Treatment of plutonium-bearing solutions: A brief survey of the DOE complex

With the abrupt shutdown of some DOE facilities, a significant volume of in-process material was left in place and still requires treatment for interim storage. Because the systems containing these process streams have deteriorated since shutdown, a portable system for treating the solutions may be useful. A brief survey was made of the DOE complex on the need for a portable treatment system to treat plutonium-bearing solutions. A survey was completed to determine (1) the compositions and volumes of solutions and heels present, (2) the methods that have been used to treat these solutions and heels in the past, and (3) the potential problems that exist in removing and treating these solutions. Based on the surveys and on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 94-1, design criteria for a portable treatment system were generated

Optimization of magnetite carrier precipitation process for transuranic waste reduction

Transuranic (TRU) waste that is being generated at Argonne National Laboratory has a TRU activity ranging from 10{sup 2} to 10{sup 7} nCi/g with a wide variety of chemical compositions. Currently, the waste is stored in highly acidic solutions that must be neutralized for intermediate storage. A magnetite carrier precipitation process has been adapted to concentrate TRU isotopes in a noncorrosive solid phase. In this paper, the authors report the results of a series of laboratory tests done to optimize the process. The parameters they optimized included (1) magnetite concentration used to precipitate the TRUs from solution, (2) formation of magnetite (in situ or ex situ), (3) processing pH, and (4) temperature and mixing time of the carrier precipitation. They also studied the effects of anions, cations, and complexing agents in the waste solutions on the carrier precipitation and the effect of magnetite solids loading on the filtration equipment. An overview is given of the planned full-scale process, which will be operated in a glovebox

A genome-wide screen for variants influencing certolizumab pegol response in a moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis population

Certolizumab pegol (CZP) is a PEGylated Fc-free tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor antibody approved for use in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Crohn's disease, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriasis. In a clinical trial of patients with severe RA, CZP improved disease symptoms in approximately half of patients. However, variability in CZP efficacy remains a problem for clinicians, thus, the aim of this study was to identify genetic variants predictive of CZP response. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 302 RA patients treated with CZP in the REALISTIC trial to identify common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with treatment response. Wholeexome sequencing was also performed for 74 CZP extreme responders and non-responders within the same population, as well as 1546 population controls. No common SNPs or rare functional variants were significantly associated with CZP response, though a non-significant enrichment in the RA-implicated KCNK5 gene was observed. Two SNPs near spondin- 1 and semaphorin-4G approached genome-wide significance. The results of the current study did not provide an unambiguous predictor of CZP response

Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

Mobile evaporator corrosion test results

Laboratory corrosion tests were conducted on eight candidates to select a durable and cost-effective alloy for use in mobile evaporators to process radioactive waste solutions. Based on an extensive literature survey of corrosion data, three stainless steel alloys (304L, 316L, AL-6XN), four nickel-based alloys (825, 625, 690, G-30), and titanium were selected for testing. The corrosion tests included vapor phase, liquid junction (interface), liquid immersion, and crevice corrosion tests on plain and welded samples of candidate materials. Tests were conducted at 80{degrees}C for 45 days in two different test solutions: a nitric acid solution. to simulate evaporator conditions during the processing of the cesium ion-exchange eluant and a highly alkaline sodium hydroxide solution to simulate the composition of Tank 241-AW-101 during evaporation. All of the alloys exhibited excellent corrosion resistance in the alkaline test solution. Corrosion rates were very low and localized corrosion was not observed. Results from the nitric acid tests showed that only 316L stainless steel did not meet our performance criteria. The 316L welded interface and crevice specimens had rates of 22.2 mpy and 21.8 mpy, respectively, which exceeds the maximum corrosion rate of 20 mpy. The other welded samples had about the same corrosion resistance as the plain samples. None of the welded samples showed preferential weld or heat-affected zone (HAZ) attack. Vapor corrosion was negligible for all alloys. All of the alloys except 316L exhibited either {open_quotes}satisfactory{close_quotes} (2-20 mpy) or {open_quotes}excellent{close_quotes} (<2 mpy) corrosion resistance as defined by National Association of Corrosion Engineers. However, many of the alloys experienced intergranular corrosion in the nitric acid test solution, which could indicate a susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in this environment

A portable concentrator for processing plutonium containing solutions

This report describes a horizontal, compact agitated-film concentrator called a Rototherm, manufactured by Artisan Industries, Inc. which can be used to process aqueous solutions of radioactive wastes containing plutonium. The unit is designed to concentrate liquid streams to a high-solid content slurry

Separation Science and Technology. Semiannual progress report, April 1993--September 1993

This document reports on the work done by the Separations Science and Technology Programs of the Chemical Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, in the period April-September 1993. This effort is mainly concerned with developing the TRUEX process for removing and concentrating actinides from acidic waste streams contaminated with transuranic (TRU) elements. The objectives of TRUEX processing are to recover valuable TRU elements and to lower disposal costs for the nonTRU waste product of the process. Other projects are underway with the objective of developing (1) evaporation technology for concentrating radioactive waste and product streams such as those generated by the TRUEX process, (2) treatment schemes for liquid wastes stored or being generated at Argonne, (3) a process based on sorbing modified TRUEX solvent on magnetic beads to be used for separation of contaminants from radioactive and hazardous waste streams, and (4) a process that uses low-enriched uranium targets for production of {sup 99}Mo for nuclear medicine uses

Examining the Expert Gap in Parallel Programming

Abstract. Parallel programming is often regarded as one of the hardest programming disciplines. On the one hand, parallel programs are notoriously prone to concurrency errors; and, while trying to avoid such errors, achieving program performance becomes a significant challenge. As a result of the multicore revolution, parallel programming has however ceased to be a task for domain experts only. And for this reason, a large variety of languages and libraries have been proposed that promise to ease this task. This paper presents a study to investigate whether such approaches succeed in closing the gap between domain experts and mainstream developers. Four approaches are studied: Chapel, Cilk, Go, and Threading Building Blocks (TBB). Each approach is used to implement a suite of benchmark programs, which are then reviewed by notable experts in the language. By comparing original and revised versions with respect to source code size, coding time, execution time, and speedup, we gain insights into the importance of expert knowledge when using modern parallel programming approaches.

Removal of actinides from nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes using an organophosphorous extractant. [DHDECMP]

By removing actinides from nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes, long term waste storage hazards are reduced. A solvent extraction process to remove actinides has been demonstrated in miniature mixer-settlers and in simulated columns using actinide feeds. Nonradioactive pilot plant results have established the feasibility of using pulse columns for the process