The results of the environmental surveillance program conducted at Site A/Plot M in the Palos Forest Preserve area for Calendar Year 2007 are presented. Based on the results of the 1976-1978 radiological characterization of the site, a determination was made that a surveillance program be established. The characterization study determined that very low levels of hydrogen-3 (as tritiated water) had migrated from the burial ground and were present in two nearby hand pumped picnic wells. The current surveillance program began in 1980 and consists of sample collection and analysis of surface and subsurface water. The results of the analyses are used to: (1) monitor the migration pathway of water from the burial ground (Plot M) to the hand-pumped picnic wells, (2) establish if other buried radionuclides have migrated, and (3) monitor the presence of radioactive materials in the environment of the area. Hydrogen-3 in the Red Gate Woods picnic wells was still detected this year, but the average and maximum concentrations were significantly less than found earlier. Hydrogen-3 continues to be detected in a number of wells, boreholes, dolomite holes, and a surface stream. Analyses since 1984 have indicated the presence of low levels of strontium-90 in water from a …

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

The confirmation of the Cabibbo-suppressed charm baryon decay mode {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} p{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} is reported. All data analyzed are from SELEX, a fixed target experiment at Fermilab that took data during 1996 and 1997, mainly with a 600 GeV/c {Sigma}{sup -} beam. The branching ratio of the Cabibbo-suppressed decay mode {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} p{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} relative to the Cabibbo-favored mode {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} pK{sup -}{pi}{sup +} is measured to be: {Gamma}({Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} p{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -})/{Gamma}({Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} pK{sup -}{pi}{sup +}) = 0.103 {+-} 0.022.

This report describes the approach to estimating the benefits and analysis results for the Heavy Vehicle Technologies activities of the FreedomCar and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) Program of EERE. The scope of the effort includes: (1) Characterizing baseline and advanced technology vehicles for Class 3-6 and Class 7 and 8 trucks, (2) Identifying technology goals associated with the DOE EERE programs, (3) Estimating the market potential of technologies that improve fuel efficiency and/or use alternative fuels, (4) Determining the petroleum and greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with the advanced technologies. In FY 05 the Heavy Vehicles program activity expanded its technical involvement to more broadly address various sources of energy loss as compared to focusing more narrowly on engine efficiency and alternative fuels. This broadening of focus has continued in subsequent activities. These changes are the result of a planning effort that occurred during FY 04 and 05. (Ref. 1) This narrative describes characteristics of the heavy truck market as they relate to the analysis, a description of the analysis methodology (including a discussion of the models used to estimate market potential and benefits), and a presentation of the benefits estimated as a result of the adoption of the advanced technologies. …

This report describes the approach to estimating the benefits and analysis results for the Heavy Vehicle Technologies activities of the Vehicle Technologies (VT) Program of EERE. The scope of the effort includes: (1) Characterizing baseline and advanced technology vehicles for Class 3-6 and Class 7 and 8 trucks, (2) Identifying technology goals associated with the DOE EERE programs, (3) Estimating the market potential of technologies that improve fuel efficiency and/or use alternative fuels, and (4) Determining the petroleum and greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with the advanced technologies. In FY 08 the Heavy Vehicles program continued its involvement with various sources of energy loss as compared to focusing more narrowly on engine efficiency and alternative fuels. These changes are the result of a planning effort that first occurred during FY 04 and was updated in the past year. (Ref. 1) This narrative describes characteristics of the heavy truck market as they relate to the analysis, a description of the analysis methodology (including a discussion of the models used to estimate market potential and benefits), and a presentation of the benefits estimated as a result of the adoption of the advanced technologies. The market penetrations are used as part of the …

Argonne National Laboratory has been asked to review the least-cost expansion plan (LCEP) of the Jamaica Public Service Company, Ltd. (JPSCo). The material that has been initially provided to Argonne included: (1) An electronic copy of the data and results from JPSCo's running the WASP electric system expansion planning model, (2) Approximately 20 pages of a document 'JPSCo Generation Expansion Plan', marked 'DRAFT 002', date unknown, and (3) The report 'JPSCo Least Cost Generation Expansion Plans, (1999-2009)', January 1999. It was noticed that the 20 pages from the 'DRAFT 002' document were different from the January 1999 report. An explanation was provided to Argonne that the excerpt was from an earlier draft and that the review should focus on the January 1999 report. Further, the electronic copy of the WASP case did not correspond to either the January 1999 report or to the 20-page excerpt. Again, the reason for these discrepancies was that the WASP case provided to Argonne was an earlier case and not the final one that was presented in the report. Based on the review of the available material, Argonne experts have prepared and submitted to the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) a preliminary draft report …

A design specification for the DES Camera focal plate is to keep the deformation of the plate to less than 30 microns under operating conditions. Figure 1 shows the assembly of the focal plate, the support bipods and support ring, and the copper braid assemblies. Several studies were done to examine the deformation of the focal plate under different thermal and structural constraints. Simple hand calculations were also performed as a check of the finite element model and results. The main goal of this analysis was to determine the deformation of the plate and to understand what thermal and structural conditions are causing the deformation.

The North Aleutian Basin Planning Area of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is a large geographic area with significant natural resources. The Basin includes most of the southeastern part of the Bering Sea Outer Continental Shelf, including all of Bristol Bay. The area supports important habitat for a wide variety of species and globally significant habitat for birds and marine mammals, including several federally listed species. Villages and communities of the Alaska Peninsula and other areas bordering or near the Basin rely on its natural resources (especially commercial and subsistence fishing) for much of their sustenance and livelihood. The offshore area of the North Aleutian Basin is considered to have important hydrocarbon reserves, especially natural gas. In 2006, the MMS released a draft proposed program, 'Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, 2007-2012' and an accompanying draft programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS). The draft proposed program identified two lease sales proposed in the North Aleutian Basin in 2010 and 2012, subject to restrictions. The area proposed for leasing in the Basin was restricted to the Sale 92 Area in the southwestern portion. Additional EISs will be needed to evaluate the potential effects of specific lease actions, exploration activities, and …

Demand response (DR) is an effective tool which resolves inconsistencies between electric power supply and demand. It further provides a reliable and credible resource that ensures stable and economical operation of the power grid. This paper introduces systematic definitions for DR and demand side management, along with operational differences between these two methods. A classification is provided for DR programs, and various DR strategies are provided for application in air conditioning and refrigerating systems. The reliability of DR is demonstrated through discussion of successful overseas examples. Finally, suggestions as to the implementation of demand response in China are provided.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

The GNEP program envisions continuing the use of light-water reactors (LWRs), with the addition of processing the discharged, or spent, LWR fuel to recover actinide and fission product elements, and then recycling the actinide elements in sodium-cooled fast reactors. Previous work has established the relationship between the processing efficiencies of spent LWR fuel, as represented by spent PWR fuel, and the potential increase in repository utilization for the resulting processing waste. The purpose of this current study is to determine a similar relationship for the waste from processing spent fast reactor fuel, and then to examine the wastes from the combination of LWRs and fast reactors as would be deployed with the GNEP approach.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.

An Access Grid Venue Server provides access to individual Virtual Venues, virtual spaces where users can collaborate using the Access Grid Venue Client software. This manual describes the Venue Server component of the Access Grid Toolkit, version 2.3. Covered here are the basic operations of starting a venue server, modifying its configuration, and modifying the configuration of the individual venues.

The investigation reported here was conducted by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) in 2006. The investigation addressed carbon tetrachloride contamination on the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility at Ramona, Kansas. The results clearly demonstrate that only minimal contamination is associated with the past use of carbon tetrachloride on the former CCC/USDA property. No soil contamination was detected at concentrations above Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) risk-based screening level (RBSL) Tier 2 standard of 200 {micro}g/kg for the soil-to-groundwater protection pathway. Carbon tetrachloride concentrations in groundwater above the RBSL and maximum contaminant level (MCL) value of 5.0 {micro}g/L were detected in only two samples, collected at adjacent locations on the southeast part of the property. The relatively low concentrations detected and the limited areal extent of the contamination demonstrate that no imminent threat exists on the former CCC/USDA property to warrant remediation. The soil and groundwater contamination detected on the former CCC/USDA property is clearly separate from contamination detected at off-site locations. The carbon tetrachloride and chloroform contamination in groundwater (at concentrations above the RBSL and MCL value) associated with past activities on the former CCC/USDA property is contained within the property boundaries. …

The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) is considering a list of reactors and nuclear fuels as part of its chartered initiative. Because many of the candidate materials have not been explored experimentally under the conditions of interest, and in order to economize on program costs, analytical support in the form of combined first principle and mechanistic modeling is highly desirable. The present work is a compilation of mechanistic models developed in order to describe the fission product behavior of irradiated nuclear fuel. The mechanistic nature of the model development allows for the possibility of describing a range of nuclear fuels under varying operating conditions. Key sources include the FASTGRASS code with an application to UO{sub 2} power reactor fuel and the Dispersion Analysis Research Tool (DART ) with an application to uranium-silicide and uranium-molybdenum research reactor fuel. Described behavior mechanisms are divided into subdivisions treating fundamental materials processes under normal operation as well as the effect of transient heating conditions on these processes. Model topics discussed include intra- and intergranular gas-atom and bubble diffusion, bubble nucleation and growth, gas-atom re-solution, fuel swelling and ?scion gas release. In addition, the effect of an evolving microstructure on these processes (e.g., irradiation-induced recrystallization) …

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music (MM) degree.

This report describes a visit to several gas well sites in the Fayetteville Shale on August 9, 2007. I met with George Sheffer, Desoto Field Manager for SEECO, Inc. (a large gas producer in Arkansas). We talked in his Conway, Arkansas, office for an hour and a half about the processes and technologies that SEECO uses. We then drove into the field to some of SEECO's properties to see first-hand what the well sites looked like. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) made several funding awards under a program called Low Impact Natural Gas and Oil (LINGO). One of the projects that received an award is 'Probabilistic Risk-Based Decision Support for Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Facilities in Sensitive Ecosystems'. The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has the lead on the project, and Argonne National Laboratory is a partner. The goal of the project is to develop a Web-based decision support tool that will be used by mid- and small-sized oil and gas companies as well as environmental regulators and other stakeholders to proactively minimize adverse ecosystem impacts associated with the recovery of gas reserves in sensitive areas. The project focuses on …

A study was performed to validate the existing tools for fast reactor neutronics analysis against previous critical experiments. The six benchmark problems for the ZPPR-21 critical experiments phases A through F specified in the Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments were analyzed. Analysis was also performed for three loading configurations of the ZPPR-15 Phase A experiments. As-built core models were developed in XYZ geometries using the reactor loading records and drawer master information. Detailed Monte Carlo and deterministic transport calculations were performed, along with various modeling sensitivity analyses. The Monte Carlo simulations were carried out with the VIM code with continuous energy cross sections based on the ENDF/B-V.2 data. For deterministic calculations, region-dependent 230-group cross sections were generated using the ETOE-2/MC-2/SDX code system, again based on the ENDF/B-V.2 data. Plate heterogeneity effects were taken into account by SDX unit cell calculations. Core calculations were performed with the TWODANT discrete ordinate code for the ZPPR-21 benchmarks, and with the DIF3D nodal transport option for the ZPPR-15 experiments. For all six ZPPR-21 configurations where the Pu-239 concentration varies from 0 to 49 w/o and the U-235 concentration accordingly varies from 62 to 0 w/o, the core multiplication factor determined with a …

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Oil and gas companies operate in many countries around the world. Their exploration and production (E&P) operations generate many kinds of waste that must be carefully and appropriately managed. Some of these wastes are inherently part of the E&P process; examples are drilling wastes and produced water. Other wastes are generic industrial wastes that are not unique to E&P activities, such as painting wastes and scrap metal. Still other wastes are associated with the presence of workers at the site; these include trash, food waste, and laundry wash water. In some host countries, mature environmental regulatory programs are in place that provide for various waste management options on the basis of the characteristics of the wastes and the environmental settings of the sites. In other countries, the waste management requirements and authorized options are stringent, even though the infrastructure to meet the requirements may not be available yet. In some cases, regulations and/or waste management infrastructure do not exist at all. Companies operating in these countries can be confronted with limited and expensive waste management options.

The RESRAD-OFFSITE code is an extension of the RESRAD (onsite) code, which has been widely used for calculating doses and risks from exposure to radioactively contaminated soils. The development of RESRAD-OFFSITE started more than 10 years ago, but new models and methodologies have been developed, tested, and incorporated since then. Some of the new models have been benchmarked against other independently developed (international) models. The databases used have also expanded to include all the radionuclides (more than 830) contained in the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) 38 database. This manual provides detailed information on the design and application of the RESRAD-OFFSITE code. It describes in detail the new models used in the code, such as the three-dimensional dispersion groundwater flow and radionuclide transport model, the Gaussian plume model for atmospheric dispersion, and the deposition model used to estimate the accumulation of radionuclides in offsite locations and in foods. Potential exposure pathways and exposure scenarios that can be modeled by the RESRAD-OFFSITE code are also discussed. A user's guide is included in Appendix A of this manual. The default parameter values and parameter distributions are presented in Appendix B, along with a discussion on the statistical distributions for probabilistic analysis. …

Supersymmetry, extension of the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM), is searched for by trying to observe the supersymmetric partner of bottom quark ({tilde b}). This search is performed using events with a final state comprising two acoplanar b-quark jets and missing transverse energy (MET) and coming from a sample of 992 pb{sup -1} of data collected by the D0 detector at the Tevatron, the Fermilab p{bar p} collider. The absence of an excess of events in comparison to MS expectations leads to exclude sb masses up to 201 GeV, neutralino masses up to 94 GeV. The MET has been studied under two points of view, because of its fundamental role in this search. First, at the level of the trigger system which allows the online selection candidate events, and then, within the framework of the ALPGEN generator, the simulation of the Z boson transverse momentum which appears as MET when the Z boson decays into neutrino.

This Spanish version of the popular Small Wind Electric Systems: A U.S. Consumer's Guide provides consumers with information to help them determine whether a small wind electric system can provide all or a portion of the energy they need for their home or business based on their wind resource, energy needs, and economics. Topics include how to make a home more energy efficient, how to choose the correct turbine size, the parts of a wind electric system, how to determine whether enough wind resource exists, how to choose the best site for a turbine, how to connect a system to the utility grid, and whether it's possible to become independent of the utility grid using wind energy. In addition, the cover of the guide contains a list of contacts for more information.