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Maximizing the public impact of astronomy projects in the next decade requires NSF-funded centers to support the development of online, mobile-friendly outreach and education activities. EPO teams with astronomy, education, and web development expertise should be in place to build accessible programs at scale and support astronomers doing outreach.

At the heart of experimental high energy physics (HEP) is the development of facilities and instrumentation that provide sensitivity to new phenomena. Our understanding of nature at its most fundamental level is advanced through the analysis and interpretation of data from sophisticated detectors in HEP experiments. The goal of data analysis systems is to realize the maximum possible scientific potential of the data within the constraints of computing and human resources in the least time. To achieve this goal, future analysis systems should empower physicists to access the data with a high level of interactivity, reproducibility and throughput capability. As part of the HEP Software Foundation Community White Paper process, a working group on Data Analysis and Interpretation was formed to assess the challenges and opportunities in HEP data analysis and develop a roadmap for activities in this area over the next decade. In this report, the key findings and recommendations of the Data Analysis and Interpretation Working Group are presented.

A working group on detector simulation was formed as part of the high-energy physics (HEP) Software Foundation's initiative to prepare a Community White Paper that describes the main software challenges and opportunities to be faced in the HEP field over the next decade. The working group met over a period of several months in order to review the current status of the Full and Fast simulation applications of HEP experiments and the improvements that will need to be made in order to meet the goals of future HEP experimental programmes. The scope of the topics covered includes the main components of a HEP simulation application, such as MC truth handling, geometry modeling, particle propagation in materials and fields, physics modeling of the interactions of particles with matter, the treatment of pileup and other backgrounds, as well as signal processing and digitisation. The resulting work programme described in this document focuses on the need to improve both the software performance and the physics of detector simulation. The goals are to increase the accuracy of the physics models and expand their applicability to future physics programmes, while achieving large factors in computing performance gains consistent with projections on available computing resources.

In this chapter of the High Energy Physics Software Foundation Community Whitepaper, we discuss the current state of infrastructure, best practices, and ongoing developments in the area of data and software preservation in high energy physics. A re-framing of the motivation for preservation to enable re-use is presented. A series of research and development goals in software and other cyberinfrastructure that will aid in the enabling of reuse of particle physics analyses and production software are presented and discussed.

This white paper is one in a series of white papers that address key generic issues of the combined construction and operating license (COL) pre-application program key generic issues for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant reactor using the prismatic block fuel technology. The purpose of the pre-application program interactions with the NRC staff is to reduce the time required for COL application review by identifying and addressing key regulatory issues and, if possible, obtaining agreements for their resolution

The paper industry is one of the largest users of energy and emitters of CO2 in the US manufacturing industry. In addition to that, it is facing tremendous financial pressure due to lower cost imports. The fine paper industry has shrunk from 15 million tons per year production to 10 million tons per year in the last 5 years. This has resulted in mill closures and job loses. The AF&PA and the DOE formed a program called Agenda 2020 to help in funding to develop breakthrough technologies to provide help in meeting these challenges. The objectives of this project were to optimize and scale-up Fibrous Fillers technology, ready for commercial deployment and to develop ultra high ash/high performance paper using Fibrous Fillers. The goal was to reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint, and cost of manufacturing paper and related industries. GRI International (GRI) has been able to demonstrate the techno - economic feasibility and economic advantages of using its various products in both handsheets as well as in commercial paper mills. GRI has also been able to develop sophisticated models that demonstrate the effect of combinations of GRI's fillers at multiple filler levels. GRI has also been able to develop, optimize, and successfully scale-up new products for use in commercial paper mills.

This report documents the efforts taken to develop a preliminary design for the first commercial-scale CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) project associated with biomass power integrated into a pulp and paper operation. The Boise Wallula paper mill is located near the township of Wallula in Southeastern Washington State. Infrastructure at the paper mill will be upgraded such that current steam needs and a significant portion of the current mill electric power are supplied from a 100% biomass power source. A new biomass power system will be constructed with an integrated amine-based CO2 capture plant to capture approximately 550,000 tons of CO2 per year for geologic sequestration. A customized version of Fluor Corporation’s Econamine Plus™ carbon capture technology will be designed to accommodate the specific chemical composition of exhaust gases from the biomass boiler. Due to the use of biomass for fuel, employing CCS technology represents a unique opportunity to generate a net negative carbon emissions footprint, which on an equivalent emissions reduction basis is 1.8X greater than from equivalent fossil fuel sources (SPATH and MANN, 2004). Furthermore, the proposed project will offset a significant amount of current natural gas use at the mill, equating to an additional 200,000 tons of avoided CO2 emissions. Hence, the total net emissions avoided through this project equates to 1,100,000 tons of CO2 per year. Successful execution of this project will provide a clear path forward for similar kinds of emissions reduction that can be replicated at other energy-intensive industrial facilities where the geology is suitable for sequestration. This project also represents a first opportunity for commercial development of geologic storage of CO2 in deep flood basalt formations. The Boise paper mill site is host to a Phase II pilot study being carried out under DOE’s Regional Carbon Partnership Program. Lessons learned from this pilot study and other separately funded projects studying CO2 sequestration in basalts will be heavily leveraged in developing a suitable site characterization program and system design for permanent sequestration of captured CO2. The areal extent, very large thickness, high permeability in portions of the flows, and presence of multiple very low permeability flow interior seals combine to produce a robust sequestration target. Moreover, basalt formations are quite reactive with water-rich supercritical CO2 and formation water that contains dissolved CO2 to generate carbonate minerals, providing for long-term assurance of permanent sequestration. Sub-basalt sediments also exist at the site providing alternative or supplemental storage capacity.

Production of liquid fuels and chemicals via gasification of kraft black liquor and woody residues (''biorefining'') has the potential to provide significant economic returns for kraft pulp and paper mills replacing Tomlinson boilers beginning in the 2010-2015 timeframe. Commercialization of gasification technologies is anticipated in this period, and synthesis gas from gasifiers can be converted into liquid fuels using catalytic synthesis technologies that are in most cases already commercially established today in the ''gas-to-liquids'' industry. These conclusions are supported by detailed analysis carried out in a two-year project co-funded by the American Forest and Paper Association and the Biomass Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. This work assessed the energy, environment, and economic costs and benefits of biorefineries at kraft pulp and paper mills in the United States. Seven detailed biorefinery process designs were developed for a reference freesheet pulp/paper mill in the Southeastern U.S., together with the associated mass/energy balances, air emissions estimates, and capital investment requirements. Commercial (''Nth'') plant levels of technology performance and cost were assumed. The biorefineries provide chemical recovery services and co-produce process steam for the mill, some electricity, and one of three liquid fuels: a Fischer-Tropsch synthetic crude oil (which would be refined to vehicle fuels at existing petroleum refineries), dimethyl ether (a diesel engine fuel or LPG substitute), or an ethanol-rich mixed-alcohol product. Compared to installing a new Tomlinson power/recovery system, a biorefinery would require larger capital investment. However, because the biorefinery would have higher energy efficiencies, lower air emissions, and a more diverse product slate (including transportation fuel), the internal rates of return (IRR) on the incremental capital investments would be attractive under many circumstances. For nearly all of the cases examined in the study, the IRR lies between 14% and 18%, assuming a 25-year levelized world oil price of $50/bbl--the US Department of Energy's 2006 reference oil price projection. The IRRs would rise to as high as 35% if positive incremental environmental benefits associated with biorefinery products are monetized (e.g., if an excise tax credit for the liquid fuel is available comparable to the one that exists for ethanol in the United States today). Moreover, if future crude oil prices are higher ($78/bbl levelized price, the US Department of Energy's 2006 high oil price scenario projection, representing an extrapolation of mid-2006 price levels), the calculated IRR exceeds 45% in some cases when environmental attributes are also monetized. In addition to the economic benefits to kraft pulp/paper producers, biorefineries widely implemented at pulp mills in the U.S. would result in nationally-significant liquid fuel production levels, petroleum savings, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and criteria-pollutant reductions. These are quantified in this study. A fully-developed pulpmill biorefinery industry could be double or more the size of the current corn-ethanol industry in the United States in terms of annual liquid fuel production. Forest biomass resources are sufficient in the United States to sustainably support such a scale of forest biorefining in addition to the projected growth in pulp and paper production.

LBNL-XXXX E RNEST O RLANDO L AWRENCE B ERKELEY N ATIONAL L ABORATORY Emerging Energy-Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Technologies for the Pulp and Paper Industry Lingbo Kong, Ali Hasanbeigi, Lynn Price China Energy Group Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Department Environmental Energy Technologies Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory November 2012 This work was supported by the China Sustainable Energy Program of the Energy Foundation and Dow Chemical Company (through a charitable contribution) through the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE- AC02-05CH11231.

ORNL was tasked by xLPR project management to propose a team calendar for use within the xLPR consortium. Among various options that were considered, the approach judged by ORNL to best fit the needs of the xLPR project is presented in this document. The Atlassian Team Calendars plug-in used with the Confluence collaboration tool was recommended for several reasons, including the advantage that it provides for a tight integration between Confluence (found at https://xlpr.ornl.gov/wiki ) and xLPR s JIRA issue tracking system (found at https://xlpr.ornl.gov/jira ). This document is divided into two parts. The first part (Sections 1-6) consists of the white paper, which highlights some of the ways that Team Calendars can improve com mun ication between xLPR project managers, group leads, and team members when JIRA is applied for both issue tracking and change-management activities. Specific points emphasized herein are as follows: The Team Calendar application greatly enhances the added value that the JIRA and Confluence tools bring to the xLPR Project. The Team Calendar can improve com mun ication between xLPR project managers, group leads, and team members when JIRA is applied for both issue tracking and change-management activities. The Team Calendar works across different email tools such as Outlook 2011, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, Google Calendars and Mac s iCalendar to name a few. xLPR users can now access the wiki Confluence (with embedded Team Calendars) directly from JIRA without having to re-validate their login. The second part consists of an Annex (Section 7), which describes how users can subscribe to Team Calendars from different calendar applications. Specific instructions are given in the Annex that describe how to Import xLPR Team Calendar to Outlook Version Office 2010 Import xLPR Team Calendar to Outlook Version Office 2007 Subscribe to Team Calendar from Google Calendar The reader is directed to Section 4 for instructions on adding events to the Team Calendar or accessing ORNL staff for assistance with such additions. To seek help with your questions and problems regarding the content of this document, please contact Hilda Klasky at klaskyhb@ornl.gov

E RNEST O RLANDO L AWRENCE B ERKELEY N ATIONAL L ABORATORY White Paper on Energy Efficiency Status of Energy-Using Products in China (2012) Written and prepared by China National Institute of Standardization Translated and edited by Nan Zhou, John Romankiewicz, David Fridley China Energy Group Environmental Energy Technologies Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory June 2012 This work was supported by the Collaborative Labeling & Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) through the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

This white paper accompanies a demonstration model that implements methods for the risk-informed design of monitoring, verification and accounting (RI-MVA) systems in geologic carbon sequestration projects. The intent is that this model will ultimately be integrated with, or interfaced with, the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) integrated assessment model (IAM). The RI-MVA methods described here apply optimization techniques in the analytical environment of NRAP risk profiles to allow systematic identification and comparison of the risk and cost attributes of MVA design options.

This white paper outlines the relevant regulatory policy and guidance for a risk-informed approach for establishing the safety classification of Structures, Systems, and Components (SSCs) for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant and sets forth certain facts for review and discussion in order facilitate an effective submittal leading to an NGNP Combined Operating License application under 10 CFR 52.

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) will be a licensed commercial high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) plant capable of producing the electricity and high temperature process heat for industrial markets supporting a range of end-user applications. The NGNP Project has adopted the 10 CFR 52 Combined License (COL) application process, as recommended in the Report to Congress, dated August 2008, as the foundation for the NGNP licensing strategy. NRC licensing of the NGNP plant utilizing this process will demonstrate the efficacy of licensing future HTGRs for commercial industrial applications. This white paper is one in a series of submittals that will address key generic issues of the COL priority licensing topics as part of the process for establishing HTGR regulatory requirements.

The primary purposes of this white paper are: (1) to describe the proposed approach for developing event specific mechanistic source terms for HTGR design and licensing, (2) to describe the technology development programs required to validate the design methods used to predict these mechanistic source terms and (3) to obtain agreement from the NRC that, subject to appropriate validation through the technology development program, the approach for developing event specific mechanistic source terms is acceptable

Sorting of paper into compatible grades is a necessary step prior to recycling. Current method of manually sorting is tedious, slow, and expensive. Hence, significant part of the waste paper stream is sent to the landfill. High speed automation of the sorting process will improve the cost efficiency and increase the amount of paper recycled significantly. There have been recent developments in automation of this process. Mechanisms for the distribution of the papers from a bale onto a moving conveyor and the pneumatic actuation to deflect papers into different streams are well established. Correct identification of the sample in real-time before the sample reaches the actuation station still remains a challenge since different types of paper and board samples are mixed in a waste stream, and has a lot of variation in terms of color, chemical composition, coating, and prints in black and white and color to different degrees. This is primarily due to the lack of satisfactory sensors and sensor fusion algorithms for sample identification in real-time. In this report, we identify key parameters that must be measured (lignin, stiffness, color gloss), sensor design, and integration of the output from sensors to interpret the type of sample using amore » fuzzy inference system. Results show that the sensor system proposed is capable of identifying the samples at 90% accuracy. The sensor system can be integrated onto a conveyor and actuation system for automated sorting.« less

On December 8, 1999, the Department of Energy (DOE) published Title 10 CFR 850 (hereafter referred to as the Rule) to establish a chronic beryllium disease prevention program (CBDPP) to: (1) reduce the number of workers currently exposed to beryllium in the course of their work at DOE facilities managed by DOE or its contractors; (2) minimize the levels of, and potential for, exposure to beryllium; and (3) establish medical surveillance requirements to ensure early detection of the disease. On January 4, 2001, DOE issued DOE G 440.1-7A, Implementation Guide for use with 10 CFR 850, Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program, to assist line managers in meeting their responsibilities for implementing the CBDPP. That guide describes methods and techniques that DOE considers acceptable in complying with the Rule. In 2005 a draft DOE Technical Standard ''Management of Items and Areas Containing Low Levels of Beryllium'' (SAFT 0103; hereafter referred to as the ''TS'') was circulated for comment (http://www.hss.energy.gov/NuclearSafety/techstds/tsdrafts/saft-0103.pdf). DOE technical standards are voluntary consensus standards developed when industry standards do not exist (see http://www.hss.energy.gov/NuclearSafety/techstds/index.html for more information). DOE does not require its field elements to implement DOE technical standards, but field elements may choose to adopt these standards to meet specific needs. This beryllium TS is intended to provide best practices and lessons learned for manageing items and areas that contain low levels of beryllium, which has been a costly and technically challenging component of CBDPPs. The TS is also intended to provide guidance for determining if the Rule's housekeeping and release criteria are met. On challenge the TS addressed was the statistical interpretation of data sets with non-detected results, a topic for which no strong consensus exists. Among the many comments on the draft TS was a suggestion that certain of the statistical comparisons described in the TS could be better implemented if analytical results, even when below a reporting limit, were to be reported by analytical laboratories. See Appendix 1 for a review of terminology related to reporting limits. The Beryllium Health and Safety Committee (BHSC) formed a Sampling and Analysis Subcommittee (SAS) in 2003. The SAS established a working group on accreditation and reporting limits. By 2006 it had become evident that the issues extended to data reporting as a whole. The SAS proposed to the BHSC the formation of a Data Reporting Task Force (DRTF) to consider issues related to data reporting. The BHSC Board agreed, and requested that the DRTF generate a white paper, to be offered by the BHSC to potential interested parties such as the DOE policy office that is responsible for beryllium health and safety policy. It was noted that additional products could include detailed guidance and potentially a journal article in the future. The SAS proposed that DRTF membership represent the affected disciplines (chemists, industrial hygiene professionals and statisticians, and the DOE office that is responsible for beryllium health and safety policy). The BHSC Board decided that DRTF membership should come from DOE sites, since the focus would be on reporting in the context of the TS and the Rule. The DRTF came into existence in late 2006. The DRTF membership includes industrial hygienists, analytical chemists and laboratory managers, members of the regulatory and oversight community, and environmental statisticians. A first White Paper, ''Summary of Issues and Path Forward'', was reviewed by the BHSC in March 2007 and issued by the DRTF in June 2007. It describes the charter of the DRTF, introduces some basic terminology (reproduced here in Appendix 1), lays out the issues the DRTF is expected to address, and describes a path forward for the DRTF's work. This first White Paper is available through the BHSC web site. This White Paper presents recommendations developed by the DRTF following the process laid out in that first White Paper.

This report describes key ideas underlying the application of Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties (QMU) to nuclear weapons stockpile lifecycle decisions at Sandia National Laboratories. While QMU is a broad process and methodology for generating critical technical information to be used in stockpile management, this paper emphasizes one component, which is information produced by computational modeling and simulation. In particular, we discuss the key principles of developing QMU information in the form of Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty, the need to separate aleatory and epistemic uncertainty in QMU, and the risk-informed decision making that is best suited for decisive application of QMU. The paper is written at a high level, but provides a systematic bibliography of useful papers for the interested reader to deepen their understanding of these ideas.

This paper documents the need for a significant increase in the computing infrastructure provided to scientists working in the unclassified domains at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This need could be viewed as the next step in a broad strategy outlined in the January 2002 White Paper (UCRL-ID-147449) that bears essentially the same name as this document. Therein we wrote: 'This proposed increase could be viewed as a step in a broader strategy linking hardware evolution to applications development that would take LLNL unclassified computational science to a position of distinction if not preeminence by 2006.' This position of distinction has certainly been achieved. This paper provides a strategy for sustaining this success but will diverge from its 2002 predecessor in that it will: (1) Amplify the scientific and external success LLNL has enjoyed because of the investments made in 2002 (MCR, 11 TF) and 2004 (Thunder, 23 TF). (2) Describe in detail the nature of additional investments that are important to meet both the institutional objectives of advanced capability for breakthrough science and the scientists clearly stated request for adequate capacity and more rapid access to moderate-sized resources. (3) Put these requirements in the context of an overall strategymore » for simulation science and external collaboration. While our strategy for Multiprogrammatic and Institutional Computing (M&IC) has worked well, three challenges must be addressed to assure and enhance our position. The first is that while we now have over 50 important classified and unclassified simulation codes available for use by our computational scientists, we find ourselves coping with high demand for access and long queue wait times. This point was driven home in the 2005 Institutional Computing Executive Group (ICEG) 'Report Card' to the Deputy Director for Science and Technology (DDST) Office and Computation Directorate management. The second challenge is related to the balance that should be maintained in the simulation environment. With the advent of Thunder, the institution directed a change in course from past practice. Instead of making Thunder available to the large body of scientists, as was MCR, and effectively using it as a capacity system, the intent was to make it available to perhaps ten projects so that these teams could run very aggressive problems for breakthrough science. This usage model established Thunder as a capability system. The challenge this strategy raises is that the majority of scientists have not seen an improvement in capacity computing resources since MCR, thus creating significant tension in the system. The question then is: 'How do we address the institution's desire to maintain the potential for breakthrough science and also meet the legitimate requests from the ICEG to achieve balance?' Both the capability and the capacity environments must be addressed through this one procurement. The third challenge is to reach out more aggressively to the national science community to encourage access to LLNL resources as part of a strategy for sharpening our science through collaboration. Related to this, LLNL has been unable in the past to provide access for sensitive foreign nationals (SFNs) to the Livermore Computing (LC) unclassified 'yellow' network. Identifying some mechanism for data sharing between LLNL computational scientists and SFNs would be a first practical step in fostering cooperative, collaborative relationships with an important and growing sector of the American science community.« less

Establishing interconnection to the grid is a recognized barrier to the deployment of distributed energy generation. This report compares interconnection processes for photovoltaic projects in California and Germany. This report summarizes the steps of the interconnection process for developers and utilities, the average length of time utilities take to process applications, and paperwork required of project developers. Based on a review of the available literature, this report finds that while the interconnection procedures and timelines are similar in California and Germany, differences in the legal and regulatory frameworks are substantial.

The early precursors of laser ultrasonics on paper were Prof. Y. Berthelot from the Georgia Institute of Technology/Mechanical Engineering department, and Prof. P. Brodeur from the Institute of Paper Science and Technology, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. The first Ph.D. thesis that shed quite some light on the topic, but also left some questions unanswered, was completed by Mont A. Johnson in 1996. Mont Johnson was Prof. Berthelot's student at Georgia Tech. In 1997 P. Brodeur proposed a project involving himself, Y. Berthelot, Dr. Ken Telschow and Mr. Vance Deason from INL, Honeywell-Measurex and Dr. Rick Russo from LBNL. The first time the proposal was not accepted and P. Brodeur decided to re-propose it without the involvement from LBNL. Rick Russo proposed a separate project on the same topic on his side. Both proposals were finally accepted and work started in the fall of 1997 on the two projects. Early on, the biggest challenge was to find an optical detection method which could detect laser-induced displacements of the web surface that are of the order of .1 micron in the ultrasonic range. This was to be done while the web was having an out-of-plane amplitude of motion in the mm range due to web flutter; while moving at 10 m/s to 30 m/s in the plane of the web, on the paper machine. Both teams grappled with the same problems and tried similar methods in some cases, but came up with two similar but different solutions one year later. The IPST, GT, INL team found that an interferometer made by Lasson Technologies Inc. using the photo-induced electro-motive force in Gallium Arsenide was able to detect ultrasonic waves up to 12-15 m/s. It also developed in house an interferometer using the Two-Wave Mixing effect in photorefractive crystals that showed good promises for on-line applications, and experimented with a scanning mirror to reduce motion-induced texture noise from the web and improve signal to noise ratio. On its side, LBNL had the idea to combine a commercial Mach-Zehnder interferometer to a spinning mirror synchronized to the web speed, in order to make almost stationary measurements. The method was demonstrated at up to 10 m/s. Both teams developed their own version of a web simulator that was driving a web of paper at 10 m/s or higher. The Department of Energy and members of the Agenda 2020 started to make a push for merging the two projects. This made sense because their topics were really identical but this was not well received by Prof. Brodeur. Finally IPST decided to reassign the direction of the IPST-INL-GT project in the spring of 1999 to Prof. Chuck Habeger so that the two teams could work together. Also at this time, Honeywell-Measurex dropped as a member of the team. It was replaced by ABB Industrial Systems whose engineers had extensive previous experience of working with ultrasonic sensors on paperboard. INL also finished its work on the project as its competencies were partly redundant with LBNL. From the summer of 1999, the IPST-GT and LBNL teams were working together and helped each other often by collaborating and visiting either laboratory when was necessary. Around the beginning of 2000, began an effort at IPST to create an off-line laser-ultrasonics instrument that could perform automated measurements of paper and paperboard's bending stiffness. It was widely known that the mechanical bending tests of paper used for years by the paper industry were very inaccurate and exhibited poor reproducibility; therefore the team needed a new instrument of reference to validate its future on-line results. In 1999-2000, the focus of the on-line instrument was on a pre-industrial demonstration on a pilot coater while reducing the damage to the web caused by the generation laser, below the threshold where it could be visible by the naked eye. During the spring of 2000 Paul Ridgway traveled to IPST and brought with him a redesigned system still using the same Mach-Zehnder interferometer as before, but this time employing an electric motor-driven spinning mirror instead of the previously belt-driven mechanical spinning mirror. For testing we chose to use a 1 foot-wide paper loop running on IPST's large scale web handler which could reach a web speed of 2,000 feet/min (10.16 m/s). This was more representative of the conditions encountered of a pilot coater, than on a table-top scale web simulator.

The need to improve the radiation detection architecture has given rise to increased concern over the potential of equipment or procedures to violate the Fourth Amendment. Protecting the rights guaranteed by the Constitution is a foremost value of every government agency. However, protecting U.S. residents and assets from potentially catastrophic threats is also a crucial role of government. In the absence of clear precedent, the fear of potentially violating rights could lead to the rejection of effective and reasonable means that could reduce risks, possibly savings lives and assets. The goal of this document is not to apply case law to determine what the precedent may be if it exists, but rather provide a detailed outline that defines searches and seizures, identifies what precedent exists and what precedent doesn't exist, and explore what the existing (and non-existing) precedent means for the use of radiation detection used inside the nation's borders.

This project involves implementing a new technology, microforming, in a headbox to produce an isotropic sheet with significant reductions in the MD/CD stiffness ratio (increasing CD specific STFI) and improved sheet uniformity. Microforming involves generating axial vorticity (i.e., swirl) prior to the converging nozzle of the headbox by retrofitting an existing tube block with swirl generation devices referred to as Vortigen system. The Vortigen system developed in this project is a retrofit technology to a hydraulic headbox tube block. The tubes in the tube block are re-designed to generate axial vorticity (or swirl) in the tubes. This type of flow results in higher intensity small-scale turbulence in the forming jet at the slice. The net effect, as demonstrated in pilot and commercial trials, is improvement in formation and surface smoothness, lower MD/CD tensile ratio, and consequently, higher CD strength properties such as CD STFI, Ring Crush and tensile or breaking length. The objective of this project is to implement microforming by developing the retrofit technology for generation and on-line control of axial vorticity in the tubes to optimize turbulent scale and intensity, and consequently, fiber network structure properties in the sheet. This technology results in significant improvements in the performance and capital effectiveness of the paper machine (PM) for a fraction of the cost to replace a headbox. In this project we have developed and demonstrated the concept of generating axial vorticity to control the fiber orientation in the converging zone of the headbox, and to produce a sheet with isotropic fiber orientation. The technology developed here has been demonstrated in static form on several pilot trials and two series of commercial trials. The economic feasibility of this technology is based primarily on fiber savings in cases where a more isotropic fiber orientation can be used to reduce the basis weight of the product. Even a 5% decrease in basis weight will results in substantial savings covering the cost of a commercial retrofit in 6 months or less in a medium size machine. The project also resulted in significant amount of information on fiber orientation in turbulent flow and in a converging nozzle where the results can be used in other applications, such as formation of composite materials. Several MS and Ph.D. students and postdoctoral associates have been trained as part of this project.

Job generation has been a part of the national dialogue surrounding energy policy and renewable energy (RE) for many years. RE advocates tout the ability of renewable energy to support new job opportunities in rural America and the manufacturing sector. Others argue that spending on renewable energy is an inefficient allocation of resources and can result in job losses in the broader economy. The report, Study of the Effects on Employment of Public Aid to Renewable Energy Sources, from King Juan Carlos University in Spain, is one recent addition to this debate. This report asserts that, on average, every renewable energy job in Spain 'destroyed' 2.2 jobs in the broader Spanish economy. The authors also apply this ratio to the U.S. context to estimate expected job loss from renewable energy development and policy in the United States. This memo discusses fundamental and technical limitations of the analysis by King Juan Carlos University and notes critical assumptions implicit in the ultimate conclusions of their work. The memo also includes a review of traditional employment impact analyses that rely on accepted, peer-reviewed methodologies, and it highlights specific variables that can significantly influence the results of traditional employment impact analysis.

The purpose of this whitepaper is to provide a framework for understanding the role that Verification and Validation (V&V), Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) and Risk Quantification, collectively referred to as VU, is expected to play in modeling nuclear energy systems. We first provide background for the modeling of nuclear energy based systems. We then provide a brief discussion that emphasizes the critical elements of V&V as applied to nuclear energy systems but is general enough to cover a broad spectrum of scientific and engineering disciplines that include but are not limited to astrophysics, chemistry, physics, geology, hydrology, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, nu nuclear engineering material clear science science, etc. Finally, we discuss the critical issues and challenges that must be faced in the development of a viable and sustainable VU program in support of modeling nuclear energy systems.

Modern, forensics laboratories need Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) implementations that allow the lab to track evidentiary items through their examination lifecycle and also serve all pertinent laboratory personnel. The research presented here presents LIMS core requirements as viewed by respondents serving in different forensic laboratory capacities as well as different forensic laboratory environments. A product-development methodology was employed to evaluate the relative value of the key features that constitute a LIMS, in order to develop a set of relative values for these features and the specifics of their implementation. In addition to the results of the product development analysis, this paper also provides an extensive review of LIMS and provides an overview of the preparation and planning process for the successful upgrade or implementation of a LIMS. Analysis of the data indicate that the relative value of LIMS components are viewed differently depending upon respondents' job roles (i.e., evidence technicians, scientists, and lab management), as well as by laboratory size. Specifically, the data show that: (1) Evidence technicians place the most value on chain of evidence capabilities and on chain of custody tracking; (2) Scientists generally place greatest value on report writing and generation, and on tracking daughter evidence more » that develops during their analyses; (3) Lab. Managers place the greatest value on chain of custody, daughter evidence, and not surprisingly, management reporting capabilities; and (4) Lab size affects LIMS preference in that, while all labs place daughter evidence tracking, chain of custody, and management and analyst report generation as their top three priorities, the order of this prioritization is size dependent. « less

This report presents a detailed description of a vision system whose purpose is to detect and to localize the nonuniformities that appear on the paper slurry (wood fiber and water mixture) at the wet end of a paper machine. Specifically, the system is capable of monitoring the paper slurry upon its exit from the headbox and alerting the operators of any event (e.g., streaks) that disrupts the otherwise homogeneous background. Such events are thought to affect crucial product properties such as formation, which if poor, results in thick and thin spots on the sheet and impacts its strength and printability. This report describes the vision system in terms of its hardware modules, as well as the image processing algorithms that it utilizes to perform its function. Basically, the system acquires both intensity and topographic information from the scene and uses texture-based features for the detection, and facet-based descriptors for the localization of the nonuniformities. In addition to being tested in a laboratory environment, a prototype of this system was constructed and deployed to a paper mill, where its performance was evaluated under realistic conditions. Installed on a fourdrinier paper machine, running at 480 m/min and producing linerboard material, the vision system was able to monitor an approximately 1-meter-wide area and to successfully detect and localize slurry streaks.

This white paper has been prepared to document the approach to develop strategies to address Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) science and technology needs/uncertainties to support completion of INEEL Idaho Completion Project (Environmental Management [EM]) projects against the 2012 plan. Important Idaho Completion Project remediation and clean-up projects include the 2008 OU 10-08 Record of Decision, completion of EM by 2012, Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center Tanks, INEEL CERCLA Disposal Facility, and the Radioactive Waste Management Complex. The objective of this effort was to develop prioritized operational needs and uncertainties that would assist Operations in remediation and clean-up efforts at the INEEL and develop a proposed path forward for the development of science strategies to address these prioritized needs. Fifteen needs/uncertainties were selected to develop an initial approach to science strategies. For each of the 15 needs/uncertainties, a detailed definition was developed. This included extracting information from the past interviews with Operations personnel to provide a detailed description of the need/uncertainty. For each of the 15 prioritized research and development needs, a search was performed to identify the state of the associated knowledge. The knowledge search was performed primarily evaluating ongoing research. The ongoing research reviewed included Environmental Systems Research Analysis, Environmental Management Science Program, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, Inland Northwest Research Alliance, United States Geological Survey, and ongoing Operations supported projects. Results of the knowledge search are documented as part of this document.