Rapid deforestation often produces landscape-level changes in forest characteristics and structure, including area, distribution, and forest habitat types. Changes in landscape pattern through fragmentation or aggregation of natural habitats can alter patterns of abundance for single species and entire communities. Examples of single-species effects include increased predation along the forest edge, the decline in the number of species with poor dispersal mechanisms, and the spread of exotic species that have deleterious effects (e.g., gypsy moth). A decrease in the size and number of natural habitat patches increases the probability of local extirpation and loss of diversity of native species, whereas a decline in connectivity between habitat patches can negatively affect species persistence. Thus, there is empirical justification for managing entire landscapes, not just individual habitat types, in order to insure that native plant and animal diversity is maintained. A landscape is defined as an area composed of a mosaic of interacting ecosystems, or patches, with the heterogeneity among the patches significantly affecting biotic and abiotic processes in the landscape. Patches comprising a landscape are usually composed of discrete areas of relatively homogeneous environmental conditions and must be defined in terms of the organisms of interest. A large body of theoretical …

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.

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.

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 document contains listings and two page summaries for experiments run at the GAS for 1992--1994. Listings are also given for publications and experimenters. A working copy of the 1995--1996 experiment schedule is also included.

In manufacture of structural ceramic components, grinding costs can comprise up to 80% of the entire manufacturing cost. Most of these costs arise from the conventional multi-step grinding process with numerous grinding wheels and additional capital equipment, perishable dressing tools, and labor. In an attempt to reduce structural ceramic grinding costs, a feasibility investigation was undertaken to develop a single step, roughing-finishing process suitable for producing high-quality silicon nitride ceramic parts at high material removal rates at lower cost than traditional, multi-stage grinding. This feasibility study employed combined use of laboratory grinding tests, mathematical grinding models, and characterization of resultant material surface condition. More specifically, this Phase 1 final report provides a technical overview of High-Speed, Low-Damage (HSLD) ceramic grinding and the conditions necessary to achieve the small grain depths of cut necessary for low damage grinding while operating at relatively high material removal rates. Particular issues addressed include determining effects of wheel speed and material removal rate on resulting mode of material removal (ductile or brittle fracture), limiting grinding forces, calculation of approximate grinding zone temperatures developed during HSLD grinding, and developing the experimental systems necessary for determining HSLD grinding energy partition relationships. In addition, practical considerations for production …

The paper describes a computer simulation, involving a site characterization for the storage of low-level radioactive waste at the Nevada Test Site, in order to highlight the reutilization in that project of skills and tools used in aerospace computing.

This report has been prepared to make available and archive the background scientific data and related information collected on ecological resources during the preparation of the environmental impact statement (EIS) for Phases 3 and 4 of the Hawaii Geothermal Project (HGP) as defined by the state of Hawaii in its April 1989 proposal to Congress. Since the state of Hawaii is no longer pursuing or planning to pursue the HGP, DOE considers the project to be terminated. The background scientific data and related information presented in this report focus on several areas of Hawaii County. In this report, reference is made to these areas as study areas rather than as areas where proposed or alternative facilities of the HGP would be located. The resource areas addressed herein include terrestrial ecology, aquatic ecology, and marine ecology. The scientific background data and related information that were obtained from review of the (1) scientific literature, (2) government and private sector reports, (3) studies done under DOE interagency agreements with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and with the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE), and (4) observations made during site visits are being made available for future research in these areas.

Weekly newspaper from Aransas Pass, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

A computational model for the solution of the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations is developed. This model includes a turbulence model: a modified Smagorinsky eddy-viscosity with a stochastic backscatter extension. The resultant equations are solved using finite difference techniques: the second-order explicit Lax-Wendroff schemes. This computational model is implemented on a massively parallel computer. Programming models on massively parallel computers are next studied. It is desired to determine the best programming model for the developed computational model. To this end, three different codes are tested on a current massively parallel computer: the CM-5 at Los Alamos. Each code uses a different programming model: one is a data parallel code; the other two are message passing codes. Timing studies are done to determine which method is the fastest. The data parallel approach turns out to be the fastest method on the CM-5 by at least an order of magnitude. The resultant code is then used to study a current problem of interest to the computational fluid dynamics community. This is the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The Lax-Wendroff methods handle shocks and sharp interfaces poorly. To this end, the Rayleigh-Taylor linear analysis is modified to include a smoothed interface. The linear growth rate problem is then …

Photoproduction of open charm is reviewed, both as a tool for studying the properties of charm particles such as spectroscopy, decays, and lifetimes, and as a testing ground for theoretical calculations of production dynamics. Many characteristics of charm photoproduction are described in terms of the leading order (LO) {alpha}{sub EM}{alpha}{sub S} Photon-Gluon Fusion (PGF) model. The next-to-leading order (NLO) corrections of strength {alpha}{sub EM}{alpha}{sub S}{sup 2} due to radiation of additional gluons are then added. The sensitivities of the NLO calculations on the mass of the charm quark, m{sub c}, and on the choice of the gluon structure function of the nucleon are illustrated for the energy dependence of the cross section for charm photoproduction. These are compared with fixed target data and new HERA data. The single charm particle inclusive distributions in x{sub f} and p{sub {perpendicular}}{sup 2}, along with {sigma}({gamma}N {yields} c{anti c}X) give good estimates of m{sub c} and n{sub g}, the shape parameter for the gluon distribution within the nucleon. As in hadroproduction, some disagreements between prediction and observation begin to appear in trying to simultaneously match the distributions in both p{sub {perpendicular}}{sup 2} for single charm particles and in the {Delta}{Phi} acoplanarity angle between pairs …

A new experiment is being mounted at BNL to measure the anomalous magnet moment of the muon to 3 parts in 10{sup 7}. In this talk I will describe the physics issues that this precision allows us to explore, the experimental method, and an interesting new device which we will use to inject muons into our muon storage ring. The device is a 1.45T non-ferrous superconducting magnet, where all fringe field is contained by a superconducting sheet.

The Buried Waste Integrated Demonstration (BWID) is a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Development. BWID supports the applied research, development, demonstration, testing, and evaluation of a suite of advanced technologies that together form a comprehensive remediation system for the effective and efficient remediation of buried waste. The FY-95 effort will fund 24 technologies in five areas of buried waste site remediation: site characterization, waste characterization, retrieval, treatment, and containment/stabilization. Ten of these technologies will take part in the integrated field demonstration that will take place at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) facilities in the summer of 1995. This document is the basic operational planning document for deployment of all BWID projects funded in FY-95. Discussed in this document are the BWID preparations for the INEL integrated field demonstration, INEL research and development (R&D) demonstrations, non-INEL R&D demonstrations, and office research and technical review meetings. Each project will have a test plan detailing the specific procedures, objectives, and tasks of the test. Therefore, information that is specific to testing each technology is intentionally limited in this document.

Weekly newspaper from Cleveland, Texas that includes local, county, and state news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

The probability distribution of a model prediction is presented as a proper basis for evaluating the uncertainty in a model prediction that arises from uncertainty in input values. Determination of important model inputs and subsets of inputs is made through comparison of the prediction distribution with conditional prediction probability distributions. Replicated Latin hypercube sampling and variance ratios are used in estimation of the distributions and in construction of importance indicators. The assumption of a linear relation between model output and inputs is not necessary for the indicators to be effective. A sequential methodology which includes an independent validation step is applied in two analysis applications to select subsets of input variables which are the dominant causes of uncertainty in the model predictions. Comparison with results from methods which assume linearity shows how those methods may fail. Finally, suggestions for treating structural uncertainty for submodels are presented.

Monthly newspaper from Harper, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This document is the combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for the lower Watts Bar Reservoir (LWBR) Operable Unit (OU). The LWBR is located in Roane, Rhea, and Meigs counties, Tennessee, and consists of Watts Bar Reservoir downstream of the Clinch river. This area has received hazardous substances released over a period of 50 years from the US Department of Energy`s Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), a National Priority List site established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). As required by this law, the ORR and all off-site areas that have received contaminants, including LWBR, must be investigated to determine the risk to human health and the environment resulting from these releases, the need for any remedial action to reduce these risks, and the remedial actions that are most feasible for implementation in this OU. Contaminants from the ORR are primarily transported to the LWBR via the Clinch River. There is little data regarding the quantities of most contaminants potentially released from the ORR to the Clinch River, particularly for the early years of ORR operations. Estimates of the quantities released during this period are available for most radionuclides and some inorganic contaminants, indicating that releases …

Weekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Detailed information pertaining to As Low As Reasonably Achievable/Contamination Control Improvement Project (ALARA/CCIP) activities are outlined. Improved commitment to the WHC ALARA/CCIP Program was experienced throughout FY 1994. During CY 1994, 17 of 19 sitewide ALARA performance goals were completed on or ahead of schedule. Estimated total exposure by facility for CY 1994 is listed in tables by organization code for each dosimeter frequency. Facilities/areas continue to utilize the capabilities of the RPR tracking system in conjunction with the present site management action-tracking system to manage deficiencies, trend performance, and develop improved preventive efforts. Detailed information pertaining to occupational injuries/illnesses are provided. The Industrial Safety and Hygiene programs are described which have generated several key initiatives that are believed responsible for improved safety performance. A breakdown of CY 1994 occupational injuries/illnesses by type, affected body group, cause, job type, age/gender, and facility is provided. The contributing experience of each WHC division/department in attaining this significant improvement is described along with tables charting specific trends. The Radiological Control Program is on schedule to meet all RL Site Management System milestones and program commitments.

This report summarizes the purchasing and transportation activities of the Procurement Organization for FY 1994. Activities for both the New Mexico and California locations are included.

This document is a monthly publication containing descriptions of information received and generated by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This information includes (1) docketed material associated with civilian nuclear power plants and other uses of radioactive materials, and (2) nondocketed material received and generated by NRC pertinent to its role as a regulatory agency. The following indexes are included: Personal author, corporate source, report number, and cross reference of enclosures to principal documents.

This report presents the results of the NRC Direct Radiation Monitoring Network for the fourth quarter of 1994. It provides the ambient radiation levels measured in the vicinity of 75 sites throughout the United States. In addition, it describes the equipment used, monitoring station selection criteria, characterization of the dosimeter response, calibration procedures, statistical methods, intercomparison, and quality assurance program.

MELCOR is a fully integrated, engineering-level computer code that models the progression of severe accidents in light water reactor nuclear power plants. MELCOR is being developed at Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a second-generation plant risk assessment tool and the successor to the Source Term Code Package. A broad spectrum of severe accident phenomena in both boiling and pressurized water reactors is treated in MELCOR in a unified framework. These include: thermal-hydraulic response in the reactor coolant system, reactor cavity, containment, and confinement buildings; core heatup, degradation, and relocation; core-concrete attack; hydrogen production, transport, and combustion; fission product release and transport; and the impact of engineered safety features on thermal-hydraulic and radionuclide behavior. Current uses of MELCOR include estimation of severe accident source terms and their sensitivities and uncertainties in a variety of applications. This publication of the MELCOR computer code manuals corresponds to MELCOR 1.8.3, released to users in August, 1994. Volume 1 contains a primer that describes MELCOR`s phenomenological scope, organization (by package), and documentation. The remainder of Volume 1 contains the MELCOR Users Guides, which provide the input instructions and guidelines for each package. Volume 2 contains the MELCOR Reference Manuals, which …