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At least 775 records · Page 43

Financial Analysis of Experimental Releases Conducted at Glen Canyon Dam during Water Year 2019

This report was prepared by Argonne National Laboratory in support of a financial analysis of the Glen Canyon Dam high-flow experimental release that is intended to mobilize the sand in the Colorado River with high-volume water releases from the dam and redeposit it downstream as sandbars along the river. These sandbars serve, among other things, as habitat for wildlife. This experimental release was conducted during the period from November 5 to November 8, 2018. This analysis was funded by the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Office of the U.S. Department of Energy Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). CRSP markets electricity produced by hydroelectric facilities collectively known as the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects including dams equipped for power generation on the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, and Rio Grande Rivers and on Plateau Creek in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Staff members in Argonne’s Energy Systems Division prepared this technical report with assistance from the WAPA CRSP and Energy Marketing and Management Offices.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Financial Analysis of the 2019 Glen Canyon Dam Bug Flow Experiment

This report was prepared by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) in support of a financial analysis of the Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) flow experiment that was intended to support downstream macroinvertebrate production that are a primary food supply for fishes in the Colorado River. Also known as “bug flow” experiments, these experimental water releases were conducted on the weekends and holidays from the beginnings of May 2019 through the end of August 2019. This analysis was funded by the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Office of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). CRSP markets electricity produced by hydroelectric facilities collectively known as the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects including dams equipped for power generation on the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, and Rio Grande Rivers and on Plateau Creek in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Staff members in Argonne’s Energy Systems Division prepared this technical memorandum with assistance from WAPA’s CRSP and Energy Marketing and Management Offices (EMMO).

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Financial Analysis of the 2020 Macroinvertebrate Production Flow Experiment at Glen Canyon Dam

This report was prepared by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) in support of a financial analysis of the Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) flow experiment that was intended to support downstream macroinvertebrate production that are a primary food supply for fishes in the Colorado River. Also known as “bug flow” experiments, these experimental water releases were conducted on the weekends and holidays from the beginnings of May 2020 through the end of August 2020. This analysis was funded by the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Office of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). CRSP markets electricity produced by hydroelectric facilities collectively known as the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects including dams equipped for power generation on the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, and Rio Grande Rivers and on Plateau Creek in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Staff members in Argonne’s Energy Systems Division prepared this technical memorandum with assistance from WAPA’s CRSP and Energy Marketing and Management Offices (EMMO).

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Financial Analysis of Experimental Releases Conducted at Glen Canyon Dam during Water Year 2021

This report was prepared by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) in support of a financial analysis of two Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) flow experiments that were conducted in Water Year 2021. The first experiment, called “spring disturbance flow”, was conducted from March 15 to 26, 2021. This disturbance flow experiment is designed to simulate a spring-timed runoff event so scientists can study its effects on the Colorado River ecosystem. The second experiment was a reduced and steady discharge from May 29 to June 4, 2021. This reduced steady flow experiment was conducted for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to collect high-resolution aerial imagery over Grand Canyon National Park. This analysis was funded by the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Office of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). CRSP markets electricity produced by hydroelectric facilities collectively known as the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects including dams equipped for power generation on the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, and Rio Grande Rivers and on Plateau Creek in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Staff members in Argonne’s Energy Systems Division prepared this technical memorandum with assistance from WAPA’s CRSP and Energy Marketing and Management Offices (EMMO).

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

White Paper: Scalable Digital Twin Capabilities for Aging and Surveillance of Engineered Systems

This white paper presents a multi-year initiative to develop practical, secure, and scalable digital twin capabilities for engineered systems in aging and surveillance contexts—an approach pioneered at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that maps directly onto the needs and ambitions of the Navy for ship- and fleet-level digital twins. LLNL’s work in building part- and process-level digital twins for advanced manufacturing, with a vision to scale up to entire factory floors and, ultimately, enterprise-wide digital twins, offers an adaptable pathway for the Navy as it seeks to modernize lifecycle management, readiness, and predictive maintenance across ships and fleets. For our application, we integrate physics-based modeling with automated data ingestion, processing, and AI-driven calibration, creating hybrid models that are both interpretable and data responsive. We modernized legacy workflows, established centralized data infrastructure, automated experimental pipelines, and demonstrated end-to-end coupling of accelerated aging data with finite element simulations via optimization and surrogate modeling. The result is a generalizable framework that supports part-level digital twins today and lays the groundwork for future system-level twins suitable for Navy applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

LLNS Request for Variance From 10 CFR 851 for Construction of LLNL Emergency Operations Center

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) is submitting the following variance application requesting the use of the State of California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) Regulations in lieu of Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 851 (10 CFR 851, the Rule), Worker Safety and Health Program, Subpart B (Program Requirements), Subpart C (Specific Program Requirements), and Appendix A (Worker Safety and Health Functional Areas), solely with respect to the construction of the new Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) facility. The request is in support of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “pilot” to streamline the delivery of commercial-like line item construction projects under $50 million. This pilot is aligned with the approved NA-50 safety approach for the projects in the pilot. This pilot is to test and demonstrate innovation leading to a reduced cost of construction for building commercial type structures at Department of Energy (DOE)/NNSA facilities. The variance proposes to permit local/regional construction businesses contracted to Management & Operation contractor operated facilities to bid, operate, execute, and comply with safety and health standards they utilize in their business outside of the DOE Complex. This will permit compliance to standards that are as safe and healthful as those in 10 CFR 851 without confusion, additional cost, and inefficiencies associated with the burden of compliance to an unfamiliar regulatory spectrum.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Long-term Moisture Adsorption in Packaged Plutonium Oxide

In 2018, the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE-NNSA) began implementing dilute and dispose to remove 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus weapons grade plutonium from the US stockpile. Under this plan, surplus plutonium material is converted into plutonium oxide (PuO 2 ) before being stored in metal containers and sent to the DOE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The dilute and dispose project was implemented as a more cost-effective method for abiding by the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) between the USA and Russia, as compared to producing mixed oxide fuel (MOX). The PMDA was originally signed in 2000 and amended in 2010.2 The disassembly of pits and conversion to PuO 2 as part of dilute and dispose is carried out through the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The dilute portion of dilute and dispose is carried out at Savannah River Site (SRS). With this program in place, it is necessary to ensure the safe, long-term storage of the PuO 2 generated during this process until final disposal at WIPP is accomplished.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Corrective Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan for Corrective Action Unit 577: Area 5 Chromium Containing Waste Disposal Cells, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada

This Corrective Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan (CADD/CAP) is for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 577, “Area 5 Chromium Containing Waste Disposal Cells,” which is located in Area 5 of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). CAU 577 includes five low-level waste cells at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) where buried waste received from Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS), was subsequently determined to contain chromium that exceeded the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure regulatory limit, which would require the waste to carry hazardous waste code D007. To resolve issues related to this alleged violation of hazardous waste regulations, a Settlement Agreement was executed between the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) and the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office on April 25, 2019, which identified agreed-upon mitigation measures. The Settlement Agreement required that the chromium-containing waste received from NFS would be addressed following the closure process laid out in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Closure Report for the Project Shoal Area: Subsurface Corrective Action Unit 447 Shoal,Nevada, Site

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) has prepared this Closure Report for subsurface Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 447 at the Shoal, Nevada, Site, which was formerly called the Project Shoal Area. The Shoal site was the location of an underground nuclear test in 1963 that resulted in residual radionuclide contamination at the detonation depth of 1211 feet (ft) (DOE 2015a). The environmental restoration process and Corrective Action strategy are conducted in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) (FFACO 1996, as amended) and all applicable Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) statues and regulations. Responsibility for the environmental site restoration was transferred from the DOE, National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Field Office, to LM on October 1, 2006. The Shoal site is south of U.S. Highway 50, approximately 30 miles southeast of Fallon, in Churchill County, Nevada (Figure 1). The site was selected for underground nuclear testing in 1961, as part of the Vela Uniform Program. Vela was a research and development program directed toward locating, detecting, and identifying underground and high-altitude nuclear detonations. The Vela Uniform program was specific to underground detonations (AEC 1964). The objective of Project Shoal was to detonate a nuclear device underground in an active seismic area to improve the United States’ ability to detect, identify, and locate underground nuclear detonations. The underground nuclear test at Shoal was a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), which was the predecessor agency to DOE. Figure 1 is a map showing the site location.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Financial Analysis of the 2022 Macroinvertebrate Production Flow Experiment at Glen Canyon Dam

This report was prepared by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) in support of a financial analysis of the Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) flow experiment that was intended to support downstream macroinvertebrate production that are a primary food supply for fishes in the Colorado River. Also known as “bug flow” experiments, these experimental water releases were conducted on the weekends and holidays from the beginnings of May 2022 through the end of August 2022. This analysis was funded by and prepared for the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Office of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). CRSP markets electricity produced by hydroelectric facilities collectively known as the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects including dams equipped for power generation on the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, and Rio Grande Rivers and on Plateau Creek in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Staff members in Argonne’s Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division prepared this technical memorandum with assistance from WAPA’s CRSP and Energy Marketing and Management Offices (EMMO).

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Real-Time, Simultaneous Soil Water Content and Meteorological Data Measurement to Support TRACER over Harris County, Texas (Field Campaign Report: Part I)

The main purpose of this project was to provide ground-truth and satellite-based soil water content data in the Houston, Texas, area to support the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s 2022 field campaign, the Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER). This involved installing four soil monitoring stations at different locations in the Houston area, two of which were part of the ARM facility and two were ancillary. The two stations associated directly with ARM were installed alongside other facilities managed and maintained by the TRACER research team during the intensive operational period (IOP), one located at the La Porte, Texas airport and the other near Guy, Texas. Data from these stations were assimilated with similar data collected by the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) to improve the spatial coverage of the real-time monitoring network. The ground-truth data were compared to the satellite-based (National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]’s Soil Moisture Active Passive [SMAP] mission) data in the TRACER area of interest, and analyzed further to nowcast gridded data over the Houston area. The nowcasted, gridded data product was made available to TRACER researchers for use in climate and land-atmosphere interaction modeling that can help understand formation and persistence of convective storms in dense urban areas, and predict possible environmental events such as floods.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2022 Annual Site Environment Report (ASER))

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a premier research laboratory that is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). As a national security laboratory, LLNL is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s nuclear weapons remain safe, secure, and reliable. The Laboratory also meets other pressing national security needs including countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, strengthening homeland security, and conducting major research in atmospheric, earth, and energy sciences, bioscience and biotechnology, and engineering, basic science, and advanced technology. The Laboratory is managed and operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) and serves as a scientific resource to the U.S. government and a partner to industry and academia.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Preliminary Criticality and Radiation Shielding Analysis for the Storage and Transfer of MARVEL Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel

This report documents the results of preliminary nuclear criticality and radiation shielding assessments during transfer and dry storage of irradiated Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) reactor fuel at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The assessments focus on transfer casks and storage canisters that are currently in use at INL, which may be compatible with the irradiated MARVEL reactor fuel. The criticality assessments were performed using the radiation transport code MCNP6 with 37 MARVEL reactor fuel elements in various configurations and scenarios. All transfer and storage configurations under dry conditions were below the assumed criticality safety limit of 0.93. Some storage and transfer configurations under wet conditions exceeded the criticality safety limit. This suggests that the appropriate administrative and engineering controls, in addition to reducing the number of MARVEL reactor fuel elements per transfer cask or storage canister, can be expected to ensure criticality safety under all scenarios. The radiation shielding assessments were performed by generating conservative neutron and photon source terms using the ORIGEN module in the SCALE suite of codes. These source spectra were used to estimate the dose equivalent rates using the radiation transport code MCNP6, both on contact and 1 m away from the fuel and transfer casks. The maximum estimated dose equivalent rate of 37 unshielded MARVEL reactor fuel elements on contact is approximately 42000 R/hr. The maximum estimated dose equivalent rates on contact to the ATR transfer cask, HFEF-5 transfer cask, and high load charger were approximately 233 mR/hr, 171 mR/hr, and 201 mR/hr, respectively. This suggests that with the appropriate administrative and engineering controls, all three transfer casks analyzed can be expected to provide sufficient radiation shielding to workers during transfer of irradiated MARVEL reactor fuel. These calculations are performed to support the planning and strategy for the MARVEL project and will demonstrate the technical viability of the different configurations discussed and help identify where engineered or administrative controls may be necessary. A complete criticality safety analysis and radiation shielding analysis, including validation and contingency and accident analysis must be completed by licensed and authorized personnel before any transfer or storage of MARVEL reactor nuclear fuel.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Site Annual Environmental Report 2020

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a premier research laboratory that is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). As a national security laboratory, LLNL is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s nuclear weapons remain safe, secure, and reliable. The Laboratory also meets other pressing national security needs, including countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and strengthening homeland security, and conducting major research in atmospheric, earth, and energy sciences, bioscience and biotechnology, and engineering, basic science, and advanced technology. The Laboratory is managed and operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), and serves as a scientific resource to the U.S. government and a partner to industry and academia.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Real-Time, Simultaneous Soil Water Content and Meteorological Data Measurement to Support TRACER over Harris County, Texas Field Campaign Report: Part II

The main purpose of this project was to provide ground-truth and satellite-based soil water content data in the Houston, Texas, area to support the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s 2022 field campaign, the Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER). This involved installing four soil monitoring stations at different locations in the Houston area, two of which were part of the ARM facility and two were ancillary. The two stations associated directly with ARM were installed alongside other facilities managed and maintained by the TRACER research team during the intensive operational period (IOP), one located at the La Porte, Texas airport and the other located near Guy, Texas. Data from these stations were assimilated with similar data collected by the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) to improve the spatial coverage of the real-time monitoring network. The ground-truth data were compared to the satellite-based (National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]’s Soil Moisture Active Passive [SMAP] mission) data in the TRACER area of interest, and analyzed further to nowcast gridded data over the Houston area. The nowcasted, gridded data product was made available to TRACER researchers for use in climate and land-atmosphere interaction modeling that can help understand formation and persistence of convective storms in dense urban areas, and predict possible environmental events such as floods.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Analysis of Air-Purifying Respirator (APR) and Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR) Cartridge Performance Testing on a Hanford AP Tank Farm Exhauster Slipstream: Volume 2 Raw Analytical Data

As the Tank Operations Contractor for U.S. Department of Energy operations at the Hanford site in Washington State, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is responsible for managing highly radioactive wastes stored in tanks at Hanford. WRPS tests air-purifying respirator (APR) and powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) chemical cartridges commonly used at Hanford Tank Farms to determine the period of time that the cartridges would provide adequate performance for APRs and PAPRs used to protect workers when exposed to a mixture of Chemicals of Potential Concern (COPC) from any vapors exiting headspaces in the storage tanks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Standard promulgated in Title 29 of the Code of the Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.134(d)(3)(iii)(b)(2) specifies that for protection against gases and vapors, employers shall implement a schedule for cartridges to ensure that change-outs occur before the end of service life. The change schedule can be based on objective information or data that ensures cartridge change-outs occur before the end of their service life.[2-5] The primary function of the WRPS Cartridge Test Program is to obtain objective data to determine service lives for the APR and PAPR cartridges used at Hanford Tank Farms. WRPS contracted with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to analyze the test data and offer an independent analysis and any recommendations. Volume 1 of this report summarizes data analysis of APR and PAPR cartridge testing on vapors from the AP tank farm exhauster. Previous testing of APR cartridges was conducted on the AP exhauster in June 2016. However, an AP exhauster upgrade was completed in September 2016. Two different APR cartridges from SCOTT Safety (Monroe, North Carolina) were assessed for the new AP exhauster source, along with two different PAPR cartridges—one from MSA Safety Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and another from 3M (Maplewood, Minnesota). Volume 2 provides an introduction to the raw data, including analytical laboratory analysis results that supported the analysis and conclusions documented in Volume 1.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Determining Unabated Airborne Radionuclide Emissions Monitoring Requirements Using Inventory-Based Methods

Compliance with the airborne radionuclide emission monitoring requirements in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP; 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart H) and State requirements in Washington Administrative Code 246–247 and 173-480 were evaluated for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) operations. Additional guidance may be found in the U.S. Department of Energy Handbook, Environmental Radiological Effluent Monitoring and Environmental Surveillance. To meet regulatory requirements, reviews of planned or proposed projects and activities provide the basis for implementing necessary monitoring adjustments or for implementing changes to projects and activities in a timely manner. Potential unabated off-site doses were evaluated for emission locations managed by PNNL and licensed to the Department of Energy. These locations were at facilities in Richland, Washington (i.e., the Hanford Site and PNNL-Richland Campus) and in Sequim, Washington, (PNNL-Sequim Campus, which formerly was known as the Marine Sciences Laboratory). This report describes the inventory-based methods and provides the results for the NESHAP assessment performed in January 2021 for calendar year ending 2020.

40 CFR 61 Subpart H↗

Offshore Wind Composite Siting Exclusions Scenarios

This dataset consolidates criteria that restrict the siting of offshore wind energy installations, an update from Zuckerman et al. (2023). All scenarios exclude area from wind energy development due to legal or administrative restrictions (e.g., Marine Protected Areas), existing infrastructure, and technical constraints (e.g., 1,300 m bathymetry limit). A TIF data file and a PNG cartographic map of the data are provided for three scenarios ("Open", "Reference", and "Limited"), showing areas where offshore wind energy is restricted across the contiguous United States. The "Open" scenario only excludes areas with known preclusions for offshore wind deployment. The "Reference" scenario excludes all areas from the "Open" scenario, as well as additional best management practices such as known proposed protected areas, and state waters. The "Limited" scenario excludes all area from the "Reference" scenario. Additionally, it has more stringent siting criteria such as larger setbacks from shore and infrastructure, as well as shallower depth limits on floating technology. For further details and citation, please refer to the publication linked below: Zuckerman, Gabriel R., Anthony Lopez, Travis Williams, Rebecca Green, and Grant Buster. 2023. Impacts of Siting Considerations on Offshore Wind Technical Potential in the United States. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20- 85088.

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