The structural failure of steel in bridges, buildings, highway overpasses, etc., is a problem of potentially catastrophic magnitude. The first practical, non-destructive means of testing steel and other metals for pending trouble long before any visible cracks appear has been demonstrated by researchers at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Through the combination of a unique SQUID microscope that can be used for on-site inspections, and an equally unique transmission electron microscope, a Berkeley Lab collaboration has shown that stress-induced changes to the microstructure of steel can be correlated to subtle changes in the steel’s magnetic properties. For more information, see the May 15 issue of Berkeley Lab Currents. 
 

Getting the Lead Out 

Researchers from DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and industrial partner Forrester Environmental Services, Inc., are using an innovative BNL method to remove lead paint residue from soil at Long Island Lighting Company substations on Long Island, New York. Now known to be toxic, the lead paint was routinely used until the 1970s. The process is more economical than carting the soil to a disposal site and safer than leaving it in place with the lead in a stable form. A combination of extraction by biodegradable citric acid and biodegradation by naturally occurring bacteria, the process can also recover toxic metals and radioactive materials from soil, sediment, sludge and ash.  
 

The Hole Truth 

Workers who have to handle radioactive, biological or toxic materials could find better protection through a recently patented idea from researchers at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory—a method of forming protective materials that signal punctures or other breaches in real time. The method uses alternating layers of conducting and insulating materials and looks for changes in the electrical properties of the conductive layers. Tests have demonstrated that even a small puncture can change the resistance between the layers, signaling a breach. By allowing continuous monitoring and real-time detection, the method would improve worker safety, better protect the environment and reduce contamination costs by initiating a decontamination response before contaminants or toxins have spread significantly.  
 

New Technology Keeps Evidence Close to the Vest 

Researchers at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are teaming with Mnemonic Systems Inc., of Washington, D.C., on an interactive system that will enable police to quickly capture, store and relay vast amounts of information at crime scenes and other field scenarios. Called Team Leader, the wearable vest unit will equip the user with a global positioning system, video and still cameras, and a number of other tools. Consequently, one person can perform the work of many, reducing the risk of inadvertent contamination from fingerprints, footprints, hair or fiber. Team Leader is scheduled for testing by police departments in Baltimore, Md.; Miami (Metro-Dade), Fla.; and Los Angeles, Calif. by the end of 1998.  
 

‘Peregrine’ Aims at Improved Radiation Therapy   

Improved radiation treatment for cancer may be on the horizon based on technology from DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. PEREGRINE is a computer-based system that predicts radiation dose to body tissue during radiation therapy. It graphically displays predicted dose to various parts of the body, helping doctors direct more radiation to tumors, with less damage to surrounding, healthy tissue. PEREGRINE appears to have the potential to save thousands of lives each year. It was developed using radiation physics expertise gathered over four decades of nuclear weapons research.  
 

“This Project Is Ready to Go!” 

International high-energy physics passed a major milestone on May 22 with the "thumbs-up" from an experts' review of the U.S. contribution to a huge new multinational particle detector. The review, held at DOE's Fermilab, scrutinized the $167 million US/CMS project that will help build CMS, one of two huge particle detectors for the Large Hadron Collider, a new particle accelerator to begin operating in 2005 at CERN. Scientists applauded the announcement of approval of the scope, cost and schedule for the high-profile project. Fermilab serves as host laboratory and project manager for US/CMS, a collaboration of 320 physicists from 40 U.S. universities. 
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Putting INEEL Technology in Park 

DOE’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory will team up with Yellowstone National Park less than 150 miles north to tackle environmental and energy issues under an interagency agreement  completed May 14. The agreement was signed by the National Park Service and DOE’s Idaho Operations Office during the Greening of Yellowstone Conference at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. “This agreement will allow both the Park Service and the INEEL to make more efficient use of federal resources in resolving common problems,” said John Wilcynski, manager of the DOE office. 
 

Tracking Radiation with Inuit Help  

Despite recent revelations about Soviet nuclear waste disposal practices in the Arctic Ocean and concern about radioactive fallout from Chernobyl over the far North, Eskimo Inuit hunters get less manmade radiation from subsistence hunting than one would expect from food purchased at the local supermarket, according to a recent analysis by scientists at the University of Tennessee and DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The team studied tissue samples of beluga, walrus, bowhead whale, polar bear, and seals donated by native hunters, and will present their findings at a June meeting of the Ecological Society of America.