Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “VALLEYS”

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

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12

A Preliminary Probabilistic Performance Assessment Model for Radiological and Chemical Contamination at the West Valley Site, New York - 19295

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is the owner of the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC), a 1,351-ha site located approximately 48 km south of Buffalo, New York. In 1962, Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) entered into agreements with the Atomic Energy Commission and New York State to construct the first commercial reprocessing plant of nuclear fuel in the United States at the WNYNSC. NFS built and operated the spent fuel reprocessing plant and waste disposal facilities, processing 640 Mg (640 metric tons) of spent nuclear fuel from 1966 to 1972 under an Atomic Energy Commission license. Nuclear fuel reprocessing operations halted in 1972 and never restarted, leaving behind radioactive and chemical wastes. The reprocessing wastes include high-level waste (HLW), so U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was compelled to complete certain waste management activities under the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Act of 1980, including decommissioning of WVDP facilities. As collaborating agencies, NYSERDA and the DOE are tasked with making decisions about decommissioning and risk reduction for the West Valley Site. Neptune and Company, Inc. (Neptune) was contracted to develop a probabilistic performance assessment (PPA) model to assist the agencies in their decision making process for decommissioning the WVDP and WNYNSC. One important tool that is needed in order to inform the decision-making process is a science-based model of the contamination at the West Valley Site and its potential implications for human health and the environment. The West Valley PPA Model (the Model), developed using the GoldSim modeling software, is a tool intended to provide support for decision making with uncertainty, in a manner that is transparent, defensible, and robust. The PPA Model includes contaminant transport and health effects components, and is organized around geographically-organized contaminated facilities. These include the waste disposal areas licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of New York, a waste tank farm for storage of HLW resulting from reprocessing operations, and several areas contaminated with radioactive and chemical constituents. The Model evaluates contaminant transport from these sources to points of exposure across the site and into receiving surface waters and sediments. Hypothetical people and wildlife are exposed to contamination at these locations, and the effects of these exposures are evaluated. Contaminant transport processes to be evaluated in the Model include groundwater and surface water transport, contaminant translocation by plants and animals, diffusion in subsurface air and water, and erosion of the Site. The evaluation of exposures to people in this preliminary model is limited to a resident farmer scenario, and ecological assessment is performed at the level of a screening analysis. The results of these preliminary evaluations inform future model developments. Model results are subjected to sensitivity analysis in order to determine those pathways and parameters that are most significant in influencing the results. This information allows analysts and decision makers to focus on those aspects of Site behavior and processes that contribute most to overall uncertainty. With this information, the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) can inform defensible decisions regarding remediation of the Site. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Updates to a Preliminary Probabilistic Performance Assessment Model for Radiological and Chemical Contamination at the West Valley Site, New York - 20420

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is the owner of the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC), a 1,351-ha site located approximately 48 km south of Buffalo, New York. In 1962, Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) entered into agreements with the Atomic Energy Commission and New York State to construct the first commercial reprocessing plant of nuclear fuel in the United States at the WNYNSC. NFS built and operated the spent fuel reprocessing plant and waste disposal facilities, processing 640 Mg (640 metric tons) of spent nuclear fuel from 1966 to 1972 under an Atomic Energy Commission license. Nuclear fuel reprocessing operations halted in 1972 and never restarted, leaving behind radioactive and chemical wastes. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was required to complete certain waste management activities under the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Act of 1980 including decommissioning of WVDP facilities. As collaborating agencies, NYSERDA and the DOE are tasked with making decisions about decommissioning and risk reduction for the West Valley Site. Neptune and Company, Inc. (Neptune) was contracted to develop a probabilistic performance assessment (PPA) model to assist the agencies in their decision making process for decommissioning the WVDP and WNYNSC. One important tool that is needed in order to inform the decision-making process is a science-based model of the West Valley Site that evaluates potential future consequences for human health and the environment. This forms the core of the spatial domain of the West Valley PPA Model. The PPA Model, developed using the GoldSim system modeling software, is a tool intended to provide support for decision making that evaluates uncertainty, in a manner that is transparent, defensible, and robust. The PPA Model includes contaminant transport and health effects components, and is organized around geographically-grouped contaminated facilities. These include the waste disposal areas licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of New York, a waste tank farm for storage of high level radioactive waste resulting from reprocessing operations, and several areas contaminated with radioactive and chemical constituents. The PPA Model evaluates contaminant transport from these sources to points of exposure across the site and into receiving surface waters and sediments. Hypothetical people and wildlife could be exposed to contamination at these locations, and the effects of these exposures are evaluated. Contaminant transport processes to be evaluated in the PPA Model include groundwater and surface water transport, contaminant translocation by plants and animals, diffusion, and erosion. The evaluation of exposures to people in this preliminary model is limited to a resident farmer scenario, and ecological assessment is performed at the level of a screening analysis. The results of these preliminary evaluations inform future model developments. PPA Model results are subjected to sensitivity analysis in order to determine those pathways and parameters that are most significant in influencing the results. This information allows analysts and decision makers to focus on those aspects of Site behavior and processes. With this information, the decision makers can drive informed, defensible decisions regarding decommissioning of the Site. This paper includes an update of the information presented at WM2019 [1]. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Death Valley Lower Carbonate Aquifer Monitoring Program: Wells Down Gradient of the Proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository

Inyo County completed the first year of the U.S. Department of Energy Grant Agreement No. DE-RW0000233. This report presents the results of research conducted within this Grant agreement in the context of Inyo County's Yucca Mountain oversight program goals and objectives. The Hydrodynamics Group, LLC prepared this report for Inyo County Yucca Mountain Repository Assessment Office. The overall goal of Inyo County's Yucca Mountain research program is the evaluation of far-field issues related to potential transport, by ground water, of radionuclide into Inyo County, including Death Valley, and the evaluation of a connection between the Lower Carbonate Aquifer (LCA) and the biosphere. Data collected within the Grant is included in interpretive illustrations and discussions of the results of our analysis. The centeral elements of this Grant prgoram was the drilling of exploratory wells, geophysical surveys, geological mapping of the Southern Funeral Mountain Range. The cullimination of this research was 1) a numerical ground water model of the Southern Funeral Mountain Range demonstrating the potential of a hydraulic connection between the LCA and the major springs in the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley, and 2) a numerical ground water model of the Amargosa Valley to evaluate the potential for radionuclide transport from Yucca Mountain to Inyo County, California. The report provides a description of research and activities performed by The Hydrodynamics Group, LLC on behalf of Inyo County, and copies of key work products in attachments to this report.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Band inversion-driven warping and high valley degeneracy

Band inversion is a physical phenomenon that can warp the band structure in topological insulators, generating multiple electronic valleys for conducting carriers. However, the conditions under which band inversion induces warping are not well understood. Here, we derive two general rules that must be satisfied for band warping to occur in centrosymmetric and non-magnetic topological insulators: (1) bands must be sufficiently inverted, and (2) secondary bands must have opposite parity and be close in energy to the band edges. We chart the valley degeneracies that can emerge from band inversion in each of the 11 centrosymmetric point groups, revealing that an increase in the valley degeneracy between 2- and 48-fold is possible from band inversion. The generalized rules offer a unique band engineering approach by capitalizing on the non-trivial electronic structures of topological insulators.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Dixie Valley Engineered Geothermal System Exploration Methodology Project, Baseline Conceptual Model Report

The Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) Exploration Methodology Project is developing an exploration approach for EGS through the integration of geoscientific data. The Project chose the Dixie Valley Geothermal System in Nevada as a field laboratory site for methodlogy calibration purposes because, in the public domain, it is a highly characterized geothermal systems in the Basin and Range with a considerable amount of geoscience and most importantly, well data. This Baseline Conceptual Model report summarizes the results of the first three project tasks (1) collect and assess the existing public domain geoscience data, (2) design and populate a GIS database, and (3) develop a baseline (existing data) geothermal conceptual model, evaluate geostatistical relationships, and generate baseline, coupled EGS favorability/trust maps from +1km above sea level (asl) to -4km asl for the Calibration Area (Dixie Valley Geothermal Wellfield) to identify EGS drilling targets at a scale of 5km x 5km. It presents (1) an assessment of the readily available public domain data and some proprietary data provided by Terra-Gen Power, LLC, (2) a re-interpretation of these data as required, (3) an exploratory geostatistical data analysis, (4) the baseline geothermal conceptual model, and (5) the EGS favorability/trust mapping. The conceptual model presented applies to both the hydrothermal system and EGS in the Dixie Valley region.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Dixie Valley Engineered Geothermal System Exploration Methodology Project, Baseline Conceptual Model Report

The Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) Exploration Methodology Project is developing an exploration approach for EGS through the integration of geoscientific data. The Project chose the Dixie Valley Geothermal System in Nevada as a field laboratory site for methodlogy calibration purposes because, in the public domain, it is a highly characterized geothermal systems in the Basin and Range with a considerable amount of geoscience and most importantly, well data. This Baseline Conceptual Model report summarizes the results of the first three project tasks (1) collect and assess the existing public domain geoscience data, (2) design and populate a GIS database, and (3) develop a baseline (existing data) geothermal conceptual model, evaluate geostatistical relationships, and generate baseline, coupled EGS favorability/trust maps from +1km above sea level (asl) to -4km asl for the Calibration Area (Dixie Valley Geothermal Wellfield) to identify EGS drilling targets at a scale of 5km x 5km. It presents (1) an assessment of the readily available public domain data and some proprietary data provided by Terra-Gen Power, LLC, (2) a re-interpretation of these data as required, (3) an exploratory geostatistical data analysis, (4) the baseline geothermal conceptual model, and (5) the EGS favorability/trust mapping. The conceptual model presented applies to both the hydrothermal system and EGS in the Dixie Valley region.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Dixie Valley Engineered Geothermal System Exploration Methodology Project, Baseline Conceptual Model Report

The Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) Exploration Methodology Project is developing an exploration approach for EGS through the integration of geoscientific data. The Project chose the Dixie Valley Geothermal System in Nevada as a field laboratory site for methodlogy calibration purposes because, in the public domain, it is a highly characterized geothermal systems in the Basin and Range with a considerable amount of geoscience and most importantly, well data. This Baseline Conceptual Model report summarizes the results of the first three project tasks (1) collect and assess the existing public domain geoscience data, (2) design and populate a GIS database, and (3) develop a baseline (existing data) geothermal conceptual model, evaluate geostatistical relationships, and generate baseline, coupled EGS favorability/trust maps from +1km above sea level (asl) to -4km asl for the Calibration Area (Dixie Valley Geothermal Wellfield) to identify EGS drilling targets at a scale of 5km x 5km. It presents (1) an assessment of the readily available public domain data and some proprietary data provided by Terra-Gen Power, LLC, (2) a re-interpretation of these data as required, (3) an exploratory geostatistical data analysis, (4) the baseline geothermal conceptual model, and (5) the EGS favorability/trust mapping. The conceptual model presented applies to both the hydrothermal system and EGS in the Dixie Valley region.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Dixie Valley Engineered Geothermal System Exploration Methodology Project, Baseline Conceptual Model Report

The Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) Exploration Methodology Project is developing an exploration approach for EGS through the integration of geoscientific data. The overall project area is 2500km2 with the Calibration Area (Dixie Valley Geothermal Wellfield) being about 170km2. The Final Scientific Report (FSR) is submitted in two parts (I and II). FSR part I presents (1) an assessment of the readily available public domain data and some proprietary data provided by terra-gen power, llc, (2) a re-interpretation of these data as required, (3) an exploratory geostatistical data analysis, (4) the baseline geothermal conceptual model, and (5) the EGS favorability/trust mapping. The conceptual model presented applies to both the hydrothermal system and EGS in the Dixie Valley region. FSR Part II presents (1) 278 new gravity stations; (2) enhanced gravity-magnetic modeling; (3) 42 new ambient seismic noise survey stations; (4) an integration of the new seismic noise data with a regional seismic network; (5) a new methodology and approach to interpret this data; (5) a novel method to predict rock type and temperature based on the newly interpreted data; (6) 70 new magnetotelluric (MT) stations; (7) an integrated interpretation of the enhanced MT data set; (8) the results of a 308 station soil CO2 gas survey; (9) new conductive thermal modeling in the project area; (10) new convective modeling in the Calibration Area; (11) pseudo-convective modeling in the Calibration Area; (12) enhanced data implications and qualitative geoscience correlations at three scales (a) Regional, (b) Project, and (c) Calibration Area; (13) quantitative geostatistical exploratory data analysis; and (14) responses to nine questions posed in the proposal for this investigation. Enhanced favorability/trust maps were not generated because there was not a sufficient amount of new, fully-vetted (see below) rock type, temperature, and stress data. The enhanced seismic data did generate a new method to infer rock type and temperature (However, in the opinion of the Principal Investigator for this project, this new methodology needs to be tested and evaluated at other sites in the Basin and Range before it is used to generate the referenced maps. As in the baseline conceptual model, the enhanced findings can be applied to both the hydrothermal system and EGS in the Dixie Valley region).

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Elk Valley Rancheria Energy Efficiency and Alternatives Analysis

The Elk Valley Rancheria, California ('Tribe') is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Del Norte County, California, in the northwestern corner of California. The Tribe, its members and Tribal enterprises are challenged by increasing energy costs and undeveloped local energy resources. The Tribe currently lacks an energy program. The Tribal government lacked sufficient information to make informed decisions about potential renewable energy resources, energy alternatives and other energy management issues. To meet this challenge efficiently, the Tribe contracted with Frank Zaino and Associates, Inc. to help become more energy self-sufficient, by reducing their energy costs and promoting energy alternatives that stimulate economic development. Frank Zaino & Associates, Inc. provided a high level economic screening analysis based on anticipated electric and natural gas rates. This was in an effort to determine which alternative energy system will performed at a higher level so the Tribe could reduce their energy model by 30% from alternative fuel sources. The feasibility study will identify suitable energy alternatives and conservation methods that will benefit the Tribe and tribal community through important reductions in cost. The lessons learned from these conservation efforts will yield knowledge that will serve a wider goal of executing energy efficiency measures and practices in Tribal residences and business facilities. Pacific Power is the provider of electrical power to the four properties under review at $ 0.08 per Kilowatt-hour (KWH). This is a very low energy cost compared to alternative energy sources. The Tribe used baseline audits to assess current and historic energy usage at four Rancheria owned facilities. Past electric and gas billing statements were retained for review for the four buildings that will be audited. A comparative assessment of the various energy usages will determine the demand, forecast future need and identify the differences in energy costs, narrowing the focus of the work and defining its scope. The Tribe's peak demand periods will help determine the scope of need for alternative energy sources. The Tribe's Energy Efficiency and Alternatives Analysis report included several system investigations which include fuel cells, wind turbines, solar panels, hydro electric, ground source heat pumps, bio mass, cogeneration & energy conservation and implementation for the existing properties. The energy analysis included site visits to collect and analyze historical energy usage and cost. The analysis also included the study of the building systems for the Elk Valley Casino, Elk Valley Rancheria administration complex, United Indian Health Service/Small Community Center complex and the Tribal Gaming Commission Offices. The analysis involved identifying modifications, performing an engineering economic analysis, preparation of a rank ordered list of modifications and preparation of a report to provide recommendations and actions for the Tribe to implement.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

NNSS Soils Monitoring: Plutonium Valley (CAU 366) FY2013 and FY2014

The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is conducting a field assessment of the potential for contaminated soil transport from the Plutonium Valley Contamination Area (CA) as a result of wind transport and storm runoff in support of Nevada Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) efforts to complete regulatory closure of the contamination areas. The DRI work is intended to confirm the likely mechanism(s) of transport and determine the meteorological conditions that might cause movement of contaminated soils. Emphasis is given to collecting sediment transported by channelized storm runoff at the Plutonium Valley investigation sites. These data will inform closure plans that are being developed, which will facilitate appropriate closure design and postclosure monitoring. Desert Research Institute installed two meteorological monitoring stations south (station number 1) and north (station number 2) of the Plutonium Valley CA and a runoff sediment sampling station within the CA in 2011. Temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, barometric pressure, soil temperature, and airborne particulate concentration are collected at both meteorological stations. The maximum, minimum, and average or total (as appropriate) for each of these parameters is recorded for each 10-minute interval. The sediment sampling station includes an automatically activated ISCO sampling pump with collection bottles for suspended sediment, which is activated when sufficient flow is present in the channel, and passive traps for bedload material that is transported down the channel during runoff events. This report presents data collected from these stations during FY2013 and FY2014.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Building collaboration to advance our understanding of regional climate impacts of dust in California's San Joaquin Valley

This project successfully achieved its central objective of building collaborative research capabilities at UC Merced, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, to advance understanding of the regional climate impacts of dust in California's San Joaquin Valley. Through strategic partnerships with three DOE national laboratories (PNNL, LLNL, and LBNL), we developed critical expertise in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) and Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facilities. Among the project's scientific contributions, one key publication includes demonstrating that fallowed agricultural lands are the primary source of anthropogenic dust in California's Central Valley, with dust activities increasing substantially between 2008 and 2022, in correlation with drought severity and expanded fallowed land coverage. This finding suggests that current climate models, including E3SM, likely underestimate the dust burden due to inadequate representation of agricultural land-use changes. Beyond the scientific contributions, the project successfully trained a PhD student, established ongoing collaborations resulting in multiple manuscripts in preparation, and positioned UC Merced to participate in the DUSTIEAIM campaign for 2026-2027, thereby building sustainable research capacity while addressing climate science questions directly relevant to the California Central Valley.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Seismic velocity modeling and earthquake relocations for the southern Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), with a focus on Rock Valley

The Rock Valley Direct Comparison (RV/DC) is the third phase of the Source Physics Experiment (SPE; Snelson et al., 2014), a project aimed at improving seismic discrimination between explosive sources and natural earthquakes. Phases I and II of SPE focused on studying the generation of shear waves in endmember geologies (granite and alluvium, respectively), while Phase III aims to detonate a chemical explosion co-located with the source region of the 1993 Rock Valley earthquake sequence, located in the Rock Valley Fault Zone (RVFZ), in the southern portion of the Nevada Test Site (now the Nevada National Security Site, or NNSS).

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Drought Impacts on Agricultural Production and Land Fallowing in California's Central Valley in 2015

The ongoing drought in California substantially reduced surface water supplies for millions of acres of irrigated farmland in California's Central Valley. Rapid assessment of drought impacts on agricultural production can aid water managers in assessing mitigation options, and guide decision making with respect to mitigation of drought impacts. Satellite remote sensing offers an efficient way to provide quantitative assessments of drought impacts on agricultural production and increases in fallow acreage associated with reductions in water supply. A key advantage of satellite-based assessments is that they can provide a measure of land fallowing that is consistent across both space and time. We describe an approach for monthly and seasonal mapping of uncultivated agricultural acreage developed as part of a joint effort by USGS, USDA, NASA, and the California Department of Water Resources to provide timely assessments of land fallowing during drought events. This effort has used the Central Valley of California as a pilot region for development and testing of an operational approach. To provide quantitative measures of uncultivated agricultural acreage from satellite data early in the season, we developed a decision tree algorithm and applied it to time-series data from Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper), ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus), OLI (Operational Land Imager), and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). Our effort has been focused on development of indicators of drought impacts in the March-August timeframe based on measures of crop development patterns relative to a reference period with average or above average rainfall. To assess the accuracy of the algorithms, monthly ground validation surveys were conducted across 650 fields from March-September in 2014 and 2015. We present the algorithm along with updated results from the accuracy assessment, and data and maps of land fallowing in the Central Valley in 2015.

Valleys↗

Retrieval of Daily Maps of PM2.5 Aerosol in the Problematic California Valleys: Bright, Speckled Reflectances, Thin AOT, but High Pollution

The San Joaquin Valley suffers from severe episodes of respirable aerosol (PM2.5) in wintertime.We provide maps of aerosol episodes using daily snapshots of PM2.5 and its changing features despite numerous difficulties inherent to sampling the region. Linear relationships relating aerosol optical thickness (AOT) to PM2.5 give an explained variance of approximately 3.The GEO-CAPE mission has as a goal the provision of relevant measures of respirable aerosol to the community,but has not formulated a science goal beyond the limited goal of retrieval of AOT, bringing the usefulness of GEO-CAPE into doubt.Our special focus was on the DISCOVER-AQ period, Jan-Feb 2013, which had many supporting measurements.Both high pollution and retrieval difficulties tend to occur in many Mediterranean agricultural regions like the San Joauin. One difficulty is the relatively bright surfaces with considerable exposed soil. NASAs MAIAC and MODIS Deep Blue retrieval techniques are shown to have considerable skill even at low aerosol optical thickness (AOT) values, as evaluated by concurrent AERONET sunphotometer measurements.More significantly, these AOT values can correspond to high daytime PM2.5 since aerosol mixed layer depth is thin and variable, 200m 600 m. The thin layers derive from typical subsidence of dry air between more stormy periods. This situation provides an advantage: water vapor column is also almost completely limited to a similar mixed layer depth, and can thus serve as a measure of aerosol dilution.Using the MAIAC Water Vapor Column:In order to make the maps below, we used the MAIAC data but subtracted partial water-vapor columns estimated from MERRA Reanalysis Data availabe from the GSFC GMAO using kriging. We did not use the mixed-layer estimates from MERRA, since such analyses were found problematic during our forecasting exercises for DISCOVER-AQ. Observations from the aircraft soundings suggested that this overlying moisture was mostly due to larger scale flows, not ML venting.However, the specific humidity at the surface and a nearly well-mixed ML was analyzed by kriging from the surface network (MesoWest, University of Utah). These were thought to be truer, uninfluenced by physical process modeling that combines with data observations. (TBD: How different are they?) Procedure: Subtract overlying partial water columns from MAIAC column water and divide this by a surface value of water vapor. (MAIAC column is expressed in cm of water, i.e., water vapor at surface conditions.This method appears to bring out useful details in the distribution of submicron particles in the very problematic Wintertime San Joaquin Valley, and allow analysis of pollution episodes throughout the valley, rather than long-term averages.

san joaquin valley↗

Development of a Complete Landsat Evapotranspiration and Energy Balance Archive to Support Agricultural Consumptive Water Use Reporting and Prediction in the Central Valley, CA

Mapping evapotranspiration (ET) from agricultural areas in Californias Central Valley is critical for understanding historical consumptive use of surface and groundwater. In addition, long histories of ET maps provide valuable training information for predictive studies of surface and groundwater demands. During times of drought, groundwater is commonly pumped to supplement reduced surface water supplies in the Central Valley. Due to the lack of extensive groundwater pumping records, mapping consumptive use using satellite imagery is an efficient and robust way for estimating agricultural consumptive use and assessing drought impacts. To this end, we have developed and implemented an algorithm for automated calibration of the METRIC remotely sensed surface energy balance model on NASAs Earth Exchange (NEX) to estimate ET at the field scale. Using automated calibration techniques on the NEX has allowed for the creation of spatially explicit historical ET estimates for the Landsat archive dating from 1984 to the near present. Further, our use of spatial NLDAS and CIMIS weather data, and spatial soil water balance simulations within the NEX METRIC workflow, has helped overcome challenges of time integration between satellite image dates. This historical and near present time archive of agricultural water consumption for the Central Valley will be an extremely useful dataset for water use and drought impact reporting, and predictive analyses of groundwater demands.

valleys↗

Discovery and analysis of a potential blind geothermal system in southern Gabbs Valley, western Nevada

The southern Gabbs Valley geothermal prospect is a blind thermal anomaly located 5 km north of the Gabbs Valley Range and ~15 km southeast of the Don A. Campbell geothermal power plant in west-central Nevada. The discovery of this blind thermal anomaly was initiated from the development of a detailed geothermal potential map covering 96,000 km2 of the Great Basin region. This map synthesized about 9 geologic and geophysical parameters and showed high geothermal potential in southern Gabbs Valley. Subsequent geologic reconnaissance identified areas of favorable structure for hosting a blind geothermal system. Areas displaying complex fault relationships were then targeted for further exploration utilizing a shallow 2-meter thermal survey. The first 2-meter survey incorporated 60 data points in the basin, with one anomalously high temperature point located in the southern portion of the basin. Water samples were taken from the Diamond A ranch 6 km northwest of the thermal anomaly. These samples yielded a geothermometer of 130-140°C. Additional shallow temperature survey work has been completed constraining the extent of the thermal anomaly and establishing a 7 km2 area with elevated 2-meter temperatures. Subsurface data generated from a new gravity survey show that the 2-meter thermal anomaly corresponds to a significant gravity gradient that probably reflects a subsurface fault and possible fault intersection. Exploration of the system is ongoing, and further detailed mapping of bedrock and Quaternary exposures in the area will aid in understanding the structural controls of this potential geothermal system. The integration of geochemical, geophysical, and geologic datasets in this area will elucidate the probability of a commercial-grade geothermal system and produce a conceptual model to be used in the selection of possible drill targets.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report Calendar Year 2012

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2012. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2012. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2012 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2024

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2024. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2024 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗