US Least Cost Energy Strategy: Review and update

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 requires the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a Least Cost Energy Strategy to be updated on a regular basis. Social and environmental costs are to be considered in addition to direct energy costs. Partly because the emphasis was on a least-cost strategy, DOE selected MARKAL as the model to be used in the analysis. Brookhaven National Laboratory is assisting DOE in the following areas: data development, training, confidence building and illumination of model behavior, calibration, scenario development, model runs, interpretation of results, and documentation. The work began with an emphasis on MARKAL, but during the summer of 1994 a shift was made to MARKAL-MACRO

Assessment of health impacts in electricity generation and use

This paper describes the health effects of concern associated with electricity generation, information from which health effects can be estimated, and how the boundaries of analysis are determined. It also describes advances, new approaches, and trends in the risk assessment process. It discusses the application of these advances to comparative risk studies. Trends in the risk assessment process include more explicit characterization of quantitative uncertainty, the broader application and acceptance of Monte Carlo analysis and other numerical methods to the propagation of uncertainties through the analysis, greater realism in risk assessment, and the application of greatly increased computational capabilities

Qualitative risk evaluation of environmental restoration programs at Brookhaven National Laboratory

This report documents the evaluation of risks associated with environmental restoration activities at Brookhaven National Laboratory using two tools supplied by DOE to provide a consistent set of risk estimates across the DOE complex: Risk Data Sheets (RDS) and Relative Risk Ranking. The tools are described, the process taken characterized, results provided and discussed. The two approaches are compared and recommendations provided for continuing improvement of the process

Integrated Resource Efficiency: Measurement and Management

Drawing on the Systems Theory and the Natural Resource Based View, this paper advances an Integrated Resource Efficiency View (IREV) and derives a composite ‘Integrated Resource Efficiency Index’ (IRE-Index) for assessing the environmental, economic, and social resource efficiencies of production economies

Conceptualizing a circular framework of supply chain resource sustainability

Purpose: In response to calls for conceptual frameworks and generic theory building towards the advancement of sustainability in supply chain resource utilization and management, this paper advances a circular framework for Supply Chain Resource Sustainability (SCRS), and a decision support methodology for assessing SCRS against the backdrop of five foundational premises deduced from the literature on resource sustainability. Design/ Approach: Taking a conceptual theory building approach, the paper advances a set of SCRS decision-support criteria for each of the theoretical premises advanced, and applies the Theory of Constraints to illustrate the conceptual and practical applications of the framework in SCRS decision-making. Findings: This study uses recent conceptualizations of supply chains as ‘complex adaptive systems’ to provide a robust and novel frame and a set of decision rules with which to assess the interconnectedness of environmental, economic, and social capital of supply chain resources from pre-production to post-production. Research Implications: The paper contributes to theory building in sustainability research, and the SCRS decision framework developed could be applied in tandem with existing quantitative hybrid lifecycle and input-output approaches to facilitate targeted resource sustainability assessments, with implications for research and practice. Originality/Value: The novel SCRS framework proposed serves as a template for evaluating SCRS and provides a decision support methodology for assessing SCRS against the five theorized foundational premises

Izvori za epjdem10loško proučavanje zdravstvenlh efekata gasifikacije uglja

An occupational population is characterized as a basis for epidemiological study. Parameters include age, smoking history, years of work, job title, all medical diagnoses by 3-digit ICD code, and selected Iaboratory test results. By example analyses differences are examined in the incidence of chrome bronchitis and circulatory system disease by smoking history and job title. The data base includes coal gasification plant workers and surface lignite minors in Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Because of the national system of socialized medicine, similar data are available for all worker organizations in Yugoslavia.Analiza zaposlenih radnika služila je kao osnova epidemiološkog proučavania. Praćeni parametri obuhvatih su dob, naviku pušenja, radno rnesto i sve lekarske dijagnoze prema trocifrenoj internacionalnoj kodifikaciji bolesti, kao i određene laboratorijske rezultate. Dat je primer proučavanja razlika incidence hroničnog bronhita i bolesti cirkulatornog sistema prema navici pušenja i radnom mestu. Podaci se odnose na radnike gasifikacije uglja i rudnika površinskog kopa u Kosovskorn bazenu. S obzirom na zdravstvenu zaštitu i unificirani sistem, slične informacije se mogu dobiti za sve radne organizacije u Jugoslaviji

Proučavanje rane pojave tumora kod radnika gasifikacije uglja

A retrospective cohort morbidity study was conducted among workers employed at the Kosovo coal gasification plant and a reference population of open-pit lignite miners. The aim was to determine the rate of early skin cancer and pre-cancerous skin lesions. In 15 years of commercial operation of the coal gasification plant, seven workers were diagnosed with benign skin tumors, six with pre-cancerous skin diseases, but none with skin cancer. The lesions were significantly fewer than were reported earlier over a shorter time period and in a smaller population at a coal hydrogenation plant. Compared to the reference population who received medical care in the same clinic, gasification workers had a lower skin cancer rate, but a higher rate of benign skin turners and potentially pre-cancerous skin diseases.Kod radnika zapošljenih na gasifikaciji uglja obavljena su proučavanja morbiditeta i nalazi su uspoređeni s nalazima kod rudara lignita. Svrha ove analize sastojala se u proučavanju da li se kod radnika gasifikacije uglja pojavljuje visoki procenat ranog ispoljavanja raka kože i prekanceroznih lezija sličnih onim opaženim kod radnika zapošljenih na hidrogenizaciji uglja. U toku 15 godina komercijalnog rada postrojenja za gasifikaciju uglja utvrđeni su kod sedam radnika benigni tumori kože, kod šest radnika prekancerozno stanje kože, a ni kod jednog od njih nije nađen karcinom kože. Učestalost ovih poremećaja bila je znatno manja nego kod manje grupe radnika koji su radili kraći vremenski period na hidrogenizaciji uglja. Broj malignih poremećaja bio je znatno niži, ali benigni tumori kože i potencijalne prekancerozne promene koje bile su nađene kod većeg procenta u radnika gasifikacije uglja nego u komparativnoj grupi rudara sa otvorenog kopa lignita, koji su inače praćeni u istoj zdravstvenoj ustanovi

Molecular dynamic simulation of a homogeneous bcc -> hcp transition

We have performed molecular dynamic simulations of a Martensitic bcc->hcp transformation in a homogeneous system. The system evolves into three Martensitic variants, sharing a common nearest neighbor vector along a bcc direction, plus an fcc region. Nucleation occurs locally, followed by subsequent growth. We monitor the time-dependent scattering S(q,t) during the transformation, and find anomalous, Brillouin zone-dependent scattering similar to that observed experimentally in a number of systems above the transformation temperature. This scattering is shown to be related to the elastic strain associated with the transformation, and is not directly related to the phonon response.Comment: 11 pages plus 8 figures (GIF format); to appear in Phys. Rev.

Deriving cleanup guidelines for radionuclides at Brookhaven National Laboratory

Past activities at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. As a result, BNL was designated a Superfund site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). BNL`s Office of Environmental Restoration (OER) is overseeing environmental restoration activities at the Laboratory. With the exception of radium, there are no regulations or guidelines to establish cleanup guidelines for radionuclides in soils at BNL. BNL must derive radionuclide soil cleanup guidelines for a number of Operable Units (OUs) and Areas of Concern (AOCs). These guidelines are required by DOE under a proposed regulation for radiation protection of public health and the environment as well as to satisfy the requirements of CERCLA. The objective of this report is to propose a standard approach to deriving risk-based cleanup guidelines for radionuclides in soil at BNL. Implementation of the approach is briefly discussed