Laboratory measurements of single-phase, steady-state permeability of porous rock are important for a number of different applications. The oil and gas industry uses permeability data as a key indicator of the producability of a hydrocarbon reservoir; effective containment of large volumes of oil in underground salt caverns is directly dependent upon the permeability of the adjacent cavern walls; and safe, long term underground isolation of radioactive and hazardous waste is contingent upon the flow and transport characteristics of the surrounding geologic formations. An alternative method for measuring single-phase, steady-state permeability of porous rock is presented. The use of troublesome and expensive mass flow meters is eliminated and replaced with a bridge configuration of flow resistors. Permeability values can be determined directly from differential pressures across the bridge network, resulting in potentially significant cost savings and simplification for conducting these types of measurements. Results from the bridge permeameter are compared with results obtained using conventional methods.
The purpose of this NUREG is to provide technical information useful for the development of fiber-optic communications and intrusion detection subsystems relevant to physical protection. There are major sections on fiber-optic technology and applications. Other topics include fiber-optic system components and systems engineering. This document also contains a glossary, a list of standards and specifications, and a list of fiber-optic equipment vendors.
This report discusses the testing and evaluation of four commercially available fiber optic intrusion detection systems. The systems were tested under carpet-type matting and in a vaulted ceiling application. This report will focus on nuisance alarm data and intrusion detection results. Tests were conducted in a mobile office building and in a bunker.
Activities involving regulatory implementation of updated source term information were pursued. These activities include the identification of the source term, the identification of the chemical form of iodine in the source term, and the timing of the source term`s entrance into containment. These activities are intended to support a more realistic source term for licensing nuclear power plants than the current TID-14844 source term and current licensing assumptions. MELCOR calculations were performed to support the technical basis for the updated source term. This report presents the results from three MELCOR calculations of nuclear power plant accident sequences and presents comparisons with Source Term code Package (STCP) calculations for the same sequences. The three low-pressure sequences were analyzed to identify the materials which enter containment (source terms) and are available for release to the environment, and to obtain timing of sequence events. The source terms include fission products and other materials such as those generated by core-concrete interactions. All three calculations, for both MELCOR and STCP, analyzed the Surry plant, a pressurized water reactor (PWR) with a subatmospheric containment design.
Geothermal energy is one of the more promising renewable energy technologies because it is environmentally benign and, unlike most renewable energy sources, can provide base power. This report provides an assessment of the research and development (R&D) work underway in geothermal energy in the following countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. While the R&D work underway in the US exceeds the R&D efforts of the other countries, the lead is eroding. This erosion is due to reductions in federal government funding for geothermal energy R&D and the decline of the US petroleum industry. This erosion of R&D leadership is hindering commercialization of US geothermal energy products and services. In comparison, the study countries are promoting the commercialization of their geothermal energy products and services. As a result, some of these countries, in particular Japan, will probably have the largest share of the global market for geothermal energy products and services; these products and services being targeted toward the developing countries (the largest market for geothermal energy).
In the past, many optimization schemes for massively parallel computers have attempted to achieve parallel efficiency using one of two methods. In the case of large and expensive objective function calculations, the optimization itself may be run in serial and the objective function calculations parallelized. In contrast, if the objective function calculations are relatively inexpensive and can be performed on a single processor, then the actual optimization routine, itself may be parallelized. In this paper, a scheme based upon the Parallel Direct Search (PDS) technique is presented which allows the objective function calculations to be done on an arbitrarily large number (p2) of processors. If, p, the number of processors available, is greater than or equal to 2p{sub 2} then the optimization may be parallelized as well. This allows for efficient use of computational resources since the objective function calculations can be performed on the number of processors that allow for peak parallel efficiency and then further speedup may be achieved by parallelizing the optimization. Results are presented for an optimization problem which involves the solution of a PDE using a finite-element algorithm as part of the objective function calculation. The optimum number of processors for the finite-element calculations is less than p/2. Thus, the PDS method is also parallelized. Performance comparisons are given for a nCUBE 2 implementation.
It is inevitable that sealing and abandonment will someday occur in a SPR cavern or caverns. To gain insight into the long-term behavior of a typical SPR cavern following sealing and abandonment, a suite of mechanical finite-element calculations was performed. The initial analyses predict how quickly and to what extent a cavern pressurizes after it is plugged. The analyses also examine the stability of the cavern as it changes shape due to the excessive pressures generated as the salt creeps and the brine in the cavern thermally expands. These large-scale analyses do not include the details of the plug but assume a good seal is established in the cavern wells. In another series of analyses, the potential for forming a leak at the plug is evaluated. A cement plug, emplaced in the casing seat of a cavern well, is loaded using the predicted brine pressures from the cavern analyses. The plugged casing analyses examine the potential for forming a leak path in and along the interfaces of salt, casing, and cement plug. In the last set of analysis, the dimensional scale of the problem is further reduced to examine a preexisting crack along a casing/salt interface. The cracked interface is assumed to be fluid filled and fully pressurized by the cavern fluids. The analyses address the potential for the fluid path to extend upwards along a plugged casing should an open microannulus surround the casing after it is plugged.
The Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) Test Case 6 project (Rapid Product Development) was set up to demonstrate rapid product development and 3D measurement techniques where the agencies performing the work were distributed over different countries. Test Case 6 provided a unique opportunity to examine the process by which an application protocol (AP) of the Standard for Exchange of Product Data is prepared. The test case had a well defined scope, the production of simple parts by means of layered manufacturing techniques. The information concerned with this manufacture was similarly well defined, due to the requirement that the information be transmitted among the organizations participating in the test case. STEP is an international standard specifying the data content and format for storage and exchange of product data throughout the product`s life cycle. STEP has been under development since 1984 and is just now emerging as an International Standard. STEP is specified as a series of information models using the EXPRESS computer language. For purposes of data exchange, a mapping to a physical file format is specified. Informally, product data can be defined as all the data about a product which one might wish to save. This definition implies some variation in the amount of data to be saved in any one instance. In the case of Test Case 6, one would certainly wish to save the IGES files describing the part. One may or may not wish to save the manufacturing parameters. While there are many parts of STEP with different purposes, the important series of parts for the purposes of standardizing product data are those dealing with application protocols. An application protocol specifies the details of product data within the context of a single application (in this case, layered manufacturing). Other APs deal with such subjects as configuration-managed solid parts and associated drafting.
A key feature distinguishing robotics from traditional computer science is its connection to the physical world. Robot planning software may use elegant algorithms supported by ironclad analytic proofs, but ultimately nature will decide whether the software output is correct in the sense of accomplishing the task goal. Thus a chief goal of robotics research is to understand and capture this nature in a way that allows algorithmic analysis to produce robust physical results. This is made particularly difficult by the presence of uncertainty, which arises from the inevitable discrepancy between the real task and its idealized computer model. This paper reviews fundamental sets of states, forces, and actions that exist for a broad class of robot manipulation tasks, and ties these sets to past and future approaches to developing robust manipulation planning and execution systems.
Detailed computational modeling of laser surgery requires treatment of the photoablation of human tissue by high intensity pulses of laser light and the subsequent thermomechanical response of the tissue. Three distinct physical regimes must be considered to accomplish this: (1) the immediate absorption of the laser pulse by the tissue and following tissue ablation, which is dependent upon tissue light absorption characteristics; (2) the near field thermal and mechanical response of the tissue to this laser pulse, and (3) the potential far field (and longer time) mechanical response of witness tissue. Both (2) and (3) are dependent upon accurate constitutive descriptions of the tissue. We will briefly review tissue absorptivity and mechanical behavior, with an emphasis on dynamic loads characteristic of the photoablation process. In this paper our focus will center on the requirements of numerical modeling and the uncertainties of mechanical tissue behavior under photoablation. We will also discuss potential contributions that computational simulations can make in the design of surgical protocols which utilize lasers, for example, in assessing the potential for collateral mechanical damage by laser pulses.
New kinds of semiconductor microcavity lasers are being created by modern semiconductor technologies like molecular beam epitaxy and electron beam lithography. These new microcavities exploit 3-dimensional architectures possible with epitaxial layering and surface patterning. The physical properties of these microcavities are intimately related to the geometry imposed on the semiconductor materials. Among these microcavities are surface-emitting structures which have many useful properties for commercial purposes. This paper reviews the basic physics of these microstructured lasers.
The National Center for Advanced Information Components Manufacturing (NCAICM) Projects focus on manufacturing processes, materials, user facilities, standard tools, and equipment for large area emissive flat panel displays and microelectronics. Two types of projects are funded: (1) precompetitive projects done at the Center, and (2) joint industry/national laboratory projects, which may carry intellectual property rights, where the work will be done at the appropriate industry or laboratory site. A summary of the NCAICM Projects will be presented.
Photonics activities at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) are founded on a strong materials research program. The advent of the Compound Semiconductor Research Laboratory (CSRL) in 1988, accelerated device and materials research and development. Recently, industrial competitiveness has been added as a major mission of the labs. Photonics projects have expanded towards applications-driven programs requiring device and subsystem prototype deliveries and demonstrations. This evolution has resulted in a full range of photonics programs from materials synthesis and device fabrication to subsystem packaging and test.
This report describes a new flexible technology which is now available to design sensor and control networks based on a protocol embedded in an intelligent communications processor. The flexibility allows a system designer and/or a technical installer to make appropriate tradeoffs among simplicity, functionality, and cost in the design of network nodes and their installation. This is especially important in designing an installation scenario for the safeguards network. The network technology permits several choices of installations with the same basic node hardware. A pre-installed network offers maximum simplicity and no flexibility since it will operate as programmed during manufacture or the pre-installation setup and checkout. At the other end of the spectrum, a network can be installed using network management software and a computer. The combination of the network management software and computer hardware is generally referred to as a Network Management Tool (NMT). The NMT option offers full flexibility to change the network during or after installation. Different NMT can provide different degrees of complexity depending upon the applications and the amount of changes that need to be made during installation.
Simplified expressions for the attenuation of radionuclide releases by sprays and by water pools are devised. These expressions are obtained by correlation of the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of uncertainty distributions for the water pool decontamination factor and the spray decontamination coefficient. These uncertainty distributions were obtained by Monte Carlo uncertainty analyses using detailed, mechanistic models of the pools and sprays. Uncertainties considered in the analyses include uncertainties in the phenomena and uncertainties in the initial and boundary conditions during dictated by the progression of the severe accidents. Final results are graphically displayed in terms of the decontamination factor achieved at selected levels of conversatism versus pool depth and water subcooling or, in the case of sprays, versus time.
In an effort to reduce the cycle time for producing prototypical mechanical and electro-mechanical components, Sandia National Laboratories has integrated rapid prototyping processes into the design and manufacturing process. The processes currently in operation within the Rapid Prototyping Laboratory are Stereolithography (SL), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), and Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC). These emerging technologies have proven to be valuable tools for reducing lead times and fabrication costs. Sandia uses the SL and SLS processes to support internal product development efforts. Their primary use is to fabricate patterns for investment casting in support of a Sandia-managed program called FASTCAST that integrates computational technologies and experimental data into the investment casting process. These processes are also used in the design iteration process to produce proof-of-concept models, hands-on models for design reviews, fit-check models, visual aids for manufacturing, and functional parts in assemblies. The DSPC process is currently being developed as a method of fabricating ceramic investment casting molds directly from a CAD solid model. Sandia is an Alpha machine test site for this process. This presentation will provide an overview of the SL and SLS processes and an update of our experience and success in integrating these technologies into the product development cycle. It will also provide a lead-in for a tour of the Rapid Prototyping Laboratory, where these processes will be demonstrated.
The objective of this study was to find a material and configuration that could reliably detect the proper functioning of a current slapper detonator. Because of the small size of the slapper geometry (on the order of a 15 mils), most diagnostic techniques are not suitable. This program has the additional requirement that the device could not use any electrical power or output signals. This required that the diagnostic be completely passive. The paper describes the three facets of the development effort: complete characterization of the slapper using VISAR measurements, selection of the diagnostic material and configuration, and testing of the prototype designs. The VISAR testing required the use of a special optical probe to allow the laser light to reach both bridges of the slapper detonator. Results are given in the form of flyer velocity as a function of the initiating voltage level. The selected diagnostic design functions in a manner similar to a dent block except that the impact of the Kapton disk causes a fracture pattern. A quick visual inspection is all that is needed to determine if the flyer velocity exceeded the threshold value. Sub-threshold velocities produce a substantially different appearance.
We identify a general framework for weak planning called bootstrap planning, which is defined as global planning using only a local planner along with some memory for learning intermediate subgoals. We present a family of algorithms for bootstrap planning, and provide some initial theory on their performance. In our theoretical analysis, we develop a random digraph problem model and use it to make some performance predictions and comparisons of these algorithms. We also use it to provide some techniques for approximating the optimal resource bound on the local planner to achieve the best global planner. We validate our theoretical results with empirical demonstration on the 15-puzzle. We show how to reduce the planning cost of a global planner by 2 orders of magnitude using bootstrap planning. We also demonstrate a natural but not widely recognized connection between search costs and the lognormal distribution.
Li/SOCl{sub 2} battery technology is attractive by virtue of its high energy density, low self-discharge rate, and ability to to perform well at a wide variety of discharge rates. However, some of these same attributes also make Li/SOCl{sub 2} cells capable of hightly exothermic events when handled under abnormal conditions. We manage the energy safely and optimize the performance by tailoring the design to the application. We have developed three different ``D`` size cells that target low, moderate, and high rate applications. Each design provides safe and efficient performance, although, in progressing from low to high rate capability, the likelihood of venting under abuse conditions increses. We incorporate a vent mechanism in all designs as the ultimate protection from severe abuse. The details of our battery designs and the benefits of application-specific design are discussed.
The structural properties of spent nuclear fuel shipping containers vary as a function of the cask wall temperature. An analysis is performed to determine the effect of a realistic, though bounding, hot day environment on the thermal behavior of spent fuel shipping casks. These results are compared to those which develop under a steady-state application of the prescribed normal thermal conditions of 10CFR71. The completed analysis revealed that the majority of wall temperatures, for a wide variety of spent fuel shipping cask configurations, fall well below those predicted by using the steady-state application of the regulatory boundary conditions. It was found that maximum temperatures at the cask surface occasionally lie above temperatures predicted under the regulatory condition. This is due to the conservative assumptions present in the ambient conditions used. The analysis demonstrates that diurnal temperature variations which penetrate the cask wall have maxima substantially less than the corresponding temperatures obtained when applying the steady-state regulatory boundary conditions. Therefore, it is certain that vital cask components and the spent fuel itself will not exceed the temperatures calculated by use of the steady-state interpretation of the 10CFR71 normal conditions.
The increasing complexity of integrated circuits demands that software tools, in addition to hardware tools, be used for successful diagnosis of failure. A series of customizable software tools have been developed that organize failure analysis information and provide expert level help to failure analysts to increase their productivity and success.
An Integrated Demonstration (ID) Program, hosted by the Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Company, has been established for investigating technologies applicable to the characterization and remediation of soils contaminated with uranium. Chemical and physical characterization of Fernald soils and the uranium wastes contained therein is being accomplished by means of standard analytical techniques as well as a suite of non-standard microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. Likewise, a suite of physical and chemical extraction technologies are being designed and tested for accomplishing soil decontamination. However, the main theme of this paper is not the technologies being tested but the approach taken to integrate characterization, decontamination, and risk assessment efforts. It is the authors intent to outline the critical components of an integrated approach for characterizing and remediating uranium contaminated soils as well as provide a real-world example based on the lessons learned in the ID program.
Pyroshock is a potentially severe environment produced by the detonation of explosively actuated components and stage separation hardware. Electronic components exposed to pyroshock events during flight or deployment can be damaged by this high frequency, high G shock. Flight qualification of these components may be accomplished using one of many existing techniques to simulate the pyroshock environment in the laboratory. Two new techniques developed at Sandia National Laboratories allow larger components to be tested to a wide variety of pyroshock environments. The frequency content and amplitude of the simulated pyroshock can be easily controlled in a predictable manner. The pyroshock environment is produced by the resonant response of a test fixture that has been excited by a mechanical impact. The resonant fixture has a dominant frequency that can be continuously adjusted over a frequency range that is typically found in most pyroshock environments. The test apparatus and techniques utilized by each method will be described in this paper. Experimental results will be presented which illustrate the capabilities of each method.
From the beginning, equipment to support IAEA Safeguards could be characterized as that which is used to measure nuclear material, Destructive Assay (DA) and Non Destructive Assay (NDA), and that which is used to provide continuity of knowledge between inspection intervals, Containment & Surveillance (C/S). C/S equipment has often been thought of as Cameras and Seals, with a limited number of monitors being employed as they became available. In recent years, technology has advanced at an extremely rapid rate, and continues to do so. The traditional film cameras are being replaced by video equipment, and fiber optic and electronic seals have come into rather widespread use. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this evolution, and that which indicates the wave of the future without much question, is the integration of video surveillance and electronic seals with a variety of monitors. This is demonstrated by safeguards systems which are installed in several nuclear facilities in France, Germany, Japan, the UK, the USA, and elsewhere. The terminology of Integrated Monitoring Systems (IMS) has emerged, with the employment of network technology capable of interconnecting all desired elements in a very flexible manner. Also, the technology for transmission of a wide variety of information to off-site locations, termed Remote Monitoring, is in widespread industrial use, requiring very little adaptation for safeguards use. This paper examines the future of the Integrated Monitoring Systems and Remote Monitoring in International Safeguards, including technical and other related factors.
It is well known that two phase titanium alloy systems suffer from an abrupt drop in ductility at elevated temperatures in the range of 1,000 to 1,150 K. This loss of ductility is manifested by easy decohesion of polycrystalline aggregates along the grain boundaries of the high temperature beta phase. If the alloy is in a state of tensile stress at the aforementioned temperatures, cracks initiate at the grain boundaries and propagate readily through the alloy, leading to premature failure. This phenomenon is a cause of major concern in titanium alloy fabrication and welding. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain high temperature crack nucleation and growth along the boundaries. A critical review of the phenomenon and possible mechanisms responsible for the observed behavior will be discussed.
This paper describes a concept in which dry air is injected into an unsaturated formation to reduce the soil moisture content, referred to here as a dry (or sometimes tensiometric) barrier. The objective is to reduce the hydraulic conductivity of the unsaturated media to the point where liquid phase transport becomes negligible, thereby achieving containment. The concept could be applied in subsurface formations to provide containment from a leaking facility, or it could be incorporated into a cover design to provide redundancy for a capillary barrier. The air injection process could in principle be coupled with a vacuum extraction system to recover soil vapors, which would then provide a remediation process that would be appropriate if volatile organic compounds were present. Work to date has consisted of a combined theoretical, laboratory, and field research investigation. The objective of this research was to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the dry barrier concept by identifying the parameters which determine its effectiveness. Based on the results obtained for the experimental and theoretical studies, feasibility analyses were prepared for as a modification for a landfill cover design to prevent infiltration from atmospheric precipitation and for potential application of dry barriers to achieve subsurface containment and removal of volatile constituents. These analyses considered the technical as well as the economic aspects of the dry barrier concept.
Rigid Foam is a chemical delay foam used to completely encapsulate an object or to block access to an area. Prior studies have indicated that the final foam product is essentially non-toxic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and summarize the current chemical and toxicological data available on the components of Rigid Foam and to update the information available on the toxicity of the final Rigid Foam product. Since the possibility exists for a partial deployment of Rigid Foam where only one of the components is released, this study also examined the toxicity of its chemical constituents. Rigid Foam is composed of an {open_quotes}A{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}B{close_quotes} Component. The {open_quotes}A{close_quotes} component is primarily a polymeric isocyanate and the {open_quotes}B{close_quotes} component is a mixture of polyols. In addition to the primary constituents, dichlorodifluoromethane and trichlorofluoromethane are present as blowing agents along with catalysts and silicone surfactants necessary for foaming. The pre-deployed {open_quotes}A{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}B{close_quotes} components are stored in separate vessels and are brought together in static mixing nozzles for dispersal. The results of this evaluation indicate that a completely deployed Rigid Foam under normal conditions is essentially non-toxic as determined previously. However, in the event of a partial deployment or deployment of an individual component directly at an unprotected individual, the degree of hazard is increased due to the toxic and corrosive nature of the individual constituents. The health hazard would depend on the properties of the material to which the person was exposed.
The source term for assessing events that involve the combustion of metallic plutonium (Pu) presents a continuing need in carrying out safety evaluations in support of DOE programs involving nuclear weapons. For production, storage, transport and decommissioning operations, an accident sequence that frequently must be evaluated involves metallic Pu being exposed in a fire environment. There are significant data on which to base an estimate for the source term which has been surveyed recently by Mishima et al (Mishima, 1993), but much of the surveyed work relates to well controlled laboratory experiments with relatively small amounts of Pu. One of the most relevant sources of information was the work by Stewart (Stewart, 1959) of the UK Atomic Weapon Research Establishment at Aldermaston. That work, referred to as the Vixen A Trials provides direct experimental data on the aerosolization and environmental releases from relatively large metallic Pu shapes immersed in a ``petrol`` fire. A new analysis of the air sampler data from the two Vixen A Trials experiments involving chunks of plutonium exposed to hydrocarbon fuel fires indicated a respirable release fraction (referenced to total plutonium involved) of 0.0001 to 0.0003 (1 E-4 to 3 E-4) depending on the parameters used in the atmospheric transport and dispersion model used. A value of 3 E-4 is recommended as an upper limit for use in safety assessment studies involving similar accident scenarios.
Sandia National Laboratories has been involved with rocket systems for many years. Some of these systems have carried high explosive onboard, while others have had FTS for destruction purposes whenever a potential hazard is detected. Recently, Sandia has also been involved with flight tests in which a target vehicle is intentionally destroyed by a projectile. Such endeavors always raise questions about the safety of personnel and the environment in the event of a premature detonation of the explosive or an activation of the FTS, as well as intentional vehicle destruction. Previous attempts to investigate fragmentation hazards for similar configurations have analyzed fragment size and shape in detail but have computed only a limited number of trajectories to determine the probabilities of impact and casualty expectations. A computer program SAFETIE has been written in support of various SNL flight experiments to compute better approximations of the hazards. SAFETIE uses the AMEER trajectory computer code and the Engineering Sciences Center LAN of Sun workstations to determine more realistically the probability of impact for an arbitrary number of exclusion areas. The various debris generation models are described.
The neutron fluences and spectra and the gamma ray doses inside and in the vicinity of a guidance system exposed to the Sandia Pulsed Reactor II (SPR II) in four configurations have been determined. This project required customization of the environment and the application of new techniques to determine the spectra within the system. The required radiation environment was achieved, and the experimental results clearly demonstrated that the radiation environment inside the system was very different from that seen outside. This example demonstrates very clearly that experimenters must consider the effect the test apparatus may have on the environment inside the system.
Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, conducts the Utility Battery Storage Systems Program, which is sponsored by the US Department of Energy`s Office of Energy Management. In this capacity, Sandia is responsible for the engineering analyses, contract development, and testing of rechargeable batteries and systems for utility-energy-storage applications. This report details the technical achievements realized during fiscal year 1993.
The advent of micro- or binary optics technology has made possible the fabrication of a variety of new optical devices. Optical fabrication is no longer limited by surfaces that can be made by grinding and polishing, or even diamond turning. In fact, optics with no symmetry, no smooth surfaces, and that perform multiple functions can be readily fabricated. While these optics have a large number of applications, they are extremely useful for systems that require arrays of small optics or aperture multiplexing, since these are fabricated using computer controlled photo-lithography and etching processes. We have applied binary optics technology to construct various wavefront sensing using four mask processes to create 16 level optics. They are binary in the sense that they use discrete phase levels, not in the sense of using only two levels (they might more properly be called digital optics). We have found that 16 levels is adequate for most systems, giving greater than 99% of efficiency.
This report presents the results of testing of selected propellants and primers to Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) characteristic of the human body. It describes the tests and the fixturing built to accommodate loose material (propellants) and the packed energetic material of the primer. The results indicate that all powders passed and some primers, especially the electric primers, failed to pass established requirements which delineate insensitive energetic components. This report details the testing of components and materials to four ESD environments (Standard ESD, Severe ESD, Modified Standard ESD, and Modified Severe ESD). The purpose of this study was to collect data based on the customer requirements as defined in the Sandia Environmental Safety & Health (ES&H) Manual, Chapter 9, and to define static sensitive and insensitive propellants and primers.
This report summarizes the purchasing and transportation activities of the Purchasing and Materials Management Organization for Fiscal Year 1993. Activities for both the New Mexico and California locations are included.
Assessment of the hoist failure rate for the Payload Transporter Type III (PT-III) hoist was completed as one of the ground transportation tasks for the Minuteman II (MMIII) Weapon System Safety Assessment. The failures of concern are failures that lead to dropping a reentry system (RS) during hoist operations in a silo or the assembly, storage, and inspection building for a MMIII wing. After providing a brief description of the PT-III hoist system, the author summarizes his search for historical data from industry and the military services for failures of electric hoist systems. Since such information was not found, the strategy for assessing a failure rate was to consider failure mechanisms which lead to load-drop accidents, estimate their rates, and sum the rates for the PT-III hoist failure rate. The author discusses failure mechanisms and describes his assessment of a chain failure rate that is based on data from destructive testing of a chain of the type used for the PT-III hoist and projected usage rates for hoist operations involving the RS. The main result provides upper bounds for chain failure rates that are based on these data. No test data were found to estimate failure rates due to mechanisms other than chain failure. The author did not attempt to quantify the effects of human factors on the PT-III hoist failure rate.
The measurement of layer-to-layer feature overlay will, in the foreseeable future, continue to be a critical metrological requirement for the semiconductor industry. Meeting the image placement metrology demands of accuracy, precision, and measurement speed favors the use of electrical test structures. In this paper, a two-dimensional, modified voltage-dividing potentiometer is applied to a short-loop VLSI process to measure image placement. The contributions of feature placement on the reticle and overlay on the wafer to the overall measurement are analyzed and separated. Additional sources of uncertainty are identified, and methods developed to monitor and reduce them are described.
This report briefly discusses the following research being conducted at Sandia Laboratories: Advanced Manufacturing -- Sandia technology helps keep US industry in the lead; Microelectronics-Sandia`s unique facilities transform research advances into manufacturable products; Energy -- Sandia`s energy programs focus on strengthening industrial growth and political decisionmaking; Environment -- Sandia is a leader in environmentally conscious manufacturing and hazardous waste reduction; Health Care -- New biomedical technologies help reduce cost and improve quality of health care; Information & Computation -- Sandia aims to help make the information age a reality; Transportation -- This new initiative at the Labs will help improve transportation, safety,l efficiency, and economy; Nonproliferation -- Dismantlement and arms control are major areas of emphasis at Sandia; and Awards and Patents -- Talented, dedicated employees are the backbone of Sandia`s success.
Test results sponsored by the USNRC have shown that reinforced shear wall (Seismic Category I) structures exhibit stiffnesses and natural frequencies which are smaller than those calculated in the design process. The USNRC has sponsored Sandia National Labs to perform an evaluation of the effects of the reduced frequencies on several existing seismic PRAs in order to determine the seismic risk implications inherent in these test results. This report presents the results for the re-evaluation of the seismic risk for three nuclear power plants: the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, the Zion Nuclear Power Plant, and Arkansas Nuclear One -- Unit 1 (ANO-1). Increases in core damage frequencies for seismic initiated events at Peach Bottom were 25 to 30 percent (depending on whether LLNL or EPRI hazard curves were used). At the ANO-1 site, the corresponding increases in plant risk were 10 percent (for each set of hazard curves). Finally, at Zion, there was essentially no change in the computed core damage frequency when the reduction in shear wall stiffness was included. In addition, an evaluation of deterministic ``design-like`` structural dynamic calculations with and without the shear stiffness reductions was made. Deterministic loads calculated for these two cases typically increased on the order of 10 to 20 percent for the affected structures.
The major thrust of the study leading to this report was a quick, but in-depth, understanding of the process for using multimedia computer equipment for information exchange within our engineering office and within the school environment. That is, how feasible is it to augment the typical office memo or school instruction sheet with pictures, video, and sounds? What specialized skills, hardware, and software are needed by those of us who want to use the technology? The brief study period allowed for an examination of available hardware and software, observation of current approaches to multimedia within our particular environment, and the development of applications, all within the context of several project areas: The Sandia Science Advisors program; a Sandia scientific project associated with the National Information Infrastructure Testbed; the curriculum of Monte Vista Elementary School of Albuquerque Public Schools; and the University of New Mexico Medical School Health Scene project.
Due to the recently enacted California regulations requiring zero emission vehicles be sold in the market place by 1998, electric vehicle research and development (R&D) is accelerating. Much of the R&D work is focusing on the Achilles` heel of electric vehicles -- advanced batteries. This report provides an assessment of the R&D work currently underway in advanced batteries and electric vehicles in the following countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Although the US can be considered one of the leading countries in terms of advanced battery and electric vehicle R&D work, it lags other countries, particularly France, in producing and promoting electric vehicles. The US is focusing strictly on regulations to promote electric vehicle usage while other countries are using a wide variety of policy instruments (regulations, educational outreach programs, tax breaks and subsidies) to encourage the use of electric vehicles. The US should consider implementing additional policy instruments to ensure a domestic market exists for electric vehicles. The domestic is the largest and most important market for the US auto industry.
This Sandia publication seeks to facilitate technology exchange with industries, universities, and government agencies. It presents brief highlights of four projects. First is a project to simulate the use of airbags to soften the landing of a probe on Mars. Second is the use of a computer simulation system to facilitate the testing of designs for different experiments, both for experimental layout and results analysis. Third is the development of a system for in-house testing of batteries and capacitive energy storage systems, for deployment at the manufacturing sites, as opposed to final use areas. Finally is information on a noncontact measurement system which can be used to determine axes on objects of different shapes, with high precision.
Concern for the environment and cost reduction are the driving forces for a broad effort in government and the private sector to develop new, more cost-effective technologies for characterizing, monitoring and remediating environmental sites. Secondary goals of the characterization, monitoring and remediation (CMR) activity are: minimize secondary waste generation, minimize site impact, protect water tables, and develop methods/strategies to apply new technologies. The Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) project in directional boring for CMR of waste sites with enhanced machinery from the underground utility installation industry was initiated in 1990. Preliminary activities included surveying the directional drilling access needs of various DOE sites, identifying an existing class of machinery that could be enhanced for environmental work through development, and establishing a mutually beneficial working relationship with an industry partner. Since that time the project has tested a variety of prototype machinery and hardware built by the industrial partner, and SNL. The project continues to test and develop the machinery and technique refinements needed for future applications at DOE, DOD, and private sector sites. The original goal of cost-effectiveness is being met through innovation, adaptation, and application of fundamental concepts. Secondary goals are being met via a basic philosophy of ``cut/thrust and compact cuttings without adding large quantities of fluid`` to an environmental problem site. Technology transfer to the private sector is ongoing and ultimately should result in commercial availability of the machinery. Education of regulatory agencies resulting in restructuring appropriate regulatory standards for specification of the horizontal drilling techniques will be a final project goal.
The Beneficial Uses Shipping System cask is a Type B packaging developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy. The cask is designed to transport special form radioactive source capsules (cesium chloride and strontium fluoride) produced by the Department of Energy`s Hanford Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility. This paper describes the cask system and the analyses performed to predict the response of the cask in impact, puncture, and fire accident conditions as specified in the regulations. The cask prototype has been fabricated and Certificates of Compliance have been obtained.
L-{alpha}-alanine, a nontoxic polycrystalline amino acid, has been investigated for use in high-precision, high-level absorbed-dose measurements in mixed neutron/photon environments such as research and test reactors. The technique is based on the use of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the extent of free radical production in a sample exposed to ionizing radiation, and has been successfully used for photon absorbed-dose measurements at levels exceeding 10{sup 5} Gy with high measurement precision. Application of the technique to mixed environments requires knowledge of the energy-dependent response of the dosimeter for both photons and neutrons. Determination of the dosimeter response to photons is accomplished by irradiations in {sup 60}Co and bremsstrahlung sources and by calculations of energy-dependent photon kerma. Neutron response is determined by irradiations in conjunction with CaF{sub 2}:Mn thermoluminescence dosimeters and by calculations of energy-dependent neutron kerma. Several neutron environments are used, including those provided by the Annular Core Research Reactor and Sandia Pulsed Reactor.
The RADTRAN 4 computer code for transportation risk assessment is the central code in a system that contains both other codes and data libraries. Some of these codes and data libraries supply input data for RADTRAN; others perform supplemental calculations. RADTRAN 4 will be released by the IAEA in an international version known as INTERTRAN 2 in 1995. In the United States, RADTRAN 4 and its supporting system may be accessed via the INTERNET, a precursor to the Information Superhighway. Similar networks are being contemplated elsewhere in the world, and the RADTRAN System may serve as a prototype for systems on these networks. A system is desirable for the following reasons. Some classes of data and data-handling methods are country-specific and some are not -- ancillary codes and data libraries that provide the latter are not affected by national and regional borders while the former must be provided on a country-by-country basis. Making the invariant portions available to all users in an international system would simplify quality assurance (QA) and, therefore, the reliability and consistency of risk results. Among the classes of data used in RADTRAN 4 (and INTERTRAN 2) and the supplemental calculational capabilities that are essentially invariant for all countries and regions are: (1) radionuclide characteristics such as half-life, photon energy, and dose-conversion factors; (2) characteristics of radioactive-material packages found in international commerce; (3) features of highly standardized international transportation modes (primarily sea and air); and (4) uncertainty analysis. These features and their related QA benefits are discussed.
Using Saturn as a driver, we are pursueing both photoresonantly pumped andphotoionization/recombination lasers. Our lasing targets are gas cells with thin windowsthat are pumped by a z pinch 2 cm away radiating 10 TW. In both schemes the lasant and gasfill is neon. We will present evidence for inversion in the sodium/neon photoresonantscheme but we have yet to detect the lasing transition itself. To increase our chances ofmeasuring this line we have introduced potassium into a sodium z-pinch and have eliminatedoxygen from the gas cell windows. We have measured the spatial dependence of ionizationbalance across the gas cell, and this measurement is consistent with propagation of a shockfront across the gas cell target. We have measured the Li-like neon Sf-3d transition toincrease more rapidly with fill pressure than all other measured lines. Based on this resultwe have performed experiments emphasizing the photoionization/recombination laserscheme that use a flat field grazing incidence spectrometer to provide good spatial resolutionof the 4f-3d, 4d-3p, and Sf-3d lines of Li-like neon. We have attempted a gain lengthmeasurement by imaging parallel to a baffle that varies the length of the target illuminated.
As the United States embarks upon a major effort to cleanup its nuclear defense facilities, a large quantity of low-level waste (LLW) will be generated. This LLW must be managed and ultimately placed into final disposal. Much of this waste is expected to exceed certain limits defined in U.S. regulations (Title 10, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, part 61) called Class C. The waste which exceeds Class C, called Greater-than-Class-C (GTCC), poses a major challenge to waste managers. Each GTCC waste form must be placed into costly geologic disposal unless separate approval is obtained from the United States regulator to place it into less costly {open_quotes}near-surface{close_quotes} land burial. Management of GTCC will also require, to some extent, storage and transport prior to its final disposal. A further LLW stream exists in the United States also stemming from the prior operations of United States defense facilities, viz., radioactively contaminated and irradiated scrap metal which has been accumulating over the past forty years. Similarly, as cleanup, decontamination, and decommissioning proceeds, this contaminated scrap metal inventory is expected to grow rapidly. This paper explores the notion of the authors that an opportunity for a synergistic solution to two difficult waste management problems may be available in the United States today, and perhaps may similarly be available in other nuclear countries as well. The possibility exists for fabricating packagings from contaminated scrap metal (which would otherwise be part of the waste inventory) and for using these packaging for storage, transport and disposal of GTCC in near-surface burial facilities without reopening or repacking. This approach is appealing and should lead to major safety and cost benefits. An examination of existing regulations with the intent to propose additions, changes, or clarifications that would effectively and beneficially regulate such combined activity is proposed.
This work addressed two major areas concerning joining of advanced borated stainless steels. These areas included the development of a understanding of the physical metallurgy of borated stainless steels and the development of welding processes and post-weld heat treatments for these alloys. Differential thermal analysis experiments were conducted on ten heats of borated stainless steel to determine the transformation temperatures and melting behavior of the alloys. On-heating solidus temperatures were measured for all of the alloys and were used to define the temperatures associated with the fusion line during welding. Isothermal heat treatments designed to evaluate the effects of elevated temperature exposures on the toughness of the borated grades were conducted. These tests were used to determine if significant changes in the microstructure or mechanical properties of weld heat-affected zones (HAZ) occur. Specifically, the tests addressed the solid-state region of the HAZ. The test matrix included a variety of alloy compositions and thermal exposures at temperatures near the on-heating solidus (as determined by the DTA experiments). Welding experiments designed to assess the mechanical properties and microstructure of gas-tungsten arc and electron beam welds were conducted.
MELCOR is a fully integrated, engineering-level computer code, being developed at Sandia National Laboratories for the USNRC. This code models the entire spectrum of severe accident phenomena in a unified framework for both BWRs and PWRs. As part of an ongoing assessment program, the MELCOR computer code has been used to analyze a station blackout transient in Surry, a three-loop Westinghouse PWR. Basecase results obtained with MELCOR 1.8.2 are presented, and compared to earlier results for the same transient calculated using MELCOR 1.8.1. The effects of new models added in MELCOR 1.8.2 (in particular, hydrodynamic interfacial momentum exchange, core debris radial relocation and core material eutectics, CORSOR-Booth fission product release, high-pressure melt ejection and direct containment heating) are investigated individually in sensitivity studies. The progress in reducing numeric effects in MELCOR 1.8.2, compared to MELCOR 1.8.1, is evaluated in both machine-dependency and time-step studies; some remaining sources of numeric dependencies (valve cycling, material relocation and hydrogen burn) are identified.