This report provides the results of an extent of condition construction history review for tank 241-AY-101. The construction history of tank 241-AY-101 has been reviewed to identify issues similar to those experienced during tank AY-102 construction. Those issues and others impacting integrity are discussed based on information found in available construction records, using tank AY-102 as the comparison benchmark. In tank 241-AY-101, the second double-shell tank constructed, similar issues as those with tank 241-AY-102 construction reoccurred. The overall extent of similary and affect on tank 241-AY-101 integrity is described herein.

This document provides a review and status of activities conducted in support of the Fluor Daniel Hanford Company (Fluor), now Mission Support Alliance (MSA), Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) for Project L-325, Electrical Utility Upgrades (2007). Three plantings have been installed on a 4.5-hectare mitigation area to date. This review provides a description and chronology of events, monitoring results, and mitigative actions through fiscal year (FY) 2012. Also provided is a review of the monitoring methods, transect layout, and FY 2012 monitoring activities and results for all planting years. Planting densities and performance criteria stipulated in the MAP were aimed at a desired future condition (DFC) of 10 percent mature sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp wyomingensis) cover. Current recommendations for yielding this DFC are based upon a conceptual model planting of 1000 plants/ha (400/ac) exhibiting a 60-percent survival rate after 5 monitoring years (DOE 2003). Accordingly, a DFC after 5 monitoring years would not be less than 600 plants/ha (240/ac). To date, about 8700 sagebrush plants have been grown and transplanted onto the mitigation site. Harsh site conditions and low seedling survival have resulted in an estimated 489 transplants/ha on the mitigation site, which is 111 plants/ha short of the target DFC. …

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The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), Office of Soil and Groundwater, is supporting development of the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is a state-of-the-art scientific tool and approach for understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. The modular and open source high-performance computing tool facilitates integrated approaches to modeling and site characterization that enable robust and standardized assessments of performance and risk for EM cleanup and closure activities. The ASCEM project continues to make significant progress in development of computer software capabilities with an emphasis on integration of capabilities in FY12. Capability development is occurring for both the Platform and Integrated Toolsets and High-Performance Computing (HPC) Multiprocess Simulator. The Platform capabilities provide the user interface and tools for end-to-end model development, starting with definition of the conceptual model, management of data for model input, model calibration and uncertainty analysis, and processing of model output, including visualization. The HPC capabilities target increased functionality of process model representations, toolsets for interaction with Platform, and verification and model confidence testing. The Platform and HPC capabilities are being tested and evaluated for EM applications in a set of demonstrations as part …

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This project is an industry-led partnership between Columbia Power Technologies and Oregon State University that will perform benchmark laboratory experiments and numerical modeling of the near-field and far-field impacts of wave scattering from an array of wave energy devices. These benchmark experimental observations will help to fill a gaping hole in our present knowledge of the near-field effects of multiple, floating wave energy converters and are a critical requirement for estimating the potential far-field environmental effects of wave energy arrays. The experiments will be performed at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (Oregon State University) and will utilize an array of newly developed Buoys that are realistic, lab-scale floating power converters. The array of Buoys will be subjected to realistic, directional wave forcing (1:33 scale) that will approximate the expected conditions (waves and water depths) to be found off the Central Oregon Coast. Experimental observations will include comprehensive in-situ wave and current measurements as well as a suite of novel optical measurements. These new optical capabilities will include imaging of the 3D wave scattering using a binocular stereo camera system, as well as 3D device motion tracking using a newly acquired LED system. These observing systems will capture the 3D motion …

The rate of oxidation is important to the long-term performance of reducing salt waste forms because the solubility of some contaminants, e.g., technetium, is a function of oxidation state. TcO{sub 4}{sup −} in the salt solution is reduced to Tc(IV) and has been shown to react with ingredients in the waste form to precipitate low solubility sulfide and/or oxide phases. Upon exposure to oxygen, the compounds containing Tc(IV) oxidize to the pertechnetate ion, Tc(VII)O{sub 4}{sup −}, which is very soluble. Consequently the rate of technetium oxidation front advancement into a monolith and the technetium leaching profile as a function of depth from an exposed surface are important to waste form performance and ground water concentration predictions. An approach for measuring contaminant oxidation rate (effective contaminant specific oxidation rate) based on leaching of select contaminants of concern is described in this report. In addition, the relationship between reduction capacity and contaminant oxidation is addressed. Chromate (Cr(VI) was used as a non-radioactive surrogate for pertechnetate, Tc(VII), in Cast Stone samples prepared with 5 M Simulant. Cast Stone spiked with pertechnetate was also prepared and tested. Depth discrete subsamples spiked with Cr were cut from Cast Stone exposed to Savannah River Site (SRS) …

This is the manual for the Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI) Technology Readiness Level Likelihood model based on PNNL velo.

The United States (US) has identified 61.5 metric tons (MT) of plutonium that is permanently excess to use in nuclear weapons programs, including 47.2 MT of weapons-grade plutonium. Surplus inventories will be stored safely by the Department of Energy (DOE) and then transferred to facilities that will prepare the plutonium for permanent disposition. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) operates a Feed Characterization program for the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (OFMD) of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the DOE Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM). SRNL manages a broad program of item tracking through process history, laboratory analysis, and non-destructive assay. A combination of analytical techniques allows SRNL to predict the isotopic and chemical properties that qualify materials for disposition through the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The research also defines properties that are important for other disposition paths, including disposal to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) as transuranic waste (TRUW) or to high-level waste (HLW) systems.

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The objective of this project is to close the efficiency gap between industrial multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) and monocrystalline silicon solar cells, while preserving the economic advantage of low-cost, high-volume substrates inherent to mc-Si. Over the course of this project, we made significant progress toward this goal, as evidenced by the evolution in solar-cell efficiencies. While most of the benefits of university projects are diffuse in nature, several unique contributions can be traced to this project, including the development of novel characterization methods, defect-simulation tools, and novel solar-cell processing approaches mitigate the effects of iron impurities ("Impurities to Efficiency" simulator) and dislocations. In collaboration with our industrial partners, this project contributed to the development of cell processing recipes, specialty materials, and equipment that increased cell efficiencies overall (not just multicrystalline silicon). Additionally, several students and postdocs who were either partially or fully engaged in this project (as evidenced by the publication record) are currently in the PV industry, with others to follow.

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This is the final report of Phase 2 of the Secure Power Systems Professional project, a 3 phase project. DOE will post to their website upon release.

The objective of this project was to develop the electrohydraulic forming (EHF) process as a near-net shape automotive panel manufacturing technology that simultaneously reduces the energy embedded in vehicles and the energy consumed while producing automotive structures. Pulsed pressure is created via a shockwave generated by the discharge of high voltage capacitors through a pair of electrodes in a liquid-filled chamber. The shockwave in the liquid initiated by the expansion of the plasma channel formed between two electrodes propagates towards the blank and causes the blank to be deformed into a one-sided die cavity. The numerical model of the EHF process was validated experimentally and was successfully applied to the design of the electrode system and to a multi-electrode EHF chamber for full scale validation of the process. The numerical model was able to predict stresses in the dies during pulsed forming and was validated by the experimental study of the die insert failure mode for corner filling operations. The electrohydraulic forming process and its major subsystems, including durable electrodes, an EHF chamber, a water/air management system, a pulse generator and integrated process controls, were validated to be capable to operate in a fully automated, computer controlled mode for forming …

The economical competitiveness of agriculture-derived biofuels can be significantly enhanced by increasing biomass/acre yields and by furnishing the desired carbon balance for facilitating liquid fuel production (e.g., ethanol) or for high-energy solid waste availability to be used as biopower (e.g., for electricity production). Biomass production and carbon balance are tightly linked to the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds, which are found in crops and in agricultural residues either as lignins, as part of the cell wall, or as soluble phenolics which play a variety of functions in the biology of plants. The grasses, in particular maize, provide the single major source of agricultural biomass, offering significant opportunities for increasing renewable fuel production. Our laboratory has pioneered the use of transcription factors for manipulating plant metabolic pathways, an approach that will be applied here towards altering the composition of phenolic compounds in maize. Previously, we identified a small group of ten maize R2R3-MYB transcription factors with all the characteristics of regulators of different aspects of phenolic biosynthesis. Here, we propose to investigate the participation of these R2R3-MYB factors in the regulation of soluble and insoluble maize phenolics, using a combination of over-expression and down-regulation of these transcription factors in transgenic maize cultured …

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Performance assessments (PAs) have been used for many years for the analysis of post-closure hazards associated with a radioactive waste disposal facility and to provide a reasonable expectation of the ability of the site and facility design to meet objectives for the protection of members of the public and the environment. The use of PA to support decision-making for LLW disposal facilities has been mandated in United States Department of Energy (USDOE) directives governing radioactive waste management since 1988 (currently DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management). Prior to that time, PAs were also used in a less formal role. Over the past 20+ years, the USDOE approach to conduct, review and apply PAs has evolved into an efficient, rigorous and mature process that includes specific requirements for continuous improvement and independent reviews. The PA process has evolved through refinement of a graded and iterative approach designed to help focus efforts on those aspects of the problem expected to have the greatest influence on the decision being made. Many of the evolutionary changes to the PA process are linked to the refinement of the PA maintenance concept that has proven to be an important element of USDOE PA requirements in the …

During the past three years, the Brandeis experimental particle physics group was comprised of four faculty (Bensinger, Blocker, Sciolla, and Wellenstein), one research scientist, one post doc, and ten graduate students. The group focused on the ATLAS experiment at LHC. In 2011, the LHC delivered 5/fb of pp colliding beam data at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In 2012, the center-of-mass energy was increased to 8 TeV, and 20/fb were delivered. The Brandeis group focused on two aspects of the ATLAS experiment -- the muon detection system and physics analysis. Since data taking began at the LHC in 2009, our group actively worked on ATLAS physics analysis, with an emphasis on exploiting the new energy regime of the LHC to search for indications of physics beyond the Standard Model. The topics investigated were Z' -> ll, Higgs -> ZZ* -. 4l, lepton flavor violation, muon compositeness, left-right symmetric theories, and a search for Higgs -> ee. The Brandeis group has for many years been a leader in the endcap muon system, making important contributions to every aspect of its design and production. During the past three years, the group continued to work on commissioning the muon detector and alignment …

SuperLig®639 ion exchange resin was tested as a retrieval mechanism for pertechnetate, through decontamination of a perrhenate spiked 5M Simple Average Na{sup +} Mass Based Simulant. Testing included batch contacts and a three-column ion exchange campaign. A decontamination of perrhenate exceeding 99% from the liquid feed was demonstrated. Analysis of the first formulation of a SBS/WESP simulant found unexpectedly low concentrations of soluble aluminum. Follow-on work will complete the formulation.

High-energy-density laboratory plasma (HEDLP) physics is an emerging, important area of research in plasma physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics, and particle acceleration. While the HEDLP regime occurs at extreme conditions which are often found naturally in space but not on the earth, it may be accessible by colliding high intensity plasmas such as high-energy-density plasma jets, plasmoids or compact toroids from plasma guns. The physics of plasma jets is investigated in the context of high energy density laboratory plasma research. This report summarizes results of theoretical and computational investigation of a plasma jet undergoing adiabatic compression and adiabatic expansion. A root-mean-squared (rms) envelope theory of plasma jets is developed. Comparison between theory and experiment is made. Good agreement between theory and experiment is found.