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Results for “Blue Room at LANSCE”

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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7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

2012-13 Blue Room Low Enriched Uranium Sample Irradiation, Associated Gas Handling System, and Subsequent Separation Chemistry

An irradiation experiment was designed for the production of 100 mCi of medical isotope Mo-99 from a Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) solution. 300 mL of 150 gU/L LEU sulfate solution (pH1) was prepared and irradiated at the LANSCE Blue Room facility. The apparatus designed for the irradiation included a gas handling system, in which safe operation could be controlled by monitoring change in gas pressure. The gas handling system also contained a hydrogen oxygen recombiner, to recombine the gases generated through radiolysis of water, and an iodine trap, primarily for I-131. Pressure transients were observed during irradiation, which could be controlled by increasing the flow rate of the circulating pump. After irradiation the LEU solution was transferred to a hot cell facility for subsequent Mo-99 recovery using a titania column separation process, with samples also subsequently shipped to a radiochemical laboratory for further analysis. Gamma spectroscopy analysis revealed that ca. 70 mCi of Mo-99 was present at end of beam, in good agreement with the predicted value when actual beam history was included into the calculation. There was 80-85 % recovery of Mo-99 through a titania column separation, excluding losses through radioactive decay. The % Mo-99 recovery was lower than observed previously for the 1 mCi Mo-99 production (Target 4) experiments undertaken at LANL using the same separation apparatus, with on this occasion evidence of lower oxidation state molybdenum remaining irreversibly bound to the titania column. Subsequent postmortem analysis of the Blue room apparatus revealed that there had been no leaks in the gas handling system, the hydrogen and oxygen recombination appeared to work efficiently, and recovery of irradiated uranium trapped in the system allowed for >99% uranium mass balance.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Analysis of Radiation Effects in Silicon using Kinetic Monte Carlo Methods

The transient degradation of semiconductor device performance under irradiation has long been an issue of concern. Neutron irradiation can instigate the formation of quasi-stable defect structures, thereby introducing new energy levels into the bandgap that alter carrier lifetimes and give rise to such phenomena as gain degradation in bipolar junction transistors. Normally, the initial defect formation phase is followed by a recovery phase in which defect-defect or defect-dopant interactions modify the characteristics of the damaged structure. A kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) code has been developed to model both thermal and carrier injection annealing of initial defect structures in semiconductor materials. The code is employed to investigate annealing in electron-irradiated, p-type silicon as well as the recovery of base current in silicon transistors bombarded with neutrons at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) “Blue Room” facility. Our results reveal that KMC calculations agree well with these experiments once adjustments are made, within the appropriate uncertainty bounds, to some of the sensitive defect parameters.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2023

Second Target Station Project: LANSCE WNR Target 2 (Blue Room) Experiment 2022

The Second Target Station (STS) at SNS will address emerging scientific challenges by providing a source of intense, cold neutrons to instruments optimized for this source, using rotating, tungsten target blocks. The STS target will receive 1.3 GeV proton beam pulses from the SNS accelerator at a repetition rate of 15 Hz. The facility life is planned for 40 years, and each target assembly life is expected to be approximately 10 years. An accurate strain prediction is then critical for fatigue life assessment of STS target blocks because they will be subject to approximately 108 beam pulses per lifetime. As an R&D activity, the LANSCE WNR Target 2 (blue room) facility was used to test the strain response of prototypical target blocks to the thermal shock of a proton pulse. The blue room was well suited for a pulsed proton beam impact test of subscale STS target blocks; the 800 MeV proton energy is approximately 60% of the 1.3 GeV proton energy expected from the SNS accelerator to the STS. Both the LANSCE Proton Storage Ring (PSR) and SNS are short-pulse proton beam sources with nominal pulse widths of 250 ns and 661 ns, respectively, so the energy deposition in the target occurs in < 1 microsecond pulse duration.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Simulation and measurement of the dynamic strain response in a prototypical spallation target

The Second Target Station (STS) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) will address emerging scientific challenges by providing a source of intense cold neutrons to instruments optimized for this source. The STS target will use rotating tungsten blocks and will receive 1.3 GeV proton beam pulses from the SNS accelerator at a repetition rate of 15 Hz. The facility life is planned for 40 years, and each target assembly life is expected to be approximately 10 years. An accurate strain prediction is then critical for fatigue life assessment of STS target blocks because they will be subject to approximately 10 8 beam pulses per lifetime. As an R&D activity, the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) Weapons Neutron Research (WNR) Target 2 (Blue Room) facility was used to test the strain response of prototypical target blocks to the thermal shock of a proton pulse. The blue room was well suited for a pulsed proton beam impact test of subscale STS target blocks; the 800 MeV proton energy is approximately 60 % of the 1.3 GeV proton energy expected from the SNS accelerator to the STS. The LANSCE Proton Storage Ring (PSR) and SNS are both short-pulse proton beam sources with nominal pulse widths of 250 ns and 661 ns, respectively, so the energy deposition in the target occurs in <1 μs pulse duration. Strain measurements on the outer surface of three target blocks (bare tungsten, tantalum-clad tungsten, niobium-clad tungsten) were recorded for comparison against neutronics and structural simulations. In conclusion, this experiment and the supporting simulations satisfied the following primary research goals for the STS target.

Dynamic strain response↗
DOE OSTI2024

Extracting LANSCE Macrobunch Charge from WNR Fast Pickoff [Slides]

Over several days around December 18, 2023, high-charge minipulses and macropulses were sent to Target 2, also known as the Blue Room. This report presents the calibration of a stripline-type current monitor known as the Fast Pickoff, and subsequent charge data for many of these shots. This effort utilized a fast oscilloscope, a nearby Bergoz current monitor, and some data-reduction techniques.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Radiation Hardening – Test Capabilities (LANSCE) [Slides]

The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) has exceptional facilities for research and testing of radiation effects in electronics. We have the best terrestrial neutron source for sea-level and airplane-altitude environments. We have a thermal neutron test capability at the Lujan Center and a proton beam test capability at the “Blue Room”. LANL has the programmatic mission to develop this radiation-effects program, namely space and satellite environments, high-performance computing (silent data corruption), and weapons delivery systems. We have a strong connection to industry which continues to grow.

42 ENGINEERING↗