The establishment of a process to allow planarization of deep x-ray lithography based microfabncated metal components via diamond lapping has enabled examination of three additional microfabrication issues. The areas of improvement that are discussed include materials, microassembly and packaging, and multilevel fabrication. New materials work has centered on magnetic materials including precision micromagnets and surface treatments of electrodeposited materials. Assembly and packaging has been aided by deep silicon etch processing and the use of conventional precision milling equipment combined with press-tit assembly. Diffhsion bonding is shown to be a particularly important approach to achieving multilevel metal mechanisms and furthermore shows promise for achieving batch assembled and packaged high aspect-ratio metal micromechanics,

An assessment was performed to show the impact on airborne release fraction, respirable fraction, dose conversion factor and dose consequences of postulated accidents at the Plutonium Finishing Plant involving uranium dioxide rather than plutonium dioxide.

This report provides results of an analytical study of high concentration PCB paint in a shutdown nuclear test reactor located at the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS). The study was designed to obtain data relevant for an evaluation of potential hazards associated with the use of and exposure to such paints.

Understanding how the information is conveyed from outside to inside the cell is a critical challenge for all biologists involved in signal transduction. The flow of information initiated by cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix contacts is mediated by the formation of adhesion complexes involving multiple proteins. Inside adhesion complexes, connective membrane skeleton (CMS) proteins are signal transducers that bind to adhesion molecules, organize the cytoskeleton, and initiate biochemical cascades. Adhesion complex-mediated signal transduction ultimately directs the formation of supramolecular structures in the cell nucleus, as illustrated by the establishment of multi complexes of DNA-bound transcription factors, and the redistribution of nuclear structural proteins to form nuclear subdomains. Recently, several CMS proteins have been observed to travel to the cell nucleus, suggesting a distinctive role for these proteins in signal transduction. This review focuses on the nuclear translocation of structural signal transducers of the membrane skeleton and also extends our analysis to possible translocation of resident nuclear proteins to the membrane skeleton. This leads us to envision the communication between spatially distant cellular compartments (i.e., membrane skeleton and cell nucleus) as a bidirectional flow of information (a dynamic reciprocity) based on subtle multilevel structural and biochemical equilibria. At one level, it is …

Heavy metal and fission product noble gas concentrations in spent fuel from two different PWR'S were calculated using HELIOS and compared to measured results from the literature. It was found that for the U-235/U-238 and Pu-240/Pu-239 isotopic ratios, the HELIOS calculation agreed to within the experimental uncertainty. For the Xe-131/Xe-134 isotopic ratios, HELIOS tended to overestimate the result by up to 4%. Conversely for the Xe-132/Xe-134 ratios, HELIOS underestimated the result by a slight amount ({approximately}1%). This suggests that either the fission product yields for Xe-131 and Xe-132 should be slightly altered or that the absorption cross-section for Xe-131 should be slightly increased. More analysis is necessary to determine which of these two alternatives is more appropriate. This work has shown that the accuracy of HELIOS (within 2% for heavy metals and within 4% for fission noble gases) is sufficient for most analyses.

This document addresses the characterization strategy for those types of sludge not previously characterized or discussed in previous DQO documents. It seeks to ascertain those characteristics of uncharacterized Sludge which are unique with respect to the properties already determined for canister and K East Basin floor Sludge. Also recent decisions have resulted in the need for treatment of the Sludge prior to its currently identified disposal path to the Hanford waste tanks. This has resulted in a need for process development testing for the treatment system development.

Magnetic helicity injection is the essential process underlying both spheromak formation and helicity injection toroidal current drive in tokamaks (e.g., HIT and NSTX). The dynamical details of the helicity injection process are poorly understood because existing models avoid a dynamic description. In particular, Taylor relaxation, the main model motivating helicity injection efforts, is an argument that predicts the state to which a turbulent magnetic configuration relaxes after all dynamics are over. The goal of the Caltech experiment is to investigate the actual dynamics and topological evolution associated with relaxation and so determine how helicity injection really works. Although the global relaxation model (i.e., Taylor model) typically invokes axisymmetry, simple physical arguments (Cowling`s theorem) show that the detailed dynamics must involve topologically complex, non-axisymmetric processes. Progress for this project is given here.

A metrology instrument has been developed to scan crystals and map the peak tuning angles for frequency conversion from the infrared to the ultra violet over large apertures. The need for such a device emerged from the National Ignition Facility (NIF) program where frequency conversion crystals have been found to have significant crystallographic axis wander at the large NIF aperture size of 4 1 cm square. With only limited access to a large aperture laser system capable of testing these crystals, scientists have been unable to determine which crystal life-cycle components most affect these angular anomalies. A system that can scan crystals with a small diameter probe laser beam and deliver microradian accuracy and repeatability from probe point to probe point is needed. The Crystal Alignment Verification Equipment (CAVE) is the instrument designed to meet these needs and fit into the budget and time constraints of the ongoing NIF development. In order to measure NIF crystals, the CAVE has a workspace of 50 x 50 cm and an angular measurement accuracy of 10 {micro}radians. Other precision requirements are probe beam energy measurement to 2% of peak, thermal control to 20 0. 1°C around the crystal, crystal mounting surface flatness of …

This Hazard Baseline Downgrade reviews the Effluent Treatment Facility, in accordance with Department of Energy Order 5480.23, WSRC11Q Facility Safety Document Manual, DOE-STD-1027-92, and DOE-EM-STD-5502-94. It provides a baseline grouping based on the chemical and radiological hazards associated with the facility. The Determination of the baseline grouping for ETF will aid in establishing the appropriate set of standards for the facility.

Taylor Cylinder impact testing is used to validate anisotropic elastoplastic constitutive modeling by comparing polycrystal simulated yield surface shapes (topography) to measured shapes from post-test Taylor impact specimens and quasistatic compression specimens. Measured yield surface shapes are extracted from the experimental post-test geometries using classical r-value definitions modified for arbitrary stress state and specimen orientation. Rolled tantalum (body-centered-cubic metal) plate and clock-rolled zirconium (hexagonal-close-packed metal) plate are both investigated. The results indicate that an assumption of topography invariance with respect to strain-rate is justifiable for tantalum. However, a strong sensitivity of topography with respect to strain-rate for zirconium was observed, implying that some accounting for a deformation mechanism rate-dependence associated with lower-symmetry materials should be included in the constitutive modeling. Discussion of the importance of this topography rate-dependence and texture evolution in formulating constitutive models appropriate for FEM applications is provided.

Researchers measured the production and retention of gases in potassium tetraphenylborate (KTPB) slurries due to radiolysis.

Responses to a distributed pressure load are typically predicted through the use of a finite-element model. This procedure depends on the model to represent the actual structure accurately. Another technique that is developed in this work is to predict the response based upon an experi- mentally derived model. This model consists of frequency response functions. The pressure distribution is assumed to be known. In this work, the pressure load will be a blast load. The focus of this work will be to simulate a harsh, shock-like environment. Data from a reverse Hopkinson bar (RHB) test is used to generate the response to a symmetric, distributed load. The reverse Hopkinson bar generates a high ampli- tude, high frequency content pulse that excites components at near-blast levels. The frequency response functions gen- erated from the RHB are used to generate an experimental model of the structure, which is then used in conjunction with the known pressure distribution, to estimate the component response to a blast. This result can then be used with a model correlation technique to adjust a finite element model such that data from a true blast test can be used to only fine tune the model. This work details …

A system for forming a thick flowing liquid metal, in this case lithium, layer on the inside wall of a toroid containing the plasma of a deuterium-tritium fission reactor. The presence of the liquid metal layer or first wall serves to prevent neutron damage to the walls of the toroid. A poloidal current in the liquid metal layer is oriented so that it flows in the same direction as the current in a series of external magnets used to confine the plasma. This current alignment results in the liquid metal being forced against the wall of the toroid. After the liquid metal exits the toroid it is pumped to a heat extraction and power conversion device prior to being reentering the toroid.

A method for analyzing metal in a fluid is provided comprising maintaining a first portion of a continuous filter media substrate at a temperature coinciding with the phase in which the metal is to be analyzed; contacting the fluid to a first portion of said substrate to retain the metal on the first portion of said substrate; preventing further contact of the fluid to the first portion of substrate; and contacting the fluid to a second portion of said substrate to retain metal on the second portion of the said substrate while simultaneously analyzing the first portion for metal. Also provided is a device for the simultaneous monitoring and analysis of metal in a fluid comprising a continuous filter media substrate; means for maintaining a first portion of said filter media substrate at a temperature coinciding with the phase in which the metal is to be analyzed; a means for contacting the fluid to the first portion of said substrate; a means for preventing further contact of the fluid to the first portion of substrate; a means for contacting the fluid to a second portion of said substrate to retain metal on the second portion of the said substrate; and …

The use of natural excitation response data for the extraction of modal parameters has been an alluring idea for many years, The primary reason is that it offers the real world inputs (both spatial and temporal) and the associated responses of the system without the cost of a complex excitation system. The use of NExT allows for a linear representation of the system at operating levels, which is ideal for predictive linear simulation. The NExT parameter estimation methods have relied on using standard modal parameter extraction routines that do not exploit the special model form of NExT data. A parameter estimation method is developed here that is consistent with the form, thereby providing a more robust estimator in the presence of noise. This paper presents the basic methods used in NExT as well as some of the critical issues when using NExT.

In this report is presented first a brief review of the regional geologic setting of the Savannah River Site, descriptions of the plutonic rock units sampled here, whole rock geochemical data on the plutonic igneous rocks, and finally, a discussion of how the crystalline basement rocks of the Savannah River Site formed and how they may correlate with other terranes exposed in the Piedmont of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia.

In the last quarterly report, it was noticed that the baseline dewatering data varied significantly. This abnormality was attributed to the use of house vacuum which varied significantly during the testing. This quarter tests were repeated using a portable vacuum pump which provided a constant vacuum of 25 inches of mercury. Using 30 secs cake drying time and 30 secs cake formation time, the high- and low-porosity ceramic leaf filters provided 21.5% and 18.0% filter cake moistures, respectively. The solids loading on the high- and low-porosity filters were 0.8 Kg/m 2 and 0.44 Kg/m 2 , respectively. Addition of 10 g/t of an anionic flocculant lowered the filter cake moisture from 22.0% to 14.0% using the high-porosity filter, and 18.0% to 13.5% using the low-porosity filter. Addition of 15 g/t of a cationic flocculant lowered filter cake moisture from 18.0% to 16.0% using the low-porosity filter. High-porosity filter did not provide any lowering of filter cake moisture, however, the solids loading increased from 1.5 kg/m 2 to 5.8 kg/m 2 at a flocculant dosage of 25 g/t. This high solids loading indicated thicker filter cake which would retain a high moisture. Among the three surfactants studied, only the non-ionic and …

A hardwired, fail-safe rack protection monitor utilizes electromechanical relays to respond to the detection by condition sensors of abnormal or alarm conditions (such as smoke, temperature, wind or water) that might adversely affect or damage equipment being protected. When the monitor is reset, the monitor is in a detection mode with first and second alarm relay coils energized. If one of the condition sensors detects an abnormal condition, the first alarm relay coil will be de-energized, but the second alarm relay coil will remain energized. This results in both a visual and an audible alarm being activated. If a second alarm condition is detected by another one of the condition sensors while the first condition sensor is still detecting the first alarm condition, both the first alarm relay coil and the second alarm relay coil will be de-energized. With both the first and second alarm relay coils de-energized, both a visual and an audible alarm will be activated. In addition, power to the protected equipment will be terminated and an alarm signal will be transmitted to an alarm central control. The monitor can be housed in a separate enclosure so as to provide an interface between a power supply for …

This report documents results investigating the decomposition of excess NaTPB in presence of filtrate from one of the Cycle I Demonstration tests, fulfilling a request by CST Engineering and the ITP Flow Sheet Team.

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In certain penetration events it is proposed that the primary mode of deformation of the target can be approximated by known analytical expressions. In the context of an analysis code, this approximation eliminates the need for discretizing the target as well as the need for a contact algorithm. Thus, this method substantially reduces the computer time and memory requirements. In this paper a forcing function which is derived from a spherical-cavity expansion (SCE) analysis has been implemented in a transient dynamic finite element code. This irnplementation is capable of computing the structural and component responses of a projectile due to a three dimensional penetration event. Simulations are presented for 7.1 l-mm-diameter, 74.7-mm-long, spherical-nose, vacuum- arc-remelted (VAR) 4340 steel projectiles that penetrate 6061-T6511 aluminum targets. Final projectile configurations obtained from the simulations are compared with post-test radiographs obtained from the corresponding experiments. It is shown that the simulations accurately predict the permanent projectile deformation for three dimensional loadings due to incident pitch and yaw over a wide range of striking velocities.

After the basic theory for SMAC is presented below, two applications of the algorithm with real hardware will be presented. The first moderate-damping application is a system with approximately 50 modes in the bandwidth with up to 5 percent damping. The second application has at least 70 modes in the bandwidth, but damping is always below 3 percent. In addition to the improved implementation of the SMAC root finder, coding has been written to extract the mode shapes based on quadrature fit, and this is described herein.