SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AEROSPACE REPORTS

A Biweekly Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VOLUME 43, ISSUE 26 - DECEMBER 30, 2005

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Includes nuclear particles; and reactor theory.

For space radiation see 93 Space Radiation.

For atomic and molecular physics see 72 Atomic and Molecular Physics.

For elementary particle physics see 77 Physics of Elementary Particles and Fields.

For nuclear astrophysics see 90 Astrophysics.

20050243500 Department of Energy, Washington, DC, USA

Report of the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee Subpanel Review of the Electron Beam Microcharacterization Centers Past, Present, and Future

Feb. 2000; 116 pp.; In English Report No.(s): PB2006-101419; DOE/SC-0019; No Copyright; Avail.: National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

Over the last few years, the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (OBES) of the Department of Energy (DOE) have asked the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) to review the user centers which it has established and maintains. The first group of these reviews was concerned with the major facilities: the neutron sources and the synchrotron radiation sources. This review involved the Electron Beam Microcharacterization Centers (EBMCCs). As the charge letter to this review panel points out, 'The centers differ from Basic Energy Sciences major user facilities such as the synchrotron radiation light sources or the neutron sources in that they do not have distinct operating budgets; they are supported as part the Materials Science Division research budget. Furthermore, each of them can be regarded as a suite of instruments aimed at using electron beams to characterize materials with high resolution, both structurally and chemically.' NTIS

Electron Beams; Light Sources; Radiation Sources; Synchrotron Radiation

20050243526 Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA, USA

Fusion Research Center Georgia Institute of Technology Annual Report, 2005

Stacey, W. M.; Oct. 2005; 106 pp.; In English Report No.(s): PB2006-101233; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A06, Hardcopy

Extensions of the 2D Transmission and Escape Probability neutral particle transport method in treating the spatial non-uniformity of collision sources and neutral energy effects are presented. These extensions have been tested by benchmarks against Monte Carlo calculations for specially designed models and for realistic D III-D discharges. The comparisons indicate these extensions improve accuracy of the TEP method. NTIS

Nuclear Fusion; Neutral Particles

20050244487 Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA USA

Femtosecond, High-Brightness Electron Beam Generation and Advanced Diagnosis

Anderson, S. G.; Brown, W. J.; Tremaine, A. M.; Kuba, J.; Feb. 03, 2005; 26 pp.; In English Report No.(s): DE2005-15014623; UCRL-TR-209420; No Copyright; Avail.: National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

This document serves as the final report for LDRD project number 04-LW-031, in which we created subpicosecond length, kilo-amp peak current electron beams with the 100 MeV electron/positron linac, using a novel technique designed to produce ultra-short bunch lengths while maintaining the high brightness produced by the S-band photoinjector. In addition, a diagnostic to measure the temporal distribution of the beam was investigated, as conventional pulse length measurement techniques do not apply to extremely short pulses. The creation and diagnosis of beams with both femtosecond length and high transverse brightness is of major concern to next generation acceleration and radiation production experiments. This work leveraged the previous investment in the PLEIADES facility and its' ability to produce high brightness electron beams. In addition, the ultra-short electron pulses generated by this work have been used in conjunction with the PLEIADES X-ray source to produce sub-picosecond, high-brightness X-ray pulses. NTIS

Brightness; Diagnosis; Electron Beams

20050244514 Medical Coll. of Georgia, Augusta, GA USA

Protein BioChip Mass Spectrometry: A Novel Protein Profiling Approach for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Prostate Cancer

Adam, Bao-Ling; Jan. 1, 2005; 16 pp.; In English; Original contains color illustrations Contract(s)/Grant(s): DAMD17-02-1-0054 Report No.(s): AD-A439852; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy

The present study was designed for the early detection of prostate cancer and monitoring the outcome of prostatectomy treatment. All the prostate cancer patients had undergone radical prostatectomy with no positive nodes, no extra capsular extension, no positive seminal vesicle involvement at time of surgery, and no positive CT scans post surgery. This allowed us to build a pattern matching algorithm to detect early stage cancer. Currently, we are developing an in-house algorithm to preprocess the raw spectra data which includes three steps: (1). Background subtraction and noise reduction (2) Local alignment of spectra, (3) Peak detection. Developing a classification algorithm is in progress. This will be completed in Fall 2005. The completion of the data analysis will be expected in the end of 2005. DTIC

Cancer; Diagnosis; Mass Spectroscopy; Prognosis; Prostate Gland; Proteins

20050245273 Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA USA

Nuclear Design Considerations for Z-IFE Chambers

Meier, W. R.; Schmitt, R. C.; Abbott, R. P.; Latkoski, J. F.; Reyes, S.; Feb. 03, 2005; 22 pp.; In English Report No.(s): DE2005-15016354; UCRL-CONF-209414; No Copyright; Avail.: Department of Energy Information Bridge

Z-pinch driven IFE (Z-IFE) requires the design of a repetitive target insertion system that allows coupling of the pulsed power to the target with adequate standoff, and a chamber that can withstand blast and radiation effects from large yield targets. The present strategy for Z-IFE is to use high yield targets ((approx)2-3 GJ/shot), low repetition rate per chamber ((approx)0.1 Hz), and 10 chambers per power plant. In this study, we propose an alternative power plant configuration that uses very high yield targets (20 GJ/shot) in a single chamber operating at 0.1 Hz. A thick-liquid-wall chamber is proposed to absorb the target emission (x-rays, debris and neutrons) and mitigate the blast effects on the chamber wall. The target is attached to the end of a conical shaped Recyclable Transmission Line (RTL) made from a solid coolant (e.g., frozen flibe), or a material that is easily separable from the coolant (e.g., steel). The RTL/target assembly is inserted through a single opening at the top of the chamber for each shot. This study looks at the RTL material choice from a safety and environmental point of view. Materials were assessed according to waste disposal rating (WDR) and contact dose rate (CDR). Neutronics calculations, using the TART2002 Monte Carlo code from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), were performed for the RTL and Z-IFE chamber, and key results reported here. NTIS

Design Analysis; Power Plants; Pinch Effect; Zeta Pinch; Radiation Effects

Source: NASA.