Nitrosomonas europaea is an aerobic lithoautotrophic bacterium that uses ammonia (NH3) as its energy source. As a nitrifier, it is an important participant in the nitrogen cycle, which can also influence the carbon cycle. The focus of this work was to explore the genetic structure and mechanisms underlying the lithoautotrophic growth style of N. europaea. Whole genome gene expression: The gene expression profile of cells in exponential growth and during starvation was analyzed using microarrays. During growth, 98% of the genes increased in expression at least two fold compared to starvation conditions. In growing cells, approximately 30% of the genes were expressed eight fold higher, Approximately 10% were expressed more than 15 fold higher. Approximately 3% (91 genes) were expressed to more than 20 fold of their levels in starved cells. Carbon fixation gene expression: N. europaea fixes carbon via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle via a type I ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO). This study showed that transcription of cbb genes was up-regulated when the carbon source was limited, while amo, hao and other energy harvesting related genes were down-regulated. Iron related gene expression: Because N. europaea has a relatively high content of hemes, sufficient Fe must be available in the …

The surface complexation of actinides with iron oxides plays a key role in actinide transport and retardation in geosphere-biosphere systems. The development of accurate actinide transport models therefore requires a mechanistic understanding of surface complexation reactions (i.e. knowledge of chemical speciation at mineral/fluid interfaces). Iron oxides are particularly important actinide sorbents due to their pH dependent surface charges, relatively high surface areas and ubiquity in oxic and suboxic near-surface systems. In this paper we present results from field and laboratory investigations that elucidate the mechanisms involved in binding uranium and neptunium to iron oxide mineral substrates in near neutral groundwaters. The field study involved sampling and characterizing uranium-bearing groundwaters and solids from a saprolite aquifer overlying an unmined uranium deposit in the Virginia Piedmont. The groundwaters were analyzed by inductively coupled mass spectrometry and ion chromatography and the aquifer solids were analyzed by electron microprobe. The laboratory study involved a series of batch sorption tests in which U(VI) and Np(V) were reacted with goethite, hematite and magnetite in simulated groundwaters. The pH, ionic strength, aging time, and sorbent/sorbate ratios were varied in these experiments. The oxidation state and coordination environment of neptunium in solutions and sorbents from the batch tests …

A new method for the solution of nonlinear dispersive partial differential equations is described. The marker method relies on the definition of a convective field associated with the underlying partial differential equation; the information about the approximate solution is associated with the response of an ensemble of markers to this convective field. Some key aspects of the method, such as the selection of the shape function and the initial loading, are discussed in some details.

Summaries of meteorological observations collected at the Savannah River Site in 2004 show a year that was overall cooler and drier than average. Although the annual rainfall of 42.9 inches was the eleventh driest of all the years over a period of record that began in 1952, rainfall was quite variable through the year. September total rainfall of 10.26 inches was the highest in this 53 year record; conversely, the monthly rainfall in March, 0.81 inches, was the lowest on record. Rainfall of 0.01 inch or more occurred on 104 days during the year. The annual average temperature for 2004, 63.4 degrees F, was the eleventh coldest of any year in an available record that dates to 1964. Cooler than average conditions were observed in 9 of the 12 months of the year. The coldest temperature during the year was 20.3 degrees F on the morning of December 15; the warmest observed temperature was 98.2 degrees F on the afternoon of July 14. The most notable weather event of 2004 was an active Atlantic hurricane season that resulted in six named storms striking the Southeast U.S. during August and September. Although each of these storms posed a significant threat to …

Early neutral-beam injection is used in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) to heat the electrons and slow current penetration which keeps q(0) elevated to avoid deleterious MHD activity and at the same time reduces Ohmic flux consumption, all of which aids long-pulse operation. However, the low plasma current (I{sub p} {approx} 0.5 MA) and electron density (n{sub e} {approx} 1 x 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3}) attending early injection lead to elevated orbit and shine through losses. The inherent orbit losses are aggravated by large excursions in the outer gap width during current ramp-up. An investigation of this behavior using various energetic particle diagnostics on NSTX and TRANSP code analysis is presented.

Solid oxide fuel cell interconnect materials must meet stringent requirements. Such interconnects must operate at temperatures approaching 800 C while resisting oxidation and reduction, which can occur from the anode and cathode materials and the operating environment. They also must retain their electrical conductivity under these conditions and possess compatible coefficients of thermal expansion as the anode and cathode. Results are presented in this report for fuel cell interconnect candidate materials currently under investigation based upon nano-size titanium carbide (TiC) powders. The TiC is liquid phase sintered with either nickel (Ni) or nickel-aluminide (Ni{sub 3}Al) in varying concentrations. The oxidation resistance of the submicron grain TiC-metal materials is presented as a function weight change versus time at 700 C and 800 C for varying content of metal/intermetallic in the system. Electrical conductivity at 800 C as a function of time is also presented for TiC-Ni to demonstrate the vitality of these materials for interconnect applications. TGA studies showed that the weight gain was 0.8 mg/cm{sup 2} for TiC(30)-Ni(30wt.%) after 100 hours in wet air at 800 C and the weight gain was calculated to be 0.5205 mg/cm{sup 2} for TiC(30)- Ni(10 wt.%) after 100 hours at 700 C and 100 …

The objective of the Waste Package Closure System (WPCS) project is to assist in the disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and associated high-level wastes (HLW) at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. Materials will be transferred from the casks into a waste package (WP), sealed, and placed into the underground facility. The SNF/HLW transfer and closure operations will be performed in an aboveground facility. The objective of the Control System is to bring together major components of the entire WPCS ensuring that unit operations correctly receive, and respond to, commands and requests for data. Integrated control systems will be provided to ensure that all operations can be performed remotely. Maintenance on equipment may be done using hands-on or remote methods, depending on complexity, exposure, and ease of access. Operating parameters and nondestructive examination results will be collected and stored as permanent electronic records. Minor weld repairs must be performed within the closure cell if the welds do not meet the inspection acceptance requirements. Any WP with extensive weld defects that require lids to be removed will be moved to the remediation facility for repair.

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This project was initially targeted to the making of coke for blast furnaces by using proprietary technology of Calderon in a phased approach, and Phase I was successfully completed. The project was then re-directed to the making of iron units. In 2000, U.S. Steel teamed up with Calderon for a joint effort which will last 42 months to produce directly reduced iron with the potential of converting it into molten iron or steel consistent with the Roadmap recommendations of 1998 prepared by the Steel Industry in cooperation with the Department of Energy by using iron ore concentrate and coal as raw materials, both materials being appreciably lower in cost than using iron pellets and coke.

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In this quarter we have continued our development of the inversion procedure for Phase III, in which time-lapse changes in seismic attributes are inverted to yield changes in CO{sub 2} fluid properties over time. In order to extract seismic attributes from the Sleipner North Sea CO{sub 2} time-lapse data set, a new, detailed interpretation was performed and multiple horizons were picked for the 1994 and 2002 vintages. Traveltime difference maps were constructed at several levels within the Sleipner CO{sub 2} injection zone, and were quantitatively analyzed. No traveltime change was seen in the overburden, as expected, while significant changes were seen in the upper half of the CO{sub 2} injection zone. Evidence of thin-bed tuning and undershooting was also found. A new semi-automated, quantitative method for estimating time sag anomalies was developed, and was used to calculate the amount of time sag along a selected horizon. The resulting time sag estimates matched those seen in the traveltime difference maps. Such a method will be useful for obtaining rapid, accurate quantitative measurements of traveltime changes in the Sleipner data cubes. The traveltime changes will be combined with other attributes, such as amplitude and frequency changes, for input into the real-data inversion.

This proposal focuses on the following basic objectives to generate critical information for the following research Needs: (a) to conduct spectroscopic speciation of uranium compounds in glass forming melts as a function of the acid-base composition of the glasses and melt temperatures, and to use these data to develop a general thermodynamic model for the dissolution of actinide species in oxidic glass matrices, (b) to build a scientific basis for a new methodology to measure the basicity of glasses via optical spectra of in-situ immobilized actinides and to use this optical basicity as a primary actinide structure indicator for solid glass matrices, (c) to define the local environment of actinides in solid glasses via fluorescence lifetime distribution methods, (d) to correlate the above spectral ''fingerprints'' of actinides in solid and molten glasses with glass stability and the leaching rates of individual actinide species from a glass matrix.

Ion current extracted from an ion source (ion thruster) can be increased above the Child-Langmuir limit if the ion space charge is neutralized. Similarly, the limiting kinetic energy density of the plasma flow in a Hall thruster might be exceeded if additional mechanisms of space charge neutralization are introduced. Space charge neutralization with high-mass negative ions or negatively charged dust particles seems, in principle, promising for the development of a high current or high energy density source of positive light ions. Several space charge neutralization schemes that employ heavy negatively charged particles are considered. It is shown that the proposed neutralization schemes can lead, at best, only to a moderate but nonetheless possibly important increase of the ion current in the ion thruster and the thrust density in the Hall thruster.

Pulvirenti et al. (2004) recently conducted a laboratory evaporation/condensation experiment on a synthetic solution of primarily calcium chloride. This solution represents one potential type of evaporated pore water at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a site proposed for geologic storage of high-level nuclear waste. These authors reported that boiling this solution to near dryness (a concentration factor >75,000 relative to actual pore waters) leads to the generation of acid condensate (pH 4.5) presumably due to volatilization of HCl (and minor HF and/or HNO{sub 3}). To investigate the various processes taking place, including boiling, gas transport, and condensation, their experiment was simulated by modifying an existing multicomponent and multiphase reactive transport code (TOUGHREACT). This code was extended with a Pitzer ion-interaction model to deal with high ionic strength. The model of the experiment was set-up to capture the observed increase in boiling temperature (143 C at {approx}1 bar) resulting from high concentrations of dissolved salts (up to 8 m CaCl{sub 2}). The computed HCI fugacity ({approx} 10{sup -4} bars) generated by boiling under these conditions is not sufficient to lower the pH of the condensate (cooled to 80 and 25 C) down to observed values unless the H{sub 2}O mass fraction in gas …

Vertical Transport and Mixing in Complex Terrain Airsheds: Implementation of a Stable PBL Turbulence Parameterization for the Mesoscale Model MM5 The difficulties associated with parameterization of turbulence in the stable nocturnal atmospheric boundary layer have been a great challenge for the night-time predictions of mesoscale meteorological models such as MM5. As such, there is a general consensus on the need for better stable boundary-layer parameterizations. To this end, two new turbulence parameterizations based on the measurements of the Vertical Transport and Mixing (VTMX) field campaign were implemented and evaluated in MM5. A unique aspect of this parameterization is the use of a stability dependent turbulent Prandtl number that allows momentum to be transported by the internal waves, while heat diffusion is impeded by the stratification. This improvement alleviates the problem of over-prediction of heat diffusion under stable conditions, which is a characteristic of conventional PBL schemes, such as MRF and Blackadar schemes employed in MM5. The predictions made with the new PBL scheme for the complex terrain airshed of Salt Lake City were compared with those made with a default scheme of MM5 and with observations made during the VTMX campaign. The new schemes showed an improvement in predictions, particularly …

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The objective of this Direct Surge Control project was to develop a new internal method to avoid surge of pipeline compressors. This method will safely expand the range and flexibility of compressor operations, while minimizing wasteful recycle flow at the lower end of the operating envelope. The approach is to sense the onset of surge with a probe that directly measures re-circulation at the impeller inlet. The signals from the probe are used by a controller to allow operation at low flow conditions without resorting to a predictive method requiring excessive margin to activate a recycle valve. The sensor developed and demonstrated during this project was a simple, rugged, and sensitive drag probe. Experiments conducted in a laboratory compressor clearly showed the effectiveness of the technique. Subsequent field demonstrations indicated that the increase in range without the need to recycle flow was on the order of 19% to 25%. The cost benefit of applying the direct surge control technology appears to be as much as $120 per hour per compressor for operation without the current level of recycle flow. This could amount to approximately $85 million per year for the U.S. Natural Gas Transmission industry, if direct surge control systems …

The need for better nuclear data has been stressed by various organizations throughout the world, and results of studies have been published which demonstrate that current data are inadequate for designing the projects under consideration [1] [2]. In particular, a Working Party of the OECD has been concerned with identifying these needs [3] and has produced a detailed High Priority Request List for Nuclear Data. The French Atomic Energy Commissariat (CEA) has also recognized the need for better data and launched an ambitious program aimed at measuring the integral absorption rate parameters at the CEA-Cadarache Research Center. A complete analytical program is associated with the experimental program and aims at understanding and resolving potential discrepancies between calculated and measured values. The final objective of the program is to reduce the uncertainties in predictive capabilities to a level acceptable to core designers and government regulators. Argonne National Laboratory has expertise in these areas. In the past, ANL teams have developed very accurate experimental techniques and strongly enhanced the development of several French experimental and analytical programs, and have contributed to the computational tools used at CEA-Cadarache. CEA recognized the expertise that ANL has in these areas and was interested in collaborating …

We report the first evidence of a fully reconstructed decay mode of the B{sub c}{sup {+-}} meson in the channel B{sub c}{sup {+-}} {yields} J/{psi}{sup {+-}}, with J/{psi} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of 360 pb{sup -1} in p{bar p} collisions collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We observe 18.9 {+-} 5.7 signal events on a background of 10.0 {+-} 1.4 events and the fit to the J/{psi}{pi}{sup {+-}} mass spectrum yields a B{sub c}{sup {+-}} mass of 6287.0 {+-} 4.8(stat) {+-} 1.1(syst) MeV/c{sup 2}.

Environmental Energy Inc has shown that BUTANOL REPLACES GASOLINE - 100 pct and has no pollution problems, and further proved it is possible to produce 2.5 gallons of butanol per bushel corn at a production cost of less than $1.00 per gallon. There are 25 pct more Btu-s available and an additional 17 pct more from hydrogen given off, from the same corn when making butanol instead of ethanol that is 42 pct more Btu-s more energy out than it takes to make - that is the plow to tire equation is positive for butanol. Butanol is far safer to handle than gasoline or ethanol. Butanol when substituted for gasoline gives better gas mileage and does not pollute as attested to in 10 states. Butanol should now receive the same recognition as a fuel alcohol in U.S. legislation as ethanol. There are many benefits to this technology in that Butanol replaces gasoline gallon for gallon as demonstrated in a 10,000 miles trip across the United States July-August 2005. No modifications at all were made to a 1992 Buick Park Avenue; essentially your family car can go down the road on Butanol today with no modifications, Butanol replaces gasoline. It is …

In the last few years, it was clearly shown that cross-field transport in the far SOL could be significantly faster than previously thought and that this transport exhibited convective rather then diffusive features. As a result, in high density cases the plasma coming into the SOL from the core recycled at the wall of the tokamak main chamber, rather than flowing into the divertor and recycling there, as the conventional picture of edge plasma flows would suggest. It was also shown that coherent structures, often called ''blobs'', played very important roles in the particle and energy transport inside the SOL region for both L and H confinement modes. The blobs seen in the SOL are extended along the magnetic field lines and have a plasma density two to three times higher than the ambient SOL plasma density and poloidal and radial scales of about 1 cm. In experimental measurements, the blobs propagated in radial direction towards the chamber wall with a velocity {approx} 10{sup 5} cm/s, and the contribution of non-diffusive flux associated with transport of blobs to the total particle flux in the far SOL attained 70-90%. In addition, recent assessment of experimental data and theoretical models shows that …

This Data Qualification Report (DQR) is prepared in accordance with the provisions of AP-SIII.2Q, Rev. 0, ICN 3, Qualification of Unqualified Data and the Documentation of Rationale for Accepted Data and Data Qualification Plan for 1991 Topographic Maps 1:1200 Scale for use on the Yucca Mountain Project, DQP-WHS-CI-000001, Rev. 00 (BSC 2002a). This DQR presents an evaluation of a set of 90 topographic sheets at 1:1200 scale (and an associated electronic file) that covers an approximate 18 square mile area surrounding the proposed Yucca Mountain Project repository surface facilities location in Midway Valley, Nevada. These maps, that require qualification, are now being used to determine the physical characteristics of watershed sub-areas, interconnecting channels, and drainage channel cross-sections for hydrologic engineering studies of the north portal pad and vicinity. The result of this effort is to qualify one data tracking number (DTN) containing the electronic version of the mapping data. This DTN is: M09906COV98462.000. Coverage: TOP02FTS. The underlying quality assurance (QA) issue associated with these topographic maps is that the maps were originally designated as not for use in the design of items important to safety, waste isolation, and/or of programmatic importance. The maps were therefore generated outside the U.S. Department …

Three wells, PB-1, PB-2, and PB-3, were drilled in 2003 at the Nopal I uranium deposit as part of a natural analogue study to evaluate radionuclide transport processes. The wells penetrate through the Tertiary volcanic section down to the Cretaceous limestone basement, and intersect the top of the regional aquifer system. The PB-1 well, drilled immediately adjacent to the Nopal I ore body, was cored to a depth of 250 m, thus providing an opportunity to document the local stratigraphy. The uppermost unit encountered in the PB-1 well is the Nopal Formation, a densely welded, crystal-rich rhyolitic ash-flow tuff. The cored section is highly altered and devitrified, with kaolinite, quartz, chlorite, and montmorillonite replacing feldspars and much of the groundmass. Breccia zones within the tuff contain fracture fillings of hematite, limonite, and goethite. A zone of intense clay alteration encountered in the depth interval 17.45-22.30 m was interpreted to represent the basal vitrophyre of this unit. Underlying the basal vitrophyre is the Coloradas Formation, which consists of a welded, lithic-rich rhyolitic ash-flow tuff. The cored section of this unit has undergone devitrification and oxidation, and has a similar alteration mineralogy to that observed in the Nopal tuff. The Nopal I …

Our research program focuses on the development of a method to cool atoms and molecules of any choice as long as they have a stable gaseous phase. Our approach starts with a very cold supersonic beam of He seeded with the molecules of choice. The internal temperature can reach 1 milliKelvin or less. The high center of mass velocity of the particles forming the beam will be reduced by elastically scattering the atoms/molecules from a very cold single crystal surface (20-40K), which moves in the beam direction. This will enable the continuous control of the mean velocity over a large range, after scattering, down to a few tens of m/s or even below as the crystal surface's velocity approaches v/2 of the impacting particles. We will use the decelerated particles as a source for a white-fringe matter-wave interferometer, where one reflector is a very cold surface of interest. The interference pattern will reveal the real part (via integral intensities) and the imaginary part (via phase shifts) of the scattering cross sections. This is particularly interesting for H{sub 2} and resonance structures. This interferometer set-up follows closely Prichard's arrangement.