This revision of PNNL-13895 is an updated version of the original document. The changes in this document include the addition of Kd data for iodide and uranium that became available during fiscal year 2003. Supplementary data are also included regarding the sediment and solution characteristic used in the studies. The original document compiles in a single source the Kd values measured with Hanford sediment for radionuclides and toxic compounds that have the greatest potential for driving risk to human health and safety in the vadose zone and groundwater at the Hanford Site.

This document presents the vision for Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for the next five years, and a roadmap for implementing that vision. Brookhaven is a multidisciplinary science-based laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), supported primarily by programs sponsored by the DOE's Office of Science. As the third-largest funding agency for science in the U.S., one of the DOE's goals is ''to advance basic research and the instruments of science that are the foundations for DOE's applied missions, a base for U.S. technology innovation, and a source of remarkable insights into our physical and biological world, and the nature of matter and energy'' (DOE Office of Science Strategic Plan, 2000 http://www.osti.gov/portfolio/science.htm). BNL shapes its vision according to this plan.

An immediate EM science need is a reliable kinetic model that predicts long-term waste glass performance. A framework for which the kinetics of mineral-solution reactions can be used to interpret complex silicate glass properties is required to accurately describe the current and future behavior of glasses as synthetic monoliths or natural analogs. Reaction rates and mechanisms are essential elements in deciphering mineral/material reactivity trends within a compositional series or across a matrix of complex solution compositions. An essential place to start, and the goal of this research, is to quantify the reactivity of crystalline and amorphous SiO2 phases in the complex fluids of natural systems.

Last year's paper by Bell and Gray [1] examined past trends in high performance computing and asserted likely future directions based on market forces. While many of the insights drawn from this perspective have merit and suggest elements governing likely future directions for HPC, there are a number of points put forth that we feel require further discussion and, in certain cases, suggest alternative, more likely views. One area of concern relates to the nature and use of key terms to describe and distinguish among classes of high end computing systems, in particular the authors use of ''cluster'' to relate to essentially all parallel computers derived through the integration of replicated components. The taxonomy implicit in their previous paper, while arguable and supported by some elements of our community, fails to provide the essential semantic discrimination critical to the effectiveness of descriptive terms as tools in managing the conceptual space of consideration. In this paper, we present a perspective that retains the descriptive richness while providing a unifying framework. A second area of discourse that calls for additional commentary is the likely future path of system evolution that will lead to effective and affordable Petaflops-scale computing including the future role …

Over 16,700 hours of operational experience was gained for the Oxygen Transport Membrane (OTM) elements of the proposed SOFC/OTM zero-emission power generation concept. It was repeatedly demonstrated that OTMs with no additional oxidation catalysts were able to completely oxidize the remaining depleted fuel in a simulated SOFC anode exhaust at an O{sub 2} flux that met initial targets. In such cases, neither residual CO nor H{sub 2} were detected to the limits of the gas chromatograph (<10 ppm). Dried OTM afterburner exhaust streams contained up to 99.5% CO{sub 2}. Oxygen flux through modified OTMs was double or even triple that of the standard OTMs used for the majority of testing purposes. Both the standard and modified membranes in laboratory-scale and demonstration-sized formats exhibited stable performance over extended periods (2300 to 3500 hours or 3 to 5 months). Reactor contaminants, were determined to negatively impact OTM performance stability. A method of preventing OTM performance degradation was developed and proven to be effective. Information concerning OTM and seal reliability over extended periods and through various chemical and thermal shocks and cycles was also obtained. These findings were used to develop several conceptual designs for pilot (10 kWe) and commercial-scale (250 kWe) SOFC/OTM …

Studies of thermally emitted electron Bernstein waves (EBWs) on CDX-U and NSTX, via mode conversion (MC) to electromagnetic radiation, support the use of EBWs to measure the Te profile and provide local electron heating and current drive (CD) in overdense spherical torus plasmas. An X-mode antenna with radially adjustable limiters successfully controlled EBW MC on CDX-U and enhanced MC efficiency to {approx} 100%. So far the X-mode MC efficiency on NSTX has been increased by a similar technique to 40-50% and future experiments are focused on achieving * 80% MC. MC efficiencies on both machines agree well with theoretical predictions. Ray tracing and Fokker-Planck modeling for NSTX equilibria are being conducted to support the design of a 3 MW, 15 GHz EBW heating and CD system for NSTX to assist non-inductive plasma startup, current ramp up, and to provide local electron heating and CD in high beta NSTX plasmas.

Measurement of the effects of helium (from tritium decay) on the weldability of Types 304 and ITER Grade 316LN stainless steel demonstrated the inherent complexities in designing and conducting an experimental program using tritium-charged-and-aged materials to simulate the effects of irradiation-induced helium on weld behavior. Differences in microstructure, surface condition and alloy chemistry are known to play key roles in tritium absorption and distribution and thus have direct effects on the subsequent 3He production and distribution. The helium embrittlement cracking produced in 0.5 in. (12.7 mm) thick 304 and 316LN plates that were tritium-charged in the same container and subsequently welded with gas metal arc, low heat input weld overlays and gas tungsten arc stringer beads, varied markedly. For example, the porosity in the weld beads was much higher in the 304 plate than in the 316LN plate. Additionally, crack measurements from weld cross-sections revealed more extensive intergranular cracking in the heat-affected zones of welds on the 304 plate when compared to the 316LN plate. However, the differences between the two types of stainless steel may not be a result of differences in the resistance to helium embrittlement cracking, but may be due to initial tritium concentration differences developed in …

Mainly due to the method of chirped pulse amplification, laser intensities have grown remarkably during recent years. However, the attaining of very much higher powers is limited by the material properties of gratings. These limitations might be overcome through the use of plasma, which is an ideal medium for processing very high power and very high total energy. A plasma can be irradiated by a long pump laser pulse, carrying significant energy, which is then quickly depleted in the plasma by a short counterpropagating pulse. This counterpropagating wave effect has already been employed in Raman amplifiers using gases or plasmas at low laser power. Of particular interest here are the new effects which enter in high power regimes. These new effects can be employed so that one high-energy optical system can be used like a flashlamp in what amounts to pumping the plasma, and a second low-power optical system can be used to extract quickly the energy from the plasma and focus it precisely. The combined system can be very compact. Thus, focused intensities more than 10{sup 25} W/cm{sup 2} can be contemplated using existing optical elements. These intensities are several orders of magnitude higher than what is currently available …

The fission source convergence of a very loosely coupled array of 36 fuel subassemblies with slightly non-symmetric reflection is studied. The fission source converges very slowly from a uniform guess to the fundamental mode in which about 40% of the fissions occur in one corner subassembly. Eigenvalue and fission source estimates are analyzed using a set of statistical tests similar to those used in MCNP, including the ''drift-in-mean'' test and a new drift-in-mean test using a linear fit to the cumulative estimate drift, the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality, the relative error test, and the ''1/N'' test. The normality test does not detect a drifting eigenvalue or fission source. Applied to eigenvalue estimates, the other tests generally fail to detect an unconverged solution, but they are sometimes effective when evaluating fission source distributions. None of the test provides completely reliable indication of convergence, although they can detect nonconvergence.

In order to improve the hot corrosion resistance of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), an Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} overlay has been deposited on the surface of YSZ by electron-beam physical vapor deposition. Currently, hot corrosion tests were performed on the YSZ coatings with and without Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} overlay in molten salt mixture (Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4} + 0 {approx} 15wt%V{sub 2}O{sub 5}) at 950 C in order to investigate the effect of amount of vanadate on the hot corrosion behaviors. The results showed that the presence of in V{sub 2}O{sub 5} the molten salt exacerbates the degradation of both the monolithic YSZ coating and the composite YSZ/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} system. The formation of low-melting Na{sub 2}O-V{sub 2}O{sub 5}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} liquid phase is responsible for degradation of the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} overlay. The Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} overlay acts as a barrier against the infiltration of the molten salt into the YSZ coating during exposure to the molten salt mixture with <5wt% vanadate. In the next reporting period, we will use XPS and SIMS to study the interactions between alumina overlay and molten salt containing vanadate.

Summer temperatures in the Lower Snake River can be altered by releasing cold waters that originate from deep depths within Dworshak Reservoir. These cold releases are used to lower temperatures in the Clearwater and Lower Snake Rivers, and improve hydrodynamic and water quality conditions for migrating aquatic species. This project monitored the complex three-dimensional hydrodynamic and thermal conditions at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers and the processes that led to stratification of Lower Granite Reservoir (LGR) during the late spring, summer, and fall of 2002. Hydrodynamic, water quality, and meteorological conditions around the reservoir were monitored at frequent intervals, and this effort is currently continuing in 2003. Monitoring of the reservoir is a multi-year endeavor, and this report spans only the first year of data collection. In addition to monitoring the LGR environment, a three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model has also been applied. This model uses collected field data as boundary conditions and has been applied to the entire 2002 field season. Numerous data collection sites were within the model domain and serve as both calibration and validation locations for the numerical model. Errors between observed and simulated data vary in magnitude from location to location …

This report documents results from a study carried out by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for the Office of Public Transportation, Tennessee Department of Transportation. The study team was tasked with developing a process and a supporting methodology for estimating the benefits accruing to the State from the operation of state supported public transit services. The team was also tasked with developing forecasts of the future demands for these State supported transit services at five year intervals through the year 2020, broken down where possible to the local transit system level. Separate ridership benefits and forecasts were also requested for the State's urban and rural transit operations. Tennessee's public transit systems are subsidized to a degree by taxpayers. It is therefore in the public interest that assessments of the benefits of such systems be carried out at intervals, to determine how they are contributing to the well-being of the state's population. For some population groups within the State of Tennessee these transit services have become essential as a means of gaining access to workplaces and job training centers, to educational and health care facilities, as well as to shops, social functions and recreational sites.