This report sketches issues underlying broader use of cost-benefit analysis. It focuses on cost-benefit as one of several related frameworks for assessing regulatory actions or policies. Cost-benefit is the broadest of these frameworks, which also include impact assessment, risk assessment, and cost-effectiveness. Which analytical framework is appropriate depends on the regulatory context.

This is the first quarterly technical progress report for the project. Although the contract was awarded on March 30, 1995 and Pre-Award Approval was given on January 26, 1995, the partners of this project initiated work on October 1, 1994. As such, this progress report summarizes the work performed from project inception. The production and injection data, reservoir engineering data, and digitized and normalized log data were all completed sufficiently by the end of the quarter to start work on the basic reservoir engineering and geologic stochastic models. Basic reservoir engineering analysis began June 1 and will continue to March, 1996. Design work for the 5 observation/core holes, oil finger printing of the cored oil sands, and tracers surveys began in January, 1995. The wells will be drilled from July--August, 1995 and tracer injection work is projected to start in October, 1995. A preliminary deterministic 3-D geologic model was completed in June which is sufficient to start work on the stochastic 3-D geologic model. The four proposed horizontal wells (two injectors and two producers) have been designed, equipment has been ordered, and the wells will be drilled from mid-August through September. Four existing steam injection wells were converted to hot …

A test version of AXAIR has been prepared to compare with PUFF-PLUME. The test version of AXAIR applies the same meteorological conditions as PUFF-PLUME and also the dispersion coefficients have been changed to be the same as those in PUFF-PLUME. The test version of AXAIR and PUFF-PLUME produce virtually the same doses with the differences being less than 3% for the select cases with similar input. Differences and similarities in the models are also addressed.

The Tasks of this project are to: (1) complete implementation of a Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS) in the States of Alaska, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska; and (2) conduct Area of Review (AOR) Workshops in the states of California, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The RBDMS was designed to be a comprehensive database with the ability to expand into multiple areas, including oil and gas production. The database includes comprehensive well information for both producing and injection wells. It includes automated features for performing functions redated to AOR analyses, environmental risk analyses, well evaluation, permit evaluation, compliance monitoring, operator bonding assessments, operational monitoring and tracking, and more. This quarterly report describes the status of the development of the RBDMS project in both stated tasks and proposes further steps in its implementation.

The Savannah River Site has successfully used robots, teleoperators, and remote video to reduce exposure to ionizing radiation, improve worker safety, and improve the quality of operations. Previous reports have described the use of mobile teleoperators in coping with a high level liquid waste spill, the removal of highly contaminated equipment, and the inspection of nuclear reactor vessels. This report will cover recent applications at the Savannah River, as well as systems which SRS has delivered to other DOE site customers.

The goal of this project is the development of a commercially-viable, cobalt-based Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) catalyst for use in a slurry bubble column reactor. The major objectives of this work are (1) to develop a cobalt-based F-T catalyst with low (< 5%) methane selectivity, (2) to develop a cobalt-based F-T catalyst with water-gas shift activity, and (3) to combine both these improvements into one catalyst. The project consists of five major tasks: catalyst development; catalyst testing; catalyst reproducibility tests; catalyst aging tests; and preliminary design and cost estimate for a demonstrate scale catalyst production facility. Technical accomplishments during this reporting period include the following. It appears that the higher activity obtained for the catalysts prepared using an organic solution and reduced directly without prior calcination was the result of higher dispersions obtained under such pretreatment. A Ru-promoted Co catalyst on alumina with 30% Co loading exhibited a 4-fold increase in dispersion and a 2-fold increase in activity in the fixed-bed reactor from that obtained with the non-promoted catalyst. Several reactor runs have again focused on pushing conversion to higher levels. The maximum conversion obtained has been 49.7% with 26g catalyst. Further investigations of the effect of reaction temperature on the performance …

The objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and quantitative characterization of a fluvial-deltaic reservoir which will allow realistic inter-well and reservoir-scale modeling to be constructed for improved oil-field development in similar reservoirs world-wide. The geological and petrophysical properties of the Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone in east-central Utah will be quantitatively determined. Both new and existing data will be integrated into a three-dimensional representation of spatial variations in porosity, storativity, and tensorial rock permeability at a scale appropriate for inter-well to regional-scale reservoir simulation. Results could improve reservoir management through proper infill and extension drilling strategies, reduction of economic risks, increased recovery from existing oil fields, and more reliable reserve calculations. Technical progress this quarter is divided into regional stratigraphy, case studies, stochastic modeling and fluid-flow simulation, and technology transfer activities. The regional stratigraphy of the Ferron Sandstone outcrop belt from Last Chance Creek to Ferron Creek is being described and interpreted. Photomosaics and a database of existing surface and subsurface data are being used to determine the extent and depositional environment of each parasequence, and the nature of the contacts with adjacent rocks or flow units. For the second field season, detailed geological and petrophysical characterization of …

In a June 3, 1993, Office of Inspections Letter Report, the Office of Inspector General notified the Department`s Acting Chief Financial Officer that the Department had requested and received $60 million, double the funds needed, for the safeguard and security of special nuclear material at the Department`s Richland Operations Office in Fiscal Year 1993. In response to the Letter Report, in a June 28, 1993, memorandum, the Acting Chief Financial Officer advised the Office of Inspector General that the extra $30 million received by the Office of Environmental Management would either be: (1) applied to unanticipated requirements in Fiscal Year 1993; (2) applied to the anticipated Congressional reduction to the Department`s Fiscal Year 1994 budget request; or (3) used as an offset to the Fiscal Year 1995 budget request. The purpose of this follow-up inspection was to review the circumstances surrounding the Fiscal Year 1993 double funding for the security of special nuclear material at Richland. The principal objectives of this inspection were to: (1) identify contributing factors to the double funding and corrective actions needed to prevent the double funding from reoccurring; and (2) review Departmental Managers` response to the double funding issue.

The development of a new detector designed to optically image the track of a charged particle in a gas is outlined. In the detector, a pulsed high-voltage (up to {approx} 30--40 kV), high-frequency (f = 27.125 MHz) RF field is temporarily applied (pulse duration {approx} 1--3 {mu}s) across a pair of electrodes, immediately following, or alternatively, just prior to the passage of a charged particle through the chamber. The pulsed RF field excites the subexcitation electrons left along the particle`s path leading to excitation and ionization of the surrounding gas and the emission of light. The track is then imaged by a fast intensified digital camera (shutter speed {approx} 0.1--5 {mu}s). The image is recorded in a two-dimensional pixel array (512 {times} 512 pixels) within the camera, and transferred to a computer for later analysis. The detector has been operated over the total gas pressure range 2.5--100 kPa (20--750 torr) using a gas mixture of 2--10% N2 in Ar. Images of both {alpha} and {beta} tracks obtained with this detector are discussed to demonstrate the usefulness of the present technique in charged-particle track analysis for dosimetry and microdosimetry applications.

Hydrothermal treatment (reaction in a water medium at elevated temperatures) can transform many municipal solid waste (MSW) constituents into a synthetic coal material which is more amenable for use as a fuel or chemical feedstock than the raw MSW. One means of heating the MSW is to use direct high temperature steam injection into a closed reactor and allow the latent heat of the steam to raise the MSW to the desired temperature and at the same time build the pressure necessary to maintain a water phase. This report describes a computer model which can be used to look at details of the steam flow, water evaporation/condensation, thermal evolution, and MSW decomposition in a direct-steam heated MSW hydrothermal reactor. The model treats the system as a packed bed using a Darcy`s law formulation for computing gas flow rates. The model has been applied to a pilot and a commercial scale system. Computations take between 1-6 hours on a HP-9000/730. Initial computations performed with the model indicate that pressure drop and velocities on a pilot scale systems will be small. On the other hand, they indicate that gas velocities inside a commercial scale reactor can reach levels at which entrainment of …

The Macro Planner will provide required resource identities, bill of material list, routing sequences and identities of all supporting information to the Shop Floor Control System to enable the actual manufacturing activities. The Macro Planner must also collect manufacturing performance data from the shop floor to effectively measure the plan`s performance. The critical feedback will be evaluated during closure of the business cycle and provide the metrics on cost and quality to the planning function. This document is intended to describe the requirements for a Macro Planner system which supports the above environment. The Macro planner should progress to a logically, rule driven processor to automate major portions of the planning cycle. It should do the following: support concurrent product/process design; define a globally optimized manufacturing plan for realization of product; compile a complete manufacturing plan script (routing and operational detail documentation); be based on 3-D CAD models imported via STEP standards; and define an Enterprise Resource Base that maps manufacturing capabilities to component features.

Electricity constitutes a critical input in sustaining the Nation`s economic growth and development and the well-being of its inhabitants. However, there are byproducts of electricity production that have an undesirable effect on the environment. Most of these are emissions introduced by the combustion of fossil fuels, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total electricity generated in the United States. The environmental impacts (or damages) caused by these emissions are labeled environmental ``externalities.`` Included in the generic term ``externality`` are benefits or costs resulting as an unintended byproduct of an economic activity that accrue to someone other than the parties involved in the activity. This report provides an overview of the economic foundation of externalities, the Federal and State regulatory approaches, and case studies of the impacts of the externality policies adopted by three States.

TEAM will create a shop floor control system (SFC) to link the pre-production planning to shop floor execution. SFC must meet the requirements of a multi-facility corporation, where control must be maintained between co-located facilities down to individual workstations within each facility. SFC must also meet the requirements of a small corporation, where there may only be one small facility. A hierarchical architecture is required to meet these diverse needs. The hierarchy contains the following levels: Enterprise, Factory, Cell, Station, and Equipment. SFC is focused on the top three levels. Each level of the hierarchy is divided into three basic functions: Scheduler, Dispatcher, and Monitor. The requirements of each function depend on the hierarchical level in which it is to be used. For example, the scheduler at the Enterprise level must allocate production to individual factories and assign due-dates; the scheduler at the Cell level must provide detailed start and stop times of individual operations. Finally the system shall have the following features: distributed and open-architecture. Open architecture software is required in order that the appropriate technology be used at each level of the SFC hierarchy, and even at different instances within the same hierarchical level (for example, Factory A …

This year, the annual is published in two volumes. Volume I focused on US electric utilities and contained final 1994 data on net generation, fossil fuel consumption, stocks, receipts, and cost. This Volume II presents annual 1994 summary statistics for the electric power industry, including information on both electric utilities and nonutility power producers. Included are preliminary data for electric utility retail sales of electricity, associated revenue, and average revenue per kilowatthour of electricity sold (based on form EIA-861) and for electric utility financial statistics, environmental statistics, power transactions, and demand- side management. Final 1994 data for US nonutility power producers on installed capacity and gross generation, as well as supply and disposition information, are also provided in Volume II. Technical notes and a glossary are included.

A test program to collect and analyze size-fractionated stack gas particulate samples for selected inorganic hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) was conducted . Specific goals of the program are (1) the collection of one-gram quantities of size-fractionated stack gas particulate matter for bulk (total) and surface chemical characterization, and (2) the determination of the relationship between particle size, bulk and surface (leachable) composition, and unit load. The information obtained from this program identifies the effects of unit load, particle size, and wet FGD system operation on the relative toxicological effects of exposure to particulate emissions. Field testing was conducted in two phases. The Phase I field program was performed over the period of August 24 through September 20, 1992, at the Tennessee Valley Authority Widows Creek Unit 8 Power Station, located near Stevenson (Jackson County), Alabama, on the Tennessee River. Sampling activities for Phase II were conducted from September 11 through October 14, 1993. Widows Creek Unit 8 is a 575-megawatt plant that uses bituminous coal averaging 3.7% sulfur and 13% ash. Downstream of the boiler, a venture wet scrubbing system is used for control of both sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions. There is no electrostatic precipitator (ESP) in this system. …

The objective of this project is to retrofit the previously developed High Efficiency Advanced Coal Combustor (HEACC) to a standard gas/oil designed industrial boiler to assess the technical and economic viability of displacing premium fuels with microfine coal. This report documents the technical aspects of this project during the fourteenth quarter (January `95 through March `95) of the program. The ABB project team met with cognizant DOE-PETC and Penn State personnel on February 15, 1995 at Penn State to discuss our ideas for a new burner (RSFC-based) to replace the HEACC burner prior to the long term ({approximately}1000 hrs) demonstration phase of this project. The main reasons for the proposed new burner were to improve combustion efficiencies and NO{sub x} reduction. Recent, experience at MIT with 5 million Btu/hr coal firing experiments on RSFC burner have shown remarkable performance. Results indicate that RSFC-based burner has the potential to produce lower NO{sub x} and higher carbon conversion efficiencies than the HEACC burner. M.I.T. developed the RSFC burner and obtained a patent for the concept. A decision was made to go with the new, RSFC-based burner during 1000 hr demonstration. ABB-CE will fund the costs ({approximately}$50K) for design/fabrication of the proposed new …

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories

This document comprises the fire hazards analysis for the solid waste burial grounds, including TRU trenches, low-level burial grounds, radioactive mixed waste trenches, etc. It analyzes fire potential, and fire damage potential for these facilities. Fire scenarios may be utilized in future safety analysis work, or for increasing the understanding of where hazards may exist in the present operation.

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This system development specification covers the Poloidal Field (PF) Magnet System, WBS 14 in the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory TPX Program to build a tokamak fusion reactor. This specification establishes the performance, design, development and test requirements of the PF Magnet System.

Research continued on hydrogen separation from coal gas. Project objectives are to explore silyation reactions with the purpose of reducing the thickness and increasing the permeability of silica membranes; to delinate mechanisms and kinetics of silica deposition; to measure the permeability of silica layers at different extents of deposition; and to mathematically model the relationship of permeability and membrane structure.

High-strength Al(O) alloys, initially discovered by ion implantation, have now been produced with electron-cyclotron resonance plasma deposition and pulsed-laser deposition. The mechanical properties of these deposited alloy layers were examined with nanoindentation, and finite element modeling of the indented layer on Si substrates was used to determine yield stresses for the alloys of {approximately} 1--5 GPa. The key to these high strengths is the high density of nanometer-size {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} precipitates formed when high concentrations (5--30 at.%) of oxygen are introduced into aluminum as individual atoms or molecules. The strongest alloys have precipitates as small as 1 nm, implying that such small precipitates block dislocation motion. Based upon previous studies with oxygen-implanted aluminum, improved tribological properties are expected for layers made by the two new deposition methods.

This report summarizes results of the Integrated DWPF (Defense Waste Processing Facility) Melter System (IDMS) ammonia scrubber testing during the PX-7 run (the 7th IDMS run with a Purex type sludge). Operation of the ammonia scrubber during IDMS Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) and Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) processing has been completed. The ammonia scrubber was successful in removing ammonia from the vapor stream to achieve NH3 concentrations far below the 10 ppM vapor exist design basis during SRAT processing. However, during SME processing, vapor NH3 concentrations as high as 450 ppM were measured exiting the scrubber. Problems during the SRAT and SME testing were vapor bypassing the scrubber and inefficient scrubbing of the ammonia at the end of the SME cycle (50% removal efficiency; 99.9% is design basis efficiency).

Significant changes have been made to all of the original vapor characterization reports. This report documents specific headspace gas and vapor characterization results for all vapor sampling events to date. In addition, changes have been made to the original vapor reports to qualify the data based on quality assurance issues associated with the performing laboratories