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DOE OSTI2024

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2023

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s 10 national laboratories, provides innovative science and technology development in the areas of energy and the environment, fundamental and computational science, and national security. There are three DOE offices within the Richland area. Two are responsible for the Hanford Site, whereas the Pacific Northwest Site Office oversees PNNL. PNNL prepares an Annual Site Environmental Report to meet the requirements of DOE Order 231.1B, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting, and DOE Order 458.1, Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment, thus assuring that the public is informed of any PNNL-Richland campus or PNNL-Sequim campus event that could adversely affect the health and safety of the public, site staff, or the environment. The report provides a synopsis of ongoing environmental management performance and compliance activities for operations that occur at the PNNL-Richland campus in Richland, Washington, and at the PNNL-Sequim campus near Sequim, Washington. It describes the location of and background for each facility; addresses compliance with applicable DOE, federal, state, and local regulations, and site-specific permits; documents environmental monitoring efforts and their status; presents potential radiation doses to staff and the public in the surrounding areas; and describes DOE-required data quality assurance methods used for data verification. The ASER report describes Compliance with Federal, State, and Local Laws and Regulations in 2023, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental monitoring and dose assessment, Natural and Cultural Resource Management, and Quality Assurance activities that took place during Calendar Year 2023.

40 CFR 61 Subpart H↗
DOE OSTI2022

Minimizing Fraud in the Carbon Offset Market Using Blockchain Technologies

Fraud in the Environmental Benefit Credit (EBC) markets is pervasive. To make matters worse, the cost of creating EBCs is often higher than the market price. Consequently, a method to create, validate, and verify EBCs and their relevance is needed to mitigate fraud. The EBC market has focused on geologic (fossil fuel) CO 2 sequestration projects that are often over budget and behind schedule and has failed to capture the "lowest hanging fruit" EBCs - terrestrial sequestration via the agricultural industry. This project reviews a methodology to attain possibly the least costly EBCs by tracking the reduction of inputs required to grow crops. The use of bio- stimulant products, such as humate, allows a farmer to use less nitrogen without adversely affecting crop yield. Using less nitrogen qualifies for EBCs by reducing nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate runoff from a farmer's field. A blockchain that tracks the bio-stimulant material from source to application provides a link between a tangible (bio-stimulant commodity) and the associated intangible (EBCs) assets. Covert insertion of taggants in the bio-stimulant products creates a unique barcode that allows a product to be digitally tracked from beginning to end. This process (blockchain technology) is so robust, logical, and transparent that it will enhance the value of the associated EBCs by mitigating fraud. It provides a real time method for monetizing the benefits of the material. Substantial amounts of energy are required to produce, transport, and distribute agricultural inputs including fertilizer and water. Intelligent optimization of the use of agricultural inputs can drive meaningful cost savings. Tagging and verification of product application provides a valuable understanding of the dynamics in the water/food energy nexus, a major food security and sustainability issue. As technology in agriculture evolves so to must methods to verify the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) potential of innovative solutions. The technology reviewed provides the ability to combine blockchain and taggants ("taggant blockchains") as the engine by which to (1) mitigate fraudulent carbon credits; (2) improve food chain security, and (3) monitor and manage sustainability. The verification of product quality and application is a requirement to validate benefits. Recent upgrades to humic and fulvic quality protocols known as ISO CD 19822 TC134 offers an analytical procedure. This work has been assisted by the Humic Products Trade Association and International Humic Substance Society. In addition, providing proof of application of these products and verification of the correct application of prescriptive humic and bio-stimulant products is required. Individual sources of humate have unique and verifiable characteristics. Additionally, methods for prescription of site- specific agricultural inputs in agricultural fields are available. (See US Patents 734867B2, US 90658633B2.) Finally, a method to assure application rate is required through the use of taggants. Sensors using organic solid to liquid phase change nanoparticles of various types and melting temperatures added to the naturally occurring materials provide a barcode. Over 100 types of nanoparticles exist ensuring numerous possible barcodes to reduce industry fraud. Taggant materials can be collected from soil samples of plant material to validate a blockchain of humic, fulvic and other soil amendment products. Other non-organic materials are also available as taggants; however, the organic tags are biodegradable and safe in the environment allowing for use during differing application timeliness.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Three Sheet Al alloy assembly for automotive application

An update on joint characterization of three sheet friction stir lap welds (FSLW) in three aluminum alloys (7xxx, 5xxx, and 6xxx) for automotive assembly application is presented. Welding speed of 0.3-2.9m/min was used with pin length >5mm with the aim to reduce upturn hooking on the retreating side and avoid wormhole defect on the advancing side. Joints were also made in to enable T peel and U peel testing. Stitch welds were used to understand effects of weld length and ramp length on T peel performance. Hat sections were joined for 3-point bending and axial crush testing and tested with promising results. Several key issues that require further investigations are identified including flash management near the trim edge, weld quality with limited clamping, tool failures at speeds greater than 0.5m/min, and propensity of incipient melting for 7xxx stack-up.

Upadhyay, Piyush↗
DOE OSTI2021

Continuous Integration, In-Code Documentation, and Automation for Nuclear Quality Assurance Conformance

The Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) is an open-source, finite element framework for solving highly coupled sets of nonlinear equations. The development of the framework and applications occurs concurrently using an agile, continuous-integration software package. Included in the framework is an in-code, extensible documentation system. Using these two tools in union with the repository management tools GitHub and GitLab, a software quality plan was created and followed such that MOOSE and a MOOSE-based application (BISON) have been shown to meet the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Nuclear Quality Assurance-1 standard. The approach relies heavily on automation for both testing and documentation. The resulting effort demonstrates that a rigorous software quality plan may be implemented that incurs a minimal impact on day-to-day development of the software, satisfying the stringent guidelines necessary to operate the software in a safety function within a nuclear facility.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bayesian modeling of traffic-related air pollutants: A case study of urban transportation and air quality dynamics in Columbia, South Carolina

Traffic emissions significantly impact near-road air quality and public health. This research applies a Bayesian modeling framework to investigate these impacts using high-resolution traffic and air pollutant data from an urban corridor in Columbia, South Carolina. Despite a data collection period truncated by the COVID-19 lockdown, the Bayesian approach successfully identified significant predictors and quantified model uncertainty. Employing Bayesian Model Selection and Averaging enhanced prediction accuracy and evaluated model uncertainty. Findings indicate that higher temperatures and increased moisture levels elevate particulate matter (PM 1.0 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 ) concentrations, while traffic speed significantly affects nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) levels. Specifically, higher average traffic speeds (indicative of smoother flow) correspond to lower NO 2 concentrations, suggesting that less congested conditions reduce NO 2 emissions. This study highlights the robustness of Bayesian methods for generating reliable air quality insights even under data-constrained conditions. The findings underscore the importance of traffic flow management (e.g., reducing congestion) for mitigating near-road NO 2 exposure and provide a basis for developing targeted public health strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Thermal Transport and Mechanical Stress Mapping of a Compression Bonded GaN/Diamond Interface for Vertical Power Devices

Bonding diamond to the back side of gallium nitride (GaN) electronics has been shown to improve thermal management in lateral devices; however, engineering challenges remain with the bonding process and characterizing the bond quality for vertical device architectures. Here, in this study, integration of these two materials is achieved by room-temperature compression bonding centimeter-scale GaN and a diamond die via an intermetallic bonding layer of Ti/Au. Recent attempts at GaN/diamond bonding have utilized a modified surface activation bonding (SAB) method, which requires Ar fast atom bombardment immediately followed by bonding within the same tool under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. The method presented here does not require a dedicated SAB tool yet still achieves bonding via a room-temperature metal–metal compression process. Imaging of the buried interface and the total bonding area is achieved via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal acoustic scanning microscopy (C-SAM), respectively. The thermal transport quality of the bond is extracted from spatially resolved frequency-domain thermoreflectance (FDTR) with the bonded areas boasting a thermal boundary conductance of >100 MW/m 2 ·K. Additionally, Raman maps of GaN near the GaN–diamond interface reveal a low level of compressive stress, <80 MPa, in well-bonded regions. FDTR and Raman were coutilized to map these buried interfaces and revealed some poor thermally bonded areas bordered by high-stress regions, highlighting the importance of spatial sampling for a complete picture of bond quality. Overall, this work demonstrates a novel method for thermal management in vertical GaN devices that maintains low intrinsic stresses while boasting high thermal boundary conductances.

Raman↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lessons Learned in the Development of Industry Guidance - 20279

The availability of industry guidance on different aspects of waste management forms a valuable reference for waste practitioners. The guidance typically details the principles, processes and practices that should be consulted during each stage of the relevant activities. It also includes relevant regulatory and international requirements, appropriate case studies and examples of best practices to illustrate technical concepts and make the information available to the reader in an accessible manner. Over recent years Wood have developed (or are developing) a number of industry guidance documents on a range of topics including Solid Waste Characterization, Routine Water Quality Monitoring on Nuclear Sites: Pipeline Characterization: Determining Background Radioactivity for Land Quality Assessment: Interim Storage and Aqueous Waste Management. This talk provides an overview of lessons learned along the way including: - the importance of stakeholder engagement through the process: - how to identify 'good practice'; - the importance of iterative development; and - the selection of illustrative and informative case studies. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Increasing the Fissile Mass Loading of High-Level Waste Glass Canisters to Greater Than 2,500 g/m 3 at the Savannah River Site

To eliminate future fissile mass loading constraints for the Savannah River Site H-Canyon Facility and Liquid Waste system, the Savannah River National Laboratory recommends a repository evaluation of a uranium fissile mass loading in glass at 7,144 g/m 3 in addition to the existing International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and security limit of 2,500 g/m 3 total plutonium. This recommended increase above the authorized 2,500 g/m 3 fissile mass loading limit is based on concentrations of uranium and plutonium shown to produce an acceptable glass waste form rather than projections of the maximum fissile mass loading in future sludge batches. An authorized fissile mass loading limit greater than 2,500 g/m 3 will increase facility flexibility, reduce the number of high-level waste canisters produced, and potentially avoid an increase in the Department of Energy Environmental Management mission life without compromising safety or glass product quality.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Importance of Inventory for Informing Waste Strategy - 20280

A waste inventory aims to present the best available information about the nature, quantity and location of radioactive wastes and materials at a facility, site or in a country. Quality inventory data is necessary for developing appropriate strategies and plans for managing radioactive wastes and materials, with high standards of protection for people and the environment. The inventory of wastes will change over time due to a wide range of technical, commercial or policy reasons, for example, if reactor lifetimes are extended, if decommissioning strategies change or if new technologies are introduced for managing waste. Inventory information can also improve as better waste characterisation data becomes available. At a facility or site level, good quality inventory data are needed to underpin decision making about the waste management options and to demonstrate compliance with the chosen treatment or disposal route. At a site and country level, knowledge of the inventory can drive the improvement to waste strategy; waste management asset and service planning; and implementation. (authors)

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

Empirical thermophotovoltaic performance predictions and limits

Significant progress has been made in the field of thermophotovoltaics, with efficiency recently rising to over 40% due to improvements in cell design and material quality, higher emitter temperatures, and better spectral management. However, inconsistencies in trends for efficiency with semiconductor bandgap energy across various temperatures pose challenges in predicting optimal bandgaps or expected performance for different applications. To address these issues, here we present realistic performance predictions for various types of single-junction cells over a broad range of emitter temperatures using an empirical model based on past cell measurements. Our model is validated using data from different authors with various bandgaps and emitter temperatures, and an excellent agreement is seen between the model and the experimental data. Using our model, we show that in addition to spectral losses, it is important to consider practical electrical losses associated with series resistance and cell quality to avoid overestimation of system efficiency. Here, we also show the effect of modifying various system parameters such as bandgap, above and below-bandgap reflectance, saturation current, and series resistance on the efficiency and power density of thermophotovoltaics at different temperatures. Finally, we predict the bandgap energies for best performance over a range of emitter temperatures for different cell material qualities.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Climate and air pollution impacts of generating biopower from forest management residues in California

California faces crisis conditions on its forested landscapes. A century of aggressive logging and fire suppression in combination with conditions exacerbated by climate change have created an ongoing ecological, economic, and public health emergency. Between commercial harvests on California’s working forestlands and the increasing number of acres the state treats each year for fire risk reduction and carbon sequestration, California forests generate millions of tons of woody residues annually—residues that are typically left or burned in the field. State policymakers have turned to biomass electricity generation as a key market for woody biomass in the hope that it can support sustainable forest management activities while also providing low-carbon renewable electricity. However, open questions surrounding the climate and air pollution performance of electricity generation from woody biomass have made it difficult to determine how best to manage the risks and opportunities posed by forest residues. The California Biomass Residue Emissions Characterization (C-BREC) model offers a spatially-explicit life cycle assessment framework to rigorously and transparently establish the climate and air pollution impacts of biopower from forest residues in California under current conditions. The C-BREC model characterizes the variable emissions from different biomass supply chains as well as the counterfactual emissions from prescribed burn, wildfire, and decay avoided by residue mobilization. We find that the life cycle ‘carbon footprint’ of biopower from woody residues generated by recent forest treatments in California ranges widely—from comparable with solar photovoltaic on the low end to comparable with natural gas on the high end. This variation stems largely from the heterogeneity in the fire and decay conditions these residues would encounter if left in the field, with utilization of residue that would otherwise have been burned in place offering the best climate and air quality performance. California’s energy and forest management policies should account for this variation to ensure desired climate benefits are achieved.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

ORNL Package Testing Program Software Quality Assurance Plan

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Package Testing Program (PTP) uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software in performing data collection of thermal test results for package designs that contain radioactive materials. Specifically, this software is used to collect temperature data from the furnace, packages, and ambient air to prepare and execute the thermal test specified in 10 CFR 71.73, “Thermal Test.” This software quality assurance (SQA) plan sets forth the guidelines, standards, and procedures that shall be used to provide SQA for PTP software applications. This is a living document that will be maintained for the lifecycle of the PTP program. The SQA plan follows the requirements set forth in ORNL Standards Based Management System (SBMS): Information Technology; Subject Area: Software Quality Assurance. When applicable to the requirements as described in ORNL SBMS, Software Quality Assurance, the software shall be listed in the ORNL Software Registration System (SRS). Exemptions to this SBMS are COTS and firmware that are not modified; spreadsheet applications and personal productivity tools that do not have a utility or safety application, research applications, legacy software, system software, vendor-supplied software used to interface with the vendor’s services, software used within the organization to facilitate processing or management of information, and software developed for applications not specific to the US Department of Energy (DOE).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Opportunities for iron and steel industrial wastewater treatment and reuse in the United States

Concerns around water security in the United States have heightened the interest in industrial water treatment and reuse to improve water efficiency and operational reliability. Alongside nationwide efforts to expand industrial capacity, primary manufacturing sectors are adopting more resource-efficient technologies. This transition is expected to shift industrial water consumption patterns, driving the need for improved treatment and reuse practices. This study investigates opportunities for water use, treatment, and reuse in the iron and steel sector through a review of academic and industry literature and interviews with industry representatives. It identifies key challenges in water and wastewater management and outlines the conditions under which innovative treatment technologies could be deployed. Based on these insights, the study presents a practical water management action plan. Furthermore, it assesses water quality targets across different process operations, evaluates existing treatment technologies, and highlights challenges and opportunities for improvement relative to future performance expectations. Although water is often perceived as a low-cost commodity, industry feedback suggests that improvements in water use and treatment efficiency are typically prioritized only when they also reduce energy use, carbon emissions, or costs. This study advocates for a direct two-way partnership between industry and research audiences to bring their attention toward sustainable industrial water use, treatment, and reuse.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nuclear Quality Assurance Certification of the MCNP-ORIGEN Activation Automation tool

The MCNP-ORIGEN Activation Automation (MOAA) tool couples MCNP and ORIGEN-S, allowing to support ATR and TREAT experiments by predicting their composition and activity before their irradiation takes place. MOAA is developed and maintained by the Irradiation Experiment Neutronics Analysis group (C-150) at INL. This poster presents the motivation behind the development of MOAA, its main workflow, as well as the software quality assurance (SQA) efforts required by LWP-13620, "Managing Information Technology Assets."

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Increasing temperature and flow management alter mercury dynamics in East Fork Poplar Creek

East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) is a mercury (Hg) contaminated creek in east Tennessee, USA. Stream restoration activities included the initiation of a flow management programme in 1996 in which water from a nearby lake was pumped to the head of the creek. We conducted regular water sampling for 2 years along the length of EFPC during active flow management and for 5 years after flow management stopped. Total Hg and total monomethylmercury (MMHg) concentration and flux decreased in the uppermost reaches of EFPC that were closest to the point of water addition. Most water quality parameters, including DOC concentration, remained unchanged after flow management termination. Nevertheless, SUVA 254 , a measure of dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition, increased and coincided with increased dissolved Hg (Hg D ) concentration and flux and decreased Hg solid-water partitioning coefficients throughout EFPC. Higher SUVA 254 and Hg D concentration have potential implications for bioavailability and MMHg production. Total and dissolved MMHg concentrations increased in lower reaches of EFPC after the end of flow management and these increases were most pronounced during spring and early summer when biota are more susceptible to exposure and uptake. A general warming trend in the creek after active flow management ended likely acted in concert with higher Hg D concentration to promote higher MMHg concentration. Total and dissolved MMHg concentrations were positively correlated with water temperature above a threshold value of 10°C. Concentration changes for Hg and MMHg could not be accounted for by changes in creek discharge that accompanied the cessation of flow management. In addition to the changing DOM composition in-stream, other watershed-scale factors likely contributed to the observed patterns, as these changes occurred over months rather than instantaneously after flow management stopped. Nevertheless, similar changes in MMHg have not been observed in a tributary to EFPC.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Los Alamos National Laboratory 2022 Annual Site Environmental Report (Rev. 2)

Los Alamos National Laboratory (Laboratory) annual site environmental reports are prepared each year by the Laboratory’s environmental organizations as required by U.S. Department of Energy Order 231.1B, Administrative Change 1, Environment, Safety, and Health Reporting, and Order 458.1, Administrative Change 4, Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment. The chapters in this report discuss our compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and orders (Chapter 2, Compliance Summary); how we manage the Laboratory’s environmental performance and assure the quality of data from analysis of environmental samples (Chapter 3, Environmental Programs and Analytical Data Quality); how we monitor for air emissions of radioactive materials and for weather conditions (Chapter 4, Air Quality); how we monitor for effects of Laboratory operations on groundwater quality (Chapter 5, Groundwater Protection); how we monitor the levels of chemicals and radionuclides in storm water runoff and sediment (Chapter 6, Watershed Quality); how we monitor for the levels and effects of chemicals and radionuclides in plants, animals, soil, and vegetation (Chapter 7, Ecosystem Health); and finally, what radioactive dose or risk from chemical exposure that members of the public could experience as a result of Laboratory operations (Chapter 8, Public Dose and Risk Assessment).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of ASTM International D8405—Standard Test Method for Evaluating PM 2.5 Sensors or Sensor Systems Used in Indoor Applications

Sensors and sensor systems for monitoring fine particles with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 2.5 µm can provide real-time feedback on indoor air quality and thus can help guide actions to manage indoor air pollutant concentrations. Standardized verification of the performance and accuracy of sensors and sensor systems is crucial for predicting the efficacy of such monitoring. A new ASTM International standard test method (ASTM D8405) was created for this need and is the most exacting laboratory protocol published to date for evaluating indoor air quality sensors and sensor systems measuring particles smaller than 2.5 µm in diameter. ASTM D8405 subjects sensors and sensor systems to five test phases: (1) an initial particle concentration ramp; (2) exposure to various temperature and humidity conditions; (3) exposure to interfering particles; (4) temperature cycling; and (5) a final particle concentration ramp to assess drift. This paper discusses the development of the standard test method, key aspects of the testing process, example evaluation results, and a comparison of this standard test method against peer evaluation protocols.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗