The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

This year the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) delivered nearly 900 million core hours of science. The research conducted at their leadership class facility touched our lives in both minute and massive ways - whether it was studying the catalytic properties of gold nanoparticles, predicting protein structures, or unearthing the secrets of exploding stars. The authors remained true to their vision to act as the forefront computational center in extending science frontiers by solving pressing problems for our nation. Our success in this endeavor was due mainly to the Department of Energy's (DOE) INCITE (Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment) program. The program awards significant amounts of computing time to computationally intensive, unclassified research projects that can make high-impact scientific advances. This year, DOE allocated 400 million hours of time to 28 research projects at the ALCF. Scientists from around the world conducted the research, representing such esteemed institutions as the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and European Center for Research and Advanced Training in Scientific Computation. Argonne also provided Director's Discretionary allocations for research challenges, addressing such issues as reducing aerodynamic noise, critical for next-generation 'green' energy systems. Intrepid - the …

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The Saltstone Production Facility has a 10-inch Readco-Kurimoto continuous mixer that mixes the premix dry feeds and low-level waste salt solution to make fresh (uncured) saltstone. Inspection of the mixer in January 2013 showed significant wear on the third, fourth and fifth paddle pairs after the conveying augers. A 2-inch Readco-Kurimoto continuous mixer was used to test alternate paddle configurations for use in the 10-inch mixer to decrease the wear rate on the paddles. Two wear tests were conducted to investigate a method of reducing wear on the mixer paddles. The first test (wear test 2a) had a paddle configuration similar to the currently installed 10-inch mixer in the SPF. This test established baseline wear. The second test (wear test 2b) had a reconfigured paddle arrangement that replaced the flat paddles with helical paddles for paddle pairs 2 � 6 and aligned paddle pair 1 with the augers. The intent of the reconfiguration was to more effectively convey the partially wetted dry feeds through the transition region and into the liquid feed where paddle wear is reduced due to dry feeds and salt solution being mixed at the intended water to premix ratio. The design of the helical paddles provides …

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Data were collected with the AGS internal (E880) polarimeter at G{gamma} = 12.5 during the FY04 polarized proton run. Measurements were made with forward scintillation counters in coincidence with recoil counter telescopes, permitting an absolute calibration of the polarimeter for both nylon and carbon targets. The results are summarized and they will also be useful for an absolute calibration of the AGS CNI polarimeter at G{gamma} = 12.5.

Monosodium titanate (MST) for use in the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) must be qualified and verified in advance. A single qualification sample for each batch of material is sent to SRNL for analysis, as well as a statistical sampling of verification samples. The Harrell Industries Lot #46000824120 qualification and the 16 verification samples failed to meet the specification for weight percent solids. All of the pails sampled and tested contained less than 15 wt % MST solids.

Monosodium titanate (MST) for use in the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) must be qualified and verified in advance. A single qualification sample for each batch of material is sent to SRNL for analysis, as well as a statistical sampling of verification samples. The Harrell Industries Lot #46000908120 qualification and the 16 verification samples failed to meet the specification for weight percent solids. All of the pails sampled and tested contained less than 15 wt % MST solids.

Aqueous radioactive wastes from Savannah River Site (SRS) separations and vitrification processes are contained in large underground carbon steel tanks. Inspections made during 2010 to evaluate these vessels and other waste handling facilities along with evaluations based on data from previous inspections are the subject of this report. The 2010 inspection program revealed that the structural integrity and waste confinement capability of the Savannah River Site waste tanks were maintained. All inspections scheduled per SRR-LWE-2009-00138, HLW Tank Farm Inspection Plan for 2010, were completed. Ultrasonic measurements (UT) performed in 2010 met the requirements of C-ESG-00006, In-Service Inspection Program for High Level Waste Tanks, Rev. 3, and WSRC-TR-2002-00061, Rev.6. UT inspections were performed on Tanks 30, 31 and 32 and the findings are documented in SRNL-STI-2010-00533, Tank Inspection NDE Results for Fiscal Year 2010, Waste Tanks 30, 31 and 32. A total of 5824 photographs were made and 1087 visual and video inspections were performed during 2010. Ten new leaksites at Tank 5 were identified in 2010. The locations of these leaksites are documented in C-ESR-G-00003, SRS High Level Waste Tank Leaksite Information, Rev.5. Ten leaksites at Tank 5 were documented during tank wall/annulus cleaning activities. None of these new leaksites …

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The objective of this project was to discover the protein complexes and control mechanisms that determine the location of actin filament roadways in plant cells. Our work provided the first molecular description of protein complexes that are converted from inactive complexes to active actin filament nucleators in the cell. These discoveries provided a conceptual framework to control to roadways in plant cells that determine the location and delivery of plant metabolites and storage molecules that are relevant to the bioenergy economy.

Neighbors living near the 3 turbine, 4.5 MW Vinalhaven, Maine wind power facility, which began operations in late 2009, have complained that the noise from the turbines is unwelcome and annoying. Fox Islands Wind, the owner of the facility, hypothesized that implementing a Noise Reduced Operation (NRO) for the turbines, which effectively limits the turbines maximum rpm and power output, would reduce the sound levels produced by the turbines, and therefore might also reduce the degree to which the neighbors report being annoyed by those sounds. To test this hypothesis in a preliminary fashion, a pilot study was conducted in early 2010, the results of which are the subject of this brief report. The study included asking near-by residents - those within roughly 3000 feet - to rate the sounds and the degree to which they were annoyed by them using logs which they filled out at multiple times during the day on as many days as were possible in the 35 day study period in February and March, 2010. Meanwhile, FIW adjusted the NRO settings of the turbines in a random fashion in the evenings during the same period, but in a pattern that the respondents were not made …

This is a project report for an Early Career PI grant on automated software for finite elements.

The main objective of the Bexar County Parking Garage Photovoltaic (PV) Panel project is to install a PV System that will promote the use of renewable energy. This project will also help sustain Bexar County ongoing greenhouse gas emissions reduction and energy efficiency goals. The scope of this project includes the installation of a 100-kW system on the top level of a new 236,285 square feet parking garage. The PV system consists of 420 solar panels that covers 7,200 square feet and is tied into the electric-grid. It provides electricity to the office area located within the garage. The estimated annual electricity production of the PV system is 147,000 kWh per year.

The Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Safeguards and Security (NA-241) is supporting the project Coincidence Counting With Boron-Based Alternative Neutron Detection Technology at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the development of a 3He proportional counter alternative neutron coincidence counter. The goal of this project is to design, build and demonstrate a system based upon 10B-lined proportional tubes in a configuration typical for 3He-based coincidence counter applications. This report provides results from MCNPX model simulations and initial testing of the active mode variation of the Alternative Boron-Based Uranium Neutron Coincidence Collar (ABUNCL) design built by General Electric Reuter-Stokes. Initial experimental testing of the as-delivered passive ABUNCL was previously reported.

Low emissivity (low-e) storm windows/panels appear to hold promise for effectively reducing existing home heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) consumption. Due to the affordability of low-e storm windows and the large numbers of existing homes that have low-performing single-pane or double-pane clear windows, a tremendous opportunity exists to provide energy savings by transforming the low-e storm window market and increasing market adoption. This report outlines U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America’s planned market transformation activities in support of low-e storm window adoption during fiscal year (FY) 2014.

Accurate calculation of perturbed distribution function #14;δf and perturbed magnetic fi eld #14;δB is essential to achieve prediction of non-ambipolar transport and neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) in perturbed tokamaks. This paper reports a study of the NTV with a #14;δf particle code (POCA) and improved understanding of magnetic braking in tokamak experiments. POCA calculates the NTV by computing #14;f with guiding-center orbit motion and using #14;B from the ideal perturbed equilibrium code (IPEC). POCA simulations are compared with experimental estimations for NTV, which are measured from angular momentum balance (DIII-D) and toroidal rotational damping rate (NSTX). The calculation shows good agreement in total NTV torque for the DIII-D discharge, where an analytic neoclassical theory also gives a consistent result thanks to relatively large aspect-ratio and slow toroidal rotations. In NSTX discharges, where the aspect-ratio is small and the rotation is fast, the theory only gives a qualitative guide for predicting NTV. However, the POCA simulation largely improves the quantitative NTV prediction for NSTX. It is discussed that a self- consistent calculation of δ#14;B using general perturbed equilibria is eventually necessary since a non-ideal plasma response can change the perturbed eld and thereby the NTV torque.

When streams of rapidly moving flow merge in a T-junction, the potential arises for large oscillations at the scale of the diameter, D, with a period scaling as O(D/U), where U is the characteristic flow velocity. If the streams are of different temperatures, the oscillations result in experimental fluctuations (thermal striping) at the pipe wall in the outlet branch that can accelerate thermal-mechanical fatigue and ultimately cause pipe failure. The importance of this phenomenon has prompted the nuclear energy modeling and simulation community to establish a benchmark to test the ability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes to predict thermal striping. The benchmark is based on thermal and velocity data measured in an experiment designed specifically for this purpose. Thermal striping is intrinsically unsteady and hence not accessible to steady state simulation approaches such as steady state Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models.1 Consequently, one must consider either unsteady RANS or large eddy simulation (LES). This report compares the results for three LES codes: Nek5000, developed at Argonne National Laboratory (USA), and Cabaret and Conv3D, developed at the Moscow Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety at (IBRAE) in Russia. Nek5000 is based on the spectral element method (SEM), which is a high-order weighted …

Significant updates were made to the multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) cloud optical depth (MFRSRCLDOD) value-added product (VAP) in 2011. The original intent of the update was to add quality control (QC) flags and to update the VAP to use the improved retrievals of liquid water path (LWP) from the Microwave Radiometer Retrievals (MWRRET) VAP rather than the statistical retrievals of LWP from the Microwave Radiometer Line of Sight (MWRLOS) datastream. Although this was originally intended to be a straightforward update of the code, it became more complicated due to the following factors: (1) a new developer and translator team were working with the code; (2) numerous small changes had to be made to the code to consistently implement the QC flags; and (3) ARM standards have changed over the years since the code was originally developed.

This report presents characterization data for two spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde (sRF) resin beds that had processed cesium in non-radioactive and radioactive cycles. All column cycle operations for the resin beds including loading, displacements, elution, regeneration, breakthroughs, and solution analyses are reported in Nash and Duignan, 2009a. That report covered four ion exchange (IX) campaigns using the two {approx}11 mL beds in columns in a lead-lag arrangement. The first two campaigns used Savannah River Site (SRS) Tank 2F nonradioactive simulant while the latter two were fed with actual dissolved salt in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) Shielded Cells. Both radioactive cycles ran to cesium breakthrough of the lead column. The resin beds saw in excess of 400 bed volumes of feed in each cycle. Resin disposal plans in tank farm processing depend on characterizations of resin used with actual tank feed. Following a final 30 bed volume (BV) elution with nitric acid, the resin beds were found to contain detectable chromium, barium, boron, aluminum, iron, sodium, sulfur, plutonium, cesium, and mercury. Resin affinity for plutonium is important in criticality safety considerations. Cesium-137 was found to be less than 10E+7 dpm/g of resin, similar to past work with sRF resin. Sulfur levels …

Fish passage conditions through a Francis turbine and a regulating outlet (RO) at Cougar Dam on the south fork of the McKenzie River in Oregon were evaluated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, using Sensor Fish devices. The objective of the study was to describe and compare passage exposure conditions, identifying potential fish injury regions encountered during passage via specific routes. The RO investigation was performed in December 2009 and the turbine evaluation in January 2010, concurrent with HI-Z balloon-tag studies by Normandeau Associates, Inc. Sensor Fish data were analyzed to estimate 1) exposure conditions, particularly exposure to severe collision, strike, and shear events by passage route sub-regions; 2) differences in passage conditions between passage routes; and 3) relationships to live-fish injury and mortality data estimates. Comparison of the three passage routes evaluated at Cougar Dam indicates that the RO passage route through the 3.7-ft gate opening was relatively the safest route for fish passage under the operating conditions tested; turbine passage was the most deleterious. These observations were supported also by the survival and malady estimates obtained from live-fish testing. Injury rates were highest for turbine passage. Compared to mainstem Columbia …

This report describes characterization of a sample obtained from the 3714 building in the 300 Area. Characterization of this unknown material was required for the demonolition activities in the 300 Area. The object of the study was to dertermine the nature of the material, composition, possible structure, evidence for hazards components. The green material is a sodium alumino-silicate glass. This conclusion is based on the composition provided by SEM-EDS, and the images that suggest a glass-like morphology. Further analysis with Ramin and/or infrared could be used to determine the presence of any organics.