Newsletter of the Texas Department of Health Asbestos Programs Branch discussing news and updates of the agency; changes to laws, regulations, and other policies related to asbestos usage and removal; and other asbestos-related information.

Newsletter of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service discussing topics related to economic aspects of raising dairy cows, dairy production, and managing dairy operations. This issue has a feature article about: "Impacts of The Proposed Rule on Dairy FMMO Consolidation and Reform"

Newsletter of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service discussing topics related to economic aspects of raising dairy cows, dairy production, and managing dairy operations.

Newsletter focusing on pecan disease and pest control in Texas, including prevention, identification, treatment, and educational opportunities.

Summary sheet describing the findings of an internal audit by the Texas Department of Health regarding the year 2000 date problem, including findings and recommendations.

Memos, agendas, regional hydrology, and field trip reports are included for the INEL oversight program; they relate to the hydrogeology of INEL and ICPP, and to the cleanup effort at these sites.

The minimum possible rotational period of pulsars, which are interpreted as rotating neutron stars, is determined by applying a representative collection of realistic nuclear equations of state. It is found that none of the selected equations of state allows for neutron star rotation at periods below 0.8--0.9 ms. Thus, this work strongly supports the suggestion that if pulsars with shorter rotational periods were found, these are likely to be strange-quark-matter stars. The conclusion that the confined hadronic phase of nucleons and nuclei is only metastable would then be almost inescapable, and the plausible ground-state in that event is the deconfined phase of (3-flavor) strange-quark-matter.

Results on the dynamics and stability of thin films are summarized on the following topics: forced dryout, film instabilities on a horizontal plane and on inclined planes, instrumentation, coating flows, and droplet spreading. (DLC)

This document describes the Westinghouse Savannah River Company's (WSRC) Quality Assurance Program for Defense Waste Processing at the Savannah River Site (SRS). It identifies and describes the planned activities that constitute the required Quality Assurance Program. The work to which the Quality Assurance Program applies includes both the qualification and production of high-level waste forms. The end result of the program is to provide confidence that these high-level waste forms may be safely and acceptably used to dispose of the radioactive waste that results from activities at SRS in support of national defense.

This Progress Report describes the experimental work carried out, and the work in progress, at the Cornell EBIS Laboratory during the period 7/1/1991 to 6/30/1992. During this period, a number of experiments were carried out. The absolute values of the total, one, two and three electron transfer cross sections for highly charged argon ions (8{le}q{le}16) colliding with argon at 2.3 qkev laboratory energy were measured. The distribution of recoil ions and molecular fragments formed in highly charged ion atom and molecule collisions was measured in order to help the interpretation of electron spectra in the 40--320 eV energy range emitted in Ar{sup q+}+Ar(8{le}q{le}16) collisions at 2.3 qkeV that were measured in our laboratory. The interpretation of the electron spectra is still under way. A new collision chamber was built which contains an ion decelerating lens system and a high resolution monochromator-analyzer combination. Ions extracted from the Cornell Electron Beam Ion Source were successfully decelerated from 2.3 qkeV down to 30 qeV Preliminary 0{degree} translational energy spectra for Ar{sup l2+} on Ar at a collision energy of 38.6 qeV show a 0.56 qeV resolution. Work is in progress to extend measurements of cross sections and recoil ion charge state distributions down …

A chemiluminescent homogeneous immunoassay and a hand-size multiassay reader are described that could be used for detecting biological materials. The special feature of the assay is that it employs two different antibodies that each bind to a unique epitope on the same antigen. Each group of epitope-specific antibodies has linked to it an enzyme of a proximal-enzyme pair. One enzyme of the pair utilizes a substrate in high concentration to produce a second substrate required by the second enzyme. This new substrate enables the second enzyme to function. The reaction of the second enzyme is configured to produce light. This chemiluminescence is detected with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The proximal pair enzymes must be in close proximity to one another to allow the second enzyme to react with the product of the first enzyme. This only occurs when the enzyme-linked antibodies are attached to the antigen, whether antigen is a single protein with multiple epitopes or the surface of a cell with a variety of different antigens. As a result of their juxtaposition, the enzymes produce light only in the presence of the biological material. A brief description is given as to how this assay could be utilized in …

An economical gas lift system has been designed that uses the airlift principles of the APOP system to enable one to pump deep wells which have been initially pumped using jack pumps. It can be constructed and installed in oil and/or gas wells where jack pumps have been operating. The 2 in. tubing in the bore hole is left in place and the rods are pulled from the normally 2 in. tubing. A 1 in. or greater diameter tubing containing a one way valve near its bottom and several small holes near the bottom of the 1 in. tube and just above the one way valve is installed into the 2 in. tubing. The one inch tube extends the total length of the 2 in. tubing and is seated on the seating nipple at the bottom of the 2 in. tubing. The space between the concentric tubes can serve as the gas(air) line and the center 1 in. tube serves as the liquid discharge line. This enables this pump to be used in many marginal wells which ordinarily would be uneconomical to pump. This is especially true for deep wells because the cost of jack pumps and the tubing as …

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This report describes the RCRA assessment plan for single-shell tank Waste Management Area S-SX

The following ceramics were prepared for this study: the baseline ceramic, the baseline ceramic plus process impurities, a zirconolite-rich composition, a brannerite-rich composition, a composition designed to have {approx} 10% perovskite in addition to the normal baseline phases, and an {approx} 10% phosphate-doped batch. These samples were prepared by oxide (via wet or dry milling) and alkoxide-routes. The milling method has a direct effect on the samples. Incomplete milling leads to inhomogeneity in the microstructure. The main effect of incomplete milling is that unreacted actinide oxides remain in the microstructure, usually surrounded by brannerite. The phase composition also alters due to the actinide being tied up in the unreacted oxide, e.g., the pyrochlore has less actinide and additional phases, such as zirconolite may form. The approach to equilibrium is determined by a number of factors--the efficiency of the milling, the sintering time, the sintering temperature and the batch composition. The latter is very important, e.g., the zirconolite-rich batch has a slower approach to equilibrium than the baseline ceramic requiring higher sintering temperatures or longer sintering times. The addition of process impurities dramatically alters the approach to equilibrium. The additives produce a silicate liquid phase (at the sintering temperatures), which aids …

On January 24, 1992, while pressure testing saltwell line SL-119 in the 241-S Tank Farm, water was observed spraying out of heat trace enclosure. The SL-115, SL-116, SN-215, and SN-216 saltwell lines also recently failed pressure testing because of leaks. This study documents the pertinent facts about the SL-119 line and discusses the cause of the failures. The inspection of the SL-119 failure revealed two through-the-wall holes in the top center of the pipeline. The inspection also strongly suggests that the heat tracing system is directly responsible for causing the SL-119 failure. Poor design of the heat tracing system allowed water to enter, condense, and collect in the electric metallic tubing (EMT) carbon steel conduits. Water flowed to the bottom of the elbow of the conduit and corroded out the elbow. The design also allowed drifting desert sand to enter into the conduit and fall to the bottom (elbow) of the conduit. The sand became wet and aided in the corrosion of the elbow of the conduit. After the EMT conduits corroded though, the water dripped from the corroded ends of the EMT conduits onto the top of the saltwell pipe, corroding the two holes into the top of the …

At WHC, one of the functions of the Tank Waste Remediation System division is sampling waste tanks to characterize their contents. The push-mode core sampling truck is currently used to take samples of liquid and sludge. Sampling of tanks containing hard salt cake is to be performed with the rotary-mode core sampling system, consisting of the core sample truck, mobile exhauster unit, and ancillary subsystems. When drilling through the salt cake material, friction and heat can be generated in the drill bit. Based upon tank safety reviews, it has been determined that the drill bit temperature must not exceed 180 C, due to the potential reactivity of tank contents at this temperature. Consequently, a drill bit temperature limit of 150 C was established for operation of the core sample truck to have an adequate margin of safety. Unpredictable factors, such as localized heating, cause this buffer to be so great. The most desirable safeguard against exceeding this threshold is bit temperature monitoring . This document describes the recommended plan for testing the prototype of a drill bit temperature monitor developed for core sampling by Sandia National Labs. The device will be tested at their facilities. This test plan documents the …

This document describes the Westinghouse Savannah River Company`s (WSRC) Quality Assurance Program for Defense Waste Processing at the Savannah River Site (SRS). It identifies and describes the planned activities that constitute the required Quality Assurance Program. The work to which the Quality Assurance Program applies includes both the qualification and production of high-level waste forms. The end result of the program is to provide confidence that these high-level waste forms may be safely and acceptably used to dispose of the radioactive waste that results from activities at SRS in support of national defense.

This paper describes an implementation of hardware neural networks using highly linear thin-film resistor technology and an 8-bit binary weight circuit to produce customizable artificial neural network chips and systems. These neural networks are programmed using precision laser cutting and deposition. The fast turnaround of laser-based customization allows us to explore different neural network architectures and to rapidly program the synaptic weights. Our customizable chip allows us to expand an artificial network laterally and vertically. This flexibility permits us to build very large neural network systems.

Preparation, characterization, and reactivity of ({eta}{sup 2}- alkyne)(meso-tetratolylpoprphrinato)titanium(II) complexes are described, along with inetermetal oxygen atom transfer reactions involving Ti(IV) and Ti(III) porphyrin complexes. The {eta}{sup 2}- alkyne complexes are prepared by reaction of (TTP)TiCl{sub 2} with LiAlH{sub 4} in presence of alkyne. Structure of (OEP)Ti({eta}{sup 2}-Ph-C{triple_bond}C-Ph) (OEP=octaethylporphryin) was determined by XRD. The compounds undergo simple substitution to displace the alkyne and produce doubly substituted complexes. Structure of (TTP)Ti(4-picoline){sub 2} was also determined by XRD. Reaction of (TTP)Ti{double_bond}O with (OEP)Ti-Cl yields intermetal O/Cl exchange, which is a one-electron redox process mediated by O atom transfer. Also a zero-electron redox process mediated by atom transfer is observed when (TTP)TiCl{sub 2} is reacted with (OEP)Ti{double_bond}O.

This supporting document provides a detailed list of the essential and support drawings selected for the tank farm(s) and associated facilities.

This is a listing of awarded active contracts for all US DOE facilities and projects. The information contained in the list includes the awardee name and division responsible for the work, BIN, completion date, a one line description of the work, the vendor ID, city, state, congressional district, the value of the contract and the amount of funds expended to date.

This is the final report of the Southeast Regional Experiment Station project. The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), a research institute of the University of Central Florida (UCF), has operated the Southeast Regional Experiment Station (SE RES) for the US Department of Energy (DOE) since September 1982. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque (SNLA) provides technical program direction for both the SE RES and the Southwest Regional Experiment Station (SW RES) located at the Southwest Technology Development Institute at Las Cruces, New Mexico. This cooperative effort serves a critical role in the national photovoltaic program by conducting system evaluations, design assistance and technology transfer to enhance the cost-effective utilization and development of photovoltaic technology. Initially, the research focus of the SE RES program centered on utility-connected PV systems and associated issues. In 1987, the SE RES began evaluating amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film PV modules for application in utility-interactive systems. Stand-alone PV systems began receiving increased emphasis at the SE RES in 1986. Research projects were initiated that involved evaluation of vaccine refrigeration, water pumping and other stand-alone power systems. The results of this work have led to design optimization techniques and procedures for the sizing and modeling of PV water pumping systems. …

This document outlines the major steps that must be taken by the Savannah River Site (SRS) to migrate the SRS information technology (IT) environment to the new architecture described in the Savannah River Site Computing Architecture. This document proposes an IT environment that is {open_quotes}...standards-based, data-driven, and workstation-oriented, with larger systems being utilized for the delivery of needed information to users in a client-server relationship.{close_quotes} Achieving this vision will require many substantial changes in the computing applications, systems, and supporting infrastructure at the site. This document consists of a set of roadmaps which provide explanations of the necessary changes for IT at the site and describes the milestones that must be completed to finish the migration.