Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Accelerator

An apparatus for imparting high velocities to charged particles.

Budgeted construction

Construction for which Congress has not yet appropriated the necessary funds but that appears in the proposed FY 1993 DOE budget.

Curie (Ci)

A special unit of activity. One curie equals 37 billion nuclear transformations per second.

Depleted uranium

Uranium from which most of the uranium-235 isotope has been removed.

Energetic Waste

Chemically energetic waste with the potential to react explosively; nuclear explosives are not included.

Engineered barrier

In the context of a high-level waste repository, a barrier to release of radioactivity made by man, such as a corrosion- resistant container.

Explosives

See High explosives.

Fissile

Capable of being fissioned by slow neutrons. The principal fissile isotopes are U-233, U-235, and Pu-239.

Fission

The splitting of a heavy atomic nucleus into two nuclei of lighter elements, accompanied by the release of energy and generally one or more neutrons. Fission can occur spontaneously or be induced by neutron bombardment.

Flash x-ray

An x-ray apparatus that emits short pulses of x rays useful for examining the behavior of rapidly changing mechanical systems.

Floodplain

The valley floor adjacent to the incised channel of a stream, which may be inundated during high water.

Funded construction

Construction for which Congress has already appropriated the necessary funds.

Fusion

The energy-releasing process in which atoms of very light elements such as deuterium and tritium combine to produce heavier elements.

Glovebox

A sealed box in which workers, while remaining outside and using gloves attached to and passing through openings in the box, can safely handle and work with radioactive materials, other hazardous materials, and nonhazardous air-sensitive compounds.

Hazardous waste

Any solid, semisolid, liquid, or gaseous waste that is ignitable, corrosive, toxic, or reactive as defined by RCRA and identified or listed in 40 C.F.R. part 261.

High explosives (HE)

Chemically energetic materials with the potential to react explosively; nuclear explosives are not included.

Human genome

A set of chromosomes with the genes they contain.

Hydrodynamic testing

Testing the properties of solid materials or the behavior of components made of such materials by subjecting them to strong shock from explosives or high-velocity impact.

Infrastructure

Utilities and other physical support systems needed to operate a laboratory or test facility. Included are electric distribution systems, water supply systems, sewage disposal systems, roads, etc.

Magazine

An approved structure designed for the storage of explosives, excluding operating buildings.

Mixed waste

Radioactive waste also containing RCRA-designated hazardous constituents.

Natural uranium

Uranium as it occurs in nature. The natural substance is 99.28 percent uranium-238, 0.72 percent uranium-235, and 0.0055 percent uranium-234. Only the uranium-235 isotope is fissionable by slow neutrons.

Plasma

A cloud of charged particles containing about equal numbers of positive ions and electrons and exhibiting some properties of a gas but differing from a gas in being a good conductor of electricity and being affected by magnetic fields.

Special Isotope Separation (SIS)

At LLNL, the process of Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation applied to plutonium.

Tritium

A radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen, with two neutrons and one proton in its nucleus. Common symbols for the isotope are H3 and T.

U-AVLIS

At LLNL, the process of Atomic Vapor Isotope Separation applied to uranium.

Uranium

See Natural uranium.

Wetland

Land or areas with abundant moisture, saturated or inundated during some portion of the year, or plant species tolerant of such conditions.