This CRS report, updated as warranted, discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military (mil-to-mil) contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts and crises since 1993. The first part of this CRS Report discusses policy issues regarding such military-to-military (mil-to-mil) contacts. The second part provides a record of such contacts since 1993, when the United States resumed exchanges after suspending them in response to the Tiananmen Crackdown in 1989. Congress has exercised important oversight.

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This report discusses the federal government's role in the country's information technology (IT) research and development (R&D) activities. The government's support of IT R&D began because it had an important interest in creating computers and software that would be capable of addressing the problems and issues the government needed to solve and study.

This Corrective Action Plan has been prepared for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 366, Area 11 Plutonium Valley Dispersion Sites, in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO, 1996 as amended). CAU 366 consists of the following six Corrective Action Sites (CASs) located in Area 11 of the Nevada National Security Site: · CAS 11-08-01, Contaminated Waste Dump #1 · CAS 11-08-02, Contaminated Waste Dump #2 · CAS 11-23-01, Radioactively Contaminated Area A · CAS 11-23-02, Radioactively Contaminated Area B · CAS 11-23-03, Radioactively Contaminated Area C · CAS 11-23-04, Radioactively Contaminated Area D Site characterization activities were performed in 2011 and 2012, and the results are presented in Appendix A of the Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD) for CAU 366 (U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office [NNSA/NSO], 2012a). The following closure alternatives were recommended in the CADD: · No further action for CAS 11-23-01 · Closure in place for CASs 11-08-01, 11-08-02, 11-23-02, 11-23-03, and 11-23-04 The scope of work required to implement the recommended closure alternatives includes the following: · Non-engineered soil covers approximately 3 feet thick will be constructed at CAS 11-08-01 over contaminated waste dump (CWD) #1 and at …

This Surveillance and Maintenance (S&M) Plan describes the activities performed between deactivation and final decommissioning of the following facilities located on the Nevada National Security Site, as documented in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order under the Industrial Sites program as decontamination and decommissioning sites: ? Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (EMAD) Facility: o EMAD Building (Building 25-3900) o Locomotive Storage Shed (Building 25-3901) ? Test Cell C (TCC) Facility: o Equipment Building (Building 25-3220) o Motor Drive Building (Building 25-3230) o Pump Shop (Building 25-3231) o Cryogenic Lab (Building 25-3232) o Ancillary Structures (e.g., dewars, water tower, piping, tanks) These facilities have been declared excess and are in various stages of deactivation (low-risk, long-term stewardship disposition state). This S&M Plan establishes and implements a solid, cost-effective, and balanced S&M program consistent with federal, state, and regulatory requirements. A graded approach is used to plan and conduct S&M activities. The goal is to maintain the facilities in a safe condition in a cost-effective manner until their final end state is achieved. This plan accomplishes the following: ? Establishes S&M objectives and framework ? Identifies programmatic guidance for S&M activities to be conducted by National Security Technologies, LLC, for the …

This report describes and compares the drug- and crime-related policy restrictions contained in selected federal programs that provide assistance to low-income individuals and families: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), and the three primary federal housing assistance programs (the public housing program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, and the project-based Section 8 rental assistance program).

Historical activities at facilities producing nuclear materials for weapons released radioactivity into the air and water. Past studies in the United States have evaluated the release, atmospheric transport and environmental accumulation of 131I from the nuclear facilities at Hanford in Washington State and the resulting dose to members of the public (Farris et al. 1994). A multi-year dose reconstruction effort (Mokrov et al. 2004) is also being conducted to produce representative dose estimates for members of the public living near Mayak, Russia, from atmospheric releases of 131I at the facilities of the Mayak Production Association. The approach to calculating individual doses to members of the public from historical releases of airborne 131I has the following general steps: • Construct estimates of releases 131I to the air from production facilities. • Model the transport of 131I in the air and subsequent deposition on the ground and vegetation. • Model the accumulation of 131I in soil, water and food products (environmental media). • Calculate the dose for an individual by matching the appropriate lifestyle and consumption data for the individual to the concentrations of 131I in environmental media at their residence location. A number of computer codes were developed to facilitate the …

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he Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future identified removal of stranded used nuclear fuel at shutdown sites as a priority so that these sites may be completely decommissioned and put to other beneficial uses. In this report, a preliminary evaluation of removing used nuclear fuel from nine shutdown sites was conducted. The shutdown sites included Maine Yankee, Yankee Rowe, Connecticut Yankee, Humboldt Bay, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Trojan, La Crosse, and Zion. At these sites a total of 7649 used nuclear fuel assemblies and a total of 2813.2 metric tons heavy metal (MTHM) of used nuclear fuel are contained in 248 storage canisters. In addition, 11 canisters containing greater-than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste are stored at these sites. The evaluation was divided in four components: • characterization of the used nuclear fuel and GTCC low-level radioactive waste inventory at the shutdown sites • an evaluation of the onsite transportation conditions at the shutdown sites • an evaluation of the near-site transportation infrastructure and experience relevant to the shipping of transportation casks containing used nuclear fuel from the shutdown sites • an evaluation of the actions necessary to prepare for and remove used nuclear fuel and GTCC low-level …

Significant issues can arise with the timing, location, and volume of surface water withdrawals associated with hydraulic fracturing of gas shale reservoirs as impacted watersheds may be sensitive, especially in drought years, during low flow periods, or during periods of the year when activities such as irrigation place additional demands on the surface supply of water. Significant energy production and associated water withdrawals may have a cumulative impact to watersheds over the short-term. Hence, hydraulic fracturing based on water withdrawal could potentially create shifts in the timing and magnitude of low or high flow events or change the magnitude of river flow at daily, monthly, seasonal, or yearly time scales. These changes in flow regimes can result in dramatically altered river systems. Currently little is known about the impact of fracturing on stream flow behavior. Within this context the objective of this study is to assess the impact of the hydraulic fracturing on the water balance of the Fayetteville Shale play area and examine the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on river flow regime at subbasin scale. This project addressed that need with four unique but integrated research and development efforts: 1) Evaluate the predictive reliability of the Soil and …

This report fulfills the M2 milestone M2FT-13PN0912022, “Stranded Sites De-Inventorying Report.” In January 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued the Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (DOE 2013). Among the elements contained in this strategy is an initial focus on accepting used nuclear fuel from shutdown reactor sites. This focus is consistent with the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which identified removal of stranded used nuclear fuel at shutdown sites as a priority so that these sites may be completely decommissioned and put to other beneficial uses (BRC 2012). Shutdown sites are defined as those commercial nuclear power reactor sites where the nuclear power reactors have been shut down and the site has been decommissioned or is undergoing decommissioning. In this report, a preliminary evaluation of removing used nuclear fuel from 12 shutdown sites was conducted. The shutdown sites were Maine Yankee, Yankee Rowe, Connecticut Yankee, Humboldt Bay, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Trojan, La Crosse, Zion, Crystal River, Kewaunee, and San Onofre. These sites have no other operating nuclear power reactors at their sites and have also notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that …

Offshore wind energy is a valuable resource that can provide a significant boost to the US renewable energy portfolio. A current constraint to the development of offshore wind farms is the potential for interference to be caused by large wind farms on existing electronic and acoustical equipment such as radar and sonar systems for surveillance, navigation and communications. The US Department of Energy funded this study as an objective assessment of possible interference to various types of equipment operating in the marine environment where offshore wind farms could be installed. The objective of this project was to conduct a baseline evaluation of electromagnetic and acoustical challenges to sea surface, subsurface and airborne electronic systems presented by offshore wind farms. To accomplish this goal, the following tasks were carried out: (1) survey electronic systems that can potentially be impacted by large offshore wind farms, and identify impact assessment studies and research and development activities both within and outside the US, (2) engage key stakeholders to identify their possible concerns and operating requirements, (3) conduct first-principle modeling on the interactions of electromagnetic signals with, and the radiation of underwater acoustic signals from, offshore wind farms to evaluate the effect of such interactions …

A Full-Featured, User Friendly CO{sub 2}-EOR and Sequestration Planning Software This project addressed the development of an integrated software solution that includes a graphical user interface, numerical simulation, visualization tools and optimization processes for reservoir simulation modeling of CO{sub 2}-EOR. The objective was to assist the industry in the development of domestic energy resources by expanding the application of CO{sub 2}-EOR technologies, and ultimately to maximize the CO{sub 2} sequestration capacity of the U.S. The software resulted in a field-ready application for the industry to address the current CO{sub 2}-EOR technologies. The software has been made available to the public without restrictions and with user friendly operating documentation and tutorials. The software (executable only) can be downloaded from NITEC’s website at www.nitecllc.com. This integrated solution enables the design, optimization and operation of CO{sub 2}-EOR processes for small and mid-sized operators, who currently cannot afford the expensive, time intensive solutions that the major oil companies enjoy. Based on one estimate, small oil fields comprise 30% of the of total economic resource potential for the application of CO{sub 2}-EOR processes in the U.S. This corresponds to 21.7 billion barrels of incremental, technically recoverable oil using the current “best practices”, and 31.9 billion …

Building upon advances in technology, production of natural gas from organic-rich shales is rapidly developing as a major hydrocarbon supply option in North America and around the world. The same technology advances that have facilitated this revolution - dense well spacing, horizontal drilling, and hydraulic fracturing - may help to facilitate enhanced gas recovery (EGR) and carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) storage in these formations. The potential storage of CO {sub 2} in shales is attracting increasing interest, especially in Appalachian Basin states that have extensive shale deposits, but limited CO{sub 2} storage capacity in conventional reservoirs. The goal of this cooperative research project was to build upon previous and on-going work to assess key factors that could influence effective EGR, CO{sub 2} storage capacity, and injectivity in selected Eastern gas shales, including the Devonian Marcellus Shale, the Devonian Ohio Shale, the Ordovician Utica and Point Pleasant shale and equivalent formations, and the late Devonian-age Antrim Shale. The project had the following objectives: (1) Analyze and synthesize geologic information and reservoir data through collaboration with selected State geological surveys, universities, and oil and gas operators; (2) improve reservoir models to perform reservoir simulations to better understand the shale characteristics that impact …