This annual operations report describes the requirements followed and activities conducted to inspect, monitor, and maintain the items installed during performance of the Waste Area Group 3, Operable Unit 3-13, Group 1, Tank Farm Interim Action, at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. This report covers the time period from January 1 through December 31, 2006, and describes inspection and monitoring activities for the surface-sealed areas within the tank farm, concrete-lined ditches and culverts in and around the tank farm, the lift station, and the lined evaporation pond. These activities are intended to assure that the interim action is functioning adequately to meet the objectives stated in the Operable Unit 3-13, Record of Decision for the Group 1, Tank Farm Interim Action (DOE/ID-10660) as described in the Group 1 Remedial Design/Remedial Action Work Plan (DOE/ID-10772).

Advanced fuel injection experimental results on a single cylinder engine operating at part load show the path to NOx vs SFC tradeoffs. Hybrid battery vibration tests have been performed. Analysis of advanced Battery Management System field validation results showed effective SOC estimation. A fuel optimizer simulation lab has been completed.

The fuel injection hardware on the single cylinder research engine was upgraded and performance trends were quantified. The effects of fuel injection rate shapes were studied. Long-term cycling of subscale battery cell assemblies has identified aging trends. Follow-up vibration testing of an instrumented COTS battery was performed. Optimal trip planning algorithms were implemented and demonstrated in the interactive, real-time simulation environment.

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This Test Plan provides a test method to dedicate the leak detection relays used on the new Pumping Instrumentation and Control (PIC) skids. The new skids are fabricated on-site. The leak detection system is a safety class system per the Authorization Basis.

This Test Plan provides a test method to dedicate the leak detection relays used on the new Pumping Instrumentation and Control (PIC) skids. The new skids are fabricated on-site. The leak detection system is a safety class system per the Authorization Basis.

The process of recovering and processing High Level Waste (HLW) the waste in storage tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS) typically requires mixing the contents of the tank with one to four mixers (pumps) located within the tank. The typical criteria to establish a mixed condition in a tank are based on the number of pumps in operation and the time duration of operation. To ensure that a mixed condition is achieved, operating times are typically set conservatively long. This approach results in high operational costs because of the long mixing times and high maintenance and repair costs for the same reason. A significant reduction in both of these costs might be realized by reducing the required mixing time based on calculating a reliable indicator of mixing with a suitably validated computer code. The focus of the present work is to establish mixing criteria applicable to miscible fluids, with an ultimate goal of addressing waste processing in HLW tanks at SRS and quantifying the mixing time required to suspend sludge particles with the submersible jet pump. A single-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was taken for the analysis of jet flow patterns with an emphasis on the velocity decay …

Laboratory data are presented on the effect of constant-temperature aging on the apparent thermal conductivity of polyurethane foam insulation for refrigerators and freezers. The foam specimens were blown with HCFC-141b and with three of its potential replacements--HFC-134a, HFC-245fa, and cyclopentane. Specimens were aged at constant temperatures of 90 F, 40 F, and {minus}10 F. Thermal conductivity measurements were made on two types of specimens: full-thickness simulated refrigerator panels containing foam enclosed between solid plastic sheets, and thin slices of core foam cut from similar panels. Results are presented for the first two years of a multi-year aging study. Preliminary comparisons of measured data with predictions of a mathematical aging model are presented.

Air-cooled stack technology offers the potential for a simpler system architecture (versus liquid-cooled) for applications below 4 kilowatts. The combined cooling and cathode air allows for a reduction in part count and hence a lower cost solution. However, efficient heat rejection challenges escalate as power and ambient temperature increase. For applications in ambient temperatures below freezing, the air-cooled approach has additional challenges associated with not overcooling the fuel cell stack. The focus of this project was freeze tolerance while maintaining all other stack and system requirements. Through this project, Plug Power advanced the state of the art in technology for air-cooled PEM fuel cell stacks and related GenDrive material handling application fuel cell systems. This was accomplished through a collaborative work plan to improve freeze tolerance and mitigate freeze-thaw effect failure modes within innovative material handling equipment fuel cell systems designed for use in freezer forklift applications. Freeze tolerance remains an area where additional research and understanding can help fuel cells to become commercially viable. This project evaluated both stack level and system level solutions to improve fuel cell stack freeze tolerance. At this time, the most cost effective solutions are at the system level. The freeze mitigation strategies developed …

The mission of the Alaska Power Administration is to operate and maintain Alaska`s Federal hydroelectric generation and transmission facilities in an efficient, reliable, safe, and environmentally sensitive manner. The power from the facilities is marketed in a manner so as to repay their federal debt and provide widespread use of the power resources at the lowest cost to consumers consistent with sound business principles. This document presents fiscal 1993 accomplishments, future plans, results of operations, sales and revenues, expenses, debt service, repayment status, net cash flow, system reliability, and a report of independent accountants.

Two optimum defocus conditions are used in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Scherzer defocus produces an image of the specimen ''projected potential'' to the resolution of the microscope, and Lichte defocus minimizes dispersion. A third optimum defocus is best for focal-series reconstruction; alpha-null defocus maximizes transfer of high-frequency diffracted beam amplitudes into the microscope image. Beam transfer is confined by incident-beam convergence to a Gaussian ''packet'' of defocus values centered on the alpha-null defocus. For a diffracted beam hkl, with a spatial frequency of u, the envelope for incident beam convergence has null damping effect when defocus is set to -Cs. (wavelength.u)**2. On either side of this alpha-null defocus value, the damping effect of incident-beam convergence reduces diffracted-beam transfer. The position of alpha-null defocus for any spatial frequency depends only on the value of Cs, but defocus-packet width around the alpha-null defocus depends only on the convergence semi-angle. Under NCEM OAM (one-Angstrom microscope) conditions, a [110] diamond image with the correct 0.89A spacing appears when the Si (004) alpha-null defocus is selected. The alpha-null defocus should be included as the (furthest underfocus) limit for all high-resolution focal series reconstruction.

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The stress analysis is presented for the proposed loop seal modification to the LOFT Steam Generator Main Feed Piping. THE SAP IV finite element computer program was used to analyze normal, upset, emergency, and faulted conditions. Results of the analysis indicate that the modified main feed piping system will satisfy all structural adequacy criteria specified in Subarticle NC-3650 of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Results also show that the isolation snubber configuration, specified in LTR 115-11, will also be adequate for the piping configuration analyzed.

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The purpose of this report is to summarize and evaluate the Argonne Distance Tabletop Exercise (DISTEX) method. DISTEX is intended to facilitate multi-organization, multi-objective tabletop emergency response exercises that permit players to participate from their own facility's incident command center. This report is based on experience during its first use during the FluNami 2007 exercise, which took place from September 19-October 17, 2007. FluNami 2007 exercised the response of local public health officials and hospitals to a hypothetical pandemic flu outbreak. The underlying purpose of the DISTEX method is to make tabletop exercising more effective and more convenient for playing organizations. It combines elements of traditional tabletop exercising, such as scenario discussions and scenario injects, with distance learning technologies. This distance-learning approach also allows playing organizations to include a broader range of staff in the exercise. An average of 81.25 persons participated in each weekly webcast session from all playing organizations combined. The DISTEX method required development of several components. The exercise objectives were based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Target Capabilities List. The ten playing organizations included four public health departments and six hospitals in the Chicago area. An extent-of-play agreement identified the objectives applicable to each …

Electron diffusion in a liquid xenon time projection chamber has recently been used to infer the z coordinate of a particle interaction, from the width of the electron signal. The goal of this technique is to reduce the background event rate by discriminating edge events from bulk events. Analyses of dark matter search data which employ it would benefit from increased longitudinal electron diffusion. We show that a significant increase is expected if the applied electric field is decreased. This observation is trivial to implement but runs contrary to conventional wisdom and practice. We also extract a first measurement of the longitudinal diffusion coefficient, and confirm the expectation that electron diffusion in liquid xenon is highly anisotropic under typical operating conditions.

An early warning system to counter bioterrorism, the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) continuously monitors the environment for the presence of biological pathogens (e.g., anthrax) and once detected, it sounds an alarm much like a smoke detector warns of a fire. Long before September 11, 2001, this system was being developed to protect domestic venues and events including performing arts centers, mass transit systems, major sporting and entertainment events, and other high profile situations in which the public is at risk of becoming a target of bioterrorist attacks. Customizing off-the-shelf components and developing new components, a multidisciplinary team developed APDS, a stand-alone system for rapid, continuous monitoring of multiple airborne biological threat agents in the environment. The completely automated APDS samples the air, prepares fluid samples in-line, and performs two orthogonal tests: immunoassay and nucleic acid detection. When compared to competing technologies, APDS is unprecedented in terms of flexibility and system performance.

The Consolidated Incineration Facility at the Savannah River Site is designed without emergency flue gas vents. The main components of this 18 million btu/hr facility are a rotary kiln and secondary combustion chamber, each with a code allowable internal pressure of 15 psig. The facility is designed to treat mixed waste. During the early stages of design it was judged on a qualitative basis that potential eventsthat might produce damaging overpressures were not credible. When these findings were questioned during subsequent design reviews, a probabilistic risk assessment was undertaken to provide a quantitative basis for decision making. The result was identification of design conditions leading to relatively high frequencies for a few event sequences in which the allowable pressure might be exceeded. Risk assessment assumptions and results were reviewed with design engineers and relatively simple improvements were identified that collectively reduced the frequency of overpressure to an acceptable level. This experience showed that the use of formalized risk assessment techniques can provide valuable insight leading to timely and cost-effective improvements in facility design and operating procedures. In this case, the program of analysis and follow-on improvements provided justification for incinerator operation without thermal relief devices.

The Consolidated Incineration Facility at the Savannah River Site is designed without emergency flue gas vents. The main components of this 18 million btu/hr facility are a rotary kiln and secondary combustion chamber, each with a code allowable internal pressure of 15 psig. The facility is designed to treat mixed waste. During the early stages of design it was judged on a qualitative basis that potential eventsthat might produce damaging overpressures were not credible. When these findings were questioned during subsequent design reviews, a probabilistic risk assessment was undertaken to provide a quantitative basis for decision making. The result was identification of design conditions leading to relatively high frequencies for a few event sequences in which the allowable pressure might be exceeded. Risk assessment assumptions and results were reviewed with design engineers and relatively simple improvements were identified that collectively reduced the frequency of overpressure to an acceptable level. This experience showed that the use of formalized risk assessment techniques can provide valuable insight leading to timely and cost-effective improvements in facility design and operating procedures. In this case, the program of analysis and follow-on improvements provided justification for incinerator operation without thermal relief devices.

Research and development on metallurglcal aspects of pressurized-water systems is summarized. A survey was made of the methods of determining fuel burnup. The mechanisms and kinetics of the loss of boron during heating at 1135 deg C in various dynamic environments were determined. A model was developed to quantitatively characterize the UO/sup 2/ dispersion microstructure of roll-clad fuel plates relative to an ideal'' dispersion. In order to avoid the loss of boron from UO//sub 2/- stainless steel dispersion fuel plates during fabrication, studies were carried out on a refractory glass containing 4 wt.% B/sub 2/O/sub 3/. By using lowsilicon elemental powder, the undesirable reaction between Eu/sub 2/O/ sub 3/ and Si was eliminated; and 13 full-size SM-1 absorbers were fabricated. Work was continued on the borongradient neutron absorber concept. A design was studied for preparing a composite control rod having an upper section made of a boron-gradient dispersion and the lower tip made of Eu/sub 2/O/sub 3/ and stainless steel. Two fuel elements were examined after significant exposure in SM-1. The examination of the miniature boron-iron samples in the final phase of the MTR irradlation test was performed. Twelve miniature test specimens containing 20, 30, or 40 wt % Eu/sub …

This document provides findings and recommendations that resulted from an assessment of the Brookhaven National Laboratory by a team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to assess the site's potential for various alternative financing options as a means to implement energy-efficiency improvements. The assessment looked for life-cycle cost-effective energy-efficiency improvement opportunities, and through a series of staff interviews, evaluated the various methods by which these opportunities may be financed, while considering availability of funds, staff, and available financing options. This report summarizes the findings of the visit and the resulting recommendations.

The ATD code is a multi-purpose code which reduces data files produced by a digitizer. It contains all of the features for the basic unpacking, scaling, and plotting of digitized data files. More advanced capabilities are also available. Digital filtering, spectral analysis, and statistical analysis, among others, allow the engineer the capability to analyze and display time history data. In contrast to codes such as DYMEC, the data files are typically of high frequency and short duration, representing time spans on the order of seconds and frequency content in the tens of thousands of hertz. 1 figure.

ORNL's advanced characterization capabilities were used to determine the physical and chemical structure of magnetic multilayer films intended for application in non-volatile magnetic random access memory devices and as magnetic sensors. ORNL modeling capabilities were used to incorporate this information into a first-principles based tool that can be used to model the magnetic and transport properties of these films. This modeling capability should be useful for understanding and optimizing novel magnetoelectronic devices.

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