Using spectroscopic data produced in the experimental investigations of bulk systems, including X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS), Photoelectron Spectroscopy (PES) and Bremstrahlung Isochromat Spectroscopy (BIS), the theoretical results within for UO{sub 2}{sup 6}, PuO{sub 2}{sup 6} and Pu{sup 7} clusters have been evaluated. The calculations of the electronic structure of the clusters have been performed within the framework of the Relativistic Discrete-Variational Method (RDV). The comparisons between the LLNL experimental data and the Russian calculations are quite favorable. The cluster calculations may represent a new and useful avenue to address unresolved questions within the field of actinide electron structure, particularly that of Pu. Observation of the changes in the Pu electronic structure as a function of size suggests interesting implications for bulk Pu electronic structure.

The research conducted in this work package is aimed at taking advantage of the long term thermodynamic stability of crystalline ceramics to create more durable waste forms (as compared to high level waste glass) in order to reduce the reliance on engineered and natural barrier systems. Durable ceramic waste forms that incorporate a wide range of radionuclides have the potential to broaden the available disposal options and to lower the storage and disposal costs associated with advanced fuel cycles. Assemblages of several titanate phases have been successfully demonstrated to incorporate radioactive waste elements, and the multiphase nature of these materials allows them to accommodate variation in the waste composition. Recent work has shown that they can be successfully produced from a melting and crystallization process. The objective of this report is to explain the design of ceramic host systems culminating in a reference ceramic formulation for use in subsequent studies on process optimization and melt property data assessment in support of FY13 melter demonstration testing. The waste stream used as the basis for the development and testing is a combination of the projected Cs/Sr separated stream, the Trivalent Actinide - Lanthanide Separation by Phosphorous reagent Extraction from Aqueous Komplexes (TALSPEAK) …

The Langevin equations describing the average collisional dynamics of suprathermal particles in nonstationary plasma remarkably admit an exact analytical solution in the case of recombining plasma. The current density produced by arbitrary particle fluxes is derived including the effect of charge recombination. Since recombination has the effect of lowering the charge density of the plasma, thus reducing the charged particle collisional frequencies, the evolution of the current density can be modified substantially compared to plasma with fixed charge density. The current drive efficiency is derived and optimized for discrete and continuous pulses of current, leading to the discovery of a nonzero "residual" current density that persists indefinitely under certain conditions, a feature not present in stationary plasmas.

This report was prepared by PNNL for DOE's Building America program and is intended as a guide that energy performance contractors can share with homeowners to describe various insulation options for improving the energy performance and comfort of existing homes. The report provides descriptions of many common insulation types, including their advantages and disadvantages, R-values, characteristics, and typical uses. The report also describes potentially hazardous products such as asbestos and formaldehyde and safety issues when conducting energy-efficient upgrades including radon. The guide is available for download at the DOE Building America website, www.buildingamerica.gov.

We present the first single-shot images of ferromagnetic, nanoscale spin order taken with femtosecond x-ray pulses. X-ray-induced electron and spin dynamics can be outrun with pulses shorter than 80 fs in the investigated fluence regime, and no permanent aftereffects in the samples are observed below a fluence of 25 mJ/cm{sup 2}. Employing resonant spatially-muliplexed x-ray holography results in a low imaging threshold of 5 mJ/cm{sup 2}. Our results open new ways to combine ultrafast laser spectroscopy with sequential snapshot imaging on a single sample, generating a movie of excited state dynamics.

The effects of partial ionization (ni/nn ≤ 1%) on magnetic reconnection in the Hall regime have been studied systematically in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX). It is shown that, when neutrals are added the Hall quadrupole field pattern and thus electron flow is unchanged while the ion outflow speed is reduced due to ion-neutral drag. However, in constrast to theoretical predictions, the ion diffusion layer width does not change appreciably. Therefore, the total ion outflow flux and the normalized reconnection rate are reduced.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complex has a surplus of classified legacy weapon components generated over the years with no direct path for disposal. The majority of the components have been held for uncertainty of future use or no identified method of sanitization or disposal. As more weapons are retired, there is an increasing need to reduce the amount of components currently in storage or on hold. A process is currently underway to disposition and dispose of the legacy/retired weapons components across the DOE complex.

The Navajo Hopi Land Commission Office (NHLCO), a Navajo Nation executive branch agency has conducted activities to determine capacity-building, institution-building, outreach and management activities to initiate the development of large-scale renewable energy - 100 megawatt (MW) or larger - generating projects on land in Northwestern New Mexico in the first year of a multi-year program. The Navajo Hopi Land Commission Renewable Energy Development Project (NREP) is a one year program that will develop and market a strategic business plan; form multi-agency and public-private project partnerships; compile site-specific solar, wind and infrastructure data; and develop and use project communication and marketing tools to support outreach efforts targeting the public, vendors, investors and government audiences.

The dynamics of an order parameter's amplitude and phase determines the collective behaviour of novel states emerging in complex materials. Time- and momentum-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy, by virtue of measuring material properties at atomic and electronic time scales out of equilibrium, can decouple entangled degrees of freedom by visualizing their corresponding dynamics in the time domain. Here we combine time-resolved femotosecond optical and resonant X-ray diffraction measurements on charge ordered La{sub 1.75}Sr{sub 0.25}NiO{sub 4} to reveal unforeseen photoinduced phase fluctuations of the charge order parameter. Such fluctuations preserve long-range order without creating topological defects, distinct from thermal phase fluctuations near the critical temperature in equilibrium. Importantly, relaxation of the phase fluctuations is found to be an order of magnitude slower than that of the order parameter's amplitude fluctuations, and thus limits charge order recovery. This new aspect of phase fluctuations provides a more holistic view of the phase's importance in ordering phenomena of quantum matter.

With the shutdown of the Tevatron, the T-980 crystal collimation experiment at Fermilab has been successfully completed. Results of dedicated beam studies in May 2011 are described in this paper. For these studies, two multi-strip crystals were installed in the vertical goniometer and an O-shaped crystal installed in a horizontal goniometer. A two-plane CMS pixel detector was also installed in order to enhance the experiment with the capability to image the profile of crystal channeled or multiple volume reflected beam. The experiment successfully imaged channeled beam from a crystal for 980-GeV protons for the first time. This new enhanced hardware yielded impressive results. The performance and characterization of the crystals studied have been very reproducible over time and consistent with simulations.

We performed resonant soft X-ray diffraction on known charge density wave (CDW) compounds, rare earth tri-tellurides. Near the M{sub 5} (3d - 4f) absorption edge of rare earth ions, an intense diffraction peak is detected at a wavevector identical to that of CDW state hosted on Te{sub 2} planes, indicating a CDW-induced modulation on the rare earth ions. Surprisingly, the temperature dependence of the diffraction peak intensity demonstrates an exponential increase at low temperatures, vastly different than that of the CDW order parameter. Assuming 4f multiplet splitting due to the CDW states, we present a model to calculate X-ray absorption spectrum and resonant profile of the diffraction peak, agreeing well with experimental observations. Our results demonstrate a situation where the temperature dependence of resonant X-ray diffraction peak intensity is not directly related to the intrinsic behavior of the order parameter associated with the electronic order, but is dominated by the thermal occupancy of the valence states.

Through an inter-disciplinary effort, DOE is addressing a need to advance monitoring approaches from sole reliance on cost- and labor-intensive point-source monitoring to integrated systems-based approaches such as flux-based approaches and the use of early indicator parameters. Key objectives include identifying current scientific, technical and implementation opportunities and challenges, prioritizing science and technology strategies to meet current needs within the DOE complex for the most challenging environments, and developing an integrated and risk-informed monitoring framework.

Fermilab's Recycler ring was used as a storage ring for accumulation and subsequent manipulations of 8 GeV antiprotons destined for the Tevatron collider. To satisfy these missions, a unique electron cooling system was designed, developed and successfully implemented. The most important features that distinguish the Recycler cooler from other existing electron coolers are its relativistic energy, 4.3 MV combined with 0.1-0.5 A DC beam current, a weak continuous longitudinal magnetic field in the cooling section, 100 G, and lumped focusing elsewhere. With the termination of the Tevatron collider operation, so did the cooler. In this article, we summarize the experience of running this unique machine.

Groundwater beneath T-Area, a former laboratory and semiworks operation at the Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS), is contaminated by chlorinated solvents (cVOCs). Since the contamination was detected in the 1980s, the cVOCs at T-Area have been treated by a combination of soil vapor extraction and groundwater pump and treat. The site received approval to temporarily discontinue the active groundwater treatment and implement a treatability study of enhanced attenuation - an engineering and regulatory strategy that has recently been developed by DOE and the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC 2007). Enhanced attenuation uses active engineering solutions to alter the target site in such a way that the contaminant plume will passively stabilize and shrink and to document that the action will be effective, timely, and sustainable. The paradigm recognizes that attenuation remedies are fundamentally based on a mass balance. Thus, long-term plume dynamics can be altered either by reducing the contaminant loading from the source or by increasing the rate of natural attenuation processes within all, or part of, the plume volume. The combination of technologies that emerged for T-Area included: (1) neat (pure) vegetable oil deployment in the deep vadose zone in the former source area, …

The focus of this meeting is on recent advances in science and engineering of plasmonic optics and its applications in the design of novel devices and components. The impacts of plasmonic phenomena on other disciplines such as chemistry, biology, medicine and engineering will also be discussed.

The 2009 and 2012 International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC) yield positive benefits for Alabama homeowners. Moving to either the 2009 or 2012 IECC from the 2006 IECC is cost effective over a 30-year life cycle. On average, Alabama homeowners will save $2,117 over 30 years under the 2009 IECC, with savings still higher at $6,182 with the 2012 IECC. After accounting for upfront costs and additional costs financed in the mortgage, homeowners should see net positive cash flows (i.e., cumulative savings exceeding cumulative cash outlays) in 2 years for both the 2009 and 2012 IECC. Average annual energy savings are $168 for the 2009 IECC and $462 for the 2012 IECC.

The 2009 and 2012 International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC) yield positive benefits for Arkansas homeowners. Moving to either the 2009 or 2012 IECC from the 2006 IECC is cost effective over a 30-year life cycle. On average, Arkansas homeowners will save $1,948 over 30 years under the 2009 IECC, with savings still higher at $6,679 with the 2012 IECC. After accounting for upfront costs and additional costs financed in the mortgage, homeowners should see net positive cash flows (i.e., cumulative savings exceeding cumulative cash outlays) in 2 years for the 2009 and 1 year for the 2012 IECC. Average annual energy savings are $147 for the 2009 IECC and $466 for the 2012 IECC.

The parameters of the ITER core plasmas will be measured using the Core Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS), a high-resolution crystal spectrometer focusing on the L-shell spectra of highly ionized tungsten atoms. In order to correctly infer the plasma properties accurate atomic data are required. Here, some aspects of the underlying physics are discussed using experimental data and theoretical predictions from modeling.

Abstract: Atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons during the 1950s and early 1960s doubled the concentration of carbon-14 in the atmosphere and created a pulse that labeled everything alive since 1955 as carbon moved up the food chain. The variation in carbon-14 concentration in time is well-documented and can be used to chronologically date all biological materials since the mid-1950s.

The GreenRay Inc. program focused on simplifying solar electricity and making it affordable and accessible to the mainstream population. This was accomplished by integrating a solar module, micro-inverter, mounting and monitoring into a reliable, 'plug and play' AC system for residential rooftops, offering the following advantages: (1) Reduced Cost: Reduction in installation labor with fewer components, faster mounting, faster wiring. (2) Maximized Energy Production: Each AC Module operates at its maximum, reducing overall losses from shading, mismatch, or module downtime. (3) Increased Safety. Electrical and fire safety experts agree that AC Modules have significant benefits, with no energized wiring or live connections during installation, maintenance or emergency conditions. (4) Simplified PV for a Broader Group of Installers. Dramatic simplification of design and installation of a solar power system, enabling faster and more efficient delivery of the product into the market through well-established, mainstream channels. This makes solar more accessible to the public. (5) Broadened the Rooftop Market: AC Modules enable solar for many homes that have shading, split roofs, or obstructions. In addition, due to the smaller building block size of 200W vs. 1000W, homeowners with budget limitations can start small and add to their systems over time. Through this …

The National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) will operate at an axial toroidal field of up to 1 T, about twice the field available on NSTX. A 28 GHz electron cylotron resonance heating (ECRH) system is currently being planned for NSTX-U. A 1 MW 28 GHz gyrotron will be employed. Intially the system will use short, 10-50 ms, 1 MW pulses for ECRH-assisted discharge start-up. Later the pulse length will be extended to 1-5 s to study electron Bernstein wave heating (EBWH) during the plasma current flat top. A mirror launcher will be used to couple microwave power to the plasma via O-mode to the slow X-mode to EBW (O-X-B) double mode conversion. This paper presents a pre-conceptual design for the ECRH/EBWH system proposed for NSTX-U and includes ray tracing and Fokker-Planck modeling results for 28 GHz ECRH during plasma start-up and EBW heating and current drive during the plasma current flattop of a NSTX-U advanced H-mode plasma scenario.

Alpha channeling in tokamaks is speculative, but also extraordinarily attractive. Waves that can accomplish this effect have been identified. Key aspects of the theory now enjoy experimental confirmation. This paper will review the elementary processes of wave-particle interactions in plasma that underlie the alpha channeling effect

The expression for the overlap, Equation (1) in the published article at Nuclear Fusion 51 (2011) 023003, was incorrect and should be replaced by (SEE PAPER)

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