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) efforts to track taxpayer information about IRS notices, focusing on: (1) whether IRS tracks information about notices from individual taxpayers who call IRS; and (2) if not, whether such a tracking system could be useful and feasible."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal year (FY) 2001 budget request, focusing on: (1) the 2000 tax filing season; (2) IRS' FY 2001 budget request and supporting documentation; and (3) GAO's reviews of various IRS activities, including those related to information systems and IRS' reorganization."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its investigation of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) negotiated settlements of large overpayments to three Medicare providers between 1991 and July 1999."

Large-scale scientific computation, and all of the disciplines that support it and help to validate it, have been placed at the focus of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). The Laboratory operates the computer with the highest peak performance in the world and has undertaken some of the largest and most compute-intensive simulations ever performed. Computers at the architectural extremes, however, are notoriously difficult to use efficiently. Even such successes as the Laboratory's two Bell Prizes awarded in November 1999 only emphasize the need for much better ways of interacting with the results of large-scale simulations. Advances in scientific computing research have, therefore, never been more vital to the core missions of the Laboratory than at present. Computational science is evolving so rapidly along every one of its research fronts that to remain on the leading edge, the Laboratory must engage researchers at many academic centers of excellence. In FY 1999, the Institute for Scientific Computing Research (ISCR) has expanded the Laboratory's bridge to the academic community in the form of collaborative subcontracts, visiting faculty, student internships, a workshop, and a very active seminar series. ISCR research participants are integrated almost seamlessly with the Laboratory's …

The objective of this calculation is to generate radionuclide inventories for the Department of Energy (DOE) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) waste stream destined for disposal at the potential repository at Yucca Mountain. The scope of this calculation is limited to the calculation of two radionuclide inventories; one for all uranium/thorium carbide fuels in the waste stream and one for the entire waste stream. These inventories will provide input in future screening calculations to be performed by Performance Assessment to determine important radionuclides.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has pursued an aggressive site characterization and remediation program since the early 1980's. The effort has required drilling and sampling over 1000 wells. The development of tools for interacting with the large volume of data is imperative. Working closely with interdisciplinary project scientists, we have developed a suite of web-based tools for facilitating many data-driven analysis and interpretation tasks. LLNL tool development must meet the needs of several different groups: LLNL project staff, DOE project managers, and government regulators. The project managers and regulators require general tools, answering questions such as ''what locations have had detectable amounts of a particular chemical.'' In addition to general inquiries, regulators want specific information, such as reports of volatile organic compound concentrations for an area over time. LLNL users need tools that support analysis and facility operations as well as general inquiry tools. We have developed web-based tools that allow each class of user to obtain much of the information they desire without the assistance of database specialists. While these tools were created for particular classes of users, each tool has proven useful to other groups as well. Providing a web interface to these tools makes them easily accessible …

This document comprises the Operational Test Report for the 241-AZ-101 Ultrasonic Interface Level Analyzer. The objective of the testing was to verify that all equipment and components functioned as designed following construction completion and turnover to operations.

Applicants seeking a Certificate of Compliance for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) cask must evaluate the consequences of a handling accident resulting in a drop or tip-over of the cask onto a concrete storage pad. As a result, analytical modeling approaches that might be used to evaluate the impact of cylindrical containers onto concrete pads are needed. One such approach, described and benchmarked in NUREG/CR-6608,{sup 1} consists of a dynamic finite element analysis using a concrete material model available in DYNA3D{sup 2} and in LS-DYNA,{sup 3} together with a method for post-processing the analysis results to calculate the deceleration of a solid steel billet when subjected to a drop or tip-over onto a concrete storage pad. The analysis approach described in NUREG/CR-6608 gives a good correlation of analysis and test results. The material model used for the concrete in the analyses in NUREG/CR-6608 is, however, somewhat troublesome to use, requiring a number of material constants which are difficult to obtain. Because of this a simpler approach, which adequately evaluates the impact of cylindrical containers onto concrete pads, is sought. Since finite element modeling of metals, and in particular carbon and stainless steel, is routinely and accurately accomplished with …

Assessment of the long-term performance of nuclear melt glass under saturated conditions provides insight into factors controlling radionuclide release into groundwater. Melt glass samples were collected from an underground nuclear detonation cavity at the Nevada Test Site that was in contact with groundwater for more than 10 years. The samples were made into thin sections and the distribution of alpha activity mapped using CR-39 plastic detectors. The melt glass is visually heterogeneous and the results of the alpha track radiography indicate that the highest alpha activity is associated with areas of dark colored glass. Analyses of the thin sections by alpha spectrometry show the prominent actinide species to be {sup 238}Pu, {sup 239}Pu and {sup 241}Am. Scanning electron microprobe analysis of the bulk glass shows conspicuous alteration layers lining internal vesicle surfaces in the glass. X-ray diffraction patterns for the alteration phases are consistent with clay mineral compositions. Glass dissolution models indicate these layers are too thick to have formed at ambient temperatures over the 10 year period in which they remained in a saturated environment. This implies the alteration layers likely formed at temperatures higher than ambient during cooling of the cavity following the underground detonation. Mobilization of this …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Army's competitive sourcing studies, focusing on the: (1) Army's plans for competitive sourcing studies at five chemical munitions facilities and the extent to which emergency response or chemical defense industrial positions are included in the competitive sourcing studies; and (2) status of the Army's assessment and GAO's assessment of how competitive sourcing would impact emergency response capabilities and environmental permits associated with the destruction of the chemical agents and munitions."

Thermo-chemical ablation during reentrant and high altitude skipping flights is treated using a variety of techniques. The solid material response is computed using heat-balance integrals, finite differences, and finite elements. The surface mass loss is computed using curve fits to the standard transport coefficient approach and by a surface kinetic model. Agreement between the approaches, when using the curve fits, is good. All approaches concur that for the skipping trajectory studied there is very little mass loss and surface temperatures remain in a range where the thermal protection system can be reused.

Steep increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels have prompted some Members of Congress to seek to ease the effects on households and businesses. Interest has focused on possible repeal or suspension of the levying of all or part of the federal excise taxes on those fuels. Current market conditions and the small amount of tax relief incorporated in most proposals, however, raise uncertainty as to whether prices to individuals and businesses would fall and whether any price decline would be meaningful to consumers. A reduction in transportation fuel taxes would result in a decrease in spending for transportation trust-fund-supported federal programs, unless Congress designated alternate sources of funding for these programs. As a result of the structure of the federal programs the effects of a fuel tax repeal on federal transportation programs would not necessarily be immediate, but depending on the length/scope of the repeal or suspension, they could be substantial.

Bimonthly newsletter produced for DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies to promote the use of energy-efficient industrial systems. This issue focuses on Adjustable Speed Drive Technologies.

A ceramic waste form composed of glass-bonded sodalite is being developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) for immobilization and disposition of the molten salt waste stream from the electrometallurgical treatment process for metallic DOE spent nuclear fuel. As part of the spent fuel treatment program at ANL, a model is being developed to predict the long-term release of radionuclides under repository conditions. Dissolution tests using dilute, pH-buffered solutions have been conducted at 40, 70, and 90 C to determine the temperature and pH dependence of the dissolution rate. Parameter values measured in these tests have been incorporated into the model, and preliminary repository performance assessment modeling has been completed. Results indicate that the ceramic waste form should be acceptable in a repository environment.

This presentation covers the process of commissioning a new 150,000 sq. ft. research facility at Sandia National Laboratories. The laboratory being constructed is a showcase of modern design methods being built at a construction cost of less than $180 per sq. ft. This is possible in part because of the total commissioning activities that are being utilized for this project. The laboratory's unique approach to commissioning will be presented in this paper. The process will be followed through from the conceptual stage on into the actual construction portion of the laboratory. Lessons learned and cost effectiveness will be presented in a manner that will be usable for others making commissioning related decisions. Commissioning activities at every stage of the design will be presented along with the attributed benefits. Attendees will hear answers to the what, when, who, and why questions associated with commissioning of this exciting project.

Iowa Thin Film Technologies is completing a three-phase program that has increased throughput and decreased costs in nearly all aspects of its thin-film photovoltaic manufacturing process. The overall manufacturing costs have been reduced by 61 percent through implementation of the improvements developed under this program. Development of the ability to use a 1-mil substrate, rather than the standard 2-mil substrate, results in a 50 percent cost-saving for this material. Process development on a single-pass amorphous silicon deposition system has resulted in a 37 percent throughput improvement. A wide range of process and machine improvements have been implemented on the transparent conducting oxide deposition system. These include detailed parameter optimization of deposition temperatures, process gas flows, carrier gas flows, and web speeds. An overall process throughput improvement of 275 percent was achieved based on this work. The new alignment technique was developed for the laser scriber and printer systems, which improved registration accuracy from 100 microns to 10 microns. The new technique also reduced alignment time for these registration systems significantly. This resulted in a throughput increase of 75 percent on the scriber and 600 percent on the printer. Automated techniques were designed and implemented for the module assembly processes. These …

This is the second paper of a two part series based on an integrated study carried out at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Sandia National Laboratories. The goal of the study is the fundamental understanding of the plasma-particle interaction, droplet/substrate interaction, deposit formation dynamics and microstructure development as well as the deposit property. The outcome is science-based relationships, which can be used to link processing to performance. Molybdenum splats and coatings produced at 3 plasma conditions and three substrate temperatures were characterized. It was found that there is a strong mechanical/thermal interaction between droplet and substrate, which builds up the coatings/substrate adhesion. Hardness, thermal conductivity, and modulus increase, while oxygen content and porosity decrease with increasing particle velocity. Increasing deposition temperature resulted in dramatic improvement in coating thermal conductivity and hardness as well as increase in coating oxygen content. Indentation reveals improved fracture resistance for the coatings prepared at higher deposition temperature. Residual stress was significantly affected by deposition temperature, although not significant by particle energy within the investigated parameter range. Coatings prepared at high deposition temperature with high-energy particles suffered considerably less damage in wear tests. Possible mechanisms behind these changes are discussed within …

In the current study, the generality of the key underpinnings of the Stochastic Finite Element (SFEM) method is exploited in a nonlinear shock and vibration application where parametric uncertainty enters through random variables with probabilistic descriptions assumed to be known. The system output is represented as a vector containing Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) data at a predetermined number of frequency points. In contrast to many reliability-based methods, the goal of the current approach is to provide a means to address more general (vector) output entities, to provide this output as a random process, and to assess characteristics of the response which allow one to avoid issues of statistical dependence among its vector components.

Experiments are presented in which electrical-impedance tomography (EIT) and gamma-densitometry tomography (GDT) measurements were combined to simultaneously measure the solid, liquid, and gas radial distributions in a vertical three-phase flow. The experimental testbed was a 19.05-cm diameter bubble column in which gas is injected at the bottom and exits out the top while the liquid and solid phases recirculate. The gas phase was air and the liquid phase was deionized water with added electrolytes. Four different particle classes were investigated for the solid phase: 40--100 {micro}m and 120--200 {micro}m glass beads (2.41 g/cm{sup 3}), and 170--260 {micro}m and 200--700 {micro}m polystyrene beads (1.04 g/cm{sup 3}). Superficial gas velocities of 3 to 30 cm/s and solid volume fractions up to 0.30 were examined. For all experimental conditions investigated, the gas distribution showed only a weak dependence on both particle size and density. Average gas volume fraction as a function of superficial gas velocity can be described to within {+-} 0.04 by curve passing through the center of the data. For most cases the solid particle appeared to be radically uniformly dispersed in the liquid.

The von Mises stress is often used as the metric for evaluating design margins, particularly for structures made of ductile materials. While computing the von Mises stress distribution in a structural system due to a deterministic load condition may be straightforward, difficulties arise when considering random vibration environments. As a result, alternate methods are used in practice. One such method involves resolving the random vibration environment to an equivalent static load. This technique, however, is only appropriate for a very small class of problems and can easily be used incorrectly. Monte Carlo sampling of numerical realizations that reproduce the second order statistics of the input is another method used to address this problem. This technique proves computationally inefficient and provides no insight as to the character of the distribution of von Mises stress. This tutorial describes a new methodology to investigate the design reliability of structural systems in a random vibration environment. The method provides analytic expressions for root mean square (RMS) von Mises stress and for the probability distributions of von Mises stress which can be evaluated efficiently and with good numerical precision. Further, this new approach has the important advantage of providing the asymptotic properties of the probability …

Project facilities as required by HNF-PRO-2701, Authorization Envelope and Authorization Agreement. The Authorization Agreements (AA's) do not identify the specific set of environmental safety and health requirements that are applicable to the facility. Therefore, the facility Authorization Envelopes are defined here to identify the applicable requirements. This document identifies the authorization envelopes for the 200 Area Deactivation.

Sparked by the Human Genome Project, biological and biomedical research has become an information science. Information tools are now being generated for proteins, cell modeling, and genomics. The opportunity for analytical chemistry in this new environment is profound. New analytical techniques that can provide the information on genes, SNPs, proteins, protein modifications, cells, and cell chemistry are required. In this symposium, we brought together both informatics experts and leading analytical chemists to discuss this interface. Over 200 people attended this highly successful symposium.

This report describes the mandatory retirement provisions for certain “non-dual-status” military technicians contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65), discusses the stated rationale behind the policy, and quantifies the impact it will likely have on individual technicians.