The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-0347) on the proposed surface remediation of the Maybell uranium mill processing site in Moffat County, Colorado. The mill site contains radioactively contaminated materials from processing uranium ore that would be stabilized in place at the existing tailings pile location. Based on the analysis in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action does not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, Public Law 91-190 (42 U.S.C. {section}4321 et seq.), as amended. Therefore, preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

This risk assessment evaluates the possibility of health and environmental risks from contaminated ground water at the uranium mill tailings site near Durango, Colorado. The former uranium processing site`s contaminated soil and material were removed and placed at a disposal site located in Body Canyon, Colorado, during 1986--1991 by the US Departments of Energy`s Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project. Currently, the UMTRA Project is evaluating the nature and extent of ground water contamination at the site. This risk assessment follows an approach similar to that used by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The first step is to determine what site-related contaminants are found in ground water samples. The next step in the risk assessment is to determine how much of these contaminants people might ingest if they got their drinking water from a well on the site. In accordance with standard practice for this type of risk assessment, the highest contaminant concentrations from the most contaminated wells are used. The risk assessment then explains the possible health problems that could result from this amount of contamination.

The SLD upgrade CCD vertex detector (VXD3) is described. Its 307 million pixels are assembled from 96 3.2 Mpixel CCDs of 13 cm{sup 2} each. The system has evolved from the pioneering CCD vertex detector VXD2, which has operated in SLD since 1992. The CCDs of VXD3 are mounted on beryllium ladders in three cylinders, providing three space point measurements along each track of about 5 microns resolution in all three co-ordinates. Significant improvements are achieved with VXD3 in impact parameter resolution (about a factor of two) and acceptance ({approximately}20%) through optimized geometry and reduced material. New readout electronics have been developed for this system.

We proposed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a catalytic membrane reactor (a ceramic membrane combined with a catalyst) to selectively produce methanol by partial oxidation of methane. Methanol is used as a chemical feedstock, gasoline additive, and turbine fuel. Methane partial oxidation using a catalytic membrane reactor has been determined as one of the promising approaches for methanol synthesis from methane. In the original proposal, the membrane was used to selectively remove methanol from the reaction zone before carbon oxides form, thus increasing the methanol yield. Methanol synthesis and separation in one step would also make methane more valuable for producing chemicals and fuels. However, all the membranes tested in this laboratory lost their selectivity under the reaction conditions. A modified non-isothermal, non-permselective membrane reactor then was built and satisfactory results were obtained. The conversion and selectivity data obtained in this laboratory were better than that of the most published studies.

Over the past decade or so the evolution and equilibria of persistent decks of stratocumulus climatologically clinging to the edge of summertime subtropical highs has been an issue of increased scientific inquiry. The particular interest in the microphysical structure of these clouds stems from a variety of hypotheses which suggest that anthropogenic influences or biogenic feedbacks may alter the structure of these clouds in a manner which may be climatically significant. Most hypotheses regarding boundary layer influences on climate have been formulated by an examination of the solution space of simple models. The earliest hypothesis of this sort (and the one on the most solid footing) is due to Twomey (1974), who posited that enhanced concentrations of CCN could lead to enhanced droplet reflectivity and enhanced albedos in clouds of modest optical depths. In low lying clouds where the albedo effect dominates, the climate sensitivity to a robust perturbation in cloud albedo may be significant. One of the primary objectives of this current research has been to explore the hypothesis of Twomey. The basic approach was to couple radiative calculations with detailed representations of the droplet spectra. The detailed representation of the droplet spectra was generated by the Large Eddy …

Silicalite-1, a pure silica zeolite, was deposited on a tubular, asymmetric, {gamma}-alumina support. Single gas permeation experiments with N{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, and CO{sub 2} were carried out on the membrane. Separation experiments for N{sub 2}/CH{sub 4} mixtures were also conducted. Single-gas permeation of H{sub 2} and separation of H{sub 2}/SF{sub 6} mixture were also carried out with the membrane. Composite membranes of silicalite and Ni-SAPO-34 were also fabricated, but no CO{sub 2}/H{sub 2} selectivity was found. It is proposed to use these membranes for methanol synthesis and separation, and for separating H{sub 2} from gasification products for use as fuel cell fuel, etc.

The authors have measured production fractions and spectra for {pi}{sup {+-}}, K{sup {+-}} and p, and production spectra for K{sup 0} and {Lambda}{sup 0} in both hadronic Z{sup 0} decays and a Z{sup 0} {yields} light quark (uds) subset at SLD. The SLD Cherenkov Ring Imaging Detector was used to identify charged hadrons. The CCD vertex detector was used to select the enriched uds sample. For the global sample, the results are consistent with previous experiments. The authors observe a clear flavor dependence in production spectra, but only a small effect in hadron fractions and {xi} = ln(1/x{sub p}) peak positions.