The overall objective of the project is to design, develop and demonstrate a technically feasible and commercially viable system to produce ammonia along with recovery of the products by adsorption separation methods and significantly decrease the energy requirement in ammonia production. This is achieved through a significantly more efficient ammonia psa recovery system. The new ammonia recovery system receives the reactor effluents and achieves complete ammonia recovery, (which completely eliminates the energy intensive refrigeration and condensation system currently used in ammonia production). It also recovers the unused reactants and recycles them back to the reactor, free of potential reactor contaminants, and without the need for re-compression and re-heat of recycle stream thereby further saving more energy. The result is a significantly lower energy consumption, along with capital cost savings.

The Hanford Seismic Assessment Program (HSAP) provides an uninterrupted collection of high-quality raw and processed seismic data from the Hanford Seismic Network for the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors. The HSAP is responsible for locating and identifying sources of seismic activity and monitoring changes in the historical pattern of seismic activity at the Hanford Site. The data are compiled, archived, and published for use by the Hanford Site for waste management, natural phenomena hazards assessments, and engineering design and construction. In addition, the HSAP works with the Hanford Site Emergency Services Organization to provide assistance in the event of a significant earthquake on the Hanford Site. The Hanford Seismic Network and the Eastern Washington Regional Network consist of 44 individual sensor sites and 15 radio relay sites maintained by the Hanford Seismic Assessment Team. During FY 2010, the Hanford Seismic Network recorded 873 triggers on the seismometer system, which included 259 seismic events in the southeast Washington area and an additional 324 regional and teleseismic events. There were 210 events determined to be local earthquakes relevant to the Hanford Site. One hundred and fifty-five earthquakes were detected in the vicinity of Wooded Island, located about eight miles north …

Samples have been prepared from a softwood fiberboard lower subassembly. Physical, mechanical and thermal properties have been measured following varying periods of conditioning in each of several environments. These tests have been conducted in the same manner as previous testing on cane fiberboard samples. Overall, similar aging trends are observed for softwood and cane fiberboard samples, with a few differences. On the positive side, the softwood fiberboard data to date shows less sample-to-sample variation in physical properties than cane fiberboard, and the thermal conductivity decreases at a slower rate at 250F for softwood fiberboard than for cane fiberboard. On the other hand, the softwood fiberboard physical property samples generally show degradation rates greater than cane fiberboard samples in the 185F 30%RH environment. Testing following additional conditioning will continue and the addition of samples in other elevated humidity environment(s) will be pursued to identify the extent of these trends. Post-conditioning data have been measured on samples from a single softwood fiberboard assembly, and baseline data are also available from a limited number of vendor-provided samples. This provides minimal information on the possible sample-to-sample variation exhibited by softwood fiberboard. Data to date are generally consistent with the range seen in cane fiberboard, …

The purpose of this work was to assess the apparent discrepancy in critical suspension velocity (UCS) between M3 Phase 1 (Meyer et al. 2009) and Phase 2 testing conducted by Energy Solutions (ES) at Mid-Columbia Engineering (MCE) and to address the applicability of Phase 1 scale-up laws to Phase 2 test results. Three Phase 2 test sequences were analyzed in detail. Several sources of discrepancy were identified including differences in nominal versus actual velocity, definition of model input parameters, and definition of UCS. A remaining discrepancy was shown to not be solely an artifact of Phase 1 data correlations, but was fundamental to the tests. The non-prototypic aspects of Phase 1 testing were reviewed and assessed. The effects of non-prototypic refill associated with the closed loop operation of the jets, previously known to affect cloud height, can be described in terms of a modified settling velocity. When the modified settling velocity is incorporated into the Phase 1 “new” physical model the adjusted new physical model does a better job of predicting the Phase 2 test results. The adjusted new physical model was bench marked with data taken during three prototypic drive tests. Scale-up behavior of the Phase 1 tests was …

Since the 1960's, the Department of Transportation Specification (DOT Spec) 6M packages have been used extensively for transportation of Type B quantities of radioactive materials between Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, laboratories, and productions sites. However, due to the advancement of packaging technology, the aging of the 6M packages, and variability in the quality of the packages, the DOT implemented a phased elimination of the 6M specification packages (and other DOT Spec packages) in favor of packages certified to meet federal performance requirements. DOT issued the final rule in the Federal Register on October 1, 2004 requiring that use of the DOT Specification 6M be discontinued as of October 1, 2008. A main driver for the change was the fact that the 6M specification packagings were not supported by a Safety Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP) that was compliant with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 71 (10 CFR 71). Therefore, materials that would have historically been shipped in 6M packages are being identified as contents in Type B (and sometimes Type A fissile) package applications and addenda that are to be certified under the requirements of 10 CFR 71. The requirements in 10 CFR 71 include …

The Kansas Wind Working Group (WWG) is a 33-member group announced by former Governor Kathleen Sebelius on Jan. 7, 2008. Formed through Executive Order 08-01, the WWG will educate stakeholder groups with the current information on wind energy markets, technologies, economics, policies, prospects and issues. Governor Mark Parkinson serves as chair of the Kansas Wind Working Group. The group has been instrumental in focusing on the elements of government and coordinating government and private sector efforts in wind energy development. Those efforts have moved Kansas from 364 MW of wind three years ago to over 1000 MW today. Further, the Wind Working Group was instrumental in fleshing out issues such as a state RES and net metering, fundamental parts of HB 2369 that was passed and is now law in Kansas. This represents the first mandatory RES and net metering in Kansas history.

Approximately ten percent of the energy consumed in U.S. commercial buildings is used by HVAC systems to condition outdoor ventilation air. Reducing ventilation rates would be a simple and broadly-applicable energy retrofit option, if practical counter measures were available that maintained acceptable concentrations of indoor-generated air pollutants. The two general categories of countermeasures are: 1) indoor pollutant source control, and 2) air cleaning. Although pollutant source control should be used to the degree possible, source control is complicated by the large number and changing nature of indoor pollutant sources. Particle air cleaning is already routinely applied in commercial buildings. Previous calculations indicate that particle filtration consumes only 10percent to 25percent of the energy that would otherwise be required to achieve an equivalent amount of particle removal with ventilation. If cost-effective air cleaning technologies for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were also available, outdoor air ventilation rates could be reduced substantially and broadly in the commercial building stock to save energy. The research carried out in this project focuses on developing novel VOC air cleaning technologies needed to enable energy-saving reductions in ventilation rates. The minimum required VOC removal efficiency to counteract a 50percent reduction in ventilation rate for air cleaning systems …

This report summarizes the recharge data collected in FY 2010 at five locations on the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. Average monthly precipitation and temperature conditions in FY 2010 were near normal and did not present an opportunity for increased recharge. The recharge monitoring data confirmed those conditions, showing normal behavior in water content, matric head, and recharge rates. Also provided in this report is a strategy for recharge estimation for the next 5 years.

This report describes a gap analysis of the emergency response and management (EM) community, performed during the fall of 2009. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) undertook this effort to identify potential improvements to the functional domains in EM that could be provided by the application of current or future technology. To perform this domain-based gap analysis, PNNL personnel interviewed subject matter experts (SMEs) across the EM domain; to make certain that the analyses reflected a representative view of the community, the SMEs were from a variety of geographic areas and from various sized communities (urban, suburban, and rural). PNNL personnel also examined recent and relevant after-action reports and U.S. Government Accountability Office reports.

Final report for the project. This project was designed to demonstrate the use of the Radiation Detection Scenario Analysis Toolbox (RADSAT) radiation detection transport modeling package (developed in a previous NA-22 project) for specific radiation detection scenarios important to proliferation detection.

The overall focus of this project was the development of reusable, cost-effective educational modules for use with the table top scanning electron microscope (TTSEM). The goal of this project's outreach component was to increase students' exposure to the science and technology of nanoscience.

The Hanford Site has 149 underground single-shell tanks that store hazardous radioactive waste. Many of these tanks and their associated infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, diversion boxes) have leaked. Some of the leaked waste has entered the groundwater. The largest known leak occurred from the T-106 Tank of the 241-T Tank Farm in 1973. Five tanks are assumed to have leaked in the TY Farm. Many of the contaminants from those leaks still reside within the vadose zone within the T and TY Tank Farms. The Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection seeks to minimize the movement of these contaminant plumes by placing interim barriers on the ground surface. Such barriers are expected to prevent infiltrating water from reaching the plumes and moving them further. The soil water regime is monitored to determine the effectiveness of the interim surface barriers. Soil-water content and water pressure are monitored using off-the-shelf equipment that can be installed by the hydraulic hammer technique. Four instrument nests were installed in the T Farm in fiscal year (FY) 2006 and FY2007; two nests were installed in the TY Farm in FY2010. Each instrument nest contains a neutron probe access tube, a capacitance probe, and four heat-dissipation units. …

This document reports on a series of tests to determine whether the location of the air sampling probe in the Hot Fuels Examination Facility (HFEF) heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) exhaust duct meets the applicable regulatory criteria regarding the placement of an air sampling probe. Federal regulations require that a sampling probe be located in the exhaust stack according to the criteria of the ANSI/HPS N13.1-1999, Sampling and Monitoring Releases of Airborne Radioactive Substances from the Stacks and Ducts of Nuclear Facilities. These criteria address the capability of the sampling probe to extract a sample that is representative of the effluent stream. The tests conducted by PNNL during July 2010 on the HFEF system are described in this report. The sampling probe location is approximately 20 feet from the base of the stack. The stack base is in the second floor of the HFEF, and has a building ventilation stream (limited potential radioactive effluent) as well as a process stream (potential radioactive effluent, but HEPA-filtered) that feeds into it. The tests conducted on the duct indicate that the process stream is insufficiently mixed with the building ventilation stream. As a result, the air sampling probe location does not meet …

Experiments conducted in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak at MIT have explored the physics of reversed shear Alfven eigenmodes (RSAEs) during the current ramp. The frequency evolution of the RSAEs throughout the current ramp provides a constraint on the evolution of qmin, a result which is important in transport modeling and for comparison with other diagnostics which directly measure the magnetic field line structure. Additionally, a scaling of the RSAE minimum frequency with the sound speed is used to derive a measure of the adiabatic index, a measure of the plasma compressibility. This scaling bounds the adiabatic index at 1.40 ± 0:15 used in MHD models and supports the kinetic calculation of separate electron and ion compressibilities with an ion adiabatic index close to 7~4.

The primary goal of this report is to report the results of Grant DE-FG02-97ER62458, which began in 1997 as Grant DOE-98-59-MP-4 funded through the TECO program. However, this project has a longer history because DOE also funded this study from its inception in 1985 through 1997. The original grant was focused on plant responses to elevated CO2 in an intact ecosystem, while the latter grant was focused on belowground responses. Here we summarize the major findings across the 25 years this study has operated, and note that the experiment will continue to run through 2020 with NSF support. The major conclusions of the study to date are: (1 Elevated CO2 stimulated plant productivity in the C3 plant community by ~30% during the 25 year study. The magnitude of the increase in productivity varied interannually and was sometime absent altogether. There is some evidence of down-regulation at the ecosystem level across the 25 year record that may be due to interactions with other factors such as sea-level rise or long-term changes in N supply; (2) Elevated CO2 stimulated C4 productivity by <10%, perhaps due to more efficient water use, but C3 plants at elevated CO2 did not displace C4 plants as …

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In the United States, industry spends over $100 billion annually to power its manufacturing plants. Companies also spend on maintenance, capital outlay, and energy services. Improving energy efficiency is vital to reduce these costs and increase earnings. Many cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy consumption are available, and this Energy Guide discusses energy-efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be applied over a broad spectrum of companies. Strategies in the guide address hot water and steam, compressed air, pumps, motors, fans, lighting, refrigeration, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. This guide includes descriptions of expected energy and cost savings, based on real-world applications, typical payback periods, and references to more detailed information. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers achieve cost-effective energy reductions while maintaining product quality. Further research on the economics of all measures--as well as on their applicability to different production practices?is needed to assess their cost effectiveness at individual plants.

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The Amendment 1, referred to as Phase 2, to the original CRADA NFE-06-00414 added tasks 3 through 7 to the original statement of work that had two main tasks that were successfully accomplished in Phase 1 of this project. In this Phase 2 CRADA extension, extensive research and development activities were conducted using high magnetic field processing effects for the purpose of manipulating microstructure in the SAE 5160 steel to refine grain size isothermally and to develop nanocrystalline spacing pearlite during continuous cooling, and to enhance the formability/forgability of the non-ferrous precipitation hardening magnesium alloy AZ90 by applying a high magnetic field during deformation processing to investigate potential magnetoplasticity in this material. Significant experimental issues (especially non-isothermal conditions evolving upon insertion of an isothermal sample in the high magnetic field) were encountered in the isothermal phase transformation reversal experiments (Task 4) that later were determined to be due to various condensed matter physics phenomenon such as the magnetocaloric (MCE) effect that occurs in the vicinity of a materials Curie temperature. Similarly the experimental deformation rig had components for monitoring deformation/strain (Task 3) that were susceptible to the high magnetic field of the ORNL Thermomagnetic Processing facility 9-T superconducting magnet that …

Gap Closing/Finishing of draft genome assemblies is a labor and cost intensive process where several rounds of repetitious amplification and sequencing are required. Here we demonstrate a high throughput procedure where custom primers flanking gaps in draft genomes are designed. Primer libraries containing up to 4,000 unique pairs in independent droplets are merged with a fragmented genomic template. From this millions of picoliter scale droplets are formed, each one being the functional equivalent of an individual PCR reaction. The PCR products are concatenated and sequenced by Illumina which is then assembled and used for gap closure. Here we present an overall experimental strategy, primer design algorithm and initial results.

Up to now, the term "transport-optimized" stellarators has meant optimized to minimize neoclassical transport, while the task of also mitigating turbulent transport, usually the dominant transport channel in such designs, has not been addressed, due to the complexity of plasma turbulence in stellarators. Here, we demonstrate that stellarators can also be designed to mitigate their turbulent transport, by making use of two powerful numerical tools not available until recently, namely gyrokinetic codes valid for 3D nonlinear simulations, and stellarator optimization codes. A first proof-of-principle configuration is obtained, reducing the level of ion temperature gradient turbulent transport from the NCSX baseline design by a factor of about 2.5.

This issue has the following articles: (1) Deterrence with a Minimum Nuclear Stockpile - Commentary by Bruce T. Goodwin; (2) Enhancing Confidence in the Nation's Nuclear Stockpile - Livermore experts are participating in a national effort aimed at predicting how nuclear weapon materials and systems will likely change over time; (3) Narrowing Uncertainties - For climate modeling and many other fields, understanding uncertainty, or margin of error, is critical; (4) Insight into a Deadly Disease - Laboratory experiments reveal the pathogenesis of tularemia in host cells, bringing scientists closer to developing a vaccine for this debilitating disease. (5) Return to Rongelap - On the Rongelap Atoll, Livermore scientists are working to minimize radiological exposure for natives now living on or wishing to return to the islands.

The spectrometer solenoid is supposed to be the first magnets installed in MICE [1]-[4]. This report described what happened during the test of the MICE spectrometer solenoid 2B. First, the report describes the temperatures in the magnet, the cooler top plate and the shield during the run where the magnet quenched at 258 A. During this quench, a lead between the bottom of the HTS leads and the diode bank burned out causing the magnet to quench. Second, three methods for measuring the net heat flow into the cold mass are described. Third, there is a discussion of possible resistive heating in the HTS leads between liquid helium temperature and the copper plate, which is at about 50 K. Fourth, there is a discussion of the measured first stage heat loads in the magnet, when there is no current in the magnet. The first stage heat load calculations are based on knowing the first stage temperatures of the three two-stage pulse tube coolers and the single stage GM cooler. Fifth, the estimated heat load to the first stage when the magnet has current in it is discussed. Sixth, there is a comparison of the stage 1 heat loads in magnet …

The work of this CRADA has been focused on the development of Rolling-Assisted Biaxially Textured Substrate (RABiTS)-based high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coated conductor technology that is in the pre-commercial development stage. Metal-Oxide Technologies, Inc. (MetOx) is a Houston-based small business that is developing and manufacturing second-generation (2G) HTS wire using an all-Metallo-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) process, including the buffer layers and HTS coating. Advances toward commercialization were enabled by coordinated interactions that facilitated the synthesis, characterization, and iterative optimization of prototype 2G wire segments.