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The US Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) has embraced mobile wireless technology to help the disposition of hazardous and mixed radiological waste. The following paper describes one application the INEEL developed to increase the data accuracy and near-real time reporting requirements for waste management. With the continuous operational demands at the ''site'', it was difficult to sustain an accurate, up-to-date database required for regulatory compliance audits and reporting. Incorporating wireless mobile technology, the INEEL was able to increase the accuracy while reducing the data delay times previously encountered. Installation issues prolonged the project along with obstacles encountered with operations personnel. However, the success of this project was found in persistence and management support as well as the technology itself. Future wireless, mobile computing will continue at the INEEL for years to come based on a successful project that was able to integrate new technology to an existing waste management system with proven, increased data accuracy.

Aging of systems and components in nuclear power plants is a well known occurrence that must be managed to ensure the continued safe operation of these plants. Much of the degradation due to aging is controlled through periodic maintenance and/or component replacement. However, there are components that do not receive periodic maintenance or monitoring once they are installed; electric cables are such a component. To provide a means of monitoring the condition of electric cables, research is ongoing to evaluate promising condition monitoring (CM) techniques that can be used in situ to monitor cable condition and predict remaining life. While several techniques are promising, each has limitations that must be considered in its application. This paper discusses the theory behind several of the promising cable CM techniques being studied, along with their effectiveness for monitoring aging degradation in typical cable insulation materials, such as cross-linked polyethylene and ethylene propylene rubber. Successes and limitations of each technique are also presented.

Natural attenuation processes are commonly used for remediation of contaminated sites. A variety of natural processes occur without human intervention at all sites to varying rates and degrees of effectiveness to attenuate (decrease) the mass, toxicity, mobility, volume, or concentration of organic and inorganic contaminants in soil, groundwater, and surface water systems. The objective of this review is to identify potential technical investments to be incorporated in the Subsurface Contaminant Focus Area Strategic Plan for monitored natural attenuation. When implemented, the technical investments will help evaluate and implement monitored natural attenuation as a remediation option at DOE sites. The outcome of this review is a set of conclusions and general recommendations regarding research needs, programmatic guidance, and stakeholder issues pertaining to monitored natural attenuation for the DOE complex.

Results from this study include cumulative recoveries, temperature distributions, and production rates. It was found that cyclic steaming of the reservoir offers the most favorable option for heating the near-wellbore area to create conditions that improve initial SAGD response. More favorable reservoir conditions such as low viscosity, thick oil zones, and solution gas, improved reservoir response. Under unfavorable conditions, response was limited.

We had constructed an S-band high power rf system at SRRC (Synchrotron Radiation Research Center). It will be used as a test bench of various designs of S-band rf guns. A 2856 MHz PFN (Pulse Forming Network) system was built to deliver 2 {micro}s, 40KV voltage pulse at 10Hz repetition rate for the XK-5 Klystron. As a quick start, we had fabricated a 2856MHz single cell rf gun for the high power test. The recent results are reported.

High resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of highly overdoped Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8+{delta}} with a T{sub c} = 51K indicates that the basic transport processes in this material are fundamentally different from both the lesser doped cuprates as well as model metallic compounds. The overdoped sample has sharp ARPES peaks at the Fermi energy throughout the Brillouin zone even in the normal state, unlike the lesser-doped compounds. In particular, the spectra near ({pi},0) point show the presence of a sharp peak well above T{sub c}. The ARPES lineshapes, and thus the self energy, at a given energy are almost independent of k. Further, the quasiparticle scattering rate at the Fermi energy seems to be closely tied to direct resistivity measurements. This leads us to the conclusion that overdoped Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8+{delta}} is best described as a quasiparticle liquid. However, the energy dependence of the scattering rates is quite similar to that found in the lesser-doped compounds and quite different from that seen in a typical metal.

Several experimental studies of solution gas drive are available in this report. Almost all of the studies have used light oil. Solution gas drive behavior, especially in heavy oil reservoirs, is poorly understood. Experiments were performed in which pore-scale solution gas drive phenomena were viewed in water/carbon dioxide and viscous oil/carbon dioxide systems. A new pressure vessel was designed and constructed to house silicon-wafer micromodels that previously operated at low (<3 atm) pressure. The new apparatus is used for the visual studies. Several interesting phenomena were viewed. The repeated nucleation of gas bubbles was observed at a gas-wet site occupied by dirt. Interestingly, the dissolution of a gas bubble into the liquid phase was previously recorded at the same nucleation site. Gas bubbles in both systems grew to span one ore more pore bodies before mobilization. Liquid viscosity affected the ease with which gas bubbles coalesced. More viscous solutions result in slower rates of coalescence. The transport of solid particles on gas-liquid interfaces was also observed.

The Carboniferous Lisburne Group is a major carbonate reservoir unit in northern Alaska. The lisburne is detachment folded where it is exposed throughout the northeastern Brooks Range, but is relatively underformed in areas of current production in the subsurface of the North Slope. The objectives of this study are to develop a better understanding of four major aspects of the Lisburne: (1) The geometry and kinematics of detachment folds and their truncation by thrust faults, (2) The influence of folding on fracture patterns, (3) The influence of deformation on fluid flow, and (4) Lithostratigraphy and its influence on folding, faulting, fracturing, and reservoir characteristics.

The radiation environment in and near high gradient rf cavities is very important for the instrumentation of the MUCOOL experiment, since large fluxes of x rays and dark current electrons can interfere with the operation of the muon detectors. We have measured the x ray and dark current spectra from a single cell, 1.3 GHz, and are beginning to make more extensive measurements of a multicelled 805 MHz cavity. The results are consistent with electron field emission, bremsstrahlung and photon absorption/scattering. We discuss ways of minimizing this background and the scaling of these results to other cavities.

This project was initially targeted to the making of coke for blast furnaces by using proprietary technology of Calderon in a phased approach, and Phase I was completed. The project was then re-directed to the making of iron units. U.S. Steel teamed up with Calderon for a joint effort which will last 30 months to produce directly reduced iron with the potential of converting it into molten iron (hot metal) consistent with the Roadmap recommendations of 1998 prepared by the Steel Industry in cooperation with the Department of Energy. The work which is labeled as Phase II will take place at two levels; namely, the bench scale level and the process development unit level. During the past quarter approval for the re-direction took place and work was initiated at both levels.

This manual provides information on the design and application of the RESidual RADioactivity (RESRAD) code. It describes the basic models and parameters used in the RESRAD code to calculate doses and risks from residual radioactive materials and the procedures for applying these models to calculate operational guidelines for soil contamination. RESRAD has undergone many improvements to make it more realistic in terms of the models used in the code and the parameters used as defaults. Version 6 contains a total of 145 radionuclides (92 principal and 53 associated radionuclides), and the cutoff half-life for associated radionuclides has been reduced to 1 month. Other major improvements to the RESRAD code include its ability to run uncertainty analyses, additional options for graphical and text output, a better dose conversion factor editor, updated databases, a better groundwater transport model for long decay chains, an external ground radiation pathway model, an inhalation area factor model, time-integration of dose and risk, and a better graphical user interface. In addition, RESRAD has been benchmarked against other codes in the environmental assessment and site cleanup arena, and RESRAD models have been verified and validated.

Using ion implantation followed by pulsed-laser melting (PLM), we have synthesized ferromagnetic films of Ga{sub 1-x}Mn{sub x}As. Ion-channeling experiments reveal that these films are single crystalline and have high Mn substitutionality while variable temperature resistivity measurements reveal the strong Mn-hole interactions characteristic of carrier-mediated ferromagnetism in homogeneous DMS's. We have observed Curie temperatures (T{sub C}'s) of approximately 80 K for films with substitutional Mn concentrations of x=0.04. The use of n-type counter doping as a means of increasing Mn substitutionality and T{sub c} is explored by co-implantation of Mn and Te into GaAs. In Ga{sub 1-x}Mn{sub x}P samples synthesized using our technique, the implanted layer regrows as an epitaxial single crystal capped by a highly defective surface layer. These samples display ferromagnetism with T{sub c} {approx} 23 K.

An 8-year long, drift scale heater test (DST) is currently underway at the underground Exploratory Studies Facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The host rock for the DST is a highly fractured, welded tuff. The rock has {approx}10% matrix porosity 90% filled with water. After a little more than two years of heating, the temperature at the drift wall reached {approx}200 C and has been maintained at that temperature for the past {approx}1.5 years. Gas and water (both vapor and liquid) have been collected from monitoring boreholes since the test began. The CO{sub 2} concentration of the gas and the isotopic compositions of the water and CO{sub 2} are measured. These data are used to constrain numerical models of coupled thermal, hydrological, and chemical processes occurring in the system. Despite obvious differences from epithermal systems (e.g., the DST is being conducted in an unsaturated system), the trends observed in the isotopic compositions of the water and CO{sub 2} have interesting implications for natural systems. In areas below boiling, the isotope ratios of the water are near that of the ambient pore water ({delta}{sup 18}O about -12{per_thousand}). Where significant amounts of vapor condensate occur (above the boiling front above the drift …

New experimental and analytical tools for characterizing various types of forming-induced surface roughening have been developed and used to study the evolution of surface roughening in 6000 series aluminum sheets in the T4 condition. Particular attention was focused on the evolution of the ''diamond defect,'' which often requires a subsequent mechanical surface treatment to achieve an acceptable surface finish. Testing was primarily done in plane strain tension and samples evaluated at various strain levels up to and including the forming limit. Characterization techniques included optical and scanning electron microscopy, white light phase shift interferometry, and orientation imaging microscopy. Roughening patterns were observed to communicate through the sheet thickness, e.g., peaks on one side correspond to peaks on the other; valleys to valleys. At the grain or grain cluster scale, roughening was found to be governed by the Schmid rather than the Taylor factor.

We demonstrate the mutual passivation of electrically active group IV donors and isovalent N atoms in the GaN{sub x}As{sub 1-x} alloy system. This phenomenon occurs through the formation of a donor-nitrogen bond in the nearest neighbor IV{sub Ga}-N{sub As} pairs. In Si doped GaInN{sub 0.017}As{sub 0.983} the electron concentration starts to decrease rapidly at an annealing temperature of 700 C from {approx} 3 x 10{sup 19}cm{sup -3} in the as-grown state to less than 10{sup 16}cm{sup -3} after an annealing at 900 C for 10 s. At the same time annealing of this sample at 950 C increases the gap by about 35 meV, corresponding to a reduction of the concentration of the active N atoms by an amount very close to the total Si concentration. We also show that the formation of Si{sub Ga}-N{sub As} pairs is controlled by the diffusion of Si via Ga vacancies to the nearest N{sub As} site. The general nature of this mutual passivation effect is confirmed by our study of Ge doped GaN{sub x}As{sub 1-x} layers formed by N and Ge co-implantation in GaAs followed by pulsed laser melting.

Characteristics between commercial spent fuel waste packages (WP), Laboratory Critical Experiments (LCEs), and commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluations are compared in this work. Emphasis is placed upon comparisons of CRC benchmark results and the relative neutron flux spectra in each system. Benchmark evaluations were performed for four different pressurized water reactors using four different sets of isotopes. As expected, as the number of fission products used to represent the burned fuel inventory approached reality, the closer to unity k{sub eff} became. Examination of material and geometry characteristics indicate several fundamental similarities between the WP and CRC systems. In addition, spectral evaluations were performed on a representative pressurized water reactor CRC, a 21-assembly area of the core modeled in a potential WP configuration, and three LCEs considered applicable benchmarks for storage packages. Fission and absorption reaction spectra as well as relative neutron flux spectra are generated and compared for each system. The energy dependent reaction rates are the product of the neutron flux spectrum and the energy dependent total macroscopic cross section. With constant source distribution functions, and the total macroscopic cross sections for the fuel region in the CRCs and WP being composed of nearly the same isotopics, the resulting …

Heat transfer within Earth's upper crust is primarily by conduction, and conductive thermal models adequately explain the cooling history of deep, batholith-scale intrusions and surrounding wall rocks, as confirmed by numerous thermochronometric studies. However, caldera magmatic systems require consideration of the small and localized component of hydrothermal convection and numerical models to simulate additional boundary conditions, irregular magma chamber shapes, and complex intrusive histories. At Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the site of a potential high-level nuclear waste repository, simulating the detailed thermal history at any location in the unsaturated zone requires knowledge of the shape of the magma chamber and its proximity to Yucca Mountain (the southern margin of the Timber Mountain caldera complex is approximately 8 km north of the potential repository site), the temporal and spatial extent of hydrothermal convection, the erosional history of the area, and past levels of the water table.

Development of chemical separations for the transactinides has traditionally been performed with longer-lived tracer activities purchased commercially. With these long-lived tracers, there is always the potential problem that the tracer atoms are not always in the same chemical form as the short-lived atoms produced in on-line experiments. This problem is especially severe for elements in groups 4 and 5 of the periodic table, where hydrolysis is present. The long-lived tracers usually are stored with a complexing agent to prevent sorption or precipitation. Chemistry experiments performed with these long-lived tracers are therefore not analogous to those chemical experiments performed in on-line experiments. One way to eliminate the differences between off-line and on-line chemistry experiments is through the use of a {sup 252}Cf fission fragment collection device. A {sup 252}Cf fission fragment collection device has already been constructed [1]. This device is limited in its capabilities. A new fission fragment device would allow the study of the chemical properties of the homologues of the heaviest elements. This new device would be capable of producing fission fragments for fast gas chemistry and aqueous chemistry experiments, long-lived tracers for model system development and neutrons for neutron activation. Fission fragment activities produced in this way …

The goal of this study was to select one or more commercially available aqueous sorbents to solidify the zinc bromide solution stored in C-Area, identify the polymer to zinc bromide solution ratio (waste loading) for the selected sorbents, and identify processing issues that require further testing in pilot-scale testing.

This note is in the nature of an addition to the dynamic aperture calculations found in the report on the Proton Driver, FERMILAB-TM-2169. A extensive discussion of the Proton Driver lattice, as well as the nomenclature used to describe it can be found in TM-2169. Basically the proposed lattice is a racetrack design with the two arcs joined by two long straight sections. The straight sections are dispersion free. Tracking studies were undertaken with the objective of computing the dynamic aperture for the lattice and some of the results have been incorporated into TM-2169. This note is a more extensive report of those calculations.

The Nu MI beamline discussed here is a modular optics design, characterized by 4 sections: MI {yields} beamline matching; periodic FODO cells; a special insertion to traverse the carrier pipe, and a versatile final focus section to produce the desired spot-size on the target. The use of 21 quadrupoles ensures that beam size is constrained within acceptable bounds throughout the line--{beta} < 60 m in the MI matching section & FODO cells, {beta} < 125 m in the doublets of the carrier pipe insertion, and {beta} < 100 m in the final focus. Lattice functions of the NuMI design are not unusually sensitive to errors arising either from MI optical mismatches or gradient errors, and are completely correctable through the 2 matching sections. Aperture studies indicate that the line is able to transport the worst quality beam that the Main Injector might provide. Dipole correctors at 19 of the 21 focusing centers are available to provide high-quality orbit control & further ensure that the NuMI line meets the stringent requirements for environmental protection.

Liquid metal free-surface flows provide an option of a renewable surface for heat absorption, removal of impurities, and eliminating the problems of erosion and thermal stresses [1], [2]. In a tokamak liquid metal flows through a strong magnetic field, which results in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interaction. For a free-surface flow the MHD interaction may be even more important than for the duct flows in blankets, because the electromagnetic forces may significantly deform the free-surface and thus make it unfavorable for heat extraction. The MHD-related problems for the free-surface flows have been reviewed in [3]. Among the most important ones are the effects of nonuniform magnetic fields, inertia, surface tension, wettability and roughness of walls on both the jet/drop shape and trajectory. The main problems for the jet divertor are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 [4]. Particular issues related to some of the problems listed in these figures have already been tackled (Problem 1 in [5]-[7], 4 in [8], [9], 5 in [9], 6 in [4], 7 and 10 in [9], 9 in [10]). Once main fundamental aspects for each of these sub-problems are understood, the analysis will have been performed for a particular divertor design.

We report on the development of antenna-coupled Voltage-biased Superconducting Bolometers (VSBs) which use Transition-edge Sensors (TES). Antenna coupling can greatly simplify the fabrication of large multi-frequency bolometer arrays compared to horn-coupled techniques. This simplification can make it practical to implement 1000+ element arrays that fill the focal plane of mm/sub-mm wave telescopes. We have designed a prototype device with a double-slot dipole antenna, integrated band-defining filters, and a membrane-suspended bolometer. A test chip has been constructed and will be tested shortly.