Solid state experiments at very high pressures and strain rates are possible on high power laser facilities, albeit over brief intervals of time and spatial small scales. A new shockless drive has been developed on the Omega laser. VISAR measurements establish the high strain rates, 10{sup 7}-10{sup 8} s{sup -1}. Solid-state strength is inferred using the Rayleigh-Taylor instability as a ''diagnostic''. Temperature and compression in polycrystalline samples can be deduced from EXAFS measurements. Lattice response can be inferred from time-resolved x-ray diffraction. Deformation mechanisms can be identified by examining recovered samples. We will briefly review this new area of laser-based materials science research, then present a path forward for carrying these solid-state experiments to much higher pressures, P >> 1 Mbar, on the NIF laser facility.

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county commissioner may lease real property from the county (RQ-0019-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Valuing repairs made to a residence homestead necessitated by flood, wind, fire, or other damage under sections 11.26 and 23.23 of the Tax Code (RQ-0023-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Use of the Barber School Tuition Protection Account administered by the State Board of Barber Examiners (RQ-0024-GA)

Laser peening is an emerging modern process that impresses a compressive stress into the surfaces of metals. Treatment can reduce the rate of fatigue cracking and stress-corrosion-cracking in metals (such as gears, bolts and cutters) needed for tunnel boring and other construction & mining applications. Laser peening could also be used to form metals or alloys into a precise shape without yielding and leaving both sulfates in a crack resistant compressive state.

Spatially Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (SRXRD) has been used to identify a previously unobserved low temperature ferrite ({delta})/austenite({gamma}) phase transformation in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel (DSS) welds. In this ''ferrite dip'' transformation, the ferrite transforms to austenite during heating to peak temperatures on the order of 750 C, and re-transforms to ferrite during cooling, resulting in a ferrite volume fraction equivalent to that in the base metal. Time Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (TRXRD) and laser dilatometry measurements during Gleeble{reg_sign} thermal simulations are performed in order to verify the existence of this low temperature phase transformation. Thermodynamic and kinetic models for phase transformations, including both local-equilibrium and para-equilibrium diffusion controlled growth, show that diffusion of substitutional alloying elements does not provide a reasonable explanation for the experimental observations. On the other hand, the diffusion of interstitial alloying elements may be rapid enough to explain this behavior. Based on both the experimental and modeling results, two mechanisms for the ''ferrite dip'' transformation, including the formation and decomposition of secondary austenite and an athermal martensitic-type transformation of ferrite to austenite, are considered.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Seminole, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.

The objective of the current project is to provide a theoretical basis for better understanding of numerous radar and rocket observations of density irregularities and related effects in the lower equatorial and high-latitude ionospheres. The research focused on: (1) continuing efforts to develop a theory of nonlinear saturation of the Farley-Buneman instability; (2) revision of the kinetic theory of electron-thermal instability at low altitudes; (3) studying the effects of strong anomalous electron heating in the high-latitude electrojet; (4) analytical and numerical studies of the combined Farley-Bunemadion-thermal instabilities in the E-region ionosphere; (5) studying the effect of dust charging in Polar Mesospheric Clouds. Revision of the kinetic theory of electron thermal instability at low altitudes.

A series of batch contact and column tests were conducted with new and aged Envelope C (AN-107) simulant using SuperLig{reg_sign} 644 resin. In addition to the batch contact tests, four column loading and elution tests were performed with aged Envelope C (AN-107) simulant to evaluate the effects of volumetric flow rate on cesium sorption. A single-column (2.7 cm i.d.) containing {approx} 100 mL of SuperLig 644{reg_sign} resin was used. The column test results show more than 100 BVs of simulated AN-107 feed can be processed at nominal flow rate of 3 BV/h before reaching 50% cesium breakthrough at the column outlet. The results from the column tests also revealed that iron was loaded onto the SuperLig{reg_sign} 644 resin. Since only small quantity of iron ({approx} 26 ppm) is present in AN-107 simulant, the presence of iron had obviously no impact on the cesium loading on SuperLig{reg_sign} 644 resin. Further monitoring of iron loading in the full-height pilot testing is recommended to understand the long-term impact of residual iron on resin stability. The first series of batch contact tests were aimed to determine the distribution coefficients (K{sub d} ) for cesium at various concentration levels (10.4, 74, and 131 mg/L). The …

During the first year of this project, three experimental subtasks and four modeling subtasks were scheduled to begin. Five of these 7 subtasks were scheduled for completion by the end of the first year. Both experimental tasks were completed on schedule. No experimental data were scheduled for the first year. The four modeling tasks are progressing well. However, two of the numerical tasks have been delayed somewhat. A simplified plasma kinetics mechanism was developed and tested against a detailed model. The agreement was quite good. A simplified kinetics mechanism for flame propagation was also developed and validated via comparisons against an elementary kinetics mechanism. Again, the agreement was quite good. The 2D spark ignition process model was exercised to ensure stability but the 3D version was not completed. Excellent progress was made on the ignition circuit model, but it is not yet finished. The delays in these two subtasks are not expected to impact the schedule for the overall project.

The Tevatron Electron Lens was originally designed to alleviate the tune shift and spread induced in Tevatron antiproton bunches from interactions with the proton bunches. We report recent developments and successful results of such tune-shift compensation. Lifetime measurements are central to our data and the basis of our analysis. Future goals and possible uses for the lens are also discussed.

The objectives of this task given in the test specification were to expand the waste feed evaporator OLI model by including all the major components of the evaporator off-gas treatment system. Also as part of this task, two test cases were developed that defined the baseline untreated waste feed composition, target organic components to be tracked, and the waste-to-recycle blend ratio. The goal of this task was to develop air emissions projections for two test cases using the expanded waste feed evaporator OLI model. The organic partitioning predictions and air emission projections are ultimately to be validated against experimental data obtained during pilot evaporator tests. The Environmental Simulation Program (ESP) software, licensed by OLI Systems, Inc., was used to build the current as well as earlier models for the FEP 7. The steady state simulation package performs vapor/liquid/solid equilibrium for electrochemical streams and processes. All vapor/liquid/solid equilibrium is determined by the OLI simulation engine. This task partially satisfied the test conditions and requirements described in the Research and Technology Plan (PL-W375-TE00007, Rev. 0) prepared by Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI). Specifically, BNI will use the information obtained during this task to support environmental regulatory permitting efforts for the waste feed evaporator …

Simulation aspects of beam collimation are described along with a number of tools and methods developed and used within the MARS14 framework. The tools and methods were implemented in order to relieve the burden of simulations needed for reliable calculations required for design of efficient collimation systems at high-intensity accelerators and colliders.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This mandated report responds to Congressional concerns that provisions in section 43 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) are not being enforced. Since 1991, section 43 has required, among other things, depository institutions lacking federal deposit insurance to conspicuously disclose that deposits in these institutions are not federally insured. GAO's objectives were to (1) determine the current status of the enforcement of provisions in section 43; (2) determine the extent of compliance with each provision and the potential impact on consumers if the provisions were not enforced; and (3) evaluate which federal agency could most effectively enforce the provisions."

Weekly newspaper from Holliday, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Yoakum, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The NIF Power Conditioning System (PCS) resides in four Capacitor Bays, supplying energy to the Master and Power Amplifiers which reside in the two adjacent laser bays. Each capacitor bay will initially house 48 individual power conditioning modules, shown in Figure 2, with space reserved for expansion to 54 modules. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) Power Conditioning System (PCS) is a modular capacitive energy storage system that will be capable of storing nearly 400 MJ of electrical energy and delivering that energy to the nearly 8000 flashlamps in the NIF laser. The first sixteen modules of the power conditioning system have been built, tested and installed. Activation of the first nine power conditioning modules has been completed and commissioning of the first ''bundle'' of laser beamlines has begun. This paper will provide an overview of the power conditioning system design and describe the status and results of initial testing and activation of the first ''bundle'' of power conditioning modules.

A process is proposed to convert oil shale by radio frequency heating over a period of months to years to create a product similar to natural petroleum. Electrodes would be placed in drill holes, either vertical or horizontal, and a radio frequency chosen so that the penetration depth of the radio waves is of the order of tens to hundreds of meters. A combination of excess volume production and overburden compaction drives the oil and gas from the shale into the drill holes, where it is pumped to the surface. Electrical energy for the process could be provided initially by excess regional capacity, especially off-peak power, which would generate {approx}3 x 10{sup 5} bbl/day of synthetic crude oil, depending on shale grade. The electricity cost, using conservative efficiency assumptions, is $4.70 to $6.30/bbl, depending on grade and heating rate. At steady state, co-produced gas can generate more than half the electric power needed for the process, with the fraction depending on oil shale grade. This would increase production to 7.3 x 10{sup 5} bbl/day for 104 l/Mg shale and 1.6 x 10{sup 6} bbl/day for 146 l/Mg shale using a combination of off-peak power and power from co-produced gas.

Integrated all-optical logic gates that exploit the optical gain quenching effect in laterally optically pumped semiconductor multi-section edge-emitting lasers (SMEELs) are described. An accurate 2D time-domain (TD) model was implemented to investigate the gates' gain, modulation depth, and speed. Gain Quenched Laser Logic (GQLL) offer the potential of integrating several processing functions on the same chip and has many applications for all-optical high-speed switching. Lasers with optical gain control capable of routing and logic functions have been demonstrated via the gain quenching effect. In an inverter gate the laser output power is quenched when an optical input signal laterally coupled to the laser (control region) is high. NOR and NAND gates are achievable by adding other arms. The basic configuration of a GQLL device is schematically depicted in Fig. 1 . The Boolean completeness of this technology, the recent achievement in high laser modulation bandwidths, and the possibility of integrating lasers and passive waveguide interconnects progress using standard microelectronics fabrication techniques, makes GQLL the basis for a high-speed photonic logic family.

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Weekly newspaper from The Colony, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.