Calculation of river flow is important for managing reservoirs and flood forecasting. In the western United States, a complex terrain which is characterized by steep slopes and narrow valleys often cause a substantial rise of river levels in a short period during heavy precipitation events. Since flood control is one of the major tasks of reservoir operation, inaccurate predictions of precipitation and river flow may cause flooding or waste of water resources. Accurate calculations of river flow need accurate liquid water input to the river system at scales of individual watersheds. Precipitation and snowmelt are the most important natural source of water for a river. Reservoir operations significantly affect river flow in the western United States. Factors such as instantaneous soil water content, vegetation cover, terrain slope and ground water table structure are also crucial for river flow calculation. There are two types of precipitation: rain and snowfall. River flow quickly responds to rainfall while snowfall does not directly affect river flow until it melts afterwards. Therefore, these two types of precipitation must be separately provided to the river flow model for correct calculation of river flows. A large portion of snowfall is accumulated at high terrain during winter months …

A test version of AXAIR has been prepared to compare with PUFF-PLUME. The test version of AXAIR applies the same meteorological conditions as PUFF-PLUME and also the dispersion coefficients have been changed to be the same as those in PUFF-PLUME. The test version of AXAIR and PUFF-PLUME produce virtually the same doses with the differences being less than 3% for the select cases with similar input. Differences and similarities in the models are also addressed.

The Savannah River Site has successfully used robots, teleoperators, and remote video to reduce exposure to ionizing radiation, improve worker safety, and improve the quality of operations. Previous reports have described the use of mobile teleoperators in coping with a high level liquid waste spill, the removal of highly contaminated equipment, and the inspection of nuclear reactor vessels. This report will cover recent applications at the Savannah River, as well as systems which SRS has delivered to other DOE site customers.

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories

This document comprises the fire hazards analysis for the solid waste burial grounds, including TRU trenches, low-level burial grounds, radioactive mixed waste trenches, etc. It analyzes fire potential, and fire damage potential for these facilities. Fire scenarios may be utilized in future safety analysis work, or for increasing the understanding of where hazards may exist in the present operation.

High-strength Al(O) alloys, initially discovered by ion implantation, have now been produced with electron-cyclotron resonance plasma deposition and pulsed-laser deposition. The mechanical properties of these deposited alloy layers were examined with nanoindentation, and finite element modeling of the indented layer on Si substrates was used to determine yield stresses for the alloys of {approximately} 1--5 GPa. The key to these high strengths is the high density of nanometer-size {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} precipitates formed when high concentrations (5--30 at.%) of oxygen are introduced into aluminum as individual atoms or molecules. The strongest alloys have precipitates as small as 1 nm, implying that such small precipitates block dislocation motion. Based upon previous studies with oxygen-implanted aluminum, improved tribological properties are expected for layers made by the two new deposition methods.

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories

Protecting employees from heat stress within tank farms during the summer months is challenging. Work constraints typically experienced in tank farms complicate the measures taken to protect employees from heat stress. TWRS-Industrial Hygiene (IH) has endeavored to control heat stress injuries by anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling the factors which lead or contribute to heat stress in Tank Farms. The TWRS Heat Stress Control Program covers such areas as: employee and PIC training, communication of daily heat stress alerts to tank farm personnel, setting work/rest regimens, and the use of engineering and personal protective controls when applicable. The program has increased worker awareness of heat stress and prevention, established provisions for worker rest periods, increased drinking water availability to help ensure worker hydration, and allowed for the increased use of other protective controls to combat heat stress. The TWRS Heat Stress Control Program is the cornerstone for controlling heat stress among tank farm employees. The program has made great strides since it`s inception during the summer of 1994. Some improvements can still be made to enhance the program for the summer of 1996, such as: (1) procurement and use of personal heat stress monitoring equipment to ensure appropriate application of …

The high pressure water jet nozzle tests were conducted to identify optimum water pressure, water flow rate, nozzle orifice size and fixture configuration needed to effectively decontaminate empty fuel storage canisters in KE-Basin. This report gives the tests results and recommendations from the these tests.

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories

From July 10 to July 17, 1995, Project Overview was conducted at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) at Andros Island, Bahamas. Part of the project was the collection and analysis of environmental data including wind measurements and ocean temperature and salinity profiles. This report describes these environmental measurements and presents the results of analysis performed in the field. The goal of the analysis was to calculate the Brunt-Vaeisaelae (BV) profile during operations, and provide operational recommendations from solutions of the Taylor-Goldstein (T-G) equation using the measured BV profile. Part 1 is a description of the sensors and their deployment. Part 2 discusses the analysis done in the field. Part 3 presents a summary of the wind measurements. Part 4 summarizes the ocean profiling results. Part 5 presents overall conclusions and recommendations for future experiments. The appendices include all of the ocean profiling results and wind measurements obtained in the field.

The EPA has declared vitrification to be the Best Available Demonstrated Technology (BDAT) for High Level Radioactive Waste (40 CFR 268.42). Vitrification has been chosen as the method of choice for treating a number of radioactive residues and wastes in the DOE complex. Vitrification offers advantages of waste volume reduction, the ability to handle changing waste forms, and a stable, nonleachable final waste form. Microwave heating is a superior method for vitrification of radioactive wastes. Advantages of microwave heating include: (1) direct waste heating, eliminates need for electrodes, refractories and other consumables; (2) ``in-can`` processing allows for treatment of the material in its final container, (3) a mechanically simple system where the microwaves are generated away from the treatment area and transmitted to the treatment applicator by a wave guide, thus minimizing worker exposure to radiation; (4) easier equipment maintenance; and (5) a high degree of public acceptance.

The development of a new detector designed to optically image the track of a charged particle in a gas is outlined. In the detector, a pulsed high-voltage (up to {approx} 30--40 kV), high-frequency (f = 27.125 MHz) RF field is temporarily applied (pulse duration {approx} 1--3 {mu}s) across a pair of electrodes, immediately following, or alternatively, just prior to the passage of a charged particle through the chamber. The pulsed RF field excites the subexcitation electrons left along the particle`s path leading to excitation and ionization of the surrounding gas and the emission of light. The track is then imaged by a fast intensified digital camera (shutter speed {approx} 0.1--5 {mu}s). The image is recorded in a two-dimensional pixel array (512 {times} 512 pixels) within the camera, and transferred to a computer for later analysis. The detector has been operated over the total gas pressure range 2.5--100 kPa (20--750 torr) using a gas mixture of 2--10% N2 in Ar. Images of both {alpha} and {beta} tracks obtained with this detector are discussed to demonstrate the usefulness of the present technique in charged-particle track analysis for dosimetry and microdosimetry applications.

Hydrothermal treatment (reaction in a water medium at elevated temperatures) can transform many municipal solid waste (MSW) constituents into a synthetic coal material which is more amenable for use as a fuel or chemical feedstock than the raw MSW. One means of heating the MSW is to use direct high temperature steam injection into a closed reactor and allow the latent heat of the steam to raise the MSW to the desired temperature and at the same time build the pressure necessary to maintain a water phase. This report describes a computer model which can be used to look at details of the steam flow, water evaporation/condensation, thermal evolution, and MSW decomposition in a direct-steam heated MSW hydrothermal reactor. The model treats the system as a packed bed using a Darcy`s law formulation for computing gas flow rates. The model has been applied to a pilot and a commercial scale system. Computations take between 1-6 hours on a HP-9000/730. Initial computations performed with the model indicate that pressure drop and velocities on a pilot scale systems will be small. On the other hand, they indicate that gas velocities inside a commercial scale reactor can reach levels at which entrainment of …

Electricity constitutes a critical input in sustaining the Nation`s economic growth and development and the well-being of its inhabitants. However, there are byproducts of electricity production that have an undesirable effect on the environment. Most of these are emissions introduced by the combustion of fossil fuels, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total electricity generated in the United States. The environmental impacts (or damages) caused by these emissions are labeled environmental ``externalities.`` Included in the generic term ``externality`` are benefits or costs resulting as an unintended byproduct of an economic activity that accrue to someone other than the parties involved in the activity. This report provides an overview of the economic foundation of externalities, the Federal and State regulatory approaches, and case studies of the impacts of the externality policies adopted by three States.

Accurate assessments of precipitation and surface snow budget during winter seasons are crucial for managing water resources in the western United States. This region receives most of its annual precipitation during winter months and relies on water stored in snowpack and reservoirs for water supply during dry summer seasons. Rainfall directly affects water inflow into reservoirs while snowmelt determines it during spring and summer. Precipitation and snow budget result from interactions among large-scale forcing, mesoscale processes, and surface energy balance. Interaction among these elements is highly nonlinear and includes various processes such as large-scale water vapor and temperature advection, precipitation physics, orographic forcing, turbulence, solar and terrestrial radiative transfer, and snow-albedo feedback. Hence, one need to take these processes into consideration in order to obtain accurate assessments of regional water resources over time scales longer than a season. A regional model that interactively couples atmospheric and land surface processes is a cost-effective tool for an assessment of precipitation and surface hydrology over large areas at a relatively fine resolution. Such models can include complex physical and dynamical processes involved in the interaction between the atmosphere and land surfaces. Another advantage of coupled atmosphere-land surface modeling is that simulations, when verified …

This document serves as the System Design Description (SDD) for the TMAD Code System, which includes the TMAD code and the LIBMAKR code. The SDD provides a detailed description of the theory behind the code, and the implementation of that theory. It is essential for anyone who is attempting to review or modify the code or who otherwise needs to understand the internal workings of the code. In addition, this document includes, in Appendix A, the System Requirements Specification for the TMAD System.

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories

During the time period between February 1994 and September 1995, Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) sampled the waste tank headspace of 43 single-shell tanks for a variety of gaseous and/or volatile and semi-volatile compounds. This report summarizes the results of analyses of those sampling activities with respect to both the Priority 1 Safety Issues and relative to the detection in the headspace of significant concentrations of target analytes relating to worker breathing space consideration as recommended by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) Toxicology Review Panel. The information contained in the data tables was abstracted from the vapor sampling and analysis tank characterization reports. Selected results are tabulated and summarized. Sampling equipment and methods, as well as sample analyses, are briefly described. Vapor sampling of passively ventilated single-shell tanks (tanks C-105, C-106, and SX-106 were sampled and are actively ventilated) has served to highlight or confirm tank headspace conditions associated with both priority 1 safety issues and supports source term analysis associated with protecting worker health and safety from noxious vapors

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories