A sodalite/glass ceramic waste form has been developed to immobilize highly radioactive nuclear wastes in chloride form, as part of an electrochemical cleanup process. Simulated waste forms have been fabricated which contain plutonium and are representative of the salt from the electrometallurgical process to recover uranium from spent nuclear fuel. X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) and x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) studies were performed to determine the location, oxidation state and form of the plutonium within these waste forms. Plutonium, in the non-fission-element case, was found to segregate as plutonium(IV) oxide with a crystallite size of at least 20 nm. With fission elements present, the crystallite size was about 2 nm. No plutonium was observed within the sodalite or glass in the waste form.

A GaN/AIGaN heterojunction bipolar transistor has been fabricated using C12/Ar dry etching for mesa formation. As the hole concentration increases due to more efficient ionization of the Mg acceptors at elevated temperatures (> 250oC), the device shows improved gain. Future efforts which are briefly summarized. should focus on methods for reducing base resistance.

GaGdO was deposited on GaN for use as a gate dielectric in order to fabricate a depletion metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). This is the fmt demonstration of such a device in the III-Nitride system. Analysis of the effect of temperature on the device shows that gate leakage is significantly reduced at elevated temperature relative to a conventional metal semiconductor field effeet transistor (MESFET) fabricated on the same GaN layer. MOSFET device operation in fact improved upon heating to 400 C. Modeling of the effeet of temperature on contact resistance suggests that the improvement is due to a reduction in the parasitic resistances present in the device.

GaAs-based metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETS), heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) and high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been exposed to ECR SiJ&/NH3 discharges for deposition of SiNX passivating layers. The effect of source power, rf chuck power, pressure and plasma composition have been investigated. Effects due to both ion damage and hydrogenation of dopants are observed. For both HEMTs and MESFETS there are no conditions where substantial increases in channel sheet resistivity are not observed, due primarily to (Si-H)O complex formation. In HBTs the carbon-doped base layer is the most susceptible layer to hydrogenation. Ion damage in all three devices is minimized at low rf chuck power, moderate ECR source power and high deposition rates.

Stainless steel-zirconium (SS-Zr) alloys are being considered as waste forms for the disposition of metallic waste generated during the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. The waste forms contain irradiated cladding hulls, components of the alloy fuel, noble metal fission products, and actinide elements. The baseline waste form is a stainless steel-15 wt% zirconium (SS-15Zr) alloy. This article presents microstructure and some of the corrosion studies being conducted on the waste form alloys. Electrochemical corrosion, immersion corrosion, and vapor hydration tests have been performed on various alloy compositions to evaluate corrosion behavior and resistance to selective leaching of simulated fission products. The SS-Zr waste forms are successful at the immobilization and retention of fission products and show potential for acceptance as high-level nuclear waste forms.

Electrochemical corrosion tests have been conducted on simulated stainless steel-zirconium (SS-Zr) metal waste form (MWF) samples. The uniform aqueous corrosion behavior of the samples in various test solutions was measured by the polarization resistance technique. The data show that the MWF corrosion rates are very low in groundwaters representative of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. Galvanic corrosion measurements were also conducted on MWF samples that were coupled to an alloy that has been proposed for the inner lining of the high-level nuclear waste container. The experiments show that the steady-state galvanic corrosion currents are small. Galvanic corrosion will, hence, not be an important mechanism of radionuclide release from the MWF alloys.

Rectangular trench profiles are modeled with analytic etch rates determined from measured ion distribution functions. The pattern transfer step for this plasma etch is for trilayer lithography. Argon and chlorine angular ion energy distribution functions measured by a spherical collector ring analyzer are fit to a sum of drifting Maxwellian velocity distribution functions with anisotropic temperatures. The fit of the model ion distribution functions by a simulated annealing optimization procedure converges adequately for only two drifting Maxwellians. The etch rates are proportional to analytic expressions for the ion energy flux. Numerical computation of the etch profiles by integration of the characteristic equations for profile points and connection of the profiles points is efficient.

This report summarizes the activities of the ORNL Nuclear Data Project since the IAEA Advisory Group meeting in October 1996. The group's future plans are also included.

A family of nuclear driven engines is described in which nuclear energy released by fissioning of uranium or plutonium in a prompt critical assembly is used to heat a working gas. Engine performance is modeled using a code that calculates hydrodynamics, fission energy production, and neutron transport self-consistently. Results are given demonstrating a large negative temperature coefficient that produces self-shutoff of energy production. Reduced fission product inventory and the self-shutoff provide inherent nuclear safety. It is expected that nuclear engine reactor units could be scaled from 100 MW on up. 7 refs., 3 figs.

The evolution of stress in gallium nitride films on sapphire has been measured in real- time during metal organic chemical vapor deposition. In spite of the 161%0 compressive lattice mismatch of GaN to sapphire, we find that GaN consistently grows in tension at 1050"C. Furthermore, in-situ stress monitoring indicates that there is no measurable relaxation of the tensile growth stress during annealing or thermal cycling.

The understanding of vapor bubble generation in an aqueous tissue near a fiber tip has required advanced two dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic simulations. For 1D spherical bubble expansion a simplified and useful Rayleigh-type model can be applied. For 2D bubble evolution, such a model does not exist. The present work proposes a Rayleigh-type model for 2D bubble expansion that is faster and simpler than the 2D hydrodynamic simulations. The model is based on a flow potential representation of the hydrodynamic motion controlled by a Laplace equation and a moving boundary condition. We show that the 1D Rayleigh equation is a specific case of our model. The Laplace equation is solved for each time step by a finite element solver using a triangulation of the outside bubble region by a fast unstructured mesh generator. Two problems of vapor bubbles generated by short-pulse lasers near a fiber tip-are considered: (a) the outside region has no boundaries except the fiber, (b) the fiber and the bubble are confined in a long channel, which simulates a fiber in a vessel wall. Our simulations for problems of type (a) include features of bubble evolution as seen in experiments, including a collapse away from the fiber tip. …

Laser-initiated stress waves are reflected from tissue boundaries, thereby inducing tensile stresses, which are responsible for tissue damage. A self-consistent model of tissue failure evolution induced by stress wave propagation is considered. The failed tissue is represented by an ensemble of spherical voids and includes the effect of nucleation, growth and coalescence of voids under stress wave tension. Voids nucleate around impurities and grow according to an extended Rayleigh model that includes the effects of surface tension, viscosity and acoustic emission at void collapse. The damage model is coupled self-consistently to a one-dimensional planar hydrodynamic model of stress waves generated by a short pulse laser. We considered the problem of a bipolar wave generated by a short pulse laser absorbed on a free boundary of an aqueous system. The propagating wave includes a tensile component, which interacts with the impurities of exponential distribution in dimension, impurity density ({approximately}10{sup 8} cm{sup -3}) void and an ensemble of voids is generated. For moderate growth reduces the tensile wave component and causes the pressure to oscillate between tension and compression. For low impurity density ({approximately}10{sup 6} cm{sup -3} ) the bubbles grow on a long time scale (5-10 {micro}sec) relative to the wave …

The conceptual and computational structure of a performance assessment (PA) for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is described. Important parts of thk structure are @ maintenance of a separation between stochastic (i.e., aleatory) and subjective (i.e., epistemic) uncertain, with stochastic uncefinty arising from the many possible disruptions that could occur over the 10,000 Y regulatory period fiat applies to the WIPP and subjective uncertainty arising from `the imprecision with which many of the quantities rquired in tie `hdysis are known, (ii) use of Latin hypercttbe sampling to incorporate the effects of subjective uncefirtty, (iii) use of Monte Carlo (i.e., random) sampling to incorporate the effects of stochastic uncetinty, and OV) efficient use of tie necessarily limited number of mechanistic calculations that can be performed to SUPPOII the analysis. The WIPP is under development by the U.S. Department of Ener~ (DOE) for the geologic (i.e., deep underground) disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste, with the indicated PA supporting a ~Compliance Certification Application (CCA) by the DOE to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in October 1996 for tie necessary certifications for the WIPP to begin operation. If certified, the WIPP will be the first operational faciliv in tie United States for …

A chemical sensing system based on arrays of surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay lines has been developed for identification and quantification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The individual SAW chemical sensors consist of interdigital transducers patterned on the surface of an ST-cut quartz substrate to launch and detect the acoustic waves and a thin film coating in the SAW propagation path to perturb the acoustic wave velocity and attenuation during analyte sorption. A diverse set of material coatings gives the sensor arrays a degree of chemical sensitivity and selectivity. Materials examined for sensor application include the alkanethiol-based self-assembled monolayer, plasma-processed films, custom-synthesized conventional polymers, dendrimeric polymers, molecular recognition materials, electroplated metal thin films, and porous metal oxides. All of these materials target a specific chemical fi.mctionality and the enhancement of accessible film surface area. Since no one coating provides absolute analyte specificity, the array responses are further analyzed using a visual-empirical region-of-influence (VERI) pattern recognition algorithm. The chemical sensing system consists of a seven-element SAW array with accompanying drive and control electronics, sensor signal acquisition electronics, environmental vapor sampling hardware, and a notebook computer. Based on data gathered for individual sensor responses, greater than 93%-accurate identification can be achieved for …

In the defense community, certain uranium-alloy components have been manufactured by methods which generate large quantities of uranium bearing waste. Our estimates show that these components can be fabricated by vapor deposition and reduce waste generation by more than an order of magnitude. We present results from a series of uranium-alloy vapor deposition tests designed to produce samples of free-standing structures. Both flat plate and cylindrical shells were produced. The deposits were fully dense, defect free and displayed a high quality surface finish. The uranium-alloy was co-evaporated from a single source. Bulk chemistry specifications for the material were met, although some residual variation in chemistry was observed in sample cross sections. After heat treatment, the vapor deposited samples exhibited tensile properties similar to conventional ingot processed material.

A thermodynamically consistent strength and failure model for granite under dynamic loading has been developed and evaluated. The model agrees with static strength measurements and describes the effects of pressure hardening, bulking, porous compaction, porous dilation, tensile failure, and failure under compression due to distortional deformations. This paper briefly describes the model and the sensitivity of the simulated response to variations in the model parameters and in the inelastic deformation processes used in different simulations. 1D simulations of an underground explosion in granite are used in the sensitivity study.

This paper describes the results of a computational study performed to investigate the behavior of granite under shock wave loading conditions. A thermomechanically consistent constitutive model that includes the effects of bulking, yielding, material damage, and porous compaction on the material response was used in the simulations. The model parameters were determined based on experimental data, and the model was then used in a series of one-dimensional simulations of PILE DRIVER, a deeply-buried explosion in a granite formation at the Nevada Test Site. Particle velocity histories, peak velocity and peak displacement as a function of slant range, and the cavity radius obtained from the code simulations compared favorably with PILE DRIVER data.

The experimental and theoretical study of electrostatically driven granular material are reported. It is shown that the charged granular medium undergoes a hysteretic first order phase transition from the immobile condensed state (granular solid) to a fluidized dilated state (granular gas) with a changing applied electric field. In addition a spontaneous precipitation of dense clusters from the gas phase and subsequent coarsening--coagulation of these clusters is observed. Molecular dynamics simulations shows qualitative agreement with experimental results.

The consideration of risk in regulatory decision-making has long been a part of NRC's policy and practice. Initially, these considerations were qualitative and were based on risk insights. The early regulations relied on good practices, past insights, and accepted standards. As a result, most NRC regulations were prescriptive and were applied uniformly to all areas within the regulatory scope. Risk technology is changing regulations by prioritizing the areas within regulatory scope based on risk, thereby focusing on the risk-important areas. Performance technology, on the other hand, is changing the regulations by allowing requirements to be adjusted based on the specific performance expected and manifested, rather than a prior prescriptive requirement. Consistent with the objectives of risk-informed and performance-based regulatory requirements, BNL evaluated the feasibility of applying risk- and performance-technologies to modifying NRC's current regulations on fire protection for nuclear power plants. This feasibility study entailed several case studies (trial applications). This paper describes the results of two of them. Besides the case studies, the paper discusses an overall evaluation of methodologies for fire-risk analysis to support the risk-informed regulation. It identifies some current shortcomings and proposes some near-term solutions.

Flight test vehicle telemetry can be visualized in the field using existing dual-processor desktop computing technology. Our results show that processor speed allows more robust sensor analysis techniques, like Kalman filtering. In this case we used only 15% of the analysis time available within each major frame. The 10-15 Hz visualization rates that are possible with scenes that contain tens of thousands of polygons are too slow for state-of-the-art flight simulators, but provide a wealth of information from real-time flight vehicles. A newer version of the APL decommutation system can time-tag minor frames, which minimizes data loss. Specifically, we can use all of the minor frames in the first major frame collected after a dropout. Sending sporadic minor frames as they are collected may help fill the data gap associated with large dropouts, but an unbuffered data collection scheme reduces the time slice available for data analysis. To avoid a scaled earth model and single precision vehicle position image jitter, we are implementing Vega's Large Area Database Manager (LADBM), which provides double precision position calculations and can dynamically shift the database origin to a local area-of-interest. As computers and graphics accelerators continue to increase in speed and power, and Telemetry …

The development of unconventional active optical sensors to remotely detect and spatially resolve suspected threats obscured by low-visibility observation conditions (adverse weather, clouds, dust, smoke, precipitation, etc.) is fundamental to maintaining tactical supremacy in the battlespace. In this report, the authors describe an innovative frequency-agile image intensifier technology based on time-gated optical parametic amplification (OPA) for enhanced light-based remote sensing through pervasive scattering and/or turbulent environments. Improved dynamic range characteristics derived from the amplified passband of the OPA receiver combined with temporal discrimination in the image capture process will offset radiant power extinction losses, while defeating the deugradative effects & multipath dispersion and ,diffuse backscatter noise along the line-of-sight on resultant image contrast and range resolution. Our approach extends the operational utility of the detection channel in existing laser radar systems by increasing sensitivity to low-level target reffectivities, adding ballistic rejection of scatter and clutter in the range coordinate, and introducing multispectral and polarization discrimination capability in a wavelen~h-tunable, high gain nonlinear optical component with strong potential for source miniaturization. A key advantage of integrating amplification and tlequency up-conversion functions within a phasematched three-wave mixing parametric device is the ability to petiorm background-free imaging with eye-safe or longer inilared illumination …

This paper describes metrology of a vertically focusing mirror on the bending magnet beamline in sector-1 of the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. The mirror was evaluated using measurements from both an optical long trace profiler and x-rays. Slope error profiles obtained with the two methods were compared and were found to be in a good agreement. Further comparisons were made between x-ray measurements and results from the SHADOW ray-tracing code.

As a result of the Safeguards Arrangement between the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO) concerning international safeguards R and D, ASNO and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) have agreed to jointly develop a remote monitoring system at the HIFAR reactor, Lucas Heights, Australia. The HIFAR reactor is a high flux research reactor operated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO). The objective of the system is to remotely monitor the entire Material Balance Area (MBA) AS-A to include: fresh fuel the reactor core; spent fuel in the cropping/irradiation pond, international pond, dry spent fuel storage facility, and Dounreay flasks; and spent fuel during designated transport. The purpose is to reduce on-site inspection effort at the HIFAR reactor.

Optically activated, high gain GaAs switches are being tested for many different applications. TWO such applications are ground penetrating radar (GPR) and firing set switches. The ability of high gain GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches (PCSs) to deliver fast risetime pulses makes them suitable for their use in radars that rely on fast impulses. This type of direct time domain radar is uniquely suited for the detection of buried items because it can operate at low frequency, high average power, and close to the ground, greatly increasing power on target. We have demonstrated that a PCSs based system can be used to produce a bipolar waveform with a total duration of about 6 ns and with minimal ringing. Such a pulse is radiated and returns from a 55 gallon drum will be presented. For firing sets, the switch requirements include small size, high current, dc charging, radiation hardness and modest longevity. We have switched 1 kA at 1 kV and 2.8 kA at 3 kV dc charge.