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Annual PSNS non-dry dock storm water monitoring results for 2011-2012 storm season. Included are a brief description of the sampling procedures, storm event information, laboratory methods and data collection, a results and discussion section, and the conclusions and recommendations.

At the time this article was written, new rulemakings were under consideration at OSHA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that would propose changes to occupational exposure limits for beryllium. Given these developments, it’s a good time to review the tools and methods available to IHs for assessing beryllium air and surface contamination in the workplace—what’s new and different, and what’s tried and true. The article discusses limit values and action levels for beryllium, problematic aspects of beryllium air sampling, sample preparation, sample analysis, and data evaluation.

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We have combined, in a single instrument, high spatial resolution optical microscopy with the chemical specificity and conformational selectivity of ion mobility mass spectrometry. We discuss the design and construction of this apparatus as well as our efforts in applying this technique to thin films of molecular semiconductor materials.

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During the previous grant period we have been working on the J-PARC KL E14 (KOTO) experiment with the goal to discover and measure the rate of the rare decay neutral kaons to a pion and two neutrinos. This CP-violating flavor changing neutral current decay proceeds through second-order weak interactions. Other, as yet undiscovered particles, which can mediate the decay could provide an enhancement to the branching ratio, which in the Standard Model predicted to be about 2.80E-11. The experiment is expected to observe 100 events at the Standard Model branching ratio for a 10% measurement. The experiment is a follow-up to E391a at KEK and has been approved as experiment E14 at J-PARC. The main barrel vacuum vessel, the charged veto detectors, and the main barrel photon veto system will be reused from E391a. The main calorimeter has been replaced with Cesium Iodide crystals that are both smaller to provide improved shower reconstruction and longer to prevent energy leakage out of the back of the calorimeter. New trigger and data acquisitions electronics will be used.

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Wyoming has a wealth of primary energy resources in the forms of coal, natural gas, wind, uranium, and oil shale. Most of Wyoming?s coal and gas resources are exported from the state in unprocessed form rather than as refined higher value products. Wyoming?s leadership recognizes the opportunity to broaden the state?s economic base energy resources to make value-added products such as synthetic vehicle fuels and commodity chemicals. Producing these higher value products in an environmentally responsible manner can benefit from the use of clean energy technologies including Wyoming?s abundant wind energy and nuclear energy such as new generation small modular reactors including the high temperature gas-cooled reactors.

We aim to (i) provide data that directly addresses the fundamental roles of actinide valence electrons in chemical bonding, and (ii) serve to provide prototypical data for the heavy element computational chemistry community. These goals will be achieved through the first pure rotational spectroscopic measurements on prototypical systems at ultra-high resolution. These systems encompass low oxidation state uranium and thorium compounds including, but not limited to, UX and ThX, X = F, Cl, Br, I, and UY and ThY, Y = O, S, and other simple U and Th-containing compounds. Our primary experimental tools involve time-domain rotational spectroscopy achieving line widths and resolutions of a few kHz.

Combining contemporary cytogenetic methods with DNA CGH microarray technology and chromosome flow-sorting increases substantially the ability to resolve exchange breakpoints associated with interstitial deletions and translocations, allowing the consequences of radiation damage to be directly measured at low doses, while also providing valuable insights into molecular mechanisms of misrepair processes that, in turn, identify appropriate biophysical models of risk at low doses. The aims of this work apply to cells recovered from 3D tissue constructs of human skin and, for the purpose of comparison, the same cells irradiated in traditional 2D cultures. These aims are: to analyze by multi-flour fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH) the chromosomes in clonal descendents of individual human fibroblasts that were previously irradiated; to examine irradiated clones from Aim 1 for submicroscopic deletions by subjecting their DNA to comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) microarray analysis; and to flow-sort aberrant chromosomes from clones containing stable radiation-induced translocations and map the breakpoints to within an average resolution of 100 kb using the technique of 'array painting'.

Neutron detection is an important aspect of materials protection, accounting, and control for transmutation (MPACT). Currently He-3 filled thermal neutron detectors are utilized in many applications; these detectors require high-voltage bias for operation, which complicates the system when multiple detectors are used. In addition, due to recent increase in homeland security activity and the nuclear renaissance, there is a shortage of He-3, and these detectors become more expensive. Instead, cheap solid-state detectors that can be mass produced like any other computer chips will be developed. The new detector does not require a bias for operation, has low gamma sensitivity, and a fast response. The detection system is based on a honeycomb-like silicon device, which is filled with B-10 as the neutron converter; while a silicon p-n diode (i.e., solar cell type device) formed on the thin silicon wall of the honeycomb structure detects the energetic charged particles emitted from the B-10 conversion layer. Such a detector has ~40% calculated thermal neutron detection efficiency with an overall detector thickness of about 200 ?m. Stacking of these devices allows over 90% thermal neutron detection efficiency. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a high-efficiency, low-noise, self-powered solid-state neutron detector system …

A series of experiments to monitor the aging performance of Viton® GLT O-rings used in the Model 9975 package has been ongoing since 2004 at the Savannah River National Laboratory. Seventy tests using mock-ups of 9975 Primary Containment Vessels (PCVs) were assembled and heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 450 ºF. They were leak-tested initially and have been tested periodically to determine if they meet the criterion of leak-tightness defined in ANSI standard N14.5-97. Fourteen additional tests were initiated in 2008 with GLT-S O-rings heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 400 ºF. High temperature aging continues for 23 GLT O-ring fixtures at 200 – 270 ºF. Room temperature leak test failures have been experienced in all of the GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 350 ºF and higher temperatures, and in 8 fixtures aging at 300 ºF. The remaining GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 300 ºF have been retired from testing following more than 5 years at temperature without failure. No failures have yet been observed in GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 200 ºF for 61 - 85 months, which is still bounding to O-ring temperatures during storage in KArea Complex (KAC). Based on expectations that the fixtures aging …

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ABSTRACT Project Title: Recovery Act: Advanced Direct Methanol Fuel Cell for Mobile Computing PROJECT OBJECTIVE The objective of the project was to advance portable fuel cell system technology towards the commercial targets of power density, energy density and lifetime. These targets were laid out in the DOE’s R&D roadmap to develop an advanced direct methanol fuel cell power supply that meets commercial entry requirements. Such a power supply will enable mobile computers to operate non-stop, unplugged from the wall power outlet, by using the high energy density of methanol fuel contained in a replaceable fuel cartridge. Specifically this project focused on balance-of-plant component integration and miniaturization, as well as extensive component, subassembly and integrated system durability and validation testing. This design has resulted in a pre-production power supply design and a prototype that meet the rigorous demands of consumer electronic applications. PROJECT TASKS The proposed work plan was designed to meet the project objectives, which corresponded directly with the objectives outlined in the Funding Opportunity Announcement: To engineer the fuel cell balance-of-plant and packaging to meet the needs of consumer electronic systems, specifically at power levels required for mobile computing. UNF used existing balance-of-plant component technologies developed under its current …

The 2012 Gordon Conference on Electrodeposition: Electrochemical Materials Synthesis and Applications will present cutting-edge research on electrodeposition with emphasis on (i) advances in basic science, (ii) developments in next-generation technologies, and (iii) new and emerging areas. The Conference will feature a wide range of topics, from atomic scale processes, nucleation and growth, thin film deposition, and electrocrystallization, to applications of electrodeposition in devices including microelectronics, batteries, solar energy, and fuel cells.

The Ecological Monitoring and Compliance Program (EMAC), funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO, formerly Nevada Site Office), monitors the ecosystem of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and ensures compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to NNSS biota. This report summarizes the program’s activities conducted by National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec), during calendar year 2012. Program activities included (a) biological surveys at proposed construction sites, (b) desert tortoise compliance, (c) ecosystem monitoring, (d) sensitive plant species monitoring, (e) sensitive and protected/regulated animal monitoring, (f) habitat restoration monitoring, and (g) monitoring of the Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex (NPTEC). During 2012, all applicable laws, regulations, and permit requirements were met, enabling EMAC to achieve its intended goals and objectives.