This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 477, N-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 477 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-03, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure with no further action, by placing use restrictions on CAU 477.

As vehicle powertrain efficiency increases through electrification, consumer travel and driving behavior have significantly more influence on the potential fuel consumption of these vehicles. Therefore, it is critical to have a good understanding of in-use or 'real world' driving behavior if accurate fuel consumption estimates of electric drive vehicles are to be achieved. Regional travel surveys using Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment have been found to provide an excellent source of in-use driving profiles. In this study, a variety of vehicle powertrain options were developed and their performance was simulated over GPS-derived driving profiles for 783 vehicles operating in Texas. The results include statistical comparisons of the driving profiles versus national data sets, driving performance characteristics compared with standard drive cycles, and expected petroleum displacement benefits from the electrified vehicles given various vehicle charging scenarios.

Under sub-freezing conditions, ice forms in the gas-diffusion layer (GDL) of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) drastically reducing cell performance. Although a number of strategies exist to prevent ice formation, there is little fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of freezing within PEMFC components. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is used to elucidate the effects of hydrophobicity (Teflon® loading) and water saturation on the rate of ice formation within three commercial GDLs. We find that as the Teflon® loading increases, the crystallization temperature decreases due to a change in internal ice/substrate contact angle, as well as the attainable level of water saturation. Classical nucleation theory predicts the correct trend in freezing temperature with Teflon® loading.

"Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Model" is a seminal work that continues to form the basis for modern modeling efforts, especially models concerning the membrane and its behavior at the continuum level. The paper is complete with experimental data, modeling equations, model validation, and optimization scenarios. While the treatment of the underlying phenomena is limited to isothermal, single-phase conditions, and one-dimensional flow, it represents the key interactions within the membrane at the center of the PEFC. It focuses on analyzing the water balance within the cell and clearly demonstrates the complex interactions of water diffusion and electro-osmotic flux. Cell-level and system-level water balance are key to the development of efficient PEFCs going forward, particularly as researchers address the need to simplify humidification and recycle configurations while increasing the operating temperature of the stack to minimize radiator requirements.

The main focus during the period of research at UTK was on developing a mathematically rigorous and at the same time computationally flexible framework for parallelization of Kinetic Monte Carlo methods, and its implementation on multi-core architectures. Another direction of research aimed towards spatial multilevel coarse graining methods for Monte Carlo sampling and molecular simulation. The underlying theme of both of this topics was the development of numerical methods that lead to efficient and reliable simulations supported by error analysis of involved approximation schemes for coarse observables of the simulated molecular system. The work on both of these topics resulted in publications.

The US-LHC accelerator research program (LARP) built and tested the first 3.7-m long Nb{sub 3}Sn quadrupole model of LQ series with a 90 mm bore diameter and a target field gradient of 200 T/m. The LQ series, developed in collaboration among FNAL, LBNL and BNL, is a scale up of the previously tested 1-m long technology quadrupoles of TQ series based on similar coils and two different mechanical structures (shell-based TQS and collar-based TQC), with a primary goal of demonstrating the Nb{sub 3}Sn accelerator magnet technology for the luminosity upgrade of LHC interaction regions. In this paper, we present the field quality measurements in the first 3.7-m long LQS01 model based on the modified TQS mechanical structure. The results are compared to the expectations from the magnet geometry and magnetic properties of coils and iron yoke. Moreover, we present a comparison between this magnet and the short models previously measured.

The Kansas Wind Working Group (WWG) is a 33-member group announced by former Governor Kathleen Sebelius on Jan. 7, 2008. Formed through Executive Order 08-01, the WWG will educate stakeholder groups with the current information on wind energy markets, technologies, economics, policies, prospects and issues. Governor Mark Parkinson serves as chair of the Kansas Wind Working Group. The group has been instrumental in focusing on the elements of government and coordinating government and private sector efforts in wind energy development. Those efforts have moved Kansas from 364 MW of wind three years ago to over 1000 MW today. Further, the Wind Working Group was instrumental in fleshing out issues such as a state RES and net metering, fundamental parts of HB 2369 that was passed and is now law in Kansas. This represents the first mandatory RES and net metering in Kansas history.

Stainless steel 304L forgings were produced with four different types of production forging equipment – hydraulic press, mechanical press, screw press, and high-energy rate forging (HERF). Each machine imparted a different nominal strain rate during the deformation. The final forgings were done at the warm working (low hot working) temperatures of 816 ◦C, 843 ◦C, and 871 ◦C. The objectives of the study were to characterize and understand the effect of industrial strain rates (i.e. processing equipment), and deformation temperature on the mechanical properties for the final component. Some of the components were produced with an anneal prior to the final forging while others were deformed without the anneal. The results indicate that lower strain rates produced lower strength and higher ductility components, but the lower strain rate processes were more sensitive to deformation temperature variation and resulted in more within-part property variation. The highest strain rate process, HERF, resulted in slightly lower yield strength due to internal heating. Lower processing temperatures increased strength, decreased ductility but decreased within-part property variation. The anneal prior to the final forging produced a decrease in strength, a small increase in ductility, and a small decrease of within-part property variation.

The United States wishes to decrease foreign energy dependence by utilizing the country’s significant coal reserves, while stemming the effects of global warming from greenhouse gases. In response to these needs, Air Products has developed a patented process for the compression and purification of the CO{sub 2} stream from oxyfuel combustion of pulverized coal. The purpose of this project was the development and performance of a comprehensive experimental and engineering evaluation to determine the feasibility of purifying CO{sub 2} derived from the flue gas generated in a tangentially fired coal combustion unit operated in the oxy-combustion mode. Following the design and construction of a 15 bar reactor system, Air Products conducted two test campaigns using the slip stream from the tangentially fired oxy-coal combustion unit. During the first test campaign, Air Products evaluated the reactor performance based on both the liquid and gaseous reactor effluents. The data obtained from the test run has enabled Air Products to determine the reaction and mass transfer rates, as well as the effectiveness of the reactor system. During the second test campaign, Air Products evaluated reactor performance based on effluents for different reactor pressures, as well as water recycle rates. Analysis of the reaction …

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The development of computational models representing Rutherford cable formation and deformation is necessary to investigate the strain state in the superconducting filaments in Nb{sub 3}Sn magnets. The wide variety of length scales within accelerator magnets suggests usage of a hierarchical structure within the model. As part of an ongoing investigation at LBNL, a three-dimensional simplified nonlinear multiscale model is developed as a way to extend previous linear elastic versions. The inclusion of plasticity models into the problem formulation allows an improved representation of strand behavior compared to the linear elastic model. This formulation is applied to a single Nb{sub 3}Sn strand to find its effective properties as well as the strain state in the conductor under loading.

The processes of lateral organ initiation and patterning are central to the generation of mature plant form. Characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes is essential to our understanding of plant development. Communication between the shoot apical meristem and initiating organ primordia is important both for functioning of the meristem and for proper organ patterning, and very little is known about this process. In particular, the boundary between meristem and leaf is emerging as a critical region that is important for SAM maintenance and regulation of organogenesis. The goal of this project was to characterize three boundary-expressed genes that encode predicted transcription factors. Specifically, we have studied LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES (LOB), LATERAL ORGAN FUSION1 (LOF1), and LATERAL ORGAN FUSION2 (LOF2). LOB encodes the founding member of the LOB-DOMAIN (LBD) plant-specific DNA binding transcription factor family and LOF1 and LOF2 encode paralogous MYB-domain transcription factors. We characterized the genetic relationship between these three genes and other boundary and meristem genes. We also used an ectopic inducible expression system to identify direct targets of LOB.

Romania successfully completed the world’s first air shipment of spent nuclear fuel transported in Type B(U) casks under existing international laws and without shipment license special exceptions when the last Romanian highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent nuclear fuel was transported to the Russian Federation in June 2009. This air shipment required the design, fabrication, and licensing of special 20 foot freight containers and cask tiedown supports to transport the eighteen TUK 19 shipping casks on a Russian commercial cargo aircraft. The new equipment was certified for transport by road, rail, water, and air to provide multi modal transport capabilities for shipping research reactor spent fuel. The equipment design, safety analyses, and fabrication were performed in the Russian Federation and transport licenses were issued by both the Russian and Romanian regulatory authorities. The spent fuel was transported by truck from the VVR S research reactor to the Bucharest airport, flown by commercial cargo aircraft to the airport at Yekaterinburg, Russia, and then transported by truck to the final destination in a secure nuclear facility at Chelyabinsk, Russia. This shipment of 23.7 kg of HEU was coordinated by the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Program (RRRFR), as part of the U.S. Department …

The closure report for CAU 91 has no Use Restriction Form or drawing/map included in the document to describe the use restricted area, however, Section 3.3.3 states that the site will be fenced and signage placed indicating the area as a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Unit. The drawing that was placed in the FFACO indicating the use restricted area lists the coordinates for the RCRA Unit in Nevada State Plan Coordinates - North American Datum of 1983. In the ensuing years the reporting of coordinates has been standardized so that all coordinates are reported in the same manner, which is: NAD 27 UTM Zone 11 N, meters. This Errata Sheet updates the coordinate reporting to the currently accepted method and includes an aerial photo showing the RCRA Unit with the coordinates listed showing the use restricted area.

This report summarizes technical progress achieved during the cooperative agreement between Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) and U.S. Department of Energy to address the need for a for low-cost monitoring and inspection sensor system as identified in the Department of Energy (DOE) National Gas Infrastructure Research & Development (R&D) Delivery Reliability Program Roadmap.. The Instrumented Pipeline Initiative (IPI) achieved the objective by researching technologies for the monitoring of pipeline delivery integrity, through a ubiquitous network of sensors and controllers to detect and diagnose incipient defects, leaks, and failures. This report is organized by tasks as detailed in the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO). The sections all state the objective and approach before detailing results of work.

A natural circulation pattern in a Very High Gas-Cooled Reactor during a hypothetical air-ingress accident has been investigated using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods in order to compare with the previous 1-D flow path model for the air-ingress analyses. The GT-MHR 600 MWt reactor was selected to be the reference design and modeled by a half symmetric 3-D geometry using FLUENT 6.3, a commercial CFD code. The simulation was carried out as steady-state calculations, and the boundary conditions were either assumed or provided from the 1-D GAMMA code results. Totally, 12 different cases have been estimated, and many notable findings and results have been obtained in this study. According to the simulations, the natural circulation pattern in the reactor was quite different from the previous 1-D assumptions. A large re-circulation flow with thermal stratification phenomena was clearly observed in the hot-leg and the lower plenum in the 3-D model. This re-circulation flow provided approximately an order faster air-ingress speed (0.46 m/s in superficial velocity) than previously predicted values by 1-D modeling (0.02~0.03 m/s). It indicates that the 1-D air-ingress modeling may significantly distort the air-ingress scenario and consequences. In addition, the complicated natural circulation pattern is eventually expected to lead …

90Sr is one of the isotopes most commonly produced by nuclear fission. This medium lived isotope presents serious challenges to radiation workers, the environment, and following a nuclear event, the general public. Methods of identifying this nuclide have been in existence for a number of years (e.g. Horwitz, E.P. [1], Maxwell, S.L.[2], EPA 905.0 [3]) which are time consuming, requiring a month or more for full analysis. This time frame is unacceptable in the present security environment. It is therefore important to have a dependable and rapid method for the determination of Sr. The purposes of this study are to reduce analysis time to less than half a day by utilizing a single method of radiation measurement while continuing to yield precise results. This paper presents findings on three methods that can meet this criteria; (1) stable Sr carrier, (2) 85Sr by gamma spectroscopy, and (3) 85Sr by LSC. Two methods of analyzing and calculating the 85Sr tracer recovery were investigated (gamma spectroscopy and a low energy window-Sr85LEBAB by LSC) as well as the use of two different types of Sr tracer (85Sr and stable Sr carrier). Three separate stock blank urine samples were spiked with various activity levels of …

In December 2009 during its first cold test, LQS01, the first long Nb{sub 3}Sn Quadrupole made by LARP (LHC Accelerator Research Program, a collaboration of BNL, FNAL, LBNL and SLAC), reached its target field gradient of 200 T/m. This target was set in 2005 by the US Department fo Energy, CERN and LARP, as a significant milestone toward the development of Nb{sub 3}Sn quadrupoles for possible use in LHC luminosity upgrades. LQS01 is a 90 mm aperture, 3.7 m long quadrupole using Nb{sub 3}Sn coils. The coil layout is equal to the layout used in the LARP Technological Quadrupoles (TQC and TQS models). Pre-stress and support are provided by a segmented aluminum shell pre-loaded using bladders and keys, similarly to the TQS models. After the first test the magnet was disassembled, reassembled with an optimized pre-stress, and reached 222 T/m at 4.5 K. In this paper we present the results of both tests and the next steps of the Long Quadrupole R&D.

In this report, we present a synthetic method for the formation of cuprous sulfide (Cu2S) and lead sulfide (PbS) nanomaterials directly on substrates from the thermolysis of single-source precursors. We find that the final morphology and arrangement of the nanomaterials may be controlled through the concentration of the dissolved precursors and choice of solvent. One-dimensional (1-D) morphologies may also be grown onto substrates with the addition of a metal catalyst layer through solution-liquid-solid (SLS) growth. These synthetic techniques may be expanded to other metal sulfide materials.

Drosophila melanogaster cell lines are important resources for cell biologists. Here, we catalog the expression of exons, genes, and unannotated transcriptional signals for 25 lines. Unannotated transcription is substantial (typically 19% of euchromatic signal). Conservatively, we identify 1405 novel transcribed regions; 684 of these appear to be new exons of neighboring, often distant, genes. Sixty-four percent of genes are expressed detectably in at least one line, but only 21% are detected in all lines. Each cell line expresses, on average, 5885 genes, including a common set of 3109. Expression levels vary over several orders of magnitude. Major signaling pathways are well represented: most differentiation pathways are ‘‘off’’ and survival/growth pathways ‘‘on.’’ Roughly 50% of the genes expressed by each line are not part of the common set, and these show considerable individuality. Thirty-one percent are expressed at a higher level in at least one cell line than in any single developmental stage, suggesting that each line is enriched for genes characteristic of small sets of cells. Most remarkable is that imaginal discderived lines can generally be assigned, on the basis of expression, to small territories within developing discs. These mappings reveal unexpected stability of even fine-grained spatial determination. No two …

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: MSU is developing a new engine for use in hybrid automobiles that could significantly reduce fuel waste and improve engine efficiency. In a traditional internal combustion engine, air and fuel are ignited, creating high-temperature and high-pressure gases which expand rapidly. This expansion of gases forces the engine’s pistons to pump and powers the car. MSU’s engine has no pistons. It uses the combustion of air and fuel to build up pressure within the engine, generating a shockwave that blasts hot gas exhaust into the blades of the engine’s rotors causing them to turn, which generates electricity. MSU’s redesigned engine would be the size of a cooking pot and contain fewer moving parts—reducing the weight of the engine by 30%. It would also enable a vehicle that could use 60% of its fuel for propulsion.

A technique has been developed for measuring the properties of discharge-based plasma channels by monitoring the centroid location of a laser beam exiting the channel as a function of input alignment offset between the laser and the channel. The centroid position of low-intensity (<10{sup 14}Wcm{sup -2}) laser pulses focused at the input of a hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide was scanned and the exit positions recorded to determine the channel shape and depth with an accuracy of a few %. In addition, accurate alignment of the laser beam through the plasma channel can be provided by minimizing laser centroid motion at the channel exit as the channel depth is scanned either by scanning the plasma density or the discharge timing. The improvement in alignment accuracy provided by this technique will be crucial for minimizing electron beam pointing errors in laser plasma accelerators.

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In this STTR program, Structured Materials Industries (SMI), and Cornell University are developing novel gate oxide technology, as a critical enabler for silicon carbide (SiC) devices. SiC is a wide bandgap semiconductor material, with many unique properties. SiC devices are ideally suited for high-power, highvoltage, high-frequency, high-temperature and radiation resistant applications. The DOE has expressed interest in developing SiC devices for use in extreme environments, in high energy physics applications and in power generation. The development of transistors based on the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) structure will be critical to these applications.