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Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) is used for elemental and isotopic analysis of solid samples. The greatest strength of SIMS is the ability to analyze very small areas (as small as 50 nm using the CAMECA NanoSIMS, for example) and to generate high-spatial resolution maps of the distribution of elements and isotopes within the sample. The measurement of the isotopic composition of sample is usually straightforward, only requiring the analysis of the sample and that of an isotopic reference material for determination of the mass bias of the instrument. Quantification of elements, however, involves the analysis of matrix matched standards for the determination of the relative sensitivity factor (a function of both the element to be analyzed and the matrix). SIMS is commonly used in nuclear forensics for exploring the heterogeneity of the material on fine spatial scale.

Pressing materials problems that must be solved before tritium can be used to produce energy economically in fusion reactors are discussed. The following topics are discussed: (1) breeding tritium, (2) recovering bred tritium, (3) containing tritium, (4) fuel recycling, and (5) laser-fusion fueling. (MOW)

This report consists of two parts. Part 1 describes the development of novel analytical methods needed to predict the BOM performance and the subsequent performance degradation of the mutually obstructed RTGs for the CRAF and Cassini missions. Part II applies those methods to the two missions, presents the resultant predictions, and discusses their programmatic implications. The results indicate that JPL's original power demand goals could have been met with two standard GPHS RTGs for each mission. However, JPL subsequently raised both the power demand profile and the duration for both missions, to the point where two standard RTGs could no longer provide the desired power margin. Each mission can be satisfied by adding a third RTG, and in the case of the Cassini mission the use of three RTGs appears to be unavoidable. In the case of the CRAF mission, there appears to be a possibility that modest modifications of the RTGs' design and/or operating scheme and meet the missions' power demand without the addition of a third RTG. The potential saving in cost and schedule pressure prompted Fairchild to undertake a study of various obvious and not-so-obvious stratagems, either singly or in combination, to determine whether they would make …

Developing a sophisticated theory to understand the electronic structure of 5f-metals is a great challenge to solid state physics. Complicated electronic structures of 5f-metals make their properties strongly sensitive to small energy changes produced by the addition of a small amount of alloy, impurities, or crystal structure defects caused by irradiation. A theoretical material science technique applicable to investigate these effects is atomistic simulation using Classical Molecular Dynamics (CMD). In contrast to ab initio techniques, CMD may include several million particles, so that there is a possibility of direct simulation of very low concentration impurities and defects (as well as phenomena such as plasticity and polymorphous transitions) under given conditions. The goal is to develop theoretical models to understand and predict changes in materials properties of actinides caused by self-irradiation.

Laboratory apparatus has been designed, built, and put into operation to study the supercooling of Sn--Si melts and the uptake of silicon from silanes. Values of supercooling of Sn--Si melts as high as 78/sup 0/C at 1100/sup 0/C and 39/sup 0/C at 1200/sup 0/C have been observed. Results to date have been limited by nucleation caused by foreign material floating on the surface of the melt. Spontaneously nucleated planar platelet growth has been observed at the Sn--Si supercooled surface having growth rates of approximately 0.5 cm/min. Homogeneous nucleation of silane decomposition has been studied at 1015/sup 0/C and 1135/sup 0/C. The flow rates of HCl required to suppress gas phase decomposition have been determined for silane flow rates up to 4.5 x 10/sup -3/ mole/min. Initial silicon uptake experiments have shown that at least 20 percent of the incoming silicon contained in a flowing silane gas stream can be incorporated into liquid tin at 1040/sup 0/C.

The aim of our proposal is to apply interface engineering approach to improve charge extraction, guide active layer morphology, improve materials compatibility, and ultimately allow the fabrication of high efficiency tandem cells. Specifically, we aim at developing: i. Interfacial engineering using small molecule self-assembled monolayers ii. Nanostructure engineering in OPVs using polymer brushes iii. Development of efficient light harvesting and high mobility materials for OPVs iv. Physical characterization of the nanostructured systems using electrostatic force microscopy, and conducting atomic force microscopy v. All-solution processed organic-based tandem cells using interfacial engineering to optimize the recombination layer currents vi. Theoretical modeling of charge transport in the active semiconducting layer The material development effort is guided by advanced computer modeling and surface/ interface engineering tools to allow us to obtain better understanding of the effect of electrode modifications on OPV performance for the investigation of more elaborate device structures. The materials and devices developed within this program represent a major conceptual advancement using an integrated approach combining rational molecular design, material, interface, process, and device engineering to achieve solar cells with high efficiency, stability, and the potential to be used for large-area roll-to-roll printing. This may create significant impact in lowering manufacturing cost …

A series of tests were performed to examine the sorption of stable Sr versus the sorption of {sup 85}Sr by monosodium titanate (MST) and modified monosodium titanate (mMST) from simulated waste solutions. Earlier testing indicated a discrepancy between the decontamination factors (DFs) obtained by measuring the stable Sr concentrations by inductively coupled plasma - mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and the {sup 85}Sr activities by gamma spectroscopy. One hypothesis to explain this discrepancy was that the stable Sr and {sup 85}Sr were in different chemical forms in the simulated solutions. Several simulants were prepared using different methods for adding the Sr and performance tests were carried out using MST and mMST to determine the Sr and {sup 85}Sr DFs with the various simulants. Testing indicated no discrepancy between the Sr and {sup 85}Sr DFs in tests with these simulants.

This report summarizes work carried out by the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) from October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. It discusses ESG-CET highlights for the reporting period, overall progress, period goals, and collaborations, and lists papers and presentations. To learn more about our project and to find previous reports, please visit the ESG-CET Web sites: http://esg-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ and/or https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/esgcet/Home. This report will be forwarded to managers in the Department of Energy (DOE) Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program and the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), as well as national and international collaborators and stakeholders (e.g., those involved in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5 (CMIP5) for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5); the Community Earth System Model (CESM); the Climate Science Computational End Station (CCES); SciDAC II: A Scalable and Extensible Earth System Model for Climate Change Science; the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP); the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)), and also to researchers working on a variety of other climate model and observation evaluation activities. The ESG-CET executive committee …

Scientists are finding increased applications for microprocessors as process controllers in their experiments. However, while microprocessors are small and inexpensive, they are difficult to program in machine or assembly language. A high-level language is needed to enable scientists to develop their own microprocessor programs for their experiments on location. Recognizing this need, LLL contracted to have such a language developed. This report describes the result -- the LLL BASIC interpreter. 1 figure, 4 tables.

The purpose of this study was to obtain a simulation of the most rapid start-up thermal transient which would be encountered in the BIPS operation. As an aid in reducing the severity of the transient, it was agreed with the NASA that the case to examine would be determined by the following logic: (a) determine the lowest temperature at which a start could be accomplished using a 2 HSA configuration; and (b) define the transients for a 3 HSA start which was initiated when the heat source achieved the start temperature determined for the 2 HSA configuration of (a). This approach limits the transient analysis of the recuperator and the HSA to a single case. (The 2 HSA start requires a higher initial temperature due to lower thermal capacity with only two HSA's). The transient defined is ''worst case'' for either two or three HSA operation. In order to obtain the above data, several computer cases were run. A summary of the computer runs made is presented in tabular form.

The temperature distribution along a coaxial electrical cable can be determined by means of frequency-domain reflectometry if the cable has an inner sheath of a suitable temperature-sensitive dielectric material. Such a technique would have advantages in cost and convenience over the conventional method of placing a separate thermocouple at each point where the temperature is to be measured. It would be especially useful for underground applications in assessing geothermal reservoirs and in instrumenting in situ coal-gasification and oil-shale-retorting experiments.

This thesis presents a two-grid algorithm based on Smoothed Aggregation Spectral Element Agglomeration Algebraic Multigrid (SA-{rho}AMGe) combined with adaptation. The aim is to build an efficient solver for the linear systems arising from discretization of second-order elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) with stochastic coefficients. Examples include PDEs that model subsurface flow with random permeability field. During a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation process, that draws PDE coefficient samples from a certain distribution, the PDE coefficients change, hence the resulting linear systems to be solved change. At every such step the system (discretized PDE) needs to be solved and the computed solution used to evaluate some functional(s) of interest that then determine if the coefficient sample is acceptable or not. The MCMC process is hence computationally intensive and requires the solvers used to be efficient and fast. This fact that at every step of MCMC the resulting linear system changes, makes an already existing solver built for the old problem perhaps not as efficient for the problem corresponding to the new sampled coefficient. This motivates the main goal of our study, namely, to adapt an already existing solver to handle the problem (with changed coefficient) with the objective to achieve …

In this project, we focused on applications of the new warm-rain and ice microphysics schemes to simulate various cloud systems. The overall goal was either to evaluate and improve specific aspects of the schemes (through comparisons with ARM/ASR observations) or to understand the coupling between aerosols, cloud microphysics and cloud dynamics in variety of situations. These studies are relevant to the indirect impact of atmospheric aerosols on climate. Below we report on selected key aspects of the research and then list all peer-reviewed papers that acknowledge support from this grant. Overall, studies partially supported by this grant resulted in 30 peer-reviewed publications (listed below), several dozens of conference presentations (including posters and oral presentations at the ASR Science Team Meetings), and two PhD dissertations. More detailed summaries of our accomplishments are included in yearly reports. Here we summarize only major efforts.

A small community in Northern California is attempting to use a local geothermal resource to generate electrical power and cascade residual energy to an existing geothermal district heating system, greenhouse, and future fish farm and subsequent reinjection into the geothermal aquifer, creating a net-zero energy community, not including transportation.

This report is a letter about a review of the ``Quality Assurance Project Plan for the INEL Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Waste Characterization Project.`` The author of the letter recommended the approval of the quality assurance program. However in his review, several observations were made and were requested to be added to the program. Examples of these observations were safety of personnel involved in the program, safe characterization of hazardous materials studied, quality of calibrations required for measurement objectives, and reporting of hazardous sampling. (MB)

The Hanford reactors have undergone numerous hydraulic changes which have increased production output either directly, as in the cases of raising bulk limited power levels, or indirectly, such as reorificing to accommodate major advances in pile flattening efficiencies. Unfortunately, whenever major hydraulic changes occur, Panellit pressures that had been prevalent also change, sometimes to the extent that efficient pile operation is affected. Therefore, when hydraulic changes occur, an investigation is generally made to seek a new orifice and/or venturi design that will not only alleviate the Panellit problem but also utilize the available reactor process water in the best possible fashion. The method presented in this document discusses the approach made at DR reactor. This method should, with few changes (mainly in limit requirements), apply to determining the optimum orifice size at any reactor. Each reactor flow system has individual perculiarities which necessitate a separate analysis to determine the optimum venturi size. There is some probability that one venturi size may represent an optimum selection for groups of reactors, notably the old reactors, K reactors, and C reactor. To some extent this has already been done in the form of the 0.283 venturi, 0.310 venturi, etc.

This report describes a study of water velocity around an extended-length submerged bar screen (ESBS) at John Day Dam. The study was conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by AScI Corporation and MEVATEC Corporation in March of 2000. This report was prepared by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. ESBS are being studied as one method for diverting juvenile migrating fish from the dam's turbine intakes into the gate well and through the juvenile fish bypass channels.

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Energy, Fluor Hanford, Inc., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the Washington Department of Ecology agreed that the long-term strategy for groundwater remediation at the 100-N Area would include apatite sequestration as the primary treatment, followed by a secondary treatment if necessary. Since then, the agencies have worked together to agree on which apatite sequestration technology has the greatest chance of reducing strontium-90 flux to the Columbia River. This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the quality assurance requirements and processes that will be followed by staff working on the PNNL Apatite Investigation at 100-NR-2 Project. The plan is designed to be used exclusively by project staff.

This report is part of a series of reports on building energy efficiency codes in countries associated with the Asian Pacific Partnership (APP) - Australia, South Korea, Japan, China, India, and the United States of America (U.S.). This reports gives an overview of the development of building energy codes in Australia, including national energy policies related to building energy codes, history of building energy codes, recent national projects and activities to promote building energy codes. The report also provides a review of current building energy codes (such as building envelope, HVAC, and lighting) for commercial and residential buildings in Australia.

The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is performing a scoping study as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Environmental Monitoring Systems Initiative (EMSI). The main objective is to obtain baseline air quality information for Yucca Mountain and an area surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Air quality and meteorological monitoring and sampling equipment housed in a mobile trailer (shelter) (cover page figure) is collecting data at eight sites outside the NTS, including Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Beatty, Sarcobatus Flats, Rachel, Caliente, Pahranagat NWR, Crater Flat, and Tonopah Airport, and at four sites on the NTS (Engelbrecht et al., 2007a-d). The trailer is stationed at any one site for approximately eight weeks at a time. This letter report provides a summary of air quality and meteorological data, on completion of the site's sampling program.

Industrial-scale injection of CO{sub 2} into saline sedimentary basins will cause large-scale fluid pressurization and migration of native brines, which may affect valuable groundwater resources overlying the deep sequestration reservoirs. In this paper, we discuss how such basin-scale hydrologic impacts can (1) affect regulation of CO{sub 2} storage projects and (2) may reduce current storage capacity estimates. Our assessment arises from a hypothetical future carbon sequestration scenario in the Illinois Basin, which involves twenty individual CO{sub 2} storage projects in a core injection area suitable for long-term storage. Each project is assumed to inject five million tonnes of CO{sub 2} per year for 50 years. A regional-scale three-dimensional simulation model was developed for the Illinois Basin that captures both the local-scale CO{sub 2}-brine flow processes and the large-scale groundwater flow patterns in response to CO{sub 2} storage. The far-field pressure buildup predicted for this selected sequestration scenario suggests that (1) the area that needs to be characterized in a permitting process may comprise a very large region within the basin if reservoir pressurization is considered, and (2) permits cannot be granted on a single-site basis alone because the near- and far-field hydrologic response may be affected by interference between individual …

This report describes the results of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities for salmonid fish populations and habitat in the Klickitat River subbasin in south-central Washington. The M&E activities described here were conducted as a part of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)-funded Yakima/Klickitat Fisheries Project (YKFP) and were designed by consensus of the scientists with the Yakama Nation (YN) Fisheries Program. YKFP is a joint project between YN and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Overall YKFP goals are to increase natural production of and opportunity to harvest salmon and steelhead in the Yakima and Klickitat subbasins using hatchery supplementation, harvest augmentation and habitat improvements. Klickitat subbasin M&E activities have been subjected to scientific and technical review by members of the YKFP Science/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) as part of the YKFP's overall M&E proposal. Yakama Nation YKFP biologists have transformed the conceptual design into the tasks described. YKFP biologists have also been involved with the Collaborative Systemwide Monitoring and Evaluation Project (CSMEP - a project aimed at improving the quality, consistency, and focus of fish population and habitat data to answer key M&E questions relevant to major decisions in the Columbia Basin) and are working towards keeping Klickitat M&E activities …