This document will serve as a summary of my work activities as a summer employee for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The intent of this document is to provide an overview of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) project, to explain the role of the department that I am working for, and to discuss my specific assigned tasks and their impact on the NIF project as a whole.

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Millimeter-wave technologies can provide novel and reliable on-line monitoring capability for many important parameters inside nuclear waste glass melters including temperature, emissivity, density, and viscosity. The physical and analytical basis for millimeter-wave monitoring of molten glass is presented here along with initial experimental results. Tests were carried out at a frequency of 137 GHz (2.19 mm) with ceramic waveguides at temperatures up to 1500 C. The ability to resolve emissivity and temperature was demonstrated. Cold cap temperature profile measurements have been obtained in a pilot scale melter using a rotating waveguide. Also, the capability to monitor viscosity over a range of 20 to 2000 Poise was shown for a Hanford waste glass.

The principal scientific thrust of this project was to demonstrate a novel method for precision matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) of model tank-waste materials using, using the sodium nitrate component of the tank waste both as the matrix and as an internal calibration standard. Conventional nanosecond and femtosecond single-frequency lasers and a tunable, mid-infrared free-electron laser were used in the development of the MS protocols and in measurements of the MALDI dynamics. In addition to developing a model of the processes which lead to efficient desorption and ionization of organic molecules (e.g., toluene, benzene, chelators, various organic acids, crown ethers) from sodium nitrate, we developed protocols for quantitative analysis based on the use of the sodium nitrate in tank waste as an internal standard. Comparisons of MALDI-MS using nanosecond and picosecond lasers, and of infrared and ultraviolet lasers, have been especially instructive, and demonstrate the superior potential of IR-MALDI for this purpose, as well as for a number of related analytical and thin-film applications.

The goals of the project were to investigate the roles of caffeoyl coenzyme A O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT), an enzyme involved in the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway, in the biosynthesis of lignin. The investigators proposed to analyze the expression pattern of CCoAOMT in plants, and examine how reduction in the expression of CCoAOMT would affect lignin content and composition. The goals were fulfilled, and significant findings on lignin biochemistry were made. Two papers were published, and one patent application based on the findings was filed.

Several fast neutral pressure gauges have been installed on NSTX [National Spherical Torus Experiment] to measure the vessel and divertor pressure during inductive and coaxial helicity injected (CHI) plasma operations. Modified, PDX [Poloidal Divertor Experiment]-type Penning gauges have been installed on the upper and lower divertors. Neutral pressure measurements during plasma operations from these and from two shielded fast Micro ion gauges at different toroidal locations on the vessel mid-plane are described. A new unshielded ion gauge, referred to as the In-vessel Neutral Pressure (INP) gauge is under development.

To help understand the relative performance gains of conventional and high-efficiency washers and to increase awareness of energy/water savings, the U.S. Department of Energy under its Emerging Technologies Program and in cooperation with Maytag Appliances conducted a field-evaluation of horizontal axis washers in a Boston, Massachusetts condo complex. Baseline washer and dryer performance and customer habits were established using 50 participants and their existing, instrumented washers and dryers for a 2 1/2-month period. After the baseline was established, the machines were replaced with high efficiency tumble action washers and moisture sensing dryers, and tested for the next 2 1/2 months. By information gathered, energy and water savings delivered by the h-axis washers as well as impacts on participants' washing habits and perceptions of cleaning performance were determined. Overall, participants saved 41% of the water and 50% of the energy that they would have used without a changeover to the new h-axis washer. The changeover also produced significant dryer energy savings due primarily to the high-speed final spin of the new washer. The Boston Washer Study report details the experiment including instrumentation, data collection and analysis procedures and discusses the impacts on energy, water and detergent consumption as well as customer …

This report is prepared annually to provide unclassified quantitative data on conventional arms transfers to developing nations by the United States and foreign countries for the preceding eight calendar years. Some general data are provided on worldwide conventional arms transfers, but the principal focus is the level of arms transfers by major weapons suppliers to nations in the developing world. The data in the report illustrate how global patterns of conventional arms transfers have changed in the post-Cold War and post-Persian Gulf War years.

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The entry into force, on January 1, 1994, of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has eliminated the advantage that the beneficiaries of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and related provisions of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) had enjoyed in trade with the United States relative to Mexico, and gave Mexico an increasingly significant competitive edge over the CBERA countries. The scheduled further implementation of the NAFTA would have resulted in a substantial advantage to Mexico over the CBERA countries and vitiate in part the purpose of the CBERA.

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At the state and local level, many observers have expressed long-standing concerns over delays, duplication of effort, and additional costs frequently associated with the environmental review process for highway projects that must be completed under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, P.L. 91-190). To address these concerns, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21, P.L. 105-178), enacted in 1998, requires the Federal Highway Administration(FHWA) to streamline the environmental review process for highway projects.

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