Fire danger: Very high
Lab project using soy-based oil benefits
the environment
The forklifts at Technical Area 54 now use a soy-based oil instead of regular hydraulic fluid in their lifting mechanisms as part of a pilot project called "Material Substitution with Biodegradable Fluid." The project won a Pollution Prevention Award last year.
Although there are no cost savings associated with the new oil, called BioSoy, there definitely are environmental benefits. BioSoy is made primarily from renewable soybean extracts and is less toxic to humans and animals than regular hydraulic fluid. BioSoy also biodegrades more quickly than regular hydraulic fluid, which is important in case a forklift suffers a minor leak from its lifting mechanism.
In case of leakage, small spilled quantities of BioSoy do not have to be treated as hazardous waste, meaning that TA-54 personnel don't have to send away the material used in the clean up as mixed low-level waste. BioSoy also is preferred over regular hydraulic fluid because in any radiological area, it is best to have as few hazardous chemicals present as possible.
Chris Duy of Solid Waste Operations (FWO-SWO) first became aware of BioSoy after reading a magazine article about its success in other forklifts. The Environmental Stewardship Office (E-ESO) bought a few drums of BioSoy for the team at TA-54 on a trial basis, and so far the experiment has been working well.
Other project team members were John Kelly of FWO-SWO, Rusty Powers of Waste Facilities Management (FWO-WFM) and John Keen of Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico. For more information, contact Duy at cduy@lanl.gov or at 7-5854.
--Ternel N. Martinez
Young scientists to learn survival skills
for the world of research
Peter J. Feibelman, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, will speak about necessary survival skills for scientists from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday in the Physics Building Auditorium.
The lecture is intended for students, post-docs, managers and technical staff members. Feibelman will discuss various issues including the selection of a thesis topic, choosing research projects, giving effective oral presentations, writing "compelling" journal articles and drafting successful grant proposals.
In 1993, he published "A Ph.D Is Not Enough," on which Monday's lecture is loosely based. The material in the book came from Feibelman's own experiences in trying to become a member of the scientific community.
Feibelman said he has seen many young scientists make things harder on themselves by writing papers that are hard to read, working to the point that they don't see friends or family and conducting research in an area that doesn't fit their interests or goals.
I'm a pretty optimistic guy," said Feilbelman. "I find practical ways to make things simpler."
Feibelman has been a solid state physicist at Sandia since 1974. He earned a doctorate in physics from the University of California, San Diego in 1967, and completed postdoctoral research in Saclay, France, and at the University of Illinois in Urbana. Before his employment at Sandia, he spent three years as an assistant professor of physics at Stony Brook University in New York. Feilbelman is a native of Manhattan.
For more information, contact Susan Bargeloh of Training and Development (HR-6) at 7-8036.
--Michael Carlson
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The good-old-days remembered A group of Lab employees, who through the years have worked on the Hot Dry Rock Project, gathered at Fenton Hill recently to enjoy a cookout, reminisce about the good-old-days and wish a happy retirement to one of the project's leaders, Dave Duchane. (click here for a QuickTime™ movie clip, 2 Mb.) |
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ERT public meeting scheduled
for Friday morning
David Gurule, area manager of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos Area Office, is hosting the seventh weekly Emergency Rehabilitation Team public meeting Friday at 10 a.m. Members of the media and public will be able to ask questions, provide input and engage in discussions with team members. A representative from the Laboratory Ecology Group will present preliminary data on soil samples collected at regional farms. The meeting will be held in Room 100 at DOE LAAO, located at 528 35th Street, off Trinity Drive. This will be the last weekly meeting, but ERT public meetings will continue on a monthly basis from now on. In addition, Cerro Grande Fire related updates will be given as needed during monthly ER Project Availability Sessions that occur on the third Wednesday of each month, and during meetings of the Citizen's Advisory Board, which occur on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
Protect Laboratory facilities and infrastructure
Pajarito, Two-Mile and Water Canyons
Work continues at the flood retention structure in Pajarito Canyon (upstream from Technical Area 18, the Laboratory's criticality facility, and White Rock). Crews with the Army Corps continue concrete production and placement at the structure, but complications with concrete production and with the availability of truck drivers and other factors have delayed the project by about three weeks based on current estimates. Now that crews have moved into full-scale production mode, trucks are delivering concrete from the on-site concrete plant on a 24-hour basis. The large supply trucks will continue to use Pajarito Road for the delivery of aggregate (rocks) and cement to the concrete plant. The trucks are averaging 400 deliveries to the concrete plant per 24-hour period. The goal of the concrete structure is to allow a normal flow of runoff down Pajarito Canyon, but prevent significant flooding downstream. The structure is designed to discharge the water at a controlled rate over a period of time not to exceed 96 hours
Los Alamos Reservoir
Minimize movement of contamination off Laboratory property
Maintenance of sediment traps in Mortandad Canyon
Safety of bicyclists on Pajarito Road
Expediting sediment and runoff sampling analyses
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On today's bulletin board |
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Commuter's Corner | Parking areas around TA-3 | Parking shuttle routes (pdf) or jpeg |
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