This report provides the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's (PPPL) operations. The results of the 2004 environmental surveillance and monitoring program for PPPL's are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and programs that were undertaken in 2004.

This report describes the installation, testing and acceptance of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant procured laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (LA-ICP-AES) system for remotely analyzing high-level waste samples in a hot cell environment. The 2005-003; ATS MP 1027, Management Plan for Waste Treatment Plant Project Work Performed by Analytical Technical Services. The APD group at the 222-S laboratory demonstrated acceptable turnaround time (TAT) and provide sufficient data to assess sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of the LA-ICP-AES method.

Silicon carbide (SiC) materials are prime candidates for high temperature heat exchangers for next generation nuclear reactors due to their refractory nature and high thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures. This research has focused on demonstrating the potential of liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) for making SiC to achieve this goal. The major advantage of this method over other ceramic processing techniques is the enhanced capability of making high dense, high purity SiC materials in complex net shapes. For successful formation of net shape SiC using LSI techniques, the carbon preform reactivity and pore structure must be controlled to allow the complete infiltration of the porous carbon structure which allows complete conversion of the carbon to SiC. We have established a procedure for achieving desirable carbon properties by using carbon precursors consisting of two readily available high purity organic materials, crystalline cellulose and phenolic resin. Phenolic resin yields a glassy carbon with low chemical reactivity and porosity while the cellulose carbon is highly reactive and porous. By adjusting the ratio of these two materials in the precursor mixtures, the properties of the carbons produced can be controlled. We have identified the most favorable carbon precursor composition to be a cellulose resin mass …

We study the Collins mechanism for the single transverse spin asymmetry in the collinear factorization approach. The correspondent twist-three fragmentation function is identified. We show that the Collins function calculated in this approach is universal.We further examine its contribution to the single transverse spin asymmetry of semi-inclusive hadron production in deep inelastic scattering and demonstrate that the transverse momentum dependent and twist-three collinear approaches are consistent in the intermediate transverse momentum region where both apply.

Various theories and numerical simulations support the conjecture that the ubiquitous problem of anomalous electron transport in tokamaks may arise from a short-scale turbulence driven by the electron temperature gradient. To check whether this turbulence is present in plasmas of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), measurements of turbulent fluctuations were performed with coherent scattering of electromagnetic waves. Results from plasmas heated by high harmonic fast waves (HHFW) show the existence of density fluctuations in the range of wave numbers k⊥ρe=0.1-0.4, corresponding to a turbulence scale length of the order of the collisionless skin depth. Experimental observations and agreement with numerical results from the linear gyro-kinetic GS2 code indicate that the observed turbulence is driven by the electron temperature gradient. These turbulent fluctuations were not observed at the location of an internal transport barrier driven by a negative magnetic shear.

In 2006, we proposed to NASA a detailed concept study of ADEPT (the Advanced Dark Energy Physics Telescope), a potential space mission to reliably measure the time-evolution of dark energy by conducting the largest effective volume survey of the universe ever done. A peer-review panel of scientific, management, and technical experts reported back the highest possible 'excellent' rating for ADEPT. We have since made substantial advances in the scientific and technical maturity of the mission design. With this Department of Energy (DOE) award we were granted supplemental funding to support specific extended research items that were not included in the NASA proposal, many of which were intended to broadly advance future dark energy research, as laid out by the Dark Energy Task Force (DETF). The proposed work had three targets: (1) the adaptation of large-format infrared arrays to a 2 micron cut-off; (2) analytical research to improve the understanding of the dark energy figure-of- merit; and (3) extended studies of baryon acoustic oscillation systematic uncertainties. Since the actual award was only for {approx}10% of the proposed amount item (1) was dropped and item (2) work was severely restricted, consistent with the referee reviews of the proposal, although there was considerable …

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