Formation of vapor bubbles is characteristic of many applications of short-pulse lasers in medicine. An understanding of the dynamics of vapor bubble generation is useful for developing and optimizing laser-based medical therapies. To this end, experiments in vapor bubble generation with laser light deposited in an aqueous dye solution near a fiber-optic tip have been performed. Numerical hydrodynamic simulations have been developed to understand and extrapolate results from these experiments. Comparison of two-dimensional simulations with the experiment shows excellent agreement in tracking the bubble evolution. Another regime of vapor bubble generation is short-pulse laser interactions with melanosomes. Strong shock generation and vapor bubble generation are common physical features of this interaction. A novel effect of discrete absorption by melanin granules within a melanosome is studied as a possible role in previously reported high Mach number shocks.

This test plan specifies the requirements and conditions for the injection of tracer gases into eight tanks. Eight single shell tanks shall be injected with inert tracer gas, Helium (He), and then samples taken periodically to measure breathing rates. The eight tanks to be tested are; A-101, AX-102, AX-103, BY-105, C-107, U-103 (tested once in the winter and will be tested once in the summer), and U-105. The headspace of these tanks shall be sampled and analyzed periodically to obtain breathing rate information.

This engineering report will discuss the ventilation tasks necessary for minimizing the current K3 ventilation systems volumetric airflows while continuing to maintain negative pressures in both the canyon area and the related hot cells, assuring radiological confinement and containment of WESF.

The impending transition of the Hartford Site management and operations (M&O) contract to a management and integrating (M&I) contract format, together with weak radiological performance assessments by external organizations and reduced financial budgets prompted the `re-engineering` of the previous Hanford prime contractor Radiological Control (Rad Con) organization. This paper presents the methodology, identified areas of improvements, and results of the re-engineering process. The conversion from the M&O to the M&I contract concept resulted in multiple independent Rad Con organizations reporting to separate major contractors who are managed by an integrating contractor. This brought significant challenges when establishing minimum site standards for sitewide consistency, developing roles and responsibilities, and maintaining site Rad Con goals. Championed by the previous contractor`s Rad Con Director, Denny Newland, a five month planning effort was executed to address the challenges of the M&I and to address identified weaknesses. Fluor Daniel Hanford assumed the responsibility as integrator of the Project Hanford Management Contract on October 1, 1996. The Fluor Daniel Hanford Radiation Protection Director Jeff Foster presents the results of the re-engineering effort, including the significant cost savings, process improvements, field support improvements, and clarification of roles and responsibilities that have been achieved.

The Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management in the Department of the Interior each currently have a system of administrative appeals for moat agency land management decisions. Critics assert that administrative and judicial appeals are stopping or unacceptably slowing the decision-making processes and the use of federal lands and resources; that many appeals are "frivolous" and brought for the purpose of frustrating rather than improving land management actions, and that appeals greatly increase the costs of management

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA, P.L. 95-87), enacted in 1977, established reclamation standards for all coal surface mining operations, and for the surface effects of underground mining. It also established the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program to promote the reclamation of sites mined and abandoned prior to the enactment of SMCRA. To finance reclamation of abandoned mine sites, the legislation established fees on coal production. These collections are divided into federal and state shares; subject to annual appropriation, AML funds are distributed annually to states with approved reclamation programs. This report describes the distribution of these funds and the various issues that arise from said distribution.

This report covers activities relating to the SmartShelf{trademark} project during the period October 1, 1996, through September 30, 1997. During this year, project team members have advanced the state of both the hardware and software through a six-month-long test that exercised all hardware and nearly all software components. Second-generation node hardware was constructed and tested with the system and it was found that components supplied by Dallas Semiconductor did not meet the manufacturer`s specifications and were unstable. However, it was possible to work around this problem by rapidly redesigning the second-generation printed circuit board to use proven first-generation electronics and still fit inside the custom designed second-generation enclosure. Thus, the benefits realized by adopting the custom enclosure was not compromised. The software was improved by moving the user interface from modules developed with LabView to forms, queries, and reports developed with Microsoft Access and the structures of the software was modified to take better advantage of the dynamic data exchange (DDE) client-server architecture built into the Windows95 operating system and Access.

The SDD documents the Structures, Systems, and Components that establish the facility Safety Envelope for the Cementation of SS&C.

A set of viewgraphs for presenting what has been learned from experience with the Department of Energy`s Lessons Learned program, covering a brief history, the system and tools for sharing and accessing Lessons Learned, and how Lessons Learned can help the audience.

This report describes a computational model of a copper laser amplifier. The model contains rate equations for copper and the buffer gas species (neon and hydrogen), along with equations for the electron temperature, the laser intensity, and the diffusing magnetic field of the discharge. Rates are given for all pertinent atomic reactions. The radial profile of the gas temperature is determined by the time-averaged power deposited in the gas. The presence of septum inserts, which aid gas cooling, is taken into account. Fields are calculated consistently throughout the plasma and the surrounding insulation. Employed in conjunction with a modulator model, the model is used to calculate comprehensive performance predictions for a high- power operational amplifier.

Task 4 experimental testing was continued. Six first-stage one-liter autoclave tests were made at reduced severity conditions. A device to reduce the in-line filter diameter proved difficult to use and resulted in little usable filtration data. Its use was discontinued. The second-stage reactor system was overhauled and used to process Wilsonville Run 263J resid. Resid conversion and yields were commensurate with expected results. The economic and engineering evaluation of the Novel Concept process, based on Task 2 and Task 3 experimental data, was begun. The design of a conceptual commercial plant was completed. The economic and engineering evaluation illuminated components of the process operating and capital cost estimates which, if appropriately altered, could significantly reduce the cost of product (gasoline) from the process. This provided direction for the Task 4 experimental program.

This Supporting Document provides historical in-depth characterization information on U-Tank Farm, such as historical waste transfer and level data, tank physical information, temperature plots, liquid observation well plots, chemical analyte and radionuclide inventories for the Historical Tank Content Estimate Report for the Southwest Quadrant of the Hanford 200 West Area.

Samples were obtained for microbiological analysis from a granular activated carbon fluidized bed bioreactor (GAC-FBR). This GAC-FBR was in operation at a former manufactured gas plant (MGP) Site in Augusta Georgia for in situ groundwater bioremediation of organics. The samples included contaminated site groundwater, GAC-FBR effluent, and biofilm coated granular activated carbon at 5, 9, and 13 feet within the GAC-FBR column. The objective of this analysis was to correlate contaminant removal with microbiological activity within the GAC-FBR.

Boron carbide (B{sub 4}C) is examined as a potential fuel container and ablator for implosion capsules on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). A capsule of pure B{sub 4}C encasing a layer of solid DT implodes stably and ignites with anticipated NIF x-ray drives, producing 18 MJ of energy. Thin films of B{sub 4}C were found to be resistant to oxidation and modestly transmitting in the infrared (IR), possibly enabling IR fuel characterization and enhancement for thin permeation barriers but not for full-thickness capsules. Polystyrene mandrels 0.5 mm in diameter were successfully coated with 0.15-2.0 micrometers of B{sub 4}C. Thickness estimated from optical density agreed well with those measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The B{sub 4}C microstructure was columnar but finer than for Be made at the same conditions. B{sub 4}C is a very strong material, with a fiber tensile strength capable of holding NIF fill pressures at room temperature, but it is also very brittle, and microscopic flaws or grain structure may limit the noncryogenic fill pressure. Argon (Ar) permeation rates were measured for a few capsules that had been further coated with 5 micrometers of plasma polymer. The B{sub 4}C coatings tended to crack under tensile load. Some …

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Topics covered in this appendix include: General Rules-Code of Safe Practices; 2. Personal Protective Equipment; Hazardous Material Control; Traffic Control; Fire Prevention; Sanitation and First Aid; Confined Space Safety Requirements; Ladders and Stairways; Scaffolding and Lift Safety; Machinery, Vehicles, and Heavy Equipment; Welding and Cutting-General; Arc Welding; Oxygen/Acetylene Welding and Cutting; Excavation, Trenching, and Shoring; Fall Protection; Steel Erection; Working With Asbestos; Radiation Safety; Hand Tools; Electrical Safety; Nonelectrical Work Performed Near Exposed High-Voltage Power-Distribution Equipment; Lockout/Tagout Requirements; Rigging; A-Cranes; Housekeeping; Material Handling and Storage; Lead; Concrete and Masonry Construction.

The Construction Safety Program (CSP) for NIF sets forth the responsibilities, guidelines, rules, policies and regulations for all workers involved in the construction, special equipment installation, acceptance testing, and initial activation and operation of NIF at LLNL during the construction period of NIF.

This Appendix contains material from the LLNL Health and Safety Manual as listed below. For sections not included in this list, please refer to the Manual itself. The areas covered are: asbestos, lead, fire prevention, lockout, and tag program confined space traffic safety.

Potential designs for a high power superconducting delay line of approximately 10 microsecs duration are described. The transmitted signal should have low dispersion and little attenuation to recapture the original signal. Such demands cannot be met using conventional metal conductors. This paper outlines a proposal for a new transmission line design using low temperature superconducting material which meets system specifications. The 25 omega line is designed to carry pulsed signals with an approximate rise time of 8 nsec and a maximum voltage magnitude of 25 kV. Predicted electrical design and performance of the line will be presented.

This paper describes a numerical method for the solution of plasma fluid equations on block-structured, locally refined grids. The plasma under consideration is typical of those used for the processing of semiconductors. The governing equations consist of a drift-diffusion model of the electrons and an isothermal model of the ions coupled by Poisson's equation. A discretization of the equations is given for a uniform spatial grid, and a time-split integration scheme is developed. The algorithm is then extended to accommodate locally refined grids. This extension involves the advancement of the discrete system on a hierarchy of levels, each of which represents a degree of refinement, together with synchronization steps to ensure consistency across levels. A brief discussion of a software implementation is followed by a presentation of numerical results.

Protecting a structure against earthquake excitation by supporting it on laminated elastomeric bearings has become a widely accepted practice. The ability to perform accurate simulation of the system, including FEA of the bearings, would be desirable--especially for key installations. In this paper attempts to model the behavior of elastomeric earthquake bearings are outlined. Attention is focused on modeling highly-filled, low-modulus, high-damping elastomeric isolator systems; comparisons are made between standard triboelastic solid model predictions and test results.

The report discusses national defense foreign affairs. It also points out defense budget trends, key budget and policy issues and legislation.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 430.1, Life Cycle Asset Management, begins to focus DOE Programs and Projects on the total system life cycle instead of looking at project execution or operation as individual components. As DOE begins to implement this order, the DOE Management and Operating contractors must develop a process to control not only the contract baseline but also the overall life cycle baseline. This paper presents an integrated process that is currently being developed on the Yucca Mountain Project for DOE. The process integrates the current contract/project baseline management process with the management control process for design and the configuration management change control process.

The degree and nature of polymer degradation that occurs in the high temperature microshell formation process developed at the Lebedev Physical Institute has been examined experimentally. We find that significant mass degradation occurs during the final stages of shell formation. This manifests itself both in terms of mass loss and molecular weight degradation as measured by gel permeation chromatography. This decrease in the molecular weight may be in part responsible for the relatively fragile nature of the shells produced by this high temperature process. 9 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.