The objectives of this project were (1) to alter a metalloregulatory protein (MerR) so that it would bind other toxic metals or radionuclides with similar affinity so that the engineered protein itself and/or bacteria expressing it could be deployed in the environment to specifically sequester such metals and (2) to alter the mercuric reductase, MerA, to reduce radionuclides and render them less mobile. Both projects had a basic science component. In the first case, such information about MerR illuminates how proteins discriminate very similar metals/elements. In the second case, information about MerA reveals the criteria for transmission of reducing equivalents from NADPH to redox-active metals. The work involved genetic engineering of all or parts of both proteins and examination of their resultant properties both in vivo and in vitro, the latter with biochemical and biophysical tools including equilibrium and non-equilibrium dialysis, XAFS, NMR, x-ray crystallography, and titration calorimetry. We defined the basis for metal specificity in MerR, devised a bacterial strain that sequesters Hg while growing, characterized gold reduction by MerA and the role of the metallochaperone domain of MerA, and determined the 3-D structure of MerB, the organomercurial lyase.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), operated a grain storage facility at the northeastern edge of the city of Hanover, Kansas, from 1950 until the early 1970s. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were in common use by the grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities. In February 1998, trace to low levels of carbon tetrachloride (below the maximum contaminant level [MCL] of 5.0 {micro}g/L) were detected in two private wells near the former grain storage facility at Hanover, as part of a statewide USDA private well sampling program that was implemented by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) near former CCC/USDA facilities. In 2007, the CCC/USDA conducted near-surface soil sampling at 61 locations and also sampled indoor air at nine residences on or adjacent to its former Hanover facility to address the residents concerns regarding vapor intrusion. Low levels of carbon tetrachloride were detected at four of the nine homes. The results were submitted to the KDHE in October 2007 (Argonne 2007). On the basis of the results, the KDHE requested sub-slab sampling and/or indoor air sampling (KDHE 2007). This Work Plan describes, in …

The Product Consistency Test (PCT), American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) Standard C1285, is currently used world wide for testing glass and glass-ceramic waste forms for high level waste (HLW), low level waste (LLW), and hazardous wastes. Development of the PCT was initiated in 1986 because HLW glass waste forms required extensive characterization before actual production began and required continued characterization during production ({ge}25 years). Non-radioactive startup was in 1994 and radioactive startup was in 1996. The PCT underwent extensive development from 1986-1994 and became an ASTM consensus standard in 1994. During the extensive laboratory testing and inter- and intra-laboratory round robins using non-radioactive and radioactive glasses, the PCT was shown to be very reproducible, to yield reliable results rapidly, to distinguish between glasses of different durability and homogeneity, and to easily be performed in shielded cell facilities with radioactive samples. In 1997, the scope was broadened to include hazardous and mixed (radioactive and hazardous) waste glasses. In 2002, the scope was broadened to include glass-ceramic waste forms which are currently being recommended for second generation nuclear wastes yet to be generated in the nuclear renaissance. Since the PCT has proven useful for glass-ceramics with up to 75% ceramic component …

Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that is released by microorganisms in soil. However, the production of nitrous oxide in soil is highly variable and difficult to predict. Future climate change may have large impacts on nitrous oxide release through alteration of precipitation patterns. We analyzed DNA extracted from soil in order to uncover relationships between microbial processes, abundance of particular DNA sequences and net nitrous oxide fluxes from soil. Denitrification, a microbial process in which nitrate is used as an electron acceptor, correlated with nitrous oxide flux from soil. The abundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea correlated positively, but weakly, with nitrous oxide production in soil. The abundance of bacterial genes in soil was negatively correlated with gross nitrogen mineralization rates and nitrous oxide release from soil. We suggest that the most important control over nitrous oxide production in soil is the growth and death of microorganisms. When organisms are growing nitrogen is incorporated into their biomass and nitrous oxide flux is low. In contrast, when microorganisms die, due to predation or infection by viruses, inorganic nitrogen is released into the soil resulting in nitrous oxide release. Higher rates of precipitation increase access to microorganisms by predators or viruses …

perfSONAR is a web services-based infrastructure for collecting and publishing network performance monitoring. A primary goal of perfSONAR is making it easier to solve end-to-end performance problems on paths crossing several networks. It contains a set of services delivering performance measurements in a federated environment. These services act as an intermediate layer, between the performance measurement tools and the diagnostic or visualization applications. This layer is aimed at making and exchanging performance measurements across multiple networks and multiple user communities, using well-defined protocols. This paper summarizes the key perfSONAR components, and describes how they are deployed by the US-LHC community to monitor the networks distributing LHC data from CERN. All monitoring data described herein is publicly available, and we hope the availability of this data via a standard schema will inspire others to contribute to the effort by building network data analysis applications that use perfSONAR.

The objective of this project has been to identify a process for separating transuranic species from silicon carbide (SiC). Silicon carbide has become one of the prime candidates for the matrix in inert matrix fuels, (IMF) being designed to reduce plutonium inventories and the long half-lives actinides through transmutation since complete reaction is not practical it become necessary to separate the non-transmuted materials from the silicon carbide matrix for ultimate reprocessing. This work reports a method for that required process.l

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In 2006, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies (FM&T) announced an updatedvision statement for the organization. The vision is “To be the most admired team within the NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration] for our relentless drive to convert ideas into the highest quality products and services for National Security by applying the right technology, outstanding program management and best commercial practices.” The challenge to provide outstanding program management was taken up by the Program Management division and the Program Integration Office (PIO) of the company. This article describes how Honeywell developed and deployed a program management maturity model to drive toward excellence.

This is the final report of the ATLAS Simulation Optimization Task Force, establishedin June of 2007. This note justifies the selected Geant4 version, physics list, and range cuts to be used by the default ATLAS simulation for initial data taking and beyond. The current status of several projects, including detector description, simulation validation, studies of additional Geant4 parameters, and cavern background, are reported.

This report is a summary of activities conducted over the fiscal year 2007 contract period to fulfill requirements to coordinate Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT) interests within the Columbia River Basin. This coordination was specific to the implementation of portions of the Integrated Fish and Wildlife Program within the purview of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and Bonneville Power Administration.

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Optimization techniques are finding their inroads into the field of nuclear physics calculations where the objective functions are very complex and computationally intensive. A vast space of parameters needs searching to obtain a good match between theoretical (computed) and experimental observables, such as energy levels and spectra. Manual calculation defies the scope of such complex calculation and are prone to error at the same time. This body of work attempts to formulate a design and implement it which would integrate the ab initio nuclear physics code MFDn and the VTDIRECT95 code. VTDIRECT95 is a Fortran95 suite of parallel code implementing the derivative-free optimization algorithm DIRECT. Proposed design is implemented for a serial and parallel version of the optimization technique. Experiment with the initial implementation of the design showing good matches for several single-nucleus cases are conducted. Determination and assignment of appropriate number of processors for parallel integration code is implemented to increase the efficiency and resource utilization in the case of multiple nuclei parameter search.

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The Department of Energy Portsmouth Paducah Project Office requested assistance from Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM-22) to provide independent technical experts to evaluate past and ongoing remedial activities at the Portsmouth facility that were completed to address TCE contamination associated with the X-701B groundwater plume and to make recommendations for future efforts. The Independent Technical Review team was provided with a detailed and specific charter. The charter requested that the technical team first review the past and current activities completed for the X-701B groundwater remedy for trichloroethene (TCE) in accordance with a Decision Document that was issued by Ohio EPA on December 8, 2003 and a Work Plan that was approved by Ohio EPA on September 22, 2006. The remedy for X-701B divides the activities into four phases: Phase I - Initial Source Area Treatment, Phase II - Expanded Source Area Treatment, Phase III - Evaluation and Reporting, and Phase IV - Downgradient Remediation and Confirmation of Source Area Treatment. Phase I of the remedy was completed during FY2006, and DOE has now completed six oxidant injection events within Phase II. The Independent Technical Review team was asked to evaluate Phase II activities, including soil and groundwater …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management conducted annual sampling at the Rulison, Colorado site, for the Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring Program (LTHMP) on May 12, and 13, 2008. Samples were analyzed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Radiation&Indoor Environments National Laboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada. Samples were analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides by high-resolution gamma spectroscopy and tritium using the conventional and enriched methods