Some of this week's stories

Argonne, Bethel target home energy costs

The condos were developed through a collaborative effort by Argonne, Bethel New Life, Commonwealth Edison and the U.S. Department of Energy. Representatives of each organization were present at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the rehabbed, formerly vacant building on Keeler Ave.

"Energy consumption is an important component of housing affordability and rebuilding local communities," said Christine Ervin, DOE assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy. "This partnership is a significant step in capturing the opportunities that increased energy efficiency can provide in making housing more affordable for all Americans."

"This is just the beginning," said Associate Laboratory Director Harvey Drucker. "We hope the programs we develop here in the city of Chicago will prove to be adaptable to other urban neighborhoods across the country."

Argonne provided technical support during construction at the building, which features "super-insulation" energy efficiency techniques.

Super insulation involves installing increased amounts of wall and attic insulation, improving ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens, installing energy-efficient windows and using high efficiency space-heating systems.

Argonne will continue to monitor energy use in the building after the new residents move in.

"Our shared goal of increased home ownership requires government, community groups and the corporate sector working together," said Mary Nelson, president of Bethel New Life -- the community development organization fighting urban decay on Chicago's West Side.

"By pooling our resources, we create a national model for energy- efficient affordable housing," Nelson said.

Argonne and Bethel New Life have been partners since 1992 in an effort to create jobs and revitalize Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood.

Nuclear safety is mission
of new international center

The international research and development center center will work with similar centers in other countries to help maintain technical excellence in design of nuclear reactors, promote development of nuclear safety-related technologies, and promote open exchange of safety information.

"We've signed agreements to carry out three cooperative projects with Russia, and we're anticipating additional projects with Russia, Kazakstan, and Lithuania," said INSC Director Walt Deitrich (RE). "Ultimately, we want to have collaborations with nations all over the world."

The center's first three collaborative projects involve joint work between Argonne and the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The first project is developing a database of safety-related information accessible on the Internet to facilitate information exchange. The other two projects relate to properties of reactor materials under accident-like conditions, and the use of advanced computing technology to analyze nuclear safety experiments.

In addition, the Argonne INSC is working on technology for managing potential reactor accidents, developing computer techniques for system diagnostics and monitoring, and advanced simulations techniques for reactor systems.

"We expect to be developing additional collaborative projects in these and other areas with scientific institutes in Russia in the near future," Deitrich said.

Funding for Argonne's new International Nuclear Safety Center is provided by DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology.

The center grew out of an agreement signed last September in Vienna by U.S. Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary and Russian Minister for Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov.

Argonne at 50: Lab hosts islanders
following weapons-test mishap

The date is April 7, 1957, a chilly Sunday in Chicago. Seven visitors to Argonne-East from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean have settled down in the lab's Guest House for a rare treat -- an evening of television.

Their choices include such favorites as Jack Benny, Steve Allen, Bob Hope, and Ed Sullivan. But the Marshall Islanders, who have come to Chicago so the radioactivity in their bodies can be measured in Argonne's "iron room," opt for a cowboy movie.

The Marshall Islands, part of Micronesia, is a ring of 34 small islands and atolls in the South Pacific. A German protectorate until it was taken over by Japan in World War I, the Marshalls were captured by the United States in World War II.

After the war, the United States needed sites to test and improve its developing nuclear arsenal. In 1947, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) established "proving grounds" in the South Pacific.

The first in the series of nuclear tests, known as Operation Castle, was conducted at Bikini Atoll, 2,500 miles southwest of Honolulu. The atoll lies in the path of a reasonably predictable Pacific wind system; in winter and spring, winds are light and storms unusual. In advance of the first Operation Castle detonation, called Bravo, inhabitants were evacuated to other atolls to protect them from nuclear blasts and radiation.

At 6:45 a.m. on March 1, 1954, Bravo was detonated. Its energy and heat carried upward in a 100,000-foot cloud and its radioactive materials fell quickly to earth.

But the wind had shifted.

The upper wind carried the Bravo dust cloud across the Pacific in an unexpected direction -- east toward the inhabited atolls and a Japanese fishing boat, the unsuspecting Fukuryu Maru.

Inhabitants of two islands 110 miles away were caught in the rain of radioactive dust -- the 239 people who lived on Rongelap and Utirik.

The largest group affected -- 64 men, women, and children on Rongelap -received 175 roentgens of penetrating radiation, then considered a sub-lethal dose. But their symptoms were disturbing -- skin lesions, hair loss, depressed blood counts. Three years later, six of the affected Marshall Islanders were brought to Argonne for follow-up examinations; a seventh, unaffected Marshallese was brought along to provide a comparison.

Argonne had pioneered development of the world's most sensitive equipment for measuring radioactivity in the human body. Its "iron room" had foot-thick steel walls to shut out natural radiation.

Each man was counted during 50-minute sessions. William Allen, the unaffected "control," was also the group's interpreter. He spoke excellent English and was an expert in the Marshallese language -- a mixture of German, Spanish and French.

"The men seemed at ease while being counted," said Charles Miller, who headed the Argonne tests. "FM radio music was piped into the room and the interpreter could talk with them via an intercom system."

When asked if they were comfortable in the iron room, each invariably answered, "Jawohl!"

And they were healthy. Levels of radioactivity within their bodies were determined to be well within those universally considered safe.

During their six-day stay, the Marshall Islanders lived at Argonne's Guest House (now Freund Lodge) and ate at the lab's two cafeterias. Before arriving, suits and overcoats were rented in Hawaii; so were shoes, which they did not like.

Sightseeing included visits to the Museum of Science and Industry and to the top of the Prudential Building, then Chicago's tallest. They wanted to see snow and, this being a Chicago April, they did. Television fascinated them, especially Westerns.

Soon however, the cold weather lost its charm.

On Tuesday, April 9, the day after the Argonne tests were concluded, the seven Marshall Islanders returned to their South Pacific home. On the way, they stopped over in Honolulu to explore the sights and to return their rented winter wear.

-- Irene Macauley

Former fusion program director
to give update on ITER project

Baker, U.S. home team leader for ITER engineering design and former director of Argonne's Fusion Power Program, will speak at 10:30 a.m. in Argonne-East's Building 200 auditorium.

ITER is a joint effort of the European Union, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States to design and construct a fusion reactor that would produce about 1,500 megawatts of fusion power with a pulse length of about 1,000 seconds. Argonne is involved in research on several key ITER systems.

Awards to recognize
outstanding employees

The awards were established in 1983 by the Board of Governors to complement the Distinguished Performance Awards. The award recognizes employees in support positions whose exemplary service over an extended period has furthered the goals and missions of the laboratory.

An employee may be nominated for a consistent history of innovative ideas, suggestions or inventions; for sustained leadership, reliability and dependability; or because of some special act of heroism or courage during an emergency.

The award consists of an engraved plaque plus $3,000. It may be given to any full-time Argonne employee in a support position who is not eligible to receive the University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award, has not received the Outstanding Service Award in the past, and is not a current member of the award committee.

Anyone may make a nomination using the one-page nominating statement available through Human Resources.

All nominations should be placed in a sealed envelope marked "Confidential" and sent to: Outstanding Service Award Committee, Attention: Charlotte M. LeGrand, Human Resources, Building 201, Argonne-East, with an information copy sent to the nominee's division director or department head.

Deadline for nominations is Wednesday, April 17. For more information, call Human Resources at ext. 2-3151.

Argonne Club to host
roller skating party

The party will take place at Mainstreet U.S.A., 1303 Naperville Dr., Romeoville, one-half mile south of Interstate 55 on Route 53.

Tickets are $3 and will be on sale from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Building 213 cafeteria beginning the week of April 8. Tickets purchased at the door will be $4. Ticket price includes skates, but individuals may bring their own. Inline skates are allowed.

A snack bar with hot dogs, pizza and pop will be available, along with music and pinball and video games.

New sweatshirts decorated
with 50th anniversary logo

The sweatshirts are black, with a gold, metallic 50th anniversary logo, and are offered in adult sizes small, medium, large, XL and XXL

Each shirt costs $15 and can be ordered by sending a check, payable to Argonne National Laboratory, to Angie McKay, OPA-201, before Friday, April 12. Include name, division, phone extension, size and quantity desired.

Sample shirts will be displayed in Argonne-East's Building 213 cafeteria the week of April 1.

Survey, demonstration mark
library week, April 14-20

The survey will guide decisions about future improvements in library services. It will begin on Monday, April 15.

ACCESS will be demonstrated in Argonne-East's Building 213 cafteria on Thursday, April 18 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. ACCESS is designed to help researchers keep up with scientific literature by electronically delivering the tables of contents of selected journals to their desktop computers.

Lockheed president to speak
on engineering at colloquium

The talk will begin at 3 p.m. in the APS Conference Center Auditorium, Building 402 at Argonne-East.

Augustine is chairman of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Red Cross and president of the Boy Scouts of America.

He has been undersecretary and assistant secretary of the Army, and assistant director of defense research and engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Augustine won the Department of Defense's highest civilian decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal, four times. He has been awarded many other medals and awards.

He is co-author of "The Defense Revolution" and author of "Augustine's Laws," which has been printed in four languages.

The colloquium is part of "Partners in Progress: Science, Technology and Society," a series of speeches in honor of Argonne's 50th anniversary.

Seminar to examine benefits
of closeness with siblings

The seminar will take place in Argonne-East's Building 362 auditorium and will be presented by Douglas Breunlin of the Family Institute and Northwestern University. Breunlin has practiced marital and family therapy for more than 20 years and is vice president and chief operating officer of the Family Institute. He also is an associate professor in counseling psychology at Northwestern.

All Argonne and DOE employees and their families are invited to attend.

The next Family Series seminar will be "The Importance of Values in Family Life," to be held May 14.

Interest Rates Set for ANL Retirement Plans

** The minimum guaranteed interest rate for 1996 is 5 percent for this account.

200 scientists and engineers
expected at women's symposium

The goals of the symposium are to highlight the technical accomplishments of women; enhance professional and leadership development; and provide a forum for graduate and postdoctoral students to learn more about scientific and technical career opportunities.

The first day of the symposium, titled "Women at Argonne: 1946 - 1196," will focus on the history of women at Argonne. The second day, "Women at Argonne, Present & Future," will include sessions on "Leadership vs. Management in Science and Technology" and "Path to the Future: The Role of Science and Technology."

Symposium participants will include management, staff, graduate students and retirees from Argonne, the U.S. Department of Energy, Fermilab, the University of Chicago, Loyola University and Illinois Institute of Technology.

Speakers will include author Sharon McGrayne; Beverly Hartline, associate director and project manager at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va.; and Argonne Division Directors Margaret E. M. Tolbert and Ruth Reck.

The symposium will take place each day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the APS Conference Center (Building 402). It is sponsored by Argonne's Return to Index

Luncheon partners wanted for
future women scientists, engineers

More than 350 young women from area high schools are expected to attend the day-long conference for lectures, panel discussions, laboratory tours and career-booth presentations.

One of the activities appreciated most by the student conferees in previous years is the luncheon with woman scientists and engineers. Most of the women scientists and engineers (regular and temporary staff, postdoctoral appointee, graduate, SERS and co-op students) should have received a memo by now (purple color) with details for participating the luncheon. Please send response forms to Irene Purdy (DEP), Building 212, as soon as possible.

Those who did not receive a memo but are interested in participating the luncheon should call Lin Chen (CHM) at ext. 2-3533, or Irene Purdy at ext. 2-34102.

Satellite seminiar to cover
CFCs and the ozone layer

The program -- "CFCs and the Ozone Layer -- Disrupting a Delicate Balance" - is the first installment of ACS's new satellite TV series, "Conversations with Nobel Laureates in Chemistry."

Hosts Paul Crutzen and Nobel winners Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland will discuss how the depletion of the ozone layer could have catastrophic consequences worldwide if left unchecked.

Reservations to view the satellite seminar can be made by calling Carol Reynolds (DEP) at ext. 2-5767.

OTD's Fran Clark to discuss
project managment techniques

Clark will speak on how project management techniques are used in both large and small projects. Through a simple exercise, participants will learn the difference between a project and a program; how a project team is put together; how costs are tracked and controlled; how a schedule is maintained; and how risk is managed.

Clark recently received a master's degree in project management from Keller Graduate School. She is executive assistant to laboratory Director Alan Schriesheim.

All interested individuals are invited to attend the presentation.

Newcomers invited to coffee

The coffee will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the residence of Jeanette Antoniuk, 200 Village Dr., Downers Grove (Fairview Village). The monthly coffee mornings give those newly arrived from abroad a chance to meet new friends and learn about the area.

For more information and directions, call Susan Berger at (708) 963-3735.

Smoke detector check urged
as clocks `spring ahead'

An average of 16 people die in home fires every day in the United States, according to Mark Oglesby (ESH-FD). Half of those deaths could be prevented by working smoke detectors.

Smoke detector batteries need to be replaced at least once a year, he said, and tested weekly. For more information on smoke detectors or a home fire escape plan, contact Oglesby at ext. 2-7314 or 2-6131.

Monday, April 8

Chemistry Division Monday Morning Seminar Series: "Materials Chemistry at Argonne [50th Anniversary]" by Dieter M. Gruen, (CHM & MSD). 11 a.m., Bldg. 200 Auditorium.

Tuesday, April 9

Chemical Technology Division Seminar: "The Microbiogeochemistry of Weathering Reactions" by William J. Ullman, Associate Professor of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Lewis. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 205, Y-Auditorium.

Spring 1996 ACCA Biology Seminar Series: "Human Exposure Assays, Field Methods" by Tom Baughman, Illinois State Department of Health. 7 p.m., Bldg. 223 Auditorium.

Thursday, April 11

Technology Development Division/Fusion Power Program Seminar: "International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - ITER - Opportunities and Issues" by Charles C. Baker, University of California, San Diego. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 200 Auditorium.

Friday, April 12

Physics Colloquium: "Lasing Without Population Inversion - An Experimental Reality" by Edward S. Fry, Texas A&M University and Texas Laser Laboratory, The Woodlands, Texas. 11 a.m., Bldg. 203 Auditorium.

Tuesday, April 16

Chemistry Division Monday Morning Seminar Series: "DNA-Mediated Electron Transfer Chemistry" by Jacqueline K. Barton, Department of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. 11 a.m., Bldg. 200 Auditorium.

Joint Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions Seminar: "Resonance Raman Spectroscopy: Novel Applications in Biology and Materials Science:" by Sanford A. Asher, Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pa. 1:30 p.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

Spring 1996 ACCA Biology Seminar Series: "Inhalation Toxicology" by Fred Kirchner, (EAD) & "Neurotoxicology" by Debra Kirchner, University of Illinois, Chicago. 7 p.m., Bldg. 223 Auditorium.

Story ideas, comments and suggestions are welcome. The Argonne News office is in Building 201, room 2Q-02 (OPA-201). The fax number is ext. 2-5274. Send E-mail to Argonne News editor Dave Jacque.

Seminar listings: Send by inter-office mail to Evie Fagan, Building 201, room 2U-09 (OPA-201). Fax to ext. 2-5274, or send by E-mail.

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