Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is an approach whereby procedures conventionally performed with large and potentially traumatic incisions are replaced by several tiny incisions through which specialized instruments are inserted. Early MIS, often called laparoscopic surgery, used video cameras and laparoscopes to visualize and control the medical devices, which were typically cutting or stapling tools. More recently, catheter-based procedures have become a fast growing sector of all surgeries. In these procedures, small incisions are made into one of the main arteries (e.g. femoral artery in the thigh), and a long thin hollow tube is inserted and positioned near the target area. The key advantage of this technique is that recovery time can be reduced from months to a matter of days. In the United States, over 700,000 catheter procedures are performed annually representing a market of over $350 million. Further growth in this area will require significant improvements in the current catheter technology. In order to effectively navigate a catheter through the tortuous vessels of the body, two capabilities must exist: imaging and positioning. In most cases, catheter procedures rely on radiography for visualization and manual manipulation for positioning of the device. Radiography provides two-dimensional, global images of the vasculature and …

The Fermilab D0 detector was used for the discovery of the top quark during Run I in 1996. It is currently being upgraded to exploit the physics potential to be presented by the Main Injector and the Tevatron Collider during Run II in the Fall of 2000. Some of the essential elements of this upgrade is the upgrade of the Solenoid Magnet, the Central Fiber Tracker, the Preshower Detectors, the Calorimeter System, and the Muon System. This paper discusses the survey and alignment of the these detectors with emphasis on the Muon detector system. The alignment accuracy is specified as better than 0.5mm. A combination of the Laser Tracker, BETS, and V-STARS systems are used for the survey.

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CO{sub 2} disposal into deep aquifers has been suggested as a potential means whereby atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases may be reduced. However, our knowledge of the geohydrology, geochemistry, geophysics, and geomechanics of CO{sub 2} disposal must be refined if this technology is to be implemented safely, efficiently, and predictably. As a prelude to a fully coupled treatment of physical and chemical effects of CO{sub 2} injection, we have analyzed the impact of CO{sub 2} immobilization through carbonate precipitation. A survey of all major classes of rock-forming minerals, whose alteration would lead to carbonate precipitation, indicated that very few minerals are present in sufficient quantities in aquifer host rocks to permit significant sequestration of CO{sub 2}. We performed batch reaction modeling of the geochemical evolution of three different aquifer mineralogies in the presence of CO{sub 2} at high pressure. Our modeling considered (1) redox processes that could be important in deep subsurface environments, (2) the presence of organic matter, (3) the kinetics of chemical interactions between the host rock minerals and the aqueous phase, and (4) CO{sub 2} solubility dependence on pressure, temperature and salinity of the system. The geochemical evolution under both natural background and CO{sub 2} injection conditions …

At the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) analysis methods and a Generalized Linear Least-Squares Methodology (GLLSM) have been developed to quantitatively determine the similarity or lack thereof between critical benchmark experiments and an application of interest. The S/U and GLLSM methods provide a mathematical approach, which is less judgment based relative to traditional validation procedures, to assess system similarity and estimate the calculational bias and uncertainty for an application of interest. The objective of this paper is to gain experience with the S/U and GLLSM methods by revisiting a criticality safety evaluation and associated traditional validation for the shipment of weapons-grade (WG) MOX fuel in the MO-1 transportation package. In the original validation, critical experiments were selected based on a qualitative assessment of the MO-1 and MOX contents relative to the available experiments. Subsequently, traditional trending analyses were used to estimate the {Delta}k bias and associated uncertainty. In this paper, the S/U and GLLSM procedures are used to re-evaluate the suite of critical experiments associated with the original MO-1 evaluation. Using the S/U procedures developed at ORNL, critical experiments that are similar to the undamaged and damaged MO-1 package are identified based on sensitivity and uncertainty …

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A high beam power of 1.15 MW in the proposed 16-GeV Proton Driver [1] implies serious constraints on beam losses in the machine. The main concerns are the hands-on maintenance and ground-water activation. Only with a very efficient beam collimation system can one reduce uncontrolled beam losses to an allowable level. The results on tolerable beam loss and on a proposed beam collimation system are summarized in this paper. A multi-turn particle tracking in the accelerator defined by all lattice components with their realistic strengths and aperture restrictions, and halo interactions with the collimators is done with the STRUCT code [2]. Full-scale Monte Carlo hadronic and electromagnetic shower simulations in the lattice elements, shielding, tunnel and surrounding dirt with realistic geometry, materials and magnetic field are done with the MARS14 code [3]. It is shown that the proposed 3-stage collimation system, allows localization of more than 99% of beamloss in a special straight section. Beam loss in the rest of the accelerator is 0.2 W/m on average.

During its 30 years of operation, the Fermilab Booster has served only as an injector for the relatively low repetition rate proton accelerator complex. With the construction of an 8 GeV target station for the 5 Hz MiniBooNE neutrino beam and rapid multi-batch injection into the Main Injector for the NuMI experiment, the demand for Booster protons will increase dramatically over the next few years. This implies serious constraints on beam losses in the machine. A collimation system and shielding design based on realistic Monte Carlo simulations are presented. A two-stage beam collimation system with local shielding has been designed. It provides adequate protection of the Booster components and environment by localizing operational losses. This loss control is a key to the entire future Fermilab high energy physics program.

The complicated expressions of betatron tune shifts in terms of Laslett image coefficients are explained. The expressions of image coefficients for a centered or off-centered beam inside an elliptical or rectangular vacuum chamber are gathered. Typos in earlier literature are corrected.

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This paper has presented the results of a computational benchmark and independent calculations to verify the benchmark calculations for the estimation of the additional reactivity margin available from fission products and minor actinides in a PWR burnup credit storage/transport environment. The calculations were based on a generic 32 PWR-assembly cask. The differences between the independent calculations and the benchmark lie within 1% for the uniform axial burnup distribution, which is acceptable. The {Delta}k for KENO - MCNP results are generally lower than the other {Delta}k values, due to the fact that HELIOS performed the depletion part of the calculation for both the KENO and MCNP results. The differences between the independent calculations and the benchmark for the non-uniform axial burnup distribution were within 1.1%.

An excel spreadsheet with information on the Texas Daily Newspaper Associations' officers and directors. The information gives the members e-mail addresses, their office numbers and the office buildings where they work. On the right column of the spreadsheet, it contained sensitive information on the TDNA's wives and family members which were removed.

The Recycler Ring Gradient Magnets were designed with end shims which correct the field shape (harmonic components up to 10-pole). A standard correction was employed at one end to correct the average properties. A variable correction was used at the other end to correct individual magnet variations during the fabrication process. Initial Recycler operation revealed that the quadrupole fields did not produce the desired tune. In part, this was due to the sextupole of the end-shim interacting with the curved orbit through the straight magnet. The standard end-shim was replaced on all regular cell gradient magnets. Details of these end corrections and the resulting successful modification of the lattice are described.

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a long history of involvement in the development and validation of the ORIGEN series of isotope summation codes and nuclear data libraries, widely recognized and used to predict the decay heat for spent nuclear fuel. In particular, the ORIGEN-S code, the depletion/decay module of the SCALE code system, has been extensively validated using experimental isotopic assay data and decay heat measurements for commercial spent fuel. This work was used in the development of the technical basis for NRC Regulatory Guide 3.54 on spent fuel decay heat. The bulk of the experimental data used to validate spent fuel decay heat predictions are from programs of the 1970s and 1980s and consequently involve older-design fuel assemblies with a relatively low enrichment and burnup. This has led to a situation where the spent fuel now being discharged from operating reactors extends well beyond the regime of the experimental data and area of code applicability based o n the data. The absence of validation data for modern fuel designs has potentially serious consequences for decay heat predictions in terms of added safety factors to account for larger uncertainties and lower volumetric transport and storage capacities.

Consideration of the depletion phenomena and isotopic uncertainties in burnup-credit criticality analysis places an increasing reliance on computational tools and significantly increases the overall complexity of the calculations. An automated analysis and data management capability is essential for practical implementation of large-scale burnup credit analyses that can be performed in a reasonable amount of time. STARBUCS is a new prototypic analysis sequence being developed for the SCALE code system to perform automated criticality calculations of spent fuel systems employing burnup credit. STARBUCS is designed to help analyze the dominant burnup credit phenomena including spatial burnup gradients and isotopic uncertainties. A search capability also allows STARBUCS to iterate to determine the spent fuel parameters (e.g., enrichment and burnup combinations) that result in a desired k{sub eff} for a storage configuration. Although STARBUCS was developed to address the analysis needs for spent fuel transport and storage systems, it provides sufficient flexibility to allow virtually any configuration of spent fuel to be analyzed, such as storage pools and reprocessing operations. STARBUCS has been used extensively at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to study burnup credit phenomena in support of the NRC Research program.

This paper describes the double aperture dipole magnets developed for a VLHC based on Nb{sub 3}Sn superconductor, a cos-theta coil, cold and warm iron yokes, and the wind-and-react fabrication technique. Status of the model R and D program, strand and cable and other major component development are also discussed.

Results on diffraction obtained by the CDF Collaboration in Run I of the Fermilab Tevatron {bar p}p collider are reviewed. New results are reported on soft double diffraction and diffractive J/{psi} production. The CDF program for diffractive studies in Run II is briefly discussed.

Borehole electromagnetic (EM) measurements, using fiberglass-cased boreholes, have proven useful in oil field reservoir characterization and process monitoring (Wilt et al., 1995). It has been presumed that these measurements would be impossible in steel-cased wells due to the very large EM attenuation and phase shifts. Recent laboratory and field studies have indicated that detection of EM signals through steel casing should be possible at low frequencies, and that these data provide a reasonable conductivity image at a useful scale. Thus, we see an increased application of this technique to mature oilfields, and an immediate extension to geothermal industry as well. Along with the field experiments numerical model studies have been carried out for analyzing the effect of steel casing to the EM fields. The model used to be an infinitely long uniform casing embedded in a homogeneous whole space. Nevertheless, the results indicated that the formation signal could be accurately recovered if the casing characteristics were independently known (Becker et al., 1998; Lee el al., 1998). Real steel-cased wells are much more complex than the simple laboratory models used in work to date. The purpose of this study is to develop efficient numerical methods for analyzing EM fields in realistic …

In passenger vehicles the ability to absorb energy due to impact and be survivable for the occupant is called the ''crashworthiness'' of the structure. To identify and quantify the energy absorbing mechanisms in candidate automotive composite materials, test methodologies were developed for conducting progressive crush tests on composite plate specimens. The test method development and experimental set-up focused on isolating the damage modes associated with the frond formation that occurs in dynamic testing of composite tubes. Quasi-static progressive crush tests were performed on composite plates manufactured from chopped carbon fiber with an epoxy resin system using compression molding techniques. The carbon fiber was Toray T700 and the epoxy resin was YLA RS-35. The effect of various material and test parameters on energy absorption was evaluated by varying the following parameters during testing: fiber volume fraction, fiber length, fiber tow size, specimen width, profile radius, and profile constraint condition. It was demonstrated during testing that the use of a roller constraint directed the crushing process and the load deflection curves were similar to progressive crushing of tubes. Of all the parameters evaluated, the fiber length appeared to be the most critical material parameter, with shorter fibers having a higher specific energy …

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