We report first observation of the electroweak production of single top quarks in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV based on 2.3 fb{sup ?1} of data collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Using events containing an isolated electron or muon and missing transverse energy, together with jets originating from the fragmentation of b quarks, we measure a cross section of {sigma}(p{bar p} {yields} tb + X, tqb + X) = 3.94 {+-} 0.88 pb. The probability to measure a cross section at this value or higher in the absence of signal is 2.5 x 10{sup ?7}, corresponding to a 5.0 standard deviation significance for the observation.

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) conducted remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and groundwater at the Vining Oil site in Carrington, North Dakota. The primary technological synergies included (1) contaminant recovery using simultaneous operation of multiphase recovery and high-vacuum soil vapor extraction (SVE) and (2) vacuum-controlled air and ozone sparging on the periphery of an induced hydraulic and pneumatic depression. Final risk reduction steps included design and retrofit for the municipal well. The successful remediation effort resulted in the reduction of long-term health risks associated with rate-limited contaminant release within the capture zone for the municipal well and allowed for its reintegration into the water supply system. Contaminant recovery for the remediation period of September 2006 to June 2008 totaled over 12,653 lb (5,740 kg) of hydrocarbons, an equivalent to 2022 gallons (7653 l) of product. Integration of the air-sparging subsystem operated simultaneously with multiphase extraction and SVE systems resulted in accelerated volatile organic contaminant transport from the saturated zone and increased contaminants of concern recovery. Delivery of over 7.7 million ft{sup 3} of oxygen (219.8 thousand m{sup 3}) into the contaminated aquifer would translate into in situ biodegradation of 2007 kg (4424 lb) of benzene and provide for long …

A simplified ESBWR MELCOR model was developed to track the transport of iodine released from damaged reactor fuel in a hypothesized core damage accident. To account for the effects of iodine pool chemistry, radiolysis of air and cable insulation, and surface coatings (i.e., paint) the iodine pool model in MELCOR was activated. Modifications were made to MELCOR to add sodium pentaborate as a buffer in the iodine pool chemistry model. An issue of specific interest was whether iodine vapor removed from the drywell vapor space by the PCCS heat exchangers would be sequestered in water pools or if it would be rereleased as vapor back into the drywell. As iodine vapor is not included in the deposition models for diffusiophoresis or thermophoresis in current version of MELCOR, a parametric study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a range of iodine removal coefficients in the PCCS heat exchangers. The study found that higher removal coefficients resulted in a lower mass of iodine vapor in the drywell vapor space.

This paper reports a measurement of the cross section for the pair production of top quarks in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron. The data was collected from the CDF II detector in a set of runs with a total integrated luminosity of 1.1 fb{sup -1}. The cross section is measured in the dilepton channel, the subset of t{bar t} events in which both top quarks decay through t {yields} Wb {yields} {ell}{nu}b, where {ell} = e, {mu}, or {tau}. The lepton pair is reconstructed as one identified electron or muon and one isolated track. The use of an isolated track to identify the second lepton increases the t{bar t} acceptance, particularly for the case in which one W decays as W {yields} {tau}{nu}. The purity of the sample may be further improved at the cost of a reduction in the number of signal events, by requiring an identified b-jet. They present the results of measurements performed with and without the request of an identified b-jet. the former is the first published CDF result for which a b-jet requirement is added to the dilepton selection. In the CDF data there are 129 pretag lepton …

The research by Colorado State University advances the understanding of device stability, efficiency, and process yield for CdTe PV devices.

Determining the habitat range for various microbes is not a simple, straightforward matter, as habitats interlace, microbes move between habitats, and microbial communities change over time. In this study, we explore an approach using the history of lateral gene transfer recorded in microbial genomes to begin to answer two key questions: where have you been and who have you been with? All currently sequenced microbial genomes were surveyed to identify pairs of taxa that share a transposase that is likely to have been acquired through lateral gene transfer. A microbial interaction network including almost 800 organisms was then derived from these connections. Although the majority of the connections are between closely related organisms with the same or overlapping habitat assignments, numerous examples were found of cross-habitat and cross-phylum connections. We present a large-scale study of the distributions of transposases across phylogeny and habitat, and find a significant correlation between habitat and transposase connections. We observed cases where phylogenetic boundaries are traversed, especially when organisms share habitats; this suggests that the potential exists for genetic material to move laterally between diverse groups via bridging connections. The results presented here also suggest that the complex dynamics of microbial ecology may be traceable …

The U.S. Department of Energy is developing next generation processing methods to recycle uranium and transuranic (TRU) isotopes from spent nuclear fuel. The objective of the 3-year project described in this report was to develop near-term options for storing TRU oxides isolated through the uranium extraction (UREX+) process. More specifically, a Zircaloy matrix cermet was developed as a storage form for transuranics with the understanding that the cermet also has the ability to serve as a inert matrix fuel form for TRU burning after intermediate storage. The goals of this research projects were: 1) to develop the processing steps required to transform the effluent TRU nitrate solutions and the spent Xircaloy cladding into a zireonium matrix cermet sotrage form; and 2) to evaluate the impact of phenomena that govern durability of the storage form, material processing, and TRU utiliztion in fast reactor fuel. This report represents a compilation of the results generated under this program. The information is presented as a brief technical narrative in the following sections with appended papers, presentations and academic theses to provide a detailed review of the project's accomplishments.

The standard model (SM) of particle physics is a theory, describing three out of four fundamental forces. In this model the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix describes the transformation between the mass and weak eigenstates of quarks. The matrix properties can be visualized as triangles in the complex plane. A precise measurement of all triangle parameters can be used to verify the validity of the SM. The least precisely measured parameter of the triangle is related to the CKM element |V{sub td}|, accessible through the mixing frequency (oscillation) of neutral B mesons, where mixing is the transition of a neutral meson into its anti-particle and vice versa. It is possible to calculate the CKM element |V{sub td}| and a related element |V{sub ts}| by measuring the mass differences {Delta}m{sub d} ({Delta}m{sub s}) between neutral B{sub d} and {bar B}{sub d} (B{sub s} and {bar B}{sub s}) meson mass eigenstates. This measurement is accomplished by tagging the initial and final state of decaying B mesons and determining their lifetime. Currently the Fermilab Tevatron Collider (providing p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV) is the only place, where B{sub s} oscillations can be studied. The first selection of the 'golden', fully hadronic decay …

The real-world structures are subjected to operational and environmental condition changes that impose difficulties in detecting and identifying structural damage. The aim of this report is to detect damage with the presence of such operational and environmental condition changes through the application of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s statistical pattern recognition paradigm for structural health monitoring (SHM). The test structure is a laboratory three-story building, and the damage is simulated through nonlinear effects introduced by a bumper mechanism that simulates a repetitive impact-type nonlinearity. The report reviews and illustrates various statistical principles that have had wide application in many engineering fields. The intent is to provide the reader with an introduction to feature extraction and statistical modelling for feature classification in the context of SHM. In this process, the strengths and limitations of some actual statistical techniques used to detect damage in the structures are discussed. In the hierarchical structure of damage detection, this report is only concerned with the first step of the damage detection strategy, which is the evaluation of the existence of damage in the structure. The data from this study and a detailed description of the test structure are available for download at: http://institute.lanl.gov/ei/software-and-data/.

This thesis presents the measurement of energy dependence of the neutrino-nucleon inclusive charged current cross section on an isoscalar target in the range 3-50 GeV for neutrinos and 5-50 GeV energy range for antineutrinos. The data set was collected with the MINOS Near Detector using the wide band NuMI beam at Fermilab. The size of the charged current sample is 1.94 x 10{sup 6} neutrino events and 1.60 x 10{sup 5} antineutrino events. The flux has been extracted using a low hadronic energy sub-sample of the charged current events. The energy dependence of the cross section is obtained by dividing the charged current sample with the extracted flux. The neutrino and antineutrino cross section exhibits a linear dependence on energy at high energy but shows deviations from linear behavior at low energy. We also present a measurement of the ratio of antineutrino to neutrino inclusive cross section.

We present a theoretical estimate for a new observable: the cross-correlation between the Lyman-{alpha}-flux fluctuations in quasar (QSO) spectra and the convergence of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as measured along the same line-of-sight. As a first step toward the assessment of its detectability, we estimate the signal-to-noise ratio using linear theory. Although the signal-to-noise is small for a single line-of-sight and peaks at somewhat smaller redshifts than those probed by the Lyman-{alpha} forest, we estimate a total signal-to-noise of 9 for cross-correlating QSO spectra of SDSSIII with Planck and 20 for cross-correlating with a future polarization based CMB experiment. The detection of this effect would be a direct measure of the neutral hydrogen-matter cross-correlation and could provide important information on the growth of structures at large scales in a redshift range which is still poorly probed by observations.

Adsorbed water films strongly influence residual water saturations and hydraulic conductivities in porous media at low saturations. Hydraulic properties of adsorbed water films in unsaturated porous media were investigated through combining Langmuir's film model with scaling analysis, without use of any adjustable parameters. Diffuse double layer influences are predicted to be important through the strong dependence of adsorbed water film thickness (f) on matric potential ({Psi}) and ion charge (z). Film thickness, film velocity, and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity are predicted to vary with z{sup -1}, z{sup -2}, and z{sup -3}, respectively. In monodisperse granular media, the characteristic grain size ({lambda}) controls film hydraulics through {lambda}{sup -1} scaling of (1) the perimeter length per unit cross sectional area over which films occur, (2) the critical matric potential ({Psi}{sub c}) below which films control flow, and (3) the magnitude of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity when {Psi} < {Psi}{sub c}. While it is recognized that finer textured sediments have higher unsaturated hydraulic conductivities than coarser sands at intermediate {Psi}, the {lambda}{sup -1} scaling of hydraulic conductivity predicted here extends this understanding to very low saturations where all pores are drained. Extremely low unsaturated hydraulic conductivities are predicted under adsorbed film-controlled conditions (generally < …

This paper proposes an approach to the creation of design tools that address the real information needs of designers in the early stages of design of nonresidential buildings. Traditional simplified design tools are typically too limited to be of much use, even in conceptual design. The proposal is to provide access to the power of detailed simulation tools, at a stage in design when little is known about the final building, but at a stage also when the freedom to explore options is greatest. The proposed approach to tool design has been derived from consultation with design analysis teams as part of the COMFEN tool development. The paper explores how tools like COMFEN have been shaped by this consultation and how requests from these teams for real-world relevance might shape such tools in the future, drawing into the simulation process the lessons from Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of buildings.

This report documents progress made during FY 2008 in studies of converting the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) from highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. Conversion from HEU to LEU will require a change in fuel form from uranium oxide to a uranium-molybdenum alloy. With axial and radial grading of the fuel foil and an increase in reactor power to 100 MW, calculations indicate that the HFIR can be operated with LEU fuel with no degradation in reactor performance from the current level. Results of selected benchmark studies imply that calculations of LEU performance are accurate. Scoping experiments with various manufacturing methods for forming the LEU alloy profile are presented.

The U-tube geochemical sampling methodology, an extension of the porous cup technique proposed by Wood [1973], provides minimally contaminated aliquots of multiphase fluids from deep reservoirs and allows for accurate determination of dissolved gas composition. The initial deployment of the U-tube during the Frio Brine Pilot CO{sub 2} storage experiment, Liberty County, Texas, obtained representative samples of brine and supercritical CO{sub 2} from a depth of 1.5 km. A quadrupole mass spectrometer provided real-time analysis of dissolved gas composition. Since the initial demonstration, the U-tube has been deployed for (1) sampling of fluids down gradient of the proposed Yucca Mountain High-Level Waste Repository, Armagosa Valley, Nevada (2) acquiring fluid samples beneath permafrost in Nunuvut Territory, Canada, and (3) at a CO{sub 2} storage demonstration project within a depleted gas reservoir, Otway Basin, Victoria, Australia. The addition of in-line high-pressure pH and EC sensors allows for continuous monitoring of fluid during sample collection. Difficulties have arisen during U-tube sampling, such as blockage of sample lines from naturally occurring waxes or from freezing conditions; however, workarounds such as solvent flushing or heating have been used to address these problems. The U-tube methodology has proven to be robust, and with careful consideration of …

We present cross section measurements for Z/{gamma}* + jets + X production, differential in the transverse momenta of the three leading jets. The data sample was collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron p{bar p} collider at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb{sup -1}. Leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions are compared with the measurements, and agreement is found within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. We also make comparisons with the predictions of four event generators. Two parton-shower-based generators show significant shape and normalization differences with respect to the data. In contrast, two generators combining tree-level matrix elements with a parton shower give a reasonable description of the shapes observed in data, but the predicted normalizations show significant differences with respect to the data, reflecting large scale uncertainties. For specific choices of scales, the normalizations for either generator can be made to agree with the measurements.

The power transfer potential for bringing renewable energy into the Southeast in response to a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) will depend not only on available transmission capacity but also on electricity supply and demand factors. This interim report examines how the commonly used EIA NEMS and EPRI NESSIE energy equilibrium models are considering such power transfers. Using regional estimates of capacity expansion and demand, a base case for 2008, 2020 and 2030 are compared relative to generation mix, renewable deployments, planned power transfers, and meeting RPS goals. The needed amounts of regional renewable energy to comply with possible RPS levels are compared to inter-regional transmission capacities to establish a baseline available for import into the Southeast and other regions. Gaps in the renewable generation available to meet RPS requirements are calculated. The initial finding is that the physical capability for transferring renewable energy into the SE is only about 10% of what would be required to meet a 20% RPS. Issues that need to be addressed in future tasks with respect to modeling are the current limitations for expanding renewable capacity and generation in one region to meet the demand in another and the details on transmission corridors required to …

The predictions of two source-to-dose models are systematically evaluated with observed data collected in a village polluted by a currently operating secondary lead smelter. Both models were built up from several sub-models linked together and run using Monte-Carlo simulation, to calculate the distribution children's blood lead levels attributable to the emissions from the facility. The first model system is composed of the CalTOX model linked to a recoded version of the IEUBK model. This system provides the distribution of the media-specific lead concentrations (air, soil, fruit, vegetables and blood) in the whole area investigated. The second model consists of a statistical model to estimate the lead deposition on the ground, a modified version of the model HHRAP and the same recoded version of the IEUBK model. This system provides an estimate of the concentration of exposure of specific individuals living in the study area. The predictions of the first model system were improved in terms of accuracy and precision by performing a sensitivity analysis and using field data to correct the default value provided for the leaf wet density. However, in this case study, the first model system tends to overestimate the exposure due to exposed vegetables. The second model …

The Department of Energy is working with industry to develop a next generation, high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor (HTGR) as a part of the effort to supply the US with abundant, clean and secure energy. The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project, led by the Idaho National Laboratory, will demonstrate the ability of the HTGR to generate hydrogen, electricity, and high-quality process heat for a wide range of industrial applications. Substituting HTGR power for traditional fossil fuel resources reduces the cost and supply vulnerability of natural gas and oil, and reduces or eliminates greenhouse gas emissions. As authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, industry leaders are developing designs for the construction of a commercial prototype producing up to 600 MWt of power by 2021. This paper describes a variety of critical applications that are appropriate for the HTGR with an emphasis placed on applications requiring a clean and reliable source of hydrogen. An overview of the NGNP project status and its significant technology development efforts are also presented.

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a multipurpose national laboratory delivering specialized science and engineering solutions for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Sponsorship of INL was formally transferred to the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (NE) by Secretary Spencer Abraham in July 2002. The move to NE, and designation as the DOE lead nuclear energy laboratory for reactor technology, supports the nation’s expanding nuclear energy initiatives, placing INL at the center of work to develop advanced Generation IV nuclear energy systems; nuclear energy/hydrogen coproduction technology; advanced nuclear energy fuel cycle technologies; and providing national security answers to national infrastructure needs. As a result of the Laboratory’s NE mission, INL generates both contact-handled and remote-handled transuranic (TRU) waste from ongoing operations. Generation rates are relatively small and fluctuate based on specific programs and project activities being conducted; however, the Laboratory will continue to generate TRU waste well into the future in association with the NE mission. Currently, plans and capabilities are being established to transfer INL’s contact-handled TRU waste to the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant (AMWTP) for certification and disposal to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Remote-handled TRU waste is currently placed in storage at …

Contaminant releases in or near a building can lead to significant human exposures unless prompt response is taken. U.S. Federal and local agencies are implementing programs to place air-monitoring samplers in buildings to quickly detect biological agents. We describe a probabilistic algorithm for siting samplers in order to detect accidental or intentional releases of biological material. The algorithm maximizes the probability of detecting a release from among a suite of realistic scenarios. The scenarios may differ in any unknown, for example the release size or location, weather, mode of building operation, etc. The algorithm also can optimize sampler placement in the face of modeling uncertainties, for example the airflow leakage characteristics of the building, and the detection capabilities of the samplers. In an illustrative example, we apply the algorithm to a hypothetical 24-room commercial building, finding optimal networks for a variety of assumed sampler types and performance characteristics. We also discuss extensions of this work for detecting ambient pollutants in buildings, and for understanding building-wide airflow, pollutant dispersion, and exposures.

The High Flux Isotope Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was upgraded to install a cold source in horizontal beam tube number 4. Calculations were performed and measurements were made to determine heating within the cold source and dose rates within and outside a shield tunnel surrounding the beam tube. This report briefly describes the calculations and presents comparisons of the measured and calculated results. Some calculated dose rates are in fair to good agreement with the measured results while others, particularly those at the shield interfaces, differ greatly from the measured results. Calculated neutron exposure to the Teflon seals in the hydrogen transfer line is about one fourth of the measured value, underpredicting the lifetime by a factor of four. The calculated cold source heating is in good agreement with the measured heating.

This was a 1 day workshop that brought together a group of people working on beam-beam simulations, in particular those comprising the simulation part of LARP Beam-Beam Task. There were 8 participants from BNL, and 3 from FNAL. The goals of the mini-workshop were: (1) To identify the beam-beam effects in LHC and RHIC that could be mitigated using electron lenses, and to define machine and beam parameters one should be looking at in simulations; (2) To assess the group capabilities and establish means of collaboration; and (3) To establish near and long term simulation program, set priorities and a schedule.

The growing investment by governments and electric utilities in energy efficiency programs highlights the need for simple tools to help assess and explain the size of the potential resource. One technique that is commonly used in this effort is to characterize electricity savings in terms of avoided power plants, because it is easier for people to visualize a power plant than it is to understand an abstraction such as billions of kilowatt-hours. Unfortunately, there is no standardization around the characteristics of such power plants. In this letter we define parameters for a standard avoided power plant that have physical meaning and intuitive plausibility, for use in back-of-the-envelope calculations. For the prototypical plant this article settles on a 500 MW existing coal plant operating at a 70percent capacity factor with 7percent T&D losses. Displacing such a plant for one year would save 3 billion kW h per year at the meter and reduce emissions by 3 million metric tons of CO2 per year. The proposed name for this metric is the Rosenfeld, in keeping with the tradition among scientists of naming units in honor of the person most responsible for the discovery and widespread adoption of the underlying scientific principle in …