This document reports status and technical progress for Los Alamos 94-1 Research and Development projects concerned with the management of plutonium and plutonium contaminated materials during the third quarter of FY96.

This document presents an interim safety basis for the 340 Waste Handling Facility classifying the 340 Facility as a Hazard Category 3 facility. The hazard analysis quantifies the operating safety envelop for this facility and demonstrates that the facility can be operated without a significant threat to onsite or offsite people.

This is a total rewrite of the Sampling and Analysis Plan in response to, and to ensure compliance with, the State Waste Discharge Permit ST 4501 issued on July 31, 1996. This revision describes changes in facility status and implements requirements of the permit.

A regional water quality assessment of the Nueces River Coastal Basins in 1996.

Bonneville Power Administration`s (BPA) 1996 Wholesale Power Rate Schedules, 1996 Ancillary Products and Services Rate Schedule, 1996 Transmission Rate Schedules, and General Rate Schedule Provisions, contained herein, were approved on an interim basis effective October 1, 1996. These rate schedules and provisions were approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), United States Department of Energy, in September 1996 (Docket Nos EF96-2011-000 and EF96f-2021-000). These rate schedules and General Rate Schedule Provisions were approved on a final basis by the FERC July 30, 1997, in Dept. of Energy--Bonneville Power Administration, Docket Nos. EF96-2011-000 and EF96-2021-000. Except as noted elsewhere, these 1996 rate schedules and provisions supersede BPA`s Wholesale Power Rate Schedules and General Rate Schedule Provisions, and Transmission Rate Schedules and General Transmission Rate Schedule Provisions, effective October 1, 1995. These rate schedules and general rate schedule provisions include all errata.

The US DOE sponsors Advanced Vehicle Technology competitions to help educate the public and advance new vehicle technologies. For several years, DOE has provided financial and technical support for the American Tour de Sol. This event showcases electric and hybrid electric vehicles in a road rally across portions of the northeastern United States. The specifications contained in this technical memorandum apply to vehicles that will be entered in the 1997 American Tour de Sol. However, the specifications were prepared to be general enough for use by other teams and individuals interested in developing hybrid electric vehicles. The purpose of the specifications is to ensure that the vehicles developed do not present a safety hazard to the teams that build and drive them or to the judges, sponsors, or public who attend the competitions. The specifications are by no means the definitive sources of information on constructing hybrid electric vehicles - as electric and hybrid vehicles technologies advance, so will the standards and practices for their construction. In some cases, the new standards and practices will make portions of these specifications obsolete.

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The Environmental Transport Group of the Environmental Technology Section was requested to predict the seven-day ten-year low flow (7Q10 flow) for the SRS streams based on historical stream flow records. Most of the historical flow records for the SRS streams include reactor coolant water discharged from the reactors and process water released from the process facilities. The most straight forward way to estimate the stream daily natural flow is to subtract the measured upstream reactor and/or facility daily effluents from the measured downstream daily flow. Unfortunately, this method does not always work, as indicated by the fact that sometimes the measured downstream volumetric flow rates are lower than the reactor effluent volumetric flow rates. For those cases that cannot be analyzed with the simple subtracting method, an alternative method was used to estimate the stream natural flows by statistically separating reactor coolant and process water flow data. The correlation between the calculated 7Q10 flows and the watershed areas for Four Mile Branch and Pen Branch agrees with that calculated by the USGS for Upper Three Runs and Lower Three Runs Creeks. The agreement between these two independent calculations lends confidence to the 7Q10 flow calculations presented in this report.

The purpose of this procedure is to document the Westronic Data units function as intended as installed at 241-AP-271 tank farm.

This document provides the Acceptance Test Report for the successful testing of the Safety Shutdown Circuit. The test was done in accordance with the requirements that were defined in WHC-SD-WM-SCH-003, Interim Stabilization Safety Class Trip Circuit CGI Dedication Criteria. The actual test procedure document was contained in WHC-SD-WM-ATP-185, Acceptance Test Procedure for the Safety Class Shutdown System.

This report discusses the legislation by the 104th Congress to increase overall adoption rates by prohibiting racial and other discriminatory practices in the adoption process. The report identifies this as a provision of the Small Business Job Protection Act, which will also increase minimum wage.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine if cryogenic treatment improved the life and cost effectiveness of perishable cutting tools over other treatments or coatings. Test results showed that in five of seven of the perishable cutting tools tested there was no improvement in tool life. The other two tools showed a small gain in tool life, but not as much as when switching manufacturers of the cutting tool. The following conclusions were drawn from this study: (1) titanium nitride coatings are more effective than cryogenic treatment in increasing the life of perishable cutting tools made from all cutting tool materials, (2) cryogenic treatment may increase tool life if the cutting tool is improperly heat treated during its origination, and (3) cryogenic treatment was only effective on those tools made from less sophisticated high speed tool steels. As a part of a recent detailed investigation, four cutting tool manufacturers and two cutting tool laboratories were queried and none could supply any data to substantiate cryogenic treatment of perishable cutting tools.

The objective for this quarter was to test the advanced hybrid particulate collector (AHPC) in real flue gas conditions. The initial tests were performed on the particulate test combustor (PTC) firing Absoloka subbituminous using two types of bags: PTFE and graphite-impregnated PTFE. Both bag types were evaluated in the on-line and off-line cleaning modes. Findings showed only a small difference in performance between the PTFE and graphite-impregnated PTFE. In the on-line cleaning mode, both the PTFE and graphite-impregnated PTFE bags maintained pressure drop across the bags of between 8.0 and 6.0 in. W.C. In the off-line mode, the pressure drop across both bag types ranged from 8.0 to 5.5 in. W.C. Dust-loading efficiencies averaged 99.986% over all the tests. The objective of the project is to develop a highly reliable AHPC that can provide > 99.99% particulate collection efficiency for all particle sizes from 0.01 to 50 {micro}m, is applicable for use with all US coals, and is cost-comparative with existing technologies.

The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate that a development program based on advanced reservoir management methods can significantly improve oil recovery. The demonstration plan includes developing a control area using standard reservoir management techniques and comparing the performance of the control area with an area developed using advanced reservoir management methods. Specific goals to attain the objective are: (1) to demonstrate that a development drilling program and pressure maintenance program, based on advanced reservoir management methods, can significantly improve oil recovery compared with existing technology applications, and (2) to transfer the advanced methodologies to oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin and elsewhere in the US oil and gas industry. Results obtained to date are summarized on the following: geology, engineering, 3-D seismic, reservoir characterization and simulation, and technology transfer.

Objectives were to develop and demonstrate the manufacturing process for vacuum deposition of low-cost thin-film high reflectance coatings onto large solar concentrator panels; demonstrate thin-film deposition processes for commercialization of this technology by United Solar Technologies (UST); apply reflective coatings to solar concentrator panels for prototype application by UST.

The objective of this work is to develop a novel system for regenerable SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} scrubbing of flue gas that focuses on (a) a novel method for regeneration of spent SO{sub 2} scrubbing liquor and (b) novel chemistry for reversible absorption of NO{sub x}. In addition, high efficiency hollow fiber contactors, (HFC) are proposed as the devices for scrubbing the SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} from the flue gas. The system will be designed to remove more than 95% of the SO{sub x} and more than 75% of the NO{sub x} from flue gases typical of pulverized coal-fired power plants at a cost that is at least 20% less than combined wet limestone scrubbing of SO{sub x} and selective catalytic reduction of NO{sub x}. In addition, the process will make only marketable byproducts, if any (no waste streams).

Citibank was using a data collection system to create a one-time-only mailing history on prospective credit card customers that was becoming dated in its time to market requirements and as such was in need of performance improvements. To compound problems with their existing system, the assurance of the quality of the data matching process was manpower intensive and needed to be automated. Analysis, design, and prototyping capabilities involving information technology were areas of expertise provided by DOE-LMES Data Systems Research and Development (DSRD) program. The goal of this project was for Data Systems Research and Development (DSRD) to analyze the current Citibank credit card offering system and suggest and prototype technology improvements that would result in faster processing with quality as good as the current system. Technologies investigated include: a high-speed network of reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors for loosely coupled parallel processing, tightly coupled, high performance parallel processing, higher order computer languages such as `C`, fuzzy matching algorithms applied to very large data files, relational database management system, and advanced programming techniques.

The objectives of the program are to provide an improved TBC system with increased temperature capability and improved reliability relative to current state of the art TBC systems. The development of such a coating system is essential to the ATS engine meeting its objectives. The base program consists of three phases: Phase 1: Program Planning--Complete; Phase 2: Development; Phase 3: Selected Specimen--Bench Test. Work is currently being performed in Phase 2 of the program. In Phase 2, process improvements will be married with new bond coat and ceramic materials systems to provide improvements over currently available TBC systems. Coating reliability will be further improved with the development of an improved lifing model and NDE techniques. This will be accomplished by conducting the following program tasks: II.1 Process Modeling; II.2 Bond Coat Development; II.3 Analytical Lifing Model; II.4 Process Development; II.5 NDE, Maintenance and Repair; II.6 New TBC Concepts. A brief summary of progress made in each of these 6 areas is given.

Objectives of this program are to provide an advanced thermal barrier coating system with improved reliability and temperature capability. This report describes the coating/deposition process, repair, and manufacturing.

The National Energy Strategy (NES) calls for a balanced program of greater energy efficiency, use of alternative fuels, and the environmentally responsible development of all U.S. energy resources. Consistent with the NES, a Department of Energy (DOE) program has been created to develop Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS). The technical ATS requirements are based upon two workshops held in Greenville, SC that were sponsored by DOE and hosted by Clemson University. The objective of this 8-year program, managed jointly by DOE`s Office of Fossil Energy, and, Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy, is to develop natural-gas-fired base load power plants that will have cycle efficiencies greater than 60%, lower heating value (LHV), be environmentally superior to current technology, and also be cost competitive. The program will include work to transfer advanced technology to the coal- and biomass-fueled systems being developed in other DOE programs.

During June 5-7, 1996, the Department of Energy`s Remote Sensing Laboratory performed day and night multispectral surveys of three areas at the Oak Ridge Reservation: K-25, X-10, and Y-12. Aerial imagery was collected with both a Daedalus DS1268 multispectral scanner and National Aeronautics and Space Administration`s Thermal Infrared Multispectral System, which has six bands in the thermal infrared region of the spectrum. Imagery from the Thermal Infrared Multispectral System was processed to yield images of absolute terrain temperature and of the terrain`s emissivities in the six spectral bands. The thermal infrared channels of the Daedalus DS1268 were radiometrically calibrated and converted to apparent temperature. A recently developed system for geometrically correcting and geographically registering scanner imagery was used with the Daedalus DS1268 multispectral scanner. The corrected and registered 12-channel imagery was orthorectified using a digital elevation model. 1 ref., 5 figs., 5 tabs.

An aerial radiological survey was conducted over Frenchman Flat at the Nevada Test Site from January 27 to February 7,1982. Parallel lines were flown at an altitude of 100 feet (30 meters) above ground level with line spacing intervals of 200 feet (61 meters) over a 170-square-mile (440-square-kilometer) area. This covered both Frenchman Flat and the area of the Nellis Range Complex where a fallout deposition plume had exited the Nevada Test Site to the east. The aerial data obtained were reduced to a man-made radiation contour map and overlaid on a U.S. Geological Survey map. The survey detected the presence of fission and activation products. 4 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

An overview of the current controversy on the age of the universe is presented. It is shown that the age of the oldest star, globular clusters, yields an age estimate of approximately 14 {+-} 2 {+-} 2 Gyr (where the first {+-} is statistical and the second systematic, and the two should {ital not} be added in quadrature), with a firm lower bound of {ge} 10 Gyr. It is shown how radioactive dating, nucleocosmochronology, also yields a firm lower bound of {approx_gt} 10 Gyr. The currently favored values for the Hubble constant, when converted to ages using a cosmological model with zero cosmological constant, are shown {ital not} to be in conflict with statistical and systematic uncertainties at the present time when one takes both into account, even for critical density universes. 25 refs. , 3 figs., 1 tab.

Plutonium-containing compounds vary widely in isotopic content, and as a result, the dose as function of isotopic content also varies considerably. Determination of the dose from neutrons, decay and capture gammas from plutonium in the form of compounds thus requires that the spontaneous fission and ({alpha},n) source and spectra from each individual isotope be known. To facilitate dose calculations from plutonium-containing compounds, we have calculated the spontaneous fission and ({alpha},n) sources and spectra for 1 g of each of the plutonium isotopes in the form of either PuF{sub 4} or PuO{sub 2}. As {sup 241}Am is often a component in a mixture of plutonium isotopic compounds, the source and spectra from 1 g of {sup 241}Am mixed with PuF{sub 4} or PuO{sub 2} has also been determined. Using these results, the neutron source and spectra may be determined for any sample composition. 2 refs., 3 tabs.