The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is under development by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the geologic disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste that has been generated at government defense installations in the United States. The WIPP is located in an area of low population density in southeastern New Mexico. Waste disposal will take place in excavated chambers in a bedded salt formation approximately 655 m below the land surface. This presentation describes a performance assessment (PA) carried out at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to support the Compliance Certification Application (CCA) made by the DOE to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in October, 1996, for the certification of the WIPP for the disposal of TRU waste. Based on the CCA supported by the PA described in this presentation, the EPA has issued a preliminary decision to certify the WIPP for the disposal of TRU waste. At present (April 1998), it appears likely that the WIPP will be in operation by the end of 1998.

This paper describes Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Semiconductor (SONOS) nonvolatile memory development at Sandia National Laboratories. A 256K EEPROM nonvolatile memory and a 2K nonvolatile shadow RAM are under development using an n-channel SONOS memory technology. The technology has 1.2 {micro}m minimum features in a twin well design using shallow trench isolation.

The NMT-1 and NMT-3 organizations within the Chemical and Metallurgical Research (CMR) facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is working to achieve Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) certification to enable them to transport their TRU waste to WIPP. In particular, the NMT-1 management is requesting support from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to assist them in making the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) software WIPP certifiable. Thus, LIMS must be compliant with the recognized software quality assurance (SQA) requirements stated within the QAPD. Since the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) has achieved WIPP certification, INEEL personnel can provide valuable assistance to LANL by sharing lessons learned and recommendations. Thus, this white paper delineates the particular software quality assurance requirements required for WIPP certification.

This paper describes the Active-Bridge Oscillator (ABO), a new concept in high-stability oscillator design. The ABO is ab ridge-type oscillator design that is easly to design and overcomes many of the operational and design difficulties associated with standard bridge oscillator designs. The ABO will oscillate with a very stable output amplitude over a wide range of operating conditions without the use of an automatic-level-control (ALC). A standard bridge oscillator design requires an ALC to maintain the desired amplitude of oscillation. for this and other reasons, bridge oscilaltors are not used in mainstream designs. Bridge oscillators are generally relegated to relatively low-volume, high-performance applications. The Colpitts and Pierce designs are the most popular oscillators but are typically less stable than a bridge-type oscillator.

The objective of this project is to develop practical strategies and systems for the simultaneous control of SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, particulate matter, and air toxics emissions from coal-fired boilers in such a way as to keep coal economically and environmentally competitive as a utility boiler fuel. Of particular interest is the control of air toxics emissions through the cost-effective use of conventional flue gas clean-up equipment such as electrostatic precipitators (ESP's), fabric filters (baghouses), and SO{sub 2} removal systems such as wet scrubbers and various clean coal technologies. This objective will be achieved through extensive development testing in the state-of-the art, 10 MW{sub e} equivalent, Clean Environment Development Facility (CEDF). The project has extended the capabilities of the CEDF to facilitate air toxics emissions control development work on backend flue gas cleanup equipment. Specifically, an ESP, a baghouse, and a wet scrubber for SO{sub 2} (and air toxics) control were added--all designed to yield air toxics emissions data under controlled conditions, and with proven predictability to commercial systems. A schematic of the CEDF and the project test equipment is shown in Figure 1. The specific objectives of the project are to: (1) Measure and understand production and partitioning of …

The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a national user facility located at Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the University of California is available to researchers from academia, industry, and government laboratories. Operation of the ALS is funded by the Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. This Compendium contains abstracts written by users summarizing research completed or in progress during 1997, ALS technical reports describing ongoing efforts related to improvement in machine operations and research and development projects, and information on ALS beamlines planned through 1998.

The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is a third-generation light source built in the 1990s. Like the machine itself, the Main Control Room (MCR) employs design concepts based on today`s requirements. The discussion will center on ideas used in the design of the MCR, the comfort of personnel using the design, and safety concerns integrated into the control room layout.

Since our last progress report, the project at The University of Michigan has continued to concentrate on the development of gamma ray spectrometers fabricated from cadmium zinc telluride (CZT). This material is capable of providing energy resolution that is superior to that of scintillation detectors, while avoiding the necessity for cooling associated with germanium systems. In our past reports, we have described one approach (the coplanar grid electrode) that we have used to partially overcome some of the major limitations on charge collection that is found in samples of CZT. This approach largely eliminates the effect of hole motion in the formation of the output signal, and therefore leads to pulses that depend only on the motion of a single carrier (electrons). Since electrons move much more readily through CZT than do holes, much better energy resolution can be achieved under these conditions. In our past reports, we have described a 1 cm cube CZT spectrometer fitted with coplanar grids that achieved an energy resolution of 1.8% from the entire volume of the crystal. This still represents, to our knowledge, the best energy resolution ever demonstrated in a CZT detector of this size.

The overall goal of this project is to assess the economic feasibility of CO{sub 2} flooding the naturally fractured Spraberry Trend Area in West Texas. This objective is being accomplished by conducting research in four areas: (1) extensive characterization of the reservoirs, (2) experimental studies of crude oil/brine/rock (COBR) interaction in the reservoirs, (3) reservoir performance analysis, and (4) experimental investigations on CO{sub 2} gravity drainage in Spraberry whole cores. This report provides results of the second year of the five-year project for each of the four areas. In the first area, the author has completed the reservoir characterization, which includes matrix description and detection (from core-log integration) and fracture characterization. This information is found in Section 1. In the second area, the author has completed extensive inhibition experiments that strongly indicate that the weakly water-wet behavior of the reservoir rock may be responsible for poor waterflood response observed in many Spraberry fields. In the third area, the author has made significant progress in analytical and numerical simulation of performance in Spraberry reservoirs as seen in Section 3. In the fourth area, the author has completed several suites of CO{sub 2} gravity drainage in Spraberry and Berea whole cores at …

At Jefferson Lab, a DC photoemission gun using GaAs and GaAs-like cathodes provides a source of polarized electrons for the main accelerator. The gun is required to produce high average current with long operational lifetimes and high system throughout. Recent work has shown that careful control of the parameters affecting cathode lifetime lead to dramatic improvements in source operation. These conditions include vacuum and the related effect of ion backbombardment, and precise control of all of the electrons emitted from the cathode. In this paper, the authors will review recent results and discuss implications for future photocathode guns.

This report contains a diagram of the experimental setup for each experiment as well as giving a brief discussion of its purpose and list of collaborators for the experiment. Thirty-one experiments in the areas of nuclear physics and particle physics are covered. It concludes with a list of publications of the AGS experiments.

The overall objectives of this program are to investigate potential technologies for the conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenated and hydrocarbon fuels and industrial chemicals, and to demonstrate the most promising technologies at DOE's LaPorte, Texas, Slurry Phase Alternative Fuels Development Unit (AFDU). The program will involve a continuation of the work performed under the Alternative Fuels from Coal-Derived Synthesis Gas Program and will draw upon information and technologies generated in parallel current and future DOE-funded contracts.

The Mixed Waste Focus Area (MWFA) is currently supporting the development and demonstration of several alternative oxidation technology (AOT) processes for treatment of combustible mixed low-level wastes. AOTs have been defined as technologies that destroy organic material without using open-flame reactions. AOTs include both thermal and nonthermal processes that oxidize organic wastes but operate under significantly different physical and chemical conditions than incinerators. Nonthermal processes currently being studied include Delphi DETOX and acid digestion at the Savannah River Site (SRS), and direct chemical oxidation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). All three technologies are at advanced stages of development or are entering the demonstration phase. Nonflame thermal processes include catalytic chemical oxidation, which is being developed and deployed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and steam reforming, a commercial process being supported by the Department of Energy (DOE). Although testing is complete on some AOT technologies, most require additional support to complete some or all of the identified development objectives. Brief descriptions, status, and planned paths forward for each of the technologies are presented.

Polyurethane-polyester elastomers contain hard and soft domains which give these materials unique structural and elastic properties and lead to their use in various applications. It is desirable to characterize the molecular-level interactions giving rise to the two domains and to use this information to monitor chemical changes which take place in the polymer as a function of exposure to agents known to effect structural changes. Infrared spectroscopy has been used to study polymeric structures, including polyurethane elastomers, as the vibrational absorption bands characteristic of different functional groups are sensitive to changes in their chemical environment. One difficulty in the application of infrared spectroscopy to complex chemical systems has been the ambiguity of interpretation due to the limitations of different deconvolution techniques. Noda`s development of a 2D correlation method provides a means by which convoluted spectral information, such as that arising from the two domains of estane, can be resolved as a function of some perturbation. The authors present here a thermal 2D FT-IR study of estane.

The first two short models of the MQXB quadrupole magnets for the LHC interaction regions have been built and tested at Fermilab. In this paper we present the magnetic field measurement results and compare them with expectations based on as-built dimensional parameters and with a preliminary table of field quality requirements.

The Annual Energy Review (AER) is a historical data report that tells many stories. It describes, in numbers, the changes that have occurred in US energy markets since the midpoint of the 20th century. In many cases, those markets differ vastly from those of a half-century ago. By studying the graphs and data tables presented in this report, readers can learn about past energy supply and usage in the United States and gain an understanding of the issues in energy and the environment now before use. While most of this year`s report content is similar to last year`s, there are some noteworthy developments. Table 1.1 has been restructured into more summarized groupings -- fossil fuels, nuclear electric power, and renewable energy -- to aid analysts in their examination of the basic trends in those broad categories. Readers` attention is also directed to the electricity section, where considerable reformatting of the tables and graphs has been carried out to help clarify past and recent trends in the electric power industry as it enters a period of radical restructuring. Table 9.1, which summarizes US nuclear generating units, has been redeveloped to cover the entire history of the industry in this country and …

Section 205 of the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 established the Energy Information Administration (EIA). One of the mandates in this legislation is that EIA prepare for Congress an annual report summarizing both activities and information collected and published. EIA`s major 1997 accomplishments are profiled in the body of this edition of the Annual Report to Congress. Appendix A contains abstracts of significant reports issued by EIA in 1997, and a chart of all titles and a list of all feature articles published during the year. Appendix B contains graphs of selected performance measures. Appendix C lists contact information for EIA subject matter specialists. Appendix D lists the major laws which form the basis of EIA`s legislative mandate.

Established in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is one of the world's premier applied-science national security laboratories. The primary mission of the Laboratory is to assure through the design, development, and stewardship of nuclear weapons, that the nation's stockpile remains safe, secure, and reliable and to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons worldwide. National security is a principal integrating theme at LLNL--with stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation and arms control, and Department of Defense projects its major elements. The Stockpile Stewardship Program, the primary Laboratory program, is a science-based versus testing-based approach to maintaining stockpile safety and reliability. The idea is to replace weapons development and nuclear testing with weapons life extension and intensive computational and experimental research to provide the fundamental understanding necessary to ensure nuclear weapons safety, performance, and maintenance. Stockpile stewardship is enhanced and complimented by a second pillar of national security at the Laboratory: countering the spread of weapons of mass destruction. In the broad areas comprising nonproliferation, arms control, and international assessments, the growth of new technologies has been exponential at LLNL. Our ability to produce advanced microsensors--from scientific concept to working field model--is just one of the many contributions LLNL has made to …

The US Department of Energy is funding the development of the Multi-spectral Thermal Imager (MTI), a satellite-based multi-spectral (MS) thermal imaging sensor scheduled for launch in October 1999. MTI is a research and development (R and D) platform to test the applicability of multispectral and thermal imaging technology for detecting and monitoring signs of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. During its three-year mission, MTI will periodically record images of participating government, industrial and natural sites in fifteen visible and infrared spectral bands to provide a variety of image data associated with weapons production activities. The MTI satellite will have spatial resolution in the visible bands that is five times better than LANDSAT TM in each dimension and will have five thermal bands. In this work, the authors quantify the separability between specific materials and the natural background by applying Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis to the residual errors from a linear unmixing. The authors apply the ROC analysis to quantify performance of the MTI. They describe the MTI imager and simulate its data by filtering HYDICE hyperspectral imagery both spatially and spectrally and by introducing atmospheric effects corresponding to the MTI satellite altitude. They compare and contrast the individual …

This paper summarizes the main features of an apparatus constructed at the University of Toledo for the study of various scattering processes in intermediate energy, ion - atom collisions. The main purpose of this facility is to provide experimental data which serve as benchmarks to test current scattering theories for those processes. Recent measurements of single electron detachment (SED) and double electron detachment (DED) total cross sections for 5-50 keV H{sup -} ions incident on noble gases and for 10-50 keV H{sup -} ions incident on CH{sub 4} molecules were conducted in this laboratory. As a result of an analysis of the scattered beam growth curves, information about other charge-changing cross sections in the hydrogen-atom (molecule) collision systems were obtain, as well.

The eighteen 10-acre infill wells which were drilled as part of the field demonstration portion of the project are all currently in service with no operational problems. These wells consist of fourteen producing wells and four injection wells. The producing wells are currently producing a total of approximately 450 bopd, down from a peak rate of 900 bopd. Unit production is currently averaging approximately 2,700 bopd, 12,000 bwpd and 18,000 bwipd. The paper describes progress on hydraulic fracture design, reservoir surveillance, data analysis procedures, and deterministic modeling and simulation.

Application of high resolution ICP-AES to selected problems of importance in the nuclear industry is a growing field. The advantages in sample preparation time, waste minimization and equipment cost are considerable. Two examples of these advantages are presented in this paper, burnup analysis of spent fuel and analysis of major uranium isotopes. The determination of burnup, an indicator of fuel cycle efficiency, has been accomplished by the determination of {sup 139}La by high resolution inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (HR-ICP-AES). Solutions of digested samples of reactor fuel rods were introduced into a shielded glovebox housing an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and the resulting atomic emission transmitted to a high resolution spectrometer by a 31 meter fiber optic bundle. Total and isotopic U determination by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) is presented to allow for the calculation of burnup for the samples. This method of burnup determination reduces the time, material, sample handling and waste generated associated with typical burnup determinations which require separation of lanthanum from the other fission products with high specific activities. Work concerning an alternative burnup indicator, {sup 236}U, is also presented for comparison. The determination of {sup 235}U:{sup 238}U isotope ratios in U-Zr fuel alloys …

The in situ retention of flammable gas produced by radiolysis and thermal decomposition in high-level waste can pose a safety problem if the gases are released episodically into the dome space of a storage tank. Screening efforts at Hanford have been directed at identifying tanks in which this situation could exist. Problems encountered in screening motivated an effort to develop an improved screening methodology. Approximate reasoning (AR) is a formalism designed to emulate the kinds of complex judgments made by subject matter experts. It uses inductive logic structures to build a sequence of forward-chaining inferences about a subject. AR models incorporate natural language expressions known as linguistic variables to represent evidence. The use of fuzzy sets to represent these variables mathematically makes it practical to evaluate quantitative and qualitative information consistently. The authors performed a pilot study to investigate the utility of AR for flammable gas screening. They found that the effort to implement such a model was acceptable and that computational requirements were reasonable. The preliminary results showed that important judgments about the validity of observational data and the predictive power of models could be made. These results give new insights into the problems observed in previous screening efforts.

In January 1993, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM). The purpose of the program was to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a) (1)--(3) and Article 511.1 of the RCM, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years (CY) 1993--1996 confirmed that personnel dosimetry was not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program. A total of 93 area thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were placed in PNNL facilities during CY 1997. The TLDs were exchanged and analyzed quarterly. All routine area monitoring TLD results were less than 50 mrem annually after correcting for worker occupancy. The results support the conclusions that personnel dosimeters are not necessary for staff, declared pregnant workers, minors, or members of the public in these …