Laboratory techniques are developed that allow concurrent measurement of unsaturated matrix hydraulic conductivity and fracture transmissivity of fractured rock blocks. Two Apache Leap tuff blocks with natural fractures were removed from near Superior, Arizona, shaped into rectangular prisms, and instrumented in the laboratory. Porous ceramic plates provided solution to block tops at regulated pressures. Infiltration tests were performed on both test blocks. Steady flow testing of the saturated first block provided estimates of matrix hydraulic conductivity and fracture transmissivity. Fifteen centimeters of suction applied to the second block top showed that fracture flow was minimal and matrix hydraulic conductivity was an order of magnitude less than the first block saturated matrix conductivity. Coated-wire ion-selective electrodes monitored aqueous chlorided breakthrough concentrations. Minute samples of tracer solution were collected with filter paper. The techniques worked well for studying transport behavior at near-saturated flow conditions and also appear to be promising for unsaturated conditions. Breakthrough curves in the fracture and matrix, and a concentration map of chloride concentrations within the fracture, suggest preferential flows paths in the fracture and substantial diffusion into the matrix. Average travel velocity, dispersion coefficient and longitudinal dispersivity in the fracture are obtained. 67 refs., 54 figs., 23 tabs.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared this report on the progress of site characterization activities at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. This report is the first of a series of reports that will hereafter be issued at intervals of approximately 6-months during site characterization. The DOE`s plans for site characterization are described in the Site Characterization Plan (SCP) for the Yucca Mountain site. The SCP has been reviewed and commented on by the NRC, the State of Nevada, the affected units of local government, other interested parties, and the public. More detailed information on plans for site characterization is being presented in study plans for the various site characterization activities. This progress report presents short summaries of the status of site characterization activities and cites technical reports and research products that provide more detailed information on the activities. The report provides highlights of work started during the reporting period, work in progress, and work completed and documented during the reporting period. In addition, the report is the vehicle for discussing major changes, if any, to the DOE`s site characterization program resulting from ongoing collection and evaluation of site information; the development of repository and waste-package designs; receipt of performance-assessment …

The US Department of Energy, through its Yucca Mountain Project Office, has been conducting prototype activities in welded and non-welded tuff. These activities are in preparation for characterization of the Yucca Mountain area, which is under consideration as a site for a geologic repository in which high-level nuclear waste could be safely stored. Investigators from organizations that will conduct the site investigation have been afforded opportunity, through the prototype program, to test, evaluate, and develop instruments, equipment, and methods. The Exploratory Shaft Facility will be used to collect significant amounts of underground site characterization data. The prototype tests are conducted under similar conditions. 3 refs., 4 figs.

Partially failed containers may provide a meaningful barrier to the release of gaseous radionuclides. A modeling approach is outlined and sample calculations are provided that show the effects on release due to a limited perforation area, to decreasing temperature, and to the partial occlusion of the perforated area by corrosion products. 8 refs., 2 tabs.

This paper presents preliminary transport calculations for radionuclide movement at Yucca Mountain. Several different realizations of spatially distributed sorption coefficients are used to study the sensitivity of radionuclide migration. These sorption coefficients are assumed to be functions of the mineralogic assemblages of the underlying rock. The simulations were run with TRACRN{sup 1}, a finite-difference porous flow and radionuclide transport code developed for the Yucca Mountain Project. Approximately 30,000 nodes are used to represent the unsaturated and saturated zones underlying the repository in three dimensions. Transport calculations for a representative radionuclide cation, {sup 135}Cs, and anion, {sup 99}Tc, are presented. Calculations such as these will be used to study the effectiveness of the site`s geochemical barriers at a mechanistic level and to help guide the geochemical site characterization program. The preliminary calculations should be viewed as a demonstration of the modeling methodology rather than as a study of the effectiveness of the geochemical barriers. The model provides a method for examining the integration of flow scenarios with transport and retardation processes as currently understood for the site. The effects on transport of many of the processes thought to be active at Yucca Mountain may be examined using this approach. 11 refs., …

In support to the Yucca Mountain Project waste package and repository design efforts, LLNL conducted heat-transfer modeling of the volcanic tuff in the repository. The analyses quantify: the thermal response of a finite size, uniformly loaded repository where each panel of emplacement drifts contains the same type of heat source the response given a realistic waste stream inventory to show the effect of inter-panel variations; and the intra-panel response for various realistic distributions of sources within the panel. The calculations, using the PLUS family of computer codes, are based on a linear superposition, in time and in space, of the analytic solution of individual, constant output point sources located in an infinite, isotropic, and homogeneous medium with constant thermal properties. 8 refs., 22 figs., 3 tabs.

In 1982, the US Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to initiate the process of choosing a location to permanently store high-level nuclear waste from the designated Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the only location to be studied as a candidate site for such a repository. The original acts and its amendments had established the grant mechanism by which the state of Nevada could finance an investigation of the potential socioeconomic impacts that could result from the installation and operation of this facility. Over the past three years, the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM or RW) in the US Department of Energy (DOE) has approved grant requests by Nevada to perform this investigation. This report is intended to update and enhance a literature review conducted by the Human Affairs Research Center (HARC) for the Basalt Waste Isolation Project that dealt with the psychological and sociological processes underlying risk perception. It provides addition information on the HARC work, covers a subsequent step in the impact-estimation process, and translates risk perception into decisions and behaviors with economic consequences. It also covers recently developed techniques for assessing the nature and magnitude of impacts caused by environmental changes focusing on those impacts …

We previously presented analyses of gas flow into and out of a partly failed nuclear waste container for various assumed hole sizes and failure times. We also estimated the release rate of {sup 14}C by advection and counter-diffusion from the failed container. Here we present an estimate of {sup 14}C release rate and cumulative release for hole sizes of one to 300-{mu}m and failure at emplacement and 300 years. 4 refs., 4 figs.

The purpose of this task (HFBR Restart Activity A2.6) is to perform a review of the design basis accident (DBA) analyses sections of the 1964 HFBR-Final Safety Analysis Report; Volumes I and II, and the 1982 Addendum to the HFBR-FSAR for 60 MW operation to assure that operation at 40 MW will be consistent with these analyses. Additional documents utilized in the review included the Level 1 PRA for HFBR, HFBR-PDMs and HFBR-OPMs. The review indicates that the 1964 FSAR-DBA analysis in incomplete in the sense that it did not analyze some of the important initiators for 1-loop operation that include: Accidental throttling of primary flow control valves; seizure of primary pump; loss of secondary pump; accidental throttling of secondary flow control valves; rupture of secondary piping. The first three initiators were later studied in the 1982 addendum. The other two initiators have not been examined to-date for 1-loop operation. It is recommended that the impact of these initiators be assessed prior to the restart, if 1-loop operation is chosen for the restart. The review demonstrated that at 40 MW operation there are only a few accident initiators that will culminate in core damage (fuel melting and /or cladding failure) …

Heat transfer can play an important role in fluid flow near the emplacement site of high-level nuclear waste. The effects on far- field flow can be important in understanding net moisture fluxes above the repository zone. The convection in the unsaturated zone at the Yucca Mountain site was responsible for this movement. If this is so, then the convection could provide a mechanism for drying the rock above the repository zone and thus provide a buffer for heavy rainfall events. In addition, the convection would increase the movement of gaseous radionuclides such as {sup 14}CO{sub 2}, tritiated water vapor, and {sup 129}I (Weeks, 1987). Because of the complexity of the problem, numerical models were required to calculate gas flow and vapor transport at the site. Kipp previously modeled this problem using the code HST3D. This code represents the flow of a single-phase fluid with both heat- and mass-transfer effects included. Water density and partial pressure effects are accounted for by the virtual temperature method. In this paper, the problem was simulated using the code FEHMN, a finite-element heat- and mass-transfer code being developed for the Yucca Mountain Project. The work described in this paper was done in preparation of the …

Cortest Columbus is investigating the long-term performance of container materials used for high-level waste packages as part of the information needed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to assess the Department of Energy`s application to construct a geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste. The scope of work consists of employing short-term techniques, to examine a wide range of possible failure modes. Long-term tests are being used to verify and further examine specific failure modes identified as important by the short-term studies. The original focus of the program was on the salt repository but the emphasis was shifted to the Tuff repository. This report summarizes the results of a literature survey performed under Task 1 of the program. The survey focuses on the influence of environmental variables on the corrosion behavior of candidate container materials for the Tuff repository. Environmental variables considered include: radiation, thermal and microbial effects. 80 refs., 44 figs., 44 tabs.

Drift chambers are one of the position sensing technologies used in cosmic ray balloon and satellite experiments with potential application to the next generation of detectors for space flight. A low mass TPC type drift chamber, employing 8 distinct drift regions within a single gas volume has been built, tested and used at the LBL Bevalac. From the drift time X-coordinate, spatial resolutions below 100 {mu}m are obtained for a variety of heavy ions with selected trigger modes. The Y-coordinate is determined by pickup pads located behind the anode wire, thereby providing both X and Y coordinates from the same avalanche. Results from different timing schemes, {delta}-ray effects and the pickup pad resolution are presented. 6 refs., 5 figs.

Purpose of the Phase I effort was to demonstrate feasibility of the fuel cell/battery system for powering a small bus (under 30 ft or 9 m) on an urban bus route. A brassboard powerplant was specified, designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate feasibility in the laboratory. The proof-of-concept bus, with a powerplant scaled up from the brassboard, will be demonstrated under Phase II.

The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) has organized an international project to synthesize and advance current theory on the influence of ecotones, or transition zones between ecosystems, on biodiversity and flows of energy, nutrients, water, and project is other materials between ecosystems. In particular, the entire project is designed to evaluate the influence of global climate change and land-use practices on biodiversity and ecological flows associated with ecotones, and will assess the feasibility of monitoring ecotones as early indicators of global change. The later stages of the project will recommend landscape management strategies for ecotones that produce desirable patterns of biodiversity and ecological flows. The result of the project--a comprehensive body of information on the theory and management of biodiversity and ecological flows associated with ecotones--will be part of the planning for research to be carried out under the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program.

This report reviews the activities and operations of the Advanced Computing Research Facility (ACRF) for the period January 1, 1989, through January 31, 1990. The ACRF is operated by the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. The facility's principal objective is to foster research in parallel computing. Toward this objective, the ACRF continues to operate experimental advanced computers and to sponsor new technology transfer efforts and new research projects.

The goal of this project is to compare net-pen rearing methods to traditional hatchery methods of rearing upriver bright fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawvtscha). Fish were reared at several densities in net pens at three Columbia River backwater sites during 1984-1987, and in a barrier net at one site during 1984-1986; methods included both fed and unfed treatments. The purpose of this report is to summarize the results obtained from the unfed treatments and the current return of adults from all fed treatments and the barrier net. Zooplankton were the primary food item of unfed fish. Fish reared in net pens utilized insects colonizing the nets as an additional food source, whereas those reared in the barrier net did not. Growth and production of fish reared in the unfed treatments were low. Instantaneous growth rates of unfed fish were much lower than those of the fed treatments and hatchery controls except when zooplankton densities were high and chironomid larvae were important in the diet of unfed fish reared in pens. Only fish in the barrier net treatment resulted in consistent net gains in growth and production over the rearing periods. Adult returns of fish from all fed and unfed treatments …

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In order to mitigate the impact of longer rotations for the red-cockaded woodpecker on timber production, a multi-objective linear programming model was used. Various streams of habitat in relation to timber management were examined. Large areas immediately set aside for habitat may, in fact, lead to long term declines as a result of poor initial stand conditions. Timber production, harvesting and various silvicultural activities will have a short term impact but lead to long-term sustainable habitat condition for this species.

This annual report for calendar year 1989 describes the efforts performed under the Private Sector Initiatives contract. The report also describes those efforts that have continued with private funding after being initiated under this contract.

A large study of morphological attributes of longleaf pine nursery stock at the Savannah River site of the various attributes measured, only number of lateral roots and seedling diameters were related to performance. Lateral root pruning in the nursery also improved performance. Both survival and growth during the first two years were strongly correlated with larger stem diameter and larger root system development.

Compilation of monthly reports from departments in the city of San Antonio, Texas providing statistics, project updates, and other information about services and activities. This set of reports includes information about permits and the Board of Adjustment & Historic Preservation for February 1990.

Monthly newsletter of the Alamo Area Council of Governments describing news and events of relevance to the agencies.

Process verification testing using in situ vitrification (ISV) was successfully performed in a pilot-scale test using soils containing fuel oils and heavy metals from Site 10 Installation Restoration Program (IRP) at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) located in the southern portion of middle Tennessee. This effort was directed through the U.S. Department of Energy ' s Hazardous Waste Remedial Action Program (HAZWRAP) Office managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems. In situ vitrification is a thermal treatment process that converts contaminated soils and wastes into a durable product containing glass and crystalline phases. During processing, heavy metals or other inorganic constituents are retained and immobilized in the glass structure; organic constituents are typically destroyed or removed and captured by the off-gas treatment system. The objective of this test is to verify the applicability of the ISV process for stabilization of the contaminated soil at Site 10 . The pilotscale ISV testing results, reported herein, indicate that the AEDC Site 10 Fire Training Area may be successfully processed by ISV. Site 10 is a fire training pit that is contaminated with fuel oils and heavy metals from fire training exercises. Actual site material was processed by ISV to verify its feasible …

This manual establishes the procedures for the collection of environmental samples and the performance of radiation surveys and other field measurements. Responsibilities are defined for those personnel directly involved in the collection of samples and the performance of field measurements.