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At least 595 records · Page 33
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Characterization of Calibrated Gelatin Sponge Particles in a Rabbit Renal Embolization Model

Purpose: To evaluate the level of artery occlusion, degradation periods, tissue response and vessel recanalization of calibrated gelatin sponge particles after segmental renal artery embolization. Materials and Methods: Superselective embolization of 14 adult rabbits was performed with calibrated gelatin sponge particles (150–350 μm). Two rabbits were killed immediately after the procedure (day 0). One pair of rabbits was killed on each of the following days: 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 56. One rabbit from each pair underwent CT angiography before embolization and killing. The pathologic changes of the embolized renal parenchyma and embolic characteristics of calibrated gelatin sponge particles were evaluated histologically and angiographically. Results: Calibrated gelatin sponge particles were distally located in interlobular artery with a dense packing on day 0. The level of occlusion paralleled the size of the particles. Partial degradation of the particles was observed on day 3, and complete degradation was observed on day 14. Vessel recanalization was observed through both CTA and histological analysis starting on day 3. Vascular inflammation responding to gelatin sponge particles was mild and subsided with the degradation of the particles. On day 28 and day 56, attenuation of embolized vessels occurred due to marked intimal proliferation, and vascular occlusion developed. Conclusions: Gelatin sponge particles of 150–350 μm produced dense and distal embolization, and were resorbed before day 14 with a mild tissue reaction. Vessel recanalization occurred secondary to the resorption of gelatin sponge particles, but permanent vascular occlusion developed due to marked intimal hyperplasia after day 28.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-D-207-06: Clinical Validations of Shading Correction for Cone-Beam CT Using Planning CT as a Prior

Purpose: Current cone-beam CT (CBCT) images contain severe shading artifacts mainly due to scatter, hindering their quantitative use in current radiation therapy. We have previously proposed an effective shading correction method for CBCT using planning CT (pCT) as prior knowledge. In this work, we investigate the method robustness via statistical analyses on studies of a large patient group and compare the performance with that of a state-of-the-art method implemented on the current commercial radiation therapy machine -- the Varian Truebeam system. Methods: Since radiotherapy patients routinely undergo multiple-detector CT (MDCT) scans in the planning procedure, we use the high-quality pCT as “free” prior knowledge for CBCT image improvement. The CBCT image with no correction is first spatially registered with the pCT. Primary CBCT projections are estimated via forward projections of the registered image. The low frequency errors in the projections, which stem from mainly scatter, are estimated by filtering the difference between original line integral and the estimated scatter projections. The corrected CBCT image is then reconstructed from the scatter corrected projections. The proposed method is evaluated on 40 cancer patients. Results: On all patient images, we compare errors on CT number, spatial non-uniformity (SNU) and image contrast, using pCT as the ground truth. T-tests show that our algorithm improves over the Varian method on CBCT accuracies of CT number and SNU with 90% confident. The average CT number error is reduced from 54.8 HU on the Varian method to 40.9 HU, and the SNU error is reduced from 7.7% to 3.8%. There is no obvious improvement on image contrast. Conclusion: Large-group patient studies show that the proposed pCT-based algorithm outperforms the Varian method of the Truebeam system on CBCT shading correction, by providing CBCT images with higher CT number accuracy and greater image uniformity.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of dispersive long-range corrections to the pressure tensor: The vapour-liquid interfacial properties of the Lennard-Jones system revisited

We propose an extension of the improved version of the inhomogeneous long-range corrections of Janeček [J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 6264–6269 (2006)], presented recently by MacDowell and Blas [J. Chem. Phys. 131, 074705 (2009)] to account for the intermolecular potential energy of spherical, rigid, and flexible molecular systems, to deal with the contributions to the microscopic components of the pressure tensor due to the dispersive long-range corrections. We have performed Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical ensemble to obtain the interfacial properties of spherical Lennard-Jones molecules with different cutoff distances, r{sub c} = 2.5, 3, 4, and 5σ. In addition, we have also considered cutoff distances r{sub c} = 2.5 and 3σ in combination with the inhomogeneous long-range corrections proposed in this work. The normal and tangential microscopic components of the pressure tensor are obtained using the mechanical or virial route in combination with the recipe of Irving and Kirkwood, while the macroscopic components are calculated using the Volume Perturbation thermodynamic route proposed by de Miguel and Jackson [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 164109 (2006)]. The vapour-liquid interfacial tension is evaluated using three different procedures, the Irving-Kirkwood method, the difference between the macroscopic components of the pressure tensor, and the Test-Area methodology. In addition to the pressure tensor and the surface tension, we also obtain density profiles, coexistence densities, vapour pressure, critical temperature and density, and interfacial thickness as functions of temperature, paying particular attention to the effect of the cutoff distance and the long-range corrections on these properties. According to our results, the main effect of increasing the cutoff distance (at fixed temperature) is to sharpen the vapour-liquid interface, to decrease the vapour pressure, and to increase the width of the biphasic coexistence region. As a result, the interfacial thickness decreases, the width of the tangential microscopic component of the pressure tensor profile increases, and the surface tension increases as the cutoff distance is larger. We have also checked the effect of the impulsive contribution to the pressure due to the discontinuity of the intermolecular interaction potential when it is cut. If this contribution is not accounted for in the calculation of the microscopic components of the pressure tensor, incorrect values of both components as well as a wrong structure along the vapour-liquid interface are obtained.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Excitonic couplings between molecular crystal pairs by a multistate approximation

In this paper, we present a diabatization scheme to compute the excitonic couplings between an arbitrary number of states in molecular pairs. The method is based on an algebraic procedure to find the diabatic states with a desired property as close as possible to that of some reference states. In common with other diabatization schemes, this method captures the physics of the important short-range contributions (exchange, overlap, and charge-transfer mediated terms) but it becomes particularly suitable in presence of more than two states of interest. The method is formulated to be usable with any level of electronic structure calculations and to diabatize different types of states by selecting different molecular properties. These features make the diabatization scheme presented here especially appropriate in the context of organic crystals, where several excitons localized on the same molecular pair may be found close in energy. In this paper, the method is validated on the tetracene crystal dimer, a well characterized case where the charge transfer (CT) states are closer in energy to the Frenkel excitons (FE). The test system was studied as a function of an external electric field (to explore the effect of changing the relative energy of the CT excited state) and as a function of different intermolecular distances (to probe the strength of the coupling between FE and CT states). Additionally, we illustrate how the approximation can be used to include the environment polarization effect.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Optical constants of Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} for arbitrary Cu and Ga compositions

The optical constants of Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS)-based polycrystalline layers with different Cu and Ga compositions are parameterized completely up to a photon energy of 6.5 eV assuming several Tauc-Lorentz transition peaks. Based on the modeled optical constants, we establish the calculation procedure for the CIGS optical constants in a two-dimensional compositional space of (Cu, Ga) by taking the composition-induced shift of the critical point energies into account. In particular, we find that the variation of the CIGS optical constants with the Cu composition can be modeled quite simply by a spectral-averaging method in which the dielectric function of the target Cu composition is estimated as a weighted average of the dielectric functions with higher and lower Cu compositions. To express the effect of the Ga composition, on the other hand, an energy shift model reported earlier is adopted. Our model is appropriate for a wide variety of CIGS-based materials having different Cu and Ga compositions, although the modeling error increases slightly at lower Cu compositions [Cu/(In + Ga) < 0.69]. From our model, the dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and absorption coefficient for the arbitrary CIGS composition can readily be obtained. The optical database developed in this study is applied further for spectroscopic ellipsometry analyses of CIGS layers fabricated by single and multi-stage coevaporation processes. We demonstrate that the compositional and structural characterizations of the CIGS-based layers can be performed from established analysis methods.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

TU-G-204-04: A Unified Strategy for Bi-Factorial Optimization of Radiation Dose and Contrast Dose in CT Imaging

Purpose: To substantiate the interdependency of contrast dose, radiation dose, and image quality in CT towards the patient- specific optimization of the imaging protocols Methods: The study deployed two phantom platforms. A variable sized (12, 18, 23, 30, 37 cm) phantom (Mercury-3.0) containing an iodinated insert (8.5 mgI/ml) was imaged on a representative CT scanner at multiple CTDI values (0.7–22.6 mGy). The contrast and noise were measured from the reconstructed images for each phantom diameter. Linearly related to iodine-concentration, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), were calculated for 16 iodine-concentration levels (0–8.5 mgI/ml). The analysis was extended to a recently developed suit of 58 virtual human models (5D XCAT) with added contrast dynamics. Emulating a contrast-enhanced abdominal image procedure and targeting a peak-enhancement in aorta, each XCAT phantom was “imaged” using a simulation platform (CatSim, GE). 3D surfaces for each patient/size established the relationship between iodine-concentration, dose, and CNR. The ratios of change in iodine-concentration versus dose (IDR) to yield a constant change in CNR were calculated for each patient size. Results: Mercury phantom results show the image-quality size- dependence on CTDI and IC levels. For desired image-quality values, the iso-contour-lines reflect the trade off between contrast-material and radiation doses. For a fixed iodine-concentration (4 mgI/mL), the IDR values for low (1.4 mGy) and high (11.5 mGy) dose levels were 1.02, 1.07, 1.19, 1.65, 1.54, and 3.14, 3.12, 3.52, 3.76, 4.06, respectively across five sizes. The simulation data from XCAT models confirmed the empirical results from Mercury phantom. Conclusion: The iodine-concentration, image quality, and radiation dose are interdependent. The understanding of the relationships between iodine-concentration, image quality, and radiation dose will allow for a more comprehensive optimization of CT imaging devices and techniques, providing the methodology to balance iodine-concentration and dose based on patient’s attributes.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Experimental Studies on Dynamic Vibration Absorber using Shape Memory Alloy (NiTi) Springs

Shape memory alloy (SMA) springs have been used as actuators in many applications although their use in the vibration control area is very recent. Since shape memory alloys differ from conventional alloy materials in many ways, the traditional design approach for springs is not completely suitable for designing SMA springs. Some vibration control concepts utilizing unique characteristics of SMA's will be presented in this paper.A dynamic vibration absorber (DVA) using shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator is developed for attenuation of vibration in a cantilever beam. The design procedure of the DVA is presented. The system consists of a cantilever beam which is considered to generate the real-time vibration using shaker. A SMA spring is used with a mass attached to its end. The stiffness of the SMA spring is dynamically varied in such a way to attenuate the vibration. Both simulation and experimentation are carried out using PID controller. The experiments were carried out by interfacing the experimental setup with a computer using LabVIEW software, Data acquisition and control are implemented using a PCI data acquisition card. Standard PID controllers have been used to control the vibration of the beam. Experimental results are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controllers designed and the usefulness of the proposed test platform by exciting the structure at resonance. In experimental setup, an accelerometer is used to measure the vibration which is fed to computer and correspondingly the SMA spring is actuated to change its stiffness to control the vibration. The results obtained illustrate that the developed DVA using SMA actuator is very effective in reducing structural response and have great potential to be an active vibration control medium.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-10: A Clinical Implementation and the Dosimetric Evidence in High Dose Rate Vaginal Multichannel Applicator Brachytherapy

Purpose: The multichannel cylindrical applicator has a distinctive modification of the traditional single channel cylindrical applicator. The novel multichannel applicator has additional peripheral channels that provide more flexibility both in treatment planning process and outcomes. To protect by reducing doses to adjacent organ at risk (OAR) while maintaining target coverage with inverse plan optimization are the goals for such novel Brachytherapy device. Through a series of comparison and analysis of reults in more than forty patients who received HDR Brachytherapy using multichannel vaginal applicator, this procedure has been implemented in our institution. Methods: Multichannel planning was CT image based. The CTV of 5mm vaginal cuff rind with prescribed length was well reconstructed as well as bladder and rectum. At least D95 of CTV coverage is 95% of prescribed dose. Multichannel inverse plan optimization algorithm not only shapes target dose cloud but set dose avoids to OAR’s exclusively. The doses of D2cc, D5cc and D5; volume of V2Gy in OAR’s were selected to compare with single channel results when sole central channel is only possibility. Results: Study demonstrates plan superiorly in OAR’s doe reduction in multi-channel plan. The D2cc of the rectum and bladder were showing a little lower for multichannel vs. single channel. The V2Gy of the rectum was 93.72% vs. 83.79% (p=0.007) for single channel vs. multichannel respectively. Absolute reduced mean dose of D5 by multichannel was 17 cGy (s.d.=6.4) and 44 cGy (s.d.=15.2) in bladder and rectum respectively. Conclusion: The optimization solution in multichannel was to maintain D95 CTV coverage while reducing the dose to OAR’s. Dosimetric advantage in sparing critical organs by using a multichannel applicator in HDR Brachytherapy treatment of the vaginal cuff is so promising and has been implemented clinically.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

MO-F-CAMPUS-T-02: Dosimetric Accuracy of the CrystalBallâ„¢: New Reusable Radiochromic Polymer Gel Dosimeter for Patient QA in Proton Therapy

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of monoexponential normalization in a new class of commercial, reusable, human-soft-tissue-equivalent, radiochromic polymer gel dosimeters for patient-specific QA in proton therapy. Methods: Eight formulations of the dosimeter (sealed in glass spheres of 166 mm OD), were exposed to a 150 MeV proton beam (5 cm x 5 cm square field, range 15 cm, modulation10 cm), with max dose ranging from 2.5 Gy to 20 Gy, depending on formulation. Exposed dosimeters were promptly placed in the commercial OCTOPUS™ laser CT scanner which was programmed to scan the central slice every 5 minutes for 20 hours (15 seconds per slice scan). This procedure was repeated several times. Reconstructed data were analyzed using the log-lin scale to determine the time range over which a monoexponential relaxation model could be applied. Next, a simple test plan was devised and delivered to each dosimeter. The OCTOPUS™ was programmed to rescan the central slice at the end of each volume scan, for signal relaxation reference. Monoexponential normalization was applied to sinograms before FBP reconstruction. Dose calibration was based on a volume-lookup table built within the central spherical volume of 12 cm diameter. 3D gamma and sigma passing rates were measured at 3%/3mm criteria down to 50% isodose. Results: Approximately monoexponential signal relaxation time ranges from 25 minutes to 3.5 hours, depending on formulation, followed by a slower-relaxation component. Noise in reconstructed OD/cm images is less than 0.5%. Dose calibration accuracy is better than 99%. Measured proton PDDs demonstrate absence of Bragg-peak quenching. Estimated number of useful cycles is at least 20, with a theoretical limit above 100. 3D gamma and sigma passing rates exceed 95%. Conclusion: Monoexponential normalization was found to yield adequate dosimetric accuracy in the new class of commercial radiochromic polymer gel dosimeters for patient QA in proton therapy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Quantifying uncertainty in LCA-modelling of waste management systems

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Uncertainty in LCA-modelling of waste management is significant. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Model, scenario and parameter uncertainties contribute. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Sequential procedure for quantifying uncertainty is proposed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Application of procedure is illustrated by a case-study. - Abstract: Uncertainty analysis in LCA studies has been subject to major progress over the last years. In the context of waste management, various methods have been implemented but a systematic method for uncertainty analysis of waste-LCA studies is lacking. The objective of this paper is (1) to present the sources of uncertainty specifically inherent to waste-LCA studies, (2) to select and apply several methods for uncertainty analysis and (3) to develop a general framework for quantitative uncertainty assessment of LCA of waste management systems. The suggested method is a sequence of four steps combining the selected methods: (Step 1) a sensitivity analysis evaluating the sensitivities of the results with respect to the input uncertainties, (Step 2) an uncertainty propagation providing appropriate tools for representing uncertainties and calculating the overall uncertainty of the model results, (Step 3) an uncertainty contribution analysis quantifying the contribution of each parameter uncertainty to the final uncertainty and (Step 4) as a new approach, a combined sensitivity analysis providing a visualisation of the shift in the ranking of different options due to variations of selected key parameters. This tiered approach optimises the resources available to LCA practitioners by only propagating the most influential uncertainties.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Hemorrhagic Complications of Percutaneous Cryoablation for Renal Tumors: Results from a 7-year Prospective Study

PurposeCryoablation of renal tumors is assumed to have a higher risk of hemorrhagic complications compared to other ablative modalities. Our purpose was to establish the exact risk and to identify hemorrhagic risk factors.Materials and MethodsThis IRB approved, 7-year prospective study included 261 renal cryoablations. Procedures were under conscious sedation and CT guidance. Pre- and postablation CT was obtained, and hemorrhagic complications were CTCAE tabulated. Age, gender, tumor size, histology, and probes number were tested based on averages or proportions using their exact permutation distribution. “High-risk” subgroups (those exceeding the thresholds of all variables) were tested for each variable alone, and for all combinations of variable threshold values. We compared the subgroup with the best PPV using one variable, with the subgroup with the best PPV using all variables (McNemmar test).ResultsThe hemorrhagic complication rate was 3.5 %. Four patients required transfusions, two required emergent angiograms, one required both a transfusion and angiogram, and two required bladder irrigation for outlet obstruction. Perirenal space hemorrhage was more clinically significant than elsewhere. Univariate risks were tumor size >2 cm, number of probes >2, and malignant histology (P = 0.005, 0.002, and 0.033, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that patients >55 years with malignant tumors >2 cm requiring 2 or more probes yielded the highest PPV (7.5 %).ConclusionsAlthough older patients (>55 years old) with larger (>2 cm), malignant tumors have an increased risk of hemorrhagic complications, the low PPV does not support the routine use of embolization. Percutaneous cryoablation has a 3.5 % risk of significant hemorrhage, similar to that reported for other types of renal ablative modalities.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2011

A general framework and review of scatter correction methods in cone beam CT. Part 2: Scatter estimation approaches

The main components of scatter correction procedures are scatter estimation and a scatter compensation algorithm. This paper completes a previous paper where a general framework for scatter compensation was presented under the prerequisite that a scatter estimation method is already available. In the current paper, the authors give a systematic review of the variety of scatter estimation approaches. Scatter estimation methods are based on measurements, mathematical-physical models, or combinations of both. For completeness they present an overview of measurement-based methods, but the main topic is the theoretically more demanding models, as analytical, Monte-Carlo, and hybrid models. Further classifications are 3D image-based and 2D projection-based approaches. The authors present a system-theoretic framework, which allows to proceed top-down from a general 3D formulation, by successive approximations, to efficient 2D approaches. A widely useful method is the beam-scatter-kernel superposition approach. Together with the review of standard methods, the authors discuss their limitations and how to take into account the issues of object dependency, spatial variance, deformation of scatter kernels, external and internal absorbers. Open questions for further investigations are indicated. Finally, the authors refer on some special issues and applications, such as bow-tie filter, offset detector, truncated data, and dual-source CT.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-J-275: Impact of the Intra and Inter Observer Variability in the Delineation of Parotid Glands On the Dose Calculation During Head and Neck Helical Tomotherapy

Purpose: The intra- and inter-observer variability in delineation of the parotids on the kilo-voltage computed tomography (kVCT) and mega-voltage computed tomography (MVCT) were examined to establish their impact on the dose calculation during adaptive head and neck helical tomotherapy (HT). Methods: Three observers delineated left and right parotids for ten randomly selected patients with oropharynx cancer treated on HT. The pre-treatment kVCT and the MVCT from the first fraction of irradiation were selected to delineation. The delineation procedure was repeated three times by each observer. The parotids were delineated according to the institutional protocol. The analyses included intra-observer reproducibility and inter-structure, -observer and -modality variability of the volume and dose. Results: The differences between the left and right parotid outlines were not statistically significant (p>0.3). The reproducibility of the delineation was confirmed for each observer on the kVCT (p>0.2) and on the MVCT (p>0.1). The inter-observer variability of the outlines was significant (p<0.001) as well as the inter-modality variability (p<0.006). The parotids delineated on the MVCT were 10% smaller than on the kVCT. The inter-observer variability of the parotids delineation did not affect the average dose (p=0.096 on the kVCT and p=0.176 on the MVCT). The dose calculated on the MVCT was higher by 3.3% than dose from the kVCT (p=0.009). Conclusion: Usage of the institutional protocols for the parotids delineation reduces intra-observer variability and increases reproducibility of the outlines. These protocols do not eliminate delineation differences between the observers, but these differences are not clinically significant and do not affect average doses in the parotids. The volumes of the parotids delineated on the MVCT are smaller than on the kVCT, which affects the differences in the calculated doses.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Enhancing power plant safety through simulated cyber events - 341

There are gaps in understanding how a cyber-attack would manifest itself within power plants and what these events would look like within the control room from an operator's perspective. This is especially true for nuclear power plants where safety has much broader consequences than nonnuclear plants. The operating and emergency procedures that operators currently use are likely inadequate for targeted cyber-attacks. This research focuses on understanding how a cyber event would affect the operation of the plant, how an operator would perceive the event, and if the operator's actions would keep the plant in a safe condition. This research is part of Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program where a nuclear power plant cyber model of the control system digital architecture is coupled with a generic pressurized water reactor plant training simulator. Cyber event scenarios will be performed on the coupled system with plant operators. The scenarios simulate plant conditions that may exist during a cyber-attack, component failure, or insider sabotage, and provide an understanding of the displayed information and the actual plant conditions. These scenarios will determine if plant operators can 1) recognize that they are under cyber-attack and 2) take appropriate actions to keep the plant safe. This will also provide the opportunity to assess the operator cognitive workload during such events and identify where improvements might be made. Experiments with nuclear power plant operators will be carried out over FY 2018 and results of the research are expected by the end of FY 2018. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Statistical and sensitivity analysis of failing rods in EPR LBLOCA

A statistical fuel failure analysis procedure has been developed, and is now applied in full scale to a large break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA) scenario in EPR-type nuclear power plant. The goal is to statistically determine the number of failing fuel rods. It is also important to bring out the underlying causes for rod failures, and therefore a sensitivity analysis procedure for the preceding complex calculation chain is outlined and adopted. In order to produce a statistically reliable estimation on the number of failing rods, a large number of simulations are required. In the analysis, single rods are simulated with the coupled fuel performance - thermal hydraulics code FRAPTRAN-GENFLO. The statistically varied factors are divided into global and local by their range of influence. Transient thermal hydraulic and power history boundary conditions and model parameters are global and affect all the rods. Fuel rod manufacturing parameters and other rod position related factors are local and are related to a certain rod. The number of global scenarios is 59 as dictated by the Wilks' formula, and 1000 randomly sampled rods are simulated in each scenario. The thermal hydraulic and transient power boundary conditions for the fuel performance code are calculated with a statistical version of the system code APROS. The steady-state irradiation histories are simulated with FRAPCON, and the steady-state power histories used as boundary conditions for FRAPCON are obtained from SIMULATE calculations. Thus, a multistage calculation chain is required to consolidate the procedure. As an outcome, in the worst global scenario, 1.4% of the simulated rods failed. It can be concluded that the Finnish safety regulations, i.e. max. 10% of the rods allowed to fail, are met. In order to find out which input parameters have significance to the outcome of the analysis, a sensitivity analysis is done. At the moment, only the worst global scenario is considered but later on it is possible to include also the sensitivities of the global factors. Due to complexity of the existing data, first the relevant input parameters for the sensitivity analysis have to be specified. Data visualization with a cobweb graph is used for the screening. Then, selected sensitivity measures are calculated between the chosen input and output parameters. The sensitivity indices calculated are the Borgonovo's delta measure, the first order Sobol sensitivity index, and squared Pearson correlation coefficients. The first mentioned is a novelty in this context. As an outcome, the most relevant parameters with respect to the cladding integrity were determined to be the decay heat power during the transient, the thermal hydraulic conditions in the rod's location in the reactor, and the steady-state irradiation history of the rod as represented in this analysis by the rod burnup. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Poster — Thur Eve — 12: Implementation of a Clinical Lung Tumour High Dose Containment Verification Procedure using Respiratory Cone-Beam CT (4DCBCT) on a Varian TrueBeam Linac

Lung tumours move due to respiratory motion. This is managed during planning by acquiring a 4DCT and capturing the excursion of the GTV (gross tumour volume) throughout the breathing cycle within an IGTV (Internal Gross Tumour Volume) contour. Patients undergo a verification cone-beam CT (CBCT) scan immediately prior to treatment. 3D reconstructed images do not consider tumour motion, resulting in image artefacts, such as blurring. This may lead to difficulty in identifying the tumour on reconstructed images. It would be valuable to create a 4DCBCT reconstruction of the tumour motion to confirm that does indeed remain within the planned IGTV. CBCT projections of a Quasar Respiratory Motion Phantom are acquired in Treatment mode (half-fan scan) on a Varian TrueBeam accelerator. This phantom contains a mobile, low-density lung insert with an embedded 3cm diameter tumour object. It is programmed to create a 15s periodic, 2cm (sup/inf) displacement. A Varian Real-time Position Management (RPM) tracking-box is placed on the phantom breathing platform. Breathing phase information is automatically integrated into the projection image files. Using in-house Matlab programs and RTK (Reconstruction Tool Kit) open-source toolboxes, the projections are re-binned into 10 phases and a 4DCBCT scan reconstructed. The planning IGTV is registered to the 4DCBCT and the tumour excursion is verified to remain within the planned contour. This technique successfully reconstructs 4DCBCT images using clinical modes for a breathing phantom. UBC-BCCA ethics approval has been obtained to perform 4DCBCT reconstructions on lung patients (REB#H12-00192). Clinical images will be accrued starting April 2014.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Assessing pellet-clad interaction with VERA: WBN1, cycles 6-7

The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) aims to provide high fidelity simulations of nuclear reactors through the development of the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA). One of the primary goals of CASL is to estimate local cladding failure through pellet-clad interaction (PCI). While this capability is being pursued through several different approaches, the procedure presented here focuses on running independent fuel performance calculations with the BISON fuel performance code being developed by Idaho National Laboratory using the multicycle output data from coupled neutron transport/thermal-hydraulics simulations generated by MPACT, CTF, and MAMBA. This type of approach is consistent with traditional fuel performance analysis methods, where the fuel performance analyses are typically separate from core simulation analyses. Recent work simulating 12 cycles of Watts Bar Unit 1 (WBN1) with VERA are capitalized upon, and stand-alone quarter-core BISON results can be obtained for several cycles, assessing parameters of interest to PCI (e.g., maximum centerline fuel temperature, maximum clad hoop stress, minimum gap thickness, and cumulative damage index). This is accomplished by using the coupled neutronics/thermal-hydraulics output power and temperature distributions as inputs for each BISON fuel rod case. Building on previous work which demonstrated this capability for Cycles 1 through 3, this paper presents the results for Cycles 6 and 7. Cycle 7 is of particular interest because significant CRUD-induced power shift was observed. While the current results do not immediately indicate that any rods are at an extreme risk of failure, further analysis on rods highlighted by this work may shed additional light on the likelihood of failure. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Determination of critical experiment correlations for experiments involving highly enriched uranium solutions

Quantifying the correlations among critical experiments has become a topic of interest over the last 10-15 years. The correlations arise from the shared use of fissile material, non-fissile materials, fixtures, and procedures in multiple experiments or multiple experiment series. A Monte Carlo sampling technique proposed as a viable technical method to evaluate these correlations has been implemented within the SCALE 6.2 Sampler sequence. This paper presents the investigation of the use of this new tool and technique for highly enriched uranium solution experiments. One of the first attempts to quantify the correlations among critical experiments examined a series of highly enriched solution experiments, including the HST-001 series. These correlations are included in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project Handbook, and they form a basis for methodology comparisons. Results generated using the Sampler implementation are compared with these previously published results. Additional studies involving the HST-001 experiment series are also presented. A range of different assumptions of the independence of the geometry components, enrichments, and other material compositions are implemented to investigate the impact of these assumptions on the correlation coefficients. These effects are investigated with these experiments because the calculation time is shorter for the solution experiments than for the low-enriched lattice experiments discussed in a companion paper. The magnitude of the effects of different independence assumptions on the correlation coefficients is important to establish which parameters must be clearly identified as shared or unique for accurate correlation determinations. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗