A bioreactor landfill cell with 1.2-acre footprint was constructed, filled, operated, and monitored at Northern Oaks Recycling and Disposal Facility (NORDF) at Harrison, MI. With a filled volume of 74,239 cubic yards, the cell contained approximately 35,317 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 20,777 tons of cover soil. It was laid on the slope of an existing cell but separated by a geosynthetic membrane liner. After the cell reached a design height of 60 feet, it was covered with a geosynthetic membrane cap. A three-dimensional monitoring system to collect data at 48 different locations was designed and installed during the construction phase of the bioreactor cell. Each location had a cluster of monitoring devices consisting of a probe to monitor moisture and temperature, a leachate collection basin, and a gas sampling port. An increase in moisture content of the MSW in the bioreactor cell was achieved by pumping leachate collected on-site from various other cells, as well as recirculation of leachate from the bioreactor landfill cell itself. Three types of leachate injection systems were evaluated in this bioreactor cell for their efficacy to distribute pumped leachate uniformly: a leachate injection pipe buried in a 6-ft wide horizontal stone mound, …

Large dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals are grown in large crystallizers to provide raw material for the manufacture of optical components for large laser systems. It is a challenge to grow crystal with sufficient mass and geometric properties to allow large optical plates to be cut from them. In addition, KDP has long been the canonical solution crystal for study of growth processes. To assist in the production of the crystals and the understanding of crystal growth phenomena, analysis of growth habits of large KDP crystals has been studied, small scale kinetic experiments have been performed, mass transfer rates in model systems have been measured, and computational-fluid-mechanics tools have been used to develop an engineering model of the crystal growth process. The model has been tested by looking at its ability to simulate the growth of nine KDP boules that all weighed more than 200 kg.

This report describes the characteristics of the Great Lakes, the interests they support, and possible threats to lake levels.

A strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has spread throughout Asia since 2003, infecting mostly poultry but also a limited number of humans. The virus researched Europe in 2005, and the Middle East and Africa in 2006. Officials believe this strain may enter North America later in 2006 through migratory flyaways. The avian flu is highly contagious in domestic poultry, prompting strict biosecurity measures. This report details the strains of, transmission of, and control of Avian flu and also the Federal appropriations to control avian flu in poultry and economic impacts.

Each year, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) prepares an annual Site Environmental Report (SER) in accordance with DOE Order 231.1A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The report is written to inform the public, regulators, employees, and other stakeholders of BNL's environmental performance during the calendar year in review. The SER summarizes environmental data; environmental management performance; compliance with applicable DOE, federal, state, and local regulations; and compliance, restoration, and surveillance monitoring program performance. BNL has prepared annual SERs since 1971 and has documented nearly all of its environmental history since the Laboratory's inception in 1947. The report is available in print and as a downloadable file on the BNL web page at http://www.bnl.gov/ewms/ser/. A summary of the SER is also prepared each year to provide a general overview of the report, and is distributed with a CD of the full report.

The bullet evidence in the JFK assassination investigation was reexamined from metallurgical and statistical standpoints. The questioned specimens are comprised of soft lead, possibly from full-metal-jacketed Mannlicher-Carcano, 6.5-mm ammunition. During lead refining, contaminant elements are removed to specified levels for a desired alloy or composition. Microsegregation of trace and minor elements during lead casting and processing can account for the experimental variabilities measured in various evidentiary and comparison samples by laboratory analysts. Thus, elevated concentrations of antimony and copper at crystallographic grain boundaries, the widely varying sizes of grains in Mannlicher-Carcano bullet lead, and the 5-60 mg bullet samples analyzed for assassination intelligence effectively resulted in operational sampling error for the analyses. This deficiency was not considered in the original data interpretation and resulted in an invalid conclusion in favor of the single-bullet theory of the assassination. Alternate statistical calculations, based on the historic analytical data, incorporating weighted averaging and propagation of experimental uncertainties also considerably weaken support for the single-bullet theory. In effect, this assessment of the material composition of the lead specimens from the assassination concludes that the extant evidence is consistent with any number between two and five rounds fired in Dealey Plaza during the shooting.

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As part of the DOE RIA R&D effort we investigated the possibilities and problems of beam strippers in the different heavy ion accelerator components of a possible Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) facility. We focused on two beam stripping positions in the RIA heavy ion driver where benchmark currents of up to 5 particle μA 238-U were projected at energies of 10.5 MeV/u and 85 MeV/u respectively. In order to select feasible stripper materials, data from experiments with Uranium beams at Texas A&M and GSI were evaluated. Based on these results thermal estimates for a possible design were calculated and cooling simulations with commercially available software performed. Additionally, we performed simulations with the GEANT4 code on evaluating the radiation environment for our beam stripping solution at the 85 MeV/u position in the RIA driver.

The general objective of this research is to combine genetically derived molecular constructs reactive with tenascin, with appropriate radionuclides and labeling methods in order to generate more effective diagnostic and therapeutic reagents for oncologic nuclear medicine. Tenascin, a polymorphic extracellular matrix glycoprotein, is of interest because of its high expression on glioma, melanoma, as well as prostate and breast carcinoma. Recently, we have also documented high levels of tenascin in lymphomas, particularly those of higher grade, making the potential clinical impact of tenascin-specific radiodiagnostics and therapeutics even greater. An essential feature of our work plan is the ability to exploit our extensive clinical experience in order to design second-generation constructs with properties which could improve clinical efficacy. To date, we have treated over 150 brain tumor patients with 131I-labeled murine 81C6, an antibody which binds specifically to the alternatively spliced fibronectin type III repeats CD of the tenascin molecule. During the current grant period, we have made several observations which form the basis for our proposed specific aims. First, tissue distribution and catabolism experiments in animal models have demonstrated enhanced stability for a chimeric construct composed of murine variable regions and human IgG2 constant domains. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic studies in patients …

This report fulfills the FY 2006 Enhanced Surveillance Campaign Level 3 milestones for Task TSR 11.1 as defined in the execution plan [1, 2]. The purpose of this task is to reduce the cycle time necessary to complete analytical evaluations required for surveillance of reservoirs. The development of the digital autoradiography system supports this task. The digital autoradiography system is currently operational and ready for implementation in reservoir surveillance performed in the Materials Test Facility (MTF) at Savannah River Site (SRS). SRS requests design agency (Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory) concurrence for the implementation of this system and on the establishment, in conjunction with the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), of the implementation requirements for this system. Stainless steel tritium reservoirs and pinch welded tubes, which have been exposed to tritium for a prolonged period, are destructively evaluated at the end of their service lives for a variety of reasons. One requirement of this evaluation is to assess the tritium diffusion into the reservoir material. The current method used to determine the geometry and depth of tritium penetration is autoradiography. This technique employs a photographic emulsion and has been effective for a number of years. The primary …

This report is a fact sheet of the Child Support Enforcement program.

The Navy wants to procure three new classes of surface combatants -- the DDG-1000 (formerly DD(X)) destroyer, the CG(X) cruiser, and a smaller surface combatant called the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The Navy wants to procure 7 DDG-1000s, 19 CG(X)s, and 55 LCSs. The Senate Appropriations Committee, in its report (S.Rept. 109-292 of July 25, 2006) on H.R. 5631, recommends approving the Navy's request for FY2007 procurement funding for the first two DDG-1000s and increasing the Navy's request for FY2007 DDG-1000 research and development funding by a net $1 million. This CRS report explains the above as well as other budgetary recommendations made by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Large-scale assistance programs are being undertaken by the United States following the war with Iraq. To fund such programs, in April 2003, Congress approved a $2.48 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) in the FY2003 Supplemental Appropriation. Additional and similar funding is also outlined in this report. Many reconstruction efforts in Iraq -- including infrastructure projects, the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces, and general political and societal reinforcement -- are underway, but security concerns have slowed progress considerably.

The Navy's FY2007 budget proposes retiring the conventionally-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and reducing the size of the carrier force from 12 ships to 11. One potential issue for Congress is whether the carrier force should include 12 ships or some other number. If a carrier is to be retired in the near term so as to reduce the carrier force to 11 ships, a second potential issue is whether that carrier should be the Kennedy or another ship. Potential alternatives to the Kennedy include the conventionally-powered Kitty Hawk and the nuclear-powered carriers Enterprise and Vinson. A third potential issue for Congress concerns the relative military advantages of different homeporting arrangements for the carrier force.

U.S. attention has focused on Russia's fitful democratization since Russia emerged in 1991 from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many observers have argued that a democratic Russia with free markets would be a cooperative bilateral and multilateral partner rather than an insular and hostile national security threat. President Putin's 2004 proposal to restructure the government has been supported by international observers. The U.S. Administration and Congress have welcomed some cooperation with Russia on vital U.S. national security concerns, including the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, among other issues.

In the past few years, Bolivia has experienced extreme political unrest resulting in the country having six presidents since 2001. Under policies of recently-elected leftist-leaning President Evo Morales, Bolivia's relations with neighboring countries, foreign investors, and the United States have been complicated. For some 20 years, U.S. interest in Bolivia has centered on its role as a coca producer and its relationship to Colombia and Peru, the two other major coca- and cocaine-producing countries in the Andes. U.S.-Bolivian relations have become tense in 2006 in the wake of the Morales government's questionable commitment to combating illegal drugs, increasing ties with Venezuela and Cuba, and the nationalization measure.

Concern has grown in Congress and elsewhere about China's military modernization. The topic is an increasing factor in discussions over future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The issue for Congress addressed in this report is: How should China's military modernization be factored into decisions about U.S. Navy programs?

Historically, national commemorative observances were often recommended by Congress through the legislative process. This practice was for the most part discontinued by the House of Representatives in January 1995, although the Senate continues to issue sense of the Senate resolutions recommending for special observances to be designated by a proclamation issued by the President. This report is a chronological list of proclamations for the years 2004 through early 2006, indicating the proclamation number and its Federal Register citation.

Aerial refueling aircraft are key to air operations. The U.S. tanker fleet is large and effective, but old. Modernizing or replacing the current fleet of tankers presents the Department of Defense (DOD) with difficult choices in terms of desired capabilities, force structure, and budget. How this fleet will be maintained or replaced, and on what schedule, has proven controversial. This report will be updated as events warrant.

U.S. attention has focused on Russia's fitful democratization since Russia emerged in 1991 from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many observers have argued that a democratic Russia with free markets would be a cooperative bilateral and multilateral partner rather than an insular and hostile national security threat. President Putin's 2004 proposal to restructure the government has been supported by international observers. The U.S. Administration and Congress have welcomed some cooperation with Russia on vital U.S. national security concerns, including the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, among other issues.

This report considers the future of the U.S. tanker fleet for aerial refueling.

Following years of authoritarian rule and economic sanctions, the United States and the international community agreed in the spring of 2003 that efforts should be made to rehabilitate economic infrastructure and introduce representative government to post-war Iraq, among other objectives. More recently, the Bush Administration has asserted a “victory” strategy composed of eight objectives, five of which are to: transition Iraq to security self-reliance, help Iraqis form a national compact for democratic government, help Iraq build government capacity and provide essential services, help Iraq strengthen its economy, and help Iraq strengthen the rule of law and promote civil rights. To meet these ends, a large-scale assistance program has been undertaken by the United States in Iraq. This report describes recent developments in this assistance effort.

This report includes background information on Bolivia’s political unrest, economic situation, and relations with the United States. In the past few years, Bolivia has experienced extreme political unrest resulting in the country having six presidents since 2001. Under policies of recently-elected leftist-leaning President Evo Morales, Bolivia's relations with neighboring countries, foreign investors, and the United States have been complicated. For some 20 years, U.S. interest in Bolivia has centered on its role as a coca producer and its relationship to Colombia and Peru, the two other major coca- and cocaine-producing countries in the Andes. U.S.-Bolivian relations have become tense in 2006 in the wake of the Morales government's questionable commitment to combating illegal drugs, increasing ties with Venezuela and Cuba, and the nationalization measure.