Report on the excavations at the Santa Maria creek site in Caldwell County, Texas during 2006 and 2007. The report includes a discussion of research methods, analysis of the findings, and history of the area.

This study is to update data that reflects new development in technology, add new costs, add onshore distribution data from offshore oil and gas activities, and methodology to estimate the different level of granularity.

Report on the purpose of mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) and the economic impacts of rig construction in the United States.

PNNL is conducting work to provide the technical basis for estimating radionuclide release from the engineered portion of the disposal facility for Hanford immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW). Before the ILAW can be disposed, DOE must conduct a performance assessment (PA) for the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) that describes the long-term impacts of the disposal facility on public health and environmental resources. As part of the ILAW glass testing program, PNNL is implementing a strategy, consisting of experimentation and modeling, to provide the technical basis for estimating radionuclide release from the glass waste form in support of future IDF PAs. Key activities in FY12 include upgrading the STOMP/eSTOMP codes to do near-field modeling, geochemical modeling of PCT tests to determine the reaction network to be used in the STOMP codes, conducting PUF tests on selected glasses to simulate and accelerate glass weathering, developing a Monte Carlo simulation tool to predict the characteristics of the weathered glass reaction layer as a function of glass composition, and characterizing glasses and soil samples exhumed from an 8-year lysimeter test. The purpose of this report is to summarize the progress made in fiscal year (FY) 2012 and the first quarter of FY 2013 toward implementing …

This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to address environmental research questions specifically related to Alaska�s oil and gas natural resources development. The focus of this project was on the environmental issues associated with allocation of water resources for construction of ice roads and ice pads. Earlier NETL projects showed that oil and gas exploration activities in the U.S. Arctic require large amounts of water for ice road and ice pad construction. Traditionally, lakes have been the source of freshwater for this purpose. The distinctive hydrological regime of northern lakes, caused by the presence of ice cover and permafrost, exerts influence on lake water availability in winter. Lakes are covered with ice from October to June, and there is often no water recharge of lakes until snowmelt in early June. After snowmelt, water volumes in the lakes decrease throughout the summer, when water loss due to evaporation is considerably greater than water gained from rainfall. This balance switches in August, when air temperature drops, evaporation decreases, and rain (or snow) is more likely to occur. Some of the summer surface storage deficit in the active layer and surface water bodies (lakes, ponds, …

This report summarizes the 2012 annual inspection, sampling, measurement, and maintenance activities performed at the Salmon, Mississippi, Site (Salmon site). The draft Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance Plan for the Salmon Site, Lamar County, Mississippi (DOE 2007) specifies the submittal of an annual report of site activities with the results of sample analyses. A revised plan is in preparation. The Long-Term Surveillance Plan for the Salmon, Mississippi, Site is intended for release in 2013. The Salmon site consists of 1,470 acres. The site is located in Lamar County, Mississippi, approximately 10 miles west of Purvis, Mississippi, and about 21 miles southwest of Hattiesburg, Mississippi The State of Mississippi owns the surface real estate subject to certain restrictions related to subsurface penetration. The State is the surface operator; the Mississippi Forestry Commission is its agent. The federal government owns the subsurface real estate (including minerals and some surface features), shares right-of-entry easements with the State, and retains rights related to subsurface monitoring. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM), a successor agency to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, is responsible for the long-term surveillance of the subsurface real estate

Energy, water and land are scarce resources, critical to humans. Developments in each affect the availability and cost of the others, and consequently human prosperity. Measures to limit greenhouse gas concentrations will inevitably exact dramatic changes on energy and land systems and in turn alter the character, magnitude and geographic distribution of human claims on water resources. We employ the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), an integrated assessment model to explore the interactions of energy, land and water systems in the context of alternative policies to limit climate change to three alternative levels: 2.5 Wm-2 (445 ppm CO2-e), 3.5 Wm-2 (535 ppm CO2-e) and 4.5 Wm-2 (645 ppm CO2-e). We explore the effects of two alternative land-use emissions mitigation policy options—one which taxes terrestrial carbon emissions equally with fossil fuel and industrial emissions, and an alternative which only taxes fossil fuel and industrial emissions but places no penalty on land-use change emissions. We find that increasing populations and economic growth could be anticipated to almost triple demand for water for agricultural systems across the century even in the absence of climate policy. In general policies to mitigate climate change increase agricultural demands for water still further, though the largest changes …

The goal of this technical memorandum is to suppor

This report presents results of data collected during the annual post-closure site inspections conducted at the Central Nevada Test Area surface Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 417 in May 2011 and July 2012. The annual post-closure site inspections included inspections of the UC-1, UC-3, and UC-4 sites in accordance with the Post-Closure Monitoring Plan provided in the CAU 417 Closure Report (NNSA/NV 2001). The annual inspections conducted at the UC-1 Central Mud Pit (CMP) indicated that the site and soil cover were in good condition. No new fractures or extension of existing fractures were observed and no issues with the fence or gate were identified. The vegetation on the cover continues to look healthy, but the biennial vegetation survey conducted during the 2012 inspection indicated that the total foliar cover was slightly higher in 2009 than in 2012. This may be indicative of a decrease in precipitation observed during the 2-year monitoring period. The precipitation totaled 9.9 inches from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011, and 5 inches from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012. This decrease in precipitation is also evident in the soil moisture data obtained from the time domain reflectometry sensors. Soil moisture content data show …

The main purpose of the Coordinated Infrastructure for Fault Tolerance in Systems initiative has been to conduct research with a goal of providing end-to-end fault tolerance on a systemwide basis for applications and other system software. While fault tolerance has been an integral part of most high-performance computing (HPC) system software developed over the past decade, it has been treated mostly as a collection of isolated stovepipes. Visibility and response to faults has typically been limited to the particular hardware and software subsystems in which they are initially observed. Little fault information is shared across subsystems, allowing little flexibility or control on a system-wide basis, making it practically impossible to provide cohesive end-to-end fault tolerance in support of scientific applications. As an example, consider faults such as communication link failures that can be seen by a network library but are not directly visible to the job scheduler, or consider faults related to node failures that can be detected by system monitoring software but are not inherently visible to the resource manager. If information about such faults could be shared by the network libraries or monitoring software, then other system software, such as a resource manager or job scheduler, could ensure …

Gnome-Coach was the site of a 3-kiloton underground nuclear test conducted in 1961. Surface and subsurface contamination resulted from the underground nuclear testing, post-test drilling, and a groundwater tracer test performed at the site. Surface reclamation and remediation began after the underground testing. A Completion Report was prepared, and the State of New Mexico is currently proceeding with a conditional certificate of completion for the surface. Subsurface corrective action activities began in 1972 and have generally consisted of annual sampling and monitoring of wells near the site. In 2008, the annual site inspections were refined to include hydraulic head monitoring and collection of samples from groundwater monitoring wells onsite using the low-flow sampling method. These activities were conducted during this monitoring period on January 18, 2012. Analytical results from this sampling event indicate that concentrations of tritium, strontium-90, and cesium-137 were generally consistent with concentrations from historical sampling events. The exceptions are the decreases in concentrations of strontium-90 in samples from wells USGS-4 and USGS-8, which were more than 2.5 times lower than last year's results. Well USGS-1 provides water for livestock belonging to area ranchers, and a dedicated submersible pump cycles on and off to maintain a constant volume …

We have identified three initial preceramic polymers to help produce the SiC-based alloys for this project and have developed simple processing steps to make SiC-based alloy ceramics. The use of unfilled SMP-10 (Polycarbosilane) or SMP-877 (Methyl-Polycarbosilane) is not feasible due to the large mass losses that occur during pyrolysis. The pre-gelling steps below save time when those two polymers are filled with powders. The use of SL-MS30 provides us with a SiC-filled polymer that can be used to test out the CNT mats without further complications due to other powders.

Preliminary review and analyses of residential energy consumption surveys' (various) comparing levels of energy expenditures across population categories.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management conducted annual sampling at the Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA) on June 26-27, 2012, in accordance with the 2004 Correction Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan for Corrective Action Unit 443: Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA)-Subsurface and the addendum to the "Corrective Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan" completed in 2008. Sampling and analysis were conducted as specified in the Sampling and Analysis Plan for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Sites (LMS/PLN/S04351), continually updated).

In addition to thermal radiation and fission products, nuclear explosions result in a very high flux of unfissioned neutrons. Within an atmospheric nuclear explosion, these neutrons can activate the various elemental components of natural air, potentially adding to the radioactive signature of the event as a whole. The goal of this work is to make an order-of-magnitude estimate of the total amount of air activation products that can result from an atmospheric nuclear explosion.

Research was conducted towards the development of a passive wireless sensor for measurement of temperature in coal gasifiers and coal-fired boiler plants. Approaches investigated included metamaterial sensors based on guided mode resonance filters, and temperature-sensitive antennas that modulate the frequency of incident radio waves as they are re-radiated by the antenna. In the guided mode resonant filter metamaterial approach, temperature is encoded as changes in the sharpness of the filter response, which changes with temperature because the dielectric loss of the guided mode resonance filter is temperature-dependent. In the mechanically modulated antenna approach, the resonant frequency of a vibrating cantilever beam attached to the antenna changes with temperature. The vibration of the beam perturbs the electrical impedance of the antenna, so that incident radio waves are phase modulated at a frequency equal to the resonant frequency of the vibrating beam. Since the beam resonant frequency depends on temperature, a Doppler radar can be used to remotely measure the temperature of the antenna. Laboratory testing of the guided mode resonance filter failed to produce the spectral response predicted by simulations. It was concluded that the spectral response was dominated by spectral reflections of radio waves incident on the filter. Laboratory testing …

The Project Shoal Area (PSA) in Nevada was the site of a 12-kiloton underground nuclear test in 1963. Although the surface of the site has been remediated, investigation of groundwater contamination resulting from the test is still in the corrective action process. Annual sampling and hydraulic head monitoring are conducted at the site as part of the subsurface corrective action strategy. Analytical results from the 2012 monitoring are consistent with those of the previous years, with tritium detected only in well HC-4. The tritium concentration in groundwater from well HC-4 remains far below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-established maximum contaminant level of 20,000 picocuries per liter. Concentrations of total uranium and gross alpha were also detected during this monitoring period, with uranium accounting for nearly all the gross alpha activity. The total uranium concentrations obtained from this monitoring period were consistent with previous results and reflect a slightly elevated natural uranium concentration, consistent with the mineralized geologic terrain. Isotopic ratios of uranium also indicate a natural source of uranium in groundwater, as opposed to a nuclear-test-related source. Water level trends obtained from the 2012 water level data were consistent with those of previous years. The corrective action strategy for the …

The University of Minnesota is pleased to submit the final report for “Determining the Optimal Performance in Adapting Onsite Electrical Generation Platforms to Operate on producer Gas from Fuels of Opportunity, Concept Definition through Technology Development.” The University of Minnesota Morris campus was selected for this study primarily due to the advanced work the Morris campus has done in developing local fuels as a replacement for conventional fossil fuel supplies. Morris collaborated within the U of MN organization to bring the best research capabilities to the project. In addition, a core group of leading private partners was brought into the project based on their knowledge and expertise in portable energy platforms. The following report will illustrate the design and development process of comparing a nonconventional stationary biofueled combined heat and power plant with the state of the art biofueled portable internal combustion generator. The common denominator in this comparison is the focus on fuels of opportunity, which in this case is locally grown corn cobs. Both platforms used local sustainable fuel supplies to conduct the research and measure the outcomes.

This report describes a life-cycle assessment conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of 10 hydrogen production, delivery, dispensing, and use pathways that were evaluated for cost, energy use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This evaluation updates and expands on a previous assessment of seven pathways conducted in 2009. This study summarizes key results, parameters, and sensitivities to those parameters for the 10 hydrogen pathways, reporting on the levelized cost of hydrogen in 2007 U.S. dollars as well as life-cycle well-to-wheels energy use and GHG emissions associated with the pathways.

1. Project Objectives The objectives of the project are to elucidate science issues intrinsic to high energy density electricity storage (battery) systems for smart-grid applications, research improvements in such systems to enable scale-up to grid-scale and demonstrate a large 200 kWh battery to facilitate transfer of the technology to industry. 2. Background Complex and difficult to control interfacial phenomena are intrinsic to high energy density electrical energy storage systems, since they are typically operated far from equilibrium. One example of such phenomena is the formation of dendrites. Such dendrites occur on battery electrodes as they cycle, and can lead to internal short circuits, reducing cycle life. An improved understanding of the formation of dendrites and their control can improve the cycle life and safety of many energy storage systems, including rechargeable lithium and zinc batteries. Another area where improved understanding is desirable is the application of ionic liquids as electrolytes in energy storage systems. An ionic liquid is typically thought of as a material that is fully ionized (consisting only of anions and cations) and is fluid at or near room temperature. Some features of ionic liquids include a generally high thermal stability (up to 450 °C), a high electrochemical …

This fact sheet describes the major programs and initiatives of the DOE Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs.

Energy efficiency improvement as a component of comprehensive renovation was investigated under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding of the Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction (BA-PIRC). Researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) worked with affordable housing partners renovating foreclosed homes built from the 1950's through the 2000's in the hot-humid climate (within the Southern census region), primarily in Florida. Researchers targeted a 30% improvement in whole-house energy efficiency along with the health and safety, durability, and comfort guidelines outlined in DOE's Builders Challenge Program (Version 1) Quality Criteria.

Tritium is a radiologically active isotope of hydrogen. It is formed in nuclear reactors by neutron absorption and ternary fission events and can subsequently escape into the environment. To prevent the tritium contamination of proposed reactor buildings and surrounding sites, this study examines the root causes and potential mitigation strategies for permeation of tritium (such as: materials selection, inert gas sparging, etc...). A model is presented that can be used to predict permeation rates of hydrogen through metallic alloys at temperatures from 450–750 degrees C. Results of the diffusion model are presented for a steady production of tritium

Samples have been prepared from a 9975 lower fiberboard subassembly fabricated from softwood fiberboard. Physical, mechanical and thermal properties have been measured following varying periods of conditioning in each of several environments. These tests have been conducted in the same manner as previous testing on cane fiberboard samples. Overall, similar aging trends are observed for softwood and cane fiberboard samples, with a few differences. Some softwood fiberboard properties tend to degrade faster in elevated humidity environments, while some cane fiberboard properties degrade faster in the hotter dry environments. As a result, it is premature to assume both materials will age at the same rates, and the preliminary aging models developed for cane fiberboard might not apply to softwood fiberboard. However, it is expected that both cane and softwood fiberboard assemblies will perform satisfactorily in conforming packages stored in a typical KAMS environment for up to 15 years. Aging and testing of softwood fiberboard will continue and additional data will be collected. Post-conditioning data have been measured on samples from a single softwood fiberboard assembly, and baseline data are also available from a limited number of vendor-provided samples. This provides minimal information on the possible sample-to-sample variation exhibited by softwood fiberboard. …