This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The authors find by numerical simulations that the elongated-potato shape that is characteristic of Earth-crossing asteroids (ECAs) is likely the result of previous close tidal encounters with Earth. Some meteoroids graze the atmosphere of Earth before returning to space (at reduced speed). They used a spherical atmospheric model to study such grazers to find the condition under which they are captured into gravitationally bound orbits around Earth. They find that for about every thousand iron asteroids that hit the Earth, one is captured into a gravitational-bound orbit. Some fraction of these captured objects will have their orbits stabilized for many revolutions by tidal encounters with the Moon and the sun. They have also studied how the damage produced by such grazing and near-grazing asteroids differs from that produced by asteroids that hit Earth more directly.

The purpose of this report is to summarize the process used by the Team to systematically develop alternative methods or technologies for final disposition of HLW salt. Additionally, this report summarizes the process utilized to reduce the total list of identified alternatives to an ''initial list'' for further evaluation. This report constitutes completion of the team charter major milestone Phase I Deliverable.

The purpose of the report is to summarize the process used to identify the Short List alternatives that will be evaluated during Phase III and to document the results of the selection process. The Phase III evaluation will result in the determination of the preferred alternative(s) to be used for final disposition of the HLW salt to a permitted waste form.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO followed up on its report on Amtrak's financial performance, focusing on: (1) Amtrak's overall financial performance in fiscal year (FY) 1998; (2) the prospects for Amtrak to meet its financial goals for operating self-sufficiency outlined in its most recent strategic business plan; and (3) the extent to which current and anticipated federal funding and recently enacted legislative reforms aimed at helping Amtrak better control its costs are likely to help improve its financial condition."

We present preliminary results of a new measurement of the inclusive b quark fragmentation function in Z{sup 0} decays using a novel kinematic B hadron energy reconstruction technique. The measurement is performed using 150,000 hadronic Z{sup 0} events recorded in the SLD experiment at SLAC between 1996 and 1997. The small and stable SLC beam spot and the CCD-based vertex detector are used to reconstruct topological B-decay vertices with high efficiency and purity, and to provide precise measurements of the kinematic quantities used in this technique. We measure the B energy with good efficiency and resolution over the full kinematic range. We compare the measured scaled B hadron energy distribution with several functional forms of the B hadron energy distribution and predictions of several models of b quark fragmentation. Several functions are excluded by the data. The average scaled energy of the weakly decaying B hadron is measured to be x{sub B} = 0.714 {+-} 0.005 (stat) {+-} 0.007 (syst) {+-} 0.002 (model) (preliminary).

We present a preliminary measurement of the rate of gluon splitting into bottom quarks, g {r_arrow} b{bar b}, in hadronic Z{sup 0} decays collected by SLD between 1996 and 1998. The analysis was performed by looking for secondary bottom production in 4-jet events of any primary flavor. 4-jet events were identified, and a topological vertex-mass technique was applied to each jet in order to identify b or {bar b} jets. The upgraded CCD based vertex detector gives very high B-tagging efficiency, especially for B hadrons of the low energies typical of this process. The two most nearly collinear b/{bar b} jets were tagged as originating from g {r_arrow} b{bar b}. We measured the rate of secondary b/{bar b} production per hadronic event, g{sub b{bar b}}, to be (3.07 {+-} 0.71(stat.) {+-} 0.66(syst.)) x 10{sup {minus}3} (preliminary).

The authors calculated the stress-strain relation for elastomeric foam from an ab initio theory, which shows that the plateau and densification regions should be described by a hyperbola. The theory seems to agree reasonably well with experiment.

The Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), located at the LANSCE (formerly LAMPF) linear accelerator at Los Alamos National Laboratory, has seen evidence for the oscillation of neutrinos, and hence neutrino mass. That discovery was the impetus for this LDRD project, begun in 1996. The goal of this project was to define the appropriate technologies to use in a follow up experiment and to set in place the requirements for such an experiment.

This LDRD project created and used advanced analysis capabilities to postulate scenarios and identify issues, externalities, and technologies associated with future ''things nuclear''. ''Things nuclear'' include areas pertaining to nuclear weapons, nuclear materials, and nuclear energy, examined in the context of future domestic and international environments. Analysis tools development included adaptation and expansion of energy, environmental, and economics (E3) models to incorporate a robust description of the nuclear fuel cycle (both current and future technology pathways), creation of a beginning proliferation risk model (coupled to the (E3) model), and extension of traditional first strike stability models to conditions expected to exist in the future (smaller force sizes, multipolar engagement environments, inclusion of actual and latent nuclear weapons (capability)). Accomplishments include scenario development for regional and global nuclear energy, the creation of a beginning nuclear architecture designed to improve the proliferation resistance and environmental performance of the nuclear fuel cycle, and numerous results for future nuclear weapons scenarios.

We present an updated direct measurement of the parity-violating coupling of the Z{sup 0} to strange quarks, A{sub s}, derived from the full SLD data sample of approximately 550,000 hadronic decays of Z{sup 0} bosons produced with a polarized electron beam and recorded by the SLD experiment at SLAC between 1993 and 1998. Z{sup 0} {r_arrow} s{bar s} events are tagged by the presence in each event hemisphere of a high-momentum K{sup {+-}}, K{sub s} or {Lambda}{sup 0}/{bar {Lambda}}{sup 0} identified using the Cherenkov Ring Imaging Detector and/or a mass tag. The CCD vertex detector is used to suppress the background from heavy-flavor events. The strangeness of the tagged particle is used to sign the event thrust axis in the direction of the initial s quark. The coupling A{sub s} is obtained directly from a measurement of the left-right-forward-backward production asymmetry in polar angle of the tagged s quark. The background from u{bar u} and d{bar d} events is measured from the data, as is the analyzing power of the method for s{bar s} events. We measure: A{sub s} = 0.85 {+-} 0.06(stat.) {+-} 0.07(syst.)(preliminary).

We have updated our results on identified charged hadron production using the full SLD data sample of 550,000 hadronic Z{sup 0} decays taken between 1993 and 1998. The SLD Cherenkov Ring Imaging Detector allows the identification of clean samples of charged pions, kaons and protons over a wide momentum range, providing precise tests of perturbative QCD calculations and of fragmentation models. We have studied flavor-inclusive Z{sup 0} decays, as well as decays into light, c and b flavors, selected using the SLD vertex detector. In addition we have updated our comparison of hadron and antihadron production in light quark (rather than antiquark) jets, selected using the high SLC electron beam polarization. Differences between hadron and antihadron production at high momentum fraction provide precise measurements of leading particle production and new, stringent tests of fragmentation models.

The functionality of many materials of both fundamental and technological interest is often critically dependent on the nature and extent of any disorder that may be present. In addition, it is often difficult to understand the nature of disorder in quite well ordered systems. There is therefore an urgent need to develop better tools, both experimental and computational, for the study of such quasi-ordered systems. To this end, the authors have used neutron diffraction studies in an attempt to locate small metal clusters or molecules randomly distributed inside microporous catalytic materials. Specifically, they have used pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, as well as inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectroscopy, to study interactions between adsorbate molecules and a microporous matrix. They have interfaced these experimental studies with computations of PDF analysis as well as modeling of the dynamics of adsorbates. These techniques will be invaluable in elucidating the local structure and function of many of these classes of materials.

We present a preliminary study of correlations in rapidity between pairs of identified charged pions, kaons and protons using the entire SLD data sample of 550,000 hadronic Z{sup 0} decays. Short range charge correlations are observed between all combinations of these hadron species, indicating local conservation of quantum numbers and charge ordering in the jet fragmentation process. The rapidity range of this effect is found to be independent of particle momentum. A strong long-range K{sup +}-K{sup {minus}} correlation is observed at high-momentum and weaker long-range {pi}{sup +}-{pi}{sup {minus}}, {pi}{sup +}-K{sup {minus}} and p-K{sup {minus}} and p{bar p} correlations are observed in light flavor events, providing new information on leading particle production in u, d and s jets. The long-range correlations observed in c{bar c} and b{bar b} events are markedly different and consistent with expectations based on known decay properties of the leading heavy hadrons. In addition, the SLC electron beam polarization is used to tag the quark hemisphere in each event, allowing the first study of rapidities signed such that positive rapidity is along the quark rather than antiquark direction. Distributions of ordered differences in signed rapidity between pairs of particles provide a direct probe of quantum number ordering …

The structure of e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} {r_arrow} b{bar b}g events was studied using Z{sup 0} decays recorded in the SLD experiment at SLAC. Three-jet final states were selected and the CCD-based vertex detector was used to identify two of the jets as b or {bar b}. Distributions of the gluon energy and polar angle were measured over the full kinematic range, and compared with perturbative QCD predictions. The energy distribution is potentially sensitive to an anomalous b chromomagnetic moment {kappa}. We measured {kappa} to be consistent with zero and set limits on its value, {minus}0.11 < {kappa} < 0.08 at 95% c.l. (preliminary).

Angular asymmetries have been measured in polarized Z{sup 0} decays to b{bar b}g collected by the SLD experiment at the SLC. A high purity b{bar b}g event sample is selected by utilizing B lifetime information given by the SLD CCD pixel vertex detector and the stable micron-size SLC beams, and the b- and {bar b}-jets are identified using lifetime information and momentum- weighted track charge. The forward-backward asymmetry is observed in the b-quark polar angle distribution, and the parity-violation parameter is measured to test the Standard Model. Two angular correlations between the three-jet plane and the Z{sup 0} polarization are studied. The CP-even and T-odd, and the CP-odd and T-odd, angular asymmetries are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. The latter requires tagging both the b- and {bar b}-jet. We measure the expectation values of these quantities to be consistent with zero and set limits on the correlations at the 5% level.