The theme of the fifth Gordon Research Conference on Radiation and Climate is 'Integrating multiscale measurements and models for key climate questions'. The meeting will feature lectures, posters, and discussion regarding these issues. The meeting will focus on insights from new types of satellite and in situ data and from new approaches to modeling processes in the climate system. The program on measurements will highlight syntheses of new satellite data on cloud, aerosols, and chemistry and syntheses of satellite and sub-orbital observations from field programs. The program on modeling will address both the evaluation of cloud-resolving and regional aerosol models using new types of measurements and the evidence for processes and physics missing from global models. The Conference will focus on two key climate questions. First, what factors govern the radiative interactions of clouds and aerosols with regional and global climate? Second, how well do we understand the interaction of radiation with land surfaces and with the cryosphere?

In this paper, standing back--looking from afar--and adopting a historical perspective, the field of accelerator science is examined. How it grew, what are the forces that made it what it is, where it is now, and what it is likely to be in the future are the subjects explored. Clearly, a great deal of personal opinion is invoked in this process.

The purpose of this report is to provide status of the ingest software used to process instrument data for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Climate Research Facility (ACRF). The report is divided into 4 sections: (1) for news about ingests currently under development, (2) for current production ingests, (3) for future ingest development plans, and (4) for information on retired ingests. Please note that datastreams beginning in “xxx” indicate cases where ingests run at multiple ACRF sites, which results in a datastream(s) for each location.

The "criticality" or k-eigenvalue of a nuclear system determines whether the system is critical (k=1), or the extent to which it is subcritical (k<1) or supercritical (k>1). Calculations of k are frequently performed at nuclear facilities to determine the criticality of nuclear reactor cores, spent nuclear fuel storage casks, and other fissile systems. These calculations can be expensive, and current Monte Carlo methods have certain well-known deficiencies. In this project, we have developed and tested a new "functional Monte Carlo" (FMC) method that overcomes several of these deficiencies. The current state-of-the-art Monte Carlo k-eigenvalue method estimates the fission source for a sequence of fission generations (cycles), during each of which M particles per cycle are processed. After a series of "inactive" cycles during which the fission source "converges," a series of "active" cycles are performed. For each active cycle, the eigenvalue and eigenfunction are estimated; after N >> 1 active cycles are performed, the results are averaged to obtain estimates of the eigenvalue and eigenfunction and their standard deviations. This method has several disadvantages: (i) the estimate of k depends on the number M of particles per cycle, (iii) for optically thick systems, the eigenfunction estimate may not converge due …

As part of the proficiency training for the Radiological Mapping mission of the Aerial Measuring System (AMS), a survey team from the Remote Sensing Laboratory-Nellis (RSL-Nellis) conducted an aerial radiological survey of selected areas of the city of North Las Vegas for the purpose of mapping natural radiation background and locating any man-made radioactive sources. Survey areas were selected in collaboration with the City Manager's office and included four separate areas: (1) Las Vegas Motor Speedway (10.6 square miles); (2) North Las Vegas Downtown Area (9.2 square miles); (3) I-15 Industrial Corridor (7.4 square miles); and (4) Future site of University of Nevada Las Vegas campus (17.4 square miles). The survey was conducted in three phases: Phase 1 on December 11-12, 2007 (Areas 1 and 2), Phase 2 on February 28, 2008 (Area 3), and Phase 3 on March 19, 2008 (Area 4). The total completed survey covered a total of 44.6 square miles. The flight lines (without the turns) over the surveyed areas are presented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. A total of eight 2.5-hour-long flights were performed at an altitude of 150 ft above ground level (AGL) with 300 feet of flight-line spacing. Water line and …

WindPower 2008 conference sponsored by AWEA held in Houston, TX on June 1-4 2008. This poster illustrates the data collected for an analysis of sub-hourly ramping impacts of wind energy and balancing area size.

In this paper, we analyze sub-hourly ramping requirements and the benefit of combining Balancing Authority operations with significant wind penetrations.

We analyzed a data set of thermally induced changes in fractured rock permeability during a four-year heating (up to 200 C) and subsequent four-year cooling of a large volume, partially saturated and highly fractured volcanic tuff at the Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test, in Nevada, USA. Permeability estimates were derived from about 700 pneumatic (air-injection) tests, taken periodically at 44 packed-off borehole intervals during the heating and cooling cycle from November 1997 through November 2005. We analyzed air-permeability data by numerical modeling of thermally induced stress and moisture movements and their impact on air permeability within the highly fractured rock. Our analysis shows that changes in air permeability during the initial four-year heating period, which were limited to about one order of magnitude, were caused by the combined effects of thermal-mechanically-induced stress on fracture aperture and thermal-hydrologically-induced changes in fracture moisture content. At the end of the subsequent four-year cooling period, air-permeability decreases (to as low as 0.2 of initial) and increases (to as high as 1.8 of initial) were observed. By comparison to the calculated thermo-hydro-elastic model results, we identified these remaining increases or decreases in air permeability as irreversible changes in intrinsic fracture permeability, consistent with either inelastic …

The Liquid Waste Technology Development organization is investigating technologies to support closure of radioactive waste tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Tank closure includes removal of the wastes that have propagated to the tank annulus. Although amounts and types of residual waste materials in the annuli of SRS tanks vary, simple salt deposits are predominant on tanks with known leak sites. This task focused on developing and demonstrating a technology to inspect and spot clean salt deposits from the outer primary tank wall located in the annulus of an SRS Type I tank. The Robotics, Remote and Specialty Equipment (RRSE) and Materials Science and Technology (MS&amp;T) Sections of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) collaborated to modify and equip a Force Institute magnetic wall crawler with the tools necessary to demonstrate the inspection and spot cleaning in a mock-up of a Type I tank annulus. A remote control camera arm and cleaning head were developed, fabricated and mounted on the crawler. The crawler was then tested and demonstrated on a salt simulant also developed in this task. The demonstration showed that the camera is capable of being deployed in all specified locations and provided the views needed for the …

Applying basic systems engineering (SE) tools to the mission analysis phases of a 2.5-million dollar biomass pre-processing project for the U.S. Department of Energy directly assisted the project principal investigator understand the complexity and identify the gaps of a moving-target project and capture the undefined technical/functional requirements and deliverables from the project team and industrial partners. A creative application of various SE tools by non-aerospace systems engineers developed an innovative “big picture” product that combined aspects of mission analysis with a project functional flow block diagram, providing immediate understanding of the depth and breath of the biomass preprocessing effort for all team members, customers, and industrial partners. The “big picture” diagram became the blue print to write the project test plan, and provided direction to bring the project back on track and achieve project success.

This research combined the use of selective extractions and x-ray spectroscopy to examine the fate of As and Cr in a podzolic soil contaminated by chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Iron was enriched in the upper 30 cm due to a previous one-time treatment of the soil with Fe(II). High oxalate-soluble Al concentrations in the Bs horizon of the soil and micro-XRD data indicated the presence of short-range ordered aluminosilicates (i.e. proto-imogolite allophane, PIA). In the surface layers, Cr, as Cr(III), was partitioned between a mixed Fe(III)/Cr(III) solid phase that formed upon the Fe(II) application (25-50%) and a recalcitrant phase (50-75%) likely consisting of organic material such as residual CCA-treated wood. Deeper in the profile Cr appeared to be largely in the form of extractable (hydr)oxides. Throughout the soil, As was present as As(V). In the surface layers a considerable fraction of As was also associated with a recalcitrant phase, probably CCA-treated woody debris, and the remainder was associated with (hydr)oxide-like solid phases. In the Bs horizon, however, XAS and XRF findings strongly pointed to the presence of PIA acting as an effective adsorbent for As. This research shows for the first time the relevance of PIA for the adsorption of …

This report discusses the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996. These amendments directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update the standard for arsenic in drinking water.

The LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) is currently developing 4 m long Nb{sub 3}Sn quadrupole magnets for a possible upgrade of the LHC Interaction Regions (IR). In order to provide a reliable test bed for the fabrication and test of long Nb{sub 3}Sn coils, LARP has started the development of the long racetrack magnet LRS01. The magnet is composed of two 3.6 m long racetrack coils contained in a support structure based on an aluminum shell pre-tensioned with water-pressurized bladders and interference keys. For the phase-one test of the assembly procedure and loading operation, the structure was pre-stressed at room temperature and cooled down to 77 K with instrumented, solid aluminum 'dummy coils'. Mechanical behavior and stress homogeneity were monitored with strain gauges mounted on the shell and the dummy coils. The dummy coils were replaced with reacted and impregnated Nb{sub 3}Sn coils in a second assembly procedure, followed by cool-down to 4.5 K and powered magnet test. This paper report on the assembly and loading procedures of the support structure as well as the comparison between strain gauge data and 3D model predictions.

Fast responsive regulation resources are potentially more valuable as a power system regulation resource (more efficient) because they allow applying controls at the exact moment and in the exact amount as needed. Faster control is desirable because it facilitates more reliable compliance with the NERC Control Performance Standards at relatively lesser regulation capacity procurements. The current California ISO practices and markets do not provide a differentiation among the regulation resources based on their speed of response (with the exception of some minimum ramping capabilities). Some demand response technologies, including some generation and energy storage resources, can provide quicker control actions. California ISO practices and markets could be updated to welcome more fast regulation resources into the California ISO service area. The project work reported in this work was pursuing the following objectives: • Develop methodology to assess the relative value of generation resources used for regulation and load following California ISO functions • This assessment should be done based on physical characteristics including the ability to quickly change their output following California ISO signals • Evaluate what power is worth on different time scales • Analyze the benefits of new regulation resources to provide effective compliance with the mandatory NERC …

Description. Individual raw data streams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Climate Research Facility (ACRF) fixed and mobile sites are collected and sent to the Data Management Facility (DMF) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for processing in near real time. Raw and processed data are then sent daily to the ACRF Archive, where they are made available to users. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of data records received daily at the Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual data stream, site, and month for the current year and (2) site and fiscal year (FY) dating back to 1998.

This report describes Northern Indiana Public Service Co. project efforts to develop an automated energy distribution and reliability system. The purpose of this project was to implement a database-driven GIS solution that would manage all of the company's gas, electric, and landbase objects. This report is second in a series of reports detailing this effort.

In the first part of this diploma thesis, the current version of the KIT Flavor Separator, a neural network which is able to distinguish between tagged b-quark jets and tagged c/light-quark jets, is presented. In comparison with previous versions four new input variables are utilized and new Monte Carlo samples with a larger number of simulated events are used for the training of the neural network. It is illustrated that the output of the neural network is continuously distributed between 1 and -1, whereas b-quark jets accumulate at 1, however, c-quark jets and light-quark jets have outputs next to -1. To ensure that the network output describes observed events correctly, the shapes of all input variables are compared in simulation and data. Thus the mismodelling of any input variable is excluded. Moreover, the b jet and light jet output distributions are compared with the output of samples of observed events, which are enhanced in the particular flavor. In contrast to previous versions, no b-jet output correction function has to be calculated, because the agreement between simulation and collision data is excellent for b-quark jets. For the light-jet output, correction functions are developed. Different applications of the KIT Flavor Separator are …

We present a conceptual design for an L-band (1.3 GHz) rf gun with a two-grid thermionic cathode assembly. The rf gun is designed to provide a 9 mA average beam current for 1 ms pulses at a 5 Hz rate. These parameters match the beam requirements for both the ILC and the Fermilab Project X test facilities. In our simulations we are able to attain a full bunch length of 20-30 degrees, while the output energy can vary from 2 to 4 MeV. Simulations as well as a preliminary design will be presented.

A final design has been established for a basic Lunar Evolutionary Growth-Optimized (LEGO) Reactor using current and near-term technologies. The LEGO Reactor is a modular, fast-fission, heatpipe-cooled, clustered-reactor system for lunar-surface power generation. The reactor is divided into subcritical units that can be safely launched with lunar shipments from Earth, and then emplaced directly into holes drilled into the lunar regolith to form a critical reactor assembly. The regolith would not just provide radiation shielding, but serve as neutron-reflector material as well. The reactor subunits are to be manufactured using proven and tested materials for use in radiation environments, such as uranium-dioxide fuel, stainless-steel cladding and structural support, and liquid-sodium heatpipes. The LEGO Reactor system promotes reliability, safety, and ease of manufacture and testing at the cost of an increase in launch mass per overall rated power level and a reduction in neutron economy when compared to a single-reactor system. A single unshielded LEGO Reactor subunit has an estimated mass of approximately 448 kg and provides approximately 5 kWe. The overall envelope for a single subunit with fully extended radiator panels has a height of 8.77 m and a diameter of 0.50 m. Six subunits could provide sufficient power generation …

During the period from June 1967 through September 1969 a series of critical experiments was performed at the Rocky Flats Critical Mass Laboratory with spherical and hemispherical plutonium assemblies as nested hemishells as part of a Nuclear Safety Facility Experimental Program to evaluate operational safety margins for the Rocky Flats Plant. These assemblies were both bare and fully or partially oil-reflected. Many of these experiments were subcritical with an extrapolation to critical configurations or critical at a particular oil height. Existing records reveal that 167 experiments were performed over the course of 28 months. Unfortunately, much of the data was not recorded. A reevaluation of the experiments had been summarized in a report for future experimental and computational analyses. This report examines only fifteen partially oil-reflected hemispherical assemblies. Fourteen of these assemblies also had close-fitting stainless-steel hemishell reflectors, used to determine the effective critical reflector height of oil with varying steel-reflector thickness. The experiments and their uncertainty in keff values were evaluated to determine their potential as valid criticality benchmark experiments of plutonium.

Bremsstrahlung sources have been utilized for various non-intrusive inspection or interrogation applications for over 100 years - with the primary focus being radiographic imaging. In the last several decades, it has become evident that photons of energy greater than 6 MeV can also provide useful photonuclear information that can extend the capabilities and information available from active inspections. These energetic inspection photons can be produced as a continuum of energies (i.e., bremsstrahlung distribution) or as a set of one or more discrete photon energies (i.e., monoenergetic distribution). This paper will discuss the photonuclear process and its energetic photon energy dependence, will discuss the photonuclear role in nuclear material detection, will present applicable photon sources along with their field deployment status, and highlight some advantages and disadvantages of bremsstrahlung and monoenergetic photons sources.

The purpose of this work is to examine the applicability of the Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) process for the removal of cesium from Hanford tank-waste supernatant solutions in support of the Hanford Interim Pretreatment System (IPS). The Hanford waste types are more challenging than those at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in that they contain significantly higher levels of potassium, the chief competing ion in the extraction of cesium. It was confirmed by use of the CSSX model that the higher levels of potassium depress the cesium distribution ratio (DCs), as validated by measurement of DCs values for four of eight specified Hanford waste-simulant compositions. The model predictions were good to an apparent standard error of ±11%. It is concluded from batch distribution experiments, physical-property measurements, equilibrium modeling, flowsheet calculations, and contactor sizing that the CSSX process as currently employed for cesium removal from alkaline salt waste at the SRS is capable of treating similar Hanford tank feeds. For the most challenging waste composition, 41 stages would be required to provide a cesium decontamination factor (DF) of 5000 and a concentration factor (CF) of 5. Commercial contacting equipment with rotor diameters of 10 in. for extraction and 5 in. for …

This report talks about Caustic-Side Solvent-Extraction Modeling for Hanford Interim Pretreatment System

Two experimental detectors working in a push-pull mode has been considered for the Interaction Region of the International Linear Collider [1]. The push-pull mode of operation sets specific requirements and challenges for many systems of detector and machine, in particular for the IR magnets, for the cryogenics and alignment system, for beamline shielding, for detector design and overall integration, and so on. These challenges and the identified conceptual solutions discussed in the paper intend to form a draft of the Interface Document which will be developed further in the nearest future. The authors of the present paper include the organizers and conveners of working groups of the workshop on engineering design of interaction region IRENG07 [2], the leaders of the IR Integration within Global Design Effort Beam Delivery System, and the representatives from each detector concept submitting the Letters Of Intent.