Tank 48H return to service is critical to the processing of high level waste (HLW) at Savannah River Site (SRS). Liquid Waste Disposition (LWD) management has the goal of returning Tank 48H to routine service by January 2010 or as soon as practical. Tank 48H currently holds legacy material containing organic tetraphenylborate (TPB) compounds from the operation of the In-Tank Precipitation process. This material is not compatible with the waste treatment facilities at SRS and must be removed or undergo treatment to destroy the organic compounds before the tank can be returned to Tank Farm service. Tank 48H currently contains {approx}240,000 gallons of alkaline slurry with about 2 wt % potassium and cesium tetraphenylborate (KTPB and CsTPB). The main radioactive component in Tank 48H is {sup 137}Cs. The waste also contains {approx}0.15 wt % Monosodium Titanate (MST) which has adsorbed {sup 90}Sr, U, and Pu isotopes. A System Engineering Evaluation of technologies/ideas for the treatment of TPB identified Wet Air Oxidation (WAO) as a leading alternative technology to the baseline aggregation approach. Over 75 technologies/ideas were evaluated overall. Forty-one technologies/ideas passed the initial screening evaluation. The 41 technologies/ideas were then combined to 16 complete solutions for the disposition of TPB …

Spectroscopic investigation of high temperature laser produced plasmas in general, and x-ray opacity experiments in particular, often requires instruments with both a broad coverage of x-ray energies and high spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution. We analyze the design, model the response, and report the commissioning of a spectrometer using elliptical crystals in conjunction with a large format, gated microchannel plate detector. Measurements taken with this instrument at the JANUS laser facilities demonstrate the designed spectral range of 0.24 to 5.8 keV, and spectral resolution E/{Delta}E > 500, resulting in 2 to 3 times more spectral data than achieved by previous spectrometer designs. The observed 100 picosecond temporal resolution and 35 {micro}m spatial resolution are consistent with the requirements of high energy density opacity experiments.

As part of a larger program targeting the market transformation of packaged rooftop air conditioning, five high-efficiency rooftop air conditioning products were selected in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Unitary Air Conditioner (UAC) Technology Procurement (http://www.pnl.gov/uac). In February 2003, Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia was chosen as the demonstration site. With the goal of validating the field performance and operation of one of the awarded products, a 10-ton high-efficiency packaged rooftop unit (RTU) manufactured by Global Energy Group (GEG) was installed at Fort Gordon in October 2003. Following equipment installation, power metering, air- and refrigerant-side instrumentation was installed on the GEG RTU and a 4-year old typical-efficiency 20-ton RTU manufactured by AAON . The GEG and AAON units were instrumented identically and operated May through July, 2005, to observe performance under a range of conditions. Based on the data collected as part of this demonstration, the GEG equipment performed at least 8% better in stage-1 (single compressor running) cooling and at least 16% better in stage-2 (both compressors running) than the baseline AAON equipment. Performance comparisons are based on what we call application EER normalized to equivalent specific fan power. The full-load, specific-fan-power-normalized application EERs …

The authors present measurements of the B {yields} {eta}K{gamma} branching fractions and upper limits for the B {yields} {eta}'K{gamma} branching fractions. For B{sup +} {yields} {eta}K{sup +}{gamma} they also measure the time-integrated charge asymmetry. The data sample, collected with the BABAR detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, represents 232 x 10{sup 6} produced B{bar B} pairs. The results for branching fractions and upper limits at 90% C.L. in units of 10{sup -6} are: {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}K{sup 0}{gamma}) = 11.3{sub -2.6}{sup +2.8} {+-} 0.6, {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {eta}K{sup +}{gamma}) = 10.0 {+-} 1.3 {+-} 0.5, {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}'K{sup 0}{gamma}) < 6.6, {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {eta}'K{sup +}{gamma}) < 4.2. The charge asymmetry in the decay B{sup +} {yields} {eta}K{sup +}{gamma} is {Alpha}{sub ch} = -0.09 {+-} 0.12 {+-} 0.01. The first errors are statistical and the second systematic.

The authors report the results of a search for T, CP and CPT violation in B{sup 0}-{bar B}{sup 0} mixing using an inclusive dilepton sample collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II B Factory. Using a sample of 232 million B{bar B} pairs, with a simultaneous likelihood fit of the same-sign and opposite-sign dileptons, they measure the T and Cp violation parameter |q/p|-1 = (-0.8 {+-} 2.7(stat.) {+-} 1.9(syst.)) x 10{sup -3}, and the CPT and CP parameters Im z = (-13.9 {+-} 7.3(stat.) {+-} 3.2(syst.)) x 10{sup -3} and {Delta}{Lambda} x Re z = (-7.1 {+-} 3.9(stat.) {+-} 2.0(syst.)) x 10{sup -3} ps{sup -1}. The statistical correlation between the measurements of Im z and {Delta}{Lambda} x Re z is 76%.

This report is the fifth quarterly Technical Progress Report submitted by NeuCo, Incorporated, under Award Identification Number, DE-FC26-04NT41768. This award is part of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (''CCPI''), the ten-year, $2B initiative to demonstrate new clean coal technologies in the field. This report is one of the required reports listed in Attachment B Federal Assistance Reporting Checklist, part of the Cooperative Agreement. The report covers the award period January 1, 2006 - March 31, 2006 and NeuCo's efforts within design, development, and deployment of on-line optimization systems during that period.

We have deduced the destruction cross section of {sup 237}U via the (n, {gamma}) and (n,2n) reactions over an equivalent neutron energy range of 0 to 20 MeV using a new form of the Surrogate Ratio method [1-4] . The relative fission and neutron-evaporation decay probabilities of excited {sup 238}U populated via the ({alpha},{alpha}{prime}) inelastic scattering were measured using the silicon telescope array for reaction studies (STARS) coupled to the Livermore Berkeley array for collaborative experiments (LIBERACE). These relative probabilities were then combined with the {sup 237} U(n,f) cross section deduced by Burke et al., [4] to deduce the (n, {gamma}) and (n,2n) cross sections in a model independent fashion. These cross sections are then compared to the compound reaction cross section calculated using an optical model calculation tuned to reproduce scattering data in the transactinide region. Our results presented and the prospects for using this technique to deduce (n,x) cross sections on radioactive nuclei are discussed.

The report details work performed by Gazogen to develop a novel biomass gasifier for producimg electricity from commercially available hardwood chips. The research conducted by Gazogen under this grant was intended to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of a new means of producing electricity from wood chips and other biomass and carbonaceous fuels. The technical feasibility of the technology has been furthered as a result of the DOE grant, and work is expected to continue. The economic feasibility can only be shown when all operational problems have been overocme. The technology could eventually provide a means of producing electricity on a decentralized basis from sustainably cultivated plants or plant by-products.

In order to predict the nature and distribution of natural fracturing, Advanced Resources Inc. (ARI) incorporated concepts of rock mechanics, geologic history, and local geology into a geomechanical approach for natural fracture prediction within mildly deformed, tight (low-permeability) gas reservoirs. Under the auspices of this project, ARI utilized and refined this approach in tight gas reservoir characterization and exploratory activities in three basins: the Piceance, Wind River and the Anadarko. The primary focus of this report is the knowledge gained on natural fractural prediction along with practical applications for enhancing gas recovery and commerciality. Of importance to tight formation gas production are two broad categories of natural fractures: (1) shear related natural fractures and (2) extensional (opening mode) natural fractures. While arising from different origins this natural fracture type differentiation based on morphology is sometimes inter related. Predicting fracture distribution successfully is largely a function of collecting and understanding the available relevant data in conjunction with a methodology appropriate to the fracture origin. Initially ARI envisioned the geomechanical approach to natural fracture prediction as the use of elastic rock mechanics methods to project the nature and distribution of natural fracturing within mildly deformed, tight (low permeability) gas reservoirs. Technical issues …

The AgraPure Mississippi Biomass project was a congressionally directed project, initiated to study the utilization of Mississippi agricultural byproducts and waste products in the production of bio-energy and to determine the feasibility of commercialization of these agricultural byproducts and waste products as feedstocks in the production of energy. The final products from this project were two business plans; one for a Thermal plant, and one for a Biodiesel/Ethanol plant. Agricultural waste fired steam and electrical generating plants and biodiesel plants were deemed the best prospects for developing commercially viable industries. Additionally, oil extraction methods were studied, both traditional and two novel techniques, and incorporated into the development plans. Mississippi produced crop and animal waste biomasses were analyzed for use as raw materials for both industries. The relevant factors, availability, costs, transportation, storage, location, and energetic value criteria were considered. Since feedstock accounts for more than 70 percent of the total cost of producing biodiesel, any local advantages are considered extremely important in developing this particular industry. The same factors must be evaluated in assessing the prospects of commercial operation of a steam and electrical generation plant. Additionally, the access to the markets for electricity is more limited, regulated and tightly …

This document summarizes progress on Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-04NT41992, ''Pilot Testing of Mercury Oxidation Catalysts for Upstream of Wet FGD Systems'', during the time-period January 1 through March 31, 2006. The objective of this project is to demonstrate at pilot scale the use of solid honeycomb catalysts to promote the oxidation of elemental mercury in flue gas from coal combustion, and the use of a wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system downstream to remove the oxidized mercury at high efficiency. The project is being co-funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, EPRI, Great River Energy (GRE), TXU Generation Company LP, the Southern Company, and Duke Energy. URS Group is the prime contractor. The mercury control process under development uses honeycomb catalysts to promote the oxidation of elemental mercury in the flue gas from coal-fired power plants that have wet lime or limestone FGD systems. Oxidized mercury is removed in the wet FGD absorbers and leaves with the byproducts from the FGD system. The current project is testing previously identified catalyst materials at pilot scale and in a commercial form to provide engineering data for future full-scale designs. The pilot-scale tests will continue for approximately 14 months or longer at …

We propose a novel mechanism for exclusive diffractive Higgs production pp {yields} pHp in which the Higgs boson carries a significant fraction of the projectile proton momentum. This mechanism will provide a clear experimental signal for Higgs production due to the small background in this kinematic region. The key assumption underlying our analysis is the presence of intrinsic heavy flavor components of the proton bound state, whose existence at high light-cone momentum fraction x has growing experimental and theoretical support. We also discuss the implications of this picture for exclusive diffractive quarkonium and other channels.

Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, long centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. This report contains a summary of campaign finance, recent developments, the evolution of the current system, campaign finance practices and related issues, perceived loopholes in current law, policy options, legislative actions of the 108th and 109th Congresses, and related materials.

The 109th Congress is examining the role of groups organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that are involved in federal elections but are not operating under the requirements and restrictions of federal election law. Although such groups only recently emerged into public awareness, in 2004, they were widely seen as major players in the presidential election, with more than $400 million spent seeking to influence the outcome. Strictly speaking, the term “527” refers to a section of the Internal Revenue Code, which was added in 1975 to provide tax-exempt status to federal, state, and local political organizations, as defined in that statute. The controversy over these 527 groups arises from two factors: the different definitions used in federal election law and tax law as to what constitutes election-related activity and, further, the lack of certainty as to what election law itself regulates or may permissibly regulate. This report discusses these groups in detail, as well as related legislation.

This report discusses President's budget request to Congress for Medicare, for the following federal fiscal year, along with projections for the five-year budget window. The President’s 2007 budget includes Medicare legislative proposals for Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) spending with estimated savings of $2.5 billion in 2007 and $35.9 billion over the five-year budget window.

This report discusses the Japan - U.S. relations. The alliance, with its access to bases in Japan, where about 53,000 U.S. troops are stationed, facilitates the forward deployment of U.S. military forces in the Asia-Pacific, thereby undergirding U.S. national security strategy.

As the cover of our ''2005 Annual Report'' highlights, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory joined the international science community in celebrating the World Year of Physics in 2005, with special events and science outreach and education programs. Einstein's remarkable discoveries in 1905 provided an opportunity to reflect on how physics has changed the world during the last century and on the promise of future beneficial discoveries. For half of the past century, Lawrence Livermore, which was established to meet an urgent national security need, has been contributing to the advancement of science and technology in a very special way. Co-founder Ernest O. Lawrence was the leading proponent in his generation of large-scale, multidisciplinary science and technology teams. That's Livermore's distinctive heritage and our continuing approach as a national laboratory managed and operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA). We focus on important problems that affect our nation's security and seek breakthrough advances in science and technology to achieve mission goals. An event in 2005 exemplifies our focus on science and technology advances in support of mission goals. In October, distinguished visitors came to Livermore to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Accelerated …

The objective of this project was to develop an environmentally benign, inexpensive, and efficient method for separating hydrogen from gas mixtures produced during industrial processes, such as coal gasification. A family of hydrogen separation membranes was developed including single phase mixed conducting ceramics, ceramic/ceramic composites, cermet membranes, cermet membranes containing a hydrogen permeable metal, and intermediate temperature composite layered membranes. Each membrane type had different operating parameters, advantages, and disadvantages that were documented over the course of the project. Research on these membranes progressed from ceramics to cermets to intermediate temperature composite layered membranes. During this progression performance was increased from 0.01 mL x min{sup -1} x cm{sup -2} up to 423 mL x min{sup -1} x cm{sup -2}. Eltron and team membranes not only developed each membrane type, but also membrane surface catalysis and impurity tolerance, creation of thin film membranes, alternative applications such as membrane promoted alkane dehydrogenation, demonstration of scale-up testing, and complete engineering documentation including process and mechanical considerations necessary for inclusion of Eltron membranes in a full scale integrated gasification combined cycle power plant. The results of this project directly led to a new $15 million program funded by the Department of Energy. This new …

The purpose of the Three Affiliated Tribes proposing to Department of Energy was nothing new to Denmark. National Meteorological Studies have proved that North Dakota has some of the most consistence wind resources in the world. The Three Affiliated Tribes wanted to assess their potential and become knowledgeable to developing this new and upcoming resource now valuable. By the Tribe implementing the Utility-scale Wind Turbine Project on Fort Berthold, the tribe has proven the ability to complete a project, and has already proceeded in a feasibility studies to developing a large-scale wind farm on the reservation due to tribal knowledge learned, public awareness, and growing support of a Nation wanting clean renewable energy. The tribe is working through the various measures and regulations with the want to be self-sufficient, independent, and marketable with 17,000 times the wind energy needed to service Fort Berthold alone.

The effects of El Nino and La Nina periods on the maximum daily winter period depths of precipitation are examined using records from five precipitation gages on the Nevada Test Site. The potential implications of these effects are discussed.

The integrity of coatings used in hot section components of combustion turbines is crucial to the reliability of the buckets. This project was initiated in recognition of the need for predicting the life of coatings analytically, and non-destructively; correspondingly, four principal tasks were established. Task 1, with the objective of analytically developing stress, strain and temperature distributions in the bucket and thereby predicting thermal fatigue (TMF) damage for various operating conditions; Task 2 with the objective of developing eddy current techniques to measure both TMF damage and general degradation of coatings and, Task 3 with the objective of developing mechanism based algorithms. Task 4 is aimed at verifying analytical predictions from Task 1 and the NDE predictions from Task 3 against field observations.

New thermoelectric materials using Quantum Well (QW) technology are expected to increase the energy conversion efficiency to more than 25% from the present 5%, which will allow for the low cost conversion of waste heat into electricity. Hi-Z Technology, Inc. has been developing QW technology over the past six years. It will use Caterpillar, Inc., a leader in the manufacture of large scale industrial equipment, for verification and life testing of the QW films and modules. Other members of the team are Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who will sputter large area QW films. The Scope of Work is to develop QW materials from their present proof-of-principle technology status to a pre-production level over a proposed three year period. This work will entail fabricating the QW films through a sputtering process of 50 {micro}m thick multi layered films and depositing them on 12 inch diameter, 5 {micro}m thick Si substrates. The goal in this project is to produce the technology for fabricating a basic 10-20 watt module that can be used to build up any size generator such as: a 5-10 kW Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), a multi kW Waste Heat Recovery Generator (WHRG) for a class 8 truck or as …

The overall objective of this project is to metabolically engineer the E. coli sugar-utilization regulatory systems (SURS) to utilize sugar mixtures obtained from plant biomass. Of particular relevance is the implementation of a metabolic engineering cycle aided by functional genomics and systems biology tools. Our findings will help in the establishment of a platform for the efficient production of fuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic sugars. Our research has improved the understanding of the role of SURS in regulating sugar utilization and several other cellular functions. For example, we discovered that Mlc, a global regulatory protein, regulates the utilization of xylose and demonstrated the existence of an important link between catabolite repression and respiratory/fermentative metabolism. The study of SURS mutants also revealed a connection between flagellar biosynthesis and catabolite repression. Several tools were also developed as part of this project. A novel tool (Elementary Network Decomposition, END) to help elucidate the network topology of regulatory systems was developed and its utility as a discovery tool was demonstrated by applying it to the SURS in E. coli. A novel method (and software) to estimate metabolic fluxes that uses labeling experiments and eliminates reliance on extracellular fluxes was also developed. Although not initially …

Since the implementation of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) in May of 1978, many opportunities have been lost for the reforestation of surface mines in the eastern United States. Research has shown that excessive compaction of spoil material in the backfilling and grading process is the biggest impediment to the establishment of productive forests as a post-mining land use (Ashby, 1998, Burger et al., 1994, Graves et al., 2000). Stability of mine sites was a prominent concern among regulators and mine operators in the years immediately following the implementation of SMCRA. These concerns resulted in the highly compacted, flatly graded, and consequently unproductive spoils of the early post-SMCRA era. However, there is nothing in the regulations that requires mine sites to be overly compacted as long as stability is achieved. It has been cultural barriers and not regulatory barriers that have contributed to the failure of reforestation efforts under the federal law over the past 27 years. Efforts to change the perception that the federal law and regulations impede effective reforestation techniques and interfere with bond release must be implemented. Demonstration of techniques that lead to the successful reforestation of surface mines is one …