The calculations contained in this analysis document establish the technical basis for the volume, frequency, and flushing fluid to be utilized for routine Waste Retrieval Sluicing System (WRSS) process line flushes. The WRSS was installed by Project W-320, Tank 24 I-C-106 Sluicing. The double contained pipelines being flushed have 4 inch stainless steel primary pipes. The flushes are intended to prevent hydrogen build up in the transfer lines and to provide ALARA conditions for maintenance personnel.

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The effect of dissolved oxygen level on fatigue life of austenitic stainless steels is discussed and the results of a detailed study of the effect of the environment on the growth of cracks during fatigue initiation are presented. Initial test results are given for specimens irradiated in the Halden reactor. Impurities introduced by shielded metal arc welding that may affect susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking are described. Results of calculations of residual stresses in core shroud weldments are summarized. Crack growth rates of high-nickel alloys under cyclic loading with R ratios from 0.2-0.95 in water that contains a wide range of dissolved oxygen and hydrogen concentrations at 289 and 320 C are summarized.

Preliminary research in our laboratory has demonstrated that boric acid is an effective lubricant with an unusual capacity to reduce sliding fiction (providing friction coefficients as low as 0.02) and wear of metallic and ceramic materials. More recent studies have revealed that water or methanol solutions of boric acid can be used to prepare strongly bonded layers of boric acid on aluminum surfaces. It appears that boric acid molecules have a strong tendency to bond chemically to the naturally oxidized surfaces of aluminum and its alloys and to make these surfaces very slippery. Recent metal formability tests indicated that the boric acid films formed on aluminum surfaces by spraying or dipping worked quite well; improving draw scale performance by 58 to 75%. These findings have increased the prospect that boric acid can be formulated and optimized as an effective boundary lubricant and used to solve the friction, galling, and severe wear problems currently encountered in cold-forming of aluminum products. Accordingly, the major goal of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness and lubrication capacity of thin boric acid films formed on aluminum surfaces by simple dipping or spraying processes and to describe the lubrication mechanisms under typical metal forming conditions. …

Thin film samples of a simple embedded nanocluster system consisting of solid Xe precipitates in Al have been subjected to 1 MeV electron irradiation in a high-voltage electron microscope. High-resolution images have been recorded on videotape in order to monitor the changes to the system resulting from the passage of electrons through the film. Inspection of the video recordings (in some cases frame-by-frame) reveals that complex, rapid processes occur under the electron beam. These include, movement of small clusters, coalescence of neighboring clusters, shape changes, the apparent melting and resolidification of the Xe, and the creation and annealing of extended defects within the Xe lattice. A tentative interpretation of some of the observations is presented in terms of the electron-induced displacement processes at the surface of the clusters.

This paper presents results from our on-going efforts to characterize semiconductor thin films for direct x-ray conversion. We deposit these thin films onto an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) readout array with the overall goal of developing a large area x-ray detector for protein crystallography, and for other x-ray imaging fields.

The structure and electrochemical potential of monoclinic Li{sub 1+x}V{sub 3}O{sub 8} were calculated within the local-density-functional-theory framework by use of plane-wave-pseudopotential methods. Special attention was given to the compositions 1+x=1.2 and 1+x=4, for which x-ray diffraction structure refinements are available. The calculated low-energy configuration for 1+x=4 is consistent with the three Li sites identified in x-ray diffraction measurements and predicts the position of the unobserved Li. The location of the tetrahedrally coordinated Li in the calculated low-energy configuration for 1+x=1.5 is consistent with the structure measured by x-ray diffraction for Li{sub 1.2}V{sub 3}O{sub 8}. Calculations were also performed for the two monoclinic phases at intermediate Li compositions, for which no structural information is available. Calculations at these compositions are based on hypothetical Li configurations suggested by the ordering of vacancy energies for Li{sub 4}V{sub 3}O{sub 8} and tetrahedral site energies in Li{sub 1.5}V{sub 3}O{sub 8}. The internal energy curves for the two phases cross near 1+x=3. Predicted electrochemical potential curves agree well with experiment.

The HERMES Laser-Driven Target Task Force (Argonne, Erlangen and Illinois) is charged with developing a polarized H/D target for use in the HERA ring at DESY. Rapid progress was made in the beginning of 1996, leading us to the decision to test the target in a realistic experimental environment. In particular, polarizations of 0.6 and flows above 10{sup 18} atoms{center_dot}s{sup {minus}1} have been achieved on the bench. The laser-driven target and a simple detector system are currently installed in Cooler storage ring at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility in order to test its applicability to nuclear physics experiments. Target polarizations are being measured using the {rvec H}(p, p) and {rvec D}(p, p) reactions. Initial tests were reasonably successful and the target is well along toward becoming viable for nuclear physics.

The Advanced Photon Source third generation synchrotrons light source needs a stabilized particle beam position to produce high brightness and low emittance radiation. Global orbit correction control is introduced and is utilized to satisfy the demanding needs of the accelerator. This paper presents the experimental results for determining an effective and optimal controller to meet the global orbit correction requirements. These requirements include frequency/time domain demands consisting of vibrational noise attenuation, limiting of controller gains for stability and improving the system time response. Experiments were conducted with a digital signal processor implementing various PID sets to make comparisons between simulations and experiments. Measurements at these PID sets supported the results of software simulation.

Epitaxial Fe wedges with a thickness gradation from 0--20 {angstrom} were grown on diamond(100) at room temperature, subsequently annealed, and investigated with reflection high-energy electron diffraction and the surface magneto-optical Kerr effect. The results indicate that for <5 monolayer thicknesses the Fe grows on C(100) as smooth, epitaxial fcc films, which are not ferromagnetic, but that thicker films undergo a transition to become rough and the ordinary bcc ferromagnetic phase.

In a round robin effort between the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Institut de Protection et de Surete Nucleaire in France, and the Russian Research Centre-Kurchatov Institute, Argonne National Laboratory conducted 16 modified ring stretch tensile tests on unirradiated samples of Zr-1Nb cladding, which is used in Russian VVER reactors. Tests were conducted at two temperatures (25 and 400 C) and two strain rates (0.001 and 1 s{sup {minus}1}). At 25 C and 0.001 s{sup {minus}1}, the yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), uniform elongation (UE), and total elongation (TE) were 201 MPa, 331 MPa, 18.2%, and 57.6%, respectively. At 400 C and 0.001 s{sup {minus}1}, the YS, UTS, UE, and TE were 109 MPa, 185 MPa, 15.4%, and 67.7%, respectively. Finally, at 400 C and 1 s{sup {minus}1}, the YS, UTS, UE, and TE were 134 MPa, 189 MPa, 18.9%, and 53.4%, respectively. The high strain rate tests at room temperature were not successful. Test results proved to be very sensitive to the amount of lubrication used on the inserts; because of the large contact area between the inserts and specimen, too little lubrication leads to significantly higher strengths and lower elongations being reported. It is also important to …

Twelve different uranium alloys and compounds with uranium densities greater than 13.8 g/cc were fabricated into fuel plates. Sixty-four experimental fuel plates, referred to as microplates, with overall dimensions of 76.2 mm x 22.2 mm x 1.3 mm and elliptical fuel zone of nominal dimensions of 51 mm x 9.5 mm, began irradiation in the Advanced Test Reactor on August 23, 1997. The fuel test matrix consists of machined or comminuted (compositions are in weight%) U-10Mo,U-8Mo, U-6Mo, U-4Mo, U-9Nb-3Zr, U-6Nb-4Zr, U-5Nb-3Zr, U-6Mo-1Pt, U-6Mo-0.6 Ru, 10Mo-0.05Sn, U{sub 2}Mo and U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}(as a control). The low enriched ({sup 235}U < 20%) fuel materials were cast, powdered, mixed with aluminum dispersant at a volume ratio of 1:3, compacted and hot rolled to form the microplates. Spherical atomized powders of two fuels, U-10Mo and U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}, were utilized to make microplates and included in the irradiation test as well. The experimental design and fabrication steps employed in the selection and production of the fueled microplates is discussed.

Sensory information is critical to the telerobotic operation of mobile robots. In particular, visual sensors are a key component of the sensor package on a robot engaged in urban military operations. Visual sensors provide the robot operator with a wealth of information including robot navigation and threat assessment. However, simple countermeasures such as darkness, smoke, or blinding by a laser, can easily neutralize visual sensors. In order to provide a robust visual sensing system, an infrared sensor is required to augment the primary visual sensor. An infrared sensor can acquire useful imagery in conditions that incapacitate a visual sensor. A simple approach to incorporating an infrared sensor into the visual sensing system is to display two images to the operator: side-by-side visual and infrared images. However, dual images might overwhelm the operator with information, and result in degraded robot performance. A better solution is to combine the visual and infrared images into a single image that maximizes scene information. Fusing visual and infrared images into a single image demands balancing the mixture of visual and infrared information. Humans are accustom to viewing and interpreting visual images. They are not accustom to viewing or interpreting infrared images. Hence, the infrared image …

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 …

We present results on the magnetic reversal process in epitaxial Sm-Co (1{bar 1}00)/TM (TM = Fe, Co) bilayer films prepared via magnetron sputtering onto Cr-buffered single-crystal MgO substrates. The magnetically hard Sm-Co films have 20-T uniaxial anisotropy and coercivities >3 T at room temperature. The magnetization of the soft layer is pinned at the interface to the hard-magnet layer and switches reversibly as expected for an exchange-spring magnet. With increasing soft layer thickness, the coercive field of the hard layer becomes significantly less than that of a single layer. We also present numerical solutions of a one-dimensional model that provide the spin configuration for each atomic layer. Comparison of the experimental results with the model simulations indicates that the exchange-spring behavior of our bilayer films can be understood from the intrinsic parameters of the hard and soft layers.

In this paper, we review some of the work our group has done in the past few years to obtain the electron self-energy of high temperature superconductors by analysis of angle-resolved photoemission data. We focus on three examples which have revealed: (1) a d-wave superconducting gap, (2) a collective mode in the superconducting state, and (3) pairing correlations in the pseudogap phase. In each case, although a novel result is obtained which captures the essence of the data, the conventional physics used leads to an incomplete picture. This indicates that new physics needs to be developed to obtain a proper understanding of these materials.

Ceramic matrix composites are being developed for numerous high temperature applications, including rotors and combustors for advanced turbine engines, heat exchanger and hot-gas filters for coal gasification plants. Among the materials of interest are silicon-carbide-fiber-reinforced-silicon-carbide (SiC{sub (f)}/SiC), silicon-carbide-fiber-reinforced-silicon-nitride (SiC{sub (f)}/Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}), aluminum-oxide-reinforced-alumina (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3(f)}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}), etc. In the manufacturing of these ceramic composites, the conditions of the fiber/matrix interface are critical to the mechanical and thermal behavior of the component. Defects such as delaminations and non-uniform porosity can directly effect the performance. A nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method, developed at Argonne National Laboratory has proved beneficial in analyzing as-processed conditions and defect detection created during manufacturing. This NDE method uses infrared thermal imaging for fill-field quantitative measurement of the distribution of thermal diffusivity in large components. Intensity transform algorithms have been used for contrast enhancement of the output image. Nonuniformity correction and automatic gain control are used to dynamically optimize video contrast and brightness, providing additional resolution in the acquired images. Digital filtering, interpolation, and least-squares-estimation techniques have been incorporated for noise reduction and data acquisition. The Argonne NDE system has been utilized to determine thermal shock damage, density variations, and variations in fiber coating in a full …

Glass-bonded zeolite is being considered as a candidate ceramic waste form for storing radioactive isotopes separated from spent nuclear fuel in the electrorefining process. To determine the stability of glass-bonded zeolite under irradiation, transmission electron microscope samples were irradiated using high energy helium, lead, and krypton. The major crystalline phase of the waste form, which retains alkaline and alkaline earth fission products, loses its long range order under both helium and krypton irradiation. The dose at which the long range crystalline structure is lost is about 0.4 dpa for helium and 0.1 dpa for krypton. Because the damage from lead is localized in such a small region of the sample, damage could not be recognized even at a peak damage of 50 dpa. Because the crystalline phase loses its long range structure due to irradiation, the effect on retention capacity needs to be further evaluated.

Innovative, cost-effective technologies that have a positive life-cycle environmental impact and yield marketable products are needed to meet the challenges of the recycling industry. Four materials-recovery technologies that are being developed at Argonne National Laboratory in cooperation with industrial partners are described in this paper: (1) dezincing of galvanized steel scrap; (2) material recovery from auto-shredder residue; (3) high-value-plastics recovery from obsolete appliances; and (4) aluminum salt cake recycling. These technologies are expected to be applicable to the production of low-cost, high-quality raw materials from a wide range of waste streams.

The computer code LATIS is used to simulate midplane and backplane spallation resulting from short pulsed laser absorption. A 1-D planar geometry is simulated with an exponential laser absorption profile. The laser pulse length is assumed to be much shorter than the sound transit time across the laser absorption length. The boundary conditions are a fixed front plane and free backplane (backplane spall) and a free front plane and a fixed midplane (midplane spall). The NBS/NRC equation of state for water is used with a self- consistent yet empirical material strength and failure model. The failure model includes the effects of void nucleation, growth and coalescence. Definite signatures of the nucleation and coalescence thresholds are found in the back surface motion for backplane spallation.

This paper reviews the All Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics open publications on hydrodynamic instability in strong media.

This report summarizes work performed under contract No. DE-FC07-94ID13283, {open_quotes}Advanced Power Conversion Based on the Aerocapacitors{trademark}.{close_quotes} Under this contract high power density, high energy density, organic electrolyte Aerocapacitors{trademark} were developed and characterized for power conversion applications. Pilot facilities for manufacturing prototype AA-size Aerocapacitors{trademark} were put in place. The low ESR and good frequency response of these devices show that they are ideal components for high discharge rate and low to moderate frequency (< 10 kHz) applications such as power conversion.

Unsupported molybdenum nitride (Mo{sub 2}N) and molybdenum carbide supported on alumina (Mo{sub 2}C/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) were compared against commercial sulfided MoS{sub 2}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Ni-Mo-S/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} for hydrotreating coal-derived gas oil at 633 K (360 {degrees}C) and 13.7 MPa (2000 psig). When the catalytic rates were compared on the basis of active sites measured by chemisorption, the nitrides and carbides were estimated to have activities as much as five times that of Ni-Mo-S/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and MoS{sub 2}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The comparison was based on sites titrated by CO on the carbide and nitride and by O{sub 2} on the sulfided catalysts. The gas oil product quality from the carbide and nitride catalysts was significantly better than the thermal blank, indicating that the materials were active under practical hydrotreating conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis after reaction of the Mo{sub 2}N and Mo{sub 2}C/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts indicated that surface sulfiding was not extensive.

One of the major functions of the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) is to characterize wastes in support of waste management and disposal activities at the Hanford Site. Analytical data from sampling and analysis, along with other available information about a tank, are compiled and maintained in a tank characterization report (TCR). This report and its appendices serve as the TCR for double-shell tank 241-AW-105. The objectives of this report are to use characterization data in response to technical issues associated with tank 241-AW-105 waste; and to provide a standard characterization of this waste in terms of a best-basis inventory estimate. The response to technical issues is summarized in Section 2.0, and the best-basis inventory estimate is presented in Section 3.0. Recommendations regarding safety status and additional sampling needs are provided in Section 4.0. Supporting data and information are contained in the appendices. This report supports the requirements of the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order milestone Characterization. information presented in this report originated from sample analyses and known historical sources. While only the results of a recent sampling event will be used to fulfill the requirements of the data quality objectives (DQOs), other information can be used to …