It is known that surface and subsurface damage in machined silicon nitride (Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}) ceramic components can significantly affect component strength and lifetime. Because Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} may transmit some light into its subsurface, they have developed an elastic optical scattering technique to provide two-dimensional image data for detecting surface or subsurface defects and machining damage. This technique has been used to analyze diamond-ground Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} specimens subjected to various machining conditions. The results were compared with photomicroscopy data for detect characterization and were correlated with machining conditions.

'Sheet silicates (e.g. micas and clays) are important constituents of a wide variety of geological formations such as granite, basalt, and sandstone. Sheet silicates, particularly clays such as bentonite are common materials in near-field engineered barriers in high-level nuclear waste (HLW) repositories. This is because migration of radionuclides from an underground HLW repository to the geosphere may be significantly reduced by sorption of radionuclides (e.g., Pu, U and Np) onto sheet silicates (e.g., clays and micas) that line the fractures and pores of the rocks along groundwater flowpaths. In addition to surface sorption, it has been suggested that some sheet silicates may also be able to incorporate many radionuclides, such as Cs and Sr, in the inter-layer sites of the sheet structure. However, theability of the sheet silicates to incorporate radionuclides and retard release and migration of radionuclides may be significantly affected by the near-field radiation due to the decay of fission products and actinides. for example, the unique properties of the sheet structures will be lost completely if the structure becomes amorphous due to irradiation effects. Thus, the study of irradiation effects on sheet-structures, such as structural damage and modification of chemical properties, are critical to the performance assessment …

A novel technique has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory to determine the {sup 239}Pu content in EBR-II blanket elements using resonance transmission analysis (RTA) with a filtered reactor beam. The technique uses cadmium and gadolinium filters along with a {sup 239}Pu fission chamber to isolate the 0.3 eV resonance in {sup 239}Pu. In the energy range from 0.1 to 0.5 eV, the total microscopic cross-section of {sup 239}Pu is significantly larger than the cross-sections of {sup 238}U and {sup 235}U. This large difference in cross-section allows small amounts of {sup 239}Pu to be detected in uranium samples. Tests using a direct beam from a 250 kW TRIGA reactor have been performed with stacks of depleted uranium and {sup 239}Pu foils. Preliminary measurement results are in good agreement with the predicted results up to about two weight percent of {sup 239}Pu in the sample. In addition, measured {sup 239}Pu masses were in agreement with actual sample masses with uncertainties less than 3.8 percent.

A large modulation in the series Q-meter can lead to nonlinear NMR signals and asymmetric polarization values. With a careful circuit analysis the nonlinearity can be estimated and corrections to polarization can be determined as a function of the strength of the modulation. We describe the recent LAMPF polarized proton target experiment, its NMR measurement and corrections to the measured polarizations.

An Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) is planned to support the characterization of a potential site for a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV. The selection of a design for the ESF is a critical decision, because the ESF design may affect the accuracy of characterization testing and subsequent repository design. The assist the design process, a comparative evaluation was conducted to rank 34 alternative relied on techniques from formal decision analysis, including decision trees and multiattribute utility analysis (MUA). The results helped to identify favorable design features and convinced the Department of Energy to adopt the top-ranked option as the preferred ESF design.

This document establishes the technical basis in support of Emergency Planning activities for the 340 Facility on the Hanford Site. Through this document, the technical basis for the development of facility specific Emergency Action Levels and Emergency Planning Zone, is demonstrated.

In many situations, stand-off remote-sensing and hazard-interdiction techniques over realistic operational areas are often impractical "and difficult to characterize. An alternative approach is to implement an adap- tively deployable array of sensitive agent-specific devices. Our group has been studying the collective be- havior of an autonomous, multi-agent system applied to chedbio detection and related emerging threat applications, The current physics-based models we are using coordinate a sensor array for mukivanate sig- nal optimization and coverage as re,alized by a swarm of robots or mobile vehicles. These intelligent control systems integrate'glob"ally operating decision-making systems and locally cooperative learning neural net- works to enhance re+-timp operational responses to dynarnical environments examples of which include obstacle avoidance, res~onding to prevailing wind patterns, and overcoming other natural obscurants or in- terferences. Collectively',tkensor nefirons with simple properties, interacting according to basic community rules, can accomplish complex interconnecting functions such as generalization, error correction, pattern recognition, sensor fusion, and localization. Neural nets provide a greater degree of robusmess and fault tolerance than conventional systems in that minor variations or imperfections do not impair performance. The robotic platforms would be equipped with sensor devices that perform opticaI detection of biologicais in combination with multivariate chemical analysis tools …

Analytical results are presented on the chemical composition and other physical properties of a glass, given the identification BNFL-A-S98, made at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory' that is representative of the low-activity waste glass composition proposed by BNFL, Inc.* for immobilization of envelope A double-shell tank wastes at the Hanford Site. This glass was prepared for use in a testing program to be conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and at Argonne National Laboratory for the purpose of characterizing its long-term corrosion behavior. Detailed examination of the glass microstructure using transmission electron microscopy showed structural features indicative of amorphous phase separation. A remelt was performed on a smaller batch (100 g) to ensure rapid cooling. The glass microstructure was reexamined and showed no evidence of phase separation. Selected long-term (some to 860 d) product consistency tests were terminated, and the leachates were analyzed on tests with three other representative low-activity waste glass formulations (L8- 1, L8-3, and L8-7). The results showed no evidence of corrosion rate acceleration at three times the duration of tests where another well-studied glass, LD6-5412, had been completely altered under identical test conditions. These tests (and others not discussed in this report) provide clear evidence that low-activity …

This document provides information regarding the source and the estimated quantity of potential airborne radionuclide emissions resulting from the operation of the Cold Vacuum Drying (CVD) Facility. The construction of the CVD Facility is scheduled to commence on or about December 1996, and will be completed when the process begins operation. This document serves as a Notice of Construction (NOC) pursuant to the requirements of 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 61 for the CVD Facility. About 80 percent of the U.S. Department of Energy`s spent nuclear fuel (SNF) inventory is stored under water in the Hanford Site K Basins. Spent nuclear fuel in the K West Basin is contained in closed canisters, while the SNF in the K East Basin is in open canisters, which allow release of corrosion products to the K East Basin water. Storage of the current inventory in the K Basins was originally intended to be on an as-needed basis to sustain operation of the N Reactor while the Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant was refurbished and restarted. The decision in December 1992 to deactivate the PURF-X Plant left approximately 2,100 MT (2,300 tons) of uranium as part of the N Reactor SNF in the K …

The purpose of this work is to estimate shape of plutonium assemblies using new signatures acquired by passive NMIS measurements (no external source). Applications include identification of containerized regular shapes of plutonium, identification by shape without template, verification of shape for template initialization, and potential utility for estimating shape of holdup in plutonium processing facilities. To illustrate the technique and test its feasibility, laboratory measurements have been performed with californium spontaneous fission sources as a surrogate for plutonium. Advantages of the technique include the following: passive (requires no external source for plutonium measurements), stationary (no scanning of the assembly is required), penetrative (shape is estimated from neutron emissions), obscurable (spatial resolution can be deliberately degraded by changing detector size and/or timing resolution), inexpensive (majority of NMIS components are commercial products), portable (detection system is transported to the item, not vice versa). It is concluded that passive NMIS measurements can infer the mass of plutonium assemblies: NMIS correlations scale directly with spontaneous fission rate (Pu-240); NMIS correlations scale with fissile mass (Pu-239) and multiplication. New third-order correlations can estimate the shape of fission sources (Pu-240 & Pu-239) from passive measurements. Surrogate measurements of californium spontaneous fission sources have demonstrated the feasibility …

Several sets of new calculations were performed to support the Spent Nuclear Fuel project nuclear criticality safety evaluation. These new calculations include partial loading of Mark IA inner elements after the outers have been loaded, a new, more robust design for the central pipe insert for the Mark IA fuel baskets, Single Pass Reactor fuel loading, the lowering of a Mark IV-loaded MCO through the concrete operating deck as-it is inserted into the Canister Storage Building storage array, and one additional scrap basket loading error. None of these calculations exceeded the criticality safety limit.

In May 1997, a historic deactivation project at the PUREX (Plutonium URanium EXtraction) facility at the Hanford Site in south-central Washington State concluded its activities (Figure ES-1). The project work was finished at $78 million under its original budget of $222.5 million, and 16 months ahead of schedule. Closely watched throughout the US Department of Energy (DOE) complex and by the US Department of Defense for the value of its lessons learned, the PUREX Deactivation Project has become the national model for the safe transition of contaminated facilities to shut down status.

This document provides guidance to contractor generator groups for developing and maintaining documentation of Pollution Prevention/Waste. Minimization (P2/WMin) Program activities. The program documentation is intended to demonstrate generator compliance with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requirements as well as state and Federal regulations.

Rate estimation of nuclear pulses emitted from nuclear detectors has been well documented in papers written as early as 1965 to as recently as 1990. It is well known that pulses emitted from a nuclear detector can vary with time and an accurate estimate of the count rate must be based on a sifficient number of pulse counts within a sample period as well as the recent history of pulse counts acquired in previous windows to accurately estimate the current rate. This paper will review the attributes of three popular counting methods and show the implementation of one of these methods, the floating mean algorithm on an embedded controller system. The software discussion will look at how to apply the chosen algorithm on two popular platforms: the Motorola 68HC11 and the Intel 805X series embedded controllers.

This report provides status of Hanford activities in response to process deficiencies highlighted during and in response to the May 14, 1997, explosion at the Plutonium Reclamation Facility. This report provides specific response to the August 4, 1997, memorandum from the Secretary which requested a progress report, in 120 days, on activities associated with reassessing the known and evaluating new vulnerabilities (chemical and radiological) at facilities that have been shut down, are in standby, are being deactivated or have otherwise changed their conventional mode of operation in the last several years. In addition, this report is intended to provide status on emergency response corrective activities as requested in the memorandum from the Secretary on August 28, 1997. Status is also included for actions requested in the second August 28, 1997, memorandum from the Secretary, regarding timely notification of emergencies.

Mass spectrometers and residual gas analyzers (RGA) are used in a variety of applications for analysis of volatile and semi-volatile materials. Analysis is performed by detecting fragments of gas molecules, based on their mass to charge ratio, which are generated in the mass spectrometer. When used as a detector for a gas chromatograph, they function as a means to quantitatively identify isolated volatile species which have been separated from other species via the gas chromatograph. Vacuum Technology, Inc., (VTI) produces a magnetic sector mass spectrometer/RGA which is used in many industrial and laboratory environments. In order to increase the utility of this instrument, it is desirable to increase the mass scanning speed, thereby increasing the number of applications for which it is suited. This project performed the following three upgrades on the computer interface. (1) A new electrometer was designed and built to process the signal from the detector. This new electrometer is more sensitive, over 10 times faster, and over 100 times more stable than the electrometer it will replace. (2) The controller EPROM was reprogrammed with new firmware. This firmware acts as an operating system for the interface and is used to shuttle communications between the PC and …

This report describes results from laboratory-scale oxidative mineralization of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and the evaluation of the F/H Tank Farms as a storage/disposal option for PVA waste solution generated in the Canyons and B-line decontamination operations.

The objectives of this project were to develop computationally efficient numerical methods for modeling surfactant flooding in enhanced oil recovery and aquifer remediation. Surfactants have been considered by several oil companies to reduce the large residual oil saturations, and are being seriously considered for cleanup of dense contaminants in aquifers, particularly chlorinated hydrocarbons. The authors employed second-order Godunov methods for the discretization of the conservation laws, and lowest-order mixed finite element methods for the discretization of the pressure equation. They also used dynamically adaptive mesh refinement to concentrate the computational work. The development of the second-order Godunov method required a mathematical analysis of the hyperbolic wave structure; this analysis discovered undesirable features f the model that lead to infinite characteristic speeds. Minor modifications of the model to remove the infinite characteristic speeds improved the stability of the model considerably. The use of adaptive mesh refinement required the development of several techniques for upscaling various physical quantities, and a multigrid iteration for the pressure equation on an adaptively refined grid. Numerical simulations showed that the second-order Godunov method is reasonably effective in preserving sharp fluid fronts, but is too computationally expensive in so complex a fluid model. On the other hand, …

This report presents the results of a groundwater modeling study that evaluates the performance of the biosparging system at the Sanitary Landfill.

An earlier report suggested a double headwave method of generating a rarefaction first motion. In this method a geologic situation is selected so that energy that has been critically refracted once above the shot and once below shot arrives first. Since the theory of headwaves gives in the usual stationary phase approximation a ninety degree phase shift for each critical refraction, energy that has been critically refracted twice produces a 180 degree phase shift. Oil well data was presented to show that the necessary geologic situation exists in nature. A question has come up regarding the propagation of long wave lengths (16,000 ft) in the thin bed (3000 ft.) above the shot in the geologic situation cited in the earlier report. At the tine of writing of the report it was realized that the thickness of the bed should be considered in propagating the 3 to 5 wavelengths along the bed. The theoretical problem of propagation in high speed elastic bed has not been solved. The best information available at this time indicates that it might indeed be possible to go out into reef country and experimentally find a location suitable to generate a rarefaction first motion by the double …

The H2Fuel Bus is the world's first hydrogen-fueled electric hybrid transit bus. It was a project developed through a public/private partnership involving several leading technological and industrial organizations, with primary funding by the Department of Energy (DOE). The primary goals of the project are to gain valuable information on the technical readiness and economic viability of hydrogen fueled buses and to enhance the public awareness and acceptance of emerging hydrogen technologies.

The 9968 package is designed for surface shipment of fissile and other radioactive materials where a high degree of double containment is required. The use of the 9968 radioactive material package for a one time shipment of a 32 watt heat source versus the SARP approved maximum 30 watt heat source is addressed in this report. The analyses show that the small increase in heat load from 30 watts to 32 watts does not substantially increase internal temperatures or pressures that would approach limits for the package. Also, the weight of the content is within the current 9968 package limits. It is concluded that the 32-watt heat source can be safely shipped in the 9968 package and therefore a waiver to ship the source is justified.

This report discusses the procedures used to perform the sampling, the methods used to analyze the samples, and the results.

EQ3/6 geochemical modeling code package was used to investigate the interaction of the Topopah Spring Tuff and J-13 water at high temperatures. EQ3/6 input parameters were obtained from the results of laboratory experiments using USW G-1 core and J-13 water. Laboratory experiments were run at 150 and 250{sup 0}C for 66 days using both wafer-size and crushed tuff. EQ3/6 modeling reproduced results of the 150{sup 0}C experiments except for a small increase in the concentration of potassium that occurs in the first few days of the experiments. At 250{sup 0}C, the EQ3/6 modeling reproduced the major water/rock reactions except for a small increase in potassium, similar to that noted above, and an overall increase in aluminum. The increase in potassium concentration cannot be explained at this time, but the increase in A1 concentration is believed to be caused by the lack of thermodynamic data in the EQ3/6 data base for dachiardite, a zeolite observed as a run product at 250{sup 0}C. The ability to reproduce the majority of the experimental rock/water interactions at 150{sup 0}C validates the use of EQ3/6 as a geochemical modeling tool that can be used to theoretically investigate physical/chemical environments in support of the Waste Package …