This project aims to understand the processes by which candidate materials degrade in He and supercritical water/steam environments characteristic of the current NGNP design. We will focus on understanding the roles of temperature, and carbon and oxygen potential in the 750-850 degree C range on both uniform oxidation and selective internal oxidation along grain boundaries in alloys 617 and 800H in supercritical water in the temperature range 500-600 degree C; and examining the application of static and cyclic stresses in combination with impure He environments in the temperature rang 750-850 degree C; and examining the application of static and cyclic stresses in combination with impure He environments in the temperature range 750-850 degree C over a range of oxygen and carbon potentials in helium. Combined, these studies wil elucidate the potential high damage rate processes in environments and alloys relevant to the NGNP.

Progress is reported in these areas: Validation of temperature and precipitation extremes; Time of emergence of severe heat stress in the United States; Quantifying the effects of temperature extremes on energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions.

A preliminary design of the ZnSe cycle for thermochemical hydrogen production has been prepared for use in deriving economic costs for hydrogen production. The process flowsheet identifies key equipment items as well as major streams. Flow and heat loads have been estimated based on one mole of hydrogen output. The thermal efficiency of this cycle depends on two factors: (1) the ability to perform the dissolution of ZnSO/sub 4/ and the hydrolysis of ZnSe with a minimum amount of aqueous HCl, and (2) the ability to match the process heat requirements with available heat from the exothermic steps in the cycle. Estimates of the cycle's thermal efficiency range from 34--57 percent depending upon the process heat utilization.

The object of this program is to demonstrate that large single-crystal ingots, 6-inch diameter by 4 inches tall, can be economically cast by the Heat Exchanger Method (HEM) and economically sliced into thin sheets, 0.008-inches thick, with a multi-wafer slicer. The thrust of the experimental work during this quarter was to establish the proper seed meltback and to nucleate single-crystal growth off the seed. Slicing tests were begun on the multi-blade wafering machine, using a newly fabricated sensitive feed mechanism and associated components. (WDM)

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) found that the dispersion numbers for the six combinations of CSSX:Next Generation Solvent (NGS) “blend” and pure NGS versus salt solution, caustic wash, and strip aqueous solutions are all good. The dispersion numbers are indications of processability with centrifugal contactors. A comparison of solvent physical and thermal properties shows that the Intek™ solvent flow meter in the plant has a reading biased high versus calibrated flow when NGS is used, versus the standard CSSX solvent. The flow meter, calibrated for CSSX solvent, is predicted to read 2.8 gpm of NGS in a case where the true flow of NGS is 2.16 gpm.

Oceanic river plumes represent some of the most productive environments on Earth. As major conduits for freshwater and nutrients into the coastal ocean, their impact on water column ecosystems extend for up to a thousand km into oligotrophic oceans. Upon entry into the oceans rivers are tremendous sources of CO2 and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Yet owing to increased light transmissivity from sediment deposition coupled with the influx of nutrients, dramatic CO2 drawdown occurs, and plumes rapidly become sinks for CO2. Using state-of-the-art gene expression technology, we have examined the molecular biodiversity of CO2 fixation in the Mississippi River Plume (MRP; two research cruises) and the Orinoco River Plume (ORP; one cruise). When the MRP extends far into the Gulf because of entrainment with the Loop Current, MRP production (carbon fixation) can account for up to 41% of the surface production in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearer-shore plume stations (“high plume,” salinity< 32 ppt) had tremendous CO2 drawdown that was correlated to heterokont (principally diatom) carbon fixation gene expression. The principal form of nitrogen for this production based upon 15N studies was urea, believed to be from anthropogenic origin (fertilizer) from the MRP watershed. Intermediate plume environments (salinity 34 ppt) …

In this study, we performed a market trial of off-grid LED lighting products in Maai Mahiu, arural Kenyan town. Our goals were to assess consumer demand and consumer preferences with respect to off-grid lighting systems and to gain feedback from off-grid lighting users at the point of purchase and after they have used to products for some time.

This document details activities of the irradiation processing department during the month of May 1957. A general summary is included at the start of the report, after which the report is divided into the following sections: research and engineering operations; production and reactor operation; facilities engineering operation; employee relations operation; and financial operation.

Abstract – An accomplishment report from a hill slope hydrology study in South Carolina.

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The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uses neutron activation elements in a Panasonic TLD holder as a personnel nuclear accident dosimeter (PNAD). The LLNL PNAD has periodically been tested using a Cf-252 neutron source, however until 2009, it was more than 25 years since the PNAD has been tested against a source of neutrons that arise from a reactor generated neutron spectrum that simulates a criticality. In October 2009, LLNL participated in an intercomparison of nuclear accident dosimeters at the CEA Valduc Silene reactor (Hickman, et.al. 2010). In September 2010, LLNL participated in a second intercomparison of nuclear accident dosimeters at CEA Valduc. The reactor generated neutron irradiations for the 2010 exercise were performed at the Caliban reactor. The Caliban results are described in this report. The procedure for measuring the nuclear accident dosimeters in the event of an accident has a solid foundation based on many experimental results and comparisons. The entire process, from receiving the activated NADs to collecting and storing them after counting was executed successfully in a field based operation. Under normal conditions at LLNL, detectors are ready and available 24/7 to perform the necessary measurement of nuclear accident components. Likewise LLNL maintains processing laboratories that are …

This report provides a brief overview of Stafford Act declarations under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and the types of assistance they could authorize in response to terrorist incidents. This report also provides examples of Stafford Act declarations that have been issued for previous terrorist attacks.

This report contains information on actions taken that affect the salaries for members of Congress, broken down by year and starting with the establishment of the Ethics Reform Act adjustment procedure (1990). It also provides background on the most recent developments and information on other related floor action.

This report provides a brief history of the European Union (EU) and the major challenges currently confronting the EU as an institution. It also discusses the potential implications both for the EU itself and for U.S.-EU relations.

This report discusses Statements of Administration Policy (SAPs) -- i.e., statements that communicate the Administration's position on upcoming legislation -- including structural components, the development of SAPs from the Ronald Reagan Administration to the present, the coordination of executive branch actors involved in issuing SAPs, the receipt of SAPs and their impact on government institutions, and possible reactions to SAPs when they are released publicly.

This document contains material and energy flows for lithium-ion batteries with an active cathode material of lithium manganese oxide (LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4}). These data are incorporated into Argonne National Laboratory's Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model, replacing previous data for lithium-ion batteries that are based on a nickel/cobalt/manganese (Ni/Co/Mn) cathode chemistry. To identify and determine the mass of lithium-ion battery components, we modeled batteries with LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} as the cathode material using Argonne's Battery Performance and Cost (BatPaC) model for hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and electric vehicles. As input for GREET, we developed new or updated data for the cathode material and the following materials that are included in its supply chain: soda ash, lime, petroleum-derived ethanol, lithium brine, and lithium carbonate. Also as input to GREET, we calculated new emission factors for equipment (kilns, dryers, and calciners) that were not previously included in the model and developed new material and energy flows for the battery electrolyte, binder, and binder solvent. Finally, we revised the data included in GREET for graphite (the anode active material), battery electronics, and battery assembly. For the first time, we incorporated energy and material flows for …

Fast-wave heating and current drive efficiencies can be reduced by a number of processes in the vicinity of the antenna and in the scrape off layer (SOL). On NSTX from around 25% to more than 60% of the high-harmonic fast-wave power can be lost to the SOL regions, and a large part of this lost power flows along SOL magnetic field lines and is deposited in bright spirals on the divertor floor and ceiling. We show that field-line mapping matches the location of heat deposition on the lower divertor, albeit with a portion of the heat outside of the predictions. The field-line mapping can then be used to partially reconstruct the profile of lost fast-wave power at the midplane in front of the antenna, and the losses peak close to the last closed flux surface (LCFS) as well as the antenna. This profile suggests a radial standing-wave pattern formed by fast-wave propagation in the SOL, and this hypothesis will be tested on NSTX-U. Advanced RF codes must reproduce these results so that such codes can be used to understand this edge loss and to minimize RF heat deposition and erosion in the divertor region on ITER.

Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is planning to remove a buildup of sodium aluminosilicate scale from the 2H-evaporator pot by loading and soaking the pot with heated 1.5 M nitric acid solution. Sampling and analysis of the scale material has been performed so that uranium and plutonium isotopic analysis can be input into a Nuclear Criticality Safety Assessment (NCSA) for scale removal by chemical cleaning. Historically, since the operation of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), silicon in the DWPF recycle stream combines with aluminum in the typical tank farm supernate to form sodium aluminosilicate scale mineral deposits in the 2Hevaporator pot and gravity drain line. The 2H-evaporator scale samples analyzed by Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) came from the bottom cone sections of the 2H-evaporator pot [Sample HTF-13-77] and the wall 2H-evaporator [sample HTF-13-82]. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) confirmed that both the 2H-evaporator pot scale and the wall samples consist of nitrated cancrinite (a crystalline sodium aluminosilicate solid) and clarkeite (a uranium oxy-hydroxide mineral). On “as received” basis, the bottom pot section scale sample contained an average of 2.59E+00 ± 1.40E-01 wt % total uranium with a U-235 enrichment of 6.12E-01 ± 1.48E-02 %, while the wall sample contained an …

This progress report is submitted under a contract between the Special Project Office of DARPA and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The Project Manager at DARPA is Dr. Michael Zatman. Our purpose under this contract is to investigate interactions between electromagnetic waves and a class of buried targets located in multilayered media with rough interfaces. In this report, we investigate three preliminary problems. In each case our specific goal is to understand various aspects of the electromagnetic wave interaction mechanisms with targets in layered media. The first problem, discussed in Section 2, is that of low-frequency electromagnetic backscattering from a tunnel that is cut into a lossy dielectric half-space. In this problem, the interface between the upper (free space) region and the lower (ground) region is smooth. The tunnel is assumed to be a cylindrical free-space region of infinite extent in its axial direction and with a diameter that is small in comparison to the free-space wavelength. Because its diameter is small, the tunnel can be modeled as a buried ''wire'' described by an equivalent impedance per unit length. In Section 3 we extend the analysis to include a statistically rough interface between the air and ground regions. The interface is …

Joint US-European Community Pilot Program support for short-term exchanges of early career scientists.

This final report summarizes research undertaken collaboratively between Princeton University, the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory on the Princeton University campus, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the University of California, Los Angeles between September 1, 2000, and November 30, 2006, to do fundamental research on ocean iron fertilization as a means to enhance the net oceanic uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. The approach we proposed was to develop and apply a suite of coupled physical-ecologicalbiogeochemical models in order to (i) determine to what extent enhanced carbon fixation from iron fertilization will lead to an increase in the oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2 and how long this carbon will remain sequestered (efficiency), and (ii) examine the changes in ocean ecology and natural biogeochemical cycles resulting from iron fertilization (consequences). The award was funded in two separate three-year installments: • September 1, 2000 to November 30, 2003, for a project entitled “Ocean carbon sequestration by fertilization: An integrated biogeochemical assessment.” A final report was submitted for this at the end of 2003 and is included here as Appendix 1. • December 1, 2003 to November 30, 2006, for a follow-on project under the same grant number …

Documentation of a study to assess the capability of computer codes to predict lateral loads on earth penetrating projectiles under conditions of non-normal impact. Calculations simulated a set of small scale penetration tests into concrete targets with oblique faces at angles of 15 and 30 degrees to the line-of-flight. Predictive codes used by the various calculational teams cover a wide range of modeling approaches from approximate techniques, such as cavity expansion, to numerical methods, such as finite element codes. The modeling assessment was performed under the auspices of the Phenomenology Integrated Product Team (PIPT) for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Program (RNEP). Funding for the penetration experiments and modeling was provided by multiple earth penetrator programs.

The effects of strain rate on the stress-strain characteristics of copper and lead were studied by measuring both stress and strain as functions of time using short cylindrical specimens supported at one end on a modified Hopkinson pressure bar and impacted at the other end by a steel projectile. Corresponding stresses and strains were computed according to an elementary nonstrain-rate theory (sometimes referred to as the von Karman theory) in which the dynamic stress-strain curve is assumed to be the same as the static stress- strain curve. Stresses and strains were also computed according to an elementary strain-rate theory (sometimes referred to as the Malvern theory) in which the dynamic stress may exceed the static stress for a given strain by an amount which depends upon the strain rate. It was found that the predictions of the nonstrain- rate theory agreed with measured values only for low impact velocities and for points at least two diameters from the impact end of the specimen. By proper choice of the flow or relaxation constant in the elementary strain-rate theory, measured and computed values of strain, or of stress, but not both simultaneously, could be brought into agreement. In the more general exponentialtype, …

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM) in January 1993. This program is to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a)(1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the PNNL Radiological Control Program Description, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-2005 confirm that personnel dosimetry is not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program