Decision document low-level waste feed staging strategy

This report documents the decision to use the Indirect Staging- As Soon As Possible feed staging strategy to deliver supernate feed to the private low-activity waste contractors during Phase I of TWRS Privatization. Two double-shell tanks are needed for intermediate feed staging tanks in addition to the two double-shell tanks that will be turned over to the private contractors as feed tanks. This report was originally issued on May 7, 1996, by Phil M. Daling of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as an unnumbered report. It is being released as a supporting document so that others can search for and find this report. Its original citation was: WHC, 1996, Decision Document, Low-Level Waste Feed Staging Strategy, May 7, 1996

Management assessment of tank waste remediation system contractor readiness to proceed with phase 1B privatization

Readiness to Proceed With Phase 1B Privatization documents the processes used to determine readiness to proceed with tank waste treatment technologies from private industry, now known as TWRS privatization. An overall systems approach was applied to develop action plans to support the retrieval and disposal mission of the TWRS Project. The systems and infrastructure required to support the mission are known. Required systems are either in place or plans have been developed to ensure they exist when needed. Since October 1996 a robust system engineering approach to establishing integrated Technical Baselines, work breakdown structures, tank farms organizational structure and configurations, work scope, and costs has become part of the culture within the TWRS Project. An analysis of the programmatic, management, and technical activities necessary to declare readiness to proceed with execution of the mission demonstrates that the system, personnel, and hardware will be on line and ready to support the private contractors. The systems approach included defining the retrieval and disposal mission requirements and evaluating the readiness of the Project Hanford Management Contract (PHMC) team to support initiation of waste processing by the private contractors in June 2002 and to receive immobilized waste shortly thereafter. The Phase 1 feed delivery requirements from the private contractor Requests for Proposal were reviewed. Transfer piping routes were mapped, existing systems were evaluated, and upgrade requirements were defined

Low-level waste feed staging plan

The `Preliminary Low-Level Waste Feed Staging Plan` was updated to reflect the latest requirement in the Tank Waste Remediation Privatization Request for Proposals (RFP) and amendments. The updated plan develops the sequence and transfer schedule for retrieval of DST supernate by the management and integration contractor and delivery of the staged supernate to the private low-activity waste contractors for treatment. Two DSTs are allocated as intermediate staging tanks. A transfer system conflict analysis provides part of the basis for determining transfer system upgrade requirements to support both low-activity and high-level waste feed delivery. The intermediate staging tank architecture and retrieval system equipment are provided as a planning basis until design requirements documents are prepared. The actions needed to successfully implement the plan are identified. These include resolution of safety issues and changes to the feed envelope limits, minimum order quantities, and desired batch sizes

Draft low level waste technical summary

The purpose of this document is to present an outline of the Hanford Site Low-Level Waste (LLW) disposal program, what it has accomplished, what is being done, and where the program is headed. This document may be used to provide background information to personnel new to the LLW management/disposal field and to those individuals needing more information or background on an area in LLW for which they are not familiar. This document should be appropriate for outside groups that may want to learn about the program without immediately becoming immersed in the details. This document is not a program or systems engineering baseline report, and personnel should refer to more current baseline documentation for critical information

Data quality objectives for TWRS privatization Phase 1: Confirm tank T is an appropriate feed source for low-activity waste feed batch X

The Phase 1 privatization contracts require that the Project Hanford Management Contract (PHMC) contractors, on behalf of the US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL), deliver the appropriate quantities of the proper composition of feed on schedule to the Privatization contractors (DOE-RL 1996). The type of feed needed, the amount of feed needed, and the overall timing of when feed is to be delivered to the Privatization contractor are specified by the contract. Additional requirements are imposed by the interface control document (ICD) for low-activity waste (LAW) feed (PHMC 1997a). The Tank Waste Remediation System Operation and Utilization Plan (TWRSO/UP) as updated by the Readiness-to-Proceed (RTP) deliverable establishes the baseline operating scenario for the delivery of feed to two Privatization contractors for the first twelve LAW batches. The project master baseline schedule (PMBS) and corresponding logic diagrams that will be used to implement the operating scenario have been developed and are currently being refined. The baseline operating scenario in the TWRSO/UP/RTP specifies which tanks will be used to provide feed for each specific feed batch, the operational activities needed to prepare and deliver each feed batch, and the timing of these activities. This operating scenario has considered such factors as the privatization contracts and ICD requirements, waste composition and chemistry, equipment availability, project schedules and funding, tank farm logistics and the availability of tank space. The PMBS includes activities to reduce programmatic risk

Preliminary low-level waste feed staging plan

A Preliminary Low-Level Waste Feed Staging Plan was prepared. The plan supports the Phase I privatization effort by providing recommendations that may influence the technical content of the final request for proposal, and the interface control documents for the turnover of two double-shell tanks (DST) to the private contractors for use as feed tanks and the transfer of supernate to these tanks. Additionally, the preliminary schedule of feed staging activities will be useful to both RL and the private bidders during the contract negotiation period. A revised feed staging plan will be issued in August 1996 reflecting anticipated changes in the request for proposal, resolution of issues identified in this report, and completion of additional work scope

System Planning With the Hanford Waste Operations Simulator

At the U. S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State, 216 million liters (57 million gallons) of nuclear waste is currently stored in aging underground tanks, threatening the Columbia River. The River Protection Project (RPP), a fully integrated system of waste storage, retrieval, treatment, and disposal facilities, is in varying stages of design, construction, operation, and future planning. These facilities face many overlapping technical, regulatory, and financial hurdles to achieve site cleanup and closure. Program execution is ongoing, but completion is currently expected to take approximately 40 more years. Strategic planning for the treatment of Hanford tank waste is by nature a multi-faceted, complex and iterative process. To help manage the planning, a report referred to as the RPP System Plan is prepared to provide a basis for aligning the program scope with the cost and schedule, from upper-tier contracts to individual facility operating plans. The Hanford Tank Waste Operations Simulator (HTWOS), a dynamic flowsheet simulation and mass balance computer model, is used to simulate the current planned RPP mission, evaluate the impacts of changes to the mission, and assist in planning near-term facility operations. Development of additional modeling tools, including an operations research model and a cost model, will further improve long-term planning confidence. The most recent RPP System Plan, Revision 4, was published in September 2009

A distinct member of the aspartic proteinase gene family from the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

A gene (hap) transcribed during the intra-erythrocytic life cycle stages of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum was cloned and sequenced. It was found to encode a protein belonging to the aspartic proteinase family but which carried replacements of catalytically crucial residues in the hallmark sequences contributing to the active site of this type of proteinase. Consideration is given as to whether this protein is the first known parasite equivalent of the pregnancy-associated glycoproteins that have been documented in ungulate mammals. Alternatively, it may be operative as a new type of proteinase with a distinct catalytic mechanism. In this event, since no counterpart is known to exist in humans, it affords an attractive potential target against which to develop new anti-malarial drugs

Multiple label-free biodetection and quantitative DNA-binding assays on a nanomechanical cantilever array

We report a microarray of cantilevers to detect multiple unlabeled biomolecules simultaneously at nanomolar concentrations within minutes. Ligand-receptor binding interactions such as DNA hybridization or protein recognition occurring on microfabricated silicon cantilevers generate nanomechanical bending, which is detected optically in situ. Differential measurements including reference cantilevers on an array of eight sensors can sequence-specifically detect unlabeled DNA targets in 80-fold excess of nonmatching DNA as a background and discriminate 3` and 5` overhangs. Our experiments suggest that the nanomechanical motion originates from predominantly steric hindrance effects and depends on the concentration of DNA molecules in solution. We show that cantilever arrays can be used to investigate the thermodynamics of biomolecular interactions mechanically, and we have found that the specificity of the reaction on a cantilever is consistent with solution data. Hence cantilever arrays permit multiple binding assays in parallel and can detect femtomoles of DNA on the cantilever at a DNA concentration in solution of 75 nM