The Hanford Spent Nuclear Fuel Project has been established to safely store spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford Site. This Project Management Plan sets forth the management basis for the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project. The plan applies to all fabrication and construction projects, operation of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project facilities, and necessary engineering and management functions within the scope of the project

This report describes experiments designed to provide data for a quick engineering assessment of the microstructural, mineralogical, and mechanical changes in hydrothermally altered concrete and changes in associated water chemistry.

This document is a plan that identifies the information needed to address relevant issues concerning short-term and long-term safe storage and long-term management of Single-Shell Tank (SST) 241-U-111.

The conceptual model for WIPP dissolved concentrations is a description of the complex natural and artificial chemical conditions expected to influence dissolved actinide concentrations in the repository. By a set of physical and chemical assumptions regarding chemical kinetics, sorption substrates, and waste-brine interactions, the system was simplified to be amenable to mathematical description. The analysis indicated that an equilibrium thermodynamic model for describing actinide solubilities in brines would be tractable and scientifically supportable. This paper summarizes the conceptualization and modeling approach and the computational results as used in the WIPP application for certification of compliance with relevant regulations for nuclear waste repositories. The WIPP site contains complex natural brines ranging from sea water to 10x more concentrated than sea water. Data bases for predicting solubility of Am(III) (as well as Pu(III) and Nd(III)), Th(IV), and Np(V) in these brines under potential repository conditions have been developed, focusing on chemical interactions with Na, K, Mg, Cl, SO{sub 4}, and CO{sub 3} ions, and the organic acid anions acetate, citrate, EDTA, and oxalate. The laboratory and modeling effort augmented the Harvie et al. parameterization of the Pitzer activity coefficient model so that it could be applied to the actinides and oxidation states …

This Safety Evaluation for Packaging (SEP) provides evaluations necessary to approve transfer of the 8,000 gallon Liquid Waste Tank Car (LWTC) from the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) to the 200 Areas. This SEP will demonstrate that the transfer cif the LWTC will provide an equivalent degree of safety as would be provided by packages meeting U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requirements. This fulfills onsite transportation requirements implemented in the Hazardous Material Packaging and Shipping, WHC-CM-2-14.

During this project period, work was done in the following areas: (1) multi-parameter sorting of dipoles for large superconducting rings; (2) study of tune modulation; and (3) integrable polynomial factorization for symplectic map tracking. A list of reports that give research status and results is given.

This quarterly report covers activities during the period from July 1, 1996 through September 30, 1996 on the development of carbon products precursor materials from coal. The first year of the project ended in February, 1996; however, the WVU research effort continued through August 14, 1997 on a no-cost extension of the original contract. PETC chose to exercise the option for continuation of the projects and $100,000 became available on August 9, 1996. The objective for year two is to focus on development of those carbon products from coal-based solvent extract precursors which have the greatest possibility for commercial success.

Progress is reported on sorbent characterization for coal gasification. Operational procedures and the data acquisition system is described.

Research results performed on the utilization of sorbents for emission control in coal gasification are described. A data acquisitions system was acquired. Major operational procedures are discussed.

Boiler slagging and fouling as a result of inorganic impurities in combustion gases being deposited on heat transfer tubes have caused severe problems in coal-fired power plant operation. These problems are fuel, system design, and operating condition dependent. Conventional slag and ash removal methods include the use of in situ blowing or jet-type devices such as air or steam soot blowers and water lances. Pulse detonation technology for the purpose of removing slag and fouling deposits in coal-fired utility power plant boilers offers great potential. The detonation wave technique based on high impact velocity with sufficient energy and thermal shock on the slag deposited on gas contact surfaces offers a convenient, inexpensive, yet efficient and effective way to supplement existing slag removal methods. These detonation waves have been demonstrated experimentally to have exceptionally high shearing capability important to the task of removing slag and fouling deposits. Several tests have been performed with single shot detonation wave at University of Texas at Arlington to remove the slag deposit. To hold the slag deposit samples at the exit of detonation tube, two types of fixture was designed and fabricated. They are axial arrangement and triangular arrangement. The slag deposits from the utility …

This report describes work performed by First Solar, L.L.C., during Phase 1 of this 3-year subcontract. The research effort of this subcontract is divided into four areas: (1) process and equipment development, (2) efficiency improvement, (3) characterization and analysis, and (4) environmental, health, and safety. As part of the process development effort, the output of the pilot-production facility was increased. More than 6,200 8-ft{sup 2} CdS/CdTe plates were produced during Phase 1--more than double the total number produced prior to Phase 1. This increase in pilot-production rate was accomplished without a loss in the PV conversion efficiency: the average total-area AM1.5 efficiency of sub-modules produced during the reporting period was 6.4%. Several measurement techniques, such as large-area measurement of CdS thickness, were developed to aid process improvement, and the vapor-transport deposition method was refined. CdTe thickness uniformity and reproducibility were improved. From a population of more than 1,100 plates, the mean standard deviation within a plate was 7.3% and the standard deviation of individual-plate averages was 6.8%. As part of the efficiency-improvement task, research was done on devices with thin-CdS and buffer layers. A cell with 13.9% efficiency was produced on a high-quality substrate, and higher than 12% efficiency was …

The authors demonstrate the first reported use of electron channeling patterns (ECPs) as a response for a statistical design of experiments process-optimization for epitaxial silicon. In an effort to fully characterize the new hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) method of epitaxial growth recently discovered at NREL, a large number of parameters with widely varying values needed to be considered. To accomplish this, they used the statistical design of experiments method. This technique allows one to limit the number of sample points necessary to evaluate a given parameter space. In this work they demonstrate how ECPs can effectively be used to optimize the process space as well as to quickly and economically provide the process engineer with absolutely key information.

Waste forms to contain material residual from an electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel have been developed by Argonne National Laboratory. One of these waste forms contains waste stainless steel (SS), fission products that are noble to the process (e.g., Tc, Ru, Pd, Rh), Zr, and actinides. The baseline composition of this metallic waste form is SS-15wt.% Zr. The metallurgy of this baseline alloy has been well characterized. On the other hand, the effects of actinides on the alloy microstructure are not well understood. As a result, SS-Zr alloys with added U, Pu, and/or Np have been cast and then characterized, using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and neutron diffraction, to investigate the microstructural development in SS-Zr alloys that contain actinides. Actinides were found to congregate non-uniformally in a Zr(Fe,Cr,Ni){sub 2+x} phase. Apparently, the actinides were contained in varying amounts in the different polytypes (C14, C15, and C36) of the Zr(Fe,Cr,Ni){sub 2+x} phase. Heat treatment of an actinide-containing SS-15 wt.% Zr alloy showed the observed microstructure to be stable.

Loss of plasma confinement causes surface and structural damage to plasma-facing materials (PFMs) and remains a major obstacle for tokamak reactors. The deposited plasma energy results in surface erosion and structural failure. The surface erosion consists of vaporization, spallation, and liquid splatter of metallic materials, while the structural damage includes large temperature increases in structural materials and at the interfaces between surface coatings and structural members. Comprehensive models (contained in the HEIGHTS computer simulation package) are being used self-consistently to evaluate material damage. Splashing mechanisms occur as a result of volume bubble boiling and liquid hydrodynamic instabilities and brittle destruction mechanisms of nonmelting materials. The effect of macroscopic erosion on total mass losses and lifetime is evaluated. The macroscopic erosion products may further protect PFMs from severe erosion (via the droplet-shielding effect) in a manner similar to that of the vapor shielding concept.

This report describes work performed by Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) during this phase of this subcontract. ECD researchers have made significant progress in advancing the very high frequency (VHF), high-rate technology. They demonstrated that 8.0% stable efficiencies can be achieved for a-Si:H cells whose i-layers are prepared at rates near 10 {angstrom}/s using the VHF technique. Presently, there is not a great difference in the performance of a-Si:H cells made using the VHF technique and i-layer deposition rates near 10 {angstrom}/s and that for cells made using the standard 13.56 MHz technique and rates near 1 {angstrom}/s in the same deposition system. In terms of the a-SiGe:H cells, researchers have completed a number of studies of devices with properties appropriate for middle-junction cells-that is, cells without Ag/ZnO back-reflectors having Voc values near 0.75V and Jsc values near 8.0 mA/cm{sup 2} when measured using AM1.5 light filtered using a 530-nm, low-band-pass filter. The stabilized proper ties for these cells prepared at i-layer rates near 10 {angstrom}/s are again similar to a-SiGe:H cells made using the same deposition hardware and the low-rate 13.56 MHz method. Establishing an initial 10.5% for a triple-junction cell whose i-layers are prepared at the high rates …

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Regional Council initiated the Maricopa Clean Cities Program on June 20, 1995. Its purpose was to encourage the use of alternative fuels in the Maricopa region and to obtain recognition for the steps the region had already taken to support the use of alternative fuels. One key element to Maricopa Clean Cities' success is the strong support it receives from the Arizona legislation. The Maricopa Clean Cities stakeholders are committed to increasing the number of alternative fuel vehicles and developing the infrastructure to support those vehicles.

The authors grow hydrogenated amorphous silicon-germanium alloys by the hot-wire chemical vapor deposition technique at deposition rates between 0.5 and 1.4 nanometers per second. They prepared a set of these alloys to determine the concentrations of the alloying elements as measured by various techniques. This set consists of samples throughout the range of germanium alloying from 0% (a-Si:H) to 100% (a-Ge:H). They find that by making the appropriate calibrations and corrections, their compositional measurements agreement between the various techniques. Nuclear reaction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) all yield similar hydrogen contents, within {+-}20% for each sample. Electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) and SIMS yield silicon and germanium contents within {+-}7% of each other with results being confirmed by Rutherford backscattering. EPMA oxygen measurements are affected by highly oxidized surface layers, thus these data show larger O concentrations than those measured by SIMS.

A new gap separation mechanism for use with the standard Advanced Photon Source (APS) 3.3-cm-period undulator magnetic structures has been designed and built and the first system has been installed in the APS storage ring. The system allows a minimum magnetic gap of 10 mm for use with the APS 8-mm insertion device vacuum chambers. The mechanism is a bolted steel frame structure with a simple 4-motor mechanical drive train. The control system uses servomotors with incremental rotary encoders and virtual absolute linear encoders.

Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) core shrouds and other reactor internals important to safety are experiencing intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC). The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has followed the problem, and as part of its investigations, contracted with the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to conduct a risk assessment. The overall project objective is to assess the potential consequences and risks associated with the failure of IGSCC-susceptible BWR vessel internals, with specific consideration given to potential cascading and common mode effects. An initial phase has been completed in which background material was gathered and evaluated, and potential accident sequences were identified. A second phase is underway to perform a simplified, quantitative probabilistic risk assessment on a representative high-power BWR/4. Results of the initial study conducted on the jet pumps show that any cascading failures would not result in a significant increase in the core damage frequency. The methodology is currently being extended to other major reactor internals components.

This report itemizes the irradiations performed by Testing and Irradiation Services for Battelle-Northwest. It lists the materials being irradiated, awaiting disposition and materials shipped during the month of October 1967.

Designated the 41st Clean Cities coalition in November 1995, the Paso del Norte Clean Cities Coalition (PDNCCC) is the first in the country to gain international participation. Spanning the US-Mexico border; the coalition includes stakeholders from El Paso, Texas; Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. PDNCCC developed a comprehensive plan to jump-start its program place, alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) on the road, and eliminate barriers inhibiting alternative fuel market growth. PDNCC raised more than $2.3 million for alternative fuel activities and clean air initiatives in less than 26 months. In 1998, the US Department of Energy (DOE) recognized that PDNCCC accomplishment with its Rainmaker Award for leveraging the most funds from outside sources. PDNCCC is proud of its efforts to drive the alternative fuels and AFV market in the El Paso/Juarez region.

The authors compute the low lying spectrum of the overlap Dirac operator in the deconfined phase of finite-temperature quenched gauge theory. It suggests the existence of a chiral condensate which they confirm with a direct stochastic estimate. They show that the part of the spectrum responsible for the chiral condensate can be understood as arising from a dilute gas of instantons and anti-instantons.

The authors have been developing a novel threshold Cherenkov detector, consisting of a gas radiator followed by a UV photosensitive wire chamber using CsI photocathodes. The photo-detector lies directly in the particle path and is thus required to have single photo-electron sensitivity and yet to be insensitive to the passage of a charged particle. In addition, the detector should be made of low mass material to minimize the effect of multiple scatterings. The proposed threshold Cherenkov counters are called Hadron Blind Detectors (HBDs) because they are blind to low energy hadrons which have lower speed {beta} for given momentum p than that of electrons. HBDs can be used in colliders, especially heavy ion hadron colliders (RHIC, LHC), which have huge {number_sign} of hadrons produced per event, to select electrons by being blind to low-momentum hadrons. The authors have studied two different methods to build HBDs described as follows: (1) windowless configuration; (2) thin window configuration. The authors describe herewith their recent experimental results on HBD research obtained with CsI photo-cathodes and HBD prototype beam testing in 1995.

In this paper, we examine the post-yield true stress vs true strain behavior of irradiated pressure vessel steels and iron-based alloys to reveal differences in strain-hardening behavior associated with different irradiating particles (neutrons and electrons) and different alloy chernky. It is important to understand the effects on mechanical properties caused by displacement producing radiation of nuclear reactor pressure steels. Critical embrittling effects, e.g. increases in the ductile-to-brittle-transition-temperature, are associated with irradiation-induced increases in yield strength. In addition, fatigue-life and loading-rate effects on fracture can be related to the post-irradiation strain-hardening behavior of the steels. All of these properties affect the expected service life of nuclear reactor pressure vessels. We address the characteristics of two general strengthening effects that we believe are relevant to the differing defect cluster characters produced by neutrons and electrons in four different alloys: two pressure vessel steels, A212B and A350, and two binary alloys, Fe-0.28 wt%Cu and Fe-0.74 wt%Ni. Our results show that there are differences in the post-irradiation mechanical behavior for the two kinds of irradiation and that the differences are related both to differences in damage produced and alloy chemistry. We find that while electron and neutron irradiations (at T {le} 60 C) of …