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DOE OSTI2016

2015 Annual Site Environmental Report for Sandia National Laboratories Tonopah Test Range and Kaua'i Test Facility Hawai'i

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation (Sandia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. The DOE/NNSA Sandia Field Office administers the contract and oversees contractor operations at the SNL, Tonopah Test Range (SNL/TTR) in Nevada and the SNL, Kaua‘i Test Facility (SNL/KTF) in Hawai‘i. Sandia manages and conducts operations at SNL/TTR in support of the DOE/NNSA’s Weapons Ordnance Program and has operated the site since 1957. Navarro Research and Engineering subcontracts with Sandia to administer most of the environmental programs at SNL/TTR. The DOE/NNSA/Nevada Field Office retains responsibility for cleanup and management of SNL/TTR Environmental Restoration sites. Sandia operates SNL/KTF as a rocket preparation launching and tracking facility. This Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) summarizes data and the compliance status of Sandia’s sustainability, environmental protection, and monitoring programs at SNL/TTR and SNL/KTF during calendar year 2015. Major environmental programs include air quality, water quality, groundwater protection, terrestrial surveillance, waste management, pollution prevention, environmental restoration, oil and chemical spill prevention, and implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act. Sandia is responsible only for those environmental program activities related to its operations. This ASER is prepared in accordance with and as required by DOE O 231.1B, Admin Change 1, Environment, Safety, and Health Reporting .

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Y-12 Groundwater Protection Program CY 2018 Triennial Report of the Monitoring Well Inspection and Maintenance Program Y-12 National Security Complex Oak Ridge, Tennessee

This document is the Triennial Report for the Well Inspection and Maintenance Program of the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) Groundwater Protection Program (GWPP) at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Y-12 and includes monitoring well inspections and well maintenance activities performed at Y-12 during calendar years (CYs) 2016 through 2018. This report formally documents well inspections completed by GWPP on active and inactive groundwater monitoring wells that are part of the Y-12 monitoring network and includes well inspections performed by URS|CH2M Oak Ridge, L.L.C. (UCOR), which administers the DOE Office of Environmental Management Y-12 Water Resources Restoration Program (WRRP). The WRRP includes wells that are utilized for the regulatory monitoring of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) post-closure permits and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Remedial Effectiveness and Records of Decision and Solid Waste Disposal Facility (Landfill) permits and includes monitoring wells located at the CERCLA Environmental Management Waste Management Facility. Beginning in 2018, UCOR terminated three of their RCRA post-closure permits and is monitoring the former RCRA-permitted facilities under CERCLA. Consequently, the number of monitoring wells in the Y-12 network that receive UCOR-performed inspections has decreased significantly.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Supporting cost-effective watershed management strategies for Chesapeake Bay using a modeling and optimization framework

Extensive efforts to adaptively manage nutrient pollution rely on Chesapeake Bay Program’s (Phase 6) Watershed Model, called Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool (CAST), which helps decision-makers plan and track implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs). We describe mathematical characteristics of CAST and develop a constrained nonlinear BMP-subset model, software, and visualization framework. This represents the first publicly available optimization framework for exploring least-cost strategies of pollutant load control for the United States’ largest estuary. The optimization identifies implementation options for a BMP subset modeled with load reduction effectiveness factors, and the web interface facilitates interactive exploration of >30,000 solutions organized by objective, nutrient control level, and for ~200 counties. We assess framework performance and demonstrate modeled cost improvements when comparing optimization-suggested proposals with proposals inspired by jurisdiction plans. Stakeholder feedback highlights the framework’s current utility for investigating cost-effective tradeoffs and its usefulness as a foundation for future analysis of restoration strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

The Password Problem

Passwords are an ubiquitous, established part of the Internet today, but they are also a huge security headache. Single sign-on, OAuth, and password managers are some of the solutions to this problem. OAuth is a new, popular method that allows people to use large, common authentication providers for many web applications. However, it comes at the expense of some privacy: OAuth makes users easy to track across websites, applications, and devices. Password managers put the power in the hands of the users, but this vulnerability survey reveals that you have to be extremely careful which program you choose. All in all, password managers are the solution of choice for home users and small organizations, but large companies will probably want to invest in their own SSO solutions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Energy-Water Nexus: Balancing the Tradeoffs between Two-Level Decision Makers

Energy-water nexus has substantially increased importance in the recent years. Synergistic approaches based on systems-analysis and mathematical models are critical for helping decision makers better understand the interrelationships and tradeoffs between energy and water. In energywater nexus management, various decision makers with different goals and preferences, which are often conflicting, are involved. These decision makers may have different controlling power over the management objectives and the decisions. They make decisions sequentially from the upper level to the lower level, challenging decision making in energy-water nexus. In order to address such planning issues, a bi-level decision model is developed, which improves upon the existing studies by integration of bi-level programming into energy-water nexus management. The developed model represents a methodological contribution to the challenge of sequential decisionmaking in energy-water nexus through provision of an integrated modeling framework/tool. An interactive fuzzy optimization methodology is introduced to seek a satisfactory solution to meet the overall satisfaction of the two-level decision makers. The tradeoffs between the two-level decision makers in energy-water nexus management are effectively addressed and quantified. Application of the proposed model to a synthetic example problem has demonstrated its applicability in practical energy-water nexus management. Optimal solutions for electricity generation, fuel supply, water supply including groundwater, surface water and recycled water, capacity expansion of the power plants, and GHG emission control are generated. In conclusion, these analyses are capable of helping decision makers or stakeholders adjust their tolerances to make informed decisions to achieve the overall satisfaction of energy-water nexus management where bi-level sequential decision making process is involved.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation (ASI) Program Plan. Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET)

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) sponsors a crosscutting technology development (CTD) program addressing common instrumentation & controls (I&C) needs in all DOE-NE sponsored programs. In 2012, DOE-NE initiated the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology (NEET) Program to conduct research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in crosscutting technologies that directly support and enable the development of existing, new and advanced reactor designs, and fuel cycle technologies. These technologies will advance the state of nuclear technology, improve its competitiveness, and promote continued contribution to meeting our Nation’s energy and environmental challenges. The NEET Program has spurred innovation in the field of sensors and instrumentation, advanced methods for manufacturing, and cyber security. The Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation (ASI) program is one element of the NEET CTD that has spurred innovation in the measurement science field by funding research on sensors, instrumentation and controls, communication, and advanced analytics that measure system parameters, gauge component control input, and provide power plant owners and operators critical awareness so they can plan and safely manage operational evolutions. The NEET ASI Program has carried out research and development (R&D) required to develop and deploy innovative and advanced sensors, and instrumentation and control capabilities for current and future nuclear energy systems, and to enable the advanced technologies essential to NE’s R&D efforts needed to realize mission goals. The concept of technology readiness assessment is helpful for the classification of instrumentation technology as part of the program strategy. A technology readiness assessment evaluates technology maturity using the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale and was pioneered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the 1980s for space technology. It has recently been adopted to advance fuels and materials. The NEET ASI program objective is to mature instruments technology to TRL 6, which is “demonstration of the technology in relevant environment.” While there may be instances in which a different strategy is justified, the aim of the program is to respond to DOE program and stakeholder needs for nuclear instrumentation then hand off the technology after demonstration for integration in a more complex system, for example an irradiation test, experimental loop or a plant component such as the core, primary system or heat exchanger. A mechanism to continue some level of support from NEET ASI during and after the adoption (for example, to maintain fabrication and calibration capabilities) will be defined as the first example of technology hand off comes to fruition. In addition, several paths exist within DOE to complement NEET ASI activities to extend the maturity beyond TRL, for example through GAIN, technology commercialization funding, and small-business programs. Role of NEET ASI CINR projects in the TRL space, and integration with direct funded demonstration.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development and implementation of energy efficiency standards and labeling programs in China: Progress and challenges

Over the last twenty years, with growing policy emphasis on improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental pollution and carbon emissions, China has implemented a series of new minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and mandatory and voluntary energy labels to improve appliance energy efficiency. As China begins planning for the next phase of standards and labeling (S&L) program development under the 12th Five Year Plan, an evaluation of recent program developments and future directions is needed to identify gaps that still exist when compared with international best practices. The review of China’s S&L program development and implementation in comparison with major findings from international experiences reveal that there are still areas of improvement, particularly when compared to success factors observed across leading international S&L program. China currently lacks a formalized regulatory process for standard-setting and do not have any legal or regulatory guidance on elements of S&L development such as stakeholder participation or the issue of legal precedence between conflicting national, industrial and local standards. Consequently, China’s laws regarding standard-setting and management of the mandatory energy label program could be updated, as they have not been amended or revised recently and no longer reflects the current situation. While China uses similar principles for choosing target products as the U.S., Australia, EU and Japan, including high energy-consumption, mature industry and testing procedure and stakeholder support, recent MEPS revisions have generally aimed at only eliminating the bottom 20% efficiency of the market. Setting a firm principle based on maximizing energy savings that are technically feasible and economically justified may help improve the stringency of China’s MEPS program and reduce the need for frequent revisions. China also lacks robust survey data and relies primarily on market research data in relatively simple techno-economic analyses used to determine its efficiency standards levels rather than the specific sets of analyses and tools used internationally. Based on international experiences, inclusion of more detailed energy consumption surveys in the Chinese national census surveys and statistical reporting systems could help provide the necessary data for more comprehensive standard-setting analyses. In terms of stakeholder participation in the standards development process, stakeholder participation in China is limited to membership on technical committees responsible for developing or revising standards and generally do not include environmental groups, consumer associations, utilities and other NGOs. Increasing stakeholder involvement to broader interest groups could help garner more support and feedback in the S&L implementation process. China has emerged as a leader in a national verification testing scheme with complementary pilot checktesting projects, but it still faces challenges with insufficient funding, low local awareness amongst some regulatory agencies and resistance to check-testing by some manufacturers, limited product sampling scope, and testing inconsistency and incomparability of results. Thus, further financial and staff resources and capacity building will be needed to overcome these remaining challenges and to expand impacts evaluations to assess the actual effectiveness of implementation and enforcement.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

AI-Guided Reasoning-Based Operator Support System for the Nuclear Power Plant Management

The Decision-making process in the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) control room faces some challenges: operator incomplete knowledge, insufficient time for responding to the highly dynamic events, and a large number of indicators to monitor. Because of the complexity of the NPP system, it is hard to pre-plan all the failures/mitigative actions. An intelligent operator support system is vital to mitigate these shortcomings. In this paper, an AI declarative approach (Answer Set Programming (ASP)) is employed to represent our knowledge of the nuclear power plant in the form of logic rules. This represented knowledge is structured to form a reasoning-based operator support system. When an incident occurs, this ASP-based reasoning support system is demonstrated to be capable of fault identification (diagnosis), informing the operator of different scenarios and consequences, and generating the control options (decision making).

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

FY 2022 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan

The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. This FY 2022 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) was developed to enable and sustain Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) mission to discover, demonstrate, and secure innovative nuclear solutions, clean energy options, and critical infrastructure. DOE Order 436.1, “Departmental Sustainability,” provides requirements and assigns responsibilities for managing sustainability within DOE to ensure that DOE missions are carried out in a sustainable manner, to institute wholesale cultural change to factor sustainability into all DOE decisions, and to ensure DOE achieves sustainability goals. DOE Order 436.1 also requires DOE sites to commit appropriate personnel resources, establish a financing plan that prioritizes the use of life-cycle cost effective private-sector financing, optimize the application of appropriations and budgeted funds, and establish specific performance measures and deliverables designed to achieve the listed requirements. The SSP was developed according to the narrative requirements from the “FY 2022 DOE Site Sustainability Plan Guidance” document issued in September 2021. The SSP contains strategies and activities that will lead to continual energy, water, and waste reductions that move the INL site toward meeting DOE sustainability goals and requirements. The SSP summarizes energy and available fuel use reporting requirements and references criteria for instituting sustainable design. SSP requirements are integrated into each INL site contractor’s Integrated Safety Management System and Environmental Management System (EMS). Finally, the Sustainability Program directives, based on this SSP, are integrated into INL/LTD-21-62463, Annual Laboratory Plan 2021, and operations and acquisition systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

FY 2023 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan

The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. This FY 2022 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) was developed to enable and sustain Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) mission to discover, demonstrate, and secure innovative nuclear solutions, clean energy options, and critical infrastructure. DOE Order 436.1, “Departmental Sustainability,” provides requirements and assigns responsibilities for managing sustainability within DOE to ensure that DOE missions are carried out in a sustainable manner, to institute wholesale cultural change to factor sustainability into all DOE decisions, and to ensure DOE achieves sustainability goals. DOE Order 436.1 also requires DOE sites to commit appropriate personnel resources, establish a financing plan that prioritizes the use of life-cycle cost effective private-sector financing, optimize the application of appropriations and budgeted funds, and establish specific performance measures and deliverables designed to achieve the listed requirements. The SSP was developed according to the narrative requirements from the “FY 2022 DOE Site Sustainability Plan Guidance” document issued in September 2021. The SSP contains strategies and activities that will lead to continual energy, water, and waste reductions that move the INL site toward meeting DOE sustainability goals and requirements. The SSP summarizes energy and available fuel use reporting requirements and references criteria for instituting sustainable design. SSP requirements are integrated into each INL site contractor’s Integrated Safety Management System and Environmental Management System (EMS). Finally, the Sustainability Program directives, based on this SSP, are integrated into INL/LTD-21-62463, Annual Laboratory Plan 2021, and operations and acquisition systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Bradwell - The first UK Nuclear Site to Enter Care and Maintenance - 18152

Magnox Ltd, a Cavendish Fluor company, is currently decommissioning twelve nuclear sites on behalf of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Ten of these sites are former Power Stations; the other two are closed Research and Development facilities. An overall strategy for decommissioning the Magnox sites has been agreed between Magnox and the NDA. For all but one of these sites the decommissioning strategy involves an extended quiescent period, known as Care and Maintenance (C and M), during which remaining radiological hazards reduce naturally through radioactive decay. After this quiescent period the sites will be restored to an agreed end state through further decommissioning and clearance work. Sites in C and M will not be permanently manned. They will be passively safe such that prompt action will not be required in response to an alarm or fault. Preparing a nuclear site for C and M involves several inter-related strands of work including definition of the intended physical configuration of the site during C and M (the C and M entry state), establishing a safety case to support that configuration, carrying out the physical works needed to deliver the C and M entry state, preparing arrangements and a team to manage the site during C and M and consolidating the knowledge and information needed to support C and M and final clearance of the site. To enter C and M there needs to be a carefully controlled transition of site, personnel and management system into the agreed C and M configuration. Bradwell, a site on the east coast of England, was selected as part of the overall decommissioning strategy for 'early' entry into C and M; Bradwell is scheduled to enter C and M in late 2018, several years in advance of the next scheduled site, with the intent of carrying learning forward from Bradwell to the subsequent sites. Bradwell is now in the final stages of preparation for C and M. Decommissioning commenced on completion of defueling in 2005. A clearly defined C and M entry state was established early in decommissioning and, through interaction with Regulators and internal and external stakeholders, developed as a shared target, thus providing certainty to the scope of the overall decommissioning project. The site has subsequently been systematically decommissioned to meet this target C and M entry state. All legacy waste has been retrieved and packaged into robust disposal containers, the reactor buildings have a new weather envelope, and much of the site is empty space with concrete hardstanding where facilities used to exist and bare rooms where plant used to operate. The remaining radiological and environmental hazards are not significant. During C and M, which is anticipated to last for 70 years, Bradwell will be managed remotely without the requirement for personnel to be present on site, with the possible exception of an ongoing security presence when the site first enters C and M. In terms of UK decommissioning, many of the projects undertaken at Bradwell were first of a kind. The company operates under a programmed organisational and delivery model, which will enable innovation and learning from Bradwell to be carried forward across the whole Magnox fleet. In addition to decommissioning tools and techniques, processes to manage decommissioning, optimise the C and M entry state to reduce the burden on the UK taxpayer and to transition a site into C and M have been developed. This, in addition to taking people from Bradwell and seeding them into Magnox and the broader UK nuclear industry, should help to provide long term cost savings and delivery efficiencies across the entire NDA estate. This paper describes the journey of Bradwell Site through decommissioning and into C and M, highlighting the innovation and challenges that have contributed to the success of delivering the first UK nuclear site into Care and Maintenance. (authors)

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

Stepping into the Midwest Bioeconomy: Stakeholder Engagement and Geospatial Tools to Assist in Perennial Bioenergy Crop Decision Making and Entrepreneurship

This project, “Ecosystem Services and Farm Entrepreneurship Technical Assistance,” was a three-year project originally planned for FY22–FY24. Due to a late start and a few extensions, it is being completed in early FY25. This project explored opportunities to support the deployment of a bioeconomy with a circular, more sustainable supply chain. Using a tool developed by Argonne to identify agricultural areas suitable for use in the bioeconomy, we sought to create opportunities in the bioeconomy as biomass producers, bioenergy users, and environmental entrepreneurs. We proposed to focus at the beginning on enhancing the tool’s capabilities, while engaging with key stakeholders to improve and expand the tool’s functionality for all potential stakeholders in the bioeconomy. We believe that expanding our tools and technologies, coupled with conversations in agricultural spaces, will be needed as we continue to explore how best to offer farmers whole-of supply-chain opportunities to participate in the bioeconomy. Through this project we have continued to gain a better understanding of the ways in which farmers, landowners, bioenergy users, and environmental entrepreneurs may approach the bioeconomy. In addition, as we improve our analytic toolkit, we can continue to refine our communication and the ways in which we can valuate the bioeconomy. Refining these tools allows us to dive deeper into conversations around plausible policies and drivers for future bioeconomy investment and engagement by stakeholders. By working with farmers and agricultural landowners to enable a sustainable bioeconomy business model, enhance their energy options, and recover resources from their waste streams, this project directly responds to the Bioenergy Technology Office’s (BETO) priorities of building a resilient energy economy. It addresses BETO’s focus on fostering the development and adoption of energy technologies that enable the conversion of waste to energy, efficient land use, and robust job creation. By establishing a technical assistance program that develops capabilities and practices in agricultural areas to implement a bioeconomy future, this program will develop an important linkage between technology being developed at U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories and the agricultural communities of the Midwest. This project focuses on farmers with lower productivity farmland. Because less productive lands create a more difficult revenue stream for conventional crops, these farmers may therefore be more open to alternative agricultural land management regimes. Consequently, the technical assistance program and the methodologies for targeting perennial bioenergy crop application on marginal land provide a distinct opportunity to engage with and invest in the bioeconomy in these economically stressed areas. Stakeholders in this project include farmers and landowners, local conservation organizations (NRCS, SWCS, etc.), universities, non-profit environmental and agricultural entities, farm consultants, environmental regulators, and industry, including the industries working on conversion technologies, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and biochar generation, and the companies interested in trading or purchasing/supporting the valuation of ecosystem services (ES).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Desktop Instructions for LLNL W80-4 WDCR Schedule and Cost Risk Analysis

As part of Weapon Design Cost Report (WDCR), LLNL will be performing site Schedule Risk and Cost Risk Analysis. This analysis uses statistical techniques to predict a level of confidence in meeting the program’s completion date. This document includes the process and steps to conduct the Schedule Risk and Cost Risk Analysis to determine the likelihood that the program completion date are met, how much management reserve is needed to provide the acceptable certainty of completion by a specific date, risks most likely to delay the project, and the paths or activities that are most likely to delay the program. The analysis focuses on uncertainty and key risks and how they affect the schedule’s activity durations and established a management reserve.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Business Models for Scaling Demand Flexibility Volume IV – Program life cycle challenges and lessons learned from U.S. programs

Load growth at the grid edge is driving increased attention to the distribution system and its ability to enable customer technology adoption in an affordable and timely manner. Key industry stakeholders, including electric utilities and regulators, can benefit from strategies to manage and balance customer needs with infrastructure investments, such as demand flexibility. This report focuses on demand flexibility—the ability to reduce, shift, shed, generate, or modulate loads in response to building and grid needs—to reduce the need for costly grid upgrades by deferring investment needs and increase system reliability by shifting electricity usage during periods of high risk. Specifically, we focus on the emerging characteristics of business models for demand flexibility as a framework to understand how demand flexibility programs generate value. In this report, we focus on the life cycle of demand flexibility programs, which provides information on value creation and describes the various deployment phases program implementers navigate from initial program conceptualization through to program expansion and replication to new customer segments and regions. This report characterizes the key phases of the demand flexibility program life cycle, identifies existing challenges across the program deployment phases, and describes lessons learned. This report is part of a series that includes reports on customer relationship management strategies, stakeholder ecosystem management, and program life cycle.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Session 022 - Panel: Doing Business with the US Department of Energy (R1.8)

This panel session provided a fast-paced, high-energy and thought-provoking session on how to do business with the US DOE. Representatives from the Office of EM and the NNSA gave attendees insight on how to market and seek opportunities within their program offices, sites and laboratories, along with suggestions from a successful small business in the DOE market. Panelists with presentations: Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) (Norbert Doyle); Indian Eyes, LLC - What We Learned (video, Roxie Schescke)

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Linac Energy Management for LCLS

Linac Energy Management (LEM) is a control system program that scales magnet field set-point settings following a change in beam energy. LEM is necessary because changes in the number, phase, and amplitude of the active klystrons change the beam's rigidity, and therefore, to maintain constant optics, one has to change focusing gradients and bend fields accordingly. This paper describes the basic process, the control system application programs we developed for LEM, and some of the implementation lessons learned at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

BSSD 2019 Performance Metric – End-of-year summary report

The LANL Science Focus Area program in Terrestrial Microbial Carbon Cycling aims to inform climate modeling and enable carbon management in terrestrial ecosystems. To achieve these aims, the program develops and uses community genomics approaches to discover widespread biological processes that control carbon storage and release in temperate biome soils. The first nine years of the program focused on developing and applying community genomics approaches to examine the composition, spatiotemporal variability, and response of soil microbial communities in two biomes to environmental changes that alter carbon cycling (e.g., elevated atmospheric CO 2 , nitrogen fertilization, and drought). Owing to persistent inability to distinguish cosmetic from functionally consequential responses, the SFA recently shifted research strategy. The new research strategy focuses on soil microbial communities that drive differences in carbon cycling within the same environment. With this approach, there is an inherent cause-effect relationship between microbial community composition and ecosystem function. This approach is revealing core micro-organisms and interactions at different scales (molecular to ecosystem-level) that drive contrasting patterns of carbon cycling. Elaborating processes that shape the composition and function of soil microbial communities driving terrestrial carbon cycling will accelerate progress toward more accurate climate models and strategies for terrestrial carbon sequestration.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Report of the Fuel Cycle Research and Development Subcommittee of the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee

The Fuel Cycle (FC) Subcommittee of NEAC met February 7-8, 2012 in Washington (Drs. Hoffmann and Juzaitis were unable to attend). While the meeting was originally scheduled to occur after the submission of the President’s FY 2013 budget, the submission was delayed a week; thus, we could have no discussion on balance in the NE program. The Agenda is attached as Appendix A. The main focus of the meeting was on accident tolerant fuels, an important post Fukushima issue, and on issues related to the report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) as related to the responsibility for used fuel disposal which was assigned to the FC program with the end of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. In addition we heard an update on the systems study program which is aimed at helping chose the best options for advanced reactors, and possible new study on separation and waste form relevance to used fuel disposal (these two items are only discussed in this section of the report).

Fuel Cycle, NEAC, accident tolerance, used fuel di↗