This report explains how the Harrop, High-Temperature Viscometer was installed, calibrated, and operated. This report includes assembly and alignment of the furnace, viscometer, and spindle, and explains the operation of the Brookfield Viscometer, the Harrop furnace, and the UDC furnace controller. Calibration data and the development of the spindle constant from NIST standard reference glasses is presented. A simple operational procedure is included.

Although much has been learned about the structure and function of p53 and the probable sequence of subsequent events that lead to cell cycle arrest, little is known about how DNA damage is detected and the nature of the signal that is generated by DNA damage. Circumstantial evidence suggests that protein kinases may be involved. In vitro, human DNA-PK phosphorylates a variety of nuclear DNA-binding, regulatory proteins including the tumor suppressor protein p53, the single-stranded DNA binding protein RPA, the heat shock protein hsp90, the large tumor antigen (TAg) of simian virus 40, a variety of transcription factors including Fos, Jun, serum response factor (SRF), Myc, Sp1, Oct-1, TFIID, E2F, the estrogen receptor, and the large subunit of RNA polymerase II (reviewed in Anderson, 1993; Jackson et al., 1993). However, for most of these proteins, the sites that are phosphorylated by DNA-PK are not known. To determine if the sites that were phosphorylated in vitro also were phosphorylated in vivo and if DNA-PK recognized a preferred protein sequence, the authors identified the sites phosphorylated by DNA-PK in several substrates by direct protein sequence analysis. Each phosphorylated serine or threonine is followed immediately by glutamine in the polypeptide chain; at no …

This is a report of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (Pacific Northwest's) FY1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report. This report summarizes our progress toward accomplishment of the critical outcomes, objectives, and performance indicators as delineated in the FY1999 Performance Evaluation & Fee Agreement. It also summarizes our analysis of the results of Pacific Northwest's Division and Directorate annual self-assessments, and the implementation of our key operational improvement initiatives. Together, these provide an indication of how well we have used our Integrated Assessment processes to identify and plan improvements for FY2000. As you review the report you will find areas of significantly positive progress; you will also note areas where I believe the Laboratory could make improvements. Overall, however, I believe you will be quite pleased to note that we have maintained, or exceeded, the high standards of performance we have set for the Laboratory.

Since the mid 1940's, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have conducted research and development activities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in support of urgent national interests in the fields of nuclear weaponry and nuclear energy. Some of these activities resulted in radiologically hazardous waste being temporarily deposited at ORNL in Waste Area Grouping 1. At this location, waste is stored in several underground storage tanks, awaiting ultimate final disposal. There are tanks of two basic categories; one category is referred to as the "gunite" tanks, and the other category is `associated" tanks. The ORNL Gunite and Associated Tanks Treatability Study (GMT-TS) project was initiated in fiscal year (FY) 1994 to support a record of decision in selecting from seven different options of technologies for retrieval and remediation of these tanks. This decision process is part of a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), Remedial investigation and Feasibility Study (R1/FS) presented to DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). As part of this decision process, new waste retrieval technologies were evaluated at the 25-ft diameter gunite tanks in the North Tank Farm.

The Process Water System (primary coolant) piping of the nuclear production reactors constructed in the 1950''s at Savannah River Site is comprised primarily of Type 304 stainless steel with Type 308 stainless steel weld filler. A program to measure the mechanical properties of archival PWS piping and weld materials (having approximately six years of service at temperatures between 25 and 100 degrees C) has been completed. The results from the mechanical testing has been synthesized to provide a mechanical properties database for structural analyses of the SRS piping.

The affinities for cesium and mercury ions contained in DWPF recycle simulants and Tank-22H waste have been evaluated using Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST) and Self-Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Support (SAMMS) ion-exchange materials, respectively. Results of the performance evaluations of CST on the uptake of cesium with simulants and actual DWPF recycle samples (Tank 22H) indicate that, in practice, this inorganic ion-exchange material can be used to remove radioactive cesium from the DWPF recycle. SAMMS material showed little or no affinity for mercury from highly alkaline DWPF waste. However, at near neutral conditions (DWPF simulant solution pH adjusted to 7), SAMMS was found to have a significant affinity for mercury. Conventional Duolite/256 ion exchange material showed an increase in affinity for mercury with increase in DWPF recycle simulant pH. Duolite/256 GT-73 also had a high batch distribution coefficient for mercury uptake from actual Tank 22H waste.

An assessment of the macroinvertebrate community of Crouch Branch was performed in June 1999 to determine if effluent from the H-02 outfall is impairing the quality of the stream. Concurrent samples were collected for metals analyses (copper and zinc). The results of the study indicate that the stream is most impaired just downstream from the H-02 outfall and that the quality of the stream biota improves with increasing distance from the outfall. Conversely, macroinvertebrate habitat quality is best just downstream from the H-02 outfall. The midreaches of the stream contain very poor habitat quality, and the lower reaches of the stream, contain habitat of intermediate quality. Although much of the stream has degraded habitat due to channel erosion and scouring, there is strong evidence to suggest that the impairment is due to elevated concentrations of copper and zinc that are present in the H-02 effluent. A comparison of macroinvertebrate data collected in 1997 to the data collected in this study indicates that the macroinvertebrate community of Crouch Branch has improved markedly in the last two years.

This report documents the Phase I characterization of chlorinated solvent contamination in the regulatory-defined uppermost aquifer (includes the M Area, Lost Lake and middle sand aquifer zones) within the Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab) of the A/M Area.

The B and W Hanford Company's (BWHC) 327 Facility, in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site, is preparing to ship five Pin Tubes to the 324 Facility for storage and eventual disposition. The Pin Tubes consist of legacy fuel pin pieces and drillings. They will be over-packed in new Pin Tubes and transported to 324 in three shipments. Once received at 324, two of the shipments will be combined for storage as a fissionable material batch, and the other shipment will be added to an existing batch.

The investigation of this quarter focuses on the rates of NO reactions with chars in various gaseous environments. The results have revealed significant insights into the NO reduction mechanisms on char surface, particularly when the oxidants, O{sub 2} and CO{sub 2}, are introduced into the feed. Indeed, evidences suggest that the formation of stable oxygen complexes is the major cause of differences in NO reactivity on chars of different origins. The oxidants retard the reactivity of char derived fro the bituminous coal more seriously than they affect the char derived from lignite. Furthermore, additions of these oxidants into the reacting stream produce additional yields of CO and CO{sub 2} during NO reaction with lignite char, suggesting gasification of carbon from lignite char. No excess CO and CO{sub 2} were observed when the bituminous coal char was used. These yields of CO and CO{sub 2} also imply that desorption of stable surface oxygen complex is a rate-limiting step which may be catalyzed by the mineral matters during reactions involving lignite char. Surface area evaluated by CO{sub 2} and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) equation is not a normalization factor of char reactivity during reburning. In the absence of oxidants, the bituminous coal char shows …

The goal of the proposed research is to test a statistical model of speech recognition that incorporates the knowledge that speech is produced by relatively slow motions of the tongue, lips, and other speech articulators. This model is called Maximum Likelihood Continuity Mapping (Malcom). Many speech researchers believe that by using constraints imposed by articulator motions, we can improve or replace the current hidden Markov model based speech recognition algorithms. Unfortunately, previous efforts to incorporate information about articulation into speech recognition algorithms have suffered because (1) slight inaccuracies in our knowledge or the formulation of our knowledge about articulation may decrease recognition performance, (2) small changes in the assumptions underlying models of speech production can lead to large changes in the speech derived from the models, and (3) collecting measurements of human articulator positions in sufficient quantity for training a speech recognition algorithm is still impractical. The most interesting (and in fact, unique) quality of Malcom is that, even though Malcom makes use of a mapping between acoustics and articulation, Malcom can be trained to recognize speech using only acoustic data. By learning the mapping between acoustics and articulation using only acoustic data, Malcom avoids the difficulties involved in collecting …

This report summarizes the work done in the last contract period. Previous work has been described in Annual Performance Reports. The work carried on under this Research Grant and not included in previous progress and annual reports includes two distinct items. One work is a study of the nonlocal high beta microstability of the FRC (Field Reversed Configuration), which they began sometime ago. This study identified the limiting beta (=4{pi}nT/B{sup 2}) for the mode to remain unstable. The study found that as beta increases, the wavenumbers (k{sub y}, K{sub z}) for maximum growth changes, so that the limiting beta is not the one found by fixing (k{sub y}, K{sub z}) and increasing beta. It also appears that the criterion for nonlocal terms to influence the result, as beta increases, is substantially weaker than might have been thought. The authors identify the parameter that determines this effect. This study is presented as Appendix 1 of this report. The second study is of the effect of collisions on the lower hybrid drift instability. The result is that the effect of collisions is substantially more important than might have been expected. These two studies are in different stages of completion. The second is …

DWPF-Engineering requested that SRTC determine the minimum indicated melter vapor space temperature that must be maintained in order to minimize the potential for off-gas flammability during a steady sludge-only feeding operation at 1.0 GPM containing 14,000 ppm total organic carbon. The detailed scope of this request is described in the technical task request, HLW-DWPF-TTR-960092 (DWPT Activity No. DWPT-96-0065). In response to this request, a dynamic simulation study was conducted in which the concentration of flammable gases was tracked throughout the course of a simulated 3X off-gas surge using the melter off-gas (MOG) dynamics model. The results of simulation showed that as long as the melter vapor space temperature as indicated on TI4085D is kept at 570 degrees C or higher, the peak concentration of combustible gases in the melter off-gas system is not likely to exceed 60 percent of the lower flammability limit (LFL). The minimum TI4085D of 570 degrees C is valid only when the air purges to FIC3221A and FIC3221B are maintained at or above 850 and 250 lb/hr, respectively. All the key bases and assumptions along with the input data used in the simulation are described in the attached E-7 calculation note.

This document summarizes the results of experiments which investigated the effects of radiation on simulated potassium tetraphenylborate slurries.

Knowledge of the rheology of the radioactive sludge slurries at the Savannah River Site is necessary in order to ensure that they can be retrieved from waste tanks and processed for final disposal. At Savannah River Site, Tank 42 sludge represents on of the first HLW radioactive sludges to be vitrified in the Defense Waste Processing Facility. The rheological properties of unwashed Tank 42 sludge slurries at various solids concentrations were measured remotely in the Shielded Cells at the Savannah River Technology Center using a modified Haake Rotovisco viscometer.

After completion of SNO's first phase measurement of the neutrino charge current, two tons of salt were added into the SNO heavy water to increase the sensitivity of the neutral current measurement (Phase II). Liqui-Cel Extra-Flow Membrane Contactors (simply called Liqui-Cel) are used in the SNO heavy-water circulating system to remove the dissolved gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, radon, and water vapor from the liquid water. One possible scenario with phase II operation is that the salt may leak through the Liqui-Cel Membrane and come in contact with the vacuum pumps and other metal components of the Heavy-Water Vapor Recovery System. In this scenario, corrosion will damage these components, especially the vacuum pump (Pfeiffer UniDry Pump with cast iron interior), and increase the operational difficulties. A series of tests for the behavior of the Liqui-Cel System in pure water and in salt systems was conducted at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in order to measure the transfer of (a) water vapor and (b) salt, if there is any, through the membrane. Initially a 10-inch by 28-inch Liqui-Cel unit, identical to those used in the SNO heavy-water circulating system, was obtained from SNO site. However, extensive analysis showed that the membrane in …

The variable frequency drive centrifugal submersible pump, Redi-Flo2a made by Grundfosa, was selected for universal application for Hanford Site groundwater monitoring. Specifications for the selected pump and five other pumps were evaluated against current and future Hanford groundwater monitoring performance requirements, and the Redi-Flo2 was selected as the most versatile and applicable for the range of monitoring conditions. The Redi-Flo2 pump distinguished itself from the other pumps considered because of its wide range in output flow rate and its comparatively moderate maintenance and low capital costs. The Redi-Flo2 pump is able to purge a well at a high flow rate and then supply water for sampling at a low flow rate. Groundwater sampling using a low-volume-purging technique (e.g., low flow, minimal purge, no purge, or micropurges) is planned in the future, eliminating the need for the pump to supply a high-output flow rate. Under those conditions, the Well Wizard bladder pump, manufactured by QED Environmental Systems, Inc., may be the preferred pump because of the lower capital cost.

The use of stationary gas turbines for power generation has been growing rapidly with continuing trends predicted well into the future. Factors that are contributing to this growth include advances in turbine technology, operating and siting flexibility and low capital cost. Restructuring of the electric utility industry will provide new opportunities for on-site generation. In a competitive market, it maybe more cost effective to install small distributed generation units (like gas turbines) within the grid rather than constructing large power plants in remote locations with extensive transmission and distribution systems. For the customer, on-site generation will provide added reliability and leverage over the cost of purchased power One of the key issues that is addressed in virtually every gas turbine application is emissions, particularly NO{sub x} emissions. Decades of research and development have significantly reduced the NO{sub x} levels emitted from gas turbines from uncontrolled levels. Emission control technologies are continuing to evolve with older technologies being gradually phased-out while new technologies are being developed and commercialized. The objective of this study is to determine and compare the cost of NO{sub x} control technologies for three size ranges of stationary gas turbines: 5 MW, 25 MW and 150 MW. The …

The purpose of this report is to provide additional numerical modeling and data evaluation for the Atlas tailings pile near Moab, Utah. A previous report (Tailings Pile Seepage Model: The Atlas Corporation Moab Mill, Moab, Utah, January 9, 1998) prepared for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by Oak Ridge National Laboratory/Grand Junction (ORNL/GJ) presented the results of steady-state modeling of water flow and subsequent discharge to the underlying groundwater system. At the request of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), this model was expanded to evaluate the impact of drainage from the tailings pile in addition to recharge from precipitation in a transient mode simulation. In addition, the FWS requested transient simulations of contaminant transport in the alluvial aquifer. Subsequently, NRC requested an evaluation of additional hydrologic issues related to the results presented in the Tailings Pile Seepage Model (ORNL/GJ 1998a) and the Limited Groundwater Investigation (ORNL/GJ 1998b). Funding for the report was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. The following section lists the individual tasks with subsequent sections providing the results. A map for the Atlas Moab Mill site is presented in Fig. 1.1.

An understanding of the role of fractures at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is needed to evaluate the suitability of the site to host a high-level nuclear waste repository. Current infiltration rates at Yucca Mountain require water to move through some fractures in the unsaturated welded units because the matrix porosity and permeability of these units are too small to accommodate the total flow. Though only about 20% of connected fractures are estimated to actively transmit water, flow and transport within fractures can greatly affect repository performance because fractures could be fast pathways for migration of radioactive particles. Under the current design, the potential repository would be located in a densely welded tuff sequence with highly variable fracture characteristics. This variability, resulting largely from the presence of lithophysal cavities, creates heterogeneous flow patterns through the unsaturated zone. Lithophysal cavities interrupt the continuity of fractures they intersect and may locally influence fracture propagation. In welded nonlithophysal zones, fractures tend to be longer and more widely spaced than in lithophysal zones, which generally display a greater number of closely spaced, short-length fractures. Seepage of water into potential waste-emplacement drifts will be affected by the fracture characteristics within the surrounding rock wall. Fractures with sufficient …

The Department of Energy (DOE) National Environmental Research Park at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is composed of second-growth forest stands characteristic of much of the eastern deciduous forest of the Ridge and Valley Province of Tennessee. Human use of natural ecosystems in this region has facilitated the establishment of at least 167 nonnative, invasive plant species on the Research Park. Our objective was to assess the distribution, abundance, impact, and potential for control of the 18 most abundant invasive species on the Research Park. In 2000, field surveys were conducted of 16 management areas on the Research Park (14 Natural Areas, 1 Reference Area, and Walker Branch Watershed) and the Research Park as a whole to acquire qualitative and quantitative data on the distribution and abundance of these taxa. Data from the surveys were used to rank the relative importance of these species using the ''Alien Plant Ranking System, Version 5.1'' developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Microstegium (Microstegium vimineum) was ranked highest, or most problematic, for the entire Research Park because of its potential impact on natural systems, its tendency to become a management problem, and how difficult it is to control. Microstegium was present in 12 of the 16 …

The project described in this report was conducted by personnel from Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Grand Junction Office (ORNL/GJ). This report has been prepared as a companion report to the Limited Groundwater Investigation of the Atlas Corporation Moab Mill, Moab, Utah. The purpose of this report is to present the results of the tailings pile seepage modeling effort tasked by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

This publication has been prepared to record some of the history of the Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG). CSEWG is responsible for creating the evaluated nuclear data file (ENDF/B) which is widely used by scientists and engineers who are involved in the development and maintenance of applied nuclear technologies. This organization has become the model for the development of nuclear data libraries throughout the world. The data format (ENDF) has been adopted as the international standard. On November 5, 2001, a symposium was held at Brookhaven National Laboratory to celebrate the 50 th meeting of the CSEWG organization and the 35 th anniversary of its first meeting in November 1966. The papers presented in this volume were prepared by present and former CSEWG members for presentation at the November 2001 symposium. All but two of the presentations are included. I have included an appendix to list all of the CSEWG members and their affiliations, which has been compiled from the minutes of each of the CSEWG meetings. Minutes exist for all meetings except the 4 th meeting held in January 1968. The list includes 348 individuals from 71 organizations. The dates for each of the 50 CSEWG meetings are …

This analysis was performed by the Management and Operating Contractor (M&O) Safety Assurance Department to identify and document the internal hazards and preliminary events associated with preclosure operations of the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). Internal hazards are those hazards presented by operation of the facility and associated processes. These are in contrast to external hazards which involve natural phenomena and external man-made hazards. The hazard analysis methodology used in this analysis provides a systematic means to identify facility hazards and associated events that may result in radiological consequences to the public and facility worker during the MGR preclosure period. The events are documented in a preliminary events list and are intended to be used as input to the MGR Design Basis Event (DBE) selection process. It is expected that the results from this analysis will undergo further screening and analysis based on the criteria that apply to the performance of DBE analyses for the preclosure period of repository operation. As the MGR design progresses, this analysis will be reviewed to ensure no new hazards are introduced and that previously evaluated hazards have not increased in severity.