Some of this week's stories

Electrical fields could help nature
clean oil-contaminated soil

The technology, called "electrokinetic soil processing," applies electric fields to contaminated soil to enhance the delivery of injected nutrients that help natural biological organisms degrade hydrocarbons. Using natural organisms to help clean up contamination is called "bioremediation."

The goal of this research is to commercialize the technology, so it can be used in cleaning up contaminated sites across the United States. Researchers are conducting pilot demonstrations in the field to evaluate the process, called "enhanced bioremediation by electrokinetics."

In the project's first phase, researchers are injecting nutrients into the soil to study their movement through different layers. These tests use layers of clean soil types with different permeabilities -- such as sand, silt and clay -- taken from DOE sites, such as the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho, or the Westinghouse Savannah River Company Facility, Aiken, S.C.

Argonne and Electrokinetics will work together to evaluate the data and results from these tests.

If the test results are promising, funding could be made available to use electrokinetic injection for the bioremediation of contaminated soil at the same DOE sites.

This one-year project was funded by DOE's Small Business Innovation Program, through an award to Electrokinetics. The company received $59,000 of the award to support its research efforts and provided $39,000 to Argonne for its research.

'Arnie' to help lead
museum visitors
on tour of Argonne

The animated character will lead visitors through computer animations and short movie clips highlighting human genome and superconductivity research, the Advanced Photon Source, the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) and the Junior Solar Sprint.

The exhibit is aimed at junior-high schoolers, who can use one of two touch-sensitive screens to navigate through short movies on various subjects, stored on a laser disk. The exhibit also has photos and artifacts from the laboratory. The animation is bright and lively, with noisy sound effects and hidden surprises that should appeal to young museum patrons.

The exhibit was created by IPD-MED's Dan Sarro and a team from IPD's Film and Video Group, including Jim Corsolini, Jim Cullen, Michael Marino, Ed Przyzycki (who supplied the voice of "Arnie") and Karen Zach.

Photo unit enters age
of digital photography

For a couple of years, the Photo Unit has been "touching up" and modifying traditional photos using sophisticated scanners and powerful image-processing software, said Photographer Jorgé Norrick (IPD-MED). But up to now, the initial stages of the process involved traditional photography: shoot, soup and print.

With the acquisition of a digital camera, images can be sent directly to a computer, bypassing the time-consuming darkroom work. The camera records images on charge-coupled device (CCD) chips and stores them on other computer chips inside the camera. When the photo session is finished, Norrick plugs a cord into the camera and sends the information directly into a desktop computer. He can print the image out immediately in 13.8 million colors, or manipulate the image to the customers' requirements.

The main advantage of this new digital method is speed. "Once the image is captured by the camera, it can be sent to a computer, enhanced by a photo-manipulation program, and sent to output devices," said Photographer Stanley Neihoff (IPD-MED).

In addition to high-quality prints, those output devices can produce slides, transparencies or image files for World Wide Web pages. Retouching or manipulating the images is much quicker too. Today's computer software can mimic many traditional darkroom techniques with a single click.

Image files produced in this way can be as detailed as 3,000 dots per inch, for high-quality printing purposes, or 72 dots per inch, the standard for computer displays and World Wide Web pages. The files can be sent to the customer via floppy, cartridge or electronic network.

For more information, call IPD-Media Services at ext. 2-7660.

Dust storm causes
ANL-W evacuation

High sustained winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour whipped up ashes from last month's brush fires, which left the area without any ground cover to slow the winds or trap fine dirt.

On Friday, Aug. 2, the dust storm led to an evacuation of the site at 4 p.m. However, once the Idaho site's employees were loaded onto buses for the trip to Idaho Falls, auto accidents and zero visibility delayed their departure until 5:30 p.m.

Argonne Director Dean Eastman, at Argonne-West for his first visit, had left the site before the evacuation.

On Monday, Aug. 5, the winds had returned. Argonne-West was again evacuated, this time at 10:30 a.m.

Measures are being taken to correct the dust problem, such as installing an irrigation system, setting up drift fences, and re-seeding the burn area with dryland grass and oats.

Argonne to star in
CNBC's `Agents of Change'

The show features several of Argonne's research programs, including advanced transportation technologies, the electrorefiner for treating nuclear waste, energy-efficient housing for the inner city, the virtual-reality "CAVE," and the Advanced Photon Source.

The program, produced independently by Telecast Production Group, Barrington, Ill., is part of a series examining America's unique and successful national research laboratories and their impact on American business and society. Other programs have profiled Oak Ridge National Laboratory , Tenn., Brookhaven National Laboratory , N.Y., and Sandia National Laboratories, N.M.

Check your cable guide or local newspaper listings for the CNBC channel in your area, or call 1-800-SMART TV (1-800-762-7888) for local CNBC information.

Argonne Club plans
Comiskey Park trip

Tickets for the trip are $13 and will be sold in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria during lunch service hours.

Bus transportation to Comiskey Park is available for $2. The bus will leave the cafeteria parking lot at 5:30 p.m.

For more information call Stan Reinke (ECT-ELT) at ext. 2-6957.

Chess Club to plan
strategy for season

All interested employees are invited. The meeting will be held in Argonne-East's Building 201, conference room 190A.

For more information, call Dave Green (CMT-AC), ext. 2-4379.

HR schedules
software classes

* Excel Pivot Tables (HR177) August 21, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.

* Excel 5.0 Advanced Functions (HR174) Aug. 21, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

* Microsoft Tools Integration (HR172) Aug. 28, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.

* Word 6.0, Advanced Format/Editing (HR180) Aug. 28, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

The following classes will be held in September with dates to be determined:

* Word 6.0: Wizards, Styles, Templates and Forms (HR178)

* Word 6.0: Mail Merge (HR179)

All classes are in Bldg. 362, E188. Register with a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410.

Human Resources is determining interest in computer classes for Macintosh computers. Mac users interested in Excel 5.0 or Word 6.0 classes should call Betty Iwan at ext. 2-3410.

'ET Open' set for Aug. 23

The run will begin at noon at the east entrance road to Argonne-East's Building 212 and Outer Circle. Runners will loop around the Advanced Photon Source and east area. Walkers can complete a two-mile course.

Ribbons will awarded to the top three male and female runners and walkers. A team trophy will be awarded to the divison team with the best times for three people (cross-country style).

A raffle will be held after the run, and refreshments will be provided.

E-mail at Argonne
is topic of seminar

Barry Finkel (ECT-CTT) will speak on the status of Argonne e-mail, current issues and future developments. The meeting is open to all employees.

For more information contact Finkel at ext. 2-7277.

Training to involve
emergency vehicles

The exercise is part of a training course for Energy Department emergency preparedness employees conducted by the DIS and EAD Divisions during the week of Aug. 26-30. Exercises will be conducted at several other indoor locations around the lab.

For more information, call Bill Gasper at ext. 2-4878.

Service awards for July include:

40 Years

Robert W. Smejkal (PFS-BM) and Robert K. Smither (XFD).

35 Years

James E. Emerson (ET).

30 Years

Donn R. Armstrong (RE), Dennis T. Karras (OPS), Martin R. Kraimer (XFD).

25 Years

Nghi Q. Lam (MSD), Ralph C. Niemann (ET), Robert C. Schmitt (ET).

20 Years

Zenaida G. Batol (HR-MD), Lawrence J. Condon (PFS-DR), James J. Gleason (EMO-WMO), Janine A. Griffin (MCS), Neil P. Hallinan (ED), Alton E. Klickman (RE), Lee T. Lowry (ED), Dan Meisel (CHM), Debra J. Melvin (OCF-PRO), Zoltan Nagy (CMT), Rita M. Niesluchowski (OCF-ACT), Arthur J. Schultz (IPNS), Marvis L. Wilson (PFS-US).

15 Years

Alan L. Justus (ESH-HP), Ken Lerner (DIS), Robert W. Springer (DEP).

10 Years

Shen-Lin Chang (ES), Myrna L. Czajkowski (ASD), Julius Jellinek (CHM), Margaret R. Kowalski (RE), Stephen R. Magill (HEP).

5 Years

Augustine Aghayere (ASD), Bakul Banerjee (XFD), Kathlyn J. Boudwin (OCF), Guenter Conzelmann (DIS), Cynthia L. Doran (XFD), Colleen Eakin (DIS), Elizabeth Fenton (OCF), Dorothy Goliszewski (OCF), David R. Hendricks (OD), Donna J. Holdridge (ER), Allison B. Larkin (HR), Charles Musaraca (PFS-US), Susan M. Picologlou (XFD), Kerry Potter (ASD), Edwin Rodriguez (PFS-BM), Jeffrey Toeller (IPNS), Terry R. Tripp (OD), Reginald Walker (ESH-HP), Blaine R. Ward (RPS).

Tuesday, Aug. 20

Mathematics and Computer Science Division Seminar: "Modeling Physical Fields for Interrogative Visualization" by Chandrajit L. Bajaj, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 221, Conference Room A216.

Joint Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions Seminar: "Sputtering of MCs⁺ Molecular Ions: Fundamental Processes and Analytical Applications" by Hubert Gnaser, Institut für Oberflächen- und Schichtanalytik and Fachbereich Physik, Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany 11 a.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

Friday, Aug. 23

Energy Technology Division Seminar: "Low Temperature Phosphate Bonded Ceramics and Their Applications to Waste Treatment Problems in Russia" by Albert S. Aloy, Ph.D., Laboratory of Scientific and Technology Basis for Solidification of Radioactive Waste, V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 212, Conference Room B201.

Wednesday, Aug. 28

Energy Systems Division Seminar: "Linking Basic and Applied Research: A Role for National Labs" by Jim Frank, (ES). Noon, Bldg. 362, Conference Room E356.

Thursday, Sept. 5

Materials Science Division Seminar: "Superconductivity in the RE Ni2B2C Intermetallic Compounds" by Ruggero Vaglio, University of Naples, Italy. Bldg. 223, Conference Room S105.

Thursday, Sept. 19

Materials Science Division Special Colloquium: "Computation and Recognition with DNA" by Albert Libchaber, Center for Studies in Physics & Biology, Rockefeller University, New York. 1:30 p.m., Bldg. 212, Conference Room A157.

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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