The Department of Energy contributes to the future of the Nation by ensuring energy security, maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile, cleaning up the environment from the legacy of the Cold War, and developing innovations in science and technology. After 25 years in existence, the Department now operates 24 preeminent research laboratories and facilities and four power marketing administrations, and manages the environmental cleanup from 50 years of nuclear defense activities that impacted two million acres in communities across the country. The Department has an annual budget of about $23 billion and employs about 14,500 Federal and 100,000 contractor employees. The Department of Energy is principally a national security agency and all of its missions flow from this core mission to support national security. That is true not just today, but throughout the history of the agency. The origins of the Department can be traced to the Manhattan Project and the race to develop the atomic bomb during World War II. Following the war, Congress engaged in a vigorous and contentious debate over civilian versus military control of the atom. The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 settled the debate by creating the Atomic Energy Commission, …

The Quarter began with installing the new drill pipe, hooking up the new hydraulic power unit, completing the pipe rotation system (Task 4 has been completed), and making the SWACO choke operational. Detailed design and procurement work is proceeding on a system to elevate the drill-string section. The prototype Foam Generator Cell has been completed by Temco and delivered. Work is currently underway to calibrate the system. Literature review and preliminary model development for cuttings transportation with polymer foam under EPET conditions are in progress. Preparations for preliminary cuttings transport experiments with polymer foam have been completed. Two nuclear densitometers were re-calibrated. Drill pipe rotation system was tested up to 250 RPM. Water flow tests were conducted while rotating the drill pipe up to 100 RPM. The accuracy of weight measurements for cuttings in the annulus was evaluated. Additional modifications of the cuttings collection system are being considered in order to obtain the desired accurate measurement of cuttings weight in the annular test section. Cutting transport experiments with aerated fluids are being conducted at EPET, and analyses of the collected data are in progress. The printed circuit board is functioning with acceptable noise level to measure cuttings concentration at static …

Power generators are concerned with the maintenance costs associated with the advanced turbines that they are purchasing. Since these machines do not have fully established operation and maintenance (O&M) track records, power generators face financial risk due to uncertain future maintenance costs. This risk is of particular concern, as the electricity industry transitions to a competitive business environment in which unexpected O&M costs cannot be passed through to consumers. These concerns have accelerated the need for intelligent software-based diagnostic systems that can monitor the health of a combustion turbine in real time and provide valuable information on the machine's performance to its owner/operators. Such systems would interpret sensor and instrument outputs, correlate them to the machine's condition, provide interpretative analyses, forward projections of servicing intervals, estimate remaining component life, and identify faults. EPRI, Impact Technologies, Boyce Engineering, and Progress Energy have teamed to develop a suite of intelligent software tools integrated with a diagnostic monitoring platform that will, in real time, interpret data to assess the ''total health'' of combustion turbines. The Combustion Turbine Health Management System (CTHM) will consist of a series of dynamic link library (DLL) programs residing on a diagnostic monitoring platform that accepts turbine health data …

The program objective was to develop materials and processes for industrial gas separations to reduce energy use and enable waste reduction. The approach chosen combined novel oxygen selective adsorbents and pressure swing adsorption (PSA) processes. Preliminary materials development and process simulation results indicated that oxygen selective adsorbents could provide a versatile platform for industrial gas separations. If fully successful, this new technology offered the potential for reducing the cost of producing nitrogen/oxygen co-products, high purity nitrogen, argon, and possibly oxygen. The potential energy savings for the gas separations are appreciable, but the end users are the main beneficiaries. Lowering the cost of industrial gases expands their use in applications that can employ them for reducing energy consumption and emissions.

The main goal of the project is to study analytically and experimentally condensation heat transfer for the passive condenser system relevant to the safety of next generation nuclear reactor such as Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). The objectives of this three-year research project are to: (1) obtain experimental data on the phenomenon of condensation of steam in a vertical tube in the presence of non-condensable for flow conditions of PCCS, (2) develop a analytic model for the condensation phenomena in the presence of non-condensable gas for the vertical tube, and (3) assess the RELAP5 computer code against the experimental data. The project involves experiment, theoretical modeling and a thermal-hydraulic code assessment. It involves graduate and undergraduate students' participation providing them with exposure and training in advanced reactor concepts and safety systems

ASPEN Plus simulations have been created for a CO{sub 2} capture process based on adsorption by monoethanolamine (MEA). Three separate simulations were developed, one each for the flue gas scrubbing, recovery, and purification sections of the process. Although intended to work together, each simulation can be used and executed independently. The simulations were designed as template simulations to be added as a component to other more complex simulations. Applications involving simple cycle or hybrid power production processes were targeted. The default block parameters were developed based on a feed stream of raw flue gas of approximately 14 volume percent CO{sub 2} with a 90% recovery of the CO{sub 2} as liquid. This report presents detailed descriptions of the process sections as well as technical documentation for the ASPEN simulations including the design basis, models employed, key assumptions, design parameters, convergence algorithms, and calculated outputs.

This primer is intended for people interested in environmental problems of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and in their potential solutions. It will specifically look at some of the more hazardous metal and radionuclide contaminants found on DOE lands and at the possibilities for using bioremediation technology to clean up these contaminants. The second edition of the primer incorporates recent findings by researchers in DOE's Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research (NABIR) Program. Bioremediation is a technology that can be used to reduce, eliminate, or contain hazardous waste. Over the past two decades, it has become widely accepted that microorganisms, and to a lesser extent plants, can transform and degrade many types of contaminants. These transformation and degradation processes vary, depending on the physical-chemical environment, microbial communities, and nature of the contaminant. This technology includes intrinsic bioremediation, which relies on naturally occurring processes, and accelerated bioremediation, which enhances microbial degradation or transformation through the addition of nutrients (biostimulation) or inoculation with microorganisms (bioaugmentation). Over the past few years, interest in bioremediation has increased. It has become clear that many organic contaminants such as hydrocarbon fuels can be degraded to relatively harmless products such as CO{sub 2} (the end result of …

Managing large-scale software products is a complex software engineering task. The automation of the software development, release and distribution process is most beneficial in the large collaborations, where the big number of developers, multiple platforms and distributed environment are typical factors. This paper describes Build and Output Analyzer framework and its components that have been developed in CMS to facilitate software maintenance and improve software quality. The system allows to generate, control and analyze various types of automated software builds and tests, such as regular rebuilds of the development code, software integration for releases and installation of the existing versions.

The Consortium for Fossil Fuel Science (CFFS) is a research consortium with participants from the University of Kentucky, University of Pittsburgh, University of Utah, West Virginia University, and Auburn University. The CFFS is conducting a research program to develop C1 chemistry technology for the production of clean transportation fuel from resources such as coal and natural gas, which are more plentiful domestically than petroleum. The processes under development will convert feedstocks containing one carbon atom per molecular unit into ultra clean liquid transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel) and hydrogen, which many believe will be the transportation fuel of the future. These feedstocks include synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen produced by coal gasification or reforming of natural gas, methane, methanol, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Some highlights of the results obtained during the first year of the current research contract are summarized as: (1) Terminal alkynes are an effective chain initiator for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactions, producing normal paraffins with C numbers {ge} to that of the added alkyne. (2) Significant improvement in the product distribution towards heavier hydrocarbons (C{sub 5} to C{sub 19}) was achieved in supercritical fluid (SCF) FT reactions compared to that of …

The work performed during this quarter by SRD scientists and engineers focused on a number of tasks. The initial acquisition of some hardware needed and the actual construction of the sampling system have begun. This sampling system will contain the pyrolysis oven to atomize the sample gas stream needed for total gaseous mercury measurements, the CRD cavity to acquire the ring-down signal needed to obtain the mercury concentration, various tubing, and temperature and pressure measurement equipment. The amount of tubing and valves have been cut to a minimum to try and reduce the resident time the sample flue gas stream is in the sampling system and minimize the possibility that the gases in the sample gas stream will react with the elements of the sampling system and change the component mixture contained in the flue gas. In an effort to minimize the equipment that needs to be close to the actual sampling port, SRD scientists decided to fiber optically couple the laser to the CRD cavity. However, the ultra-violet (UV) light needed for the mercury transition presents a problem as fiber optics can be solarized by the UV radiation thereby changing the transmission characteristics. SRD has obtained a solarization-resistant fiber. …

The integrity of coatings used in hot section components of combustion turbines is crucial to the reliability of the buckets. This project was initiated in recognition of the need for predicting the life of coatings analytically, and non-destructively; correspondingly, three principal tasks were established. Task 1, with the objective of analytically developing stress, strain and temperature distributions in the bucket and thereby predicting thermal fatigue (TMF) damage for various operating conditions; Task 2 with the objective of developing eddy current techniques to measure both TMF damage and general degradation of coatings and, Task 3 with the objective of developing mechanism based algorithms. Task 4 would be aimed at verifying analytical predictions from Task 1 and the NDE predictions from Task 3 against field observations. Task 5 would develop a risk-based decision analysis model to make run/repair decisions. This report is a record of the progress to date on these four tasks.

The Delaware Basin Drilling Surveillance Program (DBDSP) is designed to monitor drilling activities in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This program is based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. The EPA environmental standards for the management and disposal of transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste are codified in 40 CFR Part 191 (EPA 1993). Subparts B and C of the standard address the disposal of radioactive waste. The standard requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate the expected performance of the disposal system using a probabilistic risk assessment or performance assessment (PA). This PA must show that the expected repository performance will not release radioactive material above limits set by the EPA's standard. This assessment must include the consideration of inadvertent drilling into the repository at some future time.

The increasing role of coal as a source of energy in the 21st century will demand environmental and cost-effective strategies for the use of coal combustion by-products (CCBPs), mainly unburned carbon in fly ash. Unburned carbon is nowadays regarded as a waste product and its fate is mainly disposal, due to the present lack of efficient routes for its utilization. However, unburned carbon is a potential precursor for the production of adsorbent carbons, since it has gone through a devolatilization process while in the combustor, and therefore, only requires to be activated. Accordingly, the principal objective of this work was to characterize and utilize the unburned carbon in fly ash for the production of activated carbons. The unburned carbon samples were collected from different combustion systems, including pulverized utility boilers, a utility cyclone, a stoker, and a fluidized bed combustor. LOI (loss-on-ignition), proximate, ultimate, and petrographic analyses were conducted, and the surface areas of the samples were characterized by N2 adsorption isotherms at 77K. The LOIs of the unburned carbon samples varied between 21.79-84.52%. The proximate analyses showed that all the samples had very low moisture contents (0.17 to 3.39 wt %), while the volatile matter contents varied between 0.45 …

Burnable poisons are used in nuclear reactors to produce a more level distribution of power in the reactor core and to reduce to necessity for a large control system. An ideal burnable poison would burn at the same rate as the fuel. In this study, separation of neutron-absorbing isotopes was investigated in order to eliminate isotopes that remain as absorbers at the end of fuel life, thus reducing useful fuel life. The isotopes Gd-157, Dy-164, and Er-167 were found to have desirable properties. These isotopes were separated from naturally occurring elements by means of plasma separation to evaluate feasibility and cost. It was found that pure Gd-157 could save approximately $6 million at the end of four years. However, the cost of separation, using the existing facility, made separation cost- ineffective. Using a magnet with three times the field strength is expected to reduce the cost by a factor of ten, making isotopically separated burnable poisons a favorable method of increasing fuel life in commercial reactors, in particular Generation-IV reactors. The project also investigated various burnable poison configurations, and studied incorporation of metallic burnable poisons into fuel cladding.

For the academic year 2001-2002, the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences received $50,000 of industrial contributions, matched by a DOE grant of $35,000. We used the combined DOE/Industry Matching Grant of $85,000 toward (a) undergraduate merit scholarships and research support, (b) graduate student support, and (c) partial support of a research scientist.

It is well-known that the human thyroid concentrates iodine more than 100 times the concentration in plasma. Also well-known is the fact that large amounts of stable iodine in the diet can limit thyroid uptake of total iodine; this is the basis for administering potassium iodide following a release of radioiodine from a nuclear reactor accident or nuclear weapon detonation. Many researchers have shown enhanced concentrations of both organic and inorganic iodine in saliva and breast milk. Technetium-99 is a long-lived (231,000 year half-life) radionuclide of concern in the management of high-level radioactive waste. There is no doubt that 99Tc, if it is in groundwater, will be found in the chemical form of pertechnetate, 99TcO4?. Pertechnetate is a large anion, almost identical in size to iodide, I?. The nuclear medicine literature shows that pertechnetate concentrates in the thyroid, salivary glands, and lactating breast in addition to the stomach, liver, and alimentary tract as currently recognized by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The fact that large intakes of stable iodine (127I) in the diet limit uptake of iodine by the thyroid leads one to generalize that stable iodine in the diet may also limit thyroid uptake of pertechnetate. While …

Most commercial buildings in the U.S. are required by State or local jurisdiction to meet energy standards. The enforcement of these standards is not well known and building practice without them on a national scale is also little understood. To provide an understanding of these issues, a database has been developed at PNNL that includes detailed energy related building characteristics of 162 commercial buildings from across the country. For this analysis, the COMcheck? compliance software (developed at PNNL) was used to assess compliance with energy codes among these buildings. Data from the database for each building provided the program input with percentage energy compliance to the ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999 energy as the output. During the data input process it was discovered that some essential data for showing compliance of the building envelope was missed and defaults had to be developed to provide complete compliance information. This need for defaults for some data inputs raised the question of what the effect on documenting compliance could be due to missing data. To help answer this question a data collection effort was completed to assess potential differences. Using the program Dodge View, as much of the missing envelope data as possible was collected …

In May 2002, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) signed Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC09-02CH11109 with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to support the Environmental Biosciences Program (EBP). This funding instrument replaces DOE Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC02-98CH10902. EBP is an integrated, multidisciplinary scientific research program, employing a range of research initiatives to identify, study and resolve environmental health risk issues. These initiatives are consistent with the Medical University's role as a comprehensive state-supported health sciences institution and the nation's need for new and better approaches to the solution of a complex and expansive array of environment-related health problems. The intrinsic capabilities of a comprehensive health sciences institution enable the Medical University to be a national resource for the scientific investigation of environmental health issues. EBP's success in convening worldwide scientific expertise is due in part to the inherent credibility the Medical University brings to the process of addressing these complex issues. Current research projects have focused EBP talent and resources on providing the scientific basis for risk-based standards, risk-based decision making and the accelerated clean-up of widespread environmental hazards. These hazards include trichloroethylene (TCE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos and low-dose ionizing radiation. A project is also being conducted …

The purpose of this trip to LECO Corporation was to test the non-matrix matched calibration method and the principal component analysis (PCA) method on a laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-time of flight mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-TOFMS) system. An LA-ICP-TOFMS system allows for multielement single-shot analysis as well as spatial analysis on small samples, because the TOFMS acquires an entire mass spectrum for all ions extracted simultaneously from the ICP. The TOFMS system differs from the double-focusing mass spectrometer, on which the above methods were developed, by having lower sensitivity and lower mass resolution.

Spectroscopy of Mo{sub 6}Cl{sub 12} immobilized in a sol-gel matrix and heated to 200 C has been performed. Oxygen quenching of the luminescence was observed. Aging Mo{sub 6}Cl{sub 12} to temperatures above 250 C converts the canary yellow Mo{sub 6}Cl{sub 12} to a non-luminescent gray solid. Preliminary experiments point to oxidation of the clusters as the likely cause of thermally induced changes in the physical and optical properties of the clusters.

Progress is reported for the period from July 1, 2003 to September 30, 2003. Conductivity testing between the CO{sub 2}I No.1 and CO{sub 2} No.13 was performed over the period 08/20/03 through 09/05/03. Observed response in CO{sub 2} 13 production rates to changes in CO{sub 2}I No.1 injection rates are consistent with sufficient permeability between CO{sub 2}I No.1 and CO{sub 2} No.13 for a viable CO{sub 2} flood with a sufficient Process Pore Volume Rate (PPV). Based on the permeabilities near the CO{sub 2} No.16, a 2-producing well pattern has been determined to be optimal but may be changed during the flood depending on the response observed in the CO{sub 2} No.16. Present inter-well test results indicate there is greater permeability architecture complexity than originally predicted and that a low-permeability region or barrier that restricts but does stop flow may exist between the CO{sub 2}I No.1 and the CO{sub 2} No.13. Pilot area repressurization began on 09/05/03, immediately after CO{sub 2}I No.1-CO{sub 2} No.13 conductivity testing was complete, by increasing injection in the CO{sub 2}I No.1, CO{sub 2} No.10, and CO{sub 2} No.18. Adequate reservoir pressure in the portion of the pilot area needed to be above minimum miscibility pressure …

Absorbed doses above1-2 Gy (100-200 rads) received over a period of a day or less lead to one or another of the acute radiation syndromes. These are the hematopoietic syndrome, the gastrointestinal (GI) syndrome, the cerebrovascular (CV) syndrome, the pulmonary syndrome, or the cutaneous syndrome. The dose that will kill about 50% of the exposed people within 60 days with minimal medical care, LD50-60, is around 4.5 Gy (450 rads) of low-LET radiation measured free in air. The GI syndrome may not be fatal with supportive medical care and growth factors below about 10 Gy (1000 rads), but above this is likely to be fatal. Pulmonary and cutaneous syndromes may or may not be fatal, depending on many factors. The CV syndrome is invariably fatal. Lower acute doses, or protracted doses delivered over days or weeks, may lead to many other health outcomes than death. These include loss of pregnancy, cataract, impaired fertility or temporary or permanent sterility, hair loss, skin ulceration, local tissue necrosis, developmental abnormalities including mental and growth retardation in persons irradiated as children or fetuses, radiation dermatitis, and other symptoms listed in Table 2 on page 12. Children of parents irradiated prior to conception may experience …

We describe applications of the electrostatic plasma lens for manipulating and focusing moderate energy, high current, broad, heavy ion beams. Use of a plasma lens in this way has been successfully demonstrated in a series of experiments carried out collaboratively between IP NASU (Kiev) and LBNL (Berkeley) in recent years. Here we briefly review the plasma lens fundamentals, peculiarities of focusing heavy ion beams, and summarize some recent developments (experiments, computer simulations, theory). We show that there is a very narrow range of low magnetic field for which the optical properties of the lens improve markedly. This opens up some attractive possibilities for the development of a new-generation compact lens based on permanent magnets. Preliminary experimental results obtained at Kiev and Berkeley on the operation of a permanent magnet plasma lens for manipulating wide aperture high-current heavy ion beams are presented and summarized.

Most modern nodal methods in use by the reactor vendors and utilities are based on the generalized equivalence theory (GET) that uses homogenized cross sections and flux discontinuity factors. These homogenized parameters, referred to as infinite medium parameters, are precomputed by performing single bundle fine-mesh calculations with zero current boundary conditions. It is known that for configurations in which the node-to-node leakage (e.g., surface current-to-flux ratio) is large the use of the infinite medium parameters could lead to large errors in the nodal solution. This would be the case for highly heterogeneous core configurations, typical of modern reactor core designs.