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Reducing hot-short cracking in iridium GTA welding using four-pole oscillation

Description: Hot-short cracking, an intrinsic problem in iridium welding, has been reduced using four-pole magnetic arc oscillation. For given batches of iridium, reject rates have been reduced from 26% to 2%. The mechanics of the four-pole oscillator, the microstructural effects and the causes for improvement are discussed.
Date: January 1, 1984
Creator: Scarbrough, J. D. & Burgan, C. E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Behavior of oxygen partial pressure over slightly substoichiometric plutonia at 1410/sup 0/K

Description: Monsanto Research Corporation is charged with processing encapsulated plutonium dioxide heat sources into radioisotopic thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to support deep-space missions. One of the problems associated with the sometimes protracted ground storage of these devices is the ingrowth of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the gas phase due to the cyclical reaction established between the fuel (/sup 238/PuO/sub 2/) and the carbon impact body. This ingrowth proceeds according to the tw… more
Date: August 31, 1982
Creator: Johnson, E. W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Compatibility testing of the WESF /sup 90/SrF/sub 2/ storage capsule at 800/sup 0/C

Description: A program is currently under way at Pacific Northwest Laboratory to develop the information needed to permit the licensing of /sup 90/SrF/sub 2/ as a radioisotope heat-source fuel for terrestrial application. A major portion of the effort is directed at determining the compatibility of /sup 90/SrF/sub 2/ with containment materials at anticipated heat-source operating temperatures. One phase of the compatibility studies involved the testing of two WESF /sup 90/SrF/sub 2/ storage capsules at appr… more
Date: June 1, 1980
Creator: Fullam, H. T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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DOE/JPL Advanced Thermionic Technology Program. Progress report No. 41

Description: The primary long-term goal of the DOE effort is to improve TEC performance to the level that thermionic topping of fossil fuel steam powerplants becomes technically possible and economically attractive. An intermediate goal is to demonstrate an in-boiler thermionic module in the early 1980's. A short-term goal is the demonstration of the reliability of thermionic operation in a combustion environment. The focus of the JPL program is to develop thermionic conversion technology appropriate for nu… more
Date: December 1, 1979
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Power Beaming Based Infrastructure for Space Power

Description: At present all space mission power requirements are met by integral, on-board, self-contained power systems. To provide needed flexibility for space exploration and colonization, an additional approach to on-board, self-contained power systems is needed. Power beaming, an alternative approach to providing power, has the potential to provide increased mission flexibility while reducing total mass launched into space. Laser-power beaming technology provides a viable power and communication infras… more
Date: August 1, 1991
Creator: Bamberger, J. A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Molybdenum-base cermet fuel development

Description: Development of a multimegawatt (MMW) space nuclear power system requires identification and resolution of several technical feasibility issues before selecting one or more promising system concepts. Demonstration of reactor fuel fabrication technology is required for cermet-fueled reactor concepts. MMW reactor fuel development activity at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is focused on producing a molybdenum-matrix uranium-nitride (UN) fueled cermet. This cermet is to have a high matrix densit… more
Date: July 1, 1987
Creator: Gurwell, W. E.; Moss, R. W.; Pilger, J. P. & White, G. D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Quarterly report on the strontium heat source development program, advanced nuclear systems and projects division for October-December 1980

Description: At Hanford, strontium is separated from the high-level waste, converted to the fluoride, and doubly encapsulated in small, high-integrity containers for subsequent long-term storage. The fluoride conversion, encapsulation, and storage take place in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facilities (WESF). The encapsulated strontium fluoride represents an economical source of /sup 90/Sr if the WESF capsule can be licensed for heat-source applications under anticipated-use conditions. The objectives… more
Date: April 1, 1981
Creator: Fullam, H. T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Space Nuclear Safety Program: Progress report, January-March 1987

Description: This quarterly report describes studies related to the use of /sup 238/PuO/sub 2/ in radioisotope power systems, which were carried out for the Office of Special Nuclear Projects of the US Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most of the studies discussed are ongoing; the results and conclusions described may change as the work progresses.
Date: July 1, 1988
Creator: Lewin, R. (ed.) & George, T.G. (comp.)
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Material science experience gained from the space nuclear rocket program: Insulators

Description: Although Rover reactors are viewed as the ultimate in high-temperature operating systems, many of the materials used in these reactors (for example, support rods, control drums, and the reflector) have to be held at relatively low temperatures while the reactor operates, in order to maintain their structural integrity. Thus the insulators needed to separate these temperature domains are crucial to the reactor's ultimate operating times and temperatures. All of the reactors that were tested used… more
Date: July 1, 1992
Creator: Wagner, P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Heat-transfer regimes in nuclear-reactor-pumped gas lasers

Description: The flow induced in nuclear-reactor-pumped gas lasers by the competing effects of spatially nonuniform fission-fragment heating (pumping) and heat transfer to the walls is examined. The equations of motion are acoustically filtered (low Mach number approximation), and the resulting equations are seen to have three timescales: the duration of the heating, the time required by the heating to produce a pressure rise comparable to the initial pressure, and the time for the thermal boundary layer to… more
Date: January 1, 1990
Creator: Torczynski, J.R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Galileo light-weight radioisotope heater units design and safety analysis

Description: The Light-Weight Radioisotope Heater Unit (LWRHU) provides thermal energy to temperature sensitive components aboard the orbiter/probe of the Galileo Spacecraft during its multiyear interplanetary mission. Heat is derived from the radioisotopic decay of 238-plutonium. A power of 0.56 watts/gram of radioisotope, a half-life of 88 years, and no moving parts permitted a robust, long-lived, compact heat source design. A single l-w design provided small thermal increments, with options in the number… more
Date: January 1, 1990
Creator: Johnson, E.W. (EG and G Mound Applied Technologies, Miamisburg, OH (USA)) & Zocher, R.W. (Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA))
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brookhaven National Laboratory technology transfer report, fiscal year 1986

Description: An increase in the activities of the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) is reported. Most of the additional effort has been directed to the regional electric utility initiative, but intensive efforts have been applied to the commercialization of a compact synchrotron storage ring for x-ray lithography applications. At least six laboratory technologies are reported as having been transferred or being in the process of transfer. Laboratory accelerator technology is being applie… more
Date: January 1, 1986
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Decontamination and disposition of facilities program

Description: The Program Plan represents the top level guidance document for stating and performing the objectives of the Decontamination and Disposition (D and D) Program. The program objectives, historical data, and program description are presented, along with the top level planning. The planning includes a statement of the funding basis and the corresponding first and second level activity network schedules. The management plan is included which describes the procedures to be used for cost and schedule … more
Date: January 23, 1975
Creator: Graves, A.W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Strontium-90 and promethium-147 recovery

Description: Strontium-90 and promethium-147 are fission product radionuclides with potential for use as heat source materials in high reliability, non-interruptible power supplies. Interest has recently been expressed in their utilization for Department of Defense (DOD) applications. This memorandum summarizes the current inventories, the annual production rates, and the possible recovery of Sr-90 and Pm-147 from nuclear materials production operations at Hanford and Savannah River. Recovery of these isoto… more
Date: August 30, 1982
Creator: Hoisington, J.E. & McDonell, W.R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Heat-Source Specification 500 Watt(e) RTG

Description: This specification establishes the requirements for a /sup 90/SrF/sub 2/ heat source and its fuel capsule for application in a 500 W(e) thermoelectric generator. The specification covers: fuel composition and quantity; the Hastelloy S fuel capsule material and fabrication; and the quality assurance requirements for the assembled heat source. (LCL)
Date: February 1, 1983
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pacific Northwest Laboratory monthly report to the Nuclear Research and Applications Division for July 1976. [Encapsulated /sup 90/SrF/sub 2/ waste]

Description: At Hanford, strontium is separated from the high-level waste, then converted to the fluoride, and doubly encapsulated in small, high-integrity containers for subsequent long-term storage. The fluoride conversion, encapsulation and storage take place in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facilities (WESF). This encapsulated strontium fluoride represents an economical source of /sup 90/Sr if the WESF capsule can be licensed for heat source applications under anticipated use conditions. The objec… more
Date: August 1, 1976
Creator: Fullam, H. T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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HANDBOOK OF SHIELDING REQUIREMENTS AND RADIATION CHARACTERISTICS OF ISOTOPIC POWER SOURCES FOR TERRESTRIAL, MARINE, AND SPACE APPLICATIONS

Description: The radiation intensities from shielded and unshielded sources fabricated from seventeen isotopes that show promise for use in isotopic power or radiation applications were calculated. Source sizes in the range of 100 to 20,000 thermal watts were evaluated. All shielded sources were assumed to be attenuated by Fe, Pb, and U; and in those cases where the source also emitted neutrons, neutron and gamma attenuation through water was determined. The isotopes studied and their physical form are as f… more
Date: April 1, 1964
Creator: Arnold, E.D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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