The global objective of the recently completed Phase 1 of the West Virginia Diesel Study, at West Virginia University, was to evaluate mass emission rates of exhaust emissions from diesel powered equipment specified by the West Virginia Diesel Equipment Commission. The experimental data generated in this study has been utilized by the West Virginia Diesel Equipment Commission to promulgate initial rules, requirements and standards governing the operation of diesel equipment in underground coal mines.

A wide range of research topics were supported under this grant. These included: (1) complex space time singularities in nonlinear differential equations; (2) singularities in magneto-hydrodynamics; (3) the dynamics of knots and curves; and (4) the structure and dynamics of foams and grain boundaries. A brief summary of results achieved in each of these four areas is given below along with the associated publications acknowledging DOE support.

Femtosecond lasers enable materials processing of most any material with extremely high precision and negligible shock or thermal loading to the surrounding area. Applications ranging from drilling teeth to cutting explosives to precision cuts in composites are possible by using this technology. For material removal at reasonable rates, we have developed a fully computer-controlled 15-Watt average power, 100-fs laser machining system.

Joints for the ITER superconducting Central Solenoid should perform in rapidly varying magnetic field with low losses and low DC resistance. This paper describes the design of the ITER joint and presents its assembly process. Two joints were built and tested at the PTF facility at MIT. Test results are presented; losses in transverse and parallel field and the DC performance are discussed. The developed joint demonstrates sufficient margin for baseline ITRR operating scenarios.

The once abundant stocks of Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata) above Bonneville Dam are currently depressed (Close et al. 1995). It is likely that many of the same factors that led to the decline of wild stocks of Columbia River Pacific salmon and steelhead have impacted Pacific lamprey populations as well. The Pacific Lamprey Research and Restoration Project, funded by Bonneville Power Administration, is a cooperative effort between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and Oregon State University with the goal to increase Pacific lamprey stocks above Bonneville Dam.

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the University of Cincinnati (UC) have been developing a new class of ultrasensitive noble gas detectors that are based upon the ANL discovery that corn oil has a high affinity for heavy noble gas absorption at room temperature, but releases the noble gases with warming or by other low-energy-input means. Environmental applications for this new class of fluid-based detectors include ultrahigh sensitivity radioxenon detectors for Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Surveillance, improved fission gas detectors for enhanced environmental surveillance in the vicinity of DOE, DOD, and NRC-licensed facilities, and improved integrating Rn detectors for earthquake prediction. The purpose of the present paper is to present the results of theoretical and experimental investigations into the solubility phenomena of heavy noble gases (Rn, Xe, and Kr) in triglyceride oils. It is the authors' intention that the findings presented herein may be used to guide future selection, development, and refinement of vegetable and other hydrocarbon oils to bring further enhancements to noble gas detection efficiencies.