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The nuclear power plant has given new direction to power generation. It offers a new source of heat. The heat can now come from the fission of atomic fuel and not from the burning of fossil fuel. Safety and protection from the possible hazards of radioactivity generated by nuclear power plants is a completely new and untested area. Emergency systems and over designed construction are only part of what has to be done to make absolutely certain such accidents, if they occur, will be contained allowing no harmful radioactivity to reach the environment. Handling of radioactive wastes is very critical in a nuclear power plant. These wastes have to be stored in protective containers and transported to predetermined storage sites. At these sites the containers of radioactive wastes are lowered into large salt mines. Licensing and regulation of nuclear power plants during construction and operation is the responsibility of the Atomic Energy Commission. The five member federal panel has issues strict requirements that must be met in each step in the process of obtaining permits and licenses, construction, and generation.

During an earthquake, unanchored equipment within a nuclear power plant facility can slide and interact with safety-critical systems and components. Previous studies on sliding have largely focused on the response due to unidirectional excitation, as computing the response of unanchored components in three dimensions can be complex and computationally expensive. As such, several prediction equations and a standardized approximate method as outlined in ASCE 4-16 have been developed to estimate the peak sliding displacement. This study investigates the effect of bidirectional horizontal interaction and the influence of vertical excitation on the sliding response of an unanchored object when the x, y, and z, components of earthquake excitation are applied simultaneously. The study also evaluates the approximate method detailed in ASCE 4-16. A suite of 40 floor acceleration histories obtained from response history analysis of a representative nuclear power plant facility are used as input for the sliding model. A wide range of friction coefficients is selected for analysis and the nonlinear sliding response of components is determined through the use of a Bouc-Wen type hysteretic model. Computed responses under uni-, bi- and tri-directional excitation reveal that the effect of bidirectional interaction and vertical excitation is greatest for sites with high shaking intensity. It is also concluded that the ASCE 4-16 approximate method is significantly overconservative in all cases. Additionally, the study expands the concept of multi-component excitation to intensity measures. Twelve intensity measures are selected and evaluated. It is found that most efficient intensity measures vary in efficiency depending on the coefficient of friction, and that the top intensity measures are not significantly affected by incorporating multiple components of excitation. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / Earthquakes can pose a huge risk to nuclear facilities. Unanchored objects within the facility may collide and interact with safety-critical equipment. Previous research on sliding behaviour lacks information on the response of an object subjected to earthquake excitation in both the horizontal plane and vertical direction simultaneously. Several prediction equations and an approximate method have been developed to estimate the sliding response as it becomes computationally expensive to solve. This research investigates the influence of simulatenous multi-component excitation on the sliding behaviour and evaluates the current standardized approximate method of estimating sliding displacement. Recommendations are given based on the friction coefficient between the object and the base. The research also explores which characteristics of earthquake ground motion (e.g. acceleration, velocity, energy) are most indicative of sliding behaviour.

The control of asthma is a very important part of an asthmatic's life. Decreasing control can lead to asthma attacks, which can be fatal. For this reason, the researchers have set out to create an instrument to measure control of asthma, and have suggested five possible instruments. Before an instrument can be used, it must be shown to be reliable, valid, and responsive. Reliability will be shown using various intraclass correlation coefficients, depending on the model being used for the data. Construct validity will be shown by how well the instrument's correlation coefficients with other instruments correspond to a priori predictions. Responsiveness will be shown by three methods, t tests comparing the change in changers and stable subjects, a responsiveness index, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. All five instruments are shown to be highly reliable. No conclusions can be drawn as of yet about the validity, as the a priori predictions have yet to made. For all three methods of assessing responsiveness, the five instruments were ranked identically. In choosing the best instrument, no final decisions can be made, as validity has yet to be shown, but at this time it appears as though the simplest instrument (involving only five questions on the patient's asthma symptoms asked at a visit to a clinic) is also the best as it has high reliability and is highly responsive. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Polystyrene samples prepared in emulsion at 55 C were carefully fractionated. The resulting fractions were in turn fractio­nated, combined in groups having similar intrinsic viscosities, and re-­fractionated. As the intrinsic viscosity of these fractions increased, the value of Huggins' k' in methyl ethyl ketone was found to increase a slightly ( from 0.39 to 0.41). Polystyrene samples prepared in exactly the same way except for the addition of small amounts of divinylbensene, a cross-linking agent, were similarly fractionated. The value of k' in methyl ethyl ketone for these fractions increased considerably (from 0.41 to 0.68) as the intrinsic viscosity increased, even though the amount of divinylbensene added was very small (from 0.003to 0.05%). Relations were then established for these cross-linked fractions between k' and the proportion of divinylbensene present, and between k' and the intrinsic viscosity of the fractions. It was concluded that polystyrene prepared in emulsion at 55 C. is essentially linear in structure, and that the value of Huggins' k* seems to provide a convenient and sensitive test for the presence of any appreciable branching that might occur in polystyrene. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

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