Thesis (M.S. in Physics)--United States Naval Postgraduate School, California. / "Unclassified Instrumentation." Includes bibliographical references (p. 37). 16

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-113). Also available on the World Wide Web.

A delayed-coincidence timing spectrometer system was constructed to measure nuclear lifetimes in the picosecond region. The present investigation used the self-comparison method of delayed-coincidence timing. This method used two plastic detectors to obtain the timing information. Two sodium iodine (NaI) detectors were used in conjunction with the plastic detectors to provide energy identification. Significant changes were made to the geometrical detector arrangement to optimize collection of scattered gamma rays by the NaI detectors. The mean line for the first excited states of the sources Co-60 and Cs-134 were measured using the new spectrometer system. The mean life of the 1.33 MeV excited state of Co-60 was measured to by 0.34 + 1.32 psec. The mean life of the 0.605 MeV excited state of Cs-134 was measured to be 6.31 + 2.19 psec and agrees with two previously reported values.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Excited states in the transitional nucleus 160Yb have been studied using gamma-ray and conversion electron spectroscopy following the beta+/EC decay of 160Lu. Excited states in the nuclei 160Tm and 160Er have been studied following the beta+/EC decay of 160Yb and 160Tm, respectively. The data for the present study were obtained at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada at the ISAC-1 facility through radioactive sources moved into the combination of the 8pi gamma-ray spectrometer array and the Pentagonal Array for Conversion Electron Spectroscopy (PACES). Analysis of gamma-ray gated gamma-ray, gamma-ray gated conversion electron and conversion electron gated gamma-ray spectra resulted in the discovery of a new first excited state and the establishment of a level scheme for 160Tm which differs from the one adopted; as well as a test of the rotational characteristics of 160Er with intensity comparisons to both the spin-5 beta-decaying isomer study of by Singh et al. and the spin-parity 1- beta decay study of by Strusny et al. and Bykov et al.

Dans les tokamaks, Sous l'application champ de électrique, les électrons sont accélérés et en même temps, ils subissent une force de friction due aux collisions avec les autres particules du plasma. Cependant, une fraction de la population totale d'électrons peuvent surmonter la force de friction et atteindre une vitesse proche de la vitesse lumière. Ces électrons relativistes sont découplés du plasma et sont appelés électrons runaway (ER). Ils peuvent apparaître lors des différentes phases d'une décharge de plasma. Par exemple, dans la phase de démarrage ou alors pendant les disruptions, au cours desquelles une fraction importante du courant plasma peut être convertie en ER ayant une énergie pouvant atteindre quelques dizaines de MeV. Les ER créés pendant la phase de perturbation peuvent causer des dommages aux premiers composants murs si un dépôt localisé de forte puissance se produit. ITER étant un tokamak de grande taille et un projet coûteux, la génération d'ER n'est pas souhaitable. La viabilité de la machine nécessite que les ER soient détectés en temps réel. La thèse fournit une étude détaillée dans cette direction pour le développement des deux principaux diagnostics sur ITER impliqués dans les mesures de paramètres pour les ER, à savoir, le moniteur de rayons X durs qui détecte le rayonnement de bremsstrahlung et les caméras visibles et infrarouges qui détectent le rayonnement synchrotron. Une solution de conception unique a été proposée pour le moniteur HXRM et est développée ici et optimisée. Pour les caméras, une modélisation des signaux est effectuée pour la première fois. Pour ce faire, un code de calcul a été développé et validé sur différents tokamaks. / In tokamaks, under the application of the electric field, a small fraction of the total electrons population can overcome collisional drag force and attain high velocity close to the speed of light. These relativistic electrons are called Runaway-Electrons (REs). The REs can occur during different phases of a plasma discharge. REs created during the disruptions phase can form a high energetic RE-beam that poses a risk to damage the first wall components if localized high power deposition takes place. ITER being a large size tokamak and an expensive project, generation of REs is not desirable during any phases of a plasma discharge. Detection of these REs and measurements of its parameters are important for the tokamak operation. Hence, RE diagnostics have to be in place to aid the commissioning of the disruption mitigation system and also for the post-event analysis to improve the reliability of RE avoidance. The present thesis gives a detailed study in this direction for the development of the two principal ITER Diagnostics involved in RE parameter measurements, namely the Hard X-Ray Monitor (HXRM) that detects bremsstrahlung radiation and the Visible and Infrared Cameras that detect synchrotron radiation. A unique design solution has been given for the HXRM and is developed, R&D tests were performed and optimized in line with this understanding. For the cameras, it is predicted for the first time which images and signal intensity can be expected. To achieve this, a simple but comprehensive code has been developed and validated on tokamaks that can predict RE parameters and corresponding diagnostic signals which may have further uses also in the context of RE avoidance.