This report compares the predicted behavior of several radionuclides disposed in grouted trenches or vaults that exhibited higher aquifer concentrations than if they were disposed in shallow trenches. The general modeling approach is first presented for the vaults and the shallow trenches, then the details for the radionuclides are presented along with explanations or suggestions for the behavior.

Laboratory identification of radionuclides at environmental concentrations can easily be mistaken, because many energy interferences (coincident or overlapping spectral peaks) are possible. Conventional laboratory quality control measurements are typically not designed to test interferences found in real samples. In order to evaluate the occurrence of radiological false positives in environmental soil and groundwater samples collected at the Savannah River Site, instrument printouts, calibration records, and procedure manuals were examined between 1997 and 2001 at five commercial radiological laboratories. False positives of many radionuclides were found to be routinely reported at all five laboratories; causes vary. Magnitudes were generally between 0.1 and 3 pCi/g in soils, and between 2 and 40 pCi/L in groundwater, within the range of possible concern to regulators. The frequency of false positives varied, but for several nuclides listed below, nearly every detection reported in SRS environmental samples during the study period was judged to be false. Gamma spectroscopy: Low-level false positives of Mn-54, Zr-95, Eu-155, and Np-239 were reported in many soil samples from four laboratories, due to interference from naturally occurring Tl-208, Pb-212, and Ac-228. There were two causes. First, laboratories did not include low abundance (less than 2 per cent) peaks of Tl-208, Pb-212, …

To monitor the groundwater contamination and the effectiveness of remedial actions, over a thousand monitoring wells are in active operation (i.e., require quarterly or semi-annual sampling) at SRS. Most wells are expected to continue in operation for another 20 to 40 more years. Required sample volumes can range from a less than a liter to 10 liters. To support the long-term groundwater monitoring requirements of these wells, SRS actively seeks technologies that can maximize data acquisition and minimize costs. To meet this end, SRS has implemented the Purge Water Management System (PWMS). The key attributes of this system lie in its ability to reduce or eliminate the generation of purged groundwater, which is costly in terms of the time and management.

The BTeV Collaboration is starting to develop its C++ based offline software suite, an integral part of which is a series of tutorials. These tutorials are targeted at a diverse audience, including new graduate students, experienced physicists with little or no C++ experience, those with just enough C++ to be dangerous, and experts who need only an overview of the available tools. The tutorials must both teach C++ in general and the BTeV specific tools in particular. Finally, they must teach physicists how to find and use the detailed documentation. This report will review the status of the BTeV experiment, give an overview of the plans for and the state of the software and will then describe the plans for the tutorial suite.

F-Area is a large nuclear complex located near the center of the Department of Energy's (DOEs) Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The present closure strategy for F-Area is based on established SRS protocol for a site-specific, graded approach to deactivation and decommissioning. Uncontaminated facilities will be closed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Facilities requiring removal or in-situ disposition of residual chemical and/or radiological inventories will be decommissioned under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The F-Area Tank Farm, which is permitted under the Clean Water Act, will be closed in accordance with an industrial wastewater closure plan. F-Area closure will also involve the near- and long-term remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater resources. The proposed holistic F-Area closure strategy would enhance the existing project-specific SRS closure protocol by incorporating a comprehensive area-wide groundwater modeling tool, or Composite Analysis. The use of this methodology would allow for the assessment of the relative impacts of individual projects, as well as the cumulative effect of all F-Area closure actions, on area groundwater resources. Other critical elements of the proposed strategy include (i) the consistent use of site-specific Risk Assessments (RAs) and Performance Assessments (PAs), (ii) the closer …

The CDF muon detection system for Run 2 of the Fermilab Tevatron is described. Muon stubs are detected for |{eta}| < 1.5, and are matched to tracks in the central drift chamber at trigger level 1 for |{eta}| < 1.25. Detectors in the |{eta}| < 1 central region, built for previous runs, have been enhanced to survive the higher rate environment and closer bunch spacing (3.5 {micro}sec to 396 nsec) of Run 2. Azimuthal gaps in the central region have been filled in. New detectors have been added to extend the coverage from |{eta}| < 1 to |{eta}| < 1.5, consisting of four layers of drift chambers covered with matching scintillators for triggering. The Level 1 Extremely Fast Tracker supplies matching tracks with measured p{sub T} for the muon trigger. The system has been in operation for over 18 months. Operating experience and reconstructed data are presented.

The Run II physics program of CDF and D0 has just begun with the first 72 pb{sup -1} of analysis quality data collected at the center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The Electroweak measurements are among the first and most important benchmarks for the best understanding of the detectors and testing the Standard Model. We present measurements of the W and Z inclusive cross sections and decays asymmetries, recent results in di-boson physics and searches for new physics which make use of distinct electroweak signatures.

To calculate committed effective dose equivalent, one needs to know the quantity of the radionuclide in all significantly irradiated organs (the organ burden) as a function of time following the intake. There are two major sources of uncertainty in an organ burden estimated from personal air sampling (PAS) data: (1) The uncertainty in going from the exposure measured with the PAS to the quantity of aerosol inhaled by the individual, and (2) The uncertainty in going from the intake to the organ burdens at any given time, taking into consideration the biological variability of the biokinetic models from person to person (interperson variability) and in one person over time (intra-person variability). We have been using biokinetic modeling methods developed by researchers at the University of Florida to explore the impact of inter-person variability on the uncertainty of organ burdens estimated from PAS data. These initial studies suggest that the uncertainties are so large that PAS might be considered to be a qualitative (rather than quantitative) technique. These results indicate that more studies should be performed to properly classify the reliability and usefulness of using PAS monitoring data to estimate organ burdens, organ dose, and ultimately CEDE.

After a five year upgrade period, the Fermilab experiments CDF and D0 are taking high quality data in Run II of the Tevatron Collider. We report on the start-up of both detectors and present a selection of first B physics results from the Tevatron. We also compare different B hadron producers such as the {Upsilon}(4S) with the hadron collider environment and discuss general features of B physics at a hadron collider.

The authors describe the current status of the research within the Muon Collaboration towards realizing a Neutrino Factory. The authors describe briefly the physics motivation behind the neutrino factory approach to studying neutrino oscillations and the longer term goal of building the Muon Collider. The benefits of a step by step staged approach of building a proton driver, collecting and cooling muons followed by the acceleration and storage of cooled muons are emphasized. Several usages of cooled muons open up at each new stage in such an approach and new physics opportunities are realized at the completion of each stage.

The Savannah River Site uses sophisticated glovebox facilities to process and analyze material that is radiologically contaminated or that must be protected from contamination by atmospheric gases. The analysis can be visual, non destructive measurement, or destructive measurement, and allows for the gathering of information that would otherwise not be obtainable. Macro and Micro systems that cover a range of 2X to 400X magnifications with a robust system compatible with the harsh glovebox environment were installed. Remote video inspection systems were developed and deployed in Savannah River Site glovebox facilities that provide high quality or mega-pixel quality remote views, for remote inspections. The specialized video systems that are the subject of this report exhibited specialized field application of remote video/viewing techniques by expanding remote viewing to high and very high quality viewing in gloveboxes. This technological enhancement will allow the gathering of precision information that is otherwise not available.

This paper discusses the successful remote visual inspection of a contaminated air exhaust tunnel running beneath the Savannah River Site's H-Canyon nuclear material separations facility. The air exhaust tunnel has been in operation since the 1950's, and the portion of the tunnel inspected has not been seen or accessed since startup. Numerous challenges were overcome in the deployment of the vehicle, including an initial 10-ft drop, travelling a long distance through harsh environmental conditions, surviving and recovering from a second vertical drop, turning 90 degrees, and subsequently travelling further. Video of the entire inspection was transmitted back to a control station, and the vehicle was abandoned in place for possible future use.

Real-time three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of epithelial structures in human mammary gland tissue blocks mapped with selected markers would be an extremely helpful tool for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment planning. Besides its clear clinical application, this tool could also shed a great deal of light on the molecular basis of breast cancer initiation and progression. In this paper we present a framework for real-time segmentation of epithelial structures in two-dimensional (2D) images of sections of normal and neoplastic mammary gland tissue blocks. Complete 3D rendering of the tissue can then be done by surface rendering of the structures detected in consecutive sections of the blocks. Paraffin embedded or frozen tissue blocks are first sliced, and sections are stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin. The sections are then imaged using conventional bright field microscopy and their background is corrected using a phantom image. We then use the Fast-Marching algorithm to roughly extract the contours of the different morphological structures in the images. The result is then refined with the Level-Set method which converges to an accurate (sub-pixel) solution for the segmentation problem. Finally, our system stacks together the 2D results obtained in order to reconstruct a 3D representation of the entire tissue …

Using a subset of the current Run II data, the CDF and D0 have performed several measurements on heavy flavor production. In this paper, we present a new measurement of prompt charm meson production by CDF. We also report the latest CDF II measurements of inclusive J/{Psi} production and b-production without requirement of minimum transverse momentum on J/{Psi} and b-quark. They are the first measurements of the total inclusive J/{Psi} and b quark cross section in the central rapidity region at a hadron collider. The results of J/{Psi} cross section as a function of rapidity, and b-jet production cross section measured by D0 are also reviewed.

A modeling investigation was performed to choose moderator material and size for creating optimal epithermal neutron beams for BNCT based on a proton accelerator and the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction as a neutrons source. An optimal configuration is suggested for the beam shaping assembly made from polytetrafluoroethylene and magnesium fluorine. Results of calculation were experimentally tested and are in good agreement with measurements.

Poincare invariance, gauge invariance, conservation of parity and time reversal invariance are respected in an impulse approximation evaluation of the handbag diagram. Proton wave functions, previously constrained by comparison with measured form factors, that incorporate the influence of quark transverse and orbital angular momentum (and the corresponding violation of proton helicity conservation) are used. Computed cross sections are found to be in reasonably good agreement with early measurements. The helicity correlation between the incident photon and outgoing proton, K{sub LL}, is both large and positive at back angles. For photon laboratory energies of {le} 6 GeV, we find that K{sub LL} {ne} A{sub LL}, D{sub LL} {ne} 1, and that the polarization P can be large.

Sea hare species within the Aplysia clade are distributed worldwide. Their phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships are, however, still poorly known. New molecular evidence is presented from a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 gene (cox1) that improves our understanding of the phylogeny of the group. Based on these data a preliminary discussion of the present distribution of sea hares in a biogeographic context is put forward. Our findings are consistent with only some aspects of the current taxonomy and nomenclatural changes are proposed. The first, is the use of a rank free classification for the different Aplysia clades and subclades as opposed to previously used genus and subgenus affiliations. The second, is the suggestion that Aplysia brasiliana (Rang, 1828) is a junior synonym of Aplysia fasciata (Poiret, 1789). The third, is the elimination of Neaplysia since its only member is confirmed to be part of the large Varria clade.

We describe the design and implementation of a vacuum compatible laser-based absolute distance measurement gauge with sub-nm resolution. The present system is compatible with operation in the 10{sup -8} Torr range and with some minor modifications could be used in the 10{sup -9} Torr range. The system is based on glancing incidence reflection and dual segmented diode detection. The system has been implemented as a focus sensor for extreme ultraviolet interferometry and microlithography experiments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source synchrotron radiation facility and 1{sigma} operational measurement noise floor of 0.26 nm has been demonstrated.

The chloride-mass-balance (CMB) method has been used extensively to estimate recharge in arid and semi-arid environments. Required data include estimates of annual precipitation, total chloride input (from dry fallout and precipitation), and pore-water chloride concentrations. Typically, CMB has been used to estimate ancient recharge but recharge from recent land-use change has also been documented. Recharge rates below a few mm/yr are reliably detected with CMB; however, estimates above a few mm/yr appear to be less reliable. We tested the CMB method against 26 years of drainage from a 7.6-m-deep lysimeter at a simulated waste-burial ground, located on the Department of Energy s Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State, USA where land-use change has increased recharge rates. Measured drainage from the lysimeter for the past 26 years averaged 62 mm/yr. Precipitation averaged 190 mm/yr with an estimated chloride input of 0.225 mg/L. Initial pore-water chloride concentration was 88 mg/L and decreased to about 6 mg/L after 26 years, while the drainage water decreased to less than 1 mg/L. A recharge estimate made using chloride concentrations in drain water was within 20 percent of the measured drainage rate. In contrast, recharge estimates using 1:1 (water: soil) extracts were lower than actual by …

We investigate performance characteristics for the LU factorization of large matrices with various sparsity patterns. We consider supernodal right-looking parallel factorization on a bi-dimensional grid of processors, making use of static pivoting. We develop a performance model and we validate it using the implementation in SuperLU-DIST, the real matrices and the IBM Power3 machine at NERSC. We use this model to obtain performance bounds on parallel computers, to perform scalability analysis and to identify performance bottlenecks. We also discuss the role of load balance and data distribution in this approach.

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Five cycles of loading, elution, and regeneration were performed to remove technetium from a Hanford waste sample retrieved from Tank 241-AW-101 using SuperLig 639 resin. The waste sample was diluted to 4.95 M Na plus and then was processed to remove 137Cs through dual ion exchange columns each containing 15 mL of SuperLig 644. To remove 99Tc, the cesium decontaminated solution was processed downwards through two ion exchange columns, each containing 12 mL of SuperLig 639 resin. The columns, designated as lead and lag, each had an inside diameter of 1.45 cm and a height of 30 cm. The columns were loaded in series, but were eluted and then regenerated separately. The average technetium loading for the cycles was 250 BV at 10 percent breakthrough. There was no significant difference in the loading performances among the five cycles. The percent removal of 99Tc was greater than 99.94 percent and the average decontamination factor (DF) was approximately 1.7 x 103. Approximately 99 percent of the 99Tc loaded on the resin was eluted with less than 15 BV of de-ionized water at 65 degrees C.

Researchers investigated the neutralization of an acidic neptunium solution from a Savannah River Site (SRS) processing canyon and the properties of the resulting slurry to determine the feasibility of disposal in the SRS tank farm. The acidic solution displayed no properties that precluded the proposed disposal route. Neutralization of the acidic neptunium forms a 4 wt per cent slurry of precipitated metal hydroxides. The insoluble solids consist largely of iron (92 per cent) and neptunium hydroxides (2 per cent). The concentration of soluble neptunium remaining after neutralization equaled much less than previous solubility measurements predicted. Researchers used an apparatus similar to an Ostwald-type viscometer to estimate the consistency of the neptunium slurry with the solids present. The yield stress and consistency of the 4 wt per cent slurry will allow transfer through the tank farm, although concentration of the insoluble solids above 4 wt per cent may cause significant problems due to increased consistency and yield stress. The consistency of the 4 wt per cent slurry is 7.6 centipoise (cP) with a yield stress less than 1 Pascal (Pa). The neptunium slurry, when combined with actual washed radioactive sludge, slightly reduces the yield stress and consistency of the sludge and …

This study estimated the health, energy, and economic benefits of an economizer ventilation control system that increases outside air supply during mild weather to save energy. A model of the influence of ventilation rate on airborne transmission of respiratory illnesses was used to extend the limited data relating ventilation rate with illness and sick leave. An energy simulation model calculated ventilation rates and energy use versus time for an office building in Washington, D.C. with fixed minimum outdoor air supply rates, with and without an economizer. Sick leave rates were estimated with the disease transmission model. In the modeled 72-person office building, our analyses indicate that the economizer reduces energy costs by approximately $2000 and, in addition, reduces sick leave. The annual financial benefit of the decrease in sick leave is estimated to be between $6,000 and $16,000. This modeling suggests that economizers are much more cost effective than currently recognized.