The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the second phase of the organic air emission standards for hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) and hazardous waste generators in December 1994. These standards (referred to as the Subpart CC standards) are designed to further reduce organic air emissions from hazardous waste management activities. To comply with these new air standards, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is designing a volatile organic removal and destruction treatment train to modify its existing Waste Water Treatment Tank Farm (hereafter called Tank Farm). LLNL`s Tank Farm consists of six, 7,000-L open-top tanks used to store and treat aqueous low-level radioactive, mixed, and hazardous waste before discharging it to the local publicly owned treatment works. The waste stored and treated in the tanks have elevated volatile organic constituent (VOC) concentrations. According to the Subpart CC standards, tanks handling waste with similar VOC concentrations must be retrofitted with a cover and an emission control device for cover openings that achieves at least a 95% reduction in the total organic content of the vented gas stream. However, LLNL concluded that the removal and destruction of VOCs from waste before they enter the Tank Farm would demonstrate compliance …

The Accelerator-Driven Transmutation Technology (ADTT) Project carries three approaches for dealing with waste from the defense and commercial nuclear energy enterprise. First, the problem of excess weapons plutonium in the US and Russia originating both from stockpile reductions and from defense production site clean-up is one of significant current and long-term concern. The ADTT technology offers the possibility of almost complete destruction of this plutonium by fission. The technology might be particularly effective for destruction of the low quality plutonium from defense site clean-up since the system does not require the fabrication of the waste into fuel assemblies, does not require reprocessing and refabrication, and can tolerate a high level of impurities in the feed stream. Second, the ADTT system also can destroy the plutonium, other higher actinide, and long-lived fission product from commercial nuclear waste which now can only be dealt with by geologic storage. And finally, and probably most importantly the system can be used for the production of virtually unlimited electric power from thorium with concurrent destruction of its long-lived waste components so that geologic containment for them is not required. In addition plutonium is not a significant byproduct of the power generation so that non-proliferation concerns …

The authors are exploring the use of Neural Networks, using the SNNS simulator, for orbit control in accelerators (primarily circular accelerators) and storage rings. The orbit of the beam in those machines are measured by orbit monitors (input nodes) and controlled by orbit corrector magnets (output nodes). The physical behavior of an accelerator is changing slowly in time. Thus, an adoptive algorithm is necessary. The goal is to have a trained net which will predict the exact corrector strengths which will minimize a measured orbit. The relationship between {open_quotes}kick{close_quotes} from the correctors and {open_quotes}response{close_quotes} from the monitors is in general non-linear and may slowly change during long-term operation of the machine. In the study, several network architectures are examined as well as various training methods for each architecture.

Orbit correction - moving the orbit to a desired orbit, orbit stability - keeping the orbit on the desired orbit using feedback to filter out unwanted noise, and orbit analysis - to learn more about the model of the machine, are strongly interrelated. They are the three facets of the same problem. The better one knows the model of the machine, the better the predictions that can be made on the behavior of the machine (inverse modeling) and the more accurately one can control the machine. On the other hand, one of the tools to learn more about the machine (modeling) is to study and analyze the orbit response to {open_quotes}kicks.{close_quotes}

This document contains the system architecture and related documents which were developed during the Preliminary Analysis/System Architecture phase of the Quality, Environmental, Safety T-racking System redesign (QUEST2) project. Each discreet document in this deliverable set applies to a analytic effort supporting the architectural model of QUEST2. The P+ methodology cites a list of P+ documents normally included in a ``typical`` system architecture. Some of these were deferred to the release development phase of the project. The documents included in this deliverable set represent the system architecture itself. Related to that architecture are some decision support documents which provided needed information for management reviews that occurred during April. Consequently, the deliverables in this set were logically grouped and provided to support customer requirements. The remaining System Architecture Phase deliverables will be provided as a ``Supporting Documents`` deliverable set for the first release.

This Project Management Plan combines the project management deliverables from the P+ methodology which are applicable to Release 1 of the QUEST2 work. This consolidation reflects discussions with WHC QA regarding an appropriate method for ensuring that P+ deliverables fulfill the intent of WHC-CM-3-10 and QR-19.

This document contains deliverables which reflect the last of the System Architecture phase analysis for the Quality, Environmental, Safety Tracking System redesign (QUEST2) project. These deliverables are focused on the final insights required to start functional design of the first QUEST2 release. They include the data definitions, conversion rules, standards for design and user interface, performance criteria, and rules to be followed during the prototyping activity described in the Project Management Plan.

The report presents an evaluation of worldwide research efforts in three specific renewable energy technologies, with a view towards future United States (US) energy security, environmental factors, and industrial competitiveness. The overall energy technology priorities of foreign governments and industry leaders, as well as the motivating factors for these priorities, are identified and evaluated from both technological and policy perspectives. The specific technologies of interest are wind, solar thermal, and solar photovoltaics (PV). These program areas, as well as the overall energy policies of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, Russia, and the European Community as a whole are described. The present and likely future picture for worldwide technological leadership in these technologies-is portrayed. The report is meant to help in forecasting challenges to US preeminence in the various technology areas, particularly over the next ten years, and to help guide US policy-makers as they try to identify specific actions which would help to retain and/or expand the US leadership position.

During the preparation of a Safety Analysis Report at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. we studied the release of chlorine from a compressed gas experimental apparatus. This paper presents the second pan in a series of two papers on this topic. The first paper focuses on the frequency of an unmitigated release from the system; paper focuses the consequences of the release. The release of chlorine from the experimental apparatus was modeled as an unmitigated blowdown through a 0.25 inch (0.006.4 m) outside diameter tube. The physical properties of chlorine were considered as were the dynamics of the fluid flow problem. The calculated release rate was used as input for the consequence assessment. Downwind concentrations as a function of time were evaluated and then compared to suggested guidelines. For comparison purposes, a typical water treatment plant was briefly studied. The lower hazard presented by the LLNL operation becomes evident when its release is compared to the release of material from a water treatment plant, a hazard which is generally accepted by the public.

The purpose of this document is to provide the test plan and procedures for the acceptance testing of the handling tools enveloped for the removal of an N-Reactor fuel element from its storage canister in the K-Basins storage pool and insertion into the Single fuel Element Can for subsequent shipment to a Hot Cell for examination. Examination of these N-Reactor fuel elements is part of the overall characterization effort. New hand tools were required since previous fuel movement has involved grasping the fuel in a horizontal position. The 305 Building Cold Test Facility will be used to conduct the acceptance testing of the Fuel Handling Tools. Upon completion of this acceptance testing and any subsequent training of operators, the tools will be transferred to the 105 KW Basin for installation and use.

The reduction of CO{sub 2} emissions to the atmosphere is under study because such emissions are believed to contribute to undesired global warming via the greenhouse effect. Several conceptual processes for the capture of CO{sub 2} from power-plant flue gas are listed, with an emphasis on refrigeration and compression as a promising process to compete with amine absorption. At conditions that are industrially achievable (temperature of 170 K and pressure of 5 bar), CO{sub 2} forms a nearly pure solid on cooling from an impure mixed vapor. This study relies on this freezing and purification process to remove 90% or more of the CO{sub 2} from flue gas. Thermal and mechanical integration are used in the conceptual flow sheet to achieve better efficiency. A computerized process simulator, Aspen Plus with Model Manager{reg_sign}, is used to rigorously calculate the material and energy balances for the conceptual process. Key parameters are regressed from the component physical properties of the flue gas and used by the computer in the Peng-Robinson equation of state to quantify the required phase changes of CO{sub 2} solid between vapor and liquid states. Results of process evaluation are given over a range of operating conditions: pressures from 2 …

The Fermilab collider program is undergoing a major upgrade of both the accelerator complex and the two detectors. Operation of the Tevatron at luminosities upwards of ten time that currently provided will occur in early 1999 after the commissioning of the new Fermilab Main Injector. The D0 upgrade program has been established to deliver a detector that will meet the challenges of this environment. A new magnetic tracker consisting of a superconducting solenoid, a silicon vertex detector, a scintillating fiber central tracker, and a central preshower detector will replace the current central tracking and transition radiation chambers. We present the design and performance capabilities of these new systems and describe results from physics simulations that demonstrate the physics reach of the upgraded detector.

Risk managers at federal facilities often need a risk-based tool to rapidly assess the possible human health risks of large numbers of sites before completing a baseline risk assessment. Risk-based concentrations, based on Preliminary Remediation Goal (PRG) development methodology, can be used as screening guideline values. We have developed a set of guideline values (GVs) for the Mound Facility at Miamisburg, Ohio, that are risk based, decision-making tools. The GVs are used (with regulatory approval) to rapidly assess the possibility that sites may be considered for {open_quotes}no action{close_quotes} decisions. The GVs are neither PRGs nor final remedial action levels. Development of the GVs on a facilitywide basis incorporated known contaminants of potential concern, physical and chemical characteristics of contaminated media, current and potential future land uses, and exposure pathway assumptions. Because no one site was used in the development process, the GVs can be applied (after consideration of the land use and exposure potential) to any site on the facility. The facilitywide approach will streamline the PRG development process by minimizing the efforts to develop site-specific PRGs for each operable unit at a considerable saving of time and effort.

This paper describes elements of success for demonstration, evaluation, and transfer for deployment of innovative technologies for environmental restoration. They have been compiled from lessons learned through the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Development`s Volatile Organic Compounds in Arid Soil Integrated Demonstration (VOC-Arid ID). The success of the VOC-Arid ID program was determined by the rapid development demonstration, and transfer for deployment of technologies to operational sites that improve on safety, cost, and/or schedule of performance over baseline technologies. The VOC-Arid ID successfully fielded more than 25 innovative technology field demonstrations; several of the technologies demonstrated have been successfully transferred for deployment Field demonstration is a critical element in the successful transfer of innovative technologies into environmental restoration operations. The measures of success for technology demonstrations include conducting the demonstration in a safe and controlled environment and generating the appropriate information by which to evaluate the technology. However, field demonstrations alone do not guarantee successful transfer for deployment There are many key elements throughout the development and demonstration process that have a significant impact on the success of a technology. This paper presents key elements for a successful technology demonstration and transfer for deployment identified through the …

This report is a summary of the methods used to determine ultrasonic velocities through the many materials tested at the Acoustic Properties of Materials Laboratory. Ultrasonic velocity techniques enable the determination of material properties, including elastic moduli, without harming the materials being tested, an advantage some over mechanical methods. Ultrasonic modulus determination has other advantages as well: (1) relative ease and low cost of material preparation; and (2) comparative analysis to physical testing as a function of material loading rate dependence. In addition, ultrasonic measurement provides clues to determine grain size and orientation, and provides a relative indication of material anisotropy with respect to the material geometry. The authors usually perform ultrasonic measurements on materials in ambient atmospheric conditions, and in a relatively free-free condition. However, the authors can perform them in other environments, as required. This paper describes some of the techniques used in this laboratory and shows how ultrasonic velocities are used to establish elastic constants. It also includes a sample test report for a homogeneous isotropic solid, along with a list of references.

This report presents the results of the evaluation of the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant, Units 3 and 4, Third 10-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Plan, Revision 0, submitted September 9, 1993, including the requests for relief from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section XI, requirements that the licensee has determined to be impractical. The Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant, Units 3 and 4, Third 10-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Plan is evaluated in Section 2 of this report. The inservice inspection (ISI) program plan is evaluated for (a) compliance with the appropriate edition/addenda of Section XI, (b) acceptability of the examination sample, (c) correctness of the application of system or component examination exclusion criteria, and (d) compliance with ISI-related commitments identified during previous Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews. The requests for relief are evaluated in Section 3 of this report.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Plutonium Facility conducts numerous programmatic activities involving plutonium to include device fabrication, development of improved and/or unique fabrication techniques, metallurgy research, and laser isotope separation. A Safety Analysis Report (SAR) for the building 332 Plutonium Facility was completed in July 1994 to address operational safety and acceptable risk to employees, the public, government property, and the environmental. This paper outlines the PRA analysis of the Evaluation Basis Fire (EBF) operational accident. The EBF postulates the worst-case programmatic impact event for the Plutonium Facility.

The need to bound system performance of the potential Yucca Mountain repository for thousands of years after emplacement of high-level nuclear waste requires the use of computer codes. The use of such codes to produce reliable bounds over such long time periods must be tested using long-lived natural and historical systems as analogues. The geothermal systems of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) in New Zealand were selected as the site most amenable to study. The rocks of the TVZ are silicic volcanics that are similar in composition to Yucca Mountain. The area has been subjected to temperatures of 25 to 300 C which have produced a variety of secondary minerals similar to those anticipated at Yucca Mountain. The availability of rocks, fluids and fabricated materials for sampling is excellent because of widespread exploitation of the systems for geothermal power. Current work has focused on testing the ability of the EQ3/6 code and thermodynamic data base to describe mineral-fluid relations at elevated temperatures. Welfare starting long-term dissolution/corrosion tests of rocks, minerals and manufactured materials in natural thermal features in order to compare laboratory rates with field-derived rates. Available field data on rates of silica precipitation from heated fluids have been analyzed …

Highly anisotropic particles of various thallium containing superconductors were grown. The Tl free precursor powders with the nominal compositions Ba{sub 1}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}Ag{sub 0.37}O{sub 6} and Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}Ag{sub 0.37}O{sub 7} were prepared using an aerosol flow reactor. These precursor powders were post-annealed in 0.1 atm oxygen at 700{degree}C for 4h to reduce the carbon present, and subsequently mixed with Tl{sub 2}O{sub 3} (typical composition of Tl{sub x}; x = 0.6 {minus} 1.0). The Tl-containing powders were heat-treated in semi-sealed gold tubes between 650--890{degree}C with various short and long heat-treatments. X-ray diffraction showed that the Tl{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 1}Cu{sub 2}O{sub 7} (referred to as Tl-1212) and Tl{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 9} (Tl-1223) phases formed below 700{degree}C while Tl{sub 2}Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 1}Cu{sub 2}O{sub 8} (Tl-2212) formed between 700--830{degree}C, and Tl{sub 2}Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 10} (Tl-2223) formed above 830{degree}C. Scanning electron microscopy showed evidence for the presence of high aspect-ratio particles. These highly anisotropic particles may be of interest for the preparation of powder-in-tube and other powder-deposited conductors, for current leads, and for grain alignment studies.

Clouds are one of the most important moderators of the earth radiation budget and one of the least understood. The effect that clouds have on the reflection and absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation is strongly influenced by their shape, size, and composition. Physically accurate parameterization of clouds is necessary for any general circulation model (GCM) to yield meaningful results. The work presented here is part of a larger project that is aimed at producing realistic three-dimensional (3D) volume renderings of cloud scenes, thereby providing the important shape information for parameterizing GCMs. The specific goal of the current study is to develop an algorithm that automatically classifies (by cloud type) the clouds observed in the scene. This information will assist the volume rendering program in determining the shape of the cloud. Much work has been done on cloud classification using multispectral satellite images. Most of these references use some kind of texture measure to distinguish the different cloud types and some also use topological features (such as cloud/sky connectivity or total number of clouds). A wide variety of classification methods has been used, including neural networks, various types of clustering, and thresholding. The work presented here utilizes binary decision trees …

Leading fusion energy research institutions are currently engaged in the Engineering Design Activity for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). A tokamak reactor design is evolving which emphasizes high system performance in a minimum overall reactor and building size. The resulting high component density dictates careful attention to ITER remote maintenance considerations in the development of the configuration. The complexity and scale of ITER remote maintenance tasks are well beyond the scope of today`s experience and technology. This paper discusses the remote maintenance philosophy, describes the basic configuration as it relates to maintenance, and describes the basic procedures and equipment required. Key enabling technology research and development needs are also addressed.

When drilling exploration and production wells for oil and gas, drillers use specialized drilling fluids, referred to as muds, to help maintain well control and to remove drill cuttings from the hole. Historically, either water-based muds (WBMs) or oil-based muds (OBMs) have been used for offshore wells. Recently, in response to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and drilling-waste discharge requirements imposed by North Sea nations, the drilling industry has developed several types of synthetic-based muds (SBMs) that combine the desirable operating qualities of OBMs with the lower toxicity and environmental impact qualities of WBMs. This report describes the operational, environmental, and economic features of all three types of muds and discusses potential EPA regulatory barriers to wider use of SBMs.

A fully automated analyzer has been developed for plutonium solutions. It was assembled from several commercially available modules, is based upon segmented flow analysis, and exhibits precision about an order of magnitude better than commercial units (0.5%--0.05% RSD). The system was designed to accept unmeasured, untreated liquid samples in the concentration range 40--240 g/l: and produce a report with sample identification, sample concentrations, and an abundance of statistics. Optional hydraulics can accommodate samples in the concentration range 0.4--4.0 g/y. Operating at a typical rate of 30 to 40 samples per hour, it consumes only 0.074 ml of each sample and standard, and generates waste at the rate of about 1.5 ml per minute. No radioactive material passes through its multichannel peristaltic pump (which remains outside the glovebox, uncontaminated) but rather is handled by a 6-port, 2-position chromatography-type loop valve. An accompanying computer is programmed in QuickBASIC 4.5 to provide both instrument control and data reduction. The program is truly user-friendly and communication between operator and instrument is via computer screen displays and keyboard. Two important issues which have been addressed are waste minimization and operator safety (the analyzer can run in the absence of an operator, once its autosampler has …

Dr. Robert Busch of the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering was the principal investigator on this project with technical direction provided by the staff in the Nuclear Criticality Safety Group at Los Alamos. During the period of the contract, he had a number of graduate and undergraduate students working on subtasks. The objective of this work was to develop information on uranium systems to enhance benchmarks for use in the verification of criticality safety computer models. During the first year of this project, most of the work was focused on setting up the SUN SPARC-1 Workstation and acquiring the literature which described the critical experiments. By august 1990, the Workstation was operational with the current version of TWODANT loaded on the system. MCNP, version 4 tape was made available from Los Alamos late in 1990. Various documents were acquired which provide the initial descriptions of the critical experiments under consideration as benchmarks. The next four years were spent working on various benchmark projects. A number of publications and presentations were made on this material. These are briefly discussed in this report.