Remarkable scientific progress has been demonstrated toward the creation of a low cost (“printable”) solar cell technology by the interdisciplinary group at UC Santa Barbara. Multi-layer architectures were implemented with clean interfaces were demonstrated; the various interfaces are sharp; there is no evidence of inter-layer mixing. This is indeed remarkable since each of these layers was processed from solution. The use of “Processing Additives” such as the alkanedithiols was demonstrated to increase the power conversion efficiency of BHJ solar cells by a factor of two. Equally important, the mechanism by which these Processing Additives function has been identified.

Summary of the specific research and project accomplishments: Through this collaboration, LBNL and FPSI determined the specific energy manipulations that apply to the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX) ion beam and developed the preliminary design of a Fast Induction Energy Corrector (FIEC). This effort was successfully completed, firmly establishing the technical feasibility of the proposed approach for regulating the longitudinal energy distribution of the NDCX ion beam. This is a critical step in achieving the NDCX goal of axial compression of the beam by a factor of 100 during neutralized drift.

If quasi-axisymmetry is preserved, non-axisymmetric shaping can be used to design tokamaks that do not require current drive, are resilient to disruptions, and have robust plasma stability without feedback. Suggestions for addressing the critical issues of tokamaks can only be validated when presented with sufficient specificity that validating experiments can be designed. The purpose of this paper is provide that specificity for non-axisymmetric shaping. To our knowledge, no other suggestions for the solution of a number of tokamak issues, such as disruptions, have reached this level of specificity. Sequences of three-field-period quasi-axisymmetric plasmas are studied. These sequences address the questions: (1) What can be achieved at various levels of non-axisymmetric shaping? (2) What simplifications to the coils can be achieved by going to a larger aspect ratio? (3) What range of shaping can be achieved in a single experimental facility? The sequences of plasmas found in this study provide a set of interesting and potentially important configurations.

The optical properties of aerosol particles are the controlling factors in determining direct aerosol radiative forcing. These optical properties depend on the chemical composition and size distribution of the aerosol particles, which can change due to various processes during the particles’ lifetime in the atmosphere. Over the course of this project we have studied how cloud processing of atmospheric aerosol changes the aerosol optical properties. A counterflow virtual impactor was used to separate cloud drops from interstitial aerosol and parallel aerosol systems were used to measure the optical properties of the interstitial and cloud-scavenged aerosol. Specifically, aerosol light scattering, back-scattering and absorption were measured and used to derive radiatively significant parameters such as aerosol single scattering albedo and backscatter fraction for cloud-scavenged and interstitial aerosol. This data allows us to demonstrate that the radiative properties of cloud-processed aerosol can be quite different than pre-cloud aerosol. These differences can be used to improve the parameterization of aerosol forcing in climate models.

This report addresses the impact of (1) the time and temperature curing conditions (profile) and (2) the impact of higher aluminate concentrations in the decontaminated salt solution on Saltstone processing and performance properties. The results demonstrate that performance properties as well as some of the processing properties of Saltstone are highly sensitive to the conditions of time and temperature under which curing occurs. This sensitivity is in turn dependent on the concentration of aluminate in the salt feed solution. In general, the performance properties and indicators (Young's modulus, compressive strength and total porosity) are reduced when curing is initially carried out under high temperature. However, this reduction in performance properties is dependent on the sequence of temperatures (the time/temperature profile) experienced during the curing process. That is, samples that are subjected to a 1, 2, 3 or 4 day curing time at 60 C followed by final curing at 22 C lead to performance properties that are significantly different than the properties of grouts allowed to cure for 1, 2, 3 or 4 days at 22 C followed by a treatment at 60 C. The performance properties of Saltstone cured in the sequence of higher temperature first are generally less …

The objectives of this program were to: (1) Develop a reliable, cost-effective, and production-friendly technique to apply the power-enhancing layer at the interface of the air electrode and electrolyte of the Siemens SOFC; (2) Design, build, install, and operate in the field two 5 kWe SOFC systems fabricated with the state-of-the-art cylindrical, tubular cell and bundle technology and incorporating advanced module design features. Siemens successfully demonstrated, first in a number of single cell tests and subsequently in a 48-cell bundle test, a significant power enhancement by employing a power-enhancing composite interlayer at the interface between the air electrode and electrolyte. While successful from a cell power enhancement perspective, the interlayer application process was not suitable for mass manufacturing. The application process was of inconsistent quality, labor intensive, and did not have an acceptable yield. This program evaluated the technical feasibility of four interlayer application techniques. The candidate techniques were selected based on their potential to achieve the technical requirements of the interlayer, to minimize costs (both labor and material), and suitably for large-scale manufacturing. Preliminary screening, utilizing lessons learned in manufacturing tubular cells, narrowed the candidate processes to two, ink-roller coating (IRC) and dip coating (DC). Prototype fixtures were successfully …

A major challenge facing the prospective deployment of radiation detection systems for homeland security applications is the discrimination of radiological or nuclear 'threat sources' from radioactive, but benign, 'nuisance sources'. Common examples of such nuisance sources include naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), medical patients who have received radioactive drugs for either diagnostics or treatment, and industrial sources. A sensitive detector that cannot distinguish between 'threat' and 'benign' classes will generate false positives which, if sufficiently frequent, will preclude it from being operationally deployed. In this report, we describe a first-principles physics-based modeling approach that is used to approximate the physical properties and corresponding gamma ray spectral signatures of real nuisance sources. Specific models are proposed for the three nuisance source classes - NORM, medical and industrial. The models can be validated against measured data - that is, energy spectra generated with the model can be compared to actual nuisance source data. We show by example how this is done for NORM and medical sources, using data sets obtained from spectroscopic detector deployments for cargo container screening and urban area traffic screening, respectively. In addition to capturing the range of radioactive signatures of individual nuisance sources, a nuisance source population model …

This is the final technical report for a project involving the study of stress response systems in the radiation-resistant bacterium, Deinococcus radiodurans. Three stresses of importance for a mixed waste treatment strain were studied, heat shock, solvent shock, and phosphate starvation. In each case, specific genes involved in the ability to survive the stress were identified using a systems biology approach, and analysis of mutants was used to understand mechanisms. This study has led to increased understanding of the ways in which a potential treatment strain could be manipulated to survive multiple stresses for treatment of mixed wastes.

The Albeni Falls Interagency Work Group (AFIWG) was actively involved in implementing wildlife mitigation activities in late 2007, but due to internal conflicts, the AFIWG members has fractionated into a smaller group. Implementation of the monitoring and evaluation program continued across protected lands. As of 2008, The Albeni Falls Interagency Work Group (Work Group) is a coalition comprised of wildlife managers from three tribal entities (Kalispel Tribe, Kootenai Tribe, Coeur d Alene Tribe) and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Work Group directs where wildlife mitigation implementation occurs in the Kootenai, Pend Oreille and Coeur d Alene subbasins. The Work Group is unique in the Columbia Basin. The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) wildlife managers in 1995, approved what was one of the first two project proposals to implement mitigation on a programmatic basis. The maintenance of this kind of approach through time has allowed the Work Group to implement an effective and responsive habitat protection program by reducing administrative costs associated with site-specific project proposals. The core mitigation entities maintain approximately 9,335 acres of wetland/riparian habitats in 2008.

Laser-induced magnetic fields in ICF capsules Final Report, DE-FG02-08ER85128, Phase 1 E. L. LINDMAN, Otowi Technical Services, Los Alamos, NM. The performance of an inertial-confinement-fusion (ICF) capsule can be improved by inserting a magnetic field into it before compressing it [Kirkpatrick, et al., Fusion Technol. 27, 205 (1995)]. To obtain standoff in an ICF power generator, a method of inserting the field without the use of low-inductance leads attached to the capsule is desired. A mechanism for generating such a field using a laser was discovered in Japan [Sakagami, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 839 (1979), Kolodner and Yablonovitch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 43, 1402 (1979)] and studied at Los Alamos in the 1980s [M. A. Yates, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 1702 (1982); Forslund and Brackbill, Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 1614 (1982)]. In this mechanism, a p-polarized laser beam strikes a solid target producing hot electrons that are accelerated away from the target surface by resonant absorption. An electric field is created that returns the hot electrons to the target. But, they do not return to the target along the same trajectory on which they left. The resulting current produces a toroidal magnetic field that was observed to …

At the Saltstone Production Facility (SPF), decontaminated salt solution (DSS) is combined with premix (a cementitious mixture of portland cement (PC), blast furnace slag (BFS) and Class F fly ash (FA)) in a Readco mixer to produce fresh (uncured) Saltstone. After transfer to the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF) the hydration reactions initiated during the contact of the premix and salt solution continue during the curing period to produce the hardened waste form product. The amount of heat generated from hydration and the resultant temperature increase in the vaults depend on the composition of the decontaminated salt solution being dispositioned as well as the grout formulation (mix design). This report details the results from Task 3 of the Saltstone Variability Study for FY09 which was performed to identify, and quantify when possible, those factors that drive the performance properties of the projected ARP/MCU Batches. A baseline ARP/MCU mix (at 0.60 water to cementitious materials (w/cm) ratio) was established and consisted of the normal premix composition and a salt solution that was an average of the projected compositions of the last three ARP/MCU batches developed by T. A. Le. This task introduced significant variation in (1) wt % slag, w/cm ratio, and …

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

The DAiSES project [Te04] was focused on enabling conventional operating systems, in particular, those running on extreme scale systems, to dynamically customize system resource management in order to offer applications the best possible environment in which to execute. Such dynamic adaptation allows operating systems to modify the execution environment in response to changes in workload behavior and system state. The main challenges of this project included determination of what operating system (OS) algorithms, policies, and parameters should be adapted, when to adapt them, and how to adapt them. We addressed these challenges by using a combination of static analysis and runtime monitoring and adaptation to identify a priori profitable targets of adaptation and effective heuristics that can be used to dynamically trigger adaptation. Dynamic monitoring and adaptation of the OS was provided by either kernel modifications or the use of KernInst and Kperfmon [Wm04]. Since Linux, an open source OS, was our target OS, patches submitted by kernel developers and researchers often facilitated kernel modifications. KernInst operates on unmodified commodity operating systems, i.e., Solaris and Linux; it is fine-grained, thus, there were few constraints on how the underlying OS can be modified. Dynamically adaptive functionality of operating systems, both in …

Stir bar sorptive extraction was applied to aqueous and solid samples for the extraction and analysis of organic compounds from the Hanford chemicals of potential concern list, as identified in the vapor data quality objectives. The 222-S Laboratory analyzed these compounds from vapor samples on thermal desorption tubes as part of the Hanford Site industrial hygiene vapor sampling effort.

During its fifteen years of life, this CRADA has evolved in both scope and purpose. Early efforts to develop high performance bismuth-based powder-in-tube first generation high temperature superconductors (HTS) have shifted toward efforts to understand and develop technologies required to fabricate second generation HTS coated conductors. Since the two original longstanding principal investigators from UT-Battelle and Oxford Superconducting Technology (OST) are not presently employed by their respective organizations, this final report shall focus primarily on results of the more recent past involving research and development of the deformation and annealing processes required to fabricate metallic substrates for RABiTS-based second generation coated conductors. The specific objectives of this recent work involve the development of OST Ni/3%W tape for HTS coated conductors and include: (a) to improve uniformity of cube texture through control of deformation and annealing parameters, (b) to minimize delamination and other buffer deposition problems through understanding and control of key parameters related to the metal substrate, (c) to ensure that the textured metal substrate allows well textured buffers with no delamination, and (d) to prepared a final report.

Installations of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. In 2008, 5,948 MW of PV was installed globally, up from 2,826 MW in 2007, and was dominated by grid-connected applications. The United States was the world's third largest PV market in terms of annual capacity additions in 2008, behind Spain and Germany; 335 MW of PV was added in the U.S. in 2008, 293 MW of which came in the form of grid-connected installations. Despite the significant year-on-year growth, however, the share of global and U.S. electricity supply met with PV remains small, and annual PV additions are currently modest in the context of the overall electric system. The market for PV in the U.S. is driven by national, state, and local government incentives, including up-front cash rebates, production-based incentives, requirements that electricity suppliers purchase a certain amount of solar energy, and Federal and state tax benefits. These programs are, in part, motivated by the popular appeal of solar energy, and by the positive attributes of PV - modest environmental impacts, avoidance of fuel price risks, coincidence with peak electrical demand, and the location of PV at the point of use. Given the …

Cast nickel-based superalloys are used for blades in land-based, energy conversion and powerplant applications, as well as in aircraft gas turbines operating at temperatures up to 1100 C, where creep is one of the life-limiting factors. Creep of superalloy single crystals has been extensively studied over the last several decades. Surprisingly, only recently has work focused specifically on the dislocation mechanisms that govern high temperature and low stress creep. Nevertheless, the perpetual goal of better engine efficiency demands that the creep mechanisms operative in this regime be fully understood in order to develop alloys and microstructures with improved high temperature capability. At present, the micro-mechanisms controlling creep before and after rafting (the microstructure evolution typical of high temperature creep) has occurred have yet to be identified and modeled, particularly for [001] oriented single crystals. This crystal orientation is most interesting technologically since it exhibits the highest creep strength. The major goal of the program entitled ''Mechanisms of High Temperature/Low Stress Creep of Ni-Based Superalloy Single Crystals'' (DOE Grant DE-FG02-04ER46137) has been to elucidate these creep mechanisms in cast nickel-based superalloys. We have utilized a combination of detailed microstructure and dislocation substructure analysis combined with the development of a novel phase-field …

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

This project aimed for a predictive-mechanistic understanding of the coupling between mineral weathering and contaminant (Cs, Sr, I) transport/fate in caustic waste-impacted sediments. Based on our prior studies of model clay mineral systems, we postulated that contaminant uptake to Hanford sediments would reflect concurrent adsorption and co-precipitation effects. Our specific objectives were: (1) to assess the molecular-scale mechanisms responsible for time-dependent sequestration of contaminants (Cs, Sr and I) during penetration of waste-induced weathering fronts; (2) to determine the rate and extent of contaminant release from the sorbed state; (3) to develop a reactive transport model based on molecular mechanisms and macroscopic flow experiments [(1) and (2)] that simulates adsorption, aging, and desorption dynamics. Progress toward achieving each of these objectives is discussed in this Final Report.

Metal corrosion tests were conducted with four high waste loading non-Fe-limited HLW glass compositions. The results at 1150 C (the WTP nominal melter operating temperature) show corrosion performance for all four glasses that is comparable to that of other typical borosilicate waste glasses, including HLW glass compositions that have been developed for iron-limited WTP streams. Of the four glasses tested, the Bi-limited composition shows the greatest extent of corrosion, which may be related to its higher phosphorus content. Tests at higher suggest that a moderate elevation of the melter operating temperature (up to 1200 C) should not result in any significant increase in Inconel corrosion. However, corrosion rates did increase significantly at yet higher temperatures (1230 C). Very little difference was observed with and without the presence of an electric current density of 6 A/inch{sup 2}, which is the typical upper design limit for Inconel electrodes. The data show a roughly linear relationship between the thickness of the oxide scale on the coupon and the Cr-depletion depth, which is consistent with the chromium depletion providing the material source for scale growth. Analysis of the time dependence of the Cr depletion profiles measured at 1200 C suggests that diffusion of Cr …

In the future, environmental concerns will mandate that manufacturing processes shift towards the use of renewable resources and the minimization of wastes, especially hazardous wastes. One-carbon compounds are of interest as feedstocks for synthesis of chemicals and materials, because they represent a relatively inexpensive, abundant and renewable resource. In addition, the environmentally-benign characteristics of microbial processes make them of interest as part of a long-term waste-minimization strategy for industry. The concept that methylotrophic bacteria could serve as non-polluting multistage catalysts to generate chemicals and materials using C1 compounds as feedstocks is a highly attractive one. In order to develop production strains of methylotrophs, it is necessary to understand and manipulate central methylotrophic pathways. One of the most important of these is the methanol oxidation, or Mox system. In this project, we are studying the promoters and transcriptional regulation of this 25-gene system in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1, a facultative methanol-utilizer. We have addressed the significance of a hexanucleotide sequence upstream of all mox promoters and have shown that it is required for activity of these promoters using both deletion and mutational analyses. In addition, we have identified a putative hairpin structure in the RNA leader region of the mxa promoter that …

Journal article submitted as a final report - publication date August 2007

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) requested the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to develop tooling and equipment to remotely replace gaskets in mechanical Hanford connectors to reduce personnel radiation exposure as compared to the current hands-on method. It is also expected that radiation levels will continually increase with future waste streams. The equipment is operated in the Remote Equipment Decontamination Cell (REDC), which is equipped with compressed air, two master-slave manipulators (MSM's) and an electro-mechanical manipulator (EMM) arm for operation of the remote tools. The REDC does not provide access to electrical power, so the equipment must be manually or pneumatically operated. The MSM's have a load limit at full extension of ten pounds, which limited the weight of the installation tool. In order to remotely replace Hanford connector gaskets several operations must be performed remotely, these include: removal of the spent gasket and retaining ring (retaining ring is also called snap ring), loading the new snap ring and gasket into the installation tool and installation of the new gasket into the Hanford connector. SRNL developed and tested tools that successfully perform all of the necessary tasks. Removal of snap rings from horizontal and vertical connectors is performed by …

This report describes recent efforts to develop glass property models that can be used to help estimate the volume of high-level waste (HLW) glass that will result from vitrification of Hanford tank waste. The compositions of acceptable and processable HLW glasses need to be optimized to minimize the waste-form volume and, hence, to save cost. A database of properties and associated compositions for simulated waste glasses was collected for developing property-composition models. This database, although not comprehensive, represents a large fraction of data on waste-glass compositions and properties that were available at the time of this report. Glass property-composition models were fit to subsets of the database for several key glass properties. These models apply to a significantly broader composition space than those previously publised. These models should be considered for interim use in calculating properties of Hanford waste glasses.