To avoid the dire consequences, and yet ensure continued economic development, from the expected large increase in the global automobile population in the Third World, the transportation sector needs to move away from the internal combustion engine to fuel cell powered vehicles that operate on hydrogen. A research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) program is proposed to establish the superiority of the hydrogen-fueled, PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell-powered engine compared to the present internal combustion engine powertrain. This new drivetrain will lead to a major decrease in environmental pollution. ORNL is seeking funding to undertake this RD&D program.

We have developed a technique for studying the imprint of a laser beam on a thin foil using an x-ray laser as an XUV backlighter and XUV multilayer optics. This technique allows us to measure small fractional variations in the foil thickness due to hydrodynamics imprinted by direct laser irradiation. We present results of imprinted modulation and growth due to a low intensity 0.53 {mu}m drive beam incident on a 2 {mu}m Al foil using a germanium x-ray laser at the Vulcan facility. We present measurements of the modulation due to static RPP, SSD smoothed, and ISI smoothed speckle patterns at 0.53 {mu}m irradiation.

This DOE sponsored program has been dedicated to the understanding, development, and application of nontraditional methods for studying buried interfaces, particularly the electrolyte-solid system. Most of the work has dealt with optical techniques. The early research was directed toward revealing the mechanisms of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). More recently the author has concentrated on surface nonlinear optical effects--second harmonic generation (SHG) and sum-frequency generation (SHG). Both of these techniques have the potential for selective interface sensitivity, and are produced through a higher order susceptibility than that which governs linear optical response. Optical SHG has the potential of providing more information about a buried interface than can be obtained by conventional optical spectroscopy. The author`s experiments have been designed to: (a) extract the second order optical susceptibility tensor associated with the surface of a metal electrode, and (b) discover how the electrochemical environment influences the nonlinear optical measurements. Recent contributions include quantitative comparison of the nonlinear response of single crystal silver to theoretical models for the effect. The author has provided the first detailed test of the time-dependent, local density functional prediction. Optical SHG bears a fundamental connection with the symmetry of the surface atoms. While investigating Ag(111) an anomalous …

Both the efficiency of an implosion and the growth rate of hydrodynamic instability increase with the aspect ratio of an implosion. In order to study the physics of implosions with high Rayleigh-Taylor growth factors, we use doped ablators which should minimize x-ray preheat and shell decompression, and hence increase in- flight aspect ratio. We use x-ray backlighting techniques to image the indirectly-driven capsules. We record backlit 4.7 KeV images of the full capsule throughout the implosion phase with 55 ps and 15{mu}m resolution. We use these images to measure the in-flight aspect ratios for doped ablators, and we infer the radial density profile as a function of time by Abel inverting the transmission profiles.

DOE Order 5480.7A requires that Fire Hazard Analyses (FHA) be performed for new facilities, for facilities requiring a DOE 5480.23 Safety Analysis, or as directed by the DOE Program Secretarial Officer. DOE Order 5480.23 requires that a Safety Analysis Report (SAR) be prepared for DOE nuclear facilities. Both the FHA and SAR `documents provide important information and direction for facility design and operation. Each of the two documents address the effects of postulated fire scenarios, and both have common or at least consistent bases, and have overlapping elements. However, some of the objectives of the required analyses are distinctly different. These differences have historically resulted in variations in the interpretation and Understanding of the DOE Orders and associated guidance by organizations and individuals within the Westinghouse Hanford Company.

Dense, nanocrystalline ceramic articles of doped ZrO{sub 2} (for use in solid electrolytes, oxygen sensors, electrode materials, thermal barrier coatings, etc.), BaTiO{sub 3} (for capacitor applications), and YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-x} (a high-temperature superconductor with uses, e.g., in magnetic flux trapping and high-speed capacitor applications) were prepared by the new nanofabrication process that has been developed in this research program. The process consists of two steps: synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles, and fabrication of dense ceramic articles that possess nanocrystalline features. The synthesis step is capable of producing 10-nanometer-diameter crystallites of doped ZrO{sub 2}, and of being scaled up to kilogram/hour production rates. The fabrication step produced dense, ultrafine-grained articles at significantly reduced sintering temperatures and times--representing a factor of 10-100 reduction in process energy requirements. The process has thus been shown to be technically feasible, while a preliminary engineering cost analysis of a pilot plant-scale version of the process indicates that it is both a cost- and an energy-efficient method of producing nanoparticles and nanocrystalline ceramics from those nanoparticles. One U.S. patent for this process has been allowed, and an additional five (continuation-in-part) applications have been filed. Technology transfer efforts have begun, through ongoing discussions with representatives from three manufacturing …

Tests were conducted at Southwestern Electric Power Company`s (SWEPCo) Henry W. Pirkey Station wet limestone flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system to evaluate options for achieving high sulfur dioxide removal efficiency. The Pirkey FGD system includes four absorber modules, each with dual slurry recirculation loops and with a perforated plate tray in the upper loop. The options tested involved the use of dibasic acid (DBA) or sodium formate as a performance additive. The effectiveness of other potential options was simulated with the Electric Power Research Institute`s (EPRI) FGD PRocess Integration and Simulation Model (FGDPRISM) after it was calibrated to the system. An economic analysis was done to determine the cost effectiveness of the high-efficiency options. Results are-summarized below.

We describe a repository of data for the testing of numerical algorithms and mathematical software for matrix computations. The repository is designed to accommodate both dense and sparse matrices, as well as software to generate matrices. It has been seeded with the well known Harwell-Boeing sparse matrix collection. The raw data files have been augmented with an integrated World Wide Web interface which describes the matrices in the collection quantitatively and visually, For example, each matrix has a Web page which details its attributes, graphically depicts its sparsity pattern, and provides access to the matrix itself in several formats. In addition, a search mechanism is included which allows retrieval of matrices based on a variety of attributes, such as type and size, as well as through free-text search in abstracts. The URL is http://math.nist.gov/MatrixMarket.

This project, the research and development of a phosphoric acid fuel cell/battery power source integrated into test-bed buses, began as a multi-phase U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project in 1989. Phase I had a goal of developing two competing half-scale (25 kW) brassboard phosphoric acid fuel cell systems. An air-cooled and a liquid-cooled fuel cell system were developed and tested to verify the concept of using a fuel cell and a battery in a hybrid configuration wherein the fuel cell supplies the average power required for operating the vehicle and a battery supplies the `surge` or excess power required for acceleration and hill-climbing. Work done in Phase I determined that the liquid-cooled system offered higher efficiency.

Numerous reports have indicated that contamination at DOE facilities is widespread and pervasive. Existing technology is often too costly or ineffective in remediating these contamination problems. An effective method to address one class of contamination, petroleum hydrocarbons, is in situ bioremediation. This project was designed to provide tools and approaches for increasing the reliability of in situ bioremediation. An example of the recognition within DOE for developing these tools is in the FY-1995 Technology Development Needs Summary of the Office of Technology Development of the US DOE. This document identifies specific needs addressed by this research. For example, Section 3.3 Need Statement IS-3 identifies the need for a {open_quotes}Rapid method to detect in situ biodegradation products.{close_quotes} Also, BW-I identifies the need to recognize boundaries between clean and contaminated materials and soils. Metabolic activity could identify these boundaries. Measuring rates of in situ microbial activity is critical to the fundamental understanding of subsurface microbiology and in selecting natural attenuation as a remediation option. Given the complexity and heterogeneity of subsurface environments, a significant cost incurred during bioremediation is the characterization of microbial activity, in part because so many intermediate end points (biomass, gene frequency, laboratory measurements of activity, etc.) must be …

Laboratory studies are reported of gas generation in heated waste from tank 241-SY-101. The rates of gas generation and the compositions of product gas were measured. Three types of tests are compared. The tests use: undiluted waste, waste diluted by a 54% addition of 2.5 M NaOH, and undiluted waste with a reactive cover gas of 30% Oxygen in He. The gas generation rate is reduced by dilution, increased by higher temperatures (which determines activation energies), and increased by reactions of Oxygen (these primarily produce H{sub 2}). Gases are generated as reduction products oxidation of organic carbon species by nitrite and oxygen.

This Paper provides the basis for concluding that using the seismic design criteria, defined in DOE order 4580.28, Natural Phenomena Hazards Mitigation, and its implementing standards provides safety equivalent to NRC criteria.

Movement of spent nuclear fuels from the Hanford K Basins near the Columbia River to dry interim storage facility on the Hanford plateau will require repackaging the fuel in the basin into multi-canister overpacks (MCOs), drying of the fuel, transporting the contained fuel, hot conditioning, and finally interim storage. Each of these functions will be accomplished while the fuel is contained in the MCOs. Hydrogen and oxygen can be generated within the MCOs by several mechanisms. The principal source of hydrogen and oxygen within the MCOs is residual water from the vacuum drying and hot conditioning operations. This document assesses the detonation phenomena of hydrogen and oxygen in the spent fuel containers. Several process scenarios have been identified that could generate detonation pressures that exceed the nominal 10 atmosphere design limit of the MCOs. Only 42 grams of radiolized water are required to establish this condition.

Fiber optic loop sensors are a form of active security seal that can be used for detecting attempts to move or access secured items. This document is a guide that provides information about this type of sensor and suggests possible implementations.

This document analyzes the fire hazards associated with operational the Central Waste Complex. It provides the analysis and recommendations necessary to ensure compliance with applicable fire codes.

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