Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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There exists a certain type of high energy density physics experiment that requires a very precise, one or two-dimensional sinusoidal pattern to be imprinted on the surface of a thin disc-shaped specimen. Early discussions of potential fabrication processes included precision lapping using a substrate with the sinusoidal patterns, diamond turning, and various vapor deposition techniques. The process of coining, in which the sinusoidal pattern is pressed into the surface of a flat disc, was also proposed. Extensive discussions indicated that the low cost of coining and likelihood of success warranted this proof-of-principal investigation.

We were tasked with developing a coining technique that would evaluate the feasibility of using a pressing, or coining process to imprint a one-dimensional sinusoidal pattern onto a thin disk specimen. We performed finite element method simulations of the coining process, designed, built, and tested a coining apparatus and tested surrogate materials, and coined a sample of special nuclear material. The preliminary results were encouraging. The pressing of a 3-mm diameter by {approx}100 {micro}m thick disc to 500 pounds of pressure produced a flat part with a 1-{micro}m deep by 50-{micro}m period sine wave pattern covering all of the surface and thus demonstrated the method for replicating ultraprecision, mesoscale features onto a near-net-shape metallic blank. This coining technique is being developed to provide specialty processing for the manufacturing of difficult to machine, millimeter-size components made from materials that present hazardous conditions. The technology is versatile and can be used to imprint a wide range of features, or profiles into two opposing surfaces. The coining process requires a simple, conceivably hand held tool, which efficiently produces ultra-precision work pieces without the production of byproducts such as machining chips, or grinding swarf. It shows promise for use on ductile materials that cannot …

Semiweekly newspaper from Sealy, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

For the current pretreatment facility design of the River Protection Project (RPP) Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), the removal of cesium from low activity waste (LAW) is achieved by ion-exchange technology based on SuperLig(R) 644 resin. Due to recent concerns over potential radiological and chemical degradation of SuperLig(R) 644 resin and increased pressure drops observed during pilot-scale column studies, an increased interest in developing a potential backup ion-exchanger material has resulted. Ideally, a backup ion-exchanger material would replace the SuperLig(R) 644 resin and have no other major impacts on the pretreatment facility flowsheet. Such an ideal exchanger has not been identified to date. However, Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST) ion-exchanger materials have been studied for the removal of cesium from a variety of DOE wastes over the last decade. CST ion-exchanger materials demonstrate a high affinity for cesium under high alkalinity conditions and have been under investigation for cesium removal specifically at Hanford and SRS during the last six years. Since CST is an inorganic based material (with excellent properties in regard to chemical, radiological, and thermal stability) that is considered to be practically non-elutable (while SuperLig(R) 644 is an organic based elutable resin), the overall pretreatment facility flowsheet would be impacted in …

Weekly newspaper from Emory, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Video footage from the NBC 5 television station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story. This story aired at 10 P.M.

A radiochemical isotope dilution mass spectrometry method has been developed to determine the age of uranium materials. The amount of 230Th activity, the first progeny of 234U, that had grown into a small uranium metal sample was used to determine the elapsed time since the material was last radiochemically purified. To preserve the sample, only a small amount of oxidized uranium was removed from the surface of the sample and dissolved. Aliquots of the dissolved sample were spiked with 233U tracer and radiochemically purified by anion-exchange chromatography. The 234U isotopic concentration was then determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Additional aliquots of the sample were spiked with 229Th tracer, and the thorium was purified using two sequential anion-exchange chromatography separations. The isotopic concentrations of 230Th and 232Th were determined by TIMS. The lack of any 232Th confirmed the assumption that all thorium was removed from the uranium sample at the time of purification. The 230Th and 234U mass concentrations were converted to activities and the 230Th/234U ratio for the sample was calculated. The experimental 230Th/234U ratio showed the uranium in this sample was radiochemically purified in about 1945. Isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry has sufficient sensitivity to determine the …

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A process for removing uranium/vanadium-based contaminants from groundwater using a primary in-ground treatment media and a pretreatment media that chemically adjusts the groundwater contaminant to provide for optimum treatment by the primary treatment media.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Designs and simulation studies for harmonic cascades, consisting of multiple stages of harmonic generation in free electron lasers (FELs), are presented as part of the LUX R&D project to design ultrafast, high photon energy light sources for basic science. Beam energies of 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1 GeV, corresponding to each pass through a recirculating linac, have independent designs for the harmonic cascade. Simulations were performed using the GENESIS FEL code, to obtain predictions for the performance of these cascades over a wide range of photon energies in terms of the peak power and laser profile. The output laser beam consists of photon energies of up to 1 keV, with durations of the order of 200 fs or shorter. The contribution of shot noise to the laser output is minimal, however fluctuations in the laser and electron beam properties can lead to variations in the FEL output. The sensitivity of the cascade to electron beam properties and misalignments is studied, taking advantage of the fact that GENESIS is a fully 3-dimensional code.

The National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Transparency Implementation Program (TIP) monitors and provides assurance that Russian weapons-grade HEU is processed into low enriched uranium (LEU) under the transparency provisions of the 1993 United States (U.S.)-Russian HEU Purchase Agreement. Meeting the Agreement's transparency provisions is not just a program requirement; it is a legal requirement. The HEU Purchase Agreement requires transparency measures to be established to provide assurance that the nonproliferation objectives of the Agreement are met. The Transparency concept has evolved into a viable program that consists of complimentary elements that provide necessary assurances. The key elements include: (1) monitoring by technical experts; (2) independent measurements of enrichment and flow; (3) nuclear material accountability documents from Russian plants; and (4) comparison of transparency data with declared processing data. In the interest of protecting sensitive information, the monitoring is neither full time nor invasive. Thus, an element of trust is required regarding declared operations that are not observed. U.S. transparency monitoring data and independent instrument measurements are compared with plant accountability records and other declared processing data to provide assurance that the nonproliferation objectives of the 1993 Agreement are being met. Similarly, Russian monitoring of U. S. …

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One sample of bulk Ti has been loaded with a 50 per cent / 50 per cent deuterium/tritium mixture and statically aged for 6.5 years. Thermal desorption of the sample shows an initial release of hydrogen isotopes followed by 3He release. Subsequent D2 loading/desorption was used to quantify the trapped tritium heel. The sample shows an excess hydrogen capacity as a second thermal desorption peak that partially disappears and shifts with annealing at 923-973K. The main hydrogen desorption peak also shifts to higher temperature, indicating a partial reversal of the tritium-decay induced damage by annealing.

The U.S. Heavy Ion Fusion program is developing superconducting focusing quadrupoles for near-term experiments and future driver accelerators. Following the fabrication and testing of several models, a baseline quadrupole design was selected and further optimized. The first prototype of the optimized design achieved a conductor-limited gradient of 132 T/m in a 70 mm bore, with measured field harmonics within 10 parts in 10{sup 4}. In parallel, a compact focusing doublet was fabricated and tested using two of the first-generation quadrupoles. After assembly in the cryostat, both magnets reached their conductor-limited quench current. Further optimization steps are currently underway to improve the performance of the magnet system and reduce its cost. They include the fabrication and testing of a new prototype quadrupole with reduced field errors as well as improvements of the cryostat design for the focusing doublet. The prototype units will be installed in the HCX beamline at LBNL, to perform accelerator physics experiments and gain operational experience. Successful results in the present phase will make superconducting magnets a viable option for the next generation of integrated beam experiments.