During the 2007 calendar year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provided health physics support for the Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Transparency Program for external and internal radiation protection and technical expertise related to BDMS radioactive sources and Russian radiation safety regulatory compliance. For the calendar year 2007, there were 172 person-trips that required dose monitoring of the U.S. monitors. Of the 172 person-trips, 160 person-trips were SMVs and 12 person-trips were Transparency Monitoring Office (TMO) trips. There were 12 monitoring visits by TMO monitors to facilities other than UEIE and 10 to UEIE itself. There were two monitoring visits (source changes) that were back to back with 14 monitors. LLNL's Hazard Control Division laboratories provided the dosimetry services for the HEU Transparency monitors.

Final Report for DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER46178 'Acquisition of Single Crystal Growth and Characterization Equipment'. There is growing concern in the condensed matter community that the need for quality crystal growth and materials preparation laboratories is not being met in the United States. It has been suggested that there are too many researchers performing measurements on too few materials. As a result, many user facilities are not being used optimally. The number of proficient crystal growers is too small. In addition, insufficient attention is being paid to the enterprise of finding new and interesting materials, which is the driving force behind much of condensed matter research and, ultimately, technology. While a detailed assessment of this situation is clearly needed, enough evidence of a problem already exists to compel a general consensus that the situation must be addressed promptly. This final report describes the work carried out during the last four years in our group, in which a state-of-the-art single crystal growth and characterization facility was established for the study of novel oxides and intermetallic compounds of rare earth, actinide and transition metal elements. Research emphasis is on the physics of superconducting (SC), magnetic, heavy fermion (HF), non-Fermi liquid (NFL) and …

In July of 2002, a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was undertaken between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Caterpillar, Inc. (Caterpillar Technical Center) to develop and commercialize new cast stainless steels invented and initially tested on a prior CRADA. This CRADA is a direct follow-on project to CRADA ORNL-99-0533 for diesel engine exhaust component and gas turbine engine structural component applications. The goal of this new CRADA was to develop and commercialize the newly discovered cast stainless steels (primarily CF8C-Plus) with improved performance and reliability, as lower-cost upgrade alternatives to more costly cast Ni-based superalloys.

This report discusses the status and the accomplishments of the environmental protection program at Argonne National Laboratory for calendar year 2007. The status of Argonne environmental protection activities with respect to compliance with the various laws and regulations is discussed, along with the progress of environmental corrective actions and restoration projects. To evaluate the effects of Argonne operations on the environment, samples of environmental media collected on the site, at the site boundary, and off the Argonne site were analyzed and compared with applicable guidelines and standards. A variety of radionuclides were measured in air, surface water, on-site groundwater, and bottom sediment samples. In addition, chemical constituents in surface water, groundwater, and Argonne effluent water were analyzed. External penetrating radiation doses were measured, and the potential for radiation exposure to off-site population groups was estimated. Results are interpreted in terms of the origin of the radioactive and chemical substances (i.e., natural, fallout, Argonne, and other) and are compared with applicable environmental quality standards. A U.S. Department of Energy dose calculation methodology, based on International Commission on Radiological Protection recommendations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's CAP-88 Version 3 (Clean Air Act Assessment Package-1988) computer code, was used in preparing this …

Significant time and effort are often required to solve and complete a macromolecular crystal structure. The development of automated computational methods for the analysis, solution and completion of crystallographic structures has the potential to produce minimally biased models in a short time without the need for manual intervention. The PHENIX software suite is a highly automated system for macromolecular structure determination that can rapidly arrive at an initial partial model of a structure without significant human intervention, given moderate resolution and good quality data. This achievement has been made possible by the development of new algorithms for structure determination, maximum-likelihood molecular replacement (PHASER), heavy-atom search (HySS), template and pattern-based automated model-building (RESOLVE, TEXTAL), automated macromolecular refinement (phenix.refine), and iterative model-building, density modification and refinement that can operate at moderate resolution (RESOLVE, AutoBuild). These algorithms are based on a highly integrated and comprehensive set of crystallographic libraries that have been built and made available to the community. The algorithms are tightly linked and made easily accessible to users through the PHENIX Wizards and the PHENIX GUI.

We measured the ratio of the fission probabilities of {sup 234}U* relative to {sup 236}U* formed via an ({alpha},{alpha}{prime}) direct reactions using the STARS array at the 88-inch cyclotron at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This ratio has a shape similar to the ratio of neutron capture probabilities from {sup 233}U(n; f) and {sup 235}U(n; f), indicating the alpha reactions likely formed a compound nucleus. This result indicates that the ratios of fission exit channel probabilities for two actinide nuclei populated via ({alpha}, {alpha}{prime}) can be used to determine an unknown fission cross section relative to a known one. The validity of the External Surrogate Ratio Method (ESRM) is tested and the results support the conclusions of Burke et al. [1].

Evaluating spatial and temporal trends in contaminant residues in Puget Sound fish and macroinvertebrates are the objectives of the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program (PSAMP). In a cooperative effort between the ENVironmental inVESTment group (ENVVEST) and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, additional biota samples were collected during the 2007 PSAMP biota survey and analyzed for chemical residues and stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N). Approximately three specimens of each species collected from Sinclair Inlet, Georgia Basin, and reference locations in Puget Sound were selected for whole body chemical analysis. The muscle tissue of specimens selected for chemical analyses were also analyzed for δ13C and δ15N to provide information on relative trophic level and food sources. This data report summarizes the chemical residues for the 2007 PSAMP fish and macro-invertebrate samples. In addition, six Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias) samples were necropsied to evaluate chemical residue of various parts of the fish (digestive tract, liver, embryo, muscle tissue), as well as, a weight proportional whole body composite (WBWC). Whole organisms were homogenized and analyzed for silver, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, mercury, 19 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, PCB homologues, percent moisture, percent lipids, δ13C, and δ15N.

Simulations of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Chemical Processing Cell (CPC) vessels were performed as part of the ongoing investigation into catalytic hydrogen generation. Rhodium, ruthenium, and mercury have been identified as the principal elemental factors affecting the peak hydrogen generation rate in the DWPF Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) for a given acid addition. The primary goal of this study is to identify any significant interactions between the three factors. Noble metal concentrations were similar to recent sludge batches. Rh ranged from 0.0026-0.013% and Ru ranged from 0.010-0.050% in the dried sludge solids, while initial Hg ranged from 0.5-2.5 wt%. An experimental matrix was developed to ensure that the existence of statistically significant two-way interactions could be determined without confounding of the main effects with the two-way interaction effects. The nominal matrix design consisted of twelve SRAT cycles. Testing included: a three factor (Rh, Ru, and Hg) study at two levels per factor (eight runs), two duplicate midpoint runs, and two additional replicate runs to assess reproducibility away from the midpoint. Midpoint testing can identify potential quadratic effects from the three factors. A single sludge simulant was used for all tests. Acid addition was kept effectively constant …

This paper deals with the growth and characterization of ferromagnetic cobalt doped TiO{sub 2} thin films deposited by liquid precursor metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using a new combination of the source materials Co(TMHD){sub 3}, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and titanium isopropoxide (TIP). An array of experiments reveals the intrinsic ferromagnetic nature of the grown films, and suggests that the magnetism is not generated by oxygen vacancies.

CdZnTe (or CZT) crystals can be used in a variety of detector-type applications. This large band gap material shows great promise for use as a gamma radiation spectrometer. Historically, the performance of CZT has typically been adversely affected by point defects, structural and compositional heterogeneities within the crystals, such as twinning, pipes, grain boundaries (polycrystallinity) and secondary phases (SP). The synthesis of CZT material has improved greatly with the primary performance limitation being attributed to mainly SP. In this presentation, we describe the extensive characterization of detector grade material that has been treated with post growth annealing to remove the SPs. Some of the analytical methods used in this study included polarized, cross polarized and transmission IR imaging, I-V curves measurements, synchrotron X-ray topography and electron microscopy.

Laccase-like multicopper oxidases (LMCOs) have repeatedly been associated with the process of lignification in plants, and previous work suggested that these enzymes might be acting as specific marker for highly localized, small-scale lignification events in tissues not typically thought of as lignified. However, plant LMCOs typically occur as members of gene families and different family members can display disparate enzyme activities and overlapping patterns of expression in bulk tissues. This study used reporter genes and knockout mutants to document the involvement of a specific Arabidopsis thaliana LMCO family member (At2g30210 ) in early root development, specifically with development of endodermal tissues. Expression of the gene product was found to be under the control of sucrose levels, but the gene also responded to fluctuations in salt concentrations. The expression patterns of this gene were consistent with its involvement in the formation of suberin in the Casparian strip of root endodermis. An additional LMCO (At5g58910) displayed a more generalized expression in the radicles emergent seedlings. Additional members of the Arabidopsis LMCO family (At2g29130, At5g01190, and At5g05390) were also investigated with reporter gene constructs and knockout mutants. Expression of these LMCOs was associated with lignifying xylem, and the genes had over-lapping expression. Single …

FISH PRODUCTION: Final shocking of eggs was finished in the incubation. Egg enumeration for the 2008 brood was completed and the eggs are being incubated in 38 degree Fahrenheit chilled water. Don Larsen of NOAA made a request of eggs for research purposes and was able to acquire supplemental line eggs 10,555. Estimated density at the time of ponding in Mid-March of 2009 is approximately 43,869 fry per raceway after calculating an average fry loss of 2%. The end of the month totals for the 2007 brood reports 773,807 juveniles on hand with an overall average of 31.4 fish per pound. Tagging continues on the 2007 brood and is on pace to wrap up in early December. FISH CULTURE: Ponds are cleaned as needed and due to the colder water temperatures, the feeding frequency has been changed to three days a week. All ponds are sampled at the end of the month. Growth for production fish are adjusted accordingly as temperature dictates feeding levels. Torrential rain on the 12th turned the Yakima River extremely turbid. Fish tagging operations were halted and the ensuing conditions at the facility intake screens became a concern. Water flow to the wet well became restricted …

The Heavy Ion Fusion Science Virtual National Laboratory (HIFS-VNL) has completed the fabrication of a new experimental target chamber facility for future Warm Dense Matter (WDM) experiments, and implemented initial target diagnostics to be used for the first target experiments in NDCX-1. The target chamber has been installed on the NDCX-I beamline. This achievement provides to the HIFS-VNL unique and state-of-the-art experimental capabilities in preparation for the planned target heating experiments using intense heavy ion beams.

We have constructed a regional 3D geologic model of the southern Great Basin, in support of a seismic wave propagation investigation of the 1993 Nonproliferation Experiment (NPE) at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The model is centered on the NPE and spans longitude -119.5{sup o} to -112.6{sup o} and latitude 34.5{sup o} to 39.8{sup o}; the depth ranges from the topographic surface to 150 km below sea level. The model includes the southern half of Nevada, as well as parts of eastern California, western Utah, and a portion of northwestern Arizona. The upper crust is constrained by both geologic and geophysical studies, while the lower crust and upper mantle are constrained by geophysical studies. The mapped upper crustal geologic units are Quaternary basin fill, Tertiary deposits, pre-Tertiary deposits, intrusive rocks of all ages, and calderas. The lower crust and upper mantle are parameterized with 5 layers, including the Moho. Detailed geologic data, including surface maps, borehole data, and geophysical surveys, were used to define the geology at the NTS. Digital geologic outcrop data were available for both Nevada and Arizona, whereas geologic maps for California and Utah were scanned and hand-digitized. Published gravity data (2km spacing) were used to determine …

The flux of dissolved organic matter (DOM) through aquatic bacterial communities is a major process in carbon cycling in the oceans and other aquatic systems. Our work addressed the general hypothesis that the phylogenetic make-up of bacterial communities and the abundances of key types of bacteria are important factors influencing the processing of DOM in aquatic ecosystems. Since most bacteria are not easily cultivated, the phylogenetic diversity of these microbes has to be assessed using culture-independent approaches. Even if the relevant bacteria were cultivated, their activity in the lab would likely differ from that under environmental conditions. This project found variation in DOM uptake by the major bacterial groups found in coastal waters. In brief, the data suggest substantial differences among groups in the use of high and molecular weight DOM components. It also made key discoveries about the role of light in affecting this uptake especially by cyanobacteria. In the North Atlantic Ocean, for example, over half of the light-stimulated uptake was by the coccoid cyanobacterium, Prochlorococcus, with the remaining uptake due to Synechococcus and other photoheterotrophic bacteria. The project also examined in detail the degradation of one organic matter component, chitin, which is often said to be the …

Monodisperse rhodium (Rh) and platinum (Pt) nanoparticles as small as {approx}1 nm were synthesized within a fourth generation polyaminoamide (PAMAM) dendrimer, a hyperbranched polymer, in aqueous solution and immobilized by depositing onto a high-surface-area SBA-15 mesoporous support. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the as-synthesized Rh and Pt nanoparticles were mostly oxidized. Catalytic activity of the SBA-15 supported Rh and Pt nanoparticles was studied with ethylene hydrogenation at 273 and 293 K in 10 torr of ethylene and 100 torr of H{sub 2} after reduction (76 torr of H{sub 2} mixed with 690 torr of He) at different temperatures. Catalysts were active without removing the dendrimer capping but reached their highest activity after hydrogen reduction at a moderate temperature (423 K). When treated at a higher temperature (473, 573, and 673 K) in hydrogen, catalytic activity decreased. By using the same treatment that led to maximum ethylene hydrogenation activity, catalytic activity was also evaluated for pyrrole hydrogenation.

Development of a metal media standard (FI) for ASME AG-1 (Code on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment) has been under way for almost ten years. This paper will provide a brief history of the development process of this section and a detailed overview of its current content/status. There have been at least two points when dramatic changes have been made in the scope of the document due to feedback from the full Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment (CONAGT). Development of the proposed section has required resolving several difficult issues associated with scope; namely, filtering efficiency, operating conditions (media velocity, pressure drop, etc.), qualification testing, and quality control/acceptance testing. A proposed version of Section FI is currently undergoing final revisions prior to being submitted for balloting. The section covers metal media filters of filtering efficiencies ranging from medium (less than 99.97%) to high (99.97% and greater). Two different types of high efficiency filters are addressed; those units intended to be a direct replacement of Section FC fibrous glass HEPA filters and those that will be placed into newly designed systems capable of supporting greater static pressures and differential pressures across the filter elements. Direct replacements of FC HEPA filters …

In the early 1960s, an area of privately-owned swamp adjacent to the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS), known as Creek Plantation, was contaminated by site operations. Studies conducted in 1974 estimated that approximately 925 GBq of {sup 137}Cs was deposited in the swamp. Subsequently, a series of surveys--composed of 52 monitoring locations--was initiated to characterize and trend the contaminated environment. The annual, potential, maximum doses to a hypothetical hunter were estimated by conservatively using the maximum {sup 137}Cs concentrations measured in the soil. The purpose of this report is to calculate an 'effective dosimetric' half-life for {sup 137}Cs in soil (based on the maximum concentrations) and compare it to the effective environmental half-life (based on the geometric mean concentrations).

Methods to measure the inventory of dust particles and to remove dust if it approaches safety limits will be required in next-step tokamaks such as ITER. An electrostatic dust detector, based on a fine grid of interlocking circuit traces, biased to 30 or 50 V, has been developed for the detection of dust on remote surfaces in air and vacuum environments. Gaining operational experience of dust detection on surfaces in tokamaks is important, however the level of dust generated in contemporary short-pulse tokamaks is comparatively low and high sensitivity is necessary to measure dust on a shot-by-shot basis. We report on modifications in the detection electronics that have increased the sensitivity of the electrostatic dust detector by a factor of up to 120, - a level suitable for measurements on contemporary tokamaks.

A new encapsulation method was investigated in an attempt to develop an improved palladium packing material for hydrogen isotope separation. Porous wall hollow glass microspheres (PWHGMs) were produced by using a flame former, heat treating and acid leaching. The PWHGMs were then filled with palladium salt using a soak-and-dry process. The palladium salt was reduced at high temperature to leave palladium inside the microspheres.

A study of the impact of neptunium on the coulometric assay of plutonium in dilute sulfuric acid was performed. Weight aliquots of plutonium standard solutions were spiked with purified neptunium solution to evaluate plutonium measurement performance for aliquots with Pu:Np ratios of 50:1, 30:1, 20:1, 15:1, and 10:1. Weight aliquots of the pure plutonium standard solution were measured as controls. Routine plutonium instrument control standards were also measured. The presence of neptunium in plutonium aliquots significantly increases the random uncertainty associated with the plutonium coulometric measurement performed in accordance with ISO12183:2005.7 However, the presence of neptunium does not appear to degrade electrode performance and conditioning as aliquots of pure plutonium that were interspersed during the measurement of the mixed Pu:Np aliquots continued to achieve the historical short-term random uncertainty for the method. Lack of adequate control of the neptunium oxidation state is suspected to be the primary cause of the elevated measurement uncertainty and will be pursued in a future study.

In a search for B {yields} c{bar c}{gamma} K decays with the BABAR detector, where c{bar c} includes J/{psi} and {psi}(2S), and K includes K{sup {+-}}, K{sub S}{sup 0} and K*(892), they find evidence for X(3872) {yields} J/{psi}{gamma} and X(3872) {yields} {psi}(2S){gamma} with 3.6{sigma} and 3.5{sigma} significance, respectively. They measure the product of branching fractions {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} X (3872)K{sup {+-}}) {center_dot} {Beta}(X(3872) {yields} J/{psi}{gamma}) = (2.8 {+-} 0.8(stat.) {+-} 0.2(syst.)) x 10{sup -6} and {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} X(3872)K{sup {+-}}) {center_dot} {Beta}(X(3872) {yields} {psi}(2S){gamma}) = (9.9 {+-} 2.9(stat.) {+-} 0.6(syst.)) x 10{sup -6}.

We introduce a non-conforming finite element method for second order elliptic interface problems. Our approach applies to problems in which discontinuous coefficients and singular sources on the interface may give rise to jump discontinuities in either the solution or its normal derivative. Given a standard background mesh and an interface that passes between elements, the key idea is to construct a singular correction function which satisfies the prescribed jump conditions, providing accurate sub-grid resolution of the discontinuities. Utilizing the closest point extension and an implicit interface representation by the signed distance function, an algorithm is established to construct the correction function. The result is a function which is supported only on the interface elements, represented by the regular basis functions, and bounded independently of the interface location with respect to the background mesh. In the particular case of a constant second order coefficient, our regularization by singular function is straightforward, and the resulting left-hand-side is identical to that of a regular problem without introducing any instability. The influence of the regularization appears solely on the right-hand-side, which simplifies the implementation. In the more general case of discontinuous second order coefficients, a normalization is invoked which introduces a constraint equation on …

Methyl decanoate is a large methyl ester that can be used as a surrogate for biodiesel. In this experimental and computational study, the combustion of methyl decanoate is investigated in nonpremixed, nonuniform flows. Experiments are performed employing the counterflow configuration with a fuel stream made up of vaporized methyl decanoate and nitrogen, and an oxidizer stream of air. The mass fraction of fuel in the fuel stream is measured as a function of the strain rate at extinction, and critical conditions of ignition are measured in terms of the temperature of the oxidizer stream as a function of the strain rate. It is not possible to use a fully detailed mechanism for methyl decanoate to simulate the counterflow flames because the number of species and reactions is too large to employ with current flame codes and computer resources. Therefore a skeletal mechanism was deduced from a detailed mechanism of 8555 elementary reactions and 3036 species using 'directed relation graph' method. This skeletal mechanism has only 713 elementary reactions and 125 species. Critical conditions of ignition were calculated using this skeletal mechanism and are found to agree well with experimental data. The predicted strain rate at extinction is found to be …