The prevailing image of wood and waste burning as dirty and environmentally harmful is no longer valid. The use of biomass combustion for energy can solve many of our nation`s problems. Wood and other biomass residues that are now causing expensive disposal problems can be burned as cleanly and efficiently as natural gas, and at a fraction of the cost. New breakthroughs in integrated waste-to-energy systems, from fuel handling, combustion technology and control systems to heat transfer and power generation, have dramatically improved system costs, efficiencies, cleanliness of emissions, maintenance-free operation, and end-use applications. Increasing costs for fossil fuels and for waste disposal strict environmental regulations and changing political priorities have changed the economics and rules of the energy game. This report will describe the new rules, new playing fields and key players, in the hope that those who make our nation`s energy policy and those who play in the energy field will take biomass seriously and promote its use.

The work was directed in two complementary directions, the D0 experiment at Fermilab, and the GEM detector for the SSC. Efforts have been towards the data taking and analysis with the newly commissioned D0 detector at Fermilab in the [bar p]p Collider run that started in May 1992 and ended on June 1, 1993. We involved running and calibration of the calorimeter and tracking chambers, the second level trigger development, and various parts of the data analysis, as well as studies for the D0 upgrade planned in the second half of this decade. Another major accomplishment was the delivery'' of the Technical Design Report for the GEM SSC detector. Efforts to the overall detector and magnet design, design of the facilities, installation studies, muon system coordination, muon chamber design and tests, muon system simulation studies, and physics simulation studies. In this document we describe these activities separately.

The work was directed in two complementary directions, the D0 experiment at Fermilab, and the GEM detector for the SSC. Efforts have been towards the data taking and analysis with the newly commissioned D0 detector at Fermilab in the {bar p}p Collider run that started in May 1992 and ended on June 1, 1993. We involved running and calibration of the calorimeter and tracking chambers, the second level trigger development, and various parts of the data analysis, as well as studies for the D0 upgrade planned in the second half of this decade. Another major accomplishment was the ``delivery`` of the Technical Design Report for the GEM SSC detector. Efforts to the overall detector and magnet design, design of the facilities, installation studies, muon system coordination, muon chamber design and tests, muon system simulation studies, and physics simulation studies. In this document we describe these activities separately.

This report briefly describes some current applications of advanced computerized digital display and control systems at US commercial nuclear power plants and presents the results of a literature search that was made to gather information on the reliability of these systems. Both hardware and software reliability were addressed in this review. Only limited failure rate information was found, with the chemical process industry being the primary source of information on hardware failure rates and expert opinion the primary source for software failure rates. Safety-grade digital control systems are typically installed on a functional like-for-like basis, replacing older analog systems without substantially changing interactions with other plant systems. Future work includes performing a limited probabilistic risk assessment of a representative DCS to assess its risk significance.

This report briefly describes some current applications of advanced computerized digital display and control systems at US commercial nuclear power plants and presents the results of a literature search that was made to gather information on the reliability of these systems. Both hardware and software reliability were addressed in this review. Only limited failure rate information was found, with the chemical process industry being the primary source of information on hardware failure rates and expert opinion the primary source for software failure rates. Safety-grade digital control systems are typically installed on a functional like-for-like basis, replacing older analog systems without substantially changing interactions with other plant systems. Future work includes performing a limited probabilistic risk assessment of a representative DCS to assess its risk significance.

The Alaska Power Administration (APA) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-0862) evaluating the Marketing Plan for the Eklutna Project that establishes long-term allocation and sales of power. The proposed long-term sales contract will replace long-term agreements that expire at the end of December, 1993. The EA evaluates the proposed alternative and the no action alternative. The proposed alternative replaces the expiring contracts with new 20-year contracts with the same terms, conditions and allocations as the previous long-term contracts. No other alternatives were developed, as the three preference utilities are the only ones in the marketing area, and the ratio of power allocations with proposed alternative are the same as those contained in a divestiture purchase agreement signed among the power customers. The divestiture of this Federal project is expected to be approved by Congress; the power contracts signed under the marketing plan would remain in force after the sale to the three existing customers, who would then own the project in the same ratio as the power sales contracts. The EA identified no actions associated with the proposal that will cause significant environmental or socioeconomic impacts. The Marketing Plan for the Eklutna Project deals with replacement of expiring contracts.

The Alaska Power Administration (APA) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-0839) evaluating the Final Marketing Plan for the Snettisham Project that establishes long-term allocation and sales of power. The proposed long-term sales contract will replace a 20-year sales agreement that expires at the end of December, 1993. The EA evaluates the proposed alternative and the no action alternative. The proposed alternative replaces the expiring contract with a new 20-year contract with the same terms, conditions and allocation as the previous long-term contract. No other alternatives were developed, as there is only one utility in the Juneau area. The divestiture of this Federal project is expected to be approved by Congress; the present contractor would then assume the ownership and operation of the Snettisham Project. The EA identified no actions associated with the proposal that will cause significant environmental or socioeconomic impacts. The Final Marketing Plan for the Snettisham Project deals with the replacement of an expiring contract. The Final Marketing Plan does not include the addition of any major new resources, service to discrete major new loads, or major changes in operating parameters. No changes in rates are proposed in the Final Marketing Plan.

A divertor simulator, IDEAL, has been proposed by S. Cohen to study the difficult power-handling requirements of the tokamak program in general and the ITER program in particular. Projections of the power density in the ITER divertor reach {approximately} 1 Gw/m{sup 2} along the magnetic fieldlines and > 10 MW/m{sup 2} on a surface inclined at a shallow angle to the fieldlines. These power densities are substantially greater than can be handled reliably on the surface, so new techniques are required to reduce the power density to a reasonable level. Although the divertor physics must be demonstrated in tokamaks, a linear device could contribute to the development because of its flexibility, the easy access to the plasma and to tested components, and long pulse operation (essentially cw). However, a decision to build a simulator requires not just the recognition of its programmatic value, but also confidence that it can meet the required parameters at an affordable cost. Accordingly, as reported here, it was decided to examine the physics of the proposed device, including kinetic effects resulting from the intense heating required to reach the plasma parameters, and to conduct an independent cost estimate. The detailed role of the simulator in …

After extensive investigations over three decades, the linear-coupling model and its equivalents have become the standard microscopic models for quantum harmonic Brownian motion, in which a harmonically bound Brownian particle is coupled to a quantum dissipative heat bath of general type modeled by infinitely many harmonic oscillators. The dynamics of these models have been studied by many authors using the quantum Langevin equation, the path-integral approach, quasi-probability distribution functions (e.g., the Wigner function), etc. However, the quantum Langevin equation is only applicable to some special problems, while other approaches all involve complicated calculations due to the inevitable reduction (i.e., contraction) operation for ignoring/eliminating the degrees of freedom of the heat bath. In this dissertation, the author proposes an improved methodology via a modified phase-space approach which employs the characteristic function (the symplectic Fourier transform of the Wigner function) as the representative of the density operator. This representative is claimed to be the most natural one for performing the reduction, not only because of its simplicity but also because of its manifestation of geometric meaning. Accordingly, it is particularly convenient for studying the time evolution of the Brownian particle with an arbitrary initial state. The power of this characteristic function is …

This report discusses the scientific and economic feasibility of fusion energy, especially in regards to the tokamak reactor.