Strontium-90 is one of the most hazardous materials managed by agencies charged with protecting the public from radiation. Traditional radiometric methods have been limited by low sample throughput and slow turnaround times. Mass spectrometry offers the advantage of shorter analysis times and the ability to measure samples immediately after processing, however conventional mass spectrometric techniques are susceptible to molecular isobaric interferences that limit their overall sensitivity. In contrast, accelerator mass spectrometry is insensitive to molecular interferences and we have therefore begun developing a method for determination of {sup 90}Sr by accelerator mass spectrometry. Despite a pervasive interference from {sup 90}Zr, our initial development has yielded an instrumental background of {approx} 10{sup 8} atoms (75 mBq) per sample. Further refinement of our system (e.g., redesign of our detector, use of alternative target materials) is expected to push the background below 10{sup 6} atoms, close to the theoretical limit for AMS. Once we have refined our system and developed suitable sample preparation protocols, we will utilize our capability in applications to homeland security, environmental monitoring, and human health.

Control Banding (CB) strategies offer simplified solutions for controlling worker exposures to constituents that are found in the workplace in the absence of firm toxicological and exposure data. These strategies may be particularly useful in nanotechnology applications, considering the overwhelming level of uncertainty over what nanomaterials and nanotechnologies present as potential work-related health risks, what about these materials might lead to adverse toxicological activity, how risk related to these might be assessed, and how to manage these issues in the absence of this information. This study introduces a pilot CB tool or 'CB Nanotool' that was developed specifically for characterizing the health aspects of working with engineered nanoparticles and determining the level of risk and associated controls for five ongoing nanotechnology-related operations being conducted at two Department of Energy (DOE) research laboratories. Based on the application of the CB Nanotool, four of the five operations evaluated in this study were found to have implemented controls consistent with what was recommended by the CB Nanotool, with one operation even exceeding the required controls for that activity. The one remaining operation was determined to require an upgrade in controls. By developing this dynamic CB Nanotool within the realm of the scientific information …

Industrial processes use mechanical draft cooling towers (MDCT's) to dissipate waste heat by transferring heat from water to air via evaporative cooling, which causes air humidification. The Savannah River Site (SRS) has a MDCT consisting of four independent compartments called cells. Each cell has its own fan to help maximize heat transfer between ambient air and circulated water. The primary objective of the work is to conduct a parametric study for cooling tower performance under different fan speeds and ambient air conditions. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to achieve the objective. The model uses three-dimensional steady-state momentum, continuity equations, air-vapor species balance equation, and two-equation turbulence as the basic governing equations. It was assumed that vapor phase is always transported by the continuous air phase with no slip velocity. In this case, water droplet component was considered as discrete phase for the interfacial heat and mass transfer via Lagrangian approach. Thus, the air-vapor mixture model with discrete water droplet phase is used for the analysis. A series of the modeling calculations was performed to investigate the impact of ambient and operating conditions on the thermal performance of the cooling tower when fans …

Shadows cast by trees and buildings can limit the solar access of rooftop solar-energy systems, including photovoltaic panels and thermal collectors. This study characterizes rooftop shading in a residential neighborhood of San Jose, CA, one of four regions analyzed in a wider study of the solar access of California homes.High-resolution orthophotos and LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) measurements of surface height were used to create a digital elevation model of all trees and buildings in a 4 km2 residential neighborhood. Hourly shading of roofing planes (the flat elements of roofs) was computed geometrically from the digital elevation model. Parcel boundaries were used to determine the extent to which roofing planes were shaded by trees and buildings in neighboring parcels.In the year in which surface heights were measured (2005), shadows from all sources ("total shading") reduced the insolation received by S-, SW-, and W-facing residential roofing planes in the study area by 13 - 16percent. Shadows cast by trees and buildings in neighboring parcels reduced insolation by no more than 2percent. After 30 years of simulated maximal tree growth, annual total shading increased to 19 - 22percent, and annual extraparcel shading increased to 3 - 4percent.

Highly crystalline samples of LiMnPO{sub 4} and its analogs with partial substitution of Mn by divalent Mg, Cu, Zn, and Ni were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and characterized by x-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Chemical oxidation produced two-phase mixtures of the initial phases LiMn{sub (1-y)}M{sub y}PO{sub 4} and the delithiated forms, Li{sub y}Mn{sub (1-y)}M{sub y}PO{sub 4}, all with the olivine structure. The extent of oxidation depended upon the quantity of oxidizing agent used and on the identity of the substituent ions. Mg, Ni and Cu were found to increase the level of delithation relative to that in pure LiMnPO{sub 4}. Mg was also shown to reduce the tendency of the oxidized phase to absorb water.

The effect of surface structural damage on graphitic anodes, commonly observed in tested Li-ion cells, was investigated. Similar surface structural disorder was artificially induced in Mag-10 synthetic graphite anodes using argon-ion sputtering. Raman microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) measurements confirmed that Ar-ion sputtered Mag-10 electrodes display similar degree of surface degradation as the anodes from tested Li-ion cells. Artificially modified Mag-10 anodes showed double the irreversible charge capacity during the first formation cycle, compared to fresh un-altered anodes. Impedance spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy on surface modified graphite anodes indicated the formation of a thicker and slightly more resistive SEI layer. Gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis of solvent extracts from the electrodes detected the presence of new compounds with M{sub w} on the order of 1600 g mol{sup -1} for the surface modified electrode with no evidence of elevated M{sub w} species for the unmodified electrode. The structural disorder induced in the graphite during long-term cycling maybe responsible for the slow and continuous SEI layer reformation, and consequently, the loss of reversible capacity due to the shift of lithium inventory in cycled Li-ion cells.

In areas composed of coastal plain sediments, soft zones subjected to partial overburden may be present in the subsurface. During or after a seismic event, these soft zones may be compressed. The resulting displacement due to the deformation of the soft zones will propagate to the ground surface and cause the surface to settle. This paper presents a method to predict the settlement at the surface due to the propagation of the displacement from the soft zones. This method is performed by discretizing the soft zones into multiple clusters of finite sub-areas or subspaces. Settlement profile at the ground surface due to the displacement of each sub-area or subspace is computed assuming the shape is a normal distribution function. Settlement due to the displacement of the soft zones can then be approximated by adding the settlements computed for all the sub-areas or subspaces. This method provides a simple and useful tool for the prediction of the settlement profile and the results are consistent with those obtained from the finite difference analysis.

There are some indications from recent determinations of the strong coupling constant alpha_s and the gluon condensate that the Operator Product Expansion may not be accurate enough to describe non-perturbative effects in hadronic tau decays. This breakdown of the Operator Product Expansion is usually referred to as being due to"Duality Violations." With the help of a physically motivated model, we investigate these duality violations. Based on this model, we argue how they may introduce a non-negligible systematic error in the current analysis, which employs finite-energy sum rules with pinched weights. In particular, this systematic effect might affect the precision determination of alpha_s from tau decays. With a view to a possible future application to real data, we present an alternative method for determining the OPE coefficients that might help estimating, and possibly even reducing, this systematic error.