The author describes a 12-channel VMEbus-based pulse-height analysis board that was designed for use in a high-rate, multidetector, gamma-ray imaging system. This module was designed to minimize dead-time losses and to allow all key parameters to be software controlled. Gamma-ray detectors are connected directly to this module, eliminating the need for additional electronics.

A {sup 10}B-loaded scintillation detector was built for neutron transmission measurements at the Los Alamos Neutron Scattering Center. The efficiency of the detector is nearly 100% for neutron energies from 0 to 1 keV. The neutron moderation time in the scintillator is about 250 ns and is energy independent. The detector and data processing system are designed to handle an instantaneous rate as high as 500 MHz. The active area of the detector is 40 cm in diameter.

Adsorption/desorption were studied using combined surface analytical techniques. An approximate initial sticking coefficient for Cs on sapphire was measured using reflection mass spectrometry and found to be 0.9. Thermal Desorption Mass Spectrometry (TDMS) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) were used to verify that a significant decrease in sticking coefficient occurs as the Cs coverage reaches a critical submonolayer value. TDMS analysis demonstrates that Cs is stabilized on a clean sapphire surface at temperatures (1200 K) in excess of the temperatures experienced by sapphire in a TOPAZ-2 thermionic fuel element (TFE). Surface contaminants on sapphire can enhance Cs adsorption relative to the clean surface. C contamination eliminates the high temperature state of Cs desorption found on clean sapphire but shifts the bulk of the C desorption from 400 to 620 K. Surface C is a difficult contaminant to remove from sapphire, requiring annealing above 1400 K. Whether Cs is stabilized on sapphire in a TFE environment will most likely depend on relation between surface contamination and surface structure.

This paper demonstrates use of the Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) methodology to qualify commercial and military microelectronics for use in space applications. QML ``builds in`` the hardness of product through statistical process control (SPC) of technology parameters relevant to the radiation response, test structure to integrated circuit (IC) correlations, and techniques for extrapolating laboratory test results to low-dose-rate space scenarios. Each of these elements is demonstrated and shown to be a cost-effective alternative to expensive end-of-line IC testing. Several examples of test structured-IC correlations are provided and recent work on complications arising from transistor scaling and geometry is discussed. The use of a 10-keV x-ray wafer-level test system to support SPC and establish ``process capability`` is illustrated and a comparison of 10-keV x-ray and Co{sup 60} gamma irradiations is provided for a wide range of CMOS technologies. The x-ray tester is shown to be cost-effective and its use in lot acceptance/qualification is recommended. Finally, a comparison is provided between MIL-STD-883D, Test Method 1019.4, which governs the testing of packaged semiconductor microcircuits in the DoD, and ESA/SSC Basic Specification No. 22900, Europe`s Total Dose Steady-State Irradiation Test Method. Test Method 1019.4 focuses on conservative estimates of MOS hardness for space and …

The AMTEX Partnership is a research and development collaboration between the US Department of Energy (DOE), the DOE`s multiprogram laboratories, universities, and the integrated textile industry. The integrated industry includes fibers, textiles, apparel, and other fabricated products. The goal of AMTEX is to strengthen the competitiveness of this vital industry and thereby preserve and create new jobs. AMTEX is a role model for government, industry and universities working together to achieve a specified goal. Under the oversight of the Laboratory Technology Transfer Program in DOE`s Office of Energy Research, the multiprogram laboratories, universities and industry are pursuing a broad, industry-driven research agenda. It combines the research and development capabilities of industry and universities with the unique expertise and facilities of the DOE laboratory system.

The design and implementation of a switched-capacitor memory suitable for capturing high-speed analog waveforms is described. Highlights of the presented circuit are a 900 MHz sampling frequency (generated on chip), input signal independent cell pedestals and sampling instances, and cell gains that are insensitive to component sizes. A two-channel version of the memory with 32 cells for each channel has been integrated in a 2-{mu}m complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process with poly-to-poly capacitors. The measured rms cel pedestal variation in a channel after baseline subtraction is less than 0.3 mV across the full input signal range. The cell-to-cell gain matching is better than 0.01% rms, and the nonlinearity is less than 0.03% for a 2.5-V input range. The dynamic range of the memory exceeds 13 bits, and the peak signal-to-(noise+distortion) ratio for a 21.4 MHz sine wave sampled at 900 MHz is 59 dB.

The GChM atmospheric chemistry and transport model has been used to analyze the mid-tropospheric CO dataset obtained from NASA`s Measurement of Air Pollution by Satellites (MAPS) program. Fourteen simulations with a 3.75 horizontal resolution have been performed, including a base case and 13 sensitivity runs. The model reproduces many, but not all, of the major features of the MAPS dataset. Locations of peak CO mixing ratios associated with biomass burning as observed in the MAPS experiment are slightly farther south than the model result, indicating either greater horizontal transport than present in the model representation or a spatial difference between the location of modeled biomass fires and actual fires. The current version of GChM was shown to be relatively insensitive to the magnitude of the prescribed NO{sub x} and O{sub 3} global distributions and very insensitive to the depth of the mixed layer as parameterized in the model. Cloud convective transport was shown to play an important role in venting boundary layer CO to the free troposphere. This result agrees with prior meteorological analyses of the MAPS dataset that have-indirectly inferred the presence of convective activity through satellite-based information. Work is continuing to analyze the results of these simulations further …

Welding-induced residual stresses analysis procedure (WIRSAP), based on ADINA system of nonlinear finite element software, is described and results of several WIRSAP analyses are discussed. Several 2D axisymmetric WIRSAP analyses were performed for pipe girth welds and for several multi-pass girth-like welds attaching small nozzles to large, thick-walled pressure vessels. The analytical methodology follows closely Rybicki et al, enhanced by several specialized modeling techniques available in ADINA. The element birth option is used to simulate the addition of weld metal, and the mixed pressure/ displacement element formulation is used, in conjunction with temperature-dependent bi-linear plasticity material model. Some of the welds analyzed involve backing rings, which were subsequently `machined off` via use of the element death option. The auto-time-stepping algorithm and matrix update iteration scheme are used in structural solutions. WIRSAP involves, a pass-by-pass analysis of uncoupled thermal and structural problems, but some analyses have been performed with an ``enveloping`` technique for grouping several weld passes together. The analyses are all 2D, but most are large problems and pose challenge to software and hardware. Operations are performed on a network of Silicon Graphics workstations, and ADINA and ADINA-T are executed on a 64 MW, eight-processor CRAY YIMP. Nominally 50 solution …

Lidar results are typically analyzed using an equation which assumes all photons contributing to the return have been singly scattered. Lidar pulses returned from clouds often encounter large optical depths within a short distance of the cloud boundary and many of the received photons are likely to result from multiple scattering. This paper presents an equation to predict the multiply scattered return. The equation is easy to solve on a small computer and allows specification of the scattering cross section and the scattering phase function as a function of penetration depth into the cloud. Atmospheric clouds are made of particles which are large compared to the wavelength of visible and near infrared lidars. Optical absorption by particles is typically negligible at these wavelengths. The solution derived in this paper applies to these conditions. The derivation is an approximation which considers only the contribution due to multiple small angle forward scatterings coupled with one large angle scattering which directs the photon back towards the receiver.

Long-Range Alpha Detector (LRAD) systems are designed to monitor alpha contamination by measuring the number of ions in the air. Alpha particles are a form of ionizing radiation and a typical 5-MeV alpha particle will create about 150,000 ion pairs in air. Field tests at various DOE sites have shown that LRAD Surface Soil Monitors (SSM), Sample Monitors, and Object Monitors are faster and more sensitive than traditional alpha detectors for measuring alpha contamination. This paper discusses the various applications of LRAD technology to low-level radioactive waste management.

A cryopumping system based on the snail continuous cryopump concept is being developed for fusion applications under a DOE SBIR grant. The primary pump is a liquid helium cooled compound pump designed to continuously pump and fractionate deuterium/tritium and helium. The D/T pumping stage is a 500 mm bore cryocondensation pump with a nominal pumping speed of 45,000 L/s. It will be continuously regenerated by a snail regeneration by head every 12 minutes. Continuous regeneration will dramatically reduce the vulnerable tritium inventory in a fusion reactor. Operating at an inlet pressure of 1 millitorr, eight of these pumps could pump the projected D/T flow in the ITER CDA design while reducing the inventory of tritium in the pumping system from 630 to 43 grams. The helium fraction will be pumped in a compound argon frost stage. This stage will also operate continuously with a snail regeneration head. In addition the argon spray head will be enclosed inside the snail, thereby removing gaseous argon from the process chamber. Since the cryocondensation stage will intercept over 90% of the D/T/H steam, a purified stream from this stage could be directly reinjected into the plasma as gas or pellets, thereby bypassing the isotope …

Uranyl acetylacetonate (UAA) is an organic complex of uranium used for military applications as a chemical catalyst in high explosives. It is prepared from depleted uranium metal (in lots of 5 kg to 7 kg) by dissolution in nitric acid, neutralization, and complexation with 2,4-pentanedione; the precipitate is dissolved in benzene and recrystallized, dried, ground, and packaged. About six workers at a small chemical company were exposed over a period of time to UAA powders during routine preparation and packaging of the uranium catalyst. The dissolution characteristics of the inhaled material were unknown and could not be determined from the published scientific literature. A 1.05-g sample of UAA powder was obtained from the responsible regulatory authority for further study to determine its chemical composition, and for dissolution in simulated lung fluid. We found the solubility of UAA to be equivalent to a mixture of 52% ICRP class D and 48% ICRP class W material. The annual limit on intake and the derived air concentration for radiological protection were estimated from this result for airborne exposure to UAA. A recycling biokinetic model was used to estimate both material-specific variations in urinary excretion rates and lung retention with time after accidental intakes. …

The macroscopic properties of many materials are controlled by the structure and chemistry at the grain boundaries. A basic understanding of the structure-property relationship requires a technique which probes both composition and chemical bonding on an atomic scale. The high-resolution Z-contrast imaging technique in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) forms an incoherent image in which changes in atomic structure and composition can be interpreted intuitively. This direct image allows the electron probe to be positioned over individual atomic columns for parallel detection electron energy loss spectroscopy (PEELS) at a spatial resolution approaching 0.22nm. The bonding information which can be obtained from the fine structure within the PEELS edges can then be used in conjunction with the Z-contrast images to determine the structure at the grain boundary. In this paper we present 3 examples of correlations between the structural, chemical and electronic properties at materials interfaces in metal-semiconductor systems, superconducting and ferroelectric materials.

The macroscopic properties of many materials are controlled by the structure and chemistry at grain boundaries. A basic understanding of the structure-property relationship requires a technique which probes both composition and chemical bonding on an atomic scale. The high-resolution Z-contrast imaging technique in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) forms an incoherent image in which changes in atomic structure and composition can be interpreted intuitively. This direct image allows the electron probe to be positioned over individual atomic columns for parallel detection electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) at a spatial resolution approaching 0.22nm. In this paper we have combined the structural information available in the Z-contrast images with the bonding information obtained from the fine structure within the EELS edges to determine the grain boundary structure in a SrTiO{sub 3} bicrystal.

The Department of Energy`s (DOE) Kansas City Plant (KCP), currently operated by AlliedSignal Inc. has developed a comprehensive Hazardous Material Information System (HMIS). The purpose of this system is to provide a practical and automated method to collect, analyze and distribute hazardous material information to DOE, KCP associates, and regulatory agencies. The drivers of the HMIS are compliance with OSHA Hazard Communications, SARA reporting, pollution prevention, waste minimization, control and tracking of hazards, and emergency response. This report provides a discussion of this system.

A method for solving an initial value problem of a closed system consisting of an electromagnetic mean field and its quantum fluctuations coupled to fermions is presented. By tailoring the large N{sub f} expansion method to the Schwinger-Keldysh closed time path (CTP) formulation of the quantum effective action, causality of the resulting equations of motion is ensured, and a systematic energy conserving and gauge invariant expansion about the electromagnetic mean field in powers of 1/N{sub f} is developed. The resulting equations may be used to study the quantum nonequilibrium effects of pair creation in strong electric fields and the scattering and transport processes of a relativistic e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} plasma. Using the Bjorken ansatz of boost invariance initial conditions in which the initial electric mean field depends on the proper time only, we show numerical results for the case in which the N{sub f} expansion is truncated in the lowest order, and compare them with those of a phenomenological transport equation.

A slow-ramp, extended overpower transient test was conducted on a group of nineteen preirradiated mixed-oxide fuel elements in EBR-II. During the transient two of the test elements with high-density fuel and tempered martensitic cladding (PNC-FMS) breached at an overpower of {approx}75%. Fuel elements with austenitic claddings (D9, PNC316, and PNC150), many with aggressive design features and high burnups, survived the overpower transient and incurred little or no cladding strain. Fuel elements with annual fuel or heterogeneous fuel columns also behaved well.

A novel flow-through hydrothermal method used to synthesize nanoscale powders is introduced by Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The process, Rapid Thermal Decomposition of precursors in Solution (RTDS), combines high-pressure and high-temperature conditions to rapidly form nanoscale particles. The RTDS process was demonstrated on a laboratory scale and scaled up to accommodate production rates attractive to industry. The process is able to produce a wide variety of metal oxides and oxyhydroxides. The powders are characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopic methods, surface-area measurements, and x-ray diffraction. Typical crystallite sizes are less than 20 nanometers, with BET surface areas ranging from 100 to 400 m{sup 2}/g. A description of the RTDS process is presented along with powder characterization results. In addition, data on the sintering of nanoscale ZrO{sub 2} produced by RTDS are included.

Uniaxial tests of single-edged notched bend (SENB) specimens with both deep- and shallow-flaws have shown elevated fracture-toughness for the shallow flaws. The elevation in fracture-toughness for shallow flaws has been shown to be the result of reduced constraint at the crack-tip. Biaxial loading has the potential to increase constraint at the crack-tip and thereby reduce some of the shallow-flaw, fracture-toughness elevation. Biaxial fracture-toughness tests have shown that the shallow-flaw, fracture-toughness elevation is reduced but not eliminated by biaxial loading. Dual-parameter, fracture-toughness correlations have been proposed to reflect the effect of crack-tip constraint on fracture-toughness. Test results from the uniaxial and biaxial tests were analyzed using the dual-parameter technology. Discrepancies between analysis results and cleavage initiation site data from fractographic examinations indicate that the analysis models are in need of further refinement. Addition of a precleavage, ductile-tearing element to the analysis model has the potential to resolve the noted discrepancies.

Cavities formed in Si by He ion implantation and annealing are shown to be strong traps for Cu and Ni impurities. Experiments utilizing ion-beam analysis and transmission electron microscopy indicate that Cu is trapped at the internal surfaces of cavities up to {approximately}1 monolayer coverage with a binding energy of 2.2{plus_minus}0.2 eV relative to solution. This is greater than the heat of solution from the precipitated Cu{sub 3}Si phase, determined to be 1.7 eV in agreement with earlier work. Copper at cavity-wall sites is reversibly replaced by H during heating in H{sub 2} gas, indicating the relative stability of the two surface terminations. Initial results for Ni impurities indicate that trapping at cavities is again energetically preferred to silicide formation. The saturation coverage of Ni on the internal surfaces, however, is an order of magnitude smaller for Ni than Cu, consistent with published studies of external-surface adsorption. These results suggest that cavity trapping may getter metallic impurities in Si more effectively than methods based on silicide precipitation.

In this paper, general requirements are discussed on a biomedical user facility at the Fermilab`s 400-MeV Linac, which meets the needs of biology and biophysics experiments, and a conceptual design and typical operations requirements of the facility is presented. It is assumed that no human patient treatment will take place in this facility. If human patients were treated, much greater attention would have to be paid to safeguarding the patients.

Heterogeneous nucleation and crystal growth on functionalized organic substrates is a critical step in biological hard tissue formation. Self assembled monolayers can be derivatized with various organic functional groups to mimic the ``nucleation proteins`` for induction of mineral growth. Studies of nucleation and growth on SAMs can provide a better understanding of biomineralization and can also form the basis of a superior thin film deposition process. We demonstrate that micron-scale, electron and ion beam, lithographic techniques can be used to pattern SAMs with functional organic groups that either inhibit or promote mineral deposition. Patterned films of iron oxyhydroxide were deposited on the areas patterned with nucleation sites. Studies of the deposition kinetic of these films show that indeed the surface induces heterogeneous nucleation and that film formation does not occur via absorption of polymers or colloidal material formed homogeneously in solution. The nucleus interfacial free energy was calculated to be 24 mJ/m2 on a SAM surface composed entirely of sulfonate groups.

Object oriented (OO) technology appears to offer tangible benefits to the high energy physics (HEP) community. Yet many physicists view this newest software development used with much reservation and reluctance. Facing the reality of having to support the existing physics applications, which are written in FORTRAN, the software engineers in the Computer Engineering Group of the Physics Research Division at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory have accepted the challenge of mixing an old language with the new technology. This paper describes the experience and the techniques devised to fit FORTRAN into the OO paradigm (OOP).

The core of a boiling water reactor (BWR) consists of an array of fuel assemblies with cross-shaped control blades located between these assemblies. Each fuel assembly consists of a fuel rod bundle surrounded by a Zircaloy channel box. Each control blade consists of small stainless steel absorber tubes filled with B{sub 4}C powder surrounded by a stainless steel blade sheath. Under severe accident conditions, material interactions between the B{sub 4}C, stainless steel, and Zircaloy would have a significant impact on the melting and subsequent relocation of the control blade and channel box structures. This paper describes a new BWR control blade/channel box model for the SCDAP/RELAP5 severe accident analysis code that includes the effects of these material interactions. The phenomena represented by this model and the modeling techniques are derived from ORNL analyses of the BWR severe fuel damage experiments. Two examples of the operation of this new model within SCDAP/RELAP5 are provided.