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Post-Closure Report for Closed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Units, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada For Calendar Year 2022

This report serves as the combined annual report for post-closure activities in compliance with the requirements listed in Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit Number NEV HW0101 (Rev. 6) associated with the following closed corrective action units (CAUs): CAU 90, Area 2 Bitcutter Containment; CAU 91, Area 3 U-3fi Injection Well; CAU 92, Area 6 Decon Pond Facility; CAU 110, Area 3 WMD U-3ax/bl Crater; CAU 111, Area 5 WMD Retired Mixed Waste Pits; CAU 112, Area 23 Hazardous Waste Trenches. All post-closure inspections and evaluations were performed in accordance with requirements set out in RCRA Permit NEV HW0101, Rev. 6.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy, Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1

With the goal of understanding environmental effects of a growing bioeconomy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national laboratories, and U.S. Forest Service research laboratories, together with academic and industry collaborators, undertook a study to estimate environmental effects of potential biomass production scenarios in the United States, with an emphasis on agricultural and forest biomass. Potential effects investigated include changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water quality and quantity, air emissions, and biodiversity. Effects of altered land-management regimes were analyzed based on select county-level biomass-production scenarios for 2017 and 2040 taken from the 2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy (BT16), volume 1, which assumes that the land bases for agricultural and forestry would not change over time. The scenarios reflect constraints on biomass supply (e.g., excluded areas; implementation of management practices; and consideration of food, feed, forage, and fiber demands and exports) that intend to address sustainability concerns. Nonetheless, both beneficial and adverse environmental effects might be expected. To characterize these potential effects, this research sought to estimate where and under what modeled scenarios or conditions positive and negative environmental effects could occur nationwide. The report also includes a discussion of land-use change (LUC) (i.e., land management change) assumptions associated with the scenario transitions (but not including analysis of indirect LUC [ILUC]), analyses of climate sensitivity of feedstock productivity under a set of potential scenarios, and a qualitative environmental effects analysis of algae production under carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) co-location scenarios. Because BT16 biomass supplies are simulated independent of a defined end use, most analyses do not include benefits from displacing fossil fuels or other products, with the exception of including a few illustrative cases on potential reductions in GHG emissions and fossil energy consumption associated with using biomass supplies for fuel, power, heat, and chemicals. Most analyses in volume 2 show potential for a substantial increase in biomass production with minimal or negligible environmental effects under the biomass supply constraints assumed in BT16. Although corn ethanol has been shown to achieve GHG emissions improvements over fossil fuels, cellulosic biomass shows further improvements in certain environmental indicators covered in this report. The harvest of agricultural and forestry residues generally shows the smallest contributions to changes in certain environmental indicators investigated. The scenarios show national-level net SOC gains. When expanding the system boundary in illustrative cases that consider biomass end use, reductions in GHG emissions are estimated for scenarios in which biomass—rather than oil, coal, and natural gas—is used to produce fuel, power, heat, and chemicals. Analyses of water quality reveal that there could be tradeoffs between biomass productivity and some water quality indicators, but better outcomes for both biomass productivity and water quality can be achieved with selected conservation practices. Biodiversity analyses show possible habitat benefits to some species, with other species showing potential adverse effects that may require additional safeguards. Increasing productivity of algae can reduce GHG emissions and water consumption associated with producing algal biomass, though the effects of water consumption are likely of greater concern in some regions than in others. Moreover, the effects of climate change on potential biomass production show gains and losses in yield among feedstocks across the continental United States. Key research gaps and priorities include actions that can enhance benefits and reduce potential for negative effects of increased biomass production. The results from this report will help DOE, the bioenergy industry, and other institutions continue important discussions on environmental effects and will help chart a path toward a more environmentally sustainable bioeconomy.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy, Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1

With the goal of understanding environmental effects of a growing bioeconomy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national laboratories, and U.S. Forest Service research laboratories, together with academic and industry collaborators, undertook a study to estimate environmental effects of potential biomass production scenarios in the United States, with an emphasis on agricultural and forest biomass. Potential effects investigated include changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water quality and quantity, air emissions, and biodiversity. Effects of altered land-management regimes were analyzed based on select county-level biomass-production scenarios for 2017 and 2040 taken from the 2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy (BT16), volume 1, which assumes that the land bases for agricultural and forestry would not change over time. The scenarios reflect constraints on biomass supply (e.g., excluded areas; implementation of management practices; and consideration of food, feed, forage, and fiber demands and exports) that intend to address sustainability concerns. Nonetheless, both beneficial and adverse environmental effects might be expected. To characterize these potential effects, this research sought to estimate where and under what modeled scenarios or conditions positive and negative environmental effects could occur nationwide. The report also includes a discussion of land-use change (LUC) (i.e., land management change) assumptions associated with the scenario transitions (but not including analysis of indirect LUC [ILUC]), analyses of climate sensitivity of feedstock productivity under a set of potential scenarios, and a qualitative environmental effects analysis of algae production under carbon dioxide (CO2) co-location scenarios. Because BT16 biomass supplies are simulated independent of a defined end use, most analyses do not include benefits from displacing fossil fuels or other products, with the exception of including a few illustrative cases on potential reductions in GHG emissions and fossil energy consumption associated with using biomass supplies for fuel, power, heat, and chemicals.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Post-Closure Report for Closed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Units, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, For Calendar Year 2021 (Revision 1)

This report serves as the combined annual report for post-closure activities in compliance with the requirements listed in Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit Number NEV HW0101 associated with the following closed corrective action units (CAUs): CAU 90, Area 2 Bitcutter Containment; CAU 91, Area 3 U-3fi Injection Well; CAU 92, Area 6 Decon Pond Facility; CAU 110, Area 3 WMD U-3ax/bl Crater; CAU 111, Area 5 WMD Retired Mixed Waste Pits; and CAU 112, Area 23 Hazardous Waste Trenches. This report will address all monitoring requirements noted in the RCRA Permit NEV HW0101, except groundwater monitoring. Groundwater monitoring is documented in the Nevada National Security Site Data Report: Groundwater Monitoring Program Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Post-Closure Report for Closed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Units, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada: For Calendar Year 2020 (Rev. 2)

This report serves as the combined annual report for post-closure activities in compliance with the requirements listed in Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit Number NEV HW0101 associated with the following closed corrective action units (CAUs): 1) CAU 90, Area 2 Bitcutter Containment; 2) CAU 91, Area 3 U-3fi Injection Well; 3) CAU 92, Area 6 Decon Pond Facility; 4) CAU 110, Area 3 WMD U-3ax/bl Crater; 5) CAU 111, Area 5 WMD Retired Mixed Waste Pits; 6) CAU 112, Area 23 Hazardous Waste Trenches The locations of the sites are shown in Figure ES-1. This report covers calendar year 2020. The post-closure requirements for these sites are described in RCRA Permit NEV HW0101 and are summarized in each CAU-specific section of this report. The results of the inspections, a summary of maintenance activities, and an evaluation of monitoring data are presented in this report. Site inspections are conducted annually at CAUs 90, 91, and 112; semiannually at CAUs 92 and 110; and quarterly at CAU 111. Additional inspections are conducted at CAUs 92 and 111 if precipitation occurs in excess of 1.0 inch in a 24-hour period. Inspections include an evaluation of the condition of the units, including covers, fences, signs, gates, and locks. At CAUs 110 and 111, soil moisture monitoring and subsidence surveys are conducted in addition to the visual inspections. At CAU 110, the site fence, gate, lock, and use restriction signs are evaluated. At CAU 111, an ecological survey, direct radiation monitoring, air monitoring, radon flux monitoring, and groundwater monitoring are also conducted. This report will address all monitoring item notes above except groundwater monitoring. Groundwater monitoring is documented in the Nevada National Security Site Data Report: Groundwater Monitoring Program Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site. All required inspections, maintenance, and monitoring were conducted in accordance with the post-closure requirements of the permit. Revision 6 of RCRA Permit NEV HW0101 was issued effective December 10, 2015, and remained in effect until December 10, 2020. At the time of this report submittal, the new RCRA permit application was in review.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Distributed Resources for the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) Advanced Management (DREAM). Final Report

Distributed Resources for the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) Advanced Management (DREAM) is a proposed system that will enable data from an infinite number of diverse sources to be organized and accessed from anywhere using any handheld or other computer device. The approach offers a powerful roadmap for the creation and integration of a unified knowledge base of an entire ecosystem, including its many geophysical, geographical, social, political, agricultural, energy, transportation, and cyber aspects. The resulting aggregation of data has the potential to generate an informational universe of unprecedented size that has never before been possible due to the prohibitive costs, managerial complexity, and technical barriers associated with ever-changing exponential-growth data flows. We envision that DREAM will accelerate discovery by enabling climate researchers, among other types of researchers, to manage, analyze, and visualize data from earth-scale measurements and simulations. DREAM’s success will be built on proven components that leverage existing services and resources. A key building block for DREAM will be the ESGF, chaired by Dean N. Williams. Expanding on the existing ESGF, the project will ensure that the access, storage, movement, and analysis of the large quantities of data that are processed and produced by diverse science projects can be dynamically distributed with proper resource management. Much of the Office of Science data is currently generated by multiple stand-alone facilities. DREAM can collect data accumulated from these facilities and incorporate it into a fully integrated network accessible from anywhere in the world. The result is a completely new paradigm shift for data management, analysis, and visualization enabling researchers to: Manage their calculations, data, tools, and research results; Ensure that all data are sharable, reproducible and (re)usable—accompanied by appropriate metadata describing its provenance, syntax, and semantics at creation; Advance application performance by selectively adapting APIs and services in response to scientific requirements and architectural complexities; and Provide scalable interactive resource management—navigate data and metadata at multiple levels, provide architecture-aware data integration, analysis and visualization tools. We will engage closely with DOE, NASA, and NOAA science groups working at the leading edge of computing. These engagements—in domains such as biology, climate, and hydrology—will allow us to advance disciplinary science goals and inform our development of technologies that can accelerate discovery across DOE more broadly. We will advertise and promote our technologies via dedicated workshops, tutorials, and sessions at conferences, stand-alone events with broad inter-disciplinary invitation, and engagements with leadership facilities.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Post-Closure Report for Closed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Units, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada: For Fiscal Year 2015 (October 2014–September 2015), Revision 0

This report serves as the combined annual report for post-closure activities for the following closed corrective action units (CAUs); CAU 90, Area 2 Bitcutter Containment; CAU 91, Area 3 U-3fi Injection Well; CAU 92, Area 6 Decon Pond Facility; CAU 110, Area 3 WMD U-3ax/bl Crater; CAU 111, Area 5 WMD Retired Mixed Waste Pits; and CAU 112, Area 23 Hazardous Waste Trenches. This report covers fiscal year 2015 (October 2014 through September 2015). The post-closure requirements for these sites are described in Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Permit Number NEV HW0101 and are summarized in each CAU-specific section in Section 1.0 of this report. The results of the inspections, a summary of maintenance activities, and an evaluation of monitoring data are presented in this report.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Workshop on Research Needs for Offshore Wind Resource Characterization: Summary Report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office convened “Research Needs for Offshore Wind Resource Characterization,” a workshop in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 5–6, 2019. Wind resource characterization includes meteorological information to estimate annual energy production, forecasts to ensure economical and reliable wind energy integration, and turbulence characterization for developing and applying design load criteria. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together representatives from the offshore wind industry and marine environmental research community to share views on meteorological and oceanographic information needed to successfully develop offshore wind projects in the United States. It was also intended to identify current industry knowledge gaps that can be effectively addressed by researchers with current and emerging observational and modeling tools. The workshop was in response to one of the key challenges articulated in the National Offshore Wind Strategy: reducing costs and technology risks through improved offshore wind power resource and site characterization. The strategy noted that “a better understanding of the unique meteorological, ocean, and seafloor conditions across U.S. offshore wind development sites will allow for optimized designs, reduced capital costs, greater safety, and less uncertainty in preconstruction energy estimates, resulting in reduced financing costs.” The workshop built on the National Offshore Wind Strategy, as well as previous workshops and reports that have informed this research area, providing the basis for future investment in offshore resource characterization research. The 1.5-day workshop involved 55 participants with comparable numbers of representatives from industry, academia, national laboratories, and federal agencies. The meeting included a small number of participants from Europe. The structure was to seed discussions with presentations by national and international leaders in their respective disciplines, followed by discussion among all participants. Discussion began with current industry needs and gaps for metocean information from the European perspective as well as considering unique aspects of the U.S. offshore environment. Those topics were followed by discussion of information needs specifically to address offshore wind system design requirements. These sessions provided the context for the third primary area of discussion, which was current capabilities and challenges for the research community in providing the needed information. This input will inform DOE, other state and federal agencies, research institutions, and industry stakeholders in making decisions about potential research and development (R&D) efforts supporting the development of offshore wind energy in the United States.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Post-Closure Report for Closed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Units, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada: For Calendar Year 2017, Revision 0

This report serves as the combined annual report for post-closure activities for the following closed corrective action units (CAUs): CAU 90, Area 2 Bitcutter Containment; CAU 91, Area 3 U-3fi Injection Well CAU 92, Area 6 Decon Pond Facility; CAU 110, Area 3 WMD U-3ax/bl Crater; CAU 111, Area 5 WMD Retired Mixed Waste Pits; and, CAU 112, Area 23 Hazardous Waste Trenches. The results of the inspections, a summary of maintenance activities, and an evaluation of monitoring data are presented in this report. Site inspections are conducted annually at CAUs 90, 91, and 112; semiannually at CAUs 92 and 110; and quarterly at CAU 111. Additional inspections are conducted at CAU 92 if precipitation occurs in excess of 1.0 inches in a 24-hour period and at CAU 111 if precipitation occurs in excess of 1.0 inch in a 24-hour period. Inspections include an evaluation of the condition of the units, including covers, fences, signs, gates, and locks. At CAU 110, soil moisture monitoring, vegetation evaluations, and subsidence surveys are conducted in addition to the visual inspections. At CAU 111, soil moisture monitoring, vegetation evaluations, subsidence surveys, direct radiation monitoring, air monitoring, radon flux monitoring, and groundwater monitoring are conducted. This report will address all monitoring items notes above except groundwater monitoring. Groundwater monitoring is documented in the Nevada National Security Site Data Report: Groundwater Monitoring Program Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site. All required inspections, maintenance, and monitoring were conducted in accordance with the post-closure requirements of the permit. Revision 4 of Permit NEV HW0101 was issued effective December 10, 2015, and remains in effect until December 10, 2020.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Cornerstone Resources Feedstock Characterization and Conversion Assessment of Treated MSW Materials (CRADA Closeout Final Report)

Cornerstone Resources has developed a proprietary advanced preprocessing technology, the BurCell® System, for production of a high quality organic biomass feedstock from numerous waste resources. While suitable for a variety of feedstock, the focus of development for the BurCell® System has been thus far municipal solid waste (MSW). In MSW, the system technology is able to capture non-recyclable waste paper, cardboard, and organic materials, homogenize these materials and allow for separation of the non-organic fraction. The resulting homogenized organic material typically represents in excess of 50% of the raw MSW feed. The recently released Billion Ton Study now includes MSW as a feedstock resource showing it to be one of the lowest cost and most widely distributed biomass resources available; however, acknowledging the concerns with the potential physical and chemical variability of an MSW based feedstock stream. The focus on MSW has also been driven by MSW being a resource with a clear, well understood and mature supply-chain. Treating MSW in the BurCell® System will make that source of biomass substantially more accessible. To further promote the use of this MSW derived biomass and beneficially exploit the use of the BurCell® System for processing of biomass for Bioenergy production facilities, more detailed lab data is now required.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Characterization of Urbix Resources Natural Flake Graphite Material for Nuclear Applications (CRADA NFE-18-07340 Final Report)

Urbix Resources is a company specializing in graphite powder processing and purification. Urbix is looking to become the first domestic supplier of nuclear-grade graphite in the United States. This has led to a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) being established between the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Urbix Resources, with the goal of characterizing a purified graphite feedstock supplied by Urbix Resources. The resulting data will then be used to determine the viability of a large-scale nuclear graphite production and qualification campaign. These characterization methods have been performed on the as-received graphite feedstock, a heat-treated batch of the feedstock, a milled batch of the feedstock, and a nuclear-grade graphite powder historically used in fuel production. The data from the heat-treated and milled feedstock will determine how different processing methods affect the powder’s physical properties, whereas the data from the nuclear grade graphite will provide information about the characteristics of a graphite previously accepted for nuclear applications. All of these powders have been characterized individually and as part of a resin-graphite blend (herein referred to as matrix) that has been used in past fuel experiments. The results of these experiments show that the Urbix powder and nuclear-grade graphite powder display notably different properties from one another in many cases, but this discrepancy may have been the result of the typical particle size of each powder. This hypothesis is supported by tests conducted on the milled powder, which showed a closer resemblance in properties to the nuclear-grade graphite than the as-received powder. The method for pressing the graphite matrix also had a noticeable effect on the measured properties.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Post-Closure Report for Closed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Units, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada: For Calendar Year 2016, Revision 0

This report covers the reporting period calendar year 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2015 (October 2015 through December 2016). This change to the reporting periods (i.e., fiscal to calendar) is to gain efficiencies during report development and to better align with other environmental report schedules.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A user need study and system plan for an Arizona Natural Resources Information System report to the Arizona state legislature

A survey instrument was developed and implemented in order to evaluate the current needs for natural resource information in Arizona and to determine which state agencies have information systems capable of coordinating, accessing and analyzing the data. Data and format requirements were determined for the following categories: air quality, animals, cultural resources, geology, land use, soils, water, vegetation, ownership, and social and economic aspects. Hardware and software capabilities were assessed and a data processing plan was developed. Possible future applications with the next generation LANDSAT were also identified.

Source record↗