The average power performance capability of semiconductor diode laser arrays has improved dramatically over the past several years. These performance improvements, combined with cost reductions pursued by LLNL and others in the fabrication and packaging of diode lasers, have continued to reduce the price per average watt of laser diode radiation. Presently, we are at the point where the manufacturers of commercial high average power solid state laser systems used in material processing applications can now seriously consider the replacement of their flashlamp pumps with laser diode pump sources. Additionally, a low cost technique developed and demonstrated at LLNL for optically conditioning the output radiation of diode laser arrays has enabled a new and scalable average power diode-end-pumping architecture that can be simply implemented in diode pumped solid state laser systems (DPSSL`s). This development allows the high average power DPSSL designer to look beyond the Nd ion for the first time. Along with high average power DPSSL`s which are appropriate for material processing applications, low and intermediate average power DPSSL`s are now realizable at low enough costs to be attractive for use in many medical, electronic, and lithographic applications.

The in-cylinder flow field of a Schnuerle (loop) scavenged two-stroke engine has been examined under conditions simulating both blower and crankcase driven scavenging. Measurements of the radial component of velocity were obtained along the cylinder centerline during fired operation at delivery ratios of 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8. Both mean velocity profiles and root mean square velocity fluctuations near top center show a strong dependence on the scavenging method. Complementary in-cylinder pressure measurements indicate that combustion performance is better under blower driven scavenging for the engine geometry studied.

MELCOR is a fully integrated computer code that models all phases of the progression of severe accidents in light water reactor nuclear power plants, and is being developed for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has a program with the NRC called ``MELCOR Verification, Benchmarking, and Applications,`` whose aim is to provide independent assessment of MELCOR as a severe accident thermal-hydraulic/source term analysis tool. The scope of this program is to perform quality control verification on all released versions of MELCOR, to benchmark MELCOR against more mechanistic codes and experimental data from severe fuel damage tests, and to evaluate the ability of MELCOR to simulate long-term severe accident transients in commercial LWRs, by applying the code to model both BWRs and PWRs. Under this program, BNL provided input to the NRC-sponsored MELCOR Peer Review, and is currently contributing to the MELCOR Cooperative Assessment Program (MCAP). This paper presents a summary of MELCOR assessment efforts at BNL and their contribution to NRC goals with respect to MELCOR.

To improve knowledge of production rates of nitrogen oxides in turbulent diffusion flames in reaction-sheet regimes, an analytical investigation is made of the structure of a parabolic flamelet. The mixture-fraction field, scalar dissipation rate and gas velocity relative to the flamelet in the vortex are related to flame curvature at the parabolic tip. Flame structure for major species and temperature is described by rate-ratio asymptotics based on two-step and three-step reduced chemical-kinetic mechanisms. Production rates by prompt, thermal and nitrous-oxide mechanisms are obtained from one-step reduced-chemistry approximations that employ steady states for all reaction intermediaries. For sufficiently large streamwise separation distances between isoscalar surfaces, it is found that equilibrium conditions are closely approached near the flame tip, and the thermal mechanism dominates there, but the prompt mechanism always dominates in the wings, away from the tip, where the highest rates of scalar dissipation occur. Increasing the tip curvature increases the Peclet number and the prompt contribution while decreasing the thermal contribution. At 1 atm and ambient temperatures of 300 K, the prompt mechanism always dominates the total production rate in the parabolic flamelet, and, perhaps surprisingly, the rate of the nitrous-oxide mechanism is faster than that of the thermal mechanism …

The Yucca Mountain Integrating Model (YMIM) is an integrated model of the Engineered barrier System has been developed to assist project managers at LLNL in identifying areas where research emphasis should be placed. The model was designed to be highly modular so that a model of an individual process could be easily modified or replaced without interfering with the models of other processes. The modules modelling container failure and the dissolution of nuclides include particularly detailed, temperature dependent models of their corresponding processes.

The current configuration of inter-amplifier pupil relay systems for our high average power laser are compared and contrasted with previous and alternate families of designs.

It is widely agreed that the development of materials for fusion systems requires a high flux, 14 MeV neutron source. The European Union, Japan, Russia and the US have initiated the conceptual design of such a facility. This activity, under the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fusion Materials Agreement, will develop the design for an accelerator-based D-Li system. The first organizational meeting was held in June 1994. This paper describes the system to be studied and the approach to be followed to complete the conceptual design by early 1997.

We have investigated the response of layered- superconductors to an external magnetic field using the semiclassical phase approximation. The linearized-gap equations have been derived, and solved numerically to calculate the upper critical field H{sub c2}(T) for layered superconductors with one or two layers per unit cell for both s-wave and interlayer BCS-like pairing mechanisms. In the weak-hopping limit the equations reduce to the Lawrence-Doniach form, and for general hopping the appropriate gap equations are derived and numerically analyzed. One encounters the familiar dimensional crossover in the H{sub c2}{parallel}(T) curve for weak hopping. A different type of dimensional crossover can occur in the two-layer case with unequal intralayer or interlayer coupling strengths, such that at the dimensional crossover temperature, the magnetic field suppresses the superconductivity in the weakly coupled layers while leaving the strongly coupled layers superconducting. The effect is enhanced by unequal hopping strengths. The flux lattice consists of alternating superconducting and normal layers.

In-reactor testing of bolt-loaded precracked compact tension specimens was performed in 360{degree}C water to determine effect of irradiation on the SCC behavior of HTH Alloy X-750 and direct aged Alloy 625. Out-of-flux and autoclave control specimens provided baseline data. Primary test variables were stress intensity factor, fluence, chemistry, processing history, prestrain. Results for the first series of experiments were presented at a previous conference. Data from two more recent experiments are compared with previous results; they confirm that high irradiation levels significantly reduce SCC resistance in HTH Alloy X-750. Heat-to-heat differences in IASCC were related to differences in boron content, with low boron heats showing improved SCC resistance. The in-reactor SCC performance of Alloy 625 was superior to that for Alloy X-750, as no cracking was observed in any Alloy 625 specimens even though they were tested at very high K{sub 1} and fluence levels. A preliminary SCC usage model developed for Alloy X-750 indicates that in-reactor creep processes, which relax stresses but also increase crack tip strain rates, and radiolysis effects accelerate SCC. Hence, in-reactor SCC damage under high flux conditions may be more severe than that associated with postirradiation tests. In addition, preliminary mechanism studies were performed to …

An article about Jay Gates, the museum director of the Dallas Museum of Art, that was written by Joyce Saenz Harris. The article covers Gates' history and time with the DMA as well as what he is working towards for the DMA's future.

TOUGH2, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory`s general purpose simulator for mass and heat flow and transport was enhanced with the addition of a set of preconditioned conjugate gradient solvers and ported to a PC. The code was applied to a number of large 3-D geothermal reservoir problems with up to 10,000 grid blocks. Four test problems were investigated. The first two involved a single-phase liquid system, and a two-phase system with regular Cartesian grids. The last two involved a two-phase field problem with irregular gridding with production from and injection into a single porosity reservoir, and a fractured reservoir. The code modifications to TOUGH2 and its setup in the PC environment are described. Algorithms suitable for solving large matrices that are generally non-symmetric and non-positive definite are reviewed. Computational work per time step and CPU time requirements are reported as function of problem size. The excessive execution time and storage requirements of the direct solver in TOUGH2 limits the size of manageable 3-D reservoir problems to a few hundred grid blocks. The conjugate gradient solvers significantly reduced the execution time and storage requirements making possible the execution of considerably larger problems (10,000 + grid blocks). It is concluded that the current PCs …

A novel biodosimetry method based on the red blood cells analysis by means of laser flow cytometry and a specially designed monoclonal antibodies is used for reconstructing ionizing radiation doses for Chernobyl Accident victims. In addition to analysis of the patient`s blood samples, we are evaluating both spectroscopy procedures and laser-based flow techniques. It was shown that resonance energy transfer processes can take place among the two different dyes links to the spherical cell surface. This can affect the accuracy of rare mutant cell scoring. Also a new technique is described to provide conventional flow cytometric analysis and kinetic measurements of the elementary stages of biochemical reactions are described.

This paper explores effects of differential diffusion in nonpremixed turbulent jet flames. Pulsed Raman scattering spectroscopy is used to measure temperature and species concentrations in chemically reacting jets of H{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} into air, over a range of jet Reynolds numbers from 1,000 to 30,000 based on cold jet fluid properties. Results show significant effects of differential diffusion at all jet Reynolds numbers considered. Differential diffusion between H{sub 2} and C0{sub 2} produces differences between the hydrogen element mixture fraction ({xi}{sub H}) and the carbon element mixture fraction ({xi}{sub c}). The greatest effects occur on the rich side of stoichiometric, where {xi}{sub H} is observed to be smaller than {xi}{sub C} at all Reynolds numbers. Differential diffusion between H{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O creates a net flux of hydrogen element toward the stoichiometric contour and causes a local maximum in {xi}H that occurs near the stoichiometric condition. A differential diffusion variable {sup Z}H is defined as the difference between {xi}{sub H} and {xi}{sub C}. The variance Of {sup Z}H conditional on {xi}{sub C} also shows that differential diffusion effects are greatest on the rich side of the flame. Conditional variances of {sup Z}H are largest at intermediate Reynolds numbers.

A measurement is described of the charge asymmetry in the pseudorapidity distribution of muons from W boson decay in proton- antiproton collisions at {radical}s = 1.8 TeV using the D0 detector. We also report on a search for extra gauge bosons in the electron decay channel. Mass limits of M{sub W}{prime} > 600 GeV and M{sub Z}{prime} > 440 GeV are obtained at 95% confidence level under the assumption of standard model couplings.

The best possibility for gaining an understanding of the likely future behavior of a high level nuclear waste disposal system is to use the scientific method. However, the scientific approach has inherent limitations when it comes to making long-term predictions with confidence. This paper examines some of these limiting factors as well as the criteria for admissibility of scientific evidence in the legal arena, and concludes that the prospects are doubtful for successful licensing of a potential repository under the regulations that are now being reconsidered. Suggestions am made for remedying this situation.

This report discusses the past history and the future development of linear colliders.

The behavior of water injection plumes in vapor-dominated reservoirs is examined. Stressing the similarity to water infiltration in heterogeneous soils, we suggest that ever-present heterogeneities in individual fractures and fracture networks will cause a lateral broadening of descending injection plumes. The process of lateral spreading of liquid phase is viewed in analogy to transverse dispersion in miscible displacement. To account for the postulated ``phase dispersion`` the conventional two-phase immiscible flow theory is extended by adding a Fickian-type dispersive term. The validity of the proposed phase dispersion model is explored by means of simulations with detailed resolution of small-scale heterogeneity. We also present an illustrative application to injection into a depleted vapor zone. It is concluded that phase dispersion effects will broaden descending injection plumes, with important consequences for pressure support and potential water breakthrough at neighboring production wells.

Excessive deceleration forces experienced during high speed deployment of parachute systems can cause damage to the payload and the canopy fabric. Conventional reefing lines offer limited relief by temporarily restricting canopy inflation and limiting the peak deceleration load. However, the open-loop control provided by existing reefing devices restrict their use to a specific set of deployment conditions. In this paper, the sensing, processing, and actuation that are characteristic of adaptive structures form the basis of three concepts for active control of parachute inflation. These active control concepts are incorporated into a computer simulation of parachute inflation. Initial investigations indicate that these concepts promise enhanced performance as compared to conventional techniques for a nominal release. Furthermore, the ability of each controller to adapt to off-nominal release conditions is examined.

The 50 years of activities following the discovery of self-sustaining fission chains have given rise to a buildup of roughly 900 tons of manmade transuranics. Of the total, about 260 tons of Pu{sup 239} were generated for use in weapons while the remainder were generated as a byproduct of electrical power produced worldwide by the commercial thermal nuclear power industry. What is to be done with these actinides? The options for disposition include interminable storage, burial, or recycle for use. The pros and cons of each option are being vigorously debated regarding the impact upon the issues of human and ecological risk -- both current and future; weapons proliferation potential -- both current and future; and total life cycle benefits and costs. As to the options for utilization, commercial uses for actinides (uranium and transuranics) are of limited diversity. The actinides have in the past and will in the future find application in large scale mostly by virtue of their ability to release energy through fission, and here their utility is unmatched -- whether the application be in commercial electricity generation or in armaments. The integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle offers a number of features for management of the …

High in the northcentral mountains of Los Alamos, New Mexico, is the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center (LANSCE), a pulsed-spallation neutron source located at Los Alamos National Laboratory. At LANSCE, neutrons are produced by spallation when a pulsed 800-MeV proton beam impinges on a tungsten target. The proton pulses are provided by a linear accelerator and an associated Proton Storage Ring (PSR), which alters the intensity, time structure, and repetition rate of the pulses. In October 1986, LANSCE was designated a national user facility, with a formal user program initiated in 1988. In July 1989, the LANSCE facility was dedicated as the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center in honor of the long-term Congressman from New Mexico. At present, the PSR operates with a proton pulse width of 0.27 [mu]s at 20 Hz and 80 [mu]A, attaining the highest peak neutron flux in the world and close to its goal of 100 [mu]A, which would yield a peak thermal neutron flux of 10[sup 16] n/cm[sup [minus]2]s[sup [minus]1]. This paper discusses the target/moderator/reflector shield system, the LANSCE instruments, the facility improvement projects, and user programs.

Abstract: An analysis is presented of the uses of metadata from four aspects of database operations: (1) search, query, retrieval, (2) ingest, quality control, processing, (3) application to application transfer; (4) storage, archive. Typical degrees of database functionality ranging from simple file retrieval to interdisciplinary global query with metadatabase-user dialog and involving many distributed autonomous databases, are ranked in approximate order of increasing sophistication of the required knowledge representation. An architecture is outlined for implementing such functionality in many different disciplinary domains utilizing a variety of off the shelf database management subsystems and processor software, each specialized to a different abstract data model.

Three potential methods for measuring the surface tritium content of the TFTR vacuum vessel are described, each based on a different technique for measuring the in situ beta emission from tritium. These methods should be able to provide both a local and a global assessment of the tritium content within the top [approx] 1[mu]m of the inner wall surface.

Thin bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (BSCCO) films and (BSCCO) films and BSCCO/insulator/BSCCO trilayers have been prepared on SiTiO{sub 3} and MgO substrates by evaporation from elemental sources in an ozone atmosphere. Accurate control of the stoichiometry is achieved through monitoring of the atomic fluxes by use of in situ atomic absorption spectroscopy as well as by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). Nevertheless, nanometer-scale second-phase precipitates are sometimes observed. These defects and the flat regions around them have been probed by a variety of microanalytical techniques, including Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE), atomic force microscopy (AFM), microscopic secondary ion mass spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

In very thin liquid films. transport processes are controlled by the temperature and the interfacial intermolecular force field which is a function of the film thickness profile and interfacial properties. The film thickness profile and interfacial properties can be measured most efficiently using a microscopic image processing system. IPS, to record the intensity pattern of the reflected light from the film. There are two types of IPS: an image analyzing interferometer (IAI) and/or an image scanning ellipsometer (ISE). The ISE is a novel technique to measure the two dimensional thickness profile of a nonuniform, thin film, from 1 nm up to several {mu}m, in a steady state as well as in a transient state. It is a full field imaging technique which can study every point on the surface simultaneously with high spatial resolution and thickness sensitivity, i.e., it can measure and map the 2-D film thickness profile. Using the ISE, the transient thickness profile of a draining thin liquid film was measured and modeled. The interfacial conditions were determined in situ by measuring the Hamaker constant. The ISE and IAI systems are compared.