The Z-accelerator facility at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, performs critical experiments on the physics of matter at extremely high energy density as part of the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons Stockpile Stewardship Program. In order to augment and enhance the value of experiments performed at this facility, the construction of a new x-ray backlighting diagnostic system is required. New information would be obtained by recording images and/or spectra of x-ray radiation transmitted through target materials as they evolve during Z-accelerator-driven experiments (or ''shots''). In this application, we generally think of the diagnostic x-rays as illumination produced behind the target materials and detected after passing through the Z-target. Hence the x-ray source is commonly called a ''backlighter.'' The methodology is a specific implementation of the general science known as x-ray radiography and/or x-ray spectroscopy. X-ray backlighter experiments have been performed in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) facilities in many countries. On Nova, experience with backlighters has been obtained since about 1986. An intense source of x-rays is produced by focusing one of its beams on a backlighter target nearby, while the other beams are used to create the high-energy-density conditions to be studied in the experiment. This conceptual …

Augmentation of the internal software of a commercial X-ray fluorescence gauge is shown to enable the instrument to extend its continuous on-line real-time measurements of a galvanneal coating's total elemental content to encompass similar measurements of the relative thickness of the coating's three principal metallurgical phases. The mathematical structure of this software augmentation is derived from the theory of neural networks. The performance of the augmented gauge is validated by comparing the gauge implied real-time phase distribution with the phase distribution independently measured off-line on between the gauge and laboratory measurements and to suggest preferred approaches to be followed in future application of the augmented gauge.

The DOE grant supported the theoretical particle astrophysics group , and is coordinated by the Principal Investigator. Participants include faculty members Marc Davis, Lawrence Hall and Hitoshi Murayama, together with several postdoctoral fellows. During the previous and current funding period (1996--1998), several important results have been obtained that are briefly summarized in this report, including: dark matter; cosmic microwave background; and early universe and structure formation.

This project developed and tested advanced Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) instruments for process monitoring of black liquor recovery boilers. The state-of-the-art FT-IR instruments successfully operated in the harsh environment of a black liquor recovery boiler and provided a wealth of real-time process information. Concentrations of multiple gas species were simultaneously monitored in-situ across the combustion flow of the boiler and extractively at the stack. Sensitivity to changes of particulate fume and carryover levels in the process flow were also demonstrated. Boiler set-up and operation is a complex balance of conditions that influence the chemical and physical processes in the combustion flow. Operating parameters include black liquor flow rate, liquor temperature, nozzle pressure, primary air, secondary air, tertiary air, boiler excess oxygen and others. The in-process information provided by the FT-IR monitors can be used as a boiler control tool since species indicative of combustion efficiency (carbon monoxide, methane) and pollutant emissions (sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid and fume) were monitored in real-time and observed to fluctuate as operating conditions were varied. A high priority need of the U.S. industrial boiler market is improved measurement and control technology. The sensor technology demonstrated in this project is applicable to the need of industry.

The programming and website for the advanced Technology Information System (TIS) have been completed. Over and above the LSDDP-TIS, the new system provides information on DOE's baseline technologies, technology data contained in DOE's databases, technologies assessed at FIU-HCET Technology Assessment Program (TAP), as well as links to other selected D&D sites with valuable technology information. The new name for the website is Gateway for Environmental Technology (GET). A super-vacuum type blasting system was tested for decontamination of 12-in pipe internal surfaces. The system operates on compressed air and propels grit media at high speed at wall surfaces. It is equipped with a vacuum system for collecting grit, dust, and debris. This technology was selected for further development. The electret ion chamber (EIC) system for measurement of alpha contamination on surfaces has been calibrated and is ready for demonstration and deployment. FIU-HCET is working with representatives from Fernald, Oak Ridge, Rocky Flats, and Savannah River to procure a demonstration and deployment site. Final arrangements are ongoing for the mock-up design for the glove box and tank size reduction technology assessments, including designing of support bases for tanks, a piping support system, and a mobilization plan for glove boxes and tanks from …

The objective of this project is to improve the productivity and lower the expense of existing vacuum blasting technology. This technology is used to remove radioactive contamination, PCBs, and lead-based paint and provides worker protection by continuously recycling the material and dust for the decontamination tasks. The proposed work would increase the cleaning rate and provide safe and cost-effective decontamination of the DOE sites. This work focuses on redesigning and improving existing vacuum blasting technology including blast head nozzles, ergonomic handling of the blast head by reducing its weight; brush-ring design, vacuum level regulator, efficiency of the dust separator, and operational control sensors. The redesign is expected to enhance the productivity and economy of the vacuum blasting system by at least 50% over current vacuum blasting systems. There are three phases in the project. Phase I consists of developing and testing mathematical models. Phase II consists of pre-prototype design and fabrication and pre-prototype unit testing. Phase III consists of prototype design and field verification testing. In phase I, mathematical models are developed and analyzed for the nozzle, blast head, wind curtain, and dust separator, first as individual devices and then combined as an integrated model. This allows study of respective …

The novelty/innovation of the proposed work is as follows. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO {sub 2})-based extrusion and molding technology can be used to produce significantly improved (in terms of strength/unit weight, durability, hardness and chemical resistance) cement-based products. SC-CO{sub 2} can rapidly convert the calcium hydroxide in cured cement to calcium carbonate, which increases the density and unconfined compressive strength in the treated region. In cured concrete, this treated region is typically a several-mm thick layer (generally <{approx}5mm, unless treatment time is excessive). However, we have found that by treating the entire cement matrix with SC-CO{sub 2} as part of the curing process, we can carbonate it rapidly, regardless of the thickness. By ''rapidly'' we mean simultaneous carbonation/curing in < 5 ks even for large cement forms, compared to typical carbonation times of several days or even years at low pressures. Carbonation changes the pH in the treated region from {approx}13 to {approx}8, almost exactly compatible with seawater. Therefore the leaching rates from these cements is reduced. These cement improvements are directed to the development of strong but thin artificial reefs, to which can be attached microalgae used for the enhanced fixation of CO{sub 2}. It is shown below that …

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Your Genes, Your Choices provides accurate information about the ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project and genetic research in an easy-to-read style and format. Each chapter in the book begins with a brief vignette, which introduces an issue within a human story, and raises a question for the reader to think about as the basic science and information are presented in the rest of the chapter.

This report covers deposition of refractory pure metals and alloys using the Directed Light Fabrication (DLF) process and represents progress in depositing these materials through September 1998. In extending the DLF process technology to refractory metals for producing fully dense, structurally sound deposits, several problems have become evident. (1) Control of porosity in DLF-deposited refractory metal is difficult because of gases, apparently present in commercially purchased refractory metal powder starting materials. (2) The radiant heat from the molten pool during deposition melts the DLF powder feed nozzle. (3) The high reflectivity of molten refractory metals, at the Nd-YAG laser wavelength (1.06{micro}m), produces damaging back reflections to the optical train and fiber optic delivery system that can terminate DLF processing. (4) The current limits on the maximum available laser power to prevent back reflection damage limit the parameter range available for densification of refractory metals. The work to date concentrated on niobium, W-25Re, and spherodized tungsten. Niobium samples, made from hydride-dehydride powder, had minimal gas porosity and the deposition parameters were optimized; however, test plates were not made at this time. W-25Re samples, containing sodium and potassium from a precipitation process, were made and porosity was a problem for all samples …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on: (1) the status of the Department of Labor's efforts to improve the Davis-Bacon Act wage determination process; and (2) whether the changes Labor is making are likely to address the timeliness and accuracy of wage determinations."

The Alder Mine, an abandoned gold, silver, copper, and zinc mine in Okanogan County, Washington, produces heavy metal-laden effluent that affects the quality of water in a tributary of the Methow River. The annual mass loading of heavy metals from two audits at the Alder Mine was estimated to exceed 11,000 kg per year. In this study, water samples from stations along Alder Creek were assayed for heavy metals by ICP-AES and were found to exceed Washington State's acute freshwater criteria for cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn).

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Farm Service Agency (FSA), focusing on the: (1) number of FSA county offices with three or fewer permanent full-time employees; (2) characteristics of these offices, including their proximity to another county office, their workload, the level of FSA program benefits delivered, the relative contribution of farming to total county income, and the number of farms and farmland acres in the counties served by these offices; and (3) ways in which varying the criteria associated with these characteristics can affect the number of county offices that are candidates for closure and consolidation."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO updated its report on frequently asked questions on the federal debt, focusing on: (1) how debt is defined and measured; (2) who holds federal debt; (3) how much it has grown in recent years; and (4) its significance to the national economy."

The body of this report is contained in two appendicies that deal with time-resolved spectroscopic analysis of microballoon implosions. The first paper introduces the experimental observation of plasma-induced line shifts in recent implosion experiments together with our theoretical analysis. These observations provide a new parameter with which to diagnose very dense laser-produced plasmas. It also indicates that at even higher densities shift-effects can be expected to be more prominent. The second paper represents an application of our analytical tools to the analysis of mix experiments. Interesting results are discussed.

The Hydro-Balanced Stuffing Box is a seal assembly for polished rod pumping installations commonly used in oil and gas pumping well installations to contain produced well fluids. The improved stuffing box was developed and patented by Harold H. Palmour of The Palmour Group of Livingston, TX. The stuffing box is designed to reduce the incidence of seal leakage and to utilize an environmentally safe fluid, so that if there is any leakage, environmental damage is reduced or eliminated. The unit was tested on two wells at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center. During the test period, the performance of the stuffing box was measured by monitoring the pressure on the tubing and the inner chamber with a Barton Two-pen recorder. The amount of safe fluid consumed, fluid leakage at the top of the stuffing box, pressure supplied from the nitrogen bottle, ambient temperature, and polish rod temperature was recorded. The stuffing box is capable of providing a better seal between well fluids an d the environment than conventional stuffing boxes. It allows the polished rod to operate cooler and with lubrication, extending the life of the packing elements, and reducing the amount of attention required to prevent leakage.

We present preliminary results of a new measurement of the b quark fragmentation function in Z{sup 0} decays using a novel kinematic B hadron energy reconstruction technique. The measurement is performed using 150,000 hadronic Z{sup 0} events recorded in the SLD experiment at SLAC between 1996 and 1997. The small and stable SLC beam spot and the CCD-based vertex detector are used to reconstruct topological B-decay vertices with high efficiency and purity, and to provide precise measurements of the kinematic quantities used in this technique. We measure the B energy with good efficiency and resolution over the full kinematic range. We compare the scale B hadron energy distribution with several functional forms of the B hadron energy distribution and predictions of several models of b quark fragmentation. Several functions including JETSET + Peterson are excluded by the data. The average scaled energy of the weakly decaying B hadron is measured to be x{sub B} = 0.719 {+-} 0.005 (stat) {+-} 0.007 (syst) {+-} 0.001 (model) (preliminary).

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Medicare Subvention Demonstration Program, focusing on the sufficiency of the Department of Defense's (DOD) data systems for: (1) determining DOD's historical level of effort (LOE) and Medicare payments; and (2) managing the demonstration and assessing its cost effects."

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the benefits of constructing the Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project, focusing on: (1) what benefits could derive from the Lewis and Clark project; (2) who could receive these benefits; and (3) how these benefits are valued."

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The Environmental Analysis Section (EAS) of the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) conducted a quarterly monitoring program of the Fourmile Branch (FMB) stream and its associated seepline located down gradient from the F- and H-Area Seepage Basins from May 1992 to May 2995. The overall summary (1989-1998) indicates that the tritium plumes are surfacing in somewhat localized areas along the F-Area and 643-E seeplines.

The Department of Energy (DOE) faces the task of decommissioning much of the vast US weapons complex. One challenge of this effort includes the disposition of large amounts of radioactively contaminated scrap metal (RSM) including but not limited to steel, nickel, copper, and aluminum. The decontamination and recycling of RSM has become a key element in the DOE's strategy for cleanup of contaminated sites and facilities. Recycling helps to offset the cost of decommissioning and saves valuable space in the waste disposal facilities. It also reduces the amount of environmental effects associated with mining new metals. Work on this project is geared toward finding decontamination and/or recycling alternatives for the RSM contained in the decommissioned gaseous diffusion plants including approximately 40,000 tons of nickel. The nickel is contaminated with Technetium-99, and is difficult to remove using traditional decontamination technologies. The project, titled ``Advanced Technologies for Decontamination and Conversion of Scrap Metal'' was proposed as a four phase project. Phase 1 and 2 are complete and Phase 3 will complete May 31, 1999. Stainless steel made from contaminated nickel barrier was successfully produced in Phase 1. An economic evaluation was performed and a market study of potential products from the recycled …