The objective of this study is to determine whether a safeguards approach can be developed for “black box” processes or facilities. These are facilities where a State or operator may limit IAEA access to specific processes or portions of a facility; in other cases, the IAEA may be prohibited access to the entire facility. The determination of whether a black box process or facility is safeguardable is dependent upon the details of the process type, design, and layout; the specific limitations on inspector access; and the restrictions placed upon the design information that can be provided to the IAEA. This analysis identified the necessary conditions for safeguardability of black box processes and facilities.

None

None

The 6th Pathways, Networks and Systems Medicine Conference was held at the Minoa Palace Conference Center, Chania, Crete, Greece (16-21 June 2008). The Organizing Committee was composed of Joe Nadeau (CWRU, Cleveland), Rudi Balling (German Research Centre, Brauschweig), David Galas (Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle), Lee Hood (Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle), Diane Isonaka (Seattle), Fotis Kafatos (Imperial College, London), John Lambris (Univ. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia),Harris Lewin (Univ. of Indiana, Urbana-Champaign), Edison Liu (Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore), and Shankar Subramaniam (Univ. California, San Diego). A total of 101 individuals from 21 countries participated in the conference: USA (48), Canada (5), France (5), Austria (4), Germany (3), Italy (3), UK (3), Greece (2), New Zealand (2), Singapore (2), Argentina (1), Australia (1), Cuba (1), Denmark (1), Japan (1), Mexico (1), Netherlands (1), Spain (1), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1). With respect to speakers, 29 were established faculty members and 13 were graduate students or postdoctoral fellows. With respect to gender representation, among speakers, 13 were female and 28 were male, and among all participants 43 were female and 58 were male. Program these included the following topics: Cancer Pathways and Networks (Day 1), Metabolic Disease Networks (Day 2), Day 3 ? Organs, …

None

None

None

This is the final report for AmeriFlux QA/QC at Oregon State University. The major objective of this project is to contribute to the AmeriFlux network by continuing to build consistency in AmeriFlux measurements by addressing objectives stated in the AmeriFlux strategic plan and self evaluation, the North American Carbon Program, and the US Carbon Cycle Science Program. The project directly contributes to NACP and CCSP goals to establish an integrated, near-real time network of observations to inform climate change science.

None

None

None

None

None

None

The NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) is a reactor-laboratory complex providing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the nation with a world-class facility for the performance of neutron-based research. The heart of this facility is the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR). The NBSR is a heavy water moderated and cooled reactor operating at 20 MW. It is fueled with high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel elements. A Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) program is underway to convert the reactor to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This program includes the qualification of the proposed fuel, uranium and molybdenum alloy foil clad in an aluminum alloy, and the development of the fabrication techniques. This report is a planning document for the conversion Safety Analysis Report (SAR) that would be submitted to, and approved by, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before the reactor could be converted.This report follows the recommended format and content from the NRC codified in NUREG-1537, “Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-power Reactors,” Chapter 18, “Highly Enriched to Low-Enriched Uranium Conversions.” The emphasis herein is on the SAR chapters that require significant changes as a result of conversion, primarily Chapter 4, Reactor Description, …

The purpose of the Caldwell Ranch Exploration and Confirmation Project was to drill, test, and confirm the present economic viability of the undeveloped geothermal reservoir in the 870 acre Caldwell Ranch area of the Northwest Geysers that included the CCPA No.1 steam field. All of the drilling, logging, and sampling challenges were met. � Three abandoned wells, Prati 5, Prati 14 and Prati 38 were re-opened and recompleted to nominal depths of 10,000 feet in 2010. Two of the wells required sidetracking. � The flow tests indicated Prati 5 Sidetrack 1 (P-5 St1), Prati 14 (P-14) and Prati 38 Sidetrack 2 (P-38 St2) were collectively capable of initially producing an equivalent of 12 megawatts (MWe) of steam using a conversion rate of 19,000 pounds of steam/hour

None

None

This study examines how existing U.S. refining infrastructure matches in geography and processing capability with the needs projected from anticipated biofuels production. Key findings include:  a potential shortfall in both overall hydrotreating capacity and hydrogen production capacity in refineries to manage the conversion of certain bio-derived feedstocks having high oxygen contents;  a regional concentration of anticipated biofuel resources, placing added stress in particular refining regions (e.g. the Gulf Coast);  uncertainties surrounding the impact of bio-derived fuel intermediates on the refiner’s ability to meet product performance and product quantity demands, and the need for better and more comprehensive chemical composition information;  the need for considerably more data and experience on the behavior of projected biofuels feedstocks in refining processes (e.g. impacts on process performance and reliability);  and the need to examine the optimum capital investment locations for additional processing equipment. For example, whether it is better to further refine biofuels at the new production sites, in centralized biofuel "depots", or whether the existing refining facilities should be expanded to better handle a more 'raw' biofuel.

Thermal energy storage systems using phase change materials were evaluated for trough systems that use oil, steam, and high temperature salts as heat transfer fluids. A variety of eutectic salts and metal alloys were considered as phase change materials in a cascaded arrangement. Literature values of specific heat, latent heat, density, and other thermophysical properties were used in initial analyses. Testing laboratories were contracted to measure properties for candidate materials for comparison to the literature and for updating the models. A TRNSYS model from Phase 1 was further developed for optimizing the system, including a novel control algorithm. A concept for increasing the bulk thermal conductivity of the phase change system was developed using expanded metal sheets. Outside companies were contracted to design and cost systems using platecoil heat exchangers immersed in the phase change material. Laboratory evaluations of the one-dimensional and three-dimensional behavior of expanded metal sheets in a low conductivity medium were used to optimize the amount of thermal conductivity enhancement. The thermal energy storage systems were compared to baseline conventional systems. The best phase change system found in this project, which was for the high temperature plant, had a projected cost of $25.2 per kWhth, The best …

The use of fillers in printing and writing papers has become a prerequisite for competing in a global market to reduce the cost of materials. Use of calcium carbonates (ranging from 18% to 30%) as filler is a common practice in the paper industry but the choices of fillers for each type of papers vary widely according to its use. The market for uncoated digital printing paper is one that continues to introduce exciting growth projections. and it is important to understand the effect that new manufacturing methods of calcium carbonates have on the energy efficiency and paper production. Research conducted under this award showed that the new fiber filler composite material has the potential to increase the paper filler content by up to 5% without losing mechanical properties. Benefits of the technology can be summarized as follows for a 1% filler increase per metric ton of paper produced: (i) production cost savings over $12, (ii) Energy savings of 100,900 btu, (iii) CO{sub 2} emission savings of 33 lbs, and additional savings for wood preparation, pulping, recovery of 203593 btu with a 46lbs of CO{sub 2} emission savings per 1% filler increase. In addition the technology has the potential to …

Methods and algorithms are developed to enable the accurate analysis of problems that exhibit interacting physical processes with uncertainties. These uncertainties can pertain either to each of the physical processes or to the manner in which they depend on each others. These problems are cast within a polynomial chaos framework and their solution then involves either solving a large system of algebraic equations or a high dimensional numerical quadrature. In both cases, the curse of dimensionality is manifested. Procedures are developed for the efficient evaluation of the resulting linear equations that advantage of the block sparse structure of these equations, resulting in a block recursive Schur complement construction. In addition, embedded quadratures are constructed that permit the evaluation of very high-dimensional integrals using low-dimensional quadratures adapted to particular quantities of interest. The low-dimensional integration is carried out in a transformed measure space in which the quantity of interest is low-dimensional. Finally, a procedure is also developed to discover a low-dimensional manifold, embedded in the initial high-dimensional one, in which scalar quantities of interest exist. This approach permits the functional expression of the reduced space in terms of the original space, thus permitting cross-scale sensitivity analysis.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) performed experiments on qualification material for use in the Interim Salt Disposition Program (ISDP) Batch 6 processing. This qualification material was a set of six samples from Tank 21H in October 2012. This sample was used as a real waste demonstration of the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) and the Extraction-Scrub-Strip (ESS) tests process. The Tank 21H sample was contacted with a reduced amount (0.2 g/L) of MST and characterized for strontium and actinide removal at 0 and 8 hour time intervals in this salt batch. {sup 237}Np and {sup 243}Am were both observed to be below detection limits in the source material, and so these results are not reported in this report. The plutonium and uranium samples had decontamination factor (DF) values that were on par or slightly better than we expected from Batch 5. The strontium DF values are slightly lower than expected but still in an acceptable range. The Extraction, Scrub, and Strip (ESS) testing demonstrated cesium removal, stripping and scrubbing within the acceptable range. Overall, the testing indicated that cesium removal is comparable to prior batches at MCU.

This report provides the results of an extent of condition construction history review for tanks 241-SY-101, 241-SY-102, and 241-SY-103. The construction history of the 241-SY tank farm has been reviewed to identify issues similar to those experienced during tank 241-AY-102 construction. Those issues and others impacting integrity are discussed based on information found in available construction records, using tank 241-AY-102 as the comparison benchmark. In the 241-SY tank farm, the third DST farm constructed, refractory quality and stress relief were improved, while similar tank and liner fabrication issues remained.