Five commercial reactor criticals (CRCs) for the LaSalle Unit 1 boiling-water reactor have been analyzed using KENO V.a, the Monte Carlo criticality code of the SCALE 4 code system. The irradiated fuel assembly isotopics for the criticality analyses were provided by the Waste Package Design team at the Yucca Mountain Project in the United States, who performed the depletion calculations using the SAS2H sequence of SCALE 4. The reactor critical measurements involved two beginning-of-cycle and three middle-of-cycle configurations. The CRCs involved relatively low-cycle burnups, and therefore contained a relatively high gadolinium poison content in the reactor assemblies. This report summarizes the data and methods used in analyzing the critical configurations and assesses the sensitivity of the results to some of the modeling approximations used to represent the gadolinium poison distribution within the assemblies. The KENO V.a calculations, performed using the SCALE 44GROUPNDF5 ENDF/B-V cross-section library, yield predicted k{sub eff} values within about 1% {Delta}k/k relative to reactor measurements for the five CRCs using general 8-pin and 9-pin heterogeneous gadolinium poison pin assembly models.

Technologies were investigated to determine viable processes for removing mercury from the calciner (NWCF) offgas system at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Technologies for gas phase and aqueous phase treatment were evaluated. The technologies determined are intended to meet EPA Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirements under the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Currently, mercury accumulation in the calciner off-gas scrubbing system is transferred to the tank farm. These transfers lead to accumulation in the liquid heels of the tanks. The principal objective for aqueous phase mercury removal is heel mercury reduction. The system presents a challenge to traditional methods because of the presence of nitrogen oxides in the gas phase and high nitric acid in the aqueous scrubbing solution. Many old and new technologies were evaluated including sorbents and absorption in the gas phase and ion exchange, membranes/sorption, galvanic methods, and UV reduction in the aqueous phase. Process modifications and feed pre-treatment were also evaluated. Various properties of mercury and its compounds were summarized and speciation was predicted based on thermodynamics. Three systems (process modification, NOxidizer combustor, and electrochemical aqueous phase treatment) and additional technology testing were recommended.

This effort represents a contribution to the wider distributed energy resources (DER) research of the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS, http://certs.lbl.gov) that is intended to attack and, hopefully, resolve the technical barriers to DER adoption, particularly those that are unlikely to be of high priority to individual equipment vendors. The longer term goal of the Berkeley Lab effort is to guide the wider technical research towards the key technical problems by forecasting some likely patterns of DER adoption. In sharp contrast to traditional electricity utility planning, this work takes a customer-centric approach and focuses on DER adoption decision making at, what we currently think of as, the customer level. This study reports on Berkeley Lab's second year effort (completed in Federal fiscal year 2000, FY00) of a project aimed to anticipate patterns of customer adoption of distributed energy resources (DER). Marnay, et al., 2000 describes the earlier FY99 Berkeley Lab work. The results presented herein are not intended to represent definitive economic analyses of possible DER projects by any means. The paucity of data available and the importance of excluded factors, such as environmental implications, are simply too important to make such an analysis possible at this time. …

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This paper discusses: (1) A general block-factorization (matrix) form of multilevel preconditioners; algebraic methods; (2) Selecting parameters based on the matrix topology; graph based algorithms; (3) Examples of coarsening; (4) Numerical experiments.

Large-scale scientific computation, and all of the disciplines that support it and help to validate it, have been placed at the focus of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). The Laboratory operates the computer with the highest peak performance in the world and has undertaken some of the largest and most compute-intensive simulations ever performed. Computers at the architectural extremes, however, are notoriously difficult to use efficiently. Even such successes as the Laboratory's two Bell Prizes awarded in November 1999 only emphasize the need for much better ways of interacting with the results of large-scale simulations. Advances in scientific computing research have, therefore, never been more vital to the core missions of the Laboratory than at present. Computational science is evolving so rapidly along every one of its research fronts that to remain on the leading edge, the Laboratory must engage researchers at many academic centers of excellence. In FY 1999, the Institute for Scientific Computing Research (ISCR) has expanded the Laboratory's bridge to the academic community in the form of collaborative subcontracts, visiting faculty, student internships, a workshop, and a very active seminar series. ISCR research participants are integrated almost seamlessly with the Laboratory's …

We present a new approach for investigating the kinetics of defect migration during annealing of low-energy, ion-implanted silicon, employing a combination of computer simulations and atomic-resolution tunneling microscopy. Using atomically-clean Si(111)-7x7 as a sink for bulk point defects created by 5 keV Xe and Ar irradiation, we observe distinct, temperature-dependent surface arrival rates for vacancies and interstitials. A combination of simulation tools provides a detailed description of the processes that underly the observed temperature-dependence of defect segregation, and the predictions of the simulations agree closely with the experimental observations.

We examine strong field atomic physics in a wavelength region (3-4 microns) where very little work has previously been done. The soft photon energy allows the exploration of one-electron atoms with low binding energies (alkali metals). We find that photoionization spectra differ from rare gas studies at shorter wavelengths due to more complex ion core potentials. Harmonic generation is studied, and we find that harmonic bandwidths are consistent with theory and the possibility of compression to pulse widths much shorter than that of the driving pulse. Harmonic yields in the visible and W are sufficient for a complete study of their amplitude and phase characteristics.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has completed its design phase and is well into construction. In this talk, we review the optic specification rationale, along with examples of particular specifications and measurements.

During the FY96-FY99 funding cycle we examined the uptake of aqueous strontium onto goethite, kaolinite, and amorphous silica surfaces as a function of pH, total strontium, and temperature. Our overall goal was to produce a mechanistic sorption model that can be used in reaction-transport calculations to predict the mobility and attenuation of radioactive strontium ({sup 90}Sr)in the environment. Our approach was to combine structural information derived from EXAFS analysis together with macroscopic uptake data and surface complexation models to clarify the physical and chemical structure of sorbed complexes. We chose to study these solids because of the prevalence of clays and iron hydroxides in natural systems, and because silica colloids probably form beneath leaking tanks at Hanford as caustic waste is neutralized. We have published the spectroscopic work in two papers in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science [1, 2], and will soon submit at third manuscript to Geochemical Transactions [3] combining the sorption and spectroscopic data with a mechanistic complexation model. Early in the study we learned that strontium sorption was independent of temperature (25 to 80 C). All subsequent work was conducted at room temperature.

Historically, improvements in dipole magnet performance have been paced by improvements in the superconductor available for use in these magnets. The critical conductor performance parameters for dipole magnets include current density, piece length, effective filament size, and cost. Each of these parameters is important for efficient, cost effective dipoles, with critical current density being perhaps the most important. Several promising magnet designs for the next hadron collider or a muon collider require fields of 12 T or higber, i.e. beyond the reach of NbTi. The conductor options include Nb{sub 3}Sn, Nb{sub 3}Al, or the high temperature superconductors. Although these conductors have the potential to provide the combination of performance and cost required, none of them have been developed sufficiently at this point to satisfy all the requirements. This paper will review the status of each class of advanced conductor and discuss the remaining problems that require solutions before these new conductors can be considered as practical. In particular, the plans for a new program to develop Nb{sub 3}Sn and Nb{sub 3}Al conductors for high energy physics applications will be presented. Also, the development of a multikiloamp Bi-2212 cable for dipole magnet applications will be reported.

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The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Institutional Plan for FY 2000-2004 sets forth the laboratory's mission, roles, technical capabilities, and laboratory strategic plan. In the plan, major initiatives also are proposed and the transitioning initiatives are discussed. The Programmatic Strategy section details our strategic intent, roles, and research thrusts in each of the U.S. Department of Energy's mission areas. The Operations/Infrastructure Strategic Plan section includes information on the laboratory's human resources; environment, safety, and health management; safeguards and security; site and facilities management; information resources management; management practices and standards; and communications and trust.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing and implementing a customer satisfaction assessment program (CSAP) to assess the quality of research and development provided by the laboratory. We present the customer survey component of the PNNL CSAP. The customer survey questionnaire is composed of 2 major sections, Strategic Value and Project Performance. The Strategic Value section of the questionnaire consists of 5 questions that can be answered with a 5 point Likert scale response. These questions are designed to determine if a project is directly contributing to critical future national needs. The Project Performance section of the questionnaire consists of 9 questions that can be answered with a 5 point Likert scale response. These questions determine PNNL performance in meeting customer expectations. Many approaches could be used to analyze customer survey data. We present a statistical model that can accurately capture the random behavior of customer survey data. The properties of this statistical model can be used to establish a "gold standard'' or performance expectation for the laboratory, and then assess progress. The gold standard is defined from input from laboratory management --- answers to 4 simple questions, in terms of the information obtained from the CSAP customer survey, …

This document summarizes the Tanks Focus Area (TFA's) process of collecting, analyzing, and responding to high-level radioactive tank waste science and technology needs developed from across the DOE complex in FY 2000. The document also summarizes each science and technology need, and provides an initial prioritization of TFA's projected work scope for FY 2001 and FY 2002.

This brief paper concludes our study of the origin of the 871-keV observed for many plutonium oxide samples.

This report summarizes the objectives, activities, products, and recommendations of the ESPC Business Strategy Development project. The objective of this project was to assist DOE FEMP in defining the potential Federal sector market for FEMP-offered alternative financing services with a focus on Super-Energy Savings Performance Contracts (Super-ESPCs).

This report updates the original effluent variability study for the 200 Area Treated Effluent Disposal Facility (TEDF) and provides supporting justification for modifying the effluent monitoring portion of the discharge permit. Four years of monitoring data were evaluated and used to statistically justify changes in permit effluent monitoring conditions. As a result, the TEDF effluent composition and variability of the effluent waste stream are now well defined.

The D-Zero silicon trough is segmented into two half troughs. Loading to the Central Fiber Tracker Barrel 1 is at both ends and near Z = 0. The loading near Z = 0 is thought to be 4 lbs at 4 points. The point locations are at +/-45 degrees for each half trough on each side of Z = O. An additional support at Z = O is required to prevent beam sag and out of round distortions to the CFT Barrel 1. An additional joining washer will be attached between barrels 1 and 2 at Z = 0. Also a support ring will be attached to the inner diameter of barrel 1 to further help in out of round distortions. Details of the washer and loading are modeled using ANSYS.

The U. S. Department of Energy, through the Office of Technology Development, has requested the demonstration of remediation technologies for the cleanup of volatile organic compounds and associated radionuclides within the soil and groundwater at arid sites. This demonstration program, called the VOC-Arid Soils Integrated Demonstration Program (Arid-ID), has been initially directed at a volume of unsaturated and saturated soil contaminated with carbon tetrachloride, on the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington. A principal subtask of the Arid-ID program involves the development of an integrated engineering simulator for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of various remediation technologies. The engineering simulator's intended users include scientists and engineers who are investigating subsurface phenomena associated with remediation technologies. Principal design goals for the engineer simulator include broad applicability, verified algorithms, quality assurance controls, and validated simulations against laboratory and field-scale experiments. An important goal for the simulator development subtask involves the ability to scale laboratory and field-scale experiments to full-scale remediation technologies, and to transfer acquired technology to other arid sites. The STOMP (Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases) simulator has been developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory(a) for modeling remediation technologies. Information on the use, application, and theoretical basis of the STOMP simulator …