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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

The Development of a Small-Scale Project Model for Waste Management at the Port Hope Conversion Facility - 19126

Cameco Corporation's (Cameco) Port Hope Conversion Facility (PHCF) was previously owned by the federal Crown Corporation, Eldorado Nuclear, which held a significant inventory of legacy waste material at the time Cameco was formed in 1988. Over time, Cameco's ongoing operations contributed to an increase in the volume of low-level radioactive waste managed onsite. Since 2011, Cameco has completed annual waste management campaigns with the goal of accelerating the recycle/disposal of accumulated legacy radioactive wastes stored at its Ontario operations. With disposal options for low-level radioactively contaminated wastes in Canada limited due to cost considerations and no commercially accessible landfills licensed for radioactive material. In recent years, Cameco has started to ship marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) to the United States for disposal in an appropriate landfill owned by US Ecology in Idaho. Numerous successful campaigns totaling over 1,000 successful shipments, have been completed to transport drummed and/or bagged material by rail in gondola cars to the disposal facility in Idaho since 2011. All shipments have been completed in compliance with all environmental regulations, with a perfect compliance record maintained to date. To achieve this excellent compliance record, the campaigns require careful planning by both organizations, as well as deployment of personnel from the Idaho facility during the campaign for project management, characterization and/or radiation monitoring support. As the accumulated waste inventory has been reduced through these projects, the scope and duration of each campaign has also decreased. In the last few years, road transport directly to the Idaho facility has also been utilized. This option allows for the deployment of small projects that may be completed for a smaller inventory of a specific waste type and to manage newly-generated low-level radioactive wastes on an ongoing basis. These projects have ranged from a single standard van shipment to multiple trucks running continuous loops between the Ontario and Idaho or Ontario and an intermediary site and have been utilized for marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) as well as marginally contaminated wastes with additional hazard classification. Cameco and US Ecology personnel have collaborated to develop characterization and shipment procedures that enable these projects to be executed in full compliance with all Canadian and US regulations, without deployment of personnel from the Idaho facility, while maintaining adequate oversight by both organizations to ensure that the waste is safely and compliantly managed. These protocols have been implemented and optimized for the Port Hope Conversion Facility and will be rolled out to other Cameco facilities in Ontario through 2019. Cameco expects to utilize the small project model for the long term to ensure that eligible marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) are managed appropriately to ensure that once the legacy material is eliminated, it remains so. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

WHONDRS 48 Hour Diel Cycling Study at the Nisqually River, WA

This dataset is from a sampling campaign completed over the course of 48 hours to investigate the effects of glacial freeze/thaw cycle-induced water level variation on aqueous chemistry, dissolved organic matter chemistry, and metabolic potential of microbial communities at the Nisqually River, WA, USA. Filtered surface water (SW) and pore water (PP) samples were collected every three hours in August 2018. This dataset is one of seven companion datasets that were part of the WHONDRS 48 Hour Diel Cycling Study of freshwater rivers. All seven datasets are available on ESS-DIVE; they can be found by searching for WHONDRS 48 Hour.This package contains a variety of chemical and hydrologic variables. All data types are provided in a standard format. Basic geochemistry analyses (e.g., non-purgeable organic carbon concentration, cations, anions, SpC, pH) were conducted, standardized photos were taken, surface water hydrographs were collated from existing instrumentation, and extensive metadata were captured. Aqueous chemistry variables include USGS codes in the first portion of the variable name (e.g., 00940_Cl_mg_per_L). These codes allow for interoperability with USGS water quality data. In addition, samples were delivered to the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL; https://www.pnnl.gov/environmental-molecular-sciences-laboratory) for high resolution characterization of dissolved organic matter via 12 Tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). The data package contains instructions to process the FTICR data based on the user’s specific needs, and sample-level summary indices derived from the FTICR data will be added to the data package. Beyond the data in this data package, metagenomic data are being generated on associated microbial communities. When these data are available, the data package will be updated with information on accessing them. Please contact WHONDRS@pnnl.gov for more information. Please use the data package’s DOI to cite the data package. We ask that you email us at WHONDRS@pnnl.gov to let us know that you're using the data and acknowledge WHONDRS and the U.S. Department of Energy's Subsurface Biogeochemical Research program—which generously provides funding to WHONDRS—in your publications, proposals, presentations, etc. All data are free to be used for any purpose, such as for manuscripts, presentations, and grant proposals. Note that the included hydrograph has a separate DOI that should also be cited. There is no obligation to include WHONDRS members as co-authors.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cropland abandonment between 1986 and 2018 across the United States: spatiotemporal patterns and current land uses

Knowing where and when croplands have been abandoned or otherwise removed from cultivation is fundamental to evaluating future uses of these areas, e.g. as sites for ecological restoration, recultivation, bioenergy production, or other uses. However, large uncertainties remain about the location and time of cropland abandonment and how this process and the availability of associated lands vary spatially and temporally across the United States. Here, we present a nationwide, 30 m resolution map of croplands abandoned throughout the period of 1986–2018 for the conterminous United States (CONUS). We mapped the location and time of abandonment from annual cropland layers we created in Google Earth Engine from 30 m resolution Landsat imagery using an automated classification method and training data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cropland Data Layer. Our abandonment map has overall accuracies of 0.91 and 0.65 for the location and time of abandonment, respectively. From 1986 to 2018, 12.3 (±2.87) million hectares (Mha) of croplands were abandoned across CONUS, with areas of greatest change over the Ogallala Aquifer, the southern Mississippi Alluvial Plain, the Atlantic Coast, North Dakota, northern Montana, and eastern Washington state. The average annual nationwide abandoned area across our study period was 0.51 Mha per year. Annual abandonment peaked between 1997 and 1999 at a rate of 0.63 Mha year –1 , followed by a continuous decrease to 0.41 Mha year –1 in 2009–2011. Among the abandoned croplands, 53% (6.5 Mha) changed to grassland and pasture, 18.6% (2.28 Mha) to shrubland and forest, 8.4% (1.03 Mha) to wetlands, and 4.6% (0.56 Mha) to non-vegetated lands. Of the areas that we mapped as abandoned, 19.6% (2.41 Mha) were enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program as of 2020. Our new map highlights the long-term dynamic nature of agricultural land use and its relation to various competitive pressures and land use policies in the United States.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2007

Modeling Malaria Transmission in Thailand and Indonesia

Malaria Modeling and Surveillance is a project in the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Applications Program. The main objectives of this project are: 1) identification of the potential breeding sites for major vector species: 2) implementation of a malaria transmission model to identify they key factors that sustain or intensify malaria transmission; and 3) implementation of a risk algorithm to predict the occurrence of malaria and its transmission intensity. Remote sensing and GIs are the essential elements of this project. The NASA Earth science data sets used in this project include AVHRR Pathfinder, TRMM, MODIS, NSIPP and SIESIP. Textural-contextual classifications are used to identify small larval habitats. Neural network methods are used to model malaria cases as a function of precipitation, temperatures, humidity and vegetation. Hindcastings based on these environmental parameters have shown good agreement to epidemiological records. Examples for spatio-temporal modeling of malaria transmissions in Southeast Asia are given. Discrete event simulations were used for modeling the detailed interactions among the vector life cycle, sporogonic cycle and human infection cycle, under the explicit influences of selected extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The output of the model includes the individual infection status and the quantities normally observed in field studies, such as mosquito biting rates, sporozoite infection rates, gametocyte prevalence and incidence. Results are in good agreement with mosquito vector and human malaria data acquired by Coleman et al. over 4.5 years in Kong Mong Tha, a remote village in western Thailand. Application of our models is not restricted to Southeast Asia. The model and techniques are equally applicable to other regions of the world, when appropriate epidemiological and vector ecological parameters are used as input.

Kiang, Richard↗
DOE OSTI2020

Robust Method to Identify Groundwater Affected By Redox Conditions at Los Alamos National Laboratory Legacy Cleanup Site - 20497

To facilitate the mission of the Department of Energy's (DoE's) Environmental Management Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a significant number of groundwater monitoring wells with depths ranging from 152-396 meter were completed for characterization and monitoring. Groundwater at Los Alamos tends to be oxygen saturated with very low concentrations of organic matter. Drilling fluids can introduce residual carbon causing an increase in microbial activity and local reducing conditions around the well, potentially impacting representativeness of groundwater data quality for redox sensitive constituents. We assert that the redox state of the wells can robustly be identified by aqueous solution concentrations of iron and manganese. An automated review process has been built into a computer-based data management system enabling an efficient screening process for identifying reducing conditions that are not caught using standard data-validation protocol, and ensures that important data quality issues are thoroughly identified and addressed in an efficient and timely manner. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

An Information Template for Evaluating the Relative Priority of Remediation Projects that Pose a Risk to Receptors - 18674

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has one of the largest remediation tasks in the world, in terms of the number of sites, the complexity of individual sites, the number of remediation projects at individual sites, and the full range of stakeholders involved. The question of how to decide what projects to initiate, at any point of time and how to prioritize the deployment of resources for these tasks, occurs both within and among sites. The Consortium for Risk Evaluation developed a Risk-informed Prioritization Framework for Oak Ridge Reservation. Our goal was to develop a risk-informed methodology for prioritizing remediation projects for the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation that can be adapted to other remediation projects elsewhere. The heart of the framework is a template that includes information about each site necessary to make prioritization decisions. The information in the template describes the environment (hazard, pathway, consequences), the receptors (workers, public, ecological) and the risk management considerations (cost, risk reduction effectiveness, capacity, efficiency and sequencing). The questions in the template provide a wide range of information that managers and regulators need to make decisions, and that Tribes and the public need to evaluate the efficacy of remediation decisions. Completing the template will also help identify data gaps, model parameters needed, and the agencies or individuals responsible for obtaining the information. The information presented in the Template will be useful for regulators (DOE, Environmental Protection Agency, states, Tribes), managers and workers at the sites, trustees of natural resources, site neighbors, and the general public, but more importantly, provides an example of information needed to rate the priority of remediation projects. DOE, other federal and state trustees, and regulators were included in all phases of the development, including the scope, overseeing its development, and evaluation of projects. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Current inequality and future potential of US urban tree cover for reducing heat-related health impacts

Excessive heat is a major and growing risk for urban residents. Here, we estimate the inequality in summertime heat-related mortality, morbidity, and electricity consumption across 5723 US municipalities and other places, housing 180 million people during the 2020 census. On average, trees in majority non-Hispanic white neighborhoods cool the air by 0.19 ± 0.05 °C more than in POC neighborhoods, leading annually to trees in white neighborhoods helping prevent 190 ± 139 more deaths, 30,131 ± 10,406 more doctors’ visits, and 1.4 ± 0.5 terawatt-hours (TWhr) more electricity consumption than in POC neighborhoods. We estimate that an ambitious reforestation program would require 1.2 billion trees and reduce population-weighted average summer temperatures by an additional 0.38 ± 0.01 °C. This temperature reduction would reduce annual heat-related mortality by an additional 464 ± 89 people, annual heat-related morbidity by 80,785 ± 6110 cases, and annual electricity consumption by 4.3 ± 0.2 TWhr, while increasing annual carbon sequestration in trees by 23.7 ± 1.2 MtCO 2 e yr -1 and decreasing annual electricity-related GHG emissions by 2.1 ± 0.2 MtCO 2 e yr -1 . The total economic value of these benefits, including the value of carbon sequestration and avoided emissions, would be USD 9.6 ± 0.5 billion, although in many neighborhoods the cost of planting and maintaining trees to achieve this increased tree cover would exceed these benefits. The exception is areas that currently have less tree cover, often the majority POC, which tend to have a relatively high return on investment from tree planting.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Viroid-like “obelisk” agents are widespread in the ocean and exceed the abundance of RNA viruses in the prokaryotic fraction

Abstract “Obelisks” are recently discovered ribonucleic acid (RNA) viroid-like elements present in diverse environments with no phylogenetic similarity to any known biological agent. obelisks were first identified in the human gut and in a commensal bacterium acting as a replicative host. They have a circular ∼1 kb RNA genome, rod-like secondary structures, and the encoding of a protein superfamily called “Oblins”. We performed a large-scale search of obelisks in the ocean using the Pebblescout program and the transcriptomic Sequence Archive Read databases, revealing the biogeography and abundance of these viroid-like RNA elements. We detected 55 obelisk genomes resulting in 35 marine clusters at the species level. These obelisks were detected in the prokaryotic fraction and to a lesser extent in the eukaryotic fraction, and distributed across all the oceans from surface to mesopelagic including the Arctic, and even in the coldest seawater of Earth beneath the Antarctic Ross Ice Shelf. The obelisk hallmark protein Oblin-1 confirmed by 3D models was found in various marine samples. Some of the detected marine obelisks harbor hammerhead self-cleaving ribozymes in both polarities. In the prokaryotic, but not the eukaryotic, fraction of the Tara Ocean dataset, relative abundance of obelisks calculated by transcriptomic fragment recruitment indicated that they are abundant in marine samples, reaching or even exceeding the relative abundance of the previously discovered uncultured RNA viruses. In conclusion, obelisks are abundant and widespread viroid-like elements that should be included in ocean biogeochemical models.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2024

BSEC VPRM 10m Hourly Biogenic Fluxes in Baltimore (2021)

Model outputs from the Vegetation Photosynthesis and Respiration Model (VPRM: version from Horne et al. in prep). Model remote sensing inputs come from Sential 2-derived EVI and LSWI. Model meteorological inputs for two-meter air temperature and shortwave incoming come from the BSEC WRF 2021 Control Run (Foust, W. 2023). Plant functional Types (PFTs) are spatially classified using the Chesapeake Bay Program 2018 land use land cover product. The final biogenic flux (µmol CO2 m^-2 s^-1) outputs of NEE, RESP, and GEE are a weighted average based on the portion of PFTs within the cell. Individual PFT outputs are saved inside PFT directories (e.g., Crops, Grass, etc.) inside the specific month directory. Model outputs are denoted as a negative flux into the land system (i.e., photosynthesis) and a positive flux as a net release into the overlying atmosphere. Respiration (RESP) fluxes are positive and combine heterotrophic (only soil) and autotrophic sources. Gross ecosystem exchange (GEE) is a negative flux driven by only photosynthetic activity from vegetation, and the Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) is the sum of the two (i.e., NEE=RESP+GEE). Data Characteristics Spatial Resolution: 10m Temporal Resolution: Hourly File Format: VPRM_ _BSEC. .tif (Hour is in UTC) For more information on the model results, please email Jason Horne (jph6488@psu.edu). References: Foust, W. (2023). BSEC WRF 2021 Control Run Output (v0.1.0) [Data set]. MSD-LIVE Data Repository. https://data.msdlive.org/records/m0e6m-vvq17

Baltimore↗
DOE OSTI2025

Intraspecific Diversity in Thermal Performance Determines Phytoplankton Ecological Niche

ABSTRACT Temperature has a primary influence on phytoplankton physiology and ecology. We grew 12 strains of Gephyrocapsa huxleyi isolated from different‐temperature regions for ~45 generations (2 months) and characterised acclimated thermal response curves across a temperature range. Even with similar temperature optima and overlapping cell size, strain growth rates varied between 0.45 and 1 day −1 . Thermal niche widths varied from 16.7°C to 24.8°C, suggesting that strains use distinct thermal response mechanisms. We investigated the implications of this thermal intraspecific diversity using an ocean ecosystem simulation resolving phytoplankton thermal phenotypes. Model analogues of thermal ‘generalists’ and ‘specialists’ resulted in a distinctive global biogeography of thermal niche widths with a nonlinear latitudinal pattern. We leveraged model output to predict ranges of the 12 lab‐reared strains and demonstrated how this approach could broadly refine geographic range predictions. Our combination of observations and modelled biogeography highlights the capacity of diverse groups to survive temperature shifts.

Krinos, Arianna I. [Department of Biology Woods Ho↗
NASA NTRS2002

Modeling and control for closed environment plant production systems

A computer program was developed to study multiple crop production and control in controlled environment plant production systems. The program simulates crop growth and development under nominal and off-nominal environments. Time-series crop models for wheat (Triticum aestivum), soybean (Glycine max), and white potato (Solanum tuberosum) are integrated with a model-based predictive controller. The controller evaluates and compensates for effects of environmental disturbances on crop production scheduling. The crop models consist of a set of nonlinear polynomial equations, six for each crop, developed using multivariate polynomial regression (MPR). Simulated data from DSSAT crop models, previously modified for crop production in controlled environments with hydroponics under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, were used for the MPR fitting. The model-based predictive controller adjusts light intensity, air temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration set points in response to environmental perturbations. Control signals are determined from minimization of a cost function, which is based on the weighted control effort and squared-error between the system response and desired reference signal.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
DOE OSTI2019

Public Perceptions of Environmental Public Health Risks in the United States

Understanding public perceptions about environmental health hazards, exposures, and health impacts can help environmental public health practitioners to target and prioritize community activities, policy needs, and communication strategies. The online cross-sectional 2013 summer wave of the ConsumerStyles survey sampled U.S. adults and used questions from the Centers for Disease Control’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Program to measure public awareness of governmental efforts to track environmental exposures and links to health impacts, as well as perceptions of environmental health issues. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regressions examined the associations between demographic characteristics and level of awareness of government environmental public health efforts or level of concern about health risks associated with environmental pollutants. Responses were received from 4033 participants, yielding a response rate of 66.0%. More than half of respondents (57.8%) noted concerns about health risks from environmental pollutants. More than one-third (40.0%) of respondents reported awareness of government efforts. Nearly 40% of respondents felt that none of the health impacts listed in the survey were related to environmental issues. Multiple logistic regression models showed that non-Hispanic blacks, other races, females, people with a college or higher education, and people living in the Midwest or South regions were more likely than their counterparts to be concerned about how the environment affects their health. Future work should focus on improving risk communication, filling the information gap on environmental health issues, and understanding how perceptions change over time.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2003

Electronic nose for space program applications

The ability to monitor air contaminants in the shuttle and the International Space Station is important to ensure the health and safety of astronauts, and equipment integrity. Three specific space applications have been identified that would benefit from a chemical monitor: (a) organic contaminants in space cabin air; (b) hypergolic propellant contaminants in the shuttle airlock; (c) pre-combustion signature vapors from electrical fires. NASA at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is assessing several commercial and developing electronic noses (E-noses) for these applications. A short series of tests identified those E-noses that exhibited sufficient sensitivity to the vapors of interest. Only two E-noses exhibited sufficient sensitivity for hypergolic fuels at the required levels, while several commercial E-noses showed sufficient sensitivity of common organic vapors. These E-noses were subjected to further tests to assess their ability to identify vapors. Development and testing of E-nose models using vendor supplied software packages correctly identified vapors with an accuracy of 70-90%. In-house software improvements increased the identification rates between 90 and 100%. Further software enhancements are under development. Details on the experimental setup, test protocols, and results on E-nose performance are presented in this paper along with special emphasis on specific software enhancements. c2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis↗
DOE OSTI2019

International Low Level Waste Management Practices and Technical Bases for Very Low Level Waste Classification - 19415

Different countries around the globe use varying schemes for the classification of radioactive waste. Many countries use adaptations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) waste classification scheme. The United States uses the Class A, B, and C waste classification scheme that is loosely based on the IAEA concepts. Classification may be based on concentration limits or dose rate limits or a combination of concentration and dose rate limits. In some countries the existence of very low-level waste categories allows nuclear power plant waste to be disposed of in hazardous waste or shallow land burial sites separate from low and intermediate level waste disposal facilities. In the United States, the very low-level waste (VLLW) classification does not exist. Nuclear power plants use alternative disposal procedures under 10CFR20.2002 and other licensed processes in agreement states in order to dispose of very low activity waste in hazardous waste disposal sites. [1] Disposal of VLLW in hazardous waste or separate VLLW facilities is generally more cost effective than disposing of waste in radioactive waste sites and is protective of the health and safety of the public. This can become an important factor when large volumes of very low activity waste are generated during decommissioning of nuclear power plants. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Radiation Safety (RS) Program has developed technical bases for the establishment of a very low-level waste category. EPRI studied how VLLW waste is defined, managed, and disposed of in various countries. This included the study of disposal site design, characteristics, and how these sites protect the health and safety of the environment and the public from low levels of radioactivity. EPRI conducted a cost benefit analysis to understand the economic impact of disposing VLLW in hazardous waste disposal sites versus low-level waste disposal sites. Finally, EPRI calculated potential radionuclide limits that may be used to define very low-level waste. The purpose of this work was to provide an example of how one might approach defining limits for VLLW. The same or similar approaches could be applied to derive radionuclide limits for different dose limit objectives. This paper presents the results of research that explored the waste management and disposal practices at six countries around the world with additional focus and details on the implementation of the very low-level waste category. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Metagenome-assembled genomes from Wind River Basin floodplain sediments Riverton, Wyoming site (June to October 2019)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken at three time points from June 12, 2019 to October 23,2019 at a location (PTT1) close to DOE Legacy Management well 855 at the Riverton, Wyoming floodplain site in the Wind River Basin (WRB). The groundwater at this site exhibits persistent U, Mo, and sulfate plumes and is one of the field sites in focus for the SLAC Groundwater Quality SFA program. Sediment samples were collected from 60 to 180 cm below surface every 30cm for microbial analyses through metagenomic sequencing. 15 metagenomes were sequenced through JGI and can be found under Gold sequencing project: Gs0131241. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 780 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (GTDB RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type. A sample metadata file (samples.csv) that contains site information has also been included.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

WHONDRS 48 Hour Diel Cycling Study at the Altamaha River in Georgia, USA

This dataset is from a sampling campaign completed over the course of 48 hours to investigate the effects of tidally induced water level variation on aqueous chemistry, dissolved organic matter chemistry, and metabolic potential of microbial communities at the Altamaha River, GA, USA. Filtered surface water (SW) and pore water (PP) samples were collected every three hours in October 2018. This dataset is one of seven companion datasets that were part of the WHONDRS 48 Hour Diel Cycling Study of freshwater rivers. All seven datasets are available on ESS-DIVE; they can be found by searching for WHONDRS 48 Hour. This package contains a variety of chemical and hydrologic variables. All data types are provided in a standard format. Basic geochemistry analyses (e.g., non-purgeable organic carbon concentration, cations, anions, SpC, pH) were conducted, standardized photos were taken, surface water hydrographs were collated from existing instrumentation, and extensive metadata were captured. Aqueous chemistry variables include USGS codes in the first portion of the variable name (e.g., 00940_Cl_mg_per_L). These codes allow for interoperability with USGS water quality data. In addition, samples were delivered to the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL; https://www.pnnl.gov/environmental-molecular-sciences-laboratory) for high resolution characterization of dissolved organic matter via 12 Tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). The data package contains instructions to process the FTICR data based on the user’s specific needs, and sample-level summary indices derived from the FTICR data will be added to the data package. Beyond the data in this data package, metagenomic data are being generated on associated microbial communities. When these data are available, the data package will be updated with information on accessing them. Please contact WHONDRS@pnnl.gov for more information. Please use the data package’s DOI to cite the data package. We ask that you email us at WHONDRS@pnnl.gov to let us know that you're using the data and acknowledge WHONDRS and the U.S. Department of Energy's Subsurface Biogeochemical Research program—which generously provides funding to WHONDRS—in your publications, proposals, presentations, etc. All data are free to be used for any purpose, such as for manuscripts, presentations, and grant proposals. Note that the included hydrograph has a separate DOI that should also be cited. There is no obligation to include WHONDRS members as co-authors. Please note that this data package was originally published in November 2019. It was updated in July 2020. See the readme file in the data package for details. None of the data values were altered. The units were updated in one column of the main metadata file and in one of the methods codes descriptions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Implementation of a Dose-based Compliance System for WCS - 19178

Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS) operates a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facility in Andrews, Texas. The site includes a compact waste facility (CWF) that began receiving waste in 2012, a federal waste facility (FWF) that started receiving waste in 2013, as well as a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) landfill and a byproduct facility. The current site license uses a complex system of concentration-based investigation levels and action levels (ILs and ALs) coupled with analytical decision levels (ADLs) that, when exceeded, require specific steps to be taken. These concentration-based ILs and ALs are media specific (i.e. air, soil, water), radionuclide specific, location specific, and disposal facility specific. This results in thousands of individual ILs, ALs, and ADLs that need to be managed and evaluated routinely in order to demonstrate compliance. Further, under the current system, each exceedance of an IL and AL can trigger comparisons to numerous additional isotopic ILs per sample, which is cumbersome, error prone, and costly. This paper describes implementation of a dose-based compliance system that has been developed to replace the existing system. The dose-based compliance system is implemented in RACER{sup C}, a cloud-based software developed by Risk Assessment Corporation (RAC). This system maintains all the analytical results related to the sampling and analysis conducted as part of the Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program (REMP) together with the geo-spatial data allowing instantaneous trending and analysis of the data. Further, the system contains the information needed to compare the analytical results to the new media-specific screening levels that have been developed, and the parameters and routines to compute doses using prescribed exposure scenarios and dose coefficients for compliance evaluation. Once measurement data are entered into RACER, the routines for continuous screening of air, soil, groundwater, and dosimeter data are triggered, and any sample result failing the screening step or exceeding the dose IL/AL is identified and flagged automatically for further review or action, as appropriate. Because RACER is cloud-based, the data, screening, and dose calculations can be accessed remotely at any time, providing a timely and efficient method for identifying any possible releases from the site to the environment as well as determining the potential dose consequences associated with a release. Furthermore, the system is accessible by the regulator providing transparency and ensuring they remain fully informed in an efficient manner. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Metagenome-assembled genomes from Slate River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (June 2018)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken June 2018 at two locations (OBJ1 and OBJ2) near the confluence of the Oh-Be-Joyful Creek and Slate River. The site is one of the field sites in focus for the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Groundwater Quality Science Focus Area (SFA) program. Sediment samples from a deep soil pit were collected from 50 to 150 cm depth below surface at discrete depths every 20 cm for microbial analyses. A total of 12 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0142591. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 1233 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗