Measuring the violence of a thermal explosion of a cased explosive is important for evaluating safety issues of explosive devices in fires. A sympathetic initiation scenario was studied here where a 9.0 cm diameter by 2.5 cm thick disc of PBX 9501 donor charge encased in a 304 stainless steel assembly was heated on top and bottom flat surfaces until it thermally exploded. The initial heating rate at the metal/explosive interface was 5 C per minute until it reaches 170 C; then this temperature is held for 35 minutes to allow temperature equilibration to within a few degrees throughout the explosive. The heating resumed at a rate of 1 C per minute until the PBX 9501 donor thermally exploded. A PBX 9501 acceptor charge with carbon resistor and manganin foil pressure gauges inserted at various depths was placed at a 10 cm standoff distance from the donor charge's top steel cover plate. Piezoelectric arrival time pins were placed in front of the acceptor surface to measure the velocity and shape of the impacting plate. The stainless steel cover plate of the donor charge had a nominal velocity of 0.55 {+-} 0.04 mm/{micro}s upon impact and was non-symmetrically warped. The impact …

Atmospheric aberrations reduce the resolution and contrast in surveillance images recorded over horizontal or slant paths. This paper describes our recent horizontal and slant path imaging experiments of extended scenes as well as the results obtained using speckle imaging. The experiments were performed with an 8-inch diameter telescope placed on either a rooftop or hillside and cover ranges of interest from 0.5 km up to 10 km. The scenery includes resolution targets, people, vehicles, and other structures. The improvement in image quality using speckle imaging is dramatic in many cases, and depends significantly upon the atmospheric conditions. We quantify resolution improvement through modulation transfer function measurement comparisons.

A swift ion creates a track of electronic excitations in the target material. A net repulsion inside the track can cause a ''Coulomb Explosion'', which can lead to damage and sputtering of the material. Here we report results from molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of Coulomb explosion for a cylindrical track as a function of charge density and neutralization/quenching time, {tau}. Screening by the free electrons is accounted for using a screened Coulomb potential for the interaction among charges. The yield exhibits a prompt component from the track core and a component, which dominates at higher excitation density, from the heated region produced. For the cases studied, the number of atoms ejected per incident ion, i.e. the sputtering yield Y, is quadratic with charge density along the track as suggested by simple models. Y({tau} = 0.2 Debye periods) is nearly 20% of the yield when there is no neutralization ({tau} {yields} {infinity}). The connections between ''Coulomb explosions'', thermal spikes and measurements of electronic sputtering are discussed.

Recent advances in solid-state modulators now permit the design of a new class of high current accelerators. These new accelerators will be able to operate in burst mode at frequencies of several MHz with unprecedented flexibility and precision in pulse format. These new modulators can drive accelerators to high average powers that far exceed those of any other technology and can be used to enable precision beam manipulations. New insulator technology combined with novel pulse forming lines and switching may enable the construction of a new type of high gradient, high current accelerator. Recent developments in these areas will be reviewed.

Insulated pressure vessels are cryogenic-capable pressure vessels that can be fueled with liquid hydrogen or ambient-temperature compressed hydrogen. This flexibility results in multiple advantages with respect to compressed hydrogen tanks or low-pressure liquid hydrogen tanks. Our work is directed at verifying that commercially available aluminum-lined, fiber-wrapped pressure vessels can be safely used to store liquid hydrogen. A series of tests have been conducted, and the results indicate that no significant vessel damage has resulted from cryogenic operation. Future activities include a demonstration project in which the insulated pressure vessels will be installed and tested on two vehicles. A draft standard will also be generated for certification of insulated pressure vessels.

The objective of the ''Local Integration of the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center with Cities'' (LINC) program is to demonstrate the capability for providing local government agencies with an advanced operational atmospheric plume prediction capability, which can be seamlessly integrated with appropriate federal agency support for homeland security applications. LINC is a Domestic Demonstration and Application Program (DDAP) funded by the Chemical and Biological National Security Program (CBNP), which is part of the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). LINC will make use of capabilities that have been developed the CBNP, and integrated into the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). NARAC tools services will be provided to pilot study cities and counties to map plumes from terrorism threats. Support to these local agencies will include training and customized support for exercises, special events, and general emergencies. NARAC provides tools and services that map the probable spread of hazardous material which have been accidentally or intentionally released into the atmosphere. Primarily supported by the DOE, NARAC is a national support and resource center for planning, real-time assessment and detailed studies of incidents involving a wide variety of hazards, including radiological, chemical, …

The main objective of this study is to perform nonlinear dynamic earthquake time history analyses on Morrow Point Dam, which is located 263 km southwest of Denver, Colorado. This project poses many significant technical challenges, one of which is to model the entire Morrow Point Dam/Foundation Rock/Reservoir system which includes accurate geology topography. In addition, the computational model must be initialized to represent the existing dead loads on the structure and the stress field caused by the dead loads. To achieve the correct dead load stress field due to gravity and hydrostatic load, the computer model must account for the manner in which the dams were constructed. Construction of a dam finite element model with the correct as-built geometry of the dam structure and simply ''turning on'' gravity in the computer model will generally lead to an incorrect initial stress field in the structure. The sequence of segmented lifts typical of dam construction has a significant impact on the static stress fields induced in the dam. In addition, the dam model must also account for the interaction between the adjacent dam segments across the dam contraction joints. As a result of these challenges, it was determined that a significant amount …

In its current design, the high-level nuclear waste containers include an external layer of Alloy 22 (NO6022). This material was selected to provide long-term corrosion resistance since if water enters in contact with the containers, they may undergo corrosion. The model for the degradation of the containers includes three modes of corrosion, namely general corrosion, localized corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC). The objective of the current research was to quantify the susceptibility of Alloy 22 to EAC in several environmental conditions with varying solution composition, temperature and electrochemical potential. The susceptibility to EAC was evaluated using constant deformation (deflection) U-bend specimens in both the wrought and welded conditions. Results show that after more than five years exposure in the vapor and liquid phases of alkaline (PH {approx} 10) and acidic (pH {approx} 3) multi-ionic environments at 60 C and 90 C, Alloy 22 was free from EAC.

Free space optical communications (FSO) are beginning to provide attractive alternatives to fiber-based solutions in many situations. Currently, a handful of companies provide fiberless alternatives specifically aimed at corporate intranet and sporting event video applications. These solutions are geared toward solving the ''last mile'' connectivity issues. There exists a potential need to extend this pathlength to distances much greater than a 1 km, particularly for government and military applications. For cases of long distance optical propagation, atmospheric turbulence will ultimately limit the maximum achievable data rate. In this paper, we propose a method to improve signal quality through the use of adaptive optics. In particular, we show work in progress toward a high-speed, small footprint Adaptive Optics system for horizontal and slant path laser communications. Such a system relies heavily on recent progress in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) deformable mirrors, as well as improved communication and computational components.

The Minimum Degree algorithm, one of the classical algorithms of sparse matrix computations, is widely used to order graphs to reduce the work and storage needed to solve sparse systems of linear equations. There has been extensive research involving practical implementations of this algorithm over the past two decades. However, little has been done to establish theoretical bounds on the computational complexity of these implementations. We study the Minimum Degree algorithm, and prove time complexity bounds for its widely used variants.

The photometric calibration of ail extreme ultraviolet flat field spectrometer has been done at the Advanced Light Source at LBNL. This spectrometer is used to record spectrum for atomic physics research from highly charged ions in plasmas created in the Livermore electron beam ion traps EBIT-I and SUPEREBIT. Two calibrations were done each with a different gold-coated grating, a 1200 {ell}/mm and a 2400 {ell}/mm, that covered 75-300{angstrom} and 15-160{angstrom}, respectively. The detector for this calibration was a back thinned CCD. The relative calibration was determined for several different incident angles for both gratings. Within the scatter of the data, the calibration was roughly insensitive to the incidence angle for the range of angles investigated.

The Muon g-2 collaboration has measured the anomalous magnetic g value, a = (g-2)/2, of the positive muon with an unprecedented uncertainty of O.7parts per million. The result a{sub {mu}{sup +}}(expt) = 11 659 204(7)(5) x 10{sup -10}, based on data collected in the year 2000 at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is in good agreement with the preceding data on a{sub {mu}{sup +}} and a{sub {mu}{sup -}}. The measurement tests standard model theory, which at the level of the current experimental uncertainty involves quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics, and electroweak interaction in a significant way.

Major scientific and technological breakthroughs played a pivotal role in our ability to win the Cold War. The possibility of a different type of war, in response to terrorism, has long been recognized. Indeed, countermeasures to address specific terrorist acts have been developed and are deployed, for example, at special sporting and political events. The current threat environment, however, has created an intense and compelling set of concerns; consequently, the challenge to the scientific Community to develop new concepts and products on an accelerated timeframe is clear. Also, the spectrum of terrorist threats is broad. It includes the use of conventional, chemical, biological, and nuclear and radiological weapons, not to mention cyber-based attacks. The imperatives for advances have been amplified now that attacks are clearly possible within the U.S. borders. For example, advanced sensors and detectors that are able to monitor the proliferation of all the above warfare agents and their movement at entry points into the U.S. are clearly needed. The investments over the last decades in research and development efforts at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories in nonproliferation have led unique technologies and detection capabilities that have proved useful; yet, many challenges remain. In particular, …

We have developed a pulser that is able to generate a simulated signal from a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector for various plutonium isotopes. In this paper we describe the development of an ''isotopics'' pulser for the simulation of signals that are produced by an HPGe detector. The present pulser generates the waveforms that are produced by an HPGe detector both before and after the preamplifier. These signals have been input into a normal MCA and the result closely simulates a genuine pulse-height distribution.

I will review the basic physical principles underlying the formation energy of various intrinsic defects in common photovoltaic materials. I then use the above principles to explain why doping of semiconductors is, in general, limited and which design principles can be used to circumvent such limits. This work can help design strategies of doping absorber materials as well as explain how TCOs work. Recent results on the surprising stability of polar (112)+ surfaces of CIS will also be described in this context.

Polarimeters using the proton carbon elastic scattering process in Coulomb Nuclear Interference (CNI) region were installed in two RHIC rings. Polarization measurements were successfully carried out with the high energy polarized proton beams for the first polarized pp collision run. The physics principles, performance, and polarization measurements are presented.

The A2 LITE is a 2 liter, 2000 MPa, 750 K ultra-high pressure (UHP) vessel used to demonstrate UHP technology and to provide an air flow for wind tunnel nozzle development. It is the largest volume UHP vessel in the world. The design is based on a 100:1 pressure intensification using a hydraulic ram as a low pressure driver and a three-layer compound cylinder UHP section. Active control of the 900 mm piston stroke in the 63.5 mm bore permits pressure-time profiles ranging from static to constant pressure during flow through a 1 mm throat diameter nozzle for 1 second.

This conference paper describes the performance data for 14 photovoltaic modules deployed at fixed-latitude tilt in the field are presented and compared. Module performance is monitored continuously for optimum power characteristics. Flat-plate module technologies representative of crystalline, amorphous, and polycrystalline silicon, and cadmium telluride and copper indium diselenide, are scrutinized for energy production, effective efficiency and performance ratio-ratio of effective to reference efficiency. Most performance ratios exhibit seasonal fluctuations largely correlated to air or module temperatures, varying between 80% and 100%. These ratios tend toward larger values during winter and vise versa, except for amorphous silicon and cadmium telluride modules. In a-Si cases, the situation appears reversed: better performance ratios are exhibited during late summer. The effective efficiency and average daily and yearly energy production are analyzed and quantified.

The Scaled Thermal Explosion Experiment (STEX) has been developed to quantify the violence of thermal explosion under well defined and carefully controlled initial and boundary conditions. Here we present results with HMX-based explosives (LX-04 and PBX-9501) and with Composition B. Samples are 2 inches (50 mm) in diameter and 8 inches (200 mm) in length, under confinement of 7,500-30,000 psi (50-200 MPa), with heating rates of 1-3 C/hr. We quantify reaction violence by measuring the wall velocity in the ensuing thermal explosion, and relate the measured velocity to that expected from a detonation. Results with HMX-based explosives (LX-04 and PBX-9501) have shown the importance of confinement and HMX solid phase, with reaction violence ranging from mild pressure bursts to near detonations. By contrast, Composition B has shown very violent reactions over a wide range of conditions.

Smoothing of contact surfaces can be used to eliminate the chatter typically seen with node on facet contact and give a better representation of the actual contact surface. The latter affect is well demonstrated for problems with interference fits. In this work we present two methods for the smoothing of contact surfaces for 3D finite element contact. In the first method, we employ Gregory patches to smooth the faceted surface in a node on facet implementation. In the second method, we employ a Bezier interpolation of the faceted surface in a mortar method implementation of contact. As is well known, node on facet approaches can exhibit locking due to the failure of the Babuska-Brezzi condition and in some instances fail the patch test. The mortar method implementation is stable and provides optimal convergence in the energy of error. In the this work we demonstrate the superiority of the smoothed versus the non-smoothed node on facet implementations. We also show where the node on facet method fails and some results from the smoothed mortar method implementation.

The space science community has identified a need for ultra-light weight, large aperture optical systems that are capable of producing high-resolution images of low contrast. Current mirror technologies are limited due either to not being scalable to larger sizes at reasonable masses, or to lack of surface finish, dimensional stability in a space environment or long fabrication times. This paper will discuss the development of thin-shell, nano-laminate mirror substrates that are capable of being electro-actively figured. This technology has the potential to substantially reduce the cost of space based optics by allowing replication of ultra-lightweight primary mirrors from a master precision tool. Precision master tools have been shown to be used multiple times with repeatable surface quality results with less than one week fabrication times for the primary optical mirror substrate. Current development has developed a series of 0.25 and 0.5 meter spherical nanolaminate mirrors that are less than 0.5 kg/m{sup 2} areal density before electroactive components are mounted, and a target of less than 2.0 kg/m with control elements. This paper will provide an overview of nanolaminate materials for optical mirrors, modeling of their behavior under figure control and experiments conducted to validate precision control.

Traces of tritiated water (HTO) were determined at World Trade Center (WTC) ground zero after the 9/11/01 terrorist attack. A method of ultralow-background liquid scintillation counting was used after distilling HTO from the samples. A water sample from the WTC sewer, collected on 9/13/01, contained 0.174{plus_minus}0.074 (2{sigma}) nCi/L of HTO. A split water sample, collected on 9/21/01 from the basement of WTC Building 6, contained 3.53{plus_minus}0.17 and 2.83{plus_minus}0.15 nCi/L, respectively. Several water and vegetation samples were analyzed from areas outside the ground zero, located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Kensico Reservoir. No HTO above the background was found in those samples. All these results are well below the levels of concern to human exposure. Several tritium radioluminescent (RL) devices were investigated as possible sources of the traces of tritium at ground zero. Tritium is used in self-luminescent emergency EXIT signs. No such signs were present inside the WTC buildings. However, it was determined that Boeing 767-222 aircraft operated by the United Airlines that hit WTC Tower 2 as well as Boeing 767-223ER operated by the American Airlines, that hit WTC Tower 1, had a combined 34.3 Ci of tritium at the time of impact. Other possible sources of tritium include …

Safety issues related to thermal cook-off are important for handling and storing explosive devices. Violence of event as a function of confinement is important for prediction of collateral events. There are major issues, which require an understanding of the following events: (1) transit to detonation of a pressure wave from a cook-off event, (2) sensitivity of HMX based explosives changes with thermally induced phase transitions and (3) the potential danger of neighboring explosive devices being affected by a cook-off reaction. Results of cook-off events of known size, confinement and thermal history allows for development and/or calibrating computer models for calculating events that are difficult to measure experimentally.

Accurate multi-dimensional modeling of detonation waves in solid HE materials is a difficult task. To treat applied problems which contain detonation waves one must consider reacting flow with a wide range of length-scales, non-linear equations of state (EOS), and material interfaces at which the detonation wave interacts with other materials. To be useful numerical models of detonation waves must be accurate, stable, and insensitive to details of the modeling such as the mesh spacing, and mesh aspect ratio for multi-dimensional simulations. Studies we have performed show that numerical simulations of detonation waves can be very sensitive to the form of the artificial viscosity term used. The artificial viscosity term is included in our ALE hydrocode to treat shock discontinuities. We show that a monotonic, second order artificial viscosity model derived from an approximate Riemann solver scheme can strongly damp unphysical oscillations in the detonation wave reaction zone, improving the detonation wave boundary wall interaction. These issues are demonstrated in 2D model simulations presented of the 'Bigplate' test. Results using LX-I 7 explosives are compared with numerical simulation results to demonstrate the affects of the artificial viscosity model.