Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Financial Audit Manual (FAM), published in July 2001, provides guidance for financial audits done by the Inspector General community, GAO, and their contractors. The FAM is a key part in enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources. GAO and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) are committed to keeping the FAM current. With this goal in mind, a GAO/PCIE task force prepared an exposure draft to add new sections and to update existing sections of volume II of the FAM."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-04-212G, Benefit System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, October 2003. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 requires that agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial and management system requirements. These requirements are detailed in the Federal Financial Management System Requirements series issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) and in the guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-127. GAO issued a checklist, which reflects JFMIP's Benefit System Requirements, to assist (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their benefit systems and (2) managers and auditors in reviewing their benefit systems to determine if they substantially comply with the act. Among the types of benefit programs covered by these systems are those for retirement, disability, death, survivor, and other. This checklist is provided as a tool for use by experienced staff and is one in a series of documents intended to assist agencies in improving or maintaining effective operations."

Many of the United States’ hazardous and radioactively contaminated waste sites will not be sufficiently remediated to allow unrestricted land use because funding and technology limitations preclude cleanup to pristine conditions. This means that after cleanup is completed, the Department of Energy will have long-term stewardship responsibilities to monitor and safeguard more than 100 sites that still contain residual contamination. Long-term stewardship encompasses all physical and institutional controls, institutions, information, and other mechanisms required to protect human health and the environment from the hazards remaining. The Department of Energy Long-Term Stewardship National Program is in the early stages of development, so considerable planning is still required to identify all the specific roles and responsibilities, policies, and activities needed over the next few years to support the program’s mission. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory was tasked with leading the development of Science and Technology within the Long-Term Stewardship National Program. As part of that role, a task was undertaken to identify the existing science and technology related requirements, identify gaps and conflicts that exist, and make recommendations to the Department of Energy for future requirements related to science and technology requirements for long-term stewardship. This work is summarized in …

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No statements of significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year's report is the thirteenth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the fourteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (Weiss) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological, and historical resources, socioeconomics, occupational safety, and noise. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to the NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities.

The North Carolina Solar Center at NC State University, in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, examined 10 state financial-incentive programs in six states using a case-study approach in order to clarify the key factors-both internal and external to the program-that influence their effectiveness at stimulating deployment of renewable energy technologies. While existing information resources such as the National Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE, www.dsireusa.org) have documented what incentive programs are available, the effectiveness of such programs is not well understood. Understanding the impact of current financial incentives on the deployment of renewables and the factors that influence their effectiveness is critical to a variety of stakeholders, particularly in states considering new incentives or interested in improving or discarding existing ones.

A survey conducted in the mid-80's revealed that the mathematical descriptions of ductile fracture tended to apply to either tensile tests or spa11 tests. The objective behind the development of the TEPLA was then a unification of these disparate phenomena into a single model.

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Treatment of sodium-bearing waste (SBW) at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) within the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is mandated by the Settlement Agreement between the Department of Energy and the State of Idaho. This report discusses significant findings from vitrification technology development during 2001 and their impacts on the design basis for SBW vitrification.

The Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) process has been selected for the separation of cesium from Savannah River Site high-level waste. The solvent composition used in the CSSX process was recently optimized so that the solvent is no longer supersaturated with respect to the calixarene crown ether extractant. Hydraulic performance and mass transfer efficiency testing of a single stage of 5.5-cm ORNL-designed centrifugal contactor has been performed for the CSSX process with the optimized solvent. Maximum throughputs of the 5.5-cm centrifugal contactor, as a function of contactor rotor speed, have been measured for the extraction, scrub, strip, and wash sections of the CSSX flowsheet at the baseline organic/aqueous flow ratios (O/A) of the process, as well as at O/A’s 20% higher and 20% lower than the baseline. Maximum throughputs are comparable to the design throughput of the contactor, as well as with throughputs obtained previously in a 5-cm centrifugal contactor with the non-optimized CSSX solvent formulation. The 20% variation in O/A had minimal effect on contactor throughput. Additionally, mass transfer efficiencies have been determined for the extraction and strip sections of the flowsheet. Efficiencies were lower than the process goal of greater than or equal to 80%, ranging from 72 to …

The goal of this study is to measure the results of energy-conservation, energy-efficiency, and load-reduction measures in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) region during the summer of 2001. During the period leading up to summer 2001, California experienced power outages and unprecedented instability in electricity and natural gas markets. Expecting that warm summer temperatures would exacerbate the already unstable energy market, state agencies and utilities created conservation and load-reduction programs that included advertisements and publicity, bill discounts for decreased customer electricity use, and financial payments for real-time load interruptions. Because the state avoided major electricity grid disturbances during the summer, few of the load-reduction programs were tested; however, the conservation and energy-efficiency programs appear to have been quite effective. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which electricity loads decreased in summer 2001 relative to summer 2000 and summer 1999, independent of differences in weather patterns. Our assumption is that the portion of load reduction that is not attributable to weather can be attributed to energy-efficiency and conservation measures. To determine the load reduction, we adjusted year 1999 and year 2000 hourly loads to simulate what load would have been under year 2001 weather conditions …

The Reactor Excursion and Leak Analysis Program with 3D capability1 (RELAP5-3D) is a reactor system analysis code that has been developed at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). The 3D capability in RELAP5-3D includes 3D hydrodynamics2 and 3D neutron kinetics3,4. Assessment, verification, and validation of the 3D capability in RELAP5-3D is discussed in the literature5,6,7,8,9,10. Additional assessment, verification, and validation of the 3D capability of RELAP5-3D will be presented in other papers in this users seminar. As with any software, user problems occur. User problems usually fall into the categories of input processing failure, code execution failure, restart/renodalization failure, unphysical result, and installation. This presentation will discuss some of the more generic user problems that have been reported on RELAP5-3D as well as their resolution.

Characterization and dissolution kinetics testing were performed with Idaho radioactive H-3 calcine. Calcine dissolution is the key front-end unit operation for the Separations Alternative identified in the Idaho High Level Waste Draft EIS. The impact of the extent of dissolution on the feasibility of Separations must be clearly quantified.

This document describes the engineering activities that have been completed in support of the closure plan for the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) CPP-603 Basin Water Treatment System. This effort includes detailed assessments of methods and equipment for performing work in four areas: 1. A cold (nonradioactive) mockup system for testing equipment and procedures for vessel cleanout and vessel demolition. 2. Cleanout of process vessels to meet standards identified in the closure plan. 3. Dismantlement and removal of vessels, should it not be possible to clean them to required standards in the closure plan. 4. Cleanout or removal of pipelines and pumps associated with the CPP-603 basin water treatment system. Cleanout standards for the pipes will be the same as those used for the process vessels.

In 1998, approximately 57,000 tons of titanium metal was consumed in the form of mill products (1). Only about 5% of the 4 million tons of titanium minerals consumed each year is used to produce titanium metal, with the remainder primarily used to produce titanium dioxide pigment. Titanium metal production is primarily based on the direct chlorination of rutile to produce titanium tetrachloride, which is then reduced to metal using the Kroll magnesium reduction process. The use of titanium is tied to its high strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance. Aerospace is the largest application for titanium. In this paper, we discuss all aspects of the titanium industry from ore deposits through extraction to present and future applications. The methods of both primary (mining of ore, extraction, and purification) and secondary (forming and machining) operations will be analyzed. The chemical and physical properties of titanium metal will be briefly examined. Present and future applications for titanium will be discussed. Finally, the economics of titanium metal production also are analyzed as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various alternative extraction methods.

Snow samples were collected in southeastern Idaho over two winters to assess trace elements and common ions concentrations in air pollutant fallout across the region. The objectives were to: 1) develop sampling and analysis techniques that would produce accurate measurements of a broad suite of elements and ions in snow, 2) identify the major elements in regional fallout and their spatial and temporal trends, 3) determine if there are unique combinations of elements that are characteristic to the major source areas in the region (source profiles), and 4) use pattern recognition and multivariate statistical techniques (principal component analysis and classical least squares regression) to investigate source apportionment of the fallout to the major source areas. In the winter of 2000-2001, 250 snow samples were collected across the region over a 4-month period and analyzed in triplicate using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ion chromatography (IC). Thirty-nine (39) trace elements and 9 common ions were positively identified in most samples. The data were analyzed using pattern recognition tools in the software, Pirouette® (Infometrix, Inc.). These results showed a large crustal component (Al, Zn, Mn, Ba, and rare earth elements), an overwhelming contribution from phosphate processing facilities located outside Pocatello in …

Preliminary results from a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey (200m line spacing) acquired in Dixie Valley early in 2002 provide confirmation of intra-basin faulting based on subtle surface indications. In addition the data allow identification of the locations and trends of many faults that have not been recognized at the surface, and provide a picture of intrabasin faulting patterns not possible using other techniques. The data reveal a suite of northeasterly-trending curving and branching faults that surround a relatively coherent block in the area of Humboldt Salt Marsh, the deepest part of the basin. The producing reservoir occurs at the north end of this coherent block, where rampart faults from the northwest side of the valley merge with anthithetic faults from the central and southeast parts of the valley.

The term "compact toroids" as used here means spherical tokamaks, spheromaks, and field reversed configurations, but not reversed field pinches. There are about 17 compact toroid experiments under construction or operating, with approximate parameters listed in Table 1.

Continuous, size resolved particle measurements were performed in two houses in order to determine size-dependent particle penetration and deposition in the indoor environment. The experiments consisted of three parts: (1) measurement of the particle loss rate following artificial elevation of indoor particle concentrations, (2) rapid reduction in particle concentration through induced ventilation by pressurization of the houses with HEPA-filtered air, and (3) measurement of the particle concentration rebound after house pressurization stopped. During the particle concentration decay period, when indoor concentrations are very high, losses due to deposition are large compared to gains due to particle infiltration. During the concentration rebound period, the opposite is true. The large variation in indoor concentration allows the effects of penetration and deposition losses to be separated by the transient, two-parameter model we employed to analyze the data. We found penetration factors between 0.3 and 1 and deposition loss rates between 0.1 and 5 h{sup -1}, for particles between 0.1 and 10 {micro}m.

This report identifies discharges of liquid waste streams that require documentation of the Best Available Technology selection process at Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC, operated facilities at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The Best Available Technology selection process is conducted according to Department of Energy Order 5400.5, Chapter II (3),“Management and Control of Radioactive Materials in Liquid Discharges and Phaseout of Soil Columns” and Department of Energy guidance. Only those liquid waste streams and facilities requiring the Best Available Technology selection process are evaluated in further detail. In addition, this report will be submitted to the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office Field Office manager for approval according to DOE Order 5400.5, Chapter II, Section 3.b.(1). Two facilities (Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center existing Percolation Ponds and Test Area North/Technical Support Facility Disposal Pond) at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory required documentation of the Best Available Technology selection process (Section 4). These two facilities required documentation of the Best Available Technology selection process because they discharge wastewater that may contain process-derived radionuclides to a soil column even though the average radioactivity levels are typically below drinking water maximum contaminant levels. At the request of the Department …

The use of light water at supercritical pressures as the coolant in a nuclear reactor offers the potential for considerable plant simplification and consequent capital and O&M cost reduction compared with current light water reactor (LWR) designs. Also, given the thermodynamic conditions of the coolant at the core outlet (i.e. temperature and pressure beyond the water critical point), very high thermal efficiencies of the power conversion cycle are possible (i.e. up to about 45%). Because no change of phase occurs in the core, the need for steam separators and dryers as well as for BWR-type re-circulation pumps is eliminated, which, for a given reactor power, results in a substantially shorter reactor vessel and smaller containment building than the current BWRs. Furthermore, in a direct cycle the steam generators are not needed. If no additional moderator is added to the fuel rod lattice, it is possible to attain fast neutron energy spectrum conditions in a supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR). This type of core can make use of either fertile or fertile-free fuel and retain a hard spectrum to effectively burn plutonium and minor actinides from LWR spent fuel while efficiently generating electricity. One can also add moderation and design a thermal …

The Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) was developed by Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory to demonstrate the potential of a water-cooled, thorium oxide fuel cycle breeder reactor. The LWBR core operated from 1977-82 without major incident. The fuel and fuel components suffered minimal damage during operation, and the reactor testing was deemed successful. Extensive destructive and nondestructive postirradiation examinations confirmed that the fuel was in good condition with minimal amounts of cladding deformities and fuel pellet cracks. Fuel was placed in wet storage upon arrival at the Expended Core Facility, then dried and sent to the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center for underground dry storage. It is likely that the fuel remains in good condition at its current underground dry storage location at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. Reports show no indication of damage to the core associated with shipping, loading, or storage.

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is considering several optional processes for disposal of liquid sodium-bearing waste. During fiscal year 2002, immobilization-related research included of grout formulation development for sodium-bearing waste, absorption of the waste on silica gel, and off-gas system mercury collection and breakthrough using activated carbon. Experimental results indicate that sodium-bearing waste can be immobilized in grout at 70 weight percent and onto silica gel at 74 weight percent. Furthermore, a loading of 11 weight percent mercury in sulfur-impregnated activated carbon was achieved with 99.8% off-gas mercury removal efficiency.

US DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, Chapter IV and the associated implementation manual and guidance require monitoring of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facilities. The Performance Assessment/Composite Analysis (PA/CA) Monitoring program was developed and implemented to meet this requirement. This report represents the results of PA/CA monitoring projects that are available as of September 2002. The technical basis for the PA/CA program is provided in the PA/CA Monitoring Program document and a program description document (PDD) serves as the quality assurance project plan for implementing the PM program. Subsurface monitoring, air pathway surveillance, and subsidence monitoring/control are required to comply with DOE Order 435.1, Chapter IV. Subsidence monitoring/control and air pathway surveillance are performed entirely by other INEEL programs - their work is summarized herein. Subsurface monitoring includes near-field (source) monitoring of buried activated beryllium and steel, monitoring of groundwater in the vadose zone, and monitoring of the Snake River Plain Aquifer. Most of the required subsurface monitoring information presented in this report was gathered from the results of ongoing INEEL monitoring programs. This report also presents results for several new monitoring efforts that have been initiated to characterize any migration of radionuclides in surface sediment near the waste.

The overall objective of this NERI project is to evaluate the potential advantages and disadvantages of an optimized thorium-uranium dioxide (ThO2/UO2) fuel design for light water reactors (LWRs). The project is led by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), with the collaboration of three universities, the University of Florida, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Purdue University; Argonne National Laboratory; and all of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) fuel vendors in the United States (Framatome, Siemens, and Westinghouse). In addition, a number of researchers at the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute and Professor Kwangheon Park at Kyunghee University are active collaborators with Korean Ministry of Science and Technology funding. The project has been organized into five tasks: · Task 1 consists of fuel cycle neutronics and economics analysis to determine the economic viability of various ThO2/UO2 fuel designs in PWRs, · Task 2 will determine whether or not ThO2/UO2 fuel can be manufactured economically, · Task 3 will evaluate the behavior of ThO2/UO2 fuel during normal, off-normal, and accident conditions and compare the results with the results of previous UO2 fuel evaluations and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing standards, · Task 4 will determine the long-term stability …