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ASSESSMENT OF RARE EVENT FREQUENCIES OFTEN REQUIRES SIGNIFI-CANT RELIANCE ON EXPERT JUDGEMENT DUE TO THE SCARCITY OF EMPIRICAL DATA. IN THIS WORK, FORMAL MODELS FOR USING THE OPINIONS OF SINGLE AND MULTIPLE EXPERTS WILL BE EVALUATED INLIGNT OF EMPIRICAL DATA. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO SEE TO WHAT EXTENT THE EMPIRICAL DATA "VALIDATES" THE EXPERTS' ESTIMATES, AS WELL AS THE MODELS USED FOR ANALYZING SUCH ...

THE PROPOSED PROGRAM CONSISTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNIQUE AND A SYSTEM TO MEASURE THE RADIOACTIVE DECAY OF OF RADWASTE CONTAINED IN STORAGE CANISTERS, CASKS AND VAULTS. THE SYSTEM BEING CONSIDERED DEALS WITH THE DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF THE AFTERHEAT BEING GENERATED IN THE RADWASTEVOLUMES. THE SYSTEM TO BE USED TO ACCOMPLISH SUCH MEASURE MENTS CONSISTS OF A HEAT FLUX SENSOR ENVELOPE THAT SURROU ...

TWO APPROACHES WILL BE EXAMINED TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THESENSITIVITY OF LAUNDRY MONITORS TO DETECT AND SPECIFY LOCATION OF HOT PARTICLES ON LAUNDERED GARMENTS. THESE PROPOSED TECNIQUES HAVE HIGH POTENTIAL FOR DETECTING BOTH LOW ENERGY BETA AND ALPHA PARTICLE RADIATION AS WELL AS IMPROVING SENSITIVITY BY REDUCING BACKGROUND COUNT RATE.

MRC PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SAFETY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (PI) OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) PROTECTION STATUS OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (NPP). WE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A PI IS NEEDED BECAUSE: (1) EM ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IS ON THE INCREASE,(2) ADDITIONAL EM THREATS MUST BE EVALUATED, AND (3) DISRUPTION OF NPP OPERATIONS BY EM EFFECTS CAN AND MUST BE AVOIDED. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF E ...

THE DISCIPLINE OF EXTERNAL-INITIATOR PRA ANALYSIS IS RELA- TIVELY LESS MATURE AND LESS RELIABLE THAN THE CORRESPONDING INTERNAL-INITIATORS PRA ANALYSIS. THESE RELATIVE WEAKNESSESHAVE MADE MANY DECISION-MAKERS, IN BOTH INDUSTRY AND THE NRCRELUCTANT TO USE EXTERNAL-INITIATOR PRA RESULTS. THE EXTER-NAL-INITIATOR ANALYSES HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED TOO UNCERTAIN, OR TOO CONSERVATIVE, OR SUPPORTED BY TOO LIT ...

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THE UNCERTAINTY IN MEASURING NEUTRON DOSE EQUIVALENT RATES RESULTS IN UNCERTAINTY IN ASSIGNMENT OF THE PROPER DOSE TO OCCUPATIONAL RECORDS AND CAN RESULT IN IMPROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTROLS TO LIMIT THE EXPOSURE. A NOVEL PORTABLE NEUTRON SPECTROMETER IS PROPOSED WHICH WILL REDUCE THE UNCERTAINTY OF SUCH MEASUREMENTS TO LESS THAN 20%. MANYCOMPONENTS OF THIS DEVICE ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. SYS ...

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED RESEACH IS TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF THE PIPING SYSTEMS SUBJECTED TO LOADINGS WITH A WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCY CONTENT (E.G. PRESSURIZED THERMAL SHOCK, WATER HAMMER, AND SEISMIC LOADINGS). THIS WILL BE DONE BY SHOWING THAT THE SAFETY OF THE PIPING SYSTEMS CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED BY USING NONLINEAR (INELASTIC) PROCEDURES BECAUSE OF UTILIZATION OF THE SIGNIFICANT ADDIT ...