Over the last 20 years the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has adopted a number of operations and safety-related programs which has each periodically taken its turn in the limelight. As new programs have come along there has been natural competition for resources, focus and commitment. In the last few years, the INL has made real progress in integrating all these programs and are starting to realize important synergies. Contributing to this integration are both collaborative individuals and an emerging shared vision and goal of the INL fully maturing in its high reliability operations. This goal is so powerful because the concept of high reliability operations (and the resulting organizations) is a masterful amalgam and orchestrator of the best of all the participating programs (i.e. conduct of operations, behavior based safety, human performance, voluntary protection, quality assurance, and integrated safety management). This paper is a brief recounting of the lessons learned, thus far, at the INL in bringing previously competing programs into harmony under the goal (umbrella) of seeking to perform regularly as a high reliability organization. In addition to a brief diagram-illustrated historical review, the authors will share the INL’s primary successes (things already effectively stopped or started) and the …

The goal of this laboratory / university collaboration of coupled computational and experimental studies is the improvement of predictive methods for supercritical-pressure reactors. The general objective is to develop supporting knowledge needed of advanced computational techniques for the technology development of the concepts and their safety systems.

It is important to control outdoor airflow rates into HVAC systems in terms of energy conservation and healthy indoor environment. Technologies are being developed to measure outdoor air (OA) flow rates through OA intake louvers on a real time basis. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the airflow characteristics through an OA intake louver numerically in order to provide suggestions for sensor installations. Airflow patterns are simulated with and without electronic air velocity sensors within cylindrical probes installed between louver blades or at the downstream face of the louver. Numerical results show quite good agreements with experimental data, and provide insights regarding measurement system design. The simulations indicate that velocity profiles are more spatially uniform at the louver outlet relative to between louver blades, that pressure drops imposed by the sensor bars are smaller with sensor bars at the louver outlet, and that placement of the sensor bars between louver blades substantially increases air velocities inside the louver. These findings suggest there is an advantage to placing the sensor bars at the louver outlet face.

The Open Science Grid usage has ramped up more than 25% in the past twelve months due to both the increase in throughput of the core stakeholders - US LHC, LIGO and Run II - and increase in usage by nonphysics communities. It is important to understand the value collaborative projects, such as the OSG, contribute to the scientific community. This needs to be cognizant of the environment of commercial cloud offerings, the evolving and maturing middleware for grid based distributed computing, and the evolution in science and research dependence on computation. We present a first categorization of OSG value and analysis across several different aspects of the Consortium's goals and activities. And lastly, we presents some of the upcoming challenges of LHC data analysis ramp up and our ongoing contributions to the World Wide LHC Computing Grid.

A key component of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) effort is to enhance instrumentation techniques available to users conducting irradiation tests in this unique facility. In particular, development of sensors capable of providing ‘real-time’ measurements of key irradiation parameters is emphasized because of their potential to offer increased fidelity data and reduced post-test examination costs. This paper describes the strategy for identifying new instrumentation needed for ATR irradiations and the program underway to develop and evaluate new sensors to address these needs. Accomplishments from this program are illustrated by describing several new sensors now available to users of the ATR NSUF. In addition, progress is reported on current research efforts to provide users improved in-pile instrumentation.

Abstract - Microclimate may infl uence use of early successional habitat by birds. We assessed the relationships between avian habitat use and microclimate (temperature, light intensity, and relative humidity) in experimentally created canopy gaps in a bottomland hardwood forest on the Savannah River Site, SC. Gaps were 2- to 3-year-old group-selection timber harvest openings of three sizes (0.13, 0.26, 0.50 ha). Our study was conducted from spring through fall, encompassing four bird-use periods (spring migration, breeding, post-breeding, and fall migration), in 2002 and 2003. We used mist netting and simultaneously recorded microclimate variables to determine the influence of microclimate on bird habitat use. Microclimate was strongly affected by net location within canopy gaps in both years. Temperature generally was higher on the west side of gaps, light intensity was greater in gap centers, and relative humidity was higher on the east side of gaps. However, we found few relationships between bird captures and the microclimate variables. Bird captures were inversely correlated with temperature during the breeding and postbreeding periods in 2002 and positively correlated with temperature during spring 2003. Captures were high where humidity was high during post-breeding 2002, and captures were low where humidity was high during spring 2003. …

We present an update of our calculations of the decay constants of the D, D{sub s}, B, and B{sub s} mesons in unquenched 2+1 flavor QCD. We use the MILC library of improved staggered gauge ensembles at lattice spacings 0.09, 0.12, and 0.15 fm, clover heavy quarks with the Fermilab normalizations, and improved staggered light valence quarks.

With a fully-operational high-efficient collimation system in the LHC, nuclear interactions of circulating protons with residual gas in the machine beam pipe can be a major source of beam losses in the vicinity of the collider detectors, responsible for the machine-induced backgrounds. Realistic modeling of Coulomb scattering, elastic and inelastic interactions of 7-TeV protons with nuclei in the vacuum chamber of the cold and warm sections of the LHC ring--with an appropriate pressure profile--is performed with the STRUCT and MARS15 codes. Multi-turn tracking of the primary beams, propagation of secondaries through the lattice, their interception by the tertiary collimators TCT as well as properties of corresponding particle distributions at the CMS and ATLAS detectors are studied in great detail and results presented in this paper.

We report preliminary results of experimental studies of 'electron columns' in the Tevatron and in a specialized test setup. In the Tevatron, a beam of 150 GeV protons ionizes residual gas and ionization electrons are stored in an electrostatic trap immersed into strong longitudinal magnetic field. Shifts of proton betatron frequencies are observed. In the test setup, we observe effects pointing to accumulation and escape of ionization electrons.

We report on results of a Time-of-Flight, TOF, counter prototype in beam tests at SLAC and Fermilab. Using two identical 64-pixel Photonis Microchannel Plate Photomultipliers, MCP-PMTs, to provide start and stop signals, each having a 1 cm-long quartz Cherenkov radiator, we have achieved a timing resolution of {sigma}{sub Single{_}detector} {approx} 14 ps.

Experimental results on diffraction from the Fermilab Tevatron collider obtained by the CDF experiment are reviewed and compared. We report on the diffractive structure function obtained from dijet production in the range 0 < Q{sup 2} < 10,000 GeV{sup 2}, and on the |t| distribution in the region 0 < |t| < 1 GeV{sup 2} for both soft and hard diffractive events up to Q{sup 2} {approx} 4,500 GeV{sup 2}. Results on single diffractive W/Z production, forward jets, and central exclusive production of both dijets and diphotons are also presented.

A variety of junction capacitance-based characterization methods were used to investigate alloys of Ag into Cu(In1-xGax)Se2 photovoltaic solar cells over a broad range of compositions. These alloys show encouraging trends of increasing VOC with increasing Ag content, opening the possibility of wide-gap cells for use in tandem device applications. Drive level capacitance profiling (DLCP) has shown very low free carrier concentrations for all Ag-alloyed devices, in some cases less than 1014 cm-3, which is roughly an order of magnitude lower than that of CIGS devices. Transient photocapacitance spectroscopy has revealed very steep Urbach edges, with energies between 10 meV and 20 meV, in the Ag-alloyed samples. This is in general lower than the Urbach edges measured for standard CIGS samples and suggests a significantly lower degree of structural disorder.

As interest in community solutions to renewable energy grows, more states are beginning to develop policies that encourage properties with more than one meter to install shared renewable energy systems. State net metering policies are evolving to allow the aggregation of multiple meters on a customer’s property and to dissolve conventional geographical boundaries. This trend means net metering is expanding out of its traditional function as an enabling incentive to offset onsite customer load at a single facility. This paper analyzes community net energy metering (CNEM) as an emerging vehicle by which farmers, neighborhoods, and municipalities may more easily finance and reap the benefits of renewable energy. Specifically, it aims to compare and contrast the definition of geographical boundaries among different CNEM models and examine the benefits and limitations of each approach. As state policies begin to stretch the geographic boundaries of net metering, they allow inventive solutions to encourage renewable energy investment. This paper attempts to initiate the conversation on this emerging policy mechanism and offers recommendations for further development of these policies.

The Yale Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics was held on January 18th and 19th, 2008. The conference, targeted toward undergraduates in the Northeast, was a huge success. It was well attended by both a slate of impressive speakers including Janet Conrad, Mildred Dresselhaus, Elsa Garmire, Howard Georgi, Liz Rhodes, Meg Urry and Wendy Zhang, and many interested attendees. Talks were on current research, about issues for women in physics, and on the application process for graduate school. There was also a career panel, student talks, and a student poster session. The conference ran concurrently with the third annual conference at USC, as well as a first annual conference at the University of Michigan. Our purpose in creating this conference was to provide a supportive atmosphere for young physicists to connect with peers and with successful women in the field. We hope that from this conference, attendees have become confident and knowledgeable about applying to graduate school and be further inspired to pursue a career in physics. The following describes the conference program, participation and impact, logistics of running the conference and plans for the future.

We have designed and commissioned a system which blows up the transverse emittance of the anti-proton beam without affecting the proton beam. It consists of a bandwidth limited noise source centered around the betatron tune, a power amplifier and a directional stripline kicker. The amount of blow up is controlled by the amount of energy delivered to the anti-protons betatron bands.

A brief article on the impact of coyotes to deer populations.

Bent-crystal channeling is a technique with a potential to increase beam-halo collimation efficiency in high-energy colliders. First measurements at the Tevatron in 2005 have shown that using a thin silicon crystal to deflect the 1-TeV proton beam halo onto a secondary collimator improves the system performance by reducing the machine impedance, beam losses in the collider detectors and irradiation of the superconducting magnets, all in agreement with simulations. Recent results, obtained with an improved goniometer and enhanced beam diagnostics, are reported here for dedicated beam studies and first full collider stores along with simulation results and plans for substantial enhancement of the T-980 experimental setup.

Fermilab's Main Injector on acceleration cycles to 120 GeV has been running a mixed mode operation delivering beam to both the antiproton source for pbar production and to the NuMI[1] target for neutrino production since 2005. On January 2008 the slip stacking process used to increase the beam to the pbar target was expanded to include the beam to the NuMI target increasing the MI beam power at 120 GeV to 400KW. The current high power MI operation will be described along with the plans to increase the power to 700KW for NOvA and to 2.1 MW for project X.

The dark-matter candidates of particle physics invariably possess electromagnetic interactions, if only via quantum fluctuations. Taken en masse, dark matter can thus engender an index of refraction which deviates from its vacuum value. Its presence is signaled through frequency-dependent effects: the real part yields dispersive effects in propagation, and the imaginary part yields such in attenuation. We discuss theoretical constraints on the expansion of the index of refraction with frequency, the physical interpretation of the terms, and the particular observations needed to isolate its coefficients. This, with the advent of new opportunities to view gamma-ray bursts at cosmological distance scales, gives us a new probe of dark matter. As a first application we use the time delay determined from radio afterglow observations of gamma-ray bursts to limit the charge-to-mass ratio of dark matter to |{var_epsilon}|/M < 1.8 x 10{sup -5} eV{sup -1} at 95% CL.

In order to ensure interoperability between middleware and authorization infrastructures used in the Open Science Grid (OSG) and the Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) projects, an Authorization Interoperability activity was initiated in 2006. The interoperability goal was met in two phases: first, agreeing on a common authorization query interface and protocol with an associated profile that ensures standardized use of attributes and obligations; and second, implementing, testing, and deploying, on OSG and EGEE, middleware that supports the interoperability protocol and profile. The activity has involved people from OSG, EGEE, the Globus Toolkit project, and the Condor project. This paper presents a summary of the agreed-upon protocol, profile and the software components involved.

Thermophysical properties of advanced fuels and materials during irradiation must be known prior to their use in existing, advanced, or next generation reactors. Fuel thermal conductivity is one of the most important properties for predicting fuel performance and reactor safety. This paper discusses a joint Utah State University (USU)/Idaho National Laboratory (INL) project to investigate an in-pile fuel thermal conductivity measurement technique using a surrogate fuel rod. The method used a surrogate fuel rod with Joule heating to simulate volumetric heat generation as a proof-of-concept test in-pile application. Carbon structural foam, CFOAM®, a product of Touchtone Research Laboratory was chosen as the surrogate material because of the variable electrical and thermal properties upon fabrication. To stay within the surrogate fuel rod requirements, electrical and thermal properties were tailored by Touchtone Research Laboratory to match required values. This paper describes are the techniques used for quantifying thermal conductivity. A description of the test setup and preliminary results are presented. Two thermocouples are inserted into a 1-inch diameter, 6-inch long rod of CFOAM® at known locations. Knowing the applied volumetric heat to the rod by electrical resistance heating, the thermal conductivity can be calculated. Sensitivities of this measurement can also found by …

Study of solar water heaters by using surface temperature data of solar storage tanks to diagnose proper operations.

The purpose of this study is to estimate reference evapotranspiration (ET{sub o}), rainfall deficit (rainfall - ET{sub o}) and relative crop yield reduction for a generic crop under climate change conditions for three locations in Puerto Rico: Adjuntas, Mayaguez, and Lajas. Reference evapotranspiration is estimated by the Penman-Monteith method. Rainfall and temperature data were statistically downscaled and evaluated using the DOE/NCAR PCM global circulation model projections for the B1 (low), A2 (mid-high) and A1fi (high) emission scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios. Relative crop yield reductions were estimated from a function dependent water stress factor, which is a function of soil moisture content. Average soil moisture content for the three locations was determined by means of a simple water balance approach. Results from the analysis indicate that the rainy season will become wetter and the dry season will become drier. The 20-year mean 1990-2010 September rainfall excess (i.e., rainfall - ET{sub o} > 0) increased for all scenarios and locations from 149.8 to 356.4 mm for 2080-2100. Similarly, the 20-year average February rainfall deficit (i.e., rainfall - ET{sub o} < 0) decreased from a -26.1 mm for 1990-2010 to -72.1 mm for the …

'Community wind' refers to a class of wind energy ownership structures. The extent of local ownership may range from a small minority share to full ownership by persons in the immediate area surrounding the wind project site. Potential project owners include local farmers, businesses, Native American tribes, universities, cooperatives, or any other local entity seeking to invest in wind energy. The opposite of community wind is an 'absentee' project, in which ownership is completely removed from the state and community surrounding the facility. Thus, there is little or no ongoing direct financial benefit to state and local populations aside from salaries for local repair technicians, local property tax payments, and land lease payments. In recent years, the community wind sector has been inhibited by manufacturers' preference for larger turbine orders. This often puts smaller community wind developers and projects at a competitive disadvantage. However, state policies specifically supporting community wind may become a more influential market factor as turbines are now more readily available given manufacturer ramp-ups and the slow-down in the industry that has accompanied the recent economic and financial crises. This report examines existing literature to provide an overview of economic impacts resulting from community wind projects, compares …