This report summarizes existing analytical data gleaned from samples taken from the Hanford tanks designated as potentially containing transuranic mixed process wastes. Process knowledge of the wastes transferred to these tanks has been reviewed to determine whether the dangerous waste characteristics now assigned to all Hanford underground storage tanks are applicable to these particular wastes. Supplemental technologies are being examined to accelerate the Hanford tank waste cleanup mission and accomplish waste treatment safely and efficiently. To date, 11 Hanford waste tanks have been designated as potentially containing contact-handled (CH) transuranic mixed (TRUM) wastes. The CH-TRUM wastes are found in single-shell tanks B-201 through B-204, T-201 through T-204, T-104, T-110, and T-111. Methods and equipment to solidify and package the CH-TRUM wastes are part of the supplemental technologies being evaluated. The resulting packages and wastes must be acceptable for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The dangerous waste characteristics being considered include ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity arising from the presence of 2,4,5-trichlorophenol at levels above the dangerous waste threshold. The analytical data reviewed include concentrations of sulfur, sulfate, cyanide, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, total organic carbon, and oxalate; the composition of the tank headspace, pH, and mercury. Differential scanning calorimetry results …

The purpose of this Model Report (REV02) is to document the unsaturated zone (UZ) models used to evaluate the potential effects of coupled thermal-hydrological-chemical (THC) processes on UZ flow and transport. This Model Report has been developed in accordance with the ''Technical Work Plan for: Performance Assessment Unsaturated Zone'' (Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC (BSC) 2002 [160819]). The technical work plan (TWP) describes planning information pertaining to the technical scope, content, and management of this Model Report in Section 1.12, Work Package AUZM08, ''Coupled Effects on Flow and Seepage''. The plan for validation of the models documented in this Model Report is given in Attachment I, Model Validation Plans, Section I-3-4, of the TWP. Except for variations in acceptance criteria (Section 4.2), there were no deviations from this TWP. This report was developed in accordance with AP-SIII.10Q, ''Models''. This Model Report documents the THC Seepage Model and the Drift Scale Test (DST) THC Model. The THC Seepage Model is a drift-scale process model for predicting the composition of gas and water that could enter waste emplacement drifts and the effects of mineral alteration on flow in rocks surrounding drifts. The DST THC model is a drift-scale process model relying on the …

The goal of the RHIC 2004 Au-Au run was to maximize the achieved integrated luminosity. One way is to increase beam currents and minimize beam transverse emittances. Another important ingredient is the minimization of time spent on activities postponing the declaration of ''physics conditions'', i.e. stable beam conditions allowing the experimental detectors to take data. Since collision rates are particularly high in the beginning of the store the integrated luminosity benefits considerably from any minute saved early in the store. In the RHIC run 2004 a new IR steering application uses luminosity monitor signals as a feedback for a fully automated steering procedure. This report gives an overview of the used procedure and summarizes the achieved results.

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The radiation effects on the physical characteristic of the sewage sludge were studied in order to obtain information which will be used for study on the enhancement of the sludge's dewaterability. Water contents, capillary suction time, zeta potential, irradiation dose, sludge acidity, total solid concentration, sludge particle size and microbiology before and after irradiation were investigated. Irradiation gave an effect on physical characteristics sludge. Water content in sludge cake could be reduced by irradiation at the dose of 10kGy.

We explore the feasibility of using Feynman moments as attributes of fissile material in warhead authentication measurements. We present results of computer simulations of neutron correlation measurements to validate and inform the application of the method to measurements in an arms control scenario. We establish the robustness of the method for use in automated measuring equipment that protects classified or sensitive data using an information barrier. Drawing from our results, we define high-level requirements to govern the design process, and guide the construction of a prototype.

This paper describes a research project to develop and test Automated Demand Response hardware and software technology in large facilities. We describe the overall project and some of the commissioning and system design problems that took place. Demand Response (DR) is a set of activities to reduce or shift electricity use to improve the electric grid reliability purposes, manage electricity costs, and ensure that customers receive signals that encourage load reduction during times when the electric grid is near its capacity. There were a number of specific commissioning challenges in conducting this test including software compatibility, incorrect time zones, IT and EMCS failures, and hardware issues. The knowledge needed for this type of system commissioning combines knowledge of building controls with network management and knowledge of emerging information technologies.

Frequency domain substructure synthesis is a modeling technique that enables the prediction of a combined response of individual structures using experimentally measured or numerically predicted frequency response functions (FRFs). The traditional synthesis algorithm [1,2] operates on component impedances and thus generally requires several matrix inversions. An improved algorithm, developed by Jetmundsen et al. [3], requires a single matrix inversion with a completely arbitrary interface definition that can easily incorporate connection impedances. The main limitations of the method are the large data requirements and sensitivity to data truncation. The utility of this technique is demonstrated through a comparison of synthesized and measured admittances of an edge-stiffened plate with attached equipment. The plate mobilities are obtained from a numerical analysis because of the ability to accurately model this structure using a finite element representation. The attachments are characterized experimentally because of their complexity. The sections describe the synthesis technique and show numerical and experimental results for the plate and equipment.

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) techniques have been developed to manufacture continuous phase plates (CPP's) and custom phase corrective structures on polished fused silica surfaces. These phase structures are important for laser applications requiring precise manipulation and control of beam-shape, energy distribution, and wavefront profile. The MRF's unique deterministic-sub-aperture polishing characteristics make it possible to imprint complex topographical information onto optical surfaces at spatial scale-lengths approaching 1 mm. In this study, we present the results of experiments and model calculations that explore imprinting two-dimensional sinusoidal structures. Results show how the MRF removal function impacts and limits imprint fidelity and what must be done to arrive at a high quality surface. We also present several examples of this imprinting technology for fabrication of phase correction plates and CPPs for use at high fluences.

I recently spent a summer as an intern at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I worked on a project involving the real-time, reagentless, single cell detection of aerosolized pathogens using a novel mass spectrometry approach called Bio-Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (BAMS). Based upon preliminary results showing the differentiation capabilities of BAMS, I would like to explore the development and use of this novel detection system in the context of both environmental and clinical sample pathogen detection. I would also like to explore the broader public health applications that a system such as BAMS might have in terms of infectious disease prevention and control. In order to appreciate the potential of this instrument, I will demonstrate the need for better pathogen detection methods, and outline the instrumentation, data analysis and preliminary results that lead me toward a desire to explore this technology further. I will also discuss potential experiments for the future along with possible problems that may be encountered along the way.

Dimensional changes related to temperature cycling of the beta and delta polymorphs of HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) are important for a variety of applications. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the beta and delta phases are measured and reported in this work over a temperature range of -20 C to 215 C. In addition, dimensional changes associated with the phase transition were measured, both through the transition and back down. Initially, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to investigate back conversion of the delta phase to the beta phase polymorph. The most successful approach was first to measure the amount of the beta to delta conversion, then after a given cooling period a repeat analysis, to measure the heat consumed by a second pass through the beta to delta phase transition. In addition, TMA is used to measure the dimensional change of a 0.20-gram sample of HMX during its initial heating and then three days later during a 2nd heating. This HMX shows the beta to delta phase transition a second time, thereby confirming the back conversion from delta to beta phase HMX.

Many methods exist for identifying modal parameters from experimental transfer function measurements. For frequency domain calculations, rational fraction polynomials have become the method of choice, although it generally requires the user to identify frequency bands of interest along with the number of modes in each band. This process can be tedious, especially for systems with a large number of modes, and it assumes the user can accurately assess the number of modes present in each band from frequency response plots of the transfer functions. When the modal density is high, better results can be obtained by using the singular value decomposition to help separate the modes before the modal identification process begins. In a typical calculation, the transfer function data for a single frequency is arranged in matrix form with each column representing a different drive point. The matrix is input to the singular value decomposition algorithm and left- and right-singular vectors and a diagonal singular value matrix are computed. The calculation is repeated at each analysis frequency and the resulting data is used to identify the modal parameters. In the optimal situation, the singular value decomposition will completely separate the modes from each other, so that a single transfer …

A wavelet-neural network signal processing method has demonstrated approximately tenfold improvement over traditional signal-processing methods for the detection limit of various nitrogen and phosphorus compounds from the output of a thermionic detector attached to a gas chromatograph. A blind test was conducted to validate the lower detection limit. All fourteen of the compound spikes were detected when above the estimated threshold, including all three within a factor of two above the threshold. In addition, two of six spikes were detected at levels of 1/2 the concentration of the nominal threshold. Another two of the six would have been detected correctly if we had allowed human intervention to examine the processed data. One apparent false positive in five nulls was traced to a solvent impurity, whose presence was subsequently identified by analyzing a solvent aliquot evaporated to 1% residual volume, while the other four nulls were properly classified. We view this signal processing method as broadly applicable in analytical chemistry, and we advocate that advanced signal processing methods should be applied as directly as possible to the raw detector output so that less discriminating preprocessing and post-processing does not throw away valuable signal.

In the next decades, oil exploration by majors and independents will increasingly be in remote, inaccessible areas, or in areas where there has been extensive shallow exploration but deeper exploration potential may remain; areas where the collection of data is expensive, difficult, or even impossible, and where the most efficient use of existing data can drive the economics of the target. The ability to read hydrocarbon chemistry in terms of subsurface migration processes by relating it to the evolution of the basin and fluid migration is perhaps the single technological capability that could most improve our ability to explore effectively because it would allow us to use a vast store of existing or easily collected chemical data to determine the major migration pathways in a basin and to determine if there is deep exploration potential. To this end a the DOE funded a joint effort between California Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and GeoGroup Inc. to assemble a representative set of maturity and maturation kinetic models and develop an advanced basin model able to predict the chemistry of hydrocarbons in a basin from this input data. The four year project is now completed and has produced set of public domain …

Detailed reactor physics and safety analyses are being performed for the 20 MW D{sub 2}O-moderated research reactor at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The analyses employ state-of-the-art calculational methods and will contribute to an update to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). Three-dimensional MCNP Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport calculations are performed to determine power and reactivity parameters, including feedback coefficients and control element worths. The core depletion and determination of the fuel compositions are performed with MONTEBURNS to model the reactor at the beginning, middle, and end-of-cycle. The time-dependent analysis of the primary loop is determined with a RELAP5 transient analysis model that includes the pump, heat exchanger, fuel element geometry, and flow channels. A statistical analysis used to assure protection from critical heat flux (CHF) is performed using a Monte Carlo simulation of the uncertainties contributing to the CHF calculation. The power distributions used to determine the local fuel conditions and margin to CHF are determined with MCNP. Evaluations have been performed for the following accidents: (1) the control rod withdrawal startup accident, (2) the maximum reactivity insertion accident, (3) loss-of-flow resulting from loss of electrical power, (4) loss-of-flow resulting from a primary pump …

This report describes a site-response model and its implementation for developing earthquake ground motion input for preclosure seismic design and postclosure assessment of the proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The model implements a random-vibration theory (RVT), one-dimensional (1D) equivalent-linear approach to calculate site response effects on ground motions. The model provides results in terms of spectral acceleration including peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and dynamically-induced strains as a function of depth. In addition to documenting and validating this model for use in the Yucca Mountain Project, this report also describes the development of model inputs, implementation of the model, its results, and the development of earthquake time history inputs based on the model results. The purpose of the site-response ground motion model is to incorporate the effects on earthquake ground motions of (1) the approximately 300 m of rock above the emplacement levels beneath Yucca Mountain and (2) soil and rock beneath the site of the Surface Facilities Area. A previously performed probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) (CRWMS M&O 1998a [DIRS 103731]) estimated ground motions at a reference rock outcrop for the Yucca Mountain site (Point A), but those results do not include these site response effects. …

Among the many physics processes at TeV hadron colliders, we look most eagerly for those that display signs of the Higgs boson or of new physics. We do so however amid an abundance of processes that proceed via Standard Model (SM) and in particular Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) interactions, and that are interesting in their own right. Good knowledge of these processes is required to help us distinguish the new from the known. Their theoretical and experimental study teaches us at the same time more about QCD/SM dynamics, and thereby enables us to further improve such distinctions. This is important because it is becoming increasingly clear that the success of finding and exploring Higgs boson physics or other New Physics at the Tevatron and LHC will depend significantly on precise understanding of QCD/SM effects for many observables. To improve predictions and deepen the study of QCD/SM signals and backgrounds was therefore the ambition for our QCD/SM working group at this Les Houches workshop. Members of the working group made significant progress towards this on a number of fronts. A variety of tools were further developed, from methods to perform higher order perturbative calculations or various types of resummation, to improvements in …

The original scope of work was to obtain and analyze existing and emerging data in four states: California, Florida, New York, and Wisconsin. The goal of this data collection was to deliver a baseline database or recommendations for such a database that could possibly contain window and daylighting features and energy performance characteristics of Kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) school buildings (or those of classrooms when available). In particular, data analyses were performed based upon the California Commercial End-Use Survey (CEUS) databases to understand school energy use, features of window glazing, and availability of daylighting in California K-12 schools. The outcomes from this baseline task can be used to assist in establishing a database of school energy performance, assessing applications of existing technologies relevant to window and daylighting design, and identifying future R&D needs. These are in line with the overall project goals as outlined in the proposal. Through the review and analysis of this data, it is clear that there are many compounding factors impacting energy use in K-12 school buildings in the U.S., and that there are various challenges in understanding the impact of K-12 classroom energy use associated with design features of window glazing and skylight. First, …

TRUMPET is a series of dynamic subcritical experiments planned for execution in the U1a.102D alcove of the U1a Complex at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The location of LLNL drifts at the U1a Complex is shown in Figure 1. The data from the TRUMPET experiments will be used in the Stockpile Stewardship Program to assess the aging of nuclear weapons components and to better model the long-term performance of weapons in the enduring stockpile. The TRUMPET series of experiments will be conducted in an almost identical way as the OBOE series of experiments. Individual TRUMPET experiments will be housed in an experiment vessel, as was done for OBOE. These vessels are the same as those utilized for OBOE. All TRUMPET experiments will occur in the zero room in the U1a.102D alcove, which is on the opposite side of the U1a.102 drift from U1a.102C, which housed the OBOE experiments. The centerlines of these two alcoves are separated by only 10 feet. As with OBOE experiments, expended TRUMPET experiment vessels will be moved to the back of the alcove and entombed in grout. After the TRUMPET series of experiments is completed, another experiment will be sited in the U1a.102D alcove and it …

Weekly newspaper from Leonard, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Mercedes, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.