Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons^™

Interaction Between Metal Fission Products And Triso Coating Materials: A Study Of Chemical Bonding And Interdiffusion: 3rd Quarter Report, 2004, Clemens Heske

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

The goal of this project, which started in May 2004, is to elucidate the chemical bonding and interface formation of metal fission products with the coating materials used in state-of-the-art TRISO fuel particles. Particular emphasis is placed on an analysis of intermediate chemical phases at the interface, the intermixing/diffusion behavior, and the electronic interface structure as a function of material choice (metal and coating materials), temperature, and external stress.

In detail, this project is devoted to studying the interface formation of Pd, Ag, and Cs with SiC and pyrolytic carbon. Using the TRISO coating materials and single crystal references as …

Interaction Between Metal Fission Products And Triso Coating Materials: A Study Of Chemical Bonding And Interdiffusion: 4th Quarter Report, 2004, Clemens Heske

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

The goal of this project, which started in May 2004, is to elucidate the chemical bonding and interface formation of metal fission products with the coating materials used in state-of-the-art TRISO fuel particles. Particular emphasis is placed on an analysis of intermediate chemical phases at the interface, the intermixing/diffusion behavior, and the electronic interface structure as a function of material choice (metal and coating materials), temperature, and external stress. In detail, this project is devoted to studying the interface formation of Pd, Ag, and Cs with SiC and pyrolytic carbon. In order to study the properties of the relevant interfaces, …

Neutron Multiplicity Measurements Of Target/Blanket Materials, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

To optimize the performance of accelerator-driven transmutation subcritical systems (ADS), engineers will need to design the system to operate with a neutron multiplication factor just below that of a critical, or self-sustaining, system. This design criterion requires particle transport codes that instill the highest level of confidence with minimal uncertainty, because larger uncertainties in the codes require larger safety margins in the design and result in a lower efficiency of the ADS transmuter. For current design efforts in the U.S., a Monte Carlo particle transport code MCNPX is used to model neutron production and transport for spallation neutron systems.

While …

Fundamental And Applied Experimental Investigations Of Corrosion Of Steel By Lbe Under Controlled Conditions: Kinetics, Chemistry, Morphology, And Surface Preparation: Quarterly Report, Allen L. Johnson, John Farley, Dale L. Perry

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

This project has four components:

(1) the fabrication of a materials test apparatus with unique capabilities,

(2) comparative studies of steel corrosion under gas phase conditions comparable to the Lead Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) oxygen control conditions,

(3) isotope labeling studies, and

(4) collaborative efforts with other workers in the field.

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics-Task V: Fourth Quarterly Report 09/01/2003-11/30/2003, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the TRP proposed application. Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with only very sparse experimental data. Scientists have noticed that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the liquid alloy could control the corrosion rate of steels exposed to Pb or Pb-Bi. At high …

Developing A Sensing System For The Measurement Of Oxygen Concentration In Liquid Pb-Bi Eutectic: Quarterly Progress Report (Aug. 01 – Oct. 31, 2003), Yingtao Jiang, Bingmei Fu

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The experimental setup designed and manufactured in UNLV was shipped to LANL in early Aug. One student has been working in LANL to conduct the experiment since then. In the meantime, one new Ph. D. student has started to run the simulation for transport in oxygen mixing. In Oct., a professional has been hired to work in both experimental and the theoretical studies pertaining to the proposed work.

Environment-Induced Degradation And Crack-Growth Studies Of Candidate Target Materials: Quarterly Progress Report (June 1 – August 31, 2003), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

As indicated in the original proposal, the primary objective of this task is to evaluate the effect of hydrogen on environment-assisted cracking of candidate target materials for applications in spallationneutron- target (SNT) systems such as accelerator production of tritium (APT) and accelerator transmutation of waste (ATW). The materials selected for evaluation and characterization are martensitic stainless steels including Alloy HT-9, Alloy EP 823 and Type 422 stainless steel. The susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of these materials are being evaluated in aqueous environments of interest using tensile specimens under constant load and slow-strain-rate (SSR) conditions. …

Development Of A Mechanistic Understanding Of High-Temperature Deformation Of Alloy Ep-823 For Transmutation Applications: Quarterly Progress Report (June 01 – Aug 31, 2003), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the elevated temperature tensile properties of Alloy EP-823, a leading target material for accelerator-driven waste transmutation applications. This Alloy has been proven to be an excellent structural material to contain the lead-bismuth-eutectic (LBE) nuclear coolant needed for fast spectrum operations. Very little data exist in the open literature on the tensile properties of this Alloy. The test material will be thermally treated prior to the evaluation of its tensile properties at temperatures relevant to the transmutation applications. The deformation characteristics of tensile specimens, upon completion of testing, will be evaluated by surface …

Use Of Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy For Stress-Strain Measurements: Quarterly Progress Report (June 01 – August 31, 2003), Ajit K. Roy

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this collaborative research project involving the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), the Idaho State University (ISU), and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is to evaluate the feasibility of determining residual stresses in cold-worked, plastically-deformed (bent), and welded materials using a nondestructive method based on positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS). This technique uses γ-rays from a small MeV electron Linac to generate positrons inside the sample via pair production. This method is known to have capabilities of characterizing defects in thick specimens that could not be accomplished by conventional positron technique or other nondestructive methods. The generated …

Development Of A Mechanistic Understanding Of High-Temperature Deformation Of Alloy Ep-823 For Transmutation Applications: Annual Progress Report (September 2002 – August 2003), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the elevated temperature tensile properties of Alloy EP-823, a leading structural target material for accelerator-driven waste transmutation applications. This alloy has been proven to be an excellent structural material to contain the molten lead-bismuth-eutectic (LBE) nuclear coolant needed for fast spectrum operations. Very little data exist in the open literature on the tensile properties of this martensitic alloy. Three different heats of this material, produced by vacuum induction melting, were thermally treated to produce fully-tempered martensitic microstructure without any retained austenite (Table I). Cylindrical specimens were fabricated from the heat-treated round bars …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics-Task V: Fourth Quarterly Report 06/01/2003-08/30/2003, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the TRP proposed application. Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with only very sparse experimental data. Scientists have noticed that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the liquid alloy could control the corrosion rate of steels exposed to Pb or Pb-Bi. At high …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics-Task V: Annual Report -Phase Ii 09/01/2002-08/30/2003, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the TRP proposed application. Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with only very sparse experimental data. Scientists have noticed that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the liquid alloy could control the corrosion rate of steels exposed to Pb or Pb-Bi. At high …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Quarterly Progress Report 5/16/03- 8/15/03, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

Two activities are proposed in this Phase I task: the development of a systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model is the start of an integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the AAA Program. A second portion of the project is to streamline and improve an integral part of the overall systems model, which is the software package AMUSE. AMUSE analyzes the UREX process and other related solvent extraction processes and defines many of the process streams that are integral …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process, Yitung Chen, Sean Hsieh, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The AFCI program is developing technology for the transmutation of nuclear waste to address many of the long-term disposal issues. An integral part of this program is the proposed chemical separations scheme.

Nearly all issues related to risks to future generations arising from long-term disposal of such spent nuclear fuel is attributable to about 2% of its content. Such 2% is made up primarily of plutonium, neptunium, americium, and curium (the transuranic elements) and long-lived isotopes of iodine and technetium created as products from the fission process in power reactors. When transuranics are removed from discharged fuel destined for disposal, …

Agenda: Energy Field Tour 2003, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

Congressional staff tour held August 11-16, 2003

Summary: Binder of assorted articles, maps, brochures and other materials prepared for participants of the tour

Contents:

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2003: BLUE SPRUCE PEAKER PLANT: University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center : congressional staff tour of Blue Spruce Energy Center / Peggy Duxbury -- 'Power Struggle', National Journal, June 27, 2003 / Margaret Kritz -- 'Calpine's Blue Spruce Energy Center begins commercial operation', Calpine press release, April 17, 2003 -- NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LAB: NREL at a glance -- NREL technologies -- SHOSHONE HYDROELECTRIC PLANT: 'River District Board supports spring Shoshone call …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics - Phase Three, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The proposed work will combine chemical kinetics and hydrodynamics in target and test-loop lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) systems to model system corrosion effects. This approach will result in a predicative tool that can be validated with corrosion test data, used to systematically design tests and interpret the results, and provide guidance for optimization in LBE system designs. The task includes two subtasks. The first subtask is to try to develop the necessary predictive tools to be able to predict the levels of oxygen and corrosion products close to the boundary layer through the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling. The …

Developing A Sensing System For The Measurement Of Oxygen Concentration In Liquid Pb-Bi Eutectic: Quarterly Progress Report (May. 01 – July 31, 2003), Yingtao Jiang, Bingmei Fu, Woosoon Yim

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The report for Y01 has been prepared and submitted. The final part of our apparatus, the N3Si4 stirrer, was received by the end of May. The assembly of the apparatus has almost been completed. The control plan for our apparatus has been revised. To run FLUENT, a high-end Unix-based Sun workstation has been acquired. Plan has been made to ship our apparatus to LANL.

Environment-Induced Degradation And Crack-Growth Studies Of Candidate Target Materials: Annual Progress Report (May 2002 – May 2003), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

As indicated in the original proposal, the primary objective of this task is to evaluate the effect of hydrogen on environment-assisted cracking of candidate target materials for applications in spallationneutron- target (SNT) systems such as accelerator production of tritium (APT) and accelerator transmutation of waste (ATW). The materials selected for evaluation and characterization are martensitic stainless steels including Alloy HT-9, Alloy EP 823 and Type 422 stainless steel. The susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of these materials are being evaluated in aqueous environments of interest using tensile specimens under constant load and slow-strain-rate (SSR) conditions. …

Use Of Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy For Stress-Strain Measurements: Annual Progress Report (May 2002 – May 2003), Ajit K. Roy

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this collaborative research project involving the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and Idaho State University (ISU) to evaluate the feasibility of determining residual stresses of welded, bent (three-point-bend), and cold-worked engineering materials using a new non-destructive technique based on positron annihilation spectroscopy. The proposed technique is the use γ-rays from a small MeV electron Linear accelerator (LINAC) to generate positrons inside the sample via pair production. This method can be used for materials characterization and investigation of defects in thick samples, which could not be accomplished by conventional positron technique or other non-destructive methods. The data …

Quarterly Report For The Trp Project, March–June 2003, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen, Kanthi Kiran Daiska, Chao Wu

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The MTL is assumed to be a 5m long rectangular loop with a circular cross-section. Because of the non-symmetry, and due to the active participation of the secondary flows due to the elbows present in the rectangular loop model, the geometry is considered as a 3D model.

When the regions of maximum corrosion and precipitation are compared, they fall in the same zone for both the analytical and simulated models. The reason for a larger concentration flux in the case of turbulent flow than for the laminar flow can be explained by the concept of higher lateral diffusion in the …

Development Of A Mechanistic Understanding Of High-Temperature Deformation Of Alloy Ep-823 For Transmutation Applications Trp Task-10: Quarterly Progress Report (March 01 – May 31, 2003), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the elevated temperature tensile properties of Alloy EP- 823, a leading target material for accelerator-driven waste transmutation applications. This alloy has been proven to be an excellent structural material to contain the lead-bismuth-eutectic (LBE) nuclear coolant needed for fast spectrum operations. Very little data exist in the open literature on the tensile properties of this alloy. The test material will be thermally treated prior to the evaluation of its tensile properties at temperatures relevant to the transmutation applications. The deformation characteristics of tensile specimens, upon completion of testing, will be evaluated by …

Development Of A Mechanistic Understanding Of High-Temperature Deformation Of Alloy Ep-823 For Transmutation Applications, Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the elevated temperature tensile properties of Alloy EP-823, a leading target material for accelerator-driven waste transmutation applications. This alloy has been proven to be an excellent structural material to contain the lead-bismuth-eutectic (LBE) nuclear coolant needed for fast spectrum operations. However, very little data exist in the open literature on the tensile properties of this alloy. The selection of Alloy EP-823 as the test material in the proposed task is based on the recommendation of our collaborator at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The test material will be thermally treated prior …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process, Yitung Chen, Darrell Pepper, Randy Clarksean

Separations Campaign (TRP)

Two activities are proposed: the development of a systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model will be continuously focusing on the integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the TRP Program. A second portion of the project will streamline and improve an integral part of the overall systems model, which is the software package AMUSE. AMUSE analyzes the UREX process and other related solvent extraction processes and defines many of the process streams that are integral to the systems engineering model. …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Quarterly Progress Report 2/16/03- 5/15/03, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

Two activities are proposed in this Phase I task: the development of a systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model is the start of an integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the AAA Program. A second portion of the project is to streamline and improve an integral part of the overall systems model, which is the software package AMUSE. AMUSE analyzes the UREX process and other related solvent extraction processes and defines many of the process streams that are integral …

Developing A Sensing System For The Measurement Of Oxygen Concentration In Liquid Pb-Bi Eutectic: Quarterly Progress Report (Feb. 01 – Apr. 30, 2003), Yingtao Jiang, Bingmei Fu, Woosoon Yim

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

We received most of the components, everything except the customized and outsourced stirrer, for the new apparatus for oxygen measurement/calibration. Thus far, most of the machining work has been completed. The LaveView module used for the data collection and the control of the apparatus has been tested. 2-D simulation work has been performed using FEMLAB.

Stress Corrosion Cracking Of Type 422 Stainless Steel For Applications In Spallation-Neutron-Target Systems, Ramprashad Prabhakaran

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Introduction

• This research program is aimed at evaluating different types of environment-induced degradation of candidate target materials for applications in transmutation of spent nuclear fuels (SNF).

• Transmutation refers to the elimination of long-lived actinides and fission products from SNF.

Objectives

• Evaluate susceptibility of candidate target materials to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and localized corrosion (pitting and crevice) in neutral and acidic aqueous environments at ambient and elevated temperatures

• Determine the extent and morphology of cracking in tested materials as functions of experimental and environmental variables including pH, temperature, loading conditions and specimen geometry

• Develop mechanistic …

Environment-Induced Degradation And Crack-Growth Studies Of Candidate Target Materials, Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

During the past two years (2001-2002) of this project, the primary effort was focused on evaluating the effect of hydrogen on the cracking behavior of candidate target materials namely, Alloys EP-823, HT-9 and 422 in aqueous environments of different pH values at ambient and elevated temperatures. More recently, emphasis is being placed to evaluate the cracking behavior of these materials in molten lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) environment at much higher testing temperatures so as to compare the cracking susceptibility in environments containing molten metals and aqueous solutions, respectively. The most recent tests to evaluate the cracking susceptibility were primarily based on …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics: Quarterly Progress Report 12/1/02- 2/28/03, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the AAA proposed application.

Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with very limited density. The transport of oxygen and corrosion products, their interaction and variation of corrosion/precipitation along the flow are not well understood.

The first subtask of this project involves using a …

Use Of Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy For Stress-Strain Measurements, Ajit K. Roy

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this collaborative research project involving the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Idaho State University (ISU) is to evaluate the feasibility of determining residual stresses of welded, bent (three-point-bend), and cold-worked engineering materials using a new nondestructive technique based on positron annihilation spectroscopy. The proposed technique is to use x-rays from a small MeV electron Linac to generate positrons inside the sample via pair production. This method can be used for materials characterization and investigation of defects in thick samples that could not be accomplished by conventional positron technique or other nondestructive methods. The data …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Quarterly Progress Report 11/16/02- 2/15/03, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

Two activities are proposed in this Phase I task: the development of a systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model is the start of an integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the TRP Program. A second portion of the project is to streamline and improve an integral part of the overall systems model, which is the software package AMUSE. AMUSE analyzes the UREX process and other related solvent extraction processes and defines many of the process streams that are integral …