Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Army’s Fiscal Year 2011 Report on the Prioritization of Funds for Equipment Readiness and Strategic Capability, issued in September 2011, the report addressed the requirements of the John Warner NDAA for Fiscal Year 2007 rather than the amended requirements stipulated in the Ike Skelton NDAA for Fiscal Year 2011. The report does include some information that addresses aspects of the updated reporting requirements. For example, the 2011 NDAA requires the Army to include a description of the status of the development of doctrine on how modular combat, functional, and support forces will train, be sustained, and fight. In addressing the old reporting requirements in the 2007 NDAA, the Army’s 2011 report discusses modifications to the modularity plan due to finalization of organizational designs and the need to reprioritize due to the emergence of higher-priority force-protection programs. However, the report does not mention the status of the development of doctrine on how modular combat, functional, and support forces will train, be sustained, and fight, as required by the current law."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The estimated cost to construct the CMRR has greatly increased since NNSA’s initial plans, and the project’s schedule has been significantly delayed. According to its most recent estimates prepared in April 2010, NNSA determined that the CMRR will cost between $3.7 billion and $5.8 billion—nearly a six-fold increase from the initial estimate. Construction has also been repeatedly delayed and, in February 2012 after GAO provided its draft report to NNSA for comment, NNSA decided to defer CMRR construction by at least an additional 5 years, bringing the total delay to between 8 and 12 years from NNSA’s original plans. Infrastructure-related design changes and longer-than-expected overall project duration have contributed to these cost increases and delays. GAO’s review of NNSA’s April 2010 cost and schedule estimates for CMRR found that the estimates were generally well prepared, but important weaknesses remain. For example, a high-quality schedule requires a schedule risk analysis that incorporates known risks to predict the level of confidence in meeting a project’s completion date and the amount of contingency time needed to cover unexpected delays. CMRR project officials identified hundreds of risks to the project, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The KC-46 program has established its acquisition strategy for development and production, including total cost, procurement quantities, and key milestone dates. The program is using a $4.4 billion fixed-price incentive (firm target) development contract that provides contractor incentives to control costs and limits the government’s liability for increased costs over a certain amount. While estimated development costs are currently $900 million higher than the February 2011 contract award amount, the government’s share of these extra costs is limited to about $500 million. The program has identified key performance parameters, but has not yet fully implemented the metrics for tracking their achievement."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

None

The Washoe Tribe Wiskem Project (Project) was a Congressionally Directed Project identified for funding in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. The Project focused on installing up to four small vertical wind turbines at designated locations on Tribal lands to offset energy costs for the Tribe. The Washoe Tribe will use and analyze data collected from the wind turbines to better understand the wind resource.

X-ray FELs demand that the positions of undulator components be stable to less than 1 {mu}m per day. Simultaneously, the undulator length increases significantly in order to saturate at x-ray wavelengths. To minimize the impact of the outside environment, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) undulator is placed underground, but reliable data about ground motion inside such a tunnel was not available in the required stability range during the planning phase. Therefore, a new position monitor system had been developed and installed with the LCLS undulator. This system is capable of measuring x, y, roll, pitch and yaw of each of the 33 undulator quadrupoles with respect to stretched wires. Instrument resolution is about 10 nm and instrument drift is negligible. Position data of individual quadrupoles can be correlated along the entire 132-m long undulator. The system has been under continuous operation since 2009. This report describes long term experiences with the running system and the observed positional stability of the undulator quadrupoles.

Solid-state thermal neutron detectors are desired to replace {sup 3}He tube based technology for the detection of special nuclear materials. {sup 3}He tubes have some issues with stability, sensitivity to microphonics and very recently, a shortage of {sup 3}He. There are numerous solid-state approaches being investigated that utilize various architectures and material combinations. By using the combination of high-aspect-ratio silicon PIN pillars, which are 2 {micro}m wide with a 2 {micro}m separation, arranged in a square matrix, and surrounded by {sup 10}B, the neutron converter material, a high efficiency thermal neutron detector is possible. Besides intrinsic neutron detection efficiency, neutron to gamma discrimination is an important figure of merit for unambiguous signal identification. In this work, theoretical calculations and experimental measurements are conducted to determine the effect of structure design of pillar structured thermal neutron detectors including: intrinsic layer thickness, pillar height, substrate doping and incident gamma energy on neutron to gamma discrimination.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) analyzed samples from Tank 21H in support of qualification of Macrobatch (Salt Batch) 5 for the Integrated Salt Disposition Project (ISDP). This document reports partial results of the analyses of samples of Tank 21H. No issues with the projected Salt Batch 5 strategy are identified. Results of the analyses of the Tank 21H samples from this report in conjunction with the findings of the previous report, indicates that the material does not display any unusual characteristics.

N/A

This document supersedes DOE/NV/25946--801, 'Nevada Test Site Radiological Control Manual,' Revision 1 issued in February 2010. Brief Description of Revision: A complete revision to reflect a recent change in name for the NTS; changes in name for some tenant organizations; and to update references to current DOE policies, orders, and guidance documents. Article 237.2 was deleted. Appendix 3B was updated. Article 411.2 was modified. Article 422 was re-written to reflect the wording of DOE O 458.1. Article 431.6.d was modified. The glossary was updated. This manual contains the radiological control requirements to be used for all radiological activities conducted by programs under the purview of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO). Compliance with these requirements will ensure compliance with Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 835, 'Occupational Radiation Protection.' Programs covered by this manual are located at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS); Nellis Air Force Base and North Las Vegas, Nevada; Santa Barbara and Livermore, California; and Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. In addition, fieldwork by NNSA/NSO at other locations is covered by this manual. Current activities at NNSS include operating low-level radioactive …

The 9977 package is a radioactive material package that was originally certified to ship Heat Sources and RTG contents up to 19 watts and it is now being reviewed to significantly expand its contents in support of additional DOE missions. Thermal upgrading will be accomplished by employing stacked 3013 containers, a 3013 aluminum spacer and an external aluminum sleeve for enhanced heat transfer. The 7th Addendum to the original 9977 package Safety Basis Report describing these modifications is under review for the DOE certification. The analyses described in this paper show that this well-designed and conservatively analyzed package can be upgraded to carry contents with decay heat up to 38 watts with some simple design modifications. The Model 9977 package has been designed as a replacement for the Department of Transportation (DOT) Fissile Specification 6M package. The 9977 package is a very versatile Type B package which is certified to transport and store a wide spectrum of radioactive materials. The package was analyzed quite conservatively to increase its usefulness and store different payload configurations. Its versatility is evident from several daughter packages such as the 9978 and H1700, and several addendums where the payloads have been modified to suit the …

N/A

None

Risk-based inspection methods enable estimation of the probability of spring-operated relief valves failing on demand at the United States Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. The paper illustrates an approach based on application of the Frechet and Weibull distributions to SRS and Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Process Equipment Reliability Database (PERD) proof test results. The methodology enables the estimation of ANSI/ISA-84.00.01 Safety Integrity Levels (SILs) as well as the potential change in SIL level due to modification of the maintenance schedule. Current SRS practices are reviewed and recommendations are made for extending inspection intervals. The paper compares risk-based inspection with specific SILs as maintenance intervals are adjusted. Groups of valves are identified in which maintenance times can be extended as well as different groups in which an increased safety margin may be needed.

UES Inc. and ANL teamed in this work to develop novel coating systems for the protection of surfaces from thermal degradation mainly in two applications; Machining and Die casting. These coatings were specifically designed for the purpose by incorporating required material phases and the overall architecture, which led to reduce the energy usage and increase efficiency of the operations. Following the UES/ANL'™s feasibility work, the coatings were developed utilizing High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPMS) and Large area filtered arc deposition (LAFAD) techniques. Toughness, hardness and oxidation resistance: contrasting qualities have been mixed in the right proportion to attain the suitable material characteristic for the cause. Hafnium diboride (HfB2) based materials provided such a system and its properties were tamed to attain the right combination of toughness and hardness by working on the microstructure and architecture of coatings. An effective interfacing material (graded concentrations of topcoat) was also achieved in this work to provide the required adhesion between the substrate and the coating. Combination of an appropriate bond coat and a functional top coat provided the present thermal degradation resistant coating for cutting tools and die-casting applications. Laboratory level performance tests and industrial level application tests by partner companies (Beta …

Wave propagation phenomena are important in many DOE applications such as nuclear explosion monitoring, geophysical exploration, estimating ground motion hazards and damage due to earthquakes, non-destructive testing, underground facilities detection, and acoustic noise propagation. There are also future applications that would benefit from simulating wave propagation, such as geothermal energy applications and monitoring sites for carbon storage via seismic reflection techniques. In acoustics and seismology, it is of great interest to increase the frequency bandwidth in simulations. In seismic exploration, greater frequency resolution enables shorter wave lengths to be included in the simulations, allowing for better resolution in the seismic imaging. In nuclear explosion monitoring, higher frequency seismic waves are essential for accurate discrimination between explosions and earthquakes. When simulating earthquake induced motion of large structures, such as nuclear power plants or dams, increased frequency resolution is essential for realistic damage predictions. Another example is simulations of micro-seismic activity near geothermal energy plants. Here, hydro-fracturing induces many small earthquakes and the time scale of each event is proportional to the square root of the moment magnitude. As a result, the motion is dominated by higher frequencies for smaller seismic events. The above wave propagation problems are all governed by systems …

The research reported herein adds to the understanding of oil-immersed distribution transformers by exploring and demonstrating potential improvements in efficiency and cost utilizing the unique Buswell approach wherein the unit is redesigned, replacing magnetic sheet with wire allowing for improvements in configuration and increased simplicity in the build process. Exploration of new designs is a critical component in our drive to assure reduction of energy waste, adequate delivery to the citizenry, and the robustness of U.S. manufacturing. By moving that conversation forward, this exploration adds greatly to our base of knowledge and clearly outlines an important avenue for further exploration. This final report shows several advantages of this new transformer type (outlined in a report signed by all of our collaborating partners and included in this document). Although materials development is required to achieve commercial potential, the clear benefits of the technology if that development were a given is established. Exploration of new transformer types and further work on the Buswell design approach is in the best interest of the public, industry, and the United States. Public benefits accrue from design alternatives that reduce the overall use of energy, but it must be acknowledged that new DOE energy efficiency standards …

Exascale computing systems will require sufficient resilience to tolerate numerous types of hardware faults while still assuring correct program execution. Such extreme-scale machines are expected to be dominated by processors driven at lower voltages (near the minimum 0.5 volts for current transistors). At these voltage levels, the rate of transient errors increases dramatically due to the sensitivity to transient and geographically localized voltage drops on parts of the processor chip. To achieve power efficiency, these processors are likely to be streamlined and minimal, and thus they cannot be expected to handle transient errors entirely in hardware. Here we present an open, compiler-based framework to automate the armoring of High Performance Computing (HPC) software to protect it from these types of transient processor errors. We develop an open infrastructure to support research work in this area, and we define tools that, in the future, may provide more complete automated and/or semi-automated solutions to support software resiliency on future exascale architectures. Results demonstrate that our approach is feasible, pragmatic in how it can be separated from the software development process, and reasonably efficient (0% to 30% overhead for the Jacobi iteration on common hardware; and 20%, 40%, 26%, and 2% overhead for …

N/A

None

Under this program, a process to synthesize nano-sized doped boron powder by a plasma synthesis process was developed and scaled up from 20 gram batches at program start to over 200 grams by program end. Over 75 batches of boron nanopowder were made by RF plasma synthesis. Particle sizes were typically in the 20-200 nm range. The powder was synthesized by the reductive pyrolysis of BCl{sub 3} in hydrogen in an RF plasma. A wide range of process parameters were investigated including plasma power, torch geometry, gas flow rates, and process pressure. The powder-in-tube technique was used to make monofilament and multifilament superconducting wires. MgB{sub 2} wire made with Specialty Materials plasma synthesized boron nanopowder exhibited superconducting properties that significantly exceeded the program goals. Superconducting critical currents, J{sub c}, in excess of 10{sup 5} A cm{sup -2} at magnetic fields of 8 tesla were reproducibly achieved. The upper critical magnetic field in wires fabricated with program boron powder were H{sub c2}(0) = 37 tesla, demonstrating the potential of these materials for high field magnet applications. T{sub c} in carbon-doped MgB{sub 2} powder showed a systematic decrease with increasing carbon precursor gas flows, indicating the plasma synthesis process can give precise …

Combining contemporary cytogenetic methods with DNA CGH microarray technology and chromosome flow-sorting increases substantially the ability to resolve exchange breakpoints associated with interstitial deletions and translocations, allowing the consequences of radiation damage to be directly measured at low doses, while also providing valuable insights into molecular mechanisms of misrepair processes that, in turn, identify appropriate biophysical models of risk at low doses. Specific aims apply to cells recovered from 3D tissue constructs of human skin and, for the purpose of comparison, the same cells irradiated in traditional 2D cultures. The project includes research complementary to NASA/HRP space radiation project.

The history of child labor in America is long and unsavory. It dates back to the founding of the United States. Traditionally, most children, except for the privileged few, has always worked - either for their parents or for an outside employer. Through the years, however, child labor practices have changed. This report details the history of child labor in American, the Child Labor Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the re-emergence of the child labor issue in the late 20th century, and child labor initiatives in the 108th-112th Congresses.