Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Machine learning (4)
- Nuclear forensics (4)
- LIBS (3)
- Plasma spectroscopy (2)
- Plutonium alloys (2)
-
- #antcenter (1)
- Actinide chemistry (1)
- Actinide remediation (1)
- Analytical chemistry (1)
- Analytical techniques (1)
- Artificial neural networks (1)
- Asteroid velocity (1)
- BOMARC (1)
- Bacillus anthracis--Decontamination (1)
- Biological decontamination (1)
- CANDU (1)
- Cerium (1)
- Chemical analysis (1)
- Chemometrics (1)
- Chernobyl Nuclear Accident (1)
- Cross-section measurement (1)
- Density function theory (1)
- Detector response (1)
- Energy deposition (1)
- Explosions (1)
- Fireball (1)
- GPS (1)
- Gamma-ray detection (1)
- Helium (1)
- Ionosphere (1)
- Publication Year
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 22 of 22
Full-Text Articles in Nuclear Engineering
Data Augmentation For Neutron Spectrum Unfolding With Neural Networks, James Mcgreivy, Juan J. Manfredi, Daniel Siefman
Data Augmentation For Neutron Spectrum Unfolding With Neural Networks, James Mcgreivy, Juan J. Manfredi, Daniel Siefman
Faculty Publications
Neural networks require a large quantity of training spectra and detector responses in order to learn to solve the inverse problem of neutron spectrum unfolding. In addition, due to the under-determined nature of unfolding, non-physical spectra which would not be encountered in usage should not be included in the training set. While physically realistic training spectra are commonly determined experimentally or generated through Monte Carlo simulation, this can become prohibitively expensive when considering the quantity of spectra needed to effectively train an unfolding network. In this paper, we present three algorithms for the generation of large quantities of realistic and …
Enabling Rapid Chemical Analysis Of Plutonium Alloys Via Machine Learning-Enhanced Atomic Spectroscopy Techniques, Ashwin P. Rao
Enabling Rapid Chemical Analysis Of Plutonium Alloys Via Machine Learning-Enhanced Atomic Spectroscopy Techniques, Ashwin P. Rao
Theses and Dissertations
Analytical atomic spectroscopy methods have the potential to provide solutions for rapid, high fidelity chemical analysis of plutonium alloys. Implementing these methods with advanced analytical techniques can help reduce the chemical analysis time needed for plutonium pit production, directly enabling the 80 pit-per-year by 2030 manufacturing goal outlined in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. Two commercial, handheld elemental analyzers were validated for potential in situ analysis of Pu. A handheld XRF device was able to detect gallium in a Pu surrogate matrix with a detection limit of 0.002 wt% and a mean error of 8%. A handheld LIBS device was …
Feasibility Of Fireball Trail Detection Using Ground-Based Gps Receivers, Ian R. Moffett
Feasibility Of Fireball Trail Detection Using Ground-Based Gps Receivers, Ian R. Moffett
Theses and Dissertations
The feasibility of using GPS data to detect fireballs is analyzed by first modeling the fireball’s trail diffusion and plasma chemistry to get a resulting ion density profile of the trail over time. The signal perturbation caused by the fireball trail is simulated for a ground receiver using an analytic solution for diffraction from a Gaussian lens. Five cases were modeled with varying initial peak ion densities and altitudes taken from fireball and reentry vehicle data. This paper shows that it is feasible to detect a fireball trail using GPS if the fireball has a sufficiently high initial ion density, …
Characterization And Analysis Of Bomarc Accident Debris, Aaron J. Heffelfinger
Characterization And Analysis Of Bomarc Accident Debris, Aaron J. Heffelfinger
Theses and Dissertations
Accidents involving nuclear weapons, such as the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) accident in 1960, always pose a significant risk of allowing particles composed of nuclear materials to enter the environment. These particles often differ in characteristics and can be of greatly varying sizes. Gamma ray analysis was conducted on the soil sample and radioisotopes within the sample were identified. Two non-destructive methods for locating actinide bearing particles within the sample were testing, resulting in 70 actinide bearing particles ranging from 1-34 microns being identified. These 70 particles underwent both morphological and elemental characterization, indicating uranium and other elements.
Lithium Compound Characterization Via Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy And Raman Spectroscopy, James T. Stofel
Lithium Compound Characterization Via Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy And Raman Spectroscopy, James T. Stofel
Theses and Dissertations
Industries such as lithium-ion battery producers and the nuclear industry community seek to produce and store lithium in pure chemical forms. However, these lithium compounds are reactive with the atmosphere and quickly degrade into less desirable forms. Therefore, industry desires a fast and effective quality control approach to quantify the ingrowth of these secondary lithium chemical forms. This research presents a novel approach using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Raman spectroscopy in tandem to enhance lithium compound characterization beyond what is achieved by either technique alone. The resulting spectral data are aggregated using data fusion and analyzed using chemometrics for …
Applications Of Portable Libs For Actinide Analysis, Ashwin P. Rao, John D. Auxier Ii, Dung Vu, Michael B. Shattan
Applications Of Portable Libs For Actinide Analysis, Ashwin P. Rao, John D. Auxier Ii, Dung Vu, Michael B. Shattan
Faculty Publications
A portable LIBS device was used for rapid elemental impurity analysis of plutonium alloys. This device demonstrates the potential for fast, accurate in-situ chemical analysis and could significantly reduce the fabrication time of plutonium alloys.
A Physics-Based Machine Learning Study Of The Behavior Of Interstitial Helium In Single Crystal W–Mo Binary Alloys, Adib J. Samin
A Physics-Based Machine Learning Study Of The Behavior Of Interstitial Helium In Single Crystal W–Mo Binary Alloys, Adib J. Samin
Faculty Publications
In this work, the behavior of dilute interstitial helium in W–Mo binary alloys was explored through the application of a first principles-informed neural network (NN) in order to study the early stages of helium-induced damage and inform the design of next generation materials for fusion reactors. The neural network (NN) was trained using a database of 120 density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the alloy. The DFT database of computed solution energies showed a linear dependence on the composition of the first nearest neighbor metallic shell. This NN was then employed in a kinetic Monte Carlo simulation, which took into …
Neutron Energy Effects On Asteroid Deflection, Lansing S. Horan Iv
Neutron Energy Effects On Asteroid Deflection, Lansing S. Horan Iv
Theses and Dissertations
In the future, a hazardous asteroid will find itself on a collision course with Earth. It is an inevitability; the question is not if, but when. For asteroids of moderate size or larger, a nuclear device is one of humanity's only technologies capable of mitigating this threat via deflection on a timescale of less than a decade. This work examined how changing the output neutron energy from a nuclear device detonation affects asteroid deflection. The notional asteroid target was 300 meters in diameter and composed of silicon dioxide at a bulk density of 1.855 g/cm3. To calculate the …
Measurement Of The 160Gd(P,N)160Tb Excitation Function From 4 18 Mev, Using A Stacked Foil Technique, Ryan K. Chapman
Measurement Of The 160Gd(P,N)160Tb Excitation Function From 4 18 Mev, Using A Stacked Foil Technique, Ryan K. Chapman
Theses and Dissertations
A stack of thin Gd, Ti, and Cu foils were irradiated with an 18 MeV proton beam at Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory's 88-Inch Cyclotron to investigate the 160Gd(p,n)160Tb nuclear reaction for nuclear forensics applications. This experiment will improve knowledge of 160Tb production rates, allowing 160Tb to be efficiently created in a foil stack consisting of other proton induced isotopes for forensics applications. A set of 15 measured cross sections between 4-18 MeV for 160Gd(p,n)160Tb were obtained using a stacked foil technique. The foil stack consisted of one stainless steel, one iron, fifteen gadolinium, …
Rapid Analysis Of Plutonium Surrogate Material Via Hand-Held Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Ashwin P. Rao
Rapid Analysis Of Plutonium Surrogate Material Via Hand-Held Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Ashwin P. Rao
Theses and Dissertations
This work investigated the capability of a portable LIBS device to detect and quantify dopants in plutonium surrogate alloys, specifically gallium, which is a common stabilizer used in plutonium alloys. The SciAps Z500-ER was utilized to collect spectral data from cerium-gallium alloys of varying gallium concentrations. Calibration models were built to process spectra from the Ce-Ga alloys and calculate gallium concentration from spectral emission intensities. Univariate and multivariate analysis techniques were used to determine limits of detection of different emission line ratios. Spatial mapping measurements were conducted to determine the device's ability to detect variations in gallium concentration on the …
An Assessment Of The Spatial Variation Of Isotopic Ratios In A Candu-6 Reactor For Nuclear Treaty Monitoring, Aaron W. Burkhardt
An Assessment Of The Spatial Variation Of Isotopic Ratios In A Candu-6 Reactor For Nuclear Treaty Monitoring, Aaron W. Burkhardt
Theses and Dissertations
The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization developed the International Monitoring System for monitoring for nuclear explosive testing and compliance with nuclear treaties. Many of the International Monitoring System stations are capable of detecting radionuclides that can be used to determine their origin and creation environment. However, there is not a single unique signature associated with each creation environment. Nuclear reactors, for example, can have a wide range of isotopic concentrations caused by spatial variations in neutron flux intensity and energy. As a single sample only provides a single isotopic measurement, this can make disambiguation difficult …
A Machine Learning Approach To Characterizing Particle Morphology In Nuclear Forensics, Daniel A. Gum
A Machine Learning Approach To Characterizing Particle Morphology In Nuclear Forensics, Daniel A. Gum
Theses and Dissertations
A machine learning approach is taken to characterizing a group of synthetic uranium bearing particles. SEM images of these lab-created particles were converted into a binary representation that captured morphological features in accordance with a guide established by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Each particle in the dataset contains an association with chemical creation conditions: processing method, precipitation temperature and pH, calcination temperature are most closely tied to particle morphology. Additionally, trained classifiers are able to relate final products between particles, implying that morphological features are shared between particles with similar composition.
Monte Carlo And Experimental Analysis Of A Novel Directional Rotating Scatter Mask Gamma Detection System, Julie V. Logan, Darren E. Holland, Larry W. Burggraf, Justin A. Clinton, Buckley E. O'Day Iii
Monte Carlo And Experimental Analysis Of A Novel Directional Rotating Scatter Mask Gamma Detection System, Julie V. Logan, Darren E. Holland, Larry W. Burggraf, Justin A. Clinton, Buckley E. O'Day Iii
Faculty Publications
Excerpt: This work demonstrates successful experimental operation of a prototype system to identify source direction which was modeled using a library of signals simulated using GEANT and a novel algorithm....
Quantitative Analysis Of Cerium-Gallium Alloys Using A Hand-Held Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Device, Ashwin P. Rao, Matthew Cook, Howard L. Hall, Michael B. Shattan
Quantitative Analysis Of Cerium-Gallium Alloys Using A Hand-Held Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Device, Ashwin P. Rao, Matthew Cook, Howard L. Hall, Michael B. Shattan
Faculty Publications
A hand-held laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy device was used to acquire spectral emission data from laser-induced plasmas created on the surface of cerium-gallium alloy samples with Ga concentrations ranging from 0–3 weight percent. Ionic and neutral emission lines of the two constituent elements were then extracted and used to generate calibration curves relating the emission line intensity ratios to the gallium concentration of the alloy. The Ga I 287.4-nm emission line was determined to be superior for the purposes of Ga detection and concentration determination. A limit of detection below 0.25%was achieved using a multivariate regression model of the Ga I …
Investigation Of 186Re Via Radiative Thermal-Neutron Capture On 185Re, David A. Matters, Andrew G. Lerch, A. M. Hurst, L. Szentmiklosi, J. J. Carroll, B. Detwiler, Zs. Revay, John W. Mcclory, Stephen R. Mchale, R. B. Firestone, B. W. Sleaford, M. Krticka, T. Belgya
Investigation Of 186Re Via Radiative Thermal-Neutron Capture On 185Re, David A. Matters, Andrew G. Lerch, A. M. Hurst, L. Szentmiklosi, J. J. Carroll, B. Detwiler, Zs. Revay, John W. Mcclory, Stephen R. Mchale, R. B. Firestone, B. W. Sleaford, M. Krticka, T. Belgya
Faculty Publications
Partial 𝛾-ray production cross sections and the total radiative thermal-neutron capture cross section for the 185Re(n,𝛾)186Re reaction were measured using the Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis facility at the Budapest Research Reactor with an enriched 185Re target. The 186Re cross sections were standardized using well-known 35Cl(n,𝛾)36Cl cross sections from irradiation of a stoichiometric natReCl3 target. The resulting cross sections for transitions feeding the 186Re ground state from low-lying levels below a cutoff energy of Ec=746keV were combined with a modeled probability of ground-state feeding from levels above E …
Coupling Nuclear Induced Phonon Propagation With Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy, Michael J. Parker
Coupling Nuclear Induced Phonon Propagation With Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy, Michael J. Parker
Theses and Dissertations
Mössbauer spectroscopy is a very sensitive measurement technique (10-8 eV) which prompted motivation for the experiment described in this thesis. Namely, can a sensitive detection system be developed to detect nuclear recoils on the order of 10 to 100 of eVs? The hypothesis that this thesis tests is: Nuclear induced phonon bursts caused by Rutherford scattered alphas, decayed from 241Am, in a type-310 stainless steel material can couple with 7.3 keV conversion electron Mössbauer events at the other end of the material which will have a statistically significant effect on a Mössbauer spectrum. The phonon bursts produced by …
Classification Of Battlespace Detonations From Temporally Resolved Mutli-Band Imagery And Mid-Infrared Spectra, Anthony N. Dills
Classification Of Battlespace Detonations From Temporally Resolved Mutli-Band Imagery And Mid-Infrared Spectra, Anthony N. Dills
Theses and Dissertations
The classification of battlespace detonations, specifically the determination of munitions type and size using temporal and spectral features, has been studied using near-infrared (NIR) and multi-color visible wavelength imagers. Key features from the time dependence of fireball size are identified for discriminating various types and sizes of detonation flashes. The five classes include three weights of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and two weights of an enhanced mixture, all of which are uncased and detonated with 10% C4. Using Fisher linear discriminant techniques, features are projected onto a line such that the projected points are maximally clustered for the different classes of detonations. …
Lethality Of Bacillus Anthracis Spores Due To Short Duration Heating Measured Using Infrared Spectroscopy, Kristina M. Goetz
Lethality Of Bacillus Anthracis Spores Due To Short Duration Heating Measured Using Infrared Spectroscopy, Kristina M. Goetz
Theses and Dissertations
There are a number of analytical and semi-empirical models that describe the behavior of particulate matter in the atmosphere. Many of these require modification for all types of weather, dry versus wet deposition, and overall effects can be quite non-linear. Rainfall (rate, drop size, etc.), snowfall (rate, flake size, etc.), humidity, pressure, temperature, and combination of these greatly affect particle settling and washout rates. To that end, a method for tracking released constituents using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) microphysics package is developed by modifying one of the hydrometeor categories (hail) in the microphysics package. The RAMS microphysics package …
Detection Of Special Nuclear Material With High Purity Germanium (Hpge) And Mercuric Iodide (Hgi2) Gamma Detectors, Michael B. Nelson
Detection Of Special Nuclear Material With High Purity Germanium (Hpge) And Mercuric Iodide (Hgi2) Gamma Detectors, Michael B. Nelson
Theses and Dissertations
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracted for two gamma radiation detectors: mercuric iodide (HgI2) and electromechanically cooled (EMC) high purity germanium (HPGe) to support arms control inspection efforts. This project investigated whether these detectors could measure the quality and quantity of special nuclear material (SNM), particularly Pu-239 for the treaty verification mission. The project investigated two areas of detector capabilities: 1) HgI2 and HPGe detector performance necessary to characterize the quality of plutonium and the presence of shielding materials and 2) HgI2 and EMC HPGe detector performance degradation by high noise levels and EMC HPGe …
Assessment Of The Effects Of Entrainment And Wind Shear On Nuclear Cloud Rise Modeling, Daniel E. Zalewski
Assessment Of The Effects Of Entrainment And Wind Shear On Nuclear Cloud Rise Modeling, Daniel E. Zalewski
Theses and Dissertations
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to construct, during a two-week period, an X-Band Radar (XBR) on Shemya, AK. Wind speeds must not, at any time during the construction, exceed a 25 knot limit set by the MDA for lifting the massive dome panels into place. The goal of this research was to explore the possibilities of long-range forecasts to determine the feasibility of predicting any upcoming two-week windows of opportunity, well in advance, that will ensure the successful completion of constructing the XBR on Shemya. In order to reach this goal, the following objectives were achieved; (1) a climatological …
Simulating Wet Deposition Of Radiocesium From The Chernobyl Accident, Aaron M. Kinser
Simulating Wet Deposition Of Radiocesium From The Chernobyl Accident, Aaron M. Kinser
Theses and Dissertations
In response to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident of 1986, a cesium-137 deposition dataset was assembled. Most of the airborne Chernobyl cesium was wet deposited, either via interception by falling raindrops or via absorption into cloud droplets destined to become raindrops. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian rated Transport (HYSPLIT) model, developed at Air Resources Laboratory, is used to simulate the transport and deposition of Chernobyl cesium-137. A cloud base parameterization modification is tested and appears to slightly improve the accuracy of one HYSPLIT simulation of daily Chernobyl cesium-137 deposition over the course of the accident at isolated European sites, and …
Shock Wave Interaction With L-Shaped Structures, Richard C. Miller
Shock Wave Interaction With L-Shaped Structures, Richard C. Miller
Theses and Dissertations
This study investigated the interaction of shock waves with L-shaped structures using the CTH hydrodynamics code developed by Sandia National Laboratories. Computer models of shock waves traveling through air were developed using techniques similar to shock tube experiments. Models of L-shaped buildings were used to determine overpressures achieved by the reflecting shock versus angle of incidence of the shock front. An L-shaped building model rotated 45 degrees to the planar shock front produced the highest reflected overpressure of 9.73 atmospheres in the corner joining the two wings, a value 9.5 times the incident overpressure of 1.02 atmospheres. The same L-shaped …