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Prospective Evaluation of the Energy and CO 2 Emissions Impact of China’s 2010 – 2013 Efficiency Standards for Products

Since China introduced its first mandatory minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for eight major household products in 1989, its MEPS program has expanded significantly to cover nearly 60 residential, industrial and commercial products. In June of 2012, the pace of standards development for new and revised standards was further accelerated with the launch of the national “100 Energy Efficiency Standards.” Initiatives. An unprecedented 21 MEPS were adopted by China from 2012 to 2013, compared to only 7 MEPS adopted from 2010 to 2011. The Chinese MEPS program now covers 15 products in the residential sector, 15 types of commercial and office equipment, 14 types of industrial equipment and 13 lighting products, making it one of the most comprehensive MEPS program in the world. This study provides an updated prospective evaluation of the potential energy and CO 2 impact of 23 of the 28 MEPS adopted by China from 2010 to 2013. This study updates a previous analysis (Zhou et al. 2011) by quantifying the additional potential energy and CO 2 reductions from the newest standards that have been adopted since 2010. The most recent actual and projected sales, usage, and efficiency data were collected for 14 product categories covered under 23 MEPS adopted between 2010 and 2013. Three scenarios are then used to quantify the energy and CO 2 reduction potential of the one-time implementation of these 23 MEPS, including a baseline counterfactual scenario, the actual MEPS scenario and a best available technologies efficiency scenario. The setting of the baseline efficiency is crucial to determining the savings potential of the new and revised MEPS and international best available technology efficiency levels, as it reflects the market average in the absence of MEPS. For this study, the average baseline is based on either the reported 2010 market-average efficiency if sales-weighted efficiency data is available for new product MEPS and selected products with revised MEPS, or the minimum efficiency requirement of the previous MEPS for products with revised MEPS from 2010 to 2013 that do not have sales-weighted efficiency data. Using sales-weighted efficiency data for the baseline help capture market transformation that has already occurred prior to the implementation of the MEPS, and can better differentiate the savings that are attributable to MEPS. The efficiency levels of best available technologies are taken from recent reviews of international commercially available best available technologies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Search For Excited Cascade Hypersons (¿*-) Using the CLAS12 Spectrometer at Jefferson Laboratory

The number of experimentally observed doubly strange Cascade states to date is far fewer than has been predicted theoretically. The CLAS12 Very Strange physics program (E12- 11-005A) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility aims to study the electroproduction of these states using the newly upgraded CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer for 12 GeV (CLAS12) in experimental Hall B. In this project, the reaction ep ! e0K+K+??? ! e0K+K+K?(?=?0) is studied using CLAS12 Run Group A (RG-A) data sets taken by impinging electron beams of 10:2 and 10:6 GeV energies on an LH2 target. Scattered electrons are detected with either the Forward Detector (FD), covering a polar angle range of 5? to 35? to study electroproduction, or with the Forward Tagger (FT), covering a polar angle range of 2:5? to 4:5?, to study quasi-real photoproduction. The CLAS12 detector with nearly a 4? solid angle coverage is used to detect scattered electrons and charged kaons in the ?final state. ?=?0 hyperons are reconstructed using the missing mass technique to explore intermediate doubly-strange hyperons (???) that decay to K? and ?=?0. No statistically significant ??? states other than the ???(1530) were found in the missing mass spectra based on the currently available statistics in the CLAS12-FD acceptance only. A maximum log-likelihood method is implemented to determine the statistical significance and the upper limits on the ???(1820) electroproduction cross section by constructing 95% confidence level boundaries on the ???(1820) yields. Additional research was conducted to investigate the upper limit electroproduction cross section of the reaction ep ! e0K+K+??? ! e0K+K+K?(?=?0) as a function of the electroproduced ??? mass and the differential cross section ( d?dMM(e0K+K+) ) as a function of missing mass MM(e0K+K+) for electroproduction and quasi-real photoproduction processes.

Khanal, Achyut↗

Digitalization mapping and assessment process supporting ION strategic transformation activities

The existing fleet of commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) are an important asset in the nation’s portfolio of electrical generating resources. Their continued safe and reliable operation are critical to providing a large source of carbon-free electricity to power the nation’s economy. The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program develops the scientific bases, methods, and tools, for the continued safe and economical operation of the nation's commercial NPPs. The Plant Modernization Pathway within LWRS Program focuses on providing guidance to industry on the full-scale implementation of modernization solutions for NPPs that significantly reduce the technical and financial risks associated with modernization. This research is focused on helping the nuclear industry understand how to digitize and digitalize their NPPs so that they can design their modernization solutions to be scalable, sustainable, and integrated both laterally and horizontally within their organization. That is, this research creates a digital transformation in NPPs by reshaping cultural mindsets and by identifying business efficiencies. In partnership with industry, and using four previously established guiding principles for digitalization, this research supported NPP modernization through assessing readiness for digitalization as a means to achieve integrated operations for nuclear. Specifically, this research created an assessment to review an entire organization’s work processes to gather information about the digitalization health of the plant. The assessment tools were administered to plant employees, and the results were used to develop a digitalization plan. The survey assessment identified the optimal candidate processes that would most benefit from a digitalization initiative which were revealed through analytical frameworks. One analysis calculated mean digitalization health indicator scores for all endorsed activities which allowed the researchers to rank and color code the results for easy identification. Individual health indicator scores are also provided, should our industry partner wish to understand these findings according to their own organizational priorities, business considerations and desired end-state. The results were also analyzed from the perspective that organizations are comprised of different types of innovators (e.g., generators, optimizers, conceptualizers, and implementers), which differentially affects the organization’s ability to comprehend and adapt to change (i.e., opportunities to innovate). Understanding the relative composition of innovator types at an NPP allows them to gather insights into the strengths and weaknesses they have in innovating how work is performed. For the utility that partnered with this research team, the results showed that implementers make up the largest portion of respondents and conceptualizers the smallest portion. Knowing the proportion of innovator types gave this organization insights on how they can effectively implement their innovation solutions. Additionally, the results were analyzed from a technical, economic, and risk perspective to identify and quantify work reduction opportunities (WROs). Recognizing that not all cost-saving opportunities are the same, a Technical, Economic and Risk Assessment (TERA) was performed to evaluate WROs to identify areas of greatest potential and lowest risk. The key results from TERA included a digitalization opportunity score for each activity, and a calculation of potential cost savings. These two outputs formed the bases for calculating a priority index and rank for the activities/processes assessed. From the prioritization calculations, TERA can then help the utility 1) decide what digitalization priorities to invest money in implementing and then 2) calculates how much should be invested in the digitalization initiatives selected to achieve cost savings and/or an acceptable return on investment. Last, onsite interviews revealed several inefficiencies in the standard work processes that occur cross-departmentally that are due to the absence of digitized and digitalized processes. Examples of these include time spent scanning paper documents and then uploading the documents electronically, obtaining signatures, and searching for desired information. This represents a digital but not digitalized process. Over 15 opportunities to improve work processes were identified through this multi-method digitalization assessment. The various analytical assessments used (e.g., TERA, digitalization health indicator scores), as well as discussions with the utility partner, corroborated that all the opportunities identified had a strong potential to make work processes more efficient and to improve overall performance of the NPP.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Low-z gas stripper as an alternative to carbon foils for the acceleration of high-power uranium beams

The RIKEN accelerator complex started feeding the next-generation exotic beam facility radioisotope beam factory (RIBF) with heavy-ion beams from 2007 after the successful commissioning of RIBF at the end of 2006. Many improvements made from 2007 to 2010 were instrumental in increasing the intensity of various heavy-ion beams. However, the available beam intensity of very heavy ion beams, especially uranium beams, is far below our goal of 1 p{mu}A (6 x 10{sup 12} particles/s). In order to achieve this goal, upgrade programs are already in progress; the programs include the construction of a new 28-GHz superconducting electron cyclotron resonance ion source and a new injector linac. However, the most serious problem, that of a charge stripper for high-power uranium beams, still remains unsolved, despite extensive research and development work using large foils mounted on a rotating cylinder and a N{sup 2} gas stripper. A gas stripper is free from problems related to lifetime, though the equilibrium charge state in this stripper is considerably lower than that in a carbon foil, owing to the absence of the density effect. Nevertheless, the merits of gas strippers motivated us to develop a low-Z gas stripper to achieve a higher equilibrium charge state even in gases. We measured the electron-loss and electron-capture cross sections of uranium ions in He gas as a function of their charge state at 11, 14, and 15 MeV/nucleon. The equilibrium charge states extracted from the intersection of the lines of the two cross sections were promisingly higher than those in N{sub 2} gas by more than 10. Simple simulations of charge development along the stripper thickness were performed by assuming the measured cross sections. The simulation results show that about 1 mg/cm{sup 2} of He gas should be accumulated to achieve a charge state higher than that of N{sub 2} gas, notwithstanding the difficulty in accumulation of this helium amount owing to its fast dispersion. However, we now believe that the following two solutions can overcome this difficulty: a gas cell with a very large differential pumping system and a gas cell with a plasma window. Their merits and demerits are discussed in the paper.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Theoretical and Experimental Thermal Performance Analysis of Complex Thermal Storage Membrane Containing Bio-Based Phase Change Material (PCM)

Since 2000, an ORNL research team has been testing different configurations of PCM-enhanced building envelop components to be used in residential and commercial buildings. During 2009, a novel type of thermal storage membrane was evaluated for building envelope applications. Bio-based PCM was encapsulated between two layers of heavy-duty plastic film forming a complex array of small PCM cells. Today, a large group of PCM products are packaged in such complex PCM containers or foils containing arrays of PCM pouches of different shapes and sizes. The transient characteristics of PCM-enhanced building envelope materials depend on the quality and amount of PCM, which is very often difficult to estimate because of the complex geometry of many PCM heat sinks. The only widely used small-scale analysis method used to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of PCM-enhanced building products is the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Unfortunately, this method requires relatively uniform, and very small, specimens of the material. However, in numerous building thermal storage applications, PCM products are not uniformly distributed across the surface area, making the results of traditional DSC measurements unrealistic for these products. In addition, most of the PCM-enhanced building products contain blends of PCM with fire retardants and chemical stabilizers. This combination of non-uniform distribution and non-homogenous composition make it nearly impossible to select a representative small specimen suitable for DSC tests. Recognizing these DSC limitations, ORNL developed a new methodology for performing dynamic heat flow analysis of complex PCM-enhanced building materials. An experimental analytical protocol to analyze the dynamic characteristics of PCM thermal storage makes use of larger specimens in a conventional heat-flow meter apparatus, and combines these experimental measurements with three-dimensional (3-D) finite-difference modeling and whole building energy simulations. Based on these dynamic tests and modeling, ORNL researchers then developed a simplified one-dimensional (1-D) model of the PCM-enhanced building component that can be easily used in whole-building simulations. This paper describes this experimental-analytical methodology as used in the analysis of an insulation assembly containing a complex array of PCM pouches. Based on the presented short example of whole building energy analysis, this paper describes step-by-step how energy simulation results can be used for optimization of PCM-enhanced building envelopes. Limited results of whole building energy simulations using the EnergyPlus program are presented as well.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

RELAP-7 Application and Enhancement for FLEX Strategies and ATF Behavior under Extended Loss of AC Power Conditions

This report summarizes the results of a three-year research project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) to enhance and apply the RELAP-7 code by adding and improving several important components (e.g., a mechanistic Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) system model) for thermal hydraulic studies of LWRs under ELAP conditions and evaluating the time available for transition to portable FLEX equipment. The project team included University of Massachusetts–Lowell, The Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In the Fukushima accident, it was found that the RCIC system played a crucial role in delaying core meltdown by almost three days in Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2, because of self-regulated operation of the steam driven RCIC turbine-pump injection system. Steam flow in the convergent-divergent nozzles of the RCIC Terry turbine is two-phase non-equilibrium transonic flow with homogenous nucleation condensation. To more accurately predict the dynamic process and behavior of the transonic compressible steam flow, a one-dimensional transient two-phase analytical model is presented. A simplified four-fluid model was employed in the present work with the consideration of four separate fluid fields: vapor, liquid film, entrained droplets and condensed droplets. The mass, momentum and energy interactions between the fluids were considered and modeled. An extended seven-equation non-equilibrium critical flow model was developed to obtain the critical pressure and velocities of each phase at the nozzle throat. To predict the wetness in the divergent section, a mechanistic nucleation condensation model was integrated in the nozzle analysis model, considering the generation and consequent growth of droplets. The governing differential equations on a staggered grid were discretized using the second-order Lax-Wendroff scheme with a flux limiter, and the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm was employed to solve the discrete linear system. To demonstrate the predictability and reliability of the physical models and the numerical method proposed in the present work, three representative nozzles were modeled and simulated. The results show good agreement with the available experimental data, even for condensation shock. Then, the 1D nozzle model was employed to obtain nozzle flow tables of the Terry turbine nozzle for different working pressures which can cover the operation pressure range of the RCIC system. A mechanistic RCIC turbine-pump system model was developed and implemented in the system code TRACE to simulate dynamic responses of the RCIC system under Beyond Design Basis Accident (BDBA) conditions. The turbine-pump governing equations are based on the control volume approach of the angular momentum balance. The physics based mechanistic RCIC model was developed using the TRACE control system components (i.e., signal variables, control blocks, and tables), and incorporated into a TRACE boiling water reactor (BWR) model. The TRACE model in this report has a detailed nodalization of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), and all of the major flow paths and system components, including the safety relief valves (SRVs) and the containment suppression pool and drywell. Based on the nozzle flow tables generated from the 1D nozzle model developed, the turbine drive torque can be calculated from table lookup. Since the detailed specifications of the RCIC pump are unavailable, the homologous curves for a Bingham pump were used in the current pump component. A station black-out (SBO) accident test problem was selected to demonstrate the TRACE RCIC model. The short-term SBO simulations were performed for two cladding materials: Zircaloy and FeCrAl, to demonstrate the effect of the accident tolerant fuel cladding on fuel heat-up under BDBA accident conditions. The wetwell plays a vital safety role in SBO and other BWR accident scenarios in that it can reduce containment pressure and supply additional core make-up water. The suppression pool temperature distribution has a very large impact on both RPV and containment pressure. Thus, another novel contribution of the project comes mainly from an improved, systems-level wetwell model which can capture buoyancy-induced thermal stratification effects due to steam injection and condensation. A two-zone stratified wetwell model has been implemented in RELAP-7 and some results from that model are presented. This wetwell model is capable of simulating thermal stratification due to a low steam mass injection rate. With a low mass flow rate, the model assumes that all the steam condenses within the pipe and the resulting plume can be approximated with a purely buoyant, heat-source driven model. The wetwell model developed with these assumptions is adequate to simulate slow transients such as extended SBO transients.

42 ENGINEERING↗

HERschel key program heritage: A far-infrared source catalog for the Magellanic Clouds

Observations from the HERschel Inventory of the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (HERITAGE) have been used to identify dusty populations of sources in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC). We conducted the study using the HERITAGE catalogs of point sources available from the Herschel Science Center from both the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS; 100 and 160 μm) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE; 250, 350, and 500 μm) cameras. These catalogs are matched to each other to create a Herschel band-merged catalog and then further matched to archival Spitzer IRAC and MIPS catalogs from the Spitzer Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) and SAGE-SMC surveys to create single mid- to far-infrared (far-IR) point source catalogs that span the wavelength range from 3.6 to 500 μm. There are 35,322 unique sources in the LMC and 7503 in the SMC. To be bright in the FIR, a source must be very dusty, and so the sources in the HERITAGE catalogs represent the dustiest populations of sources. The brightest HERITAGE sources are dominated by young stellar objects (YSOs), and the dimmest by background galaxies. We identify the sources most likely to be background galaxies by first considering their morphology (distant galaxies are point-like at the resolution of Herschel) and then comparing the flux distribution to that of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (ATLAS) survey of galaxies. We find a total of 9745 background galaxy candidates in the LMC HERITAGE images and 5111 in the SMC images, in agreement with the number predicted by extrapolating from the ATLAS flux distribution. The majority of the Magellanic Cloud-residing sources are either very young, embedded forming stars or dusty clumps of the interstellar medium. Using the presence of 24 μm emission as a tracer of star formation, we identify 3518 YSO candidates in the LMC and 663 in the SMC. There are far fewer far-IR bright YSOs in the SMC than the LMC due to both the SMC's smaller size and its lower dust content. The YSO candidate lists may be contaminated at low flux levels by background galaxies, and so we differentiate between sources with a high (“probable”) and moderate (“possible”) likelihood of being a YSO. There are 2493/425 probable YSO candidates in the LMC/SMC. Approximately 73% of the Herschel YSO candidates are newly identified in the LMC, and 35% in the SMC. We further identify a small population of dusty objects in the late stages of stellar evolution including extreme and post-asymptotic giant branch, planetary nebulae, and supernova remnants. These populations are identified by matching the HERITAGE catalogs to lists of previously identified objects in the literature. Approximately half of the LMC sources and one quarter of the SMC sources are too faint to obtain accurate ample FIR photometry and are unclassified.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Intermediate-Term Thermal Aging Effect Evaluation for Grade 92 and 316L at The LWR Relevant Temperature

Life extension of the existing nuclear reactors imposes accumulated damages, such as higher fluences and longer period of corrosion, to structural materials, which would result in significant challenges to the traditional reactor materials such as type 304 and 316 stainless steels. Advanced alloys with superior radiation resistance will increase safety margins, design flexibility, and economics for not only the life extension of the existing fleet but also new builds with advanced reactor designs. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) teamed up with Department of Energy (DOE) on the Advanced Radiation Resistant Materials (ARRM) program, aiming to develop and test degradation resistant alloys from current commercial alloy specifications by 2021 to a new advanced alloy with superior degradation resistance in light water reactor (LWR)-relevant environments by 2024. Based on a comprehensive microstructure and property screening performed in Phase-1 of the ARRM program, a total of five alloys, together with 316L and X-750 as references, were down-selected for Phase-2 neutron irradiation studies. Because thermal aging could exert a synergistic effect on neutron irradiation due to the low neutron damage rate on the order of 10 –7 displacements per atom per second (dpa/s), Grade 92 (one of the five down-selected alloys) and two heats of 316L were selected in this task to study the effect of aging at 350°C for 12.5–12.7 kh on microstructure and mechanical properties. The aging time is approximately corresponding to 5 dpa neutron irradiation, which can be served as a reference for the 5-dpa-irradiated samples of the alloys to help understand the independent neutron damage influence on microstructure and mechanical properties. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used for microstructural characterization. Hardness, tensile, Charpy impact toughness, and fracture toughness in the ductile regime of the aged samples were examined. The aging of Grade 92 led to the formation of many Laves phase in sizes of ~100–200 nm and resulted in some reduction in hardness and yield/ultimate tensile strength with some increases in uniform and total plastic elongations, which may have helped the enhancement of Charpy impact toughness, e.g., ~4 J increase in upper-shelf energy and 20.5°C reduction in ductile-brittle transition temperature compared with the unaged condition. The fracture toughness of the aged Grade 92 showed decent toughness of ~303 MPa√m (K Jq ) with ~87 tearing modulus at 22°C, which reduced to ~241 MPa√m (~20% reduction) with ~75 tearing modulus at 300°C. The two heats of 316L are differentiated by their amounts of δ-ferrite, i.e., ~1 vol% in heat T1103 and ~4 vol% in heat N5B8. The two heats of 316L were subjected to 15% cold work (CW) as this condition is often used in nuclear reactors to help trapping radiation-induced defects and thus postpone the steady state swelling stage. The aging did not result in any noticeable microstructure changes, except for possible segregations at grain boundaries that need to be further investigated. The aging resulted in slight reduction in hardness of 316L-T1103 and slight increase in hardness of 316L-N5B8, which is consistent with their tensile testing results. The 15%CW might have introduced some inhomogeneity, resulting in large standard deviations in hardness, which were reduced after the aging. The aged 316L followed the same trend as the unaged condition for the strength and elongation results from the tensile testing. Minimum elongations appeared within ~300–600°C, above which the elongations seem to increase. Unlike the negligible or minor changes in microstructure, hardness and tensile results of the two heats of 316L, their fracture toughness showed noticeable difference. The aged 316L-T1103 showed good toughness of ~350 MPa√m with ~80 tearing modulus at 22°C, which reduced to ~271 MPa√m (~23% reduction) with ~83 tearing modulus at 300°C. In contrast, the aged 316L-N5B8 showed lower toughness of ~244 MPa√m with ~53 tearing modulus at 22°C, which reduced to ~180 MPa√m (~26% reduction) with ~31 tearing modulus at 300°C. The preliminary results indicate that the presence of high volume of δ-ferrite would noticeable impair fracture toughness although it may not influence hardness and tensile properties.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Easy_PERT: a Python tool for writing PERT cards and parsing PERT card results [Slides]

This presentation begins by providing an overview of the PERT card. The PERT card uses differential operator method to compute first- and second-order tally variations due to density, composition, and reaction cross-sections. It is possible to have multiple PERT cards in one MCNP input deck to study tally variations for several sets of nuclides, reactions, and energy ranges. Furthermore, the METHOD option tells MCNP to calculate either the perturbed tally (METHOD=-1, -2, -3) or the change in the unperturbed tally (METHOD=1, 2, 3). In summation, a powerful use-case for the MCNP code PERT card is that it facilitates calculating tally sensitivities to nuclear data. Writing PERT card entries and parsing output MCTAL files is tedious and error prone. however, Easy_PERT makes use of existing tools (Faust and MCNPTools) to handle writing PERT card entries and parsing the output MCTAL files. The PERT card is early in the development process and planned upcoming capabilities include calculating sensitivities and combining MCTAL files from separate runs into one JSON file.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

PNNL DataHub Project: Omics Lethal Human Viruses Project Profiling of the Host Response to Influenza A Virus Infection, Processed Experimental Dataset Catalog

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a high risk biological agent, classified as a Category C priority pathogen (Orthomyxoviridae) by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and is known to cause severe respiratory disease with high mortality rates in humans. Lethal host-pathogen invasion mechanisms and the cellular intricacies behind these fatal infections still remain unclear. The NIAID Modeling Host Responses to Understand Severe Human Virus Infections Research Program project (2013-2018) aimed to develop an improved comprehensive understanding of the host response to a suite of viruses causing lethal infections leveraging a systems biology approach. Herein, PNNL sub-projects provide a never before released comprehensive infectious disease collection of primary and secondary transformation multi-Omics data profiling a series of priority pathogen primary experimental studies for enhanced open-access to viral Omics datasets and project lifecycle metadata. Secondary host-pathogen viral dataset downloads contain one or more statistically processed (normalization data transformation) quantitative dataset collections resulting in qualitative expression analyses of primary host-pathogen experimental study designs. Leveraging unique high-resolution Omics capabilities for proteomics (P), metabolomics (M), lipidomics (L), and transcriptomics (T) dataset downloads each have a direct relationship to a primary sample submission corresponding to a specific Influenza A virus [NCBITAXON:11320] experimental infection study. Host sample types include human lung adenocarcinoma cells ["Calu-3", BTO:0002750] and whole mouse lung [BTO:0000763] tissue collections.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Laboratory Experiments and Instrument Intercomparison Studies of Carbonaceous Aerosol Particles

Aerosols containing black carbon (and some specific types of organic particulate matter) directly absorb incoming light, heating the atmosphere. In addition, all aerosol particles backscatter solar light, leading to a net-cooling effect. Indirect effects involve hydrophilic aerosols, which serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) that affect cloud cover and cloud stability, impacting both atmospheric radiation balance and precipitation patterns. At night, all clouds produce local warming, but overall clouds exert a net-cooling effect on the Earth. The effect of aerosol radiative forcing on climate may be as large as that of the greenhouse gases, but predominantly opposite in sign and much more uncertain. The uncertainties in the representation of aerosol interactions in climate models makes it problematic to use model projections to guide energy policy. The objective of our program is to reduce the uncertainties in the aerosol radiative forcing in the two areas highlighted in the ASR Science and Program Plan. That is, (1) addressing the direct effect by correlating particle chemistry and morphology with particle optical properties (i.e. absorption, scattering, extinction), and (2) addressing the indirect effect by correlating particle hygroscopicity and CCN activity with particle size, chemistry, and morphology. In this connection we are systematically studying particle formation, oxidation, and the effects of particle coating. The work is specifically focused on carbonaceous particles where the uncertainties in the climate relevant properties are the highest. The ongoing work consists of laboratory experiments and related instrument inter-comparison studies both coordinated with field and modeling studies, with the aim of providing reliable data to represent aerosol processes in climate models. The work is performed in the aerosol laboratory at Boston College. At the center of our laboratory setup are two main sources for the production of aerosol particles: (a) two well-characterized source of soot particles and (b) a flow reactor for controlled OH and/or O3 oxidation of relevant gas phase species to produce well-characterized SOA particles. After formation, the aerosol particles are subjected to physical and chemical processes that simulate aerosol growth and aging. A suite of instruments in our laboratory is used to characterize the physical and chemical properties of aerosol particles before and after processing. The Time of Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (ToF-AMS) together with a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) measures particle mass, volume, density, composition (including black carbon content), dynamic shape factor, and fractal dimension. The–ToF-AMS was developed at ARI with Boston College participation. About 120 AMS instruments are now in service (including 5 built for DOE laboratories) performing field and laboratory studies world-wide. Other major instruments include a thermal denuder, two Differential Mobility Analyzers (DMA), a Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter (CCN), a Thermal desorption Aerosol GC/MS (TAG) and the new Soot Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP-AMS). Optical instrumentation required for the studies have been brought to our laboratory as part of ongoing and planned collaborative projects with colleagues from DOE, NOAA and university laboratories. Optical instruments that will be utilized include a Photoacoustic Spectrometer (PAS), a Cavity Ring Down Aerosol Extinction Spectrometer (CRD-AES), a Photo Thermal Interferometer (PTI), a new 7-wavelength Aethalometer and a Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift Extinction Monitor (CAPS). These instruments are providing aerosol absorption, extinction and scattering coefficients at a range of atmospherically relevant wavelengths. During the past two years our work has continued along the lines of our original proposal. We report on 12 completed and/or continuing projects conducted during the period 08/14 to 0814/2015. These projects are described in 17 manuscripts published in refereed journals.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Analysis of erosion/corrosion data for high-level waste pipelines at Hanford - 15519

Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has implemented a fitness-for-service program which will evaluate the degraded condition of the tank farm waste transfer system. The Tank Farms Waste Transfer System Fitness-for-Service Requirements and Recommendations, includes a requirement to inspect primary piping, encasements, and jumpers for corrosion/erosion. The 242-A Evaporator pump room was upgraded by adding instrumentation to the feed and return jumpers, prior to running the next campaign. As part of this upgrade, several jumpers were removed for disposal and a total of five jumpers were selected for ultrasonic thickness (UT) inspection. The jumpers selected were the following: 18-4, C-4 and 5, J-13A, 13-K, and 19-5. All of these jumpers will be removed permanently except for jumper 19-5 which will be reinstalled for further service. As part of this study, several jumpers from the AW-02E Feed Pit were also removed for disposal and two were selected for UT inspection. The jumpers selected were the 1-4 and B-2 which were packaged and sent to the 222-S Laboratory for UT assessments. This paper includes details of each jumper as well as the estimated remaining useful life (ERUL), if applicable, for its components based on the wall thinning measured in elbows and straight sections. The jumper's ultrasonic thickness measurements are plotted and trends are assessed based on the volume of fluid transferred or time of service. Variability in thickness is generally evaluated in two approaches, radially around the circumference of the pipe or component and longitudinally along the length. The paper also explains the analysis procedure for evaluating the different components. In particular, issues related to thinning from manufacturing different types of elbows (long radius, five diameter bend radius) are presented. Analysis techniques are developed for elbows that differentiate thinning from erosion/corrosion and manufacturing which is critical for this analysis. Results demonstrate that in most components, the thickness measurements are still greater than the manufactured nominal thickness. For the cases in which the thickness is below the nominal thickness, the ERUL well exceeds the life needed for servicing the Waste Treatment Plant. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Evaluation of Effective Dose During Abdominal Three-Dimensional Imaging for Three Flat-Panel-Detector Angiography Systems

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effective dose during abdominal three-dimensional (3D) imaging on phantoms and estimate the dose-area product (DAP) for effective dose conversion factors for three types of angiographic units. Three-dimensional imaging was performed for three sizes (small, medium, large) of human-shaped phantoms using three types of angiographic units (Allura Xper FD20/10, INNOVA 4100, AXIOM Artis dTA). We calculated 25 organ doses and effective doses using Monte Carlo technique for the three phantoms with a program for a personal computer. As benchmark studies to back up the results by Monte Carlo technique, we measured the organ doses directly on the small phantom using radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeters. The DAP value increased as the phantom size increased. The organ doses and the effective doses during the 3D imaging increased as the phantom size increased. The effective doses for the small phantom by Monte Carlo technique were 1.9, 2.2, and 2.1 mSv for the Allura Xper FD20/10, INNOVA 4100, and AXIOM Artis dTA, respectively, while those by direct measurement were 1.6, 2.0, and 2.6 mSv. The effective doses to DAP ratios by Monte Carlo technique were 0.37-0.45, 0.26-0.32, and 0.13-0.15 (mSv Gy{sup -1}cm{sup -2}) for the Allura Xper FD20/10, INNOVA 4100, and AXIOM Artis dTA, respectively. In conclusion, the effective doses during 3D imaging and the dose-to-DAP ratios differ among angiographic units, and the effective dose can be estimated using a proper conversion factor for each angiographic unit.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Which nuclear data can be validated with LLNL pulsed-sphere experiments?

It is shown here that 14-MeV D+T LLNL pulsed-sphere experiments bring complementary information into the process of validating nuclear data compared to experiments that are traditionally used for this purpose—such as critical assemblies. To be more specific, the 14-MeV D+T LLNL pulsed-sphere neutron-leakage spectra enable to validate scattering and fission nuclear data up to 15 MeV (compared to approximately up to 5 MeV when using criticality experiments) and employ to this end simple compound targets containing only few isotopes. In this work, sensitivity profiles of the spectra to nuclear data are calculated in order to understand in detail which isotopes, observables, and energy ranges of nuclear data contribute significantly to their simulation. These profiles are presented for a few selected spheres containing 16 O, 12 C, 56 Fe, and 239 Pu. It is shown that the neutron-leakage spectra of spheres containing light elements are mostly sensitive to elastic- and inelastic-scattering cross sections on discrete levels and corresponding angular distributions. Spheres of structural materials are sensitive to elastic- and inelastic-scattering cross sections, including scattering on discrete levels and the continuum, and double-differential cross sections. Actinide spheres are also strongly sensitive to the fission observables, in particular to the total-fission neutron spectrum. Thin spheres (in which neutrons experience on average less than one scatter) are mostly sensitive to data near the elastic peak, in the energy range from 12–15 MeV, while thicker ones can be sensitive to data at lower incident-neutron energies due to multiple-scattering effects. This information is brought together with simulations of 71 pulsed-sphere neutron-leakage spectra using the ENDF/B-VII.1 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 nuclear-data libraries. This analysis highlights ENDF/B-VIII.0 data that could be further investigated for potential shortcomings ( 6 Li, 12 C, 16 O, 24-26 Mg, 27 Al, 48 Ti, 56 Fe, and 208 Pb) or are likely reliable ( 1,2 H, 7 Li, 9 Be, 14 N, 235,238 U, and 239 Pu) as indicated by validating with LLNL pulsed-sphere experiments.

14-MeV D+T LLNL pulsed-sphere neutron-leakage spec↗

PNNL DataHub NIAID Program Project: Modeling Host Responses to Understand Severe Human Virus Infections, Multi-Omic Viral Dataset Catalog Collection

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) "Modeling Host Responses to Understand Severe Human Virus Infections" program project was a highly integrated and comprehensive systems biology research core, funded by the National Institute of Health (U19AI106772) from 2013-06-01 to 2018-05-31, investigating the complex host response to category A, B, and C priority pathogen infections. Resulting project deliverables include an extensive comprehensive collections of linked primary and secondary transformation viral experimental infection data. Here we provide a never before released comprehensive infectious disease collection of primary and secondary transformation multi-Omics data profiling a series of priority pathogen primary experimental studies for enhanced open access to viral Omics lifecycle datasets and project metadata. Using a highly integrated and multidisciplinary approach, linked primary data and metadata supporting secondary normalization datasets, provide critical information necessary for research reproducibility and long-term preservation. Enabling on-demand data access for research community consumption and developer reuse, serves to support new mechanistic insights and discoveries into host-pathogen interactions for aiding future biohazard data preparedness efforts in emergency response to global health crises involving viral infection.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Investigation of Benchmark $k$ eff Sensitivity and Uncertainty for 239 Pu fission in Specific Energy Ranges

Nuclear data at intermediate energies (from 1 to 100s of keV) are evaluated based on scarce differential data and theory unable to capture physics’ expected structure. There is also a lack of integral data. This is a known deficiency and is challenging to address. Calculated effective multiplication factor, k eff , values for intermediate energy experiments are ~25× further from experiment than for fast energies and are often well outside the experimental uncertainties. The goal of the PARADIGM (PARallel Approach of Differential and InteGral Measurements) project is to significantly re duce the uncertainties of intermediate energy nuclear data for 239 Pu. To this end, PARADIGM simultaneously optimizes experiments at both the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) and National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC). The combined set of data will inform new intermediate-energy nuclear data. By execution of differential and integral experiments, establishment of new theory, and undertaking nuclear data evaluation in parallel, the timeline to deliver improved nuclear data to users will be reduced significantly that is to three years. For the PARADIGM project, it was decided to optimize an integral experiment for two neutron energy ranges, within the full intermediate energy range. The low energy range goes from 1 to 30 keV, while the higher energy range goes from 30 to 600 keV. This work focuses on nuclear data sensitivities and uncertainties for 239 Pu fission for existing experiments in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP). When designing new experiments, it is important to understand what benchmarks currently exist. For a more traditional experiment design (in which a specific application model(s) exists), comparisons would be made between the application model(s) and existing benchmarks. For PARADIGM, there is no specific application model, but instead the specific nuclear data reaction and energy ranges of interest can be explored for existing benchmarks.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

High Solids Performance Testing in a Scaled TSCR System

The Tank Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) project is a technology demonstration that will pretreat Hanford tank waste supernatant in support of the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) mission. The TSCR system employs two key separation technologies: dead-end filtration (DEF) and ion exchange (IX) using crystalline silicotitanate (CST) media. DEF will be used to remove undissolved solids from tank waste to protect the functionality of the IX columns and the IX system will remove Cs-137 from tank waste. The separation technologies (DEF and IX) used in TSCR are technically mature and have also been successfully deployed at the Savannah River site in a similar facility known as the Tank Closure Cesium Removal (TCCR) system. While testing with simulants and real waste has been successfully performed under conditions expected during the initial operation of TSCR, test data is absent for assessing off normal high solids loading that may be in the TSCR waste feed. Normal TSCR treatment operations are expected to handle wastes with solids content on the order of 200 ppm, and off normal solids loading could be much larger than the nominal level. The testing program described in this report was conducted to understand the consequence of operating the TSCR system at elevated solids loadings up to the high-solids limit of 15,000 ppm [i.e., 1.5-wt%] identified in the TSCR design basis. Although the system is not required to make throughput above the nominal solids loading, the testing was intended to provide important information related to potential off normal operations. At off normal levels near the high-solids limit, there are potential implications for TSCR performance in the areas of throughput, DEF pressure drop, filter backflush frequency, and IX column pressure drop. In addition, intrusion of solids into the IX column was postulated to impact the Cs-137 loading behavior by promoting channeling or flow maldistribution in the column; since the magnitude of the postulated effect was unknown, assessing it was also of interest. The testing was performed using representative waste simulants and a prototypic, integrated TSCR system designed and assembled specifically to conduct the high solids performance assessment. Overall, the scaled TSCR testing demonstrated that full-scale unit operations can succeed in fulfilling their processing objectives in the presence of solids up to 3,000 ppm, but there are potential performance challenges to filtration operations at solids loadings as low as ~500 ppm. The severity of the challenge is likely to be dependent on the type and size distribution of solids, of which the current testing only examined a single type and size distribution. To provide some flexibility for future full-scale operations, the results of the testing suggest two possible risk reduction strategies that can be implemented without any changes in TSCR design or configuration. One option would be to enact an administrative limit on the solids loading to protect TSCR from feeds that are likely to require a high DEF swap frequency. Another option is to permit operation of the DEFs at differential pressures greater than 2 psid before swapping filters. The selection of a higher differential pressure target is not anticipated to adversely impact DEF backflushing efficacy and would reduce both swap frequency and the amount of waste sent to AP-108.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Fast neutron leakage spectra of the EUCLID experiment

Special nuclear material in sub-critical and critical configurations measured in integral experiments are important for validation and adjustment of nuclear data. Many different evaluations of nuclear data exist, and these different evaluations can provide different values for individual cross sections that vary due to the uncertainties in differential experiments or lack of such data. For integral experiments, differences in these individual cross sections can have compensating errors, which lead to the same answer. One example of this is the Jezebel critical assembly, where k eff of the system is correctly computed by both ENDF/B-VIII.0 and JEFF-3.3, despite having substantially different underlying evaluated values for specific reactions (such as elastic and inelastic cross sections). To reduce compensating errors in nuclear data, the Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data (EUCLID) project has utilized machine learning to design a set of sub-critical and critical experiments. These experiments include slab- and cube-like configurations of 239 Pu in the form of the ZPPR plates. Six different responses were measured on a total of thirteen different configurations. One of these responses, the neutron leakage spectrum, was measured using an EJ301D detector. Finally, the results of the neutron leakage spectra show good agreement (within 1–2 σ ) with the expected spectrum from simulations and will be used in the subsequent nuclear data adjustment done by the EUCLID team.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗