Publications

An important future element of International Safeguards instrumentation is expected to be the merging of containment/surveillance and nondestructive assay equipment with domestic physical protection equipment into integrated systems, coupled with remote monitoring. Instrumentation would include interior monitoring and assessment and entry/exit monitoring. Of particular importance is the application of interior monitors in spaces of declared inactivity; for example, in nuclear material storage locations that are entered infrequently. The use of modern interior monitors in International Safeguards offers potential for improving effectiveness and efficiency. Within the context of increased cooperation, one can readily envision increased interaction between International Safeguards and Domestic Safeguards, including increased joint use of State System of Accounting and Control data.

Using a microengine as the primary test vehicle, the authors have examined several aspects of characterization. Parametric measurements provide fabrication process information. Drive signal optimization is necessary for increased microengine performance. Finally, electrical characterization of resonant frequency and quality factor can be more accurate than visual techniques.

A remote monitoring system, designed to monitor spent fuel transfers from wet to dry storage, was installed at the Embalse Nuclear Power Station at Embalse, Argentina. The system consists of 6 gamma and one neutron radiation sensors. Five gamma sensors utilize RF transmission to communicate with Echelon nodes connected to a Local Operating Network (LON). One gamma and one neutron sensor are hardwired to the LON network. Each sensor Echelon node is bound to a single Datalogger that stores data until it receives an acquisition command to download to the Data Acquisition Software (DASW) database. The data from the Datalogger are transferred and stored in the Data Acquisition Software database, which resides on the IAEA MOS-MUX server. At a pre-determined interval, data from the DASW database are converted into Excel files and transferred to the IAEA database every 24 hours. At an predetermined interval all data are transferred to the distribution server located at the ARN laboratory at Ezeiza, Argentina. Remote access to data from the distribution server will be made from IAEA headquarters, Vienna, Austria, from ABACC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from the IAEA field office in Buenos Aires, from ARN, and from Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The nuclear detonation safety of modern nuclear weapons depends on a coordinated safety theme incorporating three general safety principles: isolation, inoperability, and incompatibility. The success of this approach has encouraged them to study whether these and/or other principles might be useful in other applications. Not surprisingly, no additional first-principles (based on physical laws) have been identified. However, a more widely applicable definition and application of the principle-based approach has been developed, resulting in a selection of strategies that are basically subsets and varied combinations of the more general principles above. However, identification of principles to be relied on is only one step in providing a safe design. As one other important example, coordinating overall architecture and strategy is essential: the authors term this a safety theme.

A novel stack passivation scheme, in which plasma silicon nitride (SiN) is stacked on top of a rapid thermal SiO{sub 2} (RTO) layer, is developed to attain a surface recombination velocity (S) approaching 10 cm/s at the 1.3 {Omega}-cm p-type (100) silicon surface. Such low S is achieved by the stack even when the RTO and SiN films individually yield considerably poorer surface passivation. Critical to achieving low S by the stack is the use of a short, moderate temperature anneal (in this study 730 C for 30 seconds) after film growth and deposition. This anneal is believed to enhance the release and delivery of atomic hydrogen from the SiN film to the Si-SiO{sub 2} interface, thereby reducing the density of interface traps at the surface. Compatibility with this post-deposition anneal makes the stack passivation scheme attractive for cost-effective solar cell production since a similar anneal is required to fire screen-printed contacts. Application of the stack to passivated rear screen-printed solar cells has resulted in V{sub oc}`s of 641 mV and 633 mV on 0.65 {Omega}-cm and 1.3 {Omega}-cm FZ Si substrates, respectively. These V{sub oc} values are roughly 20 mV higher than for cells with untreated, highly recombinative back surfaces. The stack passivation has also been used to form fully screen-printed bifacial solar cells which exhibit rear-illuminated efficiency as high as 11.6% with a single layer AR coating.

To aid designers, generic physical security objectives and design concepts for cut-and-cover underground facilities are presented. Specific aspects addressing overburdens, entryways, security doors, facility services, emergency egress, security response force, and human elements are discussed.

At Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), the authors are developing the ability to accurately predict motions for arbitrary numbers of bodies of arbitrary shapes experiencing multiple applied forces and intermittent contacts. In particular, the authors are concerned with the simulation of systems such as part feeders or mobile robots operating in realistic environments. Preliminary investigation of commercial dynamics software packages led them to the conclusion that they could use commercial software to provide everything they needed except for the contact model. They found that ADAMS best fit their needs for a simulation package. To simulate intermittent contacts, they need collision detection software that can efficiently compute the distances between non-convex objects and return the associated witness features. They also require a computationally efficient contact model for rapid simulation of impact, sustained contact under load, and transition to and from contact conditions. This paper provides a technical review of a custom hierarchical distance computation engine developed at Sandia, called the C-Space Toolkit (CSTk). In addition, they describe an efficient contact model using a non-linear damping term developed by SNL and Ohio State. Both the CSTk and the non-linear damper have been incorporated in a simplified two-body testbed code, which is used to investigate how to correctly model the contact using these two utilities. They have incorporated this model into the ADAMS software using the callable function interface. An example that illustrates the capabilities of the 9.02 release of ADAMS with their extensions is provided.

At the direction of the US Congress, following the Pan Am 103 and TWA 800 crashes, the Federal Aviation Administration funded development of non-invasive techniques to screen airline passengers for explosives. Such an explosives detection portal, developed at Sandia National Laboratories, was field tested at the Albuquerque International airport in September 1997. During the 2-week field trial, 2,400 passengers were screened and 500 surveyed. Throughput, reliability, maintenance and sensitivity were studied. Follow-up testing at Sandia and at Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory was conducted. A passenger stands in the portal for five seconds while overhead fans blow air over his body. Any explosive vapors or dislodged particles are collected in vents at the feet. Explosives are removed from the air in a preconcentrator and subsequently directed into an ion mobility spectrometer for detection. Throughput measured 300 passengers per hour. The non-invasive portal can detect subfingerprint levels of explosives residue on clothing. A survey of 500 passengers showed a 97% approval rating, with 99% stating that such portals, if effective, should be installed in airports to improve security. Results of the airport test, as well as operational issues, are discussed.

As part of the on-going DOE/Russian MPC and A activities at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) and in order to provide a basis for planning MPC and A enhancements, an expedient method to review the effectiveness of the MPC and A system has been adopted. These reviews involve the identification of appropriate and cost-effective enhancements of facilities at IPPE. This effort requires a process that is thorough but far less intensive than a traditional vulnerability assessment. The SER results in a quick assessment of current and needed enhancements. The process requires preparation and coordination between US and Russian analysts before, during, and after information gathering at the facilities in order that the analysis is accurate, effective, and mutually agreeable. The goal of this paper is to discuss the SER process, including the objectives, time scale, and lessons learned at IPPE.

The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are engaged in joint, cooperative efforts to reduce the likelihood of nuclear proliferation by enhancing Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC and A) systems in both countries. Mayak Production Association (Mayak) is a major Russian nuclear enterprise within the nuclear complex that is operated by MINATOM. This paper describes the nature, scope, and status of the joint, cooperative efforts to enhance existing MPC and A systems at Mayak. Current cooperative efforts are focused on enhancements to the existing MPC and A systems at two plants that are operated by Mayak and that produce, process, handle and/or store proliferation-sensitive nuclear materials.

Direct laser metal deposition processing is a promising manufacturing technology which could significantly impact the length of time between initial concept and finished part. For adoption of this technology in the manufacturing environment, further understanding is required to ensure robust components with appropriate properties are routinely fabricated. This requires a complete understanding of the thermal history during part fabrication and control of this behavior. This paper will describe research to understand the thermal behavior for the Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) process, where a component is fabricated by focusing a laser beam onto a substrate to create a molten pool in which powder particles are simultaneously injected to build each layer. The substrate is moved beneath the laser beam to deposit a thin cross section, thereby creating the desired geometry for each layer. After deposition of each layer, the powder delivery nozzle and focusing lens assembly is incremented in the positive Z-direction, thereby building a three dimensional component layer additively. It is important to control the thermal behavior to reproducibly fabricate parts. The ultimate intent is to monitor the thermal signatures and to incorporate sensors and feedback algorithms to control part fabrication. With appropriate control, the geometric properties (accuracy, surface finish, low warpage) as well as the materials` properties (e.g., strength, ductility) of a component can be dialed into the part through the fabrication parameters. Thermal monitoring techniques will be described, and their particular benefits highlighted. Preliminary details in correlating thermal behavior with processing results will be discussed.

Laser Engineered Net Shaping, also known as LENS{trademark}, is an advanced manufacturing technique used to fabricate near-net shaped, fully dense metal components directly from computer solid models without the use of traditional machining processes. The LENS{trademark} process uses a high powered laser to create a molten pool into which powdered metal is injected and solidified. Like many SFF techniques, LENS{trademark} parts are made through a layer additive process. In the current system, for any given layer, the laser is held stationary, while the part and its associated substrate is moved, allowing for the each layer`s geometry to be formed. Individual layers are generated by tracing out the desired border, followed by filling in the remaining volume. Recent research into LENS{trademark} has highlighted the sensitivity of the processes to multiple software controllable parameters such as substrate travel velocity, border representation, and fill patterns. This research is aimed at determining optimal border outlines and fill patterns for LENS{trademark} and at developing the associated software necessary for automating the creation of the desired motion control.

The US Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and US nuclear power plant utilities, is preparing a series of aging management guidelines (AMGs) for commodity types of components (e.g., heat exchangers, electrical cable and terminations, pumps). Commodities are included in this series based on their importance to continued nuclear plant operation and license renewal. The AMGs contain a detailed summary of operating history, stressors, aging mechanisms, and various types of maintenance and surveillance practices that can be combined to create an effective aging management program. Each AMG is intended for use by the systems engineers and plant maintenance staff (i.e., an AMG is intended to be a hands-on technical document rather than a licensing document). The heat exchangers AMG, published in June 1994, includes the following information of interest to nondestructive examination (NDE) personnel: aging mechanisms determined to be non-significant for all applications; aging mechanisms determined to be significant for some applications; effective conventional programs for managing aging; and effective unconventional programs for managing aging. Since the AMG on heat exchangers was published four years ago, a brief review has been conducted to identify emerging regulatory issues, if any. The results of this review and lessons learned from the collective set of AMGs are presented.

The Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology Project (PVMaT) is a government/industry research and development (R and D) partnership between the US federal government (through the US Department of Energy [DOE]) and members of the US PV industry. The goals of PVMaT are to help the US PV industry improve module manufacturing processes and equipment; accelerate manufacturing cost reductions for PV modules, balance-of-systems components, and integrated systems; increase commercial product performance and reliability; and enhance the investment opportunities for substantial scale-ups of US-based PV manufacturing plant capacities. The approach for PVMaT has been to cost-share risk taking by industry as it explores new manufacturing options and ideas for improved PV modules and other components, advances system and product integration, and develops new system designs, all of which will lead to overall reduced system life-cycle costs for reliable PV end products. The PVMaT Phase 4A module manufacturing R and D projects are just being completed and initial results for the work directed primarily to module manufacture are reported in this paper. Fourteen new Phase 5A subcontracts have also just been awarded and planned R and D areas for the ten focused on module manufacture are described. Finally, government funding, subcontractor cost sharing, and a comparison of the relative efforts by PV technology throughout the PVMaT project are presented.

Polymerization of phenyl-, benzyl-, and phenethyltroalkoxysilanes formed soluble oligo- and polysilsesquixanes. No gels of any of the monomers were observed to form. The molecular weights of the materials prepared and dried at room temperature were near 2K, but would continuously increase with heating at 100°C to between 5-15K. The polymers were structurally characterized by 1H, 13C, and 29Si NMR.

This report on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM) chronicles past and current compliance activities and includes a recommended strategy that can be implemented for continued improvement. This report provides a list of important references. Attachment 1 contains the table of contents for SAND95-1648, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance Guide Sandia National Laboratories (Hansen, 1995). Attachment 2 contains a list of published environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact statements (EISs) prepared by SNL/NM. Attachment 3 contains abstracts of NEPA compliance papers authored by SNL/NM and its contractors.

This paper presents the first part of a comprehensive mechanics approach capable of predicting the integrity and reliability of solder joint material under fatigue loading without viscoplastic damage considerations. A separate report will be made to present a comprehensive damage model describing life prediction of the solder material under thermomechanical fatigue loading. The method is based on a theory of damage mechanics which makes possible a macroscopic description of the successive material deterioration caused by the presence of microcracks/voids in engineering materials. A damage mechanics model based on the thermodynamic theory of irreversible processes with internal state variables is proposed and used to provide a unified approach in characterizing the cyclic behavior of a typical solder material. With the introduction of a damage effect tensor, the constitutive equations are derived to enable the formulation of a fatigue damage dissipative potential function and a fatigue damage criterion. The fatigue evolution is subsequently developed based on the hypothesis that the overall damage is induced by the accumulation of fatigue and plastic damage. This damage mechanics approach offers a systematic and versatile means that is effective in modeling the entire process of material failure ranging from damage initiation and propagation leading eventually to macro-crack initiation and growth. As the model takes into account the load history effect and the interaction between plasticity damage and fatigue damage, with the aid of a modified general purpose finite element program, the method can readily be applied to estimate the fatigue life of solder joints under different loading conditions.

The authors improved a self-aligned emitter etchback technique that requires only a single emitter diffusion and no alignment to form self-aligned, patterned-emitter profiles. Standard commercial screen-printed gridlines mask a plasma-etchback of the emitter. A subsequent PECVD-nitride deposition provides good surface and bulk passivation and an antireflection coating. They used full-size multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) cells processed in a commercial production line and performed a statistically designed multiparameter experiment to optimize the use of a hydrogenation treatment to increase performance. They obtained an improvement of almost a full percentage point in cell efficiency when the self-aligned emitter etchback was combined with an optimized 3-step PECVD-nitride surface passivation and hydrogenation treatment. They also investigated the inclusion of a plasma-etching process that results in a low-reflectance, textured surface on multicrystalline silicon cells. Preliminary results indicate reflectance can be significantly reduced without etching away the emitter diffusion.

A power management energy storage system was developed for stationary applications such as peak shaving, voltage regulation, and spinning reserve. Project activities included design, manufacture, factory testing, and field installation. The major features that characterize the development are the modularity of the production, its transportability, the power conversion method that aggregates power on the AC side of the converter, and the use of commonly employed technology for system components. 21 figs.

Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, conducts the Energy Storage Systems Program, which is sponsored by the US Department of Energy`s Office of Utility Technologies. The goal of this program is to collaborate with industry in developing cost-effective electric energy storage systems for many high-value stationary applications. Sandia National Laboratories is responsible for the engineering analyses, contracted development, and testing of energy storage components and systems. This report details the technical achievements realized during fiscal year 1997. 46 figs., 20 tabs.

This is the third report in a series of studies to examine how US attitudes about nuclear security are evolving in the post-Cold War era and to identify trends in public perceptions and preferences relevant to the evolution of US nuclear security policy. It presents findings from three surveys: a nationwide telephone survey of randomly selected members of the US general public; a written survey of randomly selected members of American Men and Women of Science; and a written survey of randomly selected state legislators from all fifty US states. Key areas of investigation included nuclear security, cooperation between US and Russian scientists about nuclear issues, vulnerabilities of critical US infrastructures and responsibilities for their protection, and broad areas of US national science policy. While international and US national security were seen to be slowly improving, the primary nuclear threat to the US was perceived to have shifted from Russia to China. Support was found for nuclear arms control measures, including mutual reductions in stockpiles. However, respondents were pessimistic about eliminating nuclear armaments, and nuclear deterrence continued to be highly values. Participants favored decreasing funding f/or developing and testing new nuclear weapons, but supported increased investments in nuclear weapons infrastructure. Strong concerns were expressed about nuclear proliferation and the potential for nuclear terrorism. Support was evident for US scientific cooperation with Russia to strengthen security of Russian nuclear assets. Elite and general public perceptions of external and domestic nuclear weapons risks and external and domestic nuclear weapons benefits were statistically significantly related to nuclear weapons policy options and investment preferences. Demographic variables and individual belief systems were systematically related both to risk and benefit perceptions and to policy and spending preferences.

Classified designs usually include lesser classified (including unclassified) components. An engineer working on such a design needs access to the various sub-designs at lower classification levels. For simplicity, the problem is presented with only two levels: high and low. If the low-classification component designs are stored in the high network, they become inaccessible to persons working on a low network. In order to keep the networks separate, the component designs may be duplicated in all networks, resulting in a synchronization problem. Alternatively, they may be stored in the low network and brought into the high network when needed. The latter solution results in the use of sneaker-net (copying the files from the low system to a tape and carrying the tape to a high system) or a file transfer guard. This paper shows how an FTP Guard was constructed and implemented without degrading the security of the underlying B3 platform. The paper then shows how the guard can be extended to an FTP proxy server or an HTTP proxy server. The extension is accomplished by allowing the high-side user to select among items that already exist on the low-side. No high-side data can be directly compromised by the extension, but a mechanism must be developed to handle the low-bandwidth covert channel that would be introduced by the application.

In many manufacturing environments such as the nuclear weapons complex, emphasis has shifted from the regular production and delivery of large orders to infrequent small orders. However, the challenge to maintain the same high quality and reliability standards white building much smaller lot sizes remains. To meet this challenge, specific areas need more attention, including fast and on-target process start-up, low volume statistical process control, process characterization with small experiments, and estimating reliability given few actual performance tests of the product. In this paper the authors address the issue of low volume statistical process control. They investigate an adaptive filtering approach to process monitoring with a relatively short time series of autocorrelated data. The emphasis is on estimation and minimization of mean squared error rather than the traditional hypothesis testing and run length analyses associated with process control charting. The authors develop an adaptive filtering technique that assumes initial process parameters are unknown, and updates the parameters as more data become available. Using simulation techniques, they study the data requirements (the length of a time series of autocorrelated data) necessary to adequately estimate process parameters. They show that far fewer data values are needed than is typically recommended for process control applications. And they demonstrate the techniques with a case study from the nuclear weapons manufacturing complex.

Risk assessment methodologies are ready to enter their third generation. In this next generation, assessment will be based on a whole system understanding of the system to be assessed. To realize this vision of risk management, the authors have begun development of an extensible software tool kit. This tool kit breaks with the traditional approach to assessment by having the analyst spend the majority of the assessment time building an explicit model that documents in a single framework the various facets of the system, such as the system`s behavior, structure, and history. Given this explicit model of the system, a computer is able to automatically produce a standard assessment products, such as fault trees and event trees. This brings with it a number of advantages relative to current risk management tools. Among these are a greater sense of completeness and correctness in assessment results and the ability to preserve and later employ lessons learned.

The sol-gel chemistry of a variety of trialkoxysilanes with different organic substituents, with methoxide or ethoxide substituents on silicon was examined at varying monomer concentrations ranging up to neat monomer and with different catalysts. Gels were prepared from tetramethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane at identical concentrations for purposes of comparison. The polymerization reactions were monitored for the formation of gels, insoluble precipitates, soluble polymers, or polyhedral oligosilsesquioxanes.