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Established by Congress in 1991, the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program provides the Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratories, like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL or the Laboratory), with the flexibility to invest up to 6% of their budget in long-term, high-risk, and potentially high payoff research and development (R&D) activities to support the DOE/NNSA's national security missions. By funding innovative R&D, the LDRD Program at LLNL develops and extends the Laboratory's intellectual foundations and maintains its vitality as a premier research institution. As proof of the Program's success, many of the research thrusts that started many years ago under LDRD sponsorship are at the core of today's programs. The LDRD Program, which serves as a proving ground for innovative ideas, is the Laboratory's most important single resource for fostering excellent science and technology for today's needs and tomorrow's challenges. Basic and applied research activities funded by LDRD enhance the Laboratory's core strengths, driving its technical vitality to create new capabilities that enable LLNL to meet DOE/NNSA's national security missions. The Program also plays a key role in building a world-class multidisciplinary workforce by engaging the Laboratory's best researchers, recruiting its future scientists and engineers, …

Gasification technologies convert coal and other heavy feedstocks into synthesis gas feed streams that can be used in the production of a wide variety of chemicals, ranging from hydrogen through methanol, ammonia, acetic anhydride, dimethyl ether (DME), methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), high molecular weight liquid hydrocarbons and waxes. Syngas can also be burned directly as a fuel in advanced power cycles to generate electricity with very high efficiency. However, the coal-derived synthesis gas contains a myriad of trace contaminants that may poison the catalysts that are used in the downstream manufacturing processes and may also be regulated in power plant emissions. Particularly, the catalysts used in the conversion of synthesis gas to methanol and other liquid fuels (Fischer-Tropsch liquids) have been found to be very sensitive to the low levels of poisons, especially arsenic, that are present in the synthesis gas from coal. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) is developing an expendable high capacity, low-cost chemical absorbent to remove arsenic from coal-derived syngas. Unlike most of the commercially available sorbents that physically adsorb arsenic, TDA's sorbent operates at elevated temperatures and removes the arsenic through chemical reaction. The arsenic content in the coal gas stream is reduced to ppb levels …

We calculate the {phi} meson collision rate and mean free path in a hot hadronic gas. The Hidden Local Symmetry model is used to take into account interactions of {phi} mesons with pseudoscalar ({pi}, K) and vector mesons ({rho}, {omega}, K*, {phi}). In contrast to previous calculations we find a significantly small mean free path (around 1 fm at T=200MeV). This implies that {phi} mesons produced after hadronization in relativistic heavy ion collisions will not leave the collision region without scattering. The consequences of these findings to the analysis of {phi} yields are discussed.

The Hidden Local Symmetry Lagrangian is used to study the interactions of phi mesons with other pseudoscalar and vector mesons in a hadronic gas at finite temperature. We have found a significantly small phi mean free path (less than 2.4 fm at T > 170 MeV) due to large collision rates with rho mesons, kaons and predominantly K* in spite of their heavy mass. This implies that phi mesons produced after hadronization in relativistic heavy ion collisions will not leave the hadronic system without scattering. The effect of these interactions on the time evolution of the phi density in the expanding hadronic fireball is investigated.

The DataFoundry bioinformatics application was designed to enable scientists to directly interact with large datasets, gathered from multiple remote data sources, through a graphical, interactive interface. Gathering information from multiple data sources, integrating that data, and providing an interface to the accumulated data is non-trivial. Advanced techniques are required to develop a solution that adequately completes this task. One possible solution to this problem involves the use of specialized information access programs that are able to access information and transmute that information to a form usable by a single application. These information access programs, called wrappers, were decided to be the most appropriate way to extend the DataFoundry bioinformatics application to support data integration from multiple sources. By adding wrapper support into the DataFoundry application, it is hoped that this system will be able to provide a single access point to bioinformatics data for scientists. We describe some of the computer science concepts, design, and the implementation of adding wrapper support into the DataFoundry bioinformatics application, and then discuss issues of performance.

The Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) Service Wastewater Discharge Facility replaces the existing percolation ponds as a disposal facility for the INTEC Service Waste Stream. A preferred alternative for helping decrease water content in the subsurface near INTEC, closure of the existing ponds is required by the INTEC Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Record of Decision (ROD) for Waste Area Group 3 Operable Unit 3-13 (DOE-ID 1999a). By August 2002, the replacement facility was constructed approximately 2 miles southwest of INTEC, near the Big Lost River channel. Because groundwater beneath the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is protected under Federal and State of Idaho regulations from degradation due to INEEL activities, preoperational data required by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1 were collected. These data include preexisting physical, chemical, and biological conditions that could be affected by the discharge; background levels of radioactive and chemical components; pertinent environmental and ecological parameters; and potential pathways for human exposure or environmental impact. This document presents specific data collected in support of DOE Order 5400.1, including: four quarters of groundwater sampling and analysis of chemical and radiological parameters; general facility description; site specific geology, stratigraphy, …

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A set of reactive chemical transport calculations was conducted with the Subsurface Transport Over Reactive Multi-phases (STORM) code to evaluate the long-term performance of a representative low-activity waste glass in a shallow subsurface disposal system located on the Hanford Site. One-dimensional simulations were conducted out to times of 20,000 yr. The simulations predict a lower release rate for the new trench design (0.605 ppm/yr) than for the old trench design (0.726 ppm/yr). Because the glass corrosion rate is significantly higher at the backfill/glass interfaces, having one less interface with the 3-layer design offsets the effect of the slightly higher pH relative to the 4-layer design. The differences between the old and new trench designs were much less significant than differences due to differences in recharge rate.

The receiving, handling, storing, and processing of woody biomass feedstocks is an overlooked component of biopower systems. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to identify and characterize all the receiving, handling, storing, and processing steps required to make woody biomass feedstocks suitable for use in direct combustion and gasification applications, including small modular biopower (SMB) systems, and (2) to estimate the capital and operating costs at each step. Since biopower applications can be varied, a number of conversion systems and feedstocks required evaluation. In addition to limiting this study to woody biomass feedstocks, the boundaries of this study were from the power plant gate to the feedstock entry point into the conversion device. Although some power plants are sited at a source of wood waste fuel, it was assumed for this study that all wood waste would be brought to the power plant site. This study was also confined to the following three feedstocks (1) forest residues, (2) industrial mill residues, and (3) urban wood residues. Additionally, the study was confined to grate, suspension, and fluidized bed direct combustion systems; gasification systems; and SMB conversion systems. Since scale can play an important role in types of equipment, operational …

This Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan (FEMP) has been prepared for the 331 Building Life Sciences Laboratory and associated support facilities at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to meet the requirements in DOE Order 5400.1, "General Environmental Protection Programs." This FEMP has been prepared for the 331 Complex primarily because it has a ?major? (potential to emit > 0.1 mrem/yr) emission point for radionuclide air emissions according to the annual National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) assessment performed. The FEMP includes characterization of effluent streams, monitoring/sampling design criteria, a description of the monitoring systems and sample analysis, and quality assurance requirements.

The Bush Administration issued its plan for a national energy policy on May 16, 2001. The plan was controversial, characterized by some as leaner on conservation and renewables than Democratic proposals, and predisposed to trade off environmental considerations to increase supply. Comprehensive energy legislation was introduced in the Senate by both parties by late March (S. 388, S. 389, S. 596, S. 597). Bills reported by several House committees (H.R. 2436, H.R. 2460, H.R. 2511, and H.R. 2587) were combined in a single bill, H.R. 4, passed by the House, August 1, 2001. The House version of H.R. 4 would require a 5 billion gallon reduction in light-duty truck and SUV fuel consumption and would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to leasing.

The production of hydrogen for fuel cell applications requires cost and energy efficient technologies. The Absorption Enhanced Reforming (AER), developed at ZSW with industrial partners, is aimed to simplify the process by using a high temperature in situ CO2 absorption. The in situ CO2 removal results in shifting the steam reforming reaction equilibrium towards increased hydrogen concentration (up to 95 vol%). The key part of the process is the high temperature CO2 absorbent. In this contribution results of Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) investigations on natural minerals, dolomites, silicates and synthetic absorbent materials in regard of their CO2 absorption capacity and absorption/desorption cyclic stability are presented and discussed. It has been found that the inert parts of the absorbent materials have a structure stabilizing effect, leading to an improved cyclic stability of the materials.

A glass-bonded, sodalite ceramic waste form that contains fission products, uranium, and plutonium is intended for disposition in a geologic repository. Over the many years the waste is expected to be in the repository, there is a potential for waste form degradation due to alpha decay damage. To investigate the effects of alpha-decay damage in glass-bonded, sodalite ceramic waste forms, several waste forms were produced with a {sup 238}Pu loading of 1.8 weight percent. This loading is roughly ten times greater than the plutonium loading for all isotopes in the waste form intended for the repository. Due to the higher specific activity of {sup 238}Pu as well as a higher fraction of total plutonium, the same number of alpha decays per gram of material has been achieved after four years as a waste form of nominal composition after ten thousand years. This paper describes the results of different tests near the completion of a four-year study. Trends of these {sup 238}Pu-doped waste forms include volume expansion of crystalline phases and possible increases in the release rates of several elements in the chemical durability tests. There have not yet been any indications of macroscopic swelling by density measurements, amorphization by x-ray …

This document is the fourth sub-report of the EUV AIM design study being conducted at LLNL on behalf of International SEMATECH (ISMT) and addresses the issue of preliminary system costing. The purpose of the LLNL study, as identified in section 1.2 of the statement of work, is to research the basic user requirements of an actinic defect characterization tool, potential design configurations and top-level specifications. The objectives of this design study specifically identified in section 1.3 of the statement of work were to: (1) Determine the user requirements of an actinic defect characterization tool; (2) Determine if an EUV AIM tool is an appropriate platform for actinic defect characterization; (3) Determine possible design configurations and top-level performance specifications; (4) Identify potential technical issues and risks of different technical approaches; (5) Provide estimates of cost relating to different technical approaches; and (6) Provide simulated performance for key subsystems and the entire system. The sub-sections of the study to be addressed were accordingly defined in the statement of work as being: (1) Formulation of top-level specifications; (2) Identification of system configurations suitable for meeting the top-level specifications; (3) Preliminary design of imaging systems; (4) Preliminary design of illumination systems; (5) Prediction and …

This document is the third sub-report of the EUV AIM design study being conducted at LLNL on behalf of International Sematech (ISMT). The purpose of this study as identified in section 1.2 of the statement of work is to research the basic user requirements of an actinic defect characterization tool, potential design configurations and top-level specifications. The objectives of this design study specifically identified in section 1.3 of the statement of work were to: (1) Determine the user requirements of an actinic defect characterization tool; (2) Determine if an EUV AIM tool is an appropriate platform for actinic defect characterization; (3) Determine possible design configurations and top-level performance specifications; (4) Identify potential technical issues and risks of different technical approaches; (5) Provide estimates of cost relating to different technical approaches; and (6) Provide simulated performance for key subsystems and the entire system. The sub-sections of the study to be addressed were accordingly defined in the statement of work as being: (1) Formulation of top-level specifications; (2) Identification of system configurations suitable for meeting the top-level specifications; (3) Preliminary design of imaging systems; (4) Preliminary design of illumination systems; (5) Prediction and comparison of performance through aerial image calculation; (6) Identification …

''Spin-transfer'' torque is created when electric current is passed through metallic ferromagnets and may have interesting applications in spintronics. So far it was experimentally studied in ''collinear'' geometries, where it is difficult to predict whether magnetization will coherently rotate or spin-waves will be generated. Here we propose an easy modification of existing experiment in which the spin-polarization of incoming current will no longer be collinear with magnetization and recalculate the switching behavior of the device. We expect that a better agreement with the magnetization rotation theory will be achieved. That can be an important step in reconciling alternative points of view on the effect of spin-transfer torque.

We report on the first experimental demonstration of a scalable fiber laser approach based on phase-locking multiple gain cores in an antiguided structure. A novel fabrication technology is used with soft glass components to construct the multiple core fiber used in our experiments. The waveguide region is rectangular in shape and comprised of a periodic sequence of gain and no-gain segments having nearly uniform refractive index. The rectangular waveguide is itself embedded in a lower refractive index cladding region. Experimental results confirm that our five-core Nd doped glass prototype structure runs predominantly in two spatial antiguided modes as predicted by our modeling.

The Department of Defense (DOD) administers five environmental programs in response to various requirements under federal environmental laws. These programs include environmental cleanup, environmental compliance, pollution prevention, environmental technology, and conservation. Additionally, the Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste and cleaning up contaminated nuclear weapons sites. The Administration requested a total of $11.17 billion for these programs in FY2003, about $390 million more than the FY2002 funding level of $10.78 billion. Some of the ongoing issues associated with these programs are the adequacy, cost, and pace of cleanup, whether DOD and DOE adequately comply with environmental laws and regulations, and the extent to which environmental requirements encroach upon military readiness.

The Department of Defense (DOD) administers five environmental programs in response to various requirements under federal environmental laws. These programs include environmental cleanup, environmental compliance, pollution prevention, environmental technology, and conservation. Additionally, the Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste and cleaning up contaminated nuclear weapons sites. The Administration requested a total of $11.17 billion for these programs in FY2003, about $390 million more than the FY2002 funding level of $10.78 billion. Some of the ongoing issues associated with these programs are the adequacy, cost, and pace of cleanup, whether DOD and DOE adequately comply with environmental laws and regulations, and the extent to which environmental requirements encroach upon military readiness.

A recently developed technique termed ''Electrochemical Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscopy'' (EC-OWLS) [1] combines evanescent-field optical sensing with electrochemical control of surface adsorption processes. Initial EC-OWLS investigations efficiently monitored molecular surface adsorption and layer thickness changes of an adsorbed polymer layer examined in situ as a function of potential applied to a waveguide1. A layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) served as both a high refractive index waveguide for optical sensing, and a conductive electrode; an electrochemical flow-through fluid cell incorporated working, reference and counter electrodes. Poly(L-lysine)-grafted-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG) served as a model, polycation adsorbate. Results indicate that adsorption and desorption of PLL-g-PEG from aqueous buffer are a function of applied potential, and that binding events subsequent to PLL-g-PEG functionalization are dependent on reorganization in the molecular adlayer.

This report briefly discusses programs designed to provide income support, price support, and/or supply management for approximately 20 specified agricultural commodities. It specifically addresses the proposed farm bill legislation, meant to expand existing services and add new programs, in part to avert ad hoc measures to fill gaps.

A review of the scientific literature regarding boron- and lithium-containing compounds was completed. Information such as Debye temperature, heat capacity, superconductivity properties, physical and chemical characteristics, commercial availability, and recipes for synthesis was accumulated and evaluated to develop a list of neutron-sensitive materials likely to perform properly in the spectrometer. The best candidate borides appear to be MgB{sub 2} (a superconductor with T{sub c} = 39 K), B{sub 6}Si, B{sub 4}C, and elemental boron; all are commercially available. Among the lithium compounds are LiH, LiAl, Li{sub 12}Si{sub 7}, and Li{sub 7}Sn{sub 2}. These materials have or are expected to have high Debye temperatures and sufficiently low heat capacities at 100 mK to produce a useful signal. The responses of {sup 10}B and {sup 6}Li to a fission neutron spectrum were also estimated. These demonstrated that the contribution of scattering events is no more than 3% in a boron-based system and 1.5% in a lithium-based system. This project is concerned with the development of materials for use in a cryogenic neutron spectrometer and is complementary to work in progress by Labov at LLNL to develop a cryogenic gamma ray spectrometer. Refrigeration to 100 mK lowers the heat capacity of these materials …