The goal of this work is to provide a database of quality-checked seismic parameters that can be integrated with the Geologic Framework Model (GFM) for the LYNM-PE1 (Low Yield Nuclear Monitoring – Physical Experiment 1) testbed. We integrated data from geophysical borehole logs, tabletop measurements on collected core, and laboratory measurements. We reviewed for internal consistency among each measurement type, documented the caveats of measurement conditions, and integrated lithologic logs to check the validity of outlier values. The resulting consolidated parameter tables can be used as inputs for modeling and analysis codes and are designed to interface with the GFM, which is being actively developed.
Electrical polarization and defect transport are examined in 0.8BaTiO3–0.2BiZn0.5Ti0.5O3, an attractive capacitor material for high power electronics. Oxygen vacancies are suggested to be the majority charge carrier at or below 250°C with a grain conduction hopping activation energy of 0.97 eV and 0.92 eV for thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) and impedance spectroscopy measurements, respectively. At higher temperature, thermally generated electronic conduction with an activation energy of 1.6 eV is dominant. Significant oxygen vacancy concentration is indicated (up to ~1%) due to cation vacancy formation (i.e., acceptor defects) from observed Bi (and likely Zn) volatility. Oxygen vacancy diffusivity is estimated to be 10-12.8 cm2/s at 250°C. Low diffusivity and high activation energies are indicative of significant defect interactions. Dipolar oxygen vacancy defects are also indicated, with an activation energy of 0.59 eV from TSDC measurements. In conclusion, the large oxygen vacancy content leads to a short lifetime during high voltage (30 kV/cm), high temperature (250°C) direct current (DC) electrical measurements.
Understanding the limits of spatiotemporal carrier dynamics, especially in III-V semiconductors, is key to designing ultrafast and ultrasmall optoelectronic components. However, identifying such limits and the properties controlling them has been elusive. Here, using scanning ultrafast electron microscopy, in bulk n-GaAs and p-InAs, we simultaneously measure picosecond carrier dynamics along with three related quantities: subsurface band bending, above-surface vacuum potentials, and surface trap densities. We make two unexpected observations. First, we uncover a negative-time contrast in secondary electrons resulting from an interplay among these quantities. Second, despite dopant concentrations and surface state densities differing by many orders of magnitude between the two materials, their carrier dynamics, measured by photoexcited band bending and filling of surface states, occur at a seemingly common timescale of about 100 ps. This observation may indicate fundamental kinetic limits tied to a multitude of material and surface properties of optoelectronic III-V semiconductors and highlights the need for techniques that simultaneously measure electrooptical kinetic properties.
The ability to visualize x-ray and neutron emission from fusion plasmas in 3D is critical to understand the origin of the complex shapes of the plasmas in experiments. Unfortunately, this remains challenging in experiments that study a fusion concept known as Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) due to a small number of available diagnostic views. Here, we present a basis function-expansion approach to reconstruct MagLIF stagnation plasmas from a sparse set of x-ray emission images. A set of natural basis functions is “learned” from training volumes containing quasi-helical structures whose projections are qualitatively similar to those observed in experimental images. Tests on several known volumes demonstrate that the learned basis outperforms both a cylindrical harmonic basis and a simple voxel basis with additional regularization, according to several metrics. Two-view reconstructions with the learned basis can estimate emission volumes to within 11% and those with three views recover morphology to a high degree of accuracy. The technique is applied to experimental data, producing the first 3D reconstruction of a MagLIF stagnation column from multiple views, providing additional indications of liner instabilities imprinting onto the emitting plasma.
This manual is written for personnel who respond to a nuclear/radiological incident and will be called upon to provide support to ensure that samples receive appropriate laboratory analyses. Overall, this manual provides general guidance and some specific diagrams and forms. However, it is understood that site- and incident-specific operational decisions and procedures may need to be modified at the time of the incident. This manual is intended to provide guidance for laboratory analysis personnel without limiting FRMAC’s ability to integrate the work with other partners and stakeholders. Some of the titles of management positions with the FRMAC have been changed in order to comply with the structure of the Incident Command System (ICS) under the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
The purpose of this report is to document updates on the apparatus to simulate commercial vacuum drying procedures at the Nuclear Energy Work Complex at Sandia National Laboratories. Validation of the extent of water removal in a dry spent nuclear fuel storage system based on drying procedures used at nuclear power plants is needed to close existing technical gaps. Operational conditions leading to incomplete drying may have potential impacts on the fuel, cladding, and other components in the system during subsequent storage and disposal, such as fuel degradation; cladding corrosion, embrittlement, or breaching; and the creation of a flammable environment via radiolysis of water. A general lack of data suitable for model validation of commercial nuclear canister drying processes necessitates well-designed investigations of drying process efficacy and water retention. Scaled tests that incorporate relevant physics and well-controlled boundary conditions are essential to provide insight and guidance to the simulation of prototypic systems undergoing drying processes. This report documents details on the quantification of residual water in the Advanced Drying Cycle Simulator (ADCS), an apparatus built to simulate commercial drying procedures and quantify the amount of residual water remaining in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel assembly after drying. The ADCS was constructed with a prototypic 17×17 PWR fuel skeleton and waterproof heater rods to simulate decay heat. The ADCS is outfitted with thermocouples to measure the thermal response of the ADCS to simulated decay heats and internal helium fill pressures relevant to commercial drying procedures. The ADCS is also instrumented with pressure transducers to measure the pressures and vacuum levels observed during simulated commercial drying. The most unique instrumentation used for quantifying residual water in the ADCS is a Hiden Analytical HPR-30 mass spectrometer (MS), which measures gas compositions of the ADCS internal free volume, based on partial pressures calculated from relative proportions of gas molecules detected by the MS. This report details the methodology used to implement MS measurements in quantifying residual water in the ADCS. This methodology includes the calibration of the HPR-30 MS to a Buck Research Instruments CR-4 chilled mirror hygrometer, which itself is calibrated to a NIST-traceable standard. Data collected by both the MS and the chilled mirror hygrometer from water/helium mixtures ranging from 150 to 500,000 ppmv water in helium were used to generate calibration curves, establishing a source of verification of MS measured water contents. Details regarding water content measurement uncertainties are included in this report, defining the accuracy and verifiability of the HPR-30 MS in measuring residual water content in simulated dry storage canister environments.
Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion experiments have been performed at the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories. These experiments use deuterium fuel, which produces 2.45 MeV neutrons on reaching thermonuclear conditions. To study the spatial structure of neutron production, the one-dimensional imager of neutrons diagnostic was fielded to record axial resolved neutron images. In this diagnostic, neutrons passing through a rolled edge aperture form an image on a CR-39-based solid state nuclear track detector. Here, we present a modified generalized expectation-maximization algorithm to reconstruct an axial neutron emission profile of the stagnated fusion plasma. We validate the approach by comparing the reconstructed neutron emission profile to an x-ray emission profile provided by a time-integrated pinhole camera.
