Better Understanding Public Perceptions of Risk: Possible Implications for Long-term Environmental Stewardship and Hazardous Waste Management

In the treatment, disposition, and long-term stewardship (e.g., storage) of hazardous waste forms, questions that are of particular concern are: • What is technically feasible and safe, • What is economically affordable, • What is legally mandated and allowable, and • What is publicly acceptable? Although DOE is exerting considerable effort in making sound science-based decisions that are economical and meet legal requirements, it may be lapse in not gaining a better understanding of how public perceptions are formed. This observation appears especially true in regards to the perceived long-term integrity and safety of various proposed hazardous waste storage options. The purpose of this research was to investigate how differences in how hazardous materials are configured and how those configurations are presented affect peoples’ perceptions of how safe they are. Specifically, we designed a preliminary experiment that assessed the public’s perception of risk for various storage configurations of hazardous materials. We included into the design factors to measure participants’ deliberative and spontaneous response to the perceived safety (or danger) posed by different hazardous materials storage configurations. The critical objectives of the proposed effort were to identify specific characteristics of hazardous materials storage configuration and to identify possible differences in deliberative and spontaneous processing of those specific characteristics. Identification of these objectives is critical in understanding what does and does not constitute an acceptable approach to hazardous waste treatment, disposition, and long-term storage. FY01 TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES • Develop an experimental process for collecting perceptions regarding the perceived safety and long-term integrity of hazardous waste storage systems. • Develop a computer-based, reusable collection instrument “system” with associated graphical images. • Validate the applicability and value of the developed methodology by conducting an on-site experiment. • Submit results for publication in an applicable, peer-reviewed scientific journal. • Propose follow-on work and funding requests and submit to DOE-EM for complexwide use and applicability

The KONVERGENCE Model for Sustainable Decisions

The KONVERGENCE Model for Sustainable Decisions is a new way of viewing, developing, organizing, and evaluating alternatives for decisions that may affect a wide range of interests and that must factor in long timeframes, enduring hazards, and/or continuing responsibilities. It differs from other models in that it addresses the need for decisions to continue to "work" over long time periods in an ever-changing decision environment. The authors show that the model contains three major universes - knowledge, values, and resources (the K, V, and R in KONVERGENCE)- that interact and overlap throughout the effective lifetime of a decision. They discuss how decision-makers and decision participants can use the model to craft and analyze decisions and decision processes that stand the test of time. The authors use the U.S. moon-landing program as an example of a major decision process that was sustained over time. They use the model to explain why events unfolded in the way that they did - and why we are where we are today in that program. The authors believe that this model will be especially useful in long-term decision processes such as those that address contamination cleanup programs, long-term environmental stewardship, and the initial siting of facilities with long-term objectives. Companion papers describe the KONVERGENCE Model process steps and implications for intractable cleanup decisions

Implications of the KONVERGENCE Model for Difficult Cleanup Decisions

Abstract—Some cleanup decisions, such as cleanup of intractable contaminated sites or disposal of spent nuclear fuel, have proven difficult to make. Such decisions face high resistance to agreement from stakeholders possibly because they do not trust the decision makers, view the consequences of being wrong as too high, etc. Our project’s goal is to improve sciencebased cleanup decision-making. This includes diagnosing intractable situations, as a step to identifying a path toward sustainable solutions. Companion papers describe the underlying philosophy of the KONVERGENCE Model for Sustainable Decisions,1 and the overall framework and process steps.2 Where knowledge, values, and resources converge (the K, V, and R in KONVERGENCE), you will find a sustainable decision – a decision that works over time. For intractable cases, serious consideration of the adaptable class of alternatives is warranted – if properly implemented and packaged

A Framework for Making Sustainable Cleanup Decisions Using the KONVERGENCE Model

The effects of closure decisions for used nuclear facilities can extend centuries into the future. Yet, the longevity of decisions made over the past half century has been poor. Our goal is an improved decision framework for decommissioning, stewardship, and waste management. This paper describes our overall framework. Companion papers describe the underlying philosophy of the KONVERGENCE Model for Sustainable Decisions1 and implications for a class of intractable decision problems.2 Where knowledge, values, and resources converge (the K, V, and R in KONVERGENCE), you will find a sustainable decision – a decision that works over time. Our approach clarifies what is needed to make and keep decisions over relevant time periods. The process guides participants through establishing the real problem, understanding the universes of knowledge, values, resources, and generating alternatives. We explore three classes of alternatives – reusable (e.g. greenfield), closed (e.g. entombed structures), and adaptable. After testing for konvergence of alternatives among knowledge, values, resources, we offer suggestions to diagnose divergence, to reduce divergence by refining alternatives to address identified weaknesses, and to plan to keep konvergence over the life of the decision. We believe that decisions made via this method will better stand the test of time – because it will be either acceptable to keep them unchanged or possible to adapt them as knowledge, values, and resources change

Industry-Informed Workshops to Develop Graduate Skill Sets in the Circular Economy Using Systems Thinking

Increasing demand for chemicals worldwide, depleting resources, consumer pressure, stricter legislation, and the rising cost of waste disposal are placing increasing pressure on chemical and related industries. For any organization to survive in the current arena of growing climate change laws and regulations, and increasing public influence, the issue of sustainability must be fundamental to the way it operates. A sustainable manufacturing approach will enable economic growth to be combined with environmental and social sustainability and will be realized via collaboration between a multidisciplinary community including chemists, biologists, engineers, environmental scientists, economists, experts in management, and policy makers. Hence, employees with new skills, knowledge, and experience are essential. To realize this approach, the design and development of a series of workshops encompassing systems thinking are presented here. After close consultation with industry, an annual program of interactive workshops has been designed for graduate students to go beyond examining the "greening" of chemical reactions, processes, and products, and instead embed a systems thinking approach to learning. The workshops provide a valuable insight into the issues surrounding sustainable manufacturing covering change management, commercialization, environmental impact, circular economy, legislation, and bioresources incorporating the conversion of waste into valuable products. The multidisciplinary course content incorporates industrial case studies, providing access to real business issues, and is delivered by experts from academic departments across campus and industry

Expanding the diversity of mycobacteriophages: insights into genome architecture and evolution.

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All mycobacteriophages characterized to date are dsDNA tailed phages, and have either siphoviral or myoviral morphotypes. However, their genetic diversity is considerable, and although sixty-two genomes have been sequenced and comparatively analyzed, these likely represent only a small portion of the diversity of the mycobacteriophage population at large. Here we report the isolation, sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of 18 new mycobacteriophages isolated from geographically distinct locations within the United States. Although no clear correlation between location and genome type can be discerned, these genomes expand our knowledge of mycobacteriophage diversity and enhance our understanding of the roles of mobile elements in viral evolution. Expansion of the number of mycobacteriophages grouped within Cluster A provides insights into the basis of immune specificity in these temperate phages, and we also describe a novel example of apparent immunity theft. The isolation and genomic analysis of bacteriophages by freshman college students provides an example of an authentic research experience for novice scientists

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements