This report discusses poverty in United States that varies widely across the population according to age, education, labor force attachment, family living arrangements, and area of residence, among other factors. The report elaborates on the poverty among selected groups, the geography of poverty, and the research supplemental poverty measure.

This report answers frequently asked questions about the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act provides various forms of federal assistance such as the provision of equipment, personnel, and grants to state, local, and tribal governments for the control, management, and mitigation of any fire on certain public or private forest land or grassland that might become a major disaster.

This report discusses cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments and their effects and funding along with current uncertainty about their continuation by health insurers.

This report focuses on the constitutional principles and judicial decisions that may constrain certain types of privatization that involve private and government-created entities.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, and gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations.

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This report addresses select legal questions raised by the use of military force against the Islamic State.

This report provides a historical overview and lessons learned associated with the SRS sludge batch (SB) qualification and processing programs. The report covers the framework of the requirements for waste form acceptance, the DWPF Glass Product Control Program (GPCP), waste feed acceptance, examples of how the program complies with the specifications, an overview of the Startup Program, and a summary of continuous improvements and lessons learned. The report includes a bibliography of previous reports and briefings on the topic.

The gyrokinetic turbulence code GS2 was used to investigate the effects of plasma β on linear, collisionless ion temperature gradient (ITG) modes and trapped electron modes (TEM) in National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) geometry. Plasma β affects stability in two ways: through the equilibrium and through magnetic fluctuations. The first was studied here by comparing ITG and TEM stability in two NCSX equilibria of differing β values, revealing that the high β equilibrium was marginally more stable than the low β equilibrium in the adiabatic-electron ITG mode case. However, the high β case had a lower kinetic-electron ITG mode critical gradient. Electrostatic and electromagnetic ITG and TEM mode growth rate dependencies on temperature gradient and density gradient were qualitatively similar. The second β effect is demonstrated via electromagnetic ITG growth rates' dependency on GS2's β input parameter. A linear benchmark with gyrokinetic codes GENE and GKV-X is also presented.

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This project provides the first demonstration of the application of proton deflectometry for the diagnosis of electromagnetic field topology and current-carrying regions in Z-pinch plasma experiments. Over the course of this project several milestones were achieved. High-energy proton beam generation was demonstrated on the short-pulse high-intensity Leopard laser, (10 Joules in ~350 femtoseconds, and the proton beam generation was shown to be reproducible. Next, protons were used to probe the electromagnetic field structure of short circuit loads in order to benchmark the two numerical codes, the resistive-magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code, Gorgon, and the hybrid particle-in-cell code, LSP for the interpretation of results. Lastly, the proton deflectometry technique was used to map the magnetic field structure of pulsed-power-driven plasma loads including wires and supersonic jets formed with metallic foils. Good agreement between the modeling and experiments has been obtained. The demonstrated technique holds great promise to significantly improve the understanding of current flow and electromagnetic field topology in pulsed power driven high energy density plasmas. Proton probing with a high intensity laser was for the first time implemented in the presence of the harsh debris and x-ray producing z-pinch environment driven by a mega-ampere-scale pulsed-power machine. The intellectual merit of the program …

Renewable resources, such as wind and solar, are providing an increasingly larger percentage of our energy needs. To successfully integrate these intermittent resources into the power grid while maintaining its reliability, we need to better understand the characteristics and predictability of the variability associated with these power generation resources. WindSENSE, a three year project at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, considered the problem of scheduling wind energy on the grid from the viewpoint of the control room operator. Our interviews with operators at Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Southern California Edison (SCE), and California Independent System Operator (CaISO), indicated several challenges to integrating wind power generation into the grid. As the percentage of installed wind power has increased, the variable nature of the generation has become a problem. For example, in the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) balancing area, the installed wind capacity has increased from 700 MW in 2006-2007 to over 1300 MW in 2008 and more than 2600 MW in 2009. To determine the amount of energy to schedule for the hours ahead, operators typically use 0-6 hour ahead forecasts, along with the actual generation in the previous hours and days. These forecasts are obtained from numerical weather prediction (NWP) simulations …

This report discusses the EPA's proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. As part of the ACE Rule, EPA proposed a new test for determining whether New Source Review (NSR) would apply to a modification of an existing power plant.

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This report briefly describes the regulatory programs at issue in the two World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute before analyzing how the WTO's Appellate Body applied Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement in U.S. -COOL and U.S. -Tuna II. The report takes an in-depth look at the test established by the Appellate Body for determining whether a measure is impermissibly discriminatory. Finally, the report provides a brief description of how the United States amended these programs in response to the WTO decisions, and explains why subsequent WTO rulings found that the amended programs still failed to comply with international trade obligations.

This report revolves around the contentious issue of admitting privileges as can be seen in Whole Woman's Health v. Cole. The report also includes information on how admitting privileges have been used to impose an undue burden on a woman's ability to seek abortions.

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The NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) is a reactor-laboratory complex providing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the nation with a world-class facility for the performance of neutron-based research. The heart of this facility is the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR). The NBSR is a heavy water moderated and cooled reactor operating at 20 MW. It is fueled with high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel elements. A Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) program is underway to convert the reactor to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This program includes the qualification of the proposed fuel, uranium and molybdenum alloy foil clad in an aluminum alloy, and the development of the fabrication techniques. This report is a planning document for the conversion Safety Analysis Report (SAR) that would be submitted to, and approved by, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before the reactor could be converted.This report follows the recommended format and content from the NRC codified in NUREG-1537, “Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-power Reactors,” Chapter 18, “Highly Enriched to Low-Enriched Uranium Conversions.” The emphasis herein is on the SAR chapters that require significant changes as a result of conversion, primarily Chapter 4, Reactor Description, …

Report including a digest of each vetoed measure, the governor's stated reason for the veto, and a response to the veto by the author or sponsor of the bill.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy. Congress's decisions on the Aegis BMD program could significantly affect U.S. BMD capabilities and funding requirements, and the BMD-related industrial base.

This report discusses a resolution which would provide temporary funding to continue federal government operations through the beginning of the fiscal year, until annual appropriations acts could be enacted.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.

This report provides an overview of Iran's foreign policy, which has been a subject of numerous congressional hearings and of sanctions and other legislation for many years. The report contains some specific information on Iran's relations with these countries, but refers to other CRS reports for more detail, particularly on the views of individual countries towards Iran. The report also makes reference to Iran's efforts to utilize its ties to various countries to try to mitigate the effects of U.S. sanctions.