In the study of beam preparation for the g-2 experiment, adiabatic debunching and adiabatic capture are revisited. The voltage programs for these adiabbatic processes are derived and their properties discussed. Comparison is made with some other form of adiabatic capture program. The muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab calls for intense proton bunches for the creation of muons. A booster batch of 84 bunches is injected into the Recycler Ring, where it is debunched and captured into 4 intense bunches with the 2.5-MHz rf. The experiment requires short bunches with total width less than 100 ns. The transport line from the Recycler to the muon-production target has a low momentum aperture of {approx} {+-}22 MeV. Thus each of the 4 intense proton bunches required to have an emittance less than {approx} 3.46 eVs. The incoming booster bunches have total emittance {approx} 8.4 eVs, or each one with an emittance {approx} 0.1 eVs. However, there is always emittance increase when the 84 booster bunches are debunched. There will be even larger emittance increase during adiabatic capture into the buckets of the 2.5-MHz rf. In addition, the incoming booster bunches may have emittances larger than 0.1 eVs. In this article, we will concentrate …

The Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) initiative is a three-year, three-stage project that includes conceptual design and market analysis (Stage 1), prototype development/testing (Stage 2), and commercialization (Stage 3). Projects focus on system development of solar technologies, expansion of intelligent renewable energy applications, and connecting large-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations into the electric grid. As documented in this report, Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AE), its partners, and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) successfully collaborated to complete the final stage of the SEGIS initiative, which has guided new technology development and development of methodologies for unification of PV and smart-grid technologies. The combined team met all deliverables throughout the three-year program and commercialized a broad set of the developed technologies.

This report summarizes the progress in the Deep Burn project at Idaho National Laboratory during the first half of fiscal year 2012 (FY2012). The current focus of this work is on Fully-Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel containing low-enriched uranium (LEU) uranium nitride (UN) fuel kernels. UO2 fuel kernels have not been ruled out, and will be examined as later work in FY2012. Reactor physics calculations confirmed that the FCM fuel containing 500 mm diameter kernels of UN fuel has positive MTC with a conventional fuel pellet radius of 4.1 mm. The methodology was put into place and validated against MCNP to perform whole-core calculations using DONJON, which can interpolate cross sections from a library generated using DRAGON. Comparisons to MCNP were performed on the whole core to confirm the accuracy of the DRAGON/DONJON schemes. A thermal fluid coupling scheme was also developed and implemented with DONJON. This is currently able to iterate between diffusion calculations and thermal fluid calculations in order to update fuel temperatures and cross sections in whole-core calculations. Now that the DRAGON/DONJON calculation capability is in place and has been validated against MCNP results, and a thermal-hydraulic capability has been implemented in the DONJON methodology, the work will …

This fact sheet is an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. Manufacturing is central to our economy, culture, and history. The industrial sector produces 11% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), employs 12 million people, and generates 57% of U.S. export value. However, U.S. industry consumes about one-third of all energy produced in the United States, and significant cost-effective energy efficiency and advanced manufacturing opportunities remain unexploited. As a critical component of the National Innovation Policy for Advanced Manufacturing, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is focused on creating a fertile environment for advanced manufacturing innovation, enabling vigorous domestic development of transformative manufacturing technologies, promoting coordinated public and private investment in precompetitive advanced manufacturing technology infrastructure, and facilitating the rapid scale-up and market penetration of advanced manufacturing technologies.

In 2007, the United States Department of Energy designated the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), located at Idaho National Laboratory, as a National Scientific User Facility (NSUF). This designation made test space within the ATR and post-irradiation examination (PIE) equipment at INL available for use by researchers via a proposal and peer review process. The goal of the ATR NSUF is to provide researchers with the best ideas access to the most advanced test capability, regardless of the proposer's physical location. Since 2007, the ATR NSUF has expanded its available reactor test space, and obtained access to additional PIE equipment. Recognizing that INL may not have all the desired PIE equipment, or that some equipment may become oversubscribed, the ATR NSUF established a Partnership Program. This program enables and facilitates user access to several university and national laboratories. So far, seven universities and one national laboratory have been added to the ATR NSUF with capability that includes reactor-testing space, PIE equipment, and ion beam irradiation facilities. With the addition of these universities, irradiation can occur in multiple reactors and post-irradiation exams can be performed at multiple universities. In each case, the choice of facilities is based on the user's technical needs. …

NREL's National Wind Technology Center provides the world's only dedicated turbine controls testing platforms.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) operates a mass separator that is currently producing high purity isotopes for use as internal standards for high precision isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS). In 2008, INL began the revival of the vintage 1970’s era instrument. Advancements thus far include the successful upgrading and development of system components such as the vacuum system, power supplies, ion-producing components, and beam detection equipment. Progress has been made in the separation and collection of isotopic species including those of Ar, Kr, Xe, Sr, and Ba. Particular focuses on ion source improvements and developments have proven successful with demonstrated output beam currents of over 10 micro-amps 138Ba and 350nA 134Ba from a natural abundance source charge (approximately 2.4 percent 134Ba). In order to increase production and collection of relatively high quantities (mg levels) of pure isotopes, several advancements have been made in ion source designs, source material introduction, and beam detection and collection. These advancements and future developments will be presented.

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Full size plate In center flux trap Position (AFIP) experiment AFIP-3 was designed to evaluate the performance of monolithic fuels at a prototypic scale of 2.25 inches x 21.5 inches x 0.050 inches (5.75 cm x 54.6 cm x 0.13cm). The AFIP-3 experiment was fabricated by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and consists of two plates, one with a zirconium (Zr) diffusion barrier and one with a silicon (Si) enhanced fuel/clad interface1,2. The following report summarizes the life of the AFIP-3 experiment through end of irradiation, including a brief description of the safety analysis, as-run neutronic analysis results, hydraulic testing results, and thermal analysis results.

The first fuel plate frame assembly of the AFIP-6 MKII experiment was irradiated as planned from December, 2011 through February, 2012 in the center flux trap of the Advanced Test Reactor during cycle 151A. Following irradiation in this cycle and while reconfiguring the experiment in the ATR canal, a non-fueled component (the bottom plate) of the first fuel plate frame assembly became separated from the rail sides. There is no evidence that the fueled region of the fuel plate frame assembly was compromised by this incident or the irradiation conditions. The separation of this component was determined to have been caused by flow induced vibrations, where vortex shedding frequencies were resonant with a natural frequency of the bottom plate component. This gave way to amplification, fracture, and separation from the assembly. Although parallel flow induced vibrations were analyzed, vortex shedding flow induced vibrations was an unfamiliar failure mode that was difficult to identify. Both the once-irradiated first fuel plate and un-irradiated second fuel plate frame assemblies were planned for irradiation in the subsequent cycle 151B. The AFIP-6 MKII experiment was excluded from irradiation in cycle 151B because non-trivial design modifications would be needed to mitigate this type of incident during …

Presentation given at the 2012 Department of Homeland Security Renewable Energy Roundtable on Algal Fuels.

Frequency responsive reserve is the autonomous response of generators and demand response to deviations of system frequency, usually as a result of the instantaneous outage of a large supplier. Frequency responsive reserve arrests the frequency decline resulting in the stabilization of system frequency, and avoids the triggering of under-frequency load-shedding or the reaching of unstable frequencies that could ultimately lead to system blackouts. It is a crucial service required to maintain a reliable and secure power system. Regions with restructured electricity markets have historically had a lack of incentives for frequency responsive reserve because generators inherently provided the response and on large interconnected systems, more than sufficient response has been available. This may not be the case in future systems due to new technologies and declining response. This paper discusses the issues that can occur without proper incentives and even disincentives, and proposes alternatives to introduce incentives for resources to provide frequency responsive reserve to ensure an efficient and reliable power system.

Hydrogen fuel cells can potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the United States dependence on foreign oil, but issues with hydrogen storage are impeding their widespread use. To help overcome these challenges, this study analyzes opportunities for their near-term deployment in five categories of non-motive equipment: portable power, construction equipment, airport ground support equipment, telecom backup power, and man-portable power and personal electronics. To this end, researchers engaged end users, equipment manufacturers, and technical experts via workshops, interviews, and electronic means, and then compiled these data into meaningful and realistic requirements for hydrogen storage in specific target applications. In addition to developing these requirements, end-user benefits (e.g., low noise and emissions, high efficiency, potentially lower maintenance costs) and concerns (e.g., capital cost, hydrogen availability) of hydrogen fuel cells in these applications were identified. Market data show potential deployments vary with application from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of units.

This report provides the technical detail for analytic solutions for the inner and outer profiles of the unclassified CMM Test Artifact (LANL Part Number 157Y-700373, 5/03/2001) in terms of radius and polar angle. Furthermore, analytic solutions are derived for the legacy Sheffield measurement hardware, also in terms of radius and polar angle, using part coordinates, i.e., relative to the analytic profile solutions obtained. The purpose of this work is to determine the exact solution for the “cosine correction” term inherent to measurement with the Sheffield hardware. The cosine correction is required in order to interpret the actual measurements taken by the hardware in terms of an actual part definition, or “knot-point spline definition,” that typically accompanies a component drawing. Specifically, there are two portions of the problem: first an analytic solution must be obtained for any point on the part, e.g., given the radii and the straight lines that define the part, it is required to find an exact solution for the inner and outer profile for any arbitrary polar angle. Next, the problem of the inspection of this part must be solved, i.e., given an arbitrary sphere (representing the inspection hardware) that comes in contact with the part (inner …

This report looks at the history and current need for a Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program. Potential issues for Congress include the role and need for the GCV in a downsized Army that will likely have fewer heavy brigade combat teams (HBCTs).

This pilot study presents a methodology for modeling project characteristics using a development model of a stream obstructing dam. The model is applied to all individual stream reaches in hydrologic region 17, which encompasses nearly all of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Project site characteristics produced by the modeling technique include: capacity potential, principal dam dimensions, number of required auxiliary dams, total extent of the constructed impoundment boundary, and the surface area of the resulting reservoir. Aggregated capacity potential values for the region are presented in capacity categories including total, that at existing dams, within federal and environmentally sensitive exclusion zones, and the balance which is consider available for greenfield development within the limits of the study. Distributions of site characteristics for small hydropower sites are presented and discussed. These sites are screened to identify candidate small hydropower sites and distributions of the site characteristics of this site population are presented and discussed. Recommendations are made for upgrading the methodology and extensions to make the results more accessible and available on a larger scale.

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), currently operating in the United States, is used for material testing at very high neutron fluxes. Powered with highly enriched uranium (HEU), the ATR has a maximum thermal power rating of 250 MWth. Because of the large test volumes located in high flux areas, the ATR is an ideal candidate for assessing the feasibility of converting HEU driven reactor cores to low-enriched uranium (LEU) cores. The burnable absorber - 10B, was added in the inner and outer plates to reduce the initial excess reactivity, and to improve the peak ratio of the inner/outer heat flux. The present work investigates the LEU Monolithic foil-type fuel with 10B Integral Cladding Burnable Absorber (ICBA) design and evaluates the subsequent neutronics operating effects of this proposed fuel designs. The proposed LEU fuel specification in this work is directly related to both the RERTR LEU Development Program and the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) LEU Conversion Project at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

The paper presents experimental data generated for calibrating finite element models to predict the performance of reinforced concrete panels with a wide range of construction details under blast loading. The specimens were 1.2 m square panels constructed using Normal Weight Concrete (NWC) or Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC). FRC consisted of macro-synthetic fibers dispersed in NWC. Five types of panels were tested: NWC panels with steel bars; FRC panels without additional reinforcement; FRC panels with steel bars; NWC panels with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars; and NWC panels reinforced with steel bars and external GFRP laminates on both faces. Each panel type was constructed with three thicknesses: 152 mm, 254 mm, and 356 mm. FRC panels with steel bars had the best performance for new construction. NWC panels reinforced with steel bars and external GFRP laminates on both faces had the best performance for strengthening or rehabilitation of existing structures. The performance of NWC panels with GFRP bars was strongly influenced by the bar spacing. The behavior of the panels is classified in terms of damage using immediate occupancy, life safety, and near collapse performance levels. Preliminary dynamic simulations are compared to the experimental results.

Interest in high-quality integral benchmark data is increasing as efforts to quantify and reduce calculational uncertainties accelerate to meet the demands of next generation reactor and advanced fuel cycle concepts. Two Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) activities, the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP), initiated in 1992, and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP), initiated in 2003, have been identifying existing integral experiment data, evaluating those data, and providing integral benchmark specifications for methods and data validation for nearly two decades. Thus far, 14 countries have contributed to the IRPhEP, and 20 have contributed to the ICSBEP. Data provided by these two projects will be of use to the international reactor physics, criticality safety, and nuclear data communities for future decades The Russian Federation has been a major contributor to both projects with the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) as the major contributor from the Russian Federation. Included in the benchmark specifications from the BFS facilities are 34 critical configurations from BFS-49, 61, 62, 73, 79, 81, 97, 99, and 101; spectral characteristics measurements from BFS-31, 42, 57, 59, 61, 62, 73, 97, 99, and 101; reactivity effects measurements …

Fact sheet describing the changes to Environmental Protection Act process standards. The DOE will offer technical assistance to ensure that major sources burning coal and oil have information on cost-effective, clean energy strategies for compliance, and to promote cleaner, more efficient boiler burning to cut harmful pollution and reduce operational costs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to finalize the reconsideration process for its Clean Air Act pollution standards National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters (known as Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT)), in Spring 2012. This rule applies to large and small boilers in a wide range of industrial facilities and institutions. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will offer technical assistance to ensure that major sources burning coal or oil have information on cost-effective clean energy strategies for compliance, including combined heat and power, and to promote cleaner, more efficient boilers to cut harmful pollution and reduce operational costs.

This report from the Brazos River Basin and Associated Bay and Estuary System Science Team (Brazos BBEST) is part of Texas Legislature Senate Bill 3 that created a process to set environmental flow standards for river basin and bay systems in Texas. This report gives recommendations for an environmental flow regime for the Brazos Basin and associated areas." (p. 1-1).

The new Wind Technology Test Center is the only facility in the nation capable of testing wind turbine blades up to 90 meters in length. A critical factor to wind turbine design and development is the ability to test new designs, components, and materials. In addition, wind turbine blade manufacturers are required to test their blades as part of the turbine certification process. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Program and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) to design, construct, and operate the Wind Technology Center (WTTC) in Boston, Massachusetts. The WTTC offers a full suite of certification tests for turbine blades up to 90 meters in length. NREL worked closely with MTS Systems Corporation to develop the novel large-scale test systems needed to conduct the static and fatigue tests required for certification. Static tests pull wind turbine blades horizontally and vertically to measure blade deflection and strains. Fatigue tests cycle the blades millions of times to simulate what a blade goes through in its lifetime on a wind turbine. For static testing, the WTTC is equipped with servo-hydraulic winches and cylinders that are connected to the blade through cables to …

This report discusses the current issues in Burma (Myanmar) in regards to political prisoners and the resulting U.S. sanctions against the nation. It includes an introduction and definitions; information about current estimates of prisoners and prisoner releases; the relation of political prisoners, parliamentary elections and national reconciliation; and U.S. sanctions and U.S. efforts regarding political prisoners, as well as relevant issues for Congress to consider.

The presentation shows a brief status report on the development of a specification being considered by IEC TC82 WG7 for a concentrator cell data sheet and solicits suggestions from the community.

Several programs have been implemented to support the advancement of a professional, mature small wind industry and to ensure that this industry moves forward in a sustainable direction. The development of a standard for small wind turbine systems and the creation of the Small Wind Certification Council support small wind technology that is reliable and safe. Consumers and incentive programs will ultimately rely on certification to differentiate among systems sold in the U.S. market. Certification of small wind installers is yet another component deemed necessary for this industry to expand. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, under the guidance and funding support of the U.S. Department of Energy, supported the development of small wind system installer certification provided via the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. However, the small wind community is not supportive of the installer certification. There are currently only nine certified installers in the U.S. pool. This paper provides an overview of the installer certification program and why more small wind turbine installers are not pursuing this certification.