This report discusses concerns safety issues, and management at Hanford Tank Farm. Concerns center on the issue of flammable gas generation which could ignite, and on possible exothermic reactions of ferrocyanide compounds which were added to single shell tanks in the 1950's. It is believed that information concerning these issues has been mis-handled and the problems poorly managed. (CBS)

Current criteria for criticality safety for spent fuel shipping and storage casks are conservative because no credit is permitted for the effects of burnup of the fuel inside the cask. Cask designs that will transport and store large numbers of fuel assemblies (20 or more) must devote a substantial part of their payload to criticality control measures if they are to meet this criteria. The Department of Energy is developing the data necessary to support safety analyses that incorporate the effects of burnup for the next generation of spent fuel shipping casks. The efforts described here are devoted to the development of acceptance criteria that will be the basis for accepting safety analyses. Preliminary estimates of the uncertainties of the effects of burnup have been developed to provide a basis for the consideration of critically safety criteria. The criticality safety margins in a spent fuel shipping or storage cask are dominated by the portions of a fuel assembly that are in low power regions of a reactor core, and the reactor operating conditions are very different from spent fuel storage or transport cask conditions. Consequently, the experience that has been gathered during years of reactor operation does not apply directly …

This is a status report on technical progress relative to the tasks identified for the fifth year of Grant No. FG02-85-ER52118. The ARIES tokamak reactor study is a multi-institutional effort to develop several visions of the tokamak as an attractive fusion reactor with enhanced economic, safety, and environmental features. The ARIES study is being coordinated by UCLA and involves a number of institutions, including RPI. The RPI group has been pursuing the following areas of research in the context of the ARIES-I design effort: MHD equilibrium and stability analyses; plasma-edge modeling and blanket materials issues. Progress in these areas is summarized herein.

The case studies in this document describe the Public Utilities, Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) development process for a variety of generating technologies. Developer interactions with regulatory agencies and power purchasers are described in some detail. Equipment, installation, and maintenance costs are identified; power marketing considerations are taken into account; and potential environmental impacts, with corresponding mitigation approaches and practices are summarized. The project development case studies were prepared by the energy agencies of the four Northwest states, under contract to the Bonneville Power Administration.

This report describes research conducted at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, programs are discussed in the following topics: materials sciences; chemical sciences; fossil energy; energy storage systems; health and environmental sciences; exploratory research and development funds; and work for others. A total of fifty eight programs are briefly presented. References, figures, and tables are included where appropriate with each program.

The proposed test program will examine the stability and rheology of the coal water fuels (CWFs) prepared from various beneficiated coal products made from the following coals: Illinois No. 6, Wyodak, and Upper Elkhorn No. 3. Fuel characterization will include: particle size distribution, ultimate and proximate analyses of coal, ash composition, ash fusion temperature, and solids concentration. For rheological characteristics, data will be obtained at varying shear rates, temperature, and agitation or recirculation in the bulk storage tanks. The effect of freeze-thaw on the stability and rheology of the CWF will be evaluated. Control of the environmental conditions will be examined by means of formulation additives, including the addition of freezing point depressants and biocides. Bulk storage studies will involve testing CWF stability characteristics with and without agitation and recirculation. The design of the storage tank will be reviewed, and the effectiveness of cone bottom and dish bottom tanks will be tested. The CWF storage and handling tests will be carried out at Tecogen's CWF-fired advanced combustor facility. This quarter, under Task 2, two coal water slurry fuels were produced from the baseline coal. Chemical stability tests and mechanical resuspension tests were begun under the Task 3 effort. Residential storage …

The scheduling of the construction activities for the SSC Project involves two major concurrent emphases on design, construction, installation, and test. These two major activities include the completion of the construction project by the end of FY98 and industrially produced magnet tests by the end of FY92. Scheduling of the construction activities is further complicated by the fact that the baseline cost and schedule is still under review and negotiation with the Department of Energy and the currently anticipated funding for FY91 is somewhat less than originally requested. However, with the above limitations, the schedules presented herein are the most current at this time.

With the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) less than a decade away, a race is underway to find the ideal detector system for the giant collider. One such area that seems promising is fiber calorimetry. Fiber calorimetry is a fairly new area of research in detector instruments. The calorimeter is composed of very thin scintillating fibers embedded in lead in a hexagonal geometry. Originally, the fiber calorimeter was designed for use with plastic scintillators. However, these plastic fibers are very sensitive to damage by high doses of radiation. To overcome this, we are proposing to replace the solid plastic scintillating fibers with hollow tubes filled with liquid scintillating material, which is much more radiation resistant than solid plastic scintillator. The purpose of this paper is to report on the properties of the MACRO Oil and GlassClad coating system, as they pertain to the requirements for SSC calorimetry. The particular properties of interest are: (1) light yield, (2) attenuation length, (3) wavelength dependence of the light output, and (4) energy resolution of the system. 8 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs.

The ultrafine grain sizes and high diffusivities in nanophase materials assembled from atomic clusters suggest that these materials may have a strong tendency toward superplastic mechanical behavior. Both small grain size and enhanced diffusivity can be expected to lead to increased diffusional creep rates as well as to a significantly greater propensity for grain boundary sliding. Recent mechanical properties measurements at room temperature on nanophase Cu, Pd, and TiO{sub 2}, however, give no indications of superplasticity. Nonetheless, significant ductility has been clearly demonstrated in these studies of both nanophase ceramics and metals. The synthesis of cluster-assembled nanophase materials is described and the salient features of what is known of their structure and mechanical properties is reviewed. Finally, the answer to the question posed in the title is addressed. 34 refs., 6 figs.

The major focus of current research on production of biomass for use as energy feedstock involves selection of species and genotypes best suited for specific regions of the United States and development of crop management techniques that maximize biomass productivity while minimizing environmental impacts and economic costs. The two experimental sites, and abandoned soybean field (AS) and an abandoned pasture (AP) were studied. At the AS site, the effects of two harvest frequencies (1 or 2 harvests annually), two nitrogen fertilizer treatments (1 or 2 harvests annually), two nitrogen fertilizer treatments (0 or 87 kg{center dot}ha{sup {minus}1}{center dot}yr{sup {minus}1}), and two phosphorous fertilizer treatments (0 or 111 kg{center dot}ha{sup {minus}1}{center dot}yr{sup {minus}1}) were determined. At the AP site, the effects of two harvest treatments (1 or 2 harvests annually), two fertilizer treatments (56:56:135 kg of N:P:K{center dot}ha{sup {minus}1}{center dot}yr{sup {minus}1}), and two lime treatments (0 or 4600 kg{center dot}ha{sup {minus}1}{center dot}yr{sup {minus}1}) were determined. At both sites, treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block 2 {times} 2 {times} 2 factorial experiment. The results of this research indicated that old-field vegetation is: (1) sufficiently productive to provide significant quantities of energy feedstock; (2) chemically suitable as an energy feedstock; (3) …

This report presents the results of a study of the lessons learned during the design, testing, and operation of gas-cooled reactor coolant circulators. The intent of this study is to identify failure modes and problem areas of the existing circulators so this information can be incorporated into the design of the circulators for the New Production Reactor (NPR)-Modular High-Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (MHTGR). The information for this study was obtained primarily from open literature and includes data on high-pressure, high-temperature helium test loop circulators as well as the existing gas cooled reactors worldwide. This investigation indicates that trouble free circulator performance can only be expected when the design program includes a comprehensive prototypical test program, with the results of this test program factored into the final circulator design. 43 refs., 7 tabs.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Remedial Action Program (RAP) was established in 1985 in response to state and federal regulations requiring comprehensive control over facility discharges and cleanup of contaminated sites. A computerized Data and Information Management System (DIMS) was developed for RAP to (1) provide a centralized repository for data pertinent to RAP and (2) provide support for the investigations and assessments leading to the long-term remediation of contaminated facilities and sites. The current status of DIMS and its role in supporting RAP during 1989 are described. The DIMS consists of three components: (1) the Numeric Data Base, (2) the Bibliographic Data Base, and (3) the Records Control Data Base. This report addresses all three data bases, but focuses on the contents of the Numeric Data Base. Significant progress was made last year with the geographic information system (GIS) and ARC/INFO, which can be interfaced with SAS/GRAPH to provide combined mapping and statistical graphic products. Several thematic layers of GIS data for the Oak Ridge Reservation are now available. 18 refs., 8 figs., 19 tabs.

It is recognized worldwide that an intense source of fusion energy neutrons is needed to evaluate candidate fusion materials. At an International Energy Agency (IEA) workshop held in San Diego in February 1989, an Evaluation Panel recommended that three neutron source concepts be developed further. The panel also recommended that further comparisons were needed of their irradiation environments. In this paper, a comparison is made of damage parameters for beryllium, carbon, silicon, vanadium, iron, copper, molybdenum, and tungsten irradiated in spectra characteristic of di-Li, spallation, and beam-plasma (d-t) neutron sources and in a reference DEMO first wall spectrum. The treatment of neutron-induced displacement reactions is confined to the region below 20 MeV and transmutation reactions to below 50 MeV by the limited availability of calculational tools. The spallation spectrum is relatively soft; less than 2% of the neutrons are above 50 MeV. The transmutation results emphasize the need to define the neutron spectra at low, as well as high, energies; only the DEMO spectrum is adequate in this respect. Recommendations are given for further work to be performed under an international working group. 12 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

Measurements of the x-ray gate time of 0.2 mm thick microchannel plates with an L/D aspect ratio of 20 as opposed to the more usual L/D=40, demonstrate that gate times of 35 ps can be achieved. Good agreement with time dependent modelling is demonstrated. 7 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

A workshop was convened to develop a better understanding of decision-making matters concerning management of the global commons and to resolve conflicts in response to climate change. This workshop report does not provide a narrative of the proceedings. The workshop program is included, as are the abstracts of the papers that were presented. Only the introductory paper on social science research by William Riebsame and the closing summary by Richard Rockwell are reprinted here. This brief report focuses instead on the deliberations of the working groups that developed during the workshop. 4 figs., 1 tab.

This paper studies the idea of symmetrizing both the lattice and the beams of an asymmetric collider, and discusses why this regime should be within the parametric reach of the design in order to credibly ensure its performance. Also examined is the effectiveness of a simple compensation method using the emittance as a free parameter and that it does not work in all cases. At present, when there are no existing asymmetric colliders, it seems prudent to design an asymmetric collider so as to be similar to a symmetric one (without relying on a particular theory of the asymmetric beam-beam interaction that has not passed tests of fidelity). Nevertheless, one must allow for the maximum possible flexibility and freedom in adjusting those parameters that affect luminosity. Such a parameter flexibility will be essential in tuning the collider to the highest luminosity.

Programs in Perspective is the Bonneville Power Administration's public involvement process (PIP) for engaging customers and other stakeholders in a regional dialog to set strategic direction and broad program plans for BPA effort. This planning leads into a biennial rate setting cycle and offers a more accessible and flexible opportunity for dialog on broad issues than is possible under the strict administrative procedures of ratemaking. The self-financed character of BPA has made this public process a necessary and valuable one to assure that those who pay BPA's rates have a clear understanding and a strong voice in the plans for use of the resulting revenues. During 1989, the previous PIP engaged the region in discussion of major strategic, issues focussing on major areas. In 1990, BPA seeks discussion of the directions and plans specifically for fiscal years 1992 and 1993. The steps taken for those years will lay the foundation for the years beyond. Thus, we have subtitled this year's process, Staying fit for the long run.'' We have consulted extensively with customers and others in the region in developing these plans. In dozens of program--specific meetings, BPA staff have talked and listened to what others think our plans ought …

The existing switchyards at Western Area Power Administration's (WESTERN) Seminoe and Kortes facilities, located approximately 40 miles northeast of Rawlines, Carbon County, Wyoming, were constructed in 1939 and 1951, respectively. The circuit breakers at these facilities are beyond or approaching their service life and need to be replaced. In addition, the switchyards have poor access for maintenance and replacement of equipment, and their locations create potential for oil spills into the North Platte River. WESTERN is proposing to consolidate the switchyard facilities into one new substation to provide easier access, restore proper levels of system reliability, and decrease the potential for oil contamination of the river. This environmental assessment (EA) was prepared to evaluate the impacts of the proposed Seminoe-Kortes Consolidation Project. 57 refs., 12 figs., 8 tabs.

I consider the beginning to modern particle physics to be in 1932--33, when James Chadwick discovered the neutron at Cambridge, England, and Carl Anderson discovered the positron in Pasadena, California. I leave out the discoveries of the electron by J. J. Thomson, the nucleus and the proton by Ernest Rutherford, as well as the photon introduced by Albert Einstein and the neutrino as hypothesized by Wolfgang Pauli, as having occurred before my time.'' I was thus able to follow -- and sometimes participate in -- all the developments of modern particle physics. The story I will tell is as the unfolding of the field looked; to me -- an experimental particle physicists. As with Rashomon, this is as I see it. To get a different point of view, and no doubt there are many, you need different observer. One might ask, what did I know about physics in the 1930s, anyway It so happens that I did hear abut Chadwick's discovery at the time, mainly because my brother Maurice was working with him in 1934 on the photo-disintegration of the deuteron, and on the first good measurement of the neutron mass. I will concentrate on the thirty years, 1930 to …

We have examined the structure of XUV multilayer coatings using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Using a variety of techniques, we have measured the interface widths and the interface topography from the digitized TEM images, and have compared these results to x-ray and XUV reflectance measurements. We find that the structural parameters measured from the TEM images and those deduced from reflectance are consistent in light of the probable systematic errors associated with the measurement and interpretation techniques. 14 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.

Results are reported of a study of control system options which can be used to improve the combustion performance of residential, oil-fired heating equipment. Two basic control modes were considered in this program. The first is service required'' signals in which an indication is provided when the flame quality or heat exchanger cleanliness have degraded to the point that a service call is required. The second control mode is excess-air trim'' in which the burner would essentially tune itself continuously for maximum efficiency. 35 refs., 67 figs., 2 tabs.

This work presents the numerical solution for the current and potential distributions of a cylindrical electrode. In particular, it investigates the primary current distribution, the secondary current distribution with linearized kinetics, and the potential distribution due to constant current density on the working electrode. 16 refs., 19 figs.

The performance of multilayer-coated Schwarzschild objectives, and similar near normal incidence soft x-ray focussing systems, can be affected by the changing angles of incidence for different rays and possible variations in multilayer period across the curved mirror surfaces. A design analysis which considers these issues is presented, using as an example a 20 times demagnifying Schwarzschild objective coated with molybdenum/silicon multilayers for operation at roughly 76 eV. The large bandwidth of these multilayers eases requirements on control of the variation of the d-spacing for the systems considered. Implications for extension to similar systems operating with different magnifications, sizes, and photon energies are discussed. 12 refs., 5 figs.

The objective of this committee is to evaluate the appropriate role, both short-term and long-term, of the Los Alamos Spallation Radiation Effects Facility (LASREF) in the US Fusion Materials Program.