The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is faced with a massive cleanup task in resolving the legacy of environmental problems from years of manufacturing nuclear weapons. One of the major activities within this task is the treatment and disposal of the extremely large amount of high-level radioactive (HLW) waste stored at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. The current planning for the method of choice for accomplishing this task is to vitrify (glassify) this waste for disposal in a geologic repository. This paper describes the results of the DOE-chartered independent review of alternatives for solidification of Hanford HLW that could achieve major cost reductions with reasonable long-term risks, including recommendations on a path forward for advanced melter and waste form material research and development. The potential for improved cost performance was considered to depend largely on increased waste loading (fewer high-level waste canisters for disposal), higher throughput, or decreased vitrification facility size.

Presently the Heavy Ion Fusion Virtual National Laboratory is researching ion sources and injector concepts to understand how to optimize beam brightness over a range of currents (50-2000 mA argon equivalent). One concept initially accelerates millimeter size, milliamp beamlets to 1 MeV before merging them into centimeter size, ampere beams. Computer simulations have shown the final brightness of the merged beams is dominated by the emittance growth of the merging process, as long as the beamlets ion temperature is below a few eV. Thus, a RF multicusp source capable of high current density can produce beams with better brightness compared to ones extracted from a colder source with a large aperture and lower current density. As such, experiments have begun to develop a RF multicusp source capable of delivering one amp of extracted beam current. It is expected that it will require 10 kW of 13 MHz RF power delivered via a quartz shielded, one and half turn, four inch diameter antenna. Important considerations in the development of the source include the dependence of current density and beam ion temperature on consumed RF power and gas pressure. A fast rise time ({approx}100 ns) for the extracted beam pulse must also …

This paper describes the commercial application of an innovative plasma mass separator called the Archimedes Filter to a pre-treatment plant that can be integrated into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford and Savannah River Sites to significantly enhance the treatment of radioactive high-level waste. The output of the Archimedes Filter is completely compatible with existing waste immobilization processes such as vitrification and requires no new waste form to be developed. A full-geometric-scale Demonstration Filter Unit (DEMO) has been constructed and is undergoing initial testing at the Archimedes Technology Group Development Facilities in San Diego. Some of the technology and engineering development is being performed by other organizations in collaboration with Archimedes. The Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) is developing the plasma calcination technology and all of the associated systems for AFP feed preparation. Two Russian institutes are involved in the development of the ICP torch and injector system. The Remote System Group (UT-Battelle) at ORNL is developing the remote maintenance system for the filter units. Conceptual design of the Archimedes Filter Plant (AFP) is being developed concurrently with the DEMO testing program. The AFP mission is to significantly reduce the cost and accelerate the rate of vitrification of high-level …

In order to meet the need for protective fish screening, the Walla Walla County Conservation District (WWCCD) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) formed a partnership to implement the WDFW Cooperative Compliance Review and Cost-Share Program. The program provides technical and financial assistance to irrigators in order to bring existing surface water diversions into compliance with state and federal juvenile fish screen criteria. The Walla Walla basin has two priority salmonid species currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Bull Trout and Mid-Columbia Basin Steelhead. Other partners in this effort include the Washington Department of Ecology, National Marine Fisheries Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Walla Walla Community College Irrigation Department. A Screening Oversight Committee of representatives from these agencies sets policy and resolves issues.

This dissertation reports on a study of search for an orbitally excited state of charmed baryons {Sigma}{sub c}{sup 0}(2800) and {Sigma}{sub c}{sup ++}(2800). They measure the widths, momentum spectrum and production cross-section for these states decaying into a {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} and a charged {pi}. The analysis uses 230 fb{sup -1} of data collected at BABAR detector operating at PEP-II collider at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The data is collected in the region of {Upsilon}(4S) an {approx} 40 MeV below the resonance. {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} baryon is reconstructed in the decay mode pK{sup -}{pi}{sup +}. The {Sigma}{sub c}(2800) baryon production at continuum is observed to be quite significant for x{sub p} > 0.7, where x{sub p} = p/{radical}E{sup 2}+M{sup 2} is the scaled momentum and varies from 0.0 to 1.0. The momentum spectrum is measured by considering the corrected yield for momentum bins above x{sub p} > 0.5 and can be parameterized very well by a Peterson function, given by: dN/dx{sub p} {proportional_to} 1/x{sub p}(1 - 1/x{sub p} - {epsilon}/1-x{sub p}){sup 2}. The values for the peterson parameter {epsilon}, are found to be 0.050 {+-} 0.010 for {Sigma}{sub c}{sup 0}(2800) and 0.057 {+-} 0.012 for {Sigma}{sub c}{sup ++}(2800). They use …

This Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) project was tasked with exploring, adapting, developing and demonstrating innovative nondestructive test methods to automate nuclear coated particle fuel inspection so as to provide the United States (US) with necessary improved and economical Quality Assurance and Control (QA/QC) that is needed for the fuels for several reactor concepts being proposed for both near term deployment [DOE NE & NERAC, 2001] and Generation IV nuclear systems. Replacing present day QA/QC methods, done manually and in many cases destructively, with higher speed automated nondestructive methods will make fuel production for advanced reactors economically feasible. For successful deployment of next generation reactors that employ particle fuels, or fuels in the form of pebbles based on particles, extremely large numbers of fuel particles will require inspection at throughput rates that do not significantly impact the proposed manufacturing processes. The focus of the project is nondestructive examination (NDE) technologies that can be automated for production speeds and make either: (I) On Process Measurements or (II) In Line Measurements. The inspection technologies selected will enable particle “quality” qualification as a particle or group of particles passes a sensor. A multiple attribute dependent signature will be measured and used for qualification …

We report on the first axion search results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. An energy threshold of 2 keV for electron-recoil events allows a search for possible solar axion conversion into photons or local Galactic axion conversion into electrons in the germanium crystal detectors. The solar axion search sets an upper limit on the Primakov coupling g{sub a{gamma}{gamma}} of 2.4 x 10{sup ?9} GeV{sup -1} at the 95% confidence level for an axion mass less than 0.1 keV/c{sup 2}. This limit benefits from the first precise measurement of the absolute crystal plane orientations in this type of experiment. The Galactic axion search analysis sets a world-leading experimental upper limit on the axio-electric coupling g{sub a{bar e}e} of 1.4 x 10{sup -12} at the 90% confidence level for an axion mass of 2.5 keV/c{sup 2}. This analysis excludes an interpretation of the DAMA annual modulation result in terms of Galactic axion interactions for axion masses above 1.4 keV/c{sup 2}.

Many tools that target parallel and distributed environments must co-locate a set of daemons with the distributed processes of the target application. However, efficient and portable deployment of these daemons on large scale systems is an unsolved problem. We overcome this gap with LaunchMON, a scalable, robust, portable, secure, and general purpose infrastructure for launching tool daemons. Its API allows tool builders to identify all processes of a target job, launch daemons on the relevant nodes and control daemon interaction. Our results show that Launch-MON scales to very large daemon counts and substantially enhances performance over existing ad hoc mechanisms.

In the framework of the preparation for the decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) an Industrial Complex for Solid Radwaste Management (ICSRM) will be built under the EC TACIS Program in the vicinity of ChNPP. The paper will present the proposed concepts and their integration into existing buildings and installations. Further, the paper will consider the safety cases, as well as the integration of Western and Ukrainian Organizations into a cohesive project team and the requirement to guarantee the fulfillment of both Western standards and Ukrainian regulations and licensing requirements. The paper will provide information on the status of the interim design and the effects of value engineering on the output of basic design phase. The paper therefor summarizes the design results of the involved design engineers of the Design and Process Providers BNFL (LOT 1), RWE NUKEM GmbH (LOT 2 and General) and INITEC (LOT 3).

Measurement of recombination and minority-carrier lifetimes has become a central activity in photovoltaic technology. The primary measurement techniques for silicon technologies are based on photoconductive decay (PCD) and microwave reflectance (mPCD). The measurement of the correct recombination lifetime depends on the carriers being confined to a given spatial region of a diagnostic structure. The internal electric fields separate the charges, and the measured value does not represent the real minority-carrier lifetime. In these cases, the measured quantity is a function of the true lifetime and the sample structure. Here, we examine these effects, both experimentally and theoretically, for the n+-p device structure common to terrestrial photovoltaics.

Today's restrictive environmental regulations encourage paper mills to close their water systems. Closed water systems increase the level of contaminants significantly. Accumulations of solid suspensions are detrimental to both the papermaking process and the final products. To remove these solids, technologies such as flotation using dissolved air (DAF), centrifuging, and screening have been developed. Dissolved Air Flotation systems are commonly used to clarify whitewater. These passive systems use high pressure to dissolve air into whitewater. When the pressure is released, air micro-bubbles form and attach themselves to fibers and particles, which then float to the surface where they are mechanically skimmed off. There is an economic incentive to explore alternatives to the DAF technology to drive down the cost of whitewater processing and minimize the use of chemicals. The installed capital cost for a DAF system is significant and a typical DAF system takes up considerable space. An alternative approach, which is the subject of this project, involves a dual method combining the advantages of chemical flocculation and in-line ultrasonic clarification to efficiently remove flocculated contaminants from a water stream

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This report is the result of a study of networks and how they may need to evolve to support petascale leadership computing and science. As Dr. Ray Orbach, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science, says in the spring 2006 issue of SciDAC Review, 'One remarkable example of growth in unexpected directions has been in high-end computation'. In the same article Dr. Michael Strayer states, 'Moore's law suggests that before the end of the next cycle of SciDAC, we shall see petaflop computers'. Given the Office of Science's strong leadership and support for petascale computing and facilities, we should expect to see petaflop computers in operation in support of science before the end of the decade, and DOE/SC Advanced Scientific Computing Research programs are focused on making this a reality. This study took its lead from this strong focus on petascale computing and the networks required to support such facilities, but it grew to include almost all aspects of the DOE/SC petascale computational and experimental science facilities, all of which will face daunting challenges in managing and analyzing the voluminous amounts of data expected. In addition, trends indicate the increased coupling of unique experimental facilities with computational facilities, …

Urban fabric data are needed in order to estimate the impact of light-colored surfaces (roofs and pavements) and urban vegetation (trees, grass, shrubs) on the meteorology and air quality of a city, and to design effective implementation programs. In this report, we discuss the result of a semi-automatic Monte-Carlo statistical approach used to develop data on surface-type distribution and city-fabric makeup (percentage of various surface-types) using aerial color orthophotography. The digital aerial photographs for Salt Lake City covered a total of about 34 km2 (13 mi2). At 0.50-m resolution, there were approximately 1.4 x 108 pixels of data. Four major land-use types were examined: (1) commercial, (2) industrial, (3) educational, and (4) residential. On average, for the areas studied, vegetation covers about 46 percent of the area (ranging 44-51 percent), roofs cover about 21 percent (ranging 15-24 percent), and paved surfaces about 26 percent (ranging 21-28 percent). For the most part, trees shade streets, parking lots, grass, and sidewalks. In most non-residential areas, paved surfaces cover 46-66 percent of the area. In residential areas, on average, paved surfaces cover about 32 percent of the area. Land-use/land-cover (LU/LC) data from the United States Geological Survey were used to extrapolate these results …

We analyze the solar reflectance of asphalt roofing shingles that are covered with pigmented mineral roofing granules. The reflecting surface is rough, with a total area approximately twice the nominal area. We introduce a simple analytical model that relates the 'micro-reflectance' of a small surface region to the 'macro-reflectance' of the shingle. This model uses a mean field approximation to account for multiple scattering effects. The model is then used to compute the reflectance of shingles with a mixture of different colored granules, when the reflectances of the corresponding mono-color shingles are known. Simple linear averaging works well, with small corrections to linear averaging derived for highly reflective materials. Reflective base granules and reflective surface coatings aid achievement of high solar reflectance. Other factors that influence the solar reflectance are the size distribution of the granules, coverage of the asphalt substrate, and orientation of the granules as affected by rollers during fabrication.

The CDF experiment has searched for production of a third generation vector leptoquark (VLQ3) in the di-tau plus di-jet channel using 322 pb{sup -1} of Run II data. We review the production and decay theory and describe the VLQ3 model we have used as a benchmark. We study the analysis, including the data sample, triggers, particle identification, and event selection. We also discuss background estimates and systematic uncertainties. We have found no evidence for VLQ3 production and have set a 95% C.L. upper limit on the pair production cross section {sigma} to 344 fb, and exclude VLQ3 in the mass range m{sub VLQ3} > 317 GeV/c{sup 2}, assuming Yang-Mills couplings and Br(LQ3 {yields} b{tau}) = 1. If theoretical uncertainties on the cross section are taken into account, the results are {sigma} < 353 fb and m{sub VLQ3} > 303 GeV/c{sup 2}. For a VLQ3 with Minimal couplings, the upper limit on the cross section is {sigma} < 493 fb ({sigma} < 554 fb) and the lower limit on the mass is m{sub VLQ3} > 251 GeV/c{sup 2} (m{sub VLQ3} > 235 GeV/c{sup 2}) for the nominal (1{sigma} varied) theoretical expectation.

Segmentation of features is often a necessary step in the analysis of volumetric data. The authors have developed a simple technique for extracting voids from irregular volumetric data sets. In this work they look at extracting pores from soil aggregates. First, they identify a threshold that gives good separability of the object from the background. They then segment the object, and perform connected components analysis on the pores within the object. Using their technique pores that break the surface can be segmented along with pores completely contained in the initially segmented object.

This paper is based on the outcome of the activity that has taken place during the recent workshop on ''SuperB in Italy'' held in Frascati on November 11-12, 2005. The workshop was opened by a theoretical introduction of Marco Ciuchini and was structured in two working groups. One focused on the machine and the other on the detector and experimental issues.. The present status on CP is mainly based on the results achieved by BABAR and Belle. Establishment of the indirect CP violation in B sector in 2001 and of the direct CP violation in 2004 thanks to the success of PEP-II and KEKB e{sup +}e{sup -} asymmetric B Factories operating at the center of mass energy corresponding to the mass of the {Upsilon}(4S ). With the two B Factories taking data, the Unitarity Triangle is now beginning to be over constrained by improving the measurements of the sides and now also of the angles {alpha}, and {gamma}. We are also in presence of the very intriguing results about the measurements of sin2{beta} in the time dependent analysis of decay channels via penguin loops, where b {yields} s{bar s}s and b {yields} s{bar d}d. {tau} physics, in particular LFV search, …

The blazar Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) was observed at energies above 100 GeV with the MAGIC telescope from May through July 2005. The high sensitivity of the instrument enabled the determination of the flux and spectrum of the source on a night-by-night basis. Throughout our observational campaign, the flux from Mrk 501 was found to vary by an order of magnitude, and to be correlated with spectral changes. Intra-night flux variability with flux-doubling times down to 2 minutes was also observed. The strength of variability increased with the energy of the {gamma}-ray photons. The energy spectra were found to harden significantly with increasing flux, and a spectral peak clearly showed up during very active states. The position of the spectral peak seems to be correlated with the source luminosity.

An orthogonal full-factorial design was used to study the effect of CdS and CdTe layer thickness, oxygen ambient during vapor CdCl2 (VCC) and the use of nitric-phosphoric (NP) acid as a pre-contact etch on the initial and stressed performance of CdS/CdTe small-area devices. The best initial device efficiency (using thinner CdS, thicker CdTe, no oxygen during VCC, and NP etch) also showed poor stability. Increasing the CdS thickness significantly improved stability with only a slight decrease in resulting initial performance. All devices used a thin margin of CdTe around the perimeter of the backcontact that was shown to significantly reduce catastrophic degradation and improve overall test statistics. The latter degradation is modeled by the formation of a weak-diode/low shunt resistance localized near the edge of finished devices. This shunting is believed to occur through the CdS/CdTe interface, rather than along the device edge, and is exacerbated by thinner CdS films.

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There have been many theoretical models constructed which aim to explain the neutrino masses and mixing patterns. While many of the models will be eliminated once more accurate determinations of the mixing parameters, especially sin{sup 2} 2{theta}{sub 13}, are obtained, charged lepton flavor violation (LFV) experiments are able to differentiate even further among the models. In this paper, they investigate various rare LFV processes, such as {ell}{sub i} {yields} {ell}{sub j} + {gamma} and {mu} - e conversion, in five predictive SUSY SO(10) models and their allowed soft SUSY breaking parameter space in the constrained minimal SUSY standard model (CMSSM). Utilizing the WMAP dark matter constraints, they obtain lower bounds on the branching ratios of these rare processes and find that at least three of the five models they consider give rise to predictions for {mu} {yields} e + {gamma} that will be tested by the MEG collaboration at PSI. in addition, the next generation {mu} - e conversion experiment has sensitivity to the predictions of all five models, making it an even more robust way to test these models. While generic studies have emphasized the dependence of the branching ratios of these rare processes on the reactor neutrino angle, …

The current format of the OPCW proficiency tests has multiple sets of 2 samples sent to an analysis laboratory. In each sample set, one is identified as a sample, the other as a blank. This method of conducting proficiency tests differs from how an OPCW designated laboratory would receive authentic samples (a set of three containers, each not identified, consisting of the authentic sample, a control sample, and a blank sample). This exercise was designed to test the reporting if the proficiency tests were to be conducted. As such, this is not an official OPCW proficiency test, and the attached report is one method by which LLNL might report their analyses under a more realistic testing scheme. Therefore, the title on the report ''Report of the Umpteenth Official OPCW Proficiency Test'' is meaningless, and provides a bit of whimsy for the analyses and readers of the report.

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