A set of 23-group neutron cross sections for use in the calculation of neutron thermalization and thermal neutron spectral effects in SNAP reactors is compiled. The sources and methods used to obtain the cross sections are described. (auth)

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Summary of the 12th Advanced Accelerator Concept (AAC 2006) Workshop help by NIU and ANL on July 10th-15th 2006 in Lake Geneva WI. The proceedings of the workshop have been published as an AIP conference proceedings "12th Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop” volume 877.

The Thirteenth Workshop on Advanced Accelerator Concepts (AAC) was held from July 27 to August 2, 2008 at the Chaminade Conference Center in Santa Cruz, California, USA, organized by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley. There were unprecedented levels of interest in the 2008 AAC Workshop, and participation was by invitation, with 215 workshop attendees, including 58 students. Reflecting the world-wide growth of the advanced accelerator community, there was significant international participation, with participants from twelve countries attending.

In support of CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc.'s (CHG) preparation of a Field Investigative Report (FIR) for the closure of the Hanford Site Single-Shell Tank (SST) Waste Management Area (WMA) tank farms, a set of numerical simulations of flow and solute transport was executed to predict the performance of surface barriers for reducing long-term risks from potential groundwater contamination at the C Farm WMA. This report documents the simulation of 14 cases (and two verification cases) involving two-dimensional cross sections through the C Farm WMA tanks C-103 – C-112. Utilizing a unit release scenario at Tank C-112, four different types of leaks were simulated. These simulations assessed the impact of leakage during retrieval, past leaks, and tank residual wastes and tank ancillary equipment following closure activities. . Two transported solutes were considered: uranium-238 (U-238) and technetium-99 (Tc-99). To evaluate the impact of sorption to the subsurface materials, six different retardation coefficients were simulated for U-238. Overall, simulations results for the C Farm WMA showed that only a small fraction of the U-238 with retardation factors greater than 0.6 migrated from the vadose zone in all of the cases. For the conservative solute, Tc-99, results showed that the simulations investigating leakages …

The U.S. wind industry experienced a banner year in 2008, again surpassing even optimistic growth projections from years past. At the same time, the last year has been one of upheaval, with the global financial crisis impacting near-term growth prospects for the wind industry, and with federal policy changes enacted to push the industry towards continued aggressive expansion. This rapid pace of development has made it difficult to keep up with trends in the marketplace. Yet, the need for timely, objective information on the industry and its progress has never been greater. This report - the third of an ongoing annual series - attempts to meet this need by providing a detailed overview of developments and trends in the U.S. wind power market, with a particular focus on 2008. As with previous editions, this report begins with an overview of key wind power installation-related trends: trends in wind capacity growth in the U.S., how that growth compares to other countries and generation sources, the amount and percentage of wind in individual states and serving specific utilities, and the quantity of proposed wind capacity in various interconnection queues in the United States. Next, the report covers an array of wind industry …

Organometallic chemistry has played and will continue to play a significant role in helping us understand the way bonds are made or broken in the presence of a transition metal complex. Current challenges range from the efficient exploitation of energy resources to the creative use of natural and artificial enzymes. Most of the new advances in the area are due to our extended understanding of processes at a molecular level due to new mechanistic studies, techniques to detect reaction intermediates and theory. The conference will bring the most recent advances in the field including nanocatalysis, surface organometallic chemistry, characterization techniques, new chemical reactivity and theoretical approaches along with applications to organic synthesis and the discovery of new materials. The Conference will bring together a collection of investigators who are at the forefront of their field, and will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leaders in the field. Six outstanding posters will be selected for short talks. The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions as well as opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides an avenue for scientists from different disciplines to …

Photochemistry has wide implications on fundamental science with technological applications that range from synthetic and mechanistic organic and inorganic chemistry to sensing/manipulation in the biological sciences to viable solar energy conversion assemblies. The 2011 Gordon Research Conference on Photochemistry will highlight recent advances on photochemical reactions, their mechanisms, spectroscopic techniques and applications to materials, organic synthesis, and biology. The conference will continue its long tradition on dynamic discussions on recent advances and unsolved scientific problems. The format of lectures, poster presentations and informal discussions provides an ideal venue for students and post-doctoral fellows to interact with the leaders in the field. These junior scientists will have an opportunity to participate in the Gordon Research Seminar on Photochemistry to be held prior to the GRC. The GRS will focus on photochemical aspects of solar energy conversion. Four abstracts for posters at the GRC and presentations at the GRS will be selected as short talks at the GRC.

This plan describes the performance standards met and closure activities conducted to achieve clean closure of the 2401-W Waste Storage Building (2401-W) (Figure I). In August 1998, after the last waste container was removed from 2401-W, the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) notified Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in writing that the 2401-W would no longer receive waste and would be closed as a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 treatment, storage, and/or disposal (TSD) unit (98-EAP-475). Pursuant to this notification, closure activities were conducted, as described in this plan, in accordance with Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610 and completed on February 9, 1999. Ecology witnessed the closure activities. Consistent with clean closure, no postclosure activities will be necessary. Because 2401-W is a portion of the Central Waste Complex (CWC), these closure activities become the basis for removing this building from the CWC TSD unit boundary. The 2401-W is a pre-engineered steel building with a sealed concrete floor and a 15.2-centimeter concrete curb around the perimeter of the floor. This building operated from April 1988 until August 1998 storing non-liquid containerized mixed waste. All waste storage occurred indoors. No potential existed for 2401-W operations …

Each of the twelve Booster Main Magnet Power Supply modules consist of two three-phase, full-wave rectifier bridges in series to provide a 560 VDC maximum output. The harmonic contents of the twelve-pulse ac-dc converter output are multiples of the 60 Hz ac power input, with a predominant 720 Hz signal greater than 14 dB in magnitude above the closest harmonic components at maximum output. The 720 Hz harmonic is typically greater than 20 dB below the 500 VDC output signal under normal operation. Extracting specific harmonics from the rectifier output signal of a 6, 12, or 24 pulse ac-dc converter allows the detection of SCR firing angle errors or complete misfires. A bandpass filter provides the input signal to a frequency-to-voltage converter. Comparing the output of the frequency-to-voltage converter to a reference voltage level provides an indication of the magnitude of the harmonics in the ac-dc converter output signal.

Using an orbital vibrator source (2-components), and a 40 level 3-component geophone string, a 6-component crosswell survey was acquired before and after a CO2 injection in a saline aquifer. Decomposition of the two source components and component rotation of both source and sensors created good separation of P- and S-wave energy allowing independent analysis of travel time and reflectivity. A time-lapse VSP was also acquired.

The Argonne National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory have recently installed an activated barrier, the Access Denial System (ADS) for the upgrade of safeguards of special nuclear materials. The technology of this system was developed in the late 70's by Sandia National Laboratory-Albuquerque. The installation was the first for the Department of Energy. Subsequently, two additional installations have been completed. The Access Denial System, combined with physical restraints, provide the system delay. The principal advantages of the activated barrier are: (1) it provides an order of magnitude improvement in delay over that of a fixed barrier, (2) it can be added to existing vital areas with a minimum of renovations, (3) existing operations are minimally impacted, and (4) health and safety risks are virtually nonexistent. Hardening of the vital areas using the ADS was accomplished in a cost-effective manner. 3 references, 1 figure, 1 table.

At HB-Line of the Savannah River Site, 4.3 kg of U-235 have been repackaged from FB-Line Desicooler material into a cement matrix in individual one-gallon paint cans for disposition as solid waste. The 4.3 kg of U-235 material were packaged into 172 paint cans with U-235 contents ranging from 8.9 g up to 32 g. Prior to transfer to the Solid Waste Facilities, verification measurements of selected cans were performed to assure valid control of the solid waste. The HB-Line-DOE Sampling Plan designated confirmatory assays, and a total of 67 paint cans were assayed to verify the contents. The Analytical Development Section of the Savannah River National Laboratory selected an active well coincidence neutron counter as the best instrument available to accomplish the assays. The instrument was set up at-line in the thermal excitation mode, and three standard samples that contained 8.9-, 28.5-, and 32.4-g of U-235 were counted for twenty hours of acquisition time each. A linear calibration based on the observed doubles rates was installed in the instrument. Subsequent verification measurements were performed on the selected samples using fifteen one-minute active acquisitions. Of the 67 samples assayed, 53 verification measurements were within the limits greater than or less …

The overall objective of this project is to develop a fuller understanding of the interactions of mixtures of anionic co-contaminants with oxide-mineral surfaces. Our specific focus is on the competitive interactions of chromate and oxalic acid on ferric oxyhydroxide and on natural aquifer materials. Chromate and oxalate are of practical interest as widespread contaminants at many DOE facilities. However, these anions also are excellent model adsorbates for elucidating fundamental aspects of ionic adsorption processes, particularly with respect to organic acids.

The overall objective of this project is to develop a fuller understanding of the interactions of mixtures of anionic co-contaminants with oxide-mineral surfaces. Our specific focus is on the competitive interactions of chromate and oxalic acid on ferric oxyhydroxide and on natural aquifer materials. Chromate and oxalate are of practical interest as widespread contaminants at many DOE facilities. However, these anions also are excellent model adsorbates for elucidating fundamental aspects of ionic adsorption processes, particularly with respect to organic acids.

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The ''Workshop on Advanced Computational Materials Science: Application to Fusion and Generation IV Fission Reactors'' was convened to determine the degree to which an increased effort in modeling and simulation could help bridge the gap between the data that is needed to support the implementation of these advanced nuclear technologies and the data that can be obtained in available experimental facilities. The need to develop materials capable of performing in the severe operating environments expected in fusion and fission (Generation IV) reactors represents a significant challenge in materials science. There is a range of potential Gen-IV fission reactor design concepts and each concept has its own unique demands. Improved economic performance is a major goal of the Gen-IV designs. As a result, most designs call for significantly higher operating temperatures than the current generation of LWRs to obtain higher thermal efficiency. In many cases, the desired operating temperatures rule out the use of the structural alloys employed today. The very high operating temperature (up to 1000 C) associated with the NGNP is a prime example of an attractive new system that will require the development of new structural materials. Fusion power plants represent an even greater challenge to structural materials …

During the past year this component of the Advanced Nuclear Measurements LDRD-DR has focused on emerging safeguards problems and proliferation risk by investigating problems in two domains. The first is related to the analysis, quantification, and characterization of existing inventories of fissile materials, in particular, the minor actinides (MA) formed in the commercial fuel cycle. Understanding material forms and quantities helps identify and define future measurement problems, instrument requirements, and assists in prioritizing safeguards technology development. The second problem (dissertation research) has focused on the development of a theoretical foundation for sensor array anomaly detection. Remote and unattended monitoring or verification of safeguards activities is becoming a necessity due to domestic and international budgetary constraints. However, the ability to assess the trustworthiness of a sensor array has not been investigated. This research is developing an anomaly detection methodology to assess the sensor array.

This report addresses a progress report of the advanced thermo-electric development program.

This report addresses the progress report of the advanced thermoeletric development program during February 1966 to April 1966.

Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) has completed its technology based program. The results developed under Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 8, concentrated on technology development and demonstration have been partially implemented in newer turbine designs. A significant improvement in heat rate and power output has been demonstrated. ABB will use the knowledge gained to further improve the efficiency of its Advanced Cycle System, which has been developed and introduced into the marked out side ABB's Advanced Turbine System (ATS) activities. The technology will lead to a power plant design that meets the ATS performance goals of over 60% plant efficiency, decreased electricity costs to consumers and lowest emissions.

The objective of this program was to explore a combination of advanced injection control and urea-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to reduce the emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) from a Tier 2 off-highway diesel engine to Tier 3 emission targets while maintaining fuel efficiency. The engine used in this investigation was a 2004 4.5L John Deere PowerTechTM; this engine was not equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Under the original CRADA, the principal objective was to assess whether Tier 3 PM emission targets could be met solely by increasing the rail pressure. Although high rail pressure will lower the total PM emissions, it has a contrary effect to raise NOx emissions. To address this effect, a urea-SCR system was used to determine whether the enhanced NOx levels, associated with high rail pressure, could be reduced to Tier 3 levels. A key attraction for this approach is that it eliminates the need for a Diesel particulate filter (DPF) to remove PM emissions. The original CRADA effort was also performed using No.2 Diesel fuel having a maximum sulfur level of 500 ppm. After a few years, the CRADA scope was expanded to include exploration of advanced injection strategies …

The Advanced High-Temperature Reactor (AHTR) is a design concept for a central station-type [1500 MW(e)] Fluoride salt–cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR) that is currently undergoing development by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the US. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Reactor Concepts program. FHRs, by definition, feature low-pressure liquid fluoride salt cooling, coated-particle fuel, a high-temperature power cycle, and fully passive decay heat rejection. The overall goal of the AHTR development program is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of FHRs as low-cost, large-size power producers while maintaining full passive safety. The AHTR is approaching a preconceptual level of maturity. An initial integrated layout of its major systems, structures, and components (SSCs), and an initial, high-level sequence of operations necessary for constructing and operating the plant is nearing completion. An overview of the current status of the AHTR concept has been recently published [1], and a report providing a more detailed overview of the AHTR structures and mechanical systems is currently in preparation. This report documents the refueling components and processes envisioned at this early development phase. The report is limited to the refueling aspects of the AHTR and does not include overall reactor or power plant design information. The …

The Laboratory has developed this Emergency Management Plan (EMP) to assist in emergency planning, preparedness, and response to anticipated and actual emergencies. The Plan establishes guidance for ensuring safe Laboratory operation, protection of the environment, and safeguarding Department of Energy (DOE) property. Detailed information and specific instructions required by emergency response personnel to implement the EMP are contained in the Emergency Management Plan Implementing Procedure (EMPIP) document, which consists of individual EMPIPs. The EMP and EMPIPs may be used to assist in resolving emergencies including but not limited to fires, high-energy accidents, hazardous material releases (radioactive and nonradioactive), security incidents, transportation accidents, electrical accidents, and natural disasters.