N/A

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment for veterans (VR&E) is an entitlement program that provides job training and related services to veterans with service-connected disabilities. In cases where a disabled veteran is not able to work, the VR&E program provides independent living services to help the veteran achieve the highest possible quality of life. The VR&E program is administered by the Veterans Benefit Administration, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In FY2012, the VA estimates that VR&E benefits will cost $516 million, subsistence allowances for eligible veterans will be an additional $433 million, and administrative costs will total $204 million.

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.

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 …

N/A

Under federal law, an array of civil rights statutes are available to protect individuals from discrimination. This report provides a brief summary of selected federal civil rights statutes.

None

In a radioactive material (RAM) packaging, the formation of eutectic at the Pu/SS (plutonium/stainless steel) interface is a serious concern and must be avoided to prevent of leakage of fissile material to the environment. The eutectic temperature for the Pu/SS is rather low (410 C) and could seriously impact the structural integrity of the containment vessel under accident conditions involving fire. The 9975 packaging is used for long term storage of Pu bearing materials in the DOE complex where the Pu comes in contact with the stainless steel containment vessel. Due to the serious consequences of the containment breach at the eutectic site, the Pu/SS interface temperature is kept well below the eutectic formation temperature of 410 C. This paper discusses the thermal models and the results for the extended fire conditions (1500 F for 86 minutes) that exist in a long term storage facility and concludes that the 9975 packaging Pu/SS interface temperature is well below the eutectic temperature.

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 …

This report, to be updated as events dictate, describes the current select committees on intelligence; characteristics and a model for a possible joint committee; recent actions by Congress; and obstacles affecting legislative oversight in the field.

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 …

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.

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.

This report will track and describe actions taken by the Administration and Congress to provide FY2013 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) accounts. It also provides an overview of FY2012 appropriations for agencies and bureaus funded as a part of the annual appropriation for CJS.

The future of wind power will depend on the ability of the industry to continue to achieve cost reductions. To better understand the potential for cost reductions, this report provides a review of historical costs, evaluates near-term market trends, and summarizes the range of projected costs. It also notes potential sources of future cost reductions. Our findings indicate that steady cost reductions were interrupted between 2004 and 2010, but falling turbine prices and improved turbine performance are expected to drive a historically low LCOE for current installations. In addition, the majority of studies indicate continued cost reductions on the order of 20%-30% through 2030. Moreover, useful cost projections are likely to benefit from stronger consideration of the interactions between capital cost and performance as well as trends in the quality of the wind resource where projects are located, transmission, grid integration, and other cost variables.

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

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 …

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.

None

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 …

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.

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.

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 …