The Southern Research/Southern Company 1 MWth Pilot-Scale Coal-Fired Test Facility was successfully retrofit to fire in either the traditional air-fired mode or with 100% oxygen and recycled flue gas, with a fully integrated feedback and control system, including oxygen and recycled flue gas modulation during startup, transfer, and shutdown, safety and operational interlocks, and data acquisition. A MAXON Staged Oxygen Burner for Oxy-Coal Applications produced a stable flame over a significant range of firing turn-down, staging, and while firing five different U.S. coal types. The MAXON burner design produces lower flame temperatures than for air firing, which will enable (A) Safe operation, (B) Reduction of recycle flow without concern about furnace flame temperatures, and (C) May likely be affective at reducing slagging and fouling in the boiler and super heater at full-scale Power Plants. A CFD model of the Oxy-fired Combustion Research Facility (OCRF) was used to predict the flame geometry and temperatures in the OCRF and make a comparison with the air-fired case. The model predictions were consistent with the experimental data in showing that the MAXON burner fired with oxygen produced lower flame temperatures than the air-fired burner while firing with air.

The purpose of an On-Site Inspection (OSI) is to determine whether a nuclear explosion has occurred in violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and to gather information which might assist in identifying the violator (CTBT, Article IV, Paragraph 35) Multi-Spectral and Infra Red Imaging (MSIR) is allowed by the treaty to detect observables which might help reduce the search area and thus expedite an OSI and make it more effective. MSIR is permitted from airborne measurements, and at and below the surface to search for anomalies and artifacts (CTBT, Protocol, Part II, Paragraph 69b). The three broad types of anomalies and artifacts MSIR is expected to be capable of observing are surface disturbances (disturbed earth, plant stress or anomalous surface materials), human artifacts (man-made roads, buildings and features), and thermal anomalies. The purpose of this Primer is to provide technical information on MSIR relevant to its use for OSI. It is expected that this information may be used for general background information, to inform decisions about the selection and testing of MSIR equipment, to develop operational guidance for MSIR use during an OSI, and to support the development of a training program for OSI Inspectors. References are …

Tank 18-F in the F-Area Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site (SRS) has had measurements taken from its inner vertical sides in order to determine the level of radionuclide and other analyte concentrations attached to the tank walls. In all, three samples have been obtained by drilling shallow holes into the carbon steel walls and consolidating the material. An Upper Wall Sample (Sample ID: Tk 18-1) was formed by combining two drill samples taken at a height of 17 ft above the tank floor, and a Lower Wall Sample (Sample ID: SPD4) was formed by combining two drill samples taken between 10 and 12 ft above the tank floor. A Scale Sample (Sample ID: Tk 18-2) was formed by combining 5 drill samples obtained between 6 and 7 ft above the tank floor. Photographs of the sampled material and a more detailed description of the samples and the concentration results are presented by Hay and others [2009]. The objective of this report is to determine a method and use it to place an upper confidence bound on the concentrations in the wall samples using only the currently available sample information. None of the three wall locations (tank heights) has …

The Estuary/Ocean Subgroup (EOS) is part of the research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) effort that the Action Agencies (Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) developed in response to obligations arising from the Endangered Species Act as applied to operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). The goal of the EOS project is to facilitate activities of the estuary/ocean RME subgroup as it coordinates design and implementation of federal RME in the lower Columbia River and estuary. The EOS is one of multiple work groups in the federal research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) effort developed in response to responsibilities arising from the Endangered Species Act as a result of operation of the FCRPS. The EOS is tasked by NOAA Fisheries and the Action Agencies to design and coordinate implementation of the federal RME plan for the lower Columbia River and estuary, including the plume.

This report documents the final status of buildings after the completion of D4 activities at the 100 Area of the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site from December 1, 2008, to December 31, 2009.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

This is the sixth annual report of a seven-year project (2004 through 2010) to evaluate the cumulative effects of habitat restoration actions in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE). The project, called the Cumulative Effects Study, is being conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District (USACE) by the Marine Sciences Laboratory of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Pt. Adams Biological Field Station of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), and the University of Washington. The goal of the Cumulative Effects Study is to develop a methodology to evaluate the cumulative effects of multiple habitat restoration projects intended to benefit ecosystems supporting juvenile salmonids in the 235-km-long LCRE. Literature review in 2004 revealed no existing methods for such an evaluation and suggested that cumulative effects could be additive or synergistic. From 2005 through 2009, annual field research involved intensive, comparative studies paired by habitat type (tidal swamp versus marsh), trajectory (restoration versus reference site), and restoration action (tidegate replacement vs. culvert replacement vs. dike breach).

A thorough of macroalgae analysis as a biofuels feedstock is warranted due to the size of this biomass resource and the need to consider all potential sources of feedstock to meet current biomass production goals. Understanding how to harness this untapped biomass resource will require additional research and development. A detailed assessment of environmental resources, cultivation and harvesting technology, conversion to fuels, connectivity with existing energy supply chains, and the associated economic and life cycle analyses will facilitate evaluation of this potentially important biomass resource.

Measurements were made of the motion of the filamentary structures in a plasma ball using high speed cameras and other optical detectors. These filaments traverse the ball radially at ~106 cm/sec at the driving frequency of ~26 kHz, and drift upward through the ball at ~1 cm/sec. Varying the applied high voltage and frequency caused the number, length, and diameter of the filaments to change. A custom plasma ball was constructed to observe the effects of varying gas pressure and species on the filament structures.

Good progress has been made on both bacterial and viral sequencing by the TMTI centers. While access to appropriate samples is a limiting factor to throughput, excellent progress has been made with respect to getting agreements in place with key sources of relevant materials. Sharing of sequenced genomes funded by TMTI has been extremely limited to date. The April 2010 exercise should force a resolution to this, but additional managerial pressures may be needed to ensure that rapid sharing of TMTI-funded sequencing occurs, regardless of collaborator constraints concerning ultimate publication(s). Policies to permit TMTI-internal rapid sharing of sequenced genomes should be written into all TMTI agreements with collaborators now being negotiated. TMTI needs to establish a Web-based system for tracking samples destined for sequencing. This includes metadata on sample origins and contributor, information on sample shipment/receipt, prioritization by TMTI, assignment to one or more sequencing centers (including possible TMTI-sponsored sequencing at a contributor site), and status history of the sample sequencing effort. While this system could be a component of the AFRL system, it is not part of any current development effort. Policy and standardized procedures are needed to ensure appropriate verification of all TMTI samples prior to the investment …

Radiochemical analysis of NIF capsule residues has been identified as a potential diagnostic of NIF capsule performance. In particular, alpha-induced nuclear reactions that occur on tracer elements added to the NIF capsule have been shown through simulation to be a very sensitive diagnostic for mix. The short range of the alpha particles makes them representative of the hot spot where they are created through the fusion of deuterium and tritium. Reactions on elements doped into the innermost part of the capsule ablator would therefore be sensitive to material that had mixed into the hot spot. Radiochemical determinations of activated detector elements may perhaps be the only true measure of mix that occurs in a NIF capsule, particularly in cases when the capsule fails.

Three 9975 shipping packages were examined to investigate the non-conforming condition of an axial air gap greater than 1 inch. This condition typically indicates the presence of excess moisture in the fiberboard overpack, and may be accompanied by degradation in the fiberboard properties. In the case of these three packages, no excess moisture was present, and the fiberboard was not visibly degraded. However, the lower fiberboard assembly from 9975-06870 was separated into two pieces. The lead shield from 9975-04353 was heavily corroded, while the shield from 9975-01968 had very little corrosion. In the case of 9975-06870, the shield was covered by a stainless steel sleeve, and the condition of the lead was not observed. No other conditions of concern were observed in these three packages.

The astrophysical {alpha}{omega} dynamo converting angular momentum to magnetic energy can be interpreted as a self-excited Faraday dynamo together with magnetic relaxation coupling the dynamo poloidal field to the toroidal field produced by dynamo currents. Since both toroidal and poloidal fields are involved, the system can be modeled as helicity creation and transport, in a spheromak plasma configuration in quasi-equilibrium on the time scale of changes in magnetic energy. Neutral beams or plasma gun injection across field lines could create self-excited spheromaks in the laboratory.

This volume contains the proceedings of the RBRC/CATHIE workshop on 'P- and CP-odd Effects in Hot and Dense Matter' held at the RIKEN-BNL Research Center on April 26-30, 2010. The workshop was triggered by the experimental observation of charge correlations in heavy ion collisions at RHIC, which were predicted to occur due to local parity violation (P- and CP-odd fluctuations) in hot and dense QCD matter. This experimental result excited a significant interest in the broad physics community, inspired a few alternative interpretations, and emphasized the need for a deeper understanding of the role of topology in QCD vacuum and in hot and dense quark-gluon matter. Topological effects in QCD are also closely related to a number of intriguing problems in condensed matter physics, cosmology and astrophysics. We therefore felt that a broad cross-disciplinary discussion of topological P- and CP-odd effects in various kinds of matter was urgently needed. Such a discussion became the subject of the workshop. Specific topics discussed at the workshop include the following: (1) The current experimental results on charge asymmetries at RHIC and the physical interpretations of the data; (2) Quantitative characterization of topological effects in QCD matter including both analytical (perturbative and non-perturbative using …

Efforts to promote rechargeable electric lighting as a replacement for fuel-based light sources in developing countries are typically predicated on the notion that lighting service levels can be maintained or improved while reducing the costs and environmental impacts of existing practices. However, the extremely low incomes of those who depend on fuel-based lighting create a need to balance the hypothetically possible or desirable levels of light with those that are sufficient and affordable. In a pilot study of four night vendors in Kenya, we document a field technique we developed to simultaneously measure the effectiveness of lighting service provided by a lighting system and conduct a survey of lighting service demand by end-users. We took gridded illuminance measurements across each vendor's working and selling area, with users indicating the sufficiency of light at each point. User light sources included a mix of kerosene-fueled hurricane lanterns, pressure lamps, and LED lanterns.We observed illuminance levels ranging from just above zero to 150 lux. The LED systems markedly improved the lighting service levels over those provided by kerosene-fueled hurricane lanterns. Users reported that the minimum acceptable threshold was about 2 lux. The results also indicated that the LED lamps in use by the …

As an extension of prior work [1-4], we summarize recent observations made on a He-implanted tempered martensitic steel (TMS), F82H mod 3, irradiated in the HFIR, in both as-tempered (AT) and cold-worked (CW) conditions. A novel implantation technique was used to uniformly inject He into 3-mm diameter TEM discs to depths ranging from ≈ 5-8 µm. The He is generated by two-step transmutation reactions in Ni contained in a NiAl coating layer adjacent to paired 3 mm TEM discs. NiAl layers from 1 to 4 μm thick produced He/dpa ratios between 5 and 40 appm/dpa. The irradiations were at temperatures of 300, 400 and 500°C from 3.9 to 9 dpa and 90 to 380 appm He. Electron transparent samples were prepared by a cross-sectional thinning technique that allowed investigating microstructural evolution over a range of implantation depths. Irradiation of the AT alloy to 9 dpa at 500°C and 380 appm He resulted in relatively large, faceted cavities, that are likely voids, along with a much higher density of smaller He bubbles. The cavities were most often aligned in pearl necklace like strings, presumably due to their formation on pre-existing dislocations. A finer distribution of cavities was also present on precipitate …

When hazardous material is accidently or intentionally released into the atmosphere, emergency response organizations look to decision support systems (DSSs) to translate contaminant information provided by atmospheric models into effective decisions to protect the public and emergency responders and to mitigate subsequent consequences. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-led Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) is one of the primary DSSs utilized by emergency management organizations. IMAAC is responsible for providing 'a single piont for the coordination and dissemination of Federal dispersion modeling and hazard prediction products that represent the Federal position' during actual or potential incidents under the National Response Plan. The Department of Energy's (DOE) National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC), locatec at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), serves as the primary operations center of the IMAAC. A key component of atmospheric release decision support systems is meteorological information - models and data of winds, turbulence, and other atmospheric boundary-layer parameters. The accuracy of contaminant predictions is strongly dependent on the quality of this information. Therefore, the effectiveness of DSSs can be enhanced by improving the meteorological options available to drive atmospheric transport and fate models. The overall goal of this project was to develop and …

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A new set of analytic formulae describes the transmission of soft X-ray (SXR) continuum radiation through a metallic foil for its application to fast electron temperature measurements in fusion plasmas. This novel approach shows good agreement with numerical calculations over a wide range of plasma temperatures in contrast with the solutions obtained when using a transmission approximated by a single-Heaviside function [S. von Goeler, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 20, 599, (1999)]. The new analytic formulae can improve the interpretation of the experimental results and thus contribute in obtaining fast teperature measurements in between intermittent Thomson Scattering data.

One of the challenges of supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking and mediation is generating a {mu} term consistent with the requirements of electro-weak symmetry breaking. The most common approach to the problem is to generate the {mu} term through a SUSY breaking F-term. Often these models produce unacceptably large B{mu} terms as a result. We will present an alternate approach, where the {mu} term is generated directly by non-perturtative effects. The same non-perturbative effect will also retrofit the model of SUSY breaking in such a way that {mu} is at the same scale as masses of the Standard Model superpartners. Because the {mu} term is not directly generated by SUSY breaking effects, there is no associated B{mu} problem. These results are demonstrated in a toy model where a stringy instanton generates {mu}.

We construct composite Higgs models admitting a weakly coupled Seiberg dual description. We focus on the possibility that only the up-type Higgs is an elementary field, while the down-type Higgs arises as a composite hadron. The model, based on a confining SQCD theory, breaks supersymmetry and electroweak symmetry dynamically and calculably. This simultaneously solves the {mu}/B{sub {mu}} problem and explains the smallness of the bottom and tau masses compared to the top mass. The proposal is then applied to a class of models where the same confining dynamics is used to generate the Standard Model flavor hierarchy by quark and lepton compositeness. This provides a unified framework for flavor, supersymmetry breaking and electroweak physics. The weakly coupled dual is used to explicitly compute the MSSM parameters in terms of a few microscopic couplings, giving interesting relations between the electroweak and soft parameters. The RG evolution down to the TeV scale is obtained and salient phenomenological predictions of this class of 'single-sector' models are discussed.

This paper describes the first observations in NSTX of ‘quiet periods’ in the edge turbulence preceding the L-H transition, as diagnosed by the GPI diagnostic near the outer midplane separatrix. During these quiet periods the GPI Dα light emission pattern was transiently similar to that seen during Hmode, i.e. with a relatively small fraction of the GPI light emission located outside the separatrix. These quiet periods had a frequency of ~3 kHz for at least 30 msec before the L-H transition, and were correlated with changes in the direction of the local poloidal velocity. The GPI turbulence images were also analyzed to obtain an estimate for the dimensionless poloidal shearing S =(dVp/dr)(Lr/Lp)τ. The values of S were strongly modulated by the quiet periods, but not otherwise varying for at least 30 msec preceding the L-H transition. Since neither the quiet periods nor the shear flow increased significantly immediately preceding the L-H transition, neither of these appears to be the trigger for this transition, at least for these cases in NSTX.

Individual raw datastreams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility fixed and mobile sites are collected and sent to the Data Management Facility (DMF) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for processing in near real-time. Raw and processed data are then sent approximately daily to the ARM Archive, where they are made available to users. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of data records received daily at the Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual datastream, site, and month for the current year and (2) site and fiscal year (FY) dating back to 1998. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requires national user facilities to report time-based operating data. The requirements concern the actual hours of operation (ACTUAL); the estimated maximum operation or uptime goal (OPSMAX), which accounts for planned downtime; and the VARIANCE [1-(ACTUAL/OPSMAX)], which accounts for unplanned downtime. The OPSMAX time for the fourth quarter of FY2010 for the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site is 2097.60 hours (0.95 2208 hours this quarter). The OPSMAX for the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) locale is 1987.20 hours (0.90 2208) and for the Tropical …

This document presents the current status of SiD's effort to develop an optimized design for an experiment at the International Linear Collider. It presents detailed discussions of each of SiD's various subsystems, an overview of the full GEANT4 description of SiD, the status of newly developed tracking and calorimeter reconstruction algorithms, studies of subsystem performance based on these tools, results of physics benchmarking analyses, an estimate of the cost of the detector, and an assessment of the detector R&D needed to provide the technical basis for an optimised SiD.