The goal of this joint LLNL-CalEnergy project is to develop a method for precipitating marketable silica from spent Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF) brines. Many markets for silica exist. We have initially targeted production of silica as a rubber additive. Silica reinforced rubber gives tires less rolling resistance, greater tear strength, and better adhesion to steel belts. Previous silica precipitates produced by CalEnergy from Salton Sea brines were not suitable as rubber additives. They did not to disperse well in the rubber precursors and produced inferior rubber. CalEnergy currently minimizes silica scaling in some of their production facilities by acidifying the brine pH. The rate of silica precipitation slows down as the pH is lowered, so that energy extraction and brine reinfection are possible without unacceptable amounts of scaling even with more than 700 ppm SiO{sub 2} in solution. We are adding a step in which a small amount of base is added to the acidified brine to precipitate silica before reinfection. By carefully controlling the type, rate, and amount of base addition, we can optimize the properties of the precipitate to approach those of an ideal rubber additive.

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The purpose of the Double Shell Tanks (DST) and Waste Feed Delivery (WFD) Management Assessment Plan is to define how management assessments within DST h WFD will be conducted. The plan as written currently includes only WFD Project assessment topics. Other DST and WFD group assessment topics will be added in future revisions.

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The purpose of the Authorization Agreement is to serve as a mechanism whereby the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL) and Fluor Hanford (FH) jointly clarify and agree to key conditions for conducting work safely and efficiently in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). Work must be accomplished in a manner that achieves high levels of quality while protecting the environment and the safety and health of workers and the public, and complying with applicable contractual and regulatory requirements. It is the intent of this Agreement to address those items of significant importance in establishing and supporting the FFTF Authorization Envelope, but this Agreement in no way alters the terms and conditions of the Project Hanford Management Contract (PHMC), Contract Number DE-AC06-96RL13200.

This plan includes the sampling, analysis, and quality assurance requirements for the 100-BC-5 Operable Unit on the USDOE Hanford Site.

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This plan includes the sampling, analysis, and quality assurance requirements for the 100-FR-3 Operable Unit on the USDOE Hanford Site.

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on student loan trustee arrangements, focusing on the: (1) number and cost of trustee arrangements and their shared characteristics; (2) benefits and protections afforded the federal government through use of trustee arrangements; and (3) effect of trustee arrangements on market participation and the availability of student loans."

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This document describes the proposed strategy for disposal of spent and failed melters from the tank waste treatment plant to be built by the Office of River Protection at the Hanford site in Washington. It describes program management activities, disposal and transportation systems, leachate management, permitting, and safety authorization basis approvals needed to execute the strategy.

An all solid-state kicker pulser for a high current induction accelerator (the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility DARHT-2) has been designed and fabricated. This kicker pulser uses multiple solid state modulators stacked in an inductive-adder configuration. Each modulator is comprised of multiple metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) which quickly switch the energy storage capacitors across a magnetic induction core. Metglas is used as the core material to minimize loss. Voltage from each modulator is inductively added by a voltage summing stalk and delivered to a 50 ohm output cable. A lumped element circuit model of the inductive adder has been developed to optimize the performance of the pulser. Results for several stalk geometries will be compared with experimental data.

ABSIM (an acronym for ABsorption SIMulation) is a user-oriented computer code designed for the simulation of absorption systems at steady state, in both flexible and modular form. ABSIM makes it possible to investigate various cycle configurations with different working fluids, to calculate their operating parameters, to predict their performance and to compare them with each other on a uniform basis. A graphical user interface enables the user to draw the cycle diagram on the computer screen, enter data interactively, run the program and view the results either in the form of a table or superimposed on the cycle diagram. Special utilities enable the user to plot the results and produce a pressure-temperature-concentration (P-T-X) diagram of the cycle. Most absorption systems consist of a number of standard components or units (e.g., absorber, condenser) that may be combined in different forms to produce various cycles. Recognizing this, ABSIM has been structured around unit subroutines, each of which contains the governing equations for the particular unit. These subroutines are activated by a main program that interprets the input for the cycle, calls the units, and links them to each other in an order corresponding to the user's specification to form the complete system. …

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Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Commerce's fiscal year (FY) 1999 Annual Program Performance Report and the FY 2000 and FY 2001 plans for selected science-related agencies, focusing on whether: (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Technology Administration (TA) sections of Commerce's FY 1999 performance report and FY 2000 and FY 2001 performance plans told a coherent story in addressing science issues; (2) NOAA's and TA's performance goals, budgetary and full time equivalent (FTE) staffing resource requirements identified in Commerce's FY 2001 performance plan linked, or matched, to those in NOAA's and TA's sections of Commerce's FY 2001 congressional budget submission; and (3) the NOAA and TA sections of Commerce's FY 2001 performance plan addressed the weaknesses that GAO identified in its review of Commerce's FY 2000 performance plan."

Oxidation testing of K Basin-stored N Reactor fuel in dry air, moist air, and moist helium provided reaction rate data for the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project. The tests were performed on small samples from two spent nuclear fuel elements retrieved from the closed canisters of the K West Basin. The spent nuclear fuel samples were tested using a thermogravimetric analysis system modified for moist-gas operation to allow testing in moist environments. The tests were run at constant temperature and water vapor pressure. The moist helium tests used 6.5 H a water vapor, producing seventeen data between 75 C and 210 C. Eight of these data were excluded from primary consideration due to testing anomalies and balance drift issues. Regression analysis of the nine acceptable data provided good assurance that the moist-helium results are consistent with literature data within the temperature range of 25 C to 210 C. Concerns about possible oxygen poisoning from air in-leakage and mass transfer limitations on the test data were reviewed. If oxygen poisoning occurred it was not likely to have biased the data sufficiently to change the basic conclusions of comparability to the literature data. Mass transfer limitations did not appear to have had significant …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to investigate concerns about competition in the marketing of cattle and hogs, focusing on: (1) the number and status of investigations conducted by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) in response to complaints and concerns about anticompetitive activity involving the marketing of cattle and hogs; (2) factors that affect GIPSA's ability to investigate concerns about anticompetitive practices; and (3) GIPSA's authority under the Packers and Stockyards Act to address concerns about anticompetitive and unfair practices."

This report provides particle size distribution data for samples near the Immobilized Low-Activity Waste (ILAW) Site that were archived in the Hanford Geotechnical Sample Library. Seventy-nine sediment samples were analyzed from four boreholes. Samples were collected from every ten feet in the boreholes. Eightly percent of the samples were classified as slightly gravelly sand. Fifteen percent were classified as gravelly sand, gravelly silty sand, or sandy gravels. These data indicate that the particle size of the sediment is consistent across the ILAW site and is dominated by sand in the upper part of the Hanford formation with more gravel rich units in the lower part.

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Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the tax incentives that benefit the petroleum and ethanol industries."

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