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A sequential screening process using a methodology developed by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, professional judgment and process knowledge has been used to produce a list of radionuclides requiring detailed analysis to derive disposal limits for the Saltstone Disposal Facility based on the atmospheric pathway.

This sampling and analysis plan (SAP) identifies characterization objectives pertaining to sample collection, laboratory analytical evaluation, and reporting requirements for samples obtained from tank 241-AP-104. The purpose of this sampling event is to obtain information about the characteristics of the contents of 241-AP-104 required to provide sample material to the Waste Treatment Contractor. Grab samples will be obtained from riser 001 to provide sufficient material for the chemical analyses and tests required to satisfy these data quality objectives and ICD-23. The 222-S Laboratory will receive samples; composite the samples; perform chemical analyses on composite samples; and provide samples to the Waste Treatment Contractor and the Process Chemistry Laboratory. The Process Chemistry Laboratory at the 222-S Laboratory Complex will perform process tests to evaluate the behavior of the 241-AP-104 waste undergoing the retrieval and treatment scenarios defined in the applicable DQOs. The Waste Treatment Contractor will perform process verification and waste form qualification tests. Requirements for analyses of samples originating in the L & H DQO process tests will be documented in the corresponding test plan (Person 2000) and are not within the scope of this SAP. This report provides the general methodology and procedures to be used in the preparation, …

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

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A high-speed imaging system with shutter speeds as fast as 2 ns and double frame capability has been used to directly image the formation and evolution of the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX). Reproducible plasma features have been identified with this diagnostic and divided in three groups, according to the stage in the discharge at which they occur: (1) breakdown and ejection, (2) sustainment, and (3) decay. During the first stage, plasma descends into the flux conserver shortly after breakdown and a transient plasma column is formed. The column then rapidly bends and simultaneously becomes too dim to photograph a few microseconds after formation. We conjecture that this rapid bending precedes the transfer of toroidal to poloidal flux. During sustainment, a stable plasma column different from the transient one is observed. It has been possible to measure the column diameter and compare it to CORSICA, an MHD equilibrium reconstruction code which showed good agreement with the measurements. Elongation and velocity measurements were made of cathode patterns also seen during this stage, possibly caused by pressure gradients or E x B drifts. The patterns elongate in a toroidal-only direction which depends on the magnetic field polarity. During the decay stage the …

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Perchlorate is the explosive component of solid rocket fuel, fireworks, road flares, and other products. Used mainly by the Department of Defense (DOD) and related industries, perchlorate also occurs naturally and is present in some organic fertilizer.This report reviews perchlorate water contamination issues and recent developments.

Nickel-Chromium-Molybdenum alloys (Ni-Cr-Mo) are highly resistant to general corrosion, localized corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC). Cr acts as a beneficial element under oxidizing acidic conditions and Mo under reducing conditions. All three elements (Ni, Cr and Mo) act synergistically to provide resistance to EAC in environments such as hot concentrated chloride solutions. Ni-Cr-Mo alloys may suffer EAC in environments such as hot caustic solutions, hot wet hydrofluoric acid (HF) solutions and in super critical water oxidation (SCWO) applications. Not all the Ni-Cr-Mo alloys have the same susceptibility to cracking in the mentioned environments. Most of the available data regarding EAC is for the oldest Ni-Cr-Mo alloys such as N10276 and N06625.

This report very briefly explains some of the chief distinctions between consideration in the House of Representatives operating as the House vs. consideration in Committee of the Whole.

Decommissioning of nuclear power plants and other nuclear fuel cycle facilities has been an imperative issue lately. There exist significant experience and generally accepted recommendations on remediation of lands with residual radioactive contamination; however, there are hardly any such recommendations on remediation of cooling ponds that, in most cases, are fairly large water reservoirs. The literature only describes remediation of minor reservoirs containing radioactive silt (a complete closure followed by preservation) or small water reservoirs resulting in reestablishing natural water flows. Problems associated with remediation of river reservoirs resulting in flooding of vast agricultural areas also have been described. In addition, the severity of environmental and economic problems related to the remedial activities is shown to exceed any potential benefits of these activities. One of the large, highly contaminated water reservoirs that require either remediation or closure is Karachay Lake near the MAYAK Production Association in the Chelyabinsk Region of Russia where liquid radioactive waste had been deep well injected for a long period of time. Backfilling of Karachay Lake is currently in progress. It should be noted that secondary environmental problems associated with its closure are considered to be of less importance since sustaining Karachay Lake would have presented …

We are developing scientific software component technology to manage the complexity of modem, parallel simulation software and increase the interoperability and re-use of scientific software packages. In this paper, we describe a language interoperability tool named Babel that enables the creation and distribution of language-independent software libraries using interface definition language (IDL) techniques. We have created a scientific IDL that focuses on the unique interface description needs of scientific codes, such as complex numbers, dense multidimensional arrays, complicated data types, and parallelism. Preliminary results indicate that in addition to language interoperability, this approach provides useful tools for thinking about the design of modem object-oriented scientific software libraries. Finally, we also describe a web-based component repository called Alexandria that facilitates the distribution, documentation, and re-use of scientific components and libraries.

We have prepared carbon aerogels (CAs) doped with cobalt or nickel through sol-gel polymerization of formaldehyde with the potassium salt of 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, followed by ion-exchange with M(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} (where M = Co{sup 2+} or Ni{sup 2+}), supercritical drying with liquid CO{sub 2} and carbonization at temperatures between 400 C and 1050 C under an N{sub 2} atmosphere. The nanostructures of these metal-doped carbon aerogels were characterized by elemental analysis, nitrogen adsorption, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Metallic nickel and cobalt nanoparticles are generated during the carbonization process at about 400 C and 450 C, respectively, forming nanoparticles that are {approx}4 nm in diameter. The sizes and size dispersion of the metal particles increase with increasing carbonization temperatures for both materials. The carbon frameworks of the Ni- and Co-doped aerogels carbonized below 600 C mainly consist of interconnected carbon particles with a size of 15 to 30 nm. When the samples are pyrolyzed at 1050 C, the growth of graphitic nanoribbons with different curvatures is observed in the Ni and Co-doped carbon aerogel materials. The distance of graphite layers in the nanoribbons is about 0.38 nm. These metal-doped CAs retain …

This report is organized in three parts. First, it discusses the extent of GHG emissions associated with the U.S. agriculture sector, and cites current and potential estimates for U.S. agricultural soils to sequester carbon and partly offset national GHG emissions. Second, the report describes the types of land management and farm conservation practices that can reduce GHG emissions and/or sequester carbon in agricultural soils, highlighting those practices that are currently promoted under existing voluntary federal agricultural programs. The Appendix provides a summary primer of the key background information presented in these first two sections. Finally, the report describes ongoing legislative action within both the climate change and farm bill debates, and discusses the types of questions that may be raised regarding the role of the U.S. agriculture sector in the broader climate change debate.

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This report begins with a brief background of the check truncation issue, including a brief legislative history of the Check 21 Act.

This report provides information about the FY2008 Authorization and Appropriations on defense. This report act as a guide to one of the regu;lar appropriation bills that Congress considered each year.

This joint geologic repository project in Russia was initiated in May 2002 between the United States (U.S.) International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise ''All-Russian Research and Design Institute of Production Engineering'' (VNIPIPT). The project (ISTC Partner Project 2377) is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (DOE-RW) for a period of 2-1/2 years. ISTC project activities were integrated into other ongoing geologic repository site characterization activities near the Mining and Chemical Combine (MCC K-26) site. This allowed the more rapid development of a plan for an underground research laboratory, including underground design and layouts. It will not be possible to make a final choice between the extensively studied Verkhne-Itatski site or the Yeniseiski site for construction of the underground laboratory during the project time frame because additional data are needed. Several new sources of data will become available in the next few years to help select a final site. Studies will be conducted at the 1-km deep borehole at the Yeniseisky site where drilling started in 2004. And in 2007, after the scheduled shutdown of the last operating reactor at the MCC K-26 site, data will be collected …

This report provides information about the issues fro congress in Colombia.U.S policy in Colombia remains controversial.The focus of U.S policy toward Colombia has been to curb narcotic production.

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On August 24, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of an application to switch to Plan B, an emergency contraceptive, from a prescription-only drug to an over-the-counter drug for women 18 years of age and older. This report contains information on the background of the emergency contraceptive, FDA approval, legal issues, state policies, and related information.

This report provides information about the Days Reserved for Special Business in the House.several provisions in the rules of the house provide for certain types of business to be privileged for consideration on special days.

Spectral emission from optical breakdown in the bulk of a transparent dielectric contains information about the nature of the breakdown medium. We have made time resolved measurements of the breakdown induced emission caused by nanosecond and femtosecond infrared laser pulses. We previously demonstrated that the emission due to ns pulses is blackbody in nature allowing determination of the fireball temperature and pressure during and after the damage event. The emission due to femtosecond pulse breakdown is not blackbody in nature; two different spectral distributions being noted. In one case, the peak spectral distribution occurs at the second harmonic of the incident radiation, in the other the distribution is broader and flatter and presumably due to continuum generation. The differences between ns and fs breakdown emission can be explained by the differing breakdown region geometries for the two pulse durations. The possibility to use spectral emission as a diagnostic of the emission region morphology will be discussed.