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Nondestructive assay methods that rely on measurement of correlated gamma rays from fission have been proposed as a means to determine the mass of fissile materials. Sensitivity studies for such measurements will require knowledge of the multiplicity of prompt gamma rays from fission; however, a very limited number of multiplicity distributions have been measured. A method is proposed to estimate the average number of gamma rays from any fission process by using the correlation of neutron and gamma emission in fission. Using this method, models for the total prompt gamma ray energy from fission adequately reproduce the measured value for thermal neutron induced fission of {sup 233}U. Likewise, the average energy of prompt gamma rays from fission has been adequately estimated using a simple linear model. Additionally, a method to estimate the multiplicity distribution of prompt gamma rays from fission is proposed based on a measured distribution for {sup 252}Cf. These methods are only approximate at best and should only be used for sensitivity studies. Measurements of the multiplicity distribution of prompt gamma rays from fission should be performed to determine the adequacy of the models proposed in this article.

The High Voltage Converter Modulators (HVCMs) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) have operated in excess of a combined 250,000 hours. Performance and reliability improvements to the HVCM are ongoing to increase modulator availability as accelerator system demands increase. There is a relatively large amount of energy storage in the HVCMs, ∼180 kJ. This energy can be released into unsuppressed faults, cause damage, and increase the time to repair. The “fusing switch” would provide a means to isolate this stored energy from the location of the most common faults. This paper introduces this concept and its application to the HVCMs.

Photosynthetic assimilation of atmospheric carbon dioxide by land plants offers the underpinnings for terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration. A proportion of the C captured in plant biomass is partitioned to roots, where it enters the pools of soil organic C and soil inorganic C and can be sequestered for millennia. Bioenergy crops serve the dual role of providing biofuel that offsets fossil-fuel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestering C in the soil through extensive root systems. Carbon captured in plant biomass can also contribute to C sequestration through the deliberate addition of biochar to soil, wood burial, or the use of durable plant products. Increasing our understanding of plant, microbial, and soil biology, and harnessing the benefits of traditional genetics and genetic engineering, will help us fully realize the GHG mitigation potential of phytosequestration.

Differences in synchrotron radiation beamline shielding design between the facilities of 3 GeV class and 8 GeV class are discussed with regard to SLAC SSRL and SPring-8 beamlines. Requirements of beamline shielding as well as the accelerator shielding depend on the stored electron energy, and here some factors in beamline shielding depending on the stored energy in particular, are clarified, namely the effect of build up, the effect of double scattering of photons at branch beamlines, and the spread of gas bremsstrahlung.

The central outer tracker (COT) is a big cylindrical drift chamber that provides charged particle tracking for the collider detector at Fermilab experiment. To protect the COT, the large stored energy in the high-voltage (HV) system needs to be removed quickly when a problem is sensed. For the HV switch, a special-order silicon-controlled-rectifier was chosen over more readily available integrated gate bipolar transistors because of layout and reliability questions. The considerations concerning the HV switch, the prototype performance, and the experience of more than two years of running are described.

A prototype ampere-class superconducting energy recovery linac (ERL) is under advanced construction at BNL. The ERL facility is comprised of a five-cell SC Linac plus a half-cell SC photo-injector RF electron gun, both operating at 703.75 MHz. The facility is designed for either a high-current mode of operation up to 0.5 A at 703.75 MHz or a high-bunch-charge mode of 5 nC at 10 MHz bunch frequency. The R facility serves a test bed for an envisioned electron-hadron collider, eRHIC. The high-current, high-charge operating parameters make effective higher-order-mode (HOM) damping mandatory, and requires to determination of HOM tolerances for a cavity upgrade. The niobium cavity has been tested at superconducting temperatures and has provided measured dipole shunt impedances for the estimate of a beam breakup instability. The facility will be assembled with a highly flexible lattice covering a vast operational parameter space for verification of the estimates and to serve as a test bed for the concepts directed at future projects. Proceedings of the 1st International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2010, Kyoto, Japan

High current discharge channels can neutralize both current and space charge of very intense ion beams. Therefore, they are considered an interesting solution for final focus and beam transport in a heavy ion beam fusion reactor. At the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung accelerator facility, 50 cm long, free-standing discharge channels were created in a 60 cm diameter metallic chamber. Discharges with currents of 45 kA in 2 to 25 mbar ammonia (NH3) gas are initiated by a CO2 laser pulse along the channel axis before the capacitor bank is triggered. Resonant absorption of the laser, tuned to the v2 vibration of the ammonia molecule, causes strong gas heating. Subsequent expansion and rarefaction of the gas prepare the conditions for a stable discharge to fulfill the requirements for ion beam transport. The influence of an electric prepulse on the high current discharge was investigated. This article describes the laser–gas interaction and the discharge initiation mechanism. We found that channels are magnetohydrodynamic stable up to currents of 45 kA, measured by fast shutter and streak imaging techniques. The rarefaction of the laser heated gas is studied by means of a one-dimensional Lagrangian fluid code (CYCLOPS) and is identified as the dominant initiation mechanism of the discharge.

Graphene has been used as an electrically tunable material for switchable devices. A large area fabrication of Al-doped ZnO/Al2O3/graphene/Al2O3/gold/silicon device was enabled by a spin-processible hydrophilic mono-layer graphene oxide. The graphene was obtained directly from graphene oxide during the atomic layer deposition without other extra steps. A significant shift of Raman frequency up to 360 cm−1 was observed from graphene in the fabricated device, indicating a structural change in graphene. The absorption from the device was tunable with a negative voltage applied on the Al-doped ZnO side. The generated absorption change was sustainable when the voltage was off and erasable when a positive voltage was applied. The sustainability of tuned optical property in the graphene under investigation can lead to a design of device with less power consumption and many other applications.