As nuclear research has become more prevalent, environmental contamination from the disposal of radioactive waste has become a prominent issue. At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in northern New Mexico, radioactive contamination from disposal operations has raised some very specific concerns. Material Disposal Area G (Area G) is the primary low-level radioactive waste disposal site at LANL and occupies an area adjacent to land belonging to the Native American community of the Pueblo of San Ildefonso. Analyses of soil and vegetation collected from the perimeter of Area G have shown concentrations of radionuclides greater than background concentrations established for northern New Mexico. As a result, Pueblo residents had become concerned that contaminants from Area G could enter tribal lands through various ecological pathways. The residents specifically questioned the safety of consuming meat from elk and deer that forage near Area G and then migrate onto tribal lands. Consequently, this study addresses the uptake of {sup 3}H, {sup 90}Sr, {sup tot}U, {sup 238}Pu, {sup 239}Pu, {sup 241}Am, and {sup 137}Cs by elk (Cervus elaphus) and deer (Odocoileus hemionus) that forage around the perimeter of Area G and the associated doses to the animals and to humans who consume these animals. Radionuclide …

This document describes the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many NEPA documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No conclusions or recommendations are provided. This year's report is the eleventh revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the 12th revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA; SEPA and CERCLA documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is presented in environmental impact statements (EISs) and other Site-related NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological and historical resources, socioeconomic; occupational safety, and noise. Sources for extensive tabular data related to these topics are provided in the chapter. Most subjects are divided into a general description of the characteristics of the Hanford Site, followed by site-specific information, where available, of the 100,200,300, and other Areas. This division allows the reader to go directly to those sections of particular interest. When …

We have begun building the ''Mercury'' laser system as the first in a series of new generation diode-pumped solid-state lasers for inertial fusion research. Mercury will integrate three key technologies: diodes, crystals, and gas cooling, within a unique laser architecture that is scalable to kilojoule energy levels for fusion energy applications. The primary performance goals include 10% electrical efficiencies at 10 Hz and 100 J with a 2-10 ns pulse length at 1.047 pm wavelength. When completed, Mercury will allow rep-rated target experiments with multiple target chambers for high energy density physics research.

This document describes field studies of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 1996. The studies provide information on the status and trends of monk seal populations, natural history traits (survival, reproduction, growth, behavior, and feeding habits), and the success of various activities designed to facilitate population growth.

The following document provides the findings on the field studies over the endangered Hawaiian monk seal in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands during 1997. The information covered evaluates the status and trends of monk seal populations, natural history traits (survival, reproduction, growth, behavior, and feeding habits), and the success of various activities designed to facilitate population growths.

This report describes the RCRA assessment plan for single-shell tank Waste Management Area S-SX

A groundwater quality assessment plan was prepared for waste management area S-SX at the Hanford Site. Groundwater monitoring is conducted at this facility in accordance with Title 40, Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Part 265, Subpart F [and by reference of Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-400(3)]. The facility was placed in assessment groundwater monitoring program status after elevated waste constituents and indicator parameter measurements (i.e., chromium, technetium-99 and specific conductance) in downgradient monitoring wells were observed and confirmed. A first determination, as allowed under 40 CFR 265.93(d), provides the owner/operator of a facility an opportunity to demonstrate that the regulated unit is not the source of groundwater contamination. Based on results of the first determination it was concluded that multiple source locations in the waste management area could account for observed spatial and temporal groundwater contamination patterns. Consequently, a continued investigation is required. This plan, developed using the data quality objectives process, is intended to comply with the continued investigation requirement. Accordingly, the primary purpose of the present plan is to determine the rate and extent of dangerous waste (hexavalent chromium and nitrate) and radioactive constituents (e.g., technetium-99) in groundwater and to determine their concentrations in groundwater beneath waste management …

Surface synoptic weather reports for the entire globe, gathered from various available data sets, were processed, edited, and rewritten to provide a single data set of individual observations of clouds, spanning the 44 years 1952-1995 for ship data and the 26 years 1971-1996 for land station data. In addition to the cloud portion of the synoptic report, each edited report also includes the associated pressure, present weather, wind, air temperature, and dew point (and sea surface temperature over oceans).

A borehole-miner extendible-nozzle sluicing system was designed, constructed, and deployed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to remediate five horizontal underground storage tanks containing sludge and supernate at the ORNL Old Hydrofracture Facility site. The tanks were remediated in fiscal year 1998 to remove {approx}98% of the waste, {approx}3% greater than the target removal of >95% of the waste. The tanks contained up to 18 in. of sludge covered by supernate. The 42,000 gal of low level liquid waste were estimated to contain 30,000 Ci, with 97% of this total located in the sludge. The retrieval was successful. At the completion of the remediation, the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation agreed that the tanks were cleaned to the maximum extent practicable using pumping technology. This deployment was the first radioactive demonstration of the borehole-miner extendible-nozzle water-jetting system. The extendible nozzle is based on existing bore hole-miner technology used to fracture and dislodge ore deposits in mines. Typically borehole-miner technology includes both dislodging and retrieval capabilities. Both dislodging, using the extendible-nozzle water-jetting system, and retrieval, using a jet pump located at the base of the mast, are deployed as an integrated system through one borehole or riser. Note that …

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization

The initial Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) groundwater quality assessment report for Waste Management Area S-SX (PNNL-11810) was issued in January 1998. The report stated a plan for conducting continued assessment would be developed after addressing Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) comments on initial findings in PNNL-11810. Comments from Ecology were received by US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) on September 24, 1998. Shortly thereafter, Ecology and DOE began dispute resolution and related negotiations about tank farm vadose issues. This led to proposed new Tri-Party Agreement milestones covering a RCRA Facility Investigation-Corrective Measures Study (RFI/CMS) of the four single-shell tank farm waste management areas that were in assessment status (Waste Management Areas B-BX-BY, S-SX, T and TX-TY). The RCRA Facility Investigation includes both subsurface (vadose zone and groundwater) and surface (waste handling facilities and grounds) characterization. Many of the Ecology comments on PNNL-11810 are more appropriate for, and in many cases are superseded by, the RFI/CMS at Waste Management Area S-SX. The proposed Tri-Party Agreement milestone changes that specify the scope and schedule for the RFI/CMS work plans (Tri-Party Agreement change number M-45-98-0) were issued for public comment in February 1999. The Tri-Party Agreement narrative indicates …

This paper reports the temporal changes in the spatial variability of soil nutrient concentrations across a field during the growing season, over a four-year period. This study is part of the Site-Specific Technologies for Agriculture (SST4Ag) precision farming research project at the INEEL. Uniform fertilization did not produce a uniform increase in fertility. During the growing season, several of the nutrients and micronutrients showed increases in concentration although no additional fertilization had occurred. Potato plant uptake did not explain all of these changes. Some soil micronutrient concentrations increased above levels considered detrimental to potatoes, but the plants did not show the effects in reduced yield. All the nutrients measured changed between the last sampling in the fall and the first sampling the next spring prior to fertilization. The soil microbial community may play a major role in the temporal changes in the spatial variability of soil nutrient concentrations. These temporal changes suggest potential impact when determining fertilizer recommendations, and when evaluating the results of spatially varying fertilizer application.

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No conclusions or recommendations are provided. This year's report is the twelfth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the thirteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (EISs) and other Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological, and historical resources, socioeconomic, occupational safety, and noise. Sources for extensive tabular data related to these topics are provided in the chapter. Most subjects are divided into a general description of the characteristics of the Hanford Site, followed by site-specific information, where available, of …

Neutron time-of-flight spectroscopy has been employed to study the crystal field interaction in the pyrochlore titanate Ho{sub 2}Ti{sub 2}O{sub 7}. The crystal field parameters and corresponding energy level scheme have been determined from a profile fit to the observed neutron spectra. The groundstate is a well separated E{sub g} doublet with a strong Ising like anisotropy, which can give rise to titration in the pyrochlore lattice. Using the crystal field parameters determined for the Ho compound as an estimate of the crystal field interaction in other pyrochlore magnets, we also find the Ising type behavior for Dy. In contrast, the almost planar like anisotropy found for Er and Yb prevents frustration, because of the continuous range of possible spin orientations in this case.

Tailoring of porous materials involves not only chemical synthetic techniques for tailoring microscopic properties such as pore size, pore shape, pore connectivity, and pore surface reactivity, but also materials processing techniques for tailoring the meso- and the macroscopic properties of bulk materials in the form of fibers, thin films and monoliths. These issues are addressed in the context of five specific classes of porous materials: oxide molecular sieves, porous coordination solids, porous carbons, sol-gel derived oxides, and porous heteropolyanion salts. Reviews of these specific areas are preceded by a presentation of background material and review of current theoretical approaches to adsorption phenomena. A concluding section outlines current research needs and opportunities.

The purpose of this project was to develop a conceptual model for estimating magnetic field (EMF) personal exposure (PE) of individuals or groups and construct a working model using existing data.

The authors present a detection process capable of directly imaging the transverse amplitude, phase, and Doppler shift of coherent electromagnetic fields. Based on coherent detection principles governing conventional heterodyned RADAR/LADAR systems, Fourier Transform Heterodyne incorporates transverse spatial encoding of the reference local oscillator for image capture. Appropriate selection of spatial encoding functions allows image retrieval by way of classic Fourier manipulations. Of practical interest: (1) imaging may be accomplished with a single element detector/sensor requiring no additional scanning or moving components, (2) as detection is governed by heterodyne principles, near quantum limited performance is achievable, (3) a wide variety of appropriate spatial encoding functions exist that may be adaptively configured in real-time for applications requiring optimal detection, and (4) the concept is general with the applicable electromagnetic spectrum encompassing the RF through optical.

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Groundwater is monitored at the Hanford Site to fulfill a variety of state and federal regulations, including the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980; and Washington Administrative Code. Separate monitoring plans are prepared for various requirements, but sampling is coordinated and data are shared among users to avoid duplication of effort. The US Department of Energy manages these activities through the Hanford Groundwater Monitoring Project. This document is an integrated monitoring plan for the groundwater project. It documents well and constituent lists for monitoring required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and its implementing orders; includes other, established monitoring plans by reference; and appends a master well/constituent/frequency matrix for the entire site. The objectives of monitoring fall into three general categories plume and trend tracking, treatment/storage/disposal unit monitoring, and remediation performance monitoring. Criteria for selecting Atomic Energy Act of 1954 monitoring networks include locations of wells in relation to known plumes or contaminant sources, well depth and construction, historical data, proximity to the Columbia River, water supplies, or other areas of special interest, and well use for other programs. Constituent lists were …

This volume of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) Review, covering the period April-June 1999, features a theoretical analysis of direct-drive target performance on National Ignition Facility (NIF). In this article R. P. J. Town, J. A. Delettrez, R. Epstein, V. N. Goncharov, R. L. McCrory, P. W. McKenty, R. W. Short, and S. Skupsky detail ignition target designs developed at LLE specifically to achieve successful direct-drive ignition on the NIF facility. A baseline ''all-DT'' target design is described along with a two shock compression analysis, which includes discussion of the parameters leading to variability in shock timing. The modeling and analysis presented flow down to specification requirements for the laser and target parameters to ignite this baseline target design with the NIF laser.

Accelerated aging research on samples of composite material and candidate ultraviolet (UV) protective coatings is determining the effects of six environmental factors on material durability. Candidate fastener materials are being evaluated to determine corrosion rates and crevice corrosion effects at load-bearing joints. This work supports field testing of a 30-ft long, 18-ft wide polymer matrix composite (PMC) bridge at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Durability results and sensor data from tests with live loads provide information required for determining the cost/benefit measures to use in life-cycle planning, determining a maintenance strategy, establishing applicable inspection techniques, and establishing guidelines, standards, and acceptance criteria for PMC bridges for use in the transportation infrastructure.

The mission of this project was to use inverse micelle solutions to synthesize nanometer sized metal particles and test the particles as catalysts in the liquefaction of coal and other related reactions. The initial focus of the project was the synthesis of iron based materials in pseudo-homogeneous form. The frost three chapters discuss the synthesis, characterization, and catalyst testing in coal liquefaction and model coal liquefaction reactions of iron based pseudo-homogeneous materials. Later, we became interested in highly dispersed catalysts for coprocessing of coal and plastic waste. Bifunctional catalysts . to hydrogenate the coal and depolymerize the plastic waste are ideal. We began studying, based on our previously devised synthesis strategies, the synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts with a bifunctional nature. In chapter 4, we discuss the fundamental principles in heterogeneous catalysis synthesis with inverse micelle solutions. In chapter 5, we extend the synthesis of chapter 4 to practical systems and use the materials in catalyst testing. Finally in chapter 6, we return to iron and coal liquefaction now studied with the heterogeneous catalysts.

One of the major advances at the high brightness third generation synchrotrons is the dramatic improvement of imaging capability. There is a large multi-disciplinary effort underway at the ALS to develop imaging X-ray, UV and Infra-red spectroscopic analysis on a spatial scale from. a few microns to 10nm. These developments make use of light that varies in energy from 6meV to 15KeV. Imaging and spectroscopy are finding applications in surface science, bulk materials analysis, semiconductor structures, particulate contaminants, magnetic thin films, biology and environmental science. This article is an overview and status report from the developers of some of these techniques at the ALS. The following table lists all the currently available microscopes at the. ALS. This article will describe some of the microscopes and some of the early applications.

Numerical simulations are used to predict the migration of radionuclides from the disposal units at Material Disposal Area G through the vadose zone and into the main aquifer in support of a radiological performance assessment and composite analysis for the site. The calculations are performed with the finite element code, FEHM. The transport of nuclides through the vadose zone is computed using a three-dimensional model that describes the complex mesa top geology of the site. The model incorporates the positions and inventories of thirty-four disposal pits and four shaft fields located at Area G as well as those of proposed future pits and shafts. Only three nuclides, C-14, Tc-99, and I-129, proved to be of concern for the groundwater pathway over a 10,000-year period. The spatial and temporal flux of these three nuclides from the vadose zone is applied as a source term for the three-dimensional saturated zone model of the main aquifer that underlies the site. The movement of these nuclides in the aquifer to a downstream location is calculated, and aquifer concentrations are converted to doses. Doses related to aquifer concentrations are six or more orders of magnitude lower than allowable Department of Energy performance objectives for low-level …