The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office performed an annual review of the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Wate Management Site (RWMS) Performance Assessments (PAs) and Composite Analyses (CAs) in fiscal year (FY) 2009. This annual summary report presents data and conclusions from the FY 2009 review, and determines the adequacy of the PAs and CAs. Operational factors (e.g., waste forms and containers, facility design, and waste receipts), closure plans, monitoring results, and research and development (R&D) activities were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the PAs. Likewise, the environmental restoration activities at the Nevada Test Site relevant to the sources of residual radioactive material that are considered in the CAs, the land-use planning, and the results of the environmental monitoring and R&D activities were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the CAs.

Diabetes mellitus results from an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin producing pancreatic beta-cells. The adult human beta-cell's turnover rate remains unknown. We employed novel techniques to examine adult human islet beta-cell turnover and longevity in vivo. Subjects enrolled in NIH clinical trials received thymidine analogues [iododeoxyuridine (IdU) or bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)] 8-days to 4-years prior to death. Archival autopsy samples from ten patients (aged 17-74 years) were employed to assess beta-cell turnover by scoring nuclear analog labeling within insulin staining cells. Human adult beta-cell longevity was determined by estimating the cells genomic DNA integration of atmospheric carbon-14 ({sup 14}C). DNA was purified from pancreatic islets isolated from cadaveric donors; whole islet prep DNA was obtained from a 15 year old donor, and purified beta-cell DNA was obtained from two donors (age 48 and 80 years). {sup 14}C levels were then determined using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Cellular 'birth date' was determined by comparing the subject's DNA {sup 14}C content relative to a well-established {sup 14}C atmospheric prevalence curve. In the two subjects less than age 20 years, 1-2% of the beta-cell nuclei co-stained for BrdU/IdU. No beta-cell nuclei co-stained in the eight patients more than 30 years old. Consistent with …

As part of the federal government’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the U.S. DOE Office of Science allocated funds for the capital upgrade of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility to improve and expand observational capabilities related to cloud and aerosol properties. The ARM Facility was established as a national user facility for the global scientific community to conduct a wide range of interdisciplinary science. Part of the ARRA-funded expansion of the ARM Facility includes four new Aerosol Observing Systems (AOS) to be designed, instrumented, and mentored by BNL. The enclosures will be customized SeaTainers. These new platforms ([AMF2]: ARM Mobile Facility-2; [TWP-D]: Tropical Western Pacific at Darwin; and [MAOS-A]/[MAOS-C]: Mobile Aerosol Observing System-Aerosol/-Chemistry) will provide a laboratory environment for fielding instruments to collect data on aerosol life cycle, microphysics, and optical/physical properties. The extensive instrument suite includes both established methods and initial deployments of new techniques to add breadth and depth to the AOS data sets. The platforms are designed: (1) to have all instruments pre-installed before deployment, allowing a higher measurement duty cycle; (2) with a standardized configuration improving the robustness of data inter-comparability; (3) to provide remote access capability for instrument mentors; and …

A cursory examination of historical ARSCL data indicates a common cloud feature in the tropics are thin detrainment shelves (Attendant Shelf Clouds, or ASCs) near the melting level (see figure for example). We use the ARSCL product to identify ASCs by defining them as cloud layers with bases above 4 km, a corresponding top below 6 km, and a thickness of less than 1 km. In order to prevent biases in determination of the diurnal cycle of cloud occurrence, we require that both the MMCR and MPL are operating well. In this study we use a total of 55 months of data collected over 14 years of deployments at the Manus, Nauru, and Darwin ARM sites in the Tropical Western Pacific to define the frequency of occurrence (~ 14% of the time) and diurnal cycle of these clouds, along with the atmospheric thermodynamic profile. We further investigate the horizontal extent, cloud radiative forcing, and cloud particle phase through a series of “golden cases” where there is a general absence of additional cloud types in the column and nearby deep convection. These cases indicate that the clouds can cover horizontal areas on the order of a GCM gridbox, have significant (but …

The Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS) provided a unique opportunity to study aerosol and cloud processing. Clouds play an active role in the processing and cycling of atmospheric constituents. Gases and particles can partition to cloud droplets by absorption and condensation as well as activation and impact scavenging. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) G-1 aircraft was used as one of the main platforms in CHAPS. Flight tracks were designed and implemented to characterize freshly emitted aerosols at cloud top and cloud base as well as within the cloud, i.e., cumulus humilis (or fair-weather cumulus), in the vicinity of Oklahoma City. Measurements of interstitial aerosols and residuals of activated condensation cloud nuclei were conducted simultaneously. The interstitial aerosols were measured downstream of an isokinetic inlet, and the activated particles downstream of a counter-flow virtual impactor (CVI). The sampling line to the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) was switched between the isokinetic inlet and the CVI to allow characterization of non-activated interstitial particles outside of clouds in contrast to particles activated in clouds. Trace gases including ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and a series of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were also measured, as were key meteorological state parameters including liquid …

Article on coherent excitation of a two-level atom driven by a far off-resonant classical field.

Numerical weather prediction models (ECMWF, NCEP) are evaluated using ARM observational data collected at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Cloud forecasts generated by the models are compared with cloud microphysical quantities, retrieved using a variety of parameterizations. Information gained from this comparison will be utilized during the FASTER project, as models are evaluated for their ability to reproduce fast physical processes detected in the observations. Here the model performance is quantified against the observations through a statistical analysis. Observations from remote sensing instruments (radar, lidar, radiometer and radiosonde) are used to derive the cloud microphysical quantities: ice water content, liquid water content, ice effective radius and liquid effective radius. Unfortunately, discrepancies in the derived quantities arise when different retrieval schemes are applied to the observations. The uncertainty inherent in retrieving the microphysical quantities using various retrievals is estimated from the range of output microphysical values. ARM microphysical retrieval schemes (Microbase, Mace) are examined along with the CloudNet retrieval processing of data from the ARM sites for this purpose. Through the interfacing of CloudNet and “ARM” processing schemes an ARMNET product is produced and employed as accepted observations in the assessment of cloud model predictions.

This Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report (CADD/CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 383, Area 12 E-Tunnel Sites, which is the joint responsibility of DTRA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO). This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the DOE, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 383 is comprised of three Corrective Action Sites (CASs) and two adjacent areas: • CAS 12-06-06, Muckpile • CAS 12-25-02, Oil Spill • CAS 12-28-02, Radioactive Material • Drainage below the Muckpile • Ponds 1, 2, and 3 The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation to support the recommendation for closure with no further corrective action, by placing use restrictions at the three CASs and two adjacent areas of CAU 383.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 476, Area 12 T-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 476 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-02, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 476.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 477, N-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 477 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-03, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure with no further action, by placing use restrictions on CAU 477.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 478, Area 12 T-Tunnel Ponds. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 478 is comprised of one corrective action site (CAS): • 12-23-01, Ponds (5) RAD Area The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 478.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 504, 16a-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada; U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management; U.S. Department of Defense; and DOE, Legacy Management. Corrective Action Unit 504 is comprised of four Corrective Action Sites (CASs): • 16-06-01, Muckpile • 16-23-01, Contaminated Burial Pit • 16-23-02, Contaminated Area • 16-99-01, Concrete Construction Waste Corrective Action Site 16-23-01 is not a burial pit; it is part of CAS 16-06-01. Therefore, there is not a separate data analysis and assessment for CAS 16-23-01; it is included as part of the assessment for CAS 16-06-01. In addition to these CASs, the channel between CAS 16-23-02 (Contaminated Area) and Mid Valley Road was investigated with walk-over radiological surveys and soil sampling using hand tools. The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 504. A CADD was originally submitted for CAU 504 and approved by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection …

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 559, T-Tunnel Compressor/Blower Pad. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 559 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-25-13, Oil Stained Soil and Concrete The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 559.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2003, the Future Combat System (FCS) program has been the centerpiece of the Army's efforts to transition to a lighter, more agile, and more capable combat force. In 2009, however, concerns over the program's performance led to the Secretary of Defense's decision to significantly restructure and ultimately cancel the program. As a result, the Army has outlined a new approach to ground force modernization. This report (1) outlines the Army's preliminary post-FCS plans and (2) identifies the challenges and opportunities the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Army must address as they proceed with Army ground force modernization efforts. To meet these objectives, GAO reviewed key documents, performed analyses, visited test facilities where the Army evaluated FCS equipment, and interviewed DOD and Army officials."

Decade-long continuous surface-based measurements at Great Southern Plains (SGP) collected by the US Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility are first used to evaluate the three major reanalyses (i.e., ERA-Interim, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis I and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis II) to identify model biases in simulating surface shortwave cloud forcing and total cloud fraction. The results show large systematic lower biases in the modeled surface shortwave cloud forcing and cloud fraction from all the three reanalysis datasets. Then we focus on diagnosing the causes of these model biases using the Active Remote Sensing of Clouds (ARSCL) products (e.g., vertical distribution of cloud fraction, cloud-base and cloud-top heights, and cloud optical depth) and meteorological measurements (temperature, humidity and stability). Efforts are made to couple cloud properties with boundary processes in the diagnosis.

The contribution of aerosol absorption on direct radiative forcing is still an active area of research, in part, because aerosol extinction is dominated by light scattering and, in part, because the primary absorbing aerosol of interest, soot, exhibits complex aging behavior that alters its optical properties. The consequences of this can be evidenced by the work of Ramanathan and Carmichael (2008) who suggest that incorporating the atmospheric heating due to brown clouds (plumes containing soot byproducts from automobiles, biomass burning, wood-burning kitchen stoves, and coal-fired power plants) will increase black carbon (BC) radiative forcing from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change best estimate of 0.34 Wm-2 (±0.25 Wm-2) (IPCC 2007) to 0.9 Wm-2. This noteworthy degree of uncertainty is due largely to the interdependence of BC optical properties on particle mixing state and aggregate morphology, each of which changes as the particle ages in the atmosphere and becomes encapsulated within a coating of inorganic and/or organic substances. In July 2008, a laboratory-based measurement campaign, led by Boston College and Aerodyne, was initiated to begin addressing this interdependence. To achieve insights into the interdependence of BC optical properties on particle mixing state and aggregate morphology, measurements of both the optical and …

Passive soil vapor extraction (PSVE) is an enhanced attenuation (EA) approach that removes volatile contaminants from soil. The extraction is driven by natural pressure gradients between the subsurface and atmosphere (Barometric Pumping), or by renewable sources of energy such as wind or solar power (Assisted PSVE). The technology is applicable for remediating sites with low levels of contamination and for transitioning sites from active source technologies such as active soil vapor extraction (ASVE) to natural attenuation. PSVE systems are simple to design and operate and are more cost effective than active systems in many scenarios. Thus, PSVE is often appropriate as an interim-remedial or polishing strategy. Over the past decade, PSVE has been demonstrated in the U.S. and in Europe. These demonstrations provide practical information to assist in selecting, designing and implementing the technology. These demonstrations indicate that the technology can be effective in achieving remedial objectives in a timely fashion. The keys to success include: (1) Application at sites where the residual source quantities, and associated fluxes to groundwater, are relatively low; (2) Selection of the appropriate passive energy source - barometric pumping in cases with a deep vadose zone and barrier (e.g., clay) layers that separate the subsurface …

The aim of the FAst-physics System TEstbed and Research (FASTER) project is to evaluate and improve the parameterizations of fast physics (involving clouds, precipitation, aerosol) in numerical models using ARM measurements. One objective within FASTER is to evaluate model representations of fast physics with long-term continuous cloud observations by use of an 'NWP testbed'. This approach was successful in the European Cloudnet project. NWP model data (NCEP, ECMWF, etc.) is routinely output at ARM sites, and model evaluation can potentially be achieved in quasi-real time. In this poster, we will outline our progress in the development of the NWP testbed and discuss the successful integration of ARM algorithms, such as ARSCL, with algorithms and lessons learned from Cloudnet. Preliminary results will be presented of the evaluation of the ECMWF, NCEP, and UK Met Office models over the SGP site using this approach.

Light scattering by aerosols plays an important role in Earth’s radiative balance, and quantification of this phenomenon is important in understanding and accounting for anthropogenic influences on Earth’s climate. Light scattering by an aerosol particle is determined by its radius and index of refraction, and for aerosol particles that are hygroscopic, both of these quantities vary with relative humidity RH. Here exact expressions are derived for the dependences of the radius ratio (relative to the volume-equivalent dry radius) and index of refraction on RH for aqueous solutions of single solutes. Both of these quantities depend on the apparent molal volume of the solute in solution and on the practical osmotic coefficient of the solution, which in turn depend on concentration and thus implicitly on RH. Simple but accurate approximations are also presented for the RH dependences of both radius ratio and index of refraction for several atmospherically important inorganic solutes over the entire range of RH values for which these substances can exist as solution drops. For all substances considered, the radius ratio is accurate to within a few percent, and the index of refraction to within ~0.02, over this range of RH. Such parameterizations will be useful in radiation …

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

Design, analysis, and low-power tests are described on a 1.3 GHz ferroelectric tuner that could find application in the International Linear Collider or in Project X at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The tuner configuration utilizes a three-deck sandwich imbedded in a WR-650 waveguide, in which ferroelectric bars are clamped between conducting plates that allow the tuning bias voltage to be applied. Use of a reduced one-third structure allowed tests of critical parameters of the configuration, including phase shift, loss, and switching speed. Issues that were revealed that require improvement include reducing loss tangent in the ferroelectric material, development of a reliable means of brazing ferroelectric elements to copper parts of the tuner, and simplification of the mechanical design of the configuration.

This poster describes the Fast Physics Testbed for the new FAst-physics System Testbed and Research (FASTER) project. The overall objective is to provide a convenient and comprehensive platform for fast turn-around model evaluation against ARM observations and to facilitate development of parameterizations for cloud-related fast processes represented in global climate models. The testbed features three major components: a single column model (SCM) testbed, an NWP-Testbed, and high-resolution modeling (HRM). The web-based SCM-Testbed features multiple SCMs from major climate modeling centers and aims to maximize the potential of SCM approach to enhance and accelerate the evaluation and improvement of fast physics parameterizations through continuous evaluation of existing and evolving models against historical as well as new/improved ARM and other complementary measurements. The NWP-Testbed aims to capitalize on the large pool of operational numerical weather prediction products. Continuous evaluations of NWP forecasts against observations at ARM sites are carried out to systematically identify the biases and skills of physical parameterizations under all weather conditions. The highresolution modeling (HRM) activities aim to simulate the fast processes at high resolution to aid in the understanding of the fast processes and their parameterizations. A four-tier HRM framework is established to augment the SCM- and NWP-Testbeds …

In order to better use the long-term ARM measurements to evaluate parameterizations of fast processes used in global climate models --- mainly those related to clouds, precipitation and aerosols, the DOE Earth System Modeling (ESM) program funds a new multi-institution project led by the Brookhaven National Laboratory, FAst -physics System Testbed and Research (FASTER). This poster will present an overview of this new project and its scientific relationships to the ASR sciences and ARM measurements.

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.