Measuring terrestrial gamma radiation from airborne platforms has proved to be a useful method for characterizing radiation levels over large areas. Over 300 aerial radiological surveys have been carried out over the past 25 years including U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites, commercial nuclear power plants, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program/Uranium Mine Tailing Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP/UMTRAP) sites, nuclear weapons test sites, contaminated industrial areas, and nuclear accident sites. This paper describes the aerial measurement technology currently in use by the Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) for routine environmental surveys and emergency response activities. Equipment, data-collection and -analysis methods, and examples of survey results are described.

A basic understanding of the critical issues limiting the compactness of high-voltage systems is required for the next generation of impulse generators. In the process of optimizing the design of a highly reliable solid-dielectric over-voltage switch, an understanding of the limiting factors found are shown. Results of a l3O kV operating switch, having a modest field enhancement of 16% above the average field stress in the switching region, are reported. The resulting high reliability is obtained by reducing the standard deviation of the switch to 6.8%. The total height of the switch is 1 mm. The resulting operating parameters are obtained by controlling field distribution across the entire switch package and field shaping the desired point of switch closure. The disclosed field management technique provides an approach to improve other highly stressed components and structures.

Energy-efficiency improvements offer the insurance industry two areas of opportunity: reducing ordinary claims and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions that could precipitate natural disaster losses resulting from global climate change. We present three vehicles for taking advantage of this opportunity, including research and development, in- house energy management, and provision of key information to insurance customers and risk managers. The complementary role for renewable energy systems is also introduced.

Short summaries are given for the following related projects: Multigrid methods for Poisson problems; Domain embedding; Groundwater flow; Solidification; The explicit jump IIM and conductivity inverse problems; Numerical methods for acoustic and visco-acoustic inverse problems; Finite element version of the IIM; Computation of seismic traveltimes in discontinuous media; and CLAWPACK (Conservation LAWs PACKage) and AMRCLAW (Adaptive Mesh Refinement CLAW).

This design report documents the final design for the Multi-Canister Overpack.

This document contains the completed safety analysis which establishes the safety envelope for performing the mixer pump process test in Tank 241-AZ-101. This process test is described in TF-210-OTP-001. All equipment necessary for the mixer pump test has been installed by Project W-151. The purpose of this document is to describe and analyze the mixer pump test for Aging Waste Facility (AWF) Tank 241-AZ-101 and to address the 'yes/maybe' responses marked for evaluation questions identified in Unreviewed Safety Question Evaluation (USQE) TF-94-0266. The scope of this document is limited to the performance of the mixer pump test for Tank 241-AZ-101. Unreviewed Safety Question Determination (USQD) TF-96-0018 verified that the installation of two mixer pumps into Tank 241-AZ-101 was within the current Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Authorization Basis. USQDs TF-96-0461, TF-96-0448, and TF-96-0805 verified that the installation of the in-tank video camera, thermocouples, and Ultrasonic Interface Level Analyzer (URSILLA), respectively, were within the current TWRS Authorization Basis. USQD TF-96-1041 verified that the checkout testing of the installed equipment was within the current TWRS Authorization Basis. Installation of the pumps and equipment has been completed. An evaluation of safety considerations associated with operation of the mixer pumps for the mixer pump …

An essential part of any measurement control program is adequate knowledge of the uncertainties of the measurement system standards. Only with an estimate of the standards` uncertainties can one determine if the standard is adequate for its intended use or can one calculate the total uncertainty of the measurement process. Purchased standards usually have estimates of uncertainty on their certificates. However, when standards are prepared and characterized by a laboratory, variance propagation is required to estimate the uncertainty of the standard. Traditional variance propagation typically involves tedious use of partial derivatives, unfriendly software and the availability of statistical expertise. As a result, the uncertainty of prepared standards is often not determined or determined incorrectly. For situations meeting stated assumptions, easier shortcut methods of estimation are now available which eliminate the need for partial derivatives and require only a spreadsheet or calculator. A system of simplifying the calculations by dividing into subgroups of absolute and relative uncertainties is utilized. These methods also incorporate the International Standards Organization (ISO) concepts for combining systematic and random uncertainties as published in their Guide to the Expression of Measurement Uncertainty. Details of the simplified methods and examples of their use are included in the paper.

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Newsletter of the Texas Department of Health discussing the news, activities, and events of the organization and other information related to health in Texas. Includes information on the eighth case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hepatitis brochures.

The purpose of this waste analysis plan (WAP) is to document the waste 5 acceptance process, sampling methodologies, analytical techniques, and overall 6 processes that are undertaken for waste accepted for disposal at the Low-Level 7 Burial Grounds (LLBG), which are located in the 200 East and 200 West Areas of 8 the Hanford Facility, Richland, Washington. Because dangerous waste does not 9 include the source, special nuclear, and by-product material components of 10 mixed waste, radionuclides are not within the scope of this documentation. 11 The information on radionuclides is provided only for general knowledge. The 12 LLBG also receive low-level radioactive waste for disposal. The requirements 13 of this WAP are not applicable to this low-level waste.

The Department of Energy project to determine if the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada is suitable for geologic disposal of high-level nuclear waste reached a major milestone in late April when a 25-foot-diameter tunnel boring machine ``holed through'' completing a five-mile-long, horseshoe-shaped excavation through the mountain. When the cutting-head of the giant machine broke through to daylight at the tunnel's south portal, it ended a 2 1/2-year excavation through the mountain that was completed ahead of schedule and with an outstanding safety record. Video of the event was transmitted live by satellite to Washington, DC, where it was watched by Secretary of Energy Frederico Pena and other high-level DOE officials, signifying the importance of the project's mission to find a repository for high-level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel produced by nuclear power plants. This critical undertaking is being performed by DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM). The tunnel is the major feature of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF), which serves as an underground laboratory for engineers and scientists to help determine if Yucca Mountain is suitable to serve as a repository for the safe disposal of high-level nuclear waste. Morrison Knudsen's Environmental/Government Group is providing design and …