For astrophysical applications, as well as modeling laser-produced plasmas, there is a continual need for equation-of-state data over a wide domain of physical conditions. This paper presents algorithmic aspects for computing the Helmholtz free energy of plasma electrons for temperatures spanning from a few Kelvin to several KeV, and densities ranging from essentially isolated ion conditions to such large compressions that most bound orbitals become delocalized. The objective is high precision results in order to compute pressure and other thermodynamic quantities by numerical differentiation. This approach has the advantage that internal thermodynamic self-consistency is ensured, regardless of the specific physical model, but at the cost of very stringent numerical tolerances for each operation. The computational aspects we address in this paper are faced by any model that relies on input from the quantum mechanical spectrum of a spherically symmetric Hamiltonian operator. The particular physical model we employ is that of INFERNO; of a spherically averaged ion embedded in jellium. An overview of PURGATORIO, a new implementation of the INFERNO equation of state model, is presented. The new algorithm emphasizes a novel decimation scheme for automatically resolving the structure of the continuum density of states, circumventing limitations of the pseudo-R matrix …

We investigate the potential for CO2 monitoring in thenear-surface environment as an approach to exploration for hiddengeothermal systems. Numerical simulations of CO2 migration from a modelhidden geothermal system show that CO2 concentrations can reach highlevels in the shallow subsurface even for relatively low CO2 fluxes.Therefore, subsurface measurements offer an advantage over above-groundmeasurements which are affected by winds that rapidly disperse CO2. Tomeet the challenge of detecting geothermal CO2 emissions within thenatural background variability of CO2, we propose an approach thatintegrates available detection and monitoring techniques with statisticalanalysis and modeling.

The authors apply the nonlinear WENO (Weighted Essentially Nonoscillatory) scheme to the spatial discretization of the Boltzmann Transport Equation modeling linear particle transport. The method is a finite volume scheme which ensures not only conservation, but also provides for a more natural handling of boundary conditions, material properties and source terms, as well as an easier parallel implementation and post processing. It is nonlinear in the sense that the stencil depends on the solution at each time step or iteration level. By biasing the gradient calculation towards the stencil with smaller derivatives, the scheme eliminates the Gibb's phenomenon with oscillations of size O(1) and reduces them to O(h{sup r}), where h is the mesh size and r is the order of accuracy. The current implementation is three-dimensional, generalized for unequally spaced meshes, fully parallelized, and up to fifth order accurate (WENO5) in space. For unsteady problems, the resulting nonlinear spatial discretization yields a set of ODE's in time, which in turn is solved via high order implicit time-stepping with error control. For the steady-state case, they need to solve the non-linear system, typically by Newton-Krylov iterations. There are several numerical examples presented to demonstrate the accuracy, non-oscillatory nature and efficiency …

The concepts of international control over technologies and materials in the proliferation sensitive parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, specifically those related to enrichment and reprocessing, have been the subject of many studies and initiatives over the years. For examples: the International Fissionable Material Storage proposal in President Eisenhower's Speech on Atoms for Peace, and in the Charter of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) when the organization was formed in 1957; the regional nuclear fuel cycle center centers proposed by INFCE in the 80's; and most recently and notably, proposals by Dr. ElBaradei, the Director General of IAEA to limit production and processing of nuclear weapons usable materials to facilities under multinational control; and by U.S. President George W. Bush, to limit enrichment and reprocessing to States that have already full scale, functioning plants. There are other recent proposals on this subject as well. In this paper, the similarities and differences, as well as the effectiveness and challenges in proliferation prevention of these proposals and concepts will be discussed. The intent is to articulate a ''new nuclear regime'' and to develop concrete steps to implement such regime for future nuclear energy and deployment.

Electrokinetic (EK) phenomena in sediments arise from relative fluid motion in the pore space, which perturbs the electrostatic equilibrium of the double layer at the grain surface. We have developed EK techniques in the laboratory to monitor acoustic wave propagation in electrolyte-saturated, unconsolidated sediments. Our experimental results indicate that as an acoustic wave travels through electrolyte-saturated sand, it can generate electric potentials greater than 1 mV. A careful study of these potentials was performed using medium-grain sand and loose glass microspheres for a range of pore fluid salinities and ultrasonic frequencies. Experimental results are also shown to compare well with numerical and analytical modeling based on the coupled electrokinetic-Biot theory developed by Pride (1994).

The programmatic, facility and criticality safety support staffs at the LLNL Plutonium Facility worked together to successfully develop and implement a project to process legacy (DNFSB Recommendation 94-1 and non-Environmental, Safety, and Health (ES&H) labeled) materials in storage. Over many years, material had accumulated in storage that lacked information to adequately characterize the material for current criticality safety controls used in the facility. Generally, the fissionable material mass information was well known, but other information such as form, impurities, internal packaging, and presence of internal moderating or reflecting materials were not well documented. In many cases, the material was excess to programmatic need, but such a determination was difficult with the little information given on MC&A labels and in the MC&A database. The material was not packaged as efficiently as possible, so it also occupied much more valuable storage space than was necessary. Although safe as stored, the inadequately characterized material posed a risk for criticality safety noncompliances if moved within the facility under current criticality safety controls. A Legacy Item Implementation Plan was developed and implemented to deal with this problem. Reasonable bounding conditions were determined for the material involved, and criticality safety evaluations were completed. Two appropriately designated …