[en] The PHENIX experiment probes the transverse spin structure of the proton with asymmetries of particle production in polarized proton collisions. This talk summarizes the measurements of A _N in hadron production at forward and at mid rapidities.

[en] In this contribution the author the phenomenom of so-called cold fusion, inspired by the memorable lecture of Moshe Gai on his own search for this effect. Thus much of what follows was presented by Dr. Gai; the rest is from independent reading. What is referred to as cold fusion is of course the observation of possible products of deuteron-deuteron (d-d) fusion within deuterium-loaded (dentended) electrodes. The debate over the two vanguard cold fusion experiments has raged under far more public attention than usually accorded new scientific phenomena. The clamor commenced with the press conference of M. Fleishmann and S. Pons on March 23, 1989 and the nearly simultaneous wide circulation of a preprint of S. Jones and collaborators. The majority of work attempting to confirm these observations has at the time of this writing yet to appear in published form, but contributions to conferences and electronic mail over computer networks were certainly filled with preliminary results. To keep what follows to a reasonable length the author limit this discussion to the searches for neutron (suggested by ref. 2) or for excessive heat production (suggested by ref. 1), following a synopsis of the hypotheses of cold fusion

[en] There are numerous facilities, both within the US and in the rest of the world, within the complex of radiation laboratories and production plants where tritium has been released into the environment because of historic or ongoing mission-related operations. Many of environmental restoration projects have detected low levels of tritium contamination in local streams, ponds, and/or ground water. Typically these waters are moving or have the potential to move offsite and are viewed as a potential risk to the public and environment. Los Alamos National Laboratory will modify the well-proven long-range alpha detection (LRAD) technique for detection of ionizing radiation to optimize a system for detecting tritium in groundwater and other surfaces. The LRAD technique relies on detection of ionized air molecules rather than direct detection of ionizing radiation. The detected electrical current is proportional to the number of ionized air molecules present, which is in turn a measure of the amount of contamination present. Although this technique has been used commercially to measure alpha contamination on objects and surfaces, the technique is also ideal for monitoring low-energy beta particles. The authors have demonstrated beta detection using ⁵⁴Mn, ¹⁴C, ¹⁴⁷Pm, ⁹⁹Tc, ⁹⁰Sr, and ³⁶Cl sources. Thus, the detector technology and detection of beta particles using this technology have both been demonstrated. The extreme short range of tritium beta particles necessitates an optimization of the detector system. In this paper, the authors will discuss these new designs

[en] Waste minimization and worker protection at D ampersand D sites requires continual and extensive characterization for radioactive contamination. Contamination detectors that are sensitive, rugged, fast, and capable of covering large areas are needed. The concrete surface monitor (CSM) developed at LANL supports both characterization and waste minimization efforts at D ampersand D sites containing large concrete surfaces and structures of different forms and shapes. This report describes the CSM design and the results of several field experiments

[en] The large uncertainties which are associated with the values of the soil-to-plant transfer factors prompted the IUR (International Union of Radioecologists) some years ago to initiate a soil-to-plant transfer factor working group. This group is carrying out a joint project in which 20 research institutions participate. The aim of the project is to provide reliable estimates of the soil-to-plant transfer factors of different crops for different soils, environmental conditions, etc. Only data of experiments which met predefined criteria are included. Data of five years of experiments are now available, and an overview of the results is given. (author)

[en] During a hypothetical core meltdown accident, the core melt will interact with the concrete basement of the containment. For this process a theoretical model is derived describing the decomposition rate, which depends on the temperature of the core melt. The basic physical ideas have been confirmed by model experiments. The model is valid under the assumptions that the volume flux of the gaseous decomposition products is sufficient to maintain a continuous gas layer between melt and concrete and that no crusts are formed between melt and concrete. From the gas film, bubbles are detached and flow through the core melt. For the case of a homogeneous metallic phase a diffusion model is formulated for the oxidation of steel and for the reduction of steam to hydrogen. (orig.)

[en] This manuscript deals with the uncertainties which are associated with the estimates of the mean soil-to-plant transfer factors which are based on the IUR (International Union of Radioecologists) data base. Some features of this project are described. (orig./HP)

[en] Characterization of radioactive contaminants is required during D ampersand D operations at any facility where radioactivity is suspected or known to exist. Alpha radiation is an excellent indicator of the presence of many isotopes (such as Pu²³⁹) which are otherwise difficult to observe. However, traditional fieldable alpha detectors have been hampered by the short range of alpha particles in air and in detector windows. We have developed an alpha detection technology that avoids the problems mentioned above. In a monitor using the long-range alpha detector (LRAD) technology, we detect the ion pairs produced by an alpha particle's interaction with air rather than the particles themselves. In this paper, we discuss several applications to air and soil monitoring as well as potentially contaminated building surfaces and process equipment

[en] A model was developed to describe the downward penetration rate of a core melt on a horizontal layer of concrete. The heat transfer processes are assumed to be dominated by the gas flow released from the decomposing concrete and forming an unstable gas layer between concrete and core melt. The departure of gas bubbles from the unstable layer is similar to the film boiling phenomenon. The downward heat flux is transmitted by conduction and radiation through the unstable layer. The concrete decomposition model includes steam and gas release fronts influencing the temperature distribution in the concrete. The downward heat fluxes and the concrete decomposition rates for liquid steel on concrete were computed for a large temperature range. The results agree in the large with the experiments of SANDIA-Laboratories (SANDIA 76-0369) and with the thermite experiments recently carried out at GfK, Karlsruhe. (orig./RW)

[en] This document is a Conceptual Design Report for a fast muon trigger for the PHENIX experiment that will enable the study of flavor separated quark and anti-quark spin polarizations in the proton. A powerful way of measuring these polarizations is via single spin asymmetries for W boson production in polarized proton-proton reactions. The measurement is done by tagging W⁺ and W^- via their decay into high transverse momentum leptons in the forward directions. The PHENIX experiment is capable of measuring high momentum muons at forward rapidity, but the current online trigger does not have sufficient rejection to sample the rare leptons fromW decay at the highest luminosities at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). This Report details the goals, design, R and D, and schedule for building new detectors and trigger electronics to use the full RHIC luminosity to make this critical measurement. The idea for W boson measurements in polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC was first suggested by Jacques Soffer and Claude Bourrely in 1995. This prompted the RIKEN institute in Japan to supply funds to build a second muon arm for PHENIX (south muon arm). The existence of both a north and south muon arm makes it possible to utilize a Z⁰ sample to study and control systematic uncertainties which arise in the reconstruction of high momentum muons. This document has its origins in recommendations made by a NSAC Subcommittee that reviewed the U.S. Heavy Ion Physics Program in June 2004. Part of their Recommendation 1 was to 'Invest in near-term detector upgrades of the two large experiments, PHENIX and STAR'. In Recommendation 2 the subcommittee stated '- detector improvements proceed at a rate that allows a timely determination of the flavor dependence of the quark-antiquark sea polarization through W-asymmetry measurements' as we are proposing here. On September 13, 2004 DOE requested from BNL a report articulating a research plan for the RHIC spin physics program. The document was submitted to DOE on January 31, 2005. It pointed out that one of three top priorities for the program lies in the clean and elegant measurement of the quark and anti-quark polarizations sorted by quark flavor through the parity-violating production of W bosons