Excavations at the Cooper’s Ferry site (10IH73) revealed a long record of repeated human occupation extending from the late Pleistocene into the early Holocene (~16,000-10,000 cal BP) and have yielded unique insights into the Western Stemmed Tradition (WST), which includes. Several studies have focused on WST pit features encountered at...
Nanoscale Instrumented Indentation Testing (IIT) is a material characterization technique that is used to determine mechanical properties. The size effects present at this scale make it difficult to expand findings to a bulk scale. Modeling can be used to bridge this gap and better understand nanoscale IIT and the size...
Textiles (including basketry, cordage, woven, knotted, or plaited products) make up a considerable portion of the perishable archaeological record in dry caves of the northern Great Basin region, much of which is created from plants and plant fibers. The archaeological study of precontact textiles greatly informs our understanding of how...
There is a growing need for an expanded Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) framework that is able to accommodate new uncertainties that are present in Generation 3+ reactor designs. Dynamic PRA (DPRA) can allow for a more realistic risk assessment by taking advantage of established nuclear simulation codes to drive Dynamic...
The neutron flux-energy spectral characterization of a Thermo Fisher MP320 deuterium-tritium neutron generator was performed for two shielding configurations, one with substantial moderator between the source and the sample and one without such moderator. The STAYSL PNNL spectral adjustment code was utilized in conjunction with MCNP modelled reference spectra and...
Neutron radiography has been used to study cementitious materials. This thesis studies the impact of heavy water on both the rate of hydration and neutron radiography. The neutron attenuation coefficients of light and heavy water were measured. Cement pastes were made with both heavy and light water. The attenuation coefficients...
Archaeological investigations at the Cooper's Ferry site in Western Idaho have recovered cultural remains dating to 16,000 years ago, suggesting the oldest human occupation recorded in North America. However, many archaeologists have argued the initial peopling of North America occurred no earlier than the opening of an ice-free corridor between...
Idaho National Laboratories recently conducted micromechanical testing of nano-recrystallized UO₂ as a part of an ongoing investigation of High Burnup Structure (HBS). The goals of the test were to determine the fracture stress, and the elastic modulus of subdivided grains within UO₂ using ion irradiation rather than neutron irradiation to...
The application of two-phase magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) in liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors presents opportunities to simplify the power generation system by eliminating moving components like a turbine for enhanced safety. The proposed system in this thesis consists of two loops with immiscible working fluids. The compressed gas expands in the two-phase...
Manned missions beyond low-Earth orbit present tremendous, multifaceted radiological challenges. The deep space radiation environment contains high-energy protons and heavy ions, which are not sufficiently shielded by the aluminum alloys that have historically been used in spacecraft. To address these shielding concerns, polymer-based nanocomposites have been proposed. Radiation transport simulations...