During 1999, the U.S. Department of Energy, in conjunction with its nuclear laboratories, a national steering committee, and a panel of world experts, developed a roadmap for research, development, demonstration, and deployment of Accelerator-driven Transmutation of Waste (ATW). The ATW concept that was examined in this roadmap study was based on that developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) during the 1990s. The reference deployment scenario in the Roadmap was developed to treat 86,300 tn (metric tonnes initial heavy metal) of spent nuclear fuel that will accumulate through 2035 from existing U.S. nuclear power plants (without license extensions). The disposition of this spent nuclear reactor fuel is an issue of national importance, as is disposition of spent fuel in other nations. The U.S. program for the disposition of this once-through fuel is focused to characterize a candidate site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada for a geological repository for spent fuel and high-level waste. The ATW concept is being examined in the U.S. because removal of plutonium minor actinides, and two very long-lived isotopes from the spent fuel can achieve some important objectives. These objectives include near-elimination of plutonium, reduction of the inventory and mobility of long-lived radionuclides in the repository, …

The Accelerator Production of Tritium neutron source consists of clad tungsten targets, which are concentric cylinders with a center rod. These targets are arranged in a matrix of tubes, producing a large number of parallel coolant paths. The coolant flow required to meet thermal-hydraulic design criteria varies with location. This paper describes the work performed to ensure an adequate coolant flow for each target for normal operation and residual heat-removal conditions.

A proof of principle magnetic feedback stabilization experiment has been carried out to suppress the resistive wall mode (RWM), a branch of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) kink mode under the influence of a stabilizing resistive wall, on the DIII-D tokamak device. The RWM was successfully suppressed and the high beta duration above the no wall limit was extended to more than 50 times the resistive wall flux diffusion time. It was observed that the mode structure was well preserved during the time of the feedback application. Several lumped parameter formulations were used to study the feedback process. The observed feedback characteristics are in good qualitative agreement with the analysis. These results provide encouragement to future efforts towards optimizing the RWM feedback methodology in parallel to what has been successfully developed for the n = 0 vertical positional control. Newly developed MHD codes have been extremely useful in guiding the experiments and in providing possible paths for the next step.

A proof of principle magnetic feedback stabilization experiment has been carried out to suppress the resistive wall mode (RWM), a branch of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) kink mode under the influence of a stabilizing resistive wall, on the DIII-D tokamak device [Plasma Phys. and Contr. Fusion Research (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1986), p. 159]. The RWM was successfully suppressed and the high beta duration above the no wall limit was extended to more than 50 times the resistive wall flux diffusion time. It was observed that the mode structure was well preserved during the time of the feedback application. Several lumped parameter formulations were used to study the feedback process. The observed feedback characteristics are in good qualitative agreement with the analysis. These results provide encouragement to future efforts towards optimizing the RWM feedback methodology in parallel to what has been successfully developed for the n = 0 vertical positional control. Newly developed MHD codes have been extremely useful in guiding the experiments and in providing possible paths for the next step.

None

CPT invariance is a fundamental property of quantum field theories in flat space-time. Principal consequences include the predictions that particles and their antiparticles have equal masses and lifetimes, and equal and opposite electric charges and magnetic moments. It also follows that the fine structure, hyperfine structure, and Lamb shifts of matter and antimatter bound systems should be identical. It is proposed to generate new stringent tests of CPT using precision spectroscopy on antihydrogen atoms. An experiment to produce antihydrogen at rest has been approved for running at the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) at CERN. We describe the fundamental features of this experiment and the experimental approach to the first phase of the program, the formation and identification of low energy antihydrogen.

This research presents a new method to improve analytical model fidelity for non-linear systems. The approach investigates several mechanisms to assist the analyst in updating an analytical model based on experimental data and statistical analysis of parameter effects. The first is a new approach at data reduction called feature extraction. This is an expansion of the classic update metrics to include specific phenomena or character of the response that is critical to model application. This is an extension of the familiar linear updating paradigm of utilizing the eigen-parameters or FRF's to include such devices as peak acceleration, time of arrival or standard deviation of model error. The next expansion of the updating process is the inclusion of statistical based parameter analysis to quantify the effects of uncertain or significant effect parameters in the construction of a meta-model. This provides indicators of the statistical variation associated with parameters as well as confidence intervals on the coefficients of the resulting meta-model. Also included in this method is the investigation of linear parameter effect screening using a partial factorial variable array for simulation. This is intended to aid the analyst in eliminating from the investigation the parameters that do not have a significant …

Automatic differentiation (AD) is applied to a two-dimensional Eulerian hydrodynamics computer code (hydrocode) to provide gradients that will be used for design optimization and uncertainty analysis. We examine AD in both the forward and adjoint (reverse) mode using Automatic Differentiation of Fortran (ADIFOR, version 3.0). Setup time, accuracy, and run times are described for three problems. The test set consists of a one-dimensional shock-propagation problem, a two-dimensional metal-jet-formation problem and a two-dimensional shell-collapse problem. Setup time for ADIFOR was approximately one month starting from a simplified, fixed-dimension version of the original code. ADIFOR produced accurate (as compared to finite difference) gradients in both modes for all of the problems. These test problems had 17 independent variables. We find that the forward mode is up to 39% slower and the adjoint mode is at least 11% faster than finding the gradient by means of finite differences. Problems of real interest will certainly have more independent variables. The adjoint mode is thus favored since the computational time increases only slightly for additional independent variables.

The magnetic properties of nano-arrays have been investigated using Brillouin scattering, MOKE and Diffracted-MOKE techniques. The anisotropies in negative arrays are found to be due to the shape of the holes and not due to the array itself. The D-MOKE results allow us to extract the domain pattern at remanence.

None

The discovery that hydrogen can be reversibly absorbed and desorbed from complex hydrides (the alanates) by the addition of catalysts has created an entirely new prospect for lightweight hydrogen storage. Unlike the interstitial intermetallic hydrides, these compounds release hydrogen through a series of decomposition/recombination reactions e.g.: NaAlH{sub 4} {Leftrightarrow} 1/3Na{sub 3}AlH{sub 6} + 2/3Al + H{sub 2} {Leftrightarrow} NaH + Al + 3/2H{sub 2}. Initial work resulted in improved catalysts, advanced methods of preparation and a better understanding of the hydrogen absorption and desorption processes. Recent studies have clarified some of the fundamental material properties as well as the engineering characteristics of catalyst enhanced sodium alanate. Phase transitions observed real-time through in situ X-ray powder diffraction demonstrate that the decomposition reactions occur through long-range transport of metal species. SEM imaging and EDS analysis verify aluminum segregation to the surface of the material during decomposition. The equilibrium thermodynamics of decomposition have now been measured down to room temperature. They show a plateau pressure for the first reaction of 1 atm at 33 C, which suggest that, thermodynamically, this material is ideally suited to onboard hydrogen storage for fuel cell vehicles. Room temperature desorption with slow but measurable kinetics has been recorded …

None

None

The Advanced Photon Source (APS), 7 GeV electron Storage Ring at the Argonne National Laboratory is designed to be a major national user facility providing high-brilliance x-ray beams. Figure 1 shows a plan view of the APS. At completion, APS will have 35 bending magnet (BM) beamlines and 35 insertion device (ID) beamlines. A typical x-ray beamline at APS comprises of a front end (FE) that confines the beam; a first optics enclosure (FOE) which houses optics to filter and monochromatize the beam; and beam transports, additional optics, and the experiment stations. Figure 2 shows a section of the storage ring with the layout of the ID and BM beamlines and typical experiment stations. The first x-ray beam was delivered to an experiment station in 1995. Ever since, to date, over 120 experimental stations (hutches) have been commissioned and are receiving intense x-ray beams of varying energies for various experiments. This paper describes in some detail the steps involved in the process of commissioning experimental stations and the implementation of the ALARA at each step.

Long duration and exploration class space missions will place new requirements on human performance when compared to current space shuttle missions. Specifically, assembly and operation of the International Space Station (ISS) will place significant new demands on the crew. For example, maintenance of systems that provide habitability will become an ongoing activity for the international flight crews. Tasks for maintaining space station habitability will need to be integrated with tasks associated with scientific research. In addition, tasks and resources will need to be prioritized and allocated dynamically in response to changing operational conditions and unplanned system breakdowns. This paper describes an ongoing program to develop a habitability index (HI) for space operations based on the critical function approach. This pilot project focuses on adaptation of the critical function approach to develop a habitability index specifically tailored for space operations. Further work will then be needed to expand and validate the habitability index for application in the ISS operational environment.

Achieving scalable performance for dynamic irregular applications is eminently challenging. Traditional message-passing approaches have been making steady progress towards this goal; however, they suffer from complex implementation requirements. The use of a global address space greatly simplifies the programming task, but can degrade the performance of dynamically adapting computations. In this work, we examine two major classes of adaptive applications, under five competing programming methodologies and four leading parallel architectures. Results indicate that it is possible to achieve message-passing performance using shared-memory programming techniques by carefully following the same high level strategies. Adaptive applications have computational work loads and communication patterns which change unpredictably at runtime, requiring dynamic load balancing to achieve scalable performance on parallel machines. Efficient parallel implementations of such adaptive applications are therefore a challenging task. This work examines the implementation of two typical adaptive applications, Dynamic Remeshing and N-Body, across various programming paradigms and architectural platforms. We compare several critical factors of the parallel code development, including performance, programmability, scalability, algorithmic development, and portability.

None

We developed novel cermet (i.e., ceramic-metal composite) membranes for separating hydrogen from gas mixtures at high temperature and pressure. The hydrogen permeation rate in the temperature range of 600-900 C was determined for three classes of cermet membranes (ANL-1, ANL-2, and ANL-3). Among these membranes, ANL-3 showed the highest hydrogen permeation rate, with a maximum flux of 3.2 cm{sup 3}/min-cm{sup 2} for a 0.23-mm-thick membrane at 900 C. Effects of membrane thickness and hydrogen partial pressure on permeation rate indicated that bulk diffusion of hydrogen is rate-limiting for ANL-3 membranes. The lack of degradation in permeation rate during exposure to a simulated syngas mixture suggests that ANL-3 membranes are chemically stable and suitable for long-term operation.

The direct conversion of the electrical energy of charged fission fragments was examined early in the nuclear reactor era, and the first theoretical treatment appeared in the literature in 1957. Most of the experiments conducted during the next ten years to investigate fission fragment direct energy conversion (DEC) were for understanding the nature and control of the charged particles. These experiments verified fundamental physics and identified a number of specific problem areas, but also demonstrated a number of technical challenges that limited DEC performance. Because DEC was insufficient for practical applications, by the late 1960s most R&D ceased in the US. Sporadic interest in the concept appears in the literature until this day, but there have been no recent programs to develop the technology. This has changed with the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative that was funded by the U.S. Congress in 1999. Most of the previous concepts were based on a fission electric cell known as a triode, where a central cathode is coated with a thin layer of nuclear fuel. A fission fragment that leaves the cathode with high kinetic energy and a large positive charge is decelerated as it approaches the anode by a charge differential of several …

The site of Jiahu is located in Jiahu village, Wuyang County, Henan province, on the Western edge of the broad plain of Huanhuaihai. On its north the site borders the Sha River, in the upper reaches of the Huai River; its latitude is 33{degree} 36 minutes North, longitude 113{degree} 40 minutes East, and it is 67.5 meters above sea level. Between 1983 and 1987, the Henan Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute carried out six campaigns of excavation here, revealing an area of 2400 square meters. Except for the trial excavation in the spring of 1983, Zhang Juzhong has been in charge of all the excavations. In early May 1986, while excavating tomb 78, Zhang Juzhong and Yang Zhenwei first discovered two funerary bone flutes. They soon found other, similar bone flutes in tombs 73, 94 and 121 respectively. Mr. Zhang's attention was instantly focused on these remarkable finds. In the campaign of autumn 1986, one or two more bone flutes were discovered in each of tombs 233,273, 263 and 270. Finally, in the spring of 1987, again one or two bone flutes were found in each of the tombs 282, 363,341,411,344 and 387. Up to the end of excavation in …

The effect of magnetic disorder on the magnetization reversal process in thin Co/CoO-films has been investigated. The antiferromagnetic CoO layer allows a reversible tuning of the magnetic disorder by simple temperature variation. For temperatures above a critical temperature T{sub c}, we observe a discontinuous magnetization reversal, whereas smooth magnetization loops occur for T < T{sub c}. Our measurements establish the existence of a disorder-driven critical point in the non-equilibrium phase diagram. In addition, we observe scaling behavior in the vicinity of the critical point and determine the critical exponents to {beta} = 0.022 {+-} 0.006 and {beta}{delta} = 0.30 {+-} 0.03.

None

None

The discovery that hydrogen can be reversible absorbed and desorbed from NaAlH{sub 4} by the addition of catalysts has created an entirely new prospect for lightweight hydrogen storage. NaAlH{sub 4} releases hydrogen through the following set of decomposition reactions: NaAlH{sub 4} {r_arrow} 1/3({alpha}-Na{sub 3}AlH{sub 6}) + 2/3Al + H{sub 2} {r_arrow} NaH + Al + 3/2H{sub 2}. These decomposition reactions as well as the reverse recombination reactions were directly observed using time-resolved in-situ x-ray powder diffraction. These measurements were performed under conditions similar to those found in PEM fuel cell operations (hydrogen absorption: 50--70 C, 10--15 bar Hz, hydrogen resorption: 80--110 C, 5--100 mbar H{sub 2}). Catalyst doping was found to dramatically improve kinetics under these conditions. In this study, the alanate was doped with a catalyst by dry ball-milling NaAlH{sub 4} with 2 mol.% solid TiCl{sub 3}. X-ray diffraction clearly showed that TiCl{sub 3} reacts with NaAlH{sub 4} to form NaCl during the doping process. Partial desorption of NaAlH{sub 4} was even observed to occur during the catalyst doping process.