The mission of the Engineering Research, Development, and Technology Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is to develop the knowledge base, process technologies, specialized equipment, tools and facilities to support current and future LLNL programs. Engineering`s efforts are guided by a strategy that results in dual benefit: first, in support of Department of Energy missions, such as national security through nuclear deterrence; and second, in enhancing the nation`s economic competitiveness through their collaboration with US industry in pursuit of the most cost-effective engineering solutions to LLNL programs. To accomplish this mission, the Engineering Research, Development, and Technology Program has two important goals: (1) identify key technologies relevant to LLNL programs where they can establish unique competencies, and (2) conduct high-quality research and development to enhance their capabilities and establish themselves as the world leaders in these technologies. To focus Engineering`s efforts, technology thrust areas are identified and technical leaders are selected for each area. The thrust areas are comprised of integrated engineering activities, staffed by personnel from the nine electronics and mechanical engineering divisions, and from other LLNL organizations. This annual report, organized by thrust area, describes Engineering`s activities for fiscal year 1995. The report provides timely summaries of …

This report provides the results of sensitivity analyses designed to assist the test planners in focusing their in-situ measurements on parameters that appear to be important to waste isolation. Additionally, the study provides a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of certain thermal management options. A decision on thermal loading is a critical part of the scientific and engineering basis for evaluating regulatory compliance of the potential repository for waste isolation. To show, with reasonable assurance, that the natural and engineered barriers will perform adequately under expected repository conditions (thermally perturbed) will require an integrated approach based on thermal testing (laboratory, and in-situ), natural analog observations, and analytic modeling. The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management needed input to assist in the planning of the thermal testing program. Additionally, designers required information on the viability of various thermal management concepts. An approximately 18-month Thermal Loading Study was conducted from March, 1994 until September 30, 1995 to address these issues. This report documents the findings of that study. 89 refs., 71 figs., 33 tabs.

Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, conducts the Utility Battery Storage Systems Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy`s Office of Utility Technologies. The goal of this program is to assist industry in developing cost-effective battery systems as a utility resource option by 2000. Sandia is responsible for the engineering analyses, contracted development, and testing of rechargeable batteries and systems for utility energy storage applications. This report details the technical achievements realized during fiscal year 1995.

This report summarizes the work completed in FY-95 in preparing an NIR moisture probe for early hot cell deployment. This work was completed by a team from WHC`s Process Analytical Labs and Tank Technology Projects organizations and was funded by EM-50 office of Technology Development and EM-30`s Tank Waste Remediation Systems Programs.

In FY95, EG and G Energy Measurements, Inc. (EG and G/EM) continued to support efforts to protect endangered species and cultural resources at the Naval Petroleum Reserves in California (NPRC). These efforts are conducted to ensure NPRC compliance with regulations regarding the protection of listed species and cultural resources on Federal properties. Population monitoring activities are conducted annually for San Joaquin kit foxes, giant kangaroo rats, blunt-nosed leopard lizards, and Hoover`s wooly-star. To mitigate impacts of oil field activities on listed species, 674 preactivity surveys covering approximately 211 hectares (521 acres) were conducted in FY95. EG and G/EM also assisted with mitigating effects from third-party projects, primarily by conducting biological and cultural resource consultations with regulatory agencies. EG and G/EM has conducted an applied habitat reclamation program at NPRC since 1985. In FY95, an evaluation of revegetation rates on reclaimed and non-reclaimed disturbed lands was completed, and the results will be used to direct future habitat reclamation efforts at NPRC. In FY95, reclamation success was monitored on 50 sites reclaimed in 1985. An investigation of factors influencing the distribution and abundance of kit foxes at NPRC was initiated in FY94. Factors being examined include habitat disturbance, topography, grazing, coyote abundance, …

The Technical Training Center provides initial and continuing technical training for NRC staff and contractors to satisfy training needs defined by formal NRC staff qualification and training programs. Technical training includes reactor technology programs and specialized technical programs. Reactor technology programs include a spectrum of courses, including classroom and simulator instruction, in each of the four Nuclear Steam Supply System vendor designs--General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, Combustion Engineering (CE), and Babcock and Wilcox (B and W). Specialized technical training includes courses in engineering support, probabilistic risk assessment, radiation protection, fuel cycle technology, safeguards, and regulatory skills. The report presents the activities of the Technical Training Center in FY95 in support of the NRC`s mission.

This is the Fiscal Year 1995 Annual Report for the Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology (AMST) sector of Los Alamos Tactical Goal 6, Industrial Partnering. During this past fiscal year, the AMST project leader formed a committee whose members represented the divisions and program offices with a manufacturing interest to examine the Laboratory`s expertise and needs in manufacturing. From a list of about two hundred interest areas, the committee selected nineteen of the most pressing needs for weapon manufacturing. Based upon Los Alamos mission requirements and the needs of the weapon manufacturing (Advanced Design and Production Technologies (ADaPT)) program plan and the other tactical goals, the committee selected four of the nineteen areas for strategic planning and possible industrial partnering. The areas selected were Casting Technology, Constitutive Modeling, Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation, and Polymer Aging and Lifetime Prediction. For each area, the AMST committee formed a team to write a roadmap and serve as a partnering technical consultant. To date, the roadmaps have been completed for each of the four areas. The Casting Technology and Polymer Aging teams are negotiating with specific potential partners now, at the close of the fiscal year. For each focus area we have created a …

Sandia recently completed an updated strategic plan, the essence of which is presented in chapter 4. Sandia`s Strategic Plan 1994 takes its direction from DOE`s Fueling a Competitive Economy: Strategic Plan and provides tangible guidance for Sandia`s programs and operations. Although it is impossible to foresee precisely what activities Sandia will pursue many years from now, the strategic plan makes one point clear: the application of our scientific and engineering skills to the stewardship of the nation`s nuclear deterrent will be central to our service to the nation. We will provide the necessary institutional memory and continuity, experience base, and technical expertise to ensure the continued safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile. As a multiprogram laboratory, Sandia will also continue to focus maximum effort on a broad spectrum of other topics consistent with DOE`s enduring core mission responsibilities: Defense (related to nuclear weapons), Energy, Environment (related to waste management and environmental remediation), and Basic Science.

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission`s Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD) has published reports of its activities since 1984. The first report covered January through June of 1984, and the second report covered July through December 1984. Since those first two semiannual reports, AEOD has published annual reports of its activities from 1985 through 1993. Beginning with the report for 1986, AEOD Annual Reports have been published as NUREG-1272. Beginning with the report for 1987, NUREG-1272 has been published in two parts, No. 1 covering power reactors and No. 2 covering nonreactors (changed to {open_quotes}nuclear materials{close_quotes} with the 1993 report). The 1993 AEOD Annual Report was NUREG-1272, Volume 8. AEOD has changed its annual report from a calendar year to a fiscal year report to be consistent with the NRC Annual Report and to conserve staff resources. NUREG-1272, Volume 9, No. 1 and No. 2, therefore, are combined calendar year 1994 (1994) and fiscal year 1995 (FY 95) reports which describe activities conducted between January 1, 1994, and September 30, 1995. Certain data which have historically been reported on a calendar year basis, however, are complete through calendar year 1995. Throughout this report, whenever information is …

This annual report of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission`s Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD) describes activities conducted during CY 1994 and FY 1995. The report is published in three parts. NUREG-1272, Vol. 9, No. 1, covers power reactors and presents an overview of the operating experience of the nuclear power industry from the NRC perspective, including comments about the trends of some key performance measures. The report also includes the principal findings and issues identified in AEOD studies over the past year and summarizes information from such sources as licensee event reports, diagnostic evaluations, and reports to the NRC`s Operations Center. NUREG-1272, Vol. 9, No. 2, covers nuclear materials and presents a review of the events and concerns associated with the use of licensed material in nonreactor applications, such as personnel overexposures and medical misadministrations. Both reports also contain a discussion of the Incident Investigation Team program and summarize both the Incident Investigation Team and Augmented Inspection Team reports. Each volume contains a list of the AEOD reports issued from 1980 through FY 1995. NUREG-1272, Vol. 9, No. 3, covers technical training and presents the activities of the Technical Training Center in support of the NRC`s …

In 1995, a three-year study was initiated to assess the current status of bat species of concern, elucidate distribution and relative abundance, and obtain information on roosting sites of bats. The authors captured and released 1532 bats of 15 species (Myotis californicus, M. ciliolabrum, M. evotis, M. thysanodes, M. volans, M. yumanensis, Lasiurus cinereus, Lasionycteris noctivagans, Pipistrellus hesperus, Eptesicus fuscus, Euderma maculatum, Corynorhinus townsendii, Antrozous pallidus, Tadarida brasiliensis, and Nyctinomops macrotis) and followed 32 bats of eight species (M. evotis, M. thysanodes, M. volans, E. fuscus, E. maculatum, C. townsendii, A. pallidus, and N. macrotis) to 51 active diurnal roosts. The most abundant species were L. noctivagans, E. fuscus, L. cinereus, M. evotis, M. volans, and M. ciliolabrum. Most of these species are typical inhabitants of ponderosa pine-mixed coniferous forests.

The purpose of this revision is to update the Line Item Project, 93-L-GFW-152 Functional Design Criteria (FDC) to reflect changes approved in change control M-24-91-6, Engineering Change Notices (ECNs), and expand the scope to include subsurface investigations along with the borehole drilling. This revision improves the ability and effectiveness of maintaining RCRA and Operational groundwater compliance by combining borehole and well drilling with subsurface data gathering objectives. The total projected number of wells to be installed under this project has decreased from 200 and the scope has been broadened to include additional subsurface investigation activities that usually occur simultaneously with most traditional borehole drilling and monitoring well installations. This includes borehole hydrogeologic characterization activities, and vadose monitoring. These activities are required under RCRA 40 CFR 264 and 265 and WAC 173-303 for site characterization, groundwater and vadose assessment and well placement.

During the past several years, a considerable amount of work has been carried out showing that microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is promising and the resulting biotechnology may be deliverable. At Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), systematic studies have been conducted which dealt with the effects of thermophilic and thermoadapted bacteria on the chemical and physical properties of selected types of crude oils at elevated temperatures and pressures. Current studies indicate that during the biotreatment several chemical and physical properties of crude oils are affected. The oils are (1) emulsified; (2) acidified; (3) there is a qualitative and quantitative change in light and heavy fractions of the crudes; (4) there are chemical changes in fractions containing sulfur compounds; (5) there is an apparent reduction in the concentration of trace metals; and (6) the qualitative and quantitative changes appear to be microbial species dependent; and (7) there is a distinction between biodegraded and biotreated oils. The downstream biotechnological crude oil processing research performed thus far is of laboratory scale and has focused on demonstrating the technical feasibility of downstream processing with different types of biocatalysts under a variety of processing conditions. Quantitative economic analysis is the topic of the present project which …

The report provides a synopsis of the FY94/95 Thermal Stabilization Campaign. The FY94 Thermal Stabilization Campaign ran from November 1, 1994 to June 13, 1995 and stabilized 236 items (22 kg) of reactive plutonium bearing material. A total of 49 cans of stabilized material was moved to the vaults for interim storage. While the initial downtime was high, with an Operating Efficiency (OE) of 27% over the first 3 months, the OE improved to 78% during the last 5 months for an overall DE of 58%. The campaign was completed 85 days ahead of schedule thus exceeding the ``Excellent``date for the Performance Base Incentive (PBI) for this campaign by 25 business days.

The AMTEX Partnership{trademark} is a collaborative research and development program among the US Integrated Textile Industry, the Department of Energy (DOE), the national laboratories, other federal agencies and laboratories, and universities. The goal of AMTEX is to strengthen the competitiveness of this vital industry, thereby preserving and creating US jobs.

Annual report for the superconductor program at Argonne National Laboratory discussing the group's activities and research. This report describes the technical progress of research and development efforts aimed at producing superconducting components in the (Bi,Pb)-Sr-Ca-Cu, (T,Pb,Bi,V)- (Ba,Sr)-Ca-Cu, and Y-Ba-Cu oxide systems including: synthesis and heat treatment of high-Te superconductors, formation of monolithic and composite conductors, characterization of structures and superconducting and mechanical properties, and fabrication and testing of prototype components.

Calcine dissolution studies were performed in FY-94,95 in order to extend the knowledge of dissolution and to obtain information necessary for scale-up design and operation. Experiments reported in this document were performed with non-radioactive and actual calcines to generate qualitative data regarding: (a) calcine dissolution rates, (b) undissolved solids settling characteristics, (c) undissolved solids heel formation, and (d) chemical treatments for undissolved solids heel dissolution. The goal of this work was to achieve complete calcine dissolution, or to determine conditions that would result in the maximum calcine dissolution. Small scale laboratory experiments (test-tube dissolutions) and a bench scale dissolver set-up were used in the effort. Results from this work show the bulk of the undissolved solids to settle at a rate of >9 inches per second when the baseline dissolution parameters are used. Baseline dissolution parameters were 100 grams of calcine being dissolved in 1 L of 5 M HNO{sub 3} at > 90 C while the solution is being vigorously and constantly mixed. This work also verified that dissolution is most complete when performed with aggressive mixing. Sequential dissolutions performed with non-radioactive and actual calcine indicate that little undissolved solids heel build-up is expected, and this small heel can …

Production of nuclear materials within the DOE complex has yielded large volumes of high-level waste containing hazardous species such as nitrate, nitrite, chromium, and mercury. Processes being developed for the permanent disposal of these wastes are aimed at separating the bulk of the radioactivity, primarily 137-Cs and 90-Sr, into a small volume for incorporation into a vitrified wasteform, with the remainder being incorporated into a low-level wasteform.

The goal of this project was to re-evaluate NOAA/CMDL Dobson spectrophotometer total ozone data during FY94 from the stations Haute Provence, France; Lauder, New Zealand; Perth, Australia; and Poker Flat, Alaska and the Umkehr data from Boulder, Colorado and Mauna Loa, Hawaii. During the second year the authors planned to re-evaluate total ozone data from Byrd, Hallett and South Pole, Antarctica; Fairbanks, Alaska; Puerto Montt, Chile; Huancayo, Peru and Umkehr data from Huancayo.

The authors have been developing a novel threshold Cherenkov detector, consisting of a gas radiator followed by a UV photosensitive wire chamber using CsI photocathodes. The photo-detector lies directly in the particle path and is thus required to have single photo-electron sensitivity and yet to be insensitive to the passage of a charged particle. In addition, the detector should be made of low mass material to minimize the effect of multiple scatterings. The proposed threshold Cherenkov counters are called Hadron Blind Detectors (HBDs) because they are blind to low energy hadrons which have lower speed {beta} for given momentum p than that of electrons. HBDs can be used in colliders, especially heavy ion hadron colliders (RHIC, LHC), which have huge {number_sign} of hadrons produced per event, to select electrons by being blind to low-momentum hadrons. The authors have studied two different methods to build HBDs described as follows: (1) windowless configuration; (2) thin window configuration. The authors describe herewith their recent experimental results on HBD research obtained with CsI photo-cathodes and HBD prototype beam testing in 1995.

The activities and tasks needed to successfully prepare an interim, preliminary, and final performance assessment on the disposal of the low-level fraction of Hanford tank wastes are given. Included are analytic, experimental, computational, writing, and approval tasks. These statements of work will be revised annually.

This report presents the details of the mission and strategic plan for Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory during the fiscal years of 1995--2000. It presents summaries of current programs and potential changes; critical success factors such as human resources; management practices; budgetary allowances; and technical and administrative initiatives.

Annual report of statewide consolidated travel data describing goals, activities, and accomplishments during fiscal years 1995 and 1996.

Annual financial report of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas describing their expenses, investments, and accounts for fiscal year 1995.