The isotopic ratios of {sup 36}Cl/Cl are used in conjunction with geologic interpretation and numerical modeling to evaluate flow and transport pathways, processes, and model parameters in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain. By synthesizing geochemical and geologic data, the numerical model results provide insight into the validity of alternative hydrologic parameter sets, flow and transport processes in and away from fault zones, and the applicability of {sup 36}Cl/Cl. ratios for evaluating alternative conceptual models.

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The potential exists for peaceful and constructive bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. Domestic developments in both countries, the changing global economic and political environment, and structural changes in regional trading patterns have created new opportunities for replacing traditional Indian and Pakistani perceptions of hostility and suspicion with mutual understanding and trust. This substitution process can be accelerated by increasing people-to-people contact, the free flow of information, and economic and technological cooperation between the two neighbors. Nonmilitary confidence building measures could create conditions for an incremental reduction on tensions between India and Pakistan. A popular consciousness for enhanced bilateral cooperation is growing. This process could be strengthened by identifying and exploring new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation that could pave the way for peace.

Since 1984, India and Pakistan have confronted each other militarily for control over the Siachen Glacier and its approaches in the eastern Karakoram mountain range, adjacent to the borders of India, Pakistan, and China. The longest-running armed conflict between two regular armies in the twentieth century, the conflict in Siachen has resulted in hundreds of casualties, mainly because of adverse climatic conditions and harsh terrain. The economic cost of sustaining a conflict in that geographically remote and climatically inhospitable region has also been extremely high for both countries. Past efforts by India and Pakistan to find a mutually acceptable solution have failed, mainly because of mutual distrust and suspicion. This paper examines Indian and Pakistani perceptions, preference, and policies, and identifies options for resolving the conflict. This paper also identifies the most appropriate verification and monitoring technologies to assist policy-makers in ensuring agreement stability and compliance. While a future agreement on resolving the dispute will depend, above all, on the political will of the Indian and Pakistani leaderships, adequate, appropriate verification and monitoring mechanism will enhance their ability to reach a sustainable and durable accord of the Siachen conflict. 1 fig.

CQ Inc. and its project team members--Howard University, PrepTech Inc., Fossil Fuel Sciences, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and industry advisors--are applying mature coal cleaning and scientific principles to the new purpose of removing potentially hazardous air pollutants from coal. The team uniquely combines mineral processing, chemical engineering, and geochemical expertise. This project meets more than 11 goals of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Energy Strategy, and the 1993 Climate Change Action Plan. During this project: (1) Equations were developed to predict the concentration of trace elements in as-mined and cleaned coals. These equations, which address both conventional and advanced cleaning processes, can be used to increase the removal of hazardous air pollutant precursors (HAPs) by existing cleaning plants and to improve the design of new cleaning plants. (2) A promising chemical method of removing mercury and other HAPs was developed. At bench-scale, mercury reductions of over 50 percent were achieved on coal that had already been cleaned by froth flotation. The processing cost of this technology is projected to be less than $3.00 per ton ($3.30 per tonne). (3) Projections were made of the average trace element concentration in cleaning plant solid waste streams from …

Our goal was to investigate the suitability of parallel supercomputer architectures for Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC). Because QMC allows one to study the properties of ions and electrons in a solid, it has important applications to condensed matter physics, chemistry, and materials science. research plan was to Our specific 1. Adapt quantum simulation codes which were highly optimized for vector supercomputers to run on the Intel Hypercube and Thinking Machines CM--5. 2. Identify architectural bottlenecks in communication, floating point computation, and node memory. Determine scalability with number of nodes. 3. Identify algorithmic changes required to take advantage of current and prospective architectures. We have made significant progress towards these goals. We explored implementations of the p4 parallel programming system and the Message Passing Interface (MPI) libraries to run ``world-line`` and ``determinant`` QMC and Molecular Dynamics simulations on both workstation clusters (HP, Spare, AIX, Linux) and massively parallel supercomputers (Intel iPSC1860, Meiko CS-2, BM SP-X, Intel Paragon). We addressed issues of the efficiency of parallelization as a function of distribution of the problem over the nodes and the length scale of the interactions between particles. Both choices influence he frequency of inter-node communication and the size of messages passed. We found …

This progress report describes design and marketing efforts made to reduce the cost of the product, and reassess its market potential in light of reduced manufacturing costs and modified design. Marketing has looked at applications in agriculture, the turf grass industry, and golf coarse applications. The new controller offers energy efficiency in control of valves and minimization of costs associated with hard wired systems.

The benefits of using low ({le}5 kV) operating voltages for energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) of bulk specimens have been explored only during the last few years. This paper couples low-voltage EDS with two other emerging areas of characterization: spectrum imaging of a computer chip manufactured by a major semiconductor company. Data acquisition was performed with a Philips XL30-FEG SEM operated at 4 kV and equipped with an Oxford super-ATW detector and XP3 pulse processor. The specimen was normal to the electron beam and the take-off angle for acquisition was 35{degree}. The microscope was operated with a 150 {micro}m diameter final aperture at spot size 3, which yielded an X-ray count rate of {approximately}2,000 s{sup {minus}1}. EDS spectrum images were acquired as Adobe Photoshop files with the 4pi plug-in module. (The spectrum images could also be stored as NIH Image files, but the raw data are automatically rescaled as maximum-contrast (0--255) 8-bit TIFF images -- even at 16-bit resolution -- which poses an inconvenience for quantitative analysis.) The 4pi plug-in module is designed for EDS X-ray mapping and allows simultaneous acquisition of maps from 48 elements plus an SEM image. The spectrum image was acquired by re-defining the energy intervals of …

The WAND (Waste Assay for Nonradioactive Disposal) system can scan thought-to-be-clean, low-density waste (mostly paper and plastics) to determine whether the levels of any contaminant radioactivity are low enough to justify their disposal in normal public landfills or similar facilities. Such a screening would allow probably at least half of the large volume of low-density waste now buried at high cost in LANL`s Rad Waste Landfill (Area G at Technical Area 54) to be disposed of elsewhere at a much lower cost. The WAND System consists of a well-shielded bank of six 5-in.-diam. phoswich scintillation detectors; a mechanical conveyor system that carries a 12-in.-wide layer of either shredded material or packets of paper sheets beneath the bank of detectors; the electronics needed to process the outputs of the detectors; and a small computer to control the whole system and to perform the data analysis. WAND system minimum detectable activities (MDAs) for point sources range from {approximately}20 dps for {sup 241}Am to approximately 10 times that value for {sup 239}Pu, with most other nuclides of interest being between those values, depending upon the emission probabilities of the radiations emitted (usually gamma rays and/or x-rays). The system can also detect beta particles …

The purpose of this paper is to present the interface management process that is to be used for Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) development. As part of the systems engineering and integration performed on the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP), interface management is critical in the development of the potential MGDS. The application of interface management on the YMP directly addresses integration between physical elements of the MGDS and the organizations responsible for their development.

Inadequacies of current recovery and disposal methods for mixed plastic wastes drive the exploration of viable strategies for plastics resource recovery. The combination of diminishing landfill space and increasing usage of plastic products poses a significant dilemma, since current recovery methods are costly and ill-suited to handle contaminants. Coprocessing of polymeric waste with other materials may provide potential solutions to the deficiencies of current resource recovery methods, including unfavorable process economics. By incorporating plastic waste as a minor feed into an existing process, variations in supply and composition could be mediated, permitting continuous operation. One attractive option is the coprocessing of polymeric waste with coal under direct liquefaction conditions, allowing for simultaneous conversion of both feedstocks into high-valued products. Catalyst-directed coliquefaction of coal and polymeric materials not only has attractive environmental implications but also has the potential to enhance the economic viability of traditional liquefaction processes. By exploiting the higher H/C ratio of the polymeric material and using it as a hydrogen source, the overall process demand for molecular hydrogen and hydrogen donor solvents may be reduced. A series of model compound experiments has been conducted, providing a starting point for unraveling the complex chemistry underlying coliquefaction of coal and …

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Privileged business is the legislative business of the House that Members have a right to call up for consideration on the floor when the House is not engaged in considering some other matter. Privileged business consists of various kinds of bills, resolutions, and other matters

This report documents the test results of OTP-320-001, Tank 241-AY-102 Annulus Ventilation System Testing. Included in the appendices are: (1) Supporting documentation prepared to demonstrate the structural integrity of the tank at high annulus vacuum (<20 INWG), and (2) a report that identifies potential cross connections between the primary and annulus ventilation systems. These cross connections were verified to be eliminated prior to the start of testing.

This supporting document has been prepared to make the Kaiser Engineers Hanford Company Project W-320 Tank 106-C Waste Retrieval Study Analysis Session Report readily retrievable. This facilitated session was requested by Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) to review the characterization data and select the best alternatives for a double-shell receiver tank and for a sluicing medium for Tank 106-C waste retrieval. The team was composed of WHC and Kaiser Engineers Hanford Company (KEH) personnel knowledgeable about tank farm operations, tank 106-C requirements, tank waste characterization and analysis, and chemical processing. This team was assembled to perform a structured decision analysis evaluation and recommend the best alternative-destination double-shell tank between tanks 101-AY and 102-AY, and the best alternative sluicing medium among dilute complexant (DC), dilute noncomplexant (DNC), and water. The session was facilitated by Richard Harrington and Steve Bork of KEH and was conducted at the Bookwalter Winery in Richland from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from July 27 through July 29, 1993. Attachment 1 (Scope Statement Sheet) identifies the team members, scope, objectives, and deliverables for the session.

Boron implanted of Ti6Al4V has been conducted at combinations of 32 and 40 keV to supplement that done previously at 75 keV. Shallower boron depth profiles with higher B-concentrations in the Ti64 surface have been obtained by tailoring the combinations of ion energy and dose. This work used three different ion energy and dose combinations of 4 {times} 10{sup 17} B-at/cm{sup 2} at 40 keV plus 2 {times} 10{sup 17} B-at/cm{sup 2} at 32 keV, 4 {times} 10{sup 17} B-at/cm{sup 2} at 40 keV, and 4 {times} 10{sup 17} B-at/cm{sup 2} at 32 keV plus 2 {times} 10{sup 17} B-at/cm{sup 2} at 40 keV. Comparisons are made between Ti6Al4V with a shallow implanted boron depth profile, Ti6Al4V with a deeper boron depth profile and nitrogen implanted using a plasma source ion implantation process. It has been previously shown that while boron implanted Ti64 has a {approximately} 30% higher surface hardness than nitrogen implanted Ti64, the N-implantation reduced the wear coefficient of Ti64 by 25--120x, while B-implantation reduced the wear coefficient by 6.5x or less. The results show that no significant improvement is made in the wear resistance of boron implanted Ti6Al4V by increasing the concentration of boron at the surface …

Because of wide-spread interest in possible amendments to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), CRS has received numerous requests for an analysis and critique of S.1180 and H.R. 2351. This report analyzes those bills. HR. 2351 was introduced on July 31, 1997 and S. 1180 on September 16, 1997. Each bill is discussed under various topic headings. The Senate bill will be described first, since it has been reported.

The use of diamond thin films has the potential for major impact in many industrial and scientific applications. These include heat sinks for electronics, broadband optical sensors, windows, cutting tools, optical coatings, laser diodes, cold cathodes, and field emission displays. Attractive properties of natural diamond consist of physical hardness, high tensile yield strength, chemical inertness, low coefficient of friction, high thermal conductivity, and low electrical conductivity. Unfortunately, these properties are not completely realized in currently produced diamond thin films. Chemical vapor deposition, in its many forms, has been the most successful to this point in producing crystalline diamond films microns to millimeters in thickness which are made up of closely packed diamond crystals microns in physical dimension. However, high purity films are difficult to realize due to the use of hydrogen in the growth process which becomes included in the film matrix. These impurities are manifest in film physical properties which are inferior to those of pure crystalline diamond. In addition, the large density of grain boundaries due to the polycrystalline nature of the films reduce the films' diamond-like character. Finally, substrates must be heated to several hundred degrees Celsius which is not suitable for many materials. Pulsed laser deposition …

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This Startup Plan encompasses activities necessary to perform startup and operation of the LDUA in Facility Group 3 tanks and complete turnover to CPO. The activities discussed in this plan will occur prior to, and following the US Department Energy, Richland Operations Office Operational Readiness Review. This startup plan does not authorize or direct any specific field activities or authorize a change of configuration. As such, this startup plan need not be Unresolved Safety Question (USQ) screened.

This document defines the requirements applicable to the operation, maintenance and storage of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADAS) and Control Network in support of the Light Duty Utility Arm (LDUA) operations.

The initial issue (Revision 0) of this Safety Equipment List (SEL) for the Light Duty Utility Arm (LDUA) requires an explanation for both its existence and its being what it is. All LDUA documentation leading up to creation of this SEL, and the SEL itself, is predicated on the LDUA only being approved for use in waste tanks designated as Facility Group 3, i.e., it is not approved for use in Facility Group 1 or 2 waste tanks. Facility Group 3 tanks are those in which a spontaneous or induced hydrogen gas release would be small, localized, and would not exceed 25% of the LFL when mixed with the remaining air volume in the dome space; exceeding these parameters is considered unlikely. Thus, from a NFPA flammable gas environment perspective the waste tank interior is not classified as a hazardous location. Furthermore, a hazards identification and evaluation (HNF-SD-WM-HIE-010, REV 0) performed for the LDUA system concluded that the consequences of actual LDUA system postulated accidents in Flammable Gas Facility Group 3 waste tanks would have either NO IMPACT or LOW IMPACT on the offsite public and onsite worker. Therefore, from a flammable gas perspective, there is not a rationale for …

The Hanford Site, located adjacent to and north of Richland, Washington, is operated by the US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL). The 324 Building is located in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site. The 324 Building was constructed in the 1960s to support materials and chemical process research and development activities ranging from laboratory/bench-scale studies to full engineering-scale pilot plant demonstrations. In the mid-1990s, it was determined that dangerous waste and waste residues were being stored for greater than 90 days in the 324 Building Radiochemical Engineering Cells (REC) and in the High-Level Vault/Low-Level Vault (HLV/LLV) tanks. [These areas are not Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) permitted portions of the 324 Building.] Through the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) Milestone M-89, agreement was reached to close the nonpermitted RCRA unit in the 324 Building. This closure plan, managed under TPA Milestone M-20-55, addresses the identified building areas targeted by the Tri-Party Agreement and provides commitments to achieve the highest degree of compliance practicable, given the special technical difficulties of managing mixed waste that contains high-activity radioactive materials, and the physical limitations of working remotely in the areas within the subject …

Several detrimental instabilities can be excited when a high-intensity laser interacts with plasma. The temporal evolution and spectra of the scattered light emitted by many of these instabilities are used to characterize the instabilities and to benchmark theories. It has been difficult to image the emission region with sufficient resolution to make quantitative comparisons with theory. Direct measurement of the emission region would yield information on ponderomotive steepening phenomena, the true emission zone of convective instabilities, and on the saturation of absolute instabilities. The increase in laser intensity caused by the filamentation instability is conjectured to elevate the levels of parametric instabilities found in high-energy laser-plasma interactions. Because the diameter of the filaments is very small (on the order of 10 {micro}m), it is impossible to image the emission sites directly and either to prove or to disprove this conjecture. The research reported here examines an alternate method of measuring the emission region of scattered light from parametric instabilities. This report provides a brief background of coherence theory by defining the relevant parameters in Section 2. A concrete example of the effect that multiple scattering sites would have on the proposed measurement is provided in Section 3. The following section …