The Tanks Focus Area (TFA) continues to work closely with the Office of River Protection (ORP) to better understand the chemistry involved with the retrieval, transport, and pretreatment of nuclear wastes at Hanford. Since a private contractor is currently responsible for the pretreatment and immobilization activities in this remediation effort, the TFA has concentrated on saltcake dissolution and waste transport at the request of the ORP. Researchers at Hanford have performed a series of dissolution experiments on actual saltcake samples. Staff members at Mississippi State University (MSU) continue to model the dissolution results with the Environmental Simulation Program (ESP), which is used extensively by ORP personnel. Several ways to improve the predictive capabilities of the ESP were identified. Since several transfer lines at Hanford have become plugged, TFA tasks at AEA Technologies, Florida International University (FIU), MSU, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are investigating the behavior of the supernatants and slurries during transport. A combination of experimental and theoretical techniques is used to study the transport chemistry. This effort is expected to develop process control tools for waste transfer. The results from these TFA tasks were presented to ORP personnel during the FY 2000 Saltcake Dissolution and Feed Stability …

The primary purpose of the annual meeting between the corrosion monitoring personnel at the various DOE sites is to facilitate communications and promote technology transfer between the two sites. The close communications and good spirit of teamwork being exhibited between the parties representing the Hanford and Savannah River Sites has helped the Savannah River Site effort avoid many of the problems encountered during the initial development effort at Hanford. Similar benefits can be expected over the next few years as the ORNL program is developed. Expected products of this meeting as defined in Milestone A.4-1 of TTP RL0-9-WT-41 are reports on the status of technical work at the sites, discussions of emerging technical issues, and results of laboratory experiments and field trials. The formal meeting, informal discussions throughout the week, and the presentation materials shown in the attachment to this document fulfill the expectations of this meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting it was agreed that close communications should continue between the concerned parties at ORNL, SRTC and Hanford. Tentative plans were made to hold a similar meeting in approximately one year.

Hanford Seismic Monitoring provides an uninterrupted collection of high-quality raw and processed seismic data from the Hanford Seismic Network (HSN) for the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors. Hanford Seismic Monitoring also locates and identifies sources of seismic activity and monitors changes in the historical pattern of seismic activity at the Hanford Site. The data are compiled, archived, and published for use by the Hanford Site for waste management, Natural Phenomena Hazards assessments, and engineering design and construction. In addition, the seismic monitoring organization works with the Hanford Site Emergency Services Organization to provide assistance in the event of a significant earthquake on the Hanford Site. The HSN and the Eastern Washington Regional Network (EWRN) consist of 42 individual sensor sites and 15 radio relay sites maintained by the Hanford Seismic Monitoring staff. The HSN uses 21 sites and the EWRN uses 36 sites; both networks share 16 sites. The networks have 46 combined data channels because Gable Butte and Frenchman Hills East are three-component sites. The reconfiguration of the telemetry and recording systems was completed during the first quarter. All leased telephone lines have been eliminated and radio telemetry is now used exclusively. For the HSN, there were …

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This report contains the program plan and background information for the Heavy Vehicle Hybrid Propulsion R and D Program sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies. The program is a collaboration between industry and government established for the development of advanced hybrid-electric propulsion technology for urban cycle trucks and buses. It targets specific applications to enhance potential market success. Potential end-users are also involved.