We have measured the mean and standard deviation of the solution concentrations of B, Na, and Si attained in replicate dissolution tests conducted at temperatures of 20, 40, and 70 C, for durations of 3 and 7 days, and at glass/water mass ratios of 1:10 and 1:1. These and other tests were conducted to evaluate the adequacy of the test methods specified in privatization contracts and to develop a data base that can be used to evaluate the reliability of reported results for tests performed on the waste products. Tests were conducted with a glass that we formulated to be similar to low-activity waste products that will be produced during the remediation of Hanford tank wastes. Statistical analyses indicated that, while the mean concentrations of B, Na, and Si were affected by the values of test parameters, the standard deviation of replicate tests was not. The precision of the tests was determined primarily by uncertainties in the analysis of the test solutions. Replicate measurements of other glass properties that must be reported for Hanford low-activity waste products were measured to evaluate the possible adoption of the glass used in these tests as a standard test material for the product acceptance …

Continuous-fiber ceramic matrix composites (CFCCs) are currently being developed for various high-temperature applications, including use in advanced heat engines. Among the material classes of interest for such applications are silicon carbide (SiC)-fiber-reinforced SiC (SiC{sub (f)}/SiC), SiC-fiber-reinforced silicon nitride (SiC {sub (f)}/Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}), aluminum oxide (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3})-fiber-reinforced Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}{sub (f)}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}), and others. In such composites, the condition of the interfaces (between the fibers and matrix) are critical to the mechanical and thermal behavior of the component (as are conventional mechanical defects such as cracks, porosity, etc.). For example, oxidation of this interface (especially on carbon coated fibers) can seriously degrade both mechanical and thermal properties. Furthermore, thermal shock damage can degrade the matrix through extensive crack generation. A nondestructive evaluation method that could be used to assess interface condition, thermal shock damage, and to detect other ``defects`` would thus be very beneficial, especially if applicable to full-scale components. One method under development uses infrared thermal imaging to provide ``single-shot`` full-field assessment of the distribution of thermal properties in large components by measuring thermal diffusivity. By applying digital image filtering, interpolation, and least-squares-estimation techniques for noise reduction, we can achieve acquisition and analysis times …

Several new explosives have been developed for hard target and related applications. Materials having energy densities as high as 20 KJ/cc have been made. Mid-scale field trials have been carried out at Eglin Air Force Base. Fragmentation improvements 150% that of Tritonal have been attained.

To facilitate airborne radioxenon monitoring, a xenon concentration method with potential advantages over current technology in simplicity, size, and cost has been developed. The concentration technique is based on the preferential absorption of heavy noble gases (krypton, xenon, and radon) by certain organic fluids. To implement this concentration technique, a radioxenon monitoring system requires three integrated sub-systems: (1) an absorption sub-system; (2) a degassing sub-system; and (3) a radiation detection sub-system. This study is focused on the characterization and optimization of the first two sub-systems. Measurements using a small prototype absorption tower have indicated a xenon removal factor of approximately 50% and the specific concentration at saturation of certain organic fluids to be about 2.5 times the specific concentration in the sampled air. Various techniques for degassing have been investigated, including heating, purging, agitation and vacuum. Ultrasonic agitation of a thin film in a strong vacuum has been shown to be an effective means of degassing the transfer fluid continuously. Various schemes for integrating all of the sub-systems are considered. Combining the small prototype absorption and degassing sub-systems should result in a transfer efficiency of about 33% and a single stage concentration factor of about 6.7.

A CO{sub 2} mitigation process is developed which converts waste CO{sub 2} primarily recovered from coal-fired power plant stack gases with natural gas, to produce methanol as a liquid fuel and coproduct carbon as a materials commodity. The Carnol process chemistry consists of methane decomposition to produce hydrogen which is catalytically reacted with the recovered waste CO{sub 2} to produce methanol. The carbon is either stored or sold as a materials commodity. A process design is modeled and mass and energy balances are presented as a function of reactor pressure and temperature conditions. The Carnol process is a viable alternative to sequestering CO{sub 2} in the ocean for purposes of reducing CO{sub 2} emissions from coal burning power plants. Over 90% of the CO{sub 2} from the coal burning plant is used in the process which results in a net CO{sub 2} emission reduction of over 90% compared to that obtained for conventional methanol production by steam reforming of methane. Methanol as an alternative liquid fuel for automotive engines and for fuel cells achieves additional CO{sub 2} emission reduction benefits. The economics of the process is greatly enhanced when carbon can be sold as a materials commodity. Improvement in process …

Growth of diamond films from C{sub 60}/Ar microwave discharges results in a nanocrystalline microstructure with crystallite sizes in the range 3-10 nm. Heterogeneous nucleation rates of 10{sup 10} cm{sup {minus}2} sec are required to account for the results. The nucleation mechanism presented here fulfills this requirement and is based on the insertion of carbon dimer, C{sub 2}, molecules, produced by fragmentation of C{sub 60}, into the n-bonded dimer rows of the reconstructed (100) surface of diamond. Density functional theory is used to calculate the energetic of C{sub 2} insertion into carbon clusters that model the (100) surface. The reaction of singlet C{sub 2} with the double bond of the C{sub 9}H{sub 12} cluster leads to either carbene structures or a cyclobutynelike structure. At the HF/6-31G* level, the carbene product has a C{sub 2v} structure, while at the B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory, it has a C{sub s} structure with the inserted C{sub 2} tilted. No barrier for insertion into the C=C double bond of the C{sub 9}H{sub 12} cluster was found at the HF/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory. Thus, calculations including correlation energy and geometry optimization indicate that insertion of C{sub 2} into a C=C double bond leads to a …

We have studied the evolution of the edge plasma in VH-mode discharges in DIII-D as the discharge evolves from the ELM-free H-mode phase through the VH-mode phase to the final ELMing H-mode phase, by following the changes in the radial profiles of the density and temperature, in the core plasma near the separatrix and in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) plasma outside the separatrix. The electron density and temperature profiles in the SOL do not show any significant difference between the ELM-free H-mode and VH-mode phases. In the ELMing phase, the, density profile broadens during an ELM, forming a high density (n{sub e} > 1 x 10{sup 19}/m{sup 3}) plateau that extends out into the SOL to the limit of the measurement. This density plateau persists between the ELMs, although the density in the SOL does relax somewhat between the ELMs, with a characteristic time that can be larger than ten milliseconds, much longer than the sonic particle flow time to the divertor plates. The time average density scale length measured at the separatrix increases by about a factor of two after the ELMs begin. This density scale length increases with the ELM background, as measured by the photo-diodes nearest to, but …

A pulsed-flow leaching test is being conducted using three EBR-II blanket fuel segments. These samples are immersed in simulated J-13 well water. The samples are kept at a constant temperature of 90 C. Leachate is exchanged weekly and analyzed for various nuclides which are of interest from a mobility and longevity point of view. Our primary interest is in the longer-lived species such as {sup 99}Tc, {sup 237}Np, and {sup 241}Am. In addition, the behavior of U, Pu, {sup 90}Sr, and {sup 137}Cs are being analyzed. During the course of this experiment, an interesting observation has been made involving one of the samples which could indicate the possible rapid ''anoxic'' oxidation of uranium metal to UO{sub 2}.

At the Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corporation (FERMCO), our product is a clean site. We measure productivity by our progress in taking down buildings and dispositioning hazardous waste. To those ends, Quality and Safety work together to ensure that productivity is gained in the safest way possible. The Plant 7 deconstruction is an example of how this teamwork has increased productivity at the site.

Austenitic stainless steels are used extensively as structural alloys in reactor pressure vessel internal components because of their superior fracture toughness properties. However, exposure to high levels of neutron irradiation for extended periods leads to significant reduction in the fracture resistance of these steels. This paper presents results of fracture toughness J-R curve tests on four heats of Type 304 stainless steel that were irradiated to fluence levels of {approx}0.3 and 0.9 x 10{sup 21} n cm{sup {minus}2} (E >1 MeV) at {approx}288 C in a helium environment in the Halden heavy water boiling reactor. The tests were performed on 1/4-T compact tension specimens in air at 288 C; crack extensions were determined by both DC potential and elastic unloading compliance techniques.

Unidirectional fibrous monoliths (FMs) based on dense, strong ZrSiO{sub 4} cells that were surrounded by a porous, weaker ZrSiO{sub 4} cell-boundary phase were fabricated. A duplex filament was coextruded, sectioned, bundled, and the resulting bundle was extruded to form a new filament. This filament was cut and packed into plate and bar dies to produce FM test specimens. Four-point flexural tests were conducted on the cell material, cell-boundary material, and FMs. After testing, fracture surfaces and cross sections were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The FMs exhibited graceful failure in flexural testing, and the fracture surfaces exhibited clear evidence of crack deflection and delamination.

In this talk, we review how effective theories of mesons and baryons become exactly soluble in the large-N{sub c}, limit. We start with a generic hadron Lagrangian constrained only by certain well-known large-N{sub c}, selection rules. The bare vertices of the theory are dressed by an infinite class of UV divergent Feynman diagrams at leading order in 1/N{sub c}. We show how all these leading-order dia, grams can be summed exactly using semiclassical techniques. The saddle-point field configuration is reminiscent of the chiral bag: hedgehog pions outside a sphere of radius {Lambda}{sup {minus}1} ({Lambda} being the UV cutoff of the effective theory) matched onto nucleon degrees of freedom for r {le} {Lambda}{sup {minus}1}. The effect of this pion cloud is to renormalize the bare nucleon mass, nucleon-{Delta} hyperfine mass splitting, and Yukawa couplings of the theory. The corresponding large-N{sub c}, renormalization group equations for these parameters are presented, and solved explicitly in a series of simple models. We explain under what conditions the Skyrmion emerges as a UV fixed-point of the RG flow as {Lambda} {yields} {infinity}.

Flashlamp pumping of the large aperture multi-segment NIF amplifiers will result in large amounts of energy being deposited as heat in the amplifier components. The magnitude of the heating and the nonuniform distribution result in a delay time between shots due to wavefront distortion and steering error. A NEF requirement is that the thermal wavefront recovery must occur in less than six hours. The principal cause of long-term wavefront distortion is the thermal gradient produced in the slab as heat diffuses from the edge cladding into the pumped volume. Thermal equilibrium is established through conduction, convection, and exchange of thermal radiation. Radiative exchange between glass components, such as flashlamps, blast shields, and laser slabs is especially effective because of the large surface areas of these components and the high emissivity of the glass. Free convection within the amplifier enclosure is also important but is on the order of a 10 to 20% effect compared to radiation for the major surfaces. To evaluate the NIF design, the amplifier was modeled to calculate the thermal response of a single laser element. The amplifier is cooled by flowing room-temperature air or nitrogen through the flashlamp cassettes. Active cooling of the flashlamps and blast …

The Digitizing Beam Position Limit Detector (DBPLD) is designed to identify and react to beam missteering conditions in the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring. The high power of the insertion devices requires these missteering conditions to result in a beam abort in less than 2 milliseconds. Commercially available beam position monitors provide a voltage proportional to beam position immediately upstream and downstream of insertion devices. The DBPLD is a custom VME board that digitizes these voltages and interrupts the heartbeat of the APS machine protection system when the beam position exceeds its trip limits.

Selected optical diagnostics stations were upgraded in anticipation of low-emittance, bright electron beams from a thermionic rf gun or a photoelectric rf gun on the Advanced Photon Source (APS) injector linac. These upgrades include installation of optical transition radiation (OTR) screens, transport lines, and cameras for use in transverse beam size measurements and longitudinal profile measurements. Using beam from the standard thermionic gun, tests were done at 50 MeV and 400 to 650 MeV. Data were obtained on the limiting spatial ({sigma} {approximately} 200 {micro}m) and temporal resolution (300 ms) of the Chromox (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} : Cr) screen (250-{micro}n thick) in comparison to the OTR screens. Both charge-coupled device (CCD) and charge-injection device (CID) video cameras were used as well as the Hamamatsu C5680 synchroscan streak camera operating at a vertical deflection rate of 119.0 MHz (the 24th subharmonic of the S-band 2856-MHz frequency). Beam transverse sizes as small as {sigma}{sub x} = 60 {micro}m for a 600-MeV beam and micropulse bunch lengths of {sigma}{sub {tau}}<3 ps have been recorded for macropulse-averaged behavior with charges of about 2 to 3 nC per macropulse. These techniques are applicable to linac-driven, fourth-generation light source R and D experiments including the APS's …

The Department of Energy (DOE) has as two of its strategic objectives to safely accomplish the world's largest environmental clean-up of contaminated sites and the adoption of the best management practices of the private sector to achieve business-like results efficiently and effectively. An integral part of the strategic response to the challenges facing the Department has been the use of benchmarking and best practice management to facilitate identifying and implementing leading-edge thinking, practices, approaches, and solutions.

A magnetically assisted chemical separation (MACS) process was developed earlier at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This compact process was designed for the separation of transuranics (TRU) and radionuclides from the liquid waste streams that exist at many DOE sites, with an overall reduction in waste volume requiring disposal. The MACS process combines the selectivity afforded by solvent extractant/ion exchange materials with magnetic separation to provide an efficient chemical separation. Recently, the MACS process has been evaluated with acidic organophosphorus extractants for hazardous metal recovery from waste solutions. Moreover, process scale-up design issues have been addressed with respect to particle filtration and recovery. Two acidic organophosphorus compounds have been investigated for hazardous metal recovery, bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid (Cyanex{reg_sign} 272) and bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) dithiophosphinic acid (Cyanex{reg_sign} 301). Coated onto magnetic microparticles, these extractants demonstrated superior recovery of hazardous metals from solution, relative to what was expected on the basis of results from solvent extraction experiments. The results illustrate the diverse applications of MACS technology for dilute waste streams. Preliminary process scale-up experiments with a high-gradient magnetic separator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have revealed that very low microparticle loss rates are possible.

Multifragmentation studies induced by GeV light-ion beams permit investigation of the influence of intrinsic thermal properties of hot nuclear matter, with minimal interference from the compression/decompression cycle and rotational instabilities. We summarize recent results obtained with {sup 3}He, proton and pion beams up to 15 GeV/c and present the initial results from a recent experiment with 8 GeV/c antiproton and pion beams. The results are compared with INC simulations coupled to EES and SMM models and the caloric curve for the {sup 3}He data will also be discussed.

Modern third generation storage rings, require state-of-the-art grazing incidence x-ray optics, in order to monochromate the Synchrotrons Radiation (SR) source photons, and focus them into the experimental stations. Slope error tolerances in the order of 0.5 {micro}Rad RMS, and surface roughness well below 5 {angstrom} RMS, are frequently specified for mirrors and gratings exceeding 300 mm in length. Non-contact scanning instruments were developed, in order to characterize SR optical surfaces, of spherical and aspherical shape. Among these, the Long Trace Profiler (LTP), a double pencil slope measuring interferometer, has proved to be particularly reliable, and was adopted by several SR optics metrology laboratories. The ELETTRA soft x-rays and optics metrology laboratory, has operated an LTP since 1992. We review the basic operating principles of this instrument, and some major instrumental and environmental improvements, that were developed in order to detect slope errors lower than 1 {micro}Rad RMS on optical surfaces up to one metre in length. A comparison among measurements made on the same reference flat, by different interferometers (most of them were LTPs) can give some helpful indications in order to optimize the quality of measurement.

The trivariate tensor-product B-spline solid is a direct extension of the B-spline patch and has been shown to be useful in the creation and visualization of free-form geometric solids. Visualizing these solid objects requires the determination of the boundary surface of the solid, which is a combination of parametric and implicit surfaces. This paper presents a method that determines the implicit boundary surface by examination of the Jacobian determinant of the defining B-spline function. Using an approximation to this determinant, the domain space is adaptively subdivided until a mesh can be determined such that the boundary surface is close to linear in the cells of the mesh. A variation of the marching cubes algorithm is then used to draw the surface. Interval approximation techniques are used to approximate the Jacobian determinant and to approximate the Jacobian determinant gradient for use in the adaptive subdivision methods. This technique can be used to create free-form solid objects, useful in geometric modeling applications.

The conference sprang from discussions on the current climate that women face in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. The conference (and this document) is a beginning, not a culmination, of women`s learning leadership skills. Conferees were active, articulate, energetic, and ready to learn leadership qualities, some of which seem universal, others that appear to require skills in specific fields. After the introduction, the workshops and presentations are arranged under vision and direction, barriers, alignment and communication, and motivation and inspiration. Some statistics are presented on women degrees and employment in various fields.

Because toxic solvents and other hazardous materials are commonly used in analytical methods, characterization procedures result in significant and costly amount of waste. We are developing alternative analytical methods in the radiological and organic areas to reduce the volume or form of the hazardous waste produced during sample analysis. For the radiological area, we have examined high-pressure, closed-vessel microwave digestion as a way to minimize waste from sample preparation operations. Heated solutions of strong mineral acids can be avoided for sample digestion by using the microwave approach. Because reactivity increases with pressure, we examined the use of less hazardous solvents to leach selected contaminants from soil for subsequent analysis. We demonstrated the feasibility of this approach by extracting plutonium from a NET reference material using citric and tartaric acids with microwave digestion. Analytical results were comparable to traditional digestion methods, while hazardous waste was reduced by a factor often. We also evaluated the suitability of other natural acids, determined the extraction performance on a wider variety of soil types, and examined the extraction efficiency of other contaminants. For the organic area, we examined ways to minimize the wastes associated with the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in environmental samples. Conventional …

Waste logistics modeling is a powerful analytical technique that can be used for effective planning of future solid waste storage, treatment, and disposal activities. Proper waste management is essential for preventing unacceptable environmental degradation from ongoing operations, and is also a critical part of any environmental remediation activity. Logistics modeling allows for analysis of alternate scenarios for future waste flowrates and routings, facility schedules, and processing or handling capacities. Such analyses provide an increased understanding of the critical needs for waste storage, treatment, transport, and disposal while there is still adequate lead time to plan accordingly. They also provide a basis for determining the sensitivity of these critical needs to the various system parameters. This paper discusses the application of waste logistics modeling concepts to regional planning. In addition to ongoing efforts to aid in planning for a large industrial complex, the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is currently involved in implementing waste logistics modeling as part of the planning process for material recovery and recycling within a multi-city region in the western US.

The phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons has necessitated the introduction of alternate refrigerants. R22 (CF{sub 2}ClH), R134a (CF{sub 3}CH{sub 2}F), and R507 (50/50 CHF{sub 2}CF{sub 3}/CF{sub 3}CH{sub 3}) are newer fluids which are used in cooling systems. Recently, concern over the possible formation of toxic compounds during electrical arcing through these fluids has prompted us to identify their electrical breakdown products by electron ionization GC/MS. For example, it is known that perfluoroisobutylene (PFIB), which have an threshold limit value of 10 ppb (set by the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists), is produced from the thermal and electrical breakdown of some refrigerants. We have used specially designed test cells, equipped with electrodes, to simulate the electrical breakdown of R22, R134a, and R507 in refrigeration systems.