A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Stockpile is composed of strategic and critical materials that can be used in times of national emergency. The stockpile was established to minimize dependence on foreign sources of these materials. Because of changes in mobilization planning and modernization of weapon systems, stockpiling requirements for many materials have been reduced dramatically during the last two decades. The Defense Logistic Agency's Defense National Stockpile Center manages the stockpile program and is responsible for the sale of materials that exceed stockpile requirements. Concerns have arisen over whether existing cash balances and projected collections from stockpile gross sales will meet all expected stockpile transaction fund outlays for fiscal years 2000-2010. GAO found that the National Defense Stockpile transaction fund's projected long-term outlays exceed projected collections from gross sales. The projections do not include all likely outlays, so the timing and size of a gap between available funds and outlays is unclear."

This Operational Requirements Document (ORD) describes the capabilities that need to be incorporated in the NCC interactive simulation system being developed under the auspices of the NCC development program. The ORD addresses the necessary capabilities (i.e. what the system needs to be able to do); it defines the envelope of situations and circumstances that the NCC system must be able to represent and operate within. The NCC system will be developed in modules over a period of several years. This ORD, Version 2, supersedes the previous version. Future updates of this ORD are anticipated to be issued as needed to guide the development of later versions of the NCC system.

The natural and engineered system at Yucca Mountain (YM) defines the site-specific conditions under which one must determine to what extent the engineered and the natural geochemical barriers will prevent the release of radioactive material from the repository. Most important mechanisms for retention or enhancement of radionuclide transport include precipitation or co-precipitation of radionuclide-bearing solid phases (solubility limits), complexation in solution, sorption onto surfaces, colloid formation, and diffusion. There may be many scenarios that could affect the near-field environment, creating chemical conditions more aggressive than the conditions presented by the unperturbed system (such as pH changes beyond the range of 6 to 9 or significant changes in the ionic strength of infiltrated waters). For an extended period of time, the near-field water composition may be quite different and more extreme in pH, ionic strength, and CO{sub 2} partial pressure (or carbonate concentration) than waters at some distance from the repository. Reducing conditions, high pH (up to 11), and low carbonate concentration may be present in the near-field after reaction of infiltrating groundwater with engineered barrier systems, such as cementitious materials. In the far-field, conditions are controlled by the rock-mass buffer providing a near-neutral, oxidizing, low-ionic-strength environment that controls radionuclide solubility …

This report describes the activities of the U.S. National Committee (USNC) for CODATA from September 16, 1996, through September 14, 2000. The USNC/CODATA counsels the U.S. National Delegate to CODATA on the U.S. position regarding official CODATA business. It also provides a link between the United States and international data compilation and evaluation activities, taking into account the needs of the scientific and technological user community, and undertakes special studies and other actions consistent with the overall CODATA objectives.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) provides a wide range of support to many organizations at home and abroad. GAO estimates that, in fiscal year 1999, DOD provided support in at least 7,125 instances to 345 or more entities, including international organizations; private citizens; and federal, state, local, and foreign governments. This support consumed more than two million military staff-days. GAO could not determine the total cost of DOD's support because of the limited data it received. However, it conservatively estimates the cost to be about $180 million. Providing assistance to civil authorities does not appear to harm retention. DOD data show that overall retention has remained relatively stable during the last decade. There are alternatives to the use of military personnel. DOD and some civil entities have used contractors rather than military personnel for some activities, such as construction, transportation, and medical treatment. There are limitations on the kinds of support that contractors can provide, however. For most of the 197 support instances GAO reviewed that occurred in 1997-99 for the State Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Secret Service, DOD billed and collected about …

This document details procedures to be used when constructing a conceptual terrestrial trophic model for natural gas and oil exploration and production sites. A site conceptual trophic model is intended for use in evaluating ecological impacts of oil and brine releases at E&P sites from a landscape or ecosystem perspective. The terrestrial trophic model protocol was developed using an example site, the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (TPP) in Oklahoma. The procedure focuses on developing a terrestrial trophic model using information found in the primary literature, and augmented using site-specific research where available. Although the TPP has been the subject of considerable research and public interest since the high-profile reintroduction of bison (Bison bison) in 1993, little formal work has been done to develop a food web for the plant and animal communities found at the preserve. We describe how to divide species into guilds using explicit criteria on the basis of resource use and spatial distribution. For the TPP, sixteen guilds were developed for use in the trophic model, and the relationships among these guilds were analyzed. A brief discussion of the results of this model is provided, along with considerations for its use and areas for further study.

A great deal of physics understanding is required for the design and construction of thermonuclear weapons. Since the days of the Manhattan Project, physicists have relied on a combination of theory and experiment for the successful creation of nuclear weapons. One of the great experimental difficulties faced by the designers of nuclear weapons is that nuclear weapons operate in a high energy density regime not found on the earth except during a nuclear weapon detonation. Replicating these conditions is difficult unless a nuclear weapon is actually detonated. One of the reasons for the large number of expensive tests at the Nevada Test Site was that there was no other way to obtain the required data. When the laser was first developed many in the weapons program realized that the ability of a laser to concentrate a large amount of energy in a small volume could create experimental conditions that would be useful for studying the physics of nuclear weapons. The national weapons labs began investigating this possibility and started building ever bigger and better lasers. The vast difference in energy scales between the laboratory and a nuclear weapons explosion meant large and powerful lasers were required. By the early '80s …

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The objective of this project was to develop an advanced imaging method, including pore scale imaging, to integrate magnetic resonance (MR) techniques and acoustic measurements to improve predictability of the pay zone in two hydrocarbon reservoirs. This was accomplished by extracting the fluid property parameters using MR laboratory measurements and the elastic parameters of the rock matrix from acoustic measurements to create poroelastic models of different parts of the reservoir. Laboratory measurements were compared with petrographic analysis results to determine the relative roles of petrographic elements such as porosity type, mineralogy, texture, and distribution of clay and cement in creating permeability heterogeneity.

In this experiment, we will use synchrotron radiation to measure the density of states of vibrational excitations (phonons.) Each group of students will conduct an experiment at sector 3-ID of the Advanced Photon Source, the nation's premier synchrotron radiation facility. We provide one support staff per group, i.e., Drs. Michael Hu, Sarvjit Shastri, Wolfgang Sturhahn, and Tom Toellner will help their group to perform the experiment and interpret the data. After data collection (1-2 h per group), the remaining time will be spent with evaluation and interpretation. In addition to your own data, we provide similar sets of data. Computer hardware (iMac running as X-terminals) and software for data manipulation will be provided. It is important that you understand the basic principles of the experimental method. Therefore we strongly recommend that you read the next section and the attached article Phonon Density of States Measured by Inelastic Nuclear Resonant Scattering. You are expected to use this description to familiarize yourself with the experimental setup and its individual components before the start of the experiment. You should be able to solve at least 75% of the quiz correctly. If you have particular questions or a general problem in understanding this document, …

Polymer composite materials have been a part of the automotive industry for several decades, with early application in the 1953 Corvette. These materials have been used for applications with low production volumes, because of their shortened lead times and lower investment costs relative to conventional steel fabrication. Important drivers of the growth of polymer composites have been the reduced weight and parts consolidation opportunities the material offers, as well as design flexibility, corrosion resistance, material anisotropy, and mechanical properties. Although these benefits are well recognized by the industry, polymer composite use has been dampened by high material costs, slow production rates, and to a lesser extent, concerns about recyclability. Also impeding large scale automotive applications is a curious mixture of concerns about material issues such as crash energy absorption, recycling challenges, competitive and cost pressures, the industry's general lack of experience and comfort with the material, and industry concerns about its own capabilities (Flynn and Belzowski 1995). Polymer composite materials are generally made of two or more material components--fibers, either glass or carbon, reinforced in the matrix of thermoset or thermoplastic polymer materials. The glass-reinforced thermoset composites are the most commonly used composite in automotive applications today, but thermoplastic composites …

This report includes a discussion of the groundwater flow direction and rate, the groundwater analytical results, and the methane monitoring results.

The recent development of light-weight foams has led to novel light-weight high-strength carbon based materials and structures. These materials exhibit very high specific strengths and low thermal conductivities. Likewise, the novel development of a very high thermal conductivity graphite foam will lead to novel ''out-of-the-box'' solutions for thermal management problems. With a thermal conductivity equivalent to aluminum 6061 and 1/5th the weight, this material is an enabling technology for thermal management problems ranging from heat sinks to radiators and satellite panels to aircraft heat exchangers. The ability to be machined into a heat sink resembling a metallic heat sink, have comparable thermal conductivities to metallic heat sinks, yet be 1/5th the weight is a significant advance to thermal management. However, the foam is not as rugged as the metallic heat sinks in its foamed and graphitized state. Therefore, the material must be rigidized to improve its durability under high demands applications, such as military vehicles. Therefore, this program focuses on several techniques previously conceived to rigidize the foam: carbon CVI, metalization (plating), and polymer coating. These techniques were all explored with success and should lead to improved heat sinks.

This Operational Requirements Document (ORD) describes the capabilities that need to be incorporated in the NCC interactive simulation system being developed under the auspices of the NCC development program. The ORD addresses the necessary capabilities (i.e. what the system needs to be able to do); it defines the envelope of situations and circumstances that the NCC system must be able to represent and operate within. The NCC system will be developed in modules over a period of several years. This ORD, Version 2, supersedes the previous version. Future updates of this ORD are anticipated to be issued as needed to guide the development of later versions of the NCC system.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies.

DNA evidence is a powerful forensic tool in criminal cases. Its use and capabilities have increased substantially since it was first introduced in the late 1980s. That growth has led to the emergence of the following issues that were considered by the 106th Congress in legislative initiatives: eliminating the nationwide backlog of unanalyzed DNA samples, expanding the kinds of offenders who are profiled, providing opportunities for post-conviction testing of DNA evidence, and continuing development of forensic science capabilities. This report discusses those and related issues and the legislation proposed and enacted to address them. It begins by describing provisions in prior federal law and then discusses issues and the legislation proposed, including the enacted DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (H.R. 4640, which became P.L. 106-546).

The United States accords permanent normal-trade-relations (NTR) (formerly called most-favored-nation (MFN)) treatment to all its trading partners except six countries to which it is denied by law and 11 countries whose NTR status is temporary and subject to the conditions of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974.

This report details Iran's efforts to get around U.S. imposed trade restrictions to continue manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. It highlights the countries that Iran collaborated with, as well as the measures put in place by the Clinton Administration which were used to limit the collaboration attempts between Iran and these countries.