On January 14, 2009, the Navy announced that it wants to transfer one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs) to the Navy home port at Mayport, FL, known formally as Naval Station (NAVSTA) Mayport. The Navy's proposed FY2010 budget requests $46.3 million in Military Construction (MilCon) funding for channel dredging at Mayport. The Navy states that a key reason it wants to transfer a CVN to Mayport is to hedge against the risk of a catastrophic event that could damage the Navy's CVN homeporting facilities at Norfolk, VA, and nearby Newport News, VA. This report discusses potential questions for Congress to consider related to budget appropriations for such a transfer, the potential negative economic effects that a CVN transfer would have on the local homeport, and the other general questions regarding the Navy.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attracts congressional attention because its projects can have significant local and regional economic benefits and environmental effects, in addition to their water resource development purposes. This report provides an overview of the Corps civil works program. It covers the congressional authorization and appropriation process, the standard project development process, and other Corps activities and authorities. It also includes an Appendix on the evolution of Corps civil works missions and authorities and a description of the limits on the Corps' role in levee accreditation and improvements for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has statutory authority to regulate chemical facilities for security purposes. This report provides a brief overview of the existing statutory authority and the regulation implementing this authority. It describes several policy issues raised in previous debates regarding chemical facility security and identifies policy options for congressional consideration. Finally, the report discusses legislation in the Congress regarding whether funding should be continued to fund these efforts.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) periodically analyses solvent samples from Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) in support of continuing operations. A quarterly analysis of the solvent is required to maintain solvent composition within specifications. Analytical results of the analyses of Solvent Hold Tank (SHT) samples MCU-11-314, MCU-11-315, MCU-11-316, MCU-11-317, MCU-11-318 and MCU-11-319 have been previously reported. MCU has experienced a modest decline in cesium removal efficiency while processing the current feed, 'Macrobatch 3'. While the target decontamination factor (DF) is 200, the fiscal year 2011 DF average is 161. The results of the prior solvent analysis report did not identify a specific factor that would correlate with the poor cesium decontamination beyond a low concentration of the suppressor, trioctylamine. New analyses of the quarterly sample are reported in this document, as well as a cross-check of {sup 137}Cs measurements for SRNL and F/H lab. Furthermore, in an attempt to discover the reason for the decline in DF at MCU, SRNL was tasked with analyzing numerous Caustic Wash Tank (CWT) and chemical feed samples.

We have successfully demonstrated a novel reactor technology, based on BASF dual layer monolith catalyst, for miniaturizing the autothermal reforming of pyrolysis oil to syngas, the second and most critical of the three steps for thermochemically converting biomass waste to liquid transportation fuel. The technology was applied to aged as well as fresh samples of pyrolysis oil derived from five different biomass feedstocks, namely switch-grass, sawdust, hardwood/softwood, golden rod and maple. Optimization of process conditions in conjunction with innovative reactor system design enabled the minimization of carbon deposit and control of the H2/CO ratio of the product gas. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis of the integrated process using in part, experimental data from the project, indicates (1) net energy recovery of 49% accounting for all losses and external energy input, (2) weight of diesel oil produced as a percent of the biomass to be ~14%, and (3) for a ‘demonstration’ size biomass to Fischer-Tropsch liquid plant of ~ 2000 daily barrels of diesel, the price of the diesel produced is ~$3.30 per gallon, ex. tax. However, the extension of catalyst life is critical to the realization of the projected economics. Catalyst deactivation was observed and the modes of deactivation, both reversible …

Quantum dots have been used as bright fluorescent tags with high photostability to probe numerous biological systems. In this work we present the tetrapod quantum dot as a dynamic, next-generation nanocrystal probe that fluorescently reports cellular forces with spatial and temporal resolution. Its small size and colloidal state suggest that the tetrapod may be further developed as a tool to measure cellular forces in vivo and with macromolecular spatial resolution.

The purpose of the project described in this report is to identify and document the commercial and emerging (projected to be commercialized within the next 3 years) hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and products that resulted from Department of Energy support through the Fuel Cell Technologies (FCT) Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). To do this, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) undertook two efforts simultaneously to accomplish this project. The first effort was a patent search and analysis to identify hydrogen- and fuel-cell-related patents that are associated with FCT-funded projects (or projects conducted by DOE-EERE predecessor programs) and to ascertain the patents current status, as well as any commercial products that may have used the technology documented in the patent. The second effort was a series of interviews with current and past FCT personnel, a review of relevant program annual reports, and an examination of hydrogen- and fuel-cell-related grants made under the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs, and within the FCT portfolio.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was contracted by Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC to provide the technical basis for estimating radionuclide release from the engineered portion of the disposal facility (e.g., source term). Vitrifying the low-activity waste at Hanford is expected to generate over 1.6 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3} of glass (Certa and Wells 2010). The volume of immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) at Hanford is the largest in the DOE complex and is one of the largest inventories (approximately 8.9 x 10{sup 14} Bq total activity) of long-lived radionuclides, principally {sup 99}Tc (t{sub 1/2} = 2.1 x 10{sup 5}), planned for disposal in a low-level waste (LLW) facility. Before the ILAW can be disposed, DOE must conduct a performance assessment (PA) for the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) that describes the long-term impacts of the disposal facility on public health and environmental resources. As part of the ILAW glass testing program PNNL is implementing a strategy, consisting of experimentation and modeling, in order to provide the technical basis for estimating radionuclide release from the glass waste form in support of future IDF PAs. The purpose of this report is to summarize the progress made in fiscal year (FY) 2011 toward implementing …

This paper describes the modeling work by Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. to simulate the biochemical effects of of the nutrient-enhanced seawater plumes that are discharged by one or several 100 megawatt OTEC plants. The modeling is needed to properly design OTEC plants that can operate sustainably with acceptably low biological impact. In order to quantify the effect of discharge configuration and phytoplankton response, Makai Ocean Engineering implemented a biological and physical model for the waters surrounding O`ahu, Hawai`i, using the EPA-approved Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC). Each EFDC grid cell was approximately 1 square kilometer by 20 meters deep, and used a time step of three hours. The biological model was set up to simulate the biochemical response for three classes of organisms: Picoplankton (< 2 um) such as prochlorococccus, nanoplankton (2-20 um), and microplankton (> 20 um) e.g., diatoms. The dynamic biological phytoplankton model was calibrated using chemical and biological data collected for the Hawaii Ocean Time Series (HOTS) project. Peer review of the biological modeling was performed. The physical oceanography model uses boundary conditions from a surrounding Hawai'i Regional Ocean Model, (ROM) operated by the University of Hawai`i and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration. The ROM provided …

This Closure Report (CR) presents information supporting closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 116, Area 25 Test Cell C Facility. This CR complies with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) that was agreed to by the State of Nevada; the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management; the U.S. Department of Defense; and DOE, Legacy Management (FFACO, 1996 [as amended March 2010]). CAU 116 consists of the following two Corrective Action Sites (CASs), located in Area 25 of the Nevada National Security Site: (1) CAS 25-23-20, Nuclear Furnace Piping and (2) CAS 25-41-05, Test Cell C Facility. CAS 25-41-05 consisted of Building 3210 and the attached concrete shield wall. CAS 25-23-20 consisted of the nuclear furnace piping and tanks. Closure activities began in January 2007 and were completed in August 2011. Activities were conducted according to Revision 1 of the Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration Plan for CAU 116 (U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office [NNSA/NSO], 2008). This CR provides documentation supporting the completed corrective actions and provides data confirming that closure objectives for CAU 116 were met. Site characterization data and process knowledge indicated that surface areas were radiologically …

Unified Parallel C (UPC) extends the C programming language (ISO C 99) with explicit parallel programming support for the partitioned global address space (PGAS), which provides a global memory space with localized partitions to each thread. Like its ancestor C, UPC is a low-level language that emphasizes code efficiency over safety. The absence of dynamic (and static) safety checks allows programmer oversights and software flaws that can be hard to spot. In this paper, we present an extension of a dynamic analysis tool, ROSE-Code Instrumentation and Runtime Monitor (ROSECIRM), for UPC to help programmers find C-style errors involving the global address space. Built on top of the ROSE source-to-source compiler infrastructure, the tool instruments source files with code that monitors operations and keeps track of changes to the system state. The resulting code is linked to a runtime monitor that observes the program execution and finds software defects. We describe the extensions to ROSE-CIRM that were necessary to support UPC. We discuss complications that arise from parallel code and our solutions. We test ROSE-CIRM against a runtime error detection test suite, and present performance results obtained from running error-free codes. ROSE-CIRM is released as part of the ROSE compiler under …

None

N/A

N/A

N/A

This report lists the beginning and ending dates for "periods of war" found in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It also lists and differentiates other beginning dates given in declarations of war, as well as termination of hostilities dates and armistice and ending dates given in proclamations, laws, or treaties.

This report examines Kuwait's relationships with its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, and its own political system which has been in turmoil since 2006. Kuwait remains pivotal to U.S. efforts to secure the Persian Gulf region because of its willingness to cooperate with U.S. strategy and military operations in the region and its proximity to both Iran and Iraq.

This report discusses issues surrounding the transition of Presidential power, including the variety of events, decisions, and activities contribute to it.

A report on the costs and benefits of paid family and medical leave for employees working in Washington, D.C.

The Hanford Seismic Assessment Program (HSAP) provides an uninterrupted collection of high-quality raw and processed seismic data from the Hanford Seismic Network for the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors. The HSAP is responsible for locating and identifying sources of seismic activity and monitoring changes in the historical pattern of seismic activity at the Hanford Site. The data are compiled, archived, and published for use by the Hanford Site for waste management, natural phenomena hazards assessments, and engineering design and construction. In addition, the HSAP works with the Hanford Site Emergency Services Organization to provide assistance in the event of a significant earthquake on the Hanford Site. The Hanford Seismic Network and the Eastern Washington Regional Network consist of 44 individual sensor sites and 15 radio relay sites maintained by the Hanford Seismic Assessment Team. The Hanford Seismic Network recorded 23 local earthquakes during the third quarter of FY 2010. Sixteen earthquakes were located at shallow depths (less than 4 km), five earthquakes at intermediate depths (between 4 and 9 km), most likely in the pre-basalt sediments, and two earthquakes were located at depths greater than 9 km, within the basement. Geographically, twelve earthquakes were located in known swarm …

Due to the need to close High Level Waste storage tanks, chemical cleaning methods are needed for the removal of sludge heel materials remaining at the completion of mechanical tank cleaning efforts. Oxalic acid is considered the preferred cleaning reagent for heel dissolution of iron-based sludge. However, the large quantity of chemical reagents added to the tank farm from oxalic acid based cleaning has significant downstream impacts. Optimization of the oxalic acid cleaning process can potentially reduce the downstream impacts from chemical cleaning. To optimize oxalic acid usage, a detailed understanding of the chemistry of oxalic acid based sludge dissolution is required. Additionally, other acidic systems may be required for specific waste components that have low solubility in oxalic acid, and as a means to reduce oxalic acid usage in general. Electrochemical corrosion studies were conducted with 1 wt. % oxalic acid at mineral acid concentrations above and below the optimal conditions for this oxalic acid concentration. Testing environments included pure reagents, pure iron and aluminum phases, and sludge simulants. Mineral acid concentrations greater than 0.2 M and temperatures greater than 50 C result in unacceptably high corrosion rates. Results showed that manageable corrosion rates of carbon steel can be …

The textile industry is one of the most complicated manufacturing industries because it is a fragmented and heterogeneous sector dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Energy is one of the main cost factors in the textile industry. Especially in times of high energy price volatility, improving energy efficiency should be a primary concern for textile plants. There are various energy-efficiency opportunities that exist in every textile plant, many of which are cost-effective. However, even cost-effective options often are not implemented in textile plants mostly because of limited information on how to implement energy-efficiency measures, especially given the fact that a majority of textile plants are categorized as SMEs and hence they have limited resources to acquire this information. Know-how on energy-efficiency technologies and practices should, therefore, be prepared and disseminated to textile plants. This guidebook provides information on energy-efficiency technologies and measures applicable to the textile industry. The guidebook includes case studies from textile plants around the world and includes energy savings and cost information when available. First, the guidebook gives a brief overview of the textile industry around the world, with an explanation of major textile processes. An analysis of the type and the share of energy used …

During the Storm Peak Lab Cloud Property Validation Experiment (STORMVEX), a substantial correlative data set of remote sensing observations and direct in situ measurements from fixed and airborne platforms will be created in a winter season, mountainous environment. This will be accomplished by combining mountaintop observations at Storm Peak Laboratory and the airborne National Science Foundation-supported Colorado Airborne Multi-Phase Cloud Study campaign with collocated measurements from the second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2). We describe in this document the operational plans and motivating science for this experiment, which includes deployment of AMF2 to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The intensive STORMVEX field phase will begin nominally on 1 November 2010 and extend to approximately early April 2011.