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Carbon (C) sequestration through fertilization of phytoplankton with micronutrients and enhancement of the absorption and retention of atmospheric C by ocean biota heavily depends on the efficiency of the “biological pump”. The long-term effectiveness of this strategy depends on a net transfer of C from the upper ocean-atmosphere system to the deep ocean where the C is removed from contact with the atmosphere for an extended period of time. This C removal can be equated to the amount of C fixation by phytoplankton minus the C cycling and regeneration in the euphotic zone. If the regeneration efficiency is increased, then despite increased C fixation, no net loss (sequestration) of C will result. A reduction in cycling efficiency in the euphotic zone, on the other hand, will increase the effectiveness of the “biological pump” and thus C sequestration. The degree of organic matter biodegradation and recycling depends on the “reactivity” of compounds synthesized by the biota, which in turn, is controlled by the structural characteristic of these compounds. There is considerable evidence that different phytoplankton taxa differ substantially in their biogeochemical characteristics and it is likely that the relative abundance of different compounds synthesized by these distinct taxa, and even within …

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The Center for Plasma Edge Simulation (CPES) project was a multi-institutional research effort funded jointly by the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (OASCR) and the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) within the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The effort was led by our Principal Investigator, CS Chang, at the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences at New York University. The Center included participants from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Lehigh University, Rutgers University, University of Colorado, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Davis, University of California at Irvine, North Carolina State University, and Georgia Institute of Technology. This report concerns the work performed by Dr. Julian C. Cummings, who was the institutional Principal Investigator for the CPES project at Caltech.

The overall goal of this project is to create a Tribal Energy Action Plan that will serve as the Tribe’s blueprint for creating long term energy self‐sufficiency. The Plan will be developed with input from a committed group of key stakeholders and landowners in the area, will be based on sound data and research, and will address both “supply‐side” options of the development of sustainable energy sources, as well as “demand-side” options for reducing energy consumption. The resulting plan will include defined comprehensive energy strategies and built upon a baseline assessment of where the Tribe currently is in terms of alternative and renewable energy activities; a vision of where the Tribe wants to go; and an action plan of how the Tribe will reach its vision including the identification of viable energy options based on the long-term strategic plan of the Tribe.

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As Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) initiated a Core Business Hours program, it became a challenge to ensure that the hundreds of systems campus wide were operating within their programmed schedules. Therefore, a collaborative exchange between PNNL operations and PNNL researchers developing the Decision Support for Operations and Maintenance (DSOM) software package was initiated to create a tool to solve this problem. This new DSOM tool verifies systems are operating within scheduled operation times by polling Building Automation and Control Network (BACnet) identifiers of systems’ on/off or command statuses. The tool records the time spent in operation state (ON) and totalizes each system over a rolling 7-day period, highlighting systems that are running over the scheduled hours. This snapshot view allows building management to look quickly at the entire campus to ensure that systems are not operating beyond their scheduled hours.

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This document contains the calculation of the TPBAR tritium release from the Mark 9.2 design TPBARs irradiated in WBN cycle 10. The calculation utilizes the generalized cycle analysis methodology given in TTP-1-3045 Rev. 0.

Thermal testing of a subscale locomotive sodium battery module was initiated.to validate thermal models. The hybrid trip optimizer problem was formulated. As outcomes of this project, GE has proceeded to commercialize trip optimizer technology, and has initiated work on a state-of-the-art battery manufacturing plant for high energy density, sodium-based batteries.

This report is revision 6 of the Anomalies of Nuclear Criticality. This report is required reading for the training of criticality professionals in many organizations both nationally and internationally. This report describes many different classes of nuclear criticality anomalies that are different than expected.

The objectives of the radiological confirmatory survey were to collect adequate radiological data for use in evaluating the radiological condition of NHD land areas, warehouses, and support buildings. The data generated from the confirmatory survey activities were used to evaluate the results of the Final Status Survey Report (FSSR) submitted by Cabrera Services (Cabrera 2009). Cabrera has stated that all radioactive materials have been removed and that remediation of the open land areas and structure surfaces was complete, and that the NHD meets the criteria for unrestricted use.

We develop conservation laws for coupled hydro-mechanical processes in unsaturated porous media using three-phase continuum mixture theory. From the first law of thermodynamics, we identify energy-conjugate variables for constitutive modeling at macroscopic scale. Energy conjugate expressions identified relate a certain measure of effective stress to the deformation of the solid matrix, the degree of saturation to the matrix suction, the pressure in each constituent phase to the corresponding intrinsic volume change of this phase, and the seepage forces to the corresponding pressure gradients. We then develop strong and weak forms of boundary-value problems relevant for 3D finite element modeling of coupled hydro-mechanical processes in unsaturated porous media. The paper highlights a 3D numerical example illustrating the advances in the solution of large-scale coupled finite element systems, as well as the challenges in developing more predictive tools satisfying the basic conservation laws and the observed constitutive responses for unsaturated porous materials.

Ras Labs produces electroactive polymer (EAP) based materials and actuators that bend, swell, ripple and now contract (new development) with low electric input. This is an important attribute because of the ability of contraction to produce life-like motion. The mechanism of contraction is not well understood. Radionuclide-labeled experiments were conducted to follow the movement of electrolytes and water in these EAPs when activated. Extreme temperature experiments were performed on the contractile EAPs with very favorable results. One of the biggest challenges in developing these actuators, however, is the electrode-EAP interface because of the pronounced movement of the EAP. Plasma treatments of metallic electrodes were investigated in order to improve the attachment of the embedded electrodes to the EAP material. Surface analysis, adhesive testing, and mechanical testing were conducted to test metal surfaces and metal-polymer interfaces. The nitrogen plasma treatment of titanium produced a strong metal-polymer interface; however, oxygen plasma treatment of both stainless steel and titanium produced even stronger metal-polymer interfaces. Plasma treatment of the electrodes allows for the embedded electrodes and the EAP material of the actuator to work and move as a unit, with no detachment, by significantly improving the metal-polymer interface.

The implementation of essential boundary conditions in C1 finite element analysis requires proper treatment of both the boundary conditions on second-order differentials of the solution and the curvature of the domain boundary. A method for the imposition of essential boundary conditions using straight elements (where the elements are not deformed to approximate a curved domain) is described. It is shown that pre-multiplication of the matrix equation by the local rotation matrix at each boundary node is not the optimal transformation. The uniquely optimal transformation is found, which does not take the form of a similarity transformation due to the non-orthogonality of the transformation to curved coordinates.

In this report the authors describe progress in evaluating the feasibility of a novel concept for producing intense pulses of 14 MeV neutrons using the DT fusion reaction. In this new scheme the heating of the DT is accomplished using fission fragments rather than ion beams as in conventional magnet fusion schemes or lasers in ICF schemes. This has the great advantage that there is no need for any large auxiliary power source. The scheme does require large magnetic fields, but generating these fields, e.g. with superconducting magnets, requires only a modest power source. As a source of fission fragments they propose using a dusty reactor concept introduced some time ago by one of us (RC). The version of the dusty reactor that they propose using for our neutron source would operate as a thermal neutron reactor and use highly enriched uranium in the form of micron sized pellets of UC. Our scheme for using the fission fragments to produce intense pulses of 14 MeV neutrons is based on the fission fragment rocket idea. In the fission fragment rocket scheme it was contemplated that the fission fragments produced in a low density reactor core would then be guided out of …

In this report the authors describe the progress made in FY09 in evaluating the feasibility of a new concept for using the DT fusion reaction to produce intense pulses of 14 MeV neutrons. In this new scheme the heating of the DT is accomplished using fission fragments rather than ion beams as in conventional magnet confinement fusion schemes or lasers in inertial confinement schemes. As a source of fission fragments they propose using a dust reactor concept introduced some time ago by one of us (RC). An attractive feature of this approach is that there is no need for a large auxiliary power source to heat the DT plasma to the point where self-sustaining fusion become possible. Their scheme does require pulsed magnetic fields, but generating these fields requires only a modest power source. The dust reactor that they propose using for their neutron source would use micron-sized UC pellets suspended in a vacuum as the reactor fuel. Surrounding the fuel with a moderator such as heavy water (D{sub 2}O) would allow the reactor to operate as a thermal reactor and require only modest amounts of HEU. The scheme for using fission fragments to generate intense pulses of 14 MeV …

Can we use the pressure associated with sequestration to make brine into fresh water? This project is establishing the potential for using brine pressurized by Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) operations in saline formations as the feedstock for desalination and water treatment technologies including reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF). Possible products are: Drinking water, Cooling water, and Extra aquifer space for CO{sub 2} storage. The conclusions are: (1) Many saline formation waters appear to be amenable to largely conventional RO treatment; (2) Thermodynamic modeling indicates that osmotic pressure is more limiting on water recovery than mineral scaling; (3) The use of thermodynamic modeling with Pitzer's equations (or Extended UNIQUAC) allows accurate estimation of osmotic pressure limits; (4) A general categorization of treatment feasibility is based on TDS has been proposed, in which brines with 10,000-85,000 mg/L are the most attractive targets; (5) Brines in this TDS range appear to be abundant (geographically and with depth) and could be targeted in planning future CCS operations (including site selection and choice of injection formation); and (6) The estimated cost of treating waters in the 10,000-85,000 mg/L TDS range is about half that for conventional seawater desalination, due to the anticipated pressure …

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