The Office of Fissile Materials Disposition is responsible for disposing of inventories of surplus US weapons-usable plutonium and highly enriched uranium as well as providing, technical support for, and ultimate implementation of, efforts to obtain reciprocal disposition of surplus Russian plutonium. On January 4, 2000, the Department of Energy issued a Record of Decision to dispose of up to 50 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium using two methods. Up to 17 metric tons of surplus plutonium will be immobilized in a ceramic form, placed in cans and embedded in large canisters containing high-level vitrified waste for ultimate disposal in a geologic repository. Approximately 33 metric tons of surplus plutonium will be used to fabricate MOX fuel (mixed oxide fuel, having less than 5% plutonium-239 as the primary fissile material in a uranium-235 carrier matrix). The MOX fuel will be used to produce electricity in existing domestic commercial nuclear reactors. This paper reports the major waste-package-related, long-term disposal impacts of the two waste forms that would be used to accomplish this mission. Particular emphasis is placed on the possibility of criticality. These results are taken from a summary report published earlier this year.

If a repository were built at Yucca Mountain, it would rely on two distinct systems to prevent radioactive materials from escaping into the environment. These systems act as barriers to the movement of radionuclides. The first system involves natural barriers--the rocks, water, and climate at Yucca Mountain. The second system is comprised of an array of engineered, or man-made, barriers that give the repository defense in depth and add safety margins. These systems would work together to protect the public and the environment. The mountain's natural features present a formidable line of defense against possible movement by radionuclides. These barriers include Yucca Mountain's unique geology, the region's dry climate, and, in general, a range of enclosed water systems that should slow water that contains radioactive particles from reaching rivers or other groundwater systems. The mountain's natural barriers and planned man-made barriers should prevent most moisture from ever reaching the waste packages within a repository. Moreover, the natural barriers would slow the movement of radioactive particles that do dissolve in water. The engineering, or technological measures, that would be built into a repository at Yucca Mountain would help ensure that health and safety standards are maintained even if some components of …

This report describes work to examine the gas generation behavior of actual K East (KE) Basin floor and canister sludge. The path forward for management of the K Basin Sludge is to retrieve, ship, and store the sludge at T Plant until final processing at some future date. Gas generation will impact the designs and costs of systems associated with retrieval, transportation and storage of sludge. The overall goals for this testing were to collect detailed gas generation rate and composition data to ascertain the quantity and reactivity of the metallic uranium (and other reactive species) present in the K Basin sludge. The gas generation evaluation included four large-scale vessels (850 ml) and eight small-scale vessels (30 ml) in an all-metal, leak tight system. The tests were conducted for several thousand hours at ambient and elevated temperatures (32 C, 40 C, 60 C, 80 C, and 95 C) to accelerated the reactions and provide conclusive gas generation data within a reasonable testing period. The sludge used for these tests was collected from the KE Basin floor and canister barrels (containing damaged spent fuel elements) using a consolidated sampling technique (i.e., material from several locations was combined to form ''consolidated samples''). …

We have developed a new sol-gel route to synthesize several transition and main-group metal oxide aerogels. The approach is straightforward, inexpensive, versatile, and it produces monolithic microporous materials with high surface areas. Specifically, we report the use of epoxides as gelation agents for the sol-gel synthesis of chromia aerogels and xerogels from simple Cr(III) inorganic salts. The dependence of both gel formation and its rate was studied by varying the solvent used, the Cr(III) precursor salt, the epoxide/Cr(III) ratio, as well as the type of epoxide employed. All of these variables were shown to affect the rate of gel formation and provide a convenient control of this parameter. Dried chromia aerogels were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analyses, results of which will be presented. Our studies have shown that rigid monolithic gels can be prepared from many different metal ions salts, provided the formal oxidation state of the metal ion is greater than or equal to +3. Conversely, when di-valent transition metal salts are used precipitated solids are the products.

The purpose of this work was to screen different lots of ultrafine 1,3,5-triamine 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) for chemical differences, which may include synthesis and formulation byproducts, decomposition products, and contaminants. The approach used here permits analysis of trapped species as volatile and semivolatile chemicals within a solid. This procedure involves preconcentration of species from the TATB matrix into a surrounding headspace followed by a preconcentration and collection step using solid phase microextraction (SPME) collection. The sample is prepared by sealing it in a glass ampule with a few milliliters of water, ultrasonicating the solution, and then sampling the headspace using SPME collection. Water couples in the ultrasonic energy to fracture the TATB, which permits the release of nonpolar species into the gas phase. However, polar species will favor the aqueous phase and require a separate analysis procedure, which is not included here. Following SPME collection, the sample is transferred to a gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GCMS) for analysis. In this work, we analyzed and interpreted outgas signatures from four different lots (1169-135MPS-001, 4271-135M-002, 91190-135M-003, and 98170-135M-001) of ultrafine TATB. Lot 98170-135M-001 is a reprocessing of Lot 4271-135M-002, which was washed to remove the water-soluble polysaccharides. The pedigree for these materials are found …

In 1982, Congress authorized the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), a Federal grant-in-aid program to improve commercial motor carrier safety. MCSAP was reauthorized in 1986, 1991, and 1998. In June 1997, in anticipation of and preparation for reauthorization, a MCSAP Formula Workgroup convened to analyze requirements for a new allocation formula and to develop the formula. Because of provisions in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), a major change in approach was to consider including performance (i.e., safety improvements) in the formula. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) actively participated in the Workgroup activities, provided technical assistance in evaluating factors and conducting scenario analyses, prepared regulatory language for the Federal Register Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), analyzed NPRM comments and recommended responses to the comments, assisted with preparation of the Federal Register Final Rule, developed the final spreadsheet, and prepared an informational brochure on MCSAP for use by the States. The allocation of MCSAP funds for FY2001 will use the new formula.

The objective of this project was to gain a basic understanding of the atomic and defect structure of BAAs and of how structural stability affects their deformation behavior. We placed particular emphasis on understanding (1) shear-band formation, which is the dominant deformation mode at ambient temperature; and (2) Newtonian plastic flow, which is expected to be the dominant deformation mode at supercooled-liquid temperatures in BAAs. Such understandings would allow suppression of shear instability, promotion of homogeneous deformation at low temperatures, and improved formability at supercooled-liquid temperatures.

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A spin glass is a magnetic ground state in which ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions compete, thereby creating frustration and a multidegenerate state with no long range order. An Ising system is a system where the spins are constrained to lie parallel or antiparallel to a primary axis. There has been much theoretical interest in the past ten years in the effects of applying a magnetic field transverse to the primary axis in an Ising spin glass at low temperatures and thus study phase transitions at the T=0 limit. The focus of this study is to search for and characterize a new Ising spin glass system. This is accomplished by site diluting yttrium for terbium in the crystalline material TbNi{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}. The first part of this work gives a brief overview of the physics of rare earth magnetism and an overview of experimental characteristics of spin glasses. This is followed by the methodology used to manufacture the large single crystals used in this study, as well as the measurement techniques used. Next, a summary of the results of magnetic measurements on across the dilution series from pure terbium to pure yttrium is presented. This is followed by detailed measurements …

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An externally air-cooled low-flow torch has been constructed and successfully demonstrated for applications in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The torch is cooled by pressurized air flowing at {approximately}70 L/min through a quartz air jacket onto the exterior of the outer tube. The outer gas flow rate and operating RF forward power are reduced considerably. Although plasmas can be sustained at the operating power as low as 400 W with a 2 L/min of outer gas flow, somewhat higher power and outer gas flows are advisable. A stable and analytical useful plasma can be obtained at 850 W with an outer gas flow rate of {approximately}4 L/min. Under these conditions, the air-cooled plasma produces comparable sensitivities, doubly charged ion ratios, matrix effects and other analytical merits as those produced by a conventional torch while using significantly less argon and power requirements. Metal oxide ion ratios are slightly higher with the air-cooled plasma but can be mitigated by reducing the aerosol gas flow rate slightly with only minor sacrifice in analyte sensitivity. A methodology to alleviate the space charge and matrix effects in ICP-MS has been developed. A supplemental electron source adapted from a conventional electron impact ionizer is added …

Experimental results of hard single diffraction and double pomeron exchange studies at the Fermilab Tevatron p{bar p} collider are presented. Single diffraction results are compared with predictions from phenomenological models and expectations from results obtained in diffractive deep inelastic scattering experiments at the DESY ep collider HERA. Double pomeron exchange results are compared with corresponding single diffraction results to test factorization.

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This technical report summarizes the data in the Renewable Electric Plant Information System (REPiS), a database of all known grid-connected renewable electric facilities in the US. It was originally designed in 1985 and updated in 1990 and 1994. The design of the database is discussed; some of the results of common search queries of the database are summarized. Data is presented on the amount of renewable electric capacity nationally that is operated, retired, planned, or of unknown status, as well as operating and planned renewable electric capacity state by state.

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Intrinsic standards are widely used in the metrology community because they realize the best level uncertainty for many metrology parameters. For some intrinsic standards, recommended practices have been developed to assist metrologists in the selection of equipment and the development of appropriate procedures in order to realize the intrinsic standard. As with the addition of any new standard, the metrology laboratory should consider the pros and cons relative to their needs before purchasing the standard so that the laboratory obtains the maximum benefit from setting up and maintaining these standards. While the specific issues that need to be addressed depend upon the specific intrinsic standard and the level of realization, general issues that should be considered include ensuring that the intrinsic standard is compatible with the laboratory environment, that the standard is compatible with the current and future workload, and whether additional support standards will be required in order to properly maintain the intrinsic standard. When intrinsic standards are used to realize the best level of uncertainty for a specific metrology parameter, they usually require critical and important maintenance activities. These activities can including training of staff in the system operation, as well as safety procedures; performing periodic characterization measurements …

An adaptive path planning algorithm is presented for cooperating Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) that are used to deploy and operate land-based sensor networks. The algorithm employs a global cost function to generate paths for the UAVs, and adapts the paths to exceptions that might occur. Examples are provided of the paths and adaptation.

It is very important to find the best conditions for some enzymes to do the best catalysis in current pharmaceutical industries. Based on the results above, we could say that this set-up could be widely used in finding the optimal condition for best enzyme activity of a certain enzyme. Instead of looking for the best condition for enzyme activity by doing many similar reactions repeatedly, we can complete this assignment with just one run if we could apply enough conditions.

The wide-range conductivity model of Lee and More is modified to allow better agreement with recent experimental data and theories for dense plasmas in the metal-insulator transition regime. Modifications primarily include a new ionization equilibrium model, consisting of a smooth blend between single ionization Saha (with a pressure ionization correction) and the generic Thomas-Fermi ionization equilibrium, a more accurate treatment of electron-neutral collisions using a polarization potential, and an empirical modification to the minimum allowed collision time. These simple modifications to the Lee-More algorithm permit a more accurate modeling of the physics near the metal-insulator transition, while preserving the generic Lee-More results elsewhere.

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Over the past year a team in the Beams Division has been working on the proton driver for Fermilab. Significant progresses have been made to reach the Phase 1 design goals. A Phase 1 proton driver consists of a modest improvement of the linac front end, a new 16 GeV synchrotron in a new tunnel and two new beam lines (400 MeV and 16 GeV). It meets the needs of a neutrino factory and can provide a 1.2 MW proton beam with 3 ns bunch length. It also allows an upgrade path to a beam power of 4 MW and bunch length of 1 ns, which will be required by a future muon collider. In addition to serve a neutrino factory and/or a muon collider, the system would also serve as a complete functional replacement for the Fermilab Booster, providing upgraded capabilities in the future for the programs that the Booster would otherwise have served. New physics programs based on the stand-alone capabilities of the proton driver as an intense source of proton beams would also be enabled. The Fermilab management has scheduled an internal technical review of the proton driver design study on April 17--19, 2000. A complete design …

It is shown that with the appropriate lattice and collimation design, one can control beam loss in the 16 GeV Fermilab Proton Driver. Based on detailed Monte-Carlo simulations, a 3-stage collimation system is proposed which consists of primary, secondary and supplementary collimators located in a special 60 m long injection section along with a painting system. It allows localization of more than 99% of beam loss to this section with only a 0.3 W/m (on average) beam loss rate in the rest of the machine. As a result, beam loss and induced radiation effects in lattice elements can be reduced to levels which are defined as acceptable.

In March 2001, the Tevatron at Fermilab will start a new run at {radical}s = 2.0 TeV, delivering an integrated luminosity of 2 fb{sup {minus}1} in the first two years and more than 15 fb{sup {minus}1} in the following years, before the start of LHC at CERN. CDF has been upgraded to cope with the new physics program. The authors present here the prospects for measuring B mixing and CP violation during the upcoming run.

NREL PV Working With Industry is a quarterly newsletter devoted to the research, development, and deployment performed by NREL staff in concert with their industry and university partners. The third quarter, contains articles on several important PV-related conferences held in the prior three months: the REAP/HBCU Conference and the IPS-2000 Photochemistry Conference. The issue also contains a preview article of the PV Specialists conference held in Alaska in September. The editorialist is John Benner, PV Specialist Conference Program Chairman.