Transport mirrors within the National Ignition Facility, a 192-beam 4-MJ fusion laser at 1053 nm, will be exposed to backscattered light from plasmas created from fusion targets and backlighters. This backscattered light covers the UV and visible spectrum from 351-600 nm. The transport mirror BK7 substrates will be intentionally solarized to absorb >95% of the backscattered light to prevent damage to the metallic mechanical support hardware. Solarization has minimal impact on the 351- and 1053-nm laser-induced damage threshold or the reflected wavefront of the multilayer hafnia silica coating. Radiation sources of various energies were examined for BK7 darkening efficiency within the UV and visible region with 1.1 MeV gamma rays from a Cobalt 60 source ultimately being selected. Finally, bleaching rates were measured at elevated temperatures to generate a model for predicting the lifetime at ambient conditions (20 C), before solarized BK7 substrates exceed 5% transmission in the UV and visible region. Over a 30-mm thickness, BK7 glass will bleach in 10 years to 5% transmission at 600 nm, the most transmissive wavelengths over the 351-600 nm regions.

This document provides the quality assurance guidelines that will be followed by the groundwater project.

New amorphous-metal and ceramic coatings applied by the high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) process may reduce the waste package materials cost of the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository by over $4 billion (cost reduction of 27 to 42%). Two critical requirements that have been determined from design analysis are protection in brines that may evolve from the evaporative concentration of pore waters and protection for waste package welds, thereby preventing exposure to environments that might cause stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Our efforts are directed towards producing and evaluating these high-performance coatings for the development of lower cost waste packages, and will leverage a cost-effective collaboration with DARPA for applications involving marine corrosion.

We have developed a Nd:doped cladding pumped fiber amplifier, which operates at 938nm with greater than 2W of output power. The core co-dopants were specifically chosen to enhance emission at 938nm. The fiber was liquid nitrogen cooled in order to achieve four-level laser operation on a laser transition that is normally three level at room temperature, thus permitting efficient cladding pumping of the amplifier. Wavelength selective attenuation was induced by bending the fiber around a mandrel, which permitted near complete suppression of amplified spontaneous emission at 1088nm. We are presently seeking to scale the output of this laser to 10W. We will discuss the fiber and laser design issues involved in scaling the laser to the 10W power level and present our most recent results.

The Long Trace Profiler (LTP), is well-suited for the measurement of the axial figure of cylindrical mirrors that usually have a long radius of curvature in the axial direction but have a short radius of curvature in the sagittal direction. The sagittal curvature causes the probe beam to diverge in the transverse direction without coming to a focus on the detector, resulting in a very weak signal. It is useful to place a cylinder lens into the optical system above the mirror under test to refocus the sagittal divergence and increase the signal level. A positive cylinder lens can be placed at two positions above the surface: the Cat's Eye reflection position and the Wavefront-Matching position. The Cat's Eye position, is very tolerant to mirror misalignment, which is not good if absolute axial radius of curvature is to be measured. Lateral positioning and rotational misalignments of lens and the mirror combine to produce unusual profile results. This paper looks at various alignment issues with measurements and by raytrace simulations to determine the best strategy to minimize radius of curvature errors in the measurement of cylindrical aspheres.

A conceptual design for a low pressure, room temperature, fill system suitable for ignition target capsules is described. The fill system relies on the use of a 5-10 micron diameter fill tube connecting directly the target capsule to a DT fuel reservoir. The design uses a small reservoir to store the DT fuel at room temperature within the target assembly. A model of the design is developed and used to calculate reservoir size, layer thickness control, and control sensitivity. A procedure to fill the target in-situ after cooling the assembly to cryogenic temperatures using temperature control of the reservoir is also described. The effects of He3 generation and fuel contamination are also discussed.

We present the first measurements of the absolute albedos of hohlraums made from gold or from high-Z mixtures. The measurements are performed over the range of radiation temperatures (70-100 eV) expected during the foot of an indirect-drive temporally-shaped ignition laser pulse, where accurate knowledge of the wall albedo (i.e. soft x-ray wall re-emission) is most critical for determining capsule radiation symmetry. We find that the gold albedo agrees well with calculations using the super transition array opacity model, potentially providing additional margin for ICF ignition.

This manuscript is meant to give a short summary of the advantages of high order schemes and suitable test problems which can properly illustrate these advantages.

The objective of this study was to measure the leaching and adsorption characteristics of uranium in six near-surface sediment samples collected from the 300 Area of the Hanford Site. Scanning electron micrographs of the samples showed that the uranium contamination in the sediments is most likely present as co-precipitates and/or discrete uranium particles. Molecular probe techniques also confirm the presence of crystalline discrete uranium bearing phases. In all cases, the uranium is present as oxidized uranium (uranyl [U(VI)]). Results from the column leach tests showed that uranium leaching did not follow a constant solubility paradigm. Four of the five contaminated sediments showed a large near instantaneous release of a few percent of the total uranium followed by a slower continual release. Steady-state uranium leachate concentrations were never measured and leaching characteristics and trends were not consistent among the samples. Dissolution kinetics were slow, and the measured leach curves most likely represent a slow kinetically controlled desorption or dissolution paradigm. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to investigate the effect of pH and uranium and carbonate solution concentrations on uranium adsorption onto the uncontaminated sediment. Uranium adsorption Kd values ranged from 0 to > 100 ml/g depending on which solution parameter was …

Detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms are developed for all nine chemical isomers of heptane (C{sub 7}H{sub 16}), following techniques and models developed previously for other smaller alkane hydrocarbon species. These reaction mechanisms are tested at high temperatures by computing shock tube ignition delay times and at lower temperatures by simulating ignition in a rapid compression machine. Although the corresponding experiments have not been reported in the literature for most of these isomers of heptane, intercomparisons between the computed results for these isomers and comparisons with available experimental results for other alkane fuels are used to validate the reaction mechanisms as much as possible. Differences in the overall reaction rates of these fuels are discussed in terms of differences in their molecular structure and the resulting variations in rates of important elementary reactions. Reaction mechanisms in this study are works in progress and the results reported here are subject to change, based on model improvements and corrections of errors not yet discovered.

The Microsensors Program was born out the need for enhanced sensor technology in support of the Weapons Program. In the interest of expanded diagnostic capabilities to provide true performance characteristics of weapon assemblies in flight and ground tests, a suite of sensor requirements was proposed. These potential new sensor technologies were envisioned to be completely unobtrusive and allow for the development of test vehicles (mock warheads and bomb assemblies) that were designed to mechanical and electrical specifications as close to the stockpile weapon design configuration as possible. The closeness of a test vehicle design to the respective stockpile weapon design is referred to as ''fidelity,'' with the term ''high-fidelity'' to mean all components are designed to emulate, very closely, the true system design. These efforts were in line with many activities associated with Stockpile Stewardship and were intended to enable better modeling and performance assessment without the need for underground testing. Several weapons are currently undergoing Life Extension Programs (LEP) to lengthen each weapon system's respective service life. The ability to assess the projected life of these complex assemblies is crucial to the success of the LEP activities.

Only two intrinsic approaches to increasing the density of energy stored in capacitors are known: (1) Increase the Dielectric Constant while maintaining the breakdown filed; and (2) Increase the breakdown field for a given dielectric constant material. The maximum energy density, E{sub 0} (Joules/cm{sup 3}) that can be stored in the dielectric of a capacitor is given by: E{sub 0} = 1/2 k {var_epsilon}{sub 0} V{sub b}{sup 2} (Joules/cm{sup 3} dielectric). Where k is the relative permittivity (dielectric constant), {var_epsilon}{sub 0} is the permittivity of free space (8.894 x 10{sup -14} F/cm) and V{sub b} the dielectric material breakdown field. In this project we have successfully developed capacitor structures using dielectric materials with 3 < k < 50 that exhibit high breakdown fields. The observed performance of these capacitors as characterized by the energy stored per unit volume of dielectric at V{sub b} are compared on the basis of the breakdown field in Figure 1.

Numerical simulations are used to visualize the mixing and combustion induced by explosions of spherical and cylindrical TNT charges. Evolution of the exothermic energy is controlled by mixing (vorticity), which is strongly influenced by wave reflections from confining walls.

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This report summarizes experimentally and numerically determined modal properties for one of the reinforced concrete end walls of the NIF Periscope Support Structure in Laser Bay 1. Two methods were used to determine these modal properties: (1) Computational finite-element analyses (modal extraction process); and (2) Experimental modal analysis based on measured test data. This report also includes experimentally determined modal properties for a prototype LM3/Polarizer line-replaceable unit (LRU) and a prototype PEPC LRU. Two important parameters, used during the design phase, are validated through testing [ref 1]. These parameters are the natural frequencies and modal damping (of the system in question) for the first several global modes of vibration. Experimental modal testing provides these modal values, along with the corresponding mode shapes. Another important parameter, the input excitation (expected during normal operation of the NIF laser system) [ref 1], can be verified by performing a series of ambient vibration measurements in the vicinity of the particular system (or subsystem) of interest. The topic of ambient input excitation will be covered in a separate report. Due to the large mass of the Periscope Pedestal, it is difficult to excite the entire series of Periscope Pedestal Walls all at once. It was …

A great deal of physics understanding is required for the design and construction of thermonuclear weapons. Since the days of the Manhattan Project, physicists have relied on a combination of theory and experiment for the successful creation of nuclear weapons. One of the great experimental difficulties faced by the designers of nuclear weapons is that nuclear weapons operate in a high energy density regime not found on the earth except during a nuclear weapon detonation. Replicating these conditions is difficult unless a nuclear weapon is actually detonated. One of the reasons for the large number of expensive tests at the Nevada Test Site was that there was no other way to obtain the required data. When the laser was first developed many in the weapons program realized that the ability of a laser to concentrate a large amount of energy in a small volume could create experimental conditions that would be useful for studying the physics of nuclear weapons. The national weapons labs began investigating this possibility and started building ever bigger and better lasers. The vast difference in energy scales between the laboratory and a nuclear weapons explosion meant large and powerful lasers were required. By the early '80s …

A TD based on wavelength/time codes, configured to multiplex and transmit 32 asynchronous Gigabit Ethernet data flows (GbE over O-CDMA), is described. The TD is user and data rate scalable.

The steadily increasing power of supercomputing systems is enabling very high resolution simulations of compressible, turbulent flows in the high Reynolds number limit, which is of interest in astrophysics as well as in several other fluid dynamical applications. This paper discusses two such simulations, using grids of up to 8 billion cells. In each type of flow, convergence in a statistical sense is observed as the mesh is refined. The behavior of the convergent sequences indicates how a subgrid-scale model of turbulence could improve the treatment of these flows by high-resolution Euler schemes like PPM. The best resolved case, a simulation of a Richtmyer-Meshkov mixing layer in a shock tube experiment, also points the way toward such a subgrid-scale model. Analysis of the results of that simulation indicates a proportionality relationship between the energy transfer rate from large to small motions and the determinant of the deviatoric symmetric strain as well as the divergence of the velocity for the large-scale field.

In July 1993 and June 1995 drifting sediment traps were deployed near the Po outflow, in the coastal zone and in the Jabuka Pit in order to obtain quantitative information on the vertical flux of particulate material and export of organic carbon in the Northern and Middle Adriatic Sea. During these periods and in July 1994, the standing stock of carbon and nitrogen in the water column were also estimated. Carbon and nitrogen concentrations were higher in the north with a mean of 266 {micro}g C l{sup -1} in surface waters as compared to 92 {micro}g C l{sup -1} in Middle Adriatic; maximum concentrations were associated to the less-saline surface-subsurface waters in the north and to the chlorophyll a maximum in the Middle Adriatic. Organic carbon flux was roughly five times higher near the Po than in the more oligotrophic waters of the central region, with overall values (0.8 to 11.5 mg m{sup -2} d{sup -1}) being low compared to the open Northwestern Mediterranean. Comparison with primary production measurements yielded estimates of carbon export (f-ratio) of 4.7 and 3.4% in the Po and Pit stations, respectively, in 1993 and of 1.6 and 3.6% in the central part of the Adriatic …

Understanding the phase stability of Alloy 22 (N06022) is important since the precipitation of tetrahedrally close-packed (TCP) phases over time has been known to adversely affect corrosion and mechanical properties. Prior observations have shown that these phases precipitate during the welding process. After welding, residual stresses due to the solidification and cooling from temperature remain. When the weld cannot be stress-relieved by solution annealing, the application of commercially available stress-mitigation processes such as low plasticity burnishing (LPB) and laser shock peening (LSP) may be used to produce near-surface compressive stresses. This study involved examination of cross-sectional samples of aged 1.25 inch thick welds of Alloy 22 plates using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) for TCP identification and micrograph analysis for TCP quantification. Precipitation in both the as-welded and LSP weld was observed primarily in inter-dendritic regions whilst precipitation in the LPB weld was in both inter- and intra-dendritic regions.

We have developed a multiple monochromatic x-ray imaging diagnostic using an array of pinholes coupled to a multilayer Bragg mirror, and we have used this diagnostic to obtain unique multispectral imaging data of inertial-confinement fusion implosion plasmas. Argon dopants in the fuel allow emission images to be obtained in the Ar He-b and Ly-b spectral regions, and these images provide data on core temperature and density profiles. We have analyzed these data to obtain quasi-three-dimensional maps of electron temperature and scaled electron density within the core for several cases of drive symmetry, and we observed a two-lobed structure evolving for increasingly prolate-asymmetric drive. This structure is invisible in broad-band x-ray images. Future work will concentrate on hydrodynamics simulations for comparison with the data.

The study described in this report1 models the FXR injector from the cathode to the exit of the injector. The calculations are compared to actual experimental measurements, table 1. In these measurements the anode voltage was varied by changing the Marks-Bank charging voltage. The anode-cathode spacing was varied by adjusting the location of the cathode in hopes of finding an island of minimum emittance (none found). The bucking coil current was set for zero field on the cathode. In these measurements, a pepper-pot mask was inserted into FXR at beam bug 135 and viewed downstream via a wiggle probe diagnostic at cell gap J21, figure 1. The observed expansion of the beamlets passing through the mask of known geometric layout and hole size allow a calculation of the phase space beam properties.

Long-term cap rock integrity represents the single most important constraint on the long-term isolation performance of natural and engineered geologic CO{sub 2} storage sites. CO{sub 2} influx that forms natural accumulations and CO{sub 2} injection for EOR/sequestration or saline-aquifer disposal both lead to concomitant geochemical alteration and geomechanical deformation of the cap rock, enhancing or degrading its seal integrity depending on the relative effectiveness of these interdependent processes. This evolution of cap-rock permeability can be assessed through reactive transport modeling, an advanced computational method based on mathematical models of the coupled physical and chemical processes catalyzed by the influx event. Using our reactive transport simulator (NUFT), supporting geochemical databases and software (SUPCRT92), and distinct-element geomechanical model (LDEC), we have shown that influx-triggered mineral dissolution/precipitation reactions within typical shale cap rocks continuously reduce microfrac apertures, while pressure and effective-stress evolution first rapidly increase then slowly constrict them. For a given shale composition, the extent of geochemical enhancement is nearly independent of key reservoir properties (permeability and lateral continuity) that distinguish saline aquifer and EOR/sequestration settings and CO{sub 2} influx parameters (rate, focality, and duration) that distinguish engineered disposal sites and natural accumulations, because these characteristics and parameters have negligible impact on …

As public interest in phytonutrition continues to increase, the result will be an augmented demand for extensive phytochemical research. The fact that foods are inherently phytochemically complex dictates a need to apply scientific techniques, which can detect synergistic interaction among the many active principles and adjuvant substances in the plant, and furthermore, modify the activities of these components. As illustrated by the experiments discussed in this presentation, the advantages of AMS are unique and extensive. These advantages are best summarized by Dr. John Vogel, an originator of biological AMS experimentation: ''AMS brings (at least) three advantages to biochemical tracing: high sensitivity for finding low probability events or for use of physiologic-sized doses; small sample sizes for painless biopsies or highly specific biochemical separations; and reduction of overall radioisotope exposures, inventories, and waste streams.'' AMS opens the door to increased phytochemical tracing in humans to obtain biochemical data concerning human health at dietary relevant levels of exposure. AMS, thus, obviates the need for uncertain extrapolations from animal models, which express marginal relevance to human metabolism. The unparalleled capabilities and benefits of AMS will undoubtedly establish this particular MS technique as an important analytical tool in phytochemical research.