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This report provides a summary of the radiological surveys performed in support of the operational environmental monitoring program at the Hanford Site. The First Quarter 1996 survey results and the status of actions required from current and past reports are summarized: All the routine environmental radiological surveys scheduled during January, February, and March 1996 were completed. One hundred four environmental radiological surveys were performed during the first quarter of 1996, thirty at the active waste sites and seventy four at the inactive waste sites. Contamination above background levels was found at six of the active waste sites and eight of the inactive waste sites. Contamination levels as high as > 1,000,000 disintegrations per minute (dpm) were reported. Of these contaminated surveys, all were in Underground Radioactive Material (URM) areas. The contamination found within eleven of the URH areas was immediately cleaned up and no further action was required. In the remaining three sites the areas were posted and will require decontamination. Radiological Problem Reports (RPR`s) were issued and the sites were turned over to the landlord for further action if required.

This data package satisfies the requirement for a format IV, final report. It is a follow-up to the 45-day safety screen report for tank AP-104. Evaporator candidate feed from tank 241-AP-104 (hereafter referred to as AP-104) was characterized for physical, inorganic, organic and radiochemical parameters by the Westinghouse Hanford Company, 222-S Laboratory, and by the Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (ACL) as directed by the Tank Sample and Analysis Plan (TSAP), References 1 through 4. Preliminary data in the form of summary analytical tables were provided to the project in advance of this final report to enable early estimation of evaporator operational parameters, using the Predict modeling program. Laboratory analyses at ACL Laboratory was performed according to the TSAP. Analyses were performed at the 222-S Laboratory as defined and specified in the TSAP and the Laboratory`s Quality Assurance Plan, References 5 and 6. Any deviations from the instructions documented in the TSAP are discussed in this narrative and are supported with additional documentation. SAMPLING The TSAP, section 2, provided sampling information for waste samples collected from tank AP-104. The bottle-on-a-string method was used to collect liquid grab samples from the tank. Each glass sample bottle was …

In May of 1994, racks of corrosion samples were installed along the Oregon coast. The aluminum alloy 3105 samples were mounted on utility poles in Astoria, Manzanita, Lincoln City, Gold Beach, Brookings, Portland, and Albany. At each coastal location, samples were placed on four different poles at various distances from the coast (from as near as 50 feet to as far as 5 miles). The inland sites (Portland and Albany) have only one pole per site and are used as control sites. Besides the 3105 alloys, 5052 and 6061 aluminum alloys were placed at all sites. Since installation, one rack was lost due to the pole being taken down by the phone company (in Lincoln City), but the rest of the poles and racks are still in place.<br> <br> In August of 1995, the aluminum samples were visually inspected, and the remaining six 3105 aluminum samples in Lincoln City were removed for laboratory examination. Non-destructive x-ray analysis was used on the Lincoln City samples to obtain information a bout the nature of the corrosion products. Because the analysis was performed while the corrosion products remained on the surface, aluminum peaks dominated the diffraction pattern, and relative peak-heights were different from …

Augmentation of the internal software of a commercial x-ray fluorescence gauge is shown to enable the instrument to extend its continuous on-line real-time measurements of a galvanneal coating's total elemental content to encompass similar measurements of the relative thickness of the coating's three principal metallurgical phases. The mathematical structure of this software augmentation is derived from the theory of neural networks. The empirical basis for the numerics embedded in the software's decision logic is presented. The performance of the augmented gauge is validated by comparing the gauge-implied real-time phase distribution with the phase distribution independently measured off-line on time-tagged samples drawn from the galvanneal production line where the measurement gauge had been installed. The performance validation is shown to demonstrate good agreement between the gauge and laboratory measurements and to suggest preferred approaches to be followed in future applications of the augmented gauge.

This paper describes a fiber-optic pH sensor based upon sol-gel encapsulation of a self-referencing dye, seminaphthorhodamine-1 carboxylate (SNARF-1C). The simple sol-gel fabrication procedure and low coating leachability are ideal for encapsulation and immobilization of dye molecules onto the end of an optical fiber. A miniature bench-top fluorimeter system was developed for use with the optical fiber to obtain pH measurements. Linear and reproducible responses were obtained in human blood in the pH range 6.8 to 8.0, which encompasses the clinically-relevant range. Therefore, this sensor can be considered for in vivo use.

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The first objective is to utilize reservoir characterization and advanced technologies to optimize the design of a CO{sub 2} project for the South Cowden Unit (SCU) located in Ector County, Texas. The SCU is a mature, relatively small, shallow shelf carbonate unit nearing waterflood depletion. The second objective is to demonstrate the performance and economic viability of the project in the field. This report includes work on the reservoir characterization and project design objective and the demonstration project objective.

This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development Department (WPDD) in response to a request received via a QAP-3-12 Design Input Data Request (Reference 5.1) from Waste Acceptance, Storage, & Transportation (WAST) Design (formerly MRSMPC Design). This design analysis is an answer to the Design Input Data Request to provide: Specific requirements for long-term criticality control. The time period for long-term criticality control requirements encompass the time phases of operations (pre-closure), containment (first 1,000 years post-closure), and isolation (the time period beyond the containment phase, at least to 10,000 years post-closure). The purpose and objective of this analysis is to provide specific long-term disposal criticality control requirements for the Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC) Subsystem Design Procurement Specification (DPS), so as to not preclude MPC compatibility with disposal in the MGDS.(References 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4) The response is stated in Section 8 herein and will be available for transmittal as an attachment to a QAP-3-12 Design Input Data Transmittal.

The purpose of this analysis is to determine if the permanent portions of the configuration item BABEAA000 that will be constructed for the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) (i.e., Starter Tunnel for the North Portal and the headwall at the South Portal) are quality-affecting items. The objective is to establish the appropriate Quality Assurance (QA) classification based on these determinations. This analysis does not address the remaining scope of the Portals configuration item.

This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development Department (WPDD) in response to a request received via a QAP-3-12 Design Input Data Request from Waste Acceptance, Storage & Transportation (WAST) Design (formerly MRS/MPC Design). The request is to provide: Specific material requirements for the various MPC components (shell, basket, closure lids, shield plug, neutron absorber, and flux traps, if used ). The objective of this analysis is to provide the requested requirements. The purpose of this analysis is to provide a documented record of the basis for the requested requirements. The response is stated in Section 8 herein. The analysis is based upon requirements from an MGDS perspective.

The authors describe how they have parallelized Python, an interpreted object oriented scripting language, and used it to build an extensible message-passing C/C++ applications for the CM-5, Cray T3D, and Sun multiprocessor servers running MPI. Using a parallelized Python interpreter, it is possible to interact with large-scale parallel applications, rapidly prototype new features, and perform application specific debugging. It is even possible to write message passing programs in Python itself. The authors describe some of the tools they have developed to extend Python and applications of this approach.

The program described in this report studies the suitability of electrodialysis-ion exchange (EDIX) to treat aqueous streams containing heavy metals and radioactive cations in a solution containing sodium and nitrates. The goal of the program was to produce a cation stream containing sodium, heavy metals, and radioactive cations; an anion stream of nitric acid free of heavy metals and radioactive cations; and a product stream that meets discharge criteria. The experimental results, described in detail, indicated that EDIX was not a suitable process for treating wastes containing metals that formed insoluble hydroxides in a basic solution; the metals precipitate in the catholyte and feed compartments, and in the cathode membrane. The test program was therefore terminated prior to completion of all planned activities. 2 refs., 22 figs., 8 tabs.

This document supports the development and presentation of the following accident scenario in the TWRS Final Safety Analysis Report: HEPA Filter Failure - Exposure to High Temperature or Pressure. The calculations needed to quantify the risk associated with this accident scenario are included within.

Disconnecting the criticality alarm permanently in June 1996 signified that the hazards in the PUREX (plutonium-uranium extraction) plant had been so removed and reduced that criticality was no longer a credible event. Turning off the PUREX criticality alarm also marked a salient point in a historic deactivation project, 1 year before its anticipated conclusion. The PUREX/UO3 Deactivation Project began in October 1993 as a 5-year, $222.5- million project. As a result of innovations implemented during 1994 and 1995, the project schedule was shortened by over a year, with concomitant savings. In 1994, the innovations included arranging to send contaminated nitric acid from the PUREX Plant to British Nuclear Fuels, Limited (BNFL) for reuse and sending metal solutions containing plutonium and uranium from PUREX to the Hanford Site tank farms. These two steps saved the project $36.9- million. In 1995, reductions in overhead rate, work scope, and budget, along with curtailed capital equipment expenditures, reduced the cost another $25.6 million. These savings were achieved by using activity-based cost estimating and applying technical schedule enhancements. In 1996, a series of changes brought about under the general concept of ``reengineering`` reduced the cost approximately another $15 million, and moved the completion date to …

This Acceptance Test Procedure (ATP) has been prepared to demonstrate that the AY-Farm Electrical Distribution; in the Equipment Removal System portion of Project W-320, functions as required by the design criteria.

The spheromak has no toroidal magnetic field coils or other structure along its geometric axis, and is thus more attractive than the leading magnetic fusion reactor concept, the tokamak. As a consequence of this and other attributes, the spheromak reactor may be compact and produce a power density sufficiently high to warrant consideration of a liquid `blanket` that breeds tritium, converts neutron kinetic energy to heat, and protects the reactor vessel from severe neutron damage. However, the physics is more complex, so that considerable research is required to learn how to achieve the reactor potential. Critical physics problems and possible ways of solving them are described. The opportunities and issues associated with a possible liquid wall are considered to direct future research.

A review was conducted of trapped gas estimates in Hanford waste tanks. Tank waste levels were found to correlate with barometric pressure changes giving the possibility to infer amounts of trapped gas. Previous models of the tank waste level were extended to include other phenomena such as evaporation in a more complete description of tank level changes.

This paper describes experiments to determine the sodium retention and drainage from the two key areas of an ID-69. This information is then used as the initiation point for guidelines of how to proceed with washing an ID-69 in the IEM Cell Sodium Removal System.

The Hanford Ecorok Packaging (HEP) will be used to ship contaminated water purification filters from K Basins to the Central Waste Complex. This packaging design criteria documents the design of the HEP, its intended use, and the transportation safety criteria it is required to meet. This information will serve as a basis for the safety analysis report for packaging.

This document summarizes the information on the historical uses, present status, and the sampling and analysis results of waste stored in Tank 241-S-107. This report supports the requirements of Tri- Party Agreement Milestone M-44-09.

Coal ash, and particularly fine fly ash, remain one of the principal practical and environmental problems in coal-based power generation. In particular, submicron aerosols are identified with direct inhalation risk. Submicron ash is thought to arise from mineral vaporization during char combustion, followed by nucleation, condensation and coagulation to yield an aerosol. While aerosols are predominantly made out of volatile alkali minerals, they also can include refractory oxides that are chemically reduced to more volatile forms within the char particle and vaporized. Most of the ash of size greater than 1 {mu}m is generated by agglomeration of mineral as the char particle bums out. These two principal mechanisms are thought to account for most of the ash generated in coal combustion. Previous research has shown that various forms of coal treatment can influence the yields of fine ash from combustion. The research reported here investigates various forms of treatment, including physical coal cleaning, aerodynamic sizing, degree of grinding, and combinations of these on both aerosol yields and on yields of fine residual ash (1-4 {mu}m). The work also includes results from the combustion of artificial chars that include individual mineral elements. This research shows that these various forms of coal …

The purpose of Phase 1 was to optimize the clean burning coal briquette (Clean Fuel) formulation for Polish raw materials and to demonstrate the claimed pollution reducing benefits of its use in residential heating. Subsidiary goals were to test this fuel in larger scale facilities and to support the commercial tasks by producing Clean Fuel for use in the by-product market test. These goals were accomplished. Use of Clean Fuel in residential heating reduced particulate matter and total hydrocarbons emissions from ceramic home heating stoves compared to the combustion of premium chunk coal by 56 and 39%, respectively. It also results in higher thermal efficiency. An optimum formulation using Polish raw materials was determined and used in the production of Clean Fuel for the by-product market test. This fuel was also tested in a hand-stoked fixed grate boiler and 3 travelling grate boilers of varying size.