The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) was established to achieve the safe and compliant disposition of legacy wastes and facilities from defense nuclear applications. A large majority of these wastes and facilities are 'one-of-a-kind' and unique to DOE. Many of the programs to treat these wastes have been 'first-of-a-kind' and unprecedented in scope and complexity. This has meant that many of the technologies needed to successfully disposition these wastes were not yet developed or required significant re-engineering to be adapted for DOE-EM's needs. The DOE-EM program believes strongly in reducing the technical risk of its projects and has initiated several efforts to reduce those risks: (1) Technology Readiness Assessments to reduce the risks of deployment of new technologies; (2) External Technical Reviews as one of several steps to ensure the timely resolution of engineering and technology issues; and (3) Technical Risk Ratings as a means to monitor and communicate information about technical risks. This paper will present examples of how Technology Readiness Assessments, External Technical Reviews, and Technical Risk Ratings are being used by DOE-EM to reduce technical risks.

The 74Se(18O,p3n)88gNb excitation function was measured and a maximum cross section of 495+-5 mb was observed at and 18O energy of 74.0 MeV. Experimental cross sections were compared to theoretical calculations using the computer code ALICE-91 and the values were found to be in good agreement. The half life of 88gNb was determined to be around 14.56+-0.11 min.

SLAC's COHE program requires compliance with OSHA Regulation 29CFR1910.147, 'The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout)'. This regulation specifies lockout/tagout requirements during service and maintenance of equipment in which the unexpected energization or start up of the equipment, or release of stored energy, could cause injury to workers. Class 3B and Class 4 laser radiation must be considered as hazardous energy (as well as electrical energy in associated equipment, and other non-beam energy hazards) in laser facilities, and therefore requires careful COHE consideration. This paper describes how COHE is achieved at SLAC to protect workers against unexpected Class 3B or Class 4 laser radiation, independent of whether the mode of operation is normal, service, or maintenance.

It is apparent to anyone who thinks about it that, to a large degree, the basic concepts of Newtonian physics are quite intuitive, but quantum mechanics is not. My purpose in this talk is to introduce you to a new, much more intuitive way to understand how quantum mechanics works. I begin with an incredibly easy way to derive the time evolution of a Gaussian wave-packet for the case free and harmonic motion without any need to know the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. This discussion is completely analytic and I will later use it to relate the solution for the behavior of the Gaussian packet to the Feynman path-integral and stationary phase approximation. It will be clear that using the information about the evolution of the Gaussian in this way goes far beyond what the stationary phase approximation tells us. Next, I introduce the concept of the bucket brigade approach to dealing with problems that cannot be handled totally analytically. This approach combines the intuition obtained in the initial discussion, as well as the intuition obtained from the path-integral, with simple numerical tools. My goal is to show that, for any specific process, there is a simple Hilbert space interpretation …

The combined local structure techniques, extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and neutron pair distribution function analysis, have been used for temperatures 4<= T<= 330 K to rule out a large Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion of the Co-O bond in La1?xSrxCoO3 for a significant fraction of Co sites (x<= 0.35), indicating few, if any, JT-active, singly occupied eg Co sites exist.

Transverse-spin physics has been very active and rapidly developing in the last few years. In this talk, I will briefly summarize recent theoretical developments, focusing on the associated QCD dynamics in transverse spin physics.

Polyurethane foam has been employed in impact limiters for large radioactive materials packagings since the early 1980's. Its consistent crush response, controllable structural properties and excellent thermal insulating characteristics have made it attractive as replacement for the widely used cane fiberboard for smaller, drum size packagings. Accordingly, polyurethane foam was chosen for the overpack material for the 9977 and 9978 packagings. The study reported here was undertaken to provide data to support the analyses performed as part of the development of the 9977 and 9978, and compared property values reported in the literature with published property values and test results for foam specimens taken from a prototype 9977 packaging. The study confirmed that, polyurethane foam behaves in a predictable and consistent manner and fully satisfies the functional requirements for impact absorption and thermal insulation.

The Savannah River Site F-Tank Farm Closure project has successfully performed Mechanical Sludge Removal using the Waste on Wheels (WOW) system within two of its storage tanks. The Waste on Wheels (WOW) system is designed to be relatively mobile with the ability for many components to be redeployed to multiple tanks. It is primarily comprised of Submersible Mixer Pumps (SMPs), Submersible Transfer Pumps (STPs), and a mobile control room with a control panel and variable speed drives. These tanks, designated as Tank 6 and Tank 5 respectively, are Type I waste tanks located in F-Tank Farm (FTF) with a capacity of 2839 cubic meters (750,000 gallons) each. In addition, Type I tanks have 34 vertically oriented cooling coils and two horizontal cooling coil circuits along the tank floor. DOE intends to remove from service and operationally close Tank 5 and Tank 6 and other HLW tanks that do not meet current containment standards. After obtaining regulatory approval, the tanks and cooling coils will be isolated and filled with grout for long term stabilization. Mechanical Sludge Removal of the remaining sludge waste within Tank 6 removed {approx} 75% of the original 25,000 gallons in August 2007. Utilizing lessons learned from Tank …

The authors search for charmless decays of charged B mesons to the three-body final state K{sub S}{sup 0}K{sub S}{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}. Using a data sample of 423.7 fb{sup -1} collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector, corresponding to (465.1 {+-} 5.1) x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} pairs, they find no significant signal and determine a 90% confidence level upper limit on the branching fraction of 5.1 x 10{sup -7}.

We present new limits on resonant tb production in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV, using 1.9 fb{sup -1} of data recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We reconstruct a putative tb mass in events with a lepton, neutrino candidate, and two or three jets, and search for anomalous tb production as modeled by W{prime} {yields} tb. We set a new limit on a right-handed W{prime} with standard model-like coupling, excluding any mass below 800 GeV at 95% C.L. For any narrow W{prime}-like state with mass above 800 GeV, the cross-section is found to be less than 0.28 pb at 95% C.L. We also present an exclusion of the W{prime} coupling strength versus W{prime} mass.

The LCLS at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will be the world's first source of an intense hard x-ray laser beam, generating x-rays with wavelengths of 1nm and pulse durations less than 100fs. The ultrafast x-ray pulses will be used in pump-probe experiments to take stop-motion pictures of atoms and molecules in motion, with pulses powerful enough to take diffraction images of single molecules, enabling scientists to elucidate fundamental processes of chemistry and biology. Ultrafast conventional lasers will be used as the pump. In 2009, LCLS will deliver beam to the Atomic Molecular and Optical (AMO) Experiment, located in one of 3 x-ray Hutches in the Near Experimental Hall (NEH). The NEH includes a centralized Laser Hall, containing up to three Class 4 laser systems, three x-ray Hutches for experiments and vacuum transport tubes for delivering laser beams to the Hutches. The main components of the NEH laser systems are a Ti:sapphire oscillator, a regen amplifier, green pump lasers for the oscillator and regen, a pulse compressor and a harmonics conversion unit. Laser safety considerations and controls for the ultrafast laser beams, multiple laser controlled areas, and user facility issues are discussed.

Biogeochemical cycling of zinc is strongly influenced by sorption on birnessite minerals (layer-type MnO2), which are found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic environments. Zinc has been observed to form both tetrahedral (Zn{sup IV}) and octahedral (Zn{sup VI}) triple-corner-sharing surface complexes (TCS) at Mn(IV) vacancy sites in hexagonal birnessite. The octahedral complex is expected to be similar to that of Zn in the Mn oxide mineral, chalcophanite (ZnMn{sub 3}O{sub 7} {center_dot} 3H{sub 2}O), but the reason for the occurrence of the four-coordinate Zn surface species remains unclear. We address this issue computationally using spin-polarized Density Functional Theory (DFT) to examine the Zn{sub IV}-TCS and Zn{sup VI}-TCS species. Structural parameters obtained by DFT geometry optimization were in excellent agreement with available experimental data on Zn-birnessites. Total energy, magnetic moments, and electron-overlap populations obtained by DFT for isolated Zn{sup IV}-TCS revealed that this species is stable in birnessite without a need for Mn(III) substitution in the octahedral sheet and that it is more effective in reducing undersaturation of surface O at a Mn vacancy than is Zn{sub VI}-TCS. Comparison between geometry-optimized ZnMn{sub 3}O{sub 7} {center_dot} 3H{sub 2}O (chalcophanite) and the hypothetical monohydrate mineral, ZnMn{sub 3}O{sub 7} {center_dot} H{sub 2}O, which contains only tetrahedral …

The performance assessment (PA) process is being applied to support an increasing variety of waste management decisions that involve the whole spectrum of stakeholders. As with many technical tools, the PA process can be seen as a black box, which can be difficult to understand when implemented. Recognizing the increasing use of PA and the concerns about difficulties with understanding, the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) made a recommendation that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provide a Public Educational Forum on PAs. The DOE-Headquarters Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Office of Compliance and the DOE-Savannah River (DOE-SR) responded to this recommendation by supporting the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in developing several presentation modules that can be used to describe different aspects of the PA process. For the Public Educational Forum, the PA modules were combined with presentations on DOE perspectives, historical modeling efforts at the Savannah River Site, and review perspectives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The overall goals are to help the public understand how PAs are implemented and the rigor that is applied, and to provide insight into the use of PAs for waste management decision-making.

Abstract: We report the application of the new Monte Carlo method, Smoothed Particle Inference (SPI, described in a pair of companion papers), towards analysis and interpretation of X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies with the XMM-Newton satellite. Our sample consists of publicly available well-exposed observations of clusters at redshifts z > 0.069, totaling 101 objects. We determine the luminosity and temperature structure of the X-ray emitting gas, with the goal to quantify the scatter and the evolution of the L{sub X} - T relation, as well as to investigate the dependence on cluster substructure with redshift. This work is important for the establishment of the potential robustness of mass estimates from X-ray data which in turn is essential towards the use of clusters for measurements of cosmological parameters. We use the luminosity and temperature maps derived via the SPI technique to determine the presence of cooling cores, via measurements of luminosity and temperature contrast. The L{sub X}-T relation is investigated, and we confirm that L{sub X} {proportional_to} T{sup 3}. We find a weak redshift dependence ({proportional_to} (1 + z){sup {beta}{sub LT}}, {beta}{sub LT} = 0.50 {+-} 0.34), in contrast to some Chandra results. The level of dynamical activity is established …

We report the results of a search for associated production of charginos and neutralinos using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 fb{sup -1} collected with the D0 experiment during Run II of the Tevatron proton-antiproton collider. Final states containing three charged leptons and missing transverse energy are probed for a signal from supersymmetry with four dedicated trilepton event selections. No evidence for a signal is observed, and we set limits on the product of production cross section and leptonic branching fraction. Within minimal supergravity, these limits translate into bounds on m{sub 0} and m{sub 1/2} that are well beyond existing limits.

The Cementitious Barriers Partnership (CBP) was created to develop predictive capabilities for the aging of cementitious barriers over long timeframes. The CBP is a multi-agency, multi-national consortium working under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM-21) funded Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) as the lead laboratory. Members of the CBP are SRNL, Vanderbilt University, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), SIMCO Technologies, Inc. (Canada), and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). A first step in developing advanced tools is to determine the current state-of-the-art. A review has been undertaken to assess the treatment of cementitious barriers in Performance Assessments (PA). Representatives of US DOE sites which have PAs for their low level waste disposal facilities were contacted. These sites are the Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Nevada Test Site, and Hanford. Several of the more arid sites did not employ cementitious barriers. Of those sites which do employ cementitious barriers, a wide range of treatment of the barriers in a PA was present. Some sites used conservative, simplistic models that even though conservative still showed …

These proceedings are based on lectures given at the Helmholtz International Summer School Heavy Quark Physics at the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Dubna, Russia, during August 2008. I review the current status of CP violation in B meson decays from the B factories. These results can be used, along with measurements of the sides of the Unitarity Triangle, to test the CKM mechanism. In addition I discuss experimental studies of B decays to final states with 'spin-one' particles.

Composite Analyses (CA's) are required per DOE Order 435.1 [1], in order to provide a reasonable expectation that DOE low-level waste (LLW) disposal, high-level waste tank closure, and transuranic (TRU) waste disposal in combination with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) actions, will not result in the need for future remedial actions in order to ensure radiological protection of the public and environment. This Order requires that an accounting of all sources of DOE man-made radionuclides and DOE enhanced natural radionuclides that are projected to remain on the site after all DOE site operations have ceased. This CA updates the previous CA that was developed in 1997. As part of this CA, an inventory of expected radionuclide residuals was conducted, exposure pathways were screened and a model was developed such that a dose to the MOP at the selected points of exposure might be evaluated.

Calculations of fully differential cross sections for two-photon double ionization of the hydrogen molecule with photons of 30 eV are reported. The results have been obtained by using the method of exterior complex scaling, which allows one to construct essentially exact wave functions that describe thedouble continuum on a large, but finite, volume. The calculated cross sections are compared with those previously obtained by Colgan et al., and discrepancies are found for specific molecular orientations and electron ejection directions.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) will remove sludge as part of waste tank closure operations. Typically the bulk sludge is removed by mixing it with supernate to produce a slurry, and transporting the slurry to a downstream tank for processing. Experience shows that a residual heel may remain in the tank that cannot be removed by this conventional technique. In the past, SRS used oxalic acid solutions to disperse or dissolve the sludge heel to complete the waste removal. To better understand the actual conditions of oxalic acid cleaning of waste from carbon steel tanks, the authors developed and conducted an experimental program to determine its effectiveness in dissolving sludge, the hydrogen generation rate, the generation rate of other gases, the carbon steel corrosion rate, the impact of mixing on chemical cleaning, the impact of temperature, and the types of precipitates formed during the neutralization process. The test samples included actual SRS sludge and simulated SRS sludge. The authors performed the simulated waste tests at 25, 50, and 75 C by adding 8 wt % oxalic acid to the sludge over seven days. They conducted the actual waste tests at 50 and 75 C by adding 8 wt % oxalic …

Recent results of tau lepton decay studies based on luminosities between 350 fb{sup -1} and 469 fb{sup -1} collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} collider at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are presented. The analyses reported here are Charged Current Lepton Universality and measurements of |V{sub us}| using {tau}{sup -} {yields} e{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub e}{nu}{sub {tau}}, {mu}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {mu}}{nu}{sub {tau}}, {pi}{sup -} {nu}{sub {tau}}, and K{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decays, as well as searches for Second Class Currents in {tau}{sup -} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decays, studies of Lepton Flavor Violations, and a tau mass measurement and CPT-Test. If not explicitly mentioned, charge conjugate decay modes are also implied. decays, as well as searches for Second Class Currents in {tau}{sup -} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decays, studies of Lepton Flavor Violations, and a tau mass measurement and CPT-Test. If not explicitly mentioned, charge conjugate decay modes are also implied.

The K East (KE) Basin facilities are located near the north end of the Hanford Site's 100 K area. The facilities were built in 1950 as part of the KE Reactor complex and constructed within 400 meters of the Columbia River, which is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and by volume the fourth largest river in the United States. The basin, located adjacent to the reactor, was used for the underwater storage of irradiated nuclear fuel discharged from the reactor. The basin was covered by a superstructure comprising steel columns and beams, concrete, and cement asbestos board (CAB) siding. The project's mission was to complete demolition of the structure over the KE Basin within six months of turnover from facility deactivation activities. The demolition project team applied open-air demolition techniques to bring the facility to slab-on-grade. Several innovative techniques were used to control contamination and maintain contamination control within the confines of the demolition exclusion zone. The techniques, which focused on a defense-in-depth approach, included spraying fixatives on interior and exterior surfaces before demolition began; applying fixatives during the demolition; misting using a fine spray of water during demolition; and demolishing the facility systematically. Another innovative approach that …

A recently discovered thermophilic bacterium, Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius M10EXG, ferments a range of C5 (e.g., xylose) and C6 sugars (e.g., glucose) and istolerant to high ethanol concentrations (10percent, v/v). We have investigated the central metabolism of this bacterium using both in vitro enzyme assays and 13C-based flux analysis to provide insights into the physiological properties of this extremophile and explore its metabolism for bio-ethanol or other bioprocess applications. Our findings show that glucose metabolism in G. thermoglucosidasius M10EXG proceeds via glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and the TCA cycle; the Entner?Doudoroff pathway and transhydrogenase activity were not detected. Anaplerotic reactions (including the glyoxylate shunt, pyruvate carboxylase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) were active, but fluxes through those pathways could not be accuratelydetermined using amino acid labeling. When growth conditions were switched from aerobic to micro-aerobic conditions, fluxes (based on a normalized glucose uptake rate of 100 units (g DCW)-1 h-1) through the TCA cycle and oxidative pentose phosphate pathway were reduced from 64+-3 to 25+-2 and from 30+-2 to 19+-2, respectively. The carbon flux under micro-aerobic growth was directed formate. Under fully anerobic conditions, G. thermoglucosidasius M10EXG used a mixed acid fermentation process and exhibited a maximum ethanol yield of 0.38+-0.07 mol mol-1 …

Nuclear power plants typically use waste heat rejection systems such as cooling lakes and natural draft cooling towers. These systems are designed to reduce cooling water temperatures sufficiently to allow full power operation even during adverse meteorological conditions. After the power plant is operational, the performance of the cooling system is assessed. These assessments usually rely on measured temperatures of the cooling water after it has lost heat to the environment and is being pumped back into the power plant (cooling water inlet temperature). If the cooling system performance is not perceived to be optimal, the utility will collect additional data to determine why. This paper discusses the use of thermal imagery collected from aircraft and satellites combined with numerical simulation to better understand the dynamics and thermodynamics of nuclear power plant waste heat dissipation systems. The ANS meeting presentation will discuss analyses of several power plant cooling systems based on a combination of remote sensing data and hydrodynamic modeling.