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In 2009, the National Academies of Science (NAS) reviewed and validated the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) Technology Program in its publication, Advice on the Department of Energy’s Cleanup Technology Roadmap: Gaps and Bridges. The NAS report outlined prioritization needs for the Groundwater and Soil Remediation Roadmap, concluded that contaminant behavior in the subsurface is poorly understood, and recommended further research in this area as a high priority. To address this NAS concern, the EM Office of Site Restoration began supporting the development of the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is a state-of-the-art scientific approach that uses an integration of toolsets for understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. The ASCEM modeling toolset is modular and open source. It is divided into three thrust areas: Multi-Process High Performance Computing (HPC), Platform and Integrated Toolsets, and Site Applications. The ASCEM toolsets will facilitate integrated approaches to modeling and site characterization that enable robust and standardized assessments of performance and risk for EM cleanup and closure activities. During fiscal year 2012, the ASCEM project continued to make significant progress in capabilities development. Capability development occurred in both the Platform and …

This report describes results of work performed in the Shielded Analytical Laboratory (SAL) at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) with archive K East (KE) Basin sludge samples obtained before the year 2004, with some of them composited and initially characterized five years ago (Delegard et al. 2011). The previously performed testing included the physical properties determinations for selected samples (settled and particle densities, water and solids concentrations), the pH, as well as identification of crystalline phases by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) for selected samples. Another objective of the previous characterization and testing campaign was to transfer some sludge composites and individual samples into new storage containers to overcome the embrittlement effect which develops in original glass containers as a result of extended exposure to high radiation fields and which increases probability of sample loss.

This is a technical report summarizing the experimental and theoretical results for model waste form of aluminosilicate pollucite, obtained from January to September, 2012.

This report begins with a discussion of the foster care system and the Social Security benefits available to eligible children, including those in foster care. It then describes the role of representative payees and their responsibilities. The report provides data on the use of Social Security benefits to reimburse states for child welfare, and includes a discussion of the Keffeler decision. Finally, the report concludes with proposals supported by some advocates to change the current practice of using SSI and other Social Security benefits to fund foster care.

The Climate Science for a Sustainable Energy Future (CSSEF) project is working to improve the representation of the hydrological cycle in global climate models, critical information necessary for decision-makers to respond appropriately to predictions of future climate. In order to accomplish this objective, CSSEF is building testbeds to implement uncertainty quantification (UQ) techniques to objectively calibrate and diagnose climate model parameterizations and predictions with respect to local, process-scale observations. In order to quantify the agreement between models and observations accurately, uncertainty estimates on these observations are needed. The DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program takes atmospheric and climate related measurements at three permanent locations worldwide. The ARM VAP called the ARM Best Estimate (ARMBE) [Xie et al., 2010] collects a subset of ARM observations, performs quality control checks, averages them to one hour temporal resolution, and puts them in a standard format for ease of use by climate modelers. ARMBE has been widely used by the climate modeling community as a summary product of many of the ARM observations. However, the ARMBE product does not include uncertainty estimates on the data values. Thus, to meet the objectives of the CSSEF project and enable better use of this data with UQ …

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Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DHS reported taking some steps to assess the realignment of its regional/field office structure. Since submitting an initial plan to Congress in 2004 that outlined regionalization, consolidation, and colocation opportunities, DHS officials said the agency considered the potential implementation of a unified regional field office structure through two major initiatives--the 2004 I-Staff review and the department's 2010 BUR. However, the I-Staff Regional Concept of Operations was not finalized or adopted, and in April 2012 a senior DHS official involved in the BUR effort stated that DHS no longer intends to implement the BUR recommendation related to regionalization because it is no longer the department's preferred approach. DHS had limited or no documentation related to either of these reviews, including the resulting key decisions from the efforts. As a result, we are unable to determine the extent to which DHS has fully considered the realignment of its regional/field office structure, including costs and benefits, since 2004. Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government calls for clear documentation of significant events, which include assumptions and methods surrounding key decisions, and the standards also state that this documentation should be …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees reported having lower average morale than the average for the rest of the federal government, but morale varied across components and employee groups within the department. Data from the 2011 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS)--a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether and to what extent conditions characterizing successful organizations are present in their agencies--showed that DHS employees had 4.5 percentage points lower job satisfaction and 7.0 percentage points lower engagement in their work overall. Engagement is the extent to which employees are immersed in their work and spending extra effort on job performance. Moreover, within most demographic groups available for comparison, DHS employees scored lower on average satisfaction and engagement than the average for the rest of the federal government. For example, within most pay categories DHS employees reported lower satisfaction and engagement than non-DHS employees in the same pay groups. Levels of satisfaction and engagement varied across components, with some components reporting scores above the non-DHS averages. Several components with lower morale, such as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement …

This report is categorized into four categories: (I) Legislative History, (II) The Major Provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), (III) Administration of FMLA Leave and (IV) Enforcement of the FMLA.

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The principal objectives of the program were development of a durable, low cost, high performance cathode electrode (catalyst and support), that is fully integrated into a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly with gas diffusion media, fabricated by high volume capable processes, and is able to meet or exceed the 2015 DOE targets. Work completed in this contract was an extension of the developments under three preceding cooperative agreements/grants Nos. DE-FC-02-97EE50473, DE-FC-99EE50582 and DE-FC36- 02AL67621 which investigated catalyzed membrane electrode assemblies for PEM fuel cells based on a fundamentally new, nanostructured thin film catalyst and support system, and demonstrated the feasibility for high volume manufacturability.

Clouds play an important role in weather and climate. In addition to their key role in the hydrologic cycle, clouds scatter incoming solar radiation and trap infrared radiation from the surface and lower atmosphere. Despite their importance, feedbacks involving clouds remain as one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate models. To better simulate cloud processes requires better characterization of cloud microphysical processes, which can affect the spatial extent, optical depth and lifetime of clouds. To this end, we developed a new parameterization to be used in numerical models that describes the variation of ice nuclei (IN) number concentrations active to form ice crystals in mixed-phase (water droplets and ice crystals co-existing) cloud conditions as these depend on existing aerosol properties and temperature. The parameterization is based on data collected using the Colorado State University continuous flow diffusion chamber in aircraft and ground-based campaigns over a 14-year period, including data from the DOE-supported Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. The resulting relationship is shown to more accurately represent the variability of ice nuclei distributions in the atmosphere compared to currently used parameterizations based on temperature alone. When implemented in one global climate model, the new parameterization predicted more realistic annually averaged …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We identified five major actions the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to complete under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to establish a reliable system that uses third-party audits conducted by foreign governments or other third parties to help ensure food safety. FDA officials and others report that each of these actions presents challenges that must be addressed. First, FDA is to develop new preventive controls and related guidance for all of the foods under its jurisdiction--such as produce, milk, cheese, spices, soft drinks, and processed foods--and will need to develop appropriate training, particularly for foreign producers and processors, which poses a challenge because FDA is responsible for a variety of food industries. Second, FDA is to establish a voluntary user fee program for importers that encourages the use of third-party certifications, and it faces a challenge in developing a program that encourages importers to participate. Third, FDA has to develop a system for recognizing accreditation bodies that can accredit third parties to certify foreign food facilities and is likely to face a challenge in addressing foreign governments' concerns about being evaluated by an …

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While their views varied to some degree, federal agency officials and advocacy groups GAO contacted identified a number of challenges that small, minority-owned businesses may face in pursuing federal government contracts. For example, officials and advocacy groups pointed to a lack of performance history and knowledge of the federal contracting process as significant barriers. Officials from advocacy groups cited additional challenges, such as difficulty gaining access to contracting officials and decreased contracting opportunities resulting from contract bundling—the consolidation of two or more contracts previously performed under smaller contracts, into a single contract. Officials from agencies that accounted for 70 percent of federal contracting with small, minority-owned businesses—(the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, and the General Services Administration) told GAO that they conducted outreach to help small, minority-owned businesses with these challenges. Their outreach efforts include one-on-one interviews between contracting office staff and businesses seeking federal contracts. Linguistic and cultural barriers were identified as a challenge on a limited basis."

I report on the status, at the end of FY12, of the studies of an arc cell for a hybrid synchrotron accelerating from 375 GeV/c to 750 GeV/c in momentum. Garren produced a complete lattice that gives a good outline of the structure of a hybrid synchrotron lattice. It is, however, lacking in some details: it does not maintain a constant time of flight, it lacks chromaticity correction, its cell structure is not ideal for removing aberrations from chromaticity correction, and it probably needs more space between magnets. I have begun studying cell structures for the arc cells to optimize the lattice performance and cost. I present some preliminary results for two magnets per half cell. I then discuss difficulties encountered, some preliminary attempts at resolving them, and the future plans for this work.

The amount of water present during placement and subsequent curing of saltstone has the potential to impact several properties important for grout quality. An active drain water system can remove residual standing water and expose the surface of the placed saltstone to air. Oxidation of the saltstone may result in an increase in the leachability of redox sensitive elements. A dry surface can lead to cracking, causing an increase in hydraulic conductivity. An inactive drain water system can allow standing water that generates unnecessary hydrostatic head on the vault walls. Standing water that cannot be removed via the drain system will be available for potential incorporation into subsequent grout placements. The objective of this work is to study the impact of standing water on grout quality pertaining to disposal units. A series of saltstone mixes were prepared, and cured at ambient temperature to evaluate the impact of standing water on saltstone placement. The samples were managed to control drying effects on leachability by either exposing or capping the samples. The water to premix ratio was varied to represent a range of processing conditions. Samples were analyzed for density, leachability, and hydraulic conductivity. A monolith of each composition was cut into …

This report analyzes key factors that may influence Israeli political decisions relating to a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

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Executive Summary Developing a method for the accurate, direct, and independent assay of the fissile isotopes in bulk materials (such as used fuel) from next-generation domestic nuclear fuel cycles is a goal of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle R&D, Material Protection and Control Technology (MPACT) Campaign. To meet this goal, MPACT supports a multi-institutional collaboration, of which PNNL is a part, to study the feasibility of Lead Slowing Down Spectroscopy (LSDS). This technique is an active nondestructive assay method that has the potential to provide independent, direct measurement of Pu and U isotopic masses in used fuel with an uncertainty considerably lower than the approximately 10% typical of today’s confirmatory methods. This document is a progress report for FY2012 PNNL analysis and algorithm development. Progress made by PNNL in FY2012 continues to indicate the promise of LSDS analysis and algorithms applied to used fuel assemblies. PNNL further refined the semi-empirical model developed in FY2011 based on singular value decomposition (SVD) to numerically account for the effects of self-shielding. The average uncertainty in the Pu mass across the NGSI-64 fuel assemblies was shown to be less than 3% using only six calibration assemblies with a 2% uncertainty in the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 2004 through 2010, the number of self-referred and non-self-referred advanced imaging services--magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) services--both increased, with the larger increase among self-referred services. For example, the number of self-referred MRI services increased over this period by more than 80 percent, compared with an increase of 12 percent for non-self-referred MRI services. Likewise, the growth rate of expenditures for self-referred MRI and CT services was also higher than for non-self-referred MRI and CT services."