The purpose of this report is to document the development of a radial grid that is suitable for evaluating the pathways and potential impacts of a release of radioactive materials to the environment within a distance of 84 kilometers.

This calculation produces standard statistical data on the consumption of locally produced food and tap water. The results of this calculation provide input parameters for the GENII-S (Leigh et al. 1993) computer code to support calculation of Biosphere Dose Conversion Factors (BDCF) for the nominal performance (groundwater contamination) scenario and the volcanic eruption (contamination of soil by volcanic ash deposition) scenario. The requirement and parameters for these data are identified in ''Identification Of The Critical Group (Consumption Of Locally Produced Food And Tap Water)'' (CRWMS M&O 2000a). This calculation is performed in accordance with the ''Development Plan for Calculation: Values and Consumption Rates of Locally Produced Food and Tap Water for the Receptor of Interest'' (CRWMS M&O 2000b).

All stations planned for the International Monitoring System (IMS) must be certified by the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) prior to acceptance to ensure that the monitoring stations initially meet the required specifications. Working Group B of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has established requirements for the quality, availability, and surety of data received at the International Data Centre (IDC). These requirements are verified by the PTS during a 3-component process that includes initial station assessment, testing and evaluation, and certification. Sandia National Laboratories has developed procedures, facilities, and tools that can be used to assist in evaluating IMS stations for compliance with certification requirements. System evaluation includes station design reviews, component testing, and operational testing of station equipment. Station design is evaluated for security and reliability considerations, and to ensure that operational procedures and documentation are adequate. Components of the station are tested for compliance with technical specifications, such as timing and noise levels of sampled data, and monitoring of tamper detection equipment. Data sent from the station in an IMS-standard format (CD-1 or IMS-1) are analyzed for compliance with the specified protocol and to ensure that the station data (sensor and state-of-health) are accurately transmitted. Data …

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This document establishes the combination of design and operational configurations that will be used to provide heat removal from high-level waste tanks during Phase 1 waste feed delivery to prevent the waste temperature from exceeding tank safety requirement limits. The chosen method--to use the primary and annulus ventilation systems to remove heat from the high-level waste tanks--is documented herein.

The increasing role of coal as a source of energy in the 21st century will demand environmental and cost-effective strategies for the use of coal combustion by-products (CCBPs), mainly fly ash containing unburned carbon. However, the carbonaceous residue in fly ash, unburned carbon (UC), is a potential precursor for the production of adsorbent carbons, since it has gone through a devolatilization process while in the combustor, and therefore, only requires to be activated. Accordingly, this research program focuses on the development of activated carbons from the unburned carbon present in fly ash. During the present reporting period (June 30, 1999--June 29, 2000), Task 1 ''Procurement and characterization of CCBPs'' was initiated and samples from various combustion systems were collected. The suite assembled thus far includes samples from pulverized utility boilers with low-NOx burners and Selective Non Catalytic Reduction system, and also from an utility cyclone unit. The characterization studies showed that the sample from the cyclone unit contained the highest carbon content (LOI of {approx} 80%), since this unit has been retrofitted with a technology to separate the unburned carbon from the fly ash. In contrast, the sample from the unit retrofitted with a Selective Non Catalytic Reduction system showed …

This is a bimonthly newsletter from DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies to promote the use of energy-efficient industrial systems.

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The purpose of this project was to conduct basic research leading to significant improvements in the state-of-the-art of geophysical imaging of the shallow subsurface. Geophysical techniques are commonly used for underground imaging for site characterization and restoration monitoring. in order to improve subsurface imaging, the objective was to develop improved methods for interpreting geophysical data collected in the field, by developing better methods for relating measured geophysical properties, such as seismic velocity and electrical conductivity, to hydrogeology parameters of interest such as porosity, saturation, and soil composition. They met the objectives using an approach that combined laboratory experiments, comparison to available field data, rock physics theories, and modeling, to find relationships between geophysical measurements, hydrogeological parameters and soil composition. The primary accomplishments of this project in the last year (FY99) were that they completed the laboratory measurements of ultrasonic velocities in soils at low pressures and the measurements of complex electrical conductivity in those same soils; they used x-ray computed microtomography to image the microstructure of several soil samples; they used rock physics theories and modeling to relate the geophysical measurements to the microstructure and hydrological properties; they developed a theoretical technique for relating compressional and shear wave velocities to …

The Tanks Focus Area (TFA) continues to work closely with the Office of River Protection (ORP) to better understand the chemistry involved with the retrieval, transport, and pretreatment of nuclear wastes at Hanford. Since a private contractor is currently responsible for the pretreatment and immobilization activities in this remediation effort, the TFA has concentrated on saltcake dissolution and waste transport at the request of the ORP. Researchers at Hanford have performed a series of dissolution experiments on actual saltcake samples. Staff members at Mississippi State University (MSU) continue to model the dissolution results with the Environmental Simulation Program (ESP), which is used extensively by ORP personnel. Several ways to improve the predictive capabilities of the ESP were identified. Since several transfer lines at Hanford have become plugged, TFA tasks at AEA Technologies, Florida International University (FIU), MSU, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are investigating the behavior of the supernatants and slurries during transport. A combination of experimental and theoretical techniques is used to study the transport chemistry. This effort is expected to develop process control tools for waste transfer. The results from these TFA tasks were presented to ORP personnel during the FY 2000 Saltcake Dissolution and Feed Stability …

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The cooperative agreement for this project was finalized and signed during April 2000. The official project start date was April 11, 2000. Initial reporting requirements, including the completion of a Project Management Plan, Milestone Plan and Log, and a Hazardous Substance Plan, were completed and submitted to the DOE in early May 2000. Work on the project tasks was initiated in May 2000. During the course of this budget period, efforts will focus on enhancing reservoir characterization work that had been in progress prior to the start of this grant project, incorporation of this information into an existing 3-D full-field compositional model, and utilization of a ''window area'' of the model (representing a selected pilot area) to evaluate the impacts of horizontal laterals on recovery in the miscible nitrogen flood. The ''window area'' model will also be used to design the most effective configuration and placement of the lateral sections. The following is a summary of progress made between April 11, 2000 and June 30, 2000.

Sandia National Laboratories has continued to evaluate the performance of infrasound sensors that are candidates for use by the International Monitoring System (IMS) for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. The performance criteria against which these sensors are assessed are specified in ``Operational Manual for Infra-sound Monitoring and the International Exchange of Infrasound Data''. This presentation includes the results of efforts concerning two of these sensors: (1) Chaparral Physics Model 5; and (2) CEA MB2000. Sandia is working with Chaparral Physics in order to improve the capability of the Model 5 (a prototype sensor) to be calibrated and evaluated. With the assistance of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sandia is also conducting tests to evaluate the performance of the CEA MB2000. Sensor models based on theoretical transfer functions and manufacturer specifications for these two devices have been developed. This presentation will feature the results of coherence-based data analysis of signals from a huddle test, utilizing several sensors of both types, in order to verify the sensor performance.

OAK-B135 An investigation of the mechanism of IGA/SCC of alloy 600 in corrosion accelerating heated crevice environments. Quarterly Technical Progress Report No. 4 for the period May 1, 2000 through July 31, 2000

The density of threading dislocations (TD) in GaN grown directly on flat sapphire substrates is typically greater than 10{sup 9}/cm{sup 2}. Such high dislocation densities degrade both the electronic and photonic properties of the material. The density of dislocations can be decreased by orders of magnitude using cantilever epitaxy (CE), which employs prepatterned sapphire substrates to provide reduced-dimension mesa regions for nucleation and etched trenches between them for suspended lateral growth of GaN or AlGaN. The substrate is prepatterned with narrow lines and etched to a depth that permits coalescence of laterally growing III-N nucleated on the mesa surfaces before vertical growth fills the etched trench. Low dislocation densities typical of epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) are obtained in the cantilever regions and the TD density is also reduced up to 1 micrometer from the edge of the support regions.

IN APRIL 1996, THE UNITED STATES (US) ADDED THE PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT TO THE LIST OF FACILITIES ELIGIBLE FOR THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) SAFEGUARDS. AT THAT TIME, THE US PROPOSED THAT THE IAEA CARRY OUT A ''VERIFICATION EXPERIMENT'' AT THE PLANT WITH RESPECT TO DOOWNBLENDING OF ABOUT 13 METRIC TONS OF HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) IN THE FORM OF URANIUM HEXAFLUROIDE (UF6). DURING THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1997 THROUGH JULY 1998, THE IAEA CARRIED OUT THE REQUESTED VERIFICATION EXPERIMENT. THE VERIFICATION APPROACH USED FOR THIS EXPERIMENT INCLUDED, AMONG OTHER MEASURES, THE ENTRY OF PROCESS-OPERATIONAL DATA BY THE FACILITY OPERATOR ON A NEAR-REAL-TIME BASIS INTO A ''MAILBOX'' COMPUTER LOCATED WITHIN A TAMPER-INDICATING ENCLOSURE SEALED BY THE IAEA.

This tiedown evaluation meets the requirement imposed by HNF-6550, Safety Evaluation for Packaging (Onsite) T Plant Canyon Items, (O'Brien 2000). O'Brien (2000) requires that any items prepared for shipment from T Plant to the burial grounds that are not bounded by the analysis in O'Brien (2000) must have a separate, approved, engineered tiedown analysis. The width of the overpack box is 9 ft. 7 in. This width is wider than the maximum width authorized in O'Brien (2000), which is 8 ft.

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The 1994 Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) human reliability analysis (HRA) methodology was developed for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) in 1994 by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). It was decided to revise that methodology for use by the Simplified Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) program. The 1994 ASP HRA methodology was compared, by a team of analysts, on a point-by-point basis to a variety of other HRA methods and sources. This paper briefly discusses how the comparisons were made and how the 1994 ASP HRA methodology was revised to incorporate desirable aspects of other methods. The revised methodology was renamed the SPAR HRA methodology.

For the WIPP, chemical and physical characteristics of MgO suggest it to be the most beneficial backfill choice, particularly because it has the ability to buffer the aqueous chemical conditions to control actinide volubility. In the current experimental program, the authors are developing a technical basis for taking credit for the complete set of attributes of MgO in geochemical, hydrogeological, and geomechanical technical areas, resulting in an improved conceptual model for the WIPP such as the following. Water uptake by MgO will delay the development of mobile actinides and gas generation by microbes and corrosion. Reduced gas generation will reduce or even eliminate spallings releases. As MgO hydrates, it swells, reducing porosity and permeability, which will inhibit gas flow in the repository, in turn reducing spallings releases. Hydration will also result in a self-sealing mechanism by which water uptake and swelling of MgO adjacent to a groundwater seep cuts off further seepage. Reaction with some groundwaters will produce cementitious materials, which will help to cement waste particles or produce a cohesive solid mass. Larger particles are less likely to be entrained in a spallings release. If sufficient water eventually accumulates in a repository to support microbial gas generation, magnesium carbonate …

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The thermochemical equilibrium calculations indicate that at the temperature of a propane--air flame, some volatilization of uranium, plutonium, technetium, and cesium will occur. The expected concentrations of plutonium, technetium, and cesium in the flame will be very low because of the small maximum concentration of these elements in the projected feed materials for the first 30-day test. The quantities volatilized can generally be decreased by operating the flame in a fuel-rich mode, although this will lead to greater carbon monoxide production, which may be more objectionable. The concentrations of chlorine and fluorine, at least at the maximum levels in the projected Vortec feed, are not projected to greatly influence the vaporization rates. Therefore, blending to reduce the concentrations of those elements would most likely not be effective in reducing metal vaporization. Most of the elements vaporized condense by the time the gas cools to 2000 F. These elements would condense either on surfaces near the front of the heat recuperator or on entrained particulates or homogeneously as relatively pure submicron particles. Cesium would be expected to condense at the lower temperatures near the rear of the recuperator, although the expected maximum concentration in the Vortec feed material is extremely low …

ACTS flow loop is now operational under elevated pressure and temperature. Currently, experiments with synthetic based drilling fluids under pressure and temperature are being conducted. Based on the analysis of Fann 70 data, empirical correlations defining the shear stress as a function of temperature, pressure and the shear rate have been developed for Petrobras synthetic drilling fluids. PVT equipment has been modified for testing Synthetic oil base drilling fluids. PVT tests with Petrobras Synthetic base mud have been conducted and results are being analyzed Foam flow experiments have been conducted and the analysis of the data has been carried out to characterize the rheology of the foam. Comparison of pressure loss prediction from the available foam hydraulic models and the test results has been made. Cuttings transport experiments in horizontal annulus section have been conducted using air, water and cuttings. Currently, cuttings transport tests in inclined test section are being conducted. Foam PVT analysis tests have been conducted. Foam stability experiments have also been conducted. Effects of salt and oil concentration on the foam stability have been investigated. Design of ACTS flow loop modification for foam and aerated mud flow has been completed. A flow loop operation procedure for conducting …