The need for better nuclear data has been stressed by various organizations throughout the world, and results of studies have been published which demonstrate that current data are inadequate for designing the projects under consideration [1] [2]. In particular, a Working Party of the OECD has been concerned with identifying these needs [3] and has produced a detailed High Priority Request List for Nuclear Data. The French Atomic Energy Commissariat (CEA) has also recognized the need for better data and launched an ambitious program aimed at measuring the integral absorption rate parameters at the CEA-Cadarache Research Center. A complete analytical program is associated with the experimental program and aims at understanding and resolving potential discrepancies between calculated and measured values. The final objective of the program is to reduce the uncertainties in predictive capabilities to a level acceptable to core designers and government regulators. Argonne National Laboratory has expertise in these areas. In the past, ANL teams have developed very accurate experimental techniques and strongly enhanced the development of several French experimental and analytical programs, and have contributed to the computational tools used at CEA-Cadarache. CEA recognized the expertise that ANL has in these areas and was interested in collaborating …

This treatability study is now in the second year of deployment for the Southern Sector Phytoremediation Project. Phytoremediation is the use of vegetation and associated media to treat contaminated soils, sediments, and groundwater. Phytoremediation is a rapidly developing technology that promises effective and safe cleanup of certain hazardous wastes. This ongoing work addresses the fate of volatile organic contaminants (VOCs) in an experiment that simulates a vegetated seepline supplied with trichloroethylene- (TCE-) and perchloroethylene- (PCE-) contaminated groundwater. The primary objective is to determine how the trees and sediments uptake groundwater TCE and PCE, biodegrade it, and/or transform it. The experimental focus of this project is the biological removal of VOCs from seepline groundwater and sediments.

This report provides the results of detailed hydrologic characterization tests conducted within newly constructed Hanford Site wells during fiscal year 2001. Results obtained from these tests provide hydrologic information that supports the needs of RCRA waste management area characterization and sitewide groundwater monitoring and modeling programs.

This booklet summarizes a more detailed report, Hanford Site Groundwater Monitoring for Fiscal Year 2001. This summary booklet is designed to briefly (1) describe the highlights for fiscal year 2001; (2) identify emerging issued in groundwater monitoring; (3) discuss groundwater flow and movement; and (4) provide an overview of current contamination in the Hanford Site groundwater and vadose zone.

This study addressed three aspects in selected alkaline leaching: first, the use of oxidants persulfate, permanganate, and ferrate as selective chromium-leaching agents from washed Hanford Tank S-110 solids under varying conditions of hydroxide concentration, temperature, and time was investigated. Second, the selective dissolution of solids containing mercury(II) oxide under alkaline conditions was examined. Various compounds were studied for their effectiveness in dissolving mercury under varying conditions of time, temperature, and hydroxide concentration in the leachate. Three compounds were studied: cysteine, iodide, and diethyldithiophosphoric acid (DEDTPA). Finally, the possibility of whether an oxidant bound to an anion-exchange resin can be used to effectively oxidize chromium(III) in alkaline solutions was addressed. The experimental results remain ambiguous to date; further work is required to reach any definitive conclusions as to the effectiveness of this approach.

Under the Science and Technology Implementing Arrangement for Cooperation on Radioactive and Mixed Waste Management (JCCRM), the Department of Energy (DOE) is helping to transfer waste treatment technology to international atomic energy commissions. In 1996, as part of the JCCRM, DOE established a collaborative research agreement with Argentina's Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica (CNEA). A primary mission of the CNEA is to direct waste management activities for Argentina's nuclear industry.

The LAW evaporation processes currently being designed for the Hanford River Protection Project Waste Treatment Plant are subject to foaming. Experimental simulant studies have been conducted in an effort to achieve an effective antifoam agent suitable to mitigate such foaming.

This document provides background information and a list of questions to be addressed during an information-gathering visit by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc personnel. Jacobs has been funded by the Tanks Focus Area to complete a task "Pre-closure Interim Tanks Maintenance." The overall objective of this task is to develop a central informaion center of site conditions, site requirements, alternative technical and other approaches, closure plans and activities, regulatory drivers and methodolgies for decision-making to assist site decisdion-makers in teh evaluation of alternative high-level waste (HLW) tank lay-up configureations. Lay-up is the term used for the period between intial decontamination and decommissioning of the tanks and final closure. Successful lay-up will place the tanks in a safe, stable, and minimum-maintenance mode until final closure.

Established by Congress in 1991, the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program provides the Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratories, like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL or the Laboratory), with the flexibility to invest up to 6% of their budget in long-term, high-risk, and potentially high payoff research and development (R&D) activities to support the DOE/NNSA's national security missions. By funding innovative R&D, the LDRD Program at LLNL develops and extends the Laboratory's intellectual foundations and maintains its vitality as a premier research institution. As proof of the Program's success, many of the research thrusts that started many years ago under LDRD sponsorship are at the core of today's programs. The LDRD Program, which serves as a proving ground for innovative ideas, is the Laboratory's most important single resource for fostering excellent science and technology for today's needs and tomorrow's challenges. Basic and applied research activities funded by LDRD enhance the Laboratory's core strengths, driving its technical vitality to create new capabilities that enable LLNL to meet DOE/NNSA's national security missions. The Program also plays a key role in building a world-class multidisciplinary workforce by engaging the Laboratory's best researchers, recruiting its future scientists and engineers, …

The project Production Scale Implementation of a Petroleum Contaminated Soils Bioreactor was launched in FY00 and showed that bioremediation can be performed under strictly controlled conditions. Initial results showed a 50 percent reduction of total petroleum hydrocarbon concentration in soil from the Czechowice-Dziedzice refinery. It was determined that changes in the design and construction of the bioreactor could improve system performance.

This report describes the results of the FY01 Level 1 Peer Reviews for the Verification and Validation (V&V) Program at Sandia National Laboratories. V&V peer review at Sandia is intended to assess the ASCI (Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative) code team V&V planning process and execution. The Level 1 Peer Review process is conducted in accordance with the process defined in SAND2000-3099. V&V Plans are developed in accordance with the guidelines defined in SAND2000-3 101. The peer review process and process for improving the Guidelines are necessarily synchronized and form parts of a larger quality improvement process supporting the ASCI V&V program at Sandia. During FY00 a prototype of the process was conducted for two code teams and their V&V Plans and the process and guidelines updated based on the prototype. In FY01, Level 1 Peer Reviews were conducted on an additional eleven code teams and their respective V&V Plans. This report summarizes the results from those peer reviews, including recommendations from the panels that conducted the reviews.

OAK B188 FINAL REPORT OF FY 1999, 2000, AND 2001 ACTIVITIES: CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED SOUNDING SYSTEM IN SUPPORT OF THE DOE/ARM EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM The basic goals of the research are to develop and test algorithms and deploy instruments that improve measurements of atmospheric quantities relevant to radiative transfer and climate research. Primary among these atmospheric variables are integrated amounts of water vapor and cloud liquid, as well as profiles of temperature, water vapor and cloud liquid. A primary thrust of this research is to combine data from instruments available to ARM to maximize their importance in radiative transfer and climate research. To gather data relevant to these studies, participation in field experiments, especially intensive operating periods, as well as the subsequent analysis and dissemination of collected data, is of primary importance. Examples of relevant experiments include several Water Vapor Intensive Operating Periods at the Southern Great Plains Cloud And Radiation Testbed site, experiments in the Tropical Western Pacific such as PROBE and Nauru'99, and experiments at the North Slope of Alaska/Adjacent Arctic Ocean site. This final report describes our analyses of data taken during these field experiments.

The purpose of this work was to provide chemical- and physical-property data addressing the technical risks of the Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) process as applied specifically to the removal of cesium from alkaline high-level salt waste stored at the US Department of Energy Savannah River Site. As part of the overall Salt Processing Project, this effort supported decision-making in regards to selecting a preferred technology among three alternatives: (1) CSSX, (2) nonelutable ion-exchange with an inorganic silicotitanate material and (3) precipitation with tetraphenylborate. High risks, innate to CSSX, that needed specific attention included: (1) chemical stability of the solvent matrix, (2) radiolytic stability of the solvent matrix, (3) proof-of-concept performance of the proposed process flowsheet with simulated waste, and (4) performance of the CSSX flowsheet with actual SRS high-level waste. This body of work directly addressed the chemical-stability risk and additionally provided supporting information that served to plan, carry out, and evaluate experiments conducted by other CSSX investigators addressing the other high risks. Information on cesium distribution in extraction, scrubbing, and stripping served as input for flowsheet design, provided a baseline for evaluating solvent performance under numerous stresses, and contributed to a broad understanding of the effects of expected process …

This report summarizes progress from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program during fiscal year 2001. In addition to a programmatic and financial overview, the report includes progress reports from 295 individual R and D projects in 14 categories.

This report provides information on the status of groundwater monitoring at the Hanford Site during fiscal year 2001.

This report covers the work performed in the first year of a three-year project funded by the USDOE's Subsurface Contaminant Focus Area (SCFA). The objectives of this project are to develop, demonstrate and evaluate, at appropriate field sites, the utility of high frequency seismic imaging methods to detect and characterize non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contamination in sedimentary and fractured rock aquifers. Field tests consist of crosswell seismic tomography acquired before, during and after any remediation action that would potentially affect fluid distributions. Where feasible, other characterization data is obtained, such as crosswell radar, borehole conductivity and cone penetration testing (CPT). Crosswell data are processed to obtain tomographic images, or two-dimensional distributions, of velocity and attenuation. The interpretation of the tomograms utilizes all available site characterization data to relate the geophysical attributes to lithology and fluid phase heterogeneities. Interpretations are validated by evaluation and testing of field cores. Laboratory tests on core retrieved from surveyed locations are performed to determine the relationships between geophysical parameters and solid and fluid phase composition. In the case of sedimentary aquifers, proof of principle has been demonstrated previously in homogeneous sand-packs at the centimeter and half-meter scale (Geller and Myer, 1995; Geller et al., 2000). …

This report provides year end status of PNNL performance against the FY01 critical outcomes.

The purpose of this collaborative Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project is to investigate the suitability of lead or lead-bismuth cooled fast reactors for producing low-cost electricity as well as for actinide burning. The goal is to identify and analyze the key technical issues in core neutronics, materials, thermal-hydraulics, fuels, and economics associated with the development of this reactor concept. Work has been accomplished in four major areas of research: core neutronic design, plant engineering, material compatibility studies, and coolant activation. The publications derived from work on this project (since project inception) are listed in Appendix A.

Environmental fate and transport of the toxic air pollutant mercury (Hg) is currently a high-priority regional concern for the INEEL, and national and global concern for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At the INEEL’s Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC), significant quantities (est. 40 kg/year) of Hg may have been released over 37 years of Environmental Management’s (EM) High-Level Waste (HLW) treatment operations. The EPA is very concerned about the continued global buildup of Hg in the atmosphere and aquatic ecosystems, and has recently invested heavily in Hg research to better understand its complex environmental cycling.1,2 The Environmental Sampling work began in FY99 as a joint INEEL/U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) field research effort to (a) better understand the fate and potential impacts of Hg emissions from the INEEL’s HLW treatment operations (operational component) and (b) contribute at a national level to the scientific understanding of local, regional, and global Hg fate and transport (research component). The USGS contributed snow sampling support in the field (Water Resources Division, Salt Lake City) and laboratory analysis of all samples (Wisconsin District Mercury Research Laboratory).

This report provides an update to the Sodium Bearing Waste (SBW) Technology Development Roadmap generated a year ago. It outlines progress made to date and near-term plans for the technology development work necessary to support processing SBW. In addition, it serves as a transition document to the Risk Management Plan (RMP) required by the Project per DOE Order 413.3, “Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets.” Technical uncertainties have been identified as design basis elements (DBEs) and captured in a technical baseline database. As the risks are discovered, assessed, and mitigated, the status of the DBEs in the database will be updated and tracked to closure.

Palladium used at Savannah River (SR) for process tritium storage is currently obtained from a commercial source. In order to understand the processes involved in preparing this material, SR is supporting investigations into the chemical reactions used to synthesize this material. The material specifications are shown in Table 1. An improved understanding of the chemical processes should help to guarantee a continued reliable source of Pd in the future. As part of this evaluation, a work-for-others contract between Westinghouse Savannah River Company and Ames Laboratory (AL) was initiated. During FY98, the process for producing Pd powder developed in 1986 by Dan Grove of Mound Applied Technologies, USDOE (the Mound muddy water process) was studied to understand the processing conditions that lead to changes in morphology in the final product. During FY99 and FY00, the process for producing Pd powder that has been used previously at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories (the Sandia/LANL process) was studied to understand the processing conditions that lead to changes in the morphology of the final Pd product. During FY01, scale-up of the process to batch sizes greater than 600 grams of Pd using a 20-gallon Pfaudler reactor was conducted by the Iowa State University …

This document describes the supplemental analyses that have been performed and the results incorporating those analyses into a supplemental Total Systems Performance Analyses (TSPA). Volume 2 describes the performance assessment analyses conducted using the updated information documented in Volume 1.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering the possible recommendation of a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for development as a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. To facilitate public review and comment, in May 2001 the DOE released the Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report (S&ER) (DOE 2001 [DIRS 153849]), which presents technical information supporting the consideration of the possible site recommendation. The report summarizes the results of more than 20 years of scientific and engineering studies. A decision to recommend the site has not been made: the DOE has provided the S&ER and its supporting documents as an aid to the public in formulating comments on the possible recommendation. When the S&ER (DOE 2001 [DIRS 153849]) was released, the DOE acknowledged that technical and scientific analyses of the site were ongoing. Therefore, the DOE noted in the Federal Register Notice accompanying the report (66 FR 23 013 [DIRS 155009], p. 2) that additional technical information would be released before the dates, locations, and times for public hearings on the possible recommendation were announced. This information includes: (1) the results of additional technical studies of a potential repository at Yucca Mountain, …

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was awarded ten Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants in fiscal year 1996, six in fiscal year 1997, nine in fiscal year 1998, seven in fiscal year 1999, and five in fiscal year 2000. All of the fiscal year 1996 award projects have published final reports. The 1997 and 1998 award projects have been completed or are nearing completion. Final reports for these awards will be published, so their annual updates will not be included in this document. This section summarizes how each of the 1999 and 2000 grants address significant U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in more detail in the individual progress reports contained in this document. The 1999 and 2000 EMSP awards at PNNL are focused primarily in two areas: Tank Waste Remediation, and Soil and Groundwater Cleanup.