Laser diagnostics for NTP fuel corrosion studies

Viewgraphs and explanations on laser diagnostics for nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) fuel corrosion studies are presented. Topics covered include: NTP fuels; U-Zr-C system corrosion products; planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF); utilization of PLIF for corrosion product characterization of nuclear thermal rocket fuel elements under test; ZrC emission spectrum; and PLIF imaging of ZrC plume

An Analysis of Gender Bias in Newbery Medal Award Winning Books from 1985 to 1995

Intended for use by educators, librarians, and parents, this study analyzed Newbery Medal Award winners from 1985 to 1995 for gender bias. The items under analysis included the number of females or males represented in the titles, the gender of the authors, the number of females and males as main characters, and the role of the main character(s). The results indicate a trend toward a less biased representation of females who engaged in counter-gender-type activities more often than males. Seven (64%) of the 11 books were written by female authors while 4 (36%) were written by male authors. Females were named in 1 (9%) title, males were named in 2 (18%) titles, and 8 (73%) titles were gender neutral. Of the 14 main characters portrayed, 6 (43%) were female while 8 (57%) were male. There were 4 (29%) active/nontraditional female main characters and 2 (14%) passive/traditional female main characters. All 8 (57%) male main characters were active/traditional. A review of research of gender bias in children's literature, picture books, fairy tales, and language precedes the study.SUNY BrockportEducation and Human DevelopmentMaster of Science in Education (MSEd)Education and Human Development Master's These

Competitive Effect on the Rate of the Diffusion-Controlled Reaction A+B→C

None available; appears in letters section

A fuzzy control system for a three-phase oil field centrifuge

The three-phase centrifuge discussed here is an excellent device for cleaning up oil field and refinery wastes. These wastes are typically composed of hydrocarbons, water, and solids. This technology converts waste, which is often classified as hazardous, into salable oil, reusable water, and solids that can be placed in landfills. No secondary waste is produced. A major problem is that only one person can set up and run the equipment well enough to provide an optimal cleanup. Demand for this technology has far exceeded a one-man operation. The solution to this problem is an intelligent control system that can replace a highly skilled operator so that several centrifuges can be operated at different locations at the same time

Neural network for quality control of submunitions produced by injection loading

Injection loading of submunitions for smart weapons is a novel automated processing technique that can benefit from adaptive process control. This paper describes how the quality of submunitions could be controlled by using a neural network code in real time. Future work is planned to demonstrate fewer rejects and pollution reduction during submunition manufacturing

Advanced oxidation and reduction processes: Closed-loop applications for mixed waste

At Los Alamos we are engaged in applying innovative oxidation and reduction technologies to the destruction of hazardous organics. Non thermal plasmas and relativistic electron-beams both involve the generation of free radicals and are applicable to a wide variety of mixed waste as closed-loop designs can be easily engineered. Silent discharge plasmas (SDP), long used for the generation of ozone, have been demonstrated in the laboratory to be effective in destroying hazardous organic compounds and offer an altemative to existing post-incineration and off-gas treatments. SDP generates very energetic electrons which efficiently create reactive free radicals, without adding the enthalpy associated with very high gas temperatures. A SDP cell has been used as a second stage to a LANL designed, packed-bed reactor (PBR) and has demonstrated DREs as high as 99.9999% for a variety of combustible liquid and gas-based waste streams containing scintillation fluids, nitrates, PCB surrogates, and both chlorinated and fluorinated solvents. Radiolytic treatment of waste using electron-beams and/or bremsstrahlung can be applied to a wide range of waste media (liquids, sludges, and solids). The efficacy and economy of these systems has been demonstrated for aqueous waste through both laboratory and pilot scale studies. We win present recent experimental and theoretical results for systems using stand alone SDP, combined PBR/SDP, and electron-beam treatment methods

Advanced oxidation and reduction processes: Closed-loop applications for mixed waste

At Los Alamos we are engaged in applying innovative oxidation and reduction technologies to the destruction of hazardous organics. Non thermal plasmas and relativistic electron-beams both involve the generation of free radicals and are applicable to a wide variety of mixed waste as closed-loop designs can be easily engineered. Silent discharge plasmas (SDP), long used for the generation of ozone, have been demonstrated in the laboratory to be effective in destroying hazardous organic compounds and offer an altemative to existing post-incineration and off-gas treatments. SDP generates very energetic electrons which efficiently create reactive free radicals, without adding the enthalpy associated with very high gas temperatures. A SDP cell has been used as a second stage to a LANL designed, packed-bed reactor (PBR) and has demonstrated DREs as high as 99.9999% for a variety of combustible liquid and gas-based waste streams containing scintillation fluids, nitrates, PCB surrogates, and both chlorinated and fluorinated solvents. Radiolytic treatment of waste using electron-beams and/or bremsstrahlung can be applied to a wide range of waste media (liquids, sludges, and solids). The efficacy and economy of these systems has been demonstrated for aqueous waste through both laboratory and pilot scale studies. We win present recent experimental and theoretical results for systems using stand alone SDP, combined PBR/SDP, and electron-beam treatment methods

February's Menu of Problems

A light fare to whet your mathematical appetite.</jats:p