The value of energy technology R and D as an insurance investment to reduce the cost of climate change stabilization, oil price shocks, urban air pollution, and energy disruptions is estimated to be $5-8 billion/year in sum total. However, the total that is justified is actually less than this sum because some R and D is applicable to more than one risk. nevertheless, the total DOE investment in energy technology R and D (about $1.3 billion/year in FY97) seems easily justified by its insurance value alone; and, in fact, more might be warranted, particularly in the areas related to climate change and urban air pollution. This conclusion appears robust even if the private sector is assumed to be investing a comparable amount. Not counted is the value to the economy and to US competitiveness of better energy technologies that may result from the R and D; only the insurance value for reducing the cost of these four risks to society was estimated.

A glass-bonded sodalite ceramic waste form is being developed for the long-term immobilization of salt wastes that are generated during spent nuclear fuel conditioning activities. A durable waste form is prepared by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) a mixture of salt-loaded zeolite powders and glass frit. A mechanistic description of the corrosion processes is being developed to support qualification of the CWF for disposal. The initial set of characterization tests included two standard tests that have been used extensively to study the corrosion behavior of high level waste (HLW) glasses: the Material Characterization Center-1 (MCC-1) Test and the Product Consistency Test (PCT). Direct comparison of the results of tests with the reference CWF and HLW glasses indicate that the corrosion behaviors of the CWF and HLW glasses are very similar.

This paper presents criticality safety evaluations from an enduser's perspective. Overall issues related to a criticality safety evaluation in an operations support setting are discussed. A work flow process is presented which shows the key steps in conducting an effective criticality evaluation. Finally, a few suggestions are given to assist newcomers to this field.

The purpose of this Operations Procedures Plan is to establish a standard procedure which outlines how NIF Operations procedures will be developed (i.e , written, edited, reviewed, approved, published, revised) and accessed by the NIF Operations staff who must use procedures in order to accomplish their tasks. In addition, this Plan is designed to provide a guide to the NIF Project staff to assist them in planning and writing procedures. Also, resource and scheduling information is provided.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examination is presented of the microstructure of a ceramic waste form developed at Argonne National Lab - West for immobilization of actinides and fission products present in an electrorefiner salt. The material is produced by occluding the salt in zeolite granules, followed by hot isostatic pressing of the occluded zeolite in a mixture with a borosilicate glass. The paper presents results from a cold surrogate ceramic waste form, as well as {sup 239}Pu and {sup 238}Pu loaded samples.

None

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate thought and discussion in the technical community on standardization of the experimental determination of the pertinent electrochemical properties of solid electrolytes in lithium batteries. This standardization is needed for comparison and modeling of solid electrolytes in a practical lithium battery. The appropriate electrochemical properties include transport, thermodynamic, and physical parameters that generally depend on concentration and temperature. While it is beyond the scope of this work to put forward definitive measurement techniques for all types of solid electrolytes, it is hoped that comparisons between various techniques to examine a dissolved binary lithium salt in a dry polymer solvent will lead to improved understanding and methodology for examining solid electrolytes.

A new approach in utilizing a computer data acquisition system is proposed to address many issues associated with criticality safety control. This Criticality Safety Support System (CSSS) utilizes many features of computer and information process technology such as digital pictures, barcodes, voice data entry, etc. to enhance criticality safety in an R and D environment. Due to on-line data retrieving, data recording, and data management offered by new technology, the CSSS would provide a framework to design new solutions to old problems. This pilot program is the first step in developing this application for the years to come.

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An MPI library's implementation of broadcast communication can significantly affect the performance of applications built with that library. In order to choose between similar implementations or to evaluate available libraries, accurate measurements of broadcast performance are required. As we demonstrate, existing methods for measuring broadcast performance are either inaccurate or inadequate. Fortunately, we have designed an accurate method for measuring broadcast performance, even in a challenging grid environment. Measuring broadcast performance is not easy. Simply sending one broadcast after another allows them to proceed through the network concurrently, thus resulting in inaccurate per broadcast timings. Existing methods either fail to eliminate this pipelining effect or eliminate it by introducing overheads that are as difficult to measure as the performance of the broadcast itself. This problem becomes even more challenging in grid environments. Latencies a long different links can vary significantly. Thus, an algorithm's performance is difficult to predict from it's communication pattern. Even when accurate pre-diction is possible, the pattern is often unknown. Our method introduces a measurable overhead to eliminate the pipelining effect, regardless of variations in link latencies. choose between different available implementations. Also, accurate and complete measurements could guide use of a given implementation to improve application …

False positive detections account for a great part of the expense associated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) remediation. Presently fielded systems like pulsed electromagnetic induction systems and cesium-vapor magnetometers are able to distinguish between UXO and other metallic ground clutter only with difficulty. The discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) has led to the development of a new generation of integrated-circuit magnetic sensors that are far more sensitive than previously available room-temperature-operation electronic devices. The small size of GMR sensors makes possible the construction of array detectors that can be used to image the flux emanating from a ferrous object or from a non-ferrous object with eddy currents imposed by an external coil. The purpose of a GMR-based imaging detector would be to allow the operator to easily distinguish between UXO and benign objects (like shrapnel or spent bullets) that litter formerly used defense sites (FUDS). In order to demonstrate the potential of a GMR-based imaging technology, a crude magnetic imaging system has been constructed using commercially available sensors. The ability to roughly determine the outline and disposition of magnetic objects has been demonstrated. Improvements to the system which are necessary to make it into a high-performance UXO detector are outlined.

In this paper we introduce and study a least-squares finite element approximation for singularly perturbed convection-diffusion equations of second order. By introducing the flux (diffusive plus convective) as a new unknown, the problem is written in a mixed form as a first order system. Further, the flux is augmented by adding the lower order terms with a small parameter. The new first order system is approximated by the least-squares finite element method using the minus one norm approach of Bramble, Lazarov, and Pasciak [2]. Further, we estimate the error of the method and discuss its implementation and the numerical solution of some test problems.

We present a study of the effect of lattice mismatch on the structure and magneto-transport properties of La{sub 0.67}Ca{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3} (LCMO) epitaxial films. Pulsed laser deposition was used to synthesize epitaxial LCMO thin films on LaAlO{sub 3} (LAO), NdGaO{sub 3} (NGO), SrTiO{sub 3} (STO), and MgO substrates. Our results show that the nature of the lattice mismatch and the structure of the substrate governs the microstructure of the film. The microstructure consists of domains of two crystal structures, a pseudo-cubic phase and a monoclinic phase. The monoclinic phase forms as the film relaxes away from the interface, with an orientation dependent on whether the film is under a tensile or compressive in-plane strain. A special case is observed on NGO where the orthorhombic nature of the substrate results in the alignment of the monoclinic phase so that its long axis is in the plane. The observation of an in-plane anisotropy in the magnetoresistance data for LCMO on NGO suggests that the monoclinic phase is important in explaining the magneto-transport properties.

Beam tests of the ANL 12 MHz Radio-Frequency Quadruple (RFQ), designed for use as the initial element of an injector system for radioactive beams into the existing ATLAS accelerators, are in progress. Recent high-voltage tests of the RFQ without beam achieved the design intervane voltage of 100 kV CW, enabling beam tests with A/q as large as 132 using beams from the ANL Physics Division 4 MV Dynamitron accelerator facility. Although the RFQ was designed for bunched beams, initial tests have been performed with unbunched beams. Experiments with stable, unbunched beams of singly-charged {sup 132}Xe and {sup 84}Kr measured the output beam energy distribution as a function of the RFQ operating voltage. The observed energies are in excellent agreement with numerical beam simulations.

Both the efficiency of an implosion and the growth rate of hydrodynamic instability increase with the aspect ratio of an implosion. In order to study the physics of implosions with high Rayleigh-Taylor growth factors, we use doped ablators which should minimize x-ray preheat and shell decompression, and hence increase in-flight aspect ratio. We use x-ray backlighting techniques to image the indirectly-driven capsules. We record backlit 4.7 keV images of the full capsule throughout the implosion phase with 55 ps and 15 {mu}m resolution. We use these images to measure the in-flight aspect ratios for doped ablators, and we inferred the radial density profile as a function of time by Abel inverting the x-ray transmission profiles.

Radiography techniques utilizing large area x-ray sources (typically {<=} 7 keV) and pinhole-imaging gated x-ray diagnostics have long been used at the Nova laser facility. However, for targets requiring higher energy x-ray backlighters (> 9 keV), low conversion efficiencies and pinhole losses combine to make this scheme unworkable. The technique of point projection radiography has been improved upon to make imaging at high x-ray energies feasible. In this scheme a {open_quotes}point{close_quotes} source of x-rays, usually a small diameter ({<=}25 {mu}m) fiber, is illuminated with a single, 100 ps pulse from the Nova laser. A gated x-ray imager with a 500 ps electronic gate width is used to record the projected image. The experimental challenges this technique presents and experimental results will be discussed.

The ZGS people went off in every direction: to universities, to other laboratories, to universities and laboratories in other countries, and to other occupations in the private sector or federal agencies. Some people even cycled around through one or more of the above and eventually would up back to Argonne. As a good pupil of the David Manson school of weasel words. I recognize the need to insert a {open_quotes}to the best of my knowledge{close_quotes} disclaimer statement here. It became clear to me that I couldn`t vouch for the accuracy of all of the information shown below when, to my surprise and delight, I found on the official registration list for this conference the names of people I really, really, never expected to see again!

The project involves improving thermal recovery techniques in a slope and basin clastic (SBC) reservoir in the Wilmington field, Los Angeles Co., California using advanced reservoir characterization and thermal production technologies. This is the third quarterly technical progress report for the project. Significant technical achievements accomplished include the drilling of four horizontal wells (two producers and two steam injectors) utilizing a new and lower cost drilling program, the drilling of five observation wells to monitor the horizontal steamflood pilot, the installation of a subsurface harbor channel crossing for delivering steam to an island location, and a geochemical study of the scale minerals being created in the wellbore. Cyclic steam injection into the two horizontal injection wells began in mid-December 1995 utilizing the new 2400 ft steam line under the Cerritos channel and the wells will be placed on production in May. Cyclic steam injection into the two horizontal producers will start in May. Work on the basic reservoir engineering is expected to be completed in March 1996. The deterministic geologic model was improved to add eight layers to the previous ten.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) are investigating vitrification for various low-level and mixed wastes on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). Treatability studies have included surrogate waste formulations at the laboratory-, pilot-, and field-scales and actual waste testing at the laboratory- and pilot-scales. The initial waste to be processing through SRTC`s Transportable Vitrification System (TVS) is the K-1407-B and K-1407-C (B/C) Pond sludge waste which is a RCRA F-listed waste. The B/C ponds at the ORR K-25 site were used as holding and settling ponds for various waste water treatment streams. Laboratory-, pilot-, and field- scale ``proof-of-principle`` demonstrations are providing needed operating parameters for the planned field-scale demonstration with actual B/C Pond sludge waste at ORR. This report discusses the applied systems approach to optimize glass compositions for this particular waste stream through laboratory-, pilot-, and field-scale studies with surrogate and actual B/C waste. These glass compositions will maximize glass durability and waste loading while optimizing melt properties which affect melter operation, such as melt viscosity and melter refractory corrosion. Maximum waste loadings minimize storage volume of the final waste form translating into considerable cost savings.

For direct drive ICF, a capsule is imploded by directly illuminating the surface with laser light. Beam smoothing and uniformity of illumination affect the seeding of instabilities at the ablation front. We have developed a technique for studying the imprint of a laser beam on a thin foil using an x-ray laser as an XUV backlighter. We use multilayer XUV optics to relay the x-ray laser onto the directly driven foil, and then to image the foil modulation onto a CCD camera. This technique allows us to measure small fractional variations in the foil thickness. We have measured the modulation due to imprint from a low intensity 0.35 pm drive beam incident on a 3 {mu}m Si foil using an yttrium x-ray laser on Nova. We present results from a similar technique to measure the imprinted modulation due to a low intensity 0.53 {mu}m drive beam incident on a 2 {mu}m Al foil using a germanium x-ray laser at the Vulcan facility.

In 1992, the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute, Inc. (ARTI) contracted Radian Corporation to ascertain whether an improved accelerated test method or procedure could be developed that would allow prediction of the life of motor insulation materials used in hermetic motors for air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment operated with alternative refrigerant/lubricant mixtures. This report presents the results of phase three concerning the reproducibility and discrimination testing.

This Acceptance Test Plan is for a 500 CFM Portable Exhauster POR-004 to be used for saltwell pumping. The Portable Exhauster System will be utilized to eliminate potential flammable gases that may exist within the dome space of the tank. This Acceptance Plan will test and verify that the exhauster meets the specified design criteria, safety requirements, operations requirements, and will provide a record of the functional test results.

The mission of the B Plant Transition Project is to place B Plant and its ancillary facilities (refeffed to as B Plant throughout this document) in a safe and stable condition which requires minimal long term surveillance and maintenance (S&M), thereby reducing the risks associated with the current radiological and chemical inventory and the costs for S&M until disposition. Transition may include activities such as removal of stored radioactive and hazardous materials, safe shutdown of support systems such as electrical circuits and ventilation, and installation of new or modified systems required to support S&M for a 10 year period. The goal of this Project is to complete B Plant transition activities by September 30, 1998. During transition, the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility will be isolated from B Plant for stand alone operation. Upon completion of transition, B Plant will be turned over to the Office of Environmental Restoration (EM-40) for the S&M phase of B Plant decommissioning.

The Natural Gas Monthly (NGM) 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. There are two feature articles in this issue: Natural gas 1998: Issues and trends, Executive summary; and Special report: Natural gas 1998: A preliminary summary. 6 figs., 28 tabs.