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The explicit UA program objective is to develop low melting point (LMP) molten salt thermal energy storage media with high thermal energy storage density for sensible heat storage systems. The novel Low Melting Point (LMP) molten salts are targeted to have the following characteristics: 1. Lower melting point (MP) compared to current salts (<222ºC) 2. Higher energy density compared to current salts (>300 MJ/m3) 3. Lower power generation cost compared to current salt In terms of lower power costs, the program target the DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Program year 2020 goal to create systems that have the potential to reduce the cost of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) to less than $15/kWh-th and achieve round trip efficiencies greater than 93%. The project has completed the experimental investigations to determine the thermo-physical, long term thermal stability properties of the LMP molten salts and also corrosion studies of stainless steel in the candidate LMP molten salts. Heat transfer and fluid dynamics modeling have been conducted to identify heat transfer geometry and relative costs for TES systems that would utilize the primary LMP molten salt candidates. The project also proposes heat transfer geometry with relevant modifications to suit the usage of our molten salts …

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), under the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) contract, collected split surface water samples with Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) representatives on August 21, 2013. Representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation were also in attendance. Samples were collected at four surface water stations, as required in the approved Request for Technical Assistance number 11-018. These stations included Nolichucky River upstream (NRU), Nolichucky River downstream (NRD), Martin Creek upstream (MCU), and Martin Creek downstream (MCD). Both ORAU and NFS performed gross alpha and gross beta analyses, and the comparison of results using the duplicate error ratio (DER), also known as the normalized absolute difference, are tabulated. All DER values were less than 3 and results are consistent with low (e.g., background) concentrations.

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The study was designed to evaluate the passage and survival of yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon and juvenile steelhead at McNary Dam as stipulated by the 2008 Biological Opinion and Fish Accords and to assess performance measures including route-specific fish passage proportions, travel times, and survival based upon a virtual/paired-release model. This study supports the USACE’s continual effort to improve conditions for juvenile anadromous fish passing through Columbia River dams.

The Worker Health at a Glance, 2000 – 2009 provides an overview of selected illness and injury patterns among the current DOE contractor workforce that have emerged over the 10-years covered by this report. This report is a roll-up of data from 16 individual DOE sites, assigned to one of three program offices (Office of Environmental Management, Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration). In this report, an absences is defined as 40 or more consecutive work hours (5+ calendar days) off the job. Shorter absences were not included.

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Cs is one of the more problematic fission product radionuclides to immobilize due to its high volatility at elevated temperatures, ability to form water soluble compounds, and its mobility in many host materials. The hollandite structure is a promising crystalline host for Cs immobilization and has been traditionally fabricated by solid state sintering methods. This study presents the structure and performance of Ba{sub 1.0}Cs{sub 0.3}A{sub 2.3}Ti{sub 5.7}O{sub 16}; A = Cr, Fe, Al hollandite fabricated by melt processing. Melt processing is considered advantageous given that melters are currently in use for High Level Waste (HLW) vitrification in several countries. This work details the impact of Cr additions that were demonstrated to i) promote the formation of a Cs containing hollandite phase and ii) maintain the stability of the hollandite phase in reducing conditions anticipated for multiphase waste form processing.

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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.

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Metal organic framework materials (MOFs) were developed and tested in support of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle Technology Separations and Waste Forms Campaign. Specifically, materials are being developed for the removal of xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr) from gaseous products of nuclear fuel reprocessing unit operations. Two metal organic framework structures were investigated in greater detail to demonstrate the removal efficiency and capacity of MOF materials for krypton recovery. Our two bed breakthrough measurements on NiDOBDC and FMOFCu indicate these materials can capture and separate parts per million levels of Xe and Kr from air. The removal efficiency and adsorption capacity for Kr on these two MOFs were further increased upon removal of Xe upfront.

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The most advanced methods for reliable and accurate computation of the electronic structure of molecular and nano systems are the coupled-cluster techniques. These high-accuracy methods help us to understand, for example, how biological enzymes operate and contribute to the design of new organic explosives. The ACES III software provides a modern, high-performance implementation of these methods optimized for high performance parallel computer systems, ranging from small clusters typical in individual research groups, through larger clusters available in campus and regional computer centers, all the way to high-end petascale systems at national labs, including exploiting GPUs if available. This project enhanced the ACESIII software package and used it to study interesting scientific problems.

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

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