Management (EM) to evaluate factors that are anticipated to affect waste glass reaction during repository disposal, especially in an unsaturated environment typical of what may be expected for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site.

A program was established for DOE Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) to evaluate factors that are anticipated to affect waste glass reaction during repository disposal, especially in an unsaturated environment typical of what may be expected for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site. This report covers progress in FY 1992 on the following tasks: 1. A compendium of the characteristics of high-level nuclear waste borosilicate glass has been written. 2. A critical review of important parameters that affect the reactivity of glass in an unsaturated environment is being prepared. 3. A series of tests has been started to evaluate the reactivity of fully radioactive glasses in a high-level waste repository environment and compare it to the reactivity of synthetic, nonradioactive glasses of similar composition. 4. The effect of radiation upon the durability of waste glasses at a high glass surface area-to-liquid volume (SA/V) ratio and a high gas-to-liquid volume ratio will be assessed. These tests address both vapor and high SA/V liquid conditions. 5. A series of tests is being performed to compare the extent of reaction of nuclear waste glasses at various SAN ratios. Such differences in the SAN ratio may significantly affect glass durability. 6. A series …

Many constituents of potential concern for human health occur naturally at low concentrations in undisturbed soils. The Background soil Characterization Project (BSCP) was undertaken to provide background concentration data on potential contaminants in natural soils on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). The objectives of the BSCP are to provide baseline data for contaminated site assessment and estimates of potential human health risk associated with background concentrations of hazardous and other constituents in native soils. This report presents, evaluates, and documents data and results obtained in Phase I of the project. It is intended to be a stand-alone document for application and use in structuring and conducting remedial investigation and remedial action projects in the Environmental Restoration (ER) Program.

This Annual Site Environmental Report summarizes LBL environmental activities in calendar year (CY) 1992. The purpose of this Report is to present summary environmental information in order to characterize site environmental management performance, confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and highlight significant programs and efforts. Its format and content are consistent with the requirements of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1, ``General Environmental Protection Program.``

The combination of an existing graphics package with a large program like TRANSPORT has often resulted in considerable modification to the large program. Use of other graphics package has resulted in essentially having to repeat the work. This difficulty has been avoided in a modification of TRANSPORT which produce layouts of beam lines. Drawings of the reference trajectory and three-dimensional images of all magnets are made by the graphics package TOP DRAWER. Nothing specific to TOP DRAWER or any other graphics has been incorporated into TRANSPORT. If a user is with a different graphics package he or she can then begin usage of this alternate package essentially immediately.

The combination of an existing graphics package with a large program like TRANSPORT has often resulted in considerable modification to the large program. Use of other graphics package has resulted in essentially having to repeat the work. This difficulty has been avoided in a modification of TRANSPORT which produce layouts of beam lines. Drawings of the reference trajectory and three-dimensional images of all magnets are made by the graphics package TOP DRAWER. Nothing specific to TOP DRAWER or any other graphics has been incorporated into TRANSPORT. If a user is with a different graphics package he or she can then begin usage of this alternate package essentially immediately.

The Savannah River One-Fourth Linear Scale, One-Sixth Sector, Tank-Muff-Pump (TMP) Separate Effects Tests (SET) are being conducted by the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory to investigate Savannah River Site (SRS) production reactor tank, muff, pump suction, and pump hydraulic response phenomena for large break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA) scenarios. The test series consists of experiments representing a range of hydraulic conditions and geometries which bound those anticipated for LBLOCAs in SRS reactors. Data from these experiments will be examined to identify important hydraulic phenomena with the objective of providing data for benchmarking code calculations. Information obtained from the SET series will also expand the SRS data base on reactor LBLOCA events. Due to inherent scaling distortions and facility limitations, the results of experiments in the SET series will not be precise replications of full-scale Savannah River Site production reactor (SRSPR) response, but will provide hydraulic behavior sufficiently representative of full-scale SRSPR behavior to preserve important hydraulic phenomena and satisfy test objectives. This document is Appendix SET-TMP-PT of the Experiment Operating Specification for the third set of experiments in the SET series. It contains information on experiment operation and facility configuration necessary to meet the key objectives stated in the bingham pump formal …

The Savannah River One-Fourth Linear Scale, One-Sixth Sector, Tank-Muff-Pump (TMP) Separate Effects Tests (SET) are being conducted by the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory to investigate Savannah River Site (SRS) production reactor tank, muff, pump suction, and pump hydraulic response phenomena for large break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA) scenarios. The test series consists of experiments representing a range of hydraulic conditions and geometries which bound those anticipated for LBLOCAs in SRS reactors. Data from these experiments will be examined to identify important hydraulic phenomena with the objective of providing data for benchmarking code calculations. Information obtained from the SET series will also expand the SRS data base on reactor LBLOCA events. Due to inherent scaling distortions and facility limitations, the results of experiments in the SET series will not be precise replications of full-scale Savannah River Site production reactor (SRSPR) response, but will provide hydraulic behavior sufficiently representative of full-scale SRSPR behavior to preserve important hydraulic phenomena and satisfy test objectives. This document is Appendix SET-TMP-PT of the Experiment Operating Specification for the third set of experiments in the SET series. It contains information on experiment operation and facility configuration necessary to meet the key objectives stated in the bingham pump formal …

The 1991 ASCOT (Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain) field study in the vicinity of the Department of Energy`s Rocky Flats Plant, Colorado, was conducted to study the local and regional circulations and their interactions with synoptic flows over the complex terrain of the Rocky Mountains Colorado Front range. The study was combined with the Rocky Flats Winter validation Study (WVS) which had similar objectives. Tracer plumes were released as part of this field campaign over the period of February 3--19, 1991 from the Rocky Flats Plant. Twelve intensive experiments, centered around eleven-hour long surface releases of sulfur hexafloride (SF{sub 6})tracer material, were conducted by teams from a number of national laboratories, government agencies and private contractors. One-hourly averaged tracer concentrations were collected from approximately 170 surface samplers deployed along two concentric circles at a radius of 8 km and 16 km from the release location. The concentration patterns resulting from the transport and turbulent diffusion of the SF{sub 6} traces plumes within the atmospheric boundary layer during two night-time, one morning transition, and one day-time period were simulated for this paper. The scenarios selected represent the first-choice of all twelve experiments to be addressed, based on the quality and completeness …

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be a useful tool in data preparation for groundwater flow modeling, especially when studying large regional systems. ARC/INFO is being used in conjunction with GRASS to support data preparation for input to the CFEST (Coupled Fluid, Energy, and Solute Transport) groundwater modeling code. Simulations will be performed with CFEST to model three-dimensional, regional, groundwater flow in the West Siberian Basin.

The State Oversight Program`s straddle packer sampling system was tested at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory during July--September, 1992, in USGS monitoring well No. 44. The straddle packer was designed for the Oversight Program`s ground water research program, to provide a means of characterizing the vertical hydraulic and water quality variations believed to exist in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer beneath the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. During the field program, tracer introduction and recovery experiments were conducted to evaluate QA sampling objectives as well as to assess the feasibility of obtaining additional information on aquifer/borehole characteristics such as specific discharge through different aquifer zones, integrity of packer seals, etc. A total of twelve tracer tests were performed on six different intervals from 467 to 600 feet below land surface (ft bls). Lithium bromide powder dissolved in de-ionized water was used as a tracer. All tracer tests were conducted in two phases: Emplacement -- introduction of a slug of a known quantity of tracer, followed by continuous mixing within the test interval for periods ranging from 8 to 72 minutes (without pumping to surface), during which time the tracer was diluted by ground water advection through the test interval; and …

The Field Lysimeter Investigations: Low-Level Waste Data Base Development Program is obtaining information on the performance of radioactive waste in a disposal environment. Waste forms fabricated using ion-exchange resins from EPICOR-II are being tested to develop a low-level waste data base and to obtain information on survivability of waste forms in a disposal environment. The program includes examining radionuclide releases from waste forms in the first seven years of sampling. Also, lysimeter data are applied to performance assessment source term models, and initial results from use of data in two models are being studied.

In October 1992, funding was approved to begin construction of a beamline and two end stations to support chemical dynamics experiments at LBL`s Advanced Light Source (ALS). This workshop was organized to develop specifications and plans and to select a working team to design and supervise the construction project. Target date for starting the experiments is January 1995. Conclusions of the workshop and representative experiments proposed in earlier workshops to form the basis for beamline plans and end-station designs are summarized in this report. 6 figs.

In October 1992, funding was approved to begin construction of a beamline and two end stations to support chemical dynamics experiments at LBL's Advanced Light Source (ALS). This workshop was organized to develop specifications and plans and to select a working team to design and supervise the construction project. Target date for starting the experiments is January 1995. Conclusions of the workshop and representative experiments proposed in earlier workshops to form the basis for beamline plans and end-station designs are summarized in this report. 6 figs.

We report on the application of three different methods of computing the S Matrix for 2-port microwave circuits. The four methods are modal expansions with field matching across boundaries, time domain integration of Maxwell`s equations as implemented in MAFIA, HFSS (high frequency structure simulator), and the KKY frequency domain method. Among the applications to be described are steps in rectangular waveguides and irises in waveguides.

A growing number of environmental remediation technologies (e.g., drying, melting, or sintering) utilize microwave radiation as an integral part of the process. An increasing number of novel applications, such as sustaining low-temperature plasmas or enhancing chemical reactivity, are also being developed. An overview of such technologies being developed by the Department of Energy is presented. A specific example being developed at Argonne National Laboratory, microwave-induced plasma reactors for the destruction of volatile organic compounds, is discussed in more detail.

The successful widespread commercialization of aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) in the United States will depend on how experiences gained from early full-scale projects are used as guides in the design, installation, and operation of future projects. One early system, built in the mid-1980s, is the US Postal Service (USPS) Mid-Island Mail Processing Facility (MPF), in Melville, New York. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) of the MPF's workroom is provided by an ATES system, which is operated year-round to provide a source for both heating and cooling, in combination with a triethylene glycol (TEG) liquid-desiccant system for humidity control. Because the facility affords a unique opportunity to study this innovative system, the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) entered into agreements with the USPS, the US Geological Survey (USGS), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (the Energy Authority) to assess the operation and performance of the system. Two essentially independent questions were to be addressed by the project. The first question was: How does the MPF ATES/TEG technology compare to conventional technologies '' The second was: What can be done to make operation of the USPS MPF more economical '' Modelling …

The successful widespread commercialization of aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) in the United States will depend on how experiences gained from early full-scale projects are used as guides in the design, installation, and operation of future projects. One early system, built in the mid-1980s, is the US Postal Service (USPS) Mid-Island Mail Processing Facility (MPF), in Melville, New York. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) of the MPF`s workroom is provided by an ATES system, which is operated year-round to provide a source for both heating and cooling, in combination with a triethylene glycol (TEG) liquid-desiccant system for humidity control. Because the facility affords a unique opportunity to study this innovative system, the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) entered into agreements with the USPS, the US Geological Survey (USGS), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (the Energy Authority) to assess the operation and performance of the system. Two essentially independent questions were to be addressed by the project. The first question was: ``How does the MPF ATES/TEG technology compare to conventional technologies?`` The second was: ``What can be done to make operation of the USPS MPF more economical?`` Modelling of the …

The Air Quality Utility Information System (AQUIS) was developed to calculate emissions and track them along with related information about sources, stacks, controls, and permits. The system runs on IBM- compatible personal computers with dBASE IV and tracks more than 1, 200 data items distributed among various source categories. AQUIS is currently operating at 11 US Air Force facilities, which have up to 1, 000 sources, and two headquarters. The system provides a flexible reporting capability that permits users who are unfamiliar with database structure to design and prepare reports containing user- specified information. In addition to the criteria pollutants, AQUIS calculates compound-specific emissions and allows users to enter their own emission estimates.

This report discusses the results of the environmental protection program at Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL) for 1992. To evaluate the effects of ANL operations .on the environment, samples of environmental media collected on the site, at the site boundary, and off the ANL site were analyzed and compared to applicable guidelines and standards. A variety of radionuclides was measured in air, surface water, groundwater, soil, grass, and bottom sediment samples.

There are anomalously high CO{sub 2} concentrations early in the reaction sequence in the oxidation of cyclopentadiene. A number of plausible mechanisms have been developed. NO{sub 2} and CO have been added to the reacting mixture, to assist in selecting the best mechanism. Effects of these chemical perturbations were studied.

Commercial logging contractors, Western Atlas, Schlumberger, and Edcon obtained borehole geophysical logs at the site of a potential high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Drill hole USW-G2 was picked for this test of suitable logging tools and logging technology, both representing state-of-the-art technology by these commercial companies. Experience gained by analysis of existing core data and a variety of logs obtained earlier by Birdwell and Dresser Atlas served as a guide to a choice of logs to be obtained. Logs were obtained in water-filled borehole in zeolitized tuff (saturated zone) and in air-filled borehole largely in unaltered welded tuff (unsaturated zone).

The US Department of Energy (DOE), with the US Army Chemical Research, Development and Engineering Center (CRDEC) under the sponsorship of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), completed testing of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) technology on live agent systems. The tests were conducted at Tooele Army Depot during August 1992. The Nondestructive Evaluation systems were tested for potential use in verifying chemical treaty requirements. Five technologies, two neutron and three acoustic, were developed at DOE laboratories. Two systems from the United Kingdom (one neutron and one acoustic) were also included in the field trials. All systems tested showed the ability to distinguish among the VX, GB, and Mustard. Three of the systems (two acoustic and one neutron) were used by On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) personnel.

The US Department of Energy (DOE), with the US Army Chemical Research, Development and Engineering Center (CRDEC) under the sponsorship of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), completed testing of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) technology on live agent systems. The tests were conducted at Tooele Army Depot during August 1992. The Nondestructive Evaluation systems were tested for potential use in verifying chemical treaty requirements. Five technologies, two neutron and three acoustic, were developed at DOE laboratories. Two systems from the United Kingdom (one neutron and one acoustic) were also included in the field trials. All systems tested showed the ability to distinguish among the VX, GB, and Mustard. Three of the systems (two acoustic and one neutron) were used by On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) personnel.