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This CD-ROM contains the proceedings from the DOE Pollution Prevention in the 21st Century Conference XII held July 9-11, 1996. Topics included model facilities, federal and NEPA stakeholders, microchemistry, source 4 solvents and reduction, education and outreach planning, return on investment, energy management, decontamination and decommissioning, planning and regulations, environmental restoration, solid waste, recycling, affirmative procurement in the executive branch, construction and demolition, international and ISO 14000, and poster sessions.

Accelerators of sufficient energy and particle fluence can produce radioactivity as an unwanted byproduct. The radioactivity is typically imbedded in structural materials but may also be removable from surfaces. Many of these radionuclides decay by positron emission or electron capture; they often have long half lives and produce photons of low energy and yield making detection by standard devices difficult. The contamination control limit used throughout the US nuclear industry and the Department of Energy is 1,000 disintegrations per minute. This limit is based on the detection threshold of pancake type Geiger-Mueller probes for radionuclides of relatively high radiotoxicity, such as cobalt-60. Several radionuclides of concern at a high energy electron accelerator are compared in terms of radiotoxicity with radionuclides commonly found in the nuclear industry. Based on this comparison, a count-rate based contamination control limit and associated measurement strategy is proposed which provides adequate detection of contamination at accelerators without an increase in risk.

The paper discusses some of the assumptions and methods employed for the control of ionizing radiation in the specifications for the civil construction of a planned free electron laser facility based on a 200 MeV, 5 mA superconducting recirculation electron accelerator. Consideration is given firstly to the way in which the underlying building configuration and siting aspects were optimized on the basis of the early assumptions of beam loss and radiation goals. The various design requirements for radiation protection are then considered, and how they were folded into an aesthetically pleasing and functional building.

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The electric industry in the United States is undergoing fundamental changes; it is transitioning from regulated monopolies to competitive markets offering customer choice. In this process, the states have been in the forefront of considering the changes in the industry structure and regulation. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) spearheaded a project on electric restructuring in the United States. This is the final report prepared under the project. The purpose of the report is to describe and compare the overall restructuring processes that took place in five states through June 30, 1996. The five states are California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin. These are the first major states to consider restructuring or retail wheeling.

The report describes progress and status of the HDR project at Hijiori. The year was notable for a flow enhancement test of a system with two production wells in operation. Other items include a geochemical survey, reinterpretation of acoustic emission data from 1988 through 1995, borehole measurements to find intersections with fractures, a geological survey, preparation for modeling fractures, improvements in crack simulation in a reservoir analysis model, and environmental survey work. (DJE 2005)

Combined cycles (combinations of a gas turbine and a steam bottoming cycle) are the most efficient power generation technology, while coal is the lowest cost fuel. Therefore, the combination of Coal Gasifiers and Combined Cycles is predicted to be the lowest cost source of baseload electric power in the next decade. In a GCC, the sulfur and particulates are removed from the gasifier gases before they enter the turbine combuster. While H{sub 2}S (and COS/CS{sub 2}) can be removed effectively by cooling hot gases down to near room temperature and scrubbing them with an aqueous amine solution, removing the H{sub 2}S without cooling the gases (i.e., hot gas cleanup) is more advantageous. The leading hot gas sulfur absorbent uses a regenerable zinc oxide (ZnO) based sorbent, zinc titanate (Zn{sub 2}TiO{sub 4} and/or ZnTiO{sub 3}), to remove the H{sub 2}S and other sulfur compounds from the hot coal gases. The zinc absorbs H{sub 2}S, forming zinc sulfide (ZnS); ZnS is then regenerated with oxygen (air), releasing the sulfur as a concentrated stream of SO{sub 2}. The SO{sub 2} can be converted into sulfuric acid, sulfur, or reacted with calcium carbonate to form calcium sulfate (gypsum). The sorbent may be operated in …

This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared by the Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the closure of 51 high-level radioactive waste tanks and tank farm ancillary equipment (including transfer lines, evaporators, filters, pumps, etc) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) located near Aiken, South Carolina. The waste tanks are located in the F- and H-Areas of SRS and vary in capacity from 2,839,059 liters (750,000 gallons) to 4,921,035 liters (1,300,000 gallons). These in-ground tanks are surrounded by soil to provide shielding. The F- and H-Area High-Level Waste Tanks are operated under the authority of Industrial Wastewater Permits No.17,424-IW; No.14520, and No.14338 issued by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). In accordance with the Permit requirements, DOE has prepared a Closure Plan (DOE, 1996) and submitted it to SCDHEC for approval. The Closure Plan identifies all applicable or relevant and appropriate regulations, statutes, and DOE Orders for closing systems operated under the Industrial Wastewater Permits. When approved by SCDHEC, the Closure Plan will present the regulatory process for closing all of the F- and H-Area High Level Waste Tanks. The Closure Plan establishes performance objectives or criteria to be met …

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (DOEEA-1164) for the proposed closure of the high-level waste tanks in F- and H-Areas on the Savannah River Site (SRS), near Aiken, South Carolina. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

We have completed sequencing segments of the maize mitochondrial (mt) DNA that contains all five of the exons (A-E) of the gene (nad1) for subunit I of the respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase. Analysis of these sequences indicates that exons B and C are joined by a continuous group II intron, but the remaining exons are associated with partial group II introns and are encoded at widely separated locations in the maize mtDNA molecule. We have shown that mature transcripts of the maize nad1 gene contain 23 edited nucleotides, and that transcripts of maize and soybean mat-r genes contain 15 and 14 edits, respectively. The majority of edits in nad1 transcripts result in amino acid replacements that increase similarity between the maize NAD1 protein and NAD1 proteins of other plant species and of animal species. We found that the intron between exons b and c is not edited. From data obtained using PCR and sequencing we have shown that transcripts containing all possible exon combinations exist in maize mitochondria.

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This special edition of 'Frontiers' commemorates Argonne National Laboratory's 50th anniversary of service to science and society. America's first national laboratory, Argonne has been in the forefront of U.S. scientific and technological research from its beginning. Past accomplishments, current research, and future plans are highlighted.

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Numerous reports on plutonium and enriched uranium in various configurations (unreflected and with reflectors of various materials).

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The purpose of this project was to utilize dual energy, monochromatic X-rays produced from synchrotrons radiation in order to obtain noninvasive medical imaging. The application of synchrotrons radiation to medical imaging is based on the principle of iodine dichromography, first described by Bertil Jacobson of the Karolinska Institute in 1953. Medical imaging using synchrotrons radiation and K-edge dichromography was pioneered at Stanford University under the leadership of Dr. Ed Rubenstein, and the late Nobel Laureate in Physics, Dr. Robert Hofstadter. With progressive refinements in hardware, clinical-quality images were obtained of human coronary arteries utilizing peripheral injections of iodinated contrast agent. These images even now are far superior to those being presented by investigators using MRI as an imaging tool for coronary arteries. However, new supplies and instruments in the cardiac catheterization laboratory have served to transform coronary angiography into an outpatient procedure, with relatively little morbidity. We extended the principles learned with coronary angiography to noninvasive imaging of the human bronchial tree. For these images, we utilized xenon as the contrast agent, as it has a K-edge very similar to that of iodine. In this case, there is no true competing diagnostic test, and pulmonary neoplasm is an enormous public …

A method is described for fabricating a thermophotovoltaic energy conversion cell including a thin semiconductor wafer substrate having a thickness ({beta}) calculated to decrease the free carrier absorption on a heavily doped substrate; wherein the top surface of the semiconductor wafer substrate is provided with a thermophotovoltaic device, a metallized grid and optionally an antireflective (AR) overcoating; and, the bottom surface (10 ft) of the semiconductor wafer substrate is provided with a highly reflecting coating which may comprise a metal coating or a combined dielectric/metal coating.

This paper discusses the preliminary flight testing of an aircraft using neat burning ethyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (ETBE) as a fuel. No additional changes were made to the fuel delivery systems which had previously been modified to provide the higher fuel flow rates required to operate the engine on neat ethanol. Air-fuel ratios were manually adjusted with the mixture control. This system allows the pilot to adjust the mixture to compensate for changes in air density caused by altitude, pressure and temperature. The engine was instrumented to measure exhaust gas temperatures (EGT), cylinder head temperatures (CHT), and fuel flows, while the standard aircraft instruments were used to collect aircraft performance data. Baseline engine data for ETBE and Avgas are compared. Preliminary data indicates the technical and economic feasibility of using ETBE as an aviation fuel for the piston engine fleet. Furthermore, the energy density of ETBE qualifies it as a candidate for a turbine engine fuel of which 16.2 billion gallons are used in the US each year.

A warning system is provided for a mobile working machine to alert an individual of a potentially dangerous condition in the event the individual strays into a hazardous working zone of the machine. The warning system includes a transmitter mounted on the machine and operable to generate a uniform magnetic field projecting beyond an outer periphery of the machine in defining a hazardous working zone around the machine during operation thereof. A receiver, carried by the individual and activated by the magnetic field, provides an alarm signal to alert the individual when he enters the hazardous working zone of the machine.

The future of neutron and x-ray scattering instrument development and international cooperation was the focus of the workshop on ``Methods for Neutron Scattering Instrument Design`` September 23-25 at the E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. These proceedings are a collection of a portion of the invited and contributed presentations.