A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the reporting of lobbying activities by organizations that have employees who lobby on the organizations' behalf and have the option to report their lobbying expenses under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995 or applicable Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provisions that they use for tax purposes, focusing on: (1) the differences between the LDA and IRC section 4911 and 162(e) definitions of lobbying; (2) the impact that differences in the definitions may have on registration and reporting under LDA, including information on the number of organizations using each definition and the expenses they have reported; and (3) identifying and analyzing options, including harmonizing the three definitions, that may better ensure that the public disclosure purposes of LDA are realized."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the compliance programs established by health care providers to reduce improper payments by Medicare, focusing on the: (1) prevalence of compliance programs among hospitals and other Medicare providers; (2) costs involved with compliance programs; and (3) effectiveness of the programs, to the extent that could be measured."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) domestic banking program on military bases, focusing on whether: (1) domestic military bases have followed DOD procedures to provide for open solicitations in obtaining banking services; (2) on-base financial institutions face competition for banking services from other financial institutions and charge fees competitive with other banks; and (3) opportunities exist for DOD and military bases to generate additional revenues from banking services on military bases and how this might affect banking services and customers."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the United Nations Secretariat's efforts to reform its procurement process, focusing on: (1) the types of procurement problems that the U.N. High Level Expert Group on Procurement and U.N. audit and inspection organizations found; (2) progress on the implementation of the Expert Group's recommendations and other reforms to correct procurement-related problems; and (3) whether these actions have succeeded in achieving the objectives of procurement reform."

This Phase II final report documents the Phase II testing conducted from June 18, 1998 through November 13, 1998, and it focuses on the application of the siphon technology as a sub-component of the overall GeoSiphon Cell technology. [Q-TPL-T-00004]

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This report lists the steps that are required to calculate deceleration ramps for all relevant Accumulator devices. The ramps used for the 1996-97 fixed target run (experiment E835) are saved in files associated with ACNET console application PA1627 (PAUX RAMP DEVELOP). These ramps cannot be re-used because the Accumulator {gamma}{sub t} upgrade has significantly changed the lattice since the last time the ramps were used. Consequently, new deceleration ramps must be calculated and commissioned before the next fixed target run. The deceleration ramp for a particular device is a table that gives the sequence of set values sent to the device as the ramp is executed. The 1997 ramps consist of ramp tables for 100 devices. Appendix 1 gives a list of the devices ramped. Most of these devices will still require ramps for the next fixed target run. Future decelerations will also require ramps for the quadrupole magnet shunts that were installed as part of the {gamma}{sub t} upgrade. Additionally, ramps must be constructed for the two skew-sextupole magnets that will be installed during the summer of 1999.

The objective of this analysis is to develop a proposed repository subsurface layout for ''Design Alternative No.2: Low Thermal Load, 25 MTU/Acre at 38 Meter Drift Spacing''. The scope of this analysis covers: (1) Integration of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) openings into the proposed repository layout for Design Alternative No.2. (2) Identification and incorporation of factors influencing the proposed repository layout. These factors include the required drift spacing, total required emplacement length, the number of emplacement drifts, required development, and subsurface ventilation. (3) Geometry and configuration of the proposed repository openings. Development of a proposed layout showing the required emplacement area.

Measurements of the rates for the hadronic decays B{sup {+-}} {r_arrow} {pi}K along with the CP-averaged B{sup {+-}} {r_arrow} {pi}{sup {+-}} {pi}{sup 0} branching ratio can be used to bound and extract the weak phase {gamma} = arg(V{sub ub}*). Using preliminary CLEO data, we obtain the bounds {vert_bar}{gamma}{vert_bar} > 93{degree} at 1 {sigma}, and {vert_bar}{gamma}{vert_bar} > 71{degree} at 90% confidence level.

Operation of the 242-16H High Level Waste Evaporator proves crucial to liquid waste management in the H-Area Tank Farm. Recent operational history of the Evaporator showed significant solid formation in secondary lines and in the evaporator pot. Additional samples remain necessary to ensure material identity in the evaporator pot. Analysis of these future samples will provide actinide partitioning information and dissolution characteristics of the solid material from the pot to ensure safe chemical cleaning.

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This document describes characterization needs for the DOE waste feed processing and disposal management of TWRS Privatization Phase I. The DOE must obtain information to evaluate and minimize risk associated with the private contractor's design phase deliverables (April 2000); authorization to proceed with Part B-2 (August 2000); and start of treatment facility construction (July 2001). Additionally, the DOE must ensure that the contract feed and product specifications are adequate and achievable, and that there is a sufficient basis for negotiating the price for. services. The purpose of this Data Quality Objective (DQO) is to provide data to accomplish the following: (1) update waste characterization information from source tanks to provide an independent assessment that the specifications and Interface Control Documents (ICDS) are adequate for DOE's management of the site M&I contractor and private contractor contracts; (2) provide preliminary information for the private contractor's process and facility designs and DOE's review of the designs in preparation for the authorization to proceed with Phase I Part B-2; (3) provide preliminary information for ILAW and IHLW storage and disposal design/specifications; (4) support update of the ILAW performance assessment (PA) for disposal; (5) help substantiate the ability to (1) comply with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory …

Small-scale experiments were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of fusing refractory actinide oxides with a series of materials commonly used to decompose minerals, glasses, and other refractories as a pretreatment to dissolution and subsequent recovery operations. In these experiments, 1-2 g of plutonium or neptunium oxide (PuO₂ or NpO₂) were calcined at 900 degrees Celsius, mixed and heated with the fusing reagent(s), and dissolved. For refractory PuO₂, the most effective material tested was a lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃)/sodium tetraborate (Na₂B₄O₇) mixture which aided in the recovery of 90 percent of the plutonium. The fused product was identified as a lithium plutonate (Li₃PuO₄) by x-ray diffraction. The use of a Li₂CO₃/Na₂B₄O₇ mixture to solubilize high-fired NpO₂ was not as effective as demonstrated for refractory PuO₂. In a small-scale experiment, 25 percent of the NpO₂ was oxidized to a neptunium (VI) species that dissolved in nitric acid. The remaining neptunium was then easily recovered from the residue by fusing with sodium peroxide (Na₂O₂). Approximately 70 percent of the neptunium dissolved in water to yield a basic solution of neptunium (VII). The remainder was recovered as a neptunium (VI) solution by dissolving the residue in 8M nitric acid. In subsequent experiments with Na₂O₂, the …

This study suggests that a strong poitential exists for both chemical and biological fouling of the injection wells at the F- and H Area remediation systems. To further the potential, an evaluation of WTU process chemistry, characterization of the natural groundwater geochemistry, and analysis of microbiological activity should be performed. This report summarizes the results.

This report presents an analysis of the consequences and risks of accidents resulting from hazardous material transportation at the Savannah River Plant.

This report describes the groundwater monitoring and corrective-action program at the M-Area Hazardous Waste Management Facility (HWMF) and the Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab) HWMF at the Savannah River Site (SRS) during 1998.

This Community Involvement Plan has been prepared by the Brookhaven National Laboratory's Community Involvement Office with the input of the community, Laboratory employees and representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy. The process to develop the plan began with the formation of a focus group consisting of representatives from: the community at large; special interest groups within the community; the business community; Laboratory retirees; senior and line management from the Laboratory; and the U.S. Department of Energy. The focus group reviewed an initial outline developed by the Office of Community involvement, held in-depth roundtable discussions of community involvement needs, and created a draft plan based on their discussions. A workshop was held to present the draft Community Involvement Plan to a wider audience for their input and insights on how Brookhaven should involve the community in decision making. This workshop was advertised in local newspapers and within the Laboratory. It was attended by community members, special interest group representatives, Laboratory employees and managers, U.S. Department of Energy-Brookhaven Group management, and members of the Laboratory's Community Advisory Council. The results of the workshop discussions are incorporated in this plan.

The Visible-Infrared SASE Amplifier (VISA) undulator consists of four 99cm long segments. Each undulator segment is set up on a pulsed-wire bench, to characterize the magnetic properties and to locate the magnetic axis of the FODO array. Subsequently, the location of the magnetic axis, as defined by the wire, is referenced to tooling balls on each magnet segment by means of a straightness interferometer. After installation in the vacuum chamber, the four magnet segments are aligned with respect to themselves and globally to the beam line reference laser. A specially designed alignment fixture is used to mount one straightness interferometer each in the horizontal and vertical plane of the beam. The goal of these procedures is to keep the combined rms trajectory error, due to magnetic and alignment errors, to 50{micro}m.

A treatability test was conducted for the In Situ Redox Manipulation (ISRM) technology at the US Department of Energy's Hanford, Washington 100D Area. The target contaminant was dissolved chromate [Cr(VI)] in groundwater. The ISRM technology involves creating a permeable subsurface treatment zone to reduce mobile chromate in groundwater to an insoluble form. The ISRM permeable treatment zone is created by reducing ferric iron [Fe(III)] to ferrous iron [Fe(II)] within the aquifer sediments. This is accomplished by injecting aqueous sodium dithionite into the aquifer and withdrawing the reaction products. The goal of the treatability test was to create a linear ISRM barrier by injecting sodium dithionite into five wells. Well installation and site characterization activities began in the spring of 1997. The first dithionite injection took place in September 1997. The results of this first injection were monitored through the spring of 1998; the remaining four dithionite injections were carried out in May through July of 1998. These five injections created a reduced zone in the Hanford unconfined aquifer 150 feet in length (perpendicular to groundwater flow) by 50 feet wide. The reduced zone extended over the thickness of the unconfined zone, which is approximately 15 feet. Analysis of recent groundwater …

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