The Mine Waste Working Group discussed the nature and possible contributions to the solution of this class of waste problem at length. There was a consensus that the mine waste problem presented some fundamental differences from the other classes of waste addresses by the Develop On-Site Innovative Technologies (DOIT) working groups. Contents of this report are: executive summary; stakeholders address the problems; the mine waste program; current technology development programs; problems and issues that need to be addressed; demonstration projects to test solutions; conclusion-next steps; and appendices.

Within High-Level Waste Management (HLWM), CAMs and VAMPs are currently considered Class B equipment, therefore, alarm conditions associated with the CAMs and VAMPs result in an Unusual Occurrence or Off-Normal notification and subsequent occurrence reporting. Recent equipment difficulties associated with Continuous Air Monitors (CAMs) and Victoreen Area Radiation Monitors (VAMPs) have resulted in a significant number of notification reports. These notification have the potential to decrease operator sensitivity to the significance of specific CAM and VAMP failures. Additionally, the reports are extremely costly and are not appropriate as a means for tracking and trending equipment performance. This report provides a technical basis for a change in Waste Management occurrence reporting categorization for specific CAM and VAMP failure modes.

Two slow heating liquefaction runs of steam pretreated coal were carried out using the new sample (No.31) of Illinois No.6 coal to check consistency with previous samples. Good agreement was obtained between the runs made with new sample. There were, however, significant differences from yields obtained with the previously used sample. Consequently, averaging yields from the two samples is not appropriate. Further work on this new Illinois No.6 coal sample will be continued next month. Purification of {alpha}-naphthylmethyl phenyl ether, and {alpha}-benzylnaphthyl ether was continued.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Chambers County Commissioners Court has the authority to create a civil process department, separate and apart from the control of the sheriff (RQ-505)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether, in accordance with section 2 of the Public Funds Investment Act, V.T.C.S. article 842-a2, a public funds investment pool may "purchase, sell, or invest its funds or funds under its control" in covered call contracts or covered put contracts (RQ-605)

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.

As a result of an initiative by Australia in 1989, the United States joined with eleven other Asia/Pacific nations in creating APEC, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization. This report discusses the annual Ministerial Meeting of APEC in Seattle, held from November 17 - 19, 1993.

The Earth`s capacity to support life depends on the moderating influences of gases that envelop the planet and warm its surface and protect it from harmful radiation. These gases are referred to as ``greenhouse gases.`` Their warming capacity, called ``the greenhouse effect,`` is essential to maintaining a climate hospitable to all plant, animal, and human life. In recent years, however, there has been increasing concern that human activity may be affecting the intricate balance between the Earth`s absorption of heat from the sun and its capacity to reradiate excess heat back into space. Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities may be an important mechanism that affects global climate. Thus, research is intensifying to improve our understanding of the role human activities might play in influencing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. On the basis of scientific findings of the past few decades, the US Government and the international community at large are now taking steps toward stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. This report contributes to that process. Mandated by Congress this report provides estimates of US emissions of the principal greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorcarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and nonmethane volatile organic compounds. Estimates are for the period …

The Savannah River Site (SRS) environmental-appraisal/surveillance program is designed to monitor environmental performance and to ensure that regulatory requirements are met. The appraisal/surveillance program is a two-tiered system which consists of external and internal appraisals and surveillances. External appraisals/surveillances are conducted by organizations not reporting to SRS management. The internal appraisals/surveillances are conducted by site organizations referred to as organizations. External appraisals include Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) regulatory appraisals, DOE-SR and DOE-HQ appraisals, and operating contractor reviews. These appraisals are the result of regulatory requirements, DOE orders, or operating contractor policies. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) leads the coordination, planning, and scheduling support. The internal appraisal program consists of three types; management appraisals, program appraisals, and facility appraisals. All organizations developed and implemented a formal facility-appraisal program in February 1989. The first facility appraisal was completed during FY 89. To ensure consistency between departments, the SRS environmental appraisal procedure was completed in December 1988. EPD conducts both the management and program appraisals.

This paper outlines an experimental plan to test the thermohydraulic concept of the proposed Oak Ridge National Laboratory Cold Neutron Moderator. The goals, approach, description of the experimental apparatus, and proposed budget and duration are presented.

There is no technical basis for setting a time limit of 10,000 years on the regulated performance of a nuclear waste repository. First, accurate prediction of releases for such periods is not possible. Second, there is nothing unique about 10,000 years. Third, equally toxic materials, which never transform to non-toxic substances by radioactive decay, have no long-term requirements. And fourth, over a 10,000 year time frame, social and natural disasters will dwarf the worst possible outcomes of repository placement. Analyses could be required to extend as long as doses above current radiation protection guidelines are possible (perhaps several million years), but these results should be recognized as qualitative information rather than evidence of quantitative compliance with exact numerical limits. Concern for what will happen over long times can be addressed for the next several hundred years by maintaining waste retrievability. At that time, uncertainty about future performance should have been reduced significantly.

The (NGM) Natural Gas Monthly highlights activities, events, and analyses of interest to public and private sector organizations associated with the natural gas industry. Volume and price data are presented each month for natural gas production, distribution, consumption, and interstate pipeline activities. Producer-related activities and underground storage data are also reported. From time to time, the NGM features articles designed to assist readers in using and interpreting natural gas information. This month`s feature articles are: US Production of Natural Gas from Tight Reservoirs: and Expanding Rule of Underground Storage.

The Nuclear Reactor Program at North Carolina State University provides the PULSTAR Research Reactor and associated facilities to eligible institutions with support, in part, from the Department of Energy Reactor Sharing Program. Participation in the NCSU Reactor Sharing Program continues to increase steadily with visitors ranging from advance high school physics and chemistry students to Ph.D. level research from neighboring universities.

High energy electron beams (HEEBs) with megavolt energies represent a new generation of charged particle beams that rapidly deposit up to several hundred joules/pulse over areas on the order of a few square millimeters to 100s of square centimeters. These pulsed beams have energies in the 1 to 10 MeV range, which enables the electrons to deposit large amounts of energy deeply into the material being processed, and these beams have short pulse durations (50 ns) that can heat materials at rates as high as 10{sup 10} {degrees}C/s for a 1000 {degree}C temperature rise in the material. Lower heating rates, on the order of 10{sup 4} {degrees}C/s, can be produced by reducing the energy per pulse and distributing the total required energy over a series of sub-ms pulses, at pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) up to several kHz. This paper presents results from materials processing experiments performed on steel with a 6 MeV electron beam, analyzes these results using a Monte Carlo transport code, and presents a first-order predictive method for estimating the peak energy deposition, temperature, and heating rate for HEEB processed steel.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether, under section 11.11 of the Tax Code, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Jesse H. Jones Rotary House International is exempt from ad valorem taxation and related question (RQ-593)

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Which health care services the Karnes County Hospital District is responsible for providing to indigent residents incarcerated in the Karnes County Jail.

No endeavor is risk-fire and as we realize the inherent risks in society, our only viable solution is to manage the risk. Application of an integrated risk management program of a large technological system like the DOE complex is a difficult, task; but it is the only rational means to optimize the risk-benefit equation. An effective risk management culture-within the DOE complex will in the long run, ensure a consistent response to mitigate identified risks. An effective risk management program provides responsible administrative planning and logical application of the best technical analyses. It requires the involvement of all personnel. Our objective in this paper is to point out broad perspectives that raise concerns about future DOE ask management issues and to suggest some possible remedies.

HIPROTECT (pronounced High-protect) is a system designed to protect national archaeological and natural treasures from destruction by vandals or looters. The system is being developed jointly by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California at Riverside under the DOD Legacy Resource Management Program. Thousands of archaeological sites are located on military bases and national park lands. Treasure hunters or vandals are pillaging and destroying these sites at will, since the sites are generally located in remote areas, unattended and unprotected. The HIPROTECT system is designed to detect trespassers at the protected sites and to alert park officials or military officials of intrusions. An array of sensors is used to detect trespassers. The sensors are triggered when a person or vehicle approaches the site. Alarm messages are transmitted to alert park officials or law enforcement officials by way of a cellular telephone link. A video and audio system is included to assist the officials in verifying that an intrusion has occurred and to allow two-way communication with the intruders.

The project on ``Development of a Theory of the Dependence of Human Reliability upon System Designs as a Means of Improving Nuclear Power Plant Performance`` was been undertaken in order to address the problem of human error in advanced nuclear power plant designs. Lack of a mature theory has retarded progress in reducing likely frequencies of human errors. Work being pursued in this project is to perform a set of experiments involving human subjects who are required to operate, diagnose and respond to changes in computer-simulated systems, relevant to those encountered in nuclear power plants, which are made to differ in complexity in a systematic manner. The computer program used to present the problems to be solved also records the response of the operator as it unfolds.

Rapid heating liquefaction of steam pretreated Illinois No.6 coal mixed with 4A zeolite was carried out this month. Liquefaction yields are close to those obtained with 5A zeolite at the same coal/zeolite ration. Aquathermolysis of model compound 9-phenoxyphenanthrene was carried out this month under conditions similar to employed by Katritzky but for shorter time. Analysis of recovered products showed incomplete cleavage of the ether. This demonstrates the importance of longer reaction time even at high pressure. It will be of interest to determine if high conversions can be achieved at long reaction times and low pressure. Additional amounts of model compounds 2-naphthyl methyl phenyl ether and 2-naphthyl benzyl ether were synthesized. Purification of these compounds are now in progress.

The main goal of this contract is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC{sub 4=} directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of using a lower H{sub 2}/CO ratio (0.5 to 1.0). The research will identify and optimize the key catalyst and process characteristics that give improved performance for CO conversion by a non-Fischer-Tropsch process. This report, which is the Technical Progress Report No. 4 for contract DE-AC22-91PC90042, covers the testing of various ZrO{sub 2}-based catalyst systems designed to examine the effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially the H{sub 2}/CO ratio. Testing of sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts with 1 or 2% cesium (Cs) addition indicates decreased stability at a H{sub 2}:CO ratio of 0.5. The addition of cobalt (Co) or copper (Cu) to the base ZrO{sub 2} catalyst results in a small activity gain, but a selectivity loss. This gain in Cu catalyst activity is mostly due to increased methane production. The Co catalyst shifts selectivity toward saturated products. The addition of water to the feed stream had a beneficial effect on stability. The addition of a basic clay had no effect on the activity or selectivity.

The main goal of this contract is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC4{sub 4}{sup =} directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of using a lower H{sub 2}/CO ratio (0.5 to 1.0). The research will identify and optimize the key catalyst and process characteristics that give improved performance for CO conversion by a non-Fischer-Tropsch process. This report, which is Quarterly Report No. 5 for contract DE-AC22-91PC90042, covers the testing of various zirconia (ZrO{sub 2}) and bismuth oxide (Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3}) based catalyst systems designed to examine the effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially the H{sub 2}/Co ratio. Testing of sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts with lanthanum (La) or yttrium (Y) addition indicates a decrease in isobutene yield. An attempt to increase catalyst surface area by impregnating Zr on a sol-gel SiO{sub 2} catalyst was unsuccessful. A Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst was very low in activity as a result of complete reduction to Bi metal. Increasing the H{sub 2}/CO ratio to 2:1 slightly increased the isobutene yield and improved catalyst stability.

Goal is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC{sub 4}{double_bond} directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of using a lower H{sub 2}/CO ratio (0.5 to 1.0). This report covers the testing of various zirconia (ZrO{sub 2}) based catalyst systems designed to examine effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially feed additives. Testing sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts calcined at 475 C instead of 500 C increases the isobutene yield. Supporting zirconia on high-surface-area sol-gel silica or silica-alumina results in low activity catalysts. Addition of ethylene, propylene, ethanol to feed produces hydrogenation, dimerization, and metathesis products, but little or no isobutene.

Efforts are described to prepare educational materials including computer based as well as conventional type teaching materials for training interested high school and elementary students in aspects of Human Genome Project.