OAK-B135 Monitoring the Durability Performance of Concrete in Nuclear Waste Containment

Solar Electricity - The Power of Choice (formerly NREL PV Working With Industry) is a quarterly newsletter devoted to the photovoltaics (PV) research and development activities performed by NREL staff in concert with their industry and university partners. This issue is devoted to demonstrating that PV R and D is a valuable investment for the United States. The editorialist for this issue is Larry Kazmerski, director of the National Center for Photovoltaics.

This report describes the results achieved during Phase I of a three-phase subcontract to develop and understand thin-film solar cell technology associated with CuInSe2 and related alloys, a-Si and its alloys, and CdTe. Modules based on all these thin films are promising candidates to meet DOE long-range efficiency, reliability, and manufacturing cost goals. The critical issues being addressed under this program are intended to provide the science and engineering basis for developing viable commercial processes and to improve module performance. The generic research issues addressed are: (1) quantitative analysis of processing steps to provide information for efficient commercial-scale equipment design and operation; (2) device characterization relating the device performance to materials properties and process conditions; (3) development of alloy materials with different bandgaps to allow improved device structures for stability and compatibility with module design; (4) development of improved window/heterojunction layers and contacts to improve device performance and reliability; and (5) evaluation of cell stability with respect to illumination, temperature, and ambient, and with respect to device structure and module encapsulation.

The 120 GeV primary proton beamline for the NuMI-MINOS [1] experiment at Fermilab will transport one of the most intense high-energy beams ever constructed. in parallel operation with the Collider program, 80% of the intensity capability of the Fermilab Main Injector can be sent to NuMI. Radiation safety pertaining to residual activity, damage of equipment and irradiation of groundwater is a primary concern. A particular challenge is that this beam will be transported to and targeted in a cavern excavated in rock in an aquifer region. A model of the beamline, including transport elements and excavated enclosures, has been built in the radiation simulation program MARS. This model has been used to determine limits for allowable beam loss, and to study effects of instabilities and of various failure types. Some results obtained with this model are presented.

It is not unusual to place multiple accelerators in a common enclosure to save on civil construction costs. This often complicates operations, especially if accelerators are affecting each other. At Fermilab, the influence of a rapidly cycling Main Injector (MI) synchrotron on an antiproton storage ring (Recycler), placed in a common tunnel, was initially found to be unacceptable for a reliable operation of the Recycler. Initial closed orbit excursions in the Recycler ring during the MI ramp were in excess of 5 mm (rms). This paper describes a shielding technique, used to reduce these orbit excursions by a factor of five.

A brief review of the history of the discovery of the deuteron in provided. The current status of both experiment and theory for the elastic electron scattering is then presented.

One of the applications of template matching for arms control/warhead dismantlement transparency regimes is for monitoring facility-to-facility transfers. In 1999, three highly enriched uranium (HEU) weapons components for which the Nuclear Materials Identification System (NMIS) signatures had been obtained at the shipper's site were received at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The NMIS signatures obtained upon receipt of these items were compared with those at the shipper's site to confirm the identity of the item received. This paper describes the use of NMIS for these shipper-receiver confirmations.

The Wide-Angle Neutron Diffractometer (WAND) installed at the High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) has been upgraded for new experiments. The main feature of this upgrade is the replacement of its detector with a newly developed curved one-dimensional 3He position-sensitive counter composed of 624 individual anodes. From the results of test-measurements of the detector performance, it is found that the intrinsic angular resolution and the maximum neutron-counting rate per anode are 0.25 degrees and 2.0 x 10 counts/second, respectively.

This application focuses on the development of appropriate computation tools and parameters for the de novo design of selective metal ligands. We have developed a successful suite of tools for computer-aided design of ligands for receptors of known three-dimensional structure (structure-based design), including the prediction of affinity. Adaptation of the algorithms to place donor atoms at appropriate geometrical locations surrounding the metal of interest, rather than filling up a cavity with donor/acceptor atoms placed optimally to interact with a protein active site, is straightforward. Appropriate geometrical parameters for metals can be derived from crystal structures and force constants adapted from recent advances in theories of metal-ligand interactions. The practical goal is computer-aided design of ligands which would be selective for one metal over another with a predicted selectivity ratio and affinity.

Work by Scruggs et al. in the 1960's demonstrated that up to 20% tensile ductility could be achieved at room-temperature in sintered and extruded powder metallurgical Cr alloyed with MgO. During sintering, much of the MgO converts to a MgCr{sub 2}O{sub 4} spinel, which was hypothesized to getter nitrogen from the Cr, rendering it ductile. Recent efforts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have succeeded in duplicating this original effect. Preliminary results suggest that the ductilization mechanism may be more complicated than the simple nitrogen gettering mechanism proposed by Scruggs, as some ductility was observed at room-temperature in Cr-MgO alloys containing nitride precipitates. Results of microstructural characterization and room-temperature mechanical property studies are presented for Cr-6MgO-(0-2.2)Ti wt.% as a function of hot-pressing and extrusion. Possible mechanisms by which the MgO additions may improve the room-temperature ductility of Cr are discussed.

Laboratory data are presented on the effect of constant-temperature aging on the apparent thermal conductivity of polyurethane foam insulation for refrigerators and freezers. The foam specimens were blown with HCFC-141b and with three of its potential replacements--HFC-134a, HFC-245fa, and cyclopentane. Specimens were aged at constant temperatures of 90 F, 40 F, and {minus}10 F. Thermal conductivity measurements were made on two types of specimens: full-thickness simulated refrigerator panels containing foam enclosed between solid plastic sheets, and thin slices of core foam cut from similar panels. Results are presented for the first two years of a multi-year aging study. Preliminary comparisons of measured data with predictions of a mathematical aging model are presented.

A method was developed to enhance geothermal steam production from two-phase wells at THE Geysers Geothermal Field. The beneficial result was increased geothermal production that was easily and economically delivered to the power plant.

In addition to their significant environmental impacts, medium-duty and heavy-duty (HD) vehicles are high volume fuel users. Development of such vehicles, which include transit buses, refuse trucks, and HD Class 6-8 trucks, that are fueled with natural gas is strategic to market introduction of natural gas vehicles (NGV). Over the past five years the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT) has funded technological developments in NGV systems to support the growth of this sector in the highly competitive transportation market. The goals are to minimize emissions associated with NGV use, to improve on the economies of scale, and to continue supporting the testing and safety assessments of all new systems. This paper provides an overview of the status of major projects under a program supported by DOE/OHVT and managed by Brookhaven National Laboratory. The discussion focuses on the program's technical strategy in meeting specific goals proposed by the N GV industry and the government. Relevant projects include the development of low-cost fuel storage, fueling infrastructure, and HD vehicle applications.

The much anticipated RHIC spin physics program will commence this fall when the first physics run with colliding beams of polarized protons is expected. More specifically, the planned year-1 RHIC-Spin measurements are (1) the double-spin asymmetry A{sub LL}{sup {pi}} in production of pions by collisions of longitudinally polarized protons (in order to obtain first information on the proton's spin-dependent gluon density, {Delta}g); (2) the transverse single-spin asymmetry A{sub N}{sup {pi}} for pion production. These two reactions provided part of the motivation for our workshop. On the first day there were informative talks on the specific plans of STAR (by Rakness) and PHENIX (by Goto) for the polarized run of Year-1. Some of the theoretical questions related to the double-spin asymmetry A{sub LL}{sup {pi}} were discussed on the first day by Vogelsang and Kretzer, which centered mostly around the questions of how well the unpolarized fragmentation functions are known, the need for next-to-leading order calculations, and on how sensitive the asymmetry is to the possible {Delta}g distributions. Vetterli presented HERMES measurements of fragmentation functions, which overlap in Q{sup 2} with the future lower-p{sub T} measurements at RHIC.

The titles in the table of contents from this journal are: Editorial: Unraveling Complex Biological Systems; Systems Biology: New Views of Life; Genes and Proteins: A Primer; Complex Biological Systems in Mice; Gene Chip Engineers; Searching for Mouse Models of Human Disorders; Mouse Models for the Human Disease of Chronic Hereditary Tyrosinemia; Obesity-related Gene in Mouse Discovered at ORNL; MicroCAT ''Sees'' Hidden Mouse Defects; Curing Cancer in Mice; Search for Signs of Inflammatory Disease; Surprises in the Mouse Genome; Protein Identification by Mass Spectrometry; Rapid Genetic Disease Screening Possible Using Laser Mass Spectrometry; Lab on a Chip Used for Protein Studies; The Mouse House: From Old to New; Human Genome Analyzed Using Supercomputer; Protein Prediction Tool Has Good Prospects; Microbe Probe: Studying Bacterial Genomes; SNS and Biological Research; Accessing Information on the Human Genome Project; A Model Fish for Pollutant Studies; Controlling Carbon in Hybrid Poplar Trees; and Disease Detectives.

This Wind Powering America brochure provides the perspectives on the benefits of wind power from 10 U.S. citizens from different sectors of society, including ranching, utility commissioner, parent, Native American, farmer/county commissioner, business owner, and independent turbine operator. It also provides basic facts about wind power, contacts for information about wind power, and a brief description of the Wind Powering America Initiative, its goals and its benefits.

DOE has a strong commitment to the efficient and safe remediation of waste (high level radioactive waste, mixed waste, and hazardous waste) present in underground waste storage tanks. Safety issues arise from the presence of organic chemicals and oxidizers and concerns are raised about the flammability, explosivity, and the possible corrosion of storage tanks due to presence of nitrates and nitrites. Knowledge of the physical parameters and chemical and radioactive composition of waste is necessary for effective and safe tank remediation. New and improved characterization and monitoring of waste present in storage tanks is necessary. The overall goal of this project has been to develop and demonstrate novel multi-parameter micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensors based on Si and SiNx microcantilever (MC) structures that are robust and can be used to simultaneously detect the presence of target chemicals (analytes) in a mixture, radiation emitted from radioactive materials, an d the heat generated by the absorption of photons of specific wavelength by the target analytes. The mechanisms by which adsorption, photophysical, photothermal processes cause stress in MC surfaces are better understood. Methods of applying a wide variety of chemically selective coatings have been developed specifically for miniaturized MC surfaces, and the response characteristic …

This fact sheet provides an introduction to renewable energy technologies: hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen, and ocean energy.

An assessment of the potential energy savings associated with the use of multi-layer light polarizing panels in an office space was initiated as part of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) New Technology Demonstration Program (NTDP) in 1997. This project was intended to provide information on the effectiveness and application of this technology that could help federal energy managers and other interested individuals determine whether this technology had benefits for their occupied spaces. The use of an actual working office area provided the capability of evaluating the technology's effectiveness in the real world.

We have performed computer calculations to explore effects of the p/i interface on the open-circuit voltage in a-Si:H based pin solar cells. The principal conclusions are that interface limitation can occur for values of VOC significantly below the built-in potential of VBI of a cell, and that the effects can be understood in terms of thermionic emission of electrons from the intrinsic layer into the p-layer. We compare measurements of VOC and electroabsorption estimates of VBI with the model calculations. We conclude that p/i interface limitation is important for current a-Si:H based cells, and that the conduction band offset between the p and i layers is as important as the built-in potential for future improvements to VOC.

This paper summarizes the Next Generation Natural Gas Vehicle (NG-NGV) Program that is led by the U.S. Department Of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT) through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The goal of this program is to develop and implement one Class 3-6 compressed natural gas (CNG) prototype vehicle and one Class 7-8 liquefied natural gas (LNG) prototype vehicle in the 2004 to 2007 timeframe. OHVT intends for these vehicles to have 0.5 g/bhp-hr or lower emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by 2004 and 0.2 g/bhp-hr or lower NOx by 2007. These vehicles will also have particulate matter (PM) emissions of 0.01 g/bhp-hr or lower by 2004. In addition to ambitious emissions goals, these vehicles will target life-cycle economics that are compatible with their conventionally fueled counterparts.

We have further developed and demonstrated the novel ORNL micro-calorimetric spectroscopy technique for the detections and characterization of toxic organic substances. In this technique target molecules were allowed to adsorb on the surface of sub-femtojoule sensitive micromechanical thermal detectors. The adsorption of molecules on the thermal detector surface causes a differential surface stress resulting in an initial ''trigger''. By exposing the thermal detector microstructure elements to different photon wavelengths, an extremely sensitive and unique photothermal signature response was obtained. We adsorbed sub-monolayer levels of target chemicals onto the bi-material detector surfaces. We obtained infrared photothermal spectra for trace concentrations of several organics such as diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP), and trinitrotoluene (TNT) over the wavelength region 2.5 to 14.5 {micro}m. We found that in the wavelength region 2.5 to 14.5 {micro}m the photothermal spectra of DIMP and TNT exhibit a number of peaks and are in excellent agreement with traditional infrared absorption spectra found in the literature. Chemical detectors based on micro-calorimetric spectroscopy can be used to sensitively sense a relatively small number of molecules adsorbed on a thermal detector surface. This photothermal signature resulting from photon irradiation and subsequent thermal transfer can be used for improved chemical characterization.

Advanced coal-fueled, power generation systems utilizing pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technologies are currently being developed for high-efficiency, low emissions, and low-cost power generation. In spite of the advantages of these promising technologies, the severe operating environment often leads to material degradation and loss of performance in the barrier filters used for particle entrapment. To address this problem a monolithic cross-flow ceramic hot-gas filter is being designed and developed. Because of testing necessities, a hot-gas candle-filter which integrates the requirements of the cross-flow filter will be fabricated first. As a result, a high-purity, stoichiometric mullite, nine inch long, closed-end, candle-filter prototype was fabricated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) using gelcasting technology.

Two optimum defocus conditions are used in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Scherzer defocus produces an image of the specimen ''projected potential'' to the resolution of the microscope, and Lichte defocus minimizes dispersion. A third optimum defocus is best for focal-series reconstruction; alpha-null defocus maximizes transfer of high-frequency diffracted beam amplitudes into the microscope image. Beam transfer is confined by incident-beam convergence to a Gaussian ''packet'' of defocus values centered on the alpha-null defocus. For a diffracted beam hkl, with a spatial frequency of u, the envelope for incident beam convergence has null damping effect when defocus is set to -Cs. (wavelength.u)**2. On either side of this alpha-null defocus value, the damping effect of incident-beam convergence reduces diffracted-beam transfer. The position of alpha-null defocus for any spatial frequency depends only on the value of Cs, but defocus-packet width around the alpha-null defocus depends only on the convergence semi-angle. Under NCEM OAM (one-Angstrom microscope) conditions, a [110] diamond image with the correct 0.89A spacing appears when the Si (004) alpha-null defocus is selected. The alpha-null defocus should be included as the (furthest underfocus) limit for all high-resolution focal series reconstruction.