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.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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 …

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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 …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to a congressional mandate to assess the reasons why the Department of Defense (DOD) is not fully in compliance with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) related to DOD travel expenditures, GAO issued two reports in 2007. In May 2007, we issued an initial report that provided an overview of DOD's IPIA reporting for fiscal years 2003 through 2006 and a discussion of the reasons reported by the DOD Office of Inspector General why the department was not in compliance with IPIA for fiscal year 2006. In December 2007, we issued our final report on our assessment of the completeness and accuracy of DOD's fiscal year 2006 IPIA disclosures related to travel expenditures, as well as DOD's planned efforts to improve and refine its processes for estimating and reporting on travel improper payments. The purpose of this letter is to bring to Congress's attention and action a matter that we discovered while preparing our final report. This letter is based on work performed during our assessment of the completeness and accuracy of DOD's fiscal year 2006 IPIA disclosures related to travel expenditures and DOD's …

This report analyzes the Department of the Treasury's legal authority over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and concludes that a court would likely hold that the department possesses the power to regulate the amount of debt issued by these two organizations.

This report focuses on transmission lines, which operate at voltages of 115 kV and higher. Currently, the highest voltage lines comprising the North American power grid are at 765 kV. The grid is the network of transmission lines that interconnect most large power plants on the North American continent. One transmission line at this high voltage was built near Chicago as part of the interconnection for three large nuclear power plants southwest of the city. Lines at this voltage also serve markets in New York and New England, also very high demand regions. The large power transfers along the West Coast are generally at 230 or 500 kV. Just as there are practical limits to centralization of power production, there are practical limits to increasing line voltage. As voltage increases, the height of the supporting towers, the size of the insulators, the distance between conductors on a tower, and even the width of the right-of-way (ROW) required increase. These design features safely isolate the electric power, which has an increasing tendency to arc to ground as the voltage (or electrical potential) increases. In addition, very high voltages (345 kV and above) are subject to corona losses. These losses are a …

We used a cloud-resolving model (a detailed computer model of cloud systems) to evaluate and improve the representation of clouds in global atmospheric models used for numerical weather prediction and climate modeling. We also used observations of the atmospheric state, including clouds, made at DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Climate Research Facility located in the Southern Great Plains (Kansas and Oklahoma) during Intensive Observation Periods to evaluate our detailed computer model as well as a single-column version of a global atmospheric model used for numerical weather prediction (the Global Forecast System of the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction). This so-called Single-Column Modeling approach has proved to be a very effective method for testing the representation of clouds in global atmospheric models. The method relies on detailed observations of the atmospheric state, including clouds, in an atmospheric column comparable in size to a grid column used in a global atmospheric model. The required observations are made by a combination of in situ and remote sensing instruments. One of the greatest problems facing mankind at the present is climate change. Part of the problem is our limited ability to predict the regional patterns of climate change. In order to increase …

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

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.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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.

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This report focuses on the international trade in terrestrial fauna, largely excluding trade in illegal plants, including timber, and fish.

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.

E-mail from Ken Whalen to the Publisher of TDNA, cc'd to Darla Thompson, with the subject Public Notice Website FAX. The e-mail is in regards to the TDNA faxing a form to their office asking for information for the new public notice website they have developed with the Texas Press Association.

A triplex nuclear fuel cladding is developed to further improve the passive safety of commercial nuclear plants, to increase the burnup and durablity of nuclear fuel, to improve the power density and economics of nuclear power, and to reduce the amount of spent fuel requiring disposal or recycle.

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Student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

Paper describes general trends in the cost of CO2 transport and storage (including measurement, monitoring, and verification) and how these can be used to justify a proxy cost to cover a large number of potential CCS commercial deployment scenarios.