Activities performed in the Near Term Hybrid Vehicle (NTHV) program which studied the technical, economic, and fuel conservation aspects of replacing new 1985 full sized passenger cars in the US with automobiles having combination heat engines and electric motor power are summarized. These studies included NTHV design for the body power units, transmission system, and controls; evaluation of alternative strategies; the fuel conservation expected; goals for vehicle performance, safety and reliability; economic analysis, and mathematical models for use in the computer-aided design of the optimum performance NTHV. (LCL)

Plasma generated in low-density vapor by a negative ion beam has been studied experimentally and computationally. We show that space charge neutralization of the beam occurs at very low vapor density, and that correspondingly the electron density may be much less than the beam and plasma ion densities. When there is a large local gas density, as in a charge changing cell, the resulting high electron density is also localized to the same region. Therefore, very few electrons will reach a negative ion accelerator even if it is placed one or two beam diameters from such a cell.

Complete results, from raw data to interpretation to recommendations, of a program to investigate the use of multiblade slurry sawing to produce silicon wafers from ingots are presented. During the course of this program, the commercially available state of the art process was improved by 20% in terms of area of silicon wafers produced from an ingot. The process was improved 34% on an experimental basis. Production of 20 wafers per centimeter length of 100 mm diameter ingot is now possible on a production basis. Economic analyses presented show that further improvements are necessary to approach the desired wafer costs, mostly reduction in expendable materials costs. Tests which indicate that such reduction is possble are included, although demonstration of such reduction was not completed. A new, large capacity saw was designed and tested. Performance comparable with current equipment (in terms of number of wafers/cm) was demonstrated. Improved performance was partially demonstrated, but problems (both mechanical and of unknown origin) precluded full demonstration of improved performance.

A D/sup -/ beam with current greater than 100 ma was accelerated to 60 kV. The beam, with pulse length 10 ms, was generated by charge-exchange in cesium vapor. The physics of generation, propagation at low energy, and acceleration is discussed.

This part of the completion report pertaining to the NERVA graphite fuel element program covers data collected during the extrusion studies. The physical properties of the fuel element reached the following values: coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) - 7.0 x 10-6/o C (25 - l,OOOo C); modulus of elasticity - 1.5 x lo6 psi; flexural strength - - 8,000 psi; ultimate strain to failure - 5,500 pidin; good thermal stress resistance. Matrices were produced which could be vapor coated with crack-free films of zirconium carbide. The CTE of the matrix was almost equal to the CTE of the zirconium carbide coating.

An environmental test chamber providing acceleration of uv radiation and precise temperature control (+- 1/sup 0/C) has been designed, constructed and tested. This chamber allows acceleration of solar ultraviolet up to 30 suns while maintaining temperature of the absorbing surface at 30/sup 0/C to 60/sup 0/C). This test chamber utilizes a filtered medium pressure mercury arc as the source of radiation, and a combination of selenium radiometer and silicon radiometer to monitor solar ultraviolet (295 to 340 nm) and total radiant power output, respectively. Details of design and construction and operational procedures are presented along with typical test data. The test chamber was designed for accelerated testing of solar cell modules.

A Mach-Zehnder interference microscope was automated which quickly characterizes and sorts transparent microspheres. It takes only 12 seconds to measure a 3 micron thick glass microsphere.

Most of the Dilute Chemical Decontamination Program effort was expended on the VNC test loop simulation of a BWR decontamination. The various tasks in the Alternate Water Chemistry Program are reported on: dose rate, offgas system, leakage monitoring, materials, condensate treatment, additives, etc. (DLC)

Laser-driven shockwave experiments have been proposed for accurate determination of equation of state data in the multimegabar pressure range. This paper gives a quantitative analysis of the prospects for such experiments. In order to unambiguously interpret shockwave data, one requires a clean shock -- that is, a planar, steady shock wave entering cold material (without significant preheat perturbation). The problems of attaining sufficiently clean shocks at high pressure are examined and scaling relations which relate the pressure achieved to laser intensity, pulse energy, etc, are developed. It is shown that significantly higher pressures can be achieved when structured (layered) targets are used.

Three preprints are presented. The first, entitled ''Glow Discharge Optical Spectroscopy Measurement of Dopant Concentrations in a-Si:H,'' reports significant differences between the ratio of boron to silicon of the films and that of their deposition plasmas. The second, entitled ''Growth Morphology and Defects in Plasma-Deposited a-Si:H Films,'' presents structural studies that show that a major class of defect is an anisotropic density fluctuation. Studies of the hydrogen environment suggest that an inhomogeneous hydrogen distribution is associated with these fluctuations. From considerations of the deposition chemistry and nucleation theory, a model is proposed to describe the film growth process and its relationship to defects. The third, entitled ''Luminescence and ESR Studies of Defects in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon,'' demonstrates that the two experiments involve identical recombination transitions, and identify two separate processes. One process involves defect states, and from the doping dependence of light induced ESR, it is deduced that the electronically active defects are dangling bonds with positive electronic correlation energy. (LEW)

We have developed processes for mass producing the quality glass microspheres required for current laser fusion experiments. We describe the advances in the methods and materials used in our liquid droplet and dried gel systems.

The High Field Test Facility (HFTF) to be built at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories (LLL) consists of a magnet which will be wound with Nb/sub 3/Sn superconductor. Embossed and electroplated copper strip will be soldered to the two broad sides of a rectangular Nb/sub 3/Sn superconductor 5.4 mm x 11.0 mm x approximately 100 m long. It is the purpose of this project to upgrade existing facilities to emboss the copper stabilizer strip, electroplate the strip with 50 Pb-50 Sn solder, and to solder two such strips to the superconductor. This program has been approached in seven separate tasks which are described in this report.

In comparing the results of extrusions of Nb, it was found that the non-uniformity of the Nb extruded at Teledyne Wah Chang Albany (TWCA) is more severe than the other. This correlates with results of the mechanical properties of Nb. Both specimens were given identical extrusion, cold work, and heat treatments. (FS)

As indicated by tests on several cameras, the dynamic range of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory streak-camera system appears to be about two orders of magnitude greater than those reported for other systems for 10- to 200-ps pulses. The lack of a fine mesh grid in the RCA streak tube used in these cameras probably contributes to a lower system dynamic noise and therefore raises the dynamic range. A developmental tube with a mesh grid was tested and supports this conjecture. Order-of-magnitude variations in input slit width do not affect the spot size on the phosphor or the dynamic range of the RCA tube.

Magnetic thin film transient current sensor/recorders were modified to make two types of nuclear test measurements, transient currents in hybrid microcircuits and internal electromagnetic pulse (IEMP) fields. The measurements were made possible by the invention of split-domain sensor/recorders which can measure bilateral currents and can be reset and readout on location. The sensor/recorders were used in two underground nuclear tests and numerous calibration tests in radiation-simulation machines. The data showed that the nuclear environment had negligible effect on the sensor/recorder's operation and the recorded informations on the sensor/recorders were the signals intended to be monitored. Also, the experimental data agreed with the theoretical analysis in controlled experiments. The data were examined first by on location readout with a magnetic tape viewer and later by Kerr magneto-optic readout in the laboratory. To translate the data into current readings, we reconstructed facsimile data (on each of the sensor/recorders) in the laboratory by current pulses with the same pulse width as the radiation event. An additional check on the accuracy of the data was made by using both the sensor/recorder and the conventional pickup-oscilloscope-camera technique to monitor the same current lead in a simulated radiation environment. Over five runs were made, and the …

Preliminary evaluation of leaching, acid digestion, and fusion methods for actinide recovery from incinerator ash was begun. Cold ash from the fluidized bed incinerator was used as a stand-in for contaminated ash being prepared. Solubilization of ash was used as the measure of method efficiency. Fusion with basic fluxes appears to be most promising both with respect to actinide recovery efficiency and minimum impact on waste volume and form. Evaluation was begun of methods and recycle preparation problems for salt waste and waste water streams. A feasibility study for removing actinides from the salt wastes with a bidentate organophosphorous extractant was initiated. The composition of these waste streams was defined and actinide extraction coefficients, using dihexyl-N, N-diethylcarbamylmethylene phosphonate as the extractant, were determined as a function of nitric acid concentration. For the waste water streams, preliminary flow sheets were developed for purifying water by reverse osmosis.

To increase the reliability of the criticality monitoring system in a diagnostic chemistry area and to reduce the number of false alarms, a new monitoring system was built using a fast-neutron detector. This paper outlines the design requirements, describes the plastic scintillation detector system as it was built, and reports on the results of several months of operation. The new monitor has proven much more useful than the gamma-detector system it replaced.

During the past year we have studied the effect of pH and inorganic carbon concentration on the photosynthesis of Elodea densa. In the pH range of 6 to 9, there is a dramatic change in the response of photosynthesis to pH. At 1 mM inorganic carbon and below photosynthesis increases with decreasing pH as expected, but at 10 mM and above there is a peak. This peak is between pH 7.5 and 8.0 when the inorganic carbon concentration is 10 to 20 mM and shifts to lower pH's with increasing temperature and decreasing inorganic carbon concentration. At a given temperature the calculated concentration of free CO/sub 2/ is the same at those carbon levels studied. Calculations and experiments have indicated that the presence of lacunae is not a major source of error in our system under the conditions used.

This research demonstrates the feasibility of using homogeneously-generated fission fragments to simulate high-fluence fusion neutron damage in niobium tensile specimens. This technique makes it possible to measure radiation effects on bulk mechanical properties at high damage states, using conveniently short irradiation times. The primary knock-on spectrum for a fusion reactor is very similar to that produced by fission fragments, and nearly the same ratio of gas atoms to displaced atoms is produced in niobium. The damage from fission fragments is compared to that from fusion neutrons and fission reactor neutrons in terms of experimentally measured yield strength increase, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations, and calculated damage energies.

Dr. John W. Shupe, Univ. of Hawaii, the first of seven speakers, reviewed geothermal sources in Hawaii by means of a slide presentation. Prof. Hamilton Hess, University of San Francisco, dealt philosophically with geothermal energy, considered an ''exotic alternative, or at best, a marginal energy source.'' Robert G. Lacy, San Diego Gas and Electric Co., discussed geothermal development in the Imperial Valley. Dr. Tsvi Meidav, Geonomics, Inc., discussed the size of the geothermal resource and how far away full utilization of the resource is. Donald Finn, Geothermal Energy Institute, presented slides of geothermal sources ranging from areas in New England to the geysers in the western U.S.; he touched on some legal aspects about leasing areas for geothermal development. John Aldridge, Nevada Power Co., discussed further the legal impediments to geothermal development, with comments especially on the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Jim Breesee, Acting Director, Division of Geothermal Development, ERDA commented further on ERDA's program. The questions asked and answered in the panel discussion that followed are presented. (MCW)

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The geology and hydrology of the Hanford Reservation are reviewed, with emphasis on ground water flow, to identify those areas that should be restricted from unconditional release due to radionuclide cortamination or radioactive waste storage as well as those areas that would have no hydrological restrictions. The effects of the discharge of large quantities of cooling water from the radiochemical plants on ground water flow were also evaluated. (CH)

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Work was continued on solubility limit studies on fluorophosphate glasses for terbium and cerium. In addition, neodymium sensitization work was initiated. (MHR)