This Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration (SAFER) plan details the activities necessary to close Corrective Action Unit 496: Buried Rocket Site, Antelope Lake. CAU 496 consists of one site located at the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada.

Measurements were completed on the solubility of cupric and cuprous oxides in liquid water and steam at controlled pH conditions from 25 to 400 C (77 to 752 F). The results of this study have been combined with those reported from this laboratory in two previous EPRI reports to provide a complete description of the solubility of these oxides and the speciation of copper dissolved in liquid water and steam as a function of oxidation state, temperature, pH, and in the case of steam, pressure. These constitute the first set of reliable data for cuprous oxide solubility over this range of conditions. For the more intensively studied CuO case, agreement was found between our results and those of previous studies of its solubility in steam, whereas only partial agreement was evident for its solubility in liquid water. For both oxides this disagreement often amounted to orders of magnitude. The solubility of cuprous oxide is somewhat lower than that of CuO at ambient conditions, except as very high pH. However, by 350 C (662 F), Cu{sub 2}O is the more soluble phase. At 100 C (212 F) and above, the logarithm of the solubility of both phases decreases linearly with increasing …

This is a report on the development of anti-islanding control for grid-connected inverters from distributed generation sources. Islanding occurs when a distributed generation source continues to provide electricity to a portion of the utility grid after the utility experiences a disruption in service. Since the utility no longer controls this part of the distribution system, islanding can pose problems for utility personnel safety, power quality, equipment damage, and restoration of service. This report proposes a new family of anti-islanding schemes that meet IEEE 1547 interconnection standards, that can detect all disruptions in service, have minimum power-quality impact, require low-cost implementation, work for multiple distributed generators, and work for any multi-phase inverters. It also provides design guidelines for the schemes, and evaluates and validates the proposed schemes for practical applications.

In this investigation, various aspects of the mechanisms of gettering contaminant impurities away from device active regions in Si have been systematically conducted. Also systematically studied are the modeling of electrical activity of metallic precipitates in Si based on the Schottky effect. With these studies, our knowledge of gettering in Si and on the electrical activity of metallic precipitates in Si has become substantially complete in the sense that interpretations of major experimental results have become self- and mutually consistent. The purpose of conducting the studies supported by this project was to obtain consistent interpretations of existing experimental results, as well as to conduct the needed new experiments, concerning the various phenomena associated with gettering in Si. The investigated gettering method is that by using an Al layer, and the involved works span from studies concerning basic point defect behaviors during gettering to studies of application of the gettering method to improve multicrystalline Si minority-carrier diffusion lengths. A preliminary study of the effect of gettering in affecting the solar cell efficiency has been conducted. Moreover, a study of the electrical behavior of precipitated metallic impurities in Si based on the Schottky property of the precipitates, which is a newly proposed …

Statistical pressure snakes are used to track a mono-color target in an unstructured environment using a video camera. The report discusses an algorithm to extract a bar code signal that is embedded within the target. The target is assumed to be rectangular in shape, with the bar code printed in a slightly different saturation and value in HSV color space. Thus, the visual snake, which primarily weighs hue tracking errors, will not be deterred by the presence of the color bar codes in the target. The bar code is generate with the standard 3 of 9 method. Using this method, the numeric bar codes reveal if the target is right-side-up or up-side-down.

Given a video image source, a statistical pressure snake is able to track a color target in real time. This report presents an algorithm that exploits the one-dimensional nature of the visual snake target outline. If the target resembles a four-sided polygon, then the four polygon sides are identified by mapping all image snake point coordinates into Hough space where lines become points. After establishing that four dominant lines are present in snake contour, the polygon corner points are estimated. The computation burden of this algorithm is of the N logN type. The advantage of this method is that it can provide real-time target corner estimates, even if the corners themselves might be occluded.

In 2003, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) evaluated 23 Phase II fish screen sites in the Yakima River Basin as part of a multi-year project for the Bonneville Power Administration on the effectiveness of fish screening devices. PNNL collected data to determine whether velocities in front of the screens and in the bypasses met the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries, formerly the National Marine Fisheries Service [NMFS]) criteria to promote safe and timely fish passage. In addition, PNNL conducted underwater video surveys to evaluate the environmental and operational conditions of the screen sites with respect to fish passage. Based on evaluations in 2003, PNNL concluded that: (1) In general, water velocity conditions at the screen sites met fish passage criteria set by the NOAA Fisheries. (2) Conditions at most facilities would be expected to provide for safe juvenile fish passage. (3) Conditions at some facilities indicate that operation and/or maintenance should be modified to improve juvenile fish passage conditions. (4) Automated cleaning brushes generally functioned properly; chains and other moving parts were typically well greased and operative. (5) Removal of sediment buildup and accumulated leafy and woody debris could be improved at some sites.

ML development was started in 1997 by Ray Tuminaro and Charles Tong. Currently, there are several full- and part-time developers. The kernel of ML is written in ANSI C, and there is a rich C++ interface for Trilinos users and developers. ML can be customized to run geometric and algebraic multigrid; it can solve a scalar or a vector equation (with constant number of equations per grid node), and it can solve a form of Maxwell's equations. For a general introduction to ML and its applications, we refer to the Users Guide [SHT04], and to the ML web site, http://software.sandia.gov/ml.

Assume a target motion is visible in the video signal. Statistical pressure snakes are used to track a target specified by a single or a multitude of colors. These snakes define the target contour through a series of image plane coordinate points. This report outlines how to compute certain target degrees of freedom. The image contour can be used to efficiently compute the area moments of the target, which in return will yield the target center of mass, as well as the orientation of the target principle axes. If the target has a known shape such as begin rectangular or circular, then the dimensions of this shape can be estimated in units of image pixels. If the physical target dimensions are known apriori, then the measured target dimensions can be used to estimate the target depth.

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Accurate modeling of nucleation, growth and clustering of helium bubbles within metal tritide alloys is of high scientific and technological importance. Of interest is the ability to predict both the distribution of these bubbles and the manner in which these bubbles interact at a critical concentration of helium-to-metal atoms to produce an accelerated release of helium gas. One technique that has been used in the past to model these materials, and again revisited in this research, is percolation theory. Previous efforts have used classical percolation theory to qualitatively and quantitatively model the behavior of interstitial helium atoms in a metal tritide lattice; however, higher fidelity models are needed to predict the distribution of helium bubbles and include features that capture the underlying physical mechanisms present in these materials. In this work, we enhance classical percolation theory by developing the dynamic point-source percolation model. This model alters the traditionally binary character of site occupation probabilities by enabling them to vary depending on proximity to existing occupied sites, i.e. nucleated bubbles. This revised model produces characteristics for one and two dimensional systems that are extremely comparable with measurements from three dimensional physical samples. Future directions for continued development of the dynamic model …

This report documents the results of an extensive sensitivity study conducted by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. This study investigated the effects of various operating and design parameters on wellbore heat exchanger performance to determine conditions for optimal thermal energy extraction and evaluate the potential for using a wellbore heat exchanger model for power generation. Variables studied included operational parameters such as circulation rates, wellbore geometries and working fluid properties, and regional properties including basal heat flux and formation rock type. Energy extraction is strongly affected by fluid residence time, heat transfer contact area, and formation thermal properties. Water appears to be the most appropriate working fluid. Aside from minimal tubing insulation, tubing properties are second order effects. On the basis of the sensitivity study, a best case model was simulated and the results compared against existing low-temperature power generation plants. Even assuming ideal work conversion to electric power, a wellbore heat exchange model cannot generate 200 kW (682.4e+3 BTU/h) at the onset of pseudosteady state. Using realistic conversion efficiency, the method is unlikely to generate 50 kW (170.6e+3 BTU/h).

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A new chemically-oriented mathematical model for the development step of the LIGA process is presented. The key assumption is that the developer can react with the polymeric resist material in order to increase the solubility of the latter, thereby partially overcoming the need to reduce the polymer size. The ease with which this reaction takes place is assumed to be determined by the number of side chain scissions that occur during the x-ray exposure phase of the process. The dynamics of the dissolution process are simulated by solving the reaction-diffusion equations for this three-component, two-phase system, the three species being the unreacted and reacted polymers and the solvent. The mass fluxes are described by the multicomponent diffusion (Stefan-Maxwell) equations, and the chemical potentials are assumed to be given by the Flory-Huggins theory. Sample calculations are used to determine the dependence of the dissolution rate on key system parameters such as the reaction rate constant, polymer size, solid-phase diffusivity, and Flory-Huggins interaction parameters. A simple photochemistry model is used to relate the reaction rate constant and the polymer size to the absorbed x-ray dose. The resulting formula for the dissolution rate as a function of dose and temperature is ?t to …

A trace explosives detection system typically contains three subsystems: sample collection, preconcentration, and detection. Sample collection of trace explosives (vapor and particulate) through large volumes of airflow helps reduce sampling time while increasing the amount of dilute sample collected. Preconcentration of the collected sample before introduction into the detector improves the sensitivity of the detector because of the increase in sample concentration. By combining large-volume sample collection and preconcentration, an improvement in the detection of explosives is possible. Large-volume sampling and preconcentration is presented using a systems level approach. In addition, the engineering of large-volume sampling and preconcentration for the trace detection of explosives is explained.

A continuum-scale, evolutionary model of helium (He) nano-bubble nucleation, growth and He release for aging bulk metal tritides is presented which accounts for major features of the experimental database. Bubble nucleation, modeled as self-trapping of interstitially diffusing He atoms, is found to occur during the first few days following tritium introduction into the metal and is sensitive to the He diffusivity and pairing energy. An effective helium diffusivity of 0.3 x 10{sup -16} cm{sup 2}/s at 300 K is required to generate the average bubble density of 5x 1017 bubbles/cm3 observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Early bubble growth by dislocation loop punching with a l/radius bubble pressure dependence produces good agreement with He atomic volumes and bubble pressures determined from swelling data, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements, and hydride pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) shifts. The model predicts that later in life neighboring bubble interactions may first lower the loop punching pressure through cooperative stress effects, then raise the pressure by partial blocking of loops. It also accounts for the shape of the bubble spacing distribution obtained from NMR data. This distribution is found to remain fixed with age, justifying the separation of nucleation and growth phases, providing a sensitive test of …

A two-year effort focused on applying ASCI technology developed for the analysis of weapons systems to the state-of-the-art accident analysis of a nuclear reactor system was proposed. The Sandia SIERRA parallel computing platform for ASCI codes includes high-fidelity thermal, fluids, and structural codes whose coupling through SIERRA can be specifically tailored to the particular problem at hand to analyze complex multiphysics problems. Presently, however, the suite lacks several physics modules unique to the analysis of nuclear reactors. The NRC MELCOR code, not presently part of SIERRA, was developed to analyze severe accidents in present-technology reactor systems. We attempted to: (1) evaluate the SIERRA code suite for its current applicability to the analysis of next generation nuclear reactors, and the feasibility of implementing MELCOR models into the SIERRA suite, (2) examine the possibility of augmenting ASCI codes or alternatives by coupling to the MELCOR code, or portions thereof, to address physics particular to nuclear reactor issues, especially those facing next generation reactor designs, and (3) apply the coupled code set to a demonstration problem involving a nuclear reactor system. We were successful in completing the first two in sufficient detail to determine that an extensive demonstration problem was not feasible at …

This report documents the results of an extensive sensitivity study conducted by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. This study investigated the effects of various operating and design parameters on wellbore heat exchanger performance to determine conditions for optimal thermal energy extraction and evaluate the potential for using a wellbore heat exchanger model for power generation. Variables studied included operational parameters such as circulation rates, wellbore geometries and working fluid properties, and regional properties including basal heat flux and formation rock type. Energy extraction is strongly affected by fluid residence time, heat transfer contact area, and formation thermal properties. Water appears to be the most appropriate working fluid. Aside from minimal tubing insulation, tubing properties are second order effects. On the basis of the sensitivity study, a best case model was simulated and the results compared against existing low-temperature power generation plants. Even assuming ideal work conversion to electric power, a wellbore heat exchange model cannot generate 200 kW (682.4e+3 BTU/h) at the onset of pseudosteady state. Using realistic conversion efficiency, the method is unlikely to generate 50 kW (170.6e+3 BTU/h).

The Trilinos Project is an effort to facilitate the design, development, integration and ongoing support of mathematical software libraries. The goal of the Trilinos Project is to develop parallel solver algorithms and libraries within an object-oriented software framework for the solution of large-scale, complex multiphysics engineering and scientific applications. The emphasis is on developing robust, scalable algorithms in a software framework, using abstract interfaces for flexible interoperability of components while providing a full-featured set of concrete classes that implement all the abstract interfaces. This document introduces the use of Trilinos, version 4.0. The presented material includes, among others, the definition of distributed matrices and vectors with Epetra, the iterative solution of linear systems with AztecOO, incomplete factorizations with IF-PACK, multilevel and domain decomposition preconditioners with ML, direct solution of linear system with Amesos, and iterative solution of nonlinear systems with NOX. The tutorial is a self-contained introduction, intended to help computational scientists effectively apply the appropriate Trilinos package to their applications. Basic examples are presented that are fit to be imitated. This document is a companion to the Trilinos User's Guide [20] and Trilinos Development Guides [21,22]. Please note that the documentation included in each of the Trilinos' packages is …

A linear elastic constitutive equation for modeling fiber-reinforced laminated composites via shell elements is specified. The effects of transverse shear are included using first-order shear deformation theory. The proposed model is written in a rate form for numerical evaluation in the Sandia quasi-statics code ADAGIO and explicit dynamics code PRESTO. The equation for the critical time step needed for explicit dynamics is listed assuming that a flat bilinear Mindlin shell element is used in the finite element representation. Details of the finite element implementation and usage are given. Finally, some of the verification examples that have been included in the ADAGIO regression test suite are presented.

Sodium-bearing waste (SBW) disposition is one of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operation Office’s (NE-ID) and State of Idaho’s top priorities at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The INEEL has been working over the past several years to identify a treatment technology that meets NE-ID and regulatory treatment requirements, including consideration of stakeholder input. Many studies, including the High-Level Waste and Facilities Disposition Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), have resulted in the identification of five treatment alternatives that form a short list of perhaps the most appropriate technologies for the DOE to select from. The alternatives are (a) calcination with maximum achievable control technology (MACT) upgrade, (b) steam reforming, (c) cesium ion exchange (CsIX) with immobilization, (d) direct evaporation, and (e) vitrification. Each alternative has undergone some degree of applied technical development and preliminary process design over the past four years. This report presents a summary of the applied technology and process design activities performed through February 2004. The SBW issue and the five alternatives are described in Sections 2 and 3, respectively. Details of preliminary process design activities for three of the alternatives (steam reforming, CsIX, and direct evaporation) are presented in three appendices. A …

This report is an addendum to the report Calcined Waste Storage at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, INEEL/EXT-98-00455 Rev. 1, June 2003. The original report provided a summary description of the Calcined Solids Storage Facilities (CSSFs). It also contained dozens of pages of detailed data tables documenting the volume and composition (chemical content and radionuclide activity) of the calcine stored in the CSSFs and the liquid waste from which the calcine was derived. This addendum report compiles the calcine composition data from the original report. It presents the compiled data in a graphical format with units (weight percent, curies per cubic meter, and nanocuries per gram) that are commonly used in regulatory and waste acceptance criteria documents. The compiled data are easier to use and understand when comparing the composition of the calcine with potential regulatory or waste acceptance criteria. This addendum report also provides detailed explanations for the large variability in the calcine composition among the CSSFs. The calcine composition varies as a result of reprocessing different types of fuel that had different cladding materials. Different chemicals were used to dissolve the various types of fuel, extract the uranium, and calcine the resulting waste. This resulted in …

Exploration of the fundamental chemical behavior of the AlCl{sub 3}/SO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} catholyte system for the ARDEC Self-Destruct Fuze Reserve Battery Project under accelerated aging conditions was completed using a variety of analytical tools. Four different molecular species were identified in this solution, three of which are major. The relative concentrations of the molecular species formed were found to depend on aging time, initial concentrations, and storage temperature, with each variable affecting the kinetics and thermodynamics of this complex reaction system. We also evaluated the effect of water on the system, and determined that it does not play a role in dictating the observed molecular species present in solution. The first Al-containing species formed was identified as the dimer [Al({mu}-Cl)Cl{sub 2}]{sub 2}, and was found to be in equilibrium with the monomer, AlCl{sub 3}. The second species formed in the reaction scheme was identified by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies as [Cl{sub 2}Al({mu}-O{sub 2}SCl)]{sub 2} (I), a scrambled AlCl{sub 3}{center_dot}SO{sub 2} adduct. The SO{sub 2}(g) present, as well as CL{sub 2}(g), was formed through decomposition of SO{sub 2}CL{sub 2}. The SO{sub 2}(g) generated was readily consumed by AlCl{sub 3} to form the adduct 1 which was experimentally verified when 1 …

Bulk and surface energies are calculated for endmembers of the isostructural rhombohedral carbonate mineral family, including Ca, Cd, Co, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, and Zn compositions. The calculations for the bulk agree with the densities, bond distances, bond angles, and lattice enthalpies reported in the literature. The calculated energies also correlate with measured dissolution rates: the lattice energies show a log-linear relationship to the macroscopic dissolution rates at circumneutral pH. Moreover, the energies of ion pairs translated along surface steps are calculated and found to predict experimentally observed microscopic step retreat velocities. Finally, pit formation excess energies decrease with increasing pit size, which is consistent with the nonlinear dissolution kinetics hypothesized for the initial stages of pit formation.