The Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors have conducted research and development (R&D) in geothermal energy since 1971. To develop the technology needed to harness the Nation's vast geothermal resources, DOE's Office of Geothermal Technologies oversees a network of national laboratories, industrial contractors, universities, and their subcontractors. The goals are: (1) Double the number of States with geothermal electric power facilities to eight by 2006; (2) Reduce the levelized cost of generating geothermal power to 3-5 cents per kWh by 2007; and (3) Supply the electrical power or heat energy needs of 7 million homes and businesses in the United States by 2010. This Federal Geothermal Program Research Update reviews the specific objectives, status, and accomplishments of DOE's Geothermal Program for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2002. The information contained in this Research Update illustrates how the mission and goals of the Office of Geothermal Technologies are reflected in each R&D activity. The Geothermal Program, from its guiding principles to the most detailed research activities, is focused on expanding the use of geothermal energy. balanced strategy for the Geothermal Program.

In February 1997, the U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office issued the Mitigation Action Plan which addressed potential impacts described in the ''Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Nevada Test Site and Off-Site Locations in the State of Nevada'' (DOE/EIS 0243). The U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office committed to several actions, including the preparation of an annual report, which summarizes waste shipments to and from the Nevada Test Site (NTS) Radioactive Waste Management Sites (RWMSs) at Area 3 and Area 5. This document satisfies requirements with regard to low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLLW) transported to or from the NTS during fiscal year (FY) 2002.

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A study performed in FY01 recommended that the Defense Waste Process Facility (DWPF) replace Frit 200 with Frit 320 for the processing of sludge batch 2 (SB2) to improve melt rate (Lambent et al., 2001) contingent upon additional testing which included slurry feeding. The FY02 melt rate program was developed to support this recommendation as well as to investigate alternative methods of improving melt rate above and beyond a change in frit composition. The integrated program was primarily based on a sound testing methodology from which the frit change was recommended. In addition, the program included the development of additional tools to provide further insight into melt rate enhancements. The overall strategy of the FY02 testing program was to design suites of melt rate tests based on recommendations from previous work that provided insight into other methods of improving melt rate for the DWPF. The objectives of the FY02 testing program included how melt rate might be influenced by increases in waste loading, differences in frit particle size, the use of batch chemicals rather than a pre-fabricated frit, and the impact of uranium. This report summarizes the equipment development and setup, procedures, and results of this testing, and includes recommendations …

Sandia National Laboratories has developed a portfolio of programs to address the critical skills needs of the DP labs, as identified by the 1999 Chiles Commission Report. The goals are to attract and retain the best and the brightest students and transition them into Sandia--and DP Complex--employees. The US Department of Energy/Defense Programs University Partnerships funded seven laboratory critical skills development programs in FY02. This report provides a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of these programs and their status.

This report provides the results of detailed hydrologic characterization tests conducted within newly constructed Hanford Site wells during FY 2002. Results from the tests provide hydrologic information that supports the needs of RCRA waste management characterization and sitewide groundwater monitoring and modeling programs and reduces the uncertainty of groundwater flow conditions at selected Hanford locations.

This report is a summary of the larger report, ''Hanford Site Groundwater Monitoring for Fiscal Year 2002.'' The report provides highlights of monitoring groundwater, vadose zone activities, and information about specific contaminant plumes.

This report presents the results of groundwater and vadose zone monitoring and remediation for fiscal year 2002 on the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington State. This report is written to meet the requirements in CERCLA, RCRA, the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and Washington State Administrative Code.

A series of studies by the Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office and NASA have identified the critical role played by large optics in fulfilling many of the space related missions of these agencies. Whether it is the Next Generation Space Telescope for NASA, high resolution imaging systems for NRO, or beam weaponry for the Air Force, the diameter of the primary optic is central to achieving high resolution (imaging) or a small spot size on target (lethality). While the detailed requirements differ for each application (high resolution imaging over the visible and near-infrared for earth observation, high damage threshold but single-wavelength operation for directed energy), the challenges of a large, lightweight primary optic which is space compatible and operates with high efficiency are the same. The advantage of such large optics to national surveillance applications is that it permits these observations to be carried-out with much greater effectiveness than with smaller optics. For laser weapons, the advantage is that it permits more tightly focused beams which can be leveraged into either greater effective range, reduced laser power, and/or smaller on-target spot-sizes; weapon systems can be made either much more effective or much less expensive. This application requires only single-wavelength …

This report is one of two components, the first an overview document outlining the goals and results of the XFEM LDRD project, and the other (titled ''Structured Extended Finite Element Methods of Solids defined by Implicit Surfaces'') detailing the scientific advances developed under FY01/FY02 LDRD funding. The XFEM (Extended Finite-Element Method) Engineering LDRD/ER Project was motivated by three research and development goals: (1) the extensions of standard finite-element technology into important new research venues of interest to the Engineering Directorate, (2) the automation of much of the engineering analysis workflow, so as to improve the productivity of mesh-generation and problem setup processes, and (3) the development of scalable software tools to facilitate innovation in XFEM analysis and methods development. The driving principle behind this LDRD project was to demonstrate the computational technology required to perform mechanical analysis of complex solids, with minimal extra effort required on the part of mechanical analysts. This need arises both from the growing workload of LLNL analysts in problem setup and mesh generation, and from the requirement that actual as-built mechanical configurations be analyzed. Many of the most important programmatic drivers for mechanical analysis require that the actual (e.g., deformed, aged, damaged) geometric configuration of …

Application of two electrical resistivity methods at the Hanford Site Mock Tank during 2002, indicate the viability of the methods as possible leak-detection tools for SST retrieval operations. Electrical Resistivity Tomography and High-Resolution Resistivity were used over a 109-day period to detect leakage of a waste simulant beneath the tank. The results of the test indicate that both of these two methods, and subset methods may be applicable to SST leak detection.

This report describes the activities on the ''Ultra Miniaturization of RF'' project conducted as part of Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. The objective was to evaluate a multichip module technology known as Microwave Chip on Flex (MCOF) [1], which is a newer form of the standard high density interconnect (HDI) technology originally developed by General Electric and Lockheed Martin [2,3]. The program was a three-year effort. In the first year, the team focused on understanding the technology and developing a basic design library. In the second year, devices and interconnects used at L, X, and Ku frequency bands were evaluated via a test coupon (with no application specific circuit design). In the third year, we designed, fabricated, and evaluated a specific Ku-band circuit. The circuit design and layout was performed by Sandia, and the module fabrication was performed by Lockheed Martin Government Electronic Systems. In MCOF technology [1], bare die are placed face down on an adhesive backed flex circuit. The first level of the circuit is a pre-patterned titanium copper thin film metal system on a polyimide dielectric material. The complete module is then framed and filled with an epoxy encapsulant. The module is flipped and …