The President's veto authority is among their most significant tools in the legislative dealing with Congress. It is effective not only in preventing the passage of legislation undesirable to the President, but also as a threat, sometimes forcing Congress to modify legislation before it is presented to the President. As of the writing of this document, Presidents had vetoed 1,471 bills and Congres had overridden only 105 of them. This report details what bills have been vetoed by President Clinton and how they were vetoed.

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The objective of the vadose zone characterization under this program is to develop a better conceptual geohydrologic model of identified tank farms which will be characterized so that threats to human health and the environment from past leaks and spills, intentional liquid discharges, potential future leaks during retrieval, and from residual contaminants that may remain in tank farms at closure can be explicitly addressed in decision processes. This model will include geologic, hydrologic, and hydrochemical parameters as defined by the requirements of each of the TWRS programs identified here. The intent of this TWRS Vadose Zone Program Plan is to provide justification and an implementation plan for the following activities: Develop a sufficient understanding of subsurface conditions and transport processes to support decisions on management, cleanup, and containment of past leaks, spills, and intentional liquid discharges; Develop a sufficient understanding of transport processes to support decisions on controlling potential retrieval leaks; Develop a sufficient understanding of transport processes to support decisions on tank farm closure, including allowable residual waste that may remain at closure; and Provide new information on geotechnical properties in the 200 Area to supplement data used for design and performance assessment for immobilized low-activity waste disposal facilities.

Iron aluminides have excellent corrosion resistance in high-temperature oxidizing-sulfidizing environments; however, there are problems at room and medium temperatures with hydrogen embrittlement as related to exposure to moisture. In this research, a coordinated computational modeling/experimental study of mechanisms related to environmental-assisted fracture behavior of selected iron aluminides has been undertaken. The modeling and the experimental work connect at the level of coordinated understanding of the mechanisms for hydrogen penetration and for loss of strength and susceptibility to fracture. The focus of the modeling component has been on the challenging question of accurately predicting the iron vacancy formation energy in Fe{sub 3}Al and the subsequent tendency, if present, for vacancy clustering. The authors have successfully performed, on an ab initio basis, the first calculation of the vacancy formation energy in Fe{sub 3}Al. These calculations include lattice relaxation effects which are quite large for one of the two types of iron sites. This has significant implications for vacancy clustering effects with consequences for hydrogen diffusion. Indeed, the ab-initio-based estimate of the divacancy binding energy indicates a likely tendency toward such clustering for iron vacancies on the sites with large lattice relaxation. The experimental work has focused on the relationship of the choice …

This document provides an evaluation and recommendations for radiological workplace air monitoring and response to ventilation failure for the Critical Mass Laboratory, 209-E Building. The Critical Mass Laboratory, part of the 209-E Building, was designed to provide a heavily shielded room where plutonium and uranium liquid solutions could be brought into various critical configurations under readily controlled and monitored conditions. The facility is contained within a one-story L-shaped concrete block and reinforced concrete building. One wing houses offices, a control room, shops, and a common area while the other wing includes an equipment room, the change room, work areas, and the two-story Critical Assembly Room (CAR). Three of the rooms contain radiologically contaminated equipment and materials.

Work focused on the program development phase, which has been successfully completed. A revised timetable has been prepared that reflects the June start date and other modifications associated with internal budgeting problems and the actual versus proposed start dates.

Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Eastman Chemical Company, and Bechtel collectively are developing a novel three-step process for the synthesis of methyl methacrylate (MMA) from coal-derived syngas that consists of the steps of synthesis of a propionate, its condensation with formaldehyde to form methacrylic acid (MAA), and esterification of MAA with methanol to produce MMA. RTI has completed the research on the three-step methanol-based route to MMA. Under an extension to the original contract, RTI is currently evaluating a new DME-based process for MMA. The key research need for DME route is to develop catalysts for DME partial oxidation reactions and DME condensation reactions. Over the last quarter(April-June, 1998), RTI has modified the reactor system including a new preheater and new temperature settings for the preheater. Continuous condensation of formaldehyde with propionic acid were carried out over 10% Nb O /SiO at 300°C without 2 5 2 interruption. Five activity and four regeneration cycles have been completed without plugging or material balance problems. The results show that 10% Nb O /SiO deactivates slowly with time 2 5 2 but can be regenerated, at least four times, to 100% of its original activity with 2% O in nitrogen 2 at 400°C. The …

The President’s veto is effective not only in preventing the passage of legislation undesirable to the President, but also as a threat, sometimes forcing Congress to modify legislation before it is presented to the President. However, as a veto threat is carried out, Congress is faced with choices: letting the veto stand, the difficult task of overriding the veto, meeting the President’s objections and sending a new bill forward, or resubmitting the same provisions under a new bill number.