Vol. 52, No. 3        February 11, 2000

Energy and Environment

A center for transparency studies and nonproliferation for nuclear repositories was established at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) through a collaboration with DOE, Centers 5300, 6100, and 6800, Westinghouse, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Real-time shipment tracking and live video of underground storage highlighted transparency monitoring of nuclear waste at DOE Secretary Richardson's international conference on geologic repositories. (6800, 6100, 5300, DOE, LANL, Westinghouse) (E/CISBU)

We completed all testing of the Solar Two 10-megawatt power plant near Barstow, Calif., in April 1999. During this six-year project, we collected and evaluated critical data on the performance of the receiver, storage system, steam generator, and overall plant to successfully validate the technical characteristics of the first large-scale solar power plant using a unique, molten-salt thermal storage system. The project's success has led members of the Solar Two consortium to pursue commercial power tower opportunities abroad. (6200, 8700) (E/CISBU)

Conventional 3D seismic imaging for oil exploration fails miserably near vertical structures, such as salt dome flanks. Sandia has developed modeling methods for "single-well seismic imaging" data, in which both seismic source and receiver are placed downhole adjacent to the salt dome. Using a Sandia-developed finite-difference seismic modeling algorithm and a new 36-node Beowulf-type computational cluster, we have successfully modeled data from the Bayou Choctaw Salt Dome, La. This study demonstrates the usefulness of single well imaging as an exploration tool. (6100) (E/CISBU)

The decommissioning of the 72-million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve Weeks Island underground oil storage site (former salt mine) was completed in November as the mine was brought to hydrostatic pressure with brine. Sandia was responsible for identification and diagnostics of the groundwater leak, subsidence analyses, brine inflow and brine injection instrumentation, and oil skimming analyses. The final brine fill completed the very real high-consequence effort of removing oil and controlling water leakage without an environmental incident. (6100) (E/CISBU)

Sandia successfully tested the world's first microminiature thermionic converter (MTC) manufactured using microfabrication techniques. The MTC generates electricity directly from heat at potentially high efficiencies (25 percent) and modest temperatures (under 950°C). The MTC was developed for both micro- and macro-scale applications, including electrical power for spacecraft, robotics, remote sites, and chip-level devices. (6400, 1800) (E/CISBU)

Division 6000 is currently supporting the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) in the development of a conceptual design for a spent nuclear fuel repository in Korea. This work supports a US-South Korea bilateral agreement to collaborate on nuclear energy technologies. Sandia's role is to develop the conceptual design for the underground and surface facilities of the repository. This effort includes mine design and operations, systems analyses, and performance assessment. (6000) (E/CISBU)

Sandia's Nuclear Energy Technology Center 6400 successfully revitalized its research program through DOE's Nuclear Energy Research Initiative. NERI is a broad-based program designed to overcome the principal technical and scientific obstacles for the future use of nuclear energy in the US. Sandia's high proposal acceptance rate (45 percent versus the national average of 17 percent) is attributed in part to the efforts at providing a common corporate look and feel to all proposals. The eight funded NERI projects will provide more than $13 million over the next three years. (6400) (E/CISBU)

The Refined Safety Analysis Project developed a decision support system, Resolve, which characterizes the effects of hazard control strategies on tank behavior at the Hanford site. Flammable gas safety issues are especially challenging due to the technical uncertainties presented by the large quantity of hazardous and radioactive wastes. The software makes decision-making surrounding the operation of the site more consistent, defensible, and cost-effective. (6800, 6500) (E/CISBU)

The Environmental Restoration (ER) Program completed all performance measures on or ahead of schedule. It achieved general programmatic excellence for Sandia and the DOE. This included completion of the Sandia/California ER Proj- ect, making it the first national lab site to finish. Also, construction of the Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU) cell was completed and CAMU operations began. (6100) (E/CISBU)

Small fuel cell-powered robotic vehicles are needed for search and rescue, reconnaissance, security, perimeter control, and battlefield operations. Fuel cells offer significant enhancements in energy density and performance for small robotic vehicles. Sandia's LURCH RatlerTM robotic vehicle has been fitted with a fuel cell power source designed and fabricated by a Sandia-led team working with the Fuel Cell Propulsion Institute. (6200, 15200, 8700) (E/CISBU)

We have demonstrated destruction of common toxic organic pollutants, including the ubiquitous pentachlorophenol (PCP), by photo- catalytic decomposition using visible light and nanometer-size MoS2 crystals in solution. The photooxidation products are CO2 and dilute HCl. We showed that bandgap tuning by quantum confinement can be used to optimize oxidation/reduction potentials as well as to accelerate photooxidation kinetics. More important, exploiting our size-selective synthesis process should enable us to capitalize on a plentiful and global energy source ­ sunlight ­ to eliminate dangerous organic pollutants such as chlorinated organics and phenols. (1100) (E/CISBU)

In 1999, Sandia's Pollution Prevention Team (P2) funded and coordinated 35 projects with other laboratory organizations to reduce Sandia's environmental impact. Some of the accomplishments included: converting all copier and printer paper to recycled content; recycling 5,274 metric tons of Decontamination and Demolition (D&D) and Environmental Restoration (ER) waste; incorporating sustainability into the design criteria for the Model Validation facility. (7100, many others) (NWSBU)

The Health Services and Safety Engineering departments teamed in 1999 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the corporate Injury and Illness (I/I) reporting system. Major accomplishments included consolidating all corporate Injury/Illness data into one system that provides accurate, reliable information for trending, analysis, and reporting. (3300, 7100, 8500)

Line organizations and the ES&H Center conducted a Safety Awareness Campaign during 1999 reaching Sandians with the message, "Think Safety." Twelve monthly themes emphasized safety awareness at work, home, vacation, and on business travel. Sandia internal news media were used to distribute safety information through articles and cartoon strips. A Home Safety Fair attracted more than 500 Sandians and family members. (7100)

Sandia was the first DOE weapons lab to have an approved Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) program. This came after a month-long DOE ISMS verification audit. The ISMS Line Integration Team, chaired by Center 7100 with members from every division, provided escorts, interviews, documents, and daily debriefing. Thirty-three out of 48 audit corrective actions (owned by line representatives) have been submitted to DOE for closure on or ahead of schedule. (7100, many others) (E/CISBU)

In April-May 1999 Sandia led the multilaboratory Atmospheric Radiation Measurement-UAV team in a highly successful series of remotely piloted aircraft flights carrying the team's payload to its highest altitude ever (over 55,000 feet) to measure properties of subtropical clouds. These flights provided extremely valuable radiometric data for extensive thick cirrus clouds, with simultaneous airborne lidar and cloud radar characterization. Flights lasting up to eight hours were conducted from the island of Kauai. (8100, 8400, 8700, 2200, 5700) (E/CISBU)

The formal opening of the Combustion Research Facility Phase II laboratories was celebrated with a symposium on future national research needs, a ribbon cutting, and tours of the 21,200 square feet of new laboratory space. A symposium chaired by Martha Krebs, Director of the DOE Office of Science, featured nationally prominent speakers from academia, industry, and the federal government. (8300, 8500) (E/CISBU)

Last modified: February 28, 2000

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