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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Leveraging National Laboratory Assets to Address Stability Challenges due to Declining Grid Inertia Using Geographically Distributed Electrical–Thermal Co-Emulation

Due to increased penetration of low-inertia resources into the electric grid, challenges are increasing for maintaining wide-area system stability. Grid stability assessment requires a faithful representation of the multiple-physics interaction at the system level, and timescales of interaction varying in orders of magnitude, from microseconds to seconds to several minutes. Along with the simulation-based techniques, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), controller HIL, and power HIL techniques have been developed to better understand the emergent behavior of the system with emerging technologies. US National Laboratories have played a vital role in research and development to understand the behavior of individual technologies and devices integrated to the electric grid. Each national laboratory forwards a technological and strategic initiative tied core and enabling capabilities. Due to strategic, efficiency, and economic reasons, not all the labs have assets to conduct research on all technologies concomitantly, so it becomes crucial to integrate the labs across geographies to understand the interplay of different technologies together at the system level. This approach avoids duplication of the assets at different lab facilities and helps understand the integrated system behavior of various technologies representative of actual grid conditions by connecting multiple national labs. This article talks about techniques of connecting three national laboratories to enable co-emulation of electrical–mechanical–thermal characteristics of devices and systems. Such an approach can be used to understand the dynamic and transient interaction of multi-physics in a system level, at-scale emulation using real-time simulation tools and techniques.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hyperspectral imaging of minerals in the longwave infrared: the use of laboratory directional-hemispherical reference measurements for field exploration data

Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) continues to grow as a method for remote detection of vegetation, materials, minerals, and pure chemicals. We have used a longwave infrared (7.7 - 11.8 µm) imaging spectrometer in a static outdoor experiment to collect HSI data from 24 minerals and background materials to determine the efficacy with which HSI can remotely detect and distinguish both pure minerals and mineral mixtures at three solar angles (25°, 35°, and 45° relative to ground) as well as varying backgrounds and other sample effects. Measurements were obtained separately for the minerals and materials mounted directly both on a bare plywood board and a plywood board coated with aluminum foil: 19 powders (3 mixtures and 16 pure mineral powders) held in polyethylene bottle lids as well as 5 samples in rock form were taped directly to the boards. The primary goal of the experiment was to demonstrate that a longwave infrared (LWIR) library of solids and minerals collected as directional-hemispherical reflectance spectra in the laboratory can be used directly for HSI field identification. Prior to the experiment, all 24 mineral/inorganic samples were measured in the laboratory using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) equipped with a gold-coated IR integrating sphere; the spectra were assimilated as part of a larger reference library of 21 pure minerals, 3 mixtures, and the polyethylene lid. Principal components analysis (PCA) with mean-centering was used in an exploratory analysis of the HSI images and showed that for the aluminum coated board, the first principal component captured the difference between signal that resembled a blackbody and the highly reflective aluminum background. In contrast, principal components PC 2, 3, and 4 were able to discriminate the materials including phosphates, sulfates, silicates, carbonates, and the mixtures. Results from generalized least squares target detection clearly showed that laboratory reference spectra of minerals could be utilized as targets with high fidelity for field detection, both for pure and mixed samples.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Isolation and Characterization of Bacterial Cellulase Producers for Biomass Deconstruction: A Microbiology Laboratory Course.

The conversion of biomass to biofuels presents a solution to one of the largest global challenges of our era, climate change. A critical part of this pipeline is the process of breaking down cellulosic sugars from plant matter to be used by microbes containing biosynthetic pathways that produce biofuels or bioproducts. In this inquiry-based course, students complete a research project that isolates cellulase-producing bacteria from samples collected from the environment. After obtaining isolates, the students characterize the production of cellulases. Students then amplify and sequence the 16S rRNA genes of confirmed cellulase producers and use bioinformatic methods to identify the bacterial isolates. Throughout the course, students learn about the process of generating biofuels and bioproducts through the deconstruction of cellulosic biomass to form monosaccharides from the biopolymers in plant matter. The program relies heavily on active learning and enables students to connect microbiology with issues of sustainability. In addition, it provides exposure to basic microbiology, molecular biology, and biotechnology laboratory techniques and concepts. The described activity was initially developed for the Introductory College Level Experience in Microbiology (iCLEM) program, a research-based immersive laboratory course at the US Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Institute. Originally designed as an accelerated program for high-potential, low-income, high school students (11th–12th grade), this curriculum could also be implemented for undergraduate coursework in a research-intensive laboratory course at a two- or four-year college or university.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Current sheets in the Earth’s magnetosphere and in laboratory experiments: The magnetic field structure and the Hall effect

The main characteristics of current sheets (CSs) formed in laboratory experiments are compared with the results of satellite observations of CSs in the Earth’s magnetotail. We show that many significant features of the magnetic field structure and the distributions of plasma parameters in laboratory and magnetospheric CSs exhibit a qualitative similarity, despite the enormous differences of scales, absolute values of plasma parameters, magnetic fields, and currents. In addition to a qualitative comparison, we give a number of dimensionless parameters that demonstrate the possibility of laboratory modeling of the processes occurring in the magnetosphere.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sandia Injury Biomechanics Laboratory Library

The Sandia Injury Biomechanics Laboratory (SIBL) Library is a collection of scripts and tools used to preprocess, process, and postprocess data for analysis of injury biomechanics data. SAND2020-3663 M Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Hovey, Chad↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigation of Yersinia pestis laboratory adaptation through a combined genomics and proteomics approach

Here, the bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis , the cause of plague in humans and animals, normally has a sylvatic lifestyle, cycling between fleas and mammals. In contrast, laboratory-grown Y. pestis experiences a more constant environment and conditions that it would not normally encounter. The transition from the natural environment to the laboratory results in a vastly different set of selective pressures, and represents what could be considered domestication. Understanding the kinds of adaptations Y. pestis undergoes as it becomes domesticated will contribute to understanding the basic biology of this important pathogen. In this study, we performed a Parallel Serial Passage Experiment (PSPE) to explore the mechanisms by which Y. pestis adapts to laboratory conditions, hypothesizing that cells would undergo significant changes in virulence and nutrient acquisition systems. Two wild strains were serially passaged in 12 independent populations each for ~750 generations, after which each population was analyzed using whole-genome sequencing. We observed considerable parallel evolution in the endpoint populations, detecting multiple independent mutations in ail , pepA , and zwf , suggesting that specific selective pressures are shaping evolutionary responses. Complementary LC-MS-based proteomic data provide physiological context to the observed mutations, and reveal regulatory changes not necessarily associated with specific mutations, including changes in amino acid metabolism, envelope biogenesis, iron storage and acquisition, and a type VI secretion system. Proteomic data support hypotheses generated by genomic data in addition to suggesting future mechanistic studies, indicating that future whole-genome sequencing studies be designed to leverage proteomics as a critical complement.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data and Scripts associated with: “Laboratory evaluation of open source and commercial electrical conductivity sensor precision and accuracy”

This data package is associated with the publication “Laboratory evaluation of open source and commercial electrical conductivity sensor precision and accuracy: How do they compare?” submitted to PLOS ONE and accepted for publication (Fulton, S.G. et al. 2023; doi not yet available).Variation in electrical conductivity (EC) of water is important to reveal environmental disturbance and natural dynamics, including factors such as anthropogenic salinization. This data package supports a study addressing the need for a robust performance assessment of open source (OS) EC sensors. We evaluated the accuracy (mean error, %) and precision (sample standard deviation) of OS EC sensors in the laboratory via comparison to EC calibration standards using three different OS and OS/commercial-hybrid (OS/C) EC sensors and data logger configurations and two commercial (C) EC sensors and data logger configurations. We also evaluated the effect of cable length (7.5 m and 30 m) and sensor calibration on OS sensor accuracy and precision. This data package presents the results from the different testing laboratory configurations. It also includes an R script for statistical analysis of the data and an Arduino IDE file used to calibrate and collect data with the OS Atlas EC sensor. File types are .csv, .pdf, .R, and .ino.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-xNG NEON Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NOGP)

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-xNG NEON Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NOGP). This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-xNG NEON Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NOGP) produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - This site is located at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory

Network), NEON (National Ecological Observatory↗
DOE OSTI2024

Board 160: Empowerment in STEM Day: Introducing High School Girls to Careers at National Laboratories (Work in Progress)

In the US, women are still vastly underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers, and various studies have shown that girls' interest in STEM careers wane as high school progresses. With this challenge in mind, Empowerment in STEM Day was organized by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), hosting 47 high school students from 6 public high schools in the area. This one-day event was designed and executed through a collaboration between the Women's Support and Empowerment Council (WSEC) and the K-12 STEM Education and Outreach Program at LBNL. The main goal of this program was to provide high school girls, who have little access to STEM career role-models in their immediate surroundings with insights into how a career in STEM looks like. Invitations to participate in the program were sent out to six local high schools in the Bay area asking educators to identify female students that were interested in STEM. Each high school participant was provided with an opportunity to experience a national laboratory environment, learn more about summer workshops and paid summer research internship opportunities at LBNL for high school students, and engage directly with LBNL's employees through job shadow, career mapping and speed networking sessions. In this paper, we will present an overview of the event organization, challenges faced during planning and execution of the event, discuss the lessons learned from the first Empowerment in STEM Day and suggest strategies for incorporating such events at other national laboratories and academic institutions as part of a vital effort into recruiting and retaining more high school girls in STEM-based careers. Additionally, since this was the first in-person event hosted by LBNL's K-12 Program after the pandemic, we will also share the strategies implemented at the event so as to engage both remote and on-site employees as volunteers.

Bose, Baishakhi↗
DOE OSTI2018

Method for Controlling Temperature Profiles and Water Table Depths in Laboratory Sediment Columns

Core Ideas Column experiments simulating subsurface environments require control of temperature profiles. A 2‐m‐tall laboratory sediment column reproduced vadose zone thermal and hydraulic conditions. Measured CO 2 profiles show the importance of microbial respiration below the root zone. Transport from the soil surface to groundwater is commonly mediated through deeper portions of the vadose zone and capillary fringe, where variations in temperature and water saturation strongly influence biogeochemical processes. This technical note describes a sediment column design that allows laboratory simulation of thermal and hydrologic conditions found in many field settings. Temperature control is particularly important because room temperature is not representative of most subsurface environments. A 2.0‐m‐tall column was capable of simulating profiles with temperatures ranging from 3 to 22°C, encompassing the full range of seasonal temperature variation observed in the deep vadose zone and capillary fringe of a semiarid floodplain in western Colorado. The water table was varied within the lower 0.8‐m section of the column, and profiles of water content and matric potential were measured. Vadose zone CO 2 collected from depth‐distributed gas samplers under representative seasonal conditions reflected the influences of temperature and water table depth on microbial respiration. Thus, realistic subsurface biogeochemical dynamics can be simulated in the laboratory through establishing column profiles that represent seasonal thermal and hydrologic conditions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Laboratory Constraints on the Stability of Petroleum at Elevated Temperatures: Implications for the Origin of Natural Gas

Results of prior DOE supported research conducted at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have demonstrated the participation of sedimentary minerals and water as reactants and catalysts in chemical transformations associated with the degradation of oil and the formation of low molecular weight organic compounds. The occurrence of such processes in natural environments can be difficult to recognize because the composition of organic alteration products may not be substantially different than those produced by thermal cracking. The goals of this study were the development of diagnostic tools based on hydrogen and carbon isotopes that can be used to identify geochemical processes responsible for the formation of thermogenic natural gas. In addition, our activities were expanded to include experimental investigation of CO2 reduction in aqueous systems at elevated temperature and pressures and an assessment of microbial activity in relatively low temperature (<70°C) natural gas reservoirs in southeastern Oklahoma. Specific objectives included: A laboratory investigation of geochemical processes that regulate the hydrogen isotope composition of low molecular weight hydrocarbons in natural gas at elevated temperatures and pressures. A laboratory investigation of factors that regulate the carbon isotope composition of organic acids in basinal brines. A laboratory assessment of the role of methanol during reduction of CO2 to CH4 under hydrothermal conditions. Characterization of microbial ecosystems in coproduced fluids from the Potato Hills gas field to assess the role of microbes in the generation of natural gas.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2011

EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF THE DEFENSE WASTE PROCESSING FACILITY (DWPF) LABORATORY GERMANIUM OXIDE USE ON RECYCLE TRANSFERS TO THE H-TANK FARM

When processing High Level Waste (HLW) glass, the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) cannot wait until the melt or waste glass has been made to assess its acceptability, since by then no further changes to the glass composition and acceptability are possible. Therefore, the acceptability decision is made on the upstream feed stream, rather than on the downstream melt or glass product. This strategy is known as 'feed forward statistical process control.' The DWPF depends on chemical analysis of the feed streams from the Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) and the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) where the frit plus adjusted sludge from the SRAT are mixed. The SME is the last vessel in which any chemical adjustments or frit additions can be made. Once the analyses of the SME product are deemed acceptable, the SME product is transferred to the Melter Feed Tank (MFT) and onto the melter. The SRAT and SME analyses have been analyzed by the DWPF laboratory using a 'Cold Chemical' method but this dissolution did not adequately dissolve all the elemental components. A new dissolution method which fuses the SRAT or SME product with cesium nitrate (CsNO{sub 3}), germanium (IV) oxide (GeO{sub 2}) and cesium carbonate (Cs{sub 2}CO{sub 3}) into a cesium germanate glass at 1050 C in platinum crucibles has been developed. Once the germanium glass is formed in that fusion, it is readily dissolved by concentrated nitric acid (about 1M) to solubilize all the elements in the SRAT and/or SME product for elemental analysis. When the chemical analyses are completed the acidic cesium-germanate solution is transferred from the DWPF analytic laboratory to the Recycle Collection Tank (RCT) where the pH is increased to {approx}12 M to be released back to the tank farm and the 2H evaporator. Therefore, about 2.5 kg/yr of GeO{sub 2}/year will be diluted into 1.4 million gallons of recycle. This 2.5 kg/yr of GeO{sub 2} may increase to 4 kg/yr when improvements are implemented to attain an annual canister production goal of 400 canisters. Since no Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) exists for germanium in the Tank Farm, the Effluent Treatment Project, or the Saltstone Production Facility, DWPF has requested an evaluation of the fate of the germanium in the caustic environment of the RCT, the 2H evaporator, and the tank farm. This report evaluates the effect of the addition of germanium to the tank farm based on: (1) the large dilution of Ge in the RCT and tank farm; (2) the solubility of germanium in caustic solutions (pH 12-13); (3) the potential of germanium to precipitate as germanium sodalites in the 2H Evaporator; and (4) the potential of germanium compounds to precipitate in the evaporator feed tank. This study concludes that the impacts of transferring up to 4 kg/yr germanium to the RCT (and subsequently the 2H evaporator feed tank and the 2H evaporator) results in <2 ppm per year (1.834 mg/L) which is the maximum instantaneous concentration expected from DWPF. This concentration is insignificant as most sodium germanates are soluble at the high pH of the feed tank and evaporator solutions. Even if sodium aluminosilicates form in the 2H evaporator, the Ge will likely substitute for some small amount of the Si in these structures and will be insignificant. It is recommended that the DWPF continue with their strategy to add germanium as a laboratory chemical to Attachment 8.2 of the DWPF Waste Compliance Plan (WCP).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2011

Post Irradiation Capabilities at the Idaho National Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) oversees the research, development, and demonstration activities that ensure nuclear energy remains a viable energy option for the United States. Fuel and material development through fabrication, irradiation, and characterization play a significant role in accomplishing the research needed to support nuclear energy. All fuel and material development requires the understanding of irradiation effects on the fuel performance and relies on irradiation experiments ranging from tests aimed at targeted scientific questions to integral effects under representative and prototypic conditions. The DOE recently emphasized a solution-driven, goal-oriented, science-based approach to nuclear energy development. Nuclear power systems and materials were initially developed during the latter half of the 20th century and greatly facilitated by the United States ability and willingness to conduct large-scale experiments. Fifty-two research and test reactors with associated facilities for performing fabrication and pre and post irradiation examinations were constructed at what is now Idaho National Laboratory (INL), another 14 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and a few more at other national laboratory sites. Building on the scientific advances of the last several decades, our understanding of fundamental nuclear science, improvements in computational platforms, and other tools now enable technological advancements with less reliance on large-scale experimentation.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Idaho National Laboratory’s FY09 & FY10 Greenhouse Gas Report

A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a systematic approach to account for the production and release of certain gases generated by an institution from various emission sources. The gases of interest are those that climate science has identified as related to anthropogenic global climate change. This document presents an inventory of GHGs generated during fiscal year (FY) 2009 and 2010 by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored entity, located in southeastern Idaho. In recent years, concern has grown about the environmental impact of GHGs. This, together with a desire to decrease harmful environmental impacts, would be enough to encourage the calculation of an inventory of the total GHGs generated at INL. Additionally, INL has a desire to see how its emissions compare with similar institutions, including other DOE national laboratories. Executive Order 13514 requires that federal agencies and institutions document reductions in GHG emissions. INL's GHG inventory was calculated according to methodologies identified in federal GHG guidance documents using operational control boundaries. It measures emissions generated in three scopes: (1) INL emissions produced directly by stationary or mobile combustion and by fugitive emissions, (2) the share of emissions generated by entities from which INL purchased electrical power, and (3) indirect or shared emissions generated by outsourced activities that benefit INL (occur outside INL's organizational boundaries, but are a consequence of INL's activities). This inventory found that INL generated 103,590 and 102,413 MT of CO2-equivalent emissions during FY09 and FY10, respectively. The following conclusions were made from looking at the results of the individual contributors to INL's FY09 and FY10 GHG inventories: (1) Electricity (including the associated transmission and distribution losses) is the largest contributor to INL's GHG inventory, with over 50% of the CO2e emissions; (2) Other sources with high emissions were stationary combustion (facility fuels), waste disposal (including fugitive emissions from the onsite landfill and contracted disposal), mobile combustion (fleet fuels), employee commuting, and business air travel; and (3) Sources with low emissions were wastewater treatment (onsite and contracted), fugitive emissions from refrigerants, and business ground travel (in personal and rental vehicles). This report details the methods behind quantifying INL's GHG inventory and discusses lessons learned on better practices by which information important to tracking GHGs can be tracked and recorded. It is important to note that because this report differentiates between those portions of INL that are managed and operated by the Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) and those managed by other contractors, it includes only that large proportion of Laboratory activities overseen by BEA. It is assumed that other contractors will provide similar reporting for those activities they manage, where appropriate.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2011

Idaho National Laboratory’s Greenhouse Gas FY08 Baseline

A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a systematic attempt to account for the production and release of certain gasses generated by an institution from various emission sources. The gasses of interest are those which have become identified by climate science as related to anthropogenic global climate change. This document presents an inventory of GHGs generated during fiscal year (FY) 2008 by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored entity, located in southeastern Idaho. Concern about the environmental impact of GHGs has grown in recent years. This, together with a desire to decrease harmful environmental impacts, would be enough to encourage the calculation of a baseline estimate of total GHGs generated at INL. Additionally, INL has a desire to see how its emissions compare with similar institutions, including other DOE national laboratories. Executive Order 13514 requires that federal agencies and institutions document reductions in GHG emissions in the future, and such documentation will require knowledge of a baseline against which reductions can be measured. INL's FY08 GHG inventory was calculated according to methodologies identified in federal GHG guidance documents using operational control boundaries. It measures emissions generated in three Scopes: (1) INL emissions produced directly by stationary or mobile combustion and by fugitive emissions, (2) the share of emissions generated by entities from which INL purchased electrical power, and (3) indirect or shared emissions generated by outsourced activities that benefit INL (occur outside INL's organizational boundaries but are a consequence of INL's activities). This inventory found that INL generated a total of 113,049 MT of CO2-equivalent emissions during FY08. The following conclusions were made from looking at the results of the individual contributors to INL's baseline GHG inventory: (1) Electricity (including the associated transmission and distribution losses) is the largest contributor to INL's GHG inventory, with over 50% of the CO2e emissions; (2) Other sources with high emissions were stationary combustion (facility fuels), waste disposal (including fugitive emissions from the onsite landfill and contracted disposal), mobile combustion (fleet fuels), employee commuting, and business air travel; and (3) Sources with low emissions were wastewater treatment (onsite and contracted), fugitive emissions from refrigerants, and business ground travel (in personal and rental vehicles). This report details the methods behind quantifying INL's GHG inventory and discusses lessons learned on better practices by which information important to tracking GHGs can be tracked and recorded. It is important to note that because this report differentiates between those portions of INL that are managed and operated by the Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) and those managed by other contractors, it includes only that large proportion of Laboratory activities overseen by BEA. It is assumed that other contractors will provide similar reporting for those activities they manage, where appropriate.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2011

2010 Ecological Survey of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Site

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest Site Office (PNSO) oversees and manages the DOE contract for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a DOE Office of Science multi-program laboratory located in Richland, Washington. PNSO is responsible for ensuring that all activities conducted on the PNNL Site comply with applicable laws, policies, and DOE orders. The DOE Pacific Northwest Site Office Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan (DOE/PNSO 2008) addresses the requirement for annual surveys and monitoring for species of concern and to identify and map invasive species. In addition to the requirement for an annual survey, proposed project activities must be reviewed to assess any potential environmental consequences of conducting the project. The assessment process requires a thorough understanding of the resources present, the potential impacts of a proposed action to those resources, and the ultimate consequences of those actions. The PNNL Site is situated on the southeastern corner of the DOE Hanford Site, located at the north end of the city of Richland in south-central Washington. The site is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, on the west by Stevens Drive, and on the north by the Hanford Site 300 Area (Figure 1). The environmental setting of the PNNL Site is described in Larson and Downs (2009). There are currently two facilities on the PNNL Site: the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), and the recently completed Physical Sciences Facility (PSF). This report describes the results of the annual survey of the biological resources found on the undeveloped portions of the PNNL Site in 2010. A brief description of the methods PNNL ecologists used to conduct the surveys and the results of the surveys are presented. Actions taken to fully delineate noxious weed populations discovered in 2009 and efforts in 2010 to control those weeds also are described. Appendix A provides a list of plant and animal species identified on the PNNL Site.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Observations and Modeling of Long Negative Laboratory Discharges: Identifying the Physics Important to an Electrical Spark in Air

There are relatively few reports in the literature focusing on negative laboratory leaders. Most of the reports focus exclusively on the simpler positive laboratory leader that is more commonly encountered in high voltage engineering [ Gorin et al ., 1976; Les Renardieres Group , 1977; Gallimberti , 1979; Domens et al ., 1994; Bazelyan and Raizer 1998]. The physics of the long, negative leader and its positive counterpart are similar; the two differ primarily in their extension mechanisms [ Bazelyan and Raizer , 1998]. Long negative sparks extend primarily by an intermittent process termed a 'step' that requires the development of secondary leader channels separated in space from the primary leader channel. Long positive sparks typically extend continuously, although, under proper conditions, their extension can be temporarily halted and begun again, and this is sometimes viewed as a stepping process. However, it is emphasized that the nature of positive leader stepping is not like that of negative leader stepping. There are several key observational studies of the propagation of long, negative-polarity laboratory sparks in air that have aided in the understanding of the stepping mechanisms exhibited by such sparks [e.g., Gorin et al ., 1976; Les Renardieres Group , 1981; Ortega et al ., 1994; Reess et al ., 1995; Bazelyan and Raizer , 1998; Gallimberti et al ., 2002]. These reports are reviewed below in Section 2, with emphasis placed on the stepping mechanism (the space stem, pilot, and space leader). Then, in Section 3, reports pertaining to modeling of long negative leaders are summarized.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Annual Report for Los Alamos National Laboratory Technical Area 54, Area G Disposal Facility – Fiscal Year 2011

As a condition to the Disposal Authorization Statement issued to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Laboratory) on March 17, 2010, a comprehensive performance assessment and composite analysis maintenance program must be implemented for the Technical Area 54, Area G disposal facility. Annual determinations of the adequacy of the performance assessment and composite analysis are to be conducted under the maintenance program to ensure that the conclusions reached by those analyses continue to be valid. This report summarizes the results of the fiscal year 2011 annual review for Area G. Revision 4 of the Area G performance assessment and composite analysis was issued in 2008 and formally approved in 2009. These analyses are expected to provide reasonable estimates of the long-term performance of Area G and, hence, the disposal facility's ability to comply with Department of Energy (DOE) performance objectives. Annual disposal receipt reviews indicate that smaller volumes of waste will require disposal in the pits and shafts at Area G relative to what was projected for the performance assessment and composite analysis. The future inventories are projected to decrease modestly for the pits but increase substantially for the shafts due to an increase in the amount of tritium that is projected to require disposal. Overall, however, changes in the projected future inventories of waste are not expected to compromise the ability of Area G to satisfy DOE performance objectives. The Area G composite analysis addresses potential impacts from all waste disposed of at the facility, as well as other sources of radioactive material that may interact with releases from Area G. The level of knowledge about the other sources included in the composite analysis has not changed sufficiently to call into question the validity of that analysis. Ongoing environmental surveillance activities are conducted at, and in the vicinity of, Area G. However, the information generated by many of these activities cannot be used to evaluate the validity of the performance assessment and composite analysis models because the monitoring data collected are specific to operational releases or address receptors that are outside the domain of the performance assessment and composite analysis. In general, applicable monitoring data are supportive of some aspects of the performance assessment and composite analysis. Several research and development (R and D) efforts have been initiated under the performance assessment and composite analysis maintenance program. These investigations are designed to improve the current understanding of the disposal facility and site, thereby reducing the uncertainty associated with the projections of the long-term performance of Area G. The status and results of R and D activities that were undertaken in fiscal year 2011 are discussed in this report. Special analyses have been conducted to determine the feasibility of disposing of specific waste streams, to address proposed changes in disposal operations, and to consider the impacts of changes to the models used to conduct the performance assessment and composite analysis. These analyses are described and the results of the evaluations are summarized in this report. The Area G disposal facility consists of Material Disposal Area (MDA) G and the Zone 4 expansion area. To date, all disposal operations at Area G have been confined to MDA G. Material Disposal Area G is scheduled to undergo final closure in 2015; disposal of waste in the pits and shafts is scheduled to end in 2013. In anticipation of the closure of MDA G, plans are being made to ship the majority of the waste generated at LANL to off-site locations for disposal. It is not clear at this time if waste that will be disposed of at LANL will be placed in Zone 4 or if disposal operations will move to a new location at the Laboratory. Separately, efforts to optimize the final cover used in the closure of MDA G are underway; a final cover design different than that adopted for the performance assessment and composite analysis will likely emerge from that investigation. All of these changes will require re-examination of the assumptions upon which the performance assessment and composite analysis are based and, in all likelihood, revision of those analyses.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗