Article on the onset of ferrielectricity and the hidden nature of nanoscale polarization in ferroelectric thin films.

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Different methods for the calculation of cross sections with many QCD particles are compared. To this end, CSW vertex rules, Berends-Giele recursion and Feynman-diagram based techniques are implemented as well as various methods for the treatment of colours and phase space integration. We find that typically there is only a small window of jet multiplicities, where the CSW technique has efficiencies comparable or better than both of the other two methods.

Interest in high-quality integral benchmark data is increasing as efforts to quantify and reduce calculational uncertainties accelerate to meet the demands of next generation reactor and advanced fuel cycle concepts. The International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) and the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) continue to expand their efforts and broaden their scope to identify, evaluate, and provide integral benchmark data for method and data validation. Benchmark model specifications provided by these two projects are used heavily by the international reactor physics, nuclear data, and criticality safety communities. Thus far, 14 countries have contributed to the IRPhEP, and 20 have contributed to the ICSBEP. The status of the IRPhEP and ICSBEP is discussed in this paper, and the future of the two projects is outlined and discussed. Selected benchmarks that have been added to the IRPhEP and ICSBEP handbooks since PHYSOR’06 are highlighted, and the future of the two projects is discussed.

The authors report a measurement of resonance parameters of the orbitally excited (L = 1) narrow B{sup 0} mesons in decays to B{sup (*)+}{pi}{sup -} using 1.7 fb{sup -1} of data collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The mass and width of the B*{sub 2}{sup 0} state are measured to be m(B*{sub 2}{sup 0}) = 5740.2{sub -1.8}{sup +1.7}(stat.){sub -0.8}{sup +0.9}(syst.) MeV/c{sup 2} and {Lambda}(B*{sub 2}{sup 0}) = 22.7{sub -3.2}{sup +3.8}(stat.){sub -10.2}{sup +3.2}(syst.) MeV/c{sub 2}. The mass difference between the B*{sub 2}{sup 0} and B{sub 1}{sup 0} states is measured to be 14.9{sub -2.5}{sup +2.2}(stat.){sub -1.4}{sup +1.2}(syst.) MeV/c{sup 2}, resulting in a B{sub 1}{sup 0} mass of 5725.3{sub -2.2}{sup +1.6}(stat.){sub -1.5}{sup +1.4}(syst.) MeV/c{sup 2}. This is currently the most precise measurement of the masses of these states and the first measurement of the B*{sub 2}{sup 0} width.

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) and other High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) Projects require research, development, design, construction, and operation of a nuclear plant intended for both high-efficiency electricity production and high-temperature industrial applications, including hydrogen production. During the life cycle stages of an HTGR, plant systems, structures and components (SSCs) will be developed to support this reactor technology. To mitigate technical, schedule, and project risk associated with development of these SSCs, a large-scale test facility is required to support design verification and qualification prior to operational implementation. As a full-scale helium test facility, the Component Test facility (CTF) will provide prototype testing and qualification of heat transfer system components (e.g., Intermediate Heat Exchanger, valves, hot gas ducts), reactor internals, and hydrogen generation processing. It will perform confirmation tests for large-scale effects, validate component performance requirements, perform transient effects tests, and provide production demonstration of hydrogen and other high-temperature applications. Sponsored wholly or in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, the CTF will support NGNP and will also act as a National User Facility to support worldwide development of High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor technologies.

A new heavy ion injector linac is proposed for providing heavy ion beams to a fixed field alternating gradient (FFAG) accelerator in Kyushu University. A combination of the new intense laser source based injector and the FFAG will be able to accelerate high current ion beams with 100 Hz of a repetition rate. The planned average current reaches 7 {micro}A with carbon 6+ beam.

The spatial arrangements of hematite particles within aqueous soil and clay samples are investigated with soft X-ray microscopy, taking advantage of the elemental contrast at the Fe-L edge around E = 707 eV. In combination with stereo microscopy, information about spatial arrangements are revealed and correlated to electrostatic interactions of the different mixtures. Manipulation of a sample mounted to the microscope is possible and particles added while imaging can be detected.

One key long-standing issue that must be overcome to fully realize the successful growth of nuclear power is to determine other benefits of nuclear energy apart from meeting the electricity demands. The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) will most likely be producing electricity and heat for the production of hydrogen and/or oil retrieval from oil sands and oil shale to help in our national pursuit of energy independence. For nuclear process heat to be utilized, intermediate heat exchange is required to transfer heat from the NGNP to the hydrogen plant or oil recovery field in the most efficient way possible. Development of nuclear reactor - process heat technology has intensified the interest in liquid metals as heat transfer media because of their ideal transport properties. Liquid metal heat exchangers are not new in practical applications. An important rational for considering liquid metals is the potential convective heat transfer is among the highest known. Thus explains the interest in liquid metals as coolant for intermediate heat exchange from NGNP. For process heat it is desired that, intermediate heat exchangers (IHX) transfer heat from the NGNP in the most efficient way possible. The production of electric power at higher efficiency via the …

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). …

We report on the discovery of a very bright z = 2.00 star-forming galaxy that is strongly lensed by a foreground z = 0.422 luminous red galaxy (LRG). This system was found in a systematic search for bright arcs lensed by LRGs and brightest cluster galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 sample. Follow-up observations on the Subaru 8.2m telescope on Mauna Kea and the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory confirmed the lensing nature of this system. A simple lens model for the system, assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid mass distribution, yields an Einstein radius of {theta}{sub Ein} = 3.82 {+-} 0.03{double_prime} or 14.8 {+-} 0.1h{sup -1} kpc at the lens redshift. The total projected mass enclosed within the Einstein radius is 2.10 {+-} 0.03 x 10{sup 12}h{sup -1}M{sub {circle_dot}}, and the magnification factor for the source galaxy is 27 {+-} 1. Combining the lens model with our gVriz photometry, we find an (unlensed) star formation rate for the source galaxy of 32 h{sup -1} M{sub {circle_dot}} hr{sup -1}, adopting a fiducial constant star formation rate model with an age of 100 Myr and E(B-V) = 0.25. With an apparent magnitude of r …

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.

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.

The interaction between carbon and hydrogen atoms on a Ru(0001) surface was studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), Density Functional Theory (DFT) and STM image calculations. Formation of CH species by reaction between adsorbed H and C was observed to occur readily at 100 K. When the coverage of H increased new complexes of the form CH+nH (n = 1, 2 and 3) were observed. These complexes, never observed before, might be precursors for further hydrogenation reactions. DFT analysis reveals that a considerable energy barrier exists for the CH+H {yields} CH{sub 2} reaction.

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.

We present the latest measurements on production, spectroscopy, lifetimes and branching fractions for b-mesons, b-baryons and quarkonia. We also discuss recent results on B{sub s}{sup 0} mixing as well as on CP violation for the B{sub s}{sup 0} meson and for b-baryons. These results were obtained by analyzing data collected by the CDF II detector at Fermilab.

We report a measurement of the single top quark production cross section in 2.2 fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collision data collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. Candidate events are classified as signal-like by three parallel analyses which use likelihood, matrix element, and neural network discriminants. These results are combined in order to improve the sensitivity. We observe a signal consistent with the standard model prediction, but inconsistent with the background only model by 3.7 standard deviations with a median expected sensitivity of 4.9 standard deviations. We measure a cross section of 2.2{sub -0.6}{sup +0.7}(stat+sys) pb, extract the CKM matrix element value |V{sub tb}| = 0.88{sub -0.12}{sup +0.13}(stat + sys) {+-} 0.07(theory), and set the limit |V{sub tb}| > 0.66 at the 95% C.L.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintains a set of risk models covering the U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. These standardized plant analysis risk (SPAR) models include several loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) initiating events such as small (SLOCA), medium (MLOCA), and large (LLOCA). All of these events involve a loss of coolant inventory from the reactor coolant system. In order to maintain a level of consistency across these models, initiating event frequencies generally are based on plant-type average performance, where the plant types are boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors. For certain risk analyses, these plant-type initiating event frequencies may be replaced by plant-specific estimates. Frequencies for SPAR LOCA initiating events previously were based on results presented in NUREG/CR-5750, but the newest models use results documented in NUREG/CR-6928. The estimates in NUREG/CR-6928 are based on historical data from the initiating events database for pressurized water reactor SLOCA or an interpretation of results presented in the draft version of NUREG-1829. The information in NUREG-1829 can be used several ways, resulting in different estimates for the various LOCA frequencies. Various ways NUREG-1829 information can be used to estimate LOCA frequencies were investigated and this paper presents two methods for the SPAR model standard …

In recent experiments plasma electrons became trapped in a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA). The transverse size of these trapped electrons on a downstream diagnostic yields an upper limit measurement of transverse normalized emittance divided by peak current, {var_epsilon}{sub N,x}/I. The lowest upper limit for {var_epsilon}{sub N,x}/I measured in the experiment is 1.3 {center_dot} 10{sup -10} m/A.

A 'multiple beamlet' experiment aimed at investigating the transverse space charge effect was recently conducted at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator. The experiment generated a symmetric pattern of 5 beamlets on the photocathode of the RF gun with the drive laser. We explored the evolution of the thereby produced 5 MeV, space-charge dominated electron beamlets in the 2m drift following the RF photocathode gun for various external focusing. Two important effects were observed and benchmarked using the particle-in-cell beam dynamics code IMPACT-T. In this paper, we present our experimental observation and their benchmarking with Impact-T.

A system analysis has been performed to assess the efficiency and carbon utilization of a nuclear-assisted coal gasification process. The nuclear reactor is a high-temperature helium-cooled reactor that is used primarily to provide power for hydrogen production via high-temperature electrolysis. The supplemental hydrogen is mixed with the outlet stream from an oxygen-blown coal gasifier to produce a hydrogen-rich gas mixture, allowing most of the carbon dioxide to be converted into carbon monoxide, with enough excess hydrogen to produce a syngas product stream with a hydrogen/carbon monoxide molar ratio of about 2:1. Oxygen for the gasifier is also provided by the high-temperature electrolysis process. Results of the analysis predict 90.5% carbon utilization with a syngas production efficiency (defined as the ratio of the heating value of the produced syngas to the sum of the heating value of the coal plus the high-temperature reactor heat input) of 66.1% at a gasifier temperature of 1866 K for the high-moisture-content lignite coal considered. Usage of lower moisture coals such as bituminous can yield carbon utilization approaching 100% and 70% syngas production efficiency.

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This session will examine a method developed by Federal and Contractor personnel at the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) to examine long-term maintenance of DOE Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) criteria, including safety culture attributes, as well as identification of process improvement opportunities. This process was initially developed in the summer of 2000 and has since been expanded to recognize the importance of safety culture attributes, and associated safety culture elements, as defined in DOE M 450.4-1, “Integrated Safety Management System Manual.” This process has proven to significantly enhance collective awareness of the importance of long-term ISMS implementation as well as support commitments by NNSA/NSO personnel to examine the continued effectiveness of ISMS processes.