We have measured transition-metal ion (Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) spectra and their effects on Nd fluorescence quenching in Nd-doped phosphate and silicate glasses. Our purpose was to determine the maximum allowable impurity content given particular limits on the absorption loss at 1053 nm and the Nd fluorescence quenching rate. To keep the absorption loss <0.1 m/sup -1/ the transition-metal impurity content should be kept below 0.5 ppMw. To keep the increase in the Nd fluorescence decay rate below 1%, the impurity content should be <3 ppMw. We have also found that the Nd quenching rates do not scale as predicted by the Forster-Dexter dipole-dipole energy transfer theory if we assume that the dominant variation with transition metal is the overlap integral of the Nd fluorescence spectrum and the transition-metal absorption. We suggest that phonon-assisted energy transfer to transition metals is effective in quenching Nd. We find that quenching rates increase 1.5 to 4 times as the Nd concentration increases from 0.5 to 10 x 10/sup 20/ cm/sup -3/.

The results of both laboratory and field experiments indicate that the neutron moisture gauge traditionally used in soil physics experiments can be extended for use in large diameter (up to 15 cm) steel-cased boreholes with excellent results. This application will permit existing saturated zone monitoring wells to be used for unsaturated zone monitoring of recharge, redistribution and leak detection from waste disposal facilities. Its applicability to large diameter cased wells also gives the soil physicist and ground-water hydrologist and new set of monitoring points in the unsaturated zone to study recharge and aquifer properties. 6 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.

The motivation for creating a permanent lunar settlement is sketched, and reasons for doing so in the coming decade are put forward. A basic plan to accomplish this is outlined, along technical and programmatic axes. It is concluded that founding a lunar settlement on the five hundredth anniversary of the Columbus landing - a Columbus Project - could be executed as a volunteer-intensive American enterprise requiring roughly six thousand man-years of skilled endeavor and a total Governmental contribution of the order of a half-billion dollars. 8 figs.

We have developed an electrochemical-etch procedure for the processing of large numbers of CR-39 dosimeters. Specially designed Homann-Type chambers can etch up to 24 CR-39 chips, or foils, at one time. In our two-step procedure, the second step, called blow-up, increases the tracks' size and makes them relatively uniform. The energy response is fairly flat from approx.150 keV to 4.5 MeV, but drops by about a factor of three in the 13 to 16 MeV range. The sensitivity of the dosimetry system is 6 tracks/mrem with a background of 8 mrem, giving a lower limit of sensitivity of approximately 10 mrem for the dosimeter (when three foils are used). Because greater numbers of CR-39 foils can be accommodated at any one time, our procedure is quite efficient for operations with large numbers of dosimeters to be processed. 12 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Spectroscopy of ion-induced x rays is commonly performed using lithium-drifted, silicon detectors, Si(Li), with beryllium windows. Strong absorption of x rays with energies below 1 keV occurs in even the thinnest commercially available beryllium windows and precludes useful analysis of sub-keV x rays. Access to the sub-keV x ray region can be achieved using windowless (WL) and ultra-thin-windowed (UTW) Si(Li) detectors. These detectors have been shown to be useful for spectroscopy of x rays with energies above approximately 200 eV. The properties of such detectors are reviewed with regard to analysis of ion-induced x rays. In particular, considerations of detection efficiency, output linearity, energy resolution, peak shapes, and vacuum requirements are presented. The use of ion excitation for determination of many detector properties serves to demonstrate the usefulness of WL and UTW detectors for the spectroscopy of sub-keV, ion-induced x rays. 23 refs., 4 figs.

This paper suggests several current atomic physics questions important to ion beam fusion. Among the topics discussed are beam transport, beam-target interaction, and reactor design. The major part of the report is discussion concerning areas of research necessary to better understand beam-target interactions. (JDH)