Positron study of radiation embrittlement of steels used in water cooled, water moderated energy reactors

Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) lifetime study was applied in the evaluation of the microstructure parameters and degradation processes of nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steel surveillance specimens. Study was oriented to the material investigation of Russian WWER-1000 steels (15Kh2MNFAA and 12Kh2N2MAA) with higher Ni content (1.26 wt.% in base metal and 1.7 wt.% in weld). For comparison, the WWER-440 weld metal (Sv10KhMFT) without Ni was measured too. Specimens were studied in as received stage, after irradiation in LVR-15 experimental reactor to the neutron fluence F_{(E > 0.5 MeV)} = 4 × 10²³ m⁻² s⁻¹ and after annealing in vacuum at 475 °C/2 h. Post-irradiation thermal treatment and annealing of defects was well detected by different PAS techniques. It was observed that the sensitivity of PAS parameters to defined irradiation treatment decreases with Ni-content increase. Results confirm the hypothesis that Ni affects size (decrease) and distribution (more homogeneous) of the Cu- and P-rich clusters and M_xC_x carbides.     

Radionuclides in deposition in the Ignalina NPP region in 2005

Results of radionuclide activity concentration measurements in deposition and ground-level air conducted at the station of the Institute of Physics situated 3.5 km from the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Ignalina NPP) in 2005 are analyzed. Atmospheric depositional fluxes of ⁷Be, ⁶⁰Co and ¹³⁷Cs are estimated. Radionuclide particle deposition rates are calculated. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model of the global dispersion and deposition is used to explain variations in the ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration in the ground-level air in the Ignalina NPP region in 2005. An increase in the ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration of up to 17.4 μBq m⁻³ on 30 October-5 November is studied. Modelling results show that the Chernobyl NPP Unit 4 Sarcophagus and the radiocaesium resuspension from the Chernobyl NPP accident polluted regions are sources of ¹³⁷Cs to the environment of the Ignalina NPP. Results on solubility in water of aerosols — carriers of ¹³⁷Cs — are discussed.     

A new method for studying sub‐pulse dynamics at synchrotron sources

The possibility of studying dynamics at time scales on the order of the pulse duration at synchrotron X‐ray sources with present avalanche photodiode point detection technology is investigated, without adopting pump–probe techniques. It is found that sample dynamics can be characterized by counting single and double photon events and an analytical approach is developed to estimate the time required for a statistically significant measurement to be made. The amount of scattering required to make such a measurement possible presently within a few days is indicated and it is shown that at next‐generation synchrotron sources this time will be reduced dramatically, i.e. by more than three orders of magnitude. The analytical results are confirmed with simulations in the frame of Gaussian statistics. In the future, this approach could be extended to even shorter time scales with the implementation of ultrafast streak cameras.     

Assessment of the correlation between mechanical testing and positron annihilation outcomes for RPV model alloys

The correlation between recent PAS results and the outcomes from mechanical testing of RPV model alloys are presented, here significant changes due to different chemical composition and different irradiation levels are observed. The influence of alloying elements to the microstructure degradation process following irradiation was identified by analysis of the mean-lifetime parameter, since an interesting interdependency of this parameter with hardness was observed.     

Ga_(Zn)-V_(Zn) acceptor complex defect in Ga-doped Zn O

Gallium(Ga)-doped Zn O is regarded as a promising plasmonic material with a wide range of applications in plasmonics. In this study, zinc self-diffusion experiments are adopted to disclose the nature of the dominant compensating defect in Ga-doped Zn O isotopic heterostructures. The(Ga_(Zn)-V_(Zn))~- complex defect, instead of the isolated V_(Zn)~(2-), is identified as the predominant compensating acceptor center responsible for the low donor doping efficiency. The comparative diffusion experiments operated by the secondary ion mass spectrometry reveal a ~0.78 e V binding energy of this complex defect, which well matches the electrical activation energy derived from the temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements(~(0.82±0.02) e V). These findings contribute to an essential understanding of the(Ga_(Zn)-V_(Zn))~- complex defect and the potential engineering routes of heavily Ga-doped ZnO.     

Robust algorithm for determining line centre within a video positional measuring system

The paper presents research into line centre detection using a video positioning system, as part of a measuring system for line scale calibration. In the described approach, the video positioning system processes an image taken by a CCD camera to estimate the position of the observed line's centre. An important part of this research is also an analysis of line scale contamination's influence (scratches, dirt, usage, etc.) on line position determination. The outcome of the research is mathematical models that can be used as a base for developing a positioning algorithm. This algorithm is simple and adaptable to different types of line scales. It also includes a module for increasing the basic scale factor of the positioning as defined by the number of pixels in the CCD sensor, and a module for reducing the influence of contamination on positioning.     

Coefficients of Orthogonal Polynomials on the Unit Circle and Higher-Order Szego Theorems

Let be a nontrivial probability measure on the unit circle the density of its absolutely continuous part, its Verblunsky coefficients, and its monic orthogonal polynomials. In this paper we compute the coefficients of in terms of the . If the function is in , we do the same for its Fourier coefficients. As an application we prove that if and if is a polynomial, then with and S the left-shift operator on sequences we have

A metaheuristic approach to solving a multiproduct EOQ-based inventory problem with storage space constraints

This paper considers the well-known static time-continuous multiproduct economic order quantity (EOQ) based inventory management problem with the storage space constraints. This problem is modelled as a combinatorial optimization problem in the corresponding dynamic discrete time system control process. In order to solve this problem approximately, we developed two heuristics: a special heuristic based on a local search technique and a metaheuristic procedure based on the variable neighbourhood search principle. The efficiency of two heuristics is preliminary examined and compared on several randomly generated instances with the same number of products.     

Bias of LS estimators in nonlinear regression models with constraints. Part I: General Case

We derive expressions for the asymptotic approximation of the bias of the least squares estimators in nonlinear regression models with parameters which are subject to nonlinear equality constraints.The approach suggested modifies the normal equations of the estimator, and approximates them up to o _p(N ^–1), where N is the number of observations. The bias equations so obtained are solved under different assumptions on constraints and on the model. For functions of the parameters the invariance of the approximate bias with respect to reparametrisations is demonstrated. Singular models are considered as well, in which case the constraints may serve either to identify the parameters, or eventually to restrict the parameter space.     

Kolmogorov complexity and cryptography

We consider (in the framework of algorithmic information theory) questions of the following type: construct a message that contains different amounts of information for recipients that have (or do not have) certain a priori information. Assume, for example, that a recipient knows some string a and we want to send him some information that allows him to reconstruct some string b (using a). On the other hand, this information alone should not allow the eavesdropper (who does not know a) to reconstruct b. This is indeed possible (if the strings a and b are not too simple). Then we consider more complicated versions of this question. What if the eavesdropper knows some string c? How long should our message be? We provide some conditions that guarantee the existence of a polynomial-size message; we show then that without these conditions this is not always possible.