The Materials Microcharacterization Collaborator (MMC) was created last year as a pilot project within the US Department of Energy's DOE2000 program [1]. The DOE2000 program has, as its main goals, to develop improved capabilities for solving DOE's complex scientific problems, to increase DOE's R and D productivity and efficiency, and to enhance the access of R and D partners to DOE resources. One of the strategies to meet these goals is the establishment of national collaboratories to provide access via the Internet to unique or expensive DOE research facilities and to expertise for remote collaboration, experimentation, production, software development, modeling, and measurement. In addition, collaboratories will benefit researchers by providing tools for video conferencing, shared data-viewing, and collaborative analysis. Cooperative pilots projects, jointly funded by DOE2000 and a scientific program area, are expected to lead to significant scientific achievements by developing new capabilities and increasing the efficiency of doing the work (e.g., by reducing travel, increasing communication, and promoting the sharing of data among formerly disparate research groups). The MMC project unites four DOE BES electron microscopy user centers located at ANL, LBNL, ORNL and the University of Illinois with the DOE EE center located at ORNL. Also included in …

In order to prevent high-Z plasma from filling in the hohlraum in indirect drive experiments, a low-Z material, or tamper is introduced into the hohlraum. This material, when fully ionized is typically less than one-tenth of the critical density for the laser light used to illuminate the hohlraum. This tamper absorbs little of the laser light, thus allowing most of the laser energy to be absorbed in the high-Z material. However, the pressure associated with this tamper is sufficient to keep the hohlraum wall material from moving a significant distance into the interior of the hohlraum. In this paper the authors discuss measurements of the motion of the interface between the tamper and the high-Z hohlraum material. They also present measurements of the effect the tamper has on the hohlraum temperature.

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The manufacturing of steel containment vessels starts with the forming of flat plates into curved plates. A steel containment structure is made by welding individual plates together to form the sections that make up the complex shaped vessels. The metal forming and welding process leaves residual stresses in the vessel walls. Generally, the effect of metal forming residual stresses can be reduced or virtually eliminated by thermally stress relieving the vessel. In large containment vessels this may not be practical and thus, the residual stresses due to manufacturing may become important. The residual stresses could possibly affect the response of the vessel to internal pressurization. When the level of residual stresses is significant it will affect the vessel's response, for instance the yielding pressure and possibly the failure pressure. This paper will address the effect of metal forming residual stresses on the response of a generic pressure vessel to internal pressurization. A scoping analysis investigated the effect of residual forming stresses on the response of an internally pressurized vessel. A simple model was developed to gain understanding of the mechanics of the problem. Residual stresses due to the welding process were not considered in this investigation.

A recirculating induction accelerator has potential cost advantages for a heavy-ion fusion driver. In order to explore the physics and technological issues, a small prototype recirculator is being built. The three dimensional particle-in-cell code, WARP3d, is being used in the design and analysis of the experiments. WARP3d is used to examine the behavior of the beam in the electric dipoles and in the non-linear fields associated with the accelerator lattice elements. The dipoles have focusing and fringe fields which can adversely affect the beam quality. Both single particle and full beam dynamics are examined in the dipoles using realistic geometries. Dipole plate designs which minimize the adverse effects are described. The non-linear fields associated with the permanent magnetic quadrupoles have been included in the simulations. They were found to have little effect on the quality of the beam.

A technique currently under study for the detection of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray neutrinos involves the measurement of radio emissions from the electromagnetic shower generated by the neutrino in a large volume of naturally occurring dielectric such as the Antarctic ice cap or salt domes. The formation of an electron excess in the shower leads to the emission of coherent Cherenkov radiation, an effect similar to the generation of wakefields in dielectric loaded structures. We have used the finite difference time domain (FDTD) wakefield code ARRAKIS to model coherent Cherenkov radiation fields from high energy showers; we present as an example calculations of expected signals in a proof of principle experiment proposed for the Fermilab Main Injector.

The Department of Energy has selected immobilization for disposal in a repository as one approach for disposing of excess plutonium (1). Materials for immobilizing weapons-grade plutonium for repository disposal must meet the ''spent fuel standard'' by providing a radiation field similar to spent fuel (2). Such a radiation field can be provided by incorporating fission products from high-level waste into the waste form. Experiments were performed to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating high-level waste (HLW) stored at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) into plutonium dispositioning materials to meet the spent fuel standard. A variety of materials and preparation techniques were evaluated based on prior experience developing waste forms for immobilizing HLW. These included crystalline ceramic compositions prepared by conventional sintering and hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and glass formulations prepared by conventional melting. Because plutonium solubility in silicate melts is limited, glass formulations were intentionally devitrified to partition plutonium into crystalline host phases, thereby allowing increased overall plutonium loading. Samarium, added as a representative rare earth neutron absorber, also tended to partition into the plutonium host phases. Because the crystalline plutonium host phases are chemically more inert, the plutonium is more effectively isolated from the environment, and its attractiveness for …

This paper will describe the preparation and progress of the effort at Argonne National Laboratory-West to produce ceramic waste forms loaded with {sup 238}Pu. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of damage, if any, that alpha decay events will play over time to the ceramic waste form under development at Argonne. The ceramic waste form is glass-bonded sodalite. The sodalite is utilized to encapsulate the fission products and transuranics which are present in a chloride salt matrix which results from a spent fuel conditioning process. {sup 238}Pu possesses approximately 250 times the specific activity of {sup 239}Pu and thus allows for a much shorter time frame to address the issue. In preparation for production of {sup 238}Pu loaded waste forms {sup 239}Pu loaded samples were produced. Data is presented for samples produced with typical reactor grade plutonium. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron micrographs and durability test results will be presented. The ramifications for the production of the {sup 238}Pu loaded samples will be discussed.

An integral function of the electrometallurgical conditioning of DOE spent nuclear fuel is the standardization of waste forms. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed and is presently demonstrating the electrometallurgical conditioning of sodium-bonded metal fuel from Experimental Breeder Reactor II, resulting in uranium, ceramic waste, and metal waste forms. Engineering studies are underway at ANL in support of pilot-scale equipment development, which would precondition irradiated oxide fuel and likewise demonstrate the application of electrometallurgical conditioning to such non-metallic fuels. This paper highlights the integration of proposed spent oxide fuel conditioning with existing electrometallurgical processes. Additionally, technical bases for engineering activities to support a scale up of an oxide reduction process are described.

Past claims of the suitability of the MA-8 multianvil press as a deformation apparatus may have been overstated. On the basis of measurements of final octahedron size and of guide block displacement as a function of time, using the 10/5, 14/8, and 18/11 assemblies (octahedron edge length in mm/truncation edge length in mm) with MgO octahedra and pyrophyllite gasketing, it appears that at run conditions of interest to most researchers there is no appreciable time-dependent creep of gaskets and octahedra. All inelastic deformation occurs at rather low pressures: below about 10 GPa for the 10/5, 7 GPa for the 14/8, and 6 GPa for the 18/11 assemblies, with substantial uncertainties in these pressures. Above these limits all deformation of the pressure medium is elastic. Pressure stepping as a means of increasing the inelastic deformation rate of a sample is probably ineffective. Displacement measured at the guide blocks, previously believed to indicate deformation of the gaskets and octahedron, appears now to be unrelated to creep of these components. The calibrations have not been exhaustive and there is considerable scatter in some of the size measurements, so the above conclusions are not unequivocal. The calibrations do not exclude the possibility of deformation …

The characterization of laser-produced plasmas has required the application of spectroscopic techniques to non-standard conditions where kinetics models have not been extensively tested. The plasmas are produced by the Nova laser for the study of inertial confinement fusion, can be mm in size, and evolve on sub-nanosecond time scales. These targets typically achieve electron temperatures from 2-4 keV and electron densities of 10{sup 20}-10{sup 22} cm{sup {minus}3}. The authors have measured the electron temperature of two types of targets: bags of gas and hohlraums, Au cylinders with laser entrance holes in the flat ends. By comparing data from different targets, they examine the time-dependence of spectroscopic plasma diagnostics.

A single ND:YLF oscillator beam is amplified in four discrete Nd:glass, flashiamp-pumped, zig-zag amplifiers. The resulting four 30J beams are phase- locked using SBS phase conjugation, resulting in near diffraction-limited 120J pulses from a single aperture at up to a 1 OHz pulse repetition frequency.

A program was developed and implemented at LLNL to provide more detailed, documented Criticality Safety Evaluations of operations in an R&D facility. The new Criticality Safety evaluations were consistent with regulatory requirements of the then new DOE Order 5480.24, Nuclear Criticality Safety. The evaluations provide a criticality safety basis for each operation in the facility in support of the facility Safety Analysis Report. This implementation program provided a transition from one method of conducting and documenting Criticality Safety Evaluations to a new method consistent with new regulatory requirements. The program also allowed continued safe operation of the facility while the new implementation level Criticality Safety Evaluations were developed.

In the present paper, we discuss light self-focusing in underdense (n<n{sub c}) plasmas. We will show that ion motion is important even for picosecond pulse durations and a description of relativistic self-focusing including ion dynamics will be presented in second part of the paper. In particular, we will demonstrate the formation of empty, wide channels in underdense plasma in the wake of the laser pulse. we discuss the applicability of our results to real situations and possible consequences for the ``Fast Ignitor`` project.

The authors overview several of the challenges in achieving high efficiency nitride-based UV (&lt; 400 nm) LEDs. The issue of optical efficiency is presented through temperature-dependent photoluminescence studies of various UV active regions. These studies demonstrate enhanced optical efficiencies for active regions with In-containing alloys (InGaN, AlInGaN). The authors compare the performance of two distinct UV LED structures. GaN/AlGaN quantum well LEDs with {lambda} &lt; 360 nm emission have demonstrated output powers &gt; 0.1 mW, but present designs suffer from internal absorption effects. InGaN/AlInGaN quantum well LEDs with 370 nm &lt; {lambda} &lt; 390 nm emission and &gt; 1 mW output power are also presented.

Highly efficient transmission of 1.5 {micro}m light in a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal slab waveguide is experimentally demonstrated. The light wave is shown to be guided along a triple-line defect formed within a 2D crystal and vertically by a strong index-guiding mechanism. At certain wavelength ranges, a complete transmission is observed, suggesting a lossless guiding along this photonic 1D conduction channel.

The authors show that the real space representation of the interface-roughness as a fluctuating potential in the coordinate space is equivalent to the usual energy-fluctuation representation for intrasublevel scattering in a single quantum well with a generally shaped confinement-potential profile. The coordinate picture is, however, more general and can be used for higher-order effects and multi-sublevel scattering in coupled multi-quantum-well structures.

Cavitation has been suggested to be a possible source of long range interactions between mesoscopic hydrophobic surfaces. While evaporation is predicted by thermodynamics, little is known about its kinetics. Glauber dynamics Monte Carlo simulations of a lattice gas close to liquid-gas coexistence and confined between partially drying surfaces are used to model the effect of water confinement on the dynamics of surface-induced phase transition. Specifically, they examine how kinetics of induced evaporation change as the texture of hydrophobic surfaces is varied. Evaporation rates are considerably slowed with relatively small amount of hydrophilic coverage. However, the distribution of hydrophilic patches is found to be crucial, with the homogeneous one being much more effective in slowing the formation of vapor tubes which triggers the evaporation process. They estimate the free energy barrier of vapor tube formation via transition state theory, using a constrained forward-backward umbrella sampling technique applied to the metastable, confined liquid. Furthermore, to relate simulation rates to experimental ones, they perform simulations using the mass-conserving Kawasaki algorithm. They predict evaporation time scales that range from hundreds of picoseconds in the case of mesoscopic surfaces {approximately} 10{sup 4} nm{sup 2} to tens of nanoseconds for smaller surfaces {approximately} 40 nm{sup 2}, …

Exploratory hydrothermal synthesis in the system Cs{sub 2}O-SiO{sub 2}-TiO{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O has produced a new polymorph of Cs{sub 2}TiSi{sub 6}O{sub 15} (SNL-A) whose structure was determined using a combination of experimental and theoretical techniques ({sup 29}Si and {sup 133}Cs NMR, X-ray Rietveld refinement, and Density Functional Theory). SNL-A crystallizes in the monoclinic space-group Cc with unit cell parameters: a = 12.998(2) {angstrom}, b = 7.5014(3) {angstrom}, c = 15.156(3) {angstrom}, {eta} = 105.80(3) {degree}. The SNL-A framework consists of silicon tetrahedra and titanium octahedra which are linked in 3-, 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-membered rings in three dimensions. SNL-A is distinctive from a previously reported C2/c polymorph of Cs{sub 2}TiSi{sub 6}O{sub 15} by different ring geometries. Similarities and differences between the two structures are discussed. Other characterizations of SNL-A include TGA-DTA, Cs/Si/Ti elemental analyses, and SEM/EDS. Furthermore, the chemical and radiation durability of SNL-A was studied in interest of ceramic waste form applications. These studies show that SNL-A is durable in both radioactive and rigorous chemical environments. Finally, calculated cohesive energies of the two Cs{sub 2}TiSi{sub 6}O{sub 15} polymorphs suggest that the SNL-A phase (synthesized at 200 C) is energetically more favorable than the C2/c polymorph (synthesized at 1,050 C).

This service is run by Group T-2 (Nuclear Theory and Applications) of the Theoretical Division of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is operated by the University of California for the US Department of Energy. The author works on nuclear modeling, nuclear data, cross sections, nuclear masses, ENDF, NJOY data processing, nuclear astrophysics, radioactivity, radiation shielding, data for medical radiotherapy, data for high-energy accelerator applications, data and codes for fission and fusion systems, and more. For an introduction to the field of nuclear data and his site, take his Guided Tour. Much of this information can also be accessed using anonymous ftp t2.lanl.gov.

Quality metrics for structured and unstructured mesh generation are placed within an algebraic framework to form a mathematical theory of mesh quality metrics. The theory, based on the Jacobian and related matrices, provides a means of constructing, classifying, and evaluating mesh quality metrics. The Jacobian matrix is factored into geometrically meaningful parts. A nodally-invariant Jacobian matrix can be defined for simplicial elements using a weight matrix derived from the Jacobian matrix of an ideal reference element. Scale and orientation-invariant algebraic mesh quality metrics are defined. the singular value decomposition is used to study relationships between metrics. Equivalence of the element condition number and mean ratio metrics is proved. Condition number is shown to measure the distance of an element to the set of degenerate elements. Algebraic measures for skew, length ratio, shape, volume, and orientation are defined abstractly, with specific examples given. Combined metrics for shape and volume, shape-volume-orientation are algebraically defined and examples of such metrics are given. Algebraic mesh quality metrics are extended to non-simplical elements. A series of numerical tests verify the theoretical properties of the metrics defined.

A number of substantive modifications were made from Version 1.0 to Version 1.1 of the ATM Security Specification. To assist implementers in identifying these modifications, the authors propose to include a foreword to the Security 1.1 specification that lists these modifications. Typically, a revised specification provides some mechanism for implementers to determine the modifications that were made from previous versions. Since the Security 1.1 specification does not include change bars or other mechanisms that specifically direct the reader to these modifications, they proposed to include a modification table in a foreword to the document. This modification table should also be updated to include substantive modifications that are made at the San Francisco meeting.

The authors have determined the reconstructions present on AlSb and GaSb(001) under conditions typical for device growth by molecular beam epitaxy. Within the range of Sb flux and temperature where the diffraction pattern is nominally (1 x 3), three distinct (4 x 3) reconstructions actually occur. The three structures are different than those previously proposed for these growth conditions, with two incorporating mixed III-V dimers on the surface. The presence of these hetero-dimers in the top Sb layer leads to an island nucleation and growth mechanism fundamentally different than for other III-V systems.

In the manufacture of ceramic components, near-net-shape parts are commonly formed by uniaxially pressing granulated powders in rigid dies. Density gradients that are introduced into a powder compact during press-forming often increase the cost of manufacturing, and can degrade the performance and reliability of the finished part. Finite element method (FEM) modeling can be used to predict powder compaction response, and can provide insight into the causes of density gradients in green powder compacts; however, accurate numerical simulations require accurate material properties and realistic constitutive laws. To support an effort to implement an advanced cap plasticity model within the finite element framework to realistically simulate powder compaction, the authors have undertaken a project to directly measure as many of the requisite powder properties for modeling as possible. A soil mechanics approach has been refined and used to measure the pressure dependent properties of ceramic powders up to 68.9 MPa (10,000 psi). Due to the large strains associated with compacting low bulk density ceramic powders, a two-stage process was developed to accurately determine the pressure-density relationship of a ceramic powder in hydrostatic compression, and the properties of that same powder compact under deviatoric loading at the same specific pressures. Using this …