This assessment of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter vulnerability was requested by the USDOE Office of River Protection (ORP) to satisfy a DOE-HQ directive to evaluate the effect of filter degradation on the facility authorization basis assumptions. Within the scope of this assessment are ventilation system HEPA filters that are classified as Safety-Class (SC) or Safety-Significant (SS) components that perform an accident mitigation function. The objective of the assessment is to verify whether HEPA filters that perform a safety function during an accident are likely to perform as intended to limit release of hazardous or radioactive materials, considering factors that could degrade the filters. Filter degradation factors considered include aging, wetting of filters, exposure to high temperature, exposure to corrosive or reactive chemicals, and exposure to radiation. Screening and evaluation criteria were developed by a site-wide group of HVAC engineers and HEPA filter experts from published empirical data. For River Protection Project (RPP) filters, the only degradation factor that exceeded the screening threshold was for filter aging. Subsequent evaluation of the effect of filter aging on the filter strength was conducted, and the results were compared with required performance to meet the conditions assumed in the RPP Authorization Basis …

The enthalpies of formation of seven uranyl oxide hydrate phases and one uranate have been determined using high-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry: [(UO{sub 2}){sub 4}O(OH){sub 6}](H{sub 2}O){sub 5}, metaschoepite; {beta}-UO{sub 2}(OH){sub 2}; CaUO{sub 4}; Ca(UO{sub 2}){sub 6}O{sub 4}(OH){sub 6}(H{sub 2}O){sub 8}, becquerelite; Ca(UO{sub 2}){sub 4}O{sub 3}(OH){sub 4}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}; Na(UO{sub 2})O(OH), clarkeite; Na{sub 2}(UO{sub 2}){sub 6}O{sub 4}(OH){sub 6}(H{sub 2}O){sub 7}, the sodium analogue of compreignacite and Pb{sub 3}(UO{sub 2}){sub 8}O{sub 8}(OH){sub 6}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}, curite. The enthalpy of formation from the binary oxides, {Delta}H{sub f-ox}, at 298 K was calculated for each compound from the respective drop solution enthalpy, {Delta}H{sub ds}. The standard enthalpies of formation from the elements, {Delta}H{sub f}{sup o}, at 298 K are -1791.0 {+-} 3.2, -1536.2 {+-} 2.8, -2002.0 {+-} 3.2, -11389.2 {+-} 13.5, -6653.1 {+-} 13.8, -1724.7 {+-} 5.1, -10936.4 {+-} 14.5 and -13163.2 {+-} 34.4 kJ mol{sup -1}, respectively. These values are useful in exploring the stability of uranyl oxide hydrates in auxiliary chemical systems, such as those expected in U-contaminated environments.

Beijing Electron-Positron Collider Upgrade (BEPCII) requires three types of superconducting facilities, including one pair of SRF cavities, one pair of interaction region quadrupole magnets, and one detector solenoid magnet. The cryo-plant for BEPCII has a total cooling capacity of 1kW at 4.5K, which is composed of two separate helium refrigerators of 500W each. Two refrigerators share the same gas storage and recovery system. The engineering design for the cryogenic systems, including power leads, control dewars, subcooler, cryogenic valve boxes, cryogenic transfer-lines and cryogenic controls, is completed. The production of its subsystem is under way. This paper summarizes the progress in cryogenics of the BEPCII project.

Host-pathogen interactions result in protein expression changes within both the host and the pathogen. Here, results from proteomic characterization of host response following exposure to Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, and to two near neighbors, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica, are reported. Human monocyte-like cells were chosen as a model for macrophage immune response to pathogen exposure. Two-dimensional electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry was used to identify host proteins with differential expression following exposure to these three closely related Yersinia species. This comparative proteomic characterization of host response clearly shows that host protein expression patterns are distinct for the different pathogen exposures, and contributes to further understanding of Y. pestis virulence and host defense mechanisms. This work also lays the foundation for future studies aimed at defining biomarkers for presymptomatic detection of plague.

The Heavy Ion Fusion Virtual National Laboratory (HIFVNL) is developing the intense ion beams needed to drive matter to the High Energy Density (HED) regimes required for Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) and other applications. An interim goal is a facility for Warm Dense Matter (WDM) studies, wherein a target is heated volumetrically without being shocked, so that well-defined states of matter at 1 to 10 eV are generated within a diagnosable region. In the approach we are pursuing, low to medium mass ions with energies just above the Bragg peak are directed onto thin target ''foils'', which may in fact be foams with mean densities 1% to 10% of solid. This approach complements that being pursued at GSI, wherein high-energy ion beams deposit a small fraction of their energy in a cylindrical target. We present the beam requirements for WDM experiments. We discuss neutralized drift compression and final focus experiments and modeling. We describe suitable accelerator architectures based on Drift-Tube Linac, RF, single-gap, Ionization-Front Accelerator, and Pulse-Line Ion Accelerator concepts. The last of these is being pursued experimentally in the HIF-VNL. Finally, we discuss plans toward a user facility for target experiments.

Three kinds of superconducting device are to be constructed at interaction regions in the upgrade of Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPCII). Two sets of refrigerators with each capacity of 500W at 4.5K are adopted to provide the refrigeration for them. The cryogenic systems to support the operation of the superconducting facilities are under design by Harbin Institute of Technology in China. This paper presents the current design of main cryogenic facilities.

Six pairs of low current leads are used for the superconducting interaction quadruple magnets (SCQ) in the Beijing Electron Positron Collider Upgrade (BEPCII). This paper presents analyses on the magnetic field induced by the current lead bundle as well as the magnetic forces on the leads. The thermal stress of the single lead is investigated. The stress of interference fitting for a novel insulator used for the current leads at various operating temperatures is analyzed.

This paper highlights some of the current basic nuclear physics research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The work at LLNL concentrates on investigating nuclei at the extremes. The Experimental Nuclear Physics Group performs research to improve our understanding of nuclei, nuclear reactions, nuclear decay processes and nuclear astrophysics; an expertise utilized for important laboratory national security programs and for world-class peer-reviewed basic research.

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The volumes and diversity of information in the discovery, development, and business processes within the chemical and life sciences industries require new approaches for analysis. Traditional list- or spreadsheet-based methods are easily overwhelmed by large amounts of data. Furthermore, generating strong hypotheses and, just as importantly, ruling out weak ones, requires integration across different experimental and informational sources. We have developed a framework for this integration, including common conceptual data models for multiple data types and linked visualizations that provide an overview of the entire data set, a measure of how each data record is related to every other record, and an assessment of the associations within the data set.

We have demonstrated a 10 Hz Ni-like Mo X-ray laser operating at 18.9 nm with 150 mJ total pump energy by employing a novel pumping scheme. The grazing incidence scheme is described, where a picosecond pulse is incident at a grazing angle to a Mo plasma column produced by a slab target irradiated by a 200 ps laser pulse. This scheme uses refraction of the short pulse at a pre-determined electron density to increase absorption to pump a specific gain region. The high efficiency inherent to this scheme allows a reduction in the pump energy where 70 mJ long pulse energy and 80 mJ short pulse energy are sufficient to produce lasing at a 10 Hz repetition rate. Under these conditions and by optimizing the delay between the pulses, we achieve strong amplification and saturation for 4 mm long targets.

The Collaboratory for Multi-scale Chemical Science (CMCS) is developing a powerful informatics-based approach to synthesizing multi-scale information to support a systems-based research approach and is applying it in support of combustion research. An open source multi-scale informatics toolkit is being developed that addresses a number of issues core to the emerging concept of knowledge grids including provenance tracking and lightweight federation of data and application resources into cross-scale information flows. The CMCS portal is currently in use by a number of high-profile pilot groups and is playing a significant role in enabling their efforts to improve and extend community maintained chemical reference information.

To provide a compact high-brightness heavy-ion beam source for Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF) accelerators, we have been experimenting with merging multi-beamlets in an injector which uses an RF plasma source. In an 80-kV 20-microsecond experiment, the RF plasma source has produced up to 5 mA of Ar{sup +} in a single beamlet. An extraction current density of 100 mA/cm{sup 2} was achieved, and the thermal temperature of the ions was below 1 eV. We have tested at full voltage gradient the first 4 gaps of an injector design. Einzel lens were used to focus the beamlets while reducing the beamlet to beamlet space charge interaction. We were able to reach greater than 100 kV/cm in the first four gaps. We also performed experiments on a converging 119 multi-beamlet source. Although the source has the same optics as a full 1.6 MV injector system, these test were carried out at 400 kV due to the test stand HV limit. We have measured the beam's emittance after the beamlets are merged and passed through an electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ). Our goal is to confirm the emittance growth and to demonstrate the technical feasibility of building a driver-scale HIF injector.

Ab initio total energy calculations based on the exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) theory are used to determine the high pressure and low temperature phase diagram of Ce and Th metals as well as the Ce{sub 43}Th{sub 57} disordered alloy. The compositional disorder for the alloy is treated in the framework of the coherent potential approximation (CPA). Equation of state for Ce, Th and Ce{sub 43}Th{sub 57} has been calculated up to 1 Mbar in good comparison with experimental data: upon compression the Ce-Th system undergoes crystallographic phase transformation from an fcc to a bct structure and the transition pressure increases with Th content in the alloy.

Puzzling discrepancies between on the one hand quantum mechanical (QM) electron impact calculations of isolated ion lines and on the other hand experimental data and nonperturbative semiclassical (SC) calculations are reviewed. The origin of these discrepancies was a standard line-broadening literature estimate of the wavefunction extent. The nonperturbative semiclassical calculations are further improved by dropping the long-range approximation and allowing penetrating collisions. This results in excellent agreement with fully quantal calculations for the case of the BIII 2s-2p line. On the other hand the standard perturbative semiclassical method is inadequate even in this particular example, where perturbation theory is valid. Further, the assumption of neglecting the back-reaction in semiclassical calculations is examined.

The Non-Equilibrium Zeldovich - von Neumann - Doring (NEZND) theory of self-sustaining detonation identified amplification of pressure wavelets during equilibration of vibrationally excited reaction products in the reaction zone as the physical mechanism by which exothermic chemical energy release sustains detonation waves. This mechanism leads to the formation of the well-known, complex three-dimensional structure of a self-sustaining detonation wave. This amplification mechanism is postulated to be a general property of subsonic and supersonic reactive flows occurring during: shock to detonation transition (SDT); hot spot ignition and growth; deflagration to detonation transition (DDT); flame acceleration by shock or compression waves; and acoustic (sound) wave amplification. The existing experimental and theoretical evidence for pressure wave amplification by chemical energy release into highly vibrationally excited product molecules under these reactive flow conditions is reviewed in this paper.

The United States' Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee recently completed a study ''Technological Opportunities To Increase The Proliferation Resistance Of Global Civilian Nuclear Power Systems (TOPS).'' That effort included the development of a set of both intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to proliferation that technologies can directly impact. In this paper we will review these barriers as and framework for assisting in the evaluation of the relative proliferation resistance of various nuclear fuel cycles, technologies and alternatives.

For simulating the strong-strong beam-beam effect, using Particle-In-Cell codes has become one of the methods of choice. While the two-dimensional problem is readily treatable using PC-class machines, the three-dimensional problem, i.e., a problem encompassing hourglass and phase-averaging effects, requires the use of parallel processors. In this paper, we introduce a strong-strong code NIMZOVICH, which was specifically designed for parallel processors and which is optimally used for many bunches and parasitic crossings. We describe the parallelization scheme and give some benchmarking results.

Implants containing antimicrobial metals may reduce morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs associated with medical device-related infections. We have deposited diamondlike carbon-silver (DLC-Ag), diamondlike carbon-platinum (DLC-Pt), and diamondlike carbon-silver-platinum (DLC-AgPt) thin films using a multicomponent target pulsed laser deposition process. Transmission electron microscopy of the DLC-silver and DLC-platinum composite films revealed that the silver and platinum self-assemble into nanoparticle arrays within the diamondlike carbon matrix. The diamondlike carbon-silver film possesses hardness and Young's modulus values of 37 GPa and 331 GPa, respectively. The diamondlike carbon-metal composite films exhibited passive behavior at open-circuit potentials. Low corrosion rates were observed during testing in a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) electrolyte. In addition, the diamondlike carbon-metal composite films were found to be immune to localized corrosion below 1000 mV (SCE). DLC-silver-platinum films demonstrated exceptional antimicrobial properties against Staphylococcus bacteria. It is believed that a galvanic couple forms between platinum and silver, which accelerates silver ion release and provides more robust antimicrobial activity. Diamondlike carbon-silver-platinum films may provide unique biological functionalities and improved lifetimes for cardiovascular, orthopaedic, biosensor, and implantable microelectromechanical systems.

As an energy carrier, electricity has no rival with regard to its environmental cleanliness, flexibility in interfacing with multiple production sources and end uses, and efficiency of delivery. In fact, the electric power grid was named ?the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century? by the National Academy of Engineering. This grid, a technological marvel ingeniously knitted together from local networks growing out from cities and rural centers, may be the biggest and most complex artificial system ever built. However, the growing demand for electricity will soon challenge the grid beyond its capability, compromising its reliability through voltage fluctuations that crash digital electronics, brownouts that disable industrial processes and harm electrical equipment, and power failures like the North American blackout in 2003 and subsequent blackouts in London, Scandinavia, and Italy in the same year. The North American blackout affected 50 million people and caused approximately $6 billion in economic damage over the four days of its duration. Superconductivity offers powerful new opportunities for restoring the reliability of the power grid and increasing its capacity and efficiency. Superconductors are capable of carrying current without loss, making the parts of the grid they replace dramatically more efficient. Superconducting wires carry up to …

The authors examine theoretically conduction processes near the Fermi energy of thin layers of zincblende structure half metals, using as an example a superlattice consisting of monolayers of GaAs and MnAs, a bilayer of CrAs, and a bilayer of GaAs. By artificially separating bilayers, they show that non-fourfold coordinated Cr states thwart half metallicity. However, capping the metal-As bilayers restores half metallicity and ballistic conduction of electrons around 0.3 eV above the Fermi level will give nearly 100% spin-polarized transmission in the direction of the thin superlattice. Recent developments suggest atomic layer epitaxy can be used to produce such thin layers for spintronics applications.

Simultaneous measurements of the ETA beam radius have been made with a quartz foil and a diamagnetic loop (DML). While the measurements agreed at some settings they diverged at others. While the DML measures the rms radius of the total beam, the foil measures mainly the core and the divergence can be explained by the presence of a low density halo. Evidence of such a halo from other measurements is presented.

Early in FY04, the Advanced Nuclear Transformation Technology (ANTT) subcommittee of the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC) requested a report on repository benefits for recycling of key transuranics in existing light water-cooled reactors (LWRs). The ANTT reviewers specifically requested a quantification of how such a campaign would impact (improve) the achievable loading of nuclear waste in the Yucca Mountain facility. The request stipulated that the transuranics be separated from commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF) and recycled a finite number of times in LWR-compatible fuel forms. The spent fuel remaining at the end of the recycling campaign, as well as all other nuclear waste generated by spent fuel reprocessing, would be permanently disposed in a geologic repository. In response, two reports have been prepared and distributed as deliverables for the AFCI program. Reference 1 provides the final report which addresses the original ANTT sub-committee request. Plutonium, neptunium, and americium recycling strategies in assemblies fabricated from mixed-oxide (MOX), CORAIL (heterogeneous UO{sub 2} and MOX), and inert-matrix fuel (IMF) forms were evaluated; the focus of the report is the time-dependent thermal response of the repository to a given loading of nuclear waste in the storage tunnels (drifts), as well as a quantification …

The methods and interim results from a testing program to quantify hydrogen effects on mechanical properties of carbon steel pipeline and pipeline weld materials are provided. The scope is carbon steels commonly used for natural gas pipelines in the United States that are candidates for hydrogen service in the hydrogen economy. The mechanical test results will be applied in future analyses to evaluate service life of the pipelines. The results are also envisioned to be part of the bases for construction codes and structural integrity demonstrations for hydrogen service pipeline and vessels. Tensile properties of one type of steel (A106 Grade B) in base metal, welded and heat affected zone conditions were tested at room temperature in air and high pressure (1500 psig) hydrogen. A general reduction in the materials ability to plastically deform was noted in this material when specimens were tested in 1500 psig hydrogen. Furthermore, the primary mode of fracture was changed from ductile rupture in air to cleavage with secondary tearing in hydrogen. The mechanical test program will continue with tests to quantify the fracture behavior in terms of J-R curves for these materials at air and hydrogen pressure conditions.