The contribution of lubrication oil to particulate matter (PM) emissions from a Cummins B5.9 Diesel engine was measured using accelerator mass spectrometry to trace carbon isotope concentrations. The engine operated at fixed medium load (285 N-m (210 ft.lbs.) 1600 m) used 100% biodiesel fuel (B100) with a contemporary carbon-14 ({sup 14}C) concentration of 103 amol {sup 14}C/ mg C. The C concentration of the exhaust C02 and PM were 102 and 99 amol {sup 14}C/mg C, respectively. The decrease in I4C content in the PM is due to the consumption of lubrication oil which is {sup 14}C-free. Approximately 4% of the carbon in PM came from lubrication oil under these operating conditions. The slight depression in CO{sub 2} isotope content could be attributed to ambient CO{sub 2} levels and measurement uncertainty.

This paper represents a summary of our methodology for Verification and Validation and Uncertainty Quantification. A graded scale methodology is presented and related to other concepts in the literature. We describe the critical nature of quantified Verification and Validation with Uncertainty Quantification at specified Confidence levels in evaluating system certification status. Only after Verification and Validation has contributed to Uncertainty Quantification at specified confidence can rational tradeoffs of various scenarios be made. Verification and Validation methods for various scenarios and issues are applied in assessments of Quantified Reliability at Confidence and we summarize briefly how this can lead to a Value Engineering methodology for investment strategy.

Accidents in complex systems send us signals. They may be harbingers of a catastrophe. Some even argue that a ''normal'' consequence of operations in a complex organization may not only be the goods it produces, but also accidents and--inevitably--catastrophes. We would like to tell you the story of a large, complex organization, whose history questions the argument ''that accidents just happen.'' Starting from a less than enviable safety record, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has accumulated over 2.5 million safe hours. The story of NIF is still unfolding. The facility is still being constructed and commissioned. But the steps NIF has taken in achieving its safety record provide a principled blueprint that may be of value to others. Describing that principled blueprint is the purpose of this paper. The first part of this paper is a case study of NIF and its effort to achieve a world-class safety record. This case study will include a description of (1) NIF's complex systems, (2) NIF's early safety history, (3) factors that may have initiated its safety culture change, and (4) the evolution of its safety blueprint. In the last part of the paper, we will compare NIF's safety culture to what safety …

Although the fundamental microbiological and geochemical processes underlying the potential use of dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DMRB) to create subsurface redox barriers for immobilization of uranium and other redox-sensitive metal/radionuclide contaminants are well-understood (Lovley et al., 1991; Gorby and Lovley, 1992; Lovley and Phillips, 1992; Lovley, 1995; Fredrickson et al., 2000; Wielinga et al., 2000; Wielinga et al., 2001), several fundamental scientific questions need to be addressed in order to understand and predict how such treatment procedures would function under in situ conditions in the subsurface. These questions revolve around the dynamic interactions between hydrologic flux and the coupled microbial-geochemical processes which are likely to occur within a redox barrier treatment zone.

High level waste is stored in carbon steel tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The site is currently in the process of waste removal from, and ultimately closure of, these tanks. One of the most time consuming steps in the waste removal process is cleaning the sludge heel from the bottom of the tanks to an acceptable residual quantity. The sludge consists primarily of metal oxides that formed after waste from the canyons was neutralized with sodium hydroxide. Since the canyon waste was originally a nitric acid solution, this acid is a prime candidate for sludge heel dissolution.

The P wells were installed in the late 80s as part of the SRP Baseline Hydrogeological Investigation for the purpose of updating and improving the current knowledge and understanding of the hydrogeological systems underlying the SRS. During the installation of the P well series wells, a total of more than 16,000 feet of unconsolidated geologic sediments were cored and are currently stored at the Core Facility and 129 wells were installed at eighteen widely spaced P well clusters. Each well cluster nominally consists of 8 observations wells screened at the water table down to the lower McQueen Branch aquifer (Middendorf Formation). The vertical distribution of the wells at each cluster not only provides information on the hydraulic head within each monitoring unit but also the vertical gradients between the different formations.

Composite cathodes of 50/50 vol percent LSM-YSZ (La1-xSrxMnO3-yttria stabilized zirconia) were deposited onto dense YSZ electrolytes by a colloidal deposition technique. The cathode characteristics were then examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and studied by an impedance spectroscopy (IS). Conditioning effects of the LSM-YSZ cathodes were seen, and remedies for these effects were proposed for improving the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). LSM surface contamination and modification, cathode bonding to the YSZ electrolyte, changing Pt electrode and bonding paste, and curvature of sintered YSZ electrolytes led to some changes in microstructure and variability in cell performances.

Surface water temperatures calculated from Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) brightness temperatures and the robust retrieval algorithm, developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), are compared with ground truth measurements at a mid-latitude cold-water site along the Atlantic coast near Plymouth, MA. In contrast to the relative uniformity of the sea-surface temperature in the open ocean the water temperature near Pilgrim exhibits strong spatial gradients and temporal variability. This made it critical that all images be accurately registered in order to extract temperature values at the six buoy locations. Sixteen images during a one-year period from August 2000 to July 2001 were selected for the study. The RMS error of Pilgrim water temperature is about 3.5 C for the 4 buoys located in open water. The RMS error of the combined temperatures from 3 of the open-water buoys is 2.8 C. The RMS error includes errors in the ground truth. The magnitude of this error is estimated to range between 0.8 and 2.3 C. The two main components of this error are warm-layer effect and spatial variability. The actual error in the MTI retrievals for Pilgrim daytime conditions is estimated to be between 2.7 and 3.4 C for individual buoys …

This document describes two conceptual designs for a Tank Remote Repair System to perform leak site repairs of double shell waste tank walls (Types I, II, III, and IIIA) from the annulus space. The first concept uses a magnetic wall crawler and an epoxy patch system and the second concept uses a magnetic wall crawler and a magnetic patch system. The recommended concept uses the magnetic patch system, since it is simpler to deliver, easier to apply, and has a higher probability of stopping an active leak.

This Corrective Action Investigation Plan contains the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Operations Office's approach to collect the data necessary to evaluate corrective action alternatives appropriate for the closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 527, Horn Silver Mine, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, under the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order. Corrective Action Unit 527 consists of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): 26-20-01, Contaminated Waste Dump No.1. The site is located in an abandoned mine site in Area 26 (which is the most arid part of the NTS) approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Historical documents may refer to this site as CAU 168, CWD-1, the Wingfield mine (or shaft), and the Wahmonie mine (or shaft). Historical documentation indicates that between 1959 and the 1970s, nonliquid classified material and unclassified waste was placed in the Horn Silver Mine's shaft. Some of the waste is known to be radioactive. Documentation indicates that the waste is present from 150 feet to the bottom of the mine (500 ft below ground surface). This CAU is being investigated because hazardous constituents migrating from materials and/or wastes disposed of in the Horn Silver Mine may pose a threat to human …

We have used Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis (COBRA) to investigate the atomic structure of a 5.6 nm thick Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} film epitaxially grown on a (100) GaAs substrate. COBRA is a method to directly obtain the structure of systems periodic in two-dimensions by determining the complex scattering factors along the substrate Bragg rods. The system electron density and atomic structure are obtained by Fourier transforming the complex scattering factors into real space. The results show that the stacking order of the first seven Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} film layers resembles the stacking order of Ga and As layers in GaAs then changes to the stacking order of cubic bulk Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. This behavior is distinctly different from the measured stacking order in a 2.7 nm thick Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} in which the GaAs stacking order persists throughout the entire film.