Storage of electrical energy on a utility scale is currently not practicable for most utilities, preventing the full utilization of existing base-load capacity. A potential solution to this problem is Flywheel Energy Storage (FES), made possible by technological developments in high-temperature superconducting materials. Commonwealth Research Corporation (CRC), the research arm of Commonwealth Edison Company, and Argonne National Laboratory are implementing a demonstration project to advance the state of the art in high temperature superconductor (HTS) bearing performance and the overall demonstration of efficient Flywheel Energy Storage. Currently, electricity must be used simultaneously with its generation as electrical energy storage is not available for most utilities. Existing storage methods either are dependent on special geography, are too expensive, or are too inefficient. Without energy storage, electric utilities, such as Commonwealth Edison Company, are forced to cycle base load power plants to meet load swings in hourly customer demand. Demand can change by as much as 30% over a 12-hour period and result in significant costs to utilities as power plant output is adjusted to meet these changes. HTS FES systems can reduce demand-based power plant cycling by storing unused nighttime capacity until it is needed to meet daytime demand.

Cerium-doped lithium-silicate glass fibers have been developed at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for use as thermal neutron detectors. By using highly-enriched {sup 6} Li , these fibers efficiently capture thermal neutrons and produce scintillation light that can be detected at the ends of the fibers. Advantages of scintillating fibers over {sup 3}He or BF{sub 3} proportional tubes include flexibility in geometric configuration, ruggedness in high-vibration environments, and less detector weight for the same neutron sensitivity. This paper describes the performance of these scintillating fibers with regard to count rates, pulse height spectra, absolute efficiencies, and neutron/gamma discrimination. Fibers with light transmission lengths (1/e) of greater than 2 m have been produced at PNL. Neutron sensors in fiber form allow development of a variety of neutron detectors packaged in previously unavailable configurations. Brief descriptions of some of the devices already produced are included to illustrate these possibilities.

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has fabricated cerium-activated lithium silicate scintillating fibers via a hot-downdraw process. These fibers, which, as produced, typically have a transmission length (e{sup {minus}1} length) of greater than 2 meters, are found to undergo aging when subjected to room air. The aging, which is complete in a few weeks, reduces the transmission length to the order of 0.5 meter. Because of the high alkali content of the glass (on the order of 20--30 mole % lithia), we have attributed this aging to aqueous corrosion oat the polymer cladding/glass interface. changes in transmission with chemical treatment of the surface support the corrosion model. Fiber transmission performance has been preserved by modifying the hot-downdraw to a double crucible to produce glass-on-glass waveguides.

Introduction of organic materials into hermetically sealed electronic packages increases the risk of failure due to contamination. The contaminants of concern are moisture and ionics. This combination can lead to unwanted electrical pathways and/or corrosion. To minimize sealed-in moisture, packages are vacuum-baked for 16 hours at 200 C and Au/Sn solder-sealed i a glove box purged with dry nitrogen. Even following this procedure, the package plating and organic adhesive can still outgas moisture during high-temperature storage. Long-term aging characteristics for a silver-filled epoxy and a silver-filled polyimide were investigated. Leadless chip carriers (LCCs) containing die attached with epoxy or polyimide were aged at 25 C, 100 C, 150 C, and 200 C for up to six months. Residual gas analysis (RGA) and die shear testing were performed on each package. Results indicate that the epoxy can withstand storage at 150 C with no increase in internal moisture. The polyimide could only be stored at 100 C. No loss in shear strength for epoxy or polyimide was noted at any storage condition.

Inhalation and dermal exposure by showering has been identified as a significant route of exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Elimination of the ingestion route of exposure by providing bottled water alone, therefore, may not be protective of human health; and the removal of VOCs from alternative water supplies may be required. This change may tremendously increase the cost of providing alternative water supplies to communities where private wells are the p source of water. Previously published laboratory and field studies for quantifying inhalation exposure during showering have been conducted in nearly closed chambers with air exchange in the shower area. Theoretical modeling studies for indoor air exposure have also assumed that air exchange rates during showering are negligible; however, air exchange rates on the order of 5-10 air changes per hour can easily be achieved by using commercially available ventilation fans. Calculated VOC concentrations in air at higher air exchange rates are lower, and the estimated inhalation dose in a ventilated shower is less than half of or lower than (depending on the volatilization rate) that in a relatively closed shower chamber. Calculated excess health risks from inhalation exposure to carbon tetrachloride in ventilated showers are on the order …

Conventional approaches to characterize aquifers at hazardous waste sites rely heavily on the installation of monitoring wells, hydraulic testing, and sampling and analysis of groundwater for contaminant concentrations. The use of geochemical techniques to determine relationships among aquifers in environmental investigations is limited, in part, because of a generally held view that these techniques may not be useful for shallow aquifers. In this paper, the authors discuss the use of (a) major ion compositions, (b) stable isotope ratios of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, and (c) the abundance of tritium to identify multiple aquifers, to establish the lateral extent of aquitards, and to determine hydraulic interconnections among aquifers at two hazardous waste sites. Experience with these and ongoing investigations at several other sites demonstrates that carefully conducted geochemical sampling and analysis of limited samples of groundwater provide an effective tool for hydrogeologic characterization in a variety of geologic settings.

The electronic cone penetrometer (ECPT) is increasingly being used for environmental characterization of hazardous waste sites, especially to delineate subsurface lithology and to obtain samples of groundwater. A potentially powerful use of the ECPT is the mapping of subsurface hydrostratigraphic features and aquifer piezometric surface(s) by using measurements of pore pressure. Most published studies on the use of the ECPT have been limited to shallow sand-clay sequences and indicate only limited success in hydrogeologic characterization. In this paper, we discuss a method for delineating the depth and thicknesses of unsaturated and saturated zones on the basis of the nature and rate of pore pressure dissipation. We have used this method to depths of 110 ft at several sites underlaid by clay-sand or weathered shale-limestone sequences. The equilibrium pore pressures in the saturated zone should ideally indicate the depth of the water table or aquifer piezometric surface; however, our data indicate that an apparent equilibrium value for pore pressures may be obtained that may be lower or higher than the true value, depending on the composition and grain size of the material in the aquifer, the depth of the dissipation test within the saturated zone, and the history of use of …

The High-Altitude Balloon Experiment (HABE) telescope was designed to operate at an ambient temperature of {minus}55 C and an altitude of 26 km, using a precooled primary mirror. Although at this altitude the air density is only 1.4 percent of the value at sea level, the temperature gradients within the telescope are high enough to deform the optical wavefront. This problem is considerably lessened by precooling the primary mirror to {minus}35 C. This paper describes the application of several codes to determine the range of wavefront deformation during a mission.

The Option 9, Cool Communities, of the Clinton-Gore Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) calls for mobilizing community and corporate resources to strategically plant trees and lighten the surfaces of buildings and roads in order to reduce cooling energy use of the buildings. It is estimated that Cool Communities Project will potentially save over 100 billion kilowatt-hour of energy per year corresponding to 27 million tons of carbon per year by the year 2015. To pursue the CCAP`s objectives, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) on behalf of the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), organized a one-day meeting to (1) explore the need for developing a national plan to assess the technical feasibility and commercial potential of high-albedo (``cool``) building materials, and if appropriate, to (2) outline a course of action for developing the plan. The meeting took place on February 28, 1994, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The proceedings of the conference, Cool Building Materials, includes the minutes of the conference and copies of presentation materials distributed by the conference participants.

Experimentation and testing with CO{sub 2}, pellet decontamination technology is being conducted at Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC), Richland, Washington. There are 1100 known existing waste sites at Hanford. The sites specified by federal and state agencies are currently being studied to determine the appropriate cleanup methods best for each site. These sites are contaminated and work on them is in compliance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). There are also 63 treatment, storage, and disposal units, for example: groups of waste tanks or drums. In 1992, there were 100 planned activities scheduled to bring these units into the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) compliance or close them after waste removal. Ninety-six of these were completed. The remaining four were delayed or are being negotiated with regulatory agencies. As a result of past defense program activities at Hanford a tremendous volume of materials and equipment have accumulated and require remediation.

This paper suggests that future challenges to US national security will be very different from those previously experienced. In a number of foreseeable circumstances, conventional military force will be inappropriate. The National Command Authority, and other appropriate levels of command, need expanded options available to meet threats for which the application of massive lethal force is counterproductive or inadvisable. It is proposed that nonlethal concepts be developed that provide additional options for military leaders and politicians. Included in this initiative should be exploration of policy, strategy, doctrine, and training issues as well as the development of selected technologies and weapons. In addition, civilian law enforcement agencies have similar requirements for less-than-lethal systems. This may be an excellent example for a joint technology development venture.

During this period, focus was on design and synthesis of bifunctional polymers for complexing metal ions from aqueous solutions; this could provide a means for separating radioactive and toxic metal ions from contaminated waste water as well as valuable metals from dilute ore processing streams. The synthesis of bifunctional polymers required a new preparative technique; bifunctional interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) was an important part of the studies. In the preparation, a pre-formed crosslinked polymer is contacted with a solution of monomers, and a second network was polymerized within the first. Imidazole ligands were used. A new resin, prepared with a macrocyclic sorbed within polystyrene beads modified with sulfonic acid ligands, extracted Cu(II) 10--100-fold. Maximum metal ion complexation rates depend on a balance between chemical interactions and physical parameters (matrix porosity, rigidity). A novel ion exchange resin (Diphonix{trademark}) has been produced which displays both ionic selectivity (diphosphonic acid ligands) and rapid complexation rates (sulfonic acid ligands).

Standard fieldable alpha detectors are severely limited when monitoring alpha contamination on equipment, large surfaces, or the inside surfaces of pipes. New regulations are driving a need for new technologies to address these problem areas. The Long-Range Alpha Detector (LRAD) technology addresses these problems by detecting ion pairs created by an alpha particle in ambient air, rather than the alpha particle directly. These ion pairs, whose lifetime is several seconds, are transported to a collection grid by using either an airflow or an electric field. When collected, these ion pairs create a small electric current (typically 10{sup {minus}13} to 10{sup {minus}14} A) that is read by an electrometer and displayed on a data acquisition system. This method of detection is also being used to create monitoring systems for health physics, environmental site characterization decontamination characterization, and it is adaptable to cover the new needs of the power industry.

Interfacing an ion accelerator to a transmission electron microscope (TEM) allows the analytical functions of TEM imaging and diffraction to be employed during ion-irradiation effects studies. At present there are twelve such installations in Japan, one in France and one in the US. This paper treats several aspects of in situ studies involving electron and ion beam induced and enhanced phase transformations and presents results of several in situ experiments to illustrate the dynamics of this approach in the materials science of irradiation effects. The paper describes the ion- and electron-induced amorphization of CuTi; the ion-irradiation-enhanced transformation of TiCr{sub 2}; and the ion- and electron-irradiation-enhanced crystallization of CoSi{sub 2}.

In fulfillment of contract SSC92-W-17743, Argonne National Laboratory is required to closeout and document all work performed in the design and development of the central calorimeter for the Solenoidal Detector Collaboration (SDC) Detector at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory (SSCL). This report will summarize the work performed, and identify all documents (technical reports, memo`s, drawings, etc.) that resulted from that effort. The work under this contract was shared in collaboration with the Westinghouse Science and Technology Center (WSTC) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the intent of this report to provide information that can be useful in the development of future detectors for high energy physics particle research.

We report 4.2-K photodesorption experiments in two quasi -- closed geometries-a simple tube and a tube with a coaxial perforated liner -- designed to manure separately the desorption coefficients of tightly bound and physisorbed molecules. The results are important for the beam tube vacuum of the next generation of superconducting proton colliders that have been contemplated-the 20-TeV Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) in the United States and the 7.3-TeV Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

The Data and Dimensions Interface (DDI) addresses a significant problem in the visualization of large datasets: Extracting only the relevant data and providing it to a chosen destination in the required form without significant effort. Many different research communities have developed formats for storing and retrieving scientific data and its associated information. These format, while similar in their intent, are not intercompatible. Lack of support for these formats in commercial visualization systems has been an impediment to their use. Data file size may also cause problems; while sometimes generated on supercomputers, these files are often visualized on smaller machines. DDI was developed as a collaboration between the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) and the National Energy Research Supercomputer Center (NERSC), both of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). DDI was inspired by the PCMDI Graphics Package, as well as NCSA Collage.

For some deep geological disposal systems, the level of confinement provided by the natural and engineered barriers is considered to be so high that the greatest long-term risks associated with waste disposal may arise from the possibility of future human actions breaching the natural and/or engineered barrier systems. Following a Workshop in 1989, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency established a Working Group on Assessment of Future Human Actions (FHA) a Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites. This Group met four times in the period 1991--1993, and has extensively reviewed approaches to and experience of incorporating the effects of FHA into long-term performance assessments (PAs). The Working Group`s report reviews the main issues concerning the treatment of FHA, presents a general framework for the quantitative, consideration of FHA in radioactive waste disposal programmes, and discusses means in reduce the risks associated with FHA. The Working Group concluded that FHA must be considered in PAs, although FHA where the actors were cognizant of the risks could be ignored. Credit can be taken for no more than several hundred years of active site control; additional efforts should therefore be taken to reduce the risks associated with FHA. International agreement on principles for the construction of …

A major technical obstacle affecting the application of in situ bioremediation is the effective distribution of nutrients to the subsurface media. Pneumatic fracturing can increase the permeability of subsurface formations through the injection of high pressure air to create horizontal fracture planes, thus enhancing macro-scale mass-transfer processes. Pneumatic fracturing technology was demonstrated at two field sites at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Tests were performed to increase the permeability for more effective bioventing, and evaluated the potential to increase permeability and recovery of free product in low permeability soils consisting of fine grain silts, clays, and sedimentary rock. Pneumatic fracturing significantly improved formation permeability by enhancing secondary permeability and by promoting removal of excess soil moisture from the unsaturated zone. Postfracture airflows were 500% to 1,700% higher than prefracture airflows for specific fractured intervals in the formation. This corresponds to an average prefracturing permeability of 0.017 Darcy, increasing to an average of 0.32 Darcy after fracturing. Pneumatic fracturing also increased free-product recovery rates of number 2 fuel from an average of 587 L (155 gal) per month before fracturing to 1,647 L (435 gal) per month after fracturing.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the analytical tool of choice for the exact identification of unknown organic chemicals in environmental samples. Capillary gas chromatography, combined with the specific identification capabilities of mass spectrometry, allows the rapid and complete characterization of individual compounds in complex mixtures. As the technology has developed, many manufacturers have offered bench-top MS systems that provide a variety of analytical capabilities. Many instruments have been promoted as ``detectors for gas chromatography.`` More recently, manufacturers have offered integrated packages that can be transported to the field to provide analytical capabilities previously available only in the laboratory. The demonstrated field utility of these field-transportable units has triggered an interest in smaller, lighter weight, and more portable instruments. However, the current weight (>100 lb), large size, and laboratory-based power consumption requirements of these units is viewed as a liability by some potential field instrument users. Over the past several years, the interest in field-deployable instruments has resulted in research and development into smaller GC-MS systems designed with limited applications. While the development of these instruments is certainly worthwhile, a reliable and robust GC-MS instrument that clearly addresses the field-deployable needs for all environmental sampling and analysis would have considerable utility. …

The NTS (Nevada Test Site) Ground Motion Data Base is composed of strong motion data recorded during the normal execution of the US underground test program. It contains surface, subsurface, and structure motion data as digitized waveforms. Currently the data base contains information from 148 underground explosions This represents about 4200 measurements and nearly 12,000 individual digitized waveforms. Most of the data was acquired by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in connection with LANL sponsored underground tests. Some was acquired by Los Alamos on tests conducted by the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and there are some measurements which were acquired by the other test sponsors on their events and provided to us for inclusion in this data base. Included in the data set is the Los Alamos motion data from the Non-Proliferation Experiment (NPE).

This report presents a compilation of groundwater monitoring data from Solid Waste Storage Area (SWSA) 5 North at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) between November 1989 and September 1993. Monitoring data were collected as part of the Active Sites Environmental Monitoring Program that was implemented in 1989 in response to DOE Order 5820.2A. SWSA 5 North was established for the retrievable storage of transuranic (TRU) wastes in 1970. Four types of storage have been used within SWSA 5 North: bunkers, vaults, wells, and trenches. The fenced portion of SWSA 5 North covers about 3.7 ha (9 acres) in the White Oak Creek watershed south of ORNL. The area is bounded by White Oak Creek and two ephemeral tributaries of White Oak Creek. Since 1989, groundwater has been monitored in wells around SWSA 5 North. During that time, elevated gross alpha contamination (reaching as high as 210 Bq/L) has consistently been detected in well 516. This well is adjacent to burial trenches in the southwest corner of the area. Water level measurements in wells 516 and 518 suggest that water periodically inundates the bottom of some of those trenches. Virtually all of the gross alpha contamination is generated by Curium 244 …

Most database development organizations use a formal software development methodology that requires a certain amount of formal testing. The amount of formal testing that will be performed will vary from methodology to methodology and from site to site. If a very detailed formal test plan is required for each module in a system, the work involved to produce the test plan can be tedious and costly. After a system has been designed and developed using Oracle*CASE, there is much useful information in the CASE*Dictionary repository. If this information could be tied to specific test requirements, a test plan could be generated automatically, saving much time and resources. This paper shows how CASE*Dictionary can be used to store test plan information that can then be used to generate a specific test plan for each module based on it`s detailed data usage.

The Greater Confinement Disposal (GCD) facility was established in Area 5 at the Nevada Test Site for containment of waste inappropriate for shallow land burial. Some transuranic (TRU) waste has been disposed of at the GCD facility, and compliance of this disposal system with EPA regulation 40 CFR 191 must be evaluated. We have adopted an iterative approach in which performance assessment results guide site data collection, which in turn influences the parameters and models used in performance assessment. The first iteration was based upon readily available data, and indicated that the GCD facility would likely comply with 40 CFR 191 and that the downward flux of water through the vadose zone (recharge) had a major influence on the results. Very large recharge rates, such as might occur under a cooler, wetter climate, could result in noncompliance. A project was initiated to study recharge in Area 5 by use of three environmental tracers. The recharge rate is so small that the nearest groundwater aquifer will not be contaminated in less than 10,000 years. Thus upward liquid diffusion of radionuclides remained as the sole release pathway. This second assessment iteration refined the upward pathway models and updated the parameter distributions based …