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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
WIPP improves utility shaft safety, begins infrastructure project
Harrison Western Shaft Sinkers (HWSS), the company drilling a new utility shaft at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, has retained a safety culture expert following a near-miss accident in the shaft late last year. The safety expert will conduct monthly facilitated discussions with crews working on the shaft to reinforce expectations for identifying concerns regarding unsafe circumstances, according to a recent report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).
A. Nikroo, D.A. Steinman
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 35 | Number 2 | March 1999 | Pages 220-223
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A11963927
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Large glass shells (≥ 1200 μm diameter) made by the traditional very high temperature (1650°C) long drop tower are usually wrinkled. We have found that these shells soften at relatively low temperatures. We have enlarged these shells by filling them with a few atmospheres of helium and dropping them down a very short (few feet long) tower heated to 900 to 1100°C. The helium acts as a blowing agent as the shell goes through the heated zone and causes the shells to grow larger. We have been able to smooth out large wrinkled shells by this process, as well. Glass shells as large as 2 mm in diameter and less than 6 μm out-of-round that do not have any obvious wrinkles have been made. In addition, the same process can be applied to both poly-alpha-methylstyrene (PAMS) and glow discharge polymer (GDP) shells at lower tower temperatures. Roundness of the enlarged shells is very much dependent on the wall thickness uniformity of the initial mandrels.