmental conditions as a function of reproductive success, breeding quality (BQ) and experience. A continuous index of BQ (BQI) was developed to reflect an individual's ability, relative to others, to produce viable offspring. 3. First, we assessed the relative importance of costs of reproduction vs. heterogeneity in quality by comparing survival and reproductive probabilities among deferred, successful and unsuccessful breeders under 'demanding' conditions using multistate capture-mark-recapture modelling. Then, we quantified the influence of BQI on adult survival among experienced breeders vs. the whole study population under both 'normal' and 'demanding' conditions. 4. Higher survival rates were exhibited by successful (74-76%) compared to unsuccessful breeders (64%); the former also more frequently reproduced successfully at year t + 1. 5. From 1997 to 2006, adult survival ranged from 64-79%, with BQI accounting for 91% of variability in the entire study population, but only 17% in experienced breeders. The weakened relationship between BQI and survival in experienced breeders supports the theory that selection during the first reproductive event accounts for a more homogeneous pool of experienced breeders. 6. No significant effect of environmental covariates on survival was evident, suggesting that what appeared to be demanding conditions were within the range that could be buffered by this species. 7. For the first time in seabirds, a quadratic relationship between adult survival and BQI showed that adult survival is shaped by both heterogeneity in quality and reproductive costs. Our study confirms that population demographic patterns are affected by factors at the individuals' level (e.g., individual quality) that are obscured at population-scale levels.

Dominant viral pathologies in the extensive and semi-intensive animal breeding and their treatment mode in ethno veterinary medicine in Benin.

PubMed

Kpodékon, T M; Ogni, C A; Dassou, H; Dougnon, T J; Boko, C; Koutinhouin, G B; Goussanou, J S E; Akoegninou, A; Youssao, I

2015-12-01

This study aims to identify the dominant viral animal pathologies and to list the traditional recipes used by the breeders for their treatment. The method of data collection was based on a retrospective survey. Thus, 787 breeders and agro-breeders scattered in the eight agro-ecological areas of Benin were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. In total, 5 pathologies were reported by breeders. Among those pathologies, foot and mouth disease was reported by all of the breeders of the southern part of Borgou compared with the other areas (p<0.05) and treated by 25 species of medicinal plants. African swine fever was the main pathology reported (22.92%) (p<0.05) in the fishery areas which is controlled by 7 medicinal plants. Pseudorinderpest was more reported (33.78%) (p<0.05) in the cotton area of central Benin and treated by 8 medicinal plants. There is also Newcastle disease that was mostly reported in the Western Atacora and treated by 32 medicinal plants as well as fowl pox which was a more reported in the lands of the bar area and the low-pressure area about 34.48% and 36.17% proportions, respectively, and treated by eight medicinal plants. The breeders in Benin possess rich ethno veterinary knowledge on medicinal plants and their uses in the treatment of livestock. A total of 57 medicinal plants have been inventoried to fight against five major viral diseases as African swine fever, pseudorinderpest and foot and mouth disease. The common plants used to treat viral disease in general were Euphorbia unispina, Euphorbia poissonii, Lannea acida, and Mangifera indica. The most harvested organs on the plants reported in this survey were the barks, the leaves, and the whole plants. To better develop our indigenous resources, it would be important to expand this ethno-pharmacological investigation to other diseases category.

Dominant viral pathologies in the extensive and semi-intensive animal breeding and their treatment mode in ethno veterinary medicine in Benin

PubMed Central

Kpodékon, T. M.; Ogni, C. A.; Dassou, H.; Dougnon, T. J.; Boko, C.; Koutinhouin, G. B.; Goussanou, J. S. E.; Akoegninou, A.; Youssao, I.

2015-01-01

Aim: This study aims to identify the dominant viral animal pathologies and to list the traditional recipes used by the breeders for their treatment. Materials and Methods: The method of data collection was based on a retrospective survey. Thus, 787 breeders and agro-breeders scattered in the eight agro-ecological areas of Benin were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Results: In total, 5 pathologies were reported by breeders. Among those pathologies, foot and mouth disease was reported by all of the breeders of the southern part of Borgou compared with the other areas (p<0.05) and treated by 25 species of medicinal plants. African swine fever was the main pathology reported (22.92%) (p<0.05) in the fishery areas which is controlled by 7 medicinal plants. Pseudorinderpest was more reported (33.78%) (p<0.05) in the cotton area of central Benin and treated by 8 medicinal plants. There is also Newcastle disease that was mostly reported in the Western Atacora and treated by 32 medicinal plants as well as fowl pox which was a more reported in the lands of the bar area and the low-pressure area about 34.48% and 36.17% proportions, respectively, and treated by eight medicinal plants. Conclusion: The breeders in Benin possess rich ethno veterinary knowledge on medicinal plants and their uses in the treatment of livestock. A total of 57 medicinal plants have been inventoried to fight against five major viral diseases as African swine fever, pseudorinderpest and foot and mouth disease. The common plants used to treat viral disease in general were Euphorbia unispina, Euphorbia poissonii, Lannea acida, and Mangifera indica. The most harvested organs on the plants reported in this survey were the barks, the leaves, and the whole plants. To better develop our indigenous resources, it would be important to expand this ethno-pharmacological investigation to other diseases category. PMID:27047056

Breeding Guild Determines Frog Distributions in Response to Edge Effects and Habitat Conversion in the Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

PubMed Central

Ferreira, Rodrigo B.; Beard, Karen H.; Crump, Martha L.

2016-01-01

Understanding the response of species with differing life-history traits to habitat edges and habitat conversion helps predict their likelihood of persistence across changing landscape. In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, we evaluated frog richness and abundance by breeding guild at four distances from the edge of a reserve: i) 200 m inside the forest, ii) 50 m inside the forest, iii) at the forest edge, and iv) 50 m inside three different converted habitats (coffee plantation, non-native Eucalyptus plantation, and abandoned pastures, hereafter matrix types). By sampling a dry and a wet season, we recorded 622 individual frogs representing 29 species, of which three were undescribed. Breeding guild (i.e. bromeliad, leaf-litter, and water-body breeders) was the most important variable explaining frog distributions in relation to edge effects and matrix types. Leaf-litter and bromeliad breeders decreased in richness and abundance from the forest interior toward the matrix habitats. Water-body breeders increased in richness toward the matrix and remained relatively stable in abundance across distances. Number of large trees (i.e. DBH > 15 cm) and bromeliads best explained frog richness and abundance across distances. Twenty species found in the interior of the forest were not found in any matrix habitat. Richness and abundance across breeding guilds were higher in the rainy season but frog distributions were similar across the four distances in the two seasons. Across matrix types, leaf-litter species primarily used Eucalyptus plantations, whereas water-body species primarily used coffee plantations. Bromeliad breeders were not found inside any matrix habitat. Our study highlights the importance of primary forest for bromeliad and leaf-litter breeders. We propose that water-body breeders use edge and matrix habitats to reach breeding habitats along the valleys. Including life-history characteristics, such as breeding guild, can improve predictions of frog distributions in response to edge effect and matrix types, and can guide more effective management and conservation actions. PMID:27272328

Minor Actinides-Loaded FBR Core Concept Suitable for the Introductory Period in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujimura, Koji; Sasahira, Akira; Yamashita, Junichi; Fukasawa, Tetsuo; Hoshino, Kuniyoshi

According to the Japan's Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy(1), a basic scenario for fast breeder reactors (FBRs) is that they will be introduced on a commercial basis starting around 2050 replacing light water reactors (LWRs). During the FBR introduction period, the Pu from LWR spent fuel is used for FBR startup. Howerver, the FBR core loaded with this Pu has a larger burnup reactivity due to its larger isotopic content of Pu-241 than a core loaded with Pu from an FBR multi-recycling core. The increased burnup reactivity may reduce the cycle length of an FBR. We investigated, an FBR transitional core concept to confront the issues of the FBR introductory period in Japan. Core specifications are based on the compact-type sodium-cooled mixed oxide (MOX)-fueled core designed from the Japanese FBR cycle feasibility studies, because lower Pu inventory should be better for the FBR introductory period in view of its flexibility for the required reprocessing amount of LWR spent fuel to start up FBRs. The reference specifications were selected as follows. Output of 1500MWe and average discharge fuel burnup of about 150GWd/t. Minor Actinides (MAs) recovered from LWR spent fuels which provide Pu to startup FBRs are loaded to the initial loading fuels and exchanged fuels during few cycles until equilibrium. We made the MA content of the initial loading fuel four kinds like 0%, 3%, 4%, 5%. The average of the initial loading fuel is assumed to be 3%, and that of the exchange fuel is set as 5%. This 5% maximum of the MA content is based on the irradiation results of the experimental fast reactor Joyo. We evaluated the core performances including burnup characteristics and the reactivity coefficient and confirmed that transitional core from initial loading until equilibrium cycle with loaded Pu from LWR spent fuel performs similary to an FBR multi-recycling core.

Nuclear reactor I

DOEpatents

Ference, Edward W.; Houtman, John L.; Waldby, Robert N.

1977-01-01

A nuclear reactor, particularly a liquid-metal breeder reactor whose upper internals include provision for channeling the liquid metal flowing from the core-component assemblies to the outlet plenum in vertical paths in direction generally along the direction of the respective assemblies. The metal is channeled by chimneys, each secured to, and extending from, a grid through whose openings the metal emitted by a plurality of core-component assemblies encompassed by the grid flows. To reduce the stresses resulting from structural interaction, or the transmissive of thermal strains due to large temperature differences in the liquid metal emitted from neighboring core-component assemblies, throughout the chimneys and the other components of the upper internals, the grids and the chimneys are supported from the heat plate and the core barrel by support columns (double portal support) which are secured to the head plate at the top and to a member, which supports the grids and is keyed to the core barrel, at the bottom. In addition to being restrained from lateral flow by the chimneys, the liquid metal is also restrained from flowing laterally by a peripheral seal around the top of the core. This seal limits the flow rate of liquid metal, which may be sharply cooled during a scram, to the outlet nozzles. The chimneys and the grids are formed of a highly-refractory, high corrosion-resistant nickel-chromium-iron alloy which can withstand the stresses produced by temperature differences in the liquid metal. The chimneys are supported by pairs of plates, each pair held together by hollow stubs coaxial with, and encircling, the chimneys. The plates and stubs are a welded structure but, in the interest of economy, are composed of stainless steel which is not weld compatible with the refractory metal. The chimneys and stubs are secured together by shells of another nickel-chromium-iron alloy which is weld compatible with, and is welded to, the stubs and has about the same coefficient of expansion as the highly-refractory, high corrosion-resistant alloy.

Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2013. DOE Operations at The Boeing Company, Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Area IV

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

None

2014-06-30

This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for 2013 describes the environmental conditions related to work performed for the Department of Energy (DOE) at Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), a government-owned, company-operated test facility, was located in Area IV. The operations in Area IV included development, fabrication, operation and disassembly of nuclear reactors, reactor fuel, and other radioactive materials. Other activities in the area involved the operation of large-scale liquid metal facilities that were used for testing non-nuclear liquid metal fast breeder reactor components. All nuclear work was terminated in 1988,more » and all subsequent radiological work has been directed toward environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the former nuclear facilities and their associated sites. Liquid metal research and development ended in 2002. Since May 2007, the D&D operations in Area IV have been suspended by the DOE, but the environmental monitoring and characterization programs have continued. Results of the radiological monitoring program for the calendar year 2013 continue to indicate that there are no significant releases of radioactive material from Area IV of SSFL. All potential exposure pathways are sampled and/or monitored, including air, soil, surface water, groundwater, direct radiation, transfer of property (land, structures, waste), and recycling. Due to the suspension of D&D activities in Area IV, no effluents were released into the atmosphere during 2013. Therefore, the potential radiation dose to the general public through airborne release was zero. Similarly, the radiation dose to an offsite member of the public (maximally exposed individual) due to direct radiation from SSFL is indistinguishable from background. All radioactive wastes are processed for disposal at DOE disposal sites and/or other licensed sites approved by DOE for radioactive waste disposal. No liquid radioactive wastes were released into the environment in 2013.« less

Dynamics of nutrient utilization, heat production, and body composition in broiler breeder hens during egg production.

PubMed

Caldas, Justina V; Hilton, Katie; Boonsinchai, Nirun; England, Judith A; Mauromoustakos, Andy; Coon, Craig N

2018-04-24

Changes in heat production (HP) and body composition (BC) in modern broiler breeders can provide means to understand nutrient utilization. Twelve Cobb 500 breeders were evaluated 10 times from 26 to 59 wk of age. The same wired caged breeders were moved to respiratory chambers connected to an indirect calorimetry to obtain oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2), HP, and respiratory exchange ratio (RER). The same hens were evaluated for BC using a dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Data were analyzed during light (16 h) and dark (8 h) period using a mixed model to evaluate calorimetry parameters, a factorial design 2 × 10 for normalized calorimetry parameters, and Complete Randomized Design (CRD)-one way ANOVA for BC. Means were separated by Tukey-Honest Significant difference (HSD). HP increased with age (d) in 0.152 kcal/d, VO2 and VCO2 were 0.031 and 0.024 L/d per each increase in age (d), respectively. In the light period, hens consumed +17.4 L/d VO2 and produced +18.9 L/d VCO2 (P < 0.01). HP during the dark period was 84 kcal/kg0.75 and during the light period was 115 kcal/kg0.75. RER decreased with age until 43 wk and remained the same until 59 wk suggesting more fat and/or protein being oxidized at later periods of production. Lean body mass ranged from 642 to 783 g/kg during the whole study reaching the lowest at 37 and 50 wk and the highest at 26 to 33 wk (P < 0.01). Body fat ranged from 168 to 261 g/kg with the lowest at 26 to 33 wk and the highest at 50 wk of age (P < 0.01). Broiler breeder females may be catabolizing fat energy reserves from 50 wk onwards when the egg production is reduced, and HP increased at 54 and 59 wk (P < 0.01) due to higher energy required for maintenance of a higher lean mass structure. Broiler breeders change nutrient fuel use during egg production. Indirect calorimetry and DEXA can be used to pursue further feed strategies to maximize egg production and maintain a healthy breeder.

Impact of skip-a-day and every-day feeding programs on the recovery of salmonella and campylobacter following in broiler breeder pullets

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The impact of restrictive feeding programs on Salmonella and Campylobacter colonization and persistence after challenge was investigated for broiler breeder pullets housed in an experimental rearing facility. Pullet-chicks were placed on litter in 3 feeding program rooms and each room contained dup...

Impact of Skip a Day and Every Day Feeding Programs on the Colonization Rates of Salmonella Enteritidis in Broiler Breeder Pullets

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The impact of feeding programs in the colonization rate after challenge with Salmonella enteritidis was investigated. Broiler breeder pullets from were vaccinated at 19 d of incubation with herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) + chicken herpesvirus (SB1), or a vector HVT (vHVT) + Infectious bursal disease (...

Plant breeding and rural development in the United States.

Treesearch

KE Woeste; SB Blanche; KA Moldenhauer; CD Nelson

2010-01-01

Plant breeders contributed enormously to the agricultural and economic development of the United States. By improving the profitability of farming, plant breeders improved the economic condition of farmers and contributed to the growth and structure of rural communities. In the years since World War II, agriculture and the quality of rural life have been driven by...

Genetic analysis of grain attributes, milling performance, and end-use quality traits in hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Wheat kernel texture dictates U.S. wheat market class and culinary end-uses. Of interest to wheat breeders is to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for wheat kernel texture, milling performance, or end-use quality because it is imperative for wheat breeders to ascertain the genetic architecture ...

Work Domain Analysis of a Predecessor Sodium-cooled Reactor as Baseline for AdvSMR Operational Concepts

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

Ronald Farris; David Gertman; Jacques Hugo

This report presents the results of the Work Domain Analysis for the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II). This is part of the phase of the research designed to incorporate Cognitive Work Analysis in the development of a framework for the formalization of an Operational Concept (OpsCon) for Advanced Small Modular Reactors (AdvSMRs). For a new AdvSMR design, information obtained through Cognitive Work Analysis, combined with human performance criteria, can and should be used in during the operational phase of a plant to assess the crew performance aspects associated with identified AdvSMR operational concepts. The main objective of this phase was tomore » develop an analytical and descriptive framework that will help systems and human factors engineers to understand the design and operational requirements of the emerging generation of small, advanced, multi-modular reactors. Using EBR-II as a predecessor to emerging sodium-cooled reactor designs required the application of a method suitable to the structured and systematic analysis of the plant to assist in identifying key features of the work associated with it and to clarify the operational and other constraints. The analysis included the identification and description of operating scenarios that were considered characteristic of this type of nuclear power plant. This is an invaluable aspect of Operational Concept development since it typically reveals aspects of future plant configurations that will have an impact on operations. These include, for example, the effect of core design, different coolants, reactor-to-power conversion unit ratios, modular plant layout, modular versus central control rooms, plant siting, and many more. Multi-modular plants in particular are expected to have a significant impact on overall OpsCon in general, and human performance in particular. To support unconventional modes of operation, the modern control room of a multi-module plant would typically require advanced HSIs that would provide sophisticated operational information visualization, coupled with adaptive automation schemes and operator support systems to reduce complexity. These all have to be mapped at some point to human performance requirements. The EBR-II results will be used as a baseline that will be extrapolated in the extended Cognitive Work Analysis phase to the analysis of a selected advanced sodium-cooled SMR design as a way to establish non-conventional operational concepts. The Work Domain Analysis results achieved during this phase have not only established an organizing and analytical framework for describing existing sociotechnical systems, but have also indicated that the method is particularly suited to the analysis of prospective and immature designs. The results of the EBR-II Work Domain Analysis have indicated that the methodology is scientifically sound and generalizable to any operating environment.« less

Intact and Degraded Criticality Calculations for the Codisposal of Shippingport LWBR Spent Nuclear Fuel in a Waste Package

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

L.M. Montierth

2000-09-15

The objective of this calculation is to characterize the nuclear criticality safety concerns associated with the codisposal of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor (SP LWBR) Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) in a 5-Defense High-Level Waste (5-DHLW) Waste Package (WP), which is to be placed in a Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). The scope of this calculation is limited to the determination of the effective neutron multiplication factor (K{sub eff}) for intact- and degraded-mode internal configurations of the codisposal WP containing Shippingport LWBR seed-type assemblies. The results of this calculation will be used to evaluate criticality issuesmore » and support the analysis that is planed to be performed to demonstrate the viability of the codisposal concept for the MGR. This calculation is associated with the waste package design and was performed in accordance with the DOE SNF Analysis Plan for FY 2000 (See Ref. 22). The document has been prepared in accordance with the Administrative Procedure AP-3.12Q, Calculations (Ref. 23).« less

Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Monitoring Report for FY 2008

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

Brenda R. Pace

2009-01-01

This report describes the cultural resource monitoring activities of the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Office during fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008). Throughout the year, 45 cultural resource localities were revisited including: two locations of heightened Shoshone-Bannock tribal sensitivity, four caves, one butte, twenty-eight prehistoric archaeological sites, three historic homesteads, two historic stage stations, one historic canal construction camp, three historic trails, and Experimental Breeder Reactor-I, which is a designated National Historic Landmark. Several INL project areas were also monitored in FY 2008 to assess project compliance with cultural resource recommendations, confirm the locations of previously recordedmore » cultural resources in relation to project activities, to assess the damage caused by fire-fighting efforts, and to watch for cultural materials during ground disturbing activities. Although impacts were documented at a few locations, no significant adverse effects that would threaten the National Register eligibility of any resource were observed. Monitoring also demonstrated that INL projects generally remain in compliance with recommendations to protect cultural resources« less