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WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
D. W. Weissenburger, J. M. Bialek, G. J. Cargulia, M. Ulrickson, M. J. Knott, L. R. Turner, R. B. Wehrle
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | November 1986 | Pages 448-461
Technical Paper | Magnet System | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24785
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The dynamic behavior of conducting mechanical structures in high magnetic fields is complicated by the currents and forces induced by motion through the magnetic field. A series of experiments that were successfully conducted to investigate the coupling between induced currents and rigid body rotation in square loops and plates is presented. The experiments were performed with the Fusion Electromagnetic Induction Experiment facility at the Argonne National Laboratory. The observed data exhibited the magnetic damping and magnetic stiffness effects that arise in coupled systems and agreed very well with the predicted responses for both the loops and plates. The experimental arrangement consisted of a conducting test piece, rigidly mounted in a nonconducting fixture that provided a controlled stiffness against rotation. Electric currents were induced in the test loop/plate by pulsing a magnetic field oriented perpendicular to the test piece. This was done in the presence of a constant magnetic field oriented parallel to the loop/plate. The interaction of the induced currents and the background magnetic field produced a net torque about the axis of the test fixture. Measurements were made of the total current flowing around the test piece and the angular rotation versus time.