Los Alamos National Laboratory (the Laboratory) is subject to emissions reporting requirements for regulated air contaminants under Title 20 of the New Mexico Administrative Code, Chapter 2, Part 73, (20 NMAC 2.73), Notice of Intent and Emissions Inventory Requirements. The Laboratory has the potential to emit 100 tons per year of suspended particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). For 1997, combustion products from the industrial sources contributed the greatest amount of regulated air emissions from the Laboratory. Research and development activities contributed the greatest amount of VOCs. Emissions of beryllium and aluminum were reported for activities permitted under 20 NMAC 2.72, Construction Permits.

The goals of the program are to develop a coal-fired high performance power generation system (HIPPS) that is capable of: thermal efficiency (HHV) {ge} 47%; NOx, SOx, and particulates {le} 10% NSPS (New Source Performance Standard) coal providing {ge} 65% of heat input; all solid wastes benign; cost of electricity {le} 90% of present plants. Phase 1, which began in 1992, focused on the analysis of various configurations of indirectly fired cycles and on technical assessments of alternative plant subsystems and components, including performance requirements, developmental status, design options, complexity and reliability, and capital and operating costs. Phase 1 also included preliminary R and D and the preparation of designs for HIPPS commercial plants approximately 300 MWe in size. This phase, Phase 2, involves the development and testing of plant subsystems, refinement and updating of the HIPPS commercial plant design, and the site selection and engineering design of a HIPPS prototype plant. Work reported herein is from: Task 2.1 HITAC Combustors; Task 2.2 HITAF Air Heaters; Task 6 HIPPS Commercial Plant Design Update.

The major technical objectives of this program are threefold: (1) to develop the design tools and a fundamental understanding of the fluid dynamics of a slurry bubble column reactor to maximize reactor productivity, (2) to develop the mathematical reactor design models and gain an understanding of the hydrodynamic fundamentals under industrially relevant process conditions, and (3) to develop an understanding of the hydrodynamics and their interaction with the chemistries occurring in the bubble column reactor. Successful completion of these objectives will permit more efficient usage of the reactor column and tighter design criteria, increase overall reactor efficiency, and ensure a design that leads to stable reactor behavior when scaling up to large diameter reactors.

As part of the Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program at Sandia National Laboratories, an investigation into the existence of enhanced vapor-phase diffusion (EVD) in porous media has been conducted. A thorough literature review was initially performed across multiple disciplines (soil science and engineering), and based on this review, the existence of EVD was found to be questionable. As a result, modeling and experiments were initiated to investigate the existence of EVD. In this LDRD, the first mechanistic model of EVD was developed which demonstrated the mechanisms responsible for EVD. The first direct measurements of EVD have also been conducted at multiple scales. Measurements have been made at the pore scale, in a two- dimensional network as represented by a fracture aperture, and in a porous medium. Significant enhancement of vapor-phase transport relative to Fickian diffusion was measured in all cases. The modeling and experimental results provide additional mechanisms for EVD beyond those presented by the generally accepted model of Philip and deVries (1957), which required a thermal gradient for EVD to exist. Modeling and experimental results show significant enhancement under isothermal conditions. Application of EVD to vapor transport in the near-surface vadose zone show a significant variation between no …

The Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) is government-owned, government-operated, and programmatically under the DOE Office of Environmental Management. The Laboratory is administered by the Chicago Operations Office. EML provides program management, technical assistance and data quality assurance for measurements of radiation and radioactivity relating to environmental restoration, global nuclear nonproliferation, and other priority issues for the Department of Energy, as well as for other government, national, and international organizations. This report presents the technical activities and accomplishments of EML for Fiscal Year 1998.

Each year since 1972, a report has been prepared on the environmental monitoring activities for the DOE facilities in oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the previous calendar year. previously, the individual facilities published quarterly and annual progress reports that contained some environmental monitoring data. The environmental monitoring program for 1984 includes sampling and analysis of air, water from surface streams, groundwater, creek sediment, biota, and soil for both radioactive and nonradioactive (including hazardous) materials. Special environmental studies that have been conducted in the Oak Ridge area are included in this report, primarily as abstracts or brief summaries. The annual report for 1984 on environmental monitoring and surveillance of the Oak Ridge community by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is included as an appendix. A brief description of the topography and climate of the Oak Ridge area and a short description of the three DOE facilities are provided below to enhance the reader's understanding of the direction and contents of the environmental monitoring program for Oak Ridge.

The dielectric performance of epoxy foams was investigated to determine if such materials might provide advantages over more standard polyurethane foams in the encapsulation of electronic assemblies. Comparisons of the dielectric characteristics of epoxy and urethane encapsulant foams found no significant differences between the two resin types and no significant difference between as-molded and machined foams. This study specifically evaluated the formulation and processing of epoxy foams using simple methylhydrosiloxanes as the flowing agent and compared the dielectric performance of those to urethane foams of similar density.

Combustion and Environmental Research Facility (CERF) formerly known as The Fuel Evaluation Facility was used from March 29 to April 17, 1993 for the sole purpose of evaluating the Rocket Research (RR) plasma torch and testing its effectiveness in reducing NO{sub x} emissions from coal flames. Two spare facility convective sections were modified to accept the torch and to allow for effective mixing in the convective section chambers. The torch was placed into the fourth convective section and a 1-inch fused silica bluff body was placed immediately upstream of the torch to further enhance the mixing at the torch injection location. The gases anticipated for use during testing included ammonia (NH{sub 3}) , hydrogen (H{sub 2}) , carbon monoxide (CO), and methane (CH{sub 4}). Ammonia and hydrogen were planned as the gases which would be introduced through the torch directly while CO and CH{sub 4} would be used only in the torch secondary injection ring. The intent was to minimize any potential fouling problems with the carbon containing gases. Actual test conditions did not allow evaluation of the CO or the CH{sub 4} due to continued intermittent operation of the Rocket Research plasma torch. The torch had not been previously …

Streamflow data are more useful for evaluating hydrologic model results and studying water quality once baseflow and storm runoff have been separated. However, it is important to select an appropriate hydrograph separation method. They examined tow methods and evaluated their conceptual basis, ease of application, cost of data processing, and acceptability of results. they chose the quick flow hydrograph separation method, which is in use at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, because it gives acceptable results and is easy and inexpensive to use. For regional assessment, they anticipate that the Coweeta program will be useful as an aid in developing general quantitative relationships between changes in land use and the associated changes in surface runoff yield and water quality degradation.

This report documents a collection of papers on a family of uniform strain tetrahedral finite elements and their connection to different element types. Also included in the report are two papers which address the general problem of connecting dissimilar meshes in two and three dimensions. Much of the work presented here was motivated by the development of the tetrahedral element described in the report "A Suitable Low-Order, Eight-Node Tetrahedral Finite Element For Solids," by S. W. Key {ital et al.}, SAND98-0756, March 1998. Two basic issues addressed by the papers are: (1) the performance of alternative tetrahedral elements with uniform strain and enhanced uniform strain formulations, and (2) the proper connection of tetrahedral and other element types when two meshes are "tied" together to represent a single continuous domain.

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This effort studied the integration of innovative methods of key management crypto synchronization, and key agility while scaling encryption speed. Viability of these methods for encryption of ATM cell payloads at the SONET OC- 192 data rate (10 Gb/s), and for operation at OC-48 rates (2.5 Gb/s) was shown. An SNL-Developed pipelined DES design was adapted for the encryption of ATM cells. A proof-of-principle prototype circuit board containing 11 Electronically Programmable Logic Devices (each holding the equivalent of 100,000 gates) was designed, built, and used to prototype a high speed encryptor.

On going work concerns the mechanisms of methanol conversion to hydrocarbons on zeolite solid acids.

Achieving nearly uniform flow distributions in the accelerator production of tritium (APT) target structures is an important design objective. Manifold effects tend to cause a nonuniform distribution in flow systems of this type, although nearly even distribution can be achieved. A program of hydraulic experiments is underway to provide a database for validation of calculational methodologies that may be used for analyzing this problem and to evaluate the approach with the most promise for achieving a nearly even flow distribution. Data from the initial three tests are compared to predictions made using four calculational methods. The data show that optimizing the ratio of the supply-to-return-manifold areas can produce an almost even flow distribution in the APT ladder assemblies. The calculations compare well with the data for ratios of the supply-to-return-manifold areas spanning the optimum value. Thus, the results to date show that a nearly uniform flow distribution can be achieved by carefully sizing the supply and return manifolds and that the calculational methods available are adequate for predicting the distributions through a range of conditions.

This paper discusses a series of experiments to visualize and measure flow fields in the Novacor left ventricular assist system (LVAS). The experiments utilize a multiple exposure, optical imaging technique called fluorescent image tracking velocimetry (FITV) to hack the motion of small, neutrally-buoyant particles in a flowing fluid.

Today, fuel cell systems are getting much attention from the automotive industry as a future replacement for the internal combustion engine (ICE). Every US automobile manufacturer and most foreign firms have major programs underway to develop fuel cell engines for transportation. The objective of this program was to investigate the feasibility of using fuel cells as an alternative to the ICE. Three such vehicles (30-foot buses) were introduced beginning in 1994. Extensive development and operational testing of fuel cell systems as a vehicle power source has been accomplished under this program. The development activity investigated total systems configuration and effectiveness for vehicle operations. Operational testing included vehicle performance testing, road operations, and extensive dynamometer emissions testing.

The Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) was a small water cooled, U-233/Th-232 cycle breeder reactor developed by the Pittsburgh Naval Reactors to improve utilization of the nation's nuclear fuel resources in light water reactors. The LWBR was operated at Shippingport Atomic Power Station (APS), which was a Department of Energy (DOE) (formerly Atomic Energy Commission)-owned reactor plant. Shippingport APS was the first large-scale, central-station nuclear power plant in the United States and the first plant of such size in the world operated solely to produce electric power. The Shippingport LWBR was operated successfully from 1977 to 1982 at the APS. During the five years of operation, the LWBR generated more than 29,000 effective full power hours (EFPH) of energy. After final shutdown, the 39 core modules of the LWBR were shipped to the Expended Core Facility (ECF) at Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). At ECF, 12 of the 39 modules were dismantled and about 1000 of more than 17,000 rods were removed from the modules of proof-of-breeding and fuel performance testing. Some of the removed rods were kept at ECF, some were sent to Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) in Idaho and some …

This document provides functions and requirements to support deployment of pulsating mixer pump technology in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Gunite and Associated Tanks to mobilize and mix the settled sludge and solids in these tanks. In FY 1998 pulsating mixer pump technology, a jet mixer powered by a reciprocating air supply, was selected for FY 1999 deployment in one of the GAAT tanks to mobilize settled solids. Pulsating mixer pump technology was identified in FY 1996 during technical exchanges between the US Department of Energy (DOE) Tanks Focus Area Retrieval and Closure program, the DOE Environmental Management International Programs, and delegates from Russia as a promising technology that could be implemented in the US. The pulsating mixer pump technology, provided by the Russian Integrated Mining Chemical Company, was tested at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to observe its ability to mobilize settled solids. Based on the results of this demonstration, ORNL and DOE staff determined that a modified pulsating mixer pump would meet project needs for bulk mobilization of Gunite tank sludge prior to deployment of other retrieval systems. The deployment of this device is expected to significantly reduce the costs of operation and maintenance of more expensive …

Fiscal Year 98 (FY98) radionuclide phytoextraction studies involved resumption of the radiocesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) investigations at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the total uranium (U{sub t}) investigations at the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) site. This project was a collaborative effort involving scientists and engineers from MSE Technology Applications, Inc.; the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Growth Laboratory at Cornell University; Phytotech, Inc.; BNL; and FEMP. In both cases, the essential goal was to improve bioavailability, uptake, and transport of these contaminants from soil to leaf-and-stalk biomass (LSB). In particular, the practical goal was to demonstrate that about half the radionuclide contaminant mass present in near surface [{le}30 centimeters (cm) below ground surface (bgs)] soils could be transferred into LSB in approximately 5 years. Based on previous (1996) study results, it would require concentration ratios (CRs) of at 5-to-10 to achieve this goal. In addition, the rate of {sup 137}Cs removal must be {ge} 2.3% per year{sup -1} [i.e., (0.693/30.2) {center_dot} 100] to equal or exceed the loss of this radionuclide through natural decay. This report first presents and discusses the results from greenhouse and field evaluations of {sup 137}Cs uptake from rooting zone soils (0-15 cm bgs) located …

This study focuses on the effects of gallium ion implantation into zircaloy cladding material to investigate the effects that gallium may have in a reactor. High fluence ion implantation of Ga ions was conducted on heated Zircaloy-4 in the range of 10{sup 16}--10{sup 18} Ga ions/cm2. Surface effects were studied using SEM and electron microprobe analysis. The depth profile of Ga in the Zircaloy was characterized with Rutherford backscattering and SIMS techniques. Results indicate that the Zirc-4 is little affected up to a fluence of 10{sup 17} Ga ions/cm{sup 2}. After implantation of 10{sup 18} Ga ions/cm{sup 2}, sub-grain features on the order of 2 {micro}m were observed which may be due to intermetallic compound formation between Ga and Zr. For the highest fluence implant, Ga content in the Zirc-4 reached a saturation value of between 30 and 40 atomic %; significant enhanced diffusion was observed but gallium was not seen to concentrate at grain boundaries.

A statistical evaluation of sediment data from Technical Area 54, Los Alamos National Laboratory, was used to examine the relation of concentrations of a series of inorganic and radionuclide analytes to general geographic setting and sediment texture. Significant differences exist between results from the north and south sides of Mesita del Buey, with analyte concentrations being generally higher to the north. These differences probably result primarily from variations in background levels in the source materials for the sediments, perhaps reflecting finer particle sizes and/or better developed soils on the north side of the mesa.

Between mid February to end of May 1999 (in 104 days) the well GPK2 at the Soultz HDR site was successfully re-entered and deepened from 3876 m to a final depth of 5084 m and fully completed. Re-entry included the pulling of the existing 321 1 m long internal 9 5/8-inch by 7-inch casing string, fishing of a submersible pump and some 150 m of 2 3/8-inch tubing, sealing of a major loss zone and opening of a 6 1/4-inch well section in granite (3211-3876 m) to 8 1/2-inch hole size. The well was extended to 5048 m in 8 1/2'' hole size and again completed with a floating 9 5/8-inch by 7-inch casing string. The casing shoe is at 4431 m. A bottom hole core was taken in the depth range 5048-5051 m. The core recovery was app. 40%. A pilot hole in 6 1/4-inch was drilled from 5051-5084 m for in situ stress measurements using the hydraulic fracturing technique. The re-entry and deepening of the well GPK2 was accompanied by several technical developments. New casing packer elements based on inflatable metal shells were developed in a close cooperation between SOCOMINE and MeSy GmbH (patent pending). These packer elements …

Over the lifetime of a production reactor, neutrons from the fission process not only convert U-238 into plutonium but also bring about changes in the elements of the reactor's core components. Components such as shielding, pressure vessels, coolant piping, control rods, structural supports, and, in the case of graphite moderated reactors, the solid graphite moderator are all affected. Because a reactor's total plutonium production is directly related to total neutron fluence, and, likewise, changes in the elements and isotopes of a reactor's core components are directly related to fluence; it was argued that measuring these changes could provide an accurate estimate of a reactor's total plutonium production. The U.S. Department of Energy funds a project at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to develop this concept into a practical plutonium production verification tool for graphite moderated reactors. The following sections describe the GIRM project development process. The purpose of this document is to provide a simple, concise description of the graphite isotope ratio method (GIRM) for use as a verification tool in estimating a graphite-moderated reactor's total plutonium production. The description covers the theory behind the technique and how the method is actually applied.

National technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia. "Exteranl Radiation Surveillance, Section 4.7" Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, richland, Washington.