March 2, 1998 -- Some of this week's stories
State earmarks $6.7 million for APS beamline
Illinois Governor Jim Edgar has included $6.7 million in the
state's fiscal 1999 budget for an innovative public-private project to
encourage small companies to use Argonne's Advanced Photon
Source (APS).
The funds will be used to construct a commercial beamline
that will enable small- and medium-sized firms to use the machine on
a fee-for-service basis. For example, instead of having to make a
multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment to work at the APS, a
small firm could pay several thousand dollars for access to the facility
for 48 or 72 hours. As a result, the Argonne project will give
smaller companies an opportunity to study in greater detail than ever
before the properties of technologically and commercially important materials.
Construction of the new commercial beamline is expected to
be completed by the middle of 1999.
"With the state's full commitment, we now have an
unparalleled opportunity to bring the advantage of Argonne's Advanced
Photon Source to Illinois industries, just as the facility achieves full-time
operation as the world's most brilliant source of X-rays," said
David Moncton, associate laboratory director for the APS.
"The Advanced Photon Source has the potential to serve as a
real engine for economic growth," said Arnold R. Weber, the President
of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
"Governor Edgar deserves great credit for
working to ensure small- and medium-sized businesses in Illinois can
take full advantage of this one-of-a-kind scientific resource."
"By expanding access to the APS, the project will help existing
companies become more competitive, promote the creation of new
high-tech ventures and attract new industrial operations to Illinois,''
said Stephen C. Mitchell, the chairman of the Illinois Coalition, a
nonprofit organization of leaders in business, labor, research and
government that promotes high-tech job growth.
A recent study by the Civic Committee and the Illinois
Coalition showed that there are a large number of companies in Illinois
that would benefit greatly from access to the advanced capabilities of
the APS, but are unable to because they lack the appropriate
technically trained staff or cannot afford the high cost of joining
Collaborative Access Teams of researchers that operate their own
X-ray beamlines at the facility.
The APS is a synchrotron X-ray source that provides
super-intense beams of X-rays for basic and applied research in materials
science, biology and medicine, chemistry, physics, geology and
environmental science.
Scientists from 100 universities, 36 companies and 27 research
institutions currently are performing or preparing experiments at
the APS. When the APS is fully utilized, some 4,000 scientists a year
are expected to carry out research at the facility.
The $6.7 million in proposed state funding will be provided
by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community
Affairs, which earlier this year announced a $2 million grant to begin work
on the project.
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New facility on horizon for ANL-West
The U.S. Department of Energy has given approval
to proceed with planning for the new Remote Treatment
Facility (RTF) at Argonne-West, a shielded hot cell facility
designed for remote handling and treatment of highly
radioactive material.
Remote handling and treatment has long been an area
of strong expertise at Argonne-West, with more than 30
years of successful operations at its existing hot cells, the Hot
Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) and the Fuel Conditioning
Facility (FCF).
The RTF, to be built adjacent to HFEF, would
increase Argonne's remote handling capabilities in both volume
and in types of material that could be brought into the
existing cells. The RTF would be able to accept shipping and
storage containers that neither FCF nor HFEF can accommodate.
Current, preliminary concepts call for the
15,000-square-foot building to contain one and a half to two times
as much hot-cell space as HFEF -- just over 4,000 square
feet. The RTF will be built immediately to the west of HFEF
and will be connected to HFEF by an underground transfer
tunnel.
Successful completion of the RTF is crucial to the
commitments the Department of Energy has made to the
State of Idaho, said nuclear engineer Seeley Magnani (ED),
who is in charge of the RTF project.
The State of Idaho has a significant and on-going
interest in the project, because the RTF's mission involves
the whole Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Treatment of Argonne-West's waste is
only a part of treating the more difficult INEEL waste streams.
"It will take everyone at the INEEL working together to deal
with all the waste problems at the site," Magnani said. "The RTF will be
key to meeting the governor's agreement regarding cleanup of
the INEEL, because it will be uniquely able to characterize and treat
some of the more problematic materials from around the site."
A project management plan describing the RTF and how it will
be built has been approved by the state. The level of
environmental documentation will be decided after it is determined what
equipment and processes will be used in the facility.
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Unexpected new uses found for
'CeramicreteTM'
Ceramicrete™, a new material developed at Argonne to
solidify radioactive and hazardous wastes for safe disposal, turns out to
have unexpected uses that range from fixing potholes to fireproofing
high-rise buildings.
Bindan Corp., a Chicago start-up company, has licensed
Ceramicrete™ for three main applications: repairing roads, making
terrazzo tiles, and protecting steel beams from fires in high-rises.
Ceramicrete™ is a ceramic that does not require firing to set,
is harder and denser than Portland cement, and binds to nearly
any solid object, including itself.
Road repair was Bindan's first Ceramicrete™ application, and
it illustrates many of the material's special properties. Bindan plans
to market it as a "monopatch" that can be spread over a crack in
the road or poured into a pothole, and will repair the damage in a
matter of hours.
"It makes an ideal road repair," said Bindan president Tom
Lally, "because it is harder than cement, and it binds extremely well to
the road material -- cement, gravel, rocks, everything.
Using Ceramicrete™ puts the road back in service faster,
Lally said, because it cures and is ready to use in an hour or two, even
in freezing weather.
"We tested it by putting a container of the uncured
Ceramicrete™ mixture in ice water," said
Arun Wagh (ET), whose team developed the material. "It cured in less
than two hours.
"We also mixed a batch using ice water instead of tap water,"
he added. "That also cured in less than two hours."
Ceramicrete™'s curing process, Wagh explained, is an
"exothermic" reaction, which means it
generates heat.
"As long as the wet Ceramicrete™ patch is thick enough for the
reaction to get started in the center, it will warm itself from the
inside out," Wagh said, "curing as it
goes. For thin patches -- say about a quarter of an inch -- you can add
a little extra chemical and that will warm it enough to start curing."
Ceramicrete™ is also lighter than cement and more
impervious to water. "This means that patches will hold up better
than the original roadway against winter's freeze-and-thaw
cycle," Lally said.
"Keep in mind," Wagh cautioned, "that Ceramicrete™ is not a
large-scale substitute for cement, because it costs more initially. But
for applications like road repairs, it can do things that cement
can't, and it can do them quickly."
The second application Bindan is pursuing is aimed at
protecting the steel girders in high-rise buildings from fire damage.
Present building codes require coating steel structures to protect
them against heat.
During fires, Lally said, intense heat on the lower floors can
soften and deform the steel skeleton that holds up the building. "Because
of Ceramicrete™'s excellent binding properties, it can be sprayed
or patched onto the beams where it will harden into a brick-like
`refractory' that insulates the beams from the heat."
Bindan's third application is also architectural, but this one
is more decorative. The idea is to use Ceramicrete™ as the binding
agent that holds the tiny mosaic pieces to the substrate of a terrazzo tile.
Lally believes Ceramicrete™ can significantly reduce the total
costs of installed tile, giving Bindan a competitive edge in the market
with an improved product.
Ceramicrete™ is a mixture of metal oxides and phosphate
salts. When mixed with water in the right proportions, the
ingredients form a paste that hardens into a solid, cement-like ceramic.
There's even an environmental bonus, Wagh said. "If you add
50 to 60 percent ash to the mixture, the strength of the final
product increases up to three times. This means that waste ash from
industrial or municipal incinerators can become a component in
useful products instead of just going into the local landfill."
Ceramicrete™ won an R&D 100 award in 1996 for solidifying
radioactive and hazardous wastes. R&D
magazine gives these awards annually to the "100 most
significant technical products of the year."
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PPO's benefit maximum rises to $2M
Argonne has approved increasing the individual
lifetime benefit maximum under the Preferred Provider
Medical Plan (PPO) from $1 million to $2 million.
The increase in coverage went into effect Jan. 1,
1998, and covers all active and retired employees
participating in the PPO and retired employees participating in
the Comprehensive Medical Plan.
For more information on this change, contact
Human Resources at ext. 2-2991 (Argonne-East) or ext.
3-7227 (Argonne-West).
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PSI plans 'Managing Your Career for Success'
The Argonne Chapter of Professional Secretaries
International will host "Managing Your Career for Success," a one-day
seminar for office professionals, on Thursday, March 19.
The seminar will be repeated on Friday, March 20.
The seminar will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on both days
in Argonne-East's Advanced Photon Source Conference Center in
Building 402.
Lillian Bjorseth, founder and president of Duoforce
Enterprises, Inc., and author of two books, will speak on "Eleven
Commandments for Success." Jim Cisek,
president of AudioEducation and Life Skills Training Associates, will speak
on "Upgrading Your Brain-Frame: 21st Century Thinking Skills."
Cost of the seminar is $85 and includes a continental
breakfast and luncheon.
For more information, call Diane Hawk (EMO) at ext. 2-3582.
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Computer Users
plan meeting
The Argonne Computer Users Group will meet Tuesday, March
3, at 3 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 221, Room A216.
The agenda includes:
* "Windows NT 5.0 Beta 1 Experiences," by Matthew Luallen (ECT).
* "Parallel Oracle Performance," by Victor Tsien (ECT).
* "Heterogeneous UNIX Platforms for Users," by John
Volmer (ECT).
The CUG usually meets on the first Tuesday of each month at
3 p.m. in Building 221, Room A216. Meetings are open to all
interested Argonne and DOE employees.
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Tech transfer handbook is now online
Argonne's tech transfer handbook for employees,
"Technology Transfer and You," is now
available on the World Wide Web.
The brochure discusses invention reporting, protecting
proprietary information, patents, working arrangements with industry
and other aspects of technology transfer important to Argonne
employees.
Adobe "Acrobat Reader" software is required to view the online
version. The booklet is at: http://www.itd.anl.gov/internal/tt.pdf.
To request a printed copy, contact the Industrial Technology
Development Center at ext. 2-9124 or send e-mail to maryk@anl.gov.
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