There is a need for accurate dosimetry for studies of health effects in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors because of the important role that these studies play in worldwide radiation protection standards. International experts have developed dosimetry systems, such as the Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02), which assess the initial radiation exposure to gamma rays and neutrons but only briefly consider the possibility of some minimal contribution to the total body dose by residual radiation exposure. In recognition of the need for an up-to-date review of the topic of residual radiation exposure in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, recently reported studies were reviewed at a technical session at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society in Sacramento, California, 22-26 July 2012. A one-day workshop was also held to provide time for detailed discussion of these newer studies and to evaluate their potential use in clarifying the residual radiation exposures to the atomic-bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Suggestions for possible future studies are also included in this workshop report.

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At the end of 2012, U.S. wind turbines in distributed applications reached a 10-year cumulative installed capacity of more than 812 MW from more than 69,000 units across all 50 states. In 2012 alone, nearly 3,800 wind turbines totaling 175 MW of distributed wind capacity were documented in 40 states and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with 138 MW using utility-scale turbines (i.e., greater than 1 MW in size), 19 MW using mid-size turbines (i.e., 101 kW to 1 MW in size), and 18.4 MW using small turbines (i.e., up to 100 kW in size). Distributed wind is defined in terms of technology application based on a wind project’s location relative to end-use and power-distribution infrastructure, rather than on technology size or project size. Distributed wind systems are either connected on the customer side of the meter (to meet the onsite load) or directly to distribution or micro grids (to support grid operations or offset large loads nearby). Estimated capacity-weighted average costs for 2012 U.S. distributed wind installations was $2,540/kW for utility-scale wind turbines, $2,810/kW for mid-sized wind turbines, and $6,960/kW for newly manufactured (domestic and imported) small wind turbines. An emerging trend observed in 2012 was an increased use …

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The deformation and fracture toughness properties of forged stainless steels pre-charged with tritium were compared to the deformation and fracture toughness properties of the same steels heat treated at 773 K or 873 K and precharged with hydrogen. Forged stainless steels pre-charged with tritium exhibit an aging effect: Fracture toughness values decrease with aging time after precharging because of the increase in concentration of helium from tritium decay. This study shows that forged stainless steels given a prior heat treatment and then pre-charged with hydrogen also exhibit an aging effect: Fracture toughness values decrease with increasing time at temperature. A microstructural analysis showed that the fracture toughness reduction in the heat-treated steels was due to patches of recrystallized grains that form within the forged matrix during the heat treatment. The combination of hydrogen and the patches of recrystallized grains resulted in more deformation twinning. Heavy deformation twinning on multiple slip planes was typical for the hydrogen-charged samples; whereas, in the non-charged samples, less twinning was observed and was generally limited to one slip plane. Similar effects occur in tritium pre-charged steels, but the deformation twinning is brought on by the hardening associated with decay helium bubbles in the microstructure.

Our contributions to advancing the state‐of‐the‐art in scientific workflows have focused on the following areas: Workflow development; Generic workflow components and templates; Provenance collection and analysis; Workflow reliability and fault tolerance.

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Spectroscopy, kinetics and dynamics of jet cooled hydrocarbon transients relevant to the DOE combustion mission have been explored, exploiting i) high resolution IR lasers, ii) slit discharge sources for formation of jet cooled radicals, and iii) high sensitivity detection with direct laser absorption methods and near the quantum shot noise limit. What makes this combination powerful is that such transients can be made under high concentrations and pressures characteristic of actual combustion conditions, and yet with the resulting species rapidly cooled (T ≈10-15K) in the slit supersonic expansion. Combined with the power of IR laser absorption methods, this provides novel access to spectral detection and study of many critical combustion species.

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The technical paper summarizes the project work conducted in the development of Kerf-Free silicon wafering equipment for silicon solar wafering. This new PolyMax technology uses a two step process of implantation and cleaving to exfoliate 50um to 120um wafers with thicknesses ranging from 50um to 120um from a 125mm or 156mm pseudo-squared silicon ingot. No kerf is generated using this method of wafering. This method of wafering contrasts with the current method of making silicon solar wafers using the industry standard wire saw equipment. The report summarizes the activity conducted by Silicon Genesis Corporation in working to develop this technology further and to define the roadmap specifications for the first commercial proto-type equipment for high volume solar wafer manufacturing using the PolyMax technology.

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This report documents radionuclide air emissions that result in the highest effective dose equivalent (EDE) to a member of the public, referred to as the maximally exposed individual (MEI). The report has been prepared in compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 40, Protection of the Environment, Part 61, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Subpart H, National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other than Radon from Department of Energy Facilities and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) Chapter 246-247, Radiation Protection Air Emissions. The dose to the PNNL Site MEI due to routine major and minor point source emissions in 2012 from PNNL Site sources is 9E-06 mrem (9E-08 mSv) EDE. The dose from fugitive emissions (i.e., unmonitored sources) is 1E-7 mrem (1E-9 mSv) EDE. The dose from radon emissions is 2E-6 mrem (2E-08 mSv) EDE. No nonroutine emissions occurred in 2012. The total radiological dose for 2012 to the MEI from all PNNL Site radionuclide emissions, including fugitive emissions and radon, is 1E-5 mrem (1E-7 mSv) EDE, or 100,000 times smaller than the federal and state standard of 10 mrem/yr, to which the PNNL Site is in compliance.

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The goal of this project is to study the fundamental physical phenoena associated with air ingress in very high temperature reactors (VHTRs). Air ingress may occur due to a nupture of primary piping and a subsequent breach in the primary pressure boundary in helium-cooled and graphite-moderated VHTRs. Significant air ingress is a concern because it introduces potential to expose the fuel, graphite support rods, and core to a risk of severe graphite oxidation. Two of the most probable air ingress scenarios involve rupture of a control rod or fuel access standpipe, and rupture in the main coolant pipe on the lower part of the reactor pressure vessel. Therefor, establishing a fundamental understanding of air ingress phenomena is critical in order to rationally evaluate safety of existing VHTRs and develop new designs that mimimize these risks. But despite this importance, progress toward development these predictive capabilities has been slowed by the complex nature of the underlaying phenomena. The combination of interdiffusion among multiple species, molecular diffusion, natural convection, and complex geometries, as well as the multiple chemical reactions involved, impose significant roadblocks to both modeling and experiment design. The project team will employ a coordinated experimental and computational effort that will …