The purpose of this report is to discuss the findings of the Am/Cm Oxalate Precipitation and Washing Demonstration carried out at TNX during December 1995. This demonstration consisted of two steps: oxalate precipitation and precipitate washing. The first step reacted Am/Cm stimulant solution with oxalic acid resulting in the formation of insoluble lanthanide oxalates and soluble metal oxalates. The second step consisted of washing the precipitate with equal volumes of a nitric acid/oxalic acid solution to remove unwanted cations (miscellaneous metals) from the slurry. Quantitative results consist of: the solubility of the metallic impurities and lanthanide oxalates under process conditions, the settling rate of the oxalates, the specific volume of the oxalate precipitate, and the minimum distance the solution transfer jet can be place from the oxalate solids to prevent entrainment. Finally, discussion of how to decrease lanthanide losses is presented in terms of transfer jet location, initial nitric acid concentration, and wash nitric acid concentration. Solubilizing the precipitate and adjusting the nitric acid concentration prior to vitrification were not performed in this demonstration.

We are collaborating with the Center for Optics Manufacturing (Rochester NY) to develop fine diamond grinding wheels for spherical grinding of glass optics. A standardized method for evaluating wheel performance includes in-process acoustic emission (AE). This paper includes recent AE measurements taken during the evaluation of several fine diamond grinding wheels and discusses how this new information might relate to the physical performance of the wheels. An interesting observation is also reported on the surface topography of worn bronze wheels using an interferometric profiler.

The Department of Energy was required to reduce groundwater contamination that represented a risk to human health or the environment. To achieve this goal, the Savannah River Operations Office (Savannah River) entered into several formal agreements with Federal and State regulators. The agreements described how Savannah River would reduce the level of contamination until the risks to human health and the environment were lowered to an acceptable level. The agreements called for decreasing groundwater contamination to levels that would comply with South Carolina groundwater regulations, which would allow a hypothetical future resident to someday live above the F and H Areas and drink the groundwater. We believe basing the agreements on drinking water standards was unreasonable because no one will likely live above these areas or drink the groundwater. The more stringent drinking water standards were included in the planning process because Savannah River had not developed a Land Use Plan that would permit rational decision making for the entire site. Lacking a Land Use Plan, the environmental regulators assumed, and Savannah River acceded to, the most stringent usage scenario, that the groundwater under the F and H Areas might one day be used as a source of drinking water. …

Recent political and military tensions between China and Taiwan have focused new attention on U.S. economic interests in the region. The volume of trade and investment between the United States and Taiwan and China has soared during the last 10 years. This trend has helped forge closer ties between the United States and the two economies, but has also been the source of friction. U.S. economic relations with China and Taiwan are likely to be of concern to Congress during the annual debate over U.S. renewal of China's most-favored-nation (MFN) status. This report analyzes U.S. economic ties with China and Taiwan, including trends, the major issues, and future prospects. It also examines the growing economic ties between China and Taiwan

Development of inertial fusion energy (IFE) will require continued R&D in target physics, driver technology, target production and delivery systems, and chamber technologies. It will also require the integration of these technologies in tests and engineering demonstrations of increasing capability and complexity. Development needs in each of these areas are discussed. It is shown how IFE development will leverage off the DOE Defense Programs funded inertial confinement fusion (ICF) work.

This final report summarizes the results of our research under Contract No. DE-AC22-92PC92112, Novel Catalysts for Methane Activation. In this research we prepared and tested fullerene soots for converting methane into higher hydrocarbons. We conducted the methane conversions using dehydrocoupling conditions, primarily in the temperature regimes of 600{degrees}-1000{degrees}C and atmospheric pressures. The research was divided into three sections. The first section focused on comparing fullerene soots with other forms of carbon such as acetylene black and Norit-A. We found that the fullerene soot was indeed more reactive than the other forms of carbon. However, due to its high reactivity, it was not selective. The second section focused on the effect of metals on the reactivity of the soots, including both transition metals and alkali metals. We found that potassium could enhance the selectivities of fullerene soot to higher hydrocarbons, but the effect was unique to fullerene soot and did not improve the performance of other forms of carbon. The third part focused on the use of co-feeds for methane activation to enhance the selectivities and lower the temperature threshold of methane activation.

To verify compliance with a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), low energy seismic activity must be detected and discriminated. Monitoring small-scale activity will require regional (within {approx}2000 km) monitoring capabilities. This report provides background information on various statistical classification methods and discusses the relevance of each method in the CTBT seismic discrimination setting. Criteria for classification method selection are explained and examples are given to illustrate several key issues. This report describes in more detail the issues and analyses that were initially outlined in a poster presentation at a recent American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting. Section 2 of this report describes both the CTBT seismic discrimination setting and the general statistical classification approach to this setting. Seismic data examples illustrate the importance of synergistically using multivariate data as well as the difficulties due to missing observations. Classification method selection criteria are presented and discussed in Section 3. These criteria are grouped into the broad classes of simplicity, robustness, applicability, and performance. Section 4 follows with a description of several statistical classification methods: linear discriminant analysis, quadratic discriminant analysis, variably regularized discriminant analysis, flexible discriminant analysis, logistic discriminant analysis, K-th Nearest Neighbor discrimination, kernel discrimination, and classification and regression tree discrimination. …

The purpose of this manual is to provide detailed operating instructions for the Surface Moisture Measurement System (SMMS).In addition, operating instructions for the Liquid Observation Well Moisture Measurement System (LOWMMS) are included. These systems were developed primarily in support of Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Safety Programs for moisture measurement in organic and ferrocyanide watch list tanks.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.