The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) are located at the eastern end of the City of Livermore. Recently the research facilities have been placed on heightened security alerts due to the events of September 11. To respond to the security concerns, LLNL and SNL have proposed to place East Avenue between South Vasco Road and Greenville Road under administrative control. This type of control would require security check points at both ends of this segment of East Avenue, including a truck inspection facility west of the Greenville Road intersection. In this configuration, East Avenue would be closed to general public traffic. The purpose of this traffic study is to determine the potential traffic impact of placing East Avenue under administrative control. The primary focus of the traffic study is to evaluate the proposed modifications to the geometry and operation of East Avenue between South Vasco Road and Greenville Road. The study also includes a review of a traffic study prepared for the closure of East Avenue in 1989 to determine if the assumptions and conclusions of that study remain valid.

This report presents vadose sediment characterization data that improves understanding of the nature and extent of past releases in the B tank farm. A vertical borehole, located approximately 15 ft (5 m) from the northeast edge of single-shell tank 241-B-110 was drilled to a total depth of 264.4 ft bgs, the groundwater table was encountered at 255.8 ft bgs. During drilling, a total of 3 two-ft long, 4-inch diameter split-spoon core samples were collected between 10 and 254 ft bgs-an average of every 7.5 ft. Grab samples were collected between these core sample intervals to yield near continuous samples to a depth of 78.3 m (257 ft). Geologic logging occurred after each core segment was emptied into an open plastic container, followed by photographing and sub-sampling for physical and chemical characterization. In addition, 54 out of a total of 120 composite grab samples were opened, sub-sampled, logged, and photographed. Immediately following the geologic examination, the core and selected grab samples were sub-sampled for moisture content, gamma-emission radiocounting, tritium and strontium-90 determinations, total carbon and inorganic carbon content, and 8 M nitric acid extracts (which provide a measure of the total leachable sediment content of contaminants) and one-to-one sediment to water …

This ALARA analysis of Radiological Control Criteria (RCC) considers alternatives to continued storage of certain DOE mixed wastes. It also considers the option of treating hazardous wastes generated by DOE facilities, which have a very low concentration of radionuclide contaminants, as purely hazardous waste. Alternative allowable contaminant levels examined correspond to doses to an individual ranging from 0.01 mrem/yr to 10 to 20 mrem/yr. Generic waste inventory data and radionuclide source terms are used in the assessment. Economic issues, potential health and safety issues, and qualitative factors relating to the use of RCCs are considered.

The main goals of this project were the search for a predicted nonmetallic high-pressure phase of Li and finding the metallization conditions for LiH. It has been predicted by Neaton & Ashcroft at Cornell [1] that the lithium atoms would pair at pressures around 100 GPa and their valence electrons would become localized in the interstitial regions and therefore non-conducting. LiH, an ionic compound, provides the unique opportunity to understand the effects of coupling two elements with opposite tendencies at extreme conditions and to study fundamental principles such as metallization and pairing. We measured the electrical conductivity of liquid lithium at pressures up to 1.8 Mbar and 4-fold compression, achieved through shock reverberation experiments [2]. We found that the results were consistent with a departure of the electronic properties of lithium from the nearly free electron approximation at high pressures and with ionic pairing correlations in the Mbar regime. Given the expected small effect of the temperature on the conductivity at high densities, the apparent conductivity drop and the behavior of the ionic core at the highest pressures could be interpreted as a decrease of the overall volume available for the electrons. It may be interesting to see if the …

PNNL estimated the FY2002 energy, environmental, and financial benefits (i.e., metrics) of the technologies and practices in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS). BTS uses the estimates of benefits as part of its annual budget request. This report includes an overview of the analytical approaches used to estimate energy savings for the FY2002 appropriated budget for BTS. The report also includes descriptions of key assumptions and the methodology that is used to calculate energy savings estimates for each BTS program.

PNNL estimated the FY2003 energy, environmental, and financial benefits (i.e., metrics) of the technologies and practices in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS). BTS uses the estimates of benefits as part of its annual budget request. This report includes an overview of the analytical approaches used to estimate energy savings for the FY2003 appropriated budget for BTS. The report also includes descriptions of key assumptions and the methodology that is used to calculate energy savings estimates for each BTS program.

High spatial resolution tomography benefits from a high brightness source (photons/(mr{sup 2} x source area)). A synchrotron radiation source provides extremely high continuous brightness with spectral characteristics suited to a wide variety of imaging needs. Therefore, during the initial testing of the new synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SRCT) system at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, it was suggested that we image a ruled target designed for NIF experiments. This is a detailed report of that imaging effort.

In order to further the goal of optimizing Hanford?s HLW borosilicate flowsheet, a glass formulation effort was launched to develop an advanced high-capacity waste form exhibiting acceptable leach and crystal formation characteristics. A simulated C-106/AY-102 waste envelop inclusive of LAW pretreatment products was chosen as the subject of these nonradioactive optimization efforts. To evaluate this optimized borosilicate waste formulation under continuous dynamic vitrification conditions, a research-scale Joule-heated ceramic melter was used to demonstrate the advanced waste form?s flowsheet. The main objectives of this melter test was to evaluate (1) the processing characteristics of the newly formulated C-106/AY-102 surrogate melter-feed stream, (2) the effectiveness of sucrose as a glass-oxidation-state modifier, and (3) the impact of this reductant upon processing rates.

This report summarizes the earthquake activity on Hanford for FY 2002. Hanford Seismic Monitoring provides an uninterrupted collection of high-quality raw and processed seismic data from the Hanford Seismic Network for the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors. Hanford Seismic Monitoring also locates and identifies sources of seismic activity and monitors changes in the historical pattern of seismic activity at the Hanford Site. The data are compiled, archived, and published for use by the Hanford Site for waste management, Natural Phenomena Hazards assessments, and engineering design and construction. In addition, the seismic monitoring organization works with the Hanford Site Emergency Services Organization to provide assistance in the event of a significant earthquake on the Hanford Site. The Hanford Seismic Network and the Eastern Washington Regional Network consist of 41 individual sensor sites and 15 radio relay sites maintained by the Hanford Seismic Monitoring staff. For the Hanford Seismic Network, there were 1,177 triggers during fiscal year 2002. Of these triggers, 553 were earthquakes. Two earthquakes were located in the Hanford Seismic Network area. Stratigraphically 13 occurred in the Columbia River basalt, 12 were earthquakes in the pre-basalt sediments, and 17 were earthquakes in the crystalline basement. Geographically, 13 earthquakes …

The goal of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. This report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from a borehole installed northeast of tank BX-102 (borehole 299-E33-45). This report also presents data on the sediment lithologies, the vertical extent of contamination, their migration potential, and the source of the contamination in the vadose zone and perched water east of the BX Tank Farm. The near horizontally bedded, northeasterly dipping sediment likely caused horizontal flow of the migrating contaminants. At borehole 299-E33-45, there are several fine-grained lens within the H2 unit that cause horizontally spreading of percolating fluids. The 21-ft thick Plio-pleistocene fine grained silt/clay unit is also an important horizontal flow conduit as evidenced by the perched water between 227-232 ft bgs. Based on comparing the depth of penetration of contaminants and comparing the percentages that are water leachable, uranium migrates slower than technetium-99 and nitrate. The technetium-99 desorption data are consistently near zero, meaning that the technetium-99 is not interacting with the sediment. In summary, the moisture content, pH, electrical conductivity, sodium, tritium, and uranium profiles do …

In developing the Field Investigation Report (FIR) for the Waste Management Area (WMA) S-SX at the Hanford Site, cesium-137 was the only gamma emitting radionuclide of concern (Knepp 2002). However, in WMA B-BX-BY, the spectral gamma logging data identify seven gamma emitting radionuclides, cesium-137, antimony-125, europium-152 and -154, cobalt-60, uranium-235 and -238 (DOE-GJPO 1998). The geochemical behaviors of several of these radionuclides, antimony-125 and the two europium isotopes, have not been extensively investigated at the Hanford Site. This task was initiated to assure that our understanding of the geochemical properties affecting the environmental behavior of these radionuclides reflects the current state of knowledge. A literature review was conducted to assess the important oxidation/reduction, aqueous speciation, solubility, and adsorption processes affecting the environmental behavior of antimony, cobalt, europium, technetium, and uranium in vadose zone sediments with low-organic matter content in semi-arid environments such as those at the Hanford Site. Technetium-99 was included in this task because of its importance in the long-term risk calculations. This report presents the results of this literature review.

The aim of these studies continues to be the investigation into the molecular mechanisms that underlie the virulence process in Yersinia pestis. In particular, the focus of this work centers on the identification of novel genes and pathways responsible for the pathogenic properties of this organism. In spite of more than four decades of intense investigation in this field, the dilemma as to what makes Y. pestis such a virulent and lethal pathogen remains unanswered. The method being employed makes use microarray technology (DNA chip) that enables the examination of the global activities of the whole complement of genes in this pathogen. Two primary resources available to the investigators (one directly obtained from a separate CBNP-funded project) make these studies possible: (1) Whole genome comparisons of the genes in Y. pestis and its near neighbors with attenuated or non pathogenic characteristics, and (2) the ability to duplicate in vitro, conditions that mimic the infection process of this pathogen. This year we have extended our studies from the original work of characterizing the global transcriptional regulation in Y. pestis triggered during temperature transition from 26 C to 37 C (roughly conditions found in the flea vector and the mammalian host, respectively) …

The objective of this study was to compare the mixing performance of the Lawrence pump, which has injection nozzles at the top, with an alternative pump that has injection nozzles at the bottom, and to determine the optimal elevation for the alternative pump. Sixteen cases were evaluated: two sludge thicknesses at eight levels. A two-step evaluation approach was used: Step 1 to evaluate all 16 cases with the non-rotating mixer pump model and Step 2 to further evaluate four of those cases with the more realistic rotating mixer pump model. The TEMPEST code was used.

The motivation for the ''Transparency'' experiment is that DOE/DP would like to have data available to show to interested parties, such as the JASONs. The U1a subcritical experiments are consistent with U.S. policy on nuclear testing. This would be done in a spirit of ''Transparency'' if doubts should arise. Thus, the objective of the ''Transparency'' measurements on the Oboe series is to place an upper bound on the nuclear energy released in the subcritical experiments. Two separate experimental packages cover the transparency measurement issue thoroughly. These are: (1) Neutron Track-Etch Dosimetry. (2) Scintillator Fission Neutron/Gamma Rate Measurement. Because the containment barrier is only 1-inch steel, plus 6-inch shotcrete, it is quite transparent to fission neutrons and, thus, both experiments can be mounted outside the containment barrier and can be recovered post shot. An additional group of dosimeters was placed on the lid of the vessel for greater sensitivity.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has identified high-performance computing as a critical competency necessary to meet the goals of LLNL's scientific and engineering programs. Leadership in scientific computing demands the availability of a stable, powerful, well-balanced computational infrastructure, and it requires research directed at advanced architectures, enabling numerical methods and computer science. To encourage all programs to benefit from the huge investment being made by the Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASCI) at LLNL, and to provide a mechanism to facilitate multi-programmatic leveraging of resources and access to high-performance equipment by researchers, M&IC was created. The Livermore Computing (LC) Center, a part of the Computations Directorate Integrated Computing and Communications (ICC) Department can be viewed as composed of two facilities, one open and one secure. This acquisition is focused on the M&IC resources in the Open Computing Facility (OCF). For the M&IC program, recent efforts and expenditures have focused on enhancing capacity and stabilizing the TeraCluster 2000 (TC2K) resource. Capacity is a measure of the ability to process a varied workload from many scientists simultaneously. Capability represents the ability to deliver a very large system to run scientific calculations at large scale. In this procurement action, we intend to significantly …

Migratory and resident fish in the Columbia River basin are exposed to stresses associated with hydroelectric power production, including pressure changes during turbine passage and dissolved gas supersaturation (resulting from the release of water from the spillway). The responses of fall Chinook salmon and bluegill sunfish to these two stresses, both singly and in combination, were investigated in the laboratory. A previous test series (Abernethy et al. 2001) evaluated the effects of passage through a Kaplan turbine under the ?worst case? pressure conditions. For this series of tests, pressure changes were modified to simulate passage through a Kaplan turbine under a more ?fish-friendly? mode of operation. The results were compared to results from Abernethy et al. (2001). Fish were exposed to total dissolved gas (TDG) levels of 100%, 120%, or 135% of saturation for 16-22 hours at either surface (101 kPa) or 30 ft (191 kPa) of pressure, then held at surface pressure at 100% saturation for a 48-hour observation period. Sensitivity of fall Chinook salmon to gas supersaturation was slightly higher than in the previous test series, with 15% mortality for surface-acclimated fish at 120% TDG, compared to 0% in the previous tests.

This letter report addresses the KE Basin sludge that will be retrieved and stored in large-diameter containers (LDCs.) A fraction of the hydrogen gas bubbles generated from the corrosion of uranium metal and oxides may be retained within the sludge matrix. Those entrapped bubbles will expand the sludge bed volume and, therefore, will affect how much sludge can be loaded into a container. The entrapped gas bubbles will also impact the overall thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the sludge bed. The evaluation summarized here was performed to estimate the maximum gas holdup (volume fraction gas) that could occur sludge stored in large-diameter containers, assuming uniform gas generation (i.e., uniform distribution of metallic uranium particles). This report represents an evaluation of the retention of uniformly distributed bubbles and an estimate of the maximum gas fraction that might be retained in K Basin LDCs based on existing literature data on bubble retention and Basin sludge characterization data. Existing data show that the maximum gas fraction varies, depending on physical properties and the configuration of the material or waste.

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This is a report on modeling of the Intellite three layer membrane mirror design. The goal of this project was to provide Intellite with a model that will allow them to design a mirror with confidence.

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During the Trilateral Initiative Technical Workshop on Authentication & Certification, PNNL will demonstrate some authentication technologies. This paper briefly describes the motivation for these demonstrations and provide background on them.

This CRADA provided technical support to the Weyerhaeuser Company on a number of issues related to the performance and/or selection of materials at a number of locations in a pulp and paper mill. The studies related primarily to components for black liquor recovery boilers, but some effort was directed toward black liquor gasifiers and rolls for paper machines. The purpose of this CRADA was to assist Weyerhaeuser in the evaluation of materials exposed in various paper mill environments and to provide direction in the selection of alternate materials, when appropriate.

We report on the development of new methods for the computation of spectral bandpass properties of photonic crystals and for the electromagnetic wave propagation in second order nonlinear optical waveguides. The former is based on a generalization of characteristic matrices while the latter is based on path integrals. Accurate and efficient propagation methods and algorithms form the basis for the construction of design tools for integrated optics.

In this CRADA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) assisted nLine Corporation of Austin, TX in the development of prototype semiconductor wafer inspection tools based on the direct-to-digital holographic (DDH) techniques invented at ORNL. Key components of this work included, testing of DDH for detection of defects in High Aspect Ratio (HAR) structures, development of image processing techniques to enhance detection capabilities through the use of both phase and intensity, and development of methods for autofocus on the DDH tools.