The goal of this project was to investigate mechanisms underlying the adaptive response seen following exposure of HeLa x skin fibroblast human hybrid cells to low doses of low LET radiation. It was proposed to investigate the contributions of three possible mechanisms. These were: 1. Upregulation of cellular antioxidant status. 2. Upregulation of DNA repair. 3. Upregulation of gap junction intracellular communication. We have completed the study of the role of upregulation of reduced glutathione (GSH) as a possible mechanism underlying our observed suppression of transformation frequency at low radiation doses. We have also completed our study of the possible role of upregulation of DNA repair in the observed adaptive response against neoplastic transformation. We concluded that upregulation of DNA repair may be more important in modulating transformation at the higher dose. A manuscript describing the above studies has been submitted published in Carcinogenesis 24:1961-1965, 2003. Finally, we have completed two studies of the possible role of upregulation of gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) in modulating transformation frequency at low doses of low LET radiation. This research was published in Radiation Research 162:646-654, 2004. In order to optimize the opportunity for GJIC, we then carried out a study where confluent …

Micro-array experiments identified a number of Thermobifida fusca genes which were upregulated by growth on cellulose or plant biomass. Five of these genes were cloned, overexpressed in E. coli and the expressed proteins were purified and characterized. These were a xyloglucanase,a 1-3,beta glucanase, a family 18 hydrolase and twocellulose binding proteins that contained no catalytic domains. The catalyic domain of the family 74 endoxyloglucanase with a C-terminal, cellulose binding module was crystalized and its 3-dimensional structure was determined by X-ray crystallography.

Gamma ray spectrometers are an important tool in the characterization of radioactive waste. Important requirements for gamma ray spectrometers used in this application include good energy resolution, high detection efficiency, compact size, light weight, portability, and low power requirements. None of the available spectrometers satisfy all of these requirements. The goal of the Phase I research was to investigate lanthanum halide and related scintillators for nuclear waste clean-up. LaBr3:Ce remains a very promising scintillator with high light yield and fast response. CeBr3 is attractive because it is very similar to LaBr3:Ce in terms of scintillation properties and also has the advantage of much lower self-radioactivity, which may be important in some applications. CeBr3 also shows slightly higher light yield at higher temperatures than LaBr3 and may be easier to produce with high uniformity in large volume since it does not require any dopants. Among the mixed lanthanum halides, the light yield of LaBrxI3-x:Ce is lower and the difference in crystal structure of the binaries (LaBr3 and LaI3) makes it difficult to grow high quality crystals of the ternary as the iodine concentration is increased. On the other hand, LaBrxCl3-x:Ce provides excellent performance. Its light output is high and it provides …

With a pretty good-resolution mountain profile, we simulated the underground muon background at the Daya Bay site. To get the sea-level muon flux parameterization, a modification to the standard Gaisser's formula was introduced according to the world muon data. MUSIC code was used to transport muon through the mountain rock. To deploy the simulation, first we generate a statistic sample of sea-level muon events according to the sea-level muon flux distribution formula; then calculate the slant depth of muon passing through the mountain using an interpolation method based on the digitized data of the mountain; finally transport muons through rock to get underground muon sample, from which we can get results of muon flux, mean energy, energy distribution and angular distribution.

ACME Wind Turbine Corporation has contacted our dynamic analysis firm regarding structural health monitoring of their wind turbine blades. ACME has had several failures in previous years. Examples are shown in Figure 1. These failures have resulted in economic loss for the company due to down time of the turbines (lost revenue) and repair costs. Blade failures can occur in several modes, which may depend on the type of construction and load history. Cracking and delamination are some typical modes of blade failure. ACME warranties its turbines and wishes to decrease the number of blade failures they have to repair and replace. The company wishes to implement a real time structural health monitoring system in order to better understand when blade replacement is necessary. Because of warranty costs incurred to date, ACME is interested in either changing the warranty period for the blades in question or predicting imminent failure before it occurs. ACME's current practice is to increase the number of physical inspections when blades are approaching the end of their fatigue lives. Implementation of an in situ monitoring system would eliminate or greatly reduce the need for such physical inspections. Another benefit of such a monitoring system is that …

Recent testing has identified the presence of hydrogen and oxygen in MIS Item 011589A. This isolated observation has effectuated concern regarding the potential for flammable gas mixtures in containers in the storage inventory. This study examines the known physicochemical characteristics of MIS Item 011589A and queries the ISP Database for items that are most similar or potentially similar. Items identified as most similar are believed to have the highest probability of being chemically and structurally identical to MIS Item 011589A. Items identified as potentially like MIS Item 011589A have some attributes in common, have the potential to generate gases, but have a lower probability of having similar gas generating characteristics. MIS Item 011589A is an oxide that was generated prior to 1990 at Rocky Flats in Building 707. It was associated with foundry processing and had an actinide assay of approximately 77%. Prompt gamma analysis of MIS Item 011589A indicated the presence of chloride, fluorine, magnesium, sodium, and aluminum. Queries based on MIS representation classification and process of origin were applied to the ISP Database. Evaluation criteria included binning classification (i.e., innocuous, pressure, or pressure and corrosion), availability of prompt gamma analyses, presence of chlorine and magnesium, percentage of chlorine …

This thirteenth quarterly status report for the Hybrid Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) project, DOE Award DE-FC04-02AL68080 presents the project status at the end of December 2005, and covers activities in the thirteenth project quarter, October 2005 ? December 2005.

Our work for this DOE funded project includes: (1) measurements of the kinetics and mechanism of the gas-phase oxidation reactions of the aromatic hydrocarbons initiated by OH; (2) measurements of aerosol formation from the aromatic hydrocarbons; and (3) theoretical studies to elucidate the OH-toluene reaction mechanism using quantum-chemical and rate theories.

The potential for generation of gases in transuranic (TRU) waste by microbial activity, chemical interactions, corrosion, and radiolysis was addressed in the Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-West) Gas-Generation Experiments (GGE). Data was collected over several years by simulating the conditions in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) after the eventual intrusion of brine into the repository. Fourteen test containers with various actual TRU waste immersed in representative brine were inoculated with WIPP-relevant microbes, pressurized with inert gases, and kept in an inert-atmosphere environment for several years to provide estimates of the gas-generation rates that will be used in computer models for future WIPP Performance Assessments. Modest temperature variations occurred during the long-term ANL-West experiments. Although the experiment temperatures always remained well within the experiment specifications, the small temperature variation was observed to affect the test container pressure far more than had been anticipated. In fact, the pressure variations were so large, and seemingly erratic, that it was impossible to discern whether the data was even valid and whether the long-term pressure trend was increasing, decreasing, or constant. The result was that no useful estimates of gas-generation rates could be deduced from the pressure data. Several initial attempts were made to quantify …

This report covers the period from Oct. 2002 to Sep. 2004 when Old Dominion University (ODU) was the lead institution for the TOPS ISIC, until in Oct. 2004 Columbia University replaced ODU as the lead institution. The TOPS members from ODU focused on various aspects of the linear and nonlinear solver infrastructure required by the partial differential equations simulation codes, working directly with SciDAC teams from the Fusion Energy Sciences program: the Center for Extended agnetohydrodynamic Modeling (CEMM) at Princeton, and with the Center for Magnetic Reconnection Studies (CMRS) at University of New Hampshire. With CEMM we worked with their MHD simulation code, called M3D, which is semi-implicit, requiring linear solves but no onlinear solves. We contributed several improvements to their current semi-implicit code. Among these was the use of multilevel reconditioning, which provides optimal scaling. This was done through the multigrid preconditioner available in Hypre, another major solver package available in TOPS. We also provided them direct solver functionality for their linear solves since they may be required for more accurate solutions in some regimes. With the CMRS group, we implemented a fully implicit parallel magnetic reconnection simulation code, built on top of PETSc. Our first attempt was a …

This paper discusses the technologies applied at Hanford's K-Basins to mitigate risk and reduce the source term in preparing the basins for deactivation and demolition. These project technologies/strategies (in various stages of implementation) are sequential in nature and are the basis for preparing to dispose of the K Basins--two highly contaminated concrete basins at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. A large collection of spent nuclear fuel stored for many years underwater at the K Basins has been removed to stable, dry, safe storage. Remediation activities are underway to prepare the basin structures for de-inventory, decontamination, and disposal.

This is the final report detailing the analyses performed under ORD-FY04-011 "Chemical Analyses for Alcove 8/Niche 3 Tracer Studies." The work was performed under the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) and the Department of Energy (DOE) Cooperative Agreement Number DE-FC28-04RW12232. This task provided method development and analytical support for the Alcove 8/Niche 3 Tracer Studies in the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF). Concentrations of tracers, as well as major anions and cations, were reported for samples provided by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). Samples were analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Ion Chromatography (IC). Samples were analyzed and controlled according to Implementing Procedures (IP's) written and approved in accordance with the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) approved Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Quality Assurance Program.

A significant work program was implemented from 2002 to 2005 in the East Binger Unit (''EBU'') miscible nitrogen injection project in an effort to reduce gas cycling and economically increase ultimate oil recovery. This work included the drilling of new wells, both horizontal and vertical, as well as pattern realignment through producer-to-injector conversions. Monitoring of overall performance of the pilot area continues. Response to the various projects continues to be very favorable. Injection into the pilot area, despite being limited at times by problems in the Air Separation Unit of the Nitrogen Management Facility, has increased an average of 50% over levels prior to the project. Meanwhile, gas production and nitrogen content of produced gas have both decreased. After decreasing to 20-25% early in the project, nitrogen recycle (produced nitrogen volume divided by injected nitrogen volume) within the pilot area has risen back to about 42%, still far below the 72% prior to initiation of the project. Poor areal sweep efficiency appears to be the primary cause of nitrogen cycling. Seven vertical and three horizontal wells have been drilled in the pilot area throughout the project, and most have had initial produced gas oil ratios and gas nitrogen contents significantly …

With Naval Reactors (NR) approval of the Naval Reactors Prime Contractor Team (NRPCT) recommendation to develop a gas cooled reactor directly coupled to a Brayton power conversion system as the Space Nuclear Power Plant (SNPP) for Project Prometheus (References a and b) there was a need to investigate compatibility between the various materials to be used throughout the SNPP. Of particular interest was the transport of interstitial impurities from the nickel-base superalloys, which were leading candidates for most of the piping and turbine components to the refractory metal alloys planned for use in the reactor core. This kind of contamination has the potential to affect the lifetime of the core materials. This letter provides technical information regarding the assembly and operation of a double retort materials compatibility testing system and initial experimental results. The use of a double retort system to test materials compatibility through the transfer of impurities from a source to a sink material is described here. The system has independent temperature control for both materials and is far less complex than closed loops. The system is described in detail and the results of three experiments are presented.

As part of the Department of Energy's (DOE) initiative on developing new technologies for storage of carbon dioxide in geologic reservoirs, Battelle has been investigating the feasibility of CO{sub 2} sequestration in the deep saline reservoirs in the Ohio River Valley region. In addition to the DOE, the project is being sponsored by American Electric Power (AEP), BP, The Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, Schlumberger, and Battelle. The main objective of the project is to demonstrate that CO{sub 2} sequestration in deep formations is feasible from engineering and economic perspectives, as well as being an inherently safe practice and one that will be acceptable to the public. In addition, the project is designed to evaluate the geology of deep formations in the Ohio River Valley region in general and in the vicinity of AEP's Mountaineer Power Plant in particular, in order to determine their potential use for conducting a long-term test of CO{sub 2} disposal in deep saline formations. The current technical progress report summarizes activities completed for the October through December 2005 period of the project. As discussed in the following report, the main field activity was reservoir testing in the Copper …

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The purpose of this DOE-funded effort is to develop technologies for carbon products from coal-derived feedstocks. Carbon products can include precursor materials such as solvent extracted carbon ore (SECO) and synthetic pitch (Synpitch). In addition, derived products include carbon composites, fibers, foams and others. Key milestones included producing hydrogenated coal in the Hydrotreating Facility for the first time. The facility is now operational, although digital controls have not yet been completely wired. In addition, ultrasound is being used to investigate enhanced dissolution of coal. Experiments have been carried out.

Conventional coal-burning power plants are major contributors of excess CO2 to the atmospheric inventory. Because such plants are stationary, they are particularly amenable to CO2 capture and disposal by deep injection into confined geologic formations. However, the energy penalty for CO2 separation and compression is steep, and could lead to a 30-40 percent reduction in useable power output. Integrated gas combined cycle (IGCC) plants are thermodynamically more efficient, i.e.,produce less CO2 for a given power output, and are more suitable for CO2 capture. Therefore, if CO2 capture and deep subsurface disposal were to be considered seriously, the preferred approach would be to build replacement IGCC plants with integrated CO2 capture, rather than retrofit existing conventional plants. Coal contains minor quantities of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, which are of concern, as their release into the atmosphere leads to the formation of urban ozone and acid rain, the destruction of stratospheric ozone, and global warming. Coal also contains many trace elements that are potentially hazardous to human health and the environment. During CO2 separation and capture, these constituents could inadvertently contaminate the separated CO2 and be co-injected. The concentrations and speciation of the co-injected contaminants would differ markedly, depending on whether CO2 …

We present measurements of CP-violating asymmetries and branching fractions for the decays B{sup +} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup +}, B{sup +} {yields} {omega}K{sup +}, and B{sup 0} {yields} {omega}K{sup 0}. The data sample corresponds to 232 million B{bar B} pairs produced by e{sup +}e{sup -} annihilation at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance. For the decay B{sup 0} {yields} {omega}K{sub s}{sup 0}, we measure the time-dependent CP-violation parameters S = 0.51{sub -0.39}{sup +0.35} {+-} 0.02, and C = -0.55{sub -0.26}{sup +0.28} {+-} 0.03. We also measure the branching fractions, in units of 10{sup -6}, {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup +}) = 6.1 {+-} 0.7 {+-} 0.4, {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}K{sup +}) = 6.1 {+-} 0.6 {+-} 0.4, and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {omega}K{sup 0}) = 6.2 {+-} 1.0 {+-} 0.4, and charge asymmetries {Alpha}{sub ch}(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup +}) = -0.01 {+-} 0.10 {+-} 0.01 and {Alpha}{sub ch}(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}K{sup +}) = 0.05 {+-} 0.09 {+-} 0.01.

Corrosion resistant structural materials of both iron and nickel based alloys are used in the electric power industry for the construction of the coolant loops of both conventional and nuclear power generating stations. These materials, in the presence of high temperature (e.g. 287 C), high pH (e.g. 10.0 {at} 20 C) water with dissolved hydrogen will oxidize and form corrosion films that are double metal oxides (or spinels) of the form AB{sub 2}O{sub 4}. This work describes optical reflectivity techniques that have been developed to study the growth of these films in situ. The optical technique uses a dual-beam specular reflection spectrometer to measure the spectrum of reflected light in small angle (i.e. < 15{sup o}) scatter. The reflection spectra are then calibrated using a set of corrosion coupons with corrosion films that are well known. Results are compared with models based on multilayer reflection and Mie scattering from a particle size distribution. Surface roughness is found to be the dominant cause of reduced reflection as the films grow.

The primary activities associated with maintenance of the Subsurface Microbial Culture Collection (SMCC) were designed to ensure that the collection served as a valuable resource to DOE-funded and other scientists, especially DOE-funded scientists associated with the NABIR Program. These activities were carried out throughout the period covered by this report and in-cluded: (1) assistance in the selection of cultures for research, (2) distribution of cultures and/or data on request, (3) incorporation of newly isolated microbial strains, (4) preservation of newly isolated strains, (5) partial characterization of newly isolated strains, (6) development and main-tenance of representative subsets of cultures, (6) screening of SMCC strains for specific charac-teristics, (7) phylogenetic characterization of SMCC strains, (8) development and maintenance of a SMCC website, (9) maintenance of the SMCC databases, (10) archiving of SMCC records, and (11) quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) activities. We describe in the Final Technical Report our accomplishments related to these activities during the period covered by this report.

FY2004 progress summary and FY2005 program plan statement of work and deliverables for development of high average power diode-pumped solid state lasers, and complementary technologies for applications in energy and defense.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) stands among the keystone technologies for analysis of biological sequence data. PCR is used to amplify DNA, to generate many copies from as little as a single template. This is essential, for example, in processing forensic DNA samples, pathogen detection in clinical or biothreat surveillance applications, and medical genotyping for diagnosis and treatment of disease. It is used in virtually every laboratory doing molecular, cellular, genetic, ecologic, forensic, or medical research. Despite its ubiquity, we lack the precise predictive capability that would enable detailed optimization of PCR reaction dynamics. In this LDRD, we proposed to develop Virtual PCR (VPCR) software, a computational method to model the kinetic, thermodynamic, and biological processes of PCR reactions. Given a successful completion, these tools will allow us to predict both the sequences and concentrations of all species that are amplified during PCR. The ability to answer the following questions will allow us both to optimize the PCR process and interpret the PCR results: What products are amplified when sequence mixtures are present, containing multiple, closely related targets and multiplexed primers, which may hybridize with sequence mismatches? What are the effects of time, temperature, and DNA concentrations on the concentrations …

FY2006 annual report of research conducted by the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, a research unit of the University of Georgia operating on the Savannah River Site in Aiken, County, SC.