The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing and implementing a customer satisfaction assessment program (CSAP) to assess the quality of research and development provided by the laboratory. We present the customer survey component of the PNNL CSAP. The customer survey questionnaire is composed of 2 major sections, Strategic Value and Project Performance. The Strategic Value section of the questionnaire consists of 5 questions that can be answered with a 5 point Likert scale response. These questions are designed to determine if a project is directly contributing to critical future national needs. The Project Performance section of the questionnaire consists of 9 questions that can be answered with a 5 point Likert scale response. These questions determine PNNL performance in meeting customer expectations. Many approaches could be used to analyze customer survey data. We present a statistical model that can accurately capture the random behavior of customer survey data. The properties of this statistical model can be used to establish a "gold standard'' or performance expectation for the laboratory, and then assess progress. The gold standard is defined from input from laboratory management --- answers to 4 simple questions, in terms of the information obtained from the CSAP customer survey, …

The C-17 Globemaster III is a long-range cargo/transport aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force since 1993. Congress approved development of the aircraft in the late 1970s, when it was recognized that the Air Force did not have enough airlift capability. In 1981, the McDonnell Douglas C-17 emerged as winner of a competition with Boeing and Lockheed to develop a next-generation aircraft to replace C-130s and C-141s.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

OAK B135 Direct Energy Conversion Fission Reactor for the period December 1, 1999 through February 29, 2000

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The D-Zero silicon trough is segmented into two half troughs. Loading to the Central Fiber Tracker Barrel 1 is at both ends and near Z = 0. The loading near Z = 0 is thought to be 4 lbs at 4 points. The point locations are at +/-45 degrees for each half trough on each side of Z = O. An additional support at Z = O is required to prevent beam sag and out of round distortions to the CFT Barrel 1. An additional joining washer will be attached between barrels 1 and 2 at Z = 0. Also a support ring will be attached to the inner diameter of barrel 1 to further help in out of round distortions. Details of the washer and loading are modeled using ANSYS.

The maximum power achieved in a wide variety of high-power devices, including electron and ion diodes, z pinches, and microwave generators, is presently limited by anode-cathode gap breakdown. A frequently-discussed hypothesis for this effect is ionization of fast neutral atoms injected throughout the anode-cathode gap during the power pulse. The authors describe a newly-developed diagnostic tool that provides the first direct test of this hypothesis. Time-resolved vacuum-ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy is used to directly probe fast neutral atoms with 1 mm spatial resolution in the 10 mm anode-cathode gap of the SABRE 5 MV, 1 TW applied-B ion diode. Absorption spectra collected during Ar RF glow discharges and with CO{sub 2} gas fills confirm the reliability of the diagnostic technique. Throughout the 50--100 ns ion diode pulses no measurable neutral absorption is seen, setting upper limits of 0.12--1.5 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3} for ground state fast neutral atom densities of H, C, N, O, F. The absence of molecular absorption bands also sets upper limits of 0.16--1.2 x 10{sup 15} cm{sup {minus}3} for common simple molecules. These limits are low enough to rule out ionization throughout the gap as a breakdown mechanism. This technique can now be applied to quantify …

Three unirradiated EBR-II blanket fuel samples containing depleted uranium metal were corrosion tested in simulated J-13 well water at 90 C. The corrosion rate of the blanket uranium metal was then determined relative to H{sub 2} formation. Corrosion of one of the samples was interrupted prior to complete oxidation of the uranium metal and the solid corrosion product was analyzed for UO{sub 2} and UH{sub 3}.

Electrometallurgical treatment (EMT) was developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to ready sodium-bonded spent nuclear fuel for geological disposal. A demonstration of this technology was successfully completed in August 1999. EMT was used to condition irradiated EBR-II driver and blanket fuel at ANL-West. The results of this demonstration, including the production of radioactive high-level waste forms, are presented.

Various statutes and regulations authorize the President to restrict or prohibit trade with targeted countries for national security or foreign policy reasons. The exercise of these authorities has resulted in restrictions or prohibitions at times being placed on the export of U.S. agricultural commodities and products. The U.S. government currently restricts exports of agricultural products as part of across-the-board economic sanctions imposed on Cuba and Iraq. Exceptions are made for humanitarian reasons, allowing food to be sold or donated to these two countries.

Criticality safety issues for disposal of the ANL ceramic waste were examined for configurations within the waste package. Co-disposal of ceramic waste and DOE spent fuel is discussed briefly; co-disposal of ANL ceramic and metal wastes is examined in detail. Calculations indicate that no significant potential for criticality exists until essentially all of the important neutron absorbers are flushed from the degraded ceramic waste. Even if all of the neutron absorbers are removed from the ceramic waste rubble, the package remains far subcritical if the blended salts used in ceramic waste production have an initial U-235 enrichment below 40%.

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed and demonstrated an electrometallurgical process for the Department of Energy (DOE) to treat sodium bonded spent nuclear fuel. One of the key steps in the demonstration was electrorefining the spent fuel in a molten LiCl-KCl-UCl{sub 3}/liquid cadmium system using a pilot scale electrorefiner (Mark-IV ER). This article summarizes experimental observations and engineering aspects for the roles of the liquid cadmium during electrorefining spent fuel in the Mark-IV ER. It was found that the liquid cadmium pool acted as an intermediate electrode during the electrorefining process. The cadmium level was gradually decreased due to its high vapor pressure and vaporization rate at the ER operational temperature. The low cadmium level caused the anode assembly to electrically short with the ER vessel hardware, which resulted in the difficulties to determine the endpoint of uranium dissolution from the anode baskets and reducing the current efficiency. A reflux cadmium vapor trap was installed and has successfully prevented the cadmium level from decreasing.

News release about discounts on Dallas Zoo tickets with DART light rail tickets.

News release about discounts on Dallas Zoo tickets with DART light rail tickets.

This paper examines the security and safeguards implications of potential management options for DOE's sodium-bonded blanket fuel from the EBR-II and the Fermi-1 fast reactors. The EBR-II fuel appears to be unsuitable for the packaging alternative because of DOE's current safeguards requirements for plutonium. Emerging DOE requirements, National Academy of Sciences recommendations, draft waste acceptance requirements for Yucca Mountain and IAEA requirements for similar fuel also emphasize the importance of safeguards in spent fuel management. Electrometallurgical treatment would be acceptable for both fuel types. Meeting the known requirements for safeguards and security could potentially add more than $200M in cost to the packaging option for the EBR-II fuel.

The ceramic and metal waste forms produced by electrometallurgical treatment of sodium-bonded spent nuclear fuel are undergoing evaluation as to how they will perform within the geologic repository which is proposed to be built at Yucca Mountain. An initial assessment, making use of preliminary degradation models for the waste forms, is described. The analyses are performed with a simplified version of the Total System Performance Assessment--Viability Assessment repository model. Results indicate that the ability of the ceramic and metal waste forms to retain radionuclides is similar to and sometimes better than defense high-level waste glass.

The report analyzes the possibility of cyberwarfare on the electricity infrastructure. The ongoing deregulation of the electricity industry makes the power grid all the more vulnerable to cyber attacks. The report models the power system information system components, models potential threats and protective measures. It therefore offers a framework for infrastructure protection.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Ongoing hydrothermal Cs-Ti-Si-O-H{sub 2}O phase investigations has produced several new ternary phases including a novel microporous Cs-silicotitanate molecular sieve, SNL-B with the approximate formula of Cs{sub 3}TiSi{sub 3}O{sub 9.5}{center_dot}3H{sub 2}O. SNL-B is only the second molecular sieve Cs-silicotitanate phase reported to have been synthesized by hydrothermal methods. Crystallites are very small (0.1 x 2 microns) with a blade-like morphology. SNL-B is confirmed to be a 3-dimensional molecular sieve by a variety of characterization techniques (N{sub 2} adsorption, ion exchange, water adsorption/desorption, solid state CP-MAS NMR). SNL-B is able to desorb and adsorb water from its pores while retaining its crystal structure and exchanges Cs cations readily. Additional techniques were used to describe fundamental properties (powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR, {sup 29}Si and {sup 133}/Cs MAS NMR, DTA, SEM/EDS, ion selectivity, and radiation stability). The phase relationships of metastable SNL-B to other hydrothermally synthesized Cs-Ti-Si-O-H{sub 2}O phases are discussed, particularly its relationship to a Cs-silicotitanate analogue of pharmacosiderite, and a novel condensed phase, a polymorph of Cs{sub 2}TiSi{sub 6}O{sub 15}(SNL-A).

This paper presents an optimal search method for determining the base location of a robot manipulator so that the robot can have a designated point-to-point (PTP) motion capabilities. Based on the topological characterization of the manipulator workspace and the definitions of various p-connectivity, a computational method is developed for enumerating various PTP motion capabilities into quantitative cost functions. Then an unconstrained search by minimizing the cost function yields the task feasible location of the robot base. This methodology is useful for placement of mobile manipulators and robotic workcell layout design.

Copper in Si is shown to be strongly gettered by Al-rich precipitates formed by implanting Al to supersaturation and followed by annealing. At temperatures ranging from 600 to 800 C a layer containing Al precipitates is found to getter Cu from Cu silicide located on the opposite side of a 0.25-mm Si wafer, indicating a substantially lower chemical potential for the Cu in the molten-A1 phase. Cu gettering proceeds rapidly until an atomic ratio of approximately 2 Cu atoms to 1 Al atom is reached in the precipitated Al region, after which the gettering process slows. Redistribution of Cu from one Al-rich layer to another at low Cu concentrations demonstrates that a segregation-type gettering mechanism is operating. Cu gettering occurs primarily in the region containing the precipitated Al rather than the region where the Al is entirely substitutional.

A small brochure about solar electricity for the general public to be handed out on Earth Day 2000.