The thermal explosion of trinitrotoluene (TNT) is used as a basis for evaluating the performance of a new One-Dimensional-Time-to-Explosion (ODTX) apparatus. The ODTX experiment involves holding a 12.7 mm-diameter spherical explosive sample under confinement (150 MPa) at a constant elevated temperature until the confining pressure is exceeded by the evolution of gases during chemical decomposition. The resulting time to explosion as a function of temperature provides valuable decomposition kinetic information. A comparative analysis of the measurements obtained from the new unit and an older system is presented. Discussion on selected performance aspects of the new unit will also be presented. The thermal explosion of TNT is highly dependent on the material. Analysis of the time to explosion is complicated by historical and experimental factors such as material variability, sample preparation, temperature measurement and system errors. Many of these factors will be addressed. Finally, a kinetic model using a coupled thermal and heat transport code (chemical TOPAZ) was used to match the experimental data.

Point defects induced in high quality optical-grade based silica by high power (>30 J/cm{sup 2}) 355 nm laser pulses have been investigated to elucidate the nature of laser damage in transparent optics designed for use at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Six defects have been identified: the NBOHC (non-bridging oxygen hole center), a STE (self-trapped exciton), an ODC (oxygen-deficient center), interstitial oxygen, the E'{sub {gamma}}, and E'{sub 74}. The former four defects were identified and spatially resolved in the damage craters using cathodoluminescence (CL) microanalysis (spectroscopy and microscopy). The latter two defects were identified using ESR spectroscopy at cryogenic temperatures. These defects are unlikely to be a prime factor in damage growth by subsequent laser pulses. Their concentration is too low to effect a high enough temperature rise by a volume absorption mechanism.

The objective of this study was to examine the relative importance of pressure changes as a source of turbine-passage injury and mortality. Specific tests were designed to quantify the response of fish to rapid pressure changes typical of turbine passage, with and without the complication of the fish being acclimated to gas supersaturated water. We investigated the responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) to these two stresses, both singly and in combination.

There has long been interest in the use of oxygenated hydrocarbon additives to conventional fuels. These oxygenates have been shown to reduce soot emissions in diesel engines and CO emissions in spark-ignition engines; and often allow diesel operation with decreased NO{sub x}. The current widely used additive, MTBE is targeted for elimination as a gasoline additive due to its damaging effects on the environment. This creates a need for alternative oxygenated additives; and more importantly, amplifies the importance to fully understand the thermochemical and kinetic properties on these oxyhydrocarbons fuels and for their intermediate and radical breakdown products. We use CBS-Q and density-functional methods with isodesmic reactions (with group balance when possible) to compute thermodynamic quantities for these species. We have studied hydrocarbons with multiple substituted methoxy groups. In several cases, multioxygenated species are evaluated that may have potential use as new oxygenated fuel additives. Thermodynamic quantities (H{sub 298}{sup 0}, S{sub 298}{sup 0}, C{sub p}(T)) as well as group additivity contributions for the new oxygenated groups are reported. We also report trends in bond-energies with increasing methoxy substitution.

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An artificial neural network (ANN) method is developed for treating the spatial variable of the one-group slab-geometry discrete ordinates (S{sub N}) equations in a homogeneous medium with linearly anisotropic scattering. This ANN method takes advantage of the function approximation capability of multilayer ANNs. The discrete ordinates angular flux is approximated by a multilayer ANN with a single input representing the spatial variable x and N outputs representing the angular flux in each of the discrete ordinates angular directions. A global objective function is formulated which measures how accurately the output of the ANN approximates the solution of the discrete ordinates equations and boundary conditions at specified spatial points. Minimization of this objective function determines the appropriate values for the parameters of the ANN. Numerical results are presented demonstrating the accuracy of the method for both fixed source and incident angular flux problems.

In the HYLIFE-II chamber design, a thick flowing blanket of molten-salt (Li{sub 2}BeF{sub 4}) called flibe is used to protect structures from radiation damage. Since it is directly exposed to the fusion target, the flibe will absorb the target debris. Removing the materials left over from target explosions at the rate of {approx}6/s and then recycling some of these materials poses a challenge for the inertial fusion energy power plant. The choice of target materials derives from multi-disciplinary criteria such as target performance, fabricability, safety and environment, corrosion, and cost of recycle. Indirect-drive targets require high-2 materials for the hohlraum. Gold and gadolinium are favorite target materials for laboratory experiments but cost considerations may preclude their use in power plants or at least requires cost effective recycle because a year's supply of gold and gadolinium is estimated at 520 M$ and 40 M$. Environmental and waste considerations alone require recycle of this material. Separation by volatility appears to be the most attractive (e.g., Hg and Xe); centrifugation (e.g., Pb) is acceptable with some problems (e.g., materials compatibility) and chemical separation is the least attractive (e.g. Gd and Hf). Mercury, hafnium and xenon might be substituted with equal target performance and …

PIANO is a dynamic, subcritical, zero-yield experiment intended for execution in the U1a.102C drift of the U1a complex at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) (Figure 1). The data from the PIANO experiment will be used in the Stockpile Stewardship Program to assess the aging of nuclear weapon components and to better model the long-term performance of the weapons in the enduring stockpile. The PIANO experiment is composed of one experimental package. The experimental package will have high explosive (HE) and special nuclear material (SNM) in a subcritical assembly. The containment plan for the PIANO series of experiments utilizes a two-containment-vessel concept. The first Containment vessel is formed by the primary containment barrier that seals the U1a.102C drift. The second containment vessel is formed by the secondary containment barrier in the U100 drift. The PIANO experiment is the final experiment to be conducted in the U1a.102C alcove. It will be an ''open'' experiment--meaning that PIANO will not utilize a confinement vessel as the previous OBOE experiments in this alcove did. We expect that the SNM from the PIANO experiment will be fully contained within the first containment vessel.

Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

The main goal of this study is to ensure sustainable management of wetland forests in the southeastern United States. The study is projected to measure soil, hydrology, and forest responses to several management scenarios across a complete forest cycle. From August 1997 to August 2000 the study has received funding as one of the Agenda 2020 projects, from the U.S. Department of Energy (Cooperative Agreement Number DE-FC07-97ID13551), the National Council of the Paper Industry for Air and Stream Improvement, and Westvac Corporation. Quarterly progress reports were submitted regularly to the Department and all project participants. This final report summarizes the project results and progress achieved during this 3-year period. Over the past three years all research objectives planned for this project were completed.

Non-destructive testing is a key component of optimized plant inspection and maintenance programs. Risk based inspection, condition based maintenance and reliability centered maintenance systems all require detection, location and sizing of defects or flaws by non-destructive methods. Internal damage of geothermal piping by corrosion and erosion-corrosion is an ongoing problem requiring inspection and subsequent maintenance decisions to ensure safe and reliable performance. Conventional manual ultrasonic testing to determine remaining wall thickness has major limitations, particularly when damage is of a random and localized nature. Therefore, it is necessary to explore alternative non-destructive methods that offer potential benefits in terms of accurate quantification of size, shape and location of damage, probability of detection, ability to use on-line over long ranges, and economics. A review of non-destructive methods and their applicability to geothermal piping was performed. Based on this, ongoing research will concentrate on long range guided wave and dynamic methods.

This document described a laboratory study designed to determine whether mercury is, in fact, reduced by bisulfite ion and ammonia and, if so, whether the reduced mercury is volatilized at the boiling point of water. The primary conclusions resulting from this study are that both bisulfite ion and ammonia are capable of reducing mercury in solution and that, when reduced, the mercury will all be volatilized and carried into the distillate.

The accumulation in groundwater of products from the radioactive decay of elements naturally found in rocks offers a potential for measuring the time that the groundwater has been contact with the rock. This dating method has an advantage over using decay products from the atmosphere in that the amount of decay products increases with age rather than decreases. However, different decay products accumulate at different rates and, thus, have a different potential usefulness in age determinations. The most useful decay product is helium, produced from uranium and thorium. The use of Ar-40 produced from potassium is limited because Ar-40 is abundant in meteoric water. Neon, xenon and krypton are useful with great difficulty because they are produced in extremely small quantities. In general, the potential for error increases when a long time is required to produce a small quantity of the dating nuclide.

The objective of this study was to examine the relative importance of pressure changes as a source of turbine-passage injury and mortality. Specific tests were designed to quantify the response of fish to rapid pressure changes typical of turbine passage, with and without the complication of the fish being acclimated to gas supersaturated water. We investigated the responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) to these two stresses, both singly and in combination.

As part of this research effort, we developed a new methodology for projecting elderly traffic crash fatalities. This methodology separates exposure to crashes from crash risk per se, and further divides exposure into two components, the number of miles driven and the likelihood of being a driver. This component structure permits conceptually different determinants of traffic fatalities to be projected separately and has thorough motivation in behavioral theory. It also permits finer targeting of particular aspects of projections that need improvement and closer linking of projections to possible policy instruments for influencing them.

Over the last several years most of the sludge and liquid from the Liquid Low-Level Waste (LLLW) tanks at ORNL has been transferred and consolidated in the Melton Valley Storage Tanks (MVST). The contents of the MVST tanks at the time the sludge samples were collected for this report included the original inventory in the MVSTs along with the sludge and liquid from the Bethel Valley Evaporator Service Tanks (BVEST), Old Hydrofracture (OHF) tanks, and most of the Gunite and Associated Tanks (GAAT). During the spring and summer of 2000 the MVST composite sludge was sampled and characterized to validate the radiochemical content and to ensure regulatory compliance. This report only discusses the analytical characterization of the sludge from the MVST waste tanks (except for W-29 and W-30). The isotopic data presented in this report supports the position that fissile isotopes of uranium ({sup 233}U and {sup 235}U) and plutonium ({sup 239}Pu and {sup 241}Pu) were ''denatured'' as required by the administrative controls stated in the ORNL LLLW waste acceptance criteria (WAC). In general, the MVST sludge was found to be hazardous by RCRA characteristics based on total analysis of chromium, mercury, and lead. Also, the alpha activity due to …

Two 316L thermal convection loops (TCLs) containing several types of 316L specimens circulated mercury continuously for 2000 h at a maximum temperature of 300 C. Each TCL was fitted with a venturi-shaped reduced section near the top of the hot leg for the purpose of locally increasing the Hg velocity. Results suggest that an increase in velocity from about 1.2 m/min (bulk flow) to about 5 mmin (reduced section) had no significant impact on compatibility of 316L with Hg. In addition, various surface treatments such as gold-plating, chemical etching, polishing, and steam cleaning resulted in little or no influence on compatibility of 316L with Hg when compared to nominal mill-annealed/surface-ground material. A sensitizing heat treatment also had little/no effect on compatibility of 316L with Hg for the bulk specimen, although intergranular attack was observed around the specimen holes in each case. It was determined that carburization of the hole area had occurred as a result of the specimen fabrication process potentially rendering the specimens susceptible to corrosion by Hg at these locations. To avoid sensitization-related compatibility issues for SNS components, selection of low carbon grades of stainless steel and control of the fabrication process is recommended.

In the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) of Savannah River Plant site waste will be immobilized in borosilicate glass. A knowledge of the neutron emission from DWPF glass is necessary to assess shielding requirements for the DWPF canister and to determine the response characteristics of the Neutron Transmission Glass Level Detection System. Excellent agreement was obtained between measured and calculated neutron emissions (yields) from Pu spiked black frit glasses using West's method of weighting components based on relative stopping power. The calculated values for the three glasses were 2-7 percent higher than measured. Calculations using a Nj Zj weighting method were 19-22 percent lower than measured. The good agreement between measurement and calculation using West's method lends confidence in its use to calculate the neutron source term for DWPF glass.

This paper reports progress in the fabrication and characterization of an array of 1nm-scale colloidal particles (i.e., quantum-dot array) that can be operated to execute nontrivial and innovative computations, possibly including quantum logic. We discuss the actual fabrication of 2-nm metal clusters as an example of possible quantum dot implementation. Innovative and unconventional paradigms underlie the different stages of this work. For example, regular array geometry is achieved by directing appropriately derivatized metal clusters to preselected locations along a stretched strand of an engineered DNA sequence.