A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To take a more complete and accurate count of the nation's population in the 2000 Census, the Bureau of the Census partnered with other federal agencies, as well as with state, local, and tribal governments; religious, community, and social service organizations; and private businesses. According to the Bureau, about 140,000 organizations participated in the partnership program by assisting in such critical activities as reviewing and updating the Bureau's address list, encouraging people--especially hard-to-count populations--to participate in the census, and recruiting temporary census employees. GAO found that the Bureau spent about $142.9 million on its partnership program, or about two percent of the estimated $6.5 billion the Bureau allocated for the census and an average of about $1.19 for each of the 120 million households that the Bureau estimates are in the nation. The Bureau staffed the partnership program with 594 full-time positions, of which 560 were allocated to the field, while the remaining slots were located in the Bureau's headquarters. Decisions on which organizations to partner with and what events to attend were governed by unwritten guidelines and criteria and were driven by the Bureau's desire …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Developing fire protection standards and testing products against them are critical to promoting fire safety. Business offices, including federal facilities, experience thousands of fires, more than $100 million in property losses, and dozens of casualties each year. Knowing the number and types of fires in the workplace, as well as their causes, is critical to understanding and reducing fire risks. Some private-sector groups track the number and causes of fires in different types of buildings. Such information is used to manage risk and reduce property damage, injuries, and deaths. However, the federal government collects little information on the fire risks in its facilities. As a result, the federal government cannot provide standards-development organizations with timely information that could be used to develop or revise fire safety standards, testing procedures, and certification decisions. Collecting and analyzing such data would help the government to better protect its employees and would contribute to the production of better standards to protect the public from fire."

This project seeks a fundamental understanding and major improvement in cesium separation from high-level waste by cesium-selective calixcrown extractants. Systems of particular interest involve novel solvent-extraction systems containing specific members of the calix[4]arene-crown-6 family, alcohol solvating agents, and alkylamines. Questions being addressed bear upon cesium binding strength, extraction selectivity, cesium stripping, and extractant solubility. Enhanced properties in this regard will specifically benefit applied projects funded by the USDOE Office of Environmental Management to clean up sites such as the Savannah River Site (SRS), Hanford, and the Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory. The most direct beneficiary will be the SRS Salt Processing Project, which has recently identified the Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) process employing a calixcrown as its preferred technology for cesium removal from SRS high-level tank waste.

U, Th, and Pb isotopes were analyzed in layers of opal and chalcedony from individual millimeter- to centimeter-thick calcite and silica coatings at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA, a site that is being evaluated for a potential high-level nuclear waste repository. These calcite and silica coatings on fractures and in lithophysal cavities in Miocene-age tuffs in the unsaturated zone (UZ) precipitated from descending water and record a long history of percolation through the UZ. Opal and chalcedony have high concentrations of U (10 to 780 ppm) and low concentrations of common Pb as indicated by large values of {sup 206}Pb/{sup 204}Pb (up to 53,806), thus making them suitable for U-Pb age determinations. Interpretations of U-Pb isotopes in opal samples at Yucca Mountain are complicated by the incorporation of excess {sup 234}U at the time of mineral formation, resulting in reverse discordance of U-Pb ages. However, the {sup 207}Pb/{sup 235}U ages are much less affected by deviation from initial secular equilibrium and provide reliable ages of most silica deposits between 0.6 and 9.8 Ma. For chalcedony subsamples showing normal age discordance, these ages may represent minimum times of deposition. Typically, {sup 207}Pb/{sup 235}U ages are consistent with the microstratigraphy in the mineral …

The report first examines several benefit-constraint options. Among them are raising the age at which full Social Security retirement benefits can be received, changing the way initial benefits are computed, and constraining cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). It also illustrates the effects of creating new personal savings accounts and presents their projected impact as a supplement to, or partial replacement of, the existing system, or as a means to close the gap between the benefit levels promised by the existing system and what can be paid under its projected future income. Finally, because across-the-board cuts may be seen as too severe for several types of recipients, other options that would ameliorate their effects, including one that would raise revenue, are also illustrated.

This report includes information regarding current issues in Saudi Arabia, background to Saudi-U.S. relations, and congressional interest in Saudi Arabia

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A sudden, threefold increase in emission from fundamental electrostatic electron Bernstein waves (EBW) which mode convert and tunnel to the electromagnetic X-mode has been observed during H-mode [high-confinement mode] transitions on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) spherical torus plasma. The mode-converted EBW emission viewed normal to the magnetic field on the plasma midplane increases when the density profile steepens in the vicinity of the mode-conversion layer, which is located in the plasma scrape off. The measured conversion efficiency during the H-mode is consistent with the calculated EBW to X-mode conversion efficiency derived using edge density data. Calculations indicate that there may also be a small residual contribution to the measured X-mode electromagnetic radiation from polarization-scrambled, O-mode emission, converted from EBWs.

The proposed research is directed at evaluating the effect of flame aerodynamics on NO{sub x} emissions from coal fired burners in a systematic manner. This fundamental research includes both experimental and modeling efforts being performed at the University of Arizona in collaboration with Purdue University. The objective of this effort is to develop rational design tools for optimizing low NO{sub x} burners to the kinetic emissions limit (below 0.2 lb./MMBTU). Experimental studies include both cold and hot flow evaluations of the following parameters: flame holder geometry, secondary air swirl, primary and secondary inlet air velocity, coal concentration in the primary air and coal particle size distribution. Hot flow experiments will also evaluate the effect of wall temperature on burner performance. Cold flow studies will be conducted with surrogate particles as well as pulverized coal. The cold flow furnace will be similar in size and geometry to the hot-flow furnace but will be designed to use a laser Doppler velocimeter/phase Doppler particle size analyzer. The results of these studies will be used to predict particle trajectories in the hot-flow furnace as well as to estimate the effect of flame holder geometry on furnace flow field. The hot-flow experiments will be conducted …

The proposed research is directed at evaluating the effect of flame aerodynamics on NO{sub x} emissions from coal fired burners in a systematic manner. This fundamental research includes both experimental and modeling efforts being performed at the University of Arizona in collaboration with Purdue University. The objective of this effort is to develop rational design tools for optimizing low NO{sub x} burners to the kinetic emissions limit (below 0.2 lb./MMBTU). Experimental studies include both cold and hot flow evaluations of the following parameters: flame holder geometry, secondary air swirl, primary and secondary inlet air velocity, coal concentration in the primary air and coal particle size distribution. Hot flow experiments will also evaluate the effect of wall temperature on burner performance. Cold flow studies will be conducted with surrogate particles as well as pulverized coal. The cold flow furnace will be similar in size and geometry to the hot-flow furnace but will be designed to use a laser Doppler velocimeter/phase Doppler particle size analyzer. The results of these studies will be used to predict particle trajectories in the hot-flow furnace as well as to estimate the effect of flame holder geometry on furnace flow field. The hot-flow experiments will be conducted …

This report illustrates the difference between the concepts of “monopoly” and “monopolization” by touching on the monopoly/monopolization thinking in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as illustrated in (1) statements on merger enforcement made by recent antitrust enforcement officials (generally indicative of the agencies’ concerns about competitive conditions and the effect of various market transactions), (2) the 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines 2 and (3) some observations on the Government actions against the Microsoft and Intel Corporations.

This report identifies the committee assignments, dates of service, and (for Representatives) districts of the 209 women Members of Congress.