Space And Defense – Volume Twelve – Number One – Winter 2021,
2021
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Space And Defense – Volume Twelve – Number One – Winter 2021, Space And Defense Journal
Space and Defense
No abstract provided.
Diversifying Nuclear Technology: A Technical Analysis On Small Modular Reactors And Its Impact On Nuclear Energy Policy,
2021
Liberty University
Diversifying Nuclear Technology: A Technical Analysis On Small Modular Reactors And Its Impact On Nuclear Energy Policy, Carolina Lugo Mejia, Marcos Lugo
Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024
The energy policy debate in the United States has revolved around the diversification of energy sources while promoting advantageous economic profits. One drive for this has been the discussion of anthropogenic, environmental endangerment concerns (Vlassopoulous 2011, 104). However, despite the environmental concerns, the U.S. has for some time only relied on one type of energy source—fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are categorized as natural gas, coal, petroleum, and other gases responsible (U.S. Energy Administration 2019). Natural gas is responsible for 38.4%, coal for 23.4%, petroleum for 0.4%, and other gases for 0.3% of the U.S.’s electrical generation (U.S. Energy Administration 2019). …
Acquiring And Modeling Of Si Solar Cell Transient Response To Pulsed X-Ray,
2021
The Ohio State University
Acquiring And Modeling Of Si Solar Cell Transient Response To Pulsed X-Ray, Lei Pan, Praneeth Kandlakunta, Matthew Van Zile, Xuezeng Dai, Jinsong Huang, John W. Mcclory, Lei R. Cao
Faculty Publications
We report on the acquisition and modeling of the transient response of a commercial silicon (Si) solar cell using a benchtop pulsed X-ray source. The solar-cell transient output to the X-ray pulses was acquired under the dark and steady-state light illumination to mimic the practical operation of a solar cell under different light illumination levels. A solar-cell circuit model was created to develop a fundamental understanding of the transient current/voltage response of solar cell at read-out circuit level. The model was validated by a good agreement between the simulation and experimental results. It was found that the solar-cell resistance ( …
Enercon Station Vacuum Pump Replacement,
2021
Kennesaw State University
Enercon Station Vacuum Pump Replacement, Clint Hembree, Jared D'Amico, Connor Moore, Paul Jeffrey Fontenot, Sydnee Castello, J.J. Clements
Senior Design Project For Engineers
This details the progress of the ENERCON pump replacement project as completed by the Kennesaw State University interdisciplinary senior design group. This project is a two-semester capstone effort for the engineering program at Southern Polytechnic School of Engineering, overseen by Dr. McFall during Fall 2020 and Dr. Khalid during Spring 2021 semesters. The 2020-2021 KSU Interdisciplinary Senior Design team was tasked with completing an Engineering Change Package (ECP) for existing vacuum pumps at ENERCON Station. The mechanical, electrical, and civil students worked together, performing evaluations on existing plant systems to ensure the plant could support the new vacuum pumps. By …
Characterization Of A Boron-Loaded Deuterated Liquid Scintillator For Fast And Thermal Neutron Detection,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
Characterization Of A Boron-Loaded Deuterated Liquid Scintillator For Fast And Thermal Neutron Detection, Bryan V. Egner, Michael Febbraro, James E. Bevins
Faculty Publications
The preparation and characterization of novel boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillators (BLDLS) are presented for the first time to investigate the performance of a detector sensitive to both fast and thermal neutrons intended for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Three deuterated toluene-based scintillation cocktails were produced, one without boron, one loaded with ortho-carborane (natural boron isotopic abundance), and one with 96 wt% 10B enriched ortho-carborane. General optical and material properties were analyzed to include the composition, density, index of refraction, photoluminescence emission spectra, and absorbance spectra in addition to the relative light yield, resolution, relative efficiency, and pulse-shape-discrimination performance for all three …
Monte Carlo Perturbation Analysis Of Fuel Temperature Variations In The Mcnp Model Of The Annular Core Research Reactor,
2021
University of New Mexico - Main Campus
Monte Carlo Perturbation Analysis Of Fuel Temperature Variations In The Mcnp Model Of The Annular Core Research Reactor, Melissa Andrea Moreno
Nuclear Engineering ETDs
The Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) model is used for a variety of computational calculations ranging from reactor kinetics metrics to safety analyses. To understand the dominant source of uncertainty within the model, perturbations in temperature were applied to individual ACRR MCNP fuel rods. Assigning random temperatures, selected uniformly, from the operational temperature ranges of the fuel enables a study of uncertainty effects based on temperature variations. Stochastic mixing was used to blend the cross-sections of the desired temperatures using the MCNP continuous and Thermal Neutron Scattering Treatment (S(α,β)) libraries in ENDF/B-VII.1. The uncertainty quantification process …
Spectator Proton Detection And Reconstruction In Deep Inelastic D(E,EpS) Scattering,
2021
Old Dominion University
Spectator Proton Detection And Reconstruction In Deep Inelastic D(E,EpS) Scattering, David Payette
Physics Theses & Dissertations
A Radial Time Projection Chamber (RTPC) was designed and installed in Jefferson Lab's Hall B as part of the BONuS12 (Barely Off-shell Nucleon Structure) experiment. The goal of BONuS12 is to accurately measure the structure function of the neutron by scattering 11 GeV electrons and detecting them with the CLAS12 spectrometer. Deuterium gas was used as an effective neutron target, and the new RTPC was used to detect low- momentum spectator protons. Protons follow a curved path in the 5 Tesla solenoid that is part of CLAS12, ionizing the He-CO2 gas in an annular drift region surrounding the target. These …
Experimental Evaluation Of Drying Spent Nuclear Fuel For Dry Cask Storage Through Vacuum And Forced Helium Dehydration,
2021
University of South Carolina
Experimental Evaluation Of Drying Spent Nuclear Fuel For Dry Cask Storage Through Vacuum And Forced Helium Dehydration, Jonathan Ellis Perry
Theses and Dissertations
Currently approximately 80,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) are in either dry or wet storage at nuclear power plants or designated spent fuel storage facilities. Over 2,000 tons are added to that sum each year. All SNF must be dried to an accepted Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) drying criteria before being placed in dry storage. Inadequately drying SNF increases the risk of detrimental effects to the fuel while in dry storage. Two commonly used drying operations in the nuclear industry are vacuum drying and forced helium dehydration (FHD). Although these drying processes have been used for many years, there …
Solid State Synthesis And Characterization Of Apatite Based Ceramic Waste Form For The Immobilization Of Radioactive Iodine,
2021
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Solid State Synthesis And Characterization Of Apatite Based Ceramic Waste Form For The Immobilization Of Radioactive Iodine, Md Imdadul Islam
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The growing demand for nuclear power in the United States and worldwide is accountable for addressing the major concern of radioactive waste, involving the technical challenges of maintaining the nuclear fuel cycle and immobilizing high-level wastes for safe disposal in geological storage. The appropriate selection of waste forms for spent nuclear fuel such as fission products and radionuclides can be effective means for a feasible and sustainable nuclear fuel cycle. But highly volatile radionuclides such as iodine (129) are of specific concern due to its extraordinary long half-life (15.7 million years). Due to its poor solubility and high volatility at …
Real-Time Identification Of Oxygen Vacancy Centers In Linbo₃ And Srtio₃ During Irradiation With High Energy Particles,
2021
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Real-Time Identification Of Oxygen Vacancy Centers In Linbo₃ And Srtio₃ During Irradiation With High Energy Particles, Miguel L. Crespillo, Joseph T. Graham, Fernando Agulló-López, Yanwen Zhang, William J. Weber
Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works
Oxygen vacancies are known to play a central role in the optoelectronic properties of oxide perovskites. A detailed description of the exact mechanisms by which oxygen vacancies govern such properties, however, is still quite incomplete. The unambiguous identification of oxygen vacancies has been a subject of intense discussion. Interest in oxygen vacancies is not purely academic. Precise control of oxygen vacancies has potential technological benefits in optoelectronic devices. In this review paper, we focus our attention on the generation of oxygen vacancies by irradiation with high energy particles. Irradiation constitutes an efficient and reliable strategy to introduce, monitor, and characterize …
Application Of Artificial Neural Networks To Elemental Assay Data For Nuclear Forensics Analysis,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
Application Of Artificial Neural Networks To Elemental Assay Data For Nuclear Forensics Analysis, Jason G. Seik
Theses and Dissertations
There is a need to quickly and accurately determine the likely physical origins of a collected sample for nuclear treaty verification purposes. The objective of this research is to prove there is a means to relate different samples (Q-values) to one another using a 'same versus not-same' artificial neural network called a Siamese network. This would provide the capability of comparing an unknown sample to a database of samples with known physical origins. Using moment transformations on current data has shown to increase the prediction capabilities of a Siamese network, and using a triplet loss function in connection with the …
Lithium Compound Characterization Via Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy And Raman Spectroscopy,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
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 …
Characterization And Analysis Of Bomarc Accident Debris,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
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.
Space To High-Altitude Region Adjoint Neutron Transport,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
Space To High-Altitude Region Adjoint Neutron Transport, Zachary W. Lamere
Theses and Dissertations
The goal of this work was to use the adjoint transport equation to characterize the energy spectrum of a point neutron source using the time-energy fluence at the satellite. The adjoint transport was solved via Monte Carlo methods in the new program called Space to Air High-Altitude Region Adjoint (SAHARA). A new adjoint source event estimator was developed to improve the computational efficiency. This work explores SAHARA’s performance using mono-energetic and continuous sources. In general, the identified source spectra were noticeably shifted towards lower energies, but were able to capture the source spectrum shapes. Lastly, SAHARA was applied to the …
Characterization Of The Spatial Distribution And Evolution Of Cerium And Calcium In Laser Produced Plasma,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
Characterization Of The Spatial Distribution And Evolution Of Cerium And Calcium In Laser Produced Plasma, Michael G. Rynders
Theses and Dissertations
Understanding plasma plumes and the distribution of plasma species microseconds after their formation has a variety of applications in fields such as hypersonics, explosion and combustion dynamics, and nuclear fireball chemistry. In this work, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) using double pulses of 532 nm light were used to analyze samples of cerium in atmospheres of air, vacuum, and argon. Cerium was used in this experiment to serve as a plutonium surrogate. CeO2 powder was pressed with CaO at 90-10 ratio to produce calcium doped pellets for use as sputtering targets. Inclusion of calcium impurities allowed the identification of …
Simultaneous Experimental Evaluation Of Pulse Shape And Deadtime Phenomenon Of Gm Detector,
2021
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Simultaneous Experimental Evaluation Of Pulse Shape And Deadtime Phenomenon Of Gm Detector, Bader Almutairi, Syed B. Alam, Cameron S. Goodwin, Shoaib Usman, Tayfun Akyurek
Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works
Analysis of several pulse shape properties generated by a Geiger Mueller (GM) detector and its dependence on applied voltage was performed. The two-source method was utilized to measure deadtime while simultaneously capturing pulse shape parameters on an oscilloscope. A wide range of operating voltages (600-1200 V) beyond the recommended operating voltage of 900 V was investigated using three radioactive sources (204Tl, 137Cs, 22Na). This study investigates the relationship between operating voltage, pulse shape properties, and deadtime of the detector. Based on the data, it is found that deadtime decreases with increasing voltage from 600 to 650 …
An Assessment Of The Spatial Variation Of Isotopic Ratios In A Candu Reactor For Nuclear Treaty Monitoring,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
An Assessment Of The Spatial Variation Of Isotopic Ratios In A Candu Reactor For Nuclear Treaty Monitoring, Aaron W. Burkhardt, James E. Bevins, Stephen H. Baxter
Faculty Publications
A 3-D Quarter-Core CANDU-6 is modeled using Serpent 2 for nuclear treaty monitoring. The spatial variation of flux spectra and isotopic concentrations is analyzed to determine the potential isotopic distribution of key radionuclides from standard reactor operations relevant to non-proliferation. The initial results of the model show a 46% difference in overall flux magnitude throughout the core as well as a 2-30% difference in discrete energy flux. The coupled production rate (magnitude) and spectral differences can contribute to significant spatial variations in isotope ratios throughout the core. Initial results indicate 239 Pu/ 240 Pu ratios vary by as much as …
Development Of A Modular Mixed-Radiation Directional Rotating Scatter Mask Detection System,
2021
Air Force Institute of Technology
Development Of A Modular Mixed-Radiation Directional Rotating Scatter Mask Detection System, Bryan V. Egner, Darren E. Holland, Larry W. Burggraf, James E. Bevins
Faculty Publications
The ability to simultaneously identify the direction of both fast neutrons, above 1 MeV, and gamma rays using a light-weight system consisting of a single 1” EJ-309 organic liquid scintillator and a plastic Spartan rotating scatter mask (RSM) is demonstrated computationally through Monte Carlo simulations and validated with experimental measurements. Two sets of directional measurements were performed with an americium–beryllium source, emitting both neutrons and gamma rays. The RSM identified the direction of the source within one 10° rotational increment in the azimuthal and polar directions based on both the neutron and gamma-ray induced signals discriminated by charge integration pulse-shape …
Inverted Geometry Ceramic Insulators In High Voltage Dc Electron Guns For Accelerators,
2021
Old Dominion University
Inverted Geometry Ceramic Insulators In High Voltage Dc Electron Guns For Accelerators, C. Hernandez-Garcia, G. Palacios-Serrano, P. Adderley, D. Bullard, J. Grames, Md. Abdullah Mamun, M. Poelker, M. Stutzman, R. Suleiman, Y. Wang, S.A.K. Wijethunga
Physics Faculty Publications
A direct current (dc) high voltage photo-emission electron gun operating at 130 kV is utilized at the Jefferson Lab (JLab) Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility to generate spin-polarized electrons for nuclear physics experiments. Over the past decade, JLab has tested and implemented inverted-geometry ceramic insulators in photoguns, connecting the cathode electrode in vacuum to the high voltage power supply using commercial high voltage cables. The results of those tests showed that breakdown voltage was increased using triple-point shielding electrodes and bulk-doped insulators that allow charge drainage. This contribution describes ongoing work to develop a robust insulatorcable connector for reliably applying …
Internet Of Things 36-Rotor Multicopter For Ionizing Radiation Surveying,
2021
Space Research and Technology Institute -- Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Internet Of Things 36-Rotor Multicopter For Ionizing Radiation Surveying, Svetoslav Zabunov, Garo Mardirossian, Rositsa Miteva, Todor Kunchev
International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace
This paper presents an Internet of things 36-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle suitable for radiological surveying of buildings and facilities. The design of the 36-rotor multicopter platform is disclosed. The aircraft is used as a testbed for a lightweight gamma/beta/neutron ionizing radiation sensor closely coupled with the autopilot of the multirotor aircraft. A prototype of the drone and sensor was developed and initial tests were conducted. Test results are presented with data from measuring different radiation sources. The proposed novel design is compared to existing work and advantages to the latter were established.
