The three-dimensional particle-in-cell (3-D PIC) simulation code WARP is used to study positron confinement in antihydrogen traps. The magnetic geometry is close to that of a UC Berkeley experiment conducted, with electrons, as part of the ALPHA collaboration (W. Bertsche et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 796, 301 (2005)). In order to trap antihydrogen atoms, multipole magnetic fields are added to a conventional Malmberg-Penning trap. These multipole fields must be strong enough to confine the antihydrogen, leading to multipole field strengths at the trap wall comparable to those of the axial magnetic field. Numerical simulations reported here confirm recent experimental measurements of reduced particle confinement when a quadrupole field is added to a Malmberg-Penning trap. It is shown that, for parameters relevant to various antihydrogen experiments, the use of an octupole field significantly reducesthe positron losses seen with a quadrupole field. A unique method for obtaining a 3-D equilibrium of the positrons in the trap with a collisionless PIC code was developed especially for the study of the antihydrogen trap; however, it is of practical use for other traps as well.

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) presents serious problems in Europe, Asia, as well as in the United States. Explosives and mines from World War I and World War II still turn up at European and Asian construction sites, backyard gardens, beaches, wildlife preserves and former military training grounds. The high rate of failure among munitions from 60-90 years ago is cited as one of the main reasons for such a high level of contamination. Apart from war activities, military training has resulted in many uncovered ordnance. It is especially true in the United States, where most UXO has resulted from decades of military training, exercises, and testing of weapons systems. Such UXO contamination prevents civilian land use, threatens public safety, and causes significant environmental concern. In light of this problem, there has been considerable interest shown by federal, state, and local authorities in UXO remediation at former U.S. Department of Defense sites. The ultimate goal of UXO remediation is to permit safe public use of contaminated lands. A Defense Science Board Task Force Report from 1998 lists some 1,500 sites, comprising approximately 15 million acres, that potentially contain UXO. The UXO-related activity for these sites consists of identifying the subareas that actually …

Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) of Ukraine has a plan to construct an accelerator driven subcritical assembly. The main functions of the subcritical assembly are the medical isotope production, neutron thereby, and the support of the Ukraine nuclear industry. Reactor physics experiments and material research will be carried out using the capabilities of this facility. The United States of America and Ukraine have started collaboration activity for developing a conceptual design for this facility with low enrichment uranium (LEU) fuel. Different conceptual designs are being developed based on the facility mission and the engineering requirements including nuclear physics, neutronics, heat transfer, thermal hydraulics, structure, and material issues. Different fuel designs with LEU and reflector materials are considered in the design process. Safety, reliability, and environmental considerations are included in the facility conceptual design. The facility is configured to accommodate future design improvements and upgrades. This report is a part of the Argonne National Laboratory Activity within this collaboration for developing and characterizing the subcritical assembly conceptual design. In this study, the medical isotope production function of the Kharkov facility is defined. First, a review was carried out to identify the medical isotopes and its medical use. Then a …

The VARIANT module of the DIF3D code has been upgraded to utilize surface-dependent discontinuity factors. The performance of the new capability is verified using two-dimensional core cases with control rods in reflector and fuel blocks. Cross sections for VHTR components were generated using the DRAGON and HELIOS codes. For rodded block cross sections, the DRAGON calculations used a single-block model or the multi-block models combined with MCNP4C flux solutions, whereas the HELIOS calculations utilized multi-block models. Results from core calculations indicate that multiplication factor, block power, and control rod worth are significantly improved by using surface-dependent discontinuity factors.

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High-level nuclear waste produced from fuel reprocessing operations at the Savannah River Site (SRS) requires pretreatment to remove Cs-137, Sr-90 and alpha-emitting radionuclides (i.e., actinides) prior to disposal onsite as low level waste. Separation processes planned at SRS include sorption of Sr-90 and alpha-emitting radionuclides onto monosodium titanate (MST) and caustic side solvent extraction, for {sup 137}Cs removal. The predominant alpha-emitting radionuclides in the highly alkaline waste solutions include plutonium isotopes Pu-238, Pu-239 and Pu-240. This paper describes recent results to produce an improved sodium titanate material that exhibits increased removal kinetics and capacity for Sr-90 and alpha-emitting radionuclides compared to the baseline MST material.

Oxidation resistant nickel-aluminide coatings are designed to develop a protective alumina scale during high temperature exposure. It is well established that platinum additions, typically about 6-8 at%, provide substantial improvements in oxidation resistance of such coatings, yet the nature of the platinum effect is still not fully understood. In this work, the oxidation behavior of two commercial NiAl and NiPtAl coatings deposited on the same Ni-base single crystal alloy CMSX-4 was analyzed. Cyclic and isothermal oxidation tests were conducted at 1150 C in air. Microstructure development and alumina/coating interface chemistry were studied as a function of oxidation time. Numerous voids developed at the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/NiAl interface, and sulfur was found to segregate at the void surfaces and at the contact interface, leading to spallation of the scale over the convex areas along ridges on the coating surface. The presence of platinum prevented sulfur segregation and void formation at the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/NiPtAl interface. As a result, the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} scale on the NiPtAl coating remained adherent and virtually no spallation was observed even after prolonged cyclic oxidation.

To facilitate investigations of moisture dynamics inunsaturated soil, we have developed a technique to qualitatively monitorpatterns of saturation changes. Field results suggest that this device,the sensor array system (SAS), is suitable for determining changes inrelative wetness along vertical soil profiles. The performance of theseprobes was compared with that of the time domain reflectometry (TDR)technique under controlled and field conditions. Measurements from bothtechniques suggest that by obtaining data at high spatial and temporalresolution, the SAS technique was effective in determining patterns ofsaturation changes along a soil profile. In addition, hardware used inthe SAS technique was significantly cheaper than the TDR system, and thesensor arrays were much easier to install along a soilprofile.

The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container. Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 …

CO{sub 2} and heat fluxes were measured over a six-week period (09/08/2006 to 10/24/2006) by the eddy covariance (EC) technique at the Horseshoe Lake tree kill (HLTK), Mammoth Mountain, CA, a site with complex terrain and high, spatially heterogeneous CO{sub 2} emission rates. EC CO{sub 2} fluxes ranged from 218 to 3500 g m{sup -2} d{sup -1} (mean = 1346 g m{sup -2} d{sup -1}). Using footprint modeling, EC CO{sub 2} fluxes were compared to CO{sub 2} fluxes measured by the chamber method on a grid repeatedly over a 10-day period. Half-hour EC CO{sub 2} fluxes were moderately correlated (R{sup 2} = 0.42) with chamber fluxes, whereas average-daily EC CO{sub 2} fluxes were well correlated (R{sup 2} = 0.70) with chamber measurements. Average daily EC CO{sub 2} fluxes were correlated with both average daily wind speed and atmospheric pressure; relationships were similar to those observed between chamber CO{sub 2} fluxes and the atmospheric parameters over a comparable time period. Energy balance closure was assessed by statistical regression of EC energy fluxes (sensible and latent heat) against available energy (net radiation, less soil heat flux). While incomplete (R{sup 2} = 0.77 for 1:1 line), the degree of energy balance closure fell …

The purpose of this TechBase was to evaluate the Zoltan load-balancing library from Sandia National Laboratories as a possible replacement for ParMetis, which had been the load balancer of choice for nearly a decade but does not scale to the full 64,000 processors of BlueGene/L. This evaluation was successful in producing a clear result, but the result was unfortunately negative. Although Zoltan presents a collection load-balancing algorithms, none were able to meet or exceed the combined scalability and quality of ParMetis on representative datasets.

Global sensitivity analysis (GSA) measures the variation of a model output as a function of the variations of the model inputs given their ranges. In this paper we consider variance-based GSA methods that do not rely on certain assumptions about the model structure such as linearity or monotonicity. These variance-based methods decompose the output variance into terms of increasing dimensionality called 'sensitivity indices', first introduced by Sobol' [25]. Sobol' developed a method of estimating these sensitivity indices using Monte Carlo simulations. McKay [13] proposed an efficient method using replicated Latin hypercube sampling to compute the 'correlation ratios' or 'main effects', which have been shown to be equivalent to Sobol's first-order sensitivity indices. Practical issues with using these variance estimators are how to choose adequate sample sizes and how to assess the accuracy of the results. This paper proposes a modified McKay main effect method featuring an adaptive procedure for accuracy assessment and improvement. We also extend our adaptive technique to the computation of second-order sensitivity indices. Details of the proposed adaptive procedure as wells as numerical results are included in this paper.

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Shock initiation experiments on the LLM-105 based explosive RX-55-AA (95% LLM-105, 5% Viton by weight) were performed at 25 C and 150 C to obtain in-situ pressure gauge data, run-distance-to-detonation thresholds, and Ignition and Growth modeling parameters. A 101 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the explosive sample with manganin piezoresistive pressure gauge packages placed between sample slices. The run-distance-to-detonation points on the Pop-plot for these experiments showed agreement at 25 C with previously published data on a similar LLM-105 based formulation RX-55-AB as well as a slight sensitivity increase at elevated temperature (150 C) as expected. Ignition and Growth modeling parameters were obtained with a reasonable fit to the experimental data.

Presentation on factors affecting fuel cell degradation in the DOE Fuel Cell Vehicle learning demonstation.

A symposium on research carried out using the TOUGH family of numerical codes was held from May 15 to 17, 2006, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This special issue of the 'Vadose Zone Journal' contains revised and expanded versions of a selected set of papers presented at this symposium (TOUGH Symposium 2006; http://esd.lbl.gov/TOUGHsymposium), all of which focus on multiphase flow, including flow in the vadose zone.

This second report in a series of three reviews possible safeguards approaches for the new transuranic (TRU) fuel fabrication processes to be deployed at AFCF – specifically, the ceramic TRU (MOX) fuel fabrication line and the metallic (pyroprocessing) line. The most common TRU fuel has been fuel composed of mixed plutonium and uranium dioxide, referred to as “MOX”. However, under the Advanced Fuel Cycle projects custom-made fuels with higher contents of neptunium, americium, and curium may also be produced to evaluate if these “minor actinides” can be effectively burned and transmuted through irradiation in the ABR. A third and final report in this series will evaluate and review the advanced safeguards approach options for the ABR. In reviewing and developing the advanced safeguards approach for the new TRU fuel fabrication processes envisioned for AFCF, the existing international (IAEA) safeguards approach at the Plutonium Fuel Production Facility (PFPF) and the conceptual approach planned for the new J-MOX facility in Japan have been considered as a starting point of reference. The pyro-metallurgical reprocessing and fuel fabrication process at EBR-II near Idaho Falls also provided insight for safeguarding the additional metallic pyroprocessing fuel fabrication line planned for AFCF.

Stability of cylindrical localized ideal pressure-driven interchange plasma modes is revisited. Converting the underlying eigenvalue problem into the form of the Schroedinger equation gives a new simple way of deriving the Suydam stability criterion and calculating the growth rates of unstable modes. Near the marginal stability limit the growth rate is exponentially small and the mode has a double-peak structure.

The ability of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) to directly and efficiently convert the chemical energy in hydrocarbon fuels to electricity places the technology in a unique and exciting position to play a significant role in the clean energy revolution. In order to make SOFC technology cost competitive with existing technologies, the operating temperatures have been decreased to the range where costly ceramic components may be substituted with inexpensive metal components within the cell and stack design. However, a number of issues have arisen due to this decrease in temperature: decreased electrolyte ionic conductivity, cathode reaction rate limitations, and a decrease in anode contaminant tolerance. While the decrease in electrolyte ionic conductivities has been countered by decreasing the electrolyte thickness, the electrode limitations have remained a more difficult problem. Nanostructuring SOFC electrodes addresses the major electrode issues. The infiltration method used in this dissertation to produce nanostructure SOFC electrodes creates a connected network of nanoparticles; since the method allows for the incorporation of the nanoparticles after electrode backbone formation, previously incompatible advanced electrocatalysts can be infiltrated providing electronic conductivity and electrocatalysis within well-formed electrolyte backbones. Furthermore, the method is used to significantly enhance the conventional electrode design by adding secondary …

Volatile organic compound (VOC) data that had already been collected using EPA method TO-15 at four different sites under regulatory scrutiny (a school, strip mall, apartment complex, and business/residential neighborhood) were evaluated to determine whether the source of indoor air benzene was outdoor air or vapor intrusion from contaminated soil. Both the use of tracer organics characteristic of different sources and principal component statistical analysis demonstrated that the source of indoor air at virtually all indoor sampling locations was a result of outdoor air, and not contaminated soil in and near the indoor air-sampling locations. These results show that proposed remediation activities to remove benzene-contaminated soil are highly unlikely to reduce indoor air benzene concentrations. A manuscript describing these results is presently being prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container. Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 …

A high-frequency, asymptotic solution for transient head,appropriate for a medium containing smoothly varying heterogeneity,provides a basis for efficient inverse modeling. The semi analyticsolution is trajectory based, akin to ray methods used in modeling wavepropagation, and may be constructed by post processing the output of anumerical simulator. For high frequencies, the amplitude sensitivities,the relationship between changes in flow properties and changes in headampliude, are dominated by the phase term which may be computed directlyfrom the output of the simulator. Thus, transient head waveforms may beinverted with little more computation than is required to invert arrivaltimes. An applicatino to synthetic head values indicates that thetechnique can be used to improve the fit to waveforms. An application totransient head data from the Migration experiment in Switzerland revealsa narrow, high conductivity pathway within a 0.5 m thick zone offracturing.

To reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other federal and private agencies are investing in understanding catalysis. This report focuses on catalysis research conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and its collaborators. Using sophisticated instruments in DOE’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility, research was conducted to answer key questions related to the nation’s use of automotive fuels. Research teams investigated how hydrogen can be safely stored and efficiently released, critical questions to use this alternative fuel. Further, they are answering key questions to design molecular catalysts to control the transfer of hydrogen atoms, hydrides, and protons important to hydrogen production. In dealing with today’s fuels, researchers examined adsorption of noxious nitrous oxides in automotive exhaust. Beyond automotive fuel, researchers worked on catalysts to harness solar power. These catalysts include the rutile and anatase forms of titanium dioxide. Basic research was conducted on designing catalysts for these and other applications. Our scientists examined how to build catalysts with the desired properties atom by atom and molecule by molecule. In addition, this report contains brief descriptions of the outstanding accomplishments of catalysis experts at PNNL.

We report the first observations of beam losses due tobound-free pair production at the interaction point of a heavy-ioncollider. This process is expected to be a major luminosity limit for theLarge Hadron Collider (LHC) when it operates with 208Pb82+ ions becausethe localized energy deposition by the lost ions may quenchsuperconducting magnet coils. Measurements were performed at theRelativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) during operation with 100GeV/nucleon 63Cu29+ ions. At RHIC, the rate, energy and magnetic fieldare low enough so that magnet quenching is not an issue. The hadronicshowers produced when the single-electron ions struck the RHIC beampipewere observed using an array of photodiodes. The measurement confirms theorder of magnitude of the theoretical cross section previously calculatedby others.