In 1993, as the CWC ratification process was beginning, concerns arose that the complexity of integrating the CWC with national law could cause each nation to implement the Convention without regard to what other nations were doing, thereby causing inconsistencies among States as to how the CWC would be carried out. As a result, the author's colleagues and the author prepared the Manual for National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and presented it to each national delegation at the December 1993 meeting of the Preparatory Commission in The Hague. During its preparation, the Committee of CWC Legal Experts, a group of distinguished international jurists, law professors, legally-trained diplomats, government officials, and Parliamentarians from every region of the world, including Central Europe, reviewed the Manual. In February 1998, they finished the second edition of the Manual in order to update it in light of developments since the CWC entered into force on 29 April 1997. The Manual tries to increase understanding of the Convention by identifying its obligations and suggesting methods of meeting them. Education about CWC obligations and available alternatives to comply with these requirements can facilitate national response that are consistent among States Parties. Thus, the Manual offers …

Eddy current (EC) estimate of flaw size obtained from inservice inspection is often the primary means of assessing the structural integrity of steam generator tubes. Reliable prediction of failure pressure and leak rate in tubes with complex cracking requires more detailed information about the geometry and extent of degradation than is generally available from conventional bobbin coil examinations. High-resolution inspections with EC rotating probes are thus carried out on selected regions of tubing to provide the more extensive nondestructive evaluation (NDE) information that is needed to better assess flaw size and distribution. Interpretation of signals from complex cracking that are often distorted by coherent and incoherent noise can be a challenging NDE task. Studies at Argonne National Laboratory have demonstrated that computer-aided data analysis can be used for more accurate and efficient processing of the large amounts of data collected by such probes. The basic structure of a rule-based multiparameter data analysis algorithm is described in this paper. Multiple-frequency inspection data from a standard rotating pancake coil were used for the analyses. The codes were implemented as MATLAB scripts and provide, as the final outcome, profiles of flaw depth in a section of tube. Graphical user interface tools were devised …

The reduction of the number of reactions in kinetic models for both the HMX beta-delta phase transition and thermal cookoff provides an attractive alternative to traditional multi-stage kinetic models due to reduced calibration effort requirements. In this study, we use the LLNL code ALE3D to provide calibrated kinetic parameters for a two-reaction bidirectional beta-delta HMX phase transition model based on Sandia Instrumented Thermal Ignition (SITI) and Scaled Thermal Explosion (STEX) temperature history curves, and a Prout-Tompkins cookoff model based on One-Dimensional Time to Explosion (ODTX) data. Results show that the two-reaction bidirectional beta-delta transition model presented here agrees as well with STEX and SITI temperature history curves as a reversible four-reaction Arrhenius model, yet requires an order of magnitude less computational effort. In addition, a single-reaction Prout-Tompkins model calibrated to ODTX data provides better agreement with ODTX data than a traditional multi-step Arrhenius model, and can contain up to 90% less chemistry-limited time steps for low-temperature ODTX simulations. Manual calibration methods for the Prout-Tompkins kinetics provide much better agreement with ODTX experimental data than parameters derived from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements at atmospheric pressure. The predicted surface temperature at explosion for STEX cookoff simulations is a weak function of …

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ATLAS (Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System) accelerates heavy-ion elements, and consists of 2 separate ion source injectors, 64 superconducting resonators, and 3 target areas. As with any complex accelerator facility, database management systems are used extensively to support both the archival of operational data, and the realtime control needs of the accelerator. Web technology has recently been integrated into the already existing ATLAS Oracle Rdb database system and control system documentation to enhance communication with the operators, control system engineers, and other technical support staff at ATLAS. This paper reviews the historical development of the control system database structure and user interface, and the Internet software developer tools used to create a new online interface.

In May 2007, the Department of Energy and the Fluor Hanford K Basin Closure Project completed transferring sludge from the K East Basin to new containers in the K West Basin using a Hose-in-Hose system. This project presented a number of complex and unique technical, operational, and management challenges that had to be resolved to complete the required transfers and satisfy project milestones. The project team (including DOE; regulators; and Fluor management, operations, maintenance, engineering and all other support organizations) found innovative solutions to each challenge. This paper records lessons learned during the operational phase of the sludge transfer via the Hose-In-Hose system. The subject is limited to the operational phase and does not cover design, development, testing or turnover. A discussion of the situation or problem encountered is provided, along with the lesson learned as applicable to a future program or project.

The ultimate goal of the Department of Energy (DOE) Immobilization Project is to develop, construct, and operate facilities that will immobilize between 17 to 50 tonnes (MT) of U.S. surplus weapons-usable plutonium materials in waste forms that meet the ''spent fuel'' standard and are acceptable for disposal in a geologic repository. Using the ceramic can-in-canister technology selected for immobilization, surplus plutonium materials will be chemically combined into ceramic forms which will be encapsulated within large canisters of high level waste (HLW) glass. Deployment of the immobilization capability should occur by 2008 and be completed within 10 years. In support of this goal, the DOE Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (MD) is conducting development and testing (D&T) activities at four DOE laboratories under the technical leadership of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The Savannah River Site has been selected as the site for the planned Plutonium Immobilization Plant (PIP). The D&T effort, now in its third year, will establish the technical bases for the design, construction, and operation of the U. S. capability to immobilize surplus plutonium in a suitable and cost-effective manner. Based on the D&T effort and on the development of a conceptual design of the PIP, automation is …

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Nuclear Materials Management Department, a BWXT-corporate partner with Westinghouse Savannah River Company, has established a vision for positioning the organization as a Global Center of Excellence for Strategic Materials Management. NMM's Road to Excellence results from a changing business environment where flexibility and adaptability have become key demands from the Department of Energy customer. Flexibility and adaptability are integral components of the department's MC&A Center of Excellence philosophy in the pursuit of improvement technologies that meet domestic and international safeguards requirements. The customer challenge has put the organization in the forefront of change where benchmarking with other MC&A programs, applying human performance technologies and leveraging INMM leadership and participation opportunities are key ingredients to influencing improvements and changes in existing MC&A standards, policies and practices. The paper challenges MC&A professionals, MC&A program owners and organizational leaders to engage in the debate of new ideas, partnering arrangements and timely deployment of technologies (human performance and technical-based applications) to exponentially improve safeguards programs. Research and development efforts in support of safeguards improvements need to seriously consider deployment to field practitioners within a 2-3 year time frame from inception. INMM plays a crucial role in accelerating such opportunities and establishing improved performance standards …

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Integrated digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in new and advanced nuclear power plants (NPPs) will support operators in monitoring and controlling the plants. Even though digital systems typically are expected to be reliable, their potential for degradation or failure significantly could affect the operators performance and, consequently, jeopardize plant safety. This U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) research investigated the effects of degraded I&C systems on human performance and on plant operations. The objective was to develop technical basis and guidance for human factors engineering (HFE) reviews addressing the operator's ability to detect and manage degraded digital I&C conditions. We reviewed pertinent standards and guidelines, empirical studies, and plant operating experience. In addition, we evaluated the potential effects of selected failure modes of the digital feedwater control system of a currently operating pressurized water reactor (PWR) on human-system interfaces (HSIs) and the operators performance. Our findings indicated that I&C degradations are prevalent in plants employing digital systems, and the overall effects on the plant's behavior can be significant, such as causing a reactor trip or equipment to operate unexpectedly. I&C degradations may affect the HSIs used by operators to monitor and control the plant. For example, deterioration of the sensors …

Automation is ubiquitous in modern complex systems, and commercial nuclear- power plants are no exception. Automation is applied to a wide range of functions including monitoring and detection, situation assessment, response planning, and response implementation. Automation has become a 'team player' supporting personnel in nearly all aspects of system operation. In light of its increasing use and importance in new- and future-plants, guidance is needed to conduct safety reviews of the operator's interface with automation. The objective of this research was to develop such guidance. We first characterized the important HFE aspects of automation, including six dimensions: levels, functions, processes, modes, flexibility, and reliability. Next, we reviewed literature on the effects of all of these aspects of automation on human performance, and on the design of human-system interfaces (HSIs). Then, we used this technical basis established from the literature to identify general principles for human-automation interaction and to develop review guidelines. The guidelines consist of the following seven topics: automation displays, interaction and control, automation modes, automation levels, adaptive automation, error tolerance and failure management, and HSI integration. In addition, our study identified several topics for additional research.

Local decoupling is a technique to correct coupling locally and operationally, that is, without a priori knowledge of the underlying skew quadrupole errors. The method is explained and applied to the correction of coupling in the interaction regions of the LHC at collision.

Programming parallel computers for performance is a difficult task that requires careful attention to both single-node performance and data exchange between processors. This paper discusses some of the sources of poor performance, ways to identify them in an application, and a few ways to address these issues.

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Hundreds of sites across the United States contain trichloroethene (TCE) contamination, including the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. Previous studies have indicated that microorganisms are capable of efficiently degrading TCE to nonhazardous end products. In this project, molecular and growth based methods were used for microbial characterization of a TCE impacted seepzone where TCE degradation is naturally occurring. The results from this work provide clear evidence that the SRB may play a significant role in TCE degradation along the Twin Lakes seepline.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) endorsement of consensus standards provides a cost-effective means of enhancing the staff’s ability to review state-of-the-art designs. Although the NRC endorsed consensus standards in many technical disciplines, it yet has to do so in human factors engineering (HFE). The purpose of our study was to develop a standardized methodology whereby to evaluate a consensus HFE standard to determine its appropriateness to, and adequacy for using in licensing reviews. The high-level objective of the methodology is to ensure that the guidance meets the NRC’s requirements on scientific- and engineering-rigor that they use in developing their own guidance. We propose four criteria for endorsing a consensus standard: (1) It should meet an existing need for NRC’s licensing and safety reviews; (2) it should be based on sound HFE principles; (3) it should be thoroughly peer-reviewed; and, (4) it should address human performance issues identified in the literature. Our methodology offers a means to assess these four criteria. We used it to evaluate an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) draft standard on computerized operating procedure systems. We concluded that the IEEE standard generally met the established criteria, although several areas were identified that needed further …

Detailed STRUCT simulations are performed on beam loss rates in the vicinity of the BTeV detector in the Tevatron CO interaction region due to beam-gas nuclear elastic interactions and out-scattering from the collimation system. Corresponding showers induced in the machine components and background rates in BTeV are modeled with the MARS14 code. It is shown that the combination of a steel collimator and concrete shielding wall located in front of the detector can reduce the accelerator-related background rates in the detector by an order of magnitude.