Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Nuclear Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Nuclear Engineering

X-Ray Fluorescence For Quantification Of Lead And Strontium In Vivo, Aaron James Specht Aug 2016

X-Ray Fluorescence For Quantification Of Lead And Strontium In Vivo, Aaron James Specht

Open Access Dissertations

Lead (Pb) is a toxicant well known for its effects on almost every organ system in the body. Pb use in industry has declined since removal of Pb from gasoline, but many developing countries still have significant use of Pb. Exposure to Pb has been linked with diseases causing neurodegeneration and thus have lasting effects long after the initial exposure. Another metal, strontium (Sr), has been linked with bone disease in particular situations and shown to have uses in treating osteoporosis as a supplement. However, there are no studies of the effects of Sr using a meaningful biomarker. The most …


Nanoscale Phonon Thermal Conductivity Via Molecular Dynamics, Jonathan M. Dunn Apr 2016

Nanoscale Phonon Thermal Conductivity Via Molecular Dynamics, Jonathan M. Dunn

Open Access Theses

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations provide a useful and simple means of calculating the nanoscale thermal properties of materials, which requires special analysis since the thermal properties of materials change when their dimensions reach the nanoscale. In this research, MD is used to investigate the nanoscale phonon thermal transport of materials that are attracting much interest in the areas of materials science and nuclear physics. In order to evaluate two distinct methods of calculating the thermal conductivity of materials using MD, the simulation methods are first applied to Si. Once an understanding of each simulation method is established, they are then …


Cosmic Ray Muons For Spent Nuclear Fuel Monitoring, Stylianos Chatzidakis Apr 2016

Cosmic Ray Muons For Spent Nuclear Fuel Monitoring, Stylianos Chatzidakis

Open Access Dissertations

There is a steady increase in the volume of spent nuclear fuel stored on-site (at reactor) as currently there is no permanent disposal option. No alternative disposal path is available and storage of spent nuclear fuel in dry storage containers is anticipated for the near future. In this dissertation, a capability to monitor spent nuclear fuel stored within dry casks using cosmic ray muons is developed. The motivation stems from the need to investigate whether the stored content agrees with facility declarations to allow proliferation detection and international treaty verification. Cosmic ray muons are charged particles generated naturally in the …


Correlating Grain Size To Radiation Damage Tolerance Of Tungsten Materials Exposed To Relevant Fusion Conditions, Sean Robert Gonderman Jul 2014

Correlating Grain Size To Radiation Damage Tolerance Of Tungsten Materials Exposed To Relevant Fusion Conditions, Sean Robert Gonderman

Open Access Theses

Tungsten remains a leading candidate for plasma facing component (PFC) in future fusion devices. This is in large part due to its strong thermal and mechanical properties. The ITER project has already chosen to use an all tungsten divertor. Despite having a high melting temperature and low erosion rate, tungsten faces a large variety of issues when subject to fusion like conditions. These include embrittlement, melting, and extreme morphology change (growth of fuzz nanostructure). The work presented here investigates mechanisms that drive surface morphology change in tungsten materials exposed to fusion relevant plasmas. Specifically, tungsten materials of different grain sizes …


Drift-Flux Correlation Development For Two-Phase Flow In Rod Bundles, Collin M. Clark Apr 2014

Drift-Flux Correlation Development For Two-Phase Flow In Rod Bundles, Collin M. Clark

Open Access Theses

A rod bundle drift-flux correlation is developed with intended application across a wide range of two-phase flow conditions. Special consideration is made for fluid flow mechanisms at low liquid velocity and low pressure conditions. In these instances, gravitational forces from the density difference of the associated fluid phases are more significant. Secondary flow patterns may develop as a result and a drift-flux correlation would need to make appropriate adjustments. Earlier correlations may have increased error at these conditions if they have been formulated with respect to relatively higher pressures or flow rates. In the present work, area-average void fraction data …


Response Of Plasma Facing Components In Tokamaks Due To Intense Energy Deposition Using Particle-In-Cell(Pic) Methods, Filippo Genco Oct 2013

Response Of Plasma Facing Components In Tokamaks Due To Intense Energy Deposition Using Particle-In-Cell(Pic) Methods, Filippo Genco

Open Access Dissertations

Damage to plasma-facing components (PFC) due to various plasma instabilities is still a major concern for the successful development of fusion energy and represents a significant research obstacle in the community. It is of great importance to fully understand the behavior and lifetime expectancy of PFC under both low energy cycles during normal events and highly energetic events as disruptions, Edge-Localized Modes (ELM), Vertical Displacement Events (VDE), and Run-away electron (RE). The consequences of these high energetic dumps with energy fluxes ranging from 10 MJ/m2 up to 200 MJ/m2 applied in very short periods (0.1 to 5 ms) can be …