[en] This report summarizes the activities of the ORNL Nuclear Data Project since the IAEA Advisory Group meeting in October 1996. The group's future plans are also included

[en] The design and construction of the fuel technology development facility was aimed to accommodate general nuclear fuel research and development for the HANARO fuel fabrication and advanced fuel researches. 1. Building size and room function 1) Building total area : approx. 3,618m², basement 1st floor, ground 3th floor 2) Room function : basement floor(machine room, electrical room, radioactive waste tank room), 1st floor(research reactor fuel fabrication facility, pyroprocess lab., metal fuel lab., nondestructive lab., pellet processing lab., access control room, sintering lab., etc), 2nd floor(thermal properties measurement lab., pellet characterization lab., powder analysis lab., microstructure analysis lab., etc), 3rd floor(AHU and ACU Room) 2. Special facility equipment 1) Environmental pollution protection equipment : ACU(2sets), 2) Emergency operating system : diesel generator(1set), 3) Nuclear material handle, storage and transport system : overhead crane(3sets), monorail hoist(1set), jib crane(2sets), tank(1set) 4) Air conditioning unit facility : AHU(3sets), packaged air conditioning unit(5sets), 5) Automatic control system and fire protection system : central control equipment(1set), lon device(1set), fire hose cabinet(3sets), fire pump(3sets) etc

[en] Two excited well-deformed bands have been observed in the semi-magic nucleus ⁵⁸Ni . One of the bands was observed to partially decay by emission of a prompt discrete α particle that feeds the 2949keV 6⁺ spherical yrast state in the daughter nucleus ⁵⁴Fe . This constitutes the first observation of prompt α emission from states lying in the deformed secondary minimum of the nuclear potential. γ -ray linking transitions via several parallel paths establish the spin, parity, and excitation energy of this deformed band in ⁵⁸Ni

[en] The deformation-driving effects of intruder states are studied by analysis of various types of data on rotational bands in rare-earth deformed nuclei. The sensitivity of four measurables (bandhead energy, B(E2) value, neutron i_13/2 crossing frequency, and υi_13/2 signature splitting) to increased deformation in an intruder band is shown. (Author)

[en] We compute in order alpha_s the nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD) short-distance coefficients that match quark-antiquark operators of all orders in the heavy-quark velocity v to the electromagnetic current. We employ a new method to compute the one-loop NRQCD contribution to the matching condition. The new method uses full-QCD expressions as a starting point to obtain the NRQCD contribution, thus greatly streamlining the calculation. Our results show that, under a mild constraint on the NRQCD operator matrix elements, the NRQCD velocity expansion for the quark-antiquark-operator contributions to the electromagnetic current converges. The velocity expansion converges rapidly for approximate J/psi operator matrix elements

[en] Superdeformed and highly deformed rotational bands were established in ⁶⁵Zn using the ⁴⁰Ca(²⁹Si,4p)⁶⁵Zn reaction, and averaged quadrupole moments were measured for two of these bands. The configurations of these bands were assigned based on Hartree-Fock calculations. One of the three bands exhibits at low ℎω a rise in the J⁽²⁾ dynamic moments of inertia that is similar to the alignment gain observed in ⁶⁰Zn. A comparison of the rotational band configurations and their J⁽²⁾ moments of inertia for light Zn isotopes suggests that the rise in J⁽²⁾ is most likely caused by np interactions associated with the valence protons and neutrons occupying the g_9/2 intruder orbits

[en] Experimental routhians, alignments, band crossing frequencies, and the B(M1)/B(E2) ratios of the N = 90 isotopes and several light Lu (N = 90--96) isotopes are summarized and discussed in terms of shape changes. These systematic analyses show a neutron and proton number dependent deformations (both quadruple and γ deformations) for these light rare earth nuclei. The stability of the nuclear deformation with respect to β and γ is also found to be particle number dependent. Such particle number dependent shapes can be attributed to the different locations of the proton and neutron Fermi levels in the Nilsson diagrams. Configurations dependent shapes are discussed specially concerned the deformation difference between the proton h_9/21/2^-[541] and the high-K h_11/2 configurations. The observed large neutron band crossing frequencies in the h_9/21/2^-[541] configuration support the predicted large deformation of this configuration but can be reproduced by the cranked shell model calculation according to the predicted deformations. Lifetime measurement for ¹⁵⁷Ho, one of the nuclei that show a large ℎω^c in the 1/2^-[541] band, indicates that deformation difference can only account for 20% of such shift in ℎω_c. 55 refs., 12 figs

[en] Lead has long been of concern for its toxicity, impairment of neurobehavioral and cognitive development, and electrophysiological deficits in children, even at levels less than 10 μg/dL. The present study was conducted to elucidate the extent of cord blood lead level decline in the Taipei area from 1985 to 2002 and to explore the factors affecting the cord blood lead level after the cease of leaded gasoline use. In the current study period of 2001-2002, 184 of 1310 newborns delivered in the Taipei Municipal Women and Children Hospital between September 2001 and August 2002 were eligible and randomly selected to participate in this study. Neither of their parents had an occupational lead exposure history. At each delivery, a sample of 5-10 mL umbilical cord blood was collected for lead determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The cord blood lead level of the newborns in the current study period averaged 2.35±1.12 μg/dL. Together with the cord blood lead averages of 7.48±2.25 and 3.28±1.52 μg/dL obtained from two previous surveys conducted in 1985-1987 and 1990-1992, respectively, the cord blood lead level was significantly decreased (P<0.005). It is estimated that such a reduction in cord blood lead from 7.48 to 2.35 μg/dL for each year's cohort of 260,000 newborns in Taiwan might benefit the economics, ranging from US$8.9 billion to US$12.1 billion by improving the worker productivity. For the time period from 1985 to 2002, there were consistent transition patterns among the yearly fluctuations of air lead level, leaded gasoline consumption, lead content in gasoline, estimated lead amount emitted from the consumed leaded gasoline, and average cord blood lead levels of the three respective study periods. Additionally, every 0.1-g/L reduction in lead content in gasoline might lead to a lowering of cord blood lead level by 1.78 μg/dL. Furthermore, at low level of around 2 μg/dL, a multiple regression analysis demonstrated that economic status was the most influential factor for cord blood lead variation (P=0.0061) while the maternal working month during her pregnancy was retained in the model with borderline effect (P=0.0625). After accounting for the effect of leaded gasoline on the cord blood lead level, future study to differentiate the primary contributors for the low-level cord blood lead variation around 1-2 μg/dL is warranted

[en] As Korea's own standards is fixed and the Korea Electric Power Industry Code (KEPIC) is established by Korea Electric Association (KEA), the system of authorized inspection agency for control of observation of that codes is established and operated, this report is described the process that KAERI is appointed of authorized inspection agency for nuclear civil and structure. Authorized inspection agency is non-profit organization for achieving the duty of authorized inspection, and is free from the organization of nuclear power enterprise, like producer, manufacturer, supplier. KAERI is established the independence of authorized inspection duty by transferring nuclear power enterprise, is most important institute of nuclear research, has the skilled technical hands of design, construction, production, installation, for the reasons, KAERI will conduct the duty of authorized inspection efficiently. Therefore, according to the KOPIC, the authentication program of authorized inspection agency for civil and structure, and formula of study and plan of all observation items, will be established at first. (author)

[en] A mode conversion rotary traveling-wave ultrasonic motor (TWUSM) has potential applications in miniature robotics. However, its electrical drive circuit presents unique challenges, particularly in producing a high frequency (about 40 kHz), high voltage (400 V peak-to-peak) signal input to a low impedance capacitive motor, while achieving high efficiency. A novel driving circuit is proposed to provide two-phase balance voltage for a TWUSM. This paper describes the design of TWUSM drive circuit, intended for simultaneously employs both the driving frequency and phase modulation control scheme. The operating principles and a detailed analysis of the proposed driving circuit, consisting of voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), voltage-controlled phase-shifter circuit and power amplifier circuit, are introduced. To drive the USM effectively a two-phase power amplifier converter using non-resonant technique was designed to provide a balanced two-phase voltage source, and the two-phase output driving voltages could be maintained at the same peak voltage value at the driving frequency under varying phase-modulation processes. Detailed experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed driving circuit