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...
Among the candidates for the next generation of nuclear power plant is the high temperature gas reactor (HTGR). Since the HTGR does not have the same operational history as water cooled reactors do in the United States, investigation into the response of different accident phenomena is still an active area...
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...
Studies of Hawaiian volcanoes contribute valuable insights about Earth processes and mantle evolution, and are fundamental for understanding the construction of the largest volcanoes on terrestrial planets. The pre-shield stage exists in every Hawaiian volcano, but is usually blanketed by high volume tholeiitic lava flows during the main shield stage....
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...
Advances in technology such as 3D digital scanning and spatial analysis software have provided archaeologists with novel data. Specifically, these methods increase the researcher's ability to measure artifact morphology and past networks of cultural transmission, to potentially track the movement of past peoples and ideas through space and time. This...
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...
The reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) accident has stirred wide interest for the need of designing advanced and high tolerance fuels for next generation nuclear power plants. For pressurized water reactors (PWRs), the accidentally induced reactivity pulse adds transient energy input to the fuel. As a result, boiling may happen locally. Boiling...
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...
Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common malignancy in Caucasian populations. One existing treatment modality for NMSCs is external radiotherapy delivered to the skin cancer tumor by a beta-emitter-containing radioactive skin patch. Alpha emitters, with their higher linear energy transfer than beta particles and shorter range in tissue, make...
The objective of this research is to design a portable neutron detector that is lightweight and responds to neutrons with energies of 20 MeV and greater. The instrument will be used as a ‘sniffer’ probe for identifying shielding weaknesses at high-energy particle accelerators and be paired with a plastic scintillator...
New delivery methods for radiotracers are constantly being proposed. Two key properties of the delivery method must be analyzed: dose to patient and effectiveness of delivery. In this work, the localized skin dose for intranasal administration of 18F was determined utilizing MCNP code. An anatomically accurate nasal cavity was constructed...
A novel high temperature thermal instrument is proposed, which utilizes a dual-sensing platinum resistor encased in a mono-crystalline alpha-alumina (sapphire) substrate. The instrument is comprised of four platinum trace elements, oriented with 90° rotational symmetry atop a 1120 oriented crystal lattice substrate. All four of these sensors measure temperature directly...
Faithful modeling of the expected gamma signals inside an electrochemical facility at various key measurement points is important for understanding what detection limits are available for the next generation of safeguards technologies. Gamma Detector Response and Analysis Software (GADRAS) and the Separation Safeguards Performance Model (SSPM) were used to build...
Of great importance in the design of a nuclear power plant is the evaluation of shielding from the ionizing radiation produced in the core of the nuclear reactor. This requires simulation software to predict the dose rates in the areas of interest. Comparing the simulation of the same modeled system...
Environmental modeling as a result of the Fukushima accident has been at the forefront for present day health physics. The accident released radionuclides in the environment and the fate and transport of these radionuclides are of interest when considering doses to non-human biota. The Pale Grass Blue Butterfly was studied...
Current neutron dosimetry methods rely on the assumption that charged particle equilibrium (CPE) is established within the tissue medium. This maintains that the kinetic energy transferred to the medium (KERMA) is equivalent to absorbed dose. However, this assumption is only valid for large volumes such as the whole body. For...
The lens dose equivalent (LDE) is a regulatory limit set to protect radiation workers. Current methods for estimating the LDE are specific to beam sources in a vacuum and require interpolating data from tables. A new set of deterministic equations for photon and electron point sources has been developed. These...
The United States currently has no infrastructure to provide a fast neutron flux for research purposes. With the increased interest in Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) technology, this type of infrastructure is necessary for further development of key components such as Versatile Test Reactor. The purpose of this research is to...
Accurately describing drag and virtual mass forces in two-phase flows is crucial for high fidelity modeling of nuclear thermal hydraulic safety systems. This study compares existing drag coefficient correlations commonly used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications for air bubbles to experimental data collected for ellipsoidal air bubbles of varying...
Improving the methods used for the detection and estimation of fissile material mass content is essential to nuclear security and safeguards to ensure special nuclear material (SNM) accountability, control, safety and security. With the continued expansion of the nuclear industry and the need for safe management of spent fuel, improving...
The significant variation in bubble geometry, as a function of size, has fascinated scientists for hundreds of years. However, a comprehensive explanation for these observations and the underlying physics has eluded researchers. A theoretical model which describes a the relationship between forces that produce spherical cap bubble geometry has been...
Power transient boiling has been studied for decades, however, the mechanistic understanding of phenomena which occur during such an event remains incomplete. Due to a dearth of systematic researches, the information of studied phenomenon, detailed physics and applicable hypothesis are very limited. Transient critical heat flux (CHF) is paramount in...
The Champoeg townsite first developed due to its ideal settlement and trade location within the Willamette Valley, becoming the ‘legal birthplace of Oregon’ in 1843. However, by 1860 Champoeg’s significance had begun to decline, and in December of 1861 a devastating flood wiped out the townsite. Archaeological excavations took place...
In 1976-77 and 2010, Oregon State University (OSU) excavated portions of the enlisted men’s barracks and privy at Fort Hoskins, a Civil War-era fort. In operation from 1856 to 1865, this fort served as part of a security network to protect and monitor the recently created Coast Indian Reservation. The...
The written history of Oregon spanning the late 18th and early 19th centuries lacks evidence of the contributions made by the Overseas Chinese communities who existed in Oregon during this period. The purpose of this examination is to study the Overseas Chinese communities which resided in the cities of The...
During the 19th century the United States Army was a military institution characterized by a hierarchical system of authoritative, social and economic inequality between members of its different military grades. Although necessary for insuring military discipline within the Army this system of inequality also influenced the non-military social lives of...
We spatially discretize the Sn transport equation using the high-order (HO) discontinuous finite element method (DFEM) on HO meshes. Previous work provided a proof-of-concept for this spatial discretization method in X-Y geometry. Included in the present work, we derive a spatial discretization for the Sn transport equation in both X-Y...
Sodium cooled nuclear reactors are being considered for the next generation of nuclear power plants to provide clean electricity to the world. To prove the safety of these reactors, the fuel must be shown to safely handle large neutron fluxes that cause a spike in the thermal output of the...
Traditional robots have a long history in nuclear-related work because their integration decreases risk to humans in dangerous environments. Soft robotics is one promising new branch of traditional robotics with proposed applications in industry, medicine, and society. Collaborators from the Robotics mLab at Oregon State University (OSU) are currently working...
NuScale Power has designed a small modular reactor using natural circulation cooling dependent systems for both steady-state and transient operations. The NuScale Integral Test System (NIST-1) facility was built to supply test data to NuScale Power to verify and validate computer codes for the NuScale Power Mod- ule (NPM) with...
Internal dosimetry models show a representation of how radionuclides move through the body. This study takes a look at radiation wounds by modelling a puncture wound to the hand using Microshield software. An analysis of these models provides a triangulation method that could be used to investigate wound characteristics, as...
Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) designs have received renewed interest due to their superior thermal efficiencies and a rehabilitated desire for space exploration. This has resulted in improved NTR fuel designs that have unique properties that require investigation and testing in order to be more safely designed and operated.
Oak Ridge...
Thin foil samples of special nuclear materials (SNMs) were irradiated for 60s using a Mark TRIGA II reactor, and their associated gamma emissions were recorded with a count time of 60s following irradiation. A rapid pneumatic transfer system was used to irradiate the samples in front of beam port #4....
During the summer of 2016, Oregon State University conducted preliminary excavations of the hospital at Fort Yamhill, Oregon (35PO75). Fort Yamhill (1856-1866), has long been a focus of OSU’s field schools, offering glimpses into garrison life through the eyes of the officers and the enlisted men. However, up until recently,...
Honeybees and honey combs are good indicators of environmental contamination and can be important for dose calculations. In the event of reactor accidents and nuclear weapon testing, the released radioactive materials are likely to be transported through various environmental pathways as well as by humans and animals, including bees. Due...
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...
All nuclear reactors rely heavily on the use of level sensing instrumentation to detect the behaviour of liquid in vessels. The majority of level sensing instruments are differential pressure sensing meters, which are invasive and could be the failure source in the pressure boundary of the primary coolant system. In...
In a mostly abandoned block, capped by concrete, the building at 210 East 1st Street, The Dalles, Oregon still stands as one of three remaining structures. This building housed the Wing Hong Hai Company, a mercantile store and Chinese laundry, from 1889 to 1926. Beneath the modern concrete that encircles...
The high-order finite element S[subscript N] transport equations are solved on several test problems to investigate the behavior of the discretization method on meshes with curved edges in X-Y geometry. Simpler problems ensured the correct implementation of MFEM, the general fi nite element library employed. A convergence study using the...
This thesis will explore the architectural material culture excavated at the Robert Newell Homestead (35MA41), currently located in Champoeg, Oregon. Specifically, the research focuses on the vernacular architecture or the features and construction methods used that both reflect the environment and the cultural traditions of the dwellings occupants. The Robert...
210 East First Street (site 35WS453) contains the only extant remains of a once thriving Overseas Chinese settlement, in the city of The Dalles, Oregon. Very little is known about the everyday lives of these early settlers, or the pressures that they faced. This thesis will help to enrich the...
The implementation of advanced hybrid (Monte Carlo/Deterministic) transport methods for realistic test problems has been a challenge due to the overhead efforts associated with interfacing a solution generated by a deterministic solver with a Monte Carlo based radiation transport code. In this work, with the help of Transpire, Inc., a...
The OSU MASLWR Test facility is a scaled integral systems LOCA and proof-of-concept test facility for the Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor design concept. A unique feature of this design is to utilize a small high pressure containment vessel to provide the safety containment function for an integral reactor pressure...
To understand how a Depressurized Loss of Forced Convection (D-LOFC) initiated from a double-ended guillotine break may affect further operation of a High Temperature Gas Cooled Rector (HTGR), thorough understanding of each specific stage of this event is required. Key considerations that need to be determined is the amount of...