We are developing an advanced process for treatment of mixed wastes in molten salt media at temperatures of 700--1000{degrees}C. Waste destruction has been demonstrated in a single stage oxidation process, with destruction efficiencies above 99.9999% for many waste categories. The molten salt provides a heat transfer medium, prevents thermal surges, and functions as an in situ scrubber to transform the acid-gas forming components of the waste into neutral salts and immobilizes potentially fugitive materials by a combination of particle wetting, encapsulation and chemical dissolution and solvation. Because the offgas is collected and assayed before release, and wastes containing toxic and radioactive materials are treated while immobilized in a condensed phase, the process avoids the problems sometimes associated with incineration processes. We are studying a potentially improved modification of this process, which treats oxidizable wastes in two stages: pyrolysis followed by catalyzed molten salt oxidation of the pyrolysis gases at ca. 700{degrees}C. 15 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

'The Plutonium Immobilization Facility will encapsulate plutonium in ceramic pucks and seal the pucks inside welded cans. Remote equipment will place these cans in magazines and the magazines in a Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) canister. The DWPF will fill the canister with glass for permanent storage. This report discusses the Plutonium Immobilization can loading conceptual design and includes a process block diagram, process description, preliminary equipment specifications, and several can loading issues. This report identifies loading pucks into cans and backfilling cans with helium as the top priority can loading development areas.'

This third report covers the period October 1 to November 30, 1991. During this period the authors: (1) fabricated a test fixture for studying hybrid armature brush behavior, (2) reactivated a 140kJ, 1MA capacitor bank, (3) reactivated 25 channels digital data acquisition and reduction system and (4) concluded the use of a DNA funded railgun would serve as the most expedient means to acquire a railgun test bed. Fabrication of a plasma brush test fixture for studying the formation, evolution and stability of plasma brushes was completed. The fixture will serve to study plasma brush parameters, such as brush length and voltage drop, as a function of initial solid foil mass, gap size and current concentration. A 4OkV, 168{mu}f, 140kJ capacitor bank capable of providing more than 1MA of current was reactivated. (The LLNL bank had been developed for opening switch research which was successfully completed.) The bank will be used to power the test fixture with 10{mu}s, flat top current pulses. A 25 channel LeCroy digital data acquisition system interfaced to an LSI-11 and a Mini VAX computer was reactivated and brought on line to record the B-dot signals, voltages and current data from the test fixture. An evaluation …

The US Department of Defense (DOD), through an Interagency Agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE), has initiated a three-phase program with the Consortium for Coal-Water Slurry Fuel Technology, with the aim of decreasing DOD`s reliance on imported oil by increasing its use of coal. The program is being conducted as a cooperative agreement between the Consortium and DOE and the first phase of the program is underway. Phase I activities are focused on developing clean, coal-based combustion technologies for the utilization of both micronized coal-water mixtures (MCWMs) and dry, micronized coal (MC) in fuel oil-designed industrial boilers. Phase II research and development activities will continue to focus on industrial boiler retrofit technologies by addressing emissions control and pre-combustion (i.e., slagging combustion and/or gasification) strategies for the utilization of high ash and high sulfur coals. Phase III activities will examine coal-based fuel combustion systems that cofire wastes. Each phase includes an engineering cost analysis and technology assessment. The activities and status of Phase I are described below. The objective in Phase I is to deliver fully engineered retrofit options for a fuel oil- designed watertube boiler located on a DOD installation to fire either MCWM or MC. This will …

A well-stirred reactor experiment and chemical kinetic modeling effort were performed in order to study the effect of ethylene oxidation on the conversion of nitric oxide (NO) to nitrogen dioxide (NO{sub 2}). Parameters examined in this study were temperature (1003--1260K) and input hydrocarbon concentration (220--3270 ppmv wet). The stirred reactor residence time was maintained at {approximately}2 milliseconds. Kinetic calculations indicated the NO to NO{sub 2} conversion proceeded through the ``HO{sub 2} mechanism``, NO + HO{sub 2} {yields} NO{sub 2} + OH, and the majority of the conversion occurred within the well-stirred reactor. The chemical kinetic mechanism used to model the percent conversion of the NO to NO{sub 2}, C{sub 2}H{sub 4}, CH{sub 4}, CO and CO{sub 2} concentrations showed excellent agreement with the experimental data, thereby validating the ethylene oxidation mechanism. Reaction pathway analysis and logarithmic sensitivity analysis were combined to analyze the ethylene oxidation structure and HO{sub 2} production process. The analysis revealed the primary ethylene oxidation pathway has the potential to form two HO{sub 2} radicals per ethylene consumed, thus making the ethylene a significant agent in promoting conversion of NO to NO{sub 2}. The secondary ethylene oxidation pathway is a potent chain branching process which furthers ethylene …

Timely disposal of the weapons plutonium is of paramount importance to permanently safeguarding this material. GE`s 1300 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) has been designed to utilize fill] core loading of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide fuel. Because of its large core size, a single ABWR reactor is capable of disposing 100 metric tons of plutonium within 15 years of project inception in the spiking mode. The same amount of material could be disposed of in 25 years after the start of the project as spent fuel, again using a single reactor, while operating at 75 percent capacity factor. In either case, the design permits reuse of the stored spent fuel assemblies for electrical energy generation for the remaining life of the plant for another 40 years. Up to 40 percent of the initial plutonium can also be completely destroyed using ABWRS, without reprocessing, either by utilizing six ABWRs over 25 years or by expanding the disposition time to 60 years, the design life of the plants and using two ABWRS. More complete destruction would require the development and testing of a plutonium-base fuel with a non-fertile matrix for an ABWR or use of an Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR). The …

Pulses of 140 GHz microwaves have been produced at a 2 kHz rate using the ETA-III induction linac and IMP wiggler. The accelerator was run in bursts of up to 50 pulses at 6 MeV and greater than 2 kA peak current. A feedback timing control system was used to synchronize acceleration voltage pulses with the electron beam, resulting in sufficient reduction of the corkscrew and energy sweep for efficient FEL operation. Peak microwave power for short bursts was in the range 0.5--1.1 GW, which is comparable to the single-pulse peak power of 0.75--2 GW. FEL bursts of more than 25 pulses were obtained.

Progress was reported on adsorption work in experimental, theoretical and field projects. The reinjection task is now nearing completion of the work on optimizing injection into the Palinpinon geothermal field in the Philippines. Well test analysis research has been expanded with the initiation of a new project on multiwell interference test interpretation.

The elevation of the surficial sediment/basalt contact at the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA), within the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) is presented to provide a data base for future remedial actions at this site. About 1,300 elevation data from published and unpublished reports, maps, and surveyors notes were compiled to generate maps and cross-sections of the surficial sediment/basalt contact. In general, an east to west trending depression exists in the south central portion of the SDA with basalt closer to land surface on the northern and southern boundaries of the SDA. The lowest elevation of the surficial sediment/basalt contact is 4,979 ft and the greatest is land surface at 5,012 ft. The median elevation of the sediment/basalt interface is 4,994 ft. The median depth to basalt in the SDA is 16 ft if land surface elevation is assumed to be 5,010 ft. The depth from land surface to the sediment/basalt interface ranges from 24 ft in the southeast corner of the SDA to less than 3 ft at the north-central boundary of the SDA.

Triangulations without large angles have a number of applications in numerical analysis and computer graphics. In particular, the convergence of a finite element calculation depends on the largest angle of the triangulation. Also, the running time of a finite element calculation is dependent on the triangulation size, so having a triangulation with few Steiner points is also important. Bern, Dobkin and Eppstein pose as an open problem the existence of an algorithm to triangulate a planar straight-line graph (PSLG) without large angles using a polynomial number of Steiner points. We solve this problem by showing that any PSLG with {upsilon} vertices can be triangulated with no angle larger than 7{pi}/8 by adding O({upsilon}{sup 2}log {upsilon}) Steiner points in O({upsilon}{sup 2} log{sup 2} {upsilon}) time. We first triangulate the PSLG with an arbitrary constrained triangulation and then refine that triangulation by adding additional vertices and edges. Some PSLGs require {Omega}({upsilon}{sup 2}) Steiner points in any triangulation achieving any largest angle bound less than {pi}. Hence the number of Steiner points added by our algorithm is within a log {upsilon} factor of worst case optimal. We note that our refinement algorithm works on arbitrary triangulations: Given any triangulation, we show how to …

Progress was reported on adsorption work in experimental, theoretical and field projects. The reinjection task is now nearing completion of the work on optimizing injection into the Palinpinon geothermal field in the Philippines. Well test analysis research has been expanded with the initiation of a new project on multiwell interference test interpretation.

This engineering note documents the testing of the EC hydraulic drive cylinder. The test was done to insure that the cylinder could operate at the desired compression. The purpose of the test was to determine the deflection of the cylinder rod at a pressure of 7000 psi. This note includes an explanation of the procedure used and a summary of the result of the testing done on May 1, 1991 by Gary Trotter. The purpose for load testing the cylinder was to insure that it could operate at the pressures required. These pressures were calculated in EN 254, with the appropriate safety factors included. Another engineering note to refer to is note 3740.510-EN-298, which explains the testing of the cylinder relief valve, and the effect of the difference in cross-sectional areas on the forces involved. The general result of this load test was that the cylinder could operate safely at the design pressures. Since the rod was tested in compression, calculations were required in order to determine the buckling force of the rod. The maximum cylinder test pressure was based on the allowable force on the rod for elastic buckling. This force was calculated using two methods, a simple Euler …

The purpose of this document is to provide the definition and means of maintaining the Safety Envelope (SE) related to the Criticality Alarm System (CAS). This document provides amplification of the Limiting Condition for Operation (LCO) described in the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) Operational Safety Requirements (OSR), WHC-SD-CP-OSR-010, Rev. 0, 1994, Section 3.1.2, Criticality Detectors and Alarms. This document, with its appendices, provides the following: (1) System functional requirements for determining system operability (Section 3); (2) A list of annotated system block diagrams which indicate the safety envelope boundaries (Appendix C); (3) A list of the Safety Class 1 and 2 Safety Envelope (SC-1/2 SE) equipment for input into the Master Component Index (Appendix B); (4) Functional requirements for individual SC-1/2 SE components, including appropriate setpoints and process parameters (Section 6 and Appendix A); (5) A list of the operational, maintenance and surveillance procedures necessary to operate and maintain the SC-1/2 SE components as required by the LCO (Section 6 and Appendix A).

About 128 air samplers and CAMs presently in service to detect and document potential radioactive release from `H` and `F` area tank farm ventilation stacks are scheduled for replacement and/or upgrade by Projects S-5764, S-2081, S-3603, and S-4516. The seven CAMs scheduled to be upgraded by Project S-4516 during 1995 are expected to provide valuable experience for the three remaining projects. The attached document provides design guidance for the standardized High Level Waste air sampling system.

During 1992, a series of hydrologic characterization tests were conducted at the well 4A -- 4T test facility complex. Details concerning these tests are described in Swanson (1992). Two of the tests, a constant-rate discharge test conducted on March 30, 1992 and a slug interference test performed on April 15, 1992, are the focus of this report.

We have completed the 5480.11 survey for Wing 1. All area(s)/item(s) requested by the 5480.11 committee have been thoroughly surveyed and documented. Decontamination/disposal of contaminated items has been accomplished. The wing 1 survey was started on 8/13/90 and completed 9/18/90. However, the follow-up surveys were not completed until 2/18/91. We received the final set of smear samples for wing 1 on 1/13/91. A total of 5,495 smears were taken from wing 1 and total of 465 smears were taken during the follow-up surveys. There were a total 122 items found to have fixed contamination and 4 items with smearable contamination in excess of the limits specified in DOE ORDER 5480.11 (AR 3-7). The following area(s)/item(s) were not included in the 5480.11 survey: Hallways, Access panels, Men`s and women`s change rooms, Janitor closets, Wall lockers and item(s) stored in wing 1 hallways and room 1116. If our contract is renewed, we will include those areas in our survey according to your request of April 15, 1991.

The purpose of this calculation is to process the cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) characterizing the relative humidity (RH) thresholds for the onset of carbon steel corrosion provided by expert elicitation and minimize the set of values to 200 points for use in WAPDEG.

'A series of subcritical noise measurements were performed on fresh and spent University of Missouri Research Reactor fuel assemblies. These experimental measurements were performed for the purposes of providing benchmark quality data for validating transport theory computer codes and nuclear cross-section data used to perform criticality safety analyses for highly enriched, uranium-aluminum Material Test Reactor fuel assemblies. A mechanical test rig was designed and built to hold up to four fuel assemblies and neutron detectors in a subcritical array. The rig provided researchers with the ability to evaluate the reactivity effects of variable fuel/detector spacing, fuel rotation, and insertion of metal reflector plates into the lattice.'

'The Plutonium Immobilization Facility will encapsulate plutonium in ceramic pucks and seal the pucks inside welded cans. Remote equipment will place these cans in magazines and the magazines in a Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) canister. The DWPF will fill the canister with glass for permanent storage. This report discusses the Plutonium Immobilization can loading conceptual design and includes a process block diagram, process description, preliminary equipment specifications, and several can loading issues. This report identifies loading pucks into cans and backfilling cans with helium as the top priority can loading development areas.'

'Engineers at the Savannah River Technology Center have designed, built, and installed a fully automated small field-of-view, lens-coupled, digital radiography imaging system. The system is installed in one of the Savannah River Site''s production facilities to be used for the evaluation of production components. Custom software routines developed for the system automatically acquire, enhance, and diagnostically evaluate critical geometric features of various components that have been captured radiographically. Resolution of the digital radiograms and accuracy of the acquired measurements approaches 0.001 inches. To date, there has been zero deviation in measurement repeatability. The automated image acquisition methodology will be discussed, unique enhancement algorithms will be explained, and the automated routines for measuring the critical component features will be presented. An additional feature discussed is the independent nature of the modular software components, which allows images to be automatically acquired, processed, and evaluated by the computer in the background, while the operator reviews other images on the monitor. System components were also a key in gaining the required image resolution. System factors such as scintillator selection, x-ray source energy, optical components and layout, as well as geometric unsharpness issues are considered in the paper. Finally the paper examines the numerous quality …

Thermal analysis of spent fuel storage casks has generally been based on the assumption that heat released by the fuel assemblies is transported to the cask cavity only by conduction through the walls of the basket. This conservative assumption was adopted to compensate for uncertainties in modeling heat transfer in the cavity of a spent fuel cask. During recent years, some applications have submitted safety analysis reports for spent fuel storage casks that challenge this assumption. They offer two methods which include the fuel assemblies, as well as the walls of the basket, as part of the path for heat transfer to the cask cavity. A third method, the consideration of a fuel assembly as a homogeneous log, is explored in a study described in this report.

The success of in-situ transmission electron microscopy experimentation is often dictated by proper specimen preparation. We report here a novel technique permitting the production of cross-sectioned tensile specimens of multilayered films for in-situ deformation studies. Of primary importance in the development of this technique is the production of an electron transparent micro-gauge section using focused ion beam technology. This microgauge section predetermines the position at which plastic deformation is initiated; crack nucleation, growth and failure are then subsequently observed.

The fundamental purpose of this project was to research and develop a process that would reduce the cost and improve the environmental efficiency of the present dry-cleaning industry. This second phase of research (see report KCP-94-1006 for information gathered during the first phase) was intended to allow the optimal integration of all factors of ultrasonic fabric cleaning. For this phase, Garment Care performed an extensive literature search and gathered data from other researchers worldwide. The Garment Care-AlliedSignal team developed the requirements for a prototype cleaning tank for studies and acquired that tank and the additional equipment required to use it properly. Garment Care and AlliedSignal acquired the transducers and generators from Surftran Martin-Walter in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Amway's Kelly Haley developed the test protocol, supplied hundreds of test swatches, gathered the data on the swatches before and after the tests, assisted with the cleaning tests, and prepared the final analysis of the results. AlliedSignal personnel, in conjunction with Amway and Garment Care staff, performed all the tests. Additional planning is under way for future testing by outside research facilities. The final results indicated repeatable performance and good results for single layered fabric swatches. Swatches that were cleaned as a ''sandwich,'' …

As part of the Soviet-Designed Reactor Safety (SDRS) element of the International Nuclear Safety Program (INSP), the US Department of Energy (US DOE) is funding a plant safety evaluation (PSE) project for the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant (NvNPP). The Novovoronezh PSE Project is a multi-faceted project with participants from sixteen different international organizations from five different countries scattered across eleven time zones. The purpose of this project is to provide a thorough Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA) and Deterministic Safety Analysis (DSA) for Units 3 and 4 of the NvNPP. In addition, this project provides assistance to the operation organizations in meeting their international commitments in support of safety upgrades, and their regulatory requirements for the conduct of safety analyses. Managing this project is a complex process requiring numerous management tools, constant monitoring, and effective communication skills. Employing management tools to resolve unanticipated problems one of the keys to project success. The overall scope, programmatic context, objectives, project interactions, communications, practical hindrances, and lessons learned from the challenging performance of the PSE project are summarized in this paper.