An environmental sampling and drilling mud sampling program was conducted during the drilling operations of Continental Scientific Drilling Program (CSDP) core hole VC-2B, Valles caldera, New Mexico. A suite of four springs and creeks in the Sulphur Springs area were monitored on a regular basis to ensure that the VC-2B drilling program was having no environmental impact on water quality. In addition, a regional survey of springs in and around the Jemez Mountains was conducted to provide background data for the environmental monitoring. A drilling mud monitoring program was conducted during the operations to help identify major fluid entries in the core hole. 32 refs., 14 figs., 7 tabs.

Geraghty & Miller, Inc. of Midland, Texas conducted a geohydrologic study of the Michigan Basin to evaluate the applicability of Jack McIntyre`s patented process for gas recovery and water disposal in production wells. A review of available publications was conducted to identify, (1) natural gas reservoirs which generate large quantities of gas and water, and (2) underground injection zones for produced water. Research efforts were focused on unconventional natural gas formations. The Antrim Shale is a Devonian gas shale which produces gas and large quantities of water. Total 1992 production from 2,626 wells was 74,209,916 Mcf of gas and 25,795,334 bbl of water. The Middle Devonian Dundee Limestone is a major injection zone for produced water. ``Waterless completion`` wells have been completed in the Antrim Shale for gas recovery and in the Dundee Limestone for water disposal. Jack McIntyre`s patented process has potential application for the recovery of gas from the Antrim Shale and simultaneous injection of produced water into the Dundee Limestone.

This report outlines an approach that will account for uncertainty in the development of evaluation factors used to identify transformer designs with the lowest total owning cost (TOC). The TOC methodology is described and the most highly variable parameters are discussed. The model is developed to account for uncertainties as well as statistical distributions for the important parameters. Sample calculations are presented. The TOC methodology is applied to data provided by two utilities in order to test its validity.

This report describes work to improve the efficiency of large-area, multi-junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) alloy modules. Equipment capable of producing modules up to 0.74 m{sup 2} in area is on line and process development has begun. Preliminary cost analysis/reduction has begun to ensure that these development efforts will result in a commercialization of the large-area technology. The approach was to transfer the high-efficiency multi-junction technology from R&D into the manufacturing environment by using three different substrate sizes. Initial attempts to transfer the multijunction silicon process were made using a 0.1-m{sup 2} substrate (approximately 1 ft{sup 2}). These efforts resulted in a module with a measured aperture area efficiency of 10.32%. Simultaneous with the transfer of the silicon technology, the most complicated aspect of the technology transfer, Solarex began process development techniques on large-area modules by using the 0.37-m{sup 2} substrates. These efforts resulted in modules with a total area efficiency of 7%. Finally, initial runs on substrates 0.74 m{sup 2} were made to debug the large-area equipment in preparation of transferring the knowledge gained in the processing of the smaller substrates.

Los Alamos National Laboratory lies at the western boundary of the Rio Grande rift, a major tectonic feature of the North American Continent. Three major faults locally constitute the modem rift boundary, and each of these is potentially seismogenic. In this study we have gathered structural geologic data for the northwestern portion of Los Alamos National Laboratory through high-precision geologic mapping, conventional geologic mapping, stratigraphic studies, drilling, petrologic studies, and stereographic aerial photograph analyses. Our study area encompasses TA-55 and TA-3, where potential for seismic surface rupture is of interest, and is bounded on the north and south by the townsite of Los Alamos and Twomile Canyon, respectively. The study area includes parts of two of the potentially active rift boundary faults--the Pajarito and Rendija Canyon faults-that form a large graben that we name the Diamond Drive graben. The graben embraces the western part of the townsite of Los Alamos, and its southern end is in the TA-3 area where it is defined by east-southeast-trending cross faults. The cross faults are small, but they accommodate interactions between the two major fault zones and gentle tilting of structural blocks to the north into the graben. North of Los Alamos townsite, the …

This report has been prepared to make available and archive information developed during preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement for Phases 3 and 4 of the Hawaii Geothermal Project as defined by the state of Hawaii in its April 1989 proposal to Congress. On May 17, 1994, the USDOE published a notice in the Federal Register withdrawing its Notice of Intent of February 14, 1992, to prepare the HGP EIS. Since the state of Hawaii is no longer pursuing or planning to pursue the HGP, DOE considers the project to be terminated. This report provides a bibliography of documents, published papers, and other reference materials that were obtained or used. The report provides citations for approximately 642 documents, published papers, and other reference materials that were gathered to describe the potentially affected environment on the islands of Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu. The listing also does not include all the reference materials developed by support subcontractors and cooperating agencies who participated in the project. This listing does not include correspondence or other types of personal communications. The documents listed in this report can be obtained from original sources or libraries.

Under Sandia`s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program, novel acoustic wave-based sensors were explored for detecting gaseous chemical species in vehicle exhaust streams. The need exists for on-line, real-time monitors to continuously analyze the toxic exhaust gases -- nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons (HC) -- for determining catalytic converter efficiency, documenting compliance to emission regulations, and optimizing engine performance through feedback control. In this project, the authors adapted existing acoustic wave chemical sensor technology to the high temperature environment and investigated new robust sensor materials for improving gas detection sensitivity and selectivity. This report describes one new sensor that has potential use as an exhaust stream residual hydrocarbon monitor. The sensor consists of a thickness shear mode (TSM) quartz resonator coated with a thin mesoporous silica layer ion-exchanged with palladium ions. When operated at temperatures above 300 C, the high surface area film catalyzes the combustion of the hydrocarbon vapors in the presence of oxygen. The sensor acts as a calorimeter as the exothermic reaction slightly increases the temperature, stressing the sensor surface, and producing a measurable deviation in the resonator frequency. Sensitivities as high as 0.44 (ppm-{Delta}f) and (ppm-gas) have been measured for propylene gas, …

The primary objective of the of the IFE Reactor Design Studies was to provide the Office of Fusion Energy with an evaluation of the potential of inertial fusion for electric power production. The term reactor studies is somewhat of a misnomer since these studies included the conceptual design and analysis of all aspects of the IFE power plants: the chambers, heat transport and power conversion systems, other balance of plant facilities, target systems (including the target production, injection, and tracking systems), and the two drivers. The scope of the IFE Reactor Design Studies was quite ambitious. The majority of our effort was spent on the conceptual design of two IFE electric power plants, one using an induction linac heavy ion beam (HIB) driver and the other using a Krypton Fluoride (KrF) laser driver. After the two point designs were developed, they were assessed in terms of their (1) environmental and safety aspects; (2) reliability, availability, and maintainability; (3) technical issues and technology development requirements; and (4) economics. Finally, we compared the design features and the results of the assessments for the two designs.

This effort designed, fabricated, and field tested the engineering prototype of the Cone Permeameter{trademark} system. The integrated system includes the instrumented penetrometer probe, air and water pumps, flowrate controls, flow sensors, and a laptop-controlled data system. All of the equipment is portable and can be transported as luggage on airlines. The data system acquired and displays the process measurements (pressures, flows, and downhole temperature) in real time and calculates the resulting permeability. The measurement probe is a 2 inch diameter CPT rod section, incorporating a screened injection zone near the lower end of the rod and multiple sensitive absolute pressure sensors embedded in the probe at varying distances from the injection zone. Laboratory tests in a large test cell demonstrated the system's ability to measure nominally 1 Darcy permeability soil (30 to 40 Darcy material had been successfully measured in the Phase 1 effort). These tests also provided a shakedown of the system and identified minor instrument problems, which were resolved. Supplemental numerical modeling was conducted to evaluate the effects of layered permeability (heterogeneity) and anisotropy on the measurement system's performance. The general results of the analysis were that the Cone Permeameter could measure accurately, in heterogeneous media, the volume …

Strong magnetic fields are a powerful tool for studying physical properties of low-dimensional semiconductor structures. The pulsed magnet facilities at the Los Alamos National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) have provided an unique opportunity to explore new correlated electronic phases of quantum Hall devices in ultra-high magnetic fields. We have performed both magneto-transport and photoluminescence experiments in the pulsed magnet for fields up to 50 T and temperatures down to 500 mK to study several types of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. The findings of our exploratory experiments are summarized.

A variety of elemental foils have been activated by neutron fluence from TFTR under conditions with the DT neutron yield per shot ranging from 10{sup 12} to over 10{sup 18}, and with the DT/(DD+DT) neutron ratio varying from 0.5% (from triton burnup) to unity. Linear response over this large dynamic range is obtained by reducing the mass of the foils and increasing the cooling time, all while accepting greatly improved counting statistics. Effects on background gamma-ray lines from foil-capsule-material contaminants, and the resulting lower limits on activation foil mass, have been determined. DT neutron yields from dosimetry standard reactions on aluminum, chromium, iron, nickel, zirconium, and indium are in agreement within the {+-}9% (one-sigma) accuracy of the measurements; also agreeing are yields from silicon foils using the ACTL library cross-section, while the ENDF/B-V library has too low a cross-section. Preliminary results from a variety of other threshold reactions are presented. Use of the {sup 115}In(n.n{prime}) {sup 115m}In reaction (0.42 times as sensitive to DT neutrons as DD neutrons) in conjunction with pure-DT reactions allows a determination of the DT/(DD+DT) ratio in trace tritium or low-power tritium beam experiments.

An Integrated Process Strategy has been developed to package, condition, transport, and store in an interim storage facility the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) currently residing in the K-Basins at Hanford. Information required to support the development of the condition process and to support the safety analyses must be obtained from characterization testing activities conducted on fuel samples from the Basins. Some of the information obtained in the testing was reported in PNL-10778, K-Basin Spent Nuclear Fuel Characterization Data Report (Abrefah et al. 1995). That report focused on the physical, dimensional, metallographic examinations of the first K-West (KW) Basin SNF element to be examined in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL) hot cells; it also described some of the initial SNF conditioning tests. This second of the series of data reports covers the subsequent series of SNF tests on the first fuel element. These tests included optical microscopy analyses, conditioning (drying and oxidation) tests, ignition tests, and hydrogen content tests.

In 1994, the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) initiated the Recharge Task, under the PNL Vitrification Technology Development (PVTD) project, to assist Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) in designing and assessing the performance of a low-level waste (LLW) disposal facility for the US Department of Energy (DOE). The Recharge Task was established to address the issue of ground water recharge in and around the LLW facility and throughout the Hanford Site as it affects the unconfined aquifer under the facility. The objectives of this report are to summarize the current knowledge of natural ground water recharge at the Hanford Site and to outline the work that must be completed in order to provide defensible estimates of recharge for use in the performance assessment of this LLW disposal facility. Recharge studies at the Hanford Site indicate that recharge rates are highly variable, ranging from nearly zero to greater than 100 mm/yr depending on precipitation, vegetative cover, and soil types. Coarse-textured soils without plants yielded the greatest recharge. Finer-textured soils, with or without plants, yielded the least. Lysimeters provided accurate, short-term measurements of recharge as well as water-balance data for the soil-atmosphere interface and root zone. Tracers provided estimates of longer-term average recharge rates …

This report discusses the Remote Sensing, Imaging, and Signal Engineering (RISE) trust area which has been very active in working to define new directions. Signal and image processing have always been important support for existing programs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), but now these technologies are becoming central to the formation of new programs. Exciting new applications such as high-resolution telescopes, radar remote sensing, and advanced medical imaging are allowing us to participate in the development of new programs.

Private sector capacity for treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) of various categories of radioactive waste has been researched and reviewed for the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) by Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company, the primary contractor for the INEL. The purpose of this document is to provide assistance to the INEL and other US Department of Energy (DOE) sites in determining if private sector capabilities exist for those waste streams that currently cannot be handled either on site or within the DOE complex. The survey of private sector vendors was limited to vendors currently capable of, or expected within the next five years to be able to perform one or more of the following services: low-level waste (LLW) volume reduction, storage, or disposal; mixed LLW treatment, storage, or disposal; alpha-contaminated mixed LLW treatment; LLW decontamination for recycling, reclamation, or reuse; laundering of radioactively-contaminated laundry and/or respirators; mixed LLW treatability studies; mixed LLW treatment technology development. Section 2.0 of this report will identify the approach used to modify vendor information from previous revisions of this report. It will also illustrate the methodology used to identify any additional companies. Section 3.0 will identify, by service, specific vendor capabilities and capacities. Because this document …

Geochronology using {sup 210}Pb is the principal method used to quantify sediment accumulation in rapidly depositing aquatic environments such as lakes, estuaries, continental shelves, and submarine canyons. This method is based on the radioactive decay of {sup 210}Pb with depth in a column of sediment. The decay through time of {sup 210}Pb P(t) is governed by the exponential law P(t) = P{sub 0} exp( -{lambda}t) where P{sub 0} is the surficial concentration at time t = 0, and {lambda} is the decay constant (3.114 {sm_bullet} 10{sup -2} year [yr]{sup -1} for {sup 210}Pb). If the sedimentation rate is constant, then elapsed time t is connected to burial depth x, through x = Vt where V is the sedimentation velocity. Accordingly, P(x) = P{sub 0}exp( -{lambda}x/V). The sedimentation velocity is obtained from an exponential fit to the measured {sup 210}Pb data P(x), with depth x.

The coupling of laser light with plasmas is one of the key physics issues for the use of high-power lasers for inertial fusion, high-energy-density physics, and scientific stockpile stewardship. The coupling physics is extremely rich and challenging, particularly in the large plasmas to be accessed on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The coupling mechanisms span the gamut from classical inverse bremsstrahlung absorption to a variety of nonlinear optical processes. These include stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) from electron plasma waves, stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) from ion sound waves, resonant decay into electron plasma and ion sound waves, and laser beam filamentation. These processes depend on laser intensity and produce effects such as changes in the efficiency and location of the energy deposition or generation of a component of very energetic electrons, which can preheat capsules. Coupling physics issues have an extremely high leverage. The coupling models are clearly very important ingredients for detailed calculations of laser-irradiated target behavior. Improved understanding and models enable a more efficient use of laser facilities, which becomes even more important as these facilities become larger and more expensive. Advances in the understanding also allow a more timely and cost-effective identification of new applications of high-power lasers, …

This report documents an independent evaluation of an energy retrofit of 4,003 family housing units at Fort Polk, Louisiana, under an energy savings performance contract (ESPC). Replacement of the heating, cooling, and water heating systems in these housing units with geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) anchored the retrofit; low-flow shower heads and compact fluorescent lighting were also installed, as well as attic insulation where needed. Statistically valid findings indicate that the project will save 25.8 million kWh, or 32.5% of the pre-retrofit whole-community electrical consumption, and 100% of the whole-community natural gas previously used for space conditioning and water heating (260,000 therms) in a typical meteorological year. At the end-use level, the GHPs were found to save about 42% of the pre-retrofit electrical consumption for heating, cooling, and water heating in housing units that were all-electric in the pre-retrofit period. This report also demonstrates an improved method of predicting energy savings. Using an engineering model calibrated to pre-retrofit energy use data collected in the field, the method predicted actual energy savings on one of the electric feeders at Fort Polk with a very high degree of accuracy. The accuracy of this model was in turn dependent on data-calibrated models of the …

Rigorous results on the stability of stationary solutions of the Vlasov-Poisson system are obtained in both the plasma physics and stellar dynamics contexts. It is proven that stationary solutions in the plasma physics (stellar dynamics) case are linearly stable if they are decreasing (increasing) functions of the local, i.e. particle, energy. The main tool in the analysis is the free energy of the system, a conserved quantity. In addition, an appropriate global existence result is proven for the linearized Vlasov-Poisson system and the existence of stationary solutions that satisfy the above stability condition is established.

The purpose of this report is to present an overview conducted under the In Situ Vitrification (ISV) Project at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) during the 1991 Fiscal Year. The report will concentrate on describing the activities being conducted by the ISV project at the INEL and the advances made in this project at the INEL and the advances made in this project during FY 1991. Because detailed descriptions of the ISV process are available elsewhere (Arrenholz et al. 1990, Callow et al. 1991a), this discussion will not be repeated here.

The purpose of this report is to present an overview conducted under the In Situ Vitrification (ISV) Project at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) during the 1991 Fiscal Year. The report will concentrate on describing the activities being conducted by the ISV project at the INEL and the advances made in this project at the INEL and the advances made in this project during FY 1991. Because detailed descriptions of the ISV process are available elsewhere (Arrenholz et al. 1990, Callow et al. 1991a), this discussion will not be repeated here.

The convergence of numerous factors makes the time ripe for the development of a community of researchers to use the high-energy laser for scientific investigations. This document attempts to outline the steps necessary to access high-energy laser systems and create a realistic plan to implement usage. Since an academic/scientific user community does not exist in the USA to any viable extent, we include information on present capabilities at the Nova laser. This will briefly cover laser performance and diagnostics and a sampling of some current experimental projects. Further, to make the future possibilities clearer, we will describe the proposed next- generation high-energy laser, named for its inertial fusion confinement (ICF) goal, the multi-megaJoule, 500-teraWatt National Facility, or NIF.

The Fusion Program of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a major part of the national fusion program, encompasses nearly all areas of magnetic fusion research. The program is directed toward the development of fusion as an economical and environmentally attractive energy source for the future. The program involves staff from ORNL, Martin Marietta Energy systems, Inc., private industry, the academic community, and other fusion laboratories, in the US and abroad. Achievements resulting from this collaboration are documented in this report, which is issued as the progress report of the ORNL Fusion Energy Division; it also contains information from components for the Fusion Program that are external to the division (about 15% of the program effort). The areas addressed by the Fusion Program include the following: experimental and theoretical research on magnetic confinement concepts; engineering and physics of existing and planned devices, including remote handling; development and testing of diagnostic tools and techniques in support of experiments; assembly and distribution to the fusion community of databases on atomic physics and radiation effects; development and testing of technologies for heating and fueling fusion plasmas; development and testing of superconducting magnets for containing fusion plasmas; development and testing of materials for fusion …

The consumption rates of northern squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) preying upon juvenile salmonids were indexed in four reservoirs (Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary) of the lower Columbia River. During the spring and summer of 1990, over 2000 northern squawfish were collected from dam forebays, dam tailraces and mid-reservoir locations. Gut content data, predator weight and water temperature were used to compute a consumption index (CI) for northern squawfish. Juvenile salmonids were found in 435 of 1598 northern squawfish guts analyzed. Besides salmonids and other preyfish, crustaceans formed a significant portion of the diet. The CI of northern squawfish varied by season and location. At most locations, summer CI's of northern squawfish were higher than in the spring. Efforts to match sample collection with times of highest juvenile salmonid passage were successful except during July at The Dalles and Bonneville Reservoirs. Consumption indices were moderate to high at several locations even when passage was relatively low, suggesting salmonid predation rate by northern squawfish was not always a function of prey density. 19 refs., 5 figs., 12 tabs.