A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1988, radioactive contamination was found in the drinking water wells of residences near the federal government's uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, Kentucky. In response, the Department of Energy (DOE) began a cleanup program. In 2000, GAO reported that DOE faced significant challenges in cleaning up the site and that it was doubtful that the cleanup would be completed as scheduled by 2010 and within the $1.3 billion cost projection. GAO was asked to determine (1) the amount of money DOE has spent on the site, the purposes for which it was spent, and the estimated total costs for the site; (2) the status of DOE cleanup efforts; and (3) the challenges GAO previously identified that continue to be issues for DOE."

Numerical methods are used to examine dimensional errors in metal structures microfabricated by the LIGA process. These errors result from elastic displacements of the PMMA mold during electrodeposition and arise from thermal expansion of the PMMA when electroforming is performed at elevated temperatures and from PMMA swelling due to absorption of water from aqueous electrolytes. Both numerical solutions and simple analytical approximations describing PMMA displacements for idealized linear and axisymmetric geometries are presented and discussed. We find that such displacements result in tapered metal structures having sidewall slopes up to 14 {micro}m per millimeter of height for linear structures bounded by large areas of PMMA. Tapers for curved structures are of similar magnitude, but these structures are additionally skewed from the vertical. Potential remedies for reducing dimensional errors are also discussed. Here we find that auxiliary moat-like features patterned into the PMMA surrounding mold cavities can reduce taper by an order of magnitude or more. Such moats dramatically reduce tapers for all structures, but increase skew for curved structures when the radius of curvature is comparable to the structure height.

More than ten years ago, Sandia managers defined a set of traits and characteristics that were needed for success at Sandia. Today, the Sandia National Laboratories Success Profile Competencies continue to be powerful tools for employee and leadership development. The purpose of this report is to revisit the historical events that led to the creation and adaptation of the competencies and to position them for integration in future employee selection, development, and succession planning processes. This report contains an account of how the competencies were developed, testimonies of how they are used within the organization, and a description of how they will be foundational elements of new processes.

This post-closure inspection report provides documentation of the semiannual inspection activities, maintenance and repair activities, and conclusions and recommendations for calendar year 2003 for eight corrective action units located on the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada.

Deep x-ray lithography in combination with electroforming is capable of producing high precision metal parts in small lot series. This study deals with a high aspect ratio structure with overall dimensions on the order of 10 mm x 7 mm x 1.5 mm, with the smallest line width being 150 {micro}m. The lateral deviation from the design is to be kept to a minimum, preferably below 5 {micro}m. To ensure adequate quality control, a semi-automated metrology technique has been established to measure all parts. While the paper will give a brief overview of all involved techniques, it focuses on the method to measure the top and bottom of the parts and the top of geometries following the process. The instrument used is a View Engineering Voyager V6x12 microscope, which is fully programmable. The microscope allows direct measurement of geometries but also is capable of saving all captured data as point clouds. These point clouds play a central role when evaluating part geometry. After measuring the part, the point cloud is compared to the computer aided design (CAD) contour of the part, using a commercially available software package. The challenge of proper edge lighting on a nickel alloy part is evaluated …

Monthly report written by the Texas Daily Newspaper Association's (TDNA's) office manager, Darla Thompson, to Phil Berkebile providing a summary of revenues and account balances, programs, meetings, and other activities in the office during the previous month.

Using a data set of 158 and 169 pb{sup -1} of D0 Run-II data in the electron and muon plus jets channel, respectively, the top quark mass has been measured using the Matrix Element Method. The method and its implementation are described. Its performance is studied in Monte Carlo using ensemble tests and the method is applied to the Moriond 2004 data set.

Buildings should be suited to their environments. Design and construction must be responsive to varying seismic risks, wind loads, and snow loads, as well as soil conditions, frost depth, orientation, and solar radiation. In addition, building envelopes and mechanical systems should be designed for a specific hygro-thermal regions, rain exposure, and interior climate. The Building Science Consortium (BSC) design recommendations are based on the hygro-thermal regions with reference to the annual rainfall. Local climate must be addressed if it differs significantly from the climate described for a particular design.

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The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), formerly operated a grain storage facility approximately 1,100 ft north of Centralia from 1949 until 1971. Subsequently, a concrete mixing plant operated on the site (FSA 1997). None of the CCC/USDA structures remain, though belowgrade foundations related to structures associated with the concrete mixing operations are evident. Two additional grain storage facilities currently exist in and near Centralia: the Nemaha County Co-op, approximately 4,000 ft south of the former CCC/USDA facility, and a private grain storage facility near the Don Morris residence, 3,500 ft north of the former CCC/USDA facility (Figure 1.1). The property on which the former facility was located is currently owned by Jeanne Burdett Lacky of Seneca, Kansas. In August-September 1998 the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) conducted preliminary investigations at the former CCC/USDA facility, on the basis of the detection of carbon tetrachloride in the domestic well at the Don Morris residence (north of the former CCC/USDA facility). Prior to 1986, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were commonly used by the CCC/USDA and the grain storage industry to preserve grain. The details of previous investigations in the area and …

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This document is a compilation of the characterization data obtained on a sample of TRISO-coated 500 {micro}m UO{sub 2} produced by the Germans and obtained by the AGR program for use as a reference material. This sample came from the EUO 2358-2365 composite studied by General Atomics (GA) and referenced in GA document No.910852 'Acceptance Test report for German Fuel Particles'. The ORNL designation for the material characterized was AGR-06.

A finite element mesh is used to decompose a continuous domain into a discretized representation. The finite element method solves PDEs on this mesh by modeling complex functions as a set of simple basis functions with coefficients at mesh vertices and prescribed continuity between elements. The mesh is one of the fundamental types of data linking the various tools in the FEA process (mesh generation, analysis, visualization, etc.). Thus, the representation of mesh data and operations on those data play a very important role in FEA-based simulations. MOAB is a component for representing and evaluating mesh data. MOAB can store structured and unstructured mesh, consisting of elements in the finite element 'zoo'. The functional interface to MOAB is simple yet powerful, allowing the representation of many types of metadata commonly found on the mesh. MOAB is optimized for efficiency in space and time, based on access to mesh in chunks rather than through individual entities, while also versatile enough to support individual entity access. The MOAB data model consists of a mesh interface instance, mesh entities (vertices and elements), sets, and tags. Entities are addressed through handles rather than pointers, to allow the underlying representation of an entity to change …

Historically, the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe depended on runs of anadromous salmon and steelhead along the Spokane River and Hangman Creek, as well as resident and adfluvial forms of trout and char in Coeur d'Alene Lake, for survival. Dams constructed in the early 1900s on the Spokane River in the City of Spokane and at Little Falls (further downstream) were the first dams that initially cut-off the anadromous fish runs from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. These fisheries were further removed by the construction of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams on the Columbia River. Together, these actions forced the Tribe to rely solely on the resident fish resources of Coeur d'Alene Lake (Staff Communication). The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is estimated to have historically harvested around 42,000 westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) per year (Scholz et al. 1985). In 1967, Mallet (1969) reported that 3,329 cutthroat were harvested from the St. Joe River, and a catch of 887 was reported from Coeur d'Alene Lake. This catch is far less than the 42,000 fish per year the tribe harvested historically. Today, only limited opportunities exist to harvest cutthroat trout in the Coeur d'Alene Basin. The declines in native salmonid fish populations, particularly …

This study identifies remaining undeveloped geothermal resources in California and western Nevada, and it estimates the development costs of each. It has relied on public-domain information and such additional data as geothermal developers have chosen to make available. Reserve estimation has been performed by volumetric analysis with a probabilistic approach to uncertain input parameters. Incremental geothermal reserves in the California/Nevada study area have a minimum value of 2,800 grosss MW and a most-likely value of 4,300 gross MW. For the state of California alone, these values are 2,000 and 3,000 gross MW, respectively. These estimates may be conservative to the extent that they do not take into account resources about which little or no public-domain information is available. The average capital cost of incremental generation capacity is estimated to average $3,100/kW for the California/Nevada study area, and $2,950/kW for the state of California alone. These cost estimates include exploration, confirmation drilling, development drilling, plant construction, and transmission-line costs. For the purposes of this study, a capital cost of $2,400/kW is considered competitive with other renewable resources. The amount of incremental geothermal capacity available at or below $2,400/kW is about 1,700 gross MW for the California/Nevada study area, and the same …

This document, which is prepared as directed by the Compliance Order on Consent (COOC) issued by the New Mexico Environment Department, identifies and outlines a process to evaluate remedial alternatives to identify a corrective measure for the Sandia National Laboratories New Mexico Technical Area (TA)-V Groundwater. The COOC provides guidance for implementation of a Corrective Measures Evaluation (CME) for the TA-V Groundwater. This Work Plan documents an initial screening of remedial technologies and presents a list of possible remedial alternatives for those technologies that passed the screening. This Work Plan outlines the methods for evaluating these remedial alternatives and describes possible site-specific evaluation activities necessary to estimate remedy effectiveness and cost. These methods will be reported in the CME Report. This Work Plan outlines the CME Report, including key components and a description of the corrective measures process.

The PCOR Partnership continues to make great progress. Task 2 (Deployment Issues) activities have focused on utilizing Dakota Gasification Company (DGC) experience and data with respect to DGC participation in the enhanced oil recovery project at Weyburn, Saskatchewan. A solid line of communication has been developed with the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) for the mutual benefit of the PCOR Partnership and IOGCC's complementary efforts. Task 3 (Public Education and Outreach) activities have focused on developing a foundation of background materials in order to avoid a duplication of efforts and provide the best outreach and educational materials possible. Progress in Task 4 (Characterization and Evaluation) has included the development of a database format, the preliminary collection of data regarding CO{sub 2} sources and sinks, and data on the performance and costs for CO{sub 2} separation, capture, treatment, and compression for pipeline transportation. Task 5 (Modeling and Phase II Action Plans) activities have resulted in a conceptual model for screening and qualitatively assessing sequestration options. Task 5 activities have also been useful in structuring data collection and other activities in Tasks 2, 3, and 5.

This research project is aimed at assessing the soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential of reclaimed minesoils (RMS). The experimental sites were characterized by distinct age chronosequences of reclaimed minesoil and were located in Guernsey, Morgan, Noble, and Muskingum Counties of Ohio. These sites are owned and maintained by Americal Electrical Power. These sites were reclaimed (1) with topsoil application, and (2) without topsoil application, and were under continuous grass or forest cover. Three core and three bulk soil samples were collected from each of the experimental site and one unmined site (UMS) for 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depths and soil bulk density ({rho}{sub b}), texture, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), volumes of transport (VTP) and storage (VSP) pores, available water capacity (AWC), pH and electrical conductivity (EC), SOC, total nitrogen (TN) concentrations and stocks were determined. The preliminary results from sites reclaimed with topsoil and grass indicate that sand content was highest (24%) and clay content was lowest (17%) for site reclaimed in 2003 (R03) for 0-15 cm depth. The {rho}{sub b} was highest for R03 (1.24 Mg m{sup -3}) than sites reclaimed in 1987 (R87; 1.02 Mg m{sup -3}), 1978 (R78; 0.98 Mg m{sup -3}) and UMS (0.96 …

During the fifth reporting period, the main goal for the team was to focus on collecting data to develop Oxygen Sensor Recording System (OSRS) parametric relationships for several rich-burn engines. An air/fuel ratio controller was intergraded with an O{sub 2} sensor. With the use of an Alternative Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (ACEMS) provided by Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), the performance will be observed during normal operation.

This report describes criticality benchmark experiments containing rhodium that were conducted as part of a Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Initiative project. Rhodium is an important fission product absorber. A capability to perform critical experiments with low-enriched uranium fuel was established as part of the project. Ten critical experiments, some containing rhodium and others without, were conducted. The experiments were performed in such a way that the effects of the rhodium could be accurately isolated. The use of the experimental results to test neutronics codes is demonstrated by example for two Monte Carlo codes. These comparisons indicate that the codes predict the behavior of the rhodium in the critical systems within the experimental uncertainties. The results from this project, coupled with the results of follow-on experiments that investigate other fission products, can be used to quantify and reduce the conservatism of spent nuclear fuel safety analyses while still providing the necessary level of safety.

Micromachines have the potential to significantly impact future weapon component designs as well as other defense, industrial, and consumer product applications. For both electroplated (LIGA) and surface micromachined (SMM) structural elements, the influence of processing on structure, and the resultant effects on material properties are not well understood. The behavior of dynamic interfaces in present as-fabricated microsystem materials is inadequate for most applications and the fundamental relationships between processing conditions and tribological behavior in these systems are not clearly defined. We intend to develop a basic understanding of deformation, fracture, and surface interactions responsible for friction and wear of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) materials. This will enable needed design flexibility for these devices, as well as strengthen our understanding of material behavior at the nanoscale. The goal of this project is to develop new capabilities for sub-microscale mechanical and tribological measurements, and to exercise these capabilities to investigate material behavior at this size scale.

The objective of the autonomous micro-explosive subsurface tracing system is to image the location and geometry of hydraulically induced fractures in subsurface petroleum reservoirs. This system is based on the insertion of a swarm of autonomous micro-explosive packages during the fracturing process, with subsequent triggering of the energetic material to create an array of micro-seismic sources that can be detected and analyzed using existing seismic receiver arrays and analysis software. The project included investigations of energetic mixtures, triggering systems, package size and shape, and seismic output. Given the current absence of any technology capable of such high resolution mapping of subsurface structures, this technology has the potential for major impact on petroleum industry, which spends approximately $1 billion dollar per year on hydraulic fracturing operations in the United States alone.

Field-structured composites (FSCs) were produced by hosting micron-sized gold-coated nickel particles in a pre-polymer and allowing the mixture to cure in a magnetic field environment. The feasibility of controlling a composite's electrical conductivity using feedback control applied to the field coils was investigated. It was discovered that conductivity in FSCs is primarily determined by stresses in the polymer host matrix due to cure shrinkage. Thus, in cases where the structuring field was uniform and unidirectional so as to produce chainlike structures in the composite, no electrical conductivity was measured until well after the structuring field was turned off at the gel point. In situations where complex, rotating fields were used to generate complex, three-dimensional structures in a composite, very small, but measurable, conductivity was observed prior to the gel point. Responsive, sensitive prototype chemical sensors were developed based on this technology with initial tests showing very promising results.

It would not be possible to confidently qualify weapon systems performance or validate computer codes without knowing the uncertainty of the experimental data used. This report provides uncertainty estimates associated with thermocouple data for temperature measurements from two of Sandia's large-scale thermal facilities. These two facilities (the Radiant Heat Facility (RHF) and the Lurance Canyon Burn Site (LCBS)) routinely gather data from normal and abnormal thermal environment experiments. They are managed by Fire Science & Technology Department 09132. Uncertainty analyses were performed for several thermocouple (TC) data acquisition systems (DASs) used at the RHF and LCBS. These analyses apply to Type K, chromel-alumel thermocouples of various types: fiberglass sheathed TC wire, mineral-insulated, metal-sheathed (MIMS) TC assemblies, and are easily extended to other TC materials (e.g., copper-constantan). Several DASs were analyzed: (1) A Hewlett-Packard (HP) 3852A system, and (2) several National Instrument (NI) systems. The uncertainty analyses were performed on the entire system from the TC to the DAS output file. Uncertainty sources include TC mounting errors, ANSI standard calibration uncertainty for Type K TC wire, potential errors due to temperature gradients inside connectors, extension wire uncertainty, DAS hardware uncertainties including noise, common mode rejection ratio, digital voltmeter accuracy, mV to …