This report presents results from bench-scale treatability studies conducted under site-specific conditions to optimize the polyphosphate amendment for implementation of a field-scale technology demonstration to stabilize uranium within the 300 Area vadose and smear zones of the Hanford Site. The general treatability testing approach consisted of conducting studies with site sediment and under site conditions, to develop an effective chemical formulation and infiltration approach for the polyphosphate amendment under site conditions. Laboratory-scale dynamic column tests were used to 1) quantify the retardation of polyphosphate and its degradation products as a function of water content, 2) determine the rate of polyphosphate degradation under unsaturated conditions, 3) develop an understanding of the mechanism of autunite formation via the reaction of solid phase calcite-bound uranium and aqueous polyphosphate remediation technology, 4) develop an understanding of the transformation mechanism, the identity of secondary phases, and the kinetics of the reaction between uranyl-carbonate and -silicate minerals with the polyphosphate remedy under solubility-limiting conditions, and 5) quantify the extent and rate of uranium released and immobilized based on the infiltration rate of the polyphosphate remedy and the effect of and periodic wet-dry cycling on the efficacy of polyphosphate remediation for uranium in the vadose zone and …

This document provides a review and status of activities conducted in support of the Fluor Daniel Hanford Company (Fluor) Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) for Project L-325, Electrical Utility Upgrades. It includes time-zero monitoring results for planting activities conducted in January 2008, annual survival monitoring for all planting years (2007 and 2008), and recommendations for the successful completion of DOE habitat mitigation commitments for this project.

A 6-cell 805 MHz superconducting cavity for acceleration in the velocity range of about 0.4 to 0.53 times the speed of light was designed. After single-cell prototyping, three 6-cell niobium cavities were fabricated. In vertical RF tests of the 6-cell cavities, the measured quality factors (Q{sub 0}) were between 7 {center_dot} 10{sup 9} and 1.4 {center_dot} 10{sup 10} at the design field (accelerating gradient of 8 to 10 MV/m). A rectangular cryomodule was designed to house 4 cavities per cryomodule. The 4-cavity cryomodule could be used for acceleration of ions in a linear accelerator, with focusing elements between the cryomodules. A prototype cryomodule was fabricated to test 2 cavities under realistic operating conditions. Two of the 6-cell cavities were equipped with helium tanks, tuners, and input coupler and installed into the cryomodule. The prototype cryomodule was used to verify alignment, electromagnetic performance, frequency tuning, cryogenic performance, low-level RF control, and control of microphonics.

The Archaea are a fascinating and diverse group of prokaryotic organisms with deep roots overlapping those of eukaryotes. The focus of this GRC conference, 'Archaea: Ecology Metabolism & Molecular Biology', expands on a number of emerging topics highlighting the evolution and composition of microbial communities and novel archaeal species, their impact on the environment, archaeal metabolism, and research that stems from sequence analysis of archaeal genomes. The strength of this conference lies in its ability to couple reputable areas with new scientific topics in an atmosphere of stimulating exchange. This conference remains an excellent opportunity for younger scientists to interact with world experts in this field.

Cellulose, a key component of the plant cell wall, comprises the most abundant source of organic carbon on the planet and its microbial degradation is of considerable biological and industrial importance. Indeed, the microbial degradation of cellulose and other plant structural polysaccharides is critical to the maintenance of the carbon cycle in terrestrial and marine microbial ecosystems, host invasion by several phytopathogens, and herbivore nutrition. While the enzymes that attack cellulose are already widely used in several biotechnology-based industries, the major future application of these biocatalysts is the conversion of plant biomass into bio-ethanol and other forms of energy. In that context, the 2007 Conference will present the latest breakthroughs in our understanding of the enzymology, structural biology and (meta)genomics underpinning the conversion of plant structural polysaccharides into fermentable sugars, both in natural and engineered processes. There is also an increased emphasis on the roles of other carbohydrate active enzymes in plant biomass conversion. The themes for the scientific sessions include: (1) crystallographic and biochemical analyses of enzyme structure and function; (2) molecular mechanisms underpinning enzyme catalysis, processivity and specificity; (3) functional and comparative analyses of carbohydrate binding modules and enzyme-substrate interactions; (4) directed evolution for the development of catalytically …

Plant Metabolic Engineering is an emerging field that integrates a diverse range of disciplines including plant genetics, genomics, biochemistry, chemistry and cell biology. The Gordon-Kenan Graduate Research Seminar (GRS) in Plant Metabolic Engineering was initiated to provide a unique opportunity for future researcher leaders to present their work in this field. It also creates an environment allowing for peer-review and critical assessment of work without the intimidation usually associated with the presence of senior investigators. The GRS immediately precedes the Plant Metabolic Engineering Gordon Research Conference and will be for and by graduate students and post-docs, with the assistance of the organizers listed.

Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) provides an efficient, elegant, and formally exact way of describing the dynamics of interacting many-body quantum systems, circumventing the need for solving the full time-dependent Schroedinger equation. In the 20 years since it was first rigorously established in 1984, the field of TDDFT has made rapid and significant advances both formally as well as in terms of successful applications in chemistry, physics and materials science. Today, TDDFT has become the method of choice for calculating excitation energies of complex molecules, and is becoming increasingly popular for describing optical and spectroscopic properties of a variety of materials such as bulk solids, clusters and nanostructures. Other growing areas of applications of TDDFT are nonlinear dynamics of strongly excited electronic systems and molecular electronics. The purpose and scope of this Gordon Research Conference is to provide a platform for discussing the current state of the art of the rapidly progressing, highly interdisciplinary field of TDDFT, to identify and debate open questions, and to point out new promising research directions. The conference will bring together experts with a diverse background in chemistry, physics, and materials science.

The purpose of this report is to document the status of revegetation projects and natural resources mitigation efforts that have been conducted for remediated waste sites and other activities associated with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act cleanup of National Priorities List waste sites at Hanford. This report documents the results of revegetation and mitigation monitoring conducted in 2008 and includes 22 revegetation/restoration projects, one revegetation/mitigation project, and two bat habitat mitigation projects.

The goal of this evaluation report is to provide the information necessary to improve the effectiveness of the ITC provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency Member States. This report examines ITC-20 training content, delivery methods, scheduling, and logistics. Ultimately, this report evaluates whether the course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the participants needs in the protection of nuclear materials and facilities.

A new benchmarking concept is presented for verifying the PEBBED 3D multigroup finite difference/nodal diffusion code with application to pebble bed modular reactors (PBMRs). The key idea is to perform convergence acceleration, also called extrapolation to zero discretization, of a basic finite difference numerical algorithm to give extremely high accuracy. The method is first demonstrated on a 1D cylindrical shell and then on an r,8 wedge where the order of the second order finite difference scheme is confirmed to four places.

By analyzing the pulse to pulse intensity fluctuations of the radiation emitted by a charge particle in the incoherent part of the spectrum, it is possible to extract information about the spatial distribution of the beam. At the Advanced Light Source (ALS) of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we have developed and successfully tested a simple scheme based on this principle that allows for the absolute measurement of the rms bunch length. A description of the method and the experimental results are presented.

Yucca Mountain (YM), Nevada, has been proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy as a geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. In this study, we investigate the potential for groundwater advective pathways from underground nuclear testing areas on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) to the YM area by estimating the timeframe for advective travel and its uncertainty resulting from porosity value uncertainty for hydrogeologic units (HGUs) in the region. We perform sensitivity analysis to determine the most influential HGUs on advective radionuclide travel times from the NTS to the YM area. Groundwater pathways and advective travel times are obtained using the particle tracking package MODPATH and flow results from the Death Valley Regional Flow System (DVRFS) model by the U.S. Geological Survey. Values and uncertainties of HGU porosities are quantified through evaluation of existing site porosity data and expert professional judgment and are incorporated through Monte Carlo simulations to estimate mean travel times and uncertainties. We base our simulations on two steady state flow scenarios for the purpose of long term prediction and monitoring. The first represents pre-pumping conditions prior to groundwater development in the area in 1912 (the initial stress period of the DVRFS model). …

Uncertainty built into conceptual groundwater flow and transport models and associated parametric uncertainty should be appropriately included when such models are used to develop detection monitoring networks for contaminated sites. We compare alternative approaches of propagating such uncertainty from the flow and transport model into the network design. The focus is on detection monitoring networks where the primary objective is to intercept the contaminant before it reaches a boundary of interest (e.g., compliance boundary). Different uncertainty propagation approaches identify different well locations and different well combinations (networks) as having the highest detection efficiency. It is thus recommended that multiple uncertainty propagation approaches are considered. If several approaches yield consistent results in terms of identifying the best performing candidate wells and the best performing well network for detecting a contaminant plume, this would provide confidence in the suitability of the selected well locations.

Rainier Mesa (RM) is a tuffaceous, high-elevation plateau on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) that has been subjected to numerous nuclear tests between 1957 and 1992. Unlike other tests on the NTS located within or just above the saturated zone, tests at the RM T-tunnel complex were conducted within a variably saturated sequence of bedded and non-welded vitric and zeolitized tuff units, located approximately 500 m above the regional groundwater flow system. The low permeability and high porosity of the underlying zeolitized tuff units suggest the downward transport of radionuclides released from these tests are minimal through the tuff matrix. However, numerous faults observed to discharge water into tunnel drifts may serve as preferential pathways for radionuclide migration. Data collected from tunnel drifts indicate that faulting within the zeolitized tuff units is sparse with fractal clustering, and that connectivity between adjacent fault clusters is often weak to non-existent. The sparse fault density at RM, in conjunction with the extreme variability in the spatial distribution of faults, poses challenges not readily addressed by existing upscaling methods that upscale fracture properties as equivalent grid tensors. The unique fault statistics at RM has led to the development of a fracture continuum method designed …

A self-assembled supramolecular host catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetals in basic aqueous solution. The mechanism of hydrolysis is consistent with the Michaelis-Menten kinetic model. Further investigation of the rate limiting step of the reaction revealed a negative entropy of activation ({Delta}S{double_dagger} = -9 cal mol{sup -1}K{sup -1}) and an inverse solvent isotope effect (k(H{sub 2}O)/k(D{sub 2}O) = 0.62). These data suggest that the mechanism of hydrolysis that takes place inside the assembly proceeds through an A-2 mechanism, in contrast to the A-1 mechanism operating in the uncatalyzed reaction. Comparison of the rates of acetal hydrolysis in the assembly with the rate of the reaction of unencapsulated substrates reveals rate accelerations of up to 980 over the background reaction for the substrate diethoxymethane.

The purpose of this report is to provide a concise but comprehensive overview of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility instrumentation status. The report is divided into the following five sections: (1) new instrumentation in the process of being acquired and deployed, (2) field campaigns, (3) existing instrumentation and progress on improvements or upgrades, (4) proposed future instrumentation, and (5) Small Business Innovation Research instrument development.

Document summarizes the compliance activity of EPAct-covered state and alternative fuel provider fleets.

The following is an addendum to the Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration Plan for Corrective Action Unit 134: Aboveground Storage Tanks, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, DOE/NV--1275, dated May 2008. This addendum expands upon information provided in the May 2008 plan. It provides specific details regarding samples to be collected at Corrective Action Sites 15-01-05 and 29-01-01. It also provides discussion and rationale for establishing the spatial boundaries of Corrective Action Sites.

The objective of this research project is to demonstrate sensing, communication, information and control technologies to achieve a seamless integration of multivendor distributed energy resource (DER) units at aggregation levels that meet individual user requirements for facility operations (residential, commercial, industrial, manufacturing, etc.) and further serve as resource options for electric and natural gas utilities. The fully demonstrated DER aggregation system with embodiment of communication and control technologies will lead to real-time, interactive, customer-managed service networks to achieve greater customer value. Work on this Advanced Communication and Control Project (ACCP) consists of a two-phase approach for an integrated demonstration of communication and control technologies to achieve a seamless integration of DER units to reach progressive levels of aggregated power output. Phase I involved design and proof-of-design, and Phase II involves real-world demonstration of the Phase I design architecture. The scope of work for Phase II of this ACCP involves demonstrating the Phase I design architecture in large scale real-world settings while integrating with the operations of one or more electricity supplier feeder lines. The communication and control architectures for integrated demonstration shall encompass combinations of software and hardware components, including: sensors, data acquisition and communication systems, remote monitoring systems, metering …

Development of 3D silicon radiation sensors employing electrodes fabricated perpendicular to the sensor surfaces to improve fabrication yields and increasing pulse speeds.

Energy consumption in buildings represents 40 percent of primary U.S. energy consumption, split almost equally between residential (22%) and commercial (18%) buildings.1 Space heating (31%) and cooling (12%) account for approximately 9 quadrillion Btu. Improvements in the building envelope can have a significant impact on reducing energy consumption. Thermal losses (or gains) from the roof make up 14 percent of the building component energy load. Infiltration through the building envelope, including the roof, accounts for an additional 28 percent of the heating loads and 16 percent of the cooling loads. These figures provide a strong incentive to develop and implement more energy efficient roof systems. The roof is perhaps the most challenging component of the building envelope to change for many reasons. The engineered roof truss, which has been around since 1956, is relatively low cost and is the industry standard. The roof has multiple functions. A typical wood frame home lasts a long time. Building codes vary across the country. Customer and trade acceptance of new building products and materials may impede market penetration. The energy savings of a new roof system must be balanced with other requirements such as first and life-cycle costs, durability, appearance, and ease of …

Solar Turbines Incorporated (Solar), under cooperative agreement number DE-FC26-0CH11049, has conducted development activities to improve the durability of the Mercury 50 combustion system to 30,000 hours life and reduced life cycle costs. This project is part of Advanced Materials in the Advanced Industrial Gas Turbines program in DOE's Office of Distributed Energy. The targeted development engine was the Mercury{trademark} 50 gas turbine, which was developed by Solar under the DOE Advanced Turbine Systems program (DOE contract number DE-FC21-95MC31173). As a generator set, the Mercury 50 is used for distributed power and combined heat and power generation and is designed to achieve 38.5% electrical efficiency, reduced cost of electricity, and single digit emissions. The original program goal was 20,000 hours life, however, this goal was increased to be consistent with Solar's standard 30,000 hour time before overhaul for production engines. Through changes to the combustor design to incorporate effusion cooling in the Generation 3 Mercury 50 engine, which resulted in a drop in the combustor wall temperature, the current standard thermal barrier coated liner was predicted to have 18,000 hours life. With the addition of the advanced materials technology being evaluated under this program, the combustor life is predicted to be …

An irradiation test device has been developed to support testing of prototypic scale plate type fuels in the Advanced Test Reactor. The experiment hardware and operating conditions were optimized to provide the irradiation conditions necessary to conduct performance and qualification tests on research reactor type fuels for the RERTR program. The device was designed to allow disassembly and reassembly in the ATR spent fuel canal so that interim inspections could be performed on the fuel plates. An ultrasonic scanner was developed to perform dimensional and transmission inspections during these interim investigations. Example results from the AFIP-2 experiment are presented.

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is one of the world’s premiere test reactors for performing long term, high flux, and/or large volume irradiation test programs. The ATR is a very versatile facility with a wide variety of experimental test capabilities for providing the environment needed in an irradiation experiment. These capabilities include simple capsule experiments, instrumented and/or temperature-controlled experiments, and pressurized water loop experiment facilities. Monitoring systems have also been utilized to monitor different parameters such as fission gases for fuel experiments, to measure specimen performance during irradiation. ATR’s control system provides a stable axial flux profile throughout each reactor operating cycle, and allows the thermal and fast neutron fluxes to be controlled separately in different sections of the core. The ATR irradiation positions vary in diameter from 16 mm to 127 mm over an active core height of 1.2 m. This paper discusses the different irradiation capabilities with examples of different experiments and the cost/benefit issues related to each capability. The recent designation of ATR as a national scientific user facility will make the ATR much more accessible at very low to no cost for research by universities and possibly commercial entities.