Award Data

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE FAULT-DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM THAT WILL CLASSIFY, IN REAL-TIME, NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TRANSIENTS AND PROVIDE ERROR BOUNDS ON ITS DIAGNOSES. THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP AN ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN) PARADIGM THAT IS CAPABLE OF NOT ONLY PROVIDING A PROPER CLASSIFICATION BUT ALSO GIVING A FIGURE OF MERIT FOR ITS ANSWER. THE PROPO ...

THE DAMAGE FROM OPERATING STRESSES, AGING, AND ENVIRONMENT ACT TO MODIFY THE VIBRATIONAL MODAL PATTERNS OF NUCLEAR REACTOR COMPONENTS. WE PROPOSE TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING HOLOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES FOR MONITORING AND QUANTIFYING THESE PATTERNS. THESE MEASUREMENTS COULD BE PERFORMED REMOTELY AND WITH MINIMUM DISRUPTION OF PLANT OPERATIONS. THE APPLICATION OF HOLOGRAPHY TO AUGMENT THE USE ...

AN ON-GOING THREAT TO THE RESIDUAL LIFETIME AND SAFETY OF BOILING WATER REACTORS (BWRS) IS INTERGRANULAR STRESS CORROSION CRACKING (IGSCC). A COMPONENT OF SPECIAL CONCERN IN THE RECIRCULATION INLET NOZZLE SAFE END (RINSE). FOR EXAMPLE, WITHIN THE LAST 2 YEARS 30 OUT OF 30 RINSES ARE KNOWN TO BE CRACKED AT A 3-UNIT BWR SITE AND IT IS BELIEVED THAT 20 OUT OF 20 RINSES ARE CRACKED AT A 2-UNIT BWR SIT ...

THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW LONG RANGE RADIOACTIVE PLUME TRANSPORT CODE IS PROPOSED. NEW APPROACHES TO ESTIMATE THE RADIOACTIVE DECAY, WET AND DRY DEPOSITION, PARTICULATE COAGULATION, AND ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS WILL BE EXPLORED AND A SIMPLE, IDEALIZED EVALUATION OF THESE ALGORITHMS WILL BE MADE IN PHASE I OF THE PROPOSED EFFORT. BASED ON THESE STUDIES A) AN APPROPRIATE NEAR SOURCE RISE ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

MOTOR OPERATED GATE VALVE OPERABILITY PROBLEMS AND FAILURES AT NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS ARE A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN AS STATEDIN NRC IE BULLETIN 85-03 AND GENERIC LETTER 89-10. THIS PROPOSAL IS AIMED AT IMPROVING GATE VALVE PERFORMANCE BY (1) DEVELOPING COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE PREDICTION MODELS FOR USE OVER A RANGE OF OPERATING CONDITIONS, (2) DEFINING LIMITS, BASED ON SPECIFIC DESIGNS, BEYOND WHICH E ...

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