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March 29, 1999 -- Some of this week's stories
Successful
'Ceramicrete' goes international
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"Ceramicrete," a new material developed at Argonne to solidify radioactive and hazardous waste for safe disposal, has been licensed to Wangtec, Inc. of Woodridge, Ill. The firm is expected to use the new product overseas to package hazardous waste for disposal.
Ceramicrete sets harder than concrete and binds quickly to almost anything. Ceramicrete is made by combining metal oxides and soluble phosphate powders, like those used in detergents and fertilizers, with water.
These ingredients are abundant in nature and react quickly at room temperature to form a ceramic that is similar in composition to dental cement.
No toxic emissions are generated in the process.
Solid wastes may be mixed with the binder powders and water, while liquid wastes such as sludge may be used to provide the water needed for the reaction. When the reaction occurs, the ingredients form a thick slurry that can be poured into storage drums, where it sets to form a hard, dense and nonleachable ceramic waste form.
"Ceramicrete is effective in solidifying various waste streams, including ash from municipal solid waste incinerators, fossil-fueled power plants, hazardous waste incinerators and steel mills, as well as nuclear power plant waste," said Arun Wagh (ET), one of the Argonne researchers who developed Ceramicrete. "Ash improves Ceramicrete's structural properties and reduces its production costs."
Wangtec will market Ceramicrete in Taiwan. The company is part of a consortium that has been awarded a contract to build a hazardous waste incinerator and to treat the ash produced there if it cannot pass local regulations.
Wangtec demonstrated the use of Ceramicrete on ash from a municipal solid waste incinerator in Taiwan. Tests showed that Ceramicrete greatly exceeded regulatory requirements for leaching and that its strength was also well above structural requirements.
Since Cerami-crete is commercially available for treating low-level nuclear waste in the U.S., Wangtec is negotiating with utilities in Taiwan to treat such waste there.
For information on Wangtec, see the company's Web site at http://www.wangtec.com.
Three Argonne scientists are among the winners of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles Medals, presented March 17 in Washington, D.C.
The medals, presented to Shabbir Ahmed, Romesh Kumar and Michael Krumpelt (all CMT) honor the development and demonstration of a fuel reformer system that permits use of gasoline and other available fuels, such as methanol, ethanol or natural gas, in fuel cell-powered vehicles.
This system allows on-board reformulation of gasoline for use in fuel cells, increasing their potential use as a power source for automobiles.
This was the second year the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles has given the awards. Presidential Science Advisor Neal Lane presented the awards at the Old Executive Office Building at the White House.
The partnership is a government-industry research organization charged with producing a new generation of commercially viable family sedans that have low emissions and up to three times the fuel efficiency of other cars. Argonne scientists were winners of the first award, given last year, as well.
(Argonne can also boast a husband and wife team of winners: Ahmed's wife, Ismat Jihan, was a winner last year along with Lennox Iton (MSD) and Victor Maroni (CMT)).
Argonne partners in the development of this year's winner were Arthur D. Little/Epyx; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Plug Power LLC; and General Motors Corp.
In a letter to the winners, Vice President Al Gore said the fuel reformer is an example of "the progress we have made in our effort to develop fuel cells as a practical propulsion system for the next generation of vehicles. I have counted on our scientists and engineers to achieve breakthroughs in fuel cell technology for mass-market transportation uses. Demonstrations like the one we are recognizing today will catalyze the ability to put fuel cell-powered vehicles on the road."
John J. McGrath has been named director of Argonne's Office of Public Affairs.
McGrath will direct the labor-atory's public, media and community relations programs, as well as special events and other projects.
McGrath came to Argonne in 1993 working in management and marketing communications. Prior to that he worked for Ford Motor Co., Miller Brewing Co., McDonnell Douglas Corp. and the U.S. Department of Defense.
He also has worked as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters and Agence France Presse.
For three years he served on the adjunct faculty of Marquette University's College of Communication, Journalism and Performing Arts.
McGrath has received several Associated Press Managing Editors awards, and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Speeches written by him have appeared in Vital Speeches of the Day and other publications.
Tornadoes can do a lot of nasty things, but they don't really cause feathers to explode off chickens. This myth is probably the result of the chicken's natural defense against predators: when upset, a chicken loosens its feathers so that it can flee, leaving a predator with a mouth full of fluff. A chicken in a tornado, doubtless upset by all the fuss, sheds its loosened feathers in the high winds.
Exploding chicken feathers may be just about the only act of destruction that can't be blamed on tornadoes, nature's most violent storms. A tornado may form in just a few minutes; the National Weather Service depends on a network of volunteer spotters, some of whom work at Argonne-East, to provide up-to-the-minute information.
One of the National Weather Service's spotters is Argonne's Linda Chamberlin (ESH), who joined three other ESH employees in DuPage County's recent advanced severe weather spotter workshop.
"When there is a storm, we are called and sent to specific locations to observe," said Chamberlin. "We learn to distinguish the different kinds of clouds. I've always found this interesting -- even before the movie "Twister."
Unlike these trained spotters, most Argonne employees have other procedures to follow in the event of severe weather. These procedures are signaled by:
A tornado watch, which means conditions are
right for tornadoes to form. When a watch
issued by the National Weather Service
covers the Argonne-East area, an alert tone
is sounded on the site-wide address system,
followed by an announcement.
Employees using hazardous materials may be required to secure those substances for the duration of the watch. Those using classified documents should be prepared to lock them up in the event of a warning. Occupants of trailers should move to a permanent building.
A tornado warning, which means a twister has
been sighted in the area or detected by
radar. Outdoor sirens will sound and a
sitewide announcement will direct employees
to head immediately for designated tornado
shelters areas and stay there until an
all-clear announcement.
Automobiles are poor protection against tornadoes. Employees should not attempt to leave the site during a tornado warning.
A public address system will alert employees in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria if a tornado warning is issued during lunch service hours. Marriott employees will direct cafeteria patrons to shelter areas.
-- Jeanne Galatzer-Levy
The Pacesetter Award program will be expanded and will emphasize contributions to safety.
In addition to safety measures, employees can earn Pacesetter Awards for extraordinary effort in meeting or exceeding difficult deadlines or demands of a technical, administrative or sponsor-related nature.
Pacesetters are also awarded for innovations, discoveries, program development and cost-cutting suggestions. The award consists of $500 and a distinctive pin.
A seminar on estate planning will be held on Wednesday, April 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 203 Auditorium.
The seminar will be presented by Mark Perkins and Dean Zayed, attorneys who frequently teach seminars and classes on estate planning. All employees whose schedules allow are invited to attend.
The seminar is sponsored by Human Resources.
The protective force has recorded a string of traffic accidents and pedestrian "near misses" at Argonne-East in recent months. Virtually all of these incidents result from driver and pedestrian error rather than weather conditions.
Although Argonne's roadways are patrolled by protective force employees, all Illinois traffic laws apply on the site. The Sheriff's Department of DuPage County responds to accidents on the site and issues citations if appropriate.
To help reduce the chances of serious injuries or fatalities on the laboratory's roads, the protective force recommends that:
Drivers should not exceed the sitewide speed
limit of 30 mph.
Drivers yield the right of way to
pedestrians. This requirement is part of the
Illinois vehicle code, all of which applies
to Argonne. Drivers must stop for
pedestrians in crosswalks.
Pedestrians walking on the roadway should
face oncoming traffic.
A college fair will be held at Argonne-East Wednesday, April 7, from 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. in Building 212, Room A157.
Representatives from more than 20 area colleges will discuss entrance requirements, credit for life experience, accelerated learning, and associate's, bachelor's, and master's degree programs.
The college fair is sponsored by Human Resources and Plant Facilities and Services.
Call John Hyzer (HR) at ext. 2-3503 or Karen Kroczek (PFS) at ext. 2-8764 for more information.
Early registration for Joliet Junior College summer and fall classes will be offered at Argonne-East through Human Resources on Friday, April 16.
College representatives will be available in the HR offices in Building 201 from noon-4 p.m. to register students for summer classes. Employees must bring completed approved Educational Assistance (ANL-89) forms to the registration.
Call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410 for information on Joliet Junior College and educational assistance.
Images of eight of Argonne's women physicists appeared in a display called "Women doing Physics: Past, Present and Future" at the Centennial Meeting of the American Physical Society in Atlanta.
Pictures of Marie-Louise Saboungi (MSD), Linda Gaines (ES), Joanne Fink (RE), Elizabeth Moog (XFD) and Caroline Herzenberg (DIS) were included in the display March 20-24 as part of the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics exhibit.
The display complements a UCLA Web site, "Contributions of Women to 20th Century Physics."
A montage poster created for the exhibit features images of three more Argonne physicists: Linda Young (PHY), Marion White (ASD) and Natalia Meshkov (ES). To obtain a copy of the poster, "Celebrate Women in Physics," send an e-mail to Tara E. McLoughlin of the Physical Society's Education and Outreach Department.
The Committee on the Status of Women in Physics is an outreach group of The American Physical Society. It was founded in 1972 to promote the education, retention and career development of women physicists.
The committee maintains a Web site with information and links of interest to women in physics.
Argonne employees can access on-line versions of 17 American Chemical Society (ACS) journals, often before the printed version even reaches the laboratory. ACS electronic journals include information not available in the printed versions.
Employees with Internet access can view and print these journals through the Information and Publishing Division's Argonne Information Management (AIM) system. Other electronic journal publishers in the Argonne library system include the American Institute of Physics, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Association for Computing Machinery.
To locate the electronic ACS journals, go to http://www.ipd.anl.gov/aim and select "Ejournals," or search the Argonne Libraries Electronic Catalog (ALEC). For more information about electronic journals, call or visit any Argonne library.
Argonne will host the 15th International Conference on Advanced Science and Technology (ICAST 99), featuring more than 50 papers from the United States, Taiwan, England and China.
The conference will be held April 2-3.
The conference, aimed at advancing science and technology through international cooperation, covers a number of fields, including life science and biotechnology, engineering, energy, the environment, physics, computers and communications, economics, finance and marketing.
The conference is sponsored by Argonne, the Chinese Academic and Professional Association in Mid-America and National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan. Honorary chairs are Harvey Drucker, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environmental Science and Technology, and Chung-Laung Liu, President of Tsing Hua University.
For more information, call Bang-Jean Hsieh (RE) at ext. 2-6167.
The deadline for submitting requests for 1998 reimbursements under the medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts is Wednesday, March 31.
For more information, call ext. 2-2991 (Argonne-East) or ext. 3-7227 (Argonne-West).
Daylight-saving time begins Easter Sunday, April 4, at 2 a.m. Clocks should be set ahead one hour.
Daylight saving will end on Halloween, Oct. 31.
Sodexho Marriott will hold an Easter Fannie May candy sale at Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria Wednesday, March 31, and Thursday, April 1, at lunchtime.
All candy will be sold at 15 percent off the retail price.
A Pepsi representative will be at the Cafeteria those same two days to hand out samples of a new product and host a "Hoops Challenge" for prizes. Everyone can register for a national sweepstakes for a trip for two to the 2000 NCAA final four tournament.
State of the Laboratory addresses from 1995-1998 have been collected on one page at the Argonne News World Wide Web site.
The Argonne News site also has a searchable archive of stories from September 1994 to the latest issue, links to current seminars and classified ad listings, and links to current menus for both Argonne-East and Argonne-West.
