The objectives of this program were: (a) to develop and demonstrate a new polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system that operates up to 160 C temperatures and at ambient pressures for stationary power applications, and (b) to determine if the GTI-molded composite graphite bipolar separator plate could provide long term operational stability at 160 C or higher. There are many reasons that fuel cell research has been receiving much attention. Fuel cells represent environmentally friendly and efficient sources of electrical power generation that could use a variety of fuel sources. The Gas Technology Institute (GTI), formerly Institute of Gas Technology (IGT), is focused on distributed energy stationary power generation systems. Currently the preferred method for hydrogen production for stationary power systems is conversion of natural gas, which has a vast distribution system in place. However, in the conversion of natural gas into a hydrogen-rich fuel, traces of carbon monoxide are produced. Carbon monoxide present in the fuel gas will in time cumulatively poison, or passivate the active platinum catalysts used in the anodes of PEMFC's operating at temperatures of 60 to 80 C. Various fuel processors have incorporated systems to reduce the carbon monoxide to levels below 10 ppm, …

17th Edition of TOP500 List of World's Fastest Supercomputers Released MANNHEIM, GERMANY; KNOXVILLE, TENN.; BERKELEY, CALIF. In what has become a much-anticipated event in the world of high-performance computing, the 17th edition of the TOP500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers was released today (June 21). The latest edition of the twice-yearly ranking finds IBM as the leader in the field, with 40 percent in terms of installed systems and 43 percent in terms of total performance of all the installed systems. In second place in terms of installed systems is Sun Microsystems with 16 percent, while Cray Inc. retained second place in terms of performance (13 percent). SGI Inc. was third both with respect to systems with 63 (12.6 percent) and performance (10.2 percent).

The selling of weapons-related nuclear knowledge by Russian scientists for economic gain constitutes a threat to US national security. Some estimate that the number of Russian scientists seeking permanent employment abroad constitute five to ten percent of all researchers who have left the field of science. And, there is concern that those who have left are ''the better minds.'' Moreover, the issue of brain drain concerns not only those who move abroad permanently, but those who still reside in Russia and travel abroad to sell their knowledge. Of particular concern to the US is the potential sale of WMD knowledge by some. To ''mitigate the risk that economic difficulties...might create the temptation for individuals or institutes to sell expertise to countries of proliferation concern and terrorist organizations,'' the Department of Energy launched a Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI) in 1998 with the goal of creating commercial jobs and economic diversification in the ten closed cities that form the core of Russia's nuclear weapons complex to accommodate the loss of employment in the nuclear weapons industry. However, unless Russia opens access to the areas of its closed cities that are, or could become, involved in commercial activities-while of course carefully controlling access …

Investigation of behavior of actinides in alkaline media containing AL(III) showed that no aluminate complexes of actinides in oxidation states (IIII-VIII) were formed in alkaline solutions. At alkaline precipitation IPH (10-14) of actinides in presence of AL(III) formation of aluminate compounds is not observed. However, in precipitates contained actinides (IIV)<(VI), and to a lesser degree actinides (III), some interference of components takes place that is reflected in change of solid phase properties in comparison with pure components or their mechanical mixture. The interference decreases with rise of precipitation PH and at PH 14 is exhibited very feebly. In the case of NP(VII) the individual compound with AL(III) is obtained, however it is not aluminate of neptunium(VII), but neptunate of aluminium(III) similar to neptunates of other metals obtained earlier.

The Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) provides a coherent, technically defensible process for establishing that exposed surfaces satisfy site cleanup requirements. Unfortunately, many sites have complications that challenge a direct application of MARSSIM. Example complications include Record of Decision (ROD) requirements that are not MARSSIM-friendly, the potential for subsurface contamination, and incomplete characterization information. These types of complications are typically the rule, rather than the exception, for sites undergoing radiologically-driven remediation and closure. One such site is the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Linde site in Tonawanda, New York. Cleanup of the site is currently underway. The Linde site presented a number of challenges to designing and implementing a closure strategy consistent with MARSSIM. This paper discusses some of the closure issues confronted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District at the Linde site, and describes how MARSSIM protocols were adapted to address these issues.

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Programs at LLNL that involve large laser systems--ranging from the National Ignition Facility to new tactical laser weapons--depend on the maintenance of laser beam quality through precise control of the optical wavefront. This can be accomplished using adaptive optics, which compensate for time-varying aberrations that are often caused by heating in a high-power laser system. Over the past two decades, LLNL has developed a broad capability in adaptive optics technology for both laser beam control and high-resolution imaging. This adaptive optics capability has been based on thin deformable glass mirrors with individual ceramic actuators bonded to the back. In the case of high-power lasers, these adaptive optics systems have successfully improved beam quality. However, as we continue to extend our applications requirements, the existing technology base for wavefront control cannot satisfy them. To address this issue, this project studied improved modeling tools to increase our detailed understanding of the performance of these systems, and evaluated novel approaches to low-order wavefront control that offer the possibility of reduced cost and complexity. We also investigated improved beam control technology for high-resolution wavefront control. Many high-power laser systems suffer from high-spatial-frequency aberrations that require control of hundreds or thousands of phase points to …

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This report discusses the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI), implemented by the Bush Administration in 2001 to provide economic and counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia and regional neighbors. The report discusses the goals of the ARI, as well as related appropriations.

We have been performing basic materials science research on materials for anodes and cathodes in electrochemical cells. The work is a mix of electrochemical measurements and analysis of the materials by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffractometry. At present, our experimental work involves only materials for Li storage, but we have been finishing papers from our previous work on hydrogen-storage materials.

This paper illustrates a method for choosing the optimal mix of wind capacity at several geographically dispersed locations. The method is based on a dynamic fuzzy search algorithm that can be applied to different optimization targets. We illustrate the method using two objective functions for the optimization: maximum economic benefit and maximum reliability. We also illustrate the sensitivity of the fuzzy economic benefit solutions to small perturbations of the capacity selections at each wind site. We find that small changes in site capacity and/or location have small effects on the economic benefit provided by wind power plants. We use electric load and generator data from Iowa, along with high-quality wind-speed data collected by the Iowa Wind Energy Institute.

The P2 console application (Antiproton Source RF Files) calculates frequency and voltage curves from a sequence of command statements input by the user. P2 initially calculates these curves in terms of the actual frequencies and voltages required on the RF cavity as a function of time. These curves are then converted to the appropriate low-level drive voltages that will cause the RF system high-level electronics to generate the required frequency and voltage ramps. The low-level drive ramps are then downloaded into CAMAC ramp cards. In order to convert the required cavity voltage and frequency into the correct drive voltages P2 uses a set of constants that determined from calibration measurements of the various Antiproton Source RF systems. These constants are editable from the P2 constants window. The P2 constants at the time of this writing are shown in Figure 1. The validity of these constants determines the extent to which P2 able to translate the user's commands into the actual voltages and frequencies that appear on the RF cavity. A comparison of the 4/18/2001 calibration of ARF1 with that presently assumed by P2 shows a large discrepancy in both the frequency constants and the voltage constants. This report documents the …

We report recent application experiments on the LLNL COMET tabletop facility using the picosecond, 14.7 nm Ni-like Pd x-ray laser. This work includes measurements of a laser-produced plasma density profile with a diffraction grating interferometer.

As the electric industry goes through a transformation to a more market-driven model, traditional grounds for utility energy efficiency have come under fire, undermining the existing mechanisms to fund and deliver such services. The challenge, then, is to understand why the electric industry should sustain investments in helping low-income Americans use electricity efficiently, how such investments should be made, and how these policies can become part of the new electric industry structure. This report analyzes the opportunities and barriers to leveraging electric utility energy efficiency assistance to low-income customers during the transition of the electric industry to greater competition.

The use of sprayed flammable fluids as solvents in dissolution and cleaning processes demand detailed understanding of ignition and fire hazards associated with these applications. When it is not feasible to inert the atmosphere in which the spraying process takes place, then elimination of all possible ignition sources must be done. If operators are involved in the process, the potential for human static build-up and ultimate discharge is finite, and it is nearly impossible to eliminate. The specific application discussed in this paper involved the use of heated Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) to dissolve high explosives (HE). Search for properties of DMSO yielded data on flammability limits and flash point, but there was no published information pertaining to the minimum energy for electrical arc ignition. Due to the sensitivity of this procedure, The Hazards Control Department of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was tasked to determine the minimum ignition energy of DMSO aerosol and vapor an experimental investigation was thus initiated. Because there were no electrical sources in spray chamber, Human Electro-Static Discharge (HESD) was the only potential ignition source. Consequently, the electrostatic generators required for this investigation were designed to produce electrostatic arcs with the defined voltage and current pulse …

Coherent vector meson production in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions is discussed. These interactions may occur for impact parameters much larger than the sum of the nuclear radii. Since the vector meson production is always localized to one of the nuclei, the system acts as a two-source interferometer in the transverse plane. By tagging the outgoing nuclei for Coulomb dissociation it is possible to obtain a measure of the impact parameter and thus the source separation in the interferometer. This is of particular interest since the life-time of the vector mesons are generally much shorter than the impact parameters of the collisions.

Fact sheet includes an overview of the accomplishments of Atlanta's Clean Cities coordinator Kent Igleheart, who received the 2001 Outstanding Coordinator Award.

The development of automated systems supporting the production and application of PET radiopharmaceuticals has been an important focus of researchers since the first successes of using carbon-11 (Comar et al., 1979) and fluorine-18 (Reivich et al., 1979) labeled compounds to visualize functional activity of the human brain. These initial successes of imaging the human brain soon led to applications in the human heart (Schelbert et al., 1980), and quickly radiochemists began to see the importance of automation to support PET studies in humans (Lambrecht, 1982; Langstrom et al., 1983). Driven by the necessity of controlling processes emanating high fluxes of 511 KeV photons, and by the tedium of repetitive syntheses for carrying out these human PET investigations, academic and government scientists have designed, developed and tested many useful and novel automated systems in the past twenty years. These systems, originally designed primarily by radiochemists, not only carry out effectively the tasks they were designed for, but also demonstrate significant engineering innovation in the field of laboratory automation.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A safe and secure civil aviation system is a critical component of the nation's overall security, physical infrastructure, and economic foundation. Billions of dollars and a myriad of programs and policies have been devoted to achieving such a system. Although it is not fully known at this time what actually occurred or what all the weaknesses in the nation's aviation security apparatus are that contributed to the horrendous terrorist acts of Semptember 11, 2001, it is clear that serious weaknesses exist in the nation's aviation security system and that their impact can be far more devastating than previously imagined. There are security concerns with (1) airport access controls, (2) passenger and carry-on baggage screening, and (3) alternatives to current screening practices, including practices in selected other countries. Controls for limiting access to secure areas, including aircraft, have not always worked as intended. In May of 2000, special agents used counterfeit law enforcement badges and credentials to gain access to secure areas at two airports, bypassing security checkpoints and walking unescorted to aircraft departure gates. In June 2000, testing of screeners showed that significant, long-standing weaknesses--measured by the screeners' …

Newsletter of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service discussing topics related to economic aspects of raising dairy cows, dairy production, and managing dairy operations.

This project investigated the behavior of chlorinated solvent DNAPLs (mainly TCE) in two fractured clay-rich materials: highly weathered shale saprolite; and weathered glacial till. Over the 4-year course of this project researchers: (1) Investigated the potential for biodegradation of chlorinated solvents in fractured and weathered shales and in microcosms and undisturbed columns of fractured shale saprolite, which indicates that anaerobic degradation of TCE and its daughter products is occurring in the upper portion of the bedrock, and possibly in the overlying saprolite, suggesting that natural attenuation may be a viable option for organic contaminants. It also confirms that the TCE degradation is microbially mediated, and that microbial communities can rapidly shift to facilitate biodegradation, even in fractured clay-rich materials. (2) Investigated the factors controlling migration of chlorinated solvent DNAPLs in fine-grained, highly structured soils and weathered shale bedrock , which indicated that DNAPL is likely to enter both the fractures and the matrix at many sites, where it would be virtually impossible to remove with DNAPL recovery wells. The study also shows that after only 2-3 weeks, almost all of the TCE has dissolved and spread into the fine-grained matrix pores adjacent to the fractures and other macropores, indicating that …

The September 11th attack and subsequent intentional release of anthrax spores via the U.S. postal system have focused policymakers’ attention on the preparedness and response capability of the nation’s public health system. The anthrax attacks put a tremendous strain on the U. S. public health infrastructure, an infrastructure that many experts argue has been weakened by years of neglect and under-funding. To better understand the preparedness gaps that exist, as well as the disparate functions and agencies that define public health in this country, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), in conjunction with George Washington University’s National Health Policy Forum (NHPF), convened a seminar on October 26, 2001, entitled, The U.S. Health Care System: Are State and Local Officials Prepared for Bioterrorism? How Should the Federal Government Assist?

At the Spallation Neutron Source being constructed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, power levels will be greater than at any other operating pulsed spallation neutron scattering facility. Some of the moderators at the facility will contain cadmium that will be used to tailor neutron time distributions by absorbing low-energy neutrons. Because of the higher operating power levels, indications are that there will be considerable burnup of this cadmium during the lifetime of the moderators. Cadmium burnup rates have been calculated for locations around the moderators. Assumed operating conditions for these calculations were a 2-mA beam of 1-GeV protons on the mercury target for 5,000 operating hours per year and a three-year lifetime for the moderators and inner-plug assembly. With the present proposed cadmium thickness in the moderator region (0.05 cm), Monte Carlo calculations indicate considerable depletion of the active cadmium isotope. In places, the calculations indicate complete depletion. An obvious solution to the problem would be to increase the cadmium thickness with a concomitant increase in heat load. Results from some cadmium heating calculations are also presented for a cadmium thickness of 0.05 cm.