Development of Advanced Direct Perception Displays for Nuclear Power Plants to Enhance Monitoring, Control, and Fault Management
B. G. Jones,* N. Moray,* P. Sanderson,* S. Shaheen, D. Reising
U.S. Department of Energy, DE-FG02-92ER75781; University of Illinois (In conjunction with the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering)

A direct perception interface (DPI) integrates information into a unified animated diagram that supports fault diagnosis more strongly than conventional displays. Building on our earlier work on a DPI for nuclear thermal hydraulics, this project will lead to a complete suite of DPI displays for an entire nuclear plant, from nucleonics to power generation. It will also take into account the need for teams of operators to extract different types of information from a DPI. A special case of reactor start-up has been examined that demonstrates the effectiveness of the display.

Energy Economics
C. E. Singer,* M. Khanna
U.S. Department of Energy, DE-FG03-97SF21281

Energy economics studies related to the future of nuclear energy in South Asia and elsewhere include (1) calibration of models of demography and economic development, (2) analysis of regional resources of uranium and other depletable fuels, (3) development of regionally disaggregated models of the competition between various depletable and renewable energy resources, (4) examination of prospects for conclusion and implementation of agreements on greenhouse gas emissions, (5) examination of nuclear waste disposal in various countries, and (6) implications for the future of nuclear energy and nuclear fuel cycles.

Global Management of Weapons-Usable Special Nuclear Materials
C. E. Singer*
University of Illinois

Institutional factors that influence global cooperation on management of special isotopes used in nuclear weapons are under investigation with emphasis on: (1) interaction of civilian and military programs in India and Pakistan, (2) Sino-Indian relations, (3) prospects for correlating agreement between the U.S. and Russia on holdings of nuclear explosives with policies and plans of other self-declared nuclear weapons states, and (4) policy and technical questions related to building confidence in the absence of assembled nuclear explosives from prohibited areas.

Infrastructure Support for Nuclear Engineering Research and Education
B. G. Jones,* J. F. Stubbins*
Commonwealth Edison Co.; U.S. Department of Energy, DE-FG02-95NE38111

This multiyear project has supported departmental infrastructure to establish new experimental facilities on the TRIGA reactor. Instrumentation and computational equipment have also been acquired for upgrading existing and equipping new undergraduate nuclear engineering laboratories, as well as the student computing facilities in the department. Computational equipment to provide startup for a new faculty member was also provided.

Numerical Simulations of Hydrogen in Thin-Film Palladium
B. J. Heuser,* A. Celik
University of Illinois

The clamping stresses associated with adhesion of a hydrogen-absorbing metal on a nonabsorbing substrate alter the phase behavior of the thin-film system. We have studied the phase behavior of hydrogen in thin-film Pd with neutron reflectivity. This project was successful in determining the phase diagram and elastic response in thin-film geometry. We are now performing Monte Carlo simulations, using embedded atom potentials, to investigate the effect of thin-film geometry on precipitation morphology. We are also investigating the effect of coherency loss and associated epitaxial dislocation generation on phase behavior and elastic response of thin-film Pd.

Root Cause Analysis of Crud Pattern Formation on Fuel Rods
R. Uddin,* A. Toreja, F. Wang
Duke Energy Co.

Detailed flow and temperature profiles are being evaluated to identify the reasons behind the development of patterns of crud on fuel rods at specific locations in some nuclear reactors. Causes being investigated parametrically are buckled fuel rods leading to higher power, effect of gap between fuel assemblies, and others.

Single-Purpose and Dual-Purpose Nuclear Desalination Plants
M. Ragheb,* A. Siddique
University Illinois

Exergetic efficiency analysis of a dual-purpose (DP) electricity and water production plant is considered. The total system cycle efficiency is the sum of the electrical power efficiency and the water production efficiency weighted by the ratio of the heat addition temperature of the water cycle to the heat addition temperature of the electrical cycle. Analyses show that product streams represent competing processes from the perspective of overall cycle efficiency-i.e., improvement of one process occurs at the expense of the other. Thus, thermoeconomic analysis of a DP plant is considered for optimization of the water-electricity ratio under minimized water costs.

Study of Helium Bubble Formation in Pu-239 Using Small-Angle Neutron Scattering
B. J. Heuser,* N. R. Barber
Los Alamos National Laboratory, 780BI-0019-2G

Pu-239 decays by alpha and beta emission to stable Pb-208. The alpha particles typically do not escape and quickly pick up two electrons, becoming He atoms. Helium is very insoluble in metals, and it precipitates into small bubbles if the temperature is high enough to promote diffusion. Bubble formation can result in a loss of ductility, especially if grain boundaries act as nucleation sites. We are using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to measure the He bubble size distribution as a first step in understanding the effect of He bubble formation on the mechanical properties of Pu-239.

Subchannel Analysis Using CFD Code
R. Uddin,* D. Rock
Argonne National Laboratory

Significant safety margins are imposed on reactor operations because computer codes used to design and simulate these systems are often based on 'lumped' analyses. We are performing CFD calculations to determine the subchannel details of the velocity and temperture fields in a fuel rod bundle. This will help us identify conservative operational boundaries that can be relaxed. In addition, user defined subroutines are being added to CFD codes to evaluate parameters of interest specific to nuclear applications.

Subcooled Boiling Analysis in Pressurized Water Reactors
R. Uddin,* F. Wang, D. Rock
Duke Energy Co.

Deposition of boron (negative reactivity) in crud formed on fuel elements has been suggested to be the reason for the discrepancy between the predicted and measured axial power distributions in reactors cores. Formation of crud is directly related to the subcooled boiling that occurs in the top portions of most pressurized water reactor cores. This project aims at establishing the link among subcooled boiling, crud formation, and the deviation between measured and predicted axial flux distribution. Means of reducing the boron deposition in crud will be explored in the second phase of the project.