The Maintenance Plan for the Performance Assessments and Composite Analyses for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites at the Nevada Test Site (National Security Technologies, LLC, 2007a) requires an annual review to assess the adequacy of the Performance Assessments (PAs) and Composite Analyses (CAs), with the results submitted annually to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management. The Disposal Authorization Statements for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites (RWMSs) also require that such reviews be made and that secondary or minor unresolved issues be tracked and addressed as part of the maintenance plan (DOE, 1999a; 2000). The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office performed an annual review of the Area 3 and Area 5 RWMS PAs and CAs for fiscal year (FY) 2011. This annual summary report presents data and conclusions from the FY 2011 review, and determines the adequacy of the PAs and CAs. Operational factors (e.g., waste forms and containers, facility design, and waste receipts), closure plans, monitoring results, and research and development (R and D) activities were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the PAs. Likewise, the environmental restoration activities at the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Most lobbyists were able to provide documentation to demonstrate compliance with disclosure requirements. This finding is similar to GAO’s results from prior reviews. There are no specific requirements for lobbyists to create or maintain documentation related to disclosure reports they file under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 as amended (LDA). Nonetheless, and similar to last year’s results, for two key elements of the reports (income and expenses), GAO estimates that lobbyists could provide documentation to support approximately 93 percent of the disclosure reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2010 and the first and second quarters of 2011. According to documentation lobbyists provided for income and expenses, GAO estimates that the amounts disclosed were properly reported and supported for 63 percent of the quarterly lobbying disclosure (LD-2) reports. For lobbyists and lobbying firms listed on the LD-2 report, an estimated 86 percent filed year-end 2010 or midyear 2011 reports of federal political campaign contributions (LD-203) reports as required. For LD-203 political contributions reports, GAO estimates that a minimum of 4 percent of all LD-203 reports omitted one or more reportable political contributions that were …

The Gordon Research Conference on BATTERIES was held at Four Points Sheraton / Holiday Inn Express, Ventura, California, March 4-9, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 176 participants. Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings.

The sessions will focus on:  Attosecond science;  Strong-field processes in molecules and solids;  Generation of harmonics and attosecond pulses;  Free-electron laser experiments and theory;  Ultrafast imaging;  Applications of very high intensity lasers;  Propagation of intense laser fields.

The exact treatment of nuclei starting from the constituent nucleons and the fundamental interactions among them has been a long-standing goal in nuclear physics. In addition to the complex nature of nuclear forces, one faces the quantum-mechanical many-nucleon problem governed by an interplay between bound and continuum states. In recent years, significant progress has been made in ab initio nuclear structure and reaction calculations based on input from QCD employing Hamiltonians constructed within chiral effective field theory. In this contribution, we present one of such promising techniques capable of describing simultaneously both bound and scattering states in light nuclei. By combining the resonating-group method (RGM) with the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM), we complement a microscopic cluster approach with the use of realistic interactions and a microscopic and consistent description of the clusters. We discuss applications to light nuclei scattering, radiative capture and fusion reactions.

This report summarizes the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the legal challenges it has faced. The report contains information on various lawsuits due to the ACA and provides the reasoning behind them as Congress violating its enumerated powers in the constitution. Moreover, the report covers the challenges of implementing the law.

In the study of beam preparation for the g-2 experiment, adiabatic debunching and adiabatic capture are revisited. The voltage programs for these adiabbatic processes are derived and their properties discussed. Comparison is made with some other form of adiabatic capture program. The muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab calls for intense proton bunches for the creation of muons. A booster batch of 84 bunches is injected into the Recycler Ring, where it is debunched and captured into 4 intense bunches with the 2.5-MHz rf. The experiment requires short bunches with total width less than 100 ns. The transport line from the Recycler to the muon-production target has a low momentum aperture of {approx} {+-}22 MeV. Thus each of the 4 intense proton bunches required to have an emittance less than {approx} 3.46 eVs. The incoming booster bunches have total emittance {approx} 8.4 eVs, or each one with an emittance {approx} 0.1 eVs. However, there is always emittance increase when the 84 booster bunches are debunched. There will be even larger emittance increase during adiabatic capture into the buckets of the 2.5-MHz rf. In addition, the incoming booster bunches may have emittances larger than 0.1 eVs. In this article, we will concentrate …

This report describes Congressional interest in the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) appeal process due to rumors that it affects the BLM's capacity to handle various resources. Moreover, the report defines what an administrative appeal is, and describes the process required to undertake one. The report also lists the various types of administrative appeals.

Surface adsorption represents a competition between collision and scattering processes that depend on surface energy, surface structure and temperature. The surface reactivity of the actinides can add additional complexity due to radiological dissociation of the gas and electronic structure. Here we elucidate the chemical bonding of gas molecules adsorbed on Pu metal and oxide surfaces. Atmospheric gas reactions were studied at 190 and 300 K using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Evolution of the Pu 4f and O 1s core-level states were studied as a function of gas dose rates to generate a set of Langmuir isotherms. Results show that the initial gas dose forms Pu{sub 2}O{sub 3} on the Pu metal surface followed by the formation of PuO{sub 2} resulting in a layered oxide structure. This work represents the first steps in determining the activation energy for adsorption of various atmospheric gases on Pu.

The Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) initiative is a three-year, three-stage project that includes conceptual design and market analysis (Stage 1), prototype development/testing (Stage 2), and commercialization (Stage 3). Projects focus on system development of solar technologies, expansion of intelligent renewable energy applications, and connecting large-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations into the electric grid. As documented in this report, Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AE), its partners, and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) successfully collaborated to complete the final stage of the SEGIS initiative, which has guided new technology development and development of methodologies for unification of PV and smart-grid technologies. The combined team met all deliverables throughout the three-year program and commercialized a broad set of the developed technologies.

2004-2011 Final Report for AFCI University Fellowship Program. The goal of this effort was to be supportive of university students and university programs - particularly those students and programs that will help to strengthen the development of nuclear-related fields. The program also supported the stability of the nuclear infrastructure and developed research partnerships that are helping to enlarge the national nuclear science technology base. In this fellowship program, the U.S. Department of Energy sought master's degree students in nuclear, mechanical, or chemical engineering, engineering/applied physics, physics, chemistry, radiochemistry, or fields of science and engineering applicable to the AFCI/Gen IV/GNEP missions in order to meet future U.S. nuclear program needs. The fellowship program identified candidates and selected full time students of high-caliber who were taking nuclear courses as part of their degree programs. The DOE Academic Program Managers encouraged fellows to pursue summer internships at national laboratories and supported the students with appropriate information so that both the fellows and the nation's nuclear energy objectives were successful.

This report summarizes the progress in the Deep Burn project at Idaho National Laboratory during the first half of fiscal year 2012 (FY2012). The current focus of this work is on Fully-Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel containing low-enriched uranium (LEU) uranium nitride (UN) fuel kernels. UO2 fuel kernels have not been ruled out, and will be examined as later work in FY2012. Reactor physics calculations confirmed that the FCM fuel containing 500 mm diameter kernels of UN fuel has positive MTC with a conventional fuel pellet radius of 4.1 mm. The methodology was put into place and validated against MCNP to perform whole-core calculations using DONJON, which can interpolate cross sections from a library generated using DRAGON. Comparisons to MCNP were performed on the whole core to confirm the accuracy of the DRAGON/DONJON schemes. A thermal fluid coupling scheme was also developed and implemented with DONJON. This is currently able to iterate between diffusion calculations and thermal fluid calculations in order to update fuel temperatures and cross sections in whole-core calculations. Now that the DRAGON/DONJON calculation capability is in place and has been validated against MCNP results, and a thermal-hydraulic capability has been implemented in the DONJON methodology, the work will …

This fact sheet is an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. Manufacturing is central to our economy, culture, and history. The industrial sector produces 11% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), employs 12 million people, and generates 57% of U.S. export value. However, U.S. industry consumes about one-third of all energy produced in the United States, and significant cost-effective energy efficiency and advanced manufacturing opportunities remain unexploited. As a critical component of the National Innovation Policy for Advanced Manufacturing, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is focused on creating a fertile environment for advanced manufacturing innovation, enabling vigorous domestic development of transformative manufacturing technologies, promoting coordinated public and private investment in precompetitive advanced manufacturing technology infrastructure, and facilitating the rapid scale-up and market penetration of advanced manufacturing technologies.

This report describes the status of the advanced redox flow battery research being performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Storage Systems Program. The Quarter 1 of FY2012 Milestone was completed on time. The milestone entails completion of evaluation and optimization of single cell components for the two advanced redox flow battery electrolyte chemistries recently developed at the lab, the all vanadium (V) mixed acid and V-Fe mixed acid solutions. All the single cell components to be used in future kW-scale stacks have been identified and optimized in this quarter, which include solution electrolyte, membrane or separator; carbon felt electrode and bi-polar plate. Varied electrochemical, chemical and physical evaluations were carried out to assist the component screening and optimization. The mechanisms of the battery capacity fading behavior for the all vanadium redox flow and the Fe/V battery were discovered, which allowed us to optimize the related cell operation parameters and continuously operate the system for more than three months without any capacity decay.

In 2007, the United States Department of Energy designated the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), located at Idaho National Laboratory, as a National Scientific User Facility (NSUF). This designation made test space within the ATR and post-irradiation examination (PIE) equipment at INL available for use by researchers via a proposal and peer review process. The goal of the ATR NSUF is to provide researchers with the best ideas access to the most advanced test capability, regardless of the proposer's physical location. Since 2007, the ATR NSUF has expanded its available reactor test space, and obtained access to additional PIE equipment. Recognizing that INL may not have all the desired PIE equipment, or that some equipment may become oversubscribed, the ATR NSUF established a Partnership Program. This program enables and facilitates user access to several university and national laboratories. So far, seven universities and one national laboratory have been added to the ATR NSUF with capability that includes reactor-testing space, PIE equipment, and ion beam irradiation facilities. With the addition of these universities, irradiation can occur in multiple reactors and post-irradiation exams can be performed at multiple universities. In each case, the choice of facilities is based on the user's technical needs. …

NREL's National Wind Technology Center provides the world's only dedicated turbine controls testing platforms.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) operates a mass separator that is currently producing high purity isotopes for use as internal standards for high precision isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS). In 2008, INL began the revival of the vintage 1970’s era instrument. Advancements thus far include the successful upgrading and development of system components such as the vacuum system, power supplies, ion-producing components, and beam detection equipment. Progress has been made in the separation and collection of isotopic species including those of Ar, Kr, Xe, Sr, and Ba. Particular focuses on ion source improvements and developments have proven successful with demonstrated output beam currents of over 10 micro-amps 138Ba and 350nA 134Ba from a natural abundance source charge (approximately 2.4 percent 134Ba). In order to increase production and collection of relatively high quantities (mg levels) of pure isotopes, several advancements have been made in ion source designs, source material introduction, and beam detection and collection. These advancements and future developments will be presented.

This report discusses the lawsuits challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Moreover, the report also discusses how the Supreme Court granted three petitions of certiorari and scheduled oral arguments in 2012.

This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001, and is ongoing. OEF actions take place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also include American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai, to address corruption within the Afghan government. The report also includes discussion of election fraud and corruption in Afghanistan.

This report covers concerns and issues relating to governance, elections, election fraud/nepotism, human rights, and Afghan culture in Afghanistan. It discusses the pros and cons of U.S.A. intervention in the shaping of these endeavors.

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Full size plate In center flux trap Position (AFIP) experiment AFIP-3 was designed to evaluate the performance of monolithic fuels at a prototypic scale of 2.25 inches x 21.5 inches x 0.050 inches (5.75 cm x 54.6 cm x 0.13cm). The AFIP-3 experiment was fabricated by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and consists of two plates, one with a zirconium (Zr) diffusion barrier and one with a silicon (Si) enhanced fuel/clad interface1,2. The following report summarizes the life of the AFIP-3 experiment through end of irradiation, including a brief description of the safety analysis, as-run neutronic analysis results, hydraulic testing results, and thermal analysis results.

The first fuel plate frame assembly of the AFIP-6 MKII experiment was irradiated as planned from December, 2011 through February, 2012 in the center flux trap of the Advanced Test Reactor during cycle 151A. Following irradiation in this cycle and while reconfiguring the experiment in the ATR canal, a non-fueled component (the bottom plate) of the first fuel plate frame assembly became separated from the rail sides. There is no evidence that the fueled region of the fuel plate frame assembly was compromised by this incident or the irradiation conditions. The separation of this component was determined to have been caused by flow induced vibrations, where vortex shedding frequencies were resonant with a natural frequency of the bottom plate component. This gave way to amplification, fracture, and separation from the assembly. Although parallel flow induced vibrations were analyzed, vortex shedding flow induced vibrations was an unfamiliar failure mode that was difficult to identify. Both the once-irradiated first fuel plate and un-irradiated second fuel plate frame assemblies were planned for irradiation in the subsequent cycle 151B. The AFIP-6 MKII experiment was excluded from irradiation in cycle 151B because non-trivial design modifications would be needed to mitigate this type of incident during …

A history and current status report of African Americans in Congress.