The purpose of this document is to compile information regarding experimental design, facility design, construction, radionuclide source preparation, and path forward for the ten year Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) Radionuclide Field Lysimeter Experiment at the Savannah River Site (SRS). This is a collaborative effort by researchers at SRNL and Clemson University. The scientific objectives of this study are to: Study long-term radionuclide transport under conditions more representative of vadose zone conditions than laboratory experiments; Provide more realistic quantification of radionuclide transport and geochemistry in the vadose zone, providing better information pertinent to radioactive waste storage solutions than presently exists; Reduce uncertainty and improve justification for geochemical models such as those used in performance assessments and composite analyses.

This report reviews the current state of the art of prognostics and health management (PHM) for nuclear power systems and related technology currently applied in field or under development in other technological application areas, as well as key research needs and technical gaps for increased use of PHM in nuclear power systems. The historical approach to monitoring and maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs), including the Maintenance Rule for active components and Aging Management Plans for passive components, are reviewed. An outline is given for the technical and economic challenges that make PHM attractive for both legacy plants through Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) and new plant designs. There is a general introduction to PHM systems for monitoring, fault detection and diagnostics, and prognostics in other, non-nuclear fields. The state of the art for health monitoring in nuclear power systems is reviewed. A discussion of related technologies that support the application of PHM systems in NPPs, including digital instrumentation and control systems, wired and wireless sensor technology, and PHM software architectures is provided. Appropriate codes and standards for PHM are discussed, along with a description of the ongoing work in developing additional necessary standards. Finally, an outline of key research …

Integration of bioinformatics and experimental techniques was applied to mapping and characterization of the key components (pathways, enzymes, transporters, regulators) of the core metabolic machinery in Shewanella oneidensis and related species with main focus was on metabolic and regulatory pathways involved in utilization of various carbon and energy sources. Among the main accomplishments reflected in ten joint publications with other participants of Shewanella Federation are: (i) A systems-level reconstruction of carbohydrate utilization pathways in the genus of Shewanella (19 species). This analysis yielded reconstruction of 18 sugar utilization pathways including 10 novel pathway variants and prediction of > 60 novel protein families of enzymes, transporters and regulators involved in these pathways. Selected functional predictions were verified by focused biochemical and genetic experiments. Observed growth phenotypes were consistent with bioinformatic predictions providing strong validation of the technology and (ii) Global genomic reconstruction of transcriptional regulons in 16 Shewanella genomes. The inferred regulatory network includes 82 transcription factors, 8 riboswitches and 6 translational attenuators. Of those, 45 regulons were inferred directly from the genome context analysis, whereas others were propagated from previously characterized regulons in other species. Selected regulatory predictions were experimentally tested. Integration of this analysis with microarray data revealed overall …

Oxygen-evolving complex (Mn{sub 4}Ca cluster) of Photosystem II cycles through five intermediate states (S{sub i}-states, i = 0-4) before a molecule of dioxygen is released. During the S-state transitions, electrons are extracted from the OEC, either from Mn or alternatively from a Mn ligand. The oxidation state of Mn is widely accepted as Mn{sub 4}(III{sub 2},IV{sub 2}) and Mn{sub 4}(III,IV{sub 3}) for S{sub 1} and S{sub 2} states, while it is still controversial for the S{sub 0} and S{sub 3} states. We used resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) to study the electronic structure of Mn{sub 4}Ca complex in the OEC. The RIXS data yield two-dimensional plots that provide a significant advantage by obtaining both K-edge pre-edge and L-edge-like spectra (metal spin state) simultaneously. We have collected data from PSII samples in the each of the S-states and compared them with data from various inorganic Mn complexes. The spectral changes in the Mn 1s2p{sub 3/2} RIXS spectra between the S-states were compared to those of the oxides of Mn and coordination complexes. The results indicate strong covalency for the electronic configuration in the OEC, and we conclude that the electron is transferred from a strongly delocalized orbital, compared to those in …

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A storage ring with tunable momentum compaction has the advantage in achieving different RMS bunch length with similar RF capacity, which is potentially useful for many applications, such as linear collider damping ring and predamping ring where injected beam has a large energy spread and a large transverse emittance. A tunable bunch length also makes the commissioning and fine tuning easier in manipulating the single bunch instabilities. In this paper, a compact ring design based on a supercell is presented, which achieves a tunable momentum compaction while maintaining a large dynamic aperture.

We apply the Basis Light-Front Quantization (BLFQ) approach to the Hamiltonian field theory of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) in free space. We solve for the mass eigenstates corresponding to an electron interacting with a single photon in light-front gauge. Based on the resulting non-perturbative ground state light-front amplitude we evaluate the electron anomalous magnetic moment. The numerical results from extrapolating to the infinite basis limit reproduce the perturbative Schwinger result with relative deviation less than 1.2%. We report significant improvements over previous works including the development of analytic methods for evaluating the vertex matrix elements of QED.

A solvent extraction system for removal of cesium (Cs) from alkaline solutions was developed utilizing a novel solvent invented at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This solvent consists of a calix[4]arene-crown-6 extractant dissolved in an inert hydrocarbon matrix. A Modifier is added to the solvent to enhance the extraction power of the calixarene and to prevent the formation of a third phase. An additional additive, called a suppressor, is used to improve stripping performance. The process that deploys this solvent system is known as Caustic Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX). The solvent system has been deployed at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in the Modular CSSX Unit (MCU) since 2008. Subsequent development efforts by ORNL identified an improved solvent system that can raise the expected decontamination factor (DF) in MCU from {approx}200 to more than 40,000. The improved DF is attributed to an improved distribution ratio for cesium [D(Cs)] in extraction from {approx}15 to {approx}60, an increased solubility of the calixarene in the solvent from 0.007 M to >0.050 M, and use of boric acid (H{sub 3}BO{sub 3}) stripping that also yields improved D(Cs) values. Additionally, the changes incorporated into the Next Generation CSSX Solvent (NGS) are intended to reduce …

During the period from fiscal year (FY) 2009 to FY 2011, there were a total of 21 incidents involving radioactively contaminated shipment trailers and 9 contaminated waste packages received at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS). During this time period, the EnergySolutions (ES) Clive, Utah, disposal facility had a total of 18 similar incidents involving trailer and package contamination issues. As a result of the increased occurrence of such incidents, DOE Environmental Management Headquarters (EM/HQ) Waste Management organization (EM-30) requested that the Energy Facility Contractors’ Group (EFCOG) Waste Management Working Group (WMWG) conduct a detailed review of these incidents and report back to EM-30 regarding the results of this review, including providing any recommendations formulated as a result of the evaluation of current site practices involving handling and management of radioactive material and waste shipments.

Assessing the performance of spent (used) nuclear fuel in geological repository requires quantification of time-dependent phenomena that may influence its behavior on a time-scale up to millions of years. A high-level waste repository environment will be a dynamic redox system because of the time-dependent generation of radiolytic oxidants and reductants and the corrosion of Fe-bearing canister materials. One major difference between used fuel and natural analogues, including unirradiated UO2, is the intense radiolytic field. The radiation emitted by used fuel can produce radiolysis products in the presence of water vapor or a thin-film of water (including OH• and H• radicals, O2-, eaq, H2O2, H2, and O2) that may increase the waste form degradation rate and change radionuclide behavior. H2O2 is the dominant oxidant for spent nuclear fuel in an O2 depleted water environment, the most sensitive parameters have been identified with respect to predictions of a radiolysis model under typical conditions. As compared with the full model with about 100 reactions it was found that only 30-40 of the reactions are required to determine [H2O2] to one part in 10–5 and to preserve most of the predictions for major species. This allows a systematic approach for model simplification and offers …

This report documents the laboratory testing and analyses as directed under the test plan, LAB-PLN-11-00010, Evaluation of Technetium Ion Exchange Material against Hanford Double Shell Tank Supernate Simulate with Pertechnetate. Technetium (Tc-99) is a major fission product from nuclear reactors, and because it has few applications outside of scientific research, most of the technetium will ultimately be disposed of as nuclear waste. The radioactive decay of Tc-99 to ruthenium 99 (Ru-99) produces a low energy {beta}{sup -} particle (0.1 MeV max). However, due to its fairly long half-life (t{sub 1/2} = 2.13E05 years), Tc-99 is a major source of radiation in low-level waste (UCRL-JRNL-212334, Current Status of the Thermodynamic Data for Technetium and its Compounds and Aqueous Species). Technetium forms the soluble oxy anion, TcO{sub 4}{sup -} under aerobic conditions. This anion is very mobile in groundwater and poses a health risk (ANL, Radiological and Chemical Fact Sheets to Support Health Risk Analyses for Contaminated Areas). It has been demonstrated that Purolite{reg_sign} A530E is highly effective in removing TcO{sub 4}{sup -} from a water matrix (RPP-RPT-23199, The Removal of Technetium-99 from the Effluent Treatment Facility Basin 44 Waste Using Purolite A-530E, Reillex HPQ, and Sybron IONAC SR-7 Ion Exchange Resins). …

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The DWPF is receiving radioactive sludge slurry from HLW Tank 40. The radioactive sludge slurry in Tank 40 is a blend of the heel from Sludge Batch 7a (SB7a) and Sludge Batch 7b (SB7b) that was transferred to Tank 40 from Tank 51. The blend of sludge in Tank 40 is also referred to as Macrobatch 9 (MB9). This report develops the list of reportable radionuclides and associated activities as a function of time. Twenty-seven radionuclides have been identified as reportable for DWPF SB7b. Each of these radionuclides has a half-life greater than ten years and contributes more than 0.01% of the radioactivity on a Curie basis at some point from production through the 1100 year period between 2015 and 3115. For SB7b, all of the radionuclides in the Design Basis glass are reportable except for three radionuclides: Pd-107, Cs-135, and Th-230. At no time during the 1100- year period between 2015 and 3115 did any of these three radionuclides contribute to more than 0.01% of the radioactivity on a Curie basis. The radionuclide measurements made for SB7b are the most extensive conducted to date. Some method development/refinement occurred during the conduct of these measurements, leading to lower detection limits …

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In this Phase I, we successfully made strands with better Cu/Sn ratio to reduce the coarse Nb3Sn grain region, thereby providing the potential of increasing the non-Cu Jc in the Phase II and scaling up to 2” billets with 331 subelements. In order to improve the strand’s high field properties, we successfully doped low amount of Ti in the subelements and made a 217-subelement wire which has been drawn down to 0.7 mm without any breakage. This strand gave subelement size of 35 µm. We will scale up the Ti-doped billet to 271-subelement in 1.5” billet in this proposed Phase II. The hexagonal shaped subelements with round Nb-Sn have been developed for a 61-subelement restack. Thus the results indicated that for 217-subelement restack in a 2” billet we have the potential to draw down this type of construction without problems while maintaining a good array to react more Nb to get higher non-Cu Jc in the Phase II.

Remote sensing technology can provide a cost-effective tool for monitoring hazardous waste sites. This study investigated the usability of HyMap airborne hyperspectral remote sensing data (126 bands at 2.3 x 2.3 m spatial resolution) to characterize the vegetation at U.S. Department of Energy uranium processing sites near Monticello, Utah and Monument Valley, Arizona. Grass and shrub species were mixed on an engineered disposal cell cover at the Monticello site while shrub species were dominant in the phytoremediation plantings at the Monument Valley site. The specific objectives of this study were to: (1) estimate leaf-area-index (LAI) of the vegetation using three different methods (i.e., vegetation indices, red-edge positioning (REP), and machine learning regression trees), and (2) map the vegetation cover using machine learning decision trees based on either the scaled reflectance data or mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF)-derived metrics and vegetation indices. Regression trees resulted in the best calibration performance of LAI estimation (R{sup 2} > 0.80). The use of REPs failed to accurately predict LAI (R{sup 2} < 0.2). The use of the MTMF-derived metrics (matched filter scores and infeasibility) and a range of vegetation indices in decision trees improved the vegetation mapping when compared to the decision tree classification …

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We have searched for the lepton-number violating processes B{sup +} {yields} h{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{ell}{sup +} with h{sup -} = K{sup -}/{pi}{sup -} and {ell}{sup +} = e{sup +}/{mu}{sup +}, using a sample of 471 {+-} 3 million B{bar B} events collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} collider at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We find no evidence for these decays and place 90% confidence level upper limits on their branching fractions B (B{sup +} {yields} {pi}{sup -}e{sup +}e{sup +}) < 2.3 x 10{sup -8}, {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup -}e{sup +}e{sup +}) < 3.0 x 10{sup -8}, {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup +}) < 10.7 x 10{sup -8}, and {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup -}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup +}) < 6.7 x 10{sup -8}.

Calibration parameters from the Connolly et al. (2007) algorithm cannot be applied to the Department of Energy's (DOE) CPI because the DOE CPI is version 2.0. Thus, Dr. Junshik Um and Prof. Greg McFarquhar brought the DOE CPI to the University of Manchester, UK, where facilities for calibrating it were available. In addition, two other versions of CPIs (1.0 and 1.5) were available on-site at the University of Manchester so that an intercomparison of three different versions of the CPI was possible. The three CPIs (versions 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0) were calibrated by moving glass calibration beads and ice analogues of known size parallel to the object plane. The distance between the object plane and a particle, the particle's focus, its apparent maximum dimension, and a background image were measured in order to derive calibration parameters for each CPI version. The calibration parameters are used in two empirical equations that are applied to in situ CPI data to determine particle size and depth of field, and hence particle size distributions (PSDs). After the tests with the glass calibration beads to derive the calibration parameters, the three CPIs were installed at the base of the Manchester Ice Cloud Chamber and connected …

Photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) have been investigated since the late 1970s. Some devices have been developed that withstand tens of kilovolts and others that switch hundreds of amperes. However, no single device has been developed that can reliably withstand both high voltage and switch high current. Yet, photoconductive switches still hold the promise of reliable high voltage and high current operation with subnanosecond risetimes. Particularly since good quality, bulk, single crystal, wide bandgap semiconductor materials have recently become available. In this chapter we will review the basic operation of PCSS devices, status of PCSS devices and properties of the wide bandgap semiconductors 4H-SiC, 6H-SiC and 2H-GaN.

The NGNP, which is an advanced HTGR concept with emphasis on both electricity and hydrogen production, involves helium as the coolant and a closed-cycle gas turbine for power generation with a core outlet/gas turbine inlet temperature of 750-1000 C. Alloy 617 is a prime candidate for VHTR structural components such as reactor internals, piping, and heat exchangers in view of its resistance to oxidation and elevated temperature strength. However, lack of adequate data on the performance of the alloy in welded condition prompted to initiate a creep test program at Argonne National Laboratory. In addition, Testing has been initiated to evaluate the creep rupture properties of the pressure vessel steel A508/533 in air and in helium environments. The program, which began in December 2009, was certified for quality assurance NQA-1 requirements during January and February 2010. Specimens were designed and fabricated during March and the tests were initiated in April 2010. During the past year, several creep tests were conducted in air on Alloy 617 base metal and weldment specimens at temperatures of 750, 850, and 950 C. Idaho National Laboratory, using gas tungsten arc welding method with Alloy 617 weld wire, fabricated the weldment specimens. Eight tests were conducted …

This paper illustrated the magnitude of the systems, structures and components used at the Savannah River Site for nuclear materials extraction and separation processes. Corrosion issues, including stress corrosion cracking, pitting, crevice corrosion and other corrosion induced degradation processes are discussed and corrosion mitigation strategies such as a chloride exclusion program and corrosion release testing are also discussed.

The volume of methane released through the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere and its potential role in the global climate cycle have increasingly become the focus of studies seeking to understand the source and origin of this methane. In 2009, an international, multi-disciplinary science party aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea successfully completed a trans-U.S. Beaufort Shelf expedition aimed at understanding the sources and volumes of methane across this region. Following more than a year of preliminary cruise planning and a thorough site evaluation, the Methane in the Arctic Shelf/Slope (MITAS) expedition departed from the waters off the coast of Barrow, Alaska in September 2009. The expedition was organized with an international shipboard science team consisting of 33 scientists with the breadth of expertise necessary to meet the expedition goals. NETL researchers led the expedition’s initial core processing and lithostratigraphic evaluations, which are the focus of this report. This data report is focused on the lithostratigraphic datasets from the recovered vibra cores and piston cores. Operational information about the piston and vibra cores such as date acquired, core name, total length, water depth, and geographic location is provided. Once recovered, gas samples were immediately collected from cores. In …

We present limits for the compactification scale in the theory of Large Extra Dimensions (LED) proposed by Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali. We use 11 months of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) to set gamma ray flux limits for 6 gamma-ray faint neutron stars (NS). To set limits on LED we use the model of Hannestad and Raffelt (HR) that calculates the Kaluza-Klein (KK) graviton production in supernova cores and the large fraction subsequently gravitationally bound around the resulting NS. The predicted decay of the bound KK gravitons to {gamma}{gamma} should contribute to the flux from NSs. Considering 2 to 7 extra dimensions of the same size in the context of the HR model, we use Monte Carlo techniques to calculate the expected differential flux of gamma-rays arising from these KK gravitons, including the effects of the age of the NS, graviton orbit, and absorption of gamma-rays in the magnetosphere of the NS. We compare our Monte Carlo-based differential flux to the experimental differential flux using maximum likelihood techniques to obtain our limits on LED. Our limits are more restrictive than past EGRET-based optimistic limits that do not include these important corrections. Additionally, our limits are more stringent …