Resource Type

Procedures for addressing uncertainty and variability in exposure to characterize potential health risk from trichloroethylene contaminated ground water at Beale Air Force Base in California (open access)

Procedures for addressing uncertainty and variability in exposure to characterize potential health risk from trichloroethylene contaminated ground water at Beale Air Force Base in California

Conservative deterministic, screening-level calculations of exposure and risk commonly are used in quantitative assessments of potential human-health consequences from contaminants in environmental media. However, these calculations generally are based on multiple upper-bound point estimates of input parameters, particularly for exposure attributes, and can therefore produce results for decision makers that actually overstate the need for costly remediation. Alternatively, a more informative and quantitative characterization of health risk can be obtained by quantifying uncertainty and variability in exposure. This process is illustrated in this report for a hypothetical population at a specific site at Beale Air Force Base in California, where there is trichloroethylene (TCE) contaminated ground water and a potential for future residential use. When uncertainty and variability in exposure were addressed jointly for this case, the 95th-percentile upper-bound value of individual excess lifetime cancer risk was a factor approaching 10 lower than the most conservative deterministic estimate. Additionally, the probability of more than zero additional cases of cancer can be estimated, and in this case it is less than 0.5 for a hypothetical future residential population of up to 26,900 individuals present for any 7.6-y interval of a 70-y time period. Clearly, the results from application of this probabilistic …
Date: October 5, 1999
Creator: Daniels, J I; Bogen, K T & Hall, L C
System: The UNT Digital Library
Establishment of Harrop, High-Temperature Viscometer (open access)

Establishment of Harrop, High-Temperature Viscometer

This report explains how the Harrop, High-Temperature Viscometer was installed, calibrated, and operated. This report includes assembly and alignment of the furnace, viscometer, and spindle, and explains the operation of the Brookfield Viscometer, the Harrop furnace, and the UDC furnace controller. Calibration data and the development of the spindle constant from NIST standard reference glasses is presented. A simple operational procedure is included.
Date: November 5, 1999
Creator: Schumacher, R. F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preliminary modeling of moisture movement in the tuff beneath Mortandad Canyon, Los Alamos National Laboratory (open access)

Preliminary modeling of moisture movement in the tuff beneath Mortandad Canyon, Los Alamos National Laboratory

An area of upper/middle Mortandad Canyon on the Los Alamos National Laboratory is modeled in cross-section. UNSAT2, a finite element model (FEM) is used to predict moisture movement. Hydraulic characteristics of the tuff are described by van Genuchten parameters determined from laboratory tests on cores taken from a borehole within the cross-section. Material properties are distributed horizontal planar in space to cover the solution domain with required initial conditions. An estimate of seepage flux from a thin perched alluvial aquifer into the upper surface of the tuff is taken from a lumped parameter model. Moisture redistribution for a ponded boundary condition and a larger flux is investigated. A composite simulation using material properties from two separate coreholes is also evaluated.
Date: August 5, 1992
Creator: Geddis, A.M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Application of geometry correction factors for low-level waste package dose measurements. Revision 1 (open access)

Application of geometry correction factors for low-level waste package dose measurements. Revision 1

Plans are to determine the Cs-137 content of low-level waste packages generated in High-Level Waste by measuring the radiation level at a specified distance from the package with a hand-held radiation instrument. The measurement taken at this specified distance, either 3 or 5 feet, is called the far-field measurement. This report documents a method for adjusting the gamma exposure rate (mR/hr) reading used in dose-to-curie determinations when the far-field measurement equals the background reading. This adjustment is necessary to reduce the conservatism resulting from using a minimum detection limit exposure rate for the dose-to-curie determination for the far-field measurement position. To accomplish this adjustment, the near-field (5 cm) measurement is multiplied by a geometry correction factor to obtain an estimate of the far field exposure rate (which is below instrument sensitivity). This estimate of the far field exposure rate is used to estimate the Cs-137 curie content of the package. This report establishes the geometry correction factors for the dose-to-curie determination when the far-field gamma exposure measurement equals the background reading. This report also provides a means of demonstrating compliance to 1S Manual requirements for exposure rate readings at different locations from waste packages while specifying only two measurement positions. …
Date: January 5, 1995
Creator: Chandler, M.C. & Parish, B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Economic Recovery of Oil Trapped at Fan Margins Using High Angle Wells and Multiple Hydraulic Fractures (open access)

Economic Recovery of Oil Trapped at Fan Margins Using High Angle Wells and Multiple Hydraulic Fractures

This project attempts to demonstrate the effectivensss of exploiting thin-layered, low energy deposits at the distal margin of a propagating turbinite complex through u se of hydraulically fractgured horizontal of high-angle wells. TGhe combinaton of a horizontal or high-angle weoo and hydraulic fracturing will allow greater pay exposure than can be achieved with conventional vertical wells while maintaining vertical communication between thin interbedded layers and the wellbore.
Date: February 5, 1998
Creator: Laue, Mike L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Predicting tropospheric ozone and hydroxyl radical in a global, three-dimensional, chemistry, transport, and deposition model (open access)

Predicting tropospheric ozone and hydroxyl radical in a global, three-dimensional, chemistry, transport, and deposition model

Two of the most important chemically reactive tropospheric gases are ozone (O{sub 3}) and the hydroxyl radical (OH). Although ozone in the stratosphere is a necessary protector against the sun`s radiation, tropospheric ozone is actually a pollutant which damages materials and vegetation, acts as a respiratory irritant, and is a greenhouse gas. One of the two main sources of ozone in the troposphere is photochemical production. The photochemistry is initiated when hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide (CO) react with nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x} = NO + NO{sub 2}) in the presence of sunlight. Reaction with the hydroxyl radical, OH, is the main sink for many tropospheric gases. The hydroxyl radical is highly reactive and has a lifetime on the order of seconds. Its formation is initiated by the photolysis of tropospheric ozone. Tropospheric chemistry involves a complex, non-linear set of chemical reactions between atmospheric species that vary substantially in time and space. To model these and other species on a global scale requires the use of a global, three-dimensional chemistry, transport, and deposition (CTD) model. In this work, I developed two such three dimensional CTD models. The first model incorporated the chemistry necessary to model tropospheric ozone production from the reactions …
Date: January 5, 1995
Creator: Atherton, C.S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Signals from Microwave Unstable Beams in the SLC Damping Rings (open access)

Signals from Microwave Unstable Beams in the SLC Damping Rings

The longitudinal microwave instability is present in the SLC damping rings during routine operations. Experimental studies of the instability at nominal conditions have been reported previously. To complement those studies and better understand the properties of the instability a series of dedicated experiments were performed under a broad range of operating parameters. These experiments included spectral measurements of BPM signals as well as time domain diagnostics using a custom detecting circuit. This paper describes the techniques, the results and discusses possible interpretations of these measurements.
Date: April 5, 1999
Creator: Podobedev, Boris
System: The UNT Digital Library
Clean energy from municipal solid waste. Technical progress report number 3 (open access)

Clean energy from municipal solid waste. Technical progress report number 3

Development of the computer models for slurry carbonization have begun and were based upon the collected data (mass balances, yield, temperatures, and pressures) from the previous pilot plant campaigns. All computer models are being developed with Aspen`s SpeedUp{trademark} software. The primary flow sheet with major alternatives has been developed and the majority of equipment descriptions and models, cost algorithms, and baseline parameters have been input to SpeedUp. The remaining modeling parameters will be input in the next reporting period and the initial flow sheet skeleton and model will be completed. The computer models will focus on optimizing capital and operating costs, and evaluating alternative waste water recycling technologies. The weaknesses of the previous pilot plant data and the data required for design of the commercial demonstration facility were identified. The identified weaknesses of the existing data included mass balance precision and accuracy, reactor residence time control (i.e. reactor level control), reactor temperature variations, and air entrainment in the feed RDF slurry. To improve mass balance precision and accuracy, an alternative carbonization gas flow meter will be designed and installed on the pilot plant. EnerTech`s carbonization gas flow meter design has been submitted to the EERC for final approval. In addition, …
Date: January 5, 1996
Creator: Klosky, M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The human DNA-activated protein kinase, DNA-PK: Substrate specificity (open access)

The human DNA-activated protein kinase, DNA-PK: Substrate specificity

Although much has been learned about the structure and function of p53 and the probable sequence of subsequent events that lead to cell cycle arrest, little is known about how DNA damage is detected and the nature of the signal that is generated by DNA damage. Circumstantial evidence suggests that protein kinases may be involved. In vitro, human DNA-PK phosphorylates a variety of nuclear DNA-binding, regulatory proteins including the tumor suppressor protein p53, the single-stranded DNA binding protein RPA, the heat shock protein hsp90, the large tumor antigen (TAg) of simian virus 40, a variety of transcription factors including Fos, Jun, serum response factor (SRF), Myc, Sp1, Oct-1, TFIID, E2F, the estrogen receptor, and the large subunit of RNA polymerase II (reviewed in Anderson, 1993; Jackson et al., 1993). However, for most of these proteins, the sites that are phosphorylated by DNA-PK are not known. To determine if the sites that were phosphorylated in vitro also were phosphorylated in vivo and if DNA-PK recognized a preferred protein sequence, the authors identified the sites phosphorylated by DNA-PK in several substrates by direct protein sequence analysis. Each phosphorylated serine or threonine is followed immediately by glutamine in the polypeptide chain; at no …
Date: November 5, 1994
Creator: Anderson, C.W.; Connelly, M.A.; Zhang, H.; Sipley, J.A.; Lees-Miller, S.P.; Lintott, L.G. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Diffusion in phase space (open access)

Diffusion in phase space

In order to study diffusion in any region of phase space containing nested closed curves we choose action-angle variables, {gamma}, J. the action J labels each closed phase curve and is equal to its area divided by 2{pi}. We can introduce rectangular variables Q,P by the equations Q=(2J){sup 1/2}sin{gamma}, P=(2J){sup 1/2}cos{gamma}, where the angle variable {gamma} is measured clockwise from the P-axis. The phase curves are circles in the Q,P plane with radius (2J){sup 1/2}. We assume that the motion consists of a Hamiltonian motion along a curve of fixed J (in the original coordinate system and in the system Q,P) plus a diffusion and a damping which can change the value of J. Now consider a system of particles described by a density {rho}(J,t), so that the number of particles between the curves J and J+dJ is dN={rho}(J,t)dJ. These cN particles are distributed uniformly in the phase space between the curves J and J+dJ.
Date: April 5, 1993
Creator: Symon, K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Natural gas monthly, November 1995 (open access)

Natural gas monthly, November 1995

The Natural Gas Monthly (NGM) highlights activities, events, and analyses of interest to public and private sector organizations associated with the natural gas industry. Volume and price data are presented each month for natural gas production, distribution, consumption, and interstate pipeline activities. Producer-related activities and underground storage data are also reported. From time to time, the NGM features articles designed to assist readers in using and interpreting natural gas information.
Date: December 5, 1995
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
FY 1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (open access)

FY 1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

This is a report of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (Pacific Northwest's) FY1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report. This report summarizes our progress toward accomplishment of the critical outcomes, objectives, and performance indicators as delineated in the FY1999 Performance Evaluation & Fee Agreement. It also summarizes our analysis of the results of Pacific Northwest's Division and Directorate annual self-assessments, and the implementation of our key operational improvement initiatives. Together, these provide an indication of how well we have used our Integrated Assessment processes to identify and plan improvements for FY2000. As you review the report you will find areas of significantly positive progress; you will also note areas where I believe the Laboratory could make improvements. Overall, however, I believe you will be quite pleased to note that we have maintained, or exceeded, the high standards of performance we have set for the Laboratory.
Date: November 5, 1999
Creator: LaBarge, Randy R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Household energy consumption and expenditures 1993 (open access)

Household energy consumption and expenditures 1993

This presents information about household end-use consumption of energy and expenditures for that energy. These data were collected in the 1993 Residential Energy Consumption Survey; more than 7,000 households were surveyed for information on their housing units, energy consumption and expenditures, stock of energy-consuming appliances, and energy-related behavior. The information represents all households nationwide (97 million). Key findings: National residential energy consumption was 10.0 quadrillion Btu in 1993, a 9% increase over 1990. Weather has a significant effect on energy consumption. Consumption of electricity for appliances is increasing. Houses that use electricity for space heating have lower overall energy expenditures than households that heat with other fuels. RECS collected data for the 4 most populous states: CA, FL, NY, TX.
Date: October 5, 1995
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conceptual design report for a Direct Hydrogen Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell for transportation application (open access)

Conceptual design report for a Direct Hydrogen Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell for transportation application

This report presents the conceptual design for a Direct-Hydrogen-Fueled Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell System for transportation applications. The design is based on the initial selection of the Chrysler LH sedan as the target vehicle with a 50 kW (gross) PEM Fuel Cell Stack (FCS) as the primary power source, a battery-powered Load Leveling Unit (LLU) for surge power requirements, an on-board hydrogen storage subsystem containing high pressure gaseous storage, a Gas Management Subsystem (GMS) to manage the hydrogen and air supplies for the FCS, and electronic controllers to control the electrical system. The design process has been dedicated to the use of Design-to-Cost (DTC) principles. The Direct Hydrogen-Powered PEM Fuel Cell Stack Hybrid Vehicle (DPHV) system is designed to operate on the Federal Urban Driving Schedule (FUDS) and Hiway Cycles. These cycles have been used to evaluate the vehicle performance with regard to range and hydrogen usage. The major constraints for the DPHV vehicle are vehicle and battery weight, transparency of the power system and drive train to the user, equivalence of fuel and life cycle costs to conventional vehicles, and vehicle range. The energy and power requirements are derived by the capability of the DPHV system to …
Date: September 5, 1995
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preliminary low-level waste feed staging plan (open access)

Preliminary low-level waste feed staging plan

A Preliminary Low-Level Waste Feed Staging Plan was prepared. The plan supports the Phase I privatization effort by providing recommendations that may influence the technical content of the final request for proposal, and the interface control documents for the turnover of two double-shell tanks (DST) to the private contractors for use as feed tanks and the transfer of supernate to these tanks. Additionally, the preliminary schedule of feed staging activities will be useful to both RL and the private bidders during the contract negotiation period. A revised feed staging plan will be issued in August 1996 reflecting anticipated changes in the request for proposal, resolution of issues identified in this report, and completion of additional work scope.
Date: February 5, 1996
Creator: Certa, P. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of High-Efficiency Gas-Liquid Contactors for Natural Gas Processing (open access)

Evaluation of High-Efficiency Gas-Liquid Contactors for Natural Gas Processing

None
Date: June 5, 1996
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pacific Lamprey Research and Restoration : Annual Report 1997. (open access)

Pacific Lamprey Research and Restoration : Annual Report 1997.

The once abundant stocks of Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata) above Bonneville Dam are currently depressed (Close et al. 1995). It is likely that many of the same factors that led to the decline of wild stocks of Columbia River Pacific salmon and steelhead have impacted Pacific lamprey populations as well. The Pacific Lamprey Research and Restoration Project, funded by Bonneville Power Administration, is a cooperative effort between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and Oregon State University with the goal to increase Pacific lamprey stocks above Bonneville Dam.
Date: August 5, 1998
Creator: Jackson, Aaron D.; Hatch, Douglas R. & Close, David A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conversion and Blending Facility highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium as oxide. Revision 1 (open access)

Conversion and Blending Facility highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium as oxide. Revision 1

This Conversion and Blending Facility (CBF) will have two missions: (1) convert HEU materials into pure HEU oxide and (2) blend the pure HEU oxide with depleted and natural uranium oxide to produce an LWR grade LEU product. The primary emphasis of this blending operation will be to destroy the weapons capability of large, surplus stockpiles of HEU. The blended LEU product can only be made weapons capable again by the uranium enrichment process. To the extent practical, the chemical and isotopic concentrations of blended LEU product will be held within the specifications required for LWR fuel. Such blended LEU product will be offered to the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) to be sold as feed material to the commercial nuclear industry. Otherwise, blended LEU will be produced as a waste suitable for storage or disposal.
Date: July 5, 1995
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Closed-form approach to checking frame design (open access)

Closed-form approach to checking frame design

This brief report contains calculations of deflections and stresses of the support frame on the XMM project. The goal is to provide an independent view of structural integrity of the frame utilizing a noncomputer approach to design based on elementary closed form solutions and approximate models of mechanical and structural behavior. It is recognized that full confidence can only be assured when computer generated results pertaining to the critical areas and features of the integrating structure can be enveloped by the bracketing solutions. Although the computer solutions have come from the three independent sources, this report utilizes the numerical values from the LLNL studies represented by the computer runs and analysis of the critical elements of the frame. Since the frame geometry, deformation patterns, and the nature of loading are highly complex, this study is restricted to simplified models of selected areas of the structure which can be handled by the conventional formulas and reasonable approximations. This report contains some comments related to material properties, stress concentration, and elements of fracture mechanics directly applicable to frame analysis and design. Such topics and parameters fall usually outside the finite element modeling, but they can have a crucial influence on the mechanical …
Date: April 5, 1995
Creator: Blake, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
SECOND GENERATION PFBC SYSTEMS R AND D - PHASE 2 AND 3 (open access)

SECOND GENERATION PFBC SYSTEMS R AND D - PHASE 2 AND 3

When DOE funds were exhausted in March 1995, all Phase 2 activities were placed on hold. In February 1996 a detailed cost estimate was submitted to the DOE for completing the two remaining Phase 2 Multi Annular Swirl Burner (MASB) topping combustor test campaigns; in August 1996 release was received from FETC to proceed with the two campaigns to: (1) test the MASB at proposed demonstration plant full to minimum load operating conditions; (2) identify the lower oxygen limit of the MASB; (3) demonstrate natural gas to carbonizer fuel gas switching; and (4) demonstrate operation with ''low temperature'' compressor discharge air rather than high temperature ({approx}1600 F) vitiated air.
Date: August 5, 1999
Creator: Robertson, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Status report on preliminary assessment of variations of regional phases and discriminants with distance (open access)

Status report on preliminary assessment of variations of regional phases and discriminants with distance

An improved understanding of the variability of regional seismic phases with distance is needed to improve the performance and transportability of regional seismic discriminants. Observations of large variations in regional phase amplitudes, over relatively short distances, are not uncommon. For example, large variations in Pn amplitudes of the Non-Proliferation Experiment (NPE) were observed along lines to the west (e.g., Keller et al., 1994), and northwest (e.g., McCormack et al., 1994). Numerous studies, in a number of areas, have also observed large variations in Sn and Lg over relatively short distances (e.g., Kadinsky-Cade et al., 1981; Ni and Barazangi, 1983). An improved understanding of these variations has been gained from numerous empirical observations (e.g., Chavez and Priestley, 1984; Zhang et al., 1994) and theoretical studies (e.g., Campillo, 1990, Kennett, 1993). We are developing a number of techniques and procedures for characterizing such features on a region specific basis.
Date: June 5, 1995
Creator: Goldstein, P. & Schultz, C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Functions and Requirements for a Waste Conveyance Jet Pump for the Gunite and Associated Tanks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (open access)

Functions and Requirements for a Waste Conveyance Jet Pump for the Gunite and Associated Tanks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Since the mid 1940's, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have conducted research and development activities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in support of urgent national interests in the fields of nuclear weaponry and nuclear energy. Some of these activities resulted in radiologically hazardous waste being temporarily deposited at ORNL in Waste Area Grouping 1. At this location, waste is stored in several underground storage tanks, awaiting ultimate final disposal. There are tanks of two basic categories; one category is referred to as the "gunite" tanks, and the other category is `associated" tanks. The ORNL Gunite and Associated Tanks Treatability Study (GMT-TS) project was initiated in fiscal year (FY) 1994 to support a record of decision in selecting from seven different options of technologies for retrieval and remediation of these tanks. This decision process is part of a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), Remedial investigation and Feasibility Study (R1/FS) presented to DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). As part of this decision process, new waste retrieval technologies were evaluated at the 25-ft diameter gunite tanks in the North Tank Farm.
Date: November 5, 1998
Creator: Mullen, OD
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reactor Materials Program - Baseline Material Property Handbook - Mechanical Properties of 1950's Vintage Stainless Steel Weldment Components, Task Number 89-23-A-1 (open access)

Reactor Materials Program - Baseline Material Property Handbook - Mechanical Properties of 1950's Vintage Stainless Steel Weldment Components, Task Number 89-23-A-1

The Process Water System (primary coolant) piping of the nuclear production reactors constructed in the 1950''s at Savannah River Site is comprised primarily of Type 304 stainless steel with Type 308 stainless steel weld filler. A program to measure the mechanical properties of archival PWS piping and weld materials (having approximately six years of service at temperatures between 25 and 100 degrees C) has been completed. The results from the mechanical testing has been synthesized to provide a mechanical properties database for structural analyses of the SRS piping.
Date: November 5, 1999
Creator: Stoner, K. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Borel Summation and Momentum-Plane Analyticity in Perturbative QCD (open access)

Borel Summation and Momentum-Plane Analyticity in Perturbative QCD

We derive a compact expression for the Borel sum of a QCD amplitude in terms of the inverse Mellin transform of the corresponding Borel function. The result allows us to investigate the momentum-plane analyticity properties of the Borel-summed Green functions in perturbative QCD. An interesting connection between the asymptotic behavior of the Borel transform and the Landau singularities in the momentum plane is established. We consider for illustration the polarization function of massless quarks and the resummation of one-loop renormalon chains in the large-{beta}{sub 0} limit, but our conclusions have a more general validity.
Date: February 5, 1999
Creator: Neubert, Matthias
System: The UNT Digital Library