Control of criticality in spent nuclear fuel is necessary during all phases of fuel management during storage, transportation, and permanent disposal. Work completed to date is described. Tasks in the original proposal include: seek coverage by an approved quality control program, review documents related to criticality, attend criticality meetings and workshops, and maintain an expertise in criticality. Current work is covered by Univ. of Nevada QA plan, however, coverage under a more thorough plan will be sought in order that the results can be used during NRC licensing.

The Electric Power Monthly (EPM) presents monthly electricity statistics for a wide audience including Congress, Federal and State agencies, the electric utility industry, and the general public. The purpose of this publication is to provide energy decisionmakers with accurate and timely information that may be used in forming various perspectives on electric issues that lie ahead. The Coal and Electric Data and Renewables Division; Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy prepares the EPM. This publication provides monthly statistics at the State, Census division, and US levels for net generation, fossil fuel consumption and stocks, quantity and quality of fossil fuels, cost of fossil fuels, electricity sales, revenue, and average revenue per kilowatthour of electricity sold. Data on net generation, fuel consumption, fuel stocks, quantity and cost of fossil fuels are also displayed for the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) regions. The EIA publishes statistics in the EPM on net generation by energy source; consumption, stocks, quantity, quality, and cost of fossil fuels; and capability of new generating units by company and plant.

Treated water from the 200 Area Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is discharged to a disposal site in accordance with the State Waste Discharge Permit ST-4500. This disposal site is referred to as the State-Approved Land Disposal Site (SALDS). In accordance with the discharge permit, the groundwater at the SALDS is routinely sampled. The results of the groundwater sampling are reported in quarterly discharge monitoring reports. In 1997, the USDOE also committed to the issuance of an annual summary report of groundwater monitoring results and evaluation with updates to the groundwater monitoring plan as appropriate. This report summarizes the groundwater information for FY 1998.

The goal of this apparatus is to better enable characterization of tissue samples both on a microscopic scale and across the visible spectrum. The set-up consists of a phase-contrast inverted Nikon microscope, a single-grating imaging spectrometer, a CCD camera, and a computer potentially controlling all three of the previous devices, The computer uses an object-oriented program development environment called LabVIEW to run the three devices. This apparatus will hopefully enable better, less invasive surgical procedures, as well as permitting higher-resolution, more up-close observation of cellular dynamics.

The performance of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system that is fueled directly by hydrogen has been evaluated for transportation vehicles. The performance was simulated using a systems analysis code and a vehicle analysis code. The results indicate that, at the design point for a 50-kW PEFC system, the system efficiency is above 50%. The efficiency improves at partial load and approaches 60% at 40% load, as the fuel cell operating point moves to lower current densities on the voltage-current characteristic curve. At much lower loads, the system efficiency drops because of the deterioration in the performance of the compressor, expander, and, eventually, the fuel cell. The results also indicate that the PEFC system can start rapidly from ambient temperatures. Depending on the specific weight of the fuel cell (1.6 kg/kW in this case), the system takes up to 180s to reach its design operating conditions. The PEFC system has been evaluated for three mid-size vehicles: the 1995 Chrysler Sedan, the near-term Ford AIV (Aluminum Intensive Vehicle) Sable, and the future P2000 vehicle. The results show that the PEFC system can meet the demands of the Federal Urban Driving Schedule and the Highway driving cycles, for both warm and …

In 1997, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed upper Columbia River steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus znykiss) as endangered. This action affected management of land-use activities along and within the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, which flows through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site. Steelhead covered in this listing include all naturally spawned populations of steel-head and their progeny in streams in the Columbia River Basin upstream from the Yakima River to the United States/Canada border. The NMFS has identified a general listing of activities that could potentially result in harm to steelhead (62 FR 43937, August 18, 1997). One of these concerns includes land-use changes resulting in mass wasting or surface erosion. Landslide activity along the White Bluffs on the east ,side of Locke Island has redirected river flow into the island where substantial erosion has occurred. This erosion has exposed important anthropological and archaeological resources that were previously buried on the island. The DOE is working with affected tribes and other agencies to develop a plan for addressing the erosion of Locke Island. As part of this effort, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has prepared an assessment of potential alternatives to stabilize the erosion, including …

The Winter Fuels Report is intended to provide concise, timely information to the industry, the press, policymakers, consumers, analysts, and State and local governments on the following topics: distillate fuel oil net production, imports and stocks on a US level and for all Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) and product supplied on a US level; propane net production, imports and stocks on a US level and for PADD`s I, II, and III; natural gas supply and disposition and underground storage for the US and consumption for all PADD`s, as well as selected National average prices; residential and wholesale pricing data for heating oil and propane for those States participating in the joint Energy Information Administration (EIA)/State Heating Oil and Propane Program; crude oil and petroleum price comparisons for the US and selected cities; and a 6--10-Day and 30-Day outlook for temperature and precipitation and US total heating degree-days by city. This report is published weekly by the EIA starting the second week in October 1995 and will continue until the second week in April 1996. The data will also be available electronically after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday during the heating season through the EIA Electronic Publication System …

The Hazards Mitigation Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) updated the seismic hazard and design parameters at the Pantex Plant. The probabilistic seismic hazard (PSH) estimates were first updated using the latest available data and knowledge from LLNL (1993, 1998), Frankel et al. (1996), and other relevant recent studies from several consulting companies. Special attention was given to account for the local seismicity and for the system of potentially active faults associated with the Amarillo-Wichita uplift. Aleatory (random) uncertainty was estimated from the available data and the epistemic (knowledge) uncertainty was taken from results of similar studies. Special attention was given to soil amplification factors for the site. Horizontal Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and 5% damped uniform hazard spectra were calculated for six return periods (100 yr., 500 yr., 1000 yr., 2000 yr., 10,000 yr., and 100,000 yr.). The design parameters were calculated following DOE standards (DOE-STD-1022 to 1024). Response spectra for design or evaluation of Performance Category 1 through 4 structures, systems, and components are presented.

The W-259 project will provide upgrades to the 2706-T/TA Facility to comply with Federal and State of Washington environmental regulations for secondary containment and leak detection. The project provides decontamination activities supporting the environmental restoration mission and waste management operations on the Hanford Site.

A 3D remote metrology system (RMS) is needed to map the interior plasma-facing components of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The performance and survival of these components within the reactor vessel are strongly dependent on their precise alignment and positioning with respect to the plasma edge. Without proper positioning and alignment, plasma-facing surfaces will erode rapidly. A RMS design involving Coleman Research Corporation (CRC) fiber optic coherent laser radar (CLR) technology is examined in this study. The fiber optic CLR approach was selected because its high precision should be able to meet the ITER 0.1 mm accuracy requirement and because the CLR`s fiber optic implementation allows a 3D scanner to operate remotely from the RMS system`s vulnerable components. This design study has largely verified that a fiber optic CLR based RMS can survive the ITER environment and map the ITER interior at the required accuracy at a one measurement/cm{sup 2} density with a total measurement time of less than one hour from each of six or more vertically deployed measurement probes. The design approach employs a sealed and pressurized measurement probe which is attached with an umbilical spiral bellows conduit. This conduit bears fiber optic and electronic links plus …

This supporting document provides the hazards categorization for the K Basin Water Filtration Upgrade Project at K East. All activities associated with the project are less than Hazard Category 3, except for the handling of the ECO-ROK liners containing spent filter cartridges. All activities involving the handling of liners, containing spent cartridges, by monorail, forklift or mobile crane are classified as Hazard Category 3.

This document is a plan that identifies the information needed to address relevant issues concerning short-term and long-term safe storage and long-term management of Single-Shell Tank (SST) 241-BX-112

This document presents the Pros and Cons of using a cloud chamber for field use. Historical aspects are briefly discussed. A cloud chamber experiment on Midi Mist is described. Plans for fielding an experiment on Hupmobile are presented.

The Basis for Interim Operation (BIO) document for K Reactor in Cold Standby and the L- and P-Reactor Disassembly Basins was prepared in accordance with the draft DOE standard for BIO preparation (dated October 26, 1993).

The safety analysis of the FB-Line Facility indicates that the operation of FB-Line to support the current mission does not present undue risk to the facility and co-located workers, general public, or the environment.

This work is intended to contribute to the foundations for formalizing industrial ecology analyses of energy systems (systems for energy generation, transfer. or transformation) and to examine how the tools for performing these analyses can also enhance the field of industrial ecology in other applications. We discuss requirements for studying materials and energy , cycling in industrial processes. with particular emphasis on energy generating systems, through explicit inclusion of entropy concepts in industrial ecology considerations. This perspective is intended to contribute to the theoretical basis for industrial ecology, to the development of tools for comparing the ecological (human and environmental health. and institutional) impacts of energy generating and other industrial processes, and to possible changes in engineering curricula with emphasis on design.

This document contains information about the activities of Douglas United Nuclear at the Hanford Reservation during the month of September 1970.

This report highlights progress achieved during FY 1999 under the Light-duty Fuels Utilization R and D Program. The program is comprised of two elements: the Advanced Petroleum-Based APB Fuels Program which focused on developing and testing advanced fuels for use with compression-ignition direct-injection (CIDI) engines and fuel cells and the Alternative Fuels Program which focused on Natural gas and natural gas derived fuels. The report contains 17 summaries of industry and National Laboratory projects. Fuel efficient vehicles with very low emissions are essential to meet the challenges of climate change, energy security, and improved air quality. The authors anticipate cooperative efforts with the auto and energy industries to develop new and innovative technologies that will be used to make advanced transportation vehicles that are fuel efficient, clean, and safe.

In FY00, a matrix for process development testing was created to identify those items related to the ceramic process that had not been fully developed or tested and to help identify variables that needed to be tested. This matrix, NMTP/IP-99-003, was jointly created between LLNL and SRTC and was issued to all affected individuals. The matrix was also used to gauge the progress of the development activities. As part of this matrix, several series of tests were identified for the granulation process. This summary provides the data and results from the granulation testing. The results of the granulation matrix testing were used to identify the baseline process for testing in the PuCTF with cold surrogates in B241 at LLNL.

This study is principally concerned with characterizing the organic part of coal combustion fly ashes. High carbon fly ashes are becoming more common as by-products of low-NOx combustion technology, and there is need to learn more about this fraction of the fly ash. The project team consists of two universities, Brown and Princeton, and an electrical utility, New England Power. A sample suite of over fifty fly ashes has been gathered from utilities across the United States, and includes ashes from a coals ranging in rank from bituminous to lignite. The characterizations of these ashes include standard tests (LOI, Foam Index), as well as more detailed characterizations of their surface areas, porosity, extractability and adsorption behavior. The ultimate goal is, by better characterizing the material, to enable broadening the range of applications for coal fly ash re-use beyond the current main market as a pozzolanic agent for concretes. The potential for high carbon-content fly ashes to substitute for activated carbons is receiving particular attention. The work performed to date has already revealed how very different the surfaces of different ashes produced by the same utility can be, with respect to polarity of the residual carbon. This can help explain the …

This report is a compilation of 7 studies conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1995 and 1998 which used hydroacoustic methods to study the behavior of migrating salmon in response to navigation channel maintenance activities in the lower Columbia River near river mile 45. Differences between daytime and nighttime behavior and fish densities were noted. Comparisons were made of fish distribution across the river (in the channel, channel margin or near shore) and fish depth upstream and downstream of dikes, dredges, and pile driving areas.

This work concerns the first spectroscopic measurements of energetic charged particles on Omega. Individual line profiles include D-3He protons (14.7 MeV) and alphas (3.6 MeV), D-T alphas (3.5 MeV), D-D protons (3.0 MeV), and D-D tutons (1.0 MeV)

These valves are 1/4-inch ball valves fabricated of 316 stainless steel. Packing is TFE (standard). They are used as normally closed isolation valves for test ports in the SCHe System between the gage root valve and the pressure indicator.

This as-built verification plan outlines the methodology and responsibilities that will be implemented during the as-built field verification activity for the Canister Storage Building (CSB) MCO HANDLING MACHINE (MHM). This as-built verification plan covers THE ELECTRICAL PORTION of the CONSTRUCTION PERFORMED BY POWER CITY UNDER CONTRACT TO MOWAT. The as-built verifications will be performed in accordance Administrative Procedure AP 6-012-00, Spent Nuclear Fuel Project As-Built Verification Plan Development Process, revision I. The results of the verification walkdown will be documented in a verification walkdown completion package, approved by the Design Authority (DA), and maintained in the CSB project files.