A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1997, the Department of Defense (DOD) initiated the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program, a key element of its effort to transform military operations to be network centric. Using emerging software-defined radio technology, the JTRS program plans to develop and procure hundreds of thousands of radios that give warfighters the capability to access maps and other visual data, communicate via voice and video, and obtain information directly from battlefield sensors. The JTRS program has encountered a number of problems, resulting in significant delays and cost increases. The program is currently estimated to total about $37 billion. Given the criticality of JTRS to DOD's force transformation, Congress directed GAO to continue its ongoing review of the JTRS program. This report (1) assesses whether a recent restructuring puts the program in a better position to succeed and (2) identifies any risks that challenge the successful fielding of JTRS."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies among welfare recipients, some states have imposed family caps on welfare benefits. One factor that determines the amount of cash benefits a family receives is the family's size--larger families receive more benefits. In states with a family cap policy, however, no additional cash benefits are provided with the birth of another. Twenty-three states have implemented some variation of a family cap, breaking the traditional link between a family's size and the amount of its monthly welfare check. Generally, these states implemented family cap policies as part of their welfare reforms to reduce out-of-wedlock births and to encourage self-sufficiency. During an average month in 2000, 20 of the 23 family cap states reported that about 108,000 families received less in cash benefits than they would have in the absence of state-imposed family cap policies. In an average month, about nine percent of welfare families in these states had their benefits affected by the family cap. A family's welfare benefits are affected by several factors, including earnings and receipt of child support. Therefore, states were unable to report the precise effect of the family …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants program, focusing on: (1) whether funding amounts awarded for the grants align with EPA's strategic goals, EPA's Office of Research and Development's (ORD) research priorities, and program office priorities; (2) the extent to which the completed focused grants have provided research that is being used by EPA's program offices; and (3) ways in which ORD could enhance its management of the program to help ensure that it meets its objectives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About one-third of the nation's adult homeless population are veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Many of these veterans have experienced substance abuse, mental illness, or both. The VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program, which is up for reauthorization, provides transitional housing to help veterans prepare for permanent housing. As requested, GAO reviewed (1) VA homeless veterans estimates and the number of transitional housing beds, (2) the extent of collaboration involved in the provision of GPD and related services, and (3) VA's assessment of GPD program performance. GAO analyzed VA data and methods used for the homeless estimates and performance assessment, and visited selected GPD providers in four states to observe the extent of collaboration."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary federal agency for supporting medical research. The Office of the Director (OD) is the central NIH office responsible for setting policy and overseeing NIH's 27 institutes and centers (IC). Allegations involving one institute raised questions about areas of oversight by the OD. In light of these questions, GAO examined (1) how NIH makes extramural research funding decisions and OD monitoring of this process, (2) the design of selected internal controls over NIH's travel and personnel appointment processes, and (3) the design of NIH's new risk management program and the program it is replacing. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed relevant NIH policies, procedures, and supporting documentation. GAO also selected 3 institutes that varied in size for in-depth reviews."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been using miscellaneous obligations for over 60 years to record estimates of obligations to be incurred at a later time. The large percentage of procurements recorded as miscellaneous obligations in fiscal year 2007 raised questions about whether proper controls were in place over the authorization and use of billions of dollars. GAO was asked to review (1) how VHA used miscellaneous obligations during fiscal year 2007, and (2) whether Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies and procedures were designed to provide adequate controls over their authorization and use. GAO obtained and analyzed available VHA data on miscellaneous obligations, reviewed VA policies and procedures, and reviewed a nongeneralizable sample of 42 miscellaneous obligations at three case study locations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to reduce children's exposure to pesticides by implementing the requirements of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), focusing on the: (1) approach EPA has developed for making decisions about applying the new safety factor; (2) progress that has been made in considering aggregate exposure and cumulative effects; and (3) progress that has been made in reassessing tolerances for pesticide residues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program's (SCHIP) efforts to make dental care more available to low-income people, focusing on: (1) factors that explain low dental service use by Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries; and (2) the role of other federal safety-net programs in improving access to dental care."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), an interagency organization within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was created to plan and coordinate research and development for the next generation air transportation system (NextGen). Transitioning to NextGen will require FAA to continue to acquire new air traffic control (ATC) systems on schedule and on budget. GAO's concerns about the size, complexity, and cost of FAA's acquisition of ATC systems led GAO to designate this issue as high-risk in 1995. NextGen includes system acquisitions but is a significantly larger initiative involving multiple federal agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which conducts aeronautics research and development for NextGen, and nonfederal aviation stakeholders, such as aviation equipment manufacturers, airports, and aircraft operators. GAO addressed (1) FAA's ATC systems acquisition activities, (2) key NextGen planning and transition issues, and (3) key challenges that FAA faces in implementing NextGen. GAO reviewed FAA's management processes and cost and schedule data for acquiring ATC systems, interviewed senior FAA, JPDO, and NASA officials, and 24 aviation stakeholders involved in NextGen. This report is also based on recent GAO products. The Department …

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 4.8, 4.28, and 4.52. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in September 2004. The overall goal of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities at Hanford. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. tasked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediments from within Waste Management Area (WMA) T-TX-TY. This report is the second of two reports written to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from boreholes C4104 and C4105 in the T Tank Farm, and from borehole 299-W-11-39 installed northeast of the T Tank Farm. Finally, the measurements on sediments from borehole C4104 are compared with a nearby borehole drilled in 1993, 299- W10-196, through the tank T-106 leak plume.

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 4.14, 4.16, 5.20, 5.22, 5.43, and 5.45. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in February 2002. The overall goal of the of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. asked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediment from within the S-SX Waste Management Area. This report is one in a series of four reports to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) borehole bore samples and composite samples.

Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations have been performed with the Gogny finite-range effective interaction for {sup 240}Pu out to scission, using a new code developed at LLNL. A first set of calculations was performed with constrained quadrupole moment along the path of most probable fission, assuming axial symmetry but allowing for the spontaneous breaking of reflection symmetry of the nucleus. At a quadrupole moment of 345 b, the nucleus was found to spontaneously scission into two fragments. A second set of calculations, with all nuclear moments up to hexadecapole constrained, was performed to approach the scission configuration in a controlled manner. Calculated energies, moments, and representative plots of the total nuclear density are shown. The present calculations serve as a proof-of-principle, a blueprint, and starting-point solutions for a planned series of more comprehensive calculations to map out a large set of scission configurations, and the associated fission-fragment properties.

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 4.8, 4.28,4.43, and 4.59. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in April 2004. The overall goal of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities at Hanford. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. tasked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediments from within Waste Management Area (WMA) T-TX-TY. This report is the first of two reports written to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from boreholes C3830, C3831, and C3832 in the TX Tank Farm, and from borehole 299-W-10-27 installed northeast of the TY Tank Farm.

Shielding for the APS will be such that the individual radiation worker dose will be as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). The ALARA goals for the APS are to keep the total of the work-related radiation exposure (exposure coming from other than natural or medical sources) as far below 500 person-mrem per year, collective total effective dose equivalent, as reasonably achievable. For an individual APS radiation worker, the goal is to keep the maximum occupational total effective dose equivalent of any one employee as far below 200 mrem/yr as reasonably achievable. The ALARA goal for APS beamline scientists is to keep the total of the work-related radiation exposure (exposure coming from other than natural or medical sources) as far below 100 person-mrem per year, collective total effective dose equivalent, as reasonably achievable. For an individual APS beamline scientist, the goal is to keep the maximum occupational total effective dose equivalent of any one scientist as far below 50 mrem/yr as reasonably achievable. The dose is actively monitored by the radiation monitors on the storage ring wall in each sector and by the frequent area surveys performed by the health physics personnel. For cases in which surveys indicate elevated hourly dose …

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 4.15 and 4.19. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in February 2002. The Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project is led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. Their goals include defining risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities, identifying and evaluating the efficacy of interim measures, and collecting geotechnical information and data. The purpose of these activities is to support future decisions made by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regarding near-term operations, future waste retrieval, and final closure activities for the single-shell tank Waste Management Areas. To help in this effort, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. contracted with scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to analyze sediment samples collected from borehole 299-W23-19.

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Table 4.8. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in June 2003. The overall goals of the of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., are: 1) to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities, 2) to identify and evaluate the efficacy of interim measures, and 3) to aid via collection of geotechnical information and data, future decisions that must be made by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regarding the near-term operations, future waste retrieval, and final closure activities for the single-shell tank waste management areas. For a more complete discussion of the goals of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, see the overall work plan, Phase 1 RCRA Facility Investigation/Corrective Measures Study Work Plan for the Single-Shell Tank Waste Management Areas (DOE 1999). Specific details on the rationale for activities performed at the B-BX-BY tank farm waste management area are found in CH2M HILL (2000).

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Tables 3.13 and 3.14. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in August 2005. An overall goal of the Groundwater Performance Assessment Project, led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and per guidance in DOE Order 5400.1, includes characterizing and defining trends in the physical, chemical, and biological condition of the environment. To meet these goals, numerous Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) monitoring wells have been installed throughout the Hanford Site. In 2003, it was determined that two RCRA monitoring wells (299-E24-19 and 299-E25-46) in Waste Management Area (WMA) A-AX failed due to rapid corrosion of the stainless steel casing over a significant length of the wells. Complete casing corrosion occurred between 276.6 and 277.7 feet below ground surface (bgs) in well 299- E24-19 and from 274.4 to 278.6 feet bgs in well 299-E25-46. CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., asked scientists from PNNL to perform detailed analyses of vadose zone sediment samples collected in the vicinity of the WMA A-AX from depths comparable to those where …

The nuclear industry interest in advanced fuel and reactor design often drives towards fuel with uranium enrichments greater than 5 wt% 235U. Unfortunately, little data exists, in the form of reactor physics and criticality benchmarks, for uranium enrichments ranging between 5 and 10 wt% 235U. The primary purpose of this project is to provide benchmarks for fuel similar to what may be required for advanced light water reactors (LWRs). These experiments will ultimately provide additional information for application to the criticality-safety bases for commercial fuel facilities handling greater than 5 wt% 235U fuel.

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Table 4.17. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in February 2002. The overall goal of the of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., asked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediment from within the S-SX Waste Management Area. This report is the fourth in a series of four reports to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from a slant borehole installed beneath tank SX-108 (or simply SX-108 slant borehole).

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Table 4.22. The data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The remaining text is unchanged from the original report issued in 2002. The overall goal of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., asked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediments from within Waste Management Area B-BX-BY. This report is the first in a series of four reports to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from borehole 299-E33-45 installed northeast of tank BX-102.

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-ectractable sodium data from Table 4.17. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in December 2002. The overall goal of the of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., asked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediment from within the B-BX-BY Waste Management Area. This report is the third in a series of three reports to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from a borehole installed approximately 4.5 m (15 ft) northeast of tank B- 110 (borehole 299-E33-46).

This study was carried out to model and analyze the YALINA-Booster facility, of the Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research of Belarus, with the long term objective of advancing the utilization of accelerator driven systems for the incineration of nuclear waste. The YALINA-Booster facility is a subcritical assembly, driven by an external neutron source, which has been constructed to study the neutron physics and to develop and refine methodologies to control the operation of accelerator driven systems. The external neutron source consists of Californium-252 spontaneous fission neutrons, 2.45 MeV neutrons from Deuterium-Deuterium reactions, or 14.1 MeV neutrons from Deuterium-Tritium reactions. In the latter two cases a deuteron beam is used to generate the neutrons. This study is a part of the collaborative activity between Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) of USA and the Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research of Belarus. In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a coordinated research project benchmarking and comparing the results of different numerical codes with the experimental data available from the YALINA-Booster facility and ANL has a leading role coordinating the IAEA activity. The YALINA-Booster facility has been modeled according to the benchmark specifications defined for the IAEA activity without …

This report was revised in September 2008 to remove acid-extractable sodium data from Table 5.15. The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in February 2002. The overall goal of the of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., asked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediment from within the S-SX Waste Management Area. This report is one in a series of four reports to present the results of these analyses. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physical characterization data collected on vadose zone sediment recovered from borehole 41-09-39 installed adjacent to tank SX-109.

The sodium data was removed due to potential contamination introduced during the acid extraction process. The rest of the text remains unchanged from the original report issued in January 2007. The overall goal of the Tank Farm Vadose Zone Project, led by CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., is to define risks from past and future single-shell tank farm activities at Hanford. To meet this goal, CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc., tasked scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to perform detailed analyses on vadose zone sediments from within waste management area (WMA) C. Specifically, this report contains all the geologic, geochemical, and selected physiochemical characterization data compiled on vadose zone sediment recovered from direct-push samples collected around the site of an unplanned release (UPR), UPR-200-E-82, adjacent to the 241-C-152 Diversion Box located in WMA C.