Annual report of the Texas Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities describing goals, activities, and accomplishments during fiscal year 1996.

The Waste Pretreatment and Interfacing Systems Dynamic Simulation (ITHINK) Model (see WHC-SD-WM-DR-013) was originally created to investigate the required pretreatment facility processing rates required to meet the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) waste vitrification milestones. The TPA milestones are satisfied by retrieving the TX tank farm (salt cake) single-shell tanks (SSTs)first and by utilizing a relatively constant retrieval rate to the year 2018 when retrieval is completed.

The authors major accomplishment in FY96 was the design and fabrication of the corrosion probes to be used ``In Beam`` during the FY97 irradiation period to begin on February 1, 1997. Never before have corrosion rate measurements been made on-line in such a high radiation environment. To measure corrosion rate as a function of beam time, it is necessary to electrical isolate the corrosion electrode to be examined form the plumbing system. Conventionally, this is accomplished with glass seals. Here irradiation of the glass may cause it to become conductive, rendering the seal useless. To overcome this problem, the corrosion probes to be used in-beam at the spallation neutron cooling water loop at the LANSCE A6 target station were fabricated with ceramic inserts which act as electrical feed-throughs. The corrosion sample is joined to the ceramic by means of a compression seal. The corrosion samples are closed end cylinders, 0.5 inches diameter x 6.25 inch length, that are constructed from Stainless Steel 304L, Stainless Steel 316L, Inconel 718, Tungsten, HT-9, and Tantalum. Because of their specialized nature, InTa Corporation, of Santa Clara, CA was contracted to manufacture these problems. As of November 1, 1996 delivery of these probes has begun …

PNNL successfully completed the three tasks: Task 1 - This task provided DISA with an updated set of design checklists that can be used to measure compliance with the Style Guide. These checklists are in Microsoft{reg_sign}Word 6.0 format. Task 2 - This task provided a discussion of two basic models for using the Style Guide and the Design Checklist, as a compliance tool and as a design tool.

H.R. 1977, passed by the House July 18, 1995, appropriated $87 million for FY1996 for the "orderly closure" of the Bureau of Mines within the Department of Interior. However, when the Senate passed H.R. 1977 on August 9, it approved continuation of the Bureau and appropriated $128 million for FY1996.