This document is an addendum to the Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD) that has been prepared for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 254, Area 25 Reactor Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (R-MAD) Decontamination Facility. CAU 254 consists of Corrective Action Site (CAS) 25-23-06, Decontamination Facility. The purpose of this addendum is to provide a rationale for the recommendation of a revised preferred alternative corrective action for CAU 254. This preferred alternative corrective action, Alternative 3, consists of the removal of accessible soil/sediment and all building material above ground level from the CAU 254 Site. This alternative is being recommended because a cost-effective technology is now available to dismantle the contaminated building and ensure complete removal of all CAU 254 CADD-identified contaminants of concern and any associated contamination. This preferred closure method alternative reduces the potential for future exposure pathways. Procedures will be developed, presented in the Corrective Action Plan, and implemented to ensure worker health and safety, protection of human health and the environment, and to meet all unrestricted release requirements in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations.

We present the application of a new knowledge visualization tool, VxInsight, to the mapping and analysis of patent databases. Patent data are mined and placed in a database, relationships between the patents are identified, primarily using the citation and classification structures, then the patents are clustered using a proprietary force-directed placement algorithm. Related patents cluster together to produce a 3-D landscape view of the tens of thousands of patents. The user can navigate the landscape by zooming into or out of regions of interest. Querying the underlying database places a colored marker on each patent matching the query. Automatically generated labels, showing landscape content, update continually upon zooming. Optionally, citation links between patents may be shown on the landscape. The combination of these features enables powerful analyses of patent databases.

The management plan developed to characterize the K Basin spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and sludge was originally developed for Westinghouse Hanford Company and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to work together on a program to provide characterization data to support removal, conditioning, and subsequent dry storage of the SNF stored at the Hanford K Basins. The plan also addressed necessary characterization for the removal, transport, and storage of the sludge from the Hanford K Basins. This plan was revised in 1999 (i.e., Revision 2) to incorporate actions necessary to respond to the deficiencies revealed as the result of Quality Assurance surveillances and audits in 1999 with respect to the fuel characterization activities. Revision 3 to this Program Management Plan responds to a Worker Assessment resolution determined in Fical Year 2000. This revision includes an update to current organizational structures and other revisions needed to keep this management plan consistent with the current project scope. The plan continues to address both the SNF and the sludge accumulated at K Basins. Most activities for the characterization of the SNF have been completed. Data validation, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) document reviews, and OCRWM data qualification are the remaining SNF characterization activities. …

Concerns over global warning have motivated the search for more efficient technologies for electric power generation from fossil fuels. Today, 90% of electric power is produced from coal, petroleum or natural gas. Higher efficiency reduces the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electric energy. Exercising an option of deep geologic or ocean sequestration for the CO{sub 2} byproduct would reduce emissions further and partially forestall global warming. We introduce an innovative concept for conversion of fossil fuels to electricity at efficiencies in the range of 70-85% (based on standard enthalpy of the combustion reaction). These levels exceed the performance of common utility plants by up to a factor of two. These levels are also in excess of the efficiencies of combined cycle plants and of advanced fuel cells now operated on the pilot scale. The core of the concept is direct carbon conversion a process that is similar to that a fuel cell but differs in that synthesized forms of carbon, not hydrogen, are used as fuel. The cell sustains the reaction, C + O{sub 2} = CO{sub 2} (E {approx} 1.0 V, T = 800 C). The fuel is in the form of fine particulates ({approx}100 nm) distributed by …

The transportation market in the United States is evolving. As the number of vehicles and miles traveled on American roadways continues to grow, the nation is looking toward advanced vehicles and fuels to meet the increasing demand for more energy efficient, environmentally friendly modes of transport. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems' Fuel Utilization Program is doing its part. We're developing and demonstrating engine and fuel technologies that allow alternative and advanced petroleum fuels to compete with their conventional counterparts.

A large body of data has been collected over the last fifty years on the chemical behavior of f-element ions. The ions undergo rapid hydrolysis reactions in neutral or basic aqueous solutions that produce poorly understood oxide-hydroxide species; therefore, most of the fundamental f-element solution chemistry has allowed synthetic and separations chemists to rationally design advanced organic chelating ligands useful for highly selective partitioning and separation of f-element ions from complex acidic solution matrices. These ligands and new examples under development allow for the safe use and treatment of solutions containing highly radioactive species. This DOE/EMSP project was undertaken to address the following fundamental objectives: (1) study the chemical speciation of Sr and lanthanide (Ln) ions in basic aqueous media containing classical counter anions found in waste matrices; (2) prepare pyridine N-oxide phosphonates and phosphonic acids that might act as selective chelator s for Ln ions in model basic pH waste streams; (3) study the binding of the new chelators toward Ln ions and (4) examine the utility of the chelators as decontamination and dissolution agents under basic solution conditions. The project has been successful in attacking selected aspects of the very difficult problems associated with basic pH solution f-element …

This project was funded for a total of $92,946 for the period from 2/16/99 to 2/15/01. We studied extraction efficiency of organic substances from water matrices using spray chambers that were designed and constructed in our laboratories. A number of parameters that were hypothesized to affect the rate of removal of these compounds were studied, including chamber volume, extraction gas flow rate, sample volume, temperature, chamber pressure, physical and chemical properties of the analytes, and the properties of the aqueous matrix. The removal rates isolated from transport times of the flowing analytes after they had been extracted. In some cases, spray extraction was compared to membrane techniques for removal of organic compounds from water. These studies were performed in collaboration with colleagues from Los Alamos National Laboratory. In each of the summers of 1999 and 2000, two students from the University of North Dakota traveled to LANL to perform part of this research.

We show that the combination of pulse-front slant, k-vector tilt, and crystal birefringence often permits exact matching of both phase and group velocities in three wave mixing in birefringent crystals. This makes possible more efficient mixing of short light pulses, and it permits efficient mixing of chirped or broad bandwidth light. We analyze this process and present examples. Differences in the group velocities of the three interacting waves in a nonlinear crystal often limits the effective interaction length. For example, in mixing very short pulses, temporal walk off can stretch the pulses in time unless the crystal is very short. Efficient mixing with such short crystals requires high irradiances, but the irradiances are limited by higher order nonlinear effects such as intensity-dependent refractive index and two-photon absorption. Improved matching of the group velocities can alleviate this problem, allowing longer crystal and lower irradiances. Similarly, for high energy pulses, practical limits on crystal apertures mandate temporally stretching the pulses to reduce irradiances. For the resulting chirped pulses, temporal walk off restricts the chirp range unless the group velocities are well matched. In addition to perfectly matching the group velocities of all three waves, it is sometimes useful to match two velocities, …

The purpose and scope of this analysis/model report is to analyze the degradation of commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF) cladding under repository conditions by the hydride-related metallurgical processes, such as delayed hydride cracking (DHC), hydride reorientation and hydrogen embrittlement, thereby providing a better understanding of the degradation process and clarifying which aspects of the process are known and which need further evaluation and investigation. The intended use is as an input to a more general analysis of cladding degradation.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been consistently improving the site cleanup methods by adopting new philosophies, strategies and technologies to address constrained or declining budgets, lack of useable space due to a highly industrialized site, and significant technical challenges. As identified in the ROD, the preferred remedy at the LLNL Livermore Site is pump and treat, although LLNL has improved this strategy to bring the remediation of the ground water to closure as soon as possible. LLNL took the logical progression from a pump and treat system to the philosophy of ''Smart Pump and Treat'' coupled with the concepts of ''Hydrostratigraphic Unit Analysis,'' ''Engineered Plume Collapse,'' and ''Phased Source Remediation,'' which led to the development of new, more cost-effective technologies which have accelerated the attainment of cleanup goals significantly. Modeling is also incorporated to constantly develop new, cost-effective methodologies to accelerate cleanup and communicate the progress of cleanup to stakeholders. In addition, LLNL improved on the efficiency and flexibility of ground water treatment facilities. Ground water cleanup has traditionally relied on costly and obtrusive fixed treatment facilities. LLNL has designed and implemented various portable ground water treatment units to replace the fixed facilities; the application of each type …

This paper introduces a new simple algorithm for the construction of the Contour Tree of a 3D scalar field augmented with the Betti numbers of each contour component. The algorithm has {Omicron}(n log n) time complexity and {Omicron}(n) auxiliary storage. where n is the number of vertices in the domain of the field. The algorithm can be applied to fields of any dimension in which case it computes the Contour Tree augmented, with the Euler characteristic of each contour. The complexity in any dimension remains {Omicron}(n logn). This is the same complexity as in [4] but with correct computation of the tree for fields with bounded domains.

Since the early 1990s, China's motor vehicles have entered a period of fast growth resultant from the rapid economic expansion. As the largest developing country, the fast growth of China's motor vehicles will have tremendous effects on the world's automotive and fuel market and on global CO{sub 2} emissions. In this study, we projected Chinese vehicle stocks for different vehicle types on the provincial level. First, we reviewed the historical data of China's vehicle growth in the past 10 years and the correlations between vehicle growth and economic growth in China. Second, we investigated historical vehicle growth trends in selected developed countries over the past 50 or so years. Third, we established a vehicle growth scenario based on the historical trends in several developed nations. Fourth, we estimated fuel economy, annual mileage and other vehicle usage parameters for Chinese vehicles. Finally, we projected vehicle stocks and estimated motor fuel use and CO{sub 2} emissions in each Chinese province from 2000 to 2030. Our results show that China will continue the rapid vehicle growth, increase gasoline and diesel consumption and increased CO{sub 2} emissions in the next 30 years. We estimated that by year 2030, Chinese motor vehicle fuel consumption and …

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General physical relations connect the expected size and depth of laser damage induced craters to absorbed laser energy and to the strength of the material. In general, for small absorbers and ''instantaneous'' energy release, one expects three regions of interest. First is an inner region in which material is subjected to high pressure and temperature, pulverized and ejected. The resultant crater morphology will appear melted. A second region, outside the first, exhibits material removal due to spallation, which occurs when a shock wave is reflected at the free surface. The crater surface in this region will appear fractured. Finally, there is an outermost region where stresses are strong enough to crack material, but not to eject it. These regions are described theoretically and compared to representative observed craters in fused silica.

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Effects of turbulent mixing induced by explosion of a 1-g spherical TNT charge in air are investigated. The detonation wave in the charge transforms the solid explosive (C{sub 7}H{sub 5}N{sub 3}O{sub 6}) to gaseous products, rich in C{sub (S)}, and CO. The detonation pressure ({approx}210 kb) causes the products to expand rapidly, driving a blast wave into the surrounding air (Brode, 1959). The interface between the products and air is unstable (Richtmyer, 1960; Meshkov, 1960; Anisimov & Zel'dovich, 1977). As shown in Collage Ia-c, this region rapidly transitions into a turbulent mixing layer (Kuhl, 1996). As the embedded shock, I, implodes, it draws the mixing structures (Taylor cavities) into the origin (Collage Id-e). In this way air becomes distributed throughout the hot detonation products gases. This process is enhanced by shock reflections from confining walls. In either case (confined or unconfined), rapid combustion takes place where the expanded detonation products play the role of fuel. This leads to a dramatic increase in chamber pressure (Fig. 1)-in contrast to a corresponding TNT explosion in nitrogen. The problem was modeled as turbulent combustion in an unmixed system at large Reynolds, Peclet and Damkohler numbers (Kuhl et al, 1997). The numerical solution was …

This document presents the assessment of environmental impacts resulting from releases of hazardous substances from the facilities in the Old Radioactive Waste Burial Ground 643-E, including Solvent Tanks 650-01E to 650-22E, also referred to as Solvent Tanks at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was created in 1952 to meet the nation's need for an expanded nuclear weapons research and development (R&D) capability. LLNL quickly grew to become a full-fledged nuclear weapons design laboratory with a broad range of technical capabilities similar to those of our sister laboratory--Los Alamos--with which we shared mission responsibilities. By its very nature, nuclear weapons R&D requires some of the most advanced science and technology (S&T). Accordingly, there is an obvious need for careful attention to ensure that appropriate security measures exist to deal with the sensitive aspects of nuclear weapons development. The trade-off between advancing S&T at the Laboratory and the need for security is a complex issue that has always been with us, As Edward Teller noted in a recent commentary in a May, 1999 editorial in the New York Times: ''The reaction of President Harry Truman to the leaking of information is well known. He imposed no additional measures for security. Instead, we have clear knowledge that the disclosures by (Klaus) Fuchs caused Truman to call for accelerated work on all aspects of nuclear weapons. The right prescription for safety is not reaction to dangers that are arising, but rather …

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A treatability test was conducted for the In Situ Redox Manipulation (ISRM) technology at the 100 D Area of the U. S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site. The target contaminant was dissolved chromate in groundwater. The ISRM technology creates a permeable subsurface treatment zone to reduce mobile chromate in groundwater to an insoluble form. The ISRM permeable treatment zone is created by reducing ferric iron to ferrous iron within the aquifer sediments, which is accomplished by injecting aqueous sodium dithionite into the aquifer and then withdrawing the reaction products. The goal of the treatability test was to create a linear ISRM barrier by injecting sodium dithionite into five wells. Well installation and site characterization activities began in spring 1997; the first dithionite injection took place in September 1997. The results of this first injection were monitored through the spring of 1998. The remaining four dithionite injections were carried out in May through July of 1998.These five injections created a reduced zone in the Hanford unconfined aquifer approximately 150 feet in length (perpendicular to groundwater flow) and 50 feet wide. The reduced zone extended over the thickness of the unconfined zone. Analysis of post-emplacement groundwater samples showed concentrations of chromate, in …

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In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to identify the controlling transport mechanisms at metal/oxide interfaces and measure the corresponding diffusivities. Interfacial transport rates in our experiments are two to four orders of magnitude faster than any previously reported rates for the oxide surface. The interfacial diffusivities and the degree of interfacial anisotropy depend on the oxygen activity of the system. Atomic transport at metal/oxide interfaces plays a defining role in many technological processes, and these experiments provide fundamental data for the formulation of the atomic theory needed to explain many of the observed phenomena.

A series of four colloquies held in the first quarter of 2000 examined the expected development of biomass commercialization in the next 2 to 5 years. Each colloquy included seven to ten representatives from key industries that can contribute to biomass commercialization and who are in positions to influence the future direction. They represented: Corn Growers, Biomass Suppliers, Plant Science Companies, Process Engineering Companies, Chemical Processors, Agri-pulp Suppliers, Current Ethanol Producers, Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers, and Enzyme Suppliers. Others attending included representatives from the National Renewable Energy Lab., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fuels Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, environmental groups, grower organizations, and members of the financial and economic development community. The informal discussions resulted in improved awareness of the current state, future possibilit ies, and actions that can accelerate commercialization. Biomass commercialization on a large scale has four common issues: (1) Feedstock availability from growers; (2) Large-scale collection and storage; (3) An economic process; (4) Market demand for the product.

The Canister Transfer System receives transportation casks containing large and small disposable canisters, unloads the canisters from the casks, stores the canisters as required, loads them into disposal containers (DCs), and prepares the empty casks for re-shipment. Cask unloading begins with cask inspection, sampling, and lid bolt removal operations. The cask lids are removed and the canisters are unloaded. Small canisters are loaded directly into a DC, or are stored until enough canisters are available to fill a DC. Large canisters are loaded directly into a DC. Transportation casks and related components are decontaminated as required, and empty casks are prepared for re-shipment. One independent, remotely operated canister transfer line is provided in the Waste Handling Building System. The canister transfer line consists of a Cask Transport System, Cask Preparation System, Canister Handling System, Disposal Container Transport System, an off-normal canister handling cell with a transfer tunnel connecting the two cells, and Control and Tracking System. The Canister Transfer System operating sequence begins with moving transportation casks to the cask preparation area with the Cask Transport System. The Cask Preparation System prepares the cask for unloading and consists of cask preparation manipulator, cask inspection and sampling equipment, and decontamination equipment. …