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The Laboratory`s central mission of Reducing the Global Nuclear Danger supports core competencies that enable the Laboratory to contribute to defense, civilian, and industrial needs. In turn, the intellectual challenges of civilian and industrial problems strengthen and help support the core competencies required for the national security mission. The ability to do great science underpins all of the applied work. There are five core competencies which support this mission: (1) Stockpile Stewardship ensures the US has safe, secure and reliable nuclear weapons; (2) Stockpile Management provides capabilities ranging from dismantling to remanufacturing of the enduring stockpile; (3) Nuclear Materials Management ensures the availability and safe disposition of plutonium, highly enriched uranium, and tritium; (4) Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation help to deter, detect, and respond to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and (5) Environmental Stewardship provides for the remediation and reduction of wastes from the nuclear weapons complex. This report contains data on volumes of waste generated as part of routine and cleanup/stabilization activities of the lab.

The US Department of Energy has established the Continuous Fiber Ceramic Composites (CFCC) program to develop technology for the manufacture of CFCC`s for use in industrial applications where a reduction in energy usage or emissions could be realized. As part of this program, the Dow Chemical Company explored the manufacture of a fiber reinforced/self reinforced silicon nitride for use in industrial chemical processing. In Dow`s program, CFCC manufacturing technology was developed around traditional, cost effective, tape casting routes. Formulations were developed and coupled with unique processing procedures which enabled the manufacture of tubular green laminates of the dimension needed for the application. An evaluation of the effect of various fibers and fiber coatings on the properties of a fiber reinforced composites was also conducted. Results indicated that fiber coatings could provide composites exhibiting non-catastrophic failure and substantially improved toughness. However, an evaluation of these materials in industrial process environments showed that the material system chosen by Dow did not provide the required performance improvements to make replacement of current metallic components with CFCC components economically viable.

Subsurface data is being collected, organized, and a digital database is being prepared for the project. An ACCESS database and PC-Arcview is being used to manage and interpret the data. Well data and base map data have been successfully imported into Arcview and customized to meet the needs of this project. Log tops and other data from about ½ of the exploration wells in the area have been incorporated into the data base. All of the four 30� X 60� geologic quadrangles have been scanned to produce a digital surface geologic data base for the Crow Reservation and all are nearing completion. Formal technical review prior to publication has been completed for the Billings and Bridger Quadrangles; and are underway for the Hardin and Lodge Grass Quadrangles. Field investigations were completed during the last quarter. With the help of a student field assistant from the Crow Tribe, the entire project area was inventoried for the presence of valley-fill deposits in the Kootenai Formation. Field inventory has resulted in the identification of nine exposures of thick valley-fill deposits. These appear to represent at least four major westward-trending valley systems. All the channel localities have been measured and described in detail and …