We have explored the major technical and conceptual issues relating to the suitability of a diode-pumped solid state laser as a driver for an inertial fusion energy power plant. While solid state lasers have long served as the workhorse of inertial confinement fusion physics studies, the deployment of a driver possessing adequate efficiency, reliability, and repetition rate for inertial fusion energy requires the implementation of several technical innovations discussed in this article.

In our application, dichroics in a high average power, near-infrared, laser system have short operating lifetimes. These dichroics were used as the resonator fold mirrors and permitted the transmission of the pumping argon (Ar) ion laser light. Representative samples of two different dichroic optics were taken off-line and the transmission performance monitored in various scenarios. Irradiating these optics under resonator vacuum conditions, ({le}1 mT, 11.7 kW/cm{sup 2}, Ar laser running all wavelengths) resulted in a degradation of transmission with time. Irradiating these optics in a rarefied oxygen atmosphere (1 to 10 T of oxygen, 11.7 kW/cm{sup 2}, Ar laser running all wavelengths) the transmission remained steady over a period of days. The transmission loss observed in the optic tested in vacuum was somewhat reversible if the optic was subsequently irradiated in a rarefied oxygen atmosphere. This reversibility was only possible if the transmission degradation was not too severe. Further tests demonstrated that an atmosphere of 10 T of air also prevented the transmission degradation. In addition, tests were performed to demonstrate that the optic damage was not caused by the ultra-violet component in the Ar ion laser. Mechanisms that may account for this behavior are proposed.

The TREAT Facility was designed and built in the late 1950s at Argonne National Laboratory to provide a transient reactor for safety experiments on samples of reactor fuels. It first operated in 1959. Throughout its history, experiments conducted in TREAT have been important in establishing the behavior of a wide variety of reactor fuel elements under conditions predicted to occur in reactor accidents ranging from mild off normal transients to hypothetical core disruptive accidents. For much of its history, TREAT was used primarily to test liquid-metal reactor fuel elements, initially for the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), then for the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP), the British Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR), and finally, for the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). Both oxide and metal elements were tested in dry capsules and in flowing sodium loops. The data obtained were instrumental in establishing the behavior of the fuel under off-normal and accident conditions, a necessary part of the safety analysis of the various reactors. In addition, TREAT was used to test light-water reactor (LWR) elements in a steam environment to obtain fission-product release data under meltdown conditions. Studies are now under way on applications of TREAT …

An investigation of the rapid rise time of x-ray emission from targets heated by an ultrashort-pulse high-intensity optical laser was conducted for use as a pump for inner-shell photo-ionized x-ray lasing. Results of x-ray rise times from instantaneously heated Au rod targets show little benefit for using optical pulse widths less than 30 fs. Gain calculations for inner-shell photo-ionized lasing show that large gains can be obtained for pulse widths between 30 and 100 fs. Calculated spectra, using the hydrodynamic/atomic kinetics code LASNEX, from a 1 J, 65 fs FWHM pulse optical laser incident on a structured Au target gave a gain of 1 1.5 cm{sup {minus}1} in C at 45 {angstrom}.

The seismic structure of North Africa is poorly understood due to the relative paucity of stations and seismicity when compared to other continental regions of the world. A better understanding of the velocity structure in this area will allow improved models of travel times and regional phase amplitudes. Such models will improve location and identification capability in this region leading to more effective monitoring of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Using regional-to-teleseismic Rayleigh and Love waves that traverse the area we can obtain information about the region's seismic structure by examining phase velocity as a function of period. We utilize earthquakes from the tectonically active regions bounding North Africa (Mediterranean, Red Sea, East African Rift, and Mid-Atlantic Ridge) recorded at broadband seismic stations distributed throughout the region. A two-station method is utilized to determine phase velocity information along the interstation segment of the ray path. The two-station method provides particular advantage in this region as it dramatically increases the number of events available to provide pure North African sampling. Bandpass filters are applied to the seismograms so that peaks and troughs may be correlated. The phase is unwrapped and a difference curve computed. The difference curve is then converted to a …

The TREAT facility was designed and built in the 1950s to provide a transient reactor for conducting safety experiments on reactor fuels. Throughout its almost 40-year history, it has proven to be a safe, reliable, and versatile facility, compiling a distinguished record of successful experiments. Several major improvements to the facility have been made, including an expansion of the building and of equipment handling capability, and enlargement of the access hole above the core, rearrangement of the reactor's control rods to provide more-uniform flux profiles, installation of improved reactor computer-control systems, a feedback system that safely allows real-time changes in power transients depending upon events occurring in the experiment, and several upgrades in the fast neutron hodoscope for improved experiment-fuel-motion diagnostics. The original TREAT fuel is still in use, however, since it appears to have no degradation from its many years of service.

The effect of shrapnel on target chamber components and experiments at large lasers such as the National Ignition Facility at LLNL and the Megajoule Laser at CESTA in France is an important issue in fielding targets and exposure samples. Modeling calculations are likely to be an important component of this effort. Some work in this area has been performed by French workers, who are collaborating with the LLNL on many issues relating to target chamber, experiment-component, and diagnostics survival. Experiments have been performed at the PhCbus laser in France to measure shrapnel produced by laser-driven targets; among these shots were experiments that accelerated spheres of a size characteristic of some of the more damaging shrapnel. These spheres were stopped in polyethylene witness plates. The penetration depth is characteristic of the velocity of the shrapnel. Experimental calibration of steel sphere penetration into polyethylene was performed at the CESTA facility. The penetration depth has been reported (ref. 1) and comparisons with modeling calculations have been made (ref. 2). There was interest in a comparison study of the modeling of these experiments to provide independent checks of the calculations. This work has been approved both by DOE headquarters and by the French Atomic …

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), now under construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will be the largest laser fusion facility ever built. The NIF laser architecture is based on a multi-pass power amplifier to reduce cost and maximize performance. A key component in this laser design is an optical switch that closes to trap the optical pulse in the cavity for four gain passes and then opens to divert the optical pulse out of the amplifier cavity. The switch is comprised of a Pockels cell and a polarizer and is unique because it handles a beam that is 40 cm x 40 cm square and allows close horizontal and vertical beam spacing. Conventional Pockels cells do not scale to such large apertures or the square shape required for close packing. Our switch is based on a Plasma-Electrode Pockels Cell (PEPC). In a PEPC, low-pressure helium discharges (1-2 kA) are formed on both sides of a thin slab of electro-optic material. Typically, we use KH{sub 2}PO{sub 4 } crystals (KDP). The discharges form highly conductive, transparent sheets that allow uniform application of a high-voltage pulse (17 kV) across the crystal. A 37 cm x 37 cm PEPC has been in routine …

Fused silica windows were artificially contaminated to estimate the resistance of target chamber debris shields against laser damage during NIF operation. Uniform contamination thin films (1 to 5 nm thick) were prepared by sputtering various materials (Au, Al, Cu, and B₄C). The loss of transmission of the samples was first measured. They were then tested at 355 nm in air with an 8-ns Nd:YAG laser. The damage morphologies were characterized by Nomarski optical microscopy and SEM. Both theory and experiments showed that metal contamination for films as thin as 1 nm leads to a substantial loss of transmission. The laser damage resistance dropped very uniformly across the entire surface (e.g. 6 J/cm² for 5 nm of Cu). The damage morphology characterization showed that contrary to clean silica, metal coated samples did not produce pits on the surface. B₄C coated silica, on the other hand, led to a higher density of such damage pits. A model for light absorption in the thin film was coupled with a simple heat deposition and diffusion model to perform preliminary theoretical estimates of damage thresholds. The estimates of the loss due to light absorption and reflection pointed out significant .differences between metals (e.g. Al and …

Cleanliness measurements made on AMPLAB prototype National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser amplifiers during assembly, cassette transfer, and amplifier operation are summarized. These measurements include particle counts from surface cleanliness assessments using filter swipe techniques and from airborne particle monitoring. Results are compared with similar measurements made on the Beamlet and Nova lasers and in flashlamp test fixtures. Observations of Class 100,000 aerosols after flashlamp firings are discussed. Comparisons are made between typical damage densities on laser amplifier optics from Novette, NOVA, Beamlet, and AMPLAB.

The aim of this paper is to understand the numerous nuclear-related agreements that involve India and Pakistan, and in so doing identify starting points for future confidence-creating and confidence-building projects. Existing nuclear-related agreements provide a framework under which various projects can be proposed that foster greater nuclear transparency and cooperation in South Asia. The basic assumptions and arguments underlying this paper can be summarized as follows: (1) Increased nuclear transparency between India and Pakistan is a worthwhile objective, as it will lead to the irreversibility of extant nuclear agreements, the prospects of future agreements; and the balance of opacity and transparency required for stability in times of crises; (2) Given the current state of Indian and Pakistani relations, incremental progress in increased nuclear transparency is the most likely future outcome; and (3) Incremental progress can be achieved by enhancing the information exchange required by existing nuclear-related agreements.

Parallel programmers typically assume that all resources required for a program's execution are dedicated to that purpose. However, in local and wide area networks, contention for shared networks, CPUs, and I/O systems can result in significant variations in availability, with consequent adverse effects on overall performance. The authors describe a new message-passing architecture, MPICH-GQ, that uses quality of service (QoS) mechanisms to manage contention and hence improve performance of message passing interface (MPI) applications. MPICH-GQ combines new QoS specification, traffic shaping, QoS reservation, and QoS implementation techniques to deliver QoS capabilities to the high-bandwidth bursty flows, complex structures, and reliable protocols used in high-performance applications--characteristics very different from the low-bandwidth, constant bit-rate media flows and unreliable protocols for which QoS mechanisms were designed. Results obtained on a differentiated services testbed demonstrate their ability to maintain application performance in the face of heavy network contention.

P-channel, backside illuminated silicon CCDs were developed and fabricated on high-resistivity n-type silicon. Devices have been exposed up to 1x1011 protons/cm2 at 12 MeV. The charge transfer efficiency and dark current were measured as a function of radiation dose. These CCDs were found to be significantly more radiation tolerant than conventional n-channel devices. This could prove to be a major benefit for long duration space missions.

The Southern Ocean Iron Experiment (SOFeX) was an experiment decades in the planning. It's implementation was among the most complex ship operations that SIO has been involved in. The SOFeX field expedition was successful in creating and tracking two experimentally enriched areas of the Southern Ocean, one characterized by low silicic acid, one characterized by high silicic acid. Both experimental sites were replete with abundant nitrate. About 100 scientists were involved overall. The major findings of this study were significant in several ways: (1) The productivity of the southern ocean is limited by iron availability. (2) Carbon uptake and flux is therefore controlled by iron availability (3) In spite of low silicic acid, iron promotes non-silicious phytoplankton growth and the uptake of carbon dioxide. (4) The transport of fixed carbon from the surface layers proceeds with a C:N ratio that would indicate differential remineralization of nitrogen at shallow depths. (5) These finding have major implications for modeling of carbon export based on nitrate utilization. (6) The general results of the experiment indicate that, beyond other southern ocean enrichment experiments, iron inputs have a much wider impact of productivity and carbon cycling than previously demonstrated. Scientific presentations: Coale, K., Johnson, K, …

To meet the increasing need for higher performance, Management of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has undertaken various projects to improve systems associated with the Tevatron high-energy particle collider located at Batavia, Illinois. One of the larger projects is the Tevatron Beam Position Monitor (BPM) system. The objective of this project is to replace the existing BPM electronics and software system that was originally installed during early 1980s, along with the original construction of the Tevatron.The original system consists of 236 beam position monitors located around the underground tunnel of the accelerator. Above ground control systems are attached to these monitors using pickup cables. When the Tevatron collider is operational, signals received from the BPMs are used to perform a number of control and diagnostic tasks. The original system can only capture the proton signals from the collider. The new system, when fully operational, will be able to capture combined proton and antiproton signals and will be able to separate the antiproton signal from the combined signal at high resolution. This significant enhancement was beyond the range of technical capabilities when the Tevatron was constructed about two decades ago. To take advantage of exceptional progress made in the hardware and software …

OAK-B135 The structure of the active-site C-cluster in CO dehydrogenase from Carboxythermus hydrogenoformans includes a {mu}{sup 2}-sulfide ion bridged to the Ni and unique Fe, while the same cluster in enzymes from Rhodospirillum rubrum (CODH{sub Rr}) and Moorella thermoacetica (CODH{sub Mt}) lack this ion. This difference was investigated by exploring the effects of sodium sulfide on activity and spectral properties. Sulfide partially inhibited the CO oxidation activity of CODH{sub Rr} and generated a lag prior to steady-state. CODH{sub Mt} was inhibited similarly but without a lag. Adding sulfide to CODH{sub Mt} in the C{sub red1} state caused the g{sub av} = 1.82 EPR signal to decline and new features to appear, including one with g = 1.95, 1.85 and (1.70 or 1.62). Removing sulfide caused the g{sub av} = 1.82 signal to reappear and activity to recover. Sulfide did not affect the g{sub av} = 1.86 signal from the C{sub red2} state. A model was developed in which sulfide binds reversibly to C{sub red1}, inhibiting catalysis. Reducing this adduct causes sulfide to dissociate, C{sub red2} to develop, and activity to recover. Using this model, apparent K{sub I} values are 40 {+-} 10 nM for CODH{sub Rr} and 60 {+-} 30 …

Questions have been raised about the accuracy of oxygen monitoring for personnel safety around systems containing gases with a molecular weight less than nitrogen. A study has been performed to test the accuracy of the oxygen monitoring devices used at Fermilab. Portable and fixed oxygen monitoring equipment is used throughout Fermilab for personnel safety in defined oxygen deficiency hazard (ODH) areas. The results are presented as well as corrective measures taken to ensure accuracy and maintain the proper level of personnel safety.

Design of integrated solutions fusing existing facility practices with emerging technology is creating new platforms for enhancing operations. Review of current business methods uncovered several areas of improvement including; operating efficiency, document routing, accountability, reporting, records management, format standardization, and control system interaction. A new Defense Programs (DP) facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is implementing an electronic procedure environment to overcome these challenges. Electronic procedures merge disciplines of design engineering, procedure writing, controls engineering, and operations into a central development platform for creating optimal plant processes. Users develop procedures through a combination of logical flowcharts, customizable properties, and Distributed Control System (DCS) functions resulting in the generation of static and dynamic operating procedures, software documentation, and automation code. Execution of developed procedures occurs in a single, uniform, procedure-oriented interface designed specifically for the operator in order to reduce process mistakes, present online information, list approved procedures, organize systems, launch audible alerts, and strengthen communications with automation. Creation of executed documents upon procedure completion and custom reports containing detailed shift turnover information are additional managerial benefits incorporated into the interface. Initial and continuing application improvements from an evaluation of developer feedback, process configurations, and facility integration are reviewed. Incorporation …

The accelerator-based particle physics program in the US is entering a period of transition. This is particularly true at Fermilab which for more than two decades has been the home of the Tevatron Proton-Antiproton Collider, the World's highest energy hadron collider. In a few years time the energy frontier will move to the LHC at CERN. Hence, if an accelerator-based program is to survive at Fermilab, it must evolve. Fermilab is fortunate in that, in addition to hosting the Tevatron Collider, the laboratory also hosts the US accelerator-based neutrino program. The recent discovery that neutrino flavors oscillate has opened a new exciting world for us to explore, and has created an opportunity for the Fermilab accelerator complex to continue to address the cutting-edge questions of particle physics beyond the Tevatron Collider era. The presently foreseen neutrino oscillation experiments at Fermilab (MiniBooNE [1] and MINOS [2]) will enable the laboratory to begin contributing to the Global oscillation physics program in the near future, and will help us better understand the basic parameters describing the oscillations. However, this is only a first step. To be able to pin down all of the oscillation parameters, and hopefully make new discoveries along the way, …

We examined the ability of a halophilic bacterium (WFP 1A) isolated from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site to accumulate uranium in order to determine the potential for biocolloid facilitated actinide transport. The bacterial cell Surface functional groups involved in the complexation of the actinide were determined by titration. Uranium, added as uranyl nitrate, was removed from solution at pH 5 by cells but at pH 7 and 9 very little uranium was removed due to its limited volubility. Although present as soluble species, uranyl citrate at pH 5, 7, and 9, and uranyl carbonate at pH 9 were not removed by the bacterium because they were not bioavailable due to their neutral or negative charge. Addition of uranyl EDTA to brine at pH 5, 7, and 9 resulted in the immediate precipitation of U. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that uranium was not only associated with the cell surface but also accumulated intracellulary as uranium-enriched granules. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis, of the bacterial cells indicated the bulk sample contained more than one uranium phase. Nevertheless these results show the potential for the formation of actinide bearing bacterial biocolloids …

The joint USNRC/CEC consequence uncertainty study was chartered after the development of two new probabilistic accident consequence codes, MACCS in the U.S. and COSYMA in Europe. Both the USNRC and CEC had a vested interest in expanding the knowledge base of the uncertainty associated with consequence modeling, and teamed up to co-sponsor a consequence uncertainty study. The information acquired from the study was expected to provide understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of current models as well as a basis for direction of future research. This paper looks at the elicitation process implemented in the joint study and discusses some of the uncertainty distributions provided by eight panels of experts from the U.S. and Europe that were convened to provide responses to the elicitation. The phenomenological areas addressed by the expert panels include atmospheric dispersion and deposition, deposited material and external doses, food chain, early health effects, late health effects and internal dosimetry.

Both the increased complexity of integrated circuits, resulting in six or more levels of integration, and the increasing use of flip-chip packaging have driven the development of integrated circuit (IC) failure analysis tools that can be applied to the backside of the chip. Among these new approaches are focused ion beam (FIB) tools and processes for performing chip edits/repairs from the die backside. This paper describes the use of backside FIB for a failure analysis application rather than for chip repair. Specifically, they used FIB technology to prepare an IC for inspection of voided metal interconnects (lines) and vias. Conventional FIB milling was combined with a super-enhanced gas assisted milling process that uses XeF{sub 2} for rapid removal of large volumes of bulk silicon. This combined approach allowed removal of the TiW underlayer from a large number of Ml lines simultaneously, enabling rapid localization and plan view imaging of voids in lines and vias with backscattered electron (BSE) imaging in a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Sequential cross sections of individual voided vias enabled them to develop a 3-d reconstruction of these voids. This information clarified how the voids were formed, helping to identify the IC process steps that needed to …

Both the increased complexity of integrated circuits, resulting in six or more levels of integration, and the increasing use of flip-chip packaging have driven the development of integrated circuit (IC) failure analysis tools that can be applied to the backside of the chip. Among these new approaches are focused ion beam (FIB) tools and processes for performing chip edits/repairs from the die backside. This paper describes the use of backside FIB for a failure analysis application rather than for chip repair. Specifically, we used FIB technology to prepare an IC for inspection of voided metal interconnects (''lines'') and vias. Conventional FIB milling was combined with a super-enhanced gas assisted milling process that uses XeF{sub 2} for rapid removal of large volumes of bulk silicon. This combined approach allowed removal of the TiW underlayer from a large number of Ml lines simultaneously, enabling rapid localization and plan view imaging of voids in lines and vias with backscattered electron (BSE) imaging in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sequential cross sections of individual voided vias enabled us to develop a 3-d reconstruction of these voids. This information clarified how the voids were formed, helping us identify the IC process steps that needed to …

The understanding and manipulation of the point defect structure in oxide glasses have been critical to the enhanced performance and reliability of optical-fiber-based, photosensitive photonic devices that currently found widespread application in telecommunications and remote sensing technologies. We provide a brief review of past research investigating photosensitive mechanisms in germanosilicate glasses, the primary material system used in telecommunications fibers. This discussion motivates an overview of ongoing work within our laboratories to migrate photosensitive glass technologies to a planar format for integrated photonic applications. Using reactive-atmosphere, RF-magnetron sputtering, we have demonstrated control of glass defect structure during synthesis, thereby controlling both the material photosensitivity (i. e. dispersion and magnitude of the refractive index change) and its environmental stability.