None

U.S. MPC&A cooperation with the Russian Federation (RF) Navy is based on a Joint Statement signed in 1996 to protect Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) fresh fuel used for nuclear propulsion. The Russian Federation Navy is the largest owner in Russia of highly enriched uranium, both in the form of fresh nuclear fuel, and in the form of slightly irradiated fuel with a long cooling time after irradiation. As a result of this agreement, projects began at the Northern Fleet Fresh Fuel Storage Facility (Site 49) and Refueling Ship PM-63. Initial projects provided upgrades for RF Navy HEU fresh fuel storage facilities, beginning with a land-based facility near Murmansk and later adding other land-based and ship-based fresh fuel storage facilities. Additional protocols (December 1997, January 1999, and March 2000) significantly expanded cooperation to include all HEU fuel under RF Navy control. To date, it is estimated that tens of metric tons of HEU have been secured - enough to construct hundreds of nuclear devices. It was determined that the cooperation would be coordinated by the Russian Research Center, Kurchatov Institute. This paper describes the history of the Program development, its stages, current status, scale of the work and prospects.

A model-based detector is developed to process shallow water ocean acoustic data. The function of the detector is to adaptively monitor the environment and decide whether or not a change from normal has occurred. Here we develop a processor incorporating both a normal-mode ocean acoustic model and a vertical hydrophone array. The detector is applied to data acquired from the Hudson Canyon experiments at various ranges and its performance is evaluated.

Adaptive optics (AO) on 8-10 m telescopes is an enormously powerful tool for studying young nearby stars. It is especially useful for searching for companions. Using AO on the 10-m W.M. Keck II telescope we have measured the position of the brown dwarf companion to TWA5 and resolved the primary into an 0.055{double_prime} double. Over the next several years follow-up astrometry should permit an accurate determination of the masses of these young stars. We have also re-observed the candidate extrasolar planet TWAGB, but measurements of its motion relative to TWA6A are inconclusive. We are carrying out a search for new planetary or brown dwarf companions to TWA stars and, if current giant planet models are correct, are currently capable of detecting a 1 Jupiter-mass companion at {approx} 1.0{double_prime} and a 5 Jupiter-mass companion at {approx} 0.5{double_prime} around a typical TWA member.

We describe a scheme to produce an intense and collimated beam of neutrinos for the neutrino-oscillation experiment. The scheme feature is the presence of a Proton Driver that generates a proton beam at very large power (10mA x 15GeV), considerably higher than that proposed elsewhere for this application. With this scheme, because of the high intensity of the proton beam, to produce neutrinos at the same required rates, it is sufficient to collect {pi} and {mu} mesons only around a small angle and at reduced momentum spreads. This eliminates the need for the difficult longitudinal manipulations of the protons and mesons, and of the ionization cooling that still needs to be demonstrated. It is also shown, at the end of the paper, that the Neutrino Factory here proposed can also be used as an injector for a 1 x 1 TeV{sup 2} {mu}{sup +} - {mu}{sup -} collider at large luminosity.

The concept of using a muon storage ring to provide a well characterized beam of muon and electron neutrinos (a Neutrino Factory) has been under study for a number of years now at various laboratories throughout the world. The physics program of a Neutrino Factoryis focused on the relatively unexplored neutrino sector. In conjunction with a detector located a suitable distance from the neutrino source, the facility would make valuable contributions to the study of neutrino masses and lepton mixing. A Neutrino Factory is expected to improve the measurement accuracy of sin{sup 2}(2{theta}{sub 23}) and {Delta}m{sup 2}{sub 32} and provide measurements of sin{sup 2}(2{theta}{sub 13}) and the sign of {Delta}m{sup 2}{sub 32}. It may also be able to measure CP violation in the lepton sector.

Because poly-L-lysine (PLL) can exist in the {alpha}-helix or {beta}-sheet conformation depending on solution preparation and solution conditions, PLL is a suitable candidate to probe the dependence of protein interactions on secondary structure. The osmotic second virial coefficient and weight-average molecular weight are reported from low-angle laser-light scattering measurements for PLL as a function of NaCl concentration, pH, and {alpha}-helix or {beta}-sheet content. Interactions between PLL molecules become more attractive as salt concentration increases due to screening of PLL charge by salt ions and at low salt concentration become more attractive as pH increases due to decreased net charge on PLL. The experimental results show that interactions are stronger for the {beta}-sheet conformation than for the {alpha}-helix conformation. A spherically-symmetric model for the potential of mean force is used to account for specific interactions not described by DLVO theory and to show how differences in secondary structure affect PLL interactions.

In-situ studies of CO adsorption by surface x-ray scattering (SXS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques are used to create the link between the macroscopic kinetic rates of CO oxidation and the microscopic level of understanding the structure/site occupancy of CO on Pt(111). A remarkable difference in activity was observed between alkaline and acid solutions. In alkaline solution the oxidation of CO proceeds at low overpotential (<0.2 V) by the surface reaction between the adsorbed CO and OH, the latter forming selectively in the hydrogen underpotential potential region at defect sites. In acid solution these sites are blocked by specific adsorption of anions, and consequently in a solution containing Br{sup -} the ignition potential is shifted positively by 0.6 V. Anions of supporting electrolytes also have dramatic effects on both the potential range of stability and the domain size of the p(2x2)-3CO structure which is formed at 0.05 V. The stability/domain size of this structure increases from KOH (ca. 30 {angstrom} between 0.05 < E < 0.3V), to HClO{sub 4} (ca. 140 {angstrom} between 0.05 < E < 0.6V) to HClO{sub 4} + Br{sup -} (ca 350 {angstrom} between 0.05 < E < 0.8V). The larger the ordered domains …

Adaptive applications have computational workloads and communication patterns which change unpredictably at runtime, requiring dynamic load balancing to achieve scalable performance on parallel machines. Efficient parallel implementations of such adaptive applications is therefore a challenging task. In this paper, we compare the performance of and the programming effort required for two major classes of adaptive applications under three leading parallel programming models on an SGI Origin2000 system, a machine which supports all three models efficiently. Results indicate that the three models deliver comparable performance; however, the implementations differ significantly beyond merely using explicit messages versus implicit loads/stores even though the basic parallel algorithms are similar. Compared with the message-passing (using MPI) and SHMEM programming models, the cache-coherent shared address space (CC-SAS) model provides substantial ease of programming at both the conceptual and program orchestration levels, often accompanied by performance gains. However, CC-SAS currently has portability limitations and may suffer from poor spatial locality of physically distributed shared data on large numbers of processors.

Due to the short wavelengths of X-rays and low numerical aperture of the Fresnel zone plates used as X-ray objectives, the depth of field is several microns. Within the focal depth, imaging a thick specimen is to a good approximation equivalent to projecting the specimen absorption. Therefore, computed tomography based on a tilt series of X-ray microscopic images can be used to reconstruct the local linear absorption coefficient and image the three-dimensional specimen structure. To preserve the structural integrity of biological objects during image acquisition, microscopy is performed at cryogenic temperatures. Tomography based on X-ray microscopic images was applied to study the distribution of male specific lethal 1 (MSL-1), a nuclear protein involved in dosage compensation in Drosophila melanogaster, which ensures that males with single X chromosome have the same amount of most X-linked gene products as females with two X chromosomes. Tomographic reconstructions of X-ray microscopic images were used to compute the local three-dimensional linear absorption coefficient revealing the arrangement of internal structures of Drosophila melanogaster cells. Combined with labelling techniques, nanotomography is a new technique to study the 3D distribution of selected proteins inside whole cells. We want to improve this technique with respect to resolution and specimen …

None

In-situ characterizations of green state part density and sintering state have long been desired in the powder metal community. Recent advances in non-contact electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) technology have enabled in-situ monitoring of acoustic amplitude and velocity as sintering proceeds. Samples were made from elemental powders of Al (99.99%), Al (99.7%), Ag, (99.99%), Cu (99.99%) and Fe (99.9%). The powders were pressed in a uniaxial die and examined with acoustic waves for changes in velocity and amplitude during sintering for the samples containing Al, Ag, and Cu. The changes in acoustic properties were correlated with sample microstructures and mechanical properties. Evolution of a series of reverberating echoes during sintering is shown to provide information on the state of sintering, and changes in sintering kinetics as well as having the potential for detection of interior flaws.

In-situ transmission electron microscopy is an established experimental technique that permits direct observation of the dynamics and mechanisms of dislocation motion and deformation behavior. In this paper, we detail the development of a novel specimen goniometer that allows real time observations of the mechanical response of materials to indentation loads. The technology of the scanning tunneling microscope is adopted to allow nanometer scale positioning of a sharp, conductive diamond tip onto the edge of an electron transparent sample. This allows application of loads to nanometer-scale material volumes couple with simultaneous imaging of the material response. The emphasis in this paper is experimental and descriptive, with particular attention given to sample geometry and other technical requirements. Examples of the deformation of aluminum and titanium carbide as well as the fracture of silicon will be presented.

The principle of magnetic induction has been applied to the acceleration of high current beams in betatrons and a variety of induction accelerators. The linear induction accelerator (LIA) consists of a simple nonresonant structure where the drive voltage is applied to an axially symmetric gap that encloses a toroidal ferromagnetic material. The change in flux in the magnetic core induces an axial electric field that provides particle acceleration. This simple nonresonant (low Q) structure acts as a single turn transformer that can accelerate from hundreds of amperes to tens of kiloamperes, basically only limited by the drive impedance. The LIA is typically a low gradient structure that can provide acceleration fields of varying shapes and time durations from tens of nanoseconds to several microseconds. The efficiency of the LIA depends on the beam current and can exceed 50% if the beam current exceeds the magnetization current required by the ferromagnetic material. The acceleration voltage available is simply given by the expression V=A dB/dt. Hence, for a given cross section of material, the beam pulse duration influences the energy gain. Furthermore, a premium is put on minimizing the diameter, which impacts the total weight or cost of the magnetic material. The …

The crystallization behavior of amorphous TiOxNy (x>>y) thin films was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy. The Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kozolog (JMAK) theory is used to determine the Avrami exponent, activation energy, and the phase velocity pre-exponent. Addition of nitrogen inhibits diffusion, increasing the nucleation temperature, while decreasing the growth activation energy. Kinetic variables extracted from individual crystallites are compared to JMAK analysis of the fraction transformed and a change of 6 percent in the activation energy gives agreement between the methods. From diffraction patterns and index of refraction the crystallized phase was found to be predominantly anatase.

None

Faced with a downsizing organization, serious budget reductions and retirement of key metrology personnel, maintaining capabilities to provide necessary services to our customers was becoming increasingly difficult. It appeared that the only solution was to automate some of our more personnel-intensive processes; however, it was crucial that the most personnel-intensive candidate process be automated, at the lowest price possible and with the lowest risk of failure. This discussion relates factors in the selection of the Standard Leak Calibration System for automation, the methods of automation used to provide the lowest-cost solution and the benefits realized as a result of the automation.

None

None

None

It is well known that exact averaging of the equations of flow and transport in random porous media are at present realized only for a small number of special, occasionally exotic, fields. On the other hand, the properties of approximate averaging methods are not yet fully understood. For example, the convergence behavior and the accuracy of truncated perturbation series are not well known. Furthermore, the calculation of the high-order perturbations is very complicated. These problems for a long time have stimulated attempts to find the answer for the question: Are there in existence some exact general and sufficiently universal forms of averaged equations? If the answer is positive, there arises the problem of the construction of these equations and analyzing them. There exist many publications related to these problems and oriented on different applications: hydrodynamics, flow and transport in porous media, theory of elasticity, acoustic and electromagnetic waves in random fields, etc. We present a method of finding some general forms of exactly averaged equations for flow and transport in random fields by using (1) an assumption of the existence of Green's functions for appropriate stochastic problems, (2 ) some general properties of the Green's functions, and (3) the some …

The Distinct Element Method (DEM) is a meshfree method with applications to rock mechanics, mining sciences, simulations of nuclear repositories, and the stability of underground structures. Continuum mesh-based methods have been applied successfully to many problems in geophysics. Even if the geology includes fractures and faults, when sufficiently large length scales are considered a continuum approximation may be sufficient. However, a large class of problems exist where individual rock joints must be taken into account. This includes problems where the structures of interest have sizes comparable with the block size. In addition, it is possible that while the structure may experience loads which do no measurable damage to individual blocks, some joints may fail. This may launch smaller blocks as dangerous projectiles or even cause total failure of a tunnel. Traditional grid-based continuum approaches are wholly unsuited to this class of problem. It is possible to introduce discontinuities or slide lines into existing grid-based methods, however, such limited approaches can break down when new contacts form between blocks. The distinct element method (DEM) is an alternative, meshfree approach. The DEM can directly approximate the block structure of the jointed rock using arbitrary polyhedra. Using this approach, preexisting joints are readily …

The ultrahigh energy cross section for neutrino interactions with nucleons is reviewed, and unitarity constraints are discussed. We argue that existing QCD extrapolations are self-consistent, and do not imply a breakdown of the perturbative expansion in the weak coupling.

None