Irradiated pressurized water reactor (PWR) Core 2 (PWR-2) blanket fuel assemblies from the Shippingport PWR have been stored in the 221-T canyon water pool for twenty years. The fuel is in the form of small wafers of UO{sub 2}, which were initially natural enriched uranium (0.72% {sup 235}U). The uranium oxide wafers have a pyrolytic carbon coating, which prevents the fuel from reacting with a zircaloy-4 grid which provides structural strength and holds the wafers in place to form fuel plates. Thirty fuel plates comprise a sub-assembly which are held together by zircaloy-4 end plates. Two identical oxide fuel plate sub-assemblies are welded together to form a square structure with two zircaloy-4 extensions welded to the ends. Seventy-two PWR-2 assemblies are stored in the 221-T canyon water pool. Eight of these assemblies were irradiated in the center of the reactor core to an average burnup of 24,538 Mwd/MTU. The remaining assemblies had a burnup of 16,200 Mwd/MTU. These assemblies were placed in the canyon in 1978 and 1979 (WHC 1996). The original Criticality Safety Analysis Report (CSAR) (WHC 1990) analyzed the criticality safety of their storage and concluded that they were safe from a criticality standpoint. It was also mentioned …

Limitations on petroleum-based diesel fuel in California could occur pursuant to the 1998 declaration by California's Air Resources Board (CARB) that the particulate matter component of diesel exhaust is a carcinogen, therefore a toxic air contaminant (TAC) subject to the state's Proposition 65. It is the declared intention of CARB not to ban or restrict diesel fuel per se, at this time. Assuming no total ban, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) explored two feasible mid-course strategies, each of which results in some degree of (conventional) diesel displacement. In the first case, with substantial displacement of compression-ignition by spark-ignition engines, diesel fuel is assumed admissible for ignition assistance as a pilot fuel in natural gas (NG)-powered heavy-duty vehicles. Gasoline demand in California increases by 32.2 million liters (8.5 million gallons) per day overall, about 21% above projected 2010 baseline demand. Natural gas demand increases by 13.6 million diesel liter (3.6 million gallon) equivalents per day, about 7% above projected (total) consumption level. In the second case, compression-ignition engines utilize substitutes for petroleum-based diesel having similar ignition and performance properties. For each case the authors estimated localized air emission plus generalized greenhouse gas and energy changes. Fuel replacement by di-methyl ether yields the …

This report provides an overview of Congressional Research Service (CRS) products on the FY2000 appropriations and summarizes selected congressional actions on regular and supplemental appropriations, budget resolutions, budget reconciliation measures, and other selected legislation affecting appropriations.

On August 11 - 13,1999, Cheng Saw and I collected WAXS and SAXS data on Kel-F 800 and poly(chlorotrifluoroethane) (pCTFE) polymer samples using the Advanced Polymer Beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The purpose of these experiments was to attempt to gain insight into the structure of the polymer in both amorphous and crystalline states. Developing this understanding is important if we are to (1) adequately understand the changing per cent crystallinity aging signature seen in LX-17 and (2) to be able to appropriately prepare ''aged'' samples of LX-17. One of the key questions we hoped to answer concerns the origin of the fairly sharp WAXS peak seen at a correlation length of about 5.6 {angstrom}. It is known that the crystalline peaks of pCTFE and Kel-F 800 occur at this position, but they are superimposed on a much stronger amorphous peak at exactly the same position. I had previously suggested that the relatively sharp amorphous peak was due to a possible helical structure of the chain backbone. As will be described below, experiments to test this idea conclusively showed it not to be correct. In addition the preliminary results from molecular dynamics modeling studies …

This document summarizes the validation of MORSE-SGC/S with the BUGLE-96 cross section library. SINBAD Benchmark Experiment 2.004, Winfrith Water Benchmark Experiment and SBE 6.001, Karlsruhe Iron Sphere Benchmark Experiment were utilized for this validation. The MORESE-SGC/S code with the BUGLE-96 cross-section library was used to model the experimental configurations as given in SINDBAD 97. SINDBAD is a shielding integral benchmark archive and database developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). For means of comparison, the experimental models were also executed with MORSE-SGC/S using the BUGLE-80 cross-section library. BUGLE-96 cross section will be used for shielding applications only as recommended by ORNL.

The data obtained from these tests determine the dose rate of the two cobalt sources in SRTC. Building 774-A houses one of these sources while the other resides in room C-067 of Building 773-A. The data from this experiment shows the following: (1) The dose rate of the No.2 cobalt source in Building 774-A measured 1.073 x 10{sup 5} rad/h (June 17, 1999). The dose rate of the Shepherd Model 109 Gamma cobalt source in Building 773-A measured 9.27 x 10{sup 5} rad/h (June 25, 1999). These rates come from placing the graduated cylinder containing the dosimeter solution in the center of the irradiation chamber. (2) Two calibration tests in the 774-A source placed the graduated cylinder with the dosimeter solution approximately 1.5 inches off center in the axial direction. This movement of the sample reduced the measured dose rate 0.92% from 1.083 x 10{sup 5} rad/h to 1.073 x 10{sup 5} rad/h. and (3) A similar test in the cobalt source in 773-A placed the graduated cylinder approximately 2.0 inches off center in the axial direction. This change in position reduced the measured dose rate by 10.34% from 1.036 x 10{sup 6} to 9.27 x 10{sup 5}. This testing …

The purpose of this document is to evaluate a potential discrepancy between the Solid Waste Management (SWM) criticality prevention specifications and a proposed receipt from Bettis Laboratories. The analysis has been performed to determine the acceptability of the Bettis Laboratories waste container with respect to SWM criticality requirements.

The mission of the Institute for Fusion Studies has been to serve as a national center for theoretical fusion and plasma physics research. As an independent scientific group of critical size, its objectives were to conduct research on fundamental phenomena important to fusion; to serve as a center for fusion theory exchange activities with other countries; to exchange scientific developments with other academic disciplines; and to train students and postdoctoral fellows in fusion and plasma physics research.

In this paper, the energy savings of new technology offering significant improvements in fuel efficiency are tracked for over 20 years as vehicles incorporating that technology enter the fleet and replace conventional light-duty vehicles. Two separate analyses are discussed: a life-cycle analysis of aluminum-intensive vehicles and a fuel-cycle analysis of the energy and greenhouse gas emissions of double vs. triple fuel-economy vehicles. In both efforts, market-penetration modeling is used to simulate the rate at which new technology enters the new fleet, and stock-adjustment modeling is used to capture the inertia in turnover of new and existing current-technology vehicles. Together, these two effects--slowed market penetration and delayed vehicle replacement--increase the time lag between market introduction and the achievement of substantial energy savings. In both cases, 15-20 years elapse, before savings approach these levels.

Performance assessment for canister cleaning system in the KE Basin. Information obtained from this assessment will be used to design any additional equipment used to clean canisters. After thorough review of the design, maintenance history and operational characteristics of the 105 K East (KE) canister cleaning system, Bartlett recommends that the high pressure water jet system (HPWJS) be modified as outlined in section 5.0, and retained for future use. Further, it is recommended that Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Project consider use of a graded approach for canister cleaning, based on individual canister type and characteristics. This approach would allow a simple method to be used on canisters not needing the more rigorous, high-pressure method. Justification is provided in section 5.0. Although Bartlett has provided some preliminary cost estimates, it is recommended that SNF Project perform a detailed cost-benefit analysis to weigh the alternatives presented.

The inelastic scattering of x-rays, one of the first applications of x-rays to the field of condensed matter physics, has been rejuvenated in the last decade. The availability of synchrotrons radiation from wiggler and undulator sources combined with advances in monochromatization of the incident beam and analysis of the scattered beam with meV resolution led to the measurement of phonon dispersion relations. In addition, the use of Moessbauer nuclei as scatterer and analyzers has led to the discovery of the inelastic nuclear resonant scattering technique. This new method allows extraction of partial phonon density of states from amorphous materials, thin films, multilayers and interfaces, and liquids.

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This report describes the groundwater monitoring and corrective-action program at the M-Area Hazardous Waste Management Facility (HWMF) and the Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab) HWMF at the Savannah River Site (SRS) during the first and second quarters 1999.

The subject of this research project was to investigate the catalytic properties of a new class of materials, transition metal carbides and nitrides, for treatment of coal liquid and petroleum feedstocks. The main objectives were: (1) preparation of catalysts in unsupported and supported form; (2) characterization of the materials; (3) evaluation of their catalytic properties in HDS and HDN; (4) measurement of the surface properties; and (5) observation of adsorbed species. All of the objectives were substantially carried out and the results will be described in detail below. The catalysts were transition metal carbides and nitrides spanning Groups 4--6 in the Periodic Table. They were chosen for study because initial work had shown they were promising materials for hydrotreating. The basic strategy was first to prepare the materials in unsupported form to identify the most promising catalyst, and then to synthesize a supported form of the material. Already work had been carried out on the synthesis of the Group VI compounds Mo{sub 2}C, Mo{sub 2}N, and WC, and new methods were developed for the Group V compounds VC and NbC. All the catalysts were then evaluated in a hydrotreating test at realistic conditions. It was found that the most active …

Following a broad summary of the author's view of nuclear structure in 1974, he will discuss the key elements they have learned in the past 25 years from the research at the M.I.T. Bates Linear Accelerator center and its sister electron accelerator laboratories. Electron scattering has provided the essential measurements for most of the progress. The future is bright for nuclear structure research as their ability to realistically calculate nuclear structure observables has dramatically advanced and they are increasingly able to incorporate an understanding of quantum chromodynamics into their picture of the nucleus.

The presence of damage in the form of microcracks can increase the permeability of salt. In this paper, an analytical formulation of the permeability of damaged rock salt is presented for both initially intact and porous conditions. The analysis shows that permeability is related to the connected (i.e., gas accessible) volumetric strain and porosity according to two different power-laws, which may be summed to give the overall behavior of a porous salt with damage. This relationship was incorporated into a constitutive model, known as the Multimechanism Deformation Coupled Fracture (MDCF) model, which has been formulated to describe the inelastic flow behavior of rock salt due to coupled creep, damage, and healing. The extended model was used to calculate the permeability of rock salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site under conditions where damage evolved with stress over a time period. Permeability changes resulting from both damage development under deviatoric stresses and damage healing under hydrostatic pressures were considered. The calculated results were compared against experimental data from the literature, which indicated that permeability in damaged intact WIPP salt depends on the magnitude of the gas accessible volumetric strain and not on the total volumetric strain. Consequently, the permeability …

The incinerator at the Department of Energy Savannah River Site burns low level radioactive and hazardous waste. Ash and scrubber system waste streams are generated during the incineration process. Phosphate Ceramic technology is being tested to verify the ash and scrubber waste streams can be stabilized using this solidification method. Acceptance criteria for the solid waste forms include leachability, bleed water, compression testing, and permeability. Other testing on the waste forms include x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.

This training plan describes general requirements, worker categories, and provides course descriptions for operation of the plutonium finishing plant (PFP) waste generation facilities, permitted treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) units, and the 90-Day Accumulation Areas.

Compilation of monthly reports from departments in the city of San Antonio, Texas providing statistics, project updates, and other information about services and activities.

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Pond B, 685-13G, is an inactive reactor cooling impoundment built in 1961 on the Savannah River Site (SRS). Between 1961 and 1964, Pond B received R-Reactor cooling water discharges that were contaminated with {sup 137}Cs, {sup 90}Sr and plutonium. Though the pond has not been used since 1964, radionuclides from the contaminated cooling water remain in the water and in the surface sediments of the pond. The current proposal to fix and repair the Pond B dam structure includes installing a new drain system and monitoring equipment. The dam will be reinforced with additional previous material on the downstream face of the dam. The objectives of this report are to describe the sampling methodology used during the July 1998 sampling event at the downstream face of the Pond B dam and in Pond B, present the results of the sampling event, and compare, where possible, these results to related risk-based standards.

The purpose of this document is to define the technical basis and implementing guidelines for using automated personnel contamination monitors, such as the PCM-1B, at the River Protection Project (RPP) in lieu of performing a hand-held instrument followed by a PCM-1B survey for personnel release from contamination areas requiring a beta-gamma whole body survey. This document provides the basis for full implementation of the PCM-1B release survey, without the supplemental hand and foot survey, as currently implemented at RPP. This document applies only to RPP facilities. This document does not provide the technical basis for determining the equivalency of an automated system to hand-held instruments, or to the effective counting capability of automated systems as such technical determinations are contained in TBTN: GDGH-9604-RLS-0015.

Tank 241-AZ-101 (101-AZ) has been identified as one of the early tanks to be retrieved for waste pretreatment and immobilization. Retrieval of the tank waste from other tanks may require dilution. This test is to determine the effects of dilution on the mass of solids and their composition, which can be compared with tanks where dilution is required. This test plan gives test instructions, example data sheets, a waste compatibility review, and a waste stream fact sheet.