In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified a location in Deaf Smith County, Texas, as one of nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To determine their suitability, the Deaf Smith County site and the eight other potentially sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. The Deaf Smith County site is in the Permian Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Deaf Smith County site is not disqualified under the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Deaf Smith County site as one of the five sites suitable for characterization. 591 refs., 147 figs., 173 tabs.

This document includes summary information on the ownership structure of the US electric utility industry, a description of electric utility regulation, and identification of selected factors likely to affect US electricity markets from 1985 through 1995. This Outlook expands upon projections first presented in the Annual Energy Outlook 1985, offering additional discussion of projected US electricity markets and regional detail. It should be recognized that work on the Annual Energy Outlook 1985 had been completed prior to the sharp reductions in world oil prices experienced early in 1986.

This document presents the results of a study commissioned to survey and summarize major environmental monitoring projects in the US-Canadian transboundary region. Projects with field sites located within 400 km (250 mi) of the border and active after 1980 were reviewed. The types of projects included: ambient air-quality monitoring, ambient water-quality monitoring, deposition monitoring, forest/vegetation monitoring and research, soil studies, and ecosystem studies. Ecosystem studies included projects involving the measurement of parameters from more than one monitoring category (e.g., studies that measured both water and soil chemistry). Individual descriptions were formulated for 184 projects meeting the spatial and temporal criteria. Descriptions included the official title for the project, its common abbreviation, program emphasis, monitoring site locations, time period conducted, parameters measured, protocols employed, frequency of sample collection, data storage information, and the principal contact for the project. A summary inventory subdivided according to the six monitoring categories was prepared using a computerized data management system. Information on major centralized data bases in the field of environmental monitoring was also obtained, and summary descriptions were prepared. The inventory and data base descriptions are presented in appendices to this document.

These studies describe how fuel shares have changed over time; determine what factors are important in promoting fuel share changes; and project fuel shares to the year 1995 in the industrial sector. A general characterization of changes in fuel shares of four fuel types - coal, natural gas, oil and electricity - for the industrial sector is as follows. Coal as a major fuel source declined rapidly from 1958 to the early 1970s, with oil and natural gas substituting for coal. Coal's share of total fuels stabilized after the oil price shock of 1972-1973, and increased after the 1979 price shock. In the period since 1973, most industries and the industrial sector as a whole appear to freely substitute natural gas for oil, and vice versa. Throughout the period 1958-1981, the share of electricity as a fuel increased. These observations are derived from analyzing the fuel share patterns of more than 20 industries over the 24-year period 1958 to 1981.

This annual report for the Atmospheric and Geophysical Sciences Division (G-Division) summarizes the activities and highlights of the past three years, with emphasis on significant research findings in two major program areas: the Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC), with its recent involvement in assessing the effects of the Chernobyl reactor accident, and new findings on the environmental consequences of nuclear war. The technical highlights of the many other research projects are also briefly reported, along with the Division's organization, budget, and publications.

This report has been indexed by 11 separate chapters. The subjects covered are: coal chemistry, aqueous chemistry at high temperatures and pressures, geochemistry, materials chemistry, chemistry of transuranium elements and compounds, separations chemistry, catalysis, electron spectroscopy, nuclear waste chemistry, heuristic modeling, and special topics. (PLG)

This report covers the research and development activities of the Physics Division for the 1985 fiscal year. The research activities were centered on experimental nuclear physics, experimental atomic physics, and theoretical nuclear and atomic physics. The experimental nuclear physics program is dominated by heavy ion research. A major part of this effort is the responsibility for operating the Holifield Heavy Ion Research Facility as a national user facility. A major new activity described is the preparation for participation in an ultrarelativistic heavy ion experiment to be performed at CERN in 1986. The experimental atomic physics program has two components: the accelerator-based studies of basic collisional phenomena and the studies in support of the controlled fusion program. Also associated with the fusion-related studies are a plasma diagnostics program and the operation of an atomic physics data center. Theory efforts associated with the UNISOR program are described, as well as smaller programs in applications and high-energy physics. (LEW)