Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA) manages over 1,700 federally owned buildings with $5.7 billion in identified repair and alteration needs. GAO was asked to review the situation, but at the time the review started, the Public Building Service (PBS) also began a review, and, consequently, GAO reviewed the PBS review. PBS described the building inventory as predominantly aged with reinvestment needs that far exceed the capabilities of the Federal Buildings Fund--a revolving fund administered by the GSA. PBS analyzed 1,375 of GSA's 1,745 federally owned buildings. Each was placed into one of four categories. Buildings termed "nonperforming" do not generate sufficient income to cover their expenses and to set aside a minimal amount for future repair and alteration needs or replacement. Buildings termed "poor" generate sufficient income to cover their expenses and a minimal reserve. Buildings termed "good" pass the prior two tests and have a return of investment (ROI) of at least 6 percent, but their conditions are considered poor, and they have high reinvestment needs. Buildings termed "solid" are those that generate more than 6 percent ROI and are in good condition, thus having relatively low …

The objective of this report is to discuss the degree of sorption and desorption of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 60}Co that may be associated with the granite bedrock and the ''popcorn'' cement drain system that underlie the Maine Yankee Containment Foundation. The purpose is to estimate how much retardation of these two radionuclides takes place in groundwater that flows in the near-field of the Containment Foundation, specifically with respect to contamination originating at the PAB Test Pit. Specific concerns revolve around the potential for the contamination originating near the PAB to create a radioactive dose to a hypothetical ''resident farmer'' using a well intercepting this water to exceed 4 millirems/yr.

We present equation of state results from impulsively stimulated light scattering (ISLS) experiments conducted in diamond anvil cells on pure supercritical fluids. We have made measurements on fluid H{sub 2}O (water), and CH{sub 3}OH (methanol). Sound speeds measured through ISLS have allowed us to refine existing potential models used in the exponential-6 (EXP-6) detonation product library [Fried, L. E., and Howard, W. M., J. Chem. Phys. 109 (17): 7338-7348 (1998).]. The refined models allow us to more accurately assess the chemical composition at the Chapman-Jouget (C-J) state of common energetic materials. We predict that water is present in appreciable quantities at the C-J state of energetic materials HMX, RDX, and nitro methane.

The moisture performance of three different classes of wall systems has been investigated in the context of the preliminary hygrothermal analysis of walls in Seattle. The results reported in this phase specifically address the moisture performance of walls designed with loads that have some unintentional water penetration. The results have been developed in a manner to present the relative performance of the walls in the same climate with similar water penetration effects. The analysis was performed with the best available input data. Several limitations should be recognized within the context of this study. Results showed that selection of wooden sheathing boards on interior vapor-tight assemblies does not significantly influence the performance of stucco-clad walls. A larger effect was observed when the interior vapor control is made vapor open. When continuous cavity ventilation is employed, the effect of the selection of the type of sheathing board on the hygrothermal performance of the wall was found to be negligible. When comparing oriented strand board sheathing performance against the performance of exterior grade gypsum, the differences are very significant in terms of the amount of moisture content present in the walls. Moisture content alone does not indicate their respective durability as durability is …

Weekly newspaper from Comanche, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Timpson, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Livingston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Hondo, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.

The photochemical and photophysical properties of polypyridyl complexes of Ru, Os, and Re have been investigated by transient absorption, emission, resonance raman and infrared spectroscopies. The latter technique has been especially useful in defining the acceptor ligand in metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states and probing the details of excited state electronic and molecular structure. Derivatives of these complexes have been attached to soluble polystyrene polymers. In the resulting metal complex polymer composites it has been possible to demonstrate long range energy transfer and the existence of an antenna effect and create a mimic for the active site in the photosynthetic membrane.

The purpose of this study is to respond to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Direction Letter (TDL) 02-003 (Waisley 2001), which directs Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC (BSC) to complete a design study to recommend repository design options to support receipt and/or emplacement of any or all of the following: commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF), high-level radioactive waste (HLW), DOE-managed spent nuclear fuel (DSNF) (including naval spent nuclear fuel [SNF]), and immobilized plutonium (if available), as soon as practicable, but no later than 2010. From the possible design options, a recommended approach will be determined for further evaluation to support the preliminary design of the repository. This study integrates the results of the repository Design Evolution Study (Rowe 2002) with supporting studies concerning national transportation options (BSC 2002b) and Nevada transportation options (Gehner 2002). The repository Design Evolution Study documents the processes used to reevaluate the design, construction, operation, and cost of the repository in response to TDL 02-003 (Waisley 2001), and to determine possible repository conceptual design options. The transportation studies evaluate the national and Nevada transportation options that support the repository conceptual design options. An evaluation methodology was established, based on Program-level requirements developed for the study in …

None

None

Weekly newspaper from Archer City, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Bogata, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Stamford, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Canadian, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with some advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Rio Grande City, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

New algorithms that efficiently calculate the volume of a closed chamber are presented in this paper. The current pressure in the enclosed chamber can then be computed, based on the user-specified gas law, from the updated volume and the initial volume and pressure of the chamber. This pressure load function is very useful in modeling common features, such as air pocket, airbag, piston, and gun barrel, in structural analyses.

This report provides the technical background and a guide to characterizing a site for storing natural gas in the Columbia River Basalt

Activities for this quarter include an effort to simulate the flow structure in the wake region of the trailer and in the gap region between the tractor and the trailer for the GTS geometry. Two-dimensional simulations have been conducted on both flow structures using LLNL's ALE3D code. With the information obtained from these calculations, three-dimensional (3D) grids are constructed for the wake and the gap regions. Due to complexity of the required grid generation, two different grid generation tools have been utilized. The ALE3D code and NASA's Overflow code are both being used for the 3D simulations; ALE3D for large-eddy simulation and Overflow for Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations. The wake results will be compared to the NASA 7 x 10 wind tunnel experiment and the gap results to the USC gap flow experiment. The NASA 7 x 10 wind tunnel simulation has been finalized with two different grid topologies. These results will provide the proper boundary conditions needed for the GTS in the tunnel flow simulations. Significant progress has been made in understanding and applying the NASA's Overflow code and the overset grid technology. In addition, we continue to implement advanced algorithms in LLNL's models to improve simulation speed and accuracy …

This report provides information about the Country Applicability of the U.S. Normal Trade Relations (Most-Favored-Nation) Status. The United States extends unlimited and permanent NTR treatment to all its trading partners.

This report is a continuation of the Hanford Immobilized Low Activity Waste (LAW) Product Acceptance (HLP): Initial Tanks Focus Area Testing Data Package (Vienna et al. 2000). In addition to new 5000-h product consistency test (PCT), vapor hydration test (VHT), and alteration products data, some previously reported data together with relevant background information are included for an easily accessible source of reference when comparing the response of the various glasses to different test conditions. A matrix of 55 glasses was developed and tested to identify the impact of glass composition on long-term corrosion behavior and to develop an acceptable composition region for Hanford LAW glasses. Of the 55 glasses, 45 were designed to systematically vary the glass composition, and 10 were selected because large and growing databases on their corrosion characteristics had accumulated. The targeted and measured compositions of these glasses are found in the Appendix A. All glasses were fabricated according to standard procedures and heat treated to simulate the slow cooling that will occur in a portion of the waste glass after vitrification in the planned treatment facility at Hanford.

Optimizing glass formulation for vitrifying waste is based on computing a glass composition that would meet processability and acceptability constraints imposed on glass properties and composition while maximizing system efficiency. The process currently employed allows for estimation of all limiting glass properties except for the normalized element releases (ri, where i = B, Na, or Li) by the product consistency test (PCT) from glasses subjected to canister centerline cooling (CCC). This report documents a suggested approach to include this key glass property in numerical glass optimization. It shows that acceptable predictions of rB and rNa from CCC glasses can be obtained provided that sufficiently accurate compositions and concentrations of the crystalline phases in CCC glass are known.