The 2 × 2 array HEU-Re experiment was performed on the Planet universal critical assembly machine on November 4th, 2003 at the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility (LACEF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). For this experiment, there were 10 ½ units, each full unit containing four HEU foils and two rhenium foils. The top unit contained only two HEU foils and two rhenium foils. A total of 42 HEU foils were used for this experiment. Rhenium is a desirable cladding material for space nuclear power applications. This experiment consisted of HEU foils interleaved with rhenium foils and is moderated and reflected by polyethylene plates. A unit consisted of a polyethylene plate, which has a recess for rhenium foils, and four HEU foils in a single layer in the top recess of each polyethylene plate. The Planet universal criticality assembly machine has been previously used in experiments containing HEU foils interspersed with SiO2 (HEU-MET-THERM-001), Al (HEU-MET-THERM-008), MgO (HEU-MET-THERM-009), Gd foils (HEU-MET-THERM-010), 2 × 2 × 26 Al (HEU-MET-THERM-012), Fe (HEU-MET-THERM-013 and HEU-MET-THERM-015), 2 × 2 × 23 SiO2 (HEU-MET-THERM-014), 2 × 2 × 11 hastalloy plates (HEU-MET-THERM-016), and concrete (HEU-MET-THERM-018). The 2 × 2 array of HEU-Re is considered acceptable …

Following an evaluation of potential strontium-90 (90Sr) treatment technologies and their applicability under 100-NR-2 hydrogeologic conditions, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Fluor Hanford, Inc. (now CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company [CHPRC]), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Washington State Department of Ecology agreed that the long-term strategy for groundwater remediation at the 100-N Area should include apatite as the primary treatment technology. This agreement was based on results from an evaluation of remedial alternatives that identified the apatite permeable reactive barrier (PRB) technology as the approach showing the greatest promise for reducing 90Sr flux to the Columbia River at a reasonable cost. This letter report documents work completed to date on development of a high-concentration amendment formulation and initial field-scale testing of this amendment solution.

This report presents the 2009 groundwater monitoring results collected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) for the Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA) Subsurface Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 443. Responsibility for the environmental site restoration of CNTA was transferred from the DOE Office of Environmental Management to LM on October 1, 2006. The environmental restoration process and corrective action strategy for CAU 443 are conducted in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order entered into by DOE, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the State of Nevada. The corrective action strategy for the site includes proof-of-concept monitoring in support of site closure. This report summarizes investigation activities associated with CAU 443 that were conducted at the site from October 2008 through December 2009. It also represents the first year of the enhanced monitoring network and begins the new 5-year proof-of-concept monitoring period that is intended to validate the compliance boundary

Each year, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) prepares an annual Site Environmental Report (SER) in accordance with DOE Order 231.1A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting of the U.S. Department of Energy. The report is written to inform the public, regulators, employees, and other stakeholders of BNL's environmental performance during the calendar year in review. The SER summarizes environmental data; environmental management performance; compliance with applicable DOE, federal, state, and local regulations; and compliance, restoration, and surveillance monitoring program performance. BNL has prepared annual SERs since 1971 and has documented nearly all of its environmental history since the Laboratory's inception in 1947. The report is available in print and as a downloadable file on the BNL web page at http://www.bnl.gov/ewms/ser/. A summary of the SER is also prepared each year to provide a general overview of the report, and is distributed with a CD of the full report.

Under the requirements of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) established between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) in 1992, all environmental restoration activities on the ORR are performed in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Since the 1990s, the environmental restoration activities have experienced a gradual shift from characterization to remediation. As this has occurred, it has been determined that the assessment of the individual and cumulative performance of all ORR CERCLA remedial actions (RAs) is most effectively tracked in a single document. The Remediation Effectiveness Report (RER) is an FFA document intended to collate all ORR CERCLA decision requirements, compare pre- and post-remediation conditions at CERCLA sites, and present the results of any required post-decision remediation effectiveness monitoring. First issued in 1997, the RER has been reissued annually to update the performance histories of completed actions and to add descriptions of new CERCLA actions. Monitoring information used in the 2010 RER to assess remedy performance was collected and/or compiled by DOE's Water Resources Restoration Program (WRRP). Only data used to assess performance of …

This report documents eh status of revegetation projects and natural resources mitigation efforts conducted for remediated waste sites and other activities associated with CERLA cleanup of National Priorities List waste sites at Hanford. This report contains vegetation monitoring data that were collected in the spring and summer of 2010 from the River Corridor Closure Contract’s revegetation and mitigation areas on the Hanford Site.

The research documented herein was funded by a research contract between the Research Reactors Division (RRD) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering Department (MABE). The research was governed by a statement of work (SOW) which clearly defines nine specific tasks. This report is outlined to follow and document the results of each of these nine specific tasks. The primary goal of this phase of the research is to demonstrate, through verification and validation methods, that COMSOL is a viable simulation tool for thermal-hydraulic modeling of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) core. A secondary goal of this two-dimensional phase of the research is to establish methodology and data base libraries that are also needed in the full three-dimensional COMSOL simulation to follow. COMSOL version 3.5a was used for all of the models presented throughout this report.

At Super-LHC luminosity it is expected that the standard suite of level 1 triggers for CMS will saturate. Information from the tracker will be needed to reduce trigger rates to satisfy the level 1 bandwidth. Tracking trigger modules which correlate information from closely-spaced sensor layers to form an on-detector momentum filter are being developed by several groups. We report on a trigger module design which utilizes three dimensional integrated circuit technology incorporating chips which are connected both to the top and bottom sensor, providing the ability to filter information locally. A demonstration chip, the VICTR, has been submitted to the Chartered/Tezzaron two-tier 3D run coordinated by Fermilab. We report on the 3D design concept, the status of the VICTR chip and associated sensor integration utilizing oxide bonding.

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This brochure describes NREL's algal biofuels research capabilities and partnership opportunities.

We present a Bayesian model for acceptance sampling where the population consists of two groups, each with different levels of risk of containing unacceptable items. Expert opinion, or judgment, may be required to distinguish between the high and low-risk groups. Hence, high-risk items are likely to be identifed (and sampled) using expert judgment, while the remaining low-risk items are sampled randomly. We focus on the situation where all observed samples must be acceptable. Consequently, the objective of the statistical inference is to quantify the probability that a large percentage of the unsampled items in the population are also acceptable. We demonstrate that traditional (frequentist) acceptance sampling and simpler Bayesian formulations of the problem are essentially special cases of the proposed model. We explore the properties of the model in detail, and discuss the conditions necessary to ensure that required samples sizes are non-decreasing function of the population size. The method is applicable to a variety of acceptance sampling problems, and, in particular, to environmental sampling where the objective is to demonstrate the safety of reoccupying a remediated facility that has been contaminated with a lethal agent.

RELAP5-3D interpolates to obtain thermodynamic properties for use in its internal calculations. The accuracy of the interpolation was determined for the original steam tables currently used by the code. This accuracy evaluation showed that the original steam tables are generally detailed enough to allow reasonably accurate interpolations in most areas needed for typical analyses of nuclear reactors cooled by light water. However, there were some regions in which the original steam tables were judged to not provide acceptable accurate results. Revised steam tables were created that used a finer thermodynamic mesh between 4 and 21 MPa and 530 and 640 K. The revised steam tables solved most of the problems observed with the original steam tables. The accuracies of the original and revised steam tables were compared throughout the thermodynamic grid.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Seattle District, is studying the potential to locate fish bypass systems at Albeni Falls Dam. The USACE requested Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to survey velocity magnitude and direction in the dam tailrace. The empirical data collected will be used to support future numerical modeling, physical modeling, and evaluation of fish bypass system alternatives. In May 2010, PNNL conducted velocity surveys of the Albeni Falls Dam using a boat-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. The surveys were conducted over three days (May 25 through 27). During the survey period, total river discharge at the dam varied between 30.2 and 31.0 kcfs. A small amount of spill discharge, 2 kcfs, was present on two days (May 26 and 27). This report presents data plots showing measured velocity direction and magnitude averaged over the entire depth and over 5-ft depth increments from 5 to 30 ft.

The authors describe the implementation of a phase-retrieval algorithm to reconstruct phase and complex amplitude of structures on EUV lithography masks. Many native defects commonly found on EUV reticles are difficult to detect and review accurately because they have a strong phase component. Understanding the complex amplitude of mask features is essential for predictive modeling of defect printability and defect repair. Besides printing in a stepper, the most accurate way to characterize such defects is with actinic inspection, performed at the design, EUV wavelength. Phase defect and phase structures show a distinct through-focus behavior that enables qualitative evaluation of the object phase from two or more high-resolution intensity measurements. For the first time, phase of structures and defects on EUV masks were quantitatively reconstructed based on aerial image measurements, using a modified version of a phase-retrieval algorithm developed to test optical phase shifting reticles.

Adagio is a Lagrangian, three-dimensional, implicit code for the analysis of solids and structures. It uses a multi-level iterative solver, which enables it to solve problems with large deformations, nonlinear material behavior, and contact. It also has a versatile library of continuum and structural elements, and an extensive library of material models. Adagio is written for parallel computing environments, and its solvers allow for scalable solutions of very large problems. Adagio uses the SIERRA Framework, which allows for coupling with other SIERRA mechanics codes. This document describes the functionality and input structure for Adagio.

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been researching the application of solid-oxide electrolysis cells for large-scale hydrogen production from steam over a temperature range of 800 to 900ºC. From 2003 – 2009, this work was sponsored by the DOE Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative (NHI). Starting in 2010, the HTE research program has been sponsored by the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program. HTSE research priorities in FY10 are centered on understanding and reducing cell and stack performance degradation to an acceptable level to advance the technology readiness level of HTSE and to justify further large-scale demonstration activities. This report provides a summary of our FY10 experimental program, which has been focused on advanced cell and stack development and degradation studies. Advanced cell and stack development activities are under way at five technology partners: MSRI, Versa Power, Ceramatec, NASA Glenn, and St. Gobain. Performance evaluation of the advanced technology cells and stacks has been performed by the technology partners, by MIT and the University of Connecticut and at the INL HTE Laboratory. Summaries of these development activities and test results are presented.

Rising global energy demands coupled with increased environmental concerns point to one solution; they must reduce their dependence on fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases. As the global community faces the challenge of maintaining sovereign nation security, reducing greenhouse gases, and addressing climate change nuclear power will play a significant and likely growing role. In the US, nuclear energy already provides approximately one-fifth of the electricity used to power factories, offices, homes, and schools with 104 operating nuclear power plants, located at 65 sites in 31 states. Additionally, 19 utilities have applied to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for construction and operating licenses for 26 new reactors at 17 sites. This planned growth of nuclear power is occurring worldwide and has been termed the 'nuclear renaissance.' As major industrial nations craft their energy future, there are several important factors that must be considered about nuclear energy: (1) it has been proven over the last 40 years to be safe, reliable and affordable (good for Economic Security); (2) its technology and fuel can be domestically produced or obtained from allied nations (good for Energy Security); and (3) it is nearly free of greenhouse gas emissions (good for Environmental Security). Already …

The exploration of planetary surfaces and atmospheres may be enhanced by increasing the range and mobility of a science platform. Fundamentally, power production and availability of resources are limiting factors that must be considered for all science and exploration missions. A novel power and propulsion system is considered and discussed with reference to a long-range Mars surface exploration mission with in-situ resource utilization. Significance to applications such as sample return missions is also considered. Key material selections for radioisotope encapsulation techniques are presented.

With the U.S. experimental effort in HEP largely located at laboratories supporting the operations of large, highly specialized accelerators, colliding beam facilities, and detector facilities, the understanding and prediction of high energy particle accelerators becomes critical to the success, overall, of the DOE HEP program. One area in which small businesses can contribute to the ongoing success of the U.S. program in HEP is through innovations in computer techniques and sophistication in the modeling of high-energy accelerators. Accelerator modeling at these facilities is performed by experts with the product generally highly specific and representative only of in-house accelerators or special-interest accelerator problems. Development of new types of accelerators like FFAGs with their wide choices of parameter modifications, complicated fields, and the simultaneous need to efficiently handle very large emittance beams requires the availability of new simulation environments to assure predictability in operation. In this, ease of use and interfaces are critical to realizing a successful model, or optimization of a new design or working parameters of machines. In Phase I, various core modules for the design and analysis of FFAGs were developed and Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) have been investigated instead of the more general yet less easily manageable console-type …

An expert opinion elicitation has been used to evaluate phenomena that could affect releases of radionuclides during accidents at sodium-cooled fast reactors. The intent was to identify research needed to develop a mechanistic model of radionuclide release for licensing and risk assessment purposes. Experts from the USA, France, the European Union, and Japan identified phenomena that could affect the release of radionuclides under hypothesized accident conditions. They qualitatively evaluated the importance of these phenomena and the need for additional experimental research. The experts identified seven phenomena that are of high importance and have a high need for additional experimental research: High temperature release of radionuclides from fuel during an energetic event<U+F0B7>Energetic interactions between molten reactor fuel and sodium coolant and associated transfer of radionuclides from the fuel to the coolant<U+F0B7>Entrainment of fuel and sodium bond material during the depressurization of a fuel rod with breached cladding<U+F0B7>Rates of radionuclide leaching from fuel by liquid sodium<U+F0B7>Surface enrichment of sodium pools by dissolved and suspended radionuclides<U+F0B7>Thermal decomposition of sodium iodide in the containment atmosphere<U+F0B7>Reactions of iodine species in the containment to form volatile organic iodides. Other issues of high importance were identified that might merit further research as development of the mechanistic model …

The U.S. military uses large amounts of fuel during deployments and battlefield operations. This project sought to develop a lightweight, small form-factor, soldier-portable advanced thermoelectric (TE) system prototype to recover and convert waste heat from various deployed military equipment (i.e., diesel generators/engines, incinerators, vehicles, and potentially mobile kitchens), with the ultimate purpose of producing power for soldier battery charging, advanced capacitor charging, and other battlefield power applications. The technical approach employed microchannel technology, a unique “power panel” approach to heat exchange/TE system integration, and newly-characterized LAST (lead-antimony-silver-telluride) and LASTT (lead-antimony-silver-tin-telluride) TE materials segmented with bismuth telluride TE materials in designing a segmented-element TE power module and system. This project researched never-before-addressed system integration challenges (thermal expansion, thermal diffusion, electrical interconnection, thermal and electrical interfaces) of designing thin “power panels” consisting of alternating layers of thin, microchannel heat exchangers (hot and cold) sandwiching thin, segmented-element TE power generators. The TE properties, structurally properties, and thermal fatigue behavior of LAST and LASTT materials were developed and characterized such that the first segmented-element TE modules using LAST / LASTT materials were fabricated and tested at hot-side temperatures = 400 °C and cold-side temperatures = 40 °C. LAST / LASTT materials were successfully segmented …

Legacy computational reactor physics software tools and protocols currently used for support of Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) core fuel management and safety assurance and, to some extent, experiment management are obsolete, inconsistent with the state of modern nuclear engineering practice, and are becoming increasingly difficult to properly verify and validate (V&V). Furthermore, the legacy staff knowledge required for application of these tools and protocols from the 1960s and 1970s is rapidly being lost due to staff turnover and retirements. In 2009 the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) initiated a focused effort to address this situation through the introduction of modern high-fidelity computational software and protocols, with appropriate V&V, within the next 3-4 years via the ATR Core Modeling and Simulation and V&V Update (or “Core Modeling Update”) Project. This aggressive computational and experimental campaign will have a broad strategic impact on the operation of the ATR, both in terms of improved computational efficiency and accuracy for support of ongoing DOE programs as well as in terms of national and international recognition of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF).

Some remarks are made about the use of modern statistical formalism in the calculation of the zonal-flow growth rate and the backreaction of zonal flows on drift waves.