The State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation - Institute of Physics and Power Engineering's (SSC RF - IPPE) practice of nuclear material control and accounting (MC&A) has undergone significant changes during the period of cooperation with U.S. national laboratories from 1995 to the present. These changes corresponded with general changes of the Russian system of state control and accounting of nuclear materials resulting from the new Concept of the System for State Regulating and Control of Nuclear Materials (1996) and further regulatory documents, which were developed and implemented to take into account international experience in the MC&A [1]. During the upgrades phase of Russian-U.S. cooperation, an MC&A laboratory was specially created within the SSC RF - IPPE for the purpose of guiding the creation of the upgraded MC&A system, coordinating the activities of all units involved in the creation of this system, and implementing a unified technical policy during the transition period. After five years of operation of the MC&A laboratory and the implementation of new components for the upgraded MC&A system, it was decided that a greater degree of attention must be paid to the MC&A system's operation in addition to the coordination activities carried out by the …

The thermal expansion of AuIn{sub 2} gold is of great interest in soldering technology. Indium containing solders have been used to make gold wire interconnects at low soldering temperature and over time, AuIn{sub 2} is formed between the gold wire and the solder due to the high heat of formation and the high inter-metallic diffusion of indium. Hence, the thermal expansion of AuIn{sub 2} alloy in comparison with that of the gold wire and the indium-containing solder is critical in determining the integrity of the connection. We present the results of x-ray diffraction measurement of the coefficient of linear expansion of AuIn{sub 2} as well as the bulk expansion and density changes over the temperature range of 30 to 500 C.

The 2001 outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Europe (Ferguson et al. 2001a, 2001b; Bouma et al. 2003) and concern about the possibility of an intentional introduction of a devastating foreign animal disease triggered renewed interest in both theoretical and experimental research related to FMD. Theoretical models of disease transmission, which influenced the tactical decisions of the United Kingdom (UK) government during the epidemic (Taylor 2003), resulted in large numbers of uninfected animals being slaughtered. After the epidemic, the adopted control policies were sharply criticized (Kitching 2004;, Taylor 2003). Still, the role of computationaL modeling for analyzing the scope of the epidemic and devising control strategies was recognized as substantial and necessary.

Intergranular attack (IGA) and intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) of Alloy 600 in PWR steam generator environment has been extensively studied for over 30 years without rendering a clear understanding of the essential mechanisms. The lack of understanding of the IGSCC mechanism is due to a complex interaction of numerous variables such as microstructure, thermomechanical processing, strain rate, water chemistry and electrochemical potential. Hydrogen plays an important role in all these variables. The complexity, however, significantly hinders a clearer and more fundamental understanding of the mechanism of hydrogen in enhancing intergranular cracking via whatever mechanism. In this work, an attempt is made to review the role of hydrogen based on the current understanding of grain boundary structure and chemistry and intergranular fracture of nickel alloys, effect of hydrogen on electrochemical behavior of Alloy 600 and Alloy 690 (e.g. the passive film stability, polarization behavior and open-circuit potential) and effect of hydrogen on PWSCC behavior of Alloy 600 and Alloy 690. Mechanistic studies on the PWSCC are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that further studies on the role of hydrogen on intergranular cracking in both inert and primary side environments are needed. These studies should focus on the correlation of the …

The paper presents results of laboratory-measured performance of fan-filter units (FFUs) used for cleanrooms. A total of twenty FFUs collected from the market were tested, including thirteen 1220 mm x 610 mm (or 4 ft x 2 ft) units and seven 1220 mm x 1220 mm (or 4 ft x 4 ft) units. The paper concludes that there are wide variations in FFUs energy performance, and that there are opportunities in improving energy efficiency and lowering operating costs of FFUs. Furthermore, the paper suggests the benefits of having a uniform method for testing and reporting FFU performance. Such a testing method and recommended practice guideline is under development, with heavy input from FFU suppliers, users, and independent institutions that include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST). An integrated approach with the participation from designers, suppliers, users, and utility companies can help to identify energy-efficient FFUs that are required for many cleanroom applications.

Statistical analyses were performed on groundwater monitoring data obtained for gross alpha, radium 226, and 228 from the SRS Sanitary Landfill (SLF). Several inference tests were performed using the prescribed statistical methods of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Part B Permit regulations (US EPA 1992). Test results show that the LFW 29R, LFW 57B and LFW 62B wells have significantly elevated concentrations of all three radiological constituents above background. However, isotopic ratios of Ra228 to Ra226 are consistent with naturally occurring concentrations of each. In addition, corresponding pH data for these same three wells suggests that acidic conditions may have effected a mobilization of naturally occurring radium from the soils associated with the SLF. In fact, there is a statistically significant and negative correlation between gross alpha, Ra226, and Ra228 measurements vs pH.

The Analytical Development Section (ADS) was tasked with providing support for a Hanford River Protection Program-Waste Treatment Program (RPP-WTP) project test involving absorption analysis for non-Newtonian pulse jet mixer testing for small scale (PJM) and prototype (CRV) tanks with sparging. Tanks filled with clay were mixed with various amounts of powdered dye as a tracer. The objective of the entire project was to determine the best mixing protocol (nozzle velocity, number of spargers used, total air flow, etc.) by determining the percent mixed volume through the use of an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer. The dye concentration within the sample could be correlated to the volume fraction mixed in the tank. Samples were received in vials, a series of dilutions were generated from the clay, allowed to equilibrate, then centrifuged and siphoned for the supernate liquid to analyze by absorption spectroscopy. Equilibration of the samples and thorough mixing of the samples were a continuous issue with dilution curves being difficult to obtain. Despite these technical issues, useful data was obtained for evaluation of various mix conditions.

Although many general-purpose frameworks have been developed to aid in web application development, they typically tend to be both comprehensive and complex. To address this problem, a specialized server-side Java framework designed specifically for data retrieval and visualization has been developed. The framework's focus is on maintainability and data security. The functionality is rich with features necessary for simplifying data display design, deployment, user management and application debugging, yet the scope is deliberately kept limited to allow for easy comprehension and rapid application development. The system clearly decouples the application processing and visualization, which in turn allows for clean separation of layout and processing development. Duplication of standard web page features such as toolbars and navigational aids is therefore eliminated. The framework employs the popular Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, but it also uses the filter mechanism for several of its base functionalities, which permits easy extension of the provided core functionality of the system.

This work represents an initial investigation into determining whether correlations actually exist between metadata and content descriptors in multimedia datasets. We provide a quantitative method for evaluating whether the hue of images on the WWW is correlated with the occurrence of color-words in metadata such as URLs, image names, and attendant text. It turns out that such a correlation does exist: the likelihood that a particular color appears in an image whose URL, name, and/or attendant text contains the corresponding color-word is generally at least twice the likelihood that the color appears in a randomly chosen image on the WWW. While this finding might not be significant in and of itself, it represents an initial step towards quantitatively establishing that other, perhaps more useful correlations exist. These correlations form the basis for exciting novel approaches that leverage semi-supervised datasets, such as the WWW, to overcome the semantic gap that has hampered progress in multimedia information retrieval for some time now.

Nickel can dissolve a large amount of alloying elements while still maintaining its austenitic structure. That is, nickel based alloys can be tailored for specific applications. The family of nickel alloys is large, from high temperature alloys (HTA) to corrosion resistant alloys (CRA). In general, CRA are less susceptible to environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) than stainless steels. The environments where nickel alloys suffer EAC are limited and generally avoidable by design. These environments include wet hydrofluoric acid and hot concentrated alkalis. Not all nickel alloys are equally susceptible to cracking in these environments. For example, commercially pure nickel is less susceptible to EAC in hot concentrated alkalis than nickel alloyed with chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo). The susceptibility of nickel alloys to EAC is discussed by family of alloys.

This is a summary of work done over an 8 week period from May to July 2004, which concerned testing the longwave and shortwave radiation packages in Impact. The radiation code was initially developed primarily by Keith Grant in the context of LLNL's 2D model, and was added to Impact over the last few summers. While the radiation code had been tested and also used in some aerosol-related calculations, its 3D form in Impact had not been validated with comparisons to satellite data. Along with such comparisons, our work described here was also motivated by the need to validate the radiation code for use in the SciDAC consortium project. This involved getting the radiation code working with CAM/WACCM met data, and setting the stage for comparing CAM/WACCM radiation output with Impact results.

Only Nixon could go to China. And maybe only petroleum industry CEOs can spur action on global climate change. Here's Lord Browne, head of BP, in a recent issue of Foreign Affairs magazine: 'Global temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius since the nineteenth century. Other measures of climate bolster the theory that the world is getting warmer. . . . [The] trend is undoubtedly due in large part to substantial increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human activity.' But should we do something about this trend? Browne is unequivocal. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations at about the same time his article appeared, he declared: 'It would be too great a risk to stand by, do nothing, and to wait so long that when the impact on the climate really does begin to be felt, you have to take action which is so disruptive as to cause serious damage to the world's economy. There is a very strong case for precautionary action.'

This Executive Summary provides an overview of the methodology being used by the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) to design waste packages and ancillary components. This summary information is intended for readers with general interest, but also provides technical readers a general framework surrounding a variety of technical details provided in the main body of the report. The purpose of this report is to document and ensure appropriate design methods are used in the design of waste packages and ancillary components (the drip shields and emplacement pallets). The methodology includes identification of necessary design inputs, justification of design assumptions, and use of appropriate analysis methods, and computational tools. This design work is subject to ''Quality Assurance Requirements and Description''. The document is primarily intended for internal use and technical guidance for a variety of design activities. It is recognized that a wide audience including project management, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and others are interested to various levels of detail in the design methods and therefore covers a wide range of topics at varying levels of detail. Due to the preliminary nature of the design, readers can expect to encounter varied levels of detail in …

This report describes the fabrication and tests of a tangentially imaging soft X-ray (SXR) camera diagnostic for fusion energy plasma research. It can be used for the determination of the current distribution in strongly shaped toroidal magnetically confined plasmas, such as those found in spherical tori or advanced tokamaks. It included the development of both an appropriate imaging SXR camera and image analysis techniques necessary to deduce the plasma shape and current distribution. The basic camera concept consists of a tangentially viewing pinhole imaging system with thin-film SXR filters, a scintillator screen to provide SXR to visible conversion, a fast shuttering system, and an sensitive visible camera imaging device. The analysis approach consists of integrating the 2-D SXR image data into a Grad-Shafranov toroidal equilibrium solver code to provide strong constraints on the deduced plasma current and pressure profiles. Acceptable sensitivity in the deduced current profile can be obtained if the relative noise in the measured image can be kept in the range of 1% or less. Tests on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment indicate very flat safety factor profiles in the plasma interior.

The Fermilab Tevatron (p{bar p}), operating at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, is a rich source of B hadrons. The large acceptance in terms of rapidity and transverse momentum of the charged particle tracking system and the muon system make the upgraded Run II D0 detector an excellent tool for B physics. In this article, we report on selected physics results based on the first 250 pb{sup -1} of Run II data. This includes results on the X(3872) state, semileptonic B decays, B hadron lifetimes, flavour oscillations, and the rare decay B{sub s} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}.

Numerical simulators are playing an increasingly important role in advancing our fundamental understanding of hydrological systems. They are indispensable tools for managing groundwater resources, analyzing proposed and actual remediation activities at contaminated sites, optimizing recovery of oil, gas, and geothermal energy, evaluating subsurface structures and mining activities, designing monitoring systems, assessing the long-term impacts of chemical and nuclear waste disposal, and devising improved irrigation and drainage practices in agricultural areas, among many other applications. The complexity of subsurface hydrology in the vadose zone calls for sophisticated modeling codes capable of handling the strong nonlinearities involved, the interactions of coupled physical, chemical and biological processes, and the multiscale heterogeneities inherent in such systems. The papers in this special section of ''Vadose Zone Journal'' are illustrative of the enormous potential of such numerical simulators as applied to the vadose zone. The papers describe recent developments and applications of one particular set of codes, the TOUGH family of codes, as applied to nonisothermal flow and transport in heterogeneous porous and fractured media (http://www-esd.lbl.gov/TOUGH2). The contributions were selected from presentations given at the TOUGH Symposium 2003, which brought together developers and users of the TOUGH codes at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in …