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) paperwork burden, focusing on: (1) the general dimensions of EPA's paperwork requirements and the agency's progress toward reducing the burden that those requirements impose; (2) the process that EPA used to develop paperwork burden-hour estimates for its largest information collections as of September 30, 1998, and gauge the credibility of those estimates; (3) EPA's largest paperwork burden-hour reductions between September 30, 1995, and September 30, 1998, and gauge the credibility of those reductions; and (4) EPA's Reinventing Environmental Information initiative and the agency's new Office of Environmental Information."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) use of nonaudit contacts with taxpayers, focusing on: (1) the frequency of use, variation in timing, and types of taxpayer responses for three major types of nonaudit contacts; and (2) analyzing the IRS' use of data from the three types of nonaudit contacts to improve compliance and service to taxpayers."

Five commercial reactor criticals (CRCs) for the LaSalle Unit 1 boiling-water reactor have been analyzed using KENO V.a, the Monte Carlo criticality code of the SCALE 4 code system. The irradiated fuel assembly isotopics for the criticality analyses were provided by the Waste Package Design team at the Yucca Mountain Project in the United States, who performed the depletion calculations using the SAS2H sequence of SCALE 4. The reactor critical measurements involved two beginning-of-cycle and three middle-of-cycle configurations. The CRCs involved relatively low-cycle burnups, and therefore contained a relatively high gadolinium poison content in the reactor assemblies. This report summarizes the data and methods used in analyzing the critical configurations and assesses the sensitivity of the results to some of the modeling approximations used to represent the gadolinium poison distribution within the assemblies. The KENO V.a calculations, performed using the SCALE 44GROUPNDF5 ENDF/B-V cross-section library, yield predicted k{sub eff} values within about 1% {Delta}k/k relative to reactor measurements for the five CRCs using general 8-pin and 9-pin heterogeneous gadolinium poison pin assembly models.

The system description of the Double-Shell Tank (DST) Monitor and Control Subsystem establishes the system boundaries and describes the interface of the DST Monitor and Control Subsystem with new and existing systems that are required to accomplish the Waste Feed Delivery (WFD) mission.

The isotopic composition of mixed-oxide fuel (fabricated with both uranium and plutonium isotopes) discharged from reactors is of interest to the Fissile Material Disposition Program. The validation of depletion codes used to predict isotopic compositions of MOX fuel, similar to studies concerning uranium-only fueled reactors, thus, is very important. The EEI-Westinghouse Plutonium Recycle Demonstration Program was conducted to examine the use of MOX fuel in the San Onofre PWR, Unit I, during cycles 2 and 3. The data, usually required as input to depletion codes, either one-dimensional or lattice codes, were taken from various sources and compiled into this report. Where data were either lacking or determined inadequate, the appropriate data were supplied from other references. The scope of the reactor operations and design data, in addition to the isotopic analyses, was considered to be of sufficient quality for depletion code validation.

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The purpose of this report is to provide the Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) a report of the Project Hanford Management Contractors' (PHMC) Environmental Management (EM) performance by Fluor Hanford (FH) and its subcontractors. This report is a monthly publication that summarizes the PHMC EM performance. In addition, it includes some PHMC-level data not detailed elsewhere in the report. Section A, Executive Summary, provides an executive level summary of the cost, schedule, and technical performance described in this report. It summarizes performance for the period covered, highlights areas worthy of management attention, and provides a forward look to some of the upcoming key performance activities as extracted from the PHMC baseline. The remaining sections provide detailed performance data relative to each individual mission area (e.g., Waste Management, Spent Nuclear fuels , etc.), in support of Section A of the report. A glossary of terms is provided at the end of this report for reference purposes. Unless otherwise noted, the Safety, Conduct of Operations, and Cost/schedule data contained herein is as of January 31, 2000. All other information is as of March 1, 2000.

This report describes the methodology used in conducting the Canister Storage Building (CSB) Hazard Analysis to support the final CSB Safety Analysis Report and documents the results. This report describes the methodology used in conducting the Canister Storage Building (CSB) hazard analysis to support the CSB final safety analysis report (FSAR) and documents the results. The hazard analysis process identified hazardous conditions and material-at-risk, determined causes for potential accidents, identified preventive and mitigative features, and qualitatively estimated the frequencies and consequences of specific occurrences. The hazard analysis was performed by a team of cognizant CSB operations and design personnel, safety analysts familiar with the CSB, and technical experts in specialty areas. The material included in this report documents the final state of a nearly two-year long process. Attachment A provides two lists of hazard analysis team members and describes the background and experience of each. The first list is a complete list of the hazard analysis team members that have been involved over the two-year long process. The second list is a subset of the first list and consists of those hazard analysis team members that reviewed and agreed to the final hazard analysis documentation. The material included in this …

The magnetic excitation spectrum of the ideal S=1/2 1-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet (AF), contains no single-mode contributions, and, in fact, can be described as a 2-particle continuum of spinons. Chain-MF theory predicts that a weakly coupled chains system becomes ordered at low temperatures. In the ordered state a sharp magnon excitation is present. The continuum persists, but is separated from the magnon branch by an appreciable energy gap. On the other hand, if weakly coupled chains are described through the 1/S expansion of the conventional Holstein-Primakov spin wave theory, one finds a longitudinal 2-magnon continuum and a transverse 3-magnon continuum that start immediately above the spin wave energy.

The Advanced Photon Source (APS), a third-generation synchrotron light source, was commissioned in 1995 at Argonne National Laboratory and has been fully operational for beamline users since 1997. The APS storage ring can accommodate up to 68 user beamlines; about 70% of the available beamlines are currently in use by various collaborative access teams (CATs). The 7-GeV synchrotron light source produces light in the soft to hard x-ray range that is used for research in such areas as x-ray instrumentation; material, chemical and atomic sciences; biology; and geo/soil/environmental sciences. For the successful operation of an x-ray light source such as the Advanced Photon Source, the long-term stability of the concrete floor supporting the beam components and user beamlines is crucial. Settlements impact the orbit and location of the x-ray source points as well as the position of the x-ray beamlines. This paper compares the results of two successive resurveys of the APS accelerator components performed in 1995 and 1998.

The research described here was directed toward improved understanding of thermal and heavy-oil production mechanisms and is categorized into: (1) flow and rock properties, (2) in-situ combustion, (3) additives to improve mobility control, (4) reservoir definition, and (5) support services. The scope of activities extended over a three-year period. Significant work was accomplished in the area of flow properties of steam, water, and oil in consolidated and unconsolidated porous media, transport in fractured porous media, foam generation and flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media, the effects of displacement pattern geometry and mobility ratio on oil recovery, and analytical representation of water influx.

The major purpose of this project was to demonstrate the use of cost effective reservoir characterization and management tools that will be helpful to both independent and major operators for the optimal development of heterogeneous, low permeability carbonate reservoirs such as the North Robertson (Clearfork) Unit.

The development of several novel oil burner applications based on low pressure air atomization is described. The atomizer used is a prefilming, airblast nozzle of the type commonly used in gas turbine combustion. The air pressure used can be as low as 1,300 Pa and such pressure can be easily achieved with a fan. Advantages over conventional, pressure-atomized nozzles include ability to operate at low input rates without very small passages and much lower fuel pressure requirements. The development of three specific applications is presented. The first two are domestic heating burners covering a capacity range 10 to 26 kW. The third application presented involves the use of this burner in an oil-fired thermophotovoltaic power generator system. Here the design firing rate is 2.9 kW and the system produces 500 watts of electric power.

This Record of Technical Change updates the technical informatioin provided in ''Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 240: Area 25 Vehicle Washdown, Nevada Test Site, Nevada,'' Revision 0, DOE/NV--532.

A successful fabrication schedule has been developed at Carpenter Technology Corporation for the production of MA957 fuel and blanket cladding. Difficulties with gun drilling, plug drawing and recrystallization were overcome to produce a pilot lot of tubing. This report documents the fabrication efforts of two qualified vendors and the support studies performed at WHC to develop the fabrication-schedule.

The alteration of ecological systems has greatly reduced salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. The Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, for example, is a component of the last ecosystem in eastern Washington State that supports a relatively healthy population of fall chinook salmon ([Oncorhynchus tshawytscha], Huntington et al. 1996). This population of fall chinook may function as a metapopulation for the Mid-Columbia region (ISG 1996). Metapopulations can seed or re-colonize unused habitat through the mechanism of straying (spawning in non-natal areas) and may be critical to the salmon recovery process if lost or degraded habitat is restored (i.e., the Snake, Upper Columbia, and Yakima rivers). For these reasons, the Hanford Reach fall chinook salmon population is extremely important for preservation of the species in the Columbia River Basin. Because this population is important to the region, non-intrusive techniques of analysis are essential for researching and monitoring population trends and spawning activities.

This plan is designed to provide an appropriate level of confidence that Tank Farm Transition Projects (TFTP) facilities will be evaluated to assess the presence of suspect/counterfeit items. It is intended to identify suspect/counterfeit items that are presently in inventory and provide for the reporting and disposition of those items. Items which have been installed will also receive appropriate evaluation using a graded approach to achieve optimum results balanced against safety considerations and cost effectiveness.

Report of Shop Test of the Gamma Cart System to be used in the AZ-101 Mixer Pump Demonstration Test. Reports of the hardware and software tests. The objective of the testing was to verify in the shop that the hardware and software operated according to design specifications before field-testing and installation.

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