Annual Target: Conduct experiments on major fusion facilities to improve understanding of the heat transport in the tokamak scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma, strengthening the basis for projecting divertor conditions in ITER. The divertor heat flux profiles and plasma characteristics in the tokamak scrape-off layer will be measured in multiple devices to investigate the underlying thermal transport processes. The unique characteristics of C-Mod, DIII-D, and NSTX will enable collection of data over a broad range of SOL and divertor parameters (e.g., collisionality ν*, beta β, parallel heat flux q||, and divertor geometry). Coordinated experiments using common analysis methods will generate a data set that will be compared with theory and simulation.

When policy makers propose new policies, there is a need to assess the costs and benefits of the proposed policy measures, to compare them to existing and alternative policies, and to rank them according to their effectiveness. In the case of equipment energy efficiency regulations, comparing the effects of a range of alternative policy measures requires evaluating their effects on consumers’ budgets, on national energy consumption and economics, and on the environment. Such an approach should be able to represent in a single framework the particularities of each policy measure and provide comparable results. This report presents an integrated methodological framework to assess prospectively the energy, economic, and environmental impacts of energy efficiency policy measures. The framework builds on the premise that the comparative assessment of energy efficiency policy measures should (a) rely on a common set of primary data and parameters, (b) follow a single functional approach to estimate the energy, economic, and emissions savings resulting from each assessed measure, and (c) present results through a set of comparable indicators. This framework elaborates on models that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has used in support of its rulemakings on mandatory energy efficiency standards. In addition to a rigorous …

The HB-Line Facility has a long-term mission to dissolve and disposition legacy fissile materials. HB-Line dissolves plutonium dioxide (PuO{sub 2}) from K-Area parting support of the 3013 Destructive Examination (DE) program. The PuO{sub 2}-bearing solids originate from a variety of unit operations and processing facilities, but all of the material is assumed to be high-fired (i.e., calcined in air for a minimum of two hours at {ge} 750 C). The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) conducted dissolution flowsheet studies on 3013 DE Sample 10-16 (can R610826), which contains weapons-grade plutonium (Pu) as the fissile material. The dissolution flowsheet study was performed for 4 hours at 108 C on unwashed material using 12 M nitric acid (HNO{sub 3}) containing 0.20 M potassium fluoride (KF). After 4 hours at 108 C, the {sup 239}Pu Equivalent concentration was 32.5 g/L (gamma, 5.0% uncertainty). The insoluble residue comprised 9.88 wt % of the initial bulk weight, and contained 5.31-5.95 wt % of the initial Pu. The residue contained Pu in the highest concentration, followed by tungsten (W). Analyses detected 2,770 mg/L chloride (Cl{sup -}) in the final dissolver solution (3.28 wt %), which is significantly lower than the amount of Cl{sup -} detected by …

This report is part of the planning process for the demolition of the 234-5Z, 236-Z, 242-Z, and 291-Z-1 structures at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) facilities on the Hanford Site. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) demolition planning effort by making engineering estimates of potential releases for various potential demolition alternatives. This report documents an analysis considering open-air demolition using standard techniques. It does not document any decisions about the decommissioning approaches; it is expected that this report will be revisited as demolition plans are finalized.

TAUWER is a proposed astroparticle experiment to detect ultrahigh energy TAU neutrinos, using detector towers arrayed on a mountainside looking down into a valley. This test is to study the possibility of replacing Hamamatsu miniature PMTs with SiPMs for readout by determining the response of scintillation detectors with SiPM readout to low energy electrons, 2 GeV or lower, as the beam will provide. The detector itself is a compact package shown in the picture on the cover. it was used in a parasitic test beam run on December 15, 2010, to compare the relative timing of the signals from three counters for MIPs. The only change for this new run is the insertion of 1.5 cm of Pb in front of counter 2 or counter 3 during most of the running. The experiment takes some electron data without Pb for calibration purposes. The apparatus will be mounted on the moving table in MT6.2B.

The Small Column Ion Exchange (SCIX) process is being developed to remove cesium, strontium, and actinides from Savannah River Site (SRS) Liquid Waste using an existing waste tank (i.e., Tank 41H) to house the process. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is conducting pilot-scale mixing tests to determine the pump requirements for suspending monosodium titanate (MST), crystalline silicotitanate (CST), and simulated sludge. The purpose of this pilot scale testing is for the pumps to suspend the MST particles so that MST can be removed from the tank. The pilot-scale tank is a 1/10.85 linear scaled model of Tank 41H. The tank diameter, tank liquid level, pump nozzle diameter, pump elevation, and cooling coil diameter are all 1/10.85 of their dimensions in Tank 41H. The pump locations correspond to the proposed locations in Tank 41H by the SCIX program (Risers B5 and B2 for two pump configurations and Risers B5, B3, and B1 for three pump configurations).

The Steamboat Springs geothermal system provides the most dramatic example of subhorizontal thermal-fluid aquifers in crystalline rock in the Basin and Range, but this is by no means an isolated case. Similar but more diffuse subhorizontal permeability has been reported at Roosevelt Hot Springs and Cove-Fort Sulphurdale, Utah; and a km-scale gravity-slide block channels injectate at Dixie Valley, Nevada. During the course of this phase of the project 2543 reports including text, figures and large format enclosures, 1428 maps, and 698 well logs were scanned. The information is stored in a Microsoft Access Database on the Geothermal Server. Detailed geologic cross sections of the Desert Peak geothermal field were developed to identify the structural controls on the geothermal system and locate possible fluid flow paths. The results of this work were published by Lutz and others (2009, Appendix 1) in the Stanford Reservoir Engineering Conference Proceedings.

The overarching purpose of this project was to prepare a proposal for an experiment to demonstrate 6-dimensional muon beam cooling. The technical objectives were all steps in preparing the proposal, which was successfully presented to the Fermilab Accelerator Advisory Committee in February 2009. All primary goals of this project have been met.

Within the context of significantly accelerating scientific progress in research areas that address important societal problems, a workshop was held in November 2010 at EMSL to identify specific and topically important areas of research and capability needs in catalysis-related science.

This report presents a chronological summary of previous technology development efforts concerning the rotary microfiltration (RMF) unit from SpinTek{trademark}. Rotary microfiltration has been developed for high radiation application over the last decades as one of the optional filtration techniques for supplemental treatment. Supplemental treatment includes a near- or in-tank solids separation and subsequent cesium removal unit, followed by an immobilization technique; this includes options such as steam reforming, bulk vitrification or cast stone (grout). The main difference between RMF and standard cross flow filtration (CFF) is the disconnection of filtrate flux from feed velocity; i.e., filtrate flux is only dependent on transmembrane pressure, filter fouling and temperature. These efforts have been supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Cleanup Technologies since the 1990s by their Environmental Management Program (currently EM-31). In order to appropriately address future testing needs, a compilation of the relevant previous testing reports was essential. This compendium does not intend to cover all of the presentations/reports that were produced over the last decades but focuses on those of relevance for developing an RMF unit fit for deployment at the Hanford site. The report is split into three parts: (1) an introductory overview, (2) Figure …

Stockpile stewardship requires the description of weapons performance without resorting to underground nuclear testing. In the earlier tests, selected isotopes were used as detectors, and recovered after irradiation. Aspects of nuclear device performance were inferred by comparing the measured isotopic ratios to those predicted from simulations. The reaction flows that produce the final isotopic distributions proceed through regions of the nuclear chart that include unstable nuclei. Presently, improved nuclear data input is required to reanalyze prior tests and to certify the stockpile's reliability and safety. Many important cross sections are unknown, as is shown in the example of the Yttrium reaction network (Figure 1). The relevant reactions include (n,2n), (n,n'), (n,gamma), (n,p) and other charged-particle emitting reactions. The cross sections have to be calculated or inferred from indirect measurements. In both cases, reliable optical models that are valid a few nucleons away from stability are needed. The UNEDF Nuclear Reaction activities address this need by combining nuclear-structure input from UNEDF structure calculations with modern reaction theory and large-scale computational capabilities to develop microscopic nucleon-nucleus optical potentials that can be extrapolated to unstable nuclei. In addition, the reaction calculation tools and optical models developed in this context are proving valuable for …

Here is a review of the current way we handle source photons in Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC). A source photon is created with a randomly sampled position x{sub p} in the zone, a direction {Omega}{sub p}, a frequency v{sub p} sampled from the appropriate distribution, and a time t{sub p} uniformly sampled from [t{sup n}, t{sup n+1}]. The source photons each have an energy E{sub p}. The sum of E{sub p} over all of the photons equals the energy of the source for that time step. In the case of thermal emission in a zone with Volume V, they would have {Sigma}{sub p=1}{sup N} E{sub p} = {sigma} {sub p}acT{sup 4}V{Delta}t, where N is the number of thermal source photons for that time step, and {sigma}{sub p} is the Planck mean opacity. Census photons do not differ from source photons in any way, except that they all start the time step with t{sub p} = t{sup n}. Then they advance each photon until it reaches the end of the time step. When they are done with all of the photons, they update the matter temperature using the difference between the emitted and absorbed energy, and proceed to the next time …

It is increasingly realized that human exposure either to an acute low dose or multiple chronic low doses of low LET radiation has the potential to cause different types of cancer. Therefore, the central theme of research for DOE and NASA is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathways responsible for the cellular response to low dose radiation which would not only improve the accuracy of estimating health risks but also help in the development of predictive assays for low dose radiation risks associated with tissue degeneration and cancer. The working hypothesis for this proposal is that the cellular mechanisms in terms of DNA damage signaling, repair and cell cycle checkpoint regulation are different for low and high doses of low LET radiation and that the mode of action of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase like kinases (PIKK: ATM, ATR and DNA-PK) determines the dose dependent cellular responses. The hypothesis will be tested at two levels: (I) Evaluation of the role of ATM, ATR and DNA-PK in cellular response to low and high doses of low LET radiation in simple in vitro human cell systems and (II) Determination of radiation responses in complex cell microenvironments such as human EpiDerm tissue constructs. Cellular …

The Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) complex located on the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) site in Niskayuna, New York, was constructed in the late 1940s to research the chemical separation of plutonium and uranium (Figure A-1). SPRU operated as a laboratory scale research facility between February 1950 and October 1953. The research activities ceased following the successful development of the reduction oxidation and plutonium/uranium extraction processes. The oxidation and extraction processes were subsequently developed for large scale use by the Hanford and Savannah River sites (aRc 2008a). Decommissioning of the SPRU facilities began in October 1953 and continued through the 1990s.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), focused a great deal of interest and concern on how individual and social perceptions of risk change behavior and subsequently affect commercial sector venues. Argonne conducted a review of the literature to identify studies that quantify the direct and indirect economic consequences of avoidance behaviors that result from terrorist attacks. Despite a growing amount of literature addressing terrorism impacts, relatively little is known about the causal relationships between risk perception, human avoidance behaviors, and the economic effects on commercial venues. Nevertheless, the technical and academic literature does provide some evidence, both directly and by inference, of the level and duration of post-event avoidance behaviors on commercial venues. Key findings are summarized in this Executive Summary. Also included as an appendix is a more detailed summary table of literature findings reproduced from the full report.

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This report provides a brief overview of the higher education tax benefits that are currently available to students and their families. The report contrasts higher education tax benefits with traditional aid, presents a brief history of higher education tax policy over the past 60 years, summarizes key features of the available tax benefits, and provides JCT estimates of revenue losses resulting from individual tax provisions.

This report discusses the selected budget issue for the department of transportation. It also points out about Highway Trust Fund.

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This report raises several issues for Congress, Including: (I) the priority for countering RDDs vs other CBRN, (II) how to improve radio logical forensics capability, (III) whether to modify certain personnel reliability standards etc.

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This report is categorized into four categories: (I) The Federal NITRD Program, (II) Federal Technology Funding Background and Context, (III) Activity in the 112th and 111th Congresses and (IV) Potential Issues for Congress.

This report is on Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs.