The Low-Activity Waste Process Technology Program at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) anticipates that large volumes of low-level/low-activity wastes will need to be grouted prior to near-surface disposal. During fiscal year 1998, three grout formulations were studied for low-activity wastes derived from INTEC liquid sodium-bearing waste. Compressive strength and leach results are presented for phosphate bonding cement, acidic grout, and alkaline grout formulations. In an additional study, grout formulations are recommended for stabilization of the INTEC underground storage tank residual heels.

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The Core Capability and Technical Enhancement (CC&TE) Program, a part of the Verification, Validation, and Engineering Assessment Program, was implemented to enhance and augment the technical capabilities of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The purpose for strengthening the technical capabilities of the INEEL is to provide the technical base to serve effectively as the Environmental Management Laboratory for the Office of Environmental Management (EM). An analysis of EM's science and technology needs as well as the technology investments currently being made by EM across the complex was used to formulate a portfolio of research activities designed to address EM's needs without overlapping work being done elsewhere. An additional purpose is to enhance and maintain the technical capabilities and research infrastructure at the INEEL. This is a progress report for fiscal year 1998 for the five CC&TE research investment areas: (a) transport aspects of selective mass transport agents, (b) chemistry of environmental surfaces, (c) materials dynamics, (d) characterization science, and (e) computational simulation of mechanical and chemical systems. In addition to the five purely technical research areas, this report deals with the science and technology foundations element of the CC&TE from the standpoint of program management and complex-wide …

The purpose of LDRD #2349, Characterize and Model Final Waste Formulations and Offgas Solids from Thermal Treatment Processes, was to develop a set of tools that would allow the user to, based on the chemical composition of a waste stream to be immobilized, predict the durability (leach behavior) of the final waste form and the phase assemblages present in the final waste form. The objectives of the project were: • investigation, testing and selection of thermochemical code • development of auxiliary thermochemical database • synthesis of materials for leach testing • collection of leach data • using leach data for leach model development • thermochemical modeling The progress toward completion of these objectives and a discussion of work that needs to be completed to arrive at a logical finishing point for this project will be presented.

Previously, the proposers have delivered to ARM a documented algorithm, that is now applied operationally, and which derives water vapor profiles from combined remote sensor measurements of water vapor radiometers, cloud-base ceilometers, and radio acoustic sounding systems (RASS). With the expanded deployment of a Raman lidar at the CART Central Facility, high quality, high vertical-resolution, water vapor profiles will be provided during nighttime clear conditions, and during clear daytime conditions, to somewhat lower altitudes. The object of this effort is to use Kalman Filtering, previously applied to the combination of nighttime Raman lidar and microwave radiometer data, to derive high-quality water vapor profiles, during non-precipitating conditions, from data routinely available at the CART site. Input data to the algorithm would include: Raman lidar data, highly quality-controlled data of integrated moisture from microwave radiometers and GPS, RASS, and radiosondes. The focus of this years activities has been on the intercomparison of data obtained during the Water Vapor Intensive Operating Period'97 at the SGP CART site in central Oklahoma.

The Core Capability and Technical Enhancement (CCTE) Program, a part of the Verification, Validation, and Engineering Assessment Program, was implemented to enhance and augment the technical capabilities of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The purpose for strengthening the technical capabilities of the INEEL is to provide the technical base to serve effectively as the Environmental Management Laboratory for the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM). An analysis of EM's science and technology needs as well as the technology investments currently being made by EM across the complex was used to formulate a portfolio of research activities designed to address EM's needs without overlapping work being done elsewhere. An additional purpose is to enhance and maintain the technical capabilities and research infrastructure at the INEEL. This is a progress report for fiscal year 1998 for the five CCTE research investment areas: (a) transport aspects of selective mass transport agents, (b) chemistry of environmental surfaces, (c) materials dynamics, (d) characterization science, and (e) computational simulation of mechanical and chemical systems. In addition to the five purely technical research areas, this report deals with the science and technology foundations element of the CCTE from the standpoint of program …

The Low-Activity Waste Process Technology Program at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) anticipates that large volumes of low-level/low-activity wastes will need to be grouted prior to near-surface disposal. During fiscal year 1998, three grout formulations were studied for low-activity wastes derived from INTEC liquid sodium-bearing waste. Compressive strength and leach results are presented for phosphate bonding cement, acidic grout, and alkaline grout formulations. In an additional study, grout formulations are recommended for stabilization of the INTEC underground storage tank residual heels.

This report summarizes waste shipments to the Nevada Test Site Radioactive Waste Management Sites at Area 3 and Area 5 during fiscal year 1998. In addition this report provides a summary evaluation of each shipping campaign by source (waste generator) which identifies observable incidents, if any, associated with the actual waste shipments.

As a way to bootstrap the DISCOM(2) Distance Computing Program the SP2 Pilot Project was launched in March 1998. The Pilot was directed towards creating an environment to allow Sandia users to run their applications on the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative's (ASCI) Blue Pacific computation platform, the unclassified IBM SP2 platform at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The DISCOM(2) Pilot leverages the ASCI PSE (Problem solving Environment) efforts in networking and services to baseline the performance of the current system. Efforts in the following areas of the pilot are documented: applications, services, networking, visualization, and the system model. It details not only the running of two Sandia codes CTH and COYOTE on the Blue Pacific platform, but also the buildong of the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) proxy environment of the RS6000 platforms to support the Sandia users.

The Low-Activity Waste Process Technology Program at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) anticipates that large volumes of low-level/low-activity wastes will need to be grouted prior to near-surface disposal. During fiscal year 1998, three grout formulations were studied for low-activity wastes derived from INTEC liquid sodium-bearing waste. Compressive strength and leach results are presented for phosphate bonding cement, acidic grout, and alkaline grout formulations. In an additional study, grout formulations are recommended for stabilization of the INTEC underground storage tank residual heels.

Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, conducts the Energy Storage Systems Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Power Technologies. The goal of this program is to collaborate with industry in developing cost-effective electric energy storage systems for many high-value stationary applications. Sandia National Laboratories is responsible for the engineering analyses, contracted development and testing of energy storage components and systems. This report details the technical achievements realized during fiscal year 1998.

This report, the Department of Energy`s first Accountability Report, is part of an effort to better measure how the Department of Energy is serving the American taxpayers; the results achieved; and the cost-effectiveness of the work. By integrating the Department`s FY 1998 performance results, financial status, and management controls, this report is a useful tool and provides a status report on the Department`s performance in FY 1998. It presents a clearer picture of the return on the investment of the resources entrusted to this agency. After thorough review by the Office of the Inspector General, with one exception, the financial statements have been found to present fairly the financial position of the Department in conformity with Federal accounting standards. Overall, the Department has reasonable assurance that DOE has management controls in place to ensure that operational activities are efficient and effective and comply with the law. Ten challenges where management controls can be strengthened have been identified.

In 1984, Congress and the Department of Energy (DOE) established the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program to enable the director of a national laboratory to foster and expedite innovative research and development (R and D) in mission areas. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) continually examines these mission areas through strategic planning and shapes the LDRD Program to meet its long-term vision. The goal of the LDRD Program is to spur development of new scientific and technical capabilities that enable LLNL to respond to the challenges within its evolving mission areas. In addition, the LDRD Program provides LLNL with the flexibility to nurture and enrich essential scientific and technical competencies and enables the Laboratory to attract the most qualified scientists and engineers. The FY98 LDRD portfolio described in this annual report has been carefully structured to continue the tradition of vigorously supporting DOE and LLNL strategic vision and evolving mission areas. The projects selected for LDRD funding undergo stringent review and selection processes, which emphasize strategic relevance and require technical peer reviews of proposals by external and internal experts. These FY98 projects emphasize the Laboratory's national security needs: stewardship of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, responsibility for the …