BRAC 2005 Intelligence Joint Cross-Service Group Meeting Minutes of October 20, 2004. The document is redacted and includes the IJCSG Principals Meeting brief (PowerPoint slides).

Fish that pass through a hydroelectric turbine may not be killed directly, but may nonetheless experience sublethal stresses that will increase their susceptibility to predators (indirect mortality). There is a need to develop reliable tests for indirect mortality so that the full consequences of passage through turbines (and other routes around a hydroelectric dam) can be assessed. The most commonly used laboratory technique for assessing susceptibility to predation is the predator preference test. In this report, we evaluate the field application of a new technique that may be valuable for assessing indirect mortality, based on changes in a behavioral response to a startling stimulus (akin to perceiving an approaching predator). The behavioral response is a rapid movement commonly referred to as a startle response, escape response, or C-shape, based on the characteristic body position assumed by the fish. When viewed from above, a startled fish bends into a C-shape, then springs back and swims away in a direction different from its original orientation. This predator avoidance (escape) behavior can be compromised by sublethal stresses that temporarily stun or disorient the fish. Initial studies demonstrated that turbulence created in a small laboratory tank can alter escape behavior. As a next step, …

We conducted reversed deliquescence experiments in saturated NaCl-NaNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}O, KNO{sub 3}-NaNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}O, and NaCl-KNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}O systems from 90 to 120 C as a function of relative humidity and solution composition. NaCl, NaNO{sub 3}, and KNO{sub 3} represent members of dust salt assemblages that are likely to deliquesce and form concentrated brines on high-level radioactive waste package surfaces in a repository environment at Yucca Mountain, NV, USA. Discrepancy between model prediction and experimental code can be as high as 8% for relative humidity and 50% for dissolved ion concentration. The discrepancy is attributed primarily to the use of 25 C models for Cl-NO{sub 3} and K-NO{sub 3} ion interactions in the current Yucca Mountain Project high-temperature Pitzer model to describe the non-ideal behavior of these highly concentrated solutions.

The evolution of an Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) chamberinvolves a repetition of short, intense depositions of energy (fromtarget ignition) into a reaction chamber, followed by the turbulentrelaxation of that energy through shock waves and thermal conduction tothe vessel walls. We present an algorithm for 2D simulations of the fluidinside an IFE chamber between fueling repetitions. Our finite-volumediscretization for the Navier-Stokes equations incorporates a Cartesiangrid treatment for irregularly-shaped domain boundaries. The discreteconservative update is based on a time-explicit Godunov method foradvection, and a two-stage Runge-Kutta update for diffusion accommodatingstate-dependent transport properties. Conservation is enforced on cutcells along the embedded boundary interface using a local redistributionscheme so that the explicit time step for the combined approach isgoverned by the mesh spacing in the uniform grid. The test problemsdemonstrate second-order convergence of the algorithm on smooth solutionprofiles, and the robust treatment of discontinuous initial data in anIFE-relevant vessel geometry.

Photograph of the Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas.

Photograph of the Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas.

Photograph of the Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas.

Photograph of the Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas.

Photograph of the Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas.

Photograph of the Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas.

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It is well-known that the diversity of life appears to fluctuate during the course the Phanerozoic, the eon during which hard shells and skeletons left abundant fossils (0-542 Ma). Using Sepkoski's compendium of the first and last stratigraphic appearances of 36380 marine genera, we report a strong 62 {+-} 3 Myr cycle, which is particularly strong in the shorter-lived genera. The five great extinctions enumerated by Raup and Sepkoski may be an aspect of this cycle. Because of the high statistical significance, we also consider contributing environmental factors and possible causes.

Synchrotron-based techniques are fundamental to research in ''Molecular Environmental Science'' (MES), an emerging field that involves molecular-level studies of chemical and biological processes affecting the speciation, properties, and behavior of contaminants, pollutants, and nutrients in the ecosphere. These techniques enable the study of aqueous solute complexes, poorly crystalline materials, solid-liquid interfaces, mineral-aqueous solution interactions, microbial biofilm-heavy metal interactions, heavy metal-plant interactions, complex material microstructures, and nanomaterials, all of which are important components or processes in the environment. Basic understanding of environmental materials and processes at the molecular scale is essential for risk assessment and management, and reduction of environmental pollutants at field, landscape, and global scales. One of the main purposes of this report is to illustrate the role of synchrotron radiation (SR)-based studies in environmental science and related fields and their impact on environmental problems of importance to society. A major driving force for MES research is the need to characterize, treat, and/or dispose of vast quantities of contaminated materials, including groundwater, sediments, and soils, and to process wastes, at an estimated cost exceeding 150 billion dollars through 2070. A major component of this problem derives from high-level nuclear waste. Other significant components come from mining and industrial wastes, …

The relationship between toxicity and soil contamination must be understood to develop reliable indicators of environmental restoration for bioremediation. Two bacterial rapid bioassays: SOS chromotest and umu-test with and without metabolic activation (S-9 mixture) were used to evaluate genotoxicity of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil following bioremediation treatment. The soil was taken from an engineered biopile at the Czor Polish oil refinery. The bioremediation process in the biopile lasted 4 years, and the toxicity measurements were done after this treatment. Carcinogens detected in the soil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were reduced to low concentrations (2 mg/kg dry wt) by the bioremediation process. Genotoxicity was not observed for soils tested with and without metabolic activation by a liver homogenate (S-9 mixture). However, umu-test was more sensitive than SOS-chromotest in the analysis of petroleum hydrocarbon-bioremediated soil. Analytical results of soil used in the bioassays confirmed that the bioremediation process reduced 81 percent of the petroleum hydrocarbons including PAHs. We conclude that the combined test systems employed in this study are useful tools for the genotoxic examination of remediated petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil.

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Herein we report the aqueous polymerization of acrylamide using reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to perform a comprehensive study on the polymerization of acrylamide. More specifically, the effect of polymerization conditions on the polymerization kinetics, molecular weight control, and blocking ability were examined. With this in mind, it was necessary to prepare ''A'' block (corona of the micelle) from a hydrophilic monomer. The responsive ''B'' block present in the core will be disclosed in the next two reports.

The purpose of this report is to document the development of a model for calculating the release rate for radionuclides and other key elements from high-level radioactive waste (HLW) glasses under exposure conditions relevant to the performance of the repository. Several glass compositions are planned for the repository, some of which have yet to be identified (i.e., glasses from Hanford and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory). The mechanism for glass dissolution is the same for these glasses and the glasses yet to be developed for the disposal of DOE wastes. All of these glasses will be of a quality consistent with the glasses used to develop this report.

We have achieved a total-area initial efficiency of 11.47% (active-area efficiency of 12.33%) on a-Si:H/μc-Si:H double-junction structure, where the intrinsic layer bottom cell was made in 50 minutes. On another device in which the bottom cell was made in 30 min, we achieved initial total-area efficiency of 10.58% (active-efficiency of 11.35%). We have shown that the phenomenon of ambient degradation of both μc-Si:H single-junction and a-Si:H/μc-Si:H double-junction cells can be attributed to impurity diffusion after deposition. Optimization of the plasma parameters led to alleviation of the ambient degradation. Appropriate current matching between the top and bottom component cells has resulted in a stable total-area efficiency of 9.7% (active-area efficiency of 10.42%) on an a-Si:H/μc-Si:H double-junction solar cell in which the deposition time for the μc-Si:H intrinsic layer deposition was of 30 min.

Chromium is used as an alloy addition in stainless steels and nickel-chromium alloys to form protective chromium oxide scales. Chromium oxide undergoes reactive evaporation in high temperature exposures in the presence of oxygen and/or water vapor. The deposition of gaseous chromium species onto solid oxide fuel cell electrodes can reduce the efficiency of the fuel cell. Manganese additions to the alloy can reduce the activity of chromium in the oxide, either from solid solution replacement of chromium with manganese (at low levels of manganese) or from the formation of manganese-chromium spinels (at high levels of manganese). This reduction in chromium activity leads to a predicted reduction in chromium evaporation by as much as a factor of 35 at 800 C and 55 at 700 C. The results of evaporation loss measurements on nickel-chromium-manganese alloys are compared with the predicted reduction. Quantifying the effects of manganese additions on chromium evaporation should aid alloy development of metallic interconnects and balance-of-plant alloys.

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In 1997, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter, including for the first time particles with aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers ({micro}m) referred to as PM2.5. PM2.5 in the atmosphere also contributes to reduced atmospheric visibility, which is the subject of existing rules for siting emission sources near Class 1 areas and new Regional Haze rules. There are few existing data regarding emissions and characteristics of fine aerosols from oil, gas and power generation industry combustion sources, and the information that is available is generally outdated and incomplete. Traditional stationary source air emission sampling methods tend to underestimate or overestimate the contribution of the source to ambient aerosols because they do not properly account for primary aerosol formation, which occurs after the gases leave the stack. Primary aerosol includes both filterable particles that are solid or liquid aerosols at stack temperature plus those that form as the stack gases cool through mixing and dilution processes in the plume downwind of the source. These deficiencies in the current methods can have significant impacts on regulatory decision-making. PM2.5 measurement issues were extensively reviewed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) (England …

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