This document presents the evaluation of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Cask and Transportation System. The system design was developed by Transnuclear, Inc. and its team members NAC International, Nelson Manufacturing, Precision Components Corporation, and Numatec, Inc. The cask is designated the TN-WHC cask. This report describes the design features and presents preliminary analyses performed to size critical dimensions of the system while meeting the requirements of the performance specification.

This safety assessment was written to analyze the potential hazards and accidents that could occur during the storage of organic liquid waste outside of the B Plant facility.

The prototype Digital Petroleum Atlas (DPA) Project is part of a long-term effort to develop a new methodology to provide efficient and timely access to the latest petroleum data and technology for the domestic oil and gas industry, public sector research organizations and local governmental units. The DPA provides real-time access through the Internet using widely available tools such as World-Wide-Web browsers. The latest technologies and information are published electronically when individual project components are completed removing the lag and expense of transferring technology using traditional paper publication. Active links, graphical user interfaces and database search mechanisms of the DPA provide a product with which the operator can interact in ways that are impossible in the paper publication. Contained in the DPA are forms of publication that can only be displayed in an electronic environment (for example, animated exploration histories through time). Improvement in data and technology access for the domestic petroleum industry represents one of the best and cost-effective options that is available for mitigating the continued decline in domestic production. The prototype DPA concentrated on developing methodologies and computerized procedures to generate and to publish a limited set of field and play studies concentrated in Kansas and to …

The key issues addressed this quarter were related to operational problems in the coal feed system, namely, the inability to accurately measure all of air entering the system, and plugging of coal in the feed lines due to poor entrainment. Both of these problems caused unacceptable uncertainty and/or fluctuations in the operating conditions and therefore required solutions. The coal entrainment problem was solved by installing a new educator designed for entraining solids in gas streams. All of the air entering the reactor now flows through the educator, either as motive air or through the suction air inlet. This ensures that the coal is entrained at relatively high velocity, so that it will flow to the reactor without forming slugs in the lines. A new feeder shroud was also installed with an air jet directed towards the auger to sweep off the tip in order to reduce pulsations when feeding coal. The problems associated with accurately metering the air have been somewhat more difficult to resolve. New strategies for completely closing the system have been tested and look promising. A new flowmeter was also purchased with cost sharing funds to directly measure the air flow rate of the two phase stream …

We have developed a fully three-dimensional model for the performance of flashlamp pumped laser amplifiers. The model uses a reverse ray-trace technique to calculate the pumping of the laser glass by the flashlamp radiation. We have discovered several different methods by which we can speed up the calculation of the gain profile in a amplifier. The model predicts the energy-storage performance of the Beamlet amplifiers to better than 5%. This model will be used in the optimization of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) amplifier design.

A primary objective of the Hanford Tank Initiative (HTI) project is to develop methods to estimate the inventory of residual waste in single-shell and double-shell tanks. A second objective is to develop methods to determine the boundaries of waste that may be in the waste plume in the vadose zone. This document presents statistical sampling plans that can be used to estimate the inventory of analytes within the residual waste within a tank. Sampling plans for estimating the inventory of analytes within the waste plume in the vadose zone are also presented. Inventory estimates can be used to classify the residual waste with respect to chemical and radiological hazards. Based on these estimates, it will be possible to make decisions regarding the final disposition of the residual waste. Four sampling plans for the residual waste in a tank are presented. The first plan is based on the assumption that, based on some physical characteristic, the residual waste can be divided into disjoint strata, and waste samples obtained from randomly selected locations within each stratum. The second plan is that waste samples are obtained from randomly selected locations within the waste. The third and fourth plans are similar to the first …

This project attempts to demonstrate the effectiveness of exploiting thin-layered, low-energy deposits at the distal margin of a prograding turbidite complex through the use of hydraulically- fractured horizontal or high-angle wells. The combination of a horizontal or high-angle well and hydraulic fracturing will allow greater pay exposure than can be achieved with conventional vertical wells while maintaining vertical communication between thin interbedded layers and the wellbore. A high-angle well will be drilled in the fan-margin portion of a slope-basin clastic reservoir and will be completed with multiple hydraulic-fracture treatments. Geologic modeling, reservoir characterization, and fine-grid reservoir simulation will be used to select the well location and orientation. Design parameters for the hydraulic-fracture treatments will be determined, in part, by fracturing an existing test well. Fracture azimuth will be predicted by passive seismic monitoring of a fracture-stimulation treatment in the test well using logging tools in an offset well. The Unites States Department of Energy granted approval of the continuation application to implement Budget Period Two effective November 21, 1996. The only Budget Period One activities for the quarter involved project administration. Budget Period Two activities were initiated with the development of a drilling program for the high-angle slant well. The …

The components in high-speed, all-optical photonic systems must satisfy two essential requirements: (1) high switching speeds in the range of Tbit/s, and (2) low latency, where the latency is the amount of time that the optical signal remains in the device. An important problem precluding the practical implementation of high-speed, all- optical switching is the lack of a material with appropriate nonlinear optical properties needed to effect the switching. Numerous material systems have been studied in the past, but none have met all the necessary requirements. Development of such a material and its incorporation into photonic devices would advance the field tremendously. This Lab-wide LDRD project resolved this critical problem.

A diode-side-pumped discrete-optic Er{sup 3+} :YAG laser employs pump-light coupling through a sapphire plate diffusion-bonded to the laser slab, removing heat directly at the pump face of the slab instead of requiring conduction through to its far side. This lowers the temperature in the gain region and gives reduced thermal lensing, which produces exceptional beam quality (M{sup 2} {approx} 1.3) at output powers {approx} 0.3 Watt. Powers above 1 Watt have been demonstrated with peak slope efficiencies {approx}20%. The novel architecture is also applicable to other side-pumped lasers.

Effort during this quarter was devoted to three areas: 1) analyzing the data from earlier runs with �zinc chromite� catalyst and three different slurry liquids: decahydronaphthalene (Decalin®, DHN), tetrahydronaphthalene (tetralin, THN) and tetrahydroquinoline (THQ); 2) analyzing newly-obtained data from earlier thermal stability tests on DHN and THN, and 3) carrying out a thermal stability test on THQ. Both the activity and selectivity of �zinc chromite� catalyst depended on the slurry liquid that was used. The catalyst activity for methanol synthesis was in the order: THQ > DHN > THN. Despite the basic nature of THQ, it exhibited the highest dimethyl ether (DME) production rates of the three liquids. Gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analyses of samples of THN and DHN were taken at the end of standard thermal stability tests at 375°C. With both liquids, the only measurable compositional change was a minor amount of isomerization. Analysis of a sample of THN after a thermal stability test at 425°C showed a small reduction in molecular weight, and a significant amount of opening of the naphthenic ring. Preliminary data from the tehrmal stability test of THQ showed that this molecule is more stable than DHN, but less stable than THN.

The purpose of this test plan and procedure is to test the Whittaker electrochemical cell and the Sierra Monitor Corp. flammable gas monitors in a simulated field flow configuration. The sensors are used on the Rotary Mode Core Sampling (RMCS) Flammable Gas Interlock (FGI), to detect flammable gases, including hydrogen and teminate the core sampling activity at a predetermined concentration level.

Over 160 ambient indoor air samples were collected from warehouses at the Central Waste Complex used for the storage of low- level radioactive and mixed wastes. These grab (SUMMA) samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using a modified EPA TO-14 procedure. The data from this survey suggest that several buildings had elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds.

This document is the test report that summarizes the results of the tests on the Whittaker cells between the temperatures of -20{degrees}F and +120{degrees}F. These sensors are used on the Rotary Mode Core Sampling (RMCS) flammable gas interlock (FGI), to detect and quantify hydrogen gas. The test consisted of operating five Whittaker electrochemical cells in an environmental chamber that was varied in temperature from -20{degrees}F to +120{degrees}F. As the rate rise of the voltage from the cells changed, after exposure to a gas concentration of 1% hydrogen at the different temperatures, the voltage was recorded on a computer controlled data acquisition system. Analysis of the data was made to determine if the cells maximum output voltages and rise times were effected by temperature.

We report the experimental results of impurity contamination and laser-induced damage investigations on rapidly grown potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals. Using absorption spectroscopy and chemical analysis, we determined the impurity distribution in the different growing sectors of KDP single crystals. The level of impurity was dependent on starting materials and growth rate. We also studied influence of impurities on laser-induced damage in fast grown KDP. The laser damage threshold (LDT) in the impurity-rich prismatic sector is same as in the high purity pyramidal sector within experimental error. Meanwhile, the LDT at the boundary of the prismatic and pyramidal sectors is less than half of that in the bulk. Furthermore, we found that the thermal annealing of the crystal eliminated the weakness of this sector boundary and increased its LDT to the same level as in the bulk of the crystal. Result suggests that the laser damage occurred in the vicinity of a high; localized strain field.

KDP (KH{sub 2}PO{sub 4}) single crystals up to 47 cm in size have been grown by the rapid growth technique on the point seed in glass recrystallizers of 1000 L in volume at growth rates of 10 to 25 mm/day in both the [001] and [100] directions. Measurements of the optical quality of 41 x 41 cm single crystal plates are presented.

The purpose of the CLVS research project is to develop a prototype fiber-optic based Coherent Laser Vision System suitable for DOE`s EM Robotics program. The system provides three-dimensional (3D) vision for monitoring situations in which it is necessary to update geometric data on the order of once per second. The CLVS project plan required implementation in two phases of the contract, a Base Contract and a continuance option. This is the Base Program Interim Phase Topical Report presenting the results of Phase 1 of the CLVS research project. Test results and demonstration results provide a proof-of-concept for a system providing three-dimensional (3D) vision with the performance capability required to update geometric data on the order of once per second.