Argonne and Homer School District 33C will bring long-term, real world science and mathematics experiences into the classroom. Photo by Wes Argesta.

Jan. 16, 2006 -- Some of this week's stories:

Argonne collaborates on observation station

By Donna Jones Pelkie

The weather seemed fitting. With a bone-chilling wind whipping across the field behind Hadley Middle School in Homer Glen, students and Argonne researchers carried a 30-foot weather station outside for installation, the beginning of a first-of-its-kind collaboration in the state of Illinois.

By installing a fully operational meteorological observation system at the school and integrating its operation and the data gathered from it into the district's curriculum, Argonne and Homer School District 33C will bring long-term, real world science and mathematics experiences into the classroom. This type of hands-on learning helps students to develop problem-solving skills and encourages them to consider pursuing a career in science. This project solidifies a strong science and mathematics partnership between Argonne and the Homer School District.

The weather station will be operated and maintained by students and science faculty, with Argonne scientists providing professional expertise to mentor students, to help develop teaching materials and to provide presentations on using the instruments and data collected.

"We want to help educators do more than just teach science to their students. We want them to do science with their students," said Argonne meteorologist Doug Sisterson (DIS).

Using their own equipment, designing their own experiments and collecting their own data will give students a better feel for what it's really like to be a scientist, Sisterson said.

"We teach kids inadvertently that there is always an outcome in science," he said. "Truthfully, doing science is about the process, not just the outcome. There isn't a book of all knowledge that we get the key to when we become a scientist. You have the right answer when you do a lot of the same experiment and everyone gets the same results."

Using the station as a teaching tool has already begun. By the time the tower was raised, more than 300 students had already been involved with learning about and actually assembling the equipment — the same type of equipment used worldwide by the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF). The ACRF is a national user facility with operations managed by Argonne. The station will measure temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, pressure, solar radiation, soil temperature at three levels, and precipitation.

Argonne researcher Mike Ritsche (EVS) worked with the students to assemble the equipment. "The students seemed very excited to be involved," Ritsche said. "We did everything we could to involve them in the assembly of the tower and connection of the sensors. It allowed the students to take ownership of the system. It will be the students who maintain the weather station with support from us here at Argonne, so early integration into the process is necessary. It also shows them that science isn't always done in a laboratory."

Another Argonne team member, Craig Swietlik (DIS), will bring his expertise of mathematics and data visualization to the project. He will work with teachers to develop creative and interesting ways to display the data collected in visual and interactive forms so the students get a better understanding of how the data apply to weather and climate. This work will involve mathematical computations of weather-related parameters, statistical analysis, correlations between parameters, and computer visualizations of the data and their relationships.

The station will be incorporated into the science and mathematics curriculum at all levels. For example, temperature can be shown to early elementary students simply by a big thermometer that can be manually manipulated to display the temperature that day. Then, the students can check out the actual temperature, which gives relevance to temperature for the youngest of students.

Middle elementary students will learn about the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales and the mathematics used for conversion from one scale to the other.

Older elementary students begin to associate temperature with the motion of molecules and the universal gas constant. They can apply heat transfer theory to temperatures in the soil, using the data acquired by the weather station. They experience the relevance of the mathematics by doing their own experiments with real data collected from the weather station.

Sisterson and District 33C Superintendent William Young have high hopes for the collaboration's future. There is the potential for development of a Web-based database that could be shared between schools, as well as the potential for additional weather stations at feeder schools and partnerships with other school districts. The possibilities for students to do science may be as endless as the weather changes in Chicago.

Espionage efforts focus on energy industry

Argonne, with its strong ties to the energy industry, may be a target for increasing economic espionage efforts directed toward the oil and gas industry, said Larry Collins, director of the laboratory's Office of Counterintelligence.

Collins cited a recent article in Counterintelligence Quarterly , published by the Energy Department's Office of Counterintelligence and the Office of Defense Nuclear Counterintelligence. The journal reports that the FBI has determined that information, technology and other trade secrets held by west Texas energy companies were prime targets for economic espionage. The bureau identifies the oil and gas industry as a prime economic espionage target. Tactics employed by foreign governments and companies to access trade secrets and other sensitive information included:

Soliciting information via telephone or e-mail

Placing intelligence-gathering personnel inside companies as long-term employees

Surreptitiously obtaining information when U.S. employees travel abroad

"The FBI stressed that the need for intelligence information has not gone away since the end of the Cold War," Collins said. "The same people are attempting to collect the same information — but now these efforts are being directed toward other targets, such as the energy industry."

Many of Argonne's initiatives represent targets of similar interest to hostile intelligence services. Argonne is a multi-disciplinary laboratory employing world-class scientists conducting groundbreaking research, much of it sensitive and proprietary. Economic espionage is a real problem that provides a significant threat to the laboratory, the Department of Energy, and ultimately, the United States, Collins said.

"Keeping this in mind, and respecting the need for collegiality in the world of scientific research, Argonne employees should remember that we all share the responsibility to protect the laboratory's sensitive technology and information," Collins said.

Employees should contact the Argonne Office of Counterintelligence at ext. 2-9919 if they witness any theft or suspicious behavior toward Argonne technologies or programs.

String quartet to perform Jan. 21

The St. Lawrence String Quartet will perform at Argonne's Building 402 Conference Center Saturday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m.

The concert is open to the public. Visitors who are U.S. citizens need photo identification to enter the site, and should call to register before the concert. Non-U.S. citizens must register before the event by calling (630) 252-3751 during business hours.

Admission is $25. To order tickets, call ext. 2-3751 or mail a request using the online ticket request form. Remaining tickets will be available the week of Jan. 16 in the Building 213 Cafeteria between noon and 1 p.m.

Sponsored by Arts at Argonne, the program is partially supported by the University of Chicago and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Arts at Argonne will hold two more concerts in the 2005 - 2006 Chamber Music series:

The Adaskin String Trio with Thomas Gallant, oboe, performs Sunday, Feb. 26.

Martin Bruns, tenor, and Brian Zeger, piano, will perform Friday, April 22.

Longtime employees to be honored

Argonne's longest-serving employees will be honored at a lunch in February and a dinner in March.

Employees who achieved 20 years of service during 2005 will be recognized at a luncheon on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Argonne Guest House. Invitations will be sent early in January.

Employees who achieved 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years of service in 2005 will be honored at a dinner Friday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m. in the Building 213 Cafeteria. Invitations for the dinner will be sent in February.

Safety concerns stem from a trio of 'root causes'

A message from Argonne Director Bob Rosner

As most of you know, I've made a point of trying to enhance communications between my office and the laboratory staff; and with this column, I'd like to introduce another "vehicle" for doing just that. Of course, with the new year just started, the substantially better prospects for new and exciting science and technology projects at the lab, and the Department of Energy's draft Request for Proposal just issued last week, there is much to tell!

This time I'd like to focus on safety and, in particular, on the issues raised by the latest DOE-Office of Assessment (OA) audit of our Environment, Safety and Health capabilities, and especially on the nuclear safety area and the consequent involvement of the DOE Price-Anderson Office of Enforcement (OE). This laboratory has done a very good job of reducing the number of general safety-related incidents over the past five years, especially in areas related to operations. As specifically related to nuclear operations, radiation exposure levels — both the average levels and the peak exposure levels — are down as well. These are achievements we can be rightly proud of, and the key issue for us is to continue these trends. The lab just missed the Office of Science safety targets for FY05, but this fiscal year's trends suggest that things are indeed improving yet further.

Given these results, why is it that the OA's most recent audit (carried out in May 2005), as well as the OE's draft enforcement letter, were so highly critical of our safety activities? As you might imagine, answering these questions is critically important to me as a new lab director!

In my view, a very strong hint about what the answer might be lies in the striking fact that if you compare self-assessment of our safety activities (carried out in anticipation of the OA audits) with the DOE audit reports, it is remarkable how different they are: It is perfectly clear that we totally misjudged DOE's expectations. The gaps between what was expected by DOE, and what we thought was appropriate are huge — and they are legion. Indeed, I have it on good authority that the OE draft letter set a new standard in both length and details regarding the lab's nuclear safety operations. In brief, what I see as the key elements (or "root causes") accounting for the clear discrepancies in expectations are:

Culture : In my view, there are two "cultural" issues. First, we were focused on "outcomes" and not on procedures; the long stretch of good outcomes (i.e., continued improvements in reportable incidents) led to a relaxation of focus on the procedural end of things, to a lack of vigilance in monitoring changes in expectations in the outside world (both in the DOE and the nuclear industry contexts), and to a lack of attention in enforcing uniform procedural standards (and performance) across the lab.

Second, safety issues are often considered to be secondary to programmatic concerns and are seen by many as a bureaucratic imposition; the staff associated with safety has consequently not always had the level of attention and respect that is essential in order to perform their jobs properly. This led to a cascade of other problematic issues, including insufficient training and morale problems. This second issue is related to our focus on outcomes, as well as to the funding problems discussed next.

Funding : Our relaxation of attention to maintaining standards and executing against them was abetted by the poor funding levels associated with the lab's nuclear facilities. Given that the programmatic and operational aspects of our nuclear facilities were carried out by the same organization structure, and given our long-standing ambitious attitudes towards programmatic work, it was a very short step for programs to economize on the operational end of things, given that the outcomes had continued to be viewed as positive.

Organization : Finally, the implementation of Integrated Safety Management (ISM) at the lab has had the key flaw that no effective means were put in place for constant and consistent quality assurance of the ES&H processes. As a result, we are being cited for consequential failures such as not carrying out required (and expected) self-assessments and, in some instances, altogether failing to schedule needed assessments.

While it might seem to many of you that all this is totally new, the key fact is that OE clearly sees our deficiencies as historical and systemic in nature, pointing out that many of the deficiencies identified in the 2005 OA audit are the same as those identified in the earlier 1999 and 2002 OA audits, for which we had submitted corrective action plans — and, as the reports make plain, the plans were never fully implemented.

Where does all this leave us? My view is straightforward: I believe that — for a number of reasons — we have no choice but to fix these problems now . To do otherwise risks everything this lab has worked so hard to attain because DOE will simply not tolerate any other course of action. But most simply, fixing our problems is just the right thing to do — to do otherwise would imply a disregard for the safety of our fellow workers that is, in my view, unconscionable.

The corrective actions we are now implementing have a number of distinct aspects, each one of which addresses one of the three "root causes." One key step is, of course, the timely execution of the detailed (and DOE-approved) Corrective Action Plan that our ES&H folks have developed in response to the various audits; this process is now well underway. But that is far from sufficient — I have directed that the following additional steps be taken:

ES&H Organization . While ISM is a key aspect of any modern approach to safety, our implementation was incomplete and, in particular, left the central ES&H organization with insufficient clout to carry out many of the key functions — especially assessment — that must remain centralized even under ISM. For this reason, we are creating a new Office for Performance Assurance, which will be led by Bob McCook. Bob will be coming to us from Bechtel Nevada, where he played a leadership role in resolving major nuclear safety problems and changing the safety culture at the Nevada Test Site. The details of the Office of Performance Assurance will be worked out in concert with Audra Karalius, EQO director, and her staff and will include our new Radiation Safety Officer, Gary Zeman, focusing on the nuclear aspects. I expect that we will transition to the new organization this February. The aim is to combine an effective and comprehensive centralized ES&H organization (reporting directly to me) that promulgates safety policies and audits performance with continued reliance on the line organization to actually carry out safe practices, i.e., ISM.

Nuclear Operations . We will separate programmatic and operational responsibilities for our nuclear facilities, so that all nuclear facility operations will be carried out by a new division whose sole focus will be nuclear operations; we are now in the process of setting up this new division.

Alpha-Gamma Hot Cells . After the OA and Price-Anderson Amendments Act assessments of last year, I directed that all programmatic work in our Alpha-Gamma Hot Cells be suspended, and I requested a detailed business plan for the continued (future) operations of our hot cells. My original intent was to re-start programmatic work once we could credibly claim that we had addressed all of the DOE's concerns, on the assumption that there is in fact also a credible business plan for moving forward. It turns out that there is no credible business plan, i.e., hot cell work can only continue if the lab chooses to subsidize that work. In my view, such subsidies are unjustifiable, and for this reason, I have directed that the Alpha-Gamma Hot Cells no longer be used for programmatic work. This course of action will also substantially lower the lab's safety risks. We are now in the process of working out alternate off-site arrangements for carrying out the programmatic work that will now no longer be done in our hot cells.

"Nuclear Facilities." According to DOE regulations, locations that have more than a certain well-defined threshold amount of radioactive materials must be regarded as "nuclear facilities." Argonne has a substantial number of such "facilities," mostly due to nuclear materials that are the remnants of our extensive nuclear reactor work of more than a decade ago. I have directed that all such materials be transported (in an appropriately safe manner) to the Alpha-Gamma Hot Cells; thus, while the hot cells will no longer be used for programmatic work, they will be used as a very safe interim storage location until we can get these nuclear materials off site. Once the lab has removed all such materials, these hot cells can then be fully shut down.

The past week has seen a real surge in activities related to these organizational changes, and I was very pleased to see the "can-do," cooperative attitudes displayed by all concerned. Argonne is at its best when we come together with a common purpose, and I think all of us would like nothing better than for Argonne to become "best in class" for safety — nuclear or other — within the DOE labs system. This is an achievable goal — so let's do it!

Web site helps answer questions

The University of Chicago has set up a site for Frequently Asked Questions about the DOE/Argonne competition: http://research.uchicago.edu/argonne/index.shtml.

Volunteers wanted for Science Bowl

Argonne's Division of Educational Programs will host the Chicago Regional Middle School Science Bowl Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Building 402 Conference Center. Volunteers are needed to serve as moderators, judges, timekeepers and score keepers.

The competition has been changed to a weekday so Argonne employees whose schedules permit can attend the competition — especially the semifinal and final rounds.

The preliminary rounds will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m., with the championship round ending at about 2:45 p.m.  Eight to 12 teams of four students are expected to attend.

Practice sessions for all volunteers will be conducted Tuesday, Jan. 31; Wednesday, Feb. 1; and Friday, Feb. 3. Employees who would like to participate should call Lou Harnisch (DEP) at ext. 2-6925 or lharnisch@dep.anl.gov.

More information is online.

Dell recalls notebook batteries

Dell Computer Corp. is voluntarily recalling and offering free replacements for certain batteries that were sold for use with some models of Dell Latitude, Dell Precision and Dell Inspiron notebook computers between October 2004 and October 2005. It is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire.

Argonne was not on Dell's list of accounts that have received the potentially faulty batteries. However, because of the potential seriousness of the problem, CIS and OCF Procurement strongly recommend that any laptops of these models that were purchased over the last 15 months be checked for a potentially faulty battery.

Model numbers and additional details are online.

'Soup Run' planned for Jan. 17

The Argonne Running Club will hold a Soup Run and Walk, Tuesday, Jan. 17, starting from the Building 360 lobby at noon.

There will be a three-mile running course and a two-mile walking course. Employees of all skill levels are welcome to participate. Refreshments and soup will be served after the event. Participants can enter a drawing for a gift certificate to Dick Ponds Athletics.

More information about the Argonne Running Club is online.

CIS classes

Computing classes offered by the Computing and Information Systems Division are held in Building 201, Room 167C. Unless otherwise noted, classes cost $225 and are limited to eight participants. Complete class descriptions, schedules and enrollment forms are online. For more information about enrollment procedures, contact Diane Cavazos (CIS) at ext. 2-7153 or dkcavazos@anl.gov.

Classes offered in January will include:

"Introduction to Word 2003" (CIS122) — Tuesday, Jan. 17, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

"Introduction to Excel 2003" (CIS125) — Wednesday, Jan. 18, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

"Introduction to Access 2003" (CIS128) — Thursday, Jan. 19, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

"Introduction to Outlook 2003" (CIS128) — Friday, Jan. 20, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

"Beginning Unix" (CIS564) — Tuesday, Jan. 24, 9 a.m. - noon is the first session. Thursday, Jan. 26, 9 a.m. - noon is the second session. There is no cost for this course.

"vi Editor in Unix" (CIS567) — Friday, Jan. 27, 9 a.m. - noon. There is no cost for this course. Prerequisite: A general knowledge of Unix, especially Unix file management commands

OTT offers opportunities for collaboration, recognition

The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) has three important activities that may be of interest to the Argonne community: translational research, BIO 2006 poster sessions and the R&D 100 Awards.

University of Chicago/Argonne Collaboration in Translational Research: The Argonne Office of Technology Transfer and the University of Chicago Office of Research and for Argonne National Laboratory have begun a new joint initiative to foster collaboration between Argonne and university researchers. This initiative will comprise several different strategies including one-on-one discussions, joint brainstorming sessions and the development of an Argonne "resource matrix" that could be used by academic collaborators and prospective commercial partners.

Initially, the focus will be on bio-related opportunities that take basic laboratory research into the clinical arena (translation research).

For more information, or to discuss ideas about possible university collaboration topics, contact Elsie Quaite-Randall (OTT) at ext. 2-1346 or elsie@anl.gov.

BIO 2006 Poster Sessions: The Biosciences Division will host the Innovation Corridor Poster Session at the BIO 2006 Annual International Convention being held in Chicago Saturday, April 8.

The Innovation Corridor Poster Session provides an excellent chance to showcase cutting-edge life sciences research and translational research opportunities. Benefits of displaying work at the Innovation Corridor Poster Session include:

• Visibility to an expected audience of more than 18,000 industry professionals
• Access to attend BIO 2006 free of charge for the day of your poster session, if chosen
• Potential to form a collaboration that will further development or commercial marketability

More information is available online, or contact Elsie Quaite-Randall (OTT) at ext. 2-1346 or elsie@anl.gov.

R&D 100 Awards: OTT is still accepting entries for the R&D 100 competition. These awards are presented annually by R&D magazine to recognize the "100 most technologically significant products" of the preceding year. The R&D 100 candidates must be technologies or products that are available for license to industry or could be ordered as products in 2005.

For additional information and guidance on R&D 100 submissions or ideas for candidates, contact Cindy Wesolowski (OTT) at ext. 2-7694 or weso@anl.gov.

Child center plans all-day kindergarten program

The Argonne Child Development Center will host a Kindergarten Round Up program Tuesday, Jan. 24, from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. in Argonne's Building 951 (The recreation center in Argonne Park).

Tonya Morris, center director, and Hope Petrie, program coordinator, will present information on the kindergarten program scheduled to begin at the center this fall.

Children of Argonne, U.S. Department of Energy and University of Chicago employees are eligible to enroll. Children need not be previous students of the center, and must be five years old by Sept. 1. The program will run daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be held in Building 951, which was recently remodeled to accommodate the young students.

"We are very excited about starting this program," said Morris. "We believe it will be a great benefit for Argonne families."

At the Round Up program, Morris and Petrie will talk to parents about all aspects of kindergarten including the annual calendar, the daily class schedule and curriculum content. Areas of study will include literacy, math, science exploration and reading and language. There also will be enrichment activities like cooking, music and art.

The program is based on state of Illinois kindergarten standards, Morris said. Also, teachers will make sure that center students meet the first-grade requirements of their particular school district when the school year ends.

"By participating in a full-day rather than a half-day kindergarten, the children are getting a greater opportunity for extended learning," Morris said. "Plus it combines education and before- and after-school care so there is no worry for parents about midday transportation."

At the Jan. 24 program, Morris will also present a cost analysis of kindergarten and after-school programs at area school districts and other local private schools compared to the Argonne program. Tuition at the Argonne center will be approximately $180 per week, which includes snacks and lunch plus before- and after-school care.

Morris said a minimum of five students is needed to go forward with the program. The class can accommodate up to 20 students.

Registration for the round up meeting is not necessary, but is encouraged for set-up purposes. To register, call the child care center at ext. 2-9601.