The most widely used and versatile medical radioisotope today is technetium-99m. Roughly 30 million people depend on this radioisotope for diagnostic procedures each year, and this demand is expected to grow. Although there are numerous ways of procuring this isotope, the most common and most practical, for reasons to be...
This research considers a combinatorial optimization scheduling problem in the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in electronic manufacturing. For the first time in this research, the preparation process, which is typically called kitting operation, is paid attention to and is performed along with the assembly operation, described in this...
This dissertation has focused on the charateristics of bubbles generated by breaking waves and the feedback of wave-current interaction on the forcing mechanism of low frequency wave especially basin seiching wave. For the first study, Optical image capture observations of breaking waves in a laboratory surf zone are presented. The...
The role of A-site non-stoichiometry was investigated in lead-free piezoelectric ceramics based on compositions in the 1-x(Bi₀.₅Na₀.₅TiO₃)-xBaTiO₃ system near the morphotropic phase boundary where x = 0.055, 0.06 and 0.07. The samples were prepared by a conventional solid state mixed oxide route with the A- site stoichiometry modified to incorporate...
The need for cheap reliable energy, while simultaneously avoiding uranium supply constraints makes uranium carbide (UC) fueled Gas Fast Reactors offer an attractive nuclear reactor design. In order to qualify the fuel, an enhanced understanding of the behavior of uranium carbide during operation is paramount. Due to a reduced re-solution...
Cooperative multiagent systems are used as solution concepts in many application domains including air traffic control, satellite communications, and extra planetary exploration. As systems become more distributed and complex, we observe three phenomena. First, these systems cannot be accurately modeled, rendering traditional model based control methods inadequate. Second, system parameters...
Partitioning of trivalent actinides (in particular, americium and curium) from the
fission produced light lanthanides is a major concern of used nuclear fuel reprocessing for
the purposes of waste disposal. Several solvent extraction processes have been developed
to address these chemically difficult separations. The historically employed TALSPEAK
Process utilizes di-2-ethylhexyl...
The structure and mechanics of tissues affect many important cellular functions such as migration, differentiation, and growth. Mechanical interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM), as well as ECM-mediated mechanical communication between cells, plays a part in coordinating collective cellular dy- namics during critical processes such as morphogenesis, tissue...
High Temperature Gas Reactors (HTGRs) are positioned to disrupt local and global markets via their unique ability to produce carbon-free process heat, high efficiency power generation, and passively safe operational features. However, significant impediments still exist to delay deployment of this particular technology, including a lack of experimental data, verified...
The goal of this project was to pave the way for more data-driven decision making when considering safety within Nuclear Engineering by proving the concept of new and innovative accident scenario modeling techniques for the analysis of the economics of nuclear safety margins. To do this, a simple, if extremely...