This report documents progress made on all LDRD-funded projects during fiscal year 2012.

The MPACT-funded Lead Slowing Down Spectrometry (LSDS) project has been evaluating the feasibility of using LSDS techniques to assay fissile isotopes in used nuclear fuel assemblies. The approach has the potential to provide considerable improvement in the assay of fissile isotopic masses in fuel assemblies compared to other non-destructive techniques in a direct and independent manner. The LSDS collaborations suggests that the next step to in empirically testing the feasibility is to conduct measurements on fresh fuel assemblies to understand investigate self-attenuation and fresh mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel rodlets so we may betterto understand extraction of masses for 235U and 239Pu. While progressing toward these goals, the collaboration also strongly suggests the continued development of enabling technology such as detector development and algorithm development, thatwhich could provide significant performance benefits.

The transient deflagration code DPAC (Deflagration Pressure Analysis Code) has been upgraded for use in modeling hydrogen deflagration transients. The upgraded code is benchmarked using data from vented hydrogen deflagration tests conducted at the HYDRO-SC Test Facility at the University of Pisa. DPAC originally was written to calculate peak deflagration pressures for deflagrations in radioactive waste storage tanks and process facilities at the Savannah River Site. Upgrades include the addition of a laminar flame speed correlation for hydrogen deflagrations and a mechanistic model for turbulent flame propagation, incorporation of inertial effects during venting, and inclusion of the effect of water vapor condensation on vessel walls. In addition, DPAC has been coupled with CEA, a NASA combustion chemistry code. The deflagration tests are modeled as end-to-end deflagrations. The improved DPAC code successfully predicts both the peak pressures during the deflagration tests and the times at which the pressure peaks.

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DOE has enabled the use of coating materials using low cost application methods on light sources to positively affect the output of those sources. The coatings and light source combinations have shown increased lumen output of LED fixtures (1.5%-2.0%), LED arrays (1.4%) and LED powered remote phosphor systems – Philips L-Prize lamp (0.9%). We have also demonstrated lifetime enhancements (3000 hrs vs 8000 hrs) and shifting to higher CRI (51 to 65) in metal halide high intensity discharge lamps with metal oxide coatings. The coatings on LEDs and LED products are significant as the market is moving increasingly more towards LED technology. Enhancements in LED performance are demonstrated in this work through the use of available materials and low cost application processes. EFOI used low refractive index fluoropolymers and low cost dipping processes for application of the material to surfaces related to light transmission of LEDs and LED products. Materials included Teflon AF, an amorphous fluorinated polymer and fluorinated acrylic monomers. The DOE SSL Roadmap sets goals for LED performance moving into the future. EFOI’s coating technology is a means to shift the performance curve for LEDs. This is not limited to one type of LED, but is relevant across …

Packaging options are evaluated for compliance with safety requirements for shipment of mixed actinide oxides packaged in a 9975 Primary Containment Vessel (PCV). Radiolytic gas generation rates, PCV internal gas pressures, and shipping windows (times to reach unacceptable gas compositions or pressures after closure of the PCV) are calculated for shipment of a 9975 PCV containing a plastic bottle filled with plutonium and uranium oxides with a selected isotopic composition. G-values for radiolytic hydrogen generation from adsorbed moisture are estimated from the results of gas generation tests for plutonium oxide and uranium oxide doped with curium-244. The radiolytic generation of hydrogen from the plastic bottle is calculated using a geometric model for alpha particle deposition in the bottle wall. The temperature of the PCV during shipment is estimated from the results of finite element heat transfer analyses.

Two patches of Columbian yellowcress on the Hanford Reach were visited in both 2011 and 2012 to compare ramet counts between years: near Allerd Pumphouse (Rkm 615.4) and near White Bluffs Boat Launch (Rkm 593.3) (Figure 3). In 2012, the population near Allerd Pumphouse had 45 ramets present within a 5x3 m area. At the same population in 2011, there were 60 ramets. In 2012, the population near White Bluffs Boat Launch had 105 ramets in a 2x2 m area. At the same population in 2011, there were 100 ramets. This data shows that while annual variability does exist, ramet counts were relatively similar from 2011 to 2012. This is likely due to the similar flow regimes of 2011 and 2012, which both had above average snowpack, high flows, and extended spring flooding seasons. A total of 19.6 miles (31.5 km) of the Hanford shoreline were surveyed in 2012, with ten patches identified and approximately 1,250 ramets counted. It is not known how many individual plants this count represents due to the rhizomatous nature of the species. Two of these sites were identified previously in the WNHP database, and the remaining eight were newly identified locations. Eleven of the ramets …

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Hanford is investigating the Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming (FBSR) process for their Low Activity Waste. The FBSR process offers a low-temperature continuous method by which liquid waste can be processed with the addition of clay into a sodium aluminosilicate (NAS) waste form. The NAS waste form is mainly comprised of nepheline (NaAlSiO{sub 4}), sodalite (Na{sub 8}[AlSiO{sub 4}]{sub 6}Cl{sub 2}), and nosean (Na{sub 8}[AlSiO{sub 4}]{sub 6}SO{sub 4}). Anions such as perrhenate (ReO{sub 4}{sup -}), pertechnetate (TcO{sub 4}{sup -}), and iodine (I{sup -}) are expected to replace sulfate in the nosean structure and/or chloride in the sodalite mineral structure (atomically bonded inside the aluminosilicate cages that these mineral structures possess). In the FBSR waste form, each of these phases can exist in a variety of solid solutions that differ from the idealized forms observed in single crystals in nature. The lack of understanding of the durability of these stoichiometric or idealized mineral phases complicates the ability to deconvolute the durability of the mixed phase FBSR product since it is a combination of different NAS phases. To better understand the behavior, fabrication and testing of the individual phases of the FBSR product is required. Analytical Development (AD) of the Science and Technology directorate …

In Hanford underground waste storage tanks, a typical waste configuration is settled beds of waste particles beneath liquid layers. The settled beds are typically composed of layers, and these layers can have different physical and chemical properties. One postulated configuration within the settled bed is a less-dense layer beneath a more-dense layer. The different densities can be a result of different gas retention in the layers or different degrees of settling and compaction in the layers. This configuration can experience a Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability where the less dense lower layer rises into the upper layer. Previous studies of gas retention and release have not considered potential buoyant motion within a settle bed of solids. The purpose of this report is to provide a review of RT instabilities, discuss predictions of RT behavior for sediment layers, and summarize preliminary experimental observations of RT instabilities in simulant experiments.

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Muon accelerators hold great promise for the future of high energy physics and their construction can be staged to support a broad physics program. Great progress was made over the past decade toward developing the technology for muon beam cooling which is one of the main challenges for building such facilities.

Progress is reported on 20 different projects in a wide variety of areas ranging from nuclear chemistry and radiation detection to energy storage and renewable energy.

This document describes a systematic method to develop flow rate recommendations for Pump-and-Treat (P&T) extraction and injection wells in 100-KR-4 and 100-HR-3 Groundwater Operable Units (OU) of the Hanford Site. Flow rate recommendations are developed as part of ongoing performance monitoring and remedy optimization of the P&T interim actions to develop hydraulic contairnnent of the dissolved chromium plume in groundwater and protect the Columbia River from further discharges of groundwater from inland. This document details the methodology and data required to infer the influence of individual wells near the shoreline on hydraulic containment and river protection and develop flow rate recommendations to improve system performance and mitigate potential shortcomings of the system configuration in place.

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We report on the use of the recently-developed Mathematica package VEST (Vector Einstein Summation Tools) to automatically derive the guiding center transformation. Our Mathematica code employs a recursive procedure to derive the transformation order-by-order. This procedure has several novel features. (1) It is designed to allow the user to easily explore the guiding center transformation's numerous nonunique forms or representations. (2) The procedure proceeds entirely in cartesian position and velocity coordinates, thereby producing manifestly gyrogauge invariant results; the commonly-used perpendicular unit vector fields e1, e2 are never even introduced. (3) It is easy to apply in the derivation of higher-order contributions to the guiding center transformation without fear of human error. Our code therefore stands as a useful tool for exploring subtle issues related to the physics of toroidal momentum conservation in tokamaks

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The Saltstone facilities at the DOE Savannah River Site (SRS) stabilize and dispose of low-level radioactive salt solution originating from liquid waste storage tanks at the site. The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives treated salt solution and mixes the aqueous waste with dry cement, blast furnace slag, and fly ash to form a grout slurry which is mechanically pumped into concrete disposal cells that compose the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF). The solidified grout is termed “saltstone”. Cementitious materials play a prominent role in the design and long-term performance of the SDF. The saltstone grout exhibits low permeability and diffusivity, and thus represents a physical barrier to waste release. The waste form is also reducing, which creates a chemical barrier to waste release for certain key radionuclides, notably Tc-99. Similarly, the concrete shell of an SDF disposal unit (SDU) represents an additional physical and chemical barrier to radionuclide release to the environment. Together the waste form and the SDU compose a robust containment structure at the time of facility closure. However, the physical and chemical state of cementitious materials will evolve over time through a variety of phenomena, leading to degraded barrier performance over Performance Assessment (PA) timescales of thousands to …

Performance degradation due to filament fracture of Nb3 Sn cable-in-conduit conductors (CICCs) is a critical issue in large-scale magnet designs such as ITER which is currently being constructed in the South of France. The critical current observed in most SULTAN TF CICC samples is significantly lower than expected and the voltage-current characteristic is seen to have a much broader transition from a single strand to the CICC. Moreover, most conductors exhibit the irreversible degradation due to filament fracture and strain relaxation under electromagnetic cyclic loading. With recent success in monitoring thermal strain distribution and its evolution under the electromagnetic cyclic loading from in situ measurement of critical temperature, we apply FEMCAM which includes strand filament breakage and local current sharing effects to SULTAN tested CICCs to study Nb3 Sn strain sensitivity and irreversible performance degradation. FEMCAM combines the thermal bending effect during cool down and the EM bending effect due to locally accumulating Lorentz force during magnet operation. It also includes strand filament fracture and related local current sharing for the calculation of cable n value. In this paper, we model continuous performance degradation under EM cyclic loading based on strain relaxation and the transition broadening upon cyclic loading to …