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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 865 records · Page 48

Application of fuzzy logic-neural network based reinforcement learning to proximity and docking operations: Translational controller results

The reinforcement learning techniques developed at Ames Research Center are being applied to proximity and docking operations using the Shuttle and Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite simulation. In utilizing these fuzzy learning techniques, we also use the Approximate Reasoning based Intelligent Control (ARIC) architecture, and so we use two terms interchangeable to imply the same. This activity is carried out in the Software Technology Laboratory utilizing the Orbital Operations Simulator (OOS). This report is the deliverable D3 in our project activity and provides the test results of the fuzzy learning translational controller. This report is organized in six sections. Based on our experience and analysis with the attitude controller, we have modified the basic configuration of the reinforcement learning algorithm in ARIC as described in section 2. The shuttle translational controller and its implementation in fuzzy learning architecture is described in section 3. Two test cases that we have performed are described in section 4. Our results and conclusions are discussed in section 5, and section 6 provides future plans and summary for the project.

Jani, Yashvant↗

Fully Distributed Multi-Material Magnetic Sensing Structures for Multiparameter DAS Applications

This dissertation demonstrates the first of its kind distributed magnetic field sensor based on a fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) scheme. Ferromagnetic nickel and Metglas® were dispersed internally within a fiber optic preform and then drawn on an in-house fiber optic draw tower to lengths in the kilometers. Due to the close proximity of the ferromagnetic metals and fiber optic core, the magnetostrictive strain response of the ferromagnetic materials when exposed to a magnetic field would perturbate within the fiber cladding and transfer that strain, internally, to the fiber optic core. Strain resulting from the magnetostrictive effect allows the DAS based sensor to accurately translate strain into readable magnetic field data. Due to the high sensitivity seen in this sensor design, multiparameter sources, acoustic and magnetic fields, were tested and validated and a three dimensional magnetic-field vector sensor was proposed. Numerical analysis of the novel sensor design was first implemented using COMSOL Multiphysics, where inputs such as magnetostrictive element shape, size, distance, and number were first investigated. Upon optimizing system constraints, the sensor design was further modified such that single mode operation was consistent across multiple fiber draws while retaining high strain transfer from the ferromagnetic elements to the fiber optic core. Ferromagnetic material selection was evaluated as a function of the saturation magnetostriction constants and a total of 4 modules were used to fully characterize the complex physics involved in this sensor design. All fabrication and testing were performed in-house using a full scale 3-story fiber draw tower and custom environmental testing stations to imitate naturally occurring events such as magnetic or acoustic point sources. A unique stacking method was used to embed ferromagnetic nickel and Metglas® into a fiber optic preform which when combined with a custom fiber draw process resulted in consistent multi-material fibers drawn to lengths of 1-km. In-house testing facilities included different types of electromagnetic generators, in addition to a soil test bed, and an outdoor test bed which allowed 100 meters of fiber to be tested simultaneously. All tested sensors demonstrated high strain transfer capabilities on the order of 0.01-10 μϵ depending on the materials used, ferromagnetic rod number, and core to metal spacing. Due to the sensitivity of the system the difference between AC and DC was distinct, and directional magnetostriction was studied. Transverse and longitudinal magnetic wave propagation was controlled through a solenoid and rectangular Helmholtz coil, both built in-house. A three-dimensional magnetic field vector sensor was proposed due to the success of the magnetic field sensor, and a design was proposed and initially tested to validate direction as a function of field strength and distance. To summarize, this dissertation explores the first fully distributed magnetic field sensor using DAS based techniques and one of the first multi-material fiber draw processes which can produce consistent single mode fiber up to 1-km. Due to extensive FEA modeling, multiple iterations of the magnetic sensor were fully characterized and an equation describing the relationship between sensor design and strain transfer has been created and validated experimentally. Multi-parameter tests including acoustic and magnetic fields were implemented and an algorithm was developed to separate the mixed signals. Finally, a test was performed to demonstrate the feasibility of sensing magnetic fields directionally. Cumulative results demonstrate a high-quality sensor alternative to current designs which may surpass other magnetic sensors due to innate multi-parameter capabilities, in addition to the inexpensive production cost and extremely long operating lengths.

02 PETROLEUM↗

Aerodynamic tests and analysis of a turbojet-boosted launch vehicle concept (spacejet) over a Mach number range of 1.50 to 2.86

Results from analytical and experimental studies of the aerodynamic characteristics of a turbojet-boosted launch vehicle concept through a Mach number range of 1.50 to 2.86 are presented. The vehicle consists of a winged orbiter utilizing an area-ruled axisymmetric body and two winged turbojet boosters mounted underneath the orbiter wing. Drag characteristics near zero lift were of prime interest. Force measurements and flow visualization techniques were employed. Estimates from wave drag theory, supersonic lifting surface theory, and impact theory are compared with data and indicate the ability of these theories to adequately predict the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle. Despite the existence of multiple wings and bodies in close proximity to each other, no large scale effects of boundary layer separation on drag or lift could be discerned. Total drag levels were, however, sensitive to booster locations.

Riebe, G. D.↗

Aberrant increase of NMR signal in hydrogen exchange experiments. Observation and explanation

Hydrogen exchange (HX) NMR spectroscopy is widely used for monitoring structure, stability and dynamics of proteins at the level of individual residues. The stochastic replacement of protons by deuterons typically leads to an exponential decrease of the NMR signals. However, an unusual signal increase was observed in HX of several amides for T4 lysozyme L99A. This effect can be attributed to peak sharpening as a result of reduced dipolar relaxation from proximal amide protons that experience more rapid hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange. The behavior was specifically observed at the termini of secondary structure elements, where large differences in protection against H/D exchange are observed. This effect is expected to be more widespread in NMR HX studies, and is important for the accurate determination of protection factors. - Highlights: • Unusual NMR signal increase in hydrogen/deuterium exchange experiments. • The suppression of the effect of dipole-dipole interactions leads to peak sharpening and NMR signal increase. • Taking the effects of dipole-dipole interactions into account improves analysis of hydrogen exchange in general.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Mechanism and Kinetics of Propane Dehydrogenation and Cracking over Ga/H-MFI Prepared via Vapor-Phase Exchange of H-MFI with GaCl 3

In this study, the mechanism and kinetics of C 3 H 8 dehydrogenation and cracking are examined over Ga/H-MFI catalysts prepared via vapor-phase exchange of H-MFI with GaCl 3 . The present study demonstrates that [GaH] 2+ cations are the active centers for C 3 H 8 dehydrogenation and cracking, independent of the Ga/Al ratio. For identical reaction conditions, [GaH] 2+ cations in Ga/H-MFI exhibit a turnover frequency for C 3 H 8 dehydrogenation that is 2 orders of magnitude higher and for C 3 H 8 cracking, that is 1 order of magnitude higher than the corresponding turnover frequencies over H-MFI. C 3 H 8 dehydrogenation and cracking exhibit first-order kinetics with respect to C 3 H 8 over H-MFI, but both reactions exhibit first-order kinetics over Ga/H-MFI only at very low C 3 H 8 partial pressures and zero-order kinetics at higher C 3 H 8 partial pressures. H 2 inhibits both reactions over Ga/H-MFI. It is also found that the ratio of the rate of dehydrogenation to the rate of cracking over Ga/H-MFI is independent of C 3 H 8 and H 2 partial pressures but weakly dependent on temperature. Measured activation enthalpies together with theoretical analysis are consistent with a mechanism in which both the dehydrogenation and cracking of C 3 H 8 proceed over Ga/H-MFI via reversible, heterolytic dissociation of C 3 H 8 at [GaH] 2+ sites to form [C 3 H 7 -GaH] + -H + cation pairs. The rate-determining step for dehydrogenation is the β-hydride elimination of C 3 H 6 and H 2 from the C 3 H 7 fragment. The rate-determining step for cracking is C-C bond attack of the same propyl fragment by the proximal Brønsted acid O-H group. H 2 inhibits both dehydrogenation and cracking over Ga/H-MFI via reaction with [GaH] 2+ cations to form [GaH 2 ] + -H + cation pairs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Near-field radiative thermal transfer between a nanostructured periodic material and a planar substrate

This paper provides a method based on rigorous coupled wave analysis for the calculation of the radiative thermal conductance between a layer that is patterned with arbitrary, periodically repeating features and a planar substrate. This method is applied to study the transfer from an array of beams with a rectangular cross section. Herein the impact of the structure size and spacing on the thermal conductance are investigated. These calculations are compared to an effective medium theory, which becomes increasingly accurate as the structure sizes fall well below the relevant resonance wavelengths of materials and structures. Moreover, comparisons are made with a modified proximity approximation and the far-field approximation, which become valid for small and large spacings, respectively. Results show that new levels of control over the magnitude and spectral contributions to thermal conductance can be achieved with corrugated structures relative to planar ones. Specifically, we show for SiC arrays with rectangular cross sections and with the same filling fraction, that the use of a smaller periodicity leads to a lowered far-field thermal transfer and an increased near-field thermal transfer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Causes and Predictability of the 2012 Great Plains Drought

Central Great Plains precipitation deficits during May-August 2012 were the most severe since at least 1895, eclipsing the Dust Bowl summers of 1934 and 1936. Drought developed suddenly in May, following near-normal precipitation during winter and early spring. Its proximate causes were reduction in atmospheric moisture transport into the Great Plains from the Gulf of Mexico. Processes that would provide air mass lift and condensation were mostly absent, including a lack of frontal cyclones in late spring followed by suppressed deep convection in mid-late summer owing to large-scale subsidence and atmospheric stabilization. In this sense, the drought resulted mostly from natural variations in weather. Seasonal forecasts did not predict the summer 2012 central Great Plains drought development, which therefore arrived without early warning. Climate simulations and empirical analysis suggest that neither ocean surface temperatures nor changes in greenhouse gases induced a substantial reduction in summertime rainfall over the central Great Plains during 2012. Diagnosis of historical data, climate simulation data, and seasonal forecasts paint a picture of an extreme drought that may not have had extreme forcing as its cause and that had limited long lead predictability. Yet, diagnosis of the retrospective climate simulations also reveals a regime shift toward warmer and drier summertime Great Plains conditions during the recent decade, most probably due to natural decadal variability. As a consequence, the probability for a severe summer Great Plains drought may have increased 5-fold in the last decade compared to the 1980s and 1990s, and the models show that the so-called tail-risk for severe drought was heightened in summer 2012.

predictability, 2012, great, plains, drought↗

Multi-sightline observation of narrow absorption lines in lensed quasar SDSS J1029+2623

We exploit the widely separated images of the lensed quasar SDSS J1029+2623 (z{sub em} = 2.197, θ = 22.″5) to observe its outflowing wind through two different sightlines. We present an analysis of three observations, including two with the Subaru telescope in 2010 February and 2014 April, separated by four years, and one with the Very Large Telescope, separated from the second Subaru observation by ∼2 months. We detect 66 narrow absorption lines (NALs), of which 24 are classified as intrinsic NALs that are physically associated with the quasar based on partial coverage analysis. The velocities of intrinsic NALs appear to cluster around values of v{sub ej} ∼ 59,000, 43,000, and 29,000 km s{sup −1}, which is reminiscent of filamentary structures obtained by numerical simulations. There are no common intrinsic NALs at the same redshift along the two sightlines, implying that the transverse size of the NAL absorbers should be smaller than the sightline distance between two lensed images. In addition to the NALs with large ejection velocities of v{sub ej} > 1000 km s{sup −1}, we also detect broader proximity absorption lines (PALs) at z{sub abs} ∼ z{sub em}. The PALs are likely to arise in outflowing gas at a distance of r ≤ 620 pc from the central black hole with an electron density of n {sub e} ≥8.7 × 10{sup 3} cm{sup −3}. These limits are based on the assumption that the variability of the lines is due to recombination. We discuss the implications of these results on the three-dimensional structure of the outflow.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

First-Order Runtime Verification using BDDs

Runtime Verification (RV) expedites the analyses of execution traces for detecting system errors and for statistical and quality analysis. Having started modestly, with checking temporal properties that are based on propositional (yes/no) values, the current practice of RV often involves properties that are parametrized by the data observed in the input trace. The specifications are based on various formalisms, such as automata, temporal logics, rule systems, and stream processing. Checking execution traces that are data intensive against a specification that imposes strong dependencies between the data, poses a nontrivial challenges; in particular if runtime verification has to be performed online, while many events that carry data appear within small time proximities. Towards achieving this goal, it was recently suggested to represent relations over the observed data values, based on BDDs, where data elements are enumerated and then converted into bit vectors. This representation provided a very simple and natural extension of an RV algorithm from propositional to first-order LTL, but more importantly, was shown to contribute to the memory compactness and to the speed, as was demonstrated using a corresponding implementation. We extend here the capabilities of BDD-based RV with the ability to express timing constraints, where the monitored events include (integer) clock values. We show how to efficiently operate on BDDs that represent both relations on (enumerations of) values and time dependencies, as required by the addition of the time constraints. We demonstrate our algorithm with an efficient implementation and provide experimental results.

Peled, Doron↗

A geospatial model for the analysis of time-dependent land subsidence induced by reservoir depletion

Land subsidence due to fluid depletion is an outcome of physical processes operating across a wide range of time and length scales. Although geomechanical models are crucial to simulate reservoir compaction and predict its long-term fate, their use across large regions often bears prohibitive computational costs. To overcome this obstacle, this paper proposes a simplified modelling framework consisting of (i) a near-field numerical solver simulating the coupling between fluid flow and rock deformation with reference to a simplified one-dimensional geometry and (ii) a far-field geospatial algorithm mapping ground settlements across a region through the superposition of poroelastic computations at multiple wells. The model computes the delay between depletion history and reservoir compaction in proximity of a producing well by assuming basal depletion of a fluid-saturated deformable disk, while the Geertsma solution of nucleus of strain is used to extrapolate the impact of such time-varying reservoir compaction around the well. This approach has been used to back-analyze the spatio-temporal progression of subsidence at the Groningen gas field. The results are compared against measurements collected over 50 year of production at 25 benchmark locations scattered over an area of 900 km 2 . It is shown that coupled simulations based on average values of rock compressibility and permeability lead to nonlinear trends of subsidence evolution in good agreement with field measurements, while uncoupled analyses overpredict settlements by more than 70%. Lastly, synthetic forecasts based on different rates of depletion were provided. The results suggest that slower depletion rates lead to lower subsidence at a given time, and that residual subsidence may continue to develop for several decades after interruption of production activities.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Techno-Economic Analysis of Repurposing Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Networks to Accommodate Hydrogen Blends

Blending hydrogen into natural gas infrastructure could supplement natural gas supply and increase resilience for applications such as ammonia production, peaking and load-following power plants, and heating. The United States has an extensive network of natural gas pipelines, but the feasibility of employing this infrastructure to transport hydrogen is unclear. We analyze the costs associated with repurposing three distinct natural gas transmission pipelines in different locations within the United States to carry blends of hydrogen up to 100% via three different pipeline network modification methods and compare against the cost of building a new dedicated hydrogen pipeline. We conduct a sensitivity analysis on the hoop stress limit of the existing pipe, techno-economic parameters, emissions, and relative capacity. The results show that the capital costs required to upgrade a pipeline can vary from tens of millions to billions of dollars depending on the length and capacity of the existing pipeline section, whether the existing pipeline already operates at or below its maximum allowable operating pressure, whether future demand is expected to increase or decrease, the network modification method selected, and pipe material costs. The delivered cost of energy to end users is impacted less by the levelized cost of transporting hydrogen blends than by the cost of the natural gas and hydrogen fuels being transported. The emissions impact of blending hydrogen into natural gas transmission networks scales proportionally with the amount of energy displaced with low-emission hydrogen (such as from natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration or electrolysis powered by nuclear, renewable, or geothermal electricity), therefore low blend ratios (e.g., < 20% vol. hydrogen) will result in low emissions impacts. Factors such as permitting and right-of-way costs, the proximity of the pipeline to hydrogen demand and production, and the compatibility of and/or retrofitting costs of end-use gas-fueled technologies will likely be greater drivers in determining whether converting a particular natural gas pipeline to carry hydrogen makes economic sense.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Environmental Risk Evaluation System – An Approach to Ranking Risk of Ocean Energy Development on Coastal and Estuarine Environments

Deployment and operation of ocean energy devices does not represent the first foray into industrialization of the oceans; shipping, nearshore development, waste disposal, subsea mining, oil and gas extraction, and large-scale commercial fishing all coexist in various states of equilibrium with the marine environment. In most cases these industries were developed without a clear understanding of the likely outcomes of large-scale development. In virtually every country where the harvest of ocean energy is emerging, regulators and stakeholders require that the industry examine potential effects of devices, minimize the footprint of effects, and provide management measures that either avoid the impacts or mitigate to further reduce the residual impacts. The ERES analysis is based on scenarios that are consistent with sequences of events that lead to adverse impacts, distinguishing between episodic, intermittent, and chronic risks. In the context of ocean energy development, an episodic scenario might involve the exceedingly rare but potentially devastating event of an oil spill from vessels caused by the presence of the device, while vulnerable receptors are present; understanding the risk of such a scenario involves determining the probability of the occurrence by examining factors such as the petroleum content of ocean energy devices, the vessel traffic volume and the proximity of shipping lanes to the ocean energy devices, the reliability of the control measures to avoid an episodic event, and the likely presence of seabirds, marine mammals, or fish that may be affected by oil. In contrast, chronic risk scenarios involve events or circumstances that are continuous, so that risk characterization involves assessing only the severity of the consequences. An example of a chronic risk scenario might be the toxicity to marine organisms due to low-level chemical releases from anti-biofouling paints and coatings that may be used on devices, and the effect that the level of toxicity may have on marine flora and fauna. Between these two extremes are intermittent events, such as encounters between fish and rotating tidal turbine blades that will occur only when fish are present and the tidal device is turning. A key feature of understanding risk is describing the uncertainty associated with the occurrence of an episodic, intermittent, or chronic event, as well as the uncertainty of the resulting consequences.

ocean energy↗

A Prospective Comparison of the Effects of Interfractional Variations on Proton Therapy and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Purpose: To quantify and compare the impact of interfractional setup and anatomic variations on proton therapy (PT) and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Twenty patients with low-risk or intermediate-risk prostate cancer randomized to receive passive-scattering PT (n=10) and IMRT (n=10) were selected. For both modalities, clinical treatment plans included 50.4 Gy(RBE) to prostate and proximal seminal vesicles, and prostate-only boost to 79.2 Gy(RBE) in 1.8 Gy(RBE) per fraction. Implanted fiducials were used for prostate localization and endorectal balloons were used for immobilization. Patients in PT and IMRT arms received weekly computed tomography (CT) and cone beam CT (CBCT) scans, respectively. The planned dose was recalculated on each weekly image, scaled, and mapped onto the planning CT using deformable registration. The resulting accumulated dose distribution over the entire treatment course was compared with the planned dose using dose-volume histogram (DVH) and γ analysis. Results: The target conformity index remained acceptable after accumulation. The largest decrease in the average prostate D{sub 98} was 2.2 and 0.7 Gy for PT and IMRT, respectively. On average, the mean dose to bladder increased by 3.26 ± 7.51 Gy and 1.97 ± 6.84 Gy for PT and IMRT, respectively. These values were 0.74 ± 2.37 and 0.56 ± 1.90 for rectum. Differences between changes in DVH indices were not statistically significant between modalities. All volume indices remained within the protocol tolerances after accumulation. The average pass rate for the γ analysis, assuming tolerances of 3 mm and 3%, for clinical target volume, bladder, rectum, and whole patient for PT/IMRT were 100/100, 92.6/99, 99.2/100, and 97.2/99.4, respectively. Conclusion: The differences in target coverage and organs at risk dose deviations for PT and IMRT were not statistically significant under the guidelines of this protocol.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Mariprofundus ferrooxydans PV-1 the First Genome of a Marine Fe(II) Oxidizing Zetaproteobacterium

Mariprofundus ferrooxydans PV-1 has provided the first genome of the recently discovered Zetaproteobacteria subdivision. Genome analysis reveals a complete TCA cycle, the ability to fix CO2, carbon-storage proteins and a sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). The latter could facilitate the transport of carbohydrates across the cell membrane and possibly aid in stalk formation, a matrix composed of exopolymers and/or exopolysaccharides, which is used to store oxidized iron minerals outside the cell. Two-component signal transduction system genes, including histidine kinases, GGDEF domain genes, and response regulators containing CheY-like receivers, are abundant and widely distributed across the genome. Most of these are located in close proximity to genes required for cell division, phosphate uptake and transport, exopolymer and heavy metal secretion, flagellar biosynthesis and pilus assembly suggesting that these functions are highly regulated. Similar to many other motile, microaerophilic bacteria, genes encoding aerotaxis as well as antioxidant functionality (e.g., superoxide dismutases and peroxidases) are predicted to sense and respond to oxygen gradients, as would be required to maintain cellular redox balance in the specialized habitat where M. ferrooxydans resides. Comparative genomics with other Fe(II) oxidizing bacteria residing in freshwater and marine environments revealed similar content, synteny, and amino acid similarity of coding sequences potentially involved in Fe(II) oxidation, signal transduction and response regulation, oxygen sensation and detoxification, and heavy metal resistance. This study has provided novel insights into the molecular nature of Zetaproteobacteria.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Exploration for fractured petroleum reservoirs using radar/Landsat merge combinations

Since fractures are commonly propagated upward and reflected at the earth's surface as subtle linears, detection of these surface features is extremely important in many phases of petroleum exploration and development. To document the usefulness of microwave analysis for petroleum exploration, the Arkansas part of the Arkoma basin is selected as a prime test site. The research plan involves comparing the aircraft microwave imagery and Landsat imagery in an area where significant subsurface borehole geophysical data are available. In the northern Arkoma basin, a positive correlation between the number of linears in a given area and production from cherty carbonate strata is found. In the southern part of the basin, little relationship is discernible between surface structure and gas production, and no correlation is found between gas productivity and linear proximity or linear density as determined from remote sensor data.

Macdonald, H.↗

Interpreting mixing relationships in energetic melts to estimate vapor contribution and composition

Heterogeneous, glassy debris can be produced by energetic events such as near surface nuclear explosions and asteroid impacts. In these events, the resultant debris comprises a rapidly-cooled mixture of the projectile or bomb material with proximate materials such as soil and anthropogenic structures. Glasses formed in these events preserve inter and/or intra sample compositional variation reflecting complex mixtures of the precursor materials or their chemically fractionated products. Understanding formation mechanisms and chemical processes relating to energetic glass formation based on study of the end products requires an objective method for calculating the precursor components that mixed together to produce the final product. Here, we compare a set of multivariate linear-least squares approaches to address the unmixing problem of heterogeneous glasses including classical least squares (CLS), principal component analysis (PCA) and two multivariate curve resolution – alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) approaches. We generate a synthetic data set representing spatially resolved, compositional data in a set of heterogeneously mixed glasses to understand model sensitivity to precursor abundance and composition. We explore the impact of incomplete knowledge of the system prior to the formation of the melts on the resulting confidence and accuracy of the solution (i.e., the number, composition, and abundances of the precursor materials). We conclude that a closure and equality constrained MCR-ALS approach succeeds in identifying unrecognized precursor components and is a suitable alternative to CLS approaches when the investigator has incomplete knowledge of the starting precursor chemical compositions. Finally, we demonstrate application of this MCR-ALS approach to measurements of Trinitite.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Trace metal transfer to passerines inhabiting wastewater treatment wetlands

Wastewater treatment wetlands are cost-effective strategies for remediating trace metals in industrial effluent. However, biogeochemical exchange between wastewater treatment wetlands and adjacent environments provides opportunities for trace metals to cycle in surrounding ecosystems. The transfer of trace metals to wildlife inhabiting treatment wetlands must be considered when evaluating wetland success. Using passerine birds as bioindicators, we conducted a multi-tissue analysis to investigate the mobilization of zinc, copper, and lead derived from wastewater to terrestrial wildlife in treatment wetlands and surrounding habitat. In addition, we evaluate the strength of relationships between metal concentrations in non-lethal (blood and feathers) and lethal (muscle and liver) sample types for estimation of toxicity risk. From July 2020 to August 2021, 177 passerines of seven species were captured at two wetlands constructed to treat industrial wastewater and two reference wetlands in the coastal plain of South Carolina. Feather, blood, liver, and muscle samples from each bird were analyzed for fourteen metals using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and direct mercury analysis. Passerines inhabiting wastewater treatment wetlands accumulated higher concentrations of zinc in liver, copper in blood, and lead in feathers than passerines in reference wetlands, but neither blood nor feather concentrations were correlated with internal tissue concentrations. Of all the detected metals, only mercury in the blood showed a strong predictive relationship with mercury in internal tissues. This study indicates that trace metals derived from wastewater are bioavailable and exported to terrestrial wildlife and that passerine biomonitoring is a valuable tool for assessing metal transfer from treatment wetlands. Furthermore, regular blood sampling can reveal proximate trace metal exposure but cannot predict internal body burdens for most metals.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

Effect of reactor coolant radioactivity upon configuration feasibility for a nuclear electric propulsion vehicle

A preliminary shielding analysis was carried out for a conceptual nuclear electric propulsion vehicle designed to transport payloads from low earth orbit to synchronous orbit. The vehicle employed a thermionic nuclear reactor operating at 1575 kilowatts and generated 120 kilowatts of electricity for a round-trip mission time of 2000 hours. Propulsion was via axially directed ion engines employing 3300 pounds of mercury as a propellant. The vehicle configuration permitted a reactor shadow shield geometry using LiH and the mercury propellant for shielding. However, much of the radioactive NaK reactor coolant was unshielded and in close proximity to the power conditioning electronics. An estimate of the radioactivity of the NaK coolant was made and its unshielded dose rate to the power conditioning equipment calculated. It was found that the activated NaK contributed about three-fourths of the gamma dose constraint. The NaK dose was considered a sufficiently high fraction of the allowable gamma dose to necessitate modifications in configuration.

Soffer, L.↗