This report presents a summary of the work performed in the area of thermodynamics and kinetics of advanced separations systems under the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCR&D) program during FY 2011 at the INL. On the thermodynamic front, investigations of liquid-liquid distribution of lanthanides at TALSPEAK-related conditions continued in FY11. It has been determined that a classical ion-exchanging phase transfer mechanism, where three HDEHP dimers solvate the metal ion in the organic phase, dominates metal extraction for systems that contain up to 0.1 M free lactate in solution. The correct graphical interpretation of the observed data in those regions relied on incorporating corrections for non-ideal behavior of HDEHP dimer in aliphatic diluents as well as sodium extraction equilibria. When aqueous conditions enter the complex regions of high lactate concentrations, slope analysis is no longer possible. When normalized metal distribution ratios were studied along the increasing concentration of free lactate, a slope of -1 was apparent. Such dependency either indicates aqueous complexing competition from lactate, or, a more likely scenario, a participation of lactate in the extracted metal complex. This finding agrees with our initial assessment of postulated changes in the extraction mechanism as a source of the lactate-mediated loss …

This report documents completion of FY11 L2 milestone No.3953-TLCC2 contract award. This milestone was scheduled for completion on 3/31/11 and was completed on 4/14/11. There is a separate milestone (3856), due at the end of the fiscal year, concerned with installation of the first LLNL SU and early user access. Efforts related to this tri-lab L2 milestone started early in 2010 with the development of tri-lab requirements for the second ASC capacity system procurement. The SOW was then developed along with necessary RFP paperwork and sent to HQ/DOE for their review prior to being released. There was significant delay in getting this step completed which led to this milestone being put at risk for several months. However, once the RFP was approved and released we were able to get the procurement back on track with aggressive proposal response and review timelines.

The global and annual mean aerosol direct and indirect effects, relative to 1850 conditions, estimated from CESM simulations are 0.02 W m-2 and -0.39 W m-2, respectively, for emissions in year 2100 under the IPCC RCP8.5 scenario. The indirect effect is much smaller than that for 2000 emissions because of much smaller SO2 emissions in 2100; the direct effects are small due to compensation between warming by black carbon and cooling by sulfate.

In 2008, the Standing Advisory Group on Safeguards Implementation (SAGSI) indicated that the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Safeguards Implementation Report (SIR) has not kept pace with the evolution of safeguards and provided the IAEA with a set of recommendations for improvement. The SIR is the primary mechanism for providing an overview of safeguards implementation in a given year and reporting on the annual safeguards findings and conclusions drawn by the Secretariat. As the IAEA transitions to State-level safeguards approaches, SIR reporting must adapt to reflect these evolutionary changes. This evolved report will better reflect the IAEA's transition to a more qualitative and information-driven approach, based upon State-as-a-whole considerations. This paper applies SAGSI's recommendations to the development of multiple models for an evolved SIR and finds that an SIR repurposed as a 'safeguards portal' could significantly enhance information delivery, clarity, and transparency. In addition, this paper finds that the 'portal concept' also appears to have value as a standardized information presentation and analysis platform for use by Country Officers, for continuity of knowledge purposes, and the IAEA Secretariat in the safeguards conclusion process. Accompanying this paper is a fully functional prototype of the 'portal' concept, built using commercial software and …