Define-se infiltração da água no solo como a entrada da água através da superfície do solo. O processo de infiltração separa, assim, quanto da precipitação pluvial, por exemplo, flui sobre a superfície do solo e quanto flui abaixo da superfície do solo, esta última tanto vertical como horizontalmente. Diversos fatores interferem neste processo, podendo-se destacar aqueles relacionados ao tipo de solo e declividade do terreno e às características do solo e da cobertura vegetal, bem como aquelas relacionadas à precipitação. São conhecidas diversas equações de infiltração, propostas para expressar a lei da infiltração da água em solos, que é o gráfico da taxa de infiltração da água com o tempo. São equações desenvolvidas empiricamente ou a partir de considerações físicas e aplicam-se somente a solos homogêneos e que permanecem homogêneos durante o processo. Dados da literatura têm mostrado que para nossos solos o avanço da frente de molhamento no processo de infiltração vertical também é proporcional à raiz quadrada do tempo, como a solução da equação de Richards obtida por Philip para a infiltração horizontal, porém com uma velocidade maior. Dado este fato, levanta-se a hipótese de utilizar a equação proposta por Philip para a infiltração na direção horizontal também para a direção vertical, em colunas com amostra de solo indeformada e com amostra de solo homogeneamente remodelada. Este trabalho trata do processo da infiltração de água no solo, especificamente a vertical descendente. Pretendeu-se avaliar as equações clássicas da lei da infiltração em amostras homogêneas de três solos estruturalmente distintos com estrutura deformada e indeformada. O experimento foi conduzido em latoratório, em nove colunas com amostras de três solos com características distintas, sendo um Cambissolo Háplico, um Latossolo Vermelho Amarelo distrófico e um Nitossolo Vermelho eutroférrico. As curvas da taxa de infiltração foram determinadas em laboratório e o conteúdo de água foi determinado pela técnica da atenuação gama. A equação proposta por Kostiakov para a lei da infiltração ajustou-se muito bem (máximo R2 para todos os solos, com exceção da coluna indeformada do Nitossolo) por praticamente coincidir com a equação de ajuste estatistico dos dados. Já o mesmo não ocorreu com a equação proposta por Horton para a qual os coeficientes de determinação variaram de 0,528 a 0,898 (sem considerer a amostra do Nitossolo indeformada). Com relação ao modelo de Green & Ampt que, ao contrário das equações de Kostiakov e Horton que são modelos empíricos, pode-se dizer tratar-se de um modelo semi-analítico, os ajustes dos dados também não foram muito bons (R2 variando de 0,802 a 0,898, sem considerer a amostra do Nitossolo indeformada). O modelo quase todo analítico de Philip, baseado na solução da equação de Richards para a direção horizontal, ajustou-se muito bem aos dados desta pesquisa que foi desenvolvida para a direção vertical descendente, visto que o gráfico da posição de frente de molhamento em relação a fonte de água em função da raiz quadrada do tempo de infiltração resultou numa linha reta com alto coeficiente de determinação para todas as amostras (R2 maior que 0,99 para as deformadas e R2 maior que 0,95 para as deformadas). Todos os modelos apresentaram um ajuste ruim (R2 menor que 0,1) para a coluna indeformada do solo 3 (Nitossolo). Provavelmente devido à presença de bioporo no interior da coluna, com fluxo preferencial da água ou também ao processo de amostragem que é muito dificuldato devido a forte estruturação deste solo. / Soil water infiltration is defined as the entry of water through the soil surface. The infiltration process thus separates how much of the rainfall, for example, flows over the soil surface and how much it flows below the surface of the soil, the latter both vertically and horizontally. Several factors interfere in this process, being possible to highlight those related to the type of soil and slope of the terrain and to the characteristics of the soil and vegetation cover, as well as those related to precipitation. Several infiltration equations are known, proposed to express the law of water infiltration in soils, which is the graph of the infiltration rate of water as a function of time. They are equations developed empirically or from physical considerations and apply only to homogeneous soils that remain homogeneous during the process. Literature data have shown that for our soils the advance of the wetting front in the vertical infiltration process is also proportional to the square root of the time, as the solution of the Richards equation obtained by Philip for horizontal infiltration, but with a higher velocity. Given this fact, the hypothesis is proposed to use the equation proposed by Philip for the infiltration in the horizontal direction also for the vertical direction, in columns with undisturbed soil sample and with homogeneously remodeled soil sample. This work deals especifically with the process of vertical descending soil water infiltration. It was intended to evaluate the classical equations of the infiltration law in homogeneous samples of three structurally distinct soils with disturbed and undisturbed structure. The experiment was carried out in a laboratory, in nine columns with three soils distinct characteristics, being a Haplic Cambisol, a Dystrophic Yellow Red Latosol and an eutrophic Red Nitosol. The infiltration rate curves were determined in the laboratory and the water content was determined by the gamma ray attenuation technique. The equation proposed by Kostiakov for the infiltration law adjusted very well (maximum R2 for all soils, except for the undisturbed Nitosol column) since it practically coincide with the equation of statistical fit of the data. The same did not occur with the equation proposed by Horton for which the coefficients of determination ranged from 0,528 to 0.898 (not considering the undisturbed column of Nitosol. In relation to the Green & Ampt model, unlike the Kostiakov and Horton equations that are empirical models, it can be said that it is a semi-analytical model, the data adjustments were also not good changing from 0,802 to 0,848 also not considering the undisturbed Nitosol. Philip\'s almost all-analytical model, based on the solution of the Richards equation for the horizontal direction, fitted very well the data from this work that were conducted in the downward vertical direction, since the graph of the wet facing front position the water source as a function of the square root of the infiltration time resulted in a straight line with a high coefficient of determination for all samples (R2 greater than 0.99 for the deformed and R2 greater than 0.95 for the deformed ones). All models presented a poor fit (R2 less than 0.01) for the undisturbed soil 3 column (Nitosol). Probably due to the presence of biopore inside the column, with preferential flow of water or to the sampling process that is very difficult due to the strong structure of this soil.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T19:26:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Talita Rosas Ferreira.pdf: 6282017 bytes, checksum: f3b7825f0878fb8865db212f2fd79a70 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The computed tomography (CT) represents a technique that provides images of samples, allowing the study of different soil physical phenomena by qualitative and quantitative analysis in 2D and 3D. In the area of applied physics to porous media is a matter of investigation the definition of representative elementary areas (REA) regarding measurements of physical properties of this media. REA is related to the minimum area of a sample needed to represent its characteristics of interest. The aim of this study was to define REAs to be adopted for density (ρs) measurements from sample soil collected in volumetric rings. Having this purpose in mind, three soils with different textures were analyzed: Geric Ferralsol (GF), Rhodic Ferralsol (RF) and Eutric Nitosol (EN). Six samples from each soil were submitted to the method of volumetric ring (VR) and CT for ρs evaluation. A first generation tomograph equipped with 241Am gamma-ray source was used in the image acquisition. Consecutive areas were selected according to three different schemes (consecutive areas increasing from a first area selected at the center of the image and consecutive areas increasing from a first area selected at the inferior and superior borders of the sample) with size areas ranging from 1.2 to 678.8 mm². For ρs measurements, the following criteria were adopted: 1) relative deviation (RD) between ρs – RV and each of the areas not superior to 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2%; 2) RD between ρs - CT obtained for the last area selected inside the tomographic image and each of the remaining areas equally not superior than the criteria from item 1; 3) that at least three consecutive areas must not differ in RD values among themselves, using the variation criterion presented in items 1 and 2. It was considered that the REA for ρs was reached at the variation criteria of 4%. The REA found for ρs, according to the area selection starting from the center, superior and inferior borders of the tomographic images, were: 432.0; 393.3 and 334.0 mm² (GF), 473.1; 457.4 and 393.3 mm² (RF) and 349.7; 457.4 and 334,0 mm² (EN), respectively. The results obtained by the area selection starting from the center were assumed to be the real values of REA for the studied soils. In this study, it was also proposed an alternative criterion of analysis based on the results obtained, which use as reference, simultaneously, the methods of VR and CT. Therefore, it was possible to define that áreas measuring 432.0 mm² e 349.7 mm² provide, respectively , reliable density values for the LVA and NV soils. / A Tomografia Computadorizada (TC) é uma técnica que fornece imagens do interior de amostras, permitindo a investigação de diferentes fenômenos físicos que ocorrem no solo por meio de análises qualitativas e quantitativas em 2D e 3D. Na área de física aplicada a meios porosos, uma questão que vem sendo estudada nos últimos anos diz respeito à definição de áreas elementares representativas (AER) para medidas de propriedades físicas desses meios. A AER está relacionada com a área mínima de uma amostra, necessária para representar suas características de interesse. O objetivo deste estudo foi definir AERs para medidas de densidade (ρs) de amostras de solo coletadas em anéis volumétricos. Para isso, três solos de diferentes texturas foram analisados: Latossolo Vermelho-amarelo (LVA), Latossolo Vermelho (LVE) e Nitossolo Vermelho (NV). Seis amostras de cada solo foram submetidas a dois métodos para determinação da sua ρs: método do anel volumétrico (AV) e da TC. Para a obtenção das imagens foi utilizado um tomógrafo de raios gama de primeira geração equipado com fonte de 241Am. Foram selecionadas, nas imagens tomográficas, áreas consecutivas, de acordo com três diferentes esquemas (áreas concêntricas crescentes a partir de uma área no centro da amostra e áreas crescentes a partir de uma área selecionada nas bordas inferior e superior da amostra), com áreas variando de 1,2 até 678,8 mm². Para medidas de ρs, os seguintes critérios foram adotados para a definição da AER: 1) desvio relativo (DR) entre o valor médio de ρs - AV e cada uma das demais áreas não superior a 10, 8, 6, 4 e 2%; 2) DR entre o valor médio de ρs - TC obtido para a última área (UA) selecionada na imagem tomográfica e para cada uma das demais áreas igualmente não superior aos critérios do item 1; 3) que pelo menos três áreas consecutivas não devessem diferir entre si nos valores de ρs, de acordo com os itens 1 e 2. Considerou-se que a AER para a ρs foi atingida no critério de variação de 4%. As AERs obtidas para ρs, de acordo com uma seleção de áreas partindo do centro, face inferior e face superior das imagens tomográficas foram, respectivamente, 432,0; 393,3 e 334,0 mm² (solo LVA), 473,1; 457,4 e 393,3 mm² (solo LVE) e 349,7; 457,4 e 334,0 mm² (solo NV). Os resultados obtidos por meio da seleção de áreas partindo do centro das imagens tomográficas foram adotados como valores oficiais de AER dos solos estudados. Também foi proposto neste trabalho um novo critério de análise baseado nos resultados que utilizam como referência os métodos do AV e da TC, simultaneamente, a partir do qual foi possível determinar que as áreas de tamanho 432,0 mm² e 349,7 mm², respectivamente, fornecem valores de densidade confiáveis para os solos LVA e NV.

Les composants électroniques embarqués dans des applications spatiales sont exposés à différents types de particules qui composent l’environnement radiatif spatial. L’interaction de ces particules avec les matériaux constituant les circuits intégrés est à l’origine d’effets singuliers ou d’effets de dose qui peuvent altérer la fiabilité des systèmes en induisant différents types de défaillances à l’échelle des fonctions électroniques élémentaires, et mettre en péril les missions satellitaires. En vue de prédire les taux d’évènement au cours d’une mission ou la durée de vie des composants en environnement radiatif, préalablement à leur intégration dans une application spatiale, il est nécessaire de comprendre les mécanismes physiques induits et de caractériser le fonctionnement des composants sous irradiation.Dans ce contexte, nous présentons l'élaboration et la mise en oeuvre de méthodes de caractérisation de la sensibilité des mémoires dynamiques SDRAM DDR3 aux effets des radiations en vue de leur future intégration dans des modules mémoires pour application spatiale. Le développement d’un banc de test fonctionnel et paramétrique compatible avec différents moyens d’irradiations est présenté. Les résultats d’essais obtenus sous rayonnement gamma, sont analysés et complétés par une estimation de la sensibilité des composants obtenue sous rayons X. Une campagne de caractérisation sous ions lourds, associée à l’utilisation d’un outil laser, permet de présenter une analyse comparative de la sensibilité des composants aux évènements singuliers. La complémentarité de ces techniques ainsi que les avantages et inconvénients des outils laser et rayons X sont discutés. / Electronic components, embedded in space applications, are exposed to different types of particles that make up the space radiation environment. The individual or cumulative interaction of these particles with the integrated circuits materials is the source of single-event effects or dose effects that can alter the reliability of the systems by inducing different types of failures at basic electronic functions level and threaten the mission success. In order to predict the event rate during a mission or the components lifetime in a radiative environment, prior to their integration into a space application, it is necessary to model these failures and to characterize the functioning of the components under irradiation.In this context, the objectives of this thesis are the development and implementation of models and methods for characterizing the sensitivity of DDR3 SDRAM memories to the radiation effects for their future integration into memory modules for space applications. The development of a functional and parametric test bench compatible with various irradiation facilities is presented. Results obtained under gamma radiation, are analyzed, and supplemented by sensitivity estimation using X-rays. A characterization campaign under heavy ions, combined with laser testing, allows us to present comparative analysis of the components SEE sensitivity. The complementarity of these

Define-se infiltração da água no solo como a entrada da água através da superfície do solo. O processo de infiltração separa, assim, quanto da precipitação pluvial, por exemplo, flui sobre a superfície do solo e quanto flui abaixo da superfície do solo, esta última tanto vertical como horizontalmente. Diversos fatores interferem neste processo, podendo-se destacar aqueles relacionados ao tipo de solo e declividade do terreno e às características do solo e da cobertura vegetal, bem como aquelas relacionadas à precipitação. São conhecidas diversas equações de infiltração, propostas para expressar a lei da infiltração da água em solos, que é o gráfico da taxa de infiltração da água com o tempo. São equações desenvolvidas empiricamente ou a partir de considerações físicas e aplicam-se somente a solos homogêneos e que permanecem homogêneos durante o processo. Dados da literatura têm mostrado que para nossos solos o avanço da frente de molhamento no processo de infiltração vertical também é proporcional à raiz quadrada do tempo, como a solução da equação de Richards obtida por Philip para a infiltração horizontal, porém com uma velocidade maior. Dado este fato, levanta-se a hipótese de utilizar a equação proposta por Philip para a infiltração na direção horizontal também para a direção vertical, em colunas com amostra de solo indeformada e com amostra de solo homogeneamente remodelada. Este trabalho trata do processo da infiltração de água no solo, especificamente a vertical descendente. Pretendeu-se avaliar as equações clássicas da lei da infiltração em amostras homogêneas de três solos estruturalmente distintos com estrutura deformada e indeformada. O experimento foi conduzido em latoratório, em nove colunas com amostras de três solos com características distintas, sendo um Cambissolo Háplico, um Latossolo Vermelho Amarelo distrófico e um Nitossolo Vermelho eutroférrico. As curvas da taxa de infiltração foram determinadas em laboratório e o conteúdo de água foi determinado pela técnica da atenuação gama. A equação proposta por Kostiakov para a lei da infiltração ajustou-se muito bem (máximo R2 para todos os solos, com exceção da coluna indeformada do Nitossolo) por praticamente coincidir com a equação de ajuste estatistico dos dados. Já o mesmo não ocorreu com a equação proposta por Horton para a qual os coeficientes de determinação variaram de 0,528 a 0,898 (sem considerer a amostra do Nitossolo indeformada). Com relação ao modelo de Green & Ampt que, ao contrário das equações de Kostiakov e Horton que são modelos empíricos, pode-se dizer tratar-se de um modelo semi-analítico, os ajustes dos dados também não foram muito bons (R2 variando de 0,802 a 0,898, sem considerer a amostra do Nitossolo indeformada). O modelo quase todo analítico de Philip, baseado na solução da equação de Richards para a direção horizontal, ajustou-se muito bem aos dados desta pesquisa que foi desenvolvida para a direção vertical descendente, visto que o gráfico da posição de frente de molhamento em relação a fonte de água em função da raiz quadrada do tempo de infiltração resultou numa linha reta com alto coeficiente de determinação para todas as amostras (R2 maior que 0,99 para as deformadas e R2 maior que 0,95 para as deformadas). Todos os modelos apresentaram um ajuste ruim (R2 menor que 0,1) para a coluna indeformada do solo 3 (Nitossolo). Provavelmente devido à presença de bioporo no interior da coluna, com fluxo preferencial da água ou também ao processo de amostragem que é muito dificuldato devido a forte estruturação deste solo. / Soil water infiltration is defined as the entry of water through the soil surface. The infiltration process thus separates how much of the rainfall, for example, flows over the soil surface and how much it flows below the surface of the soil, the latter both vertically and horizontally. Several factors interfere in this process, being possible to highlight those related to the type of soil and slope of the terrain and to the characteristics of the soil and vegetation cover, as well as those related to precipitation. Several infiltration equations are known, proposed to express the law of water infiltration in soils, which is the graph of the infiltration rate of water as a function of time. They are equations developed empirically or from physical considerations and apply only to homogeneous soils that remain homogeneous during the process. Literature data have shown that for our soils the advance of the wetting front in the vertical infiltration process is also proportional to the square root of the time, as the solution of the Richards equation obtained by Philip for horizontal infiltration, but with a higher velocity. Given this fact, the hypothesis is proposed to use the equation proposed by Philip for the infiltration in the horizontal direction also for the vertical direction, in columns with undisturbed soil sample and with homogeneously remodeled soil sample. This work deals especifically with the process of vertical descending soil water infiltration. It was intended to evaluate the classical equations of the infiltration law in homogeneous samples of three structurally distinct soils with disturbed and undisturbed structure. The experiment was carried out in a laboratory, in nine columns with three soils distinct characteristics, being a Haplic Cambisol, a Dystrophic Yellow Red Latosol and an eutrophic Red Nitosol. The infiltration rate curves were determined in the laboratory and the water content was determined by the gamma ray attenuation technique. The equation proposed by Kostiakov for the infiltration law adjusted very well (maximum R2 for all soils, except for the undisturbed Nitosol column) since it practically coincide with the equation of statistical fit of the data. The same did not occur with the equation proposed by Horton for which the coefficients of determination ranged from 0,528 to 0.898 (not considering the undisturbed column of Nitosol. In relation to the Green & Ampt model, unlike the Kostiakov and Horton equations that are empirical models, it can be said that it is a semi-analytical model, the data adjustments were also not good changing from 0,802 to 0,848 also not considering the undisturbed Nitosol. Philip\'s almost all-analytical model, based on the solution of the Richards equation for the horizontal direction, fitted very well the data from this work that were conducted in the downward vertical direction, since the graph of the wet facing front position the water source as a function of the square root of the infiltration time resulted in a straight line with a high coefficient of determination for all samples (R2 greater than 0.99 for the deformed and R2 greater than 0.95 for the deformed ones). All models presented a poor fit (R2 less than 0.01) for the undisturbed soil 3 column (Nitosol). Probably due to the presence of biopore inside the column, with preferential flow of water or to the sampling process that is very difficult due to the strong structure of this soil.

Some of the brightest and most energetic events in the Universe are associated with the death of stars. These stellar deaths power transient electromagnetic emission which are routinely observed on Earth. This dissertation presents our research on various such transients. Its topics includes, supernova remnants, kilonovae, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs): The "long'' type produced from core-collapse supernovae and the "short'' type associated with neutron star merger events. It also focuses on the disruption of stars by the tidal forces of supermassive black holes i.e., tidal disruption events (TDEs). We model the emission from these transients and compare them to observations in order to draw a number of conclusions and make predictions for future detections. For example, we find that the non-thermal emission from supernovae and kilonovae associated with GRBs can produce long term emission which may be detected as a re-brightening in the overall emission. The sharp cut off observed in some TDE flares can be caused by a pre-existing accretion disk present around a supermassive black hole, which is expected in active galactic nuclei. Our work successfully predicted the nature of the very first electromagnetic detection from a neutron star merger, and was able to reproduce the emission that had been observed for more than one hundred days after the merger. This dissertation also provides frameworks on how the observable features of these transients can be leveraged to probe the properties of the progenitor system and their environment. <br>

<p>Presently there is a clear trend of increasing demands on in-pile performance of nuclear fuel. Higher target burnups, part length rods and various fuel additives are some examples of this trend. Together with an increasing demand from the public for even safer nuclear power utilisation, this implies an increased focus on various experimental, preferably non-destructive, methods to characterise the fuel.</p><p>This thesis focuses on the development and experimental evaluation of such methods. In its first part, the thesis presents a method based on gamma-ray spectroscopy with germanium detectors that have been used at various power reactors in Europe. The aim with these measurements is to provide information about the thermal power distribution within fuel assemblies in order to validate core physics production codes. The early closure of the Barsebäck 1 BWR offered a unique opportunity to perform such validations before complete depletion of burnable absorbers in Gd-rods had taken place. To facilitate the measurements, a completely submersible measuring system, LOKET, was developed allowing for convenient in-pool measurements to be performed.</p><p>In its second part, the thesis describes methods that utilise in-pile measurements. These methods have been used in the Halden test-reactor for determination of fission gas release, pellet-cladding interaction studies and fuel development studies.</p><p>Apart from the power measurements, the LOKET device has been used for fission gas release (FGR) measurements on single fuel rods. The significant reduction in fission gas release in the modern fuel designs, in comparison with older designs, has been demonstrated in a series of experiments. A FGR database covering a wide range of burnup, power histories and fuel designs has been compiled and used for fuel performance analysis. The fission gas release has been measured on fuel rods with average burnups well above 60 MWd/kgU. The comparison between core physics calculations (PHOENIX-4/POLCA-7) and the in-pool measurements of thermal power indicates that the nodal power can generally be predicted with an accuracy within 4% and the bundle power with an accuracy better than 2%, expressed as rms errors.</p><p>In-pile experiments have successfully simulated the conditions that occur in a fuel rod following a primary debris failure, being secondary fuel degradation. It was concluded that massive hydrogen pick-up takes place during the first few days following the primary failure and that a pre-oxidized layer does not function as a barrier towards hydriding in an environment with a very high partial pressure of hydrogen. Another series of in-pile experiments clearly indicate that increased UO₂ grain size is an effective way of suppressing fission gas release in LWR fuel up to the burnup level covered (55 MWd/kgUO₂).</p>

This study is aimed at investigating the feasibility of using the radiometric technique as an alternative to traditional methods for determining soil physico-chemical parameters which are important for terroir characterization. In-situ and ex-situ radiometric analyses of soil from three vineyard blocks of Simonsig Wine Estate in the Stellenbosch district (Western Cape, South Africa) were studied. A mobile MEDUSA gamma-ray detection system comprising a CsI(Na) crystal (length 15 cm, diameter 7 cm) and associated electronics mounted on a portable trolley were used for partial terroir characterisation. Thereafter activity concentrations of 40K, 232Th series and 238U series in soil (top ~30 cm) from the measured MEDUSA spectra (0 – 3 MeV) were extracted by means of the full-spectrum analysis (FSA) method. A lead-shielded HPGe detector was used for analyzing collected soil samples while soil physico-chemical parameters were analysed using standard methods at research and commercial laboratories.

Presently there is a clear trend of increasing demands on in-pile performance of nuclear fuel. Higher target burnups, part length rods and various fuel additives are some examples of this trend. Together with an increasing demand from the public for even safer nuclear power utilisation, this implies an increased focus on various experimental, preferably non-destructive, methods to characterise the fuel. This thesis focuses on the development and experimental evaluation of such methods. In its first part, the thesis presents a method based on gamma-ray spectroscopy with germanium detectors that have been used at various power reactors in Europe. The aim with these measurements is to provide information about the thermal power distribution within fuel assemblies in order to validate core physics production codes. The early closure of the Barsebäck 1 BWR offered a unique opportunity to perform such validations before complete depletion of burnable absorbers in Gd-rods had taken place. To facilitate the measurements, a completely submersible measuring system, LOKET, was developed allowing for convenient in-pool measurements to be performed. In its second part, the thesis describes methods that utilise in-pile measurements. These methods have been used in the Halden test-reactor for determination of fission gas release, pellet-cladding interaction studies and fuel development studies. Apart from the power measurements, the LOKET device has been used for fission gas release (FGR) measurements on single fuel rods. The significant reduction in fission gas release in the modern fuel designs, in comparison with older designs, has been demonstrated in a series of experiments. A FGR database covering a wide range of burnup, power histories and fuel designs has been compiled and used for fuel performance analysis. The fission gas release has been measured on fuel rods with average burnups well above 60 MWd/kgU. The comparison between core physics calculations (PHOENIX-4/POLCA-7) and the in-pool measurements of thermal power indicates that the nodal power can generally be predicted with an accuracy within 4% and the bundle power with an accuracy better than 2%, expressed as rms errors. In-pile experiments have successfully simulated the conditions that occur in a fuel rod following a primary debris failure, being secondary fuel degradation. It was concluded that massive hydrogen pick-up takes place during the first few days following the primary failure and that a pre-oxidized layer does not function as a barrier towards hydriding in an environment with a very high partial pressure of hydrogen. Another series of in-pile experiments clearly indicate that increased UO2 grain size is an effective way of suppressing fission gas release in LWR fuel up to the burnup level covered (55 MWd/kgUO2).

The nucleus is a mesoscopic system that retains features from both the quantum and macroscopic worlds. A basic property of a macroscopic body is its shape. Nuclear shapes can be deduced from experimental data as they influence the excitation mode of the nucleus and hence the energies and lifetimes of its excited levels. Various short-lived nuclei were created in fusion-evaporation experiments performed at international heavy-ion accelerator facilities. The emitted γ rays and, in some experiments, also the charged particles and neutrons emitted in the reactions were detected. The studied neutron-deficient isotopes were either selected by the type and number of particles emitted in the reactions, or by using their characteristic decays. The excited states of the different isotopes were extracted from the γ-ray analyses. Spectroscopic properties, such as the lifetimes of the excited states or the angular distribution of the emitted γ rays were measured when possible. The experimentally obtained level schemes together with the other spectroscopic information were used to deduce the excitation modes and the shapes of the studied nuclei. The detector systems are described in the first chapter and in the second chapter some techniques used to extract information from the experimental data are explained. Finally, a brief theoretical overview on the nuclear models which were used to interpret the experimental results is given. / QC 20100621

The history of recent galactic nucleosynthesis activity can be studied by <br />measurements of the 1.809 MeV gamma-ray line arising from the decay of <br />radioactive 26Al.<br />The COMPTEL telescope aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, launched on <br />April 5, 1991, permits for the first time an extensive investigation of the <br />1.8 MeV radiation throughout the entire sky.<br />The aim of this thesis is to infer the galactic distribution of 26Al from <br />these measurements and to identify the dominant sources of this <br />radioactive isotope.<br /><br />The first part of the thesis is dedicated to the reconstruction of <br />the 1.8 MeV intensity distribution from the measured data.<br />It is demonstrated that the use of conventional deconvolution <br />algorithms, like maximum likelihood or maximum entropy inversion, <br />leads to lumpy, noise-dominated intensity distributions.<br />Nevertheless, simulations can help to assess the uncertainties in the <br />reconstructed images, which permits the scientific exploitation of the <br />recovered skymaps.<br />Alternatively, a multiresolution approach is proposed, which largely <br />reduces the uncertainties in the reconstructed 1.8 MeV intensity <br />distribution.<br />In summary, 1.8 MeV emission is mainly concentrated towards the <br />galactic plane, which clearly demonstrates that the bulk of 26Al is of <br />galactic rather than local origin.<br />However, distinct emission features towards Cygnus, Carina, and the <br />Auriga-Camelopardalis-Perseus region are inconsistent with a smooth <br />galactic 1.8 MeV emission profile, pointing towards a massive star <br />origin of 26Al.<br /><br />The second part of the thesis consists of a multi-wavelength <br />comparison of COMPTEL 1.8 MeV data which aims in the <br />identification of the origin of galactic 26Al.<br />For the comparison, a rigorous Bayesian analysis is applied, which <br />is the only consistent framework that allows inference based on the <br />comparison.<br />It turned out that the 1.8 MeV distribution follows very closely <br />the distribution of free electrons in the Galaxy which is traced by <br />thermal bremsstrahlung, observable in the microwave domain.<br />The similarity of the 1.8 MeV intensity distribution to the<br />thermal bremsstrahlung distribution implies a direct proportionality <br />between the 26Al and the massive star column densities, which strongly <br />supports that massive stars are the origin of galactic 26Al.<br />In particular, ONeMg-novae and AGB stars can be excluded as dominant <br />26Al sources since their galactic distribution is not expected to <br />correlate with the distribution of free electrons.<br /><br />The correlation between 26Al and free electrons established, the <br />analysis of 1.8 MeV gamma-ray line emission can complement our knowledge <br />about star formation and the distribution of ionized gas throughout <br />the entire Galaxy. <br />While COMPTEL made the first step in providing the first all-sky map <br />in the light of the 1.809 MeV line, INTEGRAL, the next generation gamma-ray spectrometer, will allow a detailed study of current star formation <br />in the Galaxy.