The committee serves primarily to enhance coordination among the Department`s materials programs and to further effective use of materials expertise within the Department. This is accomplished through the exchange of budgetary and planning information among program managers and through technical meetings/workshops involving DOE and major contractors. The program descriptions consist of a funding summary for each Assistant Secretary office and the Office of Energy Research, and detailed project summaries with project goals and accomplishments. A FY 1994 budget summary table for each program is included. A directory and a keyword index is included at the end of this document.

This report describes activities and reports on progress for the third year of the DOE grant to support the Environmental Hazards Assessment Program (EHAP). It reports progress against grant objectives and the Program Implementation Plan published at the end of the first year of the grant. As the program has evolved, more projects have been funded and many existing projects have become more complex. Thus, to accomplish better the objectives over the years and retain a solid focus on the total mission, we have reorganized the grant effort from three to five majoe elements: Public and professional outreach; Clinical programs; Science programs; Information systems; and, Program management.

The purpose of this audit was to evaluate the effectiveness of the unclassified computer security program at the Germantown Headquarters Administrative Computer Center (Center). The Department of Energy (DOE) relies on the application systems at the Germantown Headquarters Administrative Computer Center to support its financial, payroll and personnel, security, and procurement functions. The review was limited to an evaluation of the administrative, technical, and physical safeguards governing utilization of the unclassified computer system which hosts many of the Department`s major application systems. The audit identified weaknesses in the Center`s computer security program that increased the risk of unauthorized disclosure or loss of sensitive data. Specifically, the authors found that (1) access to sensitive data was not limited to individuals who had a need for the information, and (2) accurate and complete information was not maintained on the inventory of tapes at the Center. Furthermore, the risk of unauthorized disclosure and loss of sensitive data was increased because other controls, such as physical security, had not been adequately implemented at the Center. Management generally agreed with the audit conclusions and recommendations, and initiated a number of actions to improve computer security at the Center.

The objectives of this report are to: (1) develop a holistic, national basis for risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication that recognizes the direct impact of environmental hazards, both chemical and radiation, on the health and well-being of all; (2) develop a pool of talented scientists and experts in cleanup activities, especially in human health aspects; and (3) identify needs and develop programs addressing the critical shortage of well-educated, highly-skilled technical and scientific personnel to address the health oriented aspects of environmental restoration and waste management. This report describes the progress made this quarter in the following areas: public and professional outreach; science programs; clinical programs; and information support and access systems.

Cr carbide and other CVD coatings were evaluated for improving wear resistance of Al and Zn die casting dies; die cavity instrumentation was also studied.

The Southeastern Environmental Resources Alliance (SERA) is a joint effort between the US Department of Energy, the states of Georgia and South Carolina, and Westinghouse US Department of Energy, the states of Georgia Savannah River Company (WSRC). The original proposal for SERA, submitted under the Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP), is based on improving the competitiveness of manufacturers within Georgia and South Carolina by addressing the costs associated with environmental and waste management issues. By using the many technologies available through the national laboratories, universities, the Savannah River Site, and the commercial sector, SERA will improve the competitive position of companies that would otherwise have no access to those technologies. This Start-Up Plan details the steps SERA will take to begin effective operations by June 1, 1995, and will focus on the short-term needs of the program. This plan will serve as a supplement to the original SERA proposal, and will address the major milestones included in the Department of Energy`s Cooperative Agreement. Also documented are the planning processes that SERA will use to ensure the long-term viability of the program. The planning process will include additional work elements that are referenced by the original proposal, but, for the purposes of …

Research continued on coal combustion and combustor design. Progress is reported on the development of a char collection system.

This Quality Assurance Plan provides,quality assurance (QA) guidance, regulatory QA requirements (e.g., 10 CFR 830.120), and quality control (QC) specifications for analytical service. This document follows the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) issued Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Plan (HASQAP). In addition, this document meets the objectives of the Quality Assurance Program provided in the WHC-CM-4-2, Section 2.1. Quality assurance elements required in the Guidelines and Specifications for Preparing Quality Assurance Program Plans (QAMS-004) and Interim Guidelines and Specifications for Preparing Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAMS-005) from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are covered throughout this document. A quality assurance index is provided in the Appendix A. This document also provides and/or identifies the procedural information that governs laboratory operations. The personnel of the 222-S Laboratory and the Standards Laboratory including managers, analysts, QA/QC staff, auditors, and support staff shall use this document as guidance and instructions for their operational and quality assurance activities. Other organizations that conduct activities described in this document for the 222-S Laboratory shall follow this QA/QC document.

On September 15, 1994, EPA promulgated a Final Rule revising 40 CFR Part 300: the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). NCP establishes a national response system for responding to discharges of oil and releases of hazardous substances. Figures illustrate the roles of the national response system. Response operations, planning and preparation, and designation of federal trustees are discussed, followed by definitions.

None

Very large compositional variation both areally and vertically has been observed in some hydrocarbon reservoirs. Several mechanisms are believed to contribute to such variations: gravitational segregation, molecular diffusion, thermal diffusion, and thermal convection. At isothermal conditions only gravitational segregation and molecular diffusion contribute to vertical compositional grading. The Gibbs segregation concept can properly account for this process. Under nonisothermal conditions, which is often the case, the process is thermodynamically irreversible and therefore Gibbs criteria of equilibrium cannot be invoked. The current literature often combines the Gibbs segregation concept and the natural convection process to formulate the interaction of convection and gravity segregation for multicomponent systems at nonisothermal conditions. The Dary law is also used without the modification of the velocity weighing for multicomponent systems. Such a formulation may not describe the process properly. This report formulates compositional variation in hydrocarbon reservoirs at nonisothermal condition. Results for the special case of gravity and thermal diffusion are also presented.

The primary objective of this {open_quotes}CAT{close_quotes} project is to complete a conceptual design of this unique new combination of existing technology with cost estimates to show that the {open_quotes}CAT{close_quotes} system offers the economic incentive with low technical risk for a plant to be built which will demonstrate its viability. The technologies involved in the components of a {open_quotes}CAT{close_quotes} plant are proven, and the integration of the components into a complete plant is the only new development activity involved. Industry and the Federal General Services Administration (GSA), require the demonstration of a {open_quotes}commercial plant{close_quotes} before the viability of a new concept is accepted. To satisfy this requirement and construction of a plant of commercially viable size in excess of 15 MW if cogeneration and above 30 MW if all power, is proposed. This plant will produce economical power and heat for the owner. The plant will operate a full commercial life and continue as an operating demonstration of the viability of the technology, gathering long term life and maintenance data, all adding to the credibility of the concept.

This progress report discusses in details the geologic assessment of the Piceance Creek Basin. Analysis of the high resolution aeromagnetic survey concentrated on the high-resolution aeromagnetic data acquired by World Geoscience, but the interpretation was supplemented by examination of regional published gravity and magnetic data, as well as surface geology and subsurface geology.

The most significant development this year has been the realization of a method for estimating EO transition strength in nuclei and the prediction that the de-excitation (draining) of superdeformed bands must take place, at least in some cases, by strong EO transitions. A considerable effort has been devoted to planning the nuclear structure physics that will be pursued using the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at Oak Ridge. A significant effort has been devoted to HRIBF target development. This is a critical component of the HRIBF project. Exhaustive literature searches have been made for a variety of target materials with emphasis on thermodynamic properties. Vapor pressure measurements have been carried out. Experimental data sets for radioactive decays in the very neutron-deficient Pr-Eu and Ir-Tl regions have been under analysis. These decay schemes constitute parts of student Ph.D. theses. These studies are aimed at elucidating the onset of deformation in the Pr-Sm region and the characteristics of shape coexistence in the Ir-Bi region. Further experiments on shape coexistence in the neutron-deficient Ir-Bi region are planned using {alpha} decay studies at the FMA at ATLAS. The first experiment is scheduled for later this year.

Results: identification of optimum joining temperature range for reaction bonded Si carbide at 1420-1500 C; demonstration that specimens joined within this range have fracture roughness greater than as-received material; and demonstration of ability to use SiC formed in situ from the decomposition of polycarbosilane as a joining aid for sintered Si carbide. In the latter case, the interlayer material was also shown to fill any pores in the joining specimens near the interlayer. Together with the demonstration of leaktight joints between tube sections of reaction bonded and sintered SiC under the previous contract, these results provide the foundation for scaleup to joining of the larger and longer tubes needed for radiant burner and heat exchanger tube assemblies. The formation of SiC in situ is important because maintaining roundness of these large tubes is a technical challenge for the tube manufacturer, so that formation of a leaktight joint may require some degree of gap filling.

Newsletter distributed to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum members describing current news, policies, and legislation, as well as other information relevant to the management of low-level radioactive waste.

The primary goal of this project is the engineering development of two advanced physical fine coal cleaning processes, column flotation and selective agglomeration, for premium fuel applications. The project scope includes laboratory research and bench-scale testing on six coals to optimize these processes, followed by design, and construction of a 2-t/hr process development unit (PDU). The PDU will then be operated to generate 200 tons of each of three project coals, by each process. During Quarter 11 (April--June, 1995), work continued on the Subtask 3.2 in-plant testing of the Microcel{trademark} flotation column at the Lady Dunn Preparation Plant with the installation and calibration of a refurbished 30-inch diameter column. The evaluation of toxic trace element data for column flotation samples continued, with preliminary analysis indicating that reasonably good mass balances were achieved for most elements, and that significant reductions in the concentration of many elements were observed from raw coal, to flotation feed, to flotation product samples. Significant progress was made on Subtask 6.5 selective agglomeration bench-scale testing. Data from this work indicates that project ash specifications can be met for all coals evaluated, and that the bulk of the bridging liquid (heptane) can be removed from the product for …

Progress is described on the determination of environmental impacts from waste discharges to the aquatic ecosystems from oil and gas operations. Task 2 (Preparation of the Sampling and Analysis Plan) activities involved revisions and additions to the Sampling and Analysis Plan. Task 3 (Environmental Field Sampling and Analysis of NORM, Heavy Metals, and Organics) work included analyses of water, sediment, and tissue samples as well as data management. Task 4 (Monitoring of the Recovery of Impacted Wetland and Open Bay Produced Water Discharge Sites in Coastal Louisiana and Texas) activities involved the continued analyses of samples and conducting field sampling at Bay de Chene. Task 5 (Assessment of Economic Impacts of Offshore and Coastal Discharge Requirements on Present and Future Operations in the Gulf of Mexico Region) activities included preparing a draft final report and review by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). Task 6 (Synthesis of Gulf of Mexico Seafood Consumption and Use Patterns) work involved the preparation of the draft final report and review by the SRC. Task 7 (Technology Transfer Plan) activities involved the presentation of four papers. Task 8 (Project Management and Deliverables) activities involved the submission of the necessary reports and routine management.

On September 15, 1994, at 59 FR 47384-47495, the Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a Final Rule revising 40 CFR Part 300; the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). One of the primary purposes of the revised NCP is to provide for efficient, coordinated, and effective action to minimize adverse impact from oil discharges and hazardous substance releases. The NCP is required by Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and Section 311 (c) (2) of the Clean Water Act. The NCP establishes an organizational structure and procedures for preparing for and responding to discharges of oil and releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants under these two Acts. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) amends the existing provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and creates major new authorities addressing oil, and to a lesser extent, hazardous substance spill response. These amendments to the CWA, in turn, require revision of the NCP. The OPA specifies a number of revisions to the NCP that enhance and expand upon the current framework, standards, and procedures for response. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on changes to the NCP was issued on October 22, 1993 (58 …

This report presents results on a preliminary assessment of accelerating a projectile by a sequence of timed explosions. Computerized simulations were performed with CALE, a two-dimensional Arbitrary Language Eulerian program to examine principles and preferred operating parameters.

Three traditional importance measures, risk reduction, partial derivative, nd variance reduction, have been extended to permit analyses of the relative importance of groups of underlying failure rates to the frequencies of resulting top events. The partial derivative importance measure was extended by assessing the contribution of a group of events to the gradient of the top event frequency. Given the moments of the distributions that characterize the uncertainties in the underlying failure rates, the expectation values of the top event frequency, its variance, and all of the new group importance measures can be quantified exactly for two familiar cases: (1) when all underlying failure rates are presumed independent, and (2) when pairs of failure rates based on common data are treated as being equal (totally correlated). In these cases, the new importance measures, which can also be applied to assess the importance of individual events, obviate the need for Monte Carlo sampling. The event group importance measures are illustrated using a small example problem and demonstrated by applications made as part of a major reactor facility risk assessment. These illustrations and applications indicate both the utility and the versatility of the event group importance measures.

On September 15, 1994, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a Final Rule revising 40 CFR part 300; the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). One of the primary purposes of the revised NCP is to provide for efficient, coordinated, and effective action to minimize adverse impact from oil discharges and hazardous substance release. The NCP established an organizational structure and procedures for preparing for and responding to discharges of oil and releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants under CERCLA and the Clean Water Act. Specific aspects of the revisions include: Role of on-scene coordinators and remedial project managers; Response operations; Federal agency participation; and, Natural resource trustee responsibilities.

Design activities for this report period included: (1) Mechanical. Stress analysis calculations were performed on the steam/water pressure piping. Pipe support design and drawings were completed by Duke Fluor Daniel. The fluid bed distributor bubble cap design was revisited and changes made for ease of maintenance. (2) Electrical and Instrumentation. Control and instrumentation scheme proposed earlier, was based on independent single loop controllers. After careful review, it is decided to go for state of art distributed control system (DCS) which uses programmable logic controllers (PLC). In addition, coal/limestone pickup hopper fabrication was completed during this period and shipped to the site. The coal/limestone floating caps have been made at MTCI and ready for shipping. All major equipment installation was completed. The pulse combustor steam/water jacket and air plenum were installed. Construction of control room building was just completed.

Collisionless absorption of laser light incident on overdense plasmas with steep density gradients is studied analytically and numerically. For the normal incidence case, it is shown that both sheath inverse bremsstrahlung and the anomalous skin effect are limiting cases of the same collisionless absorption mechanism. Using particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulations, the effects of finite sheath-transit time and finite density gradient are investigated. The analyses are extended to oblique incident cases. For p-polarized obliquely incident light, the results are significantly different from those for the normal incidence case. Most noticeable is the absorption enhancement for the p-polarized light due to the interaction of the electrons with the normal (parallel to the density gradient) component of the laser electric field in the sheath region.