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DOE OSTI2025

γ-Aminobutyric acid modulates terpene biosynthesis through the ATG8a-mediated pathway

Terpenes play crucial roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. The biosynthesis of terpenes is influenced by abiotic stress factors, such as drought, temperature, or light. Here, however, the molecular network underlying how terpenes are regulated in response to environmental stimuli remains largely unknown. Here, we identified the autophagy protein SgATG8a as a key mediator of GABA-regulated terpene production and drought tolerance in Sindora glabra. SgATG8a, evolutionarily related to the animal GABA receptor-associated protein (GABARAP) subfamily, localizes in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Exogenous GABA treatment not only increased the expression level of terpene synthase genes (SgTPSs) but also led to enhanced accumulation of six main terpene components in Sindora glabra. In addition, GABA alleviated the photosynthesis damage and enhanced leaf biomass under drought conditions. Consistently, overexpression of SgATG8a in Arabidopsis increased terpene synthase gene (SgTPS) expression, leading to the enhanced production of four major terpenes and improved the tolerance of transgenic plants to drought stress by regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging systems. Moreover, the transcription factors SgWRKY13 and SgERF4 were identified as interacting partners of SgATG8a, activating SgTPS3 expression. Lectin receptor-like kinase (LecRK1) is involved in the GABA-mediated pathway by interacting with the SgWRKY13/SgERF4-SgATG8a proteins, and the LecRK1-SgWRKY13/SgERF4 phosphorylation module fine-tunes the transcription of the downstream SgTPS3 gene. Taken together, these findings reveal a novel role for GABA in regulating terpene biosynthesis and drought tolerance, providing insights into the molecular mechanism underlying GABA-mediated terpene production.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

The MELCOR Analysis of Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant Spent Fuel Pool for Fukushima-like Accident

The safety analysis of the nuclear power plant (NPP) is very important work in the NPP safety. Especially after the Fukushima NPP accident occurred, the importance of NPP safety analysis has been raised and there is more concern for the safety of NPPs in Taiwan. Because the earthquake and tsunami occurred, the cooling system of spent fuel pool failed and the safety issue of spent fuel pool generated in Japan's Fukushima NPP. Chinshan NPP is the first NPP in Taiwan which is BWR/4 plant and OLTP (Original Licensed Thermal Power) for each unit is 1775 MWt. Chinshan NPP finished SPU (stretch power uprate) and the operating power is 103.66% of the OLTP, which is 1840 MWt now. After Fukushima NPP accident occurred, in order to concern the safety of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool, we performed the safety analysis of spent fuel pool by using MELCOR/SNAP which also assumed the cooling system of spent fuel pool failed. The geometry of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool is 12.17 m x 7.87 m x 11.61 m and the initial condition is 60 deg. (water temperature) / 1.013 x 10{sup 5} Pa. And, the total power of the fuels is roughly 8.9 MWt initially. MELCOR is developed by Sandia National Laboratories. MELCOR is a fully integrated, engineering-level computer code that models the progression of severe accidents in light water reactor NPPs, including containment response and leakage of activity to the environment. A broad spectrum of severe accident phenomena in both BWRs and PWRs is treated in MELCOR in a unified framework. These include thermalhydraulic response in the reactor coolant system, reactor cavity, containment, and confinement buildings; core heatup, degradation, and relocation; core-concrete attack; hydrogen production, transport, and combustion; fission product release and transport behavior. Current uses of MELCOR include estimation of severe accident source terms and their sensitivities and uncertainties in a variety of applications. According to Dr. Carbajo's paper, MELCOR was used to perform the study of spent fuel pool of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4. Niina E. Koenoenen used MELCOR to establish the spent fuel pool model of a Nordic BWR. The loss-of-pool-cooling accidents was simulated and analyzed by this model. The above studies indicate that MELCOR is capable of handling the simulation of the spent fuel pool. An increasing number of researchers are using MELCOR code to analyze test facilities and nuclear power plants. Jun Wang et al. used MELCOR to perform core degradation simulation and MELCOR results were compared with CORA experimental data. Through this work, they reviewed the performance of MELCOR COR package in detail. Tae Woon Kim et al. developed MELCOR model of APR1400 (an advanced pressurized water reactor). They used this model to perform the LBLOCA transient simulation and sensitivity study. Longze Li et al. established the MELCOR model of CPR1000 (a Chinese pressurized reactor 1000-MW power plant). The station blackout (SBO) with failure of the steam generator (SG) safety relief valve (SRV) transient was simulated and analyzed by this model. SNAP is a graphic user interface program that processes the inputs and outputs of MELCOR. In addition, there is an animation function in SNAP which can present the animation of analysis results. There are two main steps in this research. The first step was the establishment of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool MELCOR/SNAP model. And the transient analysis of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool MELCOR/SNAP model under the cooling system failure condition was performed. The next step was the comparison among the MELCOR, TRACE and CFD data. TRACE and CFD data were from INER reports. In addition, the animation model of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool was presented by using the animation function of SNAP with MELCOR/SNAP analysis results. This study has developed MELCOR/SNAP model of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool successfully. By using the above model, the safety analysis of the spent fuel pool was performed under the cooling system of spent fuel pool failed condition. The analysis results of MELCOR, TRACE and CFD were similar in this case. It indicated that there was a respectable accuracy in MELCOR/SNAP model. The analysis results depicted that the uncovered of the fuels occurred at 2.6 day and the metal-water reaction of fuels occurred roughly at 3.7 day after the cooling system failed. The above results indicated that the failure of cladding occurred after 3.7 day. This study's results can help to evaluate the safety issue of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool. In addition, the cooling system and some mitigation measures of spent fuel pool is not simulated in the above model. However, we will do it in the future. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2025

BONCAT-Live for isolation and cultivation of active environmental bacteria

In diverse environments, microbes drive a myriad of processes, from geochemical and nutrient cycling to interspecies interactions, including associations with plants and animals. Their physiological state is dynamic and impacted by abiotic and biotic conditions, responding to environmental fluctuations by changes in cellular metabolism, according to their genetic potential. Molecular, cellular, and genomic approaches can identify and measure microbial responses and adaptation to environmental changes in native communities. However, isolating individual microbial cells that respond to specific changes for cultivation has been difficult. To address this, we implemented a novel bacterial isolation approach (BONCAT-Live) by integrating bio-orthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) in diverse native communities, with isolation and cultivation of cells responding to specific stimuli, at different time scales. In frozen Arctic permafrost samples, we identified and isolated dormant bacteria that become active after thawing under native or nutrient-enriched conditions. From the Populus tree rhizosphere, we isolated strains that thrive under high concentrations of root exudates that act as defense compounds and nutrients. In the human microbiome, we identified and isolated bacteria that rapidly proliferated when exposed to metabolites provided by the host or other co-occurring microbes. Further characterization of isolated bacterial strains will provide opportunities for in-depth determination of how these microbes adapt to changes in their environments, individually and as part of model communities.

Analytical Methods↗

DOE OSTI2026

Ammonia in northeast Colorado is increasing, rising most quickly in regions close to confined animal feeding operations

The Colorado Front Range urban corridor and nearby agricultural operations are important source regions of atmospheric ammonia (NH 3 ). Upslope flows periodically transport these emissions into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), located 50 km west of the urban corridor, where wet and dry deposition of excess reactive nitrogen (N) impacts ecosystems. Here, we use a combination of in situ passive NH 3 measurements and NH 3 vertical column density retrievals from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) to assess variability and changes in NH 3 across three land use categories in the northeast Colorado source region (agricultural, urban, and remote) during the period 2013-2023. A strong seasonal cycle is present across the region with increased NH 3 during summer months. Elevated NH 3 is spatially correlated with the number of permitted animal units in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) within 12 km. Ground-level NH 3 concentrations are strongly positively correlated with monthly gridded IASI satellite column densities. Satellite retrievals reveal an increasing trend in NH 3 column amounts of ∼3% per year in agricultural and ∼2% per year in urban sub-regions. The magnitude of the trend observed in NH 3 columns averaged over the agricultural sub-region is > 3 times larger than observed near and over Denver. The largest increases in NH 3 are closely aligned with the distribution of CAFOs. Reductions in particle sulfate associated with declining sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions could account for only ∼0.1% per year increase in gaseous NH 3 . Wildfire smoke across the region has increased but appears unlikely to explain the majority of the observed NH 3 increase.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2013

Developing Load Cell Monitoring on the Mock UF 6 Feed and Withdrawal System

A proof-of-concept load cell monitoring system has been developed for the Mock Feed and Withdrawal (F&W) System at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This system leverages industry-standard commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software in a modular and scalable design. The Mock F&W System was designed to simulate operations at a uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ) gas centrifuge enrichment plant F&W area. It provides a test bed for process-monitoring technologies. Water, used as a surrogate for UF 6 , is pumped from three feed tanks, through a process surge tank, and is then cut between two tails tanks and three product tanks. The weight of the each tank is continuously monitored using a load cell monitoring system. In addition to the F&W stations, large and small accountancy stations are monitored. The Mock F&W System allows ORNL to test and evaluate capabilities of industry-standard process monitoring hardware and software. A variety of commonly used weighing indicators are connected to the load cells to monitor the weight at each station. These weighing indicators are representative of the types likely found in operating facilities. A data center modeled after those currently used for international safeguards was installed to collect and manage the weight data. This data center provides a robust and flexible test bed for testing and developing software solutions. COTS software packages that leverage industry-standard communication protocols provide a data flow architecture that is modular, interoperable, and scalable. One software package provides communication drivers to collect the raw weight data from the weighing indicators. A data historian is used to store the raw data. Custom in-house algorithms have been developed using MATLAB to analyze the raw historical data and to automatically identify process information. This information includes the number of cycles completed and the mass of material transferred from stations to the process. The process information identified by the analysis is stored in a Microsoft SQL Server database. Visualization concepts have been developed that display the analyzed process information alongside visually compelling plots and animations of the raw data. The load cell monitoring system developed on the Mock F&W System was designed as a proof of concept that could be scaled to a field trial at an operating facility. This system, built with industry standard hardware and software, has allowed ORNL to develop capabilities that provide confidence in the ability to leverage existing operator load cell monitoring equipment with minimal impact on operations. The international safeguards community is evaluating the use of load cell monitoring as an additional safeguards measure; this system demonstrates a practical solution to collect, store, analyze, and visualize load cell weight data.

commercial off the shelf↗

DOE OSTI2025

Human perception of ionizing radiation

Here, in this work, we address the question of whether humans can perceive ionizing radiation. We conducted a thorough review of the clinical and experimental literature related to ionizing radiation, with a focus on its acute effects. Specifically, we examined the three domains of X-ray perception found in animals (abdominal, olfactory, and retinal), which led us to instances of ionizing radiation-induced hearing and taste sensory phenomena in humans thus suggesting that humans can perceive X-rays across various sensory modalities via multiple mechanisms. We also analyzed literature to understand the mechanisms associated with reported symptoms, this led us to the concept of radiomodulation, an understudied modulatory effect of sub-ablative ionizing radiation doses on neurons. Based on this review of the literature we propose the hypothesis that a significant radiomodulation mechanism is the formation of reactive oxygen species from radiolysis which activates immune and sensory signal transduction mechanisms specifically related to the redox activity in TRP and K+ channels. Additionally, we find evidence to support the previous claims of perception stemming from Cherenkov radiation and ozone production which are perceived using canonical sensory modalities. Finally, for we provide a concise summary of the applications of ionizing radiation in clinical imaging and therapy, as well as prospects for future developments of radiation technologies for biomedical and fundamental research.

Ionizing radiation↗

DOE OSTI2018

Interaction between deca-BDE and hepatic deiodinase in a highly PBDE-exposed bird

Highlights: • Ring-billed gulls breeding in Montreal area are highly exposed to deca-BDE. • We studied biotransformation of deca-BDE and interaction with deiodinases. • No in vitro degradation of deca-BDE was observed using liver microsomes. • Deca-BDE interacted with deiodinase activity at the medium concentration. • Liver deca-BDE concentrations were correlated with plasma thyroid hormone levels. Studies have shown that debromination of the major component in the deca-brominated diphenyl ether mixture (deca-BDE), BDE-209, occurs in vivo in birds. Recent work from our laboratory on breeding ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) exposed to elevated PBDE concentrations in the densely-populated metropolis of Montreal (Canada) further suggests that BDE-209 debromination is potentially catalyzed by deiodinases in liver microsomes. The first objective of this study was to determine if type 1 deiodinase (D1) was involved in the in vitro debromination of BDE-209 in liver microsomes of ring-billed gulls. The second objective was to determine if there was an interaction between D1 and BDE-209 using an in vitro D1 activity assay. No depletion of BDE-209 was observed in gull liver microsomes. A significant 42% increase in total D1 activity was found in gull liver microsomes at the medium BDE-209 concentration (1.0 nM), although not at the low (0.5 nM) or high (2.5 nM) concentrations, suggesting potential non-dose related interaction with D1. Moreover, no correlation was found between total D1 activity in liver microsomes and plasma thyroid hormone levels, although there was a negative relationship between plasma BDE-209 concentrations and FT{sub 3} levels. Results from this study suggest that debromination of BDE-209 did not occur using present in vitro assay conditions, although indicated potential interaction with D1 that may have implication on circulating thyroid hormone status.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2014

Evaluation of the use of common sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) organ histology as bioindicator for element exposure in the fjord of the mining area Maarmorilik, West Greenland

The former Black Angel lead–zinc mine in Maarmorilik, West Greenland, is a historic example of how mining activity may result in a significant impact on the surrounding fjord system in terms of elevated concentrations of especially lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in seawater, sediments and surrounding biota. In order to shed light on the present contamination and possible effects in the fjord we initiated a range of studies including a pilot study on gill and liver morphology of common sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) around Maarmorilik. Sculpins were caught and sampled at five different stations known to represent a gradient of Pb concentrations. Fish livers from all specimens were analyzed for relevant elements in the area: Fe, Zn, As, Cu, Se, Cd, Pb, Ag, Hg, Co and Ni. Lead, As and Hg showed significant differences among the five stations. For 20% of the sculpins, Hg concentrations were in the range of lowest observed effect dose (LOED) of 0.1–0.5 μg/g ww for toxic threshold on reproduction and subclinical endpoints. Likewise LOEDs for tissue lesions, LOEDs for biochemistry, growth, survival and reproduction were exceeded for Cd (0.42–1.8 μg/g ww) and for As (11.6 μg/g ww) in 28% and 85% of the sculpins, respectively. Similar to this, the no observed effect dose (NOED) for biochemistry was exceeded for Pb (0.32 μg/g ww) and for growth, mortality and reproduction for Zn (60–68 μg/g ww) in 33% and 24% of the sculpins, respectively. For all sculpins, females were significantly larger than males and for five of the elements (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Se) females had higher concentrations. The chronic lesions observed in liver (mononuclear cell infiltrates, necrosis, vacuolar hepatocytes, portal fibrosis, bile duct hyperplasia, active melanomacrophage centers) and gills (fusion and edema of secondary lamellae, laminar telangiectasis, mononuclear cell infiltrates, blebs) were similar to those in the literature studies for both wild and laboratory exposed sculpins and other fish species carrying similar or higher Hg concentrations. Ignoring sex and size, specimens with hepatic cell infiltrates had the highest concentrations of most elements, a relation that was also found for gill telangiectasis and Hg (all p<0.05). When controlling for sex and size, the prevalence of vacuolar hepatocytes and endoparasites was significantly highest at the three most contaminated stations and similar differences were found for liver necrosis. We suggest that beside exposure to mining-related elements, other environmental factors, such as parasites, might be co-factors in the development of the observed liver and gill lesions. Therefore, sculpin liver and gill pathology are likely to be suitable health indicators when biomonitoring gradients of mining and other element related activity effects; while a larger study is required to fully evaluate the relationships. - Highlights: • Black Angel Pb–Zn mine in West Greenland has led to significant metal pollution. • Gill and liver morphology of common sculpins was evaluated as bioindicators. • Significant pathologies were found and were related to metal concentrations. • Sculpin pathology may be suitable health indicators for mining activity effects. • These should be enrolled in EIAs of raw material industrialization in the Arctic.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Development and application of an environmental risk register for marine energy device and project developers

The marine energy industry is steadily advancing as more devices are deployed worldwide. However, several challenges and barriers remain, such as lingering uncertainty regarding the potential environmental effects of marine energy devices on marine animals, habitats, and ecosystems. Concerns have led to difficulty navigating permitting and consenting processes and receiving authorization to deploy devices in the marine environment, including extended timelines and costs. Based on existing risk registers, a novel marine energy environmental risk register was created to help the marine energy industry move beyond these barriers. This risk register aims to aid marine energy device and project developers identify and assess potential environmental risks early in device design or project planning, document and track potential environmental interactions, prioritize risks and determine risk responses, and make decisions throughout device or project development. It can also be used as a tool to assist in communicating with regulators and advisors during permitting processes and to inform stakeholder and community engagement efforts. This paper details the methods and process to develop a risk register specific to environmental effects of marine energy and describes two use cases (one for wave energy and another for tidal energy) to highlight example results. Due to the tool's novelty, the paper showcases its application for the marine energy industry and acknowledges limitations and possible future improvements. Overall, the environmental risk register shows promise to support marine energy developers when identifying, tracking, and addressing potential environmental risks and to help successfully navigate permitting and deploy marine energy devices responsibly.

Environmental effects↗

DOE OSTI2012

Molecular mechanism of pancreatic tumor metastasis inhibition by Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 and its implication for de novo design of nanomedicine

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the most lethal of the solid tumors and the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related death in North America. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have long been targeted as a potential anticancer therapy because of their seminal role in angiogenesis and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation of tumor survival and invasion. However, the inhibition specificity to MMPs and the molecular-level understanding of the inhibition mechanism remain largely unresolved. Here, we found that endohedral metallofullerenol Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 can successfully inhibit the neoplastic activity with experiments at animal, tissue, and cellular levels. Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 effectively blocks tumor growth in human pancreatic cancer xenografts in a nude mouse model. Enzyme activity assays also show Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 not only suppresses the expression of MMPs but also significantly reduces their activities. We then applied large-scale molecular-dynamics simulations to illustrate the molecular mechanism by studying the Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 –MMP-9 interactions in atomic detail. Our data demonstrated that Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 inhibits MMP-9 mainly via an exocite interaction, whereas the well-known zinc catalytic site only plays a minimal role. Steered by nonspecific electrostatic, hydrophobic, and specific hydrogen-bonding interactions, Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 exhibits specific binding modes near the ligand-specificity loop S1', thereby inhibiting MMP-9 activity. Both the suppression of MMP expression and specific binding mode make Gd@C 82 (OH) 22 a potentially more effective nanomedicine for pancreatic cancer than traditional medicines, which usually target the proteolytic sites directly but fail in selective inhibition. Finally, our findings provide insights for de novo design of nanomedicines for fatal diseases such as pancreatic cancer.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

DOE OSTI2025

Subventricular Accumulation of Cu in the Aging Mouse Brain Does Not Associate with Anticipated Increases in Markers of Oxidative Stress

Natural aging is associated with mild memory loss and cognitive decline, and age is the greatest risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. There is substantial evidence that oxidative stress is a major contributor to both natural aging and neurodegenerative disease, and coincidently, levels of redox active metals such as Fe and Cu are known to be elevated later in life. Recently, a pronounced age-related increase in Cu content has been reported to occur in mice and rats around a vital regulatory brain region, the subventricular zone of lateral ventricles. In our study herein, we have characterized lateral ventricle Cu content in a unique murine model of accelerated aging, senescence accelerated mouse-prone 8 (SAMP8) mice. Our results confirm an age-related increase in ventricle Cu content, consistent with the studies by others in wild-type mice and rats. Specifically, we observed Cu content to increase over the time frame 1 to 5 months and 5 to 9 months, but interestingly, no significant increase occurred between 9 and 12 months (although brain Cu content at 12 months was significantly elevated relative to 1 and 5 month-old animals). Despite the magnitude of Cu increase observed within the cells that comprise the subventricular zone of lateral ventricles (average 3 mM Cu, with isolated subcellular concentrations of 17 mM), we did not detect spectroscopic markers of thiol oxidation, protein aggregation, or lipid oxidation. The lack of evidence for oxidative stress in ex vivo animal tissue is in contrast to in vitro studies demonstrating that thiol, protein, and lipid oxidation is pronounced at these Cu concentrations. We suggest that our findings most likely indicate that the Cu ions in this brain region are sequestered in an unreactive form, possibly extended chains of Cu-thiolate complexes, which do not readily redox cycle in the aqueous cytosol. In conclusion, these results also appear to partially challenge the long-held view that age-related increases in brain metal content drive oxidative stress as we did not observe a concomitant association between age-related Cu increase and markers of oxidative stress, nor did we observe a net increase in Cu content between mice aged 9 and 12 months.

X-ray fluorescence↗

DOE OSTI2026

Acute wood smoke exposure is associated with cell-specific hippocampal transcriptomic responses in an accelerated ovarian failure mouse model

Background Wildfire events are increasing in frequency and intensity, and aging individuals demonstrate heightened biological susceptibility to air pollution exposures including increased risk of neurological sequelae. Declining ovarian hormones levels that occur with aging in females along with associated systemic physiological and inflammatory changes may contribute to increased cerebral vulnerability to air pollution, representing a potential but underexplored mechanism. Menopause and the menopausal transition represent a period of profound physiological change that affects cardiovascular, neurological, and immune health. Methods We tested whether peri-menopausal–like hormonal status amplifies hippocampal responses to acute wood smoke (WS) using an ovary-intact, 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) model of moderate accelerated ovarian failure (AOF) in female C57BL/6 mice. Animals were exposed to HEPA-filtered air (FA) or WS for 4 h/day over 2 consecutive days (∼0.5 mg/m³). Exposure characterization confirmed a complex mixture of combustion products with significant levels of both trace metals and gas release during WS exposure. Results Spatial transcriptomics (10x Visium; n = 4 sections/group) with automated cell-type annotation identified astrocytes, GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons, oligodendrocytes, revealed cell type-specific transcriptional alterations following WS exposure. Distinct transcriptional patterns were observed across all identified neuronal and glial cell populations. Conclusion Together, these findings define a cell-type specific transcriptomic framework describing how WS exposure and ovarian hormone decline interact to influence hippocampal responses and identify potential cellular pathways relevant to hippocampal vulnerability.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

DOE OSTI2020

A Comparison of RESRAD and GoldSim Models for Assessing Radiological Dose for a RCRA Landfill - 20418

US Ecology Idaho (USEI) operates a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C, Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) Facility on a 640-acre property in Owyhee County, Idaho. USEI accepts a wide variety of RCRA-exempt low activity radioactive wastes, including naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and technologically enhanced NORM (TENORM) (USEI 2009). The performance of the landfill with regard to radiological operating permit requirements was previously assessed using a model constructed with the residual radioactivity (RESRAD) computer program, developed by Argonne National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). RESRAD supports the evaluation of several environmental transport pathways related to a radionuclide-contaminated soil source term, but it was not conceived as a model for the evaluation of landfill radiological performance. A more comprehensive and realistic model is desired in order to better support submissions to both the State of Idaho's Department of Environmental Quality as well as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A Performance Assessment (PA) computer model was developed using GoldSim software for the USEI RCRA Subtitle C landfill. The RESRAD computer model was specifically developed for calculating soil cleanup criteria and radiological dose and cancer risk from residual radioactive material in soil. To evaluate site-specific conditions, users may select from among a number of available environmental transport and exposure pathways and modify 'default' parameter values. In GoldSim, a user must construct the model 'from scratch.' However, this modeling is facilitated by a number of specialized elements available in GoldSim to support a radiological mass transport model. These include elements for defining radiological decay and ingrowth, container failure and radiological release, advective and diffusive transport, and other processes. Advantages afforded by the use of RESRAD for modeling radiological dose for a RCRA Subtitle C landfill include ease of use and reasonable flexibility in specifying site-specific conditions. GoldSim allows for considerably more flexibility and site-specificity than RESRAD, including evaluation of potentially relevant environmental transport processes not supported in RESRAD. The probabilistic modeling capabilities of GoldSim also far exceed those of RESRAD. The pros and cons of RESRAD and GoldSim for this modeling problem are explored with a focus on identifying approaches and critical factors in identifying the appropriate platform. The capabilities of RESRAD and GoldSim for mathematically modeling the disposal system will be contrasted and compared. For example, the existing RESRAD radiological safety assessment evaluated potentially complete exposure pathways related to infiltration to groundwater and upwards diffusion of radon. Additional transport pathways identified in the USEI Idaho facility Conceptual Site Model include deposition of radon decay products in cover material, root uptake of radionuclides in disposed wastes by native plants, and mixing of cover material by burrowing animals. Results of the two models and how the different transport and dose pathways affect results will be discussed. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2012

NEW MATERIALS DEVELOPED TO MEET REGULATORY AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH IN-SITU DECOMMISSIONING OF NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED FACILITIES

For the 2010 ANS Embedded Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination and Reutilization and Technology, Savannah River National Laboratory's Mike Serrato reported initial information on the newly developed specialty grout materials necessary to satisfy all requirements associated with in-situ decommissioning of P-Reactor and R-Reactor at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site. Since that report, both projects have been successfully completed and extensive test data on both fresh properties and cured properties has been gathered and analyzed for a total of almost 191,150 m{sup 3} (250,000 yd{sup 3}) of new materials placed. The focus of this paper is to describe the (1) special grout mix for filling the P-Reactor vessel (RV) and (2) the new flowable structural fill materials used to fill the below grade portions of the facilities. With a wealth of data now in hand, this paper also captures the test results and reports on the performance of these new materials. Both reactors were constructed and entered service in the early 1950s, producing weapons grade materials for the nation's defense nuclear program. R-Reactor was shut down in 1964 and the P-Reactor in 1991. In-situ decommissioning (ISD) was selected for both facilities and performed as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations and Liability Act actions (an early action for P-Reactor and a removal action for R-Reactor), beginning in October 2009. The U.S. Department of Energy concept for ISD is to physically stabilize and isolate intact, structurally robust facilities that are no longer needed for their original purpose of producing (reactor facilities), processing (isotope separation facilities), or storing radioactive materials. Funding for accelerated decommissioning was provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Decommissioning of both facilities was completed in September 2011. ISD objectives for these CERCLA actions included: (1) Prevent industrial worker exposure to radioactive or hazardous contamination exceeding Principal Threat Source Material levels; (2) Minimize human and ecological exposure to unacceptable risk associated with radiological and hazardous constituents that are or may be present; (3) Prevent to the extent practicable the migration of radioactive or hazardous contaminants from the closed facility to the groundwater so that concentrations in groundwater do not exceed regulatory standards; (4) Eliminate or control all routes of human exposure to radiological and chemical contamination; and (5) Prevent animal intruder exposure to radioactive and hazardous contamination.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Two-Stage Wildlife Event Classification for Edge Deployment

Camera-based wildlife monitoring is often overwhelmed by non-target triggers and slowed by manual review or cloud-dependent inference, which can prevent timely intervention for high stakes human–wildlife conflicts. Our key contribution is a deployable, fully offline edge vision sensor that achieves near-real-time, highly accurate wildlife event classification by combining detector-based empty-image suppression with a lightweight classifier trained with a staged transfer-learning curriculum. Specifically, Stage 1 uses a pretrained You Only Look Once (YOLO)-family detector for permissive animal localization and empty-trigger suppression, and Stage 2 uses a lightweight EfficientNet-based binary classifier to confirm puma on detector crops and gate downstream actions. Our design is robust to low-quality nighttime monochrome imagery (motion blur, low contrast, illumination artifacts, and partial-body captures) and operates using commercially available components in connectivity-limited settings. In field deployments running since May 2025, end-to-end latency from camera trigger to action command is approximately 4 s. Ablation studies using a dataset of labeled wildlife images (pumas, not pumas) show that the two-stage approach substantially reduces false alarms in identifying pumas relative to a full-image classifier while maintaining high recall. On the held-out test set (N = 1434 events), the proposed two-stage cascade achieves precision 0.983, recall 0.975, F1 0.979, accuracy 0.986, and balanced accuracy 0.983, with only 8 false positives and 12 false negatives. The system can be easily adapted for other species, as demonstrated by rapid retraining of the second stage to classify ringtails. Downstream responses (e.g., notifications and optional audio/light outputs) provide flexible actuation capabilities that can be configured to support intervention.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2017

Differential gene expression profiling of human adipose stem cells differentiating into smooth muscle-like cells by TGFβ1/BMP4

Regenerative repair of the vascular system is challenging from the perspectives of translational medicine and tissue engineering. There are fundamental hurdles in front of creating bioartificial arteries, which involve recaputilation of the three-layered structure under laboratory settings. Obtaining and maintaining smooth muscle characteristics is an important limitation, as the transdifferentiated cells fail to display mature phenotype. This study aims to shed light on the smooth muscle differentiation of human adipose stem cells (hASCs). To this end, we first acquired hASCs from lipoaspirate samples. Upon characterization, the cells were induced to differentiate into smooth muscle (SM)-like cells using a variety of inducer combinations. Among all, TGFβ1/BMP4 combination had the highest differentiation efficiency, based on immunohistochemical analyses. hSM-like cell samples were compared to hASCs and to the positive control, human coronary artery-smooth muscle cells (hCA-SMCs) through gene transcription profiling. Microarray findings revealed the activation of gene groups that function in smooth muscle differentiation, signaling pathways, extracellular modeling and cell proliferation. Our results underline the effectiveness of the growth factors and suggest some potential variables for detecting the SM-like cell characteristics. Evidence in transcriptome level was used to evaluate the TGFβ1/BMP4 combination as a previously unexplored effector for the smooth muscle differentiation of adipose stem cells. - Highlights: • Human adipose stem cells (hASCs) were isolated, characterized and cultured. • Growth factor combinations were evaluated for their effectiveness in differentiation using IHC. • hASCs were differentiated into smooth muscle (SM)-like cells using TGF-β1 and BMP4 combination. • Microarray analysis was performed for hASCs, SM-like cells and coronary artery-SMCs. • Microarray data was used to perform hierarchical clustering and interpretation of activated pathways.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2010

Temporal study of acetaminophen (APAP) and S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) effects on subcellular hepatic SAMe levels and methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) expression and activity

Acetaminophen (APAP) is the leading cause of drug induced liver failure in the United States. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) is protective for APAP hepatic toxicity. SAMe is critical for glutathione synthesis and transmethylation of nucleic acids, proteins and phospholipids which would facilitate recovery from APAP toxicity. SAMe is synthesized in cells through the action of methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT). This study tested the hypothesis that total hepatic and subcellular SAMe levels are decreased by APAP toxicity. Studies further examined MAT expression and activity in response to APAP toxicity. Male C57BL/6 mice (16-22 g) were treated with vehicle (Veh; water 15 ml/kg ip injections), 250 mg/kg APAP (15 ml/kg, ip), SAMe (1.25 mmol/kg) or SAMe administered 1 h after APAP injection (SAMe and SAMe + APAP). Hepatic tissue was collected 2, 4, and 6 h after APAP administration. Levels of SAMe and its metabolite S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) were determined by HPLC analysis. MAT expression was examined by Western blot. MAT activity was determined by fluorescence assay. Total liver SAMe levels were depressed at 4 h by APAP overdose, but not at 2 or 6 h. APAP depressed mitochondrial SAMe levels at 4 and 6 h relative to the Veh group. In the nucleus, levels of SAMe were depressed below detectable limits 4 h following APAP administration. SAMe administration following APAP (SAMe + APAP) prevented APAP associated decline in mitochondrial and nuclear SAMe levels. In conclusion, the maintenance of SAMe may provide benefit in preventing damage associated with APAP toxicity.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

DOE OSTI2015

Advanced solvent based methods for molecular characterization of soil organic matter by high-resolution mass spectrometry

Soil organic matter (SOM) a complex, heterogeneous mixture of above and belowground plant litter and animal and microbial residues at various degrees of decomposition, is a key reservoir for carbon (C) and nutrient biogeochemical cycling in soil based ecosystems. A limited understanding of the molecular composition of SOM limits the ability to routinely decipher chemical processes within soil and predict accurately how terrestrial carbon fluxes will response to changing climatic conditions and land use. To elucidate the molecular-level structure of SOM, we selectively extracted a broad range of intact SOM compounds by a combination of different organic solvents from soils with a wide range of C content. Our use of Electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS) and a suite of solvents with varying polarity significantly expands the inventory of the types of organic molecules present in soils. Specifically, we found that hexane is selective for lipid-like compounds with very low O:C ratios; water was selective for carbohydrates with high O:C ratios; acetonitrile preferentially extracts lignin, condensed structures, and tannin poly phenolic compounds with O:C > 0.5; methanol has higher selectivity towards compounds characterized with low O:C < 0.5; and hexane, MeOH, ACN and water solvents increase the number and types of organic molecules extracted from soil for a broader range of chemically diverse soil types. Our study of SOM molecules by ESI-FTICR MS revealed new insight into the molecular-level complexity of organics contained in soils.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗