This report is issued by the United States Government and talks about the advanced light source compendium of user abstracts and technical report

During the past year this component of the Advanced Nuclear Measurements LDRD-DR has focused on emerging safeguards problems and proliferation risk by investigating problems in two domains. The first is related to the analysis, quantification, and characterization of existing inventories of fissile materials, in particular, the minor actinides (MA) formed in the commercial fuel cycle. Understanding material forms and quantities helps identify and define future measurement problems, instrument requirements, and assists in prioritizing safeguards technology development. The second problem (dissertation research) has focused on the development of a theoretical foundation for sensor array anomaly detection. Remote and unattended monitoring or verification of safeguards activities is becoming a necessity due to domestic and international budgetary constraints. However, the ability to assess the trustworthiness of a sensor array has not been investigated. This research is developing an anomaly detection methodology to assess the sensor array.

The objective of this project is to develop a hot-gas desulfurization process scheme for control of H{sub 2}S in HTHP coal gas that can be more simply and economically integrated with known regenerable sorbents in DOE/METC-sponsored work than current leading hot-gas desulfurization technologies. In addition to being more economical, the process scheme to be developed must yield an elemental sulfur byproduct.

Time-dependent simulations with transport coefficients derived from experimentally achieved discharges are used to explore the capability of off-axis electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) to control hollow current profiles in negative central shear discharges. Assuming these transport coefficients remain unchanged at higher EC power levels, the simulation results show that high confinement, high normalized beta and high bootstrap fraction can be achieved with EC power expected to be available in the near future in the DIII-D tokamak.

After aging for 16,000 hr at 593 C, P phase was found at Alloy 22 grain boundaries. At higher temperatures (as much as 760 C for the same aging time), both {mu} and P phase formed on grain boundaries and within the grains. Grain boundary carbides also form at 593 C and higher, but the amount of carbide is small compared to the p and P phases. A small amount of sigma phase forms in Alloy 22 after 16,000 hr at 704 and 760 C. LRO was seen after aging for 16,000 hr at 593 C and for 40,000 hr at 427 C, but ordering most likely begins at shorter times. More work must be done in phase identification. Samples aged at times less than 16,000 hr must be examined so that the phase evolution during aging can be determined. A procedure being developed for phase extraction and x-ray diffraction should make phase identification and quantification of the relative amounts of each phase easier. The times at which various stages of intermetallic precipitation occur in Alloy 22 base metal displayed an exponential (Arrhenius-type) temperature dependence. The activation energy was determined to be 290 kJ/mol. A more quantitative model based on …

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Air Force's C-17 logistics support plan, focusing on the: (1) C-17's core logistics capabilities; (2) cost effectiveness of the planned support strategy; and (3) Air Force's implementation of the plan under current law."

Several national and international protocols have been established for the dosimetry of x-ray beams used in radiotherapy. For the very low energy x-rays (0.035mm-1.0 mm Al HVL) only two codes are available: the UK IPEMB Code of Practice and the German standard, DIN 6809 Part 4. The measurement of very low energy x-ray beams is normally performed with parallel plate ionization chambers calibrated at a standards laboratory and characterized by an air kerma calibration factor N{sub k}. According to the IPEMB Code of Practice the absorbed dose in the user's beam should be determined by taking measurements with the parallel plate chamber positioned such that its entrance window is at the surface of a full-scatter water equivalent phantom. The absorbed dose to water can then be determined using an equation which includes a factor, k{sub ch}, which accounts for the change in response of the ionization chamber between the calibration in air and measurement at the surface of the phantom. N{sub k} and k{sub ch} values for the PTW soft X-ray, NACP and Roos ionization chambers are reported. It was found that k{sub ch} values varied from about 1.01 to 1.08 depending on the chamber, beam quality and phantom material. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Border Smog Reduction Act's impact on ozone levels and the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on ozone in the San Diego, California, area, focusing on: (1) estimates of the act's potential impact on ozone-causing chemicals in the San Diego area; and (2) trends in commercial border traffic and ozone levels in the San Diego area before and after NAFTA was implemented."

This final report summarizes the planning/preparation, facilitation, and outcome of the conference entitled ''Air Quality: Mercury, Trace Elements, and Particulate Matter'' that was held December 1-4, 1998, in McLean, Virginia (on the outskirts of Washington, DC). The goal of the conference was to bring together industry, government, and the research community to discuss the critical issue of how air quality can impact human health and the ecosystem, specifically hazardous air pollutants and fine airborne particles; available and developing control technologies; strategies and research needs; and an update on federal and state policy and regulations, related implementation issues, and the framework of the future.

This report describes the development of models for predicting (1) constitutive behaviors and (2) mechanical properties of hot-rolled steels as functions of chemical composition, microstructural features, and processing variables. The study includes the following eight steels: A36, DQSK, HSLA-V, HSLA-Nb, HSLA-50/Ti-Nb, and two interstitial-free (IF) grades. These developed models have been integrated into the Hot-Strip Mill Model (HSMM), which simulates the hot strip rolling mills and predicts the mechanical properties of hot-rolled products. The HSMM model has been developed by the University of British Columbia-Canada as a part of project on the microstructural engineering in hot-strip mills.

This report describes the work of developing an integrated model used to predict the thermal history, deformation, roll forces, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of steel strip in a hot-strip mill. This achievement results from a joint research effort that is part of the American Iron and Steel Institute's (AIS) Advanced Process Control Program, a collaboration between the U.S. DOE and fifteen North American Steelmakers.

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed Alaska and California energy production, focusing on the effects of lifting the export ban on: (1) Alaskan North Slope and California crude oil prices and production; and (2) refiners, consumers, and the oil shipping industry on the West Coast."

The Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS) satellite was launched from the 4th flight of the Pegasus booster on 25 April, 1993 into an 800 km, 70 degree inclination orbit. After an initial launch difficulty, the satellite was successfully recovered and is still producing 100 MB of mission data per day. ALEXIS, still going strong in its sixth year, was originally designed to be a high risk, single string, Smaller-Faster-Cheaper satellite, with a 1-year nominal and a 3-year design limit. This paper will discuss the on-orbit detector performance including microchannel plate operation, pre- and post-flight calibration efforts, observed backgrounds and impacts of flying in a high radiation environment.

The NIF laser system will be capable of delivering 1.8MJ of 351nm energy in 192 beams. Diagnostics instruments must measure beam energy, power vs. time, wavefront quality, and beam intensity profile to characterize laser performance. Alignment and beam diagnostics are also used to set the laser up for the high power shots and to isolate problems when performance is less than expected. Alignment and beam diagnostics are multiplexed to keep the costs under control. At the front-end the beam is aligned and diagnosed in an input sensor package. The output 1053nm beam is sampled by collecting a 0.1% reflection from an output beam sampler and directing it to the output sensor package (OSP). The OSP also gets samples from final focus lens reflection and samples from the transport spatial filter pinhole plane. The output 351nm energy is measured by a calorimeter collecting the signal from an off-axis diffractive beam-sampler. Detailed information on the focused beam in the high-energy target focal plane region is gathered in the precision diagnostics. This paper describes the design of the alignment and diagnostics on the NIF laser system.

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.

For a number of years, we have been initiating steam explosions of single drops of molten materials with pressure and flow (bubble growth) transients generated by discharging a capacitor bank through gold bridgewires placed underwater. Recent experimental and theoretical advances in the field of steam explosions, however, have made it important to substantially increase these relatively mild transients in water without using high explosives, if possible. To do this with the same capacitor bank, we have discharged similar energies through tiny strips of aluminum foil submerged in water. By replacing the gold wires with the aluminum strips, we were able to add the energy of the aluminum-water combustion to that normally deposited electrically by the bridgewire explosion in water. The chemical enhancement of the explosive characteristics of the discharges was substantial: when the same electrical energies were discharged through the aluminum strips, peak pressures increased as much as 12-fold and maximum bubble volumes as much as 5-fold above those generated with the gold wires. For given weights of aluminum, the magnitudes of both parameters appeared to exceed those produced by the underwater explosion of equivalent weights of high explosives.

Fifteen aluminum honeycomb cubes (3 in.) have been crushed in the Mechanical Shock Laboratory's drop table testing machines. This report summarizes shock experiments with honeycomb densities of 22.1 pcf and 38.0 pcf and with crush weights of 45 lb, 168 lb, and 268 lb. The honeycomb samples were crushed in all three orientations, W, L, and T. Most of the experiments were conducted at an impact velocity of {approx}40 fps, but higher velocities of up to 90 fps were used for selected experiments. Where possible, multiple experiments were conducted for a specific orientation and density of the honeycomb samples. All results are for Hexcel honeycomb except for one experiment with Alcore honeycomb and have been evaluated for validity. This report contains the raw acceleration data measured on the top of the drop table carriage, pictures of the crushed samples, and normalized force-displacement curves for all fifteen experiments. These data are not strictly valid for material characteristics in L and T orientations because the cross-sectional area of the honeycomb changed (split) during the crush. However, these are the best data available at this time. These dynamic crush data do suggest a significant increase in crush strength to 8000 psi ({approximately} 25-30% …

PS Enterprises, Inc. investigated a flexible, downwind, free-yaw, five-blade rotor system employing pultruded blades. A rotor was designed, manufactured and tested in the field. A preliminary design study and proof of concept test were conducted to assess the feasibility of using pultruded blades for wind turbine rotors. A 400 kW turbine was selected for the design study and a scaled 80 kW rotor was fabricated and field tested as a demonstration of the concept. The design studies continued to support the premise that pultruded blades offer the potential for significant reductions in rotor weight and cost. The field test provided experimental performance and loads data that compared well with predictions using the FLEXDYNE aeroelastic analysis. The field test also demonstrated stable yaw behavior and the absence of stall flutter over the wind conditions tested. During the final year of the contract, several studies were conducted by a number of independent consultants to address specific technical issues related to pultruded blades that could impact the commercial viability of turbines using this technology. The issues included performance, tower strikes, yaw stability, stall flutter, fatigue, and costs. While the performance of straight pultruded blades was projected to suffer a penalty of about 13% …

We have previously presented simple elastic deformation modeling results for three classes of seismic events of concern in monitoring the CTBT--underground explosions, mine collapses and earthquakes. Those results explored the theoretical detectability of each event type using synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) based on commercially available satellite data. In those studies we identified and compared the characteristics of synthetic interferograms that distinguish each event type, as well the ability of the interferograms to constrain source parameters. These idealized modeling results, together with preliminary analysis of InSAR data for the 1995 mb 5.2 Solvay mine collapse in southwestern Wyoming, suggested that InSAR data used in conjunction with regional seismic monitoring holds great potential for CTBT discrimination and seismic source analysis, as well as providing accurate ground truth parameters for regional calibration events. In this paper we further examine the detectability and ''discriminating'' power of InSAR by presenting results from InSAR data processing, analysis and modeling of the surface deformation signals associated with underground explosions. Specifically, we present results of a detailed study of coseismic and postseismic surface deformation signals associated with underground nuclear and chemical explosion tests at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Several interferograms were formed from raw ERS-1/2 radar …

Air samples from F-Canyon effluents were collected at the F-Canyon stack and transported to a laboratory at the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) for analysis using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer in conjunction with a multipath cell. Air samples were collected during the decladding and acid cuts of the dissolution of the irradiated aluminum-cladded slugs. The FTIR analyses of the air samples show the presence of NO2, NO, HNO2, N2O, SF6, and 85Kr during the dissolution cycle. The concentration time profiles of these effluents corresponded with expected release rates from the F-Canyon operations.

There is great interest in being able to use the x-ray output from a Z-pinch for equation of state measurements at extreme conditions. However, the direct x-ray output form the pinch produces a very sharp and rapidly attenuating pressure pulse in target materials. To obtain high quality measurements with this source, a mechanism for generating non-attenuating waves is needed. One possibility involves using the x-ray source to throw a near-normal density intermediate drive at the target, a situation similar to more conventional configurations. To scope out preliminary design parameters, they used the ALEGRA code to simulate a number of different possibilities involving the driver and the gap between it and the target. They used a somewhat idealized radiation source--a main x-ray pulse 30 ns long at its base and peaking at a blackbody temperature of 100 eV. The calculations suggest that a 100-micron aluminum driver with a 90-micron gap will yield a 15-ns-wide non-attenuating pulse with an amplitude of over 250 GPa.

The elevation change data measured at the Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) site over the last 16+ years has been studied and a model utilized to project elevation changes into the future. The subsidence rate at Bryan Mound is low in comparison with other Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites and has decreased with time due to the maintenance of higher operating pressures and the normal decrease in creep closure rate of caverns with time. However, the subsidence at the site is projected to continue. A model was developed to project subsidence values 20 years into the future; no subsidence related issues are apparent from these projections.

We generally use large-scale hydrocodes to study the dynamic response of targets to influence pulsed radiation loads. However, for many applications where the desired solution does not require a detailed specification of pressure- or velocity-time histories, there are simple analytic approaches that can yield surprisingly accurate results. Examples include determining either the final velocity of a radiation-driven flying plate or the impulse delivered to a structural element. These methods are all based on relatively straightforward use of conservation of mass and momentum, but they typically need one scaling-law parameter. In this context, short pulse means short compared to the characteristic time of the desired response, which allows for the phenomena to be essentially uncoupled. High fluence means that the input energy is great enough to yield vaporization or blowoff of one or more portions of the configuration. We discuss some of these methods, give examples, and suggest limitations and criteria for their use.