Monitoring the thermal and hydrologic processes that occur during thermal environmental remediation programs in near real-time provides essential information for controlling the process. Geophysical techniques played a crucial role in process control as well as for characterization during the recent Dynamic Underground Stripping Project demonstration in which several thousand gallons of gasoline were removed from heterogeneous soils both above and below the water table. Dynamic Underground Stripping combines steam injection and electrical heating for thermal enhancement with ground water pumping and vacuum extraction for contaminant removal. These processes produce rapid changes in the subsurface properties including changes in temperature fluid saturation, pressure and chemistry. Subsurface imaging methods are used to map the heated zones and control the thermal process. Temperature measurements made in wells throughout the field reveal details of the complex heating phenomena. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) provides near real-time detailed images of the heated zones between boreholes both during electrical heating and steam injection. Borehole induction logs show close correlation with lithostratigraphy and, by identifying the more permeable gravel zones, can be used to predict steam movement. They are also useful in understanding the physical changes in the field and in interpreting the ERT images. Tiltmeters provide additional …

We describe a point-centered diffusion discretization for 3-D unstructured meshes of polyhedra. The method has several attractive qualities, including second-order accuracy and preservation of linear solutions. A potential drawback to the scheme is that the diffusion matrix is asymmetric, in general. Results of numerical test problems illustrate the behavior of the scheme.

A novel computer code is being developed to generate system level designs of radiofrequency ion accelerators with specific applications to machines of interest to Accelerator Driven Transmutation Technologies (ADTT). The goal of the Accelerator System Model (ASM) code is to create a modeling and analysis tool that is easy to use, automates many of the initial design calculations, supports trade studies used in accessing alternate designs and yet is flexible enough to incorporate new technology concepts as they emerge. Hardware engineering parameters and beam dynamics are to be modeled at comparable levels of fidelity. Existing scaling models of accelerator subsystems were used to produce a prototype of ASM (version 1.0) working within the Shell for Particle Accelerator Related Code (SPARC) graphical user interface. A small user group has been testing and evaluating the prototype for about a year. Several enhancements and improvements are now being developed. The current version of ASM is described and examples of the modeling and analysis capabilities are illustrated. The results of an example study, for an accelerator concept typical of ADTT applications, is presented and sample displays from the computer interface are shown.

Applying a dielectric layer to the output of a microchannel plate (MCP) has allowed the screen voltage of a sealed microchannel-plate intensifier tube (MCPI) to be raised to over 10 kV, producing a field strength of 36 kV/mm without any detectable field emission or breakdown of the MCP/screen gap. Tube resolution exceeded 16 lp/mm at 50% modulation. Breakdown is higher in a dielectric than in a vacuum. In a concept being patented by Gary Power, a few-{mu}m-thick layer of a dielectric was sputtered onto the output surface of an 18-mm MCP, which was incorporated into a tube under a contract for four tube starts. This process is applicable to any device incorporating a proximity-focused MCP and screen, including streak tubes and gated MCP x-ray imagers. Other improvements discussed include a patented use of a collimator for eliminating the electrons that are elastically scattered from the screen. This method also provides for further improvements in screen gap limited resolution to any desired degree by eliminating electrons with high transverse energy. This occurs at the expense of output brightness, which can be recovered through an appropriate increase in screen voltage.

Heavy-ion induction accelerators are being developed as fusion drivers for ICF power production in the US Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) program, in the Office of Fusion Energy of the US Department of Energy. In addition, they represent an attractive driver option for a high-yield microfusion facility for defense research. This paper describes recent progress in induction drivers for Heavy-Ion Fusion (HIF), and plans for future work. It presents research aimed at developing drivers having reduced cost and size, specifically advanced induction linacs and recirculating induction accelerators (recirculators). The goals and design of the Elise accelerator being built at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL), as the first stage of the ILSE (Induction Linac Systems Experiments) program, are described. Elise will accelerate, for the first time, space-charge-dominated ion beams which are of full driver scale in line-charge density and diameter. Elise will be a platform on which the critical beam manipulations of the induction approach can be explored. An experimental program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) exploring the recirculator principle on a small scale is described in some detail; it is expected that these studies will result ultimately in an operational prototype recirculating induction accelerator. In addition, other elements of the US …

A programmable longitudinal feedback system using a parallel array of AT&T 1610 digital signal processors has been developed as a component of the PEP-II R&D program. This system has been installed at the Advanced Light Source (LBL) and implements full speed bunch by bunch signal processing for storage rings with bunch spacing of 4ns. Open and closed loop results showing the action of the feedback system are presented, and the system is shown to damp coupled-bunch instabilities in the ALS. A unified PC-based software environment for the feedback system operation is also described.

The retained dose of ions can be increased by Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation and Deposition (PIIID). A substrate is immersed in a metal or carbon plasma and a negative repetitively pulsed bias voltage is applied. During the pulses, an electric sheath is formed around the substrate and ions are accelerated through the sheath and implanted into the substrate. Direct and recoil ion implantation and sputtering take place during the pulses whereas low-energy deposition occurs between the pulses. The condensable plasma can be produced using a cathodic arc plasma source combined with a magnetic macroparticle filter. PIIID can be applied to perform fast high-dose implantations or to deposit thin films with broad intermixing at the film-substrate interface. The bias voltage duty cycle can be tuned to sputter away the film deposited during pulse off-time (similar to the method of sacrificial layer). We have simulated the PIIID process using the Monte Carlo code T-DYN 4.0. This code allows a calculation of the dose-dependent depth profile for a process with deposition and implantation phases, taking sputtering into account. Predicted retained doses and experimentally obtained retained doses measured by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry are compared.

A mesh optimization scheme allows a Lagrangian code to run problems with extreme mesh distortion by reconfiguring node and zone connectivity as the problem evolves. We have developed some 3D mesh optimization operations and criteria for applying them. These are demonstrated in a 3D Free Lagrange code being developed at LLNL. In the simplest case of a mesh or mesh subregion composed purely of tetrahedra we can maintain a Delaunay tetrahedralization. For more interesting meshes, made up of general polyhedra, a suite of optimization operations and their respective application criteria have been developed.

To the extent possible, a discretized system should satisfy the same conservation laws as the physical system. The author considers the conservation properties of a staggered-grid Lagrange formulation of the hydrodynamics equations (SGH) which is an extension of a ID scheme due to von Neumann and Richtmyer (VNR). The term staggered refers to spatial centering in which position, velocity, and kinetic energy are centered at nodes, while density, pressure, and internal energy are at cell centers. Traditional SGH formulations consider mass, volume, and momentum conservation, but tend to ignore conservation of total energy, conservation of angular momentum, and requirements for thermodynamic reversibility. The author shows that, once the mass and momentum discretizations have been specified, discretization for other quantities are dictated by the conservation laws and cannot be independently defined. The spatial discretization method employs a finite volume procedure that replaces differential operators with surface integrals. The method is appropriate for multidimensional formulations (1D, 2D, 3D) on unstructured grids formed from polygonal (2D) or polyhedral (3D) cells. Conservation equations can then be expressed in conservation form in which conserved currents are exchanged between control volumes. In addition to the surface integrals, the conservation equations include source terms derived from physical …

An inductive double-contingency analysis (DCA) method developed by the criticality safety function at the Savannah River Site, was applied in Criticality Safety Evaluations (CSEs) of five major plant process systems at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation`s Commercial Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Plant in Columbia, South Carolina (WEC-Cola.). The method emphasizes a thorough evaluation of the controls intended to provide barriers against criticality for postulated initiating events, and has been demonstrated effective at identifying common mode failure potential and interdependence among multiple controls. A description of the method and an example of its application is provided.

FERMCO supports DOE`s ongoing initiatives for the continuous improvement of site restoration through the development and application of innovative technologies. A major thrust of FERMCO`s efforts has been the enhancement of environmental data management technology for the site. The understanding of environmental data is the fundamental basis for determining the need for environmental restoration, developing and comparing remedial alternatives, and reaching a decision on how to clean up a site. Environmental data management at Fernald is being focused on two major objectives: to improve the efficiency of the data management process, and to provide a better understanding of the meaning of the data at the earliest possible time. Environmental data at Fernald is typically a soil or groundwater sample collected by one of the field geologists. These samples are then shipped to one or more laboratories for analysis. After the analyses are returned from the laboratories the data are reviewed and qualified for usability. The data are then used by environmental professionals for determining nature and extent of contamination. Additionally, hazardous waste materials whether generated during production or during cleanup, may be sampled to characterize the waste before shipment or treatment. The data management process, which uses four major software …

Aerogels are highly porous solids having unique morphology among materials because both the pores and particles making up the material have sizes less than wavelengths of visible light. Such a unique morphology modifies the normal molecular transport mechanisms within the material, resulting in exceptional thermal, acoustical, mechanical, and electrical properties. For example, aerogels have the lowest measured thermal conductivity and dielectric constant for any solid material. Special methods are required to make aerogel films with high porosity. In this paper, we discuss the special conditions needed to fabricate aerogel films having porosities greater than 75% and we describe methods of processing inorganic aerogel films having controllable thicknesses in the range 0.5 to 200 micrometers. We report methods and results of characterizing the films including thickness, refractive index, density (porosity), and dielectric constant. We also discuss results of metallization and patterning on the aerogel films for applications involving microminiature electronics and thermal detectors.