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ROBOTS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY. THEY ARE COMMONLY USED TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, LOWER OPERATING COSTS, ENHANCE WORKER SAFETY, AND REDUCE RADIATION EXPOSURE TO WORKERS. HOWEVER, THE CAPABILITIES OF EXISTING ROBOTS ARE LIMITEDBY THE SYSTEMS USED TO SENSE THEIR SURROUNDINGS. ALTHOUGH EXISTING ROBOTS OFTEN HAVE VISUAL IMAGING SYSTEMS AND NUCLEA ...

POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET) IS A NON-INVASIVE MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNIQUE, WHICH PROVIDES AN IMAGE OF A POSITRON EMITTING RADIO PHARMACEUTICAL AND ITS DISTRIBUTION IN THE BODY ON A METABOLIC LEVEL. AT THE PRESENT TIME, THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS INSTRUMENT IS LIMITED BY THE NUCLEAR SENSORS USED. RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED A PROMISING DUAL DETECTOR CONCEPT FOR GENERATING HIGH RESOLUTION POSITRO ...

SILICON AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APDS) HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE NEARLY AN IDEAL REPLACEMENT FOR PHOTOMULTIPLIER TUBES (PMTS) IN SCINTILLATION DETECTION APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THEIR GREAT EXPENSE (TYPICALLY APDS COST TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS AN EQUIVALENT PMT) APDS HAVE NOT BEEN WIDELY USED. THE HIGH COST OF APDS IS DUE TO THE LOW YIELD, LABOR-INTENSIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESS USED TO PRODUCE THE ...

THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND USEFULNESS OF SCINTILLATOR DETECTORS ARE OFTEN LIMITED BY THE EFFICIENCY OF LIGHT COLLECTION BY THE PHOTOSENSOR USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THEM. MOST SCINTILLATORS THAT EMIT IN THE ULTRAVIOLET REGION (UV) HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY EXPLOITED, CHIEFLY DUE TO THE DIFFICULTY OF MEASURING THE LIGHT OUTPUT IN THAT RANGE. FOR EXAMPLE, BAF2 IS AN ATTRACTIVE SCINTILLATION DETECTOR FOR ...

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A NEW TYPE OF LARGE AREA POSITION SENSITIVE NEUTRON DETECTOR FOR USE IN DIFFRACTION STUDIES. THE DETECTOR WOULD USE A LIQUID CRYSTAL SENSING MECHNISM TO PROVIDE A LARGE AREA HIGH RESOLUTION (COMPARABLE TO PHOTOGRAPHIC METHODS) DETECTORS WHICH WOULD BE INEXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE. TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS CONCEPT IN PHASE I, SEVERAL TECHNICAL A ...

THE STRENGTHENING OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING (HTS)COMPOSITE WIRES WITH OXIDE DISPERSION STRENGTHENED (ODS) SILVER IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS PROJECT. STATE-OF-THE-ART HTS COMPOSITE WIRES CONSIST OF CERAMIC SUPERCONDUCTOR FILAMENTS ENCASED IN A SILVER (AG) SHEATH. FOR REASONS OF CHEMICAL COMPATIBILITY AND OXYGEN PERMEABILITY, SILVER IS THE ONLY MATERIAL THAT CAN BE USED TO SHEATH THE HTS. HOWE ...

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THE SELECTIVE PERMEATION OF GASES THROUGH THIN FILMS OF CARBON-60 (BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE) HAS BEEN SUGGESTED AS A POSSIBLE APPLICATION OF THIS NOVEL FORM OF CARBON. INDEED, SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN THE RATES OF DESORPTION OF GASES FROM CRYSTALLINE POWDERS OF C-60 AND C-70. WHEREAS VARIOUS CARBON ADSORBENTS ARE ROUTINELY USED FOR GAS SEPARATION AND CARBON-BASED PERMSELECTI ...

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFICALLY ENGINEERED POLYMERS AND APPROPRIATE MODULE DESIGNS IN THE PAST DECADE HAS MADE POSSIBLE THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF GAS SEPARATION MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY FOR SEVERAL INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. SINCE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE MEMBRANES AND MODULES ARE BASED UPON USE OF ORGANIC POLYMERIC MATERIALS, THEY GENERALLY ARE LIMITED TO APPLICATIONS INVOLVING TEMPERATURES OF LESS THAN ABOU ...