This paper describes the results of a year-long project, sponsored by the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) and designed to improve overall electrical safety performance throughout Department of Energy (DOE)-owned sites and laboratories. As evidenced by focused metrics, the Project was successful primarily due to the joint commitment of contractor and DOE electrical safety experts, as well as significant support from DOE and contractor senior management. The effort was managed by an assigned project manager, using classical project-management principles that included execution of key deliverables and regular status reports to the Project sponsor. At the conclusion of the Project, the DOE not only realized measurable improvement in the safety of their workers, but also had access to valuable resources that will enable them to do the following: evaluate and improve electrical safety programs; analyze and trend electrical safety events; increase electrical safety awareness for both electrical and non-electrical workers; and participate in ongoing processes dedicated to continued improvement.

Remote Systems Engineering (RSE) of the Savannah River National Lab (SRNL) in combination with the Defense Waste Processing Facility(DWPF) Engineering and Operations has evaluated the existing equipment and processes used in the facility sample cells for 'pulling' samples from the radioactive waste stream and performing equipment in-cell repairs/replacements. RSE has designed and tested equipment for improving remote in-cell sampling evolutions and reducing the time required for in-cell maintenance of existing equipment. The equipment within the present process tank sampling system has been in constant use since the facility start-up over 17 years ago. At present, the method for taking samples within the sample cells produces excessive maintenance and downtime due to frequent failures relative to the sampling station equipment and manipulator. Location and orientation of many sampling stations within the sample cells is not conducive to manipulator operation. The overextension of manipulators required to perform many in-cell operations is a major cause of manipulator failures. To improve sampling operations and reduce downtime due to equipment maintenance, a Portable Sampling Station (PSS), wireless in-cell cameras, and new commercially available sampling technology has been designed, developed and/or adapted and tested. The uniqueness of the design(s), the results of the scoping tests, and …

By harvesting waste heat from engine exhaust and storing it in light-weight high-capacity modules, it is believed that the need for energy transport by convoys can be lowered significantly. By storing this power during operation, substantial electrical power can be provided during long periods of silent operation, while the engines are not operating. It is proposed to investigate the potential of installing efficient thermoelectric generators on the exhaust systems of trucks and other vehicles to generate electrical power from the waste heat contained in the exhaust and to store that power in advanced power packs comprised of polymer-gel lithium ion batteries. Efficient inexpensive methods for production of the thermoelectric generator are also proposed. The technology that exists at LLNL, as well as that which exists at industrial partners, all have high technology readiness level (TRL). Work is needed for integration and deployment.

Tank 5 at the Savannah River Site has been used to store high level waste and is currently undergoing waste removal processes in preparation for tank closure. Samples were taken from two locations to determine the contents in support of Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) development for chemical cleaning. These samples were obtained through the use of the Drop Core Sampler and the Snowbank Sampler developed by the Engineered Equipment & Systems (EES) group of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).

High-average-current linear electron accelerators require photoinjectors capable of delivering tens to hundreds of mA average current, with peak currents of hundreds of amps. Standard photocathodes face significant challenges in meeting these requirements, and often have short operational lifetimes in an accelerator environment. We report on recent progress toward development of secondary emission amplifiers for photocathodes, which are intended to increase the achievable average current while protecting the cathode from the accelerator. The amplifier is a thin diamond wafer which converts energetic (few keV) primary electrons into hundreds of electron-hole pairs via secondary electron emission. The electrons drift through the diamond under an external bias and are emitted into vacuum via a hydrogen-terminated surface with negative electron affinity (NEA). Secondary emission gain of over 200 has been achieved. Two methods of patterning diamond, laser ablation and reactive-ion etching (RIE), are being developed to produce the required geometry. A variety of diagnostic techniques, including FTIR, SEM and AFM, have been used to characterize the diamonds.

This document presents a detailed evaluation of selected alternative treatment options to granular activated carbon (GAC) for removing carbon tetrachloride generated from the groundwater pump-and-treat system at the 200-ZP-I Operable Unit (OU) in the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site. This evaluation of alternative treatment options to GAC is also applicable to the vadose zone soil vapor extraction (SVE) system at the 200-PW-l OU, which is also located in the Hanford Site's 200 West Area.

We investigate aerosol effects on climate for 1980, 1995 (meant to reflect present-day) and 2030 using the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate model coupled to an on-line aerosol source and transport model with interactive oxidant and aerosol chemistry. Aerosols simulated include sulfates, organic matter (OM), black carbon (BC), sea-salt and dust and additionally, the amount of tropospheric ozone is calculated, allowing us to estimate both changes to air quality and climate for different time periods and emission amounts. We include both the direct aerosol effect and indirect aerosol effects for liquid-phase clouds. Future changes for the 2030 A1B scenario are examined, focusing on the Arctic and Asia, since changes are pronounced in these regions. Our results for the different time periods include both emission changes and physical climate changes. We find that the aerosol indirect effect (AIE) has a large impact on photochemical processing, decreasing ozone amount and ozone forcing, especially for the future (2030-1995). Ozone forcings increase from 0 to 0.12 Wm{sup -2} and the total aerosol forcing increases from -0.10 Wm{sup -2} to -0.94 Wm{sup -2} (AIE increases from -0.13 to -0.68 Wm{sup -2}) for 1995-1980 versus 2030-1995. Over the Arctic we find that compared to …

This paper describes ongoing advancement of airborne hazard modeling capabilities in support of multiple agencies through the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) and the Interagency Atmospheric Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC). A suite of software tools developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and collaborating organizations includes simple stand-alone, local-scale plume modeling tools for end user's computers, Web- and Internet-based software to access advanced 3-D flow and atmospheric dispersion modeling tools and expert analysis from the national center at LLNL, and state-of-the-science high-resolution urban models and event reconstruction capabilities.

This report describes earthquake activity within approximately 65 km of Yucca Mountain site during the October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2006 time period (FY05-06). The FY05-06 earthquake activity will be compared with the historical and more recent period of seismic activity in the Yucca Mountain region. The relationship between the distribution of seismicity and active faults, historical patterns of activity, and rates of earthquakes (number of events and their magnitudes) are important components in the assessment of the seismic hazard for the Yucca Mountain site. Since October 1992 the University of Nevada has compiled a catalog of earthquakes in the Yucca Mountain area. Seismicity reports have identified notable earthquake activity, provided interpretations of the seismotectonics of the region, and documented changes in the character of earthquake activity based on nearly 30 years of site-characterization monitoring. Data from stations in the seismic network in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain is collected and managed at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). Earthquake events are systematically identified and cataloged under Implementing Procedures developed in compliance with the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Quality Assurance Program. The earthquake catalog for FY05-06 in the Yucca Mountain region …

We have carried out a search for a charmed baryon {Omega}{sup *}{sub c} decaying to {Omega}{sup 0}{sub c} and a {gamma} where {Omega}{sub c} candidates are reconstructed using decay modes {Omega}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}(c1), {Omega}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}(c2), {Omega}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}(c3) and {Xi}{sup -}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}(c4). This search is performed by analyzing integrated luminosity of 230.7 fb{sup -1} data collected by the BABAR detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In decay channel {Omega}{sup *}{sub c} {yields} {Omega}{sup 0}{sub c}({Omega}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}){gamma} (C1), we observe a signal yield of 39.2{sup +9.8}{sub -9.1}(stat){+-}6.0(syst) events with a significance of 4.2 standard deviations. In decay channels {Omega}{sup *}{sub c} {yields} {Omega}{sup 0}{sub c}({Omega}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}){gamma} (C2) and {Omega}{sup *}{sub c} {yields} {Omega}{sup 0}{sub c}({Xi}{sup -}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}){gamma} (C4), we observe signal yields of 55.2{sup 16.1}{sub -15.2} {+-} 5.6 and 20.2{sup +9.3}{sub -8.5} {+-} 3.1 with significances of 3.4 and 2.0 {sigma}, respectively. As for the {Omega}{sup *}{sub c} {yields} {Omega}{sup 0}{sub c}({Omega}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}){gamma} (C3) decay channel, we observe signal yields of -5.1{sup +5.3.8}{sub -4.7}{+-}1.0 without a positive significance. We assume the same production mechanism for the four decay channels of {Omega}{sup *}{sub c} studied. By combining …

Fluor Hanford (FH) is designing and assessing the performance of engineered barriers for final closure of 200-UW-1 waste sites. Engineered barriers must minimize the intrusion and water, plants and animals into the underlying waste to provide protection for human health and the environment. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases (STOMP) simulator is being used to optimize the performance of candidate barriers. Simulating barrier performance involves computation of mass and energy transfer within a soil-atmosphere-vegetation continuum and requires a variety of input parameters, some of which are more readily available than others. Required input includes parameter values for the geotechnical, physical, hydraulic, and thermal properties of the materials comprising the barrier and the structural fill on which it will be constructed as well as parameters to allow simulation of plant effects. This report provides a data package of the required parameters as well as the technical basis, rationale and methodology used to obtain the parameter values.

The process sumps in H-Canyon at the Savannah River Site (SRS) collect leaks from process tanks and jumpers. To prevent build-up of fissile material the sumps are frequently flushed which generates liquid waste and is prone to human error. The development of inserts filled with a neutron poison will allow a reduction in the frequency of flushing. Due to concrete deterioration and deformation of the sump liners the current dimensions of the sumps are unknown. Knowledge of these dimensions is necessary for development of the inserts. To solve this problem a remote Sump Measurement System was designed, fabricated, and tested to aid development of the sump inserts.

Two dimensional (2-D) images of electron temperature fluctuations with high temporal and spatial resolution have been employed to study the sawtooth oscillation (m/n=1/1 mode) in Toroidal EXperiment for Technology Oriented Research (TEXTOR) tokamak plasmas. 2-D imaging data revealed new physics which were not available in previous studies based on the 1-D electron temperature measurement and X-ray tomography. Review of the physics of the sawtooth oscillation is given by comparative studies with prominent theoretical models suggest that a new physics paradigm is needed to describe the reconnection physics of the sawtooth oscillation. The new insights are: A pressure driven instability (not a ballooning mode) leads to the X-point reconnection process. The reconnection process is identified as a random 3-D local reconnection process with a helical structure. The reconnection time scale is similar for different types of sawtooth oscillation ("kink" and tearing type) and is significantly faster than the resistive time scale. Heat flow from the core to the outside of the inversion radius during the reconnection process is highly collective rather than stochastic.