The Mine Waste Working Group discussed the nature and possible contributions to the solution of this class of waste problem at length. There was a consensus that the mine waste problem presented some fundamental differences from the other classes of waste addresses by the Develop On-Site Innovative Technologies (DOIT) working groups. Contents of this report are: executive summary; stakeholders address the problems; the mine waste program; current technology development programs; problems and issues that need to be addressed; demonstration projects to test solutions; conclusion-next steps; and appendices.

Within High-Level Waste Management (HLWM), CAMs and VAMPs are currently considered Class B equipment, therefore, alarm conditions associated with the CAMs and VAMPs result in an Unusual Occurrence or Off-Normal notification and subsequent occurrence reporting. Recent equipment difficulties associated with Continuous Air Monitors (CAMs) and Victoreen Area Radiation Monitors (VAMPs) have resulted in a significant number of notification reports. These notification have the potential to decrease operator sensitivity to the significance of specific CAM and VAMP failures. Additionally, the reports are extremely costly and are not appropriate as a means for tracking and trending equipment performance. This report provides a technical basis for a change in Waste Management occurrence reporting categorization for specific CAM and VAMP failure modes.

Two slow heating liquefaction runs of steam pretreated coal were carried out using the new sample (No.31) of Illinois No.6 coal to check consistency with previous samples. Good agreement was obtained between the runs made with new sample. There were, however, significant differences from yields obtained with the previously used sample. Consequently, averaging yields from the two samples is not appropriate. Further work on this new Illinois No.6 coal sample will be continued next month. Purification of {alpha}-naphthylmethyl phenyl ether, and {alpha}-benzylnaphthyl ether was continued.

The Earth`s capacity to support life depends on the moderating influences of gases that envelop the planet and warm its surface and protect it from harmful radiation. These gases are referred to as ``greenhouse gases.`` Their warming capacity, called ``the greenhouse effect,`` is essential to maintaining a climate hospitable to all plant, animal, and human life. In recent years, however, there has been increasing concern that human activity may be affecting the intricate balance between the Earth`s absorption of heat from the sun and its capacity to reradiate excess heat back into space. Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities may be an important mechanism that affects global climate. Thus, research is intensifying to improve our understanding of the role human activities might play in influencing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. On the basis of scientific findings of the past few decades, the US Government and the international community at large are now taking steps toward stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. This report contributes to that process. Mandated by Congress this report provides estimates of US emissions of the principal greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorcarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and nonmethane volatile organic compounds. Estimates are for the period …

The Savannah River Site (SRS) environmental-appraisal/surveillance program is designed to monitor environmental performance and to ensure that regulatory requirements are met. The appraisal/surveillance program is a two-tiered system which consists of external and internal appraisals and surveillances. External appraisals/surveillances are conducted by organizations not reporting to SRS management. The internal appraisals/surveillances are conducted by site organizations referred to as organizations. External appraisals include Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) regulatory appraisals, DOE-SR and DOE-HQ appraisals, and operating contractor reviews. These appraisals are the result of regulatory requirements, DOE orders, or operating contractor policies. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) leads the coordination, planning, and scheduling support. The internal appraisal program consists of three types; management appraisals, program appraisals, and facility appraisals. All organizations developed and implemented a formal facility-appraisal program in February 1989. The first facility appraisal was completed during FY 89. To ensure consistency between departments, the SRS environmental appraisal procedure was completed in December 1988. EPD conducts both the management and program appraisals.

This paper outlines an experimental plan to test the thermohydraulic concept of the proposed Oak Ridge National Laboratory Cold Neutron Moderator. The goals, approach, description of the experimental apparatus, and proposed budget and duration are presented.

There is no technical basis for setting a time limit of 10,000 years on the regulated performance of a nuclear waste repository. First, accurate prediction of releases for such periods is not possible. Second, there is nothing unique about 10,000 years. Third, equally toxic materials, which never transform to non-toxic substances by radioactive decay, have no long-term requirements. And fourth, over a 10,000 year time frame, social and natural disasters will dwarf the worst possible outcomes of repository placement. Analyses could be required to extend as long as doses above current radiation protection guidelines are possible (perhaps several million years), but these results should be recognized as qualitative information rather than evidence of quantitative compliance with exact numerical limits. Concern for what will happen over long times can be addressed for the next several hundred years by maintaining waste retrievability. At that time, uncertainty about future performance should have been reduced significantly.

The (NGM) Natural Gas Monthly highlights activities, events, and analyses of interest to public and private sector organizations associated with the natural gas industry. Volume and price data are presented each month for natural gas production, distribution, consumption, and interstate pipeline activities. Producer-related activities and underground storage data are also reported. From time to time, the NGM features articles designed to assist readers in using and interpreting natural gas information. This month`s feature articles are: US Production of Natural Gas from Tight Reservoirs: and Expanding Rule of Underground Storage.

The Nuclear Reactor Program at North Carolina State University provides the PULSTAR Research Reactor and associated facilities to eligible institutions with support, in part, from the Department of Energy Reactor Sharing Program. Participation in the NCSU Reactor Sharing Program continues to increase steadily with visitors ranging from advance high school physics and chemistry students to Ph.D. level research from neighboring universities.

High energy electron beams (HEEBs) with megavolt energies represent a new generation of charged particle beams that rapidly deposit up to several hundred joules/pulse over areas on the order of a few square millimeters to 100s of square centimeters. These pulsed beams have energies in the 1 to 10 MeV range, which enables the electrons to deposit large amounts of energy deeply into the material being processed, and these beams have short pulse durations (50 ns) that can heat materials at rates as high as 10{sup 10} {degrees}C/s for a 1000 {degree}C temperature rise in the material. Lower heating rates, on the order of 10{sup 4} {degrees}C/s, can be produced by reducing the energy per pulse and distributing the total required energy over a series of sub-ms pulses, at pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) up to several kHz. This paper presents results from materials processing experiments performed on steel with a 6 MeV electron beam, analyzes these results using a Monte Carlo transport code, and presents a first-order predictive method for estimating the peak energy deposition, temperature, and heating rate for HEEB processed steel.

No endeavor is risk-fire and as we realize the inherent risks in society, our only viable solution is to manage the risk. Application of an integrated risk management program of a large technological system like the DOE complex is a difficult, task; but it is the only rational means to optimize the risk-benefit equation. An effective risk management culture-within the DOE complex will in the long run, ensure a consistent response to mitigate identified risks. An effective risk management program provides responsible administrative planning and logical application of the best technical analyses. It requires the involvement of all personnel. Our objective in this paper is to point out broad perspectives that raise concerns about future DOE ask management issues and to suggest some possible remedies.

HIPROTECT (pronounced High-protect) is a system designed to protect national archaeological and natural treasures from destruction by vandals or looters. The system is being developed jointly by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California at Riverside under the DOD Legacy Resource Management Program. Thousands of archaeological sites are located on military bases and national park lands. Treasure hunters or vandals are pillaging and destroying these sites at will, since the sites are generally located in remote areas, unattended and unprotected. The HIPROTECT system is designed to detect trespassers at the protected sites and to alert park officials or military officials of intrusions. An array of sensors is used to detect trespassers. The sensors are triggered when a person or vehicle approaches the site. Alarm messages are transmitted to alert park officials or law enforcement officials by way of a cellular telephone link. A video and audio system is included to assist the officials in verifying that an intrusion has occurred and to allow two-way communication with the intruders.

The project on ``Development of a Theory of the Dependence of Human Reliability upon System Designs as a Means of Improving Nuclear Power Plant Performance`` was been undertaken in order to address the problem of human error in advanced nuclear power plant designs. Lack of a mature theory has retarded progress in reducing likely frequencies of human errors. Work being pursued in this project is to perform a set of experiments involving human subjects who are required to operate, diagnose and respond to changes in computer-simulated systems, relevant to those encountered in nuclear power plants, which are made to differ in complexity in a systematic manner. The computer program used to present the problems to be solved also records the response of the operator as it unfolds.

Rapid heating liquefaction of steam pretreated Illinois No.6 coal mixed with 4A zeolite was carried out this month. Liquefaction yields are close to those obtained with 5A zeolite at the same coal/zeolite ration. Aquathermolysis of model compound 9-phenoxyphenanthrene was carried out this month under conditions similar to employed by Katritzky but for shorter time. Analysis of recovered products showed incomplete cleavage of the ether. This demonstrates the importance of longer reaction time even at high pressure. It will be of interest to determine if high conversions can be achieved at long reaction times and low pressure. Additional amounts of model compounds 2-naphthyl methyl phenyl ether and 2-naphthyl benzyl ether were synthesized. Purification of these compounds are now in progress.

The main goal of this contract is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC{sub 4=} directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of using a lower H{sub 2}/CO ratio (0.5 to 1.0). The research will identify and optimize the key catalyst and process characteristics that give improved performance for CO conversion by a non-Fischer-Tropsch process. This report, which is the Technical Progress Report No. 4 for contract DE-AC22-91PC90042, covers the testing of various ZrO{sub 2}-based catalyst systems designed to examine the effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially the H{sub 2}/CO ratio. Testing of sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts with 1 or 2% cesium (Cs) addition indicates decreased stability at a H{sub 2}:CO ratio of 0.5. The addition of cobalt (Co) or copper (Cu) to the base ZrO{sub 2} catalyst results in a small activity gain, but a selectivity loss. This gain in Cu catalyst activity is mostly due to increased methane production. The Co catalyst shifts selectivity toward saturated products. The addition of water to the feed stream had a beneficial effect on stability. The addition of a basic clay had no effect on the activity or selectivity.

The main goal of this contract is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC4{sub 4}{sup =} directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of using a lower H{sub 2}/CO ratio (0.5 to 1.0). The research will identify and optimize the key catalyst and process characteristics that give improved performance for CO conversion by a non-Fischer-Tropsch process. This report, which is Quarterly Report No. 5 for contract DE-AC22-91PC90042, covers the testing of various zirconia (ZrO{sub 2}) and bismuth oxide (Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3}) based catalyst systems designed to examine the effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially the H{sub 2}/Co ratio. Testing of sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts with lanthanum (La) or yttrium (Y) addition indicates a decrease in isobutene yield. An attempt to increase catalyst surface area by impregnating Zr on a sol-gel SiO{sub 2} catalyst was unsuccessful. A Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst was very low in activity as a result of complete reduction to Bi metal. Increasing the H{sub 2}/CO ratio to 2:1 slightly increased the isobutene yield and improved catalyst stability.

Goal is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC{sub 4}{double_bond} directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of using a lower H{sub 2}/CO ratio (0.5 to 1.0). This report covers the testing of various zirconia (ZrO{sub 2}) based catalyst systems designed to examine effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially feed additives. Testing sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts calcined at 475 C instead of 500 C increases the isobutene yield. Supporting zirconia on high-surface-area sol-gel silica or silica-alumina results in low activity catalysts. Addition of ethylene, propylene, ethanol to feed produces hydrogenation, dimerization, and metathesis products, but little or no isobutene.

Efforts are described to prepare educational materials including computer based as well as conventional type teaching materials for training interested high school and elementary students in aspects of Human Genome Project.

Radioactive cesium will be removed from aqueous high level waste (HLW) solutions by precipitation with sodium tetraphenyl borate (TPB) in the In-Tank Precipitation (ITP) process. Benzene is generated due to the radiolysis of TPB, and dissolves into the decontaminated salt solution (DSS) and into the water used to wash (WW) the precipitate. These solutions will be processed through stripping columns to reduce the benzene concentration to satisfy limits for disposal of the DSS and for temporary storage of the WW. A pilot scale testing program to evaluate the stripping column operation in support of ITP startup activities has been completed. Equipment and test plans were developed so that data obtained from the pilot scale testing would be directly applicable to full scale column operation and could be used to project hydraulic performance and stripping efficiency of both columns. A review of the test data indicate that the ITP stripping columns will be capable of reducing benzene concentrations in salt solutions to satisfy Saltstone and Tank 22 acceptance limits. An antifoam (AF) will be required to maintain the column differential pressure below the vendor recommendation of 40 inches wc so that design feed rates can be achieved. Additionally, the testing program …

Under the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management and Operating Contractor (CRWMS M&O) has the responsibility to review, evaluate, and document existing computer ground-water flow models; to conduct performance assessments; and to develop performance assessment models, where necessary. In the area of scientific modeling, the M&O CRWMS has the following responsibilities: To provide overall management and integration of modeling activities. To provide a framework for focusing modeling and model development. To identify areas that require increased or decreased emphasis. To ensure that the tools necessary to conduct performance assessment are available. These responsibilities are being initiated through a three-step process. It consists of a thorough review of existing models, testing of models which best fit the established requirements, and making recommendations for future development that should be conducted. Future model enhancement will then focus on the models selected during this activity. Furthermore, in order to manage future model development, particularly in those areas requiring substantial enhancement, the three-step process will be updated and reported periodically in the future.

Rapid heating liquefaction of steam pretreated Illinois No.6 coal mixed with 13X zeolite was carried out this month. The pores of this zeolite retain pyridine during drying, but not enough to account for the low apparent yield of pyridine extract. Soxhlet extraction analysis of the product showed a significantly lower oil yield compared with 5A zeolite. This might be caused by retention of tetralin in 13x zeolite pores. Tetralin retention will be determined subsequently. A test of 4A zeolite is planned for next month. Aquathermolysis of model compound {beta}-benzylnaphthyl ether was carried out this month at high pressure (liquid water conditions). Analysis of the recovered products are now in progress.

Prior to receiving the grant, Utilitip was faced with an idea that truly worked, however only a very limited line of component parts would fit various types of chain saws on the market. It also suffered from a severe problem when engaged in the ground of soil penetrating the saw chain area, thus eliminating one of the major benefits of keeping the chain sharp. Consequently, the grant funding was directed towards extending the tooling capabilities to produce parts for a much wider variety of chain saws that are on the market, and further by developing an effective flexible soil shield to prevent abrasive soil entry into the saw chain. Utilitip was able to complete a full set of design for a wide variety of large and small chain saws. This incorporated a design and fabrication of a small Utilitip, as well as a small anti-kickback device. In addition, tooling was also further developed for the large Utilitip and the large anti-kickback device. Accordingly, multiple tools are available for all combinations, as well as back-up provisions. Utilitip, Inc. invented a special, flexible attachment to be glued and/or molded to the tip guard. The soil shield prevents abrasive soil from coming into …

We report on the design details of the first ultraviolet (UV) free-electron laser (FEL) oscillator driven by low-energy electrons from a radio-frequency linear accelerator. In our experiment we used a high-current, high brightness electon beam in combination with a wiggler of novel design to produce an FEL that lased at wavelengths from 369--380 nm using 45.9--45.2 MeV electrons. In addition we performed a proof-of principle experiment that demonstrated the first ever photolithography on a photoresist-coated silicon wafer using an FEL light source.

An inspection was conducted of certain aspects of the Department of Energy`s administration of its management and operating and other designated contractors` executive employees` compensation. The purpose of the inspection was to evaluate whether Departmental officials were performing their responsibilities for reviewing, approving and reporting contractors` executive employees` compensation. Contractor executive employees` compensation totalled $533 million in fiscal year 1991. Results are described.