The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) was established to achieve the safe and compliant disposition of legacy wastes and facilities from defense nuclear applications. The scope of work is diverse, with projects ranging from single acquisitions to collections of projects and operations that span several decades and costs from hundreds of millions to billions US$. The need to be able to manage and understand the technical risks from the project to senior management level has been recognized as an enabler to successfully completing the mission. In 2008, DOE-EM developed the Technical Risk Rating as a new method to assist in managing technical risk based on specific criteria. The Technical Risk Rating, and the criteria used to determine the rating, provides a mechanism to foster open, meaningful communication between the Federal Project Directors and DOE-EM management concerning project technical risks. Four indicators (technical maturity, risk urgency, handling difficulty and resolution path) are used to focus attention on the issues and key aspects related to the risks. Pressing risk issues are brought to the forefront, keeping DOE-EM management informed and engaged such that they fully understand risk impact. Use of the Technical Risk Rating and criteria during reviews …

An RF power balance method is used to measure the synchrotron radiation losses and the wake field losses. We present the history of the losses in the Low Energy Ring (LER) and the High Energy Ring (HER) during the last several runs of PEP-II.

We investigate the couplings between different energy band valleys in a MOSFET device using self-consistent calculations of million-atom Schroedinger-Poisson Equations. Atomistic empirical pseudopotentials are used to describe the device Hamiltonian and the underlying bulk band structure. The MOSFET device is under nonequilibrium condition with a source-drain bias up to 2V, and a gate potential close to the threshold potential. We find that all the intervalley couplings are small, with the coupling constants less than 3 meV. As a result, the system eigenstates derived from different bulk valleys can be calculated separately. This will significantly reduce the simulation time, because the diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix scales as the third power of the total number of basis functions.

It has been proposed that during growth under anaerobic oroxygen-limited conditions Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 uses theserine-isocitrate lyase pathway common to many methylotrophic anaerobes,in which formaldehyde produced from pyruvate is condensed with glycine toform serine. The serine is then transformed through hydroxypyruvate andglycerate to enter central metabolism at phosphoglycerate. To examine itsuse of the serine-isocitrate lyase pathway under anaerobic conditions, wegrew S. oneidensis MR-1 on [1-13C]lactate as the sole carbon source witheither trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) or fumarate as an electron acceptor.Analysis of cellular metabolites indicates that a large percentage(>75 percent) of lactate was partially oxidized to either acetate orpyruvate. The 13C isotope distributions in amino acids and other keymetabolites indicate that, under anaerobic conditions, a complete serinepathway is not present, and lactate is oxidized via a highly reversibleserine degradation pathway. The labeling data also suggest significantactivity in the anaplerotic (malic enzyme and phosphoenolpyruvatecarboxylase) and glyoxylate shunt (isocitrate lyase and malate synthase)reactions. Although the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle is often observedto be incomplete in many other anaerobes (absence of 2-oxoglutaratedehydrogenase activity), isotopic labeling supports the existence of acomplete TCA cycle in S. oneidensis MR-1 under TMAO reductioncondition.

We are continuing the development of the Hydroacoustic Blockage Assessment Tool (HABAT) which is designed for use by analysts to predict which hydroacoustic monitoring stations can be used in discrimination analysis for any particular event. The research involves two approaches (1) model-based assessment of blockage, and (2) ground-truth data-based assessment of blockage. The tool presents the analyst with a map of the world, and plots raypath blockages from stations to sources. The analyst inputs source locations and blockage criteria, and the tool returns a list of blockage status from all source locations to all hydroacoustic stations. We are currently using the tool in an assessment of blockage criteria for simple direct-path arrivals. Hydroacoustic data, predominantly from earthquake sources, are read in and assessed for blockage at all available stations. Several measures are taken. First, can the event be observed at a station above background noise? Second, can we establish backazimuth from the station to the source. Third, how large is the decibel drop at one station relative to other stations. These observational results are then compared with model estimates to identify the best set of blockage criteria and used to create a set of blockage maps for each station. The …

Surface waves were generated by the North Korean nuclear explosion of 9 October 2006 and recorded at epicentral distances up to 34 degrees, from which we estimated a surface wave magnitude (M{sub s}) of 2.94 with an interstation standard deviation of 0.17 magnitude units. The International Data Centre estimated a body wave magnitude (m{sub b}) of 4.1. This is the only explosion we have analyzed that was not easily screened as an explosion based on the differences between the M{sub s} and m{sub b} estimates. Additionally, this M{sub s} predicts a yield, based on empirical M{sub s}/Yield relationships, that is almost an order of magnitude larger then the 0.5 to 1 kiloton reported for this explosion. We investigate how emplacement medium effects on surface wave moment and magnitude may have contributed to the yield discrepancy.

The Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians was awarded a grant through the Department of Energy First Steps program in June of 2006. The primary purpose of the grant was to enable the Tribe to develop energy conservation policies and a strategy for alternative energy resource development. All of the work contemplated by the grant agreement has been completed and the Tribe has begun implementing the resource development strategy through the construction of a 1.0 MW grid-connected photovoltaic system designed to offset a portion of the energy demand generated by current and projected land uses on the Tribe’s Reservation. Implementation of proposed energy conservation policies will proceed more deliberately as the Tribe acquires economic development experience sufficient to evaluate more systematically the interrelationships between conservation and its economic development goals.

This document provides requirements, design, data-file specifications, test plan, and Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocol for the linkage between the statistical package R and the Framework for Risk Analysis in Multimedia Environmental Systems (FRAMES) Versions 1.x and 2.0. The requirements identify the attributes of the system. The design describes how the system will be structured to meet those requirements. The specification presents the specific modifications to FRAMES to meet the requirements and design. The test plan confirms that the basic functionality listed in the requirements (black box testing) actually functions as designed, and QA/QC confirms that the software meets the client’s needs.

None

This research effort examines the post-detonation environmental, safety, health and operational aspects of experimental explosive tests with mercury. Specific experimental information is necessary for the evaluation of post-detonation by-products in comparison with those potentially resulting from mercury-bearing material accumulation in biomass accumulation areas, such as landfills, from batteries, electrical switches, thermometers, and fluorescent lights (Lindberg et al 2001). This will assist in determining appropriate abatement techniques for cleaning the work environment and environmental mitigation to determine waste stream components and risk assessment protocol. Determination of the by-products for personal protection equipment and personal exposure monitoring parameters are also part of this experimental work.

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 4.8, 4.28, and 4.52. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in September 2004. The overall goal of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities at Hanford. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. tasked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediments from within Waste Management Area (WMA) T-TX-TY. This report is the second of two reports written to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from boreholes C4104 and C4105 in the T Tank Farm, and from borehole 299-W-11-39 installed northeast of the T Tank Farm. Finally, the measurements on sediments from borehole C4104 are compared with a nearby borehole drilled in 1993, 299- W10-196, through the tank T-106 leak plume.

None

Heterogeneous processes hold the key to understanding many problems in biology and atmospheric science. In particular, recent experiments have shown that heterogeneous chemistry at the surface of sea-salt aerosols plays a large role in important atmospheric processes with far reaching implications towards understanding of the fate and transport of aerosolized chemical weapons (i.e. organophosphates such as sarin and VX). Unfortunately, the precise mechanistic details of the simplest surface enhanced chemical reactions remain unknown. Understanding heterogeneous processes also has implications in the biological sciences. Traditionally, it is accepted that enzymes catalyze reactions by stabilizing the transition state, thereby lowering the free energy barrier. However, recent findings have shown that a multitude of phenomena likely contribute to the efficiency of enzymes, such as coupled protein motion, quantum mechanical tunneling, or strong electrostatic binding. The objective of this project was to develop and validate a single computational framework based on first principles simulations using tera-scale computational resources to answer fundamental scientific questions about heterogeneous chemical processes relevant to atmospheric chemistry and biological sciences.

The electronic structure of multiferroic BiFeO{sub 3} has been studied using soft-X-ray emission spectroscopy. The fluorescence spectra exhibit that the valence band is mainly composed of O 2p state hybridized with Fe 3d state. The band gap corresponding to the energy separation between the top of the O 2p valence band and the bottom of the Fe 3d conduction band is 1.3 eV. The soft-X-ray Raman scattering reflects the features due to charge transfer transition from O 2p valence band to Fe 3d conduction band. These findings are similar to the result of electronic structure calculation by density functional theory within the local spin-density approximation that included the effect of Coulomb repulsion between localized d states.

A year of data from sonic anemometer and mechanical wind sensors was analyzed and compared at a low-wind site. Results indicate that 15-minute average and peak 1-second wind speeds (u) from the sonic agree well with data derived from a co-located cup anemometer over a wide range of speeds. Wind direction data derived from the sonic also agree closely with those from a wind vane except for very low wind speeds. Values of standard deviation of longitudinal wind speed ({sigma}{sub u}) and wind direction fluctuations ({delta}{sub {theta}}) from the sonic and mechanical sensors agree well for times with u > 2 ms{sup -1} but show significant differences with lower u values. The most significant differences are associated with the standard deviation of vertical wind fluctuations ({sigma}{sub w}): the co-located vertical propeller anemometer yields values increasingly less than those measured by the sonic anemometer as u decreases from 2.5 approaching 0 ms{sup -1}. The combination of u over-estimation and under-estimation of {sigma}{sub w} from the mechanical sensors at low wind speeds causes considerable under-estimation of the standard deviation of vertical wind angle fluctuations ({sigma}{sub {phi}}), an indicator of vertical dispersion. Calculations of {sigma}{sub {phi}} from sonic anemometer measurements are typically 5{sup …

We explore the physics of the general CP-conserving MSSM with Minimal Flavor Violation, the pMSSM. The 19 soft SUSY breaking parameters are chosen so to satisfy all existing experimental and theoretical constraints assuming that the WIMP is the lightest neutralino. We scan this parameter space twice using both flat and log priors and compare the results which yield similar conclusions. Constraints from both LEP and the Tevatron play an important role in obtaining our final model samples. Implications for future TeV-scale e{sup +}e{sup -} linear colliders (LC) are discussed.

Despite its ease of use, OpenMP has failed to gain widespread use on large scale systems, largely due to its failure to deliver sufficient performance. Our experience indicates that the cost of initiating OpenMP regions is simply too high for the desired OpenMP usage scenario of many applications. In this paper, we introduce CLOMP, a new benchmark to characterize this aspect of OpenMP implementations accurately. CLOMP complements the existing EPCC benchmark suite to provide simple, easy to understand measurements of OpenMP overheads in the context of application usage scenarios. Our results for several OpenMP implementations demonstrate that CLOMP identifies the amount of work required to compensate for the overheads observed with EPCC. Further, we show that CLOMP also captures limitations for OpenMP parallelization on NUMA systems.

Four isotopes of rutherfordium,254-257Rf, were produced by the 208Pb(48Ti, xn)256-xRf and 208Pb(50Ti, xn)258-xRf reactions (x = 1, 2) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron. Excitation functions were measured for the 1n and 2n exit channels. A maximum likelihood technique, which correctly accounts for the changing cross section at all energies subtended by the targets, was used to fit the 1n data to allow a more direct comparison between excitation functions obtained under different experimental conditions. The maximum 1n crosssections of the 208Pb(48Ti, n)255Rf and 208Pb(50Ti, n)257Rf reactions obtained from fits to the experimental data are 0.38 +/- 0.07 nb and 40 +/-5 nb, respectively. Excitation functions for the 2n exit channel were also measured, with maximum cross sections of nb for the 48Ti induced reaction, and 15.7 +/- 0.2 nb for the 50Ti induced reaction. The impact of the two neutron difference in the projectile on the 1n cross section is discussed. The results are compared to the Fusion by Diffusion model developed by Swiatecki, Wilczynska, and Wilczynski.

With the current level of actinide materials used in civilian power generation and the need for safe and efficient methods for the chemical separation of these species from their daughter products and for long-term storage requirements, a detailed understanding of actinide chemistry is of great importance. Due to the unique bonding properties of the f-elements, the lanthanides are commonly used as structural and chemical models for the actinides, but differences in the bonding between these 4f and 5f elements has become a question of immediate applicability to separations technology. This brief overview of actinide coordination chemistry in the Raymond group at UC Berkeley/LBNL examines the validity of using lanthanide analogs as structural models for the actinides, with particular attention paid to single crystal X-ray diffraction structures. Although lanthanides are commonly accepted as reasonable analogs for the actinides, these comparisons suggest the careful study of actinide materials independent of their lanthanide analogs to be of utmost importance to present and future efforts in nuclear industries.

Waste streams that may be generated by the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Advanced Energy Initiative may contain significant quantities of organics (0-53 wt%) and/or nitrates (0-56 wt%). Decomposition of high nitrate streams requires reducing conditions, e.g. organic additives such as sugar or coal, to reduce the NO{sub x} in the off-gas to N{sub 2} to meet the Clean Air Act (CAA) standards during processing. Thus, organics will be present during waste form stabilization regardless of which GNEP processes are chosen, e.g. organics in the feed or organics for nitrate destruction. High organic containing wastes cannot be stabilized with the existing HLW Best Developed Available Technology (BDAT) which is HLW vitrification (HLVIT) unless the organics are removed by preprocessing. Alternative waste stabilization processes such as Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming (FBSR) operate at moderate temperatures (650-750 C) compared to vitrification (1150-1300 C). FBSR converts organics to CAA compliant gases, creates no secondary liquid waste streams, and creates a stable mineral waste form that is as durable as glass. For application to the high Cs-137 and Sr-90 containing GNEP waste streams a single phase mineralized Cs-mica phase was made by co-reacting illite clay and GNEP simulated waste. The Cs-mica accommodates up to …

{delta}-Ln{sub 2-x}LuxS{sub 3} (Ln = Ce, Pr, Nd; x = 0.67-0.71) compounds have been synthesized through the reaction of elemental rare earth metals and S using Sb{sub 2}S{sub 3} flux at 1000 C. These compounds are isotypic with CeTmS{sub 3}, which has a complex three-dimensional structure. It includes four larger Ln{sup 3+} sites in eight- and nine-coordinate environments, two disordered seven-coordinate Ln{sup 3+}/Lu{sup 3+} positions, and two six-coordinate Lu{sup 3+} ions. The structure is constructed from one-dimensional chains of LnSn (n = 6-9) polyhedra that extend along the b axis. These polyhedra share faces or edges with two neighbors within the chains, while in the [ac] plane they share edges and corners with other chains. Least square refinements gave rise to the formulas of {delta}-Ce{sub 1.30}Lu{sub 0.70}S{sub 3}, {delta}-Pr{sub 1.29}Lu{sub 0.71}S{sub 3} and {delta}-Nd{sub 1.33}Lu{sub 0.67}S{sub 3}, which are consistent with the EDX analysis and magnetic susceptibility data. {delta}-Ln{sub 2-x}LuxS{sub 3} (Ln = Ce, Pr, Nd; x = 0.67-0.71) show no evidence of magnetic ordering down to 5 K. Optical properties measurements show that the band gaps for {delta}-Ce{sub 1.30}Lu{sub 0.70}S{sub 3}, {delta}-Pr{sub 1.29}Lu{sub 0.71}S{sub 3}, and {delta}-Nd{sub 1.33}Lu{sub 0.67}S{sub 3} are 1.25 eV, 1.38 eV, and 1.50 eV, respectively. …

The authors review recent results of the BABAR and Belle Collaborations on the {alpha} and {gamma} angles of the unitarity triangle, on the B {yields} K{pi}{pi} Dalitz-plot analyses, and on the searches for baryonic B decays and for B {yields} D{bar D} decays.

Enclosed is the report summarizing the metals analysis results at the Contained Firing Facility (CFF), during SQTS 01 - 05. This metals analysis includes evaluation of a bulk dust and surface swipe sampling protocol during the testing series that obtained samples at 3 primary locations in the CFF chamber area. The sampling protocol for each of the bulk dust samples involves an assessment of the concentration for 20 different metals, the oxidation state of selected metals, a particle size selective analysis, and morphological information. In addition, surface swipes were taken during SQTS 05 on the equipment and personnel door frames to indicate the characteristics of airborne metals due to leakage past the gasket seals. The bulk dust metals analysis indicates a nearly complete conversion of the aluminum casing to an oxide form with an even split between spherical and non-spherical morphology. Size selective analysis shows 83% of the particulates are in the inhalable size range of less than 100 microns and 46% are in the respirable range of less than 10 microns. Combining metals analysis and leakage results indicate the potential for a problematic personal exposure to metals external to the chamber unless modifications are made. Please feel free to …

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 4.14, 4.16, 5.20, 5.22, 5.43, and 5.45. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in February 2002. The overall goal of the of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. asked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediment from within the S-SX Waste Management Area. This report is one in a series of four reports to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) borehole bore samples and composite samples.