Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the General Accounting Office's (GAO) Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2006. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs the Congress and the American people about what we expect to accomplish on their behalf in the coming fiscal year. It sets forth our plan to make progress toward achieving our strategic goals for serving the Congress and the American people. The plan is based on our strategic plan for 2004 to 2009, which was prepared in consultation with members of the Congress and other key stakeholders and was issued in March 2004."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Employer-sponsored defined benefit pension plans face unprecedented challenges in the midst of significant changes in our nation's retirement landscape. Many defined benefit plans and the federal agency that insures them, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), have accumulated large and growing deficits that threaten their survival. Meanwhile, the percentage of American workers covered by defined benefit plans has been declining for about 30 years, reflecting a movement toward defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k) plans) and perhaps fundamental changes in how our society thinks about who should bear responsibility and risk for the retirement income security of American workers. It is imperative that policymakers address not only the challenges facing the defined benefit system and the PBGC, but also consider broader questions about overall retirement income policy. To address these issues, GAO convened a diverse group of knowledgeable individuals who have been influential in shaping the defined benefit pensions debate over the years. Participants included government officials, researchers, accounting experts, actuaries, plan sponsor and employee group representatives, and members of the investment community."

In October of 2003 experts involved in various aspects of homeland security from the Pacific region met to engage in a free-wheeling discussion and brainstorming (a 'fest') on the role that technology could play in winning the war on terrorism in the Pacific region. The result was a concise and relatively thorough definition of the terrorism problem in the Pacific region, emphasizing the issues unique to Island nations in the Pacific setting, along with an action plan for developing working demonstrations of advanced technological solutions to these issues. Since PacFest 2003, the maritime dimensions of the international security environment have garnered increased attention and interest. To this end, PacFest 2004 sought to identify gaps and enabling technologies for maritime domain awareness and responsive decision-making in the Asia-Pacific region. The PacFest 2004 participants concluded that the technologies and basic information building blocks exist to create a system that would enable the Pacific region government and private organizations to effectively collaborate and share their capabilities and information concerning maritime security. The proposed solution summarized in this report integrates national environments in real time, thereby enabling effective prevention and first response to natural and terrorist induced disasters through better use of national and …

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To assess the relationship of weekly walking distance to percentiles of adiposity in elders (age {ge} 75 years), seniors (55 {le} age <75 years), middle-age men (35 {le} age <55 years), and younger men (18 {le} age <35 years old). Cross-sectional analyses of baseline questionnaires from 7,082 male participants of the National Walkers Health Study. The walkers BMIs were inversely and significantly associated with walking distance (kg/m{sup 2} per km/wk) in elders (slope {+-} SE: -0.032 {+-} 0.008), seniors (-0.045 {+-} 0.005), and middle-aged men (-0.037 {+-} 0.007), as were their waist circumferences (-0.091 {+-} 0.025, -0.045 {+-} 0.005, and -0.091 {+-} 0.015 cm per km/wk, respectively), and these slopes remained significant when adjusted statistically for reported weekly servings of meat, fish, fruit, and alcohol. The declines in BMI associated with walking distance were greater at the higher than lower percentiles of the BMI distribution. Specifically, compared to the decline at the 10th BMI percentile, the decline in BMI at the 90th percentile was 5.1-fold greater in elders, 5.9-fold greater in seniors, and 6.7-fold greater in middle-age men. The declines in waist circumference associated with walking distance were also greater among men with broader waistlines. Exercise-induced weight loss (or self-selection) …

A validation study has been conducted for a turbulence model used to close the temporally filtered Navier Stokes (TFNS) equations. A turbulence model was purposely built to support fire simulations under the Accelerated Strategic Computing (ASC) program. The model was developed so that fire transients could be simulated and it has been implemented in SIERRA/Fuego. The model is validated using helium plume data acquired for the Weapon System Certification Campaign (C6) program in the Fire Laboratory for Model Accreditation and Experiments (FLAME). The helium plume experiments were chosen as the first validation problem for SIERRA/Fuego because they embody the first pair-wise coupling of scalar and momentum fields found in fire plumes. The validation study includes solution verification through grid and time step refinement studies. A formal statistical comparison is used to assess the model uncertainty. The metric uses the centerline vertical velocity of the plume. The results indicate that the simple model is within the 95% confidence interval of the data for elevations greater than 0.4 meters and is never more than twice the confidence interval from the data. The model clearly captures the dominant puffing mode in the fire but under resolves the vorticity field. Grid dependency of the …

This report describes the methodology, analysis and conclusions of a comparison survey of recycling programs at ten Department of Energy sites including Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM). The goal of the survey was to compare SNL/NM's recycling performance with that of other federal facilities, and to identify activities and programs that could be implemented at SNL/NM to improve recycling performance.

Metallic orthopaedic implants have been successfully used for decades but they have serious shortcomings related to their osseointegration and the fact that their mechanical properties do not match those of bone. This paper reviews recent advances in the fabrication of novel coatings to improve implant osseointegration and in the development of a new generation of hybrid organic-inorganic implant materials specifically designed for orthopaedic applications.

The radiant heat test facility develops test sets providing well-characterized thermal environments, often representing fires. Many of the components and procedures have become standardized to such an extent that the development of a specialized design tool was appropriate. SPLASH (Single Panel Lamp and Shroud Helper) is that tool. SPLASH is implemented as a user-friendly program that allows a designer to describe a test setup in terms of parameters such as lamp number, power, position, and separation distance. Thermal radiation is the dominant mechanism of heat transfer and the SPLASH model solves a radiation enclosure problem to estimate temperature distributions in a shroud providing the boundary condition of interest. Irradiance distribution on a specified viewing plane is also estimated. This document provides the theoretical development for the underlying model. A series of tests were conducted to characterize SPLASH's ability to analyze lamp and shroud systems. The comparison suggests that SPLASH succeeds as a design tool. Simplifications made to keep the model tractable are demonstrated to result in estimates that are only approximately as uncertain as many of the properties and characteristics of the operating environment.

High and volatile natural gas prices have increasingly led to calls for investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. One line of argument is that deployment of these resources may lead to reductions in the demand for and price of natural gas. Many recent U.S.-based modeling studies have demonstrated that this effect could provide significant consumer savings. In this article we evaluate these studies, and benchmark their findings against economic theory, other modeling results, and a limited empirical literature. We find that many uncertainties remain regarding the absolute magnitude of this effect, and that the reduction in natural gas prices may not represent an increase in aggregate economic wealth. Nonetheless, we conclude that many of the studies of the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency on natural gas prices appear to have represented this effect within reason, given current knowledge. These studies specifically suggest that a 1% reduction in U.S. natural gas demand could lead to long-term average wellhead price reductions of 0.8% to 2%, and that each megawatt-hour of renewable energy and energy efficiency may benefit natural gas consumers to the tune of at least $7.5 to $20.

The Superconducting Magnet Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has recently fabricated and tested HD1, a Nb3Sn dipole magnet. The magnet reached a 16 T field, and exhibited training quenches in the end regions and in the straight section. After the test, HD1 was disassembled and inspected, and a detailed 3D finite element mechanical analysis was done to investigate for possible quench triggers. The study led to minor modifications to mechanical structure and assembly procedure, which were verified in a second test (HD1b). This paper presents the results of the mechanical analysis, including strain gauge measurements and coil visual inspection. The adjustments implemented in the magnet structure are reported and their effect on magnet training discussed.

The objective of this subtask of the Unconventional Nuclear Warfare Design project was to demonstrate mitigation technologies for radiological material dispersal and to assist planners with incorporation of the technologies into a concept of operations. The High Consequence Assessment and Technology department at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has studied aqueous foam's ability to mitigate the effects of an explosively disseminated radiological dispersal device (RDD). These benefits include particle capture of respirable radiological particles, attenuation of blast overpressure, and reduction of plume buoyancy. To better convey the aqueous foam attributes, SNL conducted a study using the Explosive Release Atmospheric Dispersion model, comparing the effects of a mitigated and unmitigated explosive RDD release. Results from this study compared health effects and land contamination between the two scenarios in terms of distances of effect, population exposure, and remediation costs. Incorporating aqueous foam technology, SNL created a conceptual design for a stationary containment area to be located at a facility entrance with equipment that could minimize the effects from the detonation of a vehicle transported RDD. The containment design was evaluated against several criteria, including mitigation ability (both respirable and large fragment particle capture as well as blast overpressure suppression), speed of implementation, cost, …

This report describes a review of available literature on juvenile salmonid passage at Bonneville Dam from 1939 through 2005. Studies of interest included project-wide fish-passage efficiency (FPE) studies by radio telemetry and fixed-aspect hydroacoustics, fish survival studies (direct and indirect), FGE studies, powerhouse and unit (by netting, hydroacoustics, and radio telemetry), predation studies in the forebay and tailrace, behavioral studies on forebay approach and egress, and surface-bypass studies. The FPE effort will include a review of available distribution data (horizontal, diel, and vertical) for juvenile salmon. This study does not repeat the results of previous review and synthesis studies but cites them. Where no previous review exists for a subject area, all reports were reviewed and synthesized. The report includes an annotated bibliography summarizing each of the documents reviewed and a DVD disk containing all of the original papers and reports along with an HTML index to the documents.

The Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Distance Computing (DisCom) Wide Area Network (WAN) is a high performance, long distance network environment that is based on the ubiquitous TCP/IP protocol set. However, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the algorithms that govern its operation were defined almost two decades ago for a network environment vastly different from the DisCom WAN. In this paper we explore and evaluate possible modifications to TCP that purport to improve TCP performance in environments like the DisCom WAN. We also examine a much newer protocol, SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) that claims to provide reliable network transport while also implementing multi-streaming, multi-homing capabilities that are appealing in the DisCom high performance network environment. We provide performance comparisons and recommendations for continued development that will lead to network communications protocol implementations capable of supporting the coming ASC Petaflop computing environments.

Solvent extraction with a lipophilic calix[4]arenebiscrown-6 ligand is currently the selected technology for removal of radioactive cesium-137 from DOE nuclear wastes. In this collaborative DOE-EMSP project, related ''second-generation'' extractants are being synthesized at Texas Tech University (TTU) and their alkali metal cation complexation and separation abilities evaluated at TTU and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The novel feature of the ''second-generation'' calix[4]arenecrown extractants is incorporation of a proton-ionizable group into the ligand structure. This modification markedly enhances the efficiency with which metal ions can be extracted from an aqueous phase into an organic diluent, since concomitant extraction of a hydrophilic anion from the aqueous solution into the hydrophobic organic phase is avoided. During Year 1 of this EMSP project, we established synthetic routes to new, lipophilic, proton-ionizable calix[4]arenebiscrown-6 molecules at TTU and prepared them in sufficient quantities that their efficiency and selectivity in alkali metal cation extraction could be evaluated at ORNL using radiotracer techniques. In Year 2, we have prepared a series of related lipophilic, proton-ionizable calix[4]arenecrown-6 molecules to determine if even higher cesium ion selectivities can be obtained when the extractant has only a single crown ether unit. Evaluation of the these ligands at ORNL has revealed their …

R&D and application testing are proceeding on Pixel Array Detectors (PADs) for time-resolved and crystallographic applications at synchrotron radiation (SR) sources [1, 2, 4, 23, 24]. In conjunction with an NIH-funded SBIR grant, a novel mixed-mode analog/digital pixel design is being developed. Reports and publications on recent developments in the hybrid detector will be presented at the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium in Rome in October, 2004 [21-23]. We've been invited to help prepare a special issue of Journal of Synchrotron Radiation on x-ray detectors; additionally, we will contribute an article on fast time-resolved PADs [24]. Application of a PAD developed under a DOE Facilities Initiative Grant, in collaboration with Dr. Jin Wang's group at the Advanced Photon Source, is being intensively used for microsecond time-resolved x-ray imaging of fuel injectors [3, 15]. This detector is the primary data acquisition device used by the Wang collaboration for work which was awarded the 2002 DOE Combustion and Emission Control R&D award.

Cracks of various shapes and sizes exist in large high-level waste (HLW) tanks at several DOE sites. There is justifiable concern that these cracks could grow to become unstable causing a substantial release of liquid contaminants to the environment. Accurate prediction of crack growth behavior in the tanks, especially during accident scenarios, is not possible with existing analysis methodologies. This research project responds to this problem by developing an improved ability to predict crack growth in material structure combinations that are ductile (Fig. 1). This new model not only addresses the problem for these tanks, but also has applicability to any crack in any ductile structure.

Equipment that was purchased in the abbreviated year 1 of this project has been used during year 2 to study the fundamental behavior of materials that simulate the behavior of the Hanford transuranic waste sludge. Two significant results have been found, and each has been submitted for publication. Both studies found non-DLVO behavior in simulant systems. These separate but related studies were performed concurrently. It was previously shown in Rassat et al.'s report Physical and Liquid Chemical Simulant Formulations for Transuranic Wastes in Hanford Single-Shell Tanks that colloidal clays behave similarly to transuranic waste sludge (PNNL-14333, National Technical Information Service, U.S. Dept. of Commerce). Rassat et al. also discussed the pH and salt content of actual waste materials. It was shown that these materials exist at high pHs, generally above 10, and at high salt content, approximately 1.5 M from a mixture of different salts. A type of clay commonly studied, due to its uniformity, is a synthetic hectorite, Laponite. Therefore the work performed over the course of the last year was done mainly using suspensions of Laponite at high pH and involving high salt concentrations. One study was titled ''Relating Clay Rheology to Colloidal Parameters''. It has been submitted …

This report describes a simplified, tractable, and usable procedure within the US Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) for seeking expert opinion and judgment. The NRC has increased efforts to document the reliability and risk of nuclear power plants (NPPs) through Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) and Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) models. The Significance Determination Process (SDP) and Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) programs at the NRC utilize expert judgment on the probability of failure, human error, and the operability of equipment in cases where otherwise insufficient operational data exist to make meaningful estimates. In the past, the SDP and ASP programs informally sought the opinion of experts inside and outside the NRC. This document represents a formal, documented procedure to take the place of informal expert elicitation. The procedures outlined in this report follow existing formal expert elicitation methodologies, but are streamlined as appropriate to the degree of accuracy required and the schedule for producing SDP and ASP analyses.

Radionuclide and metal contaminants such as strontium-90 are present beneath U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) lands in both the groundwater (e.g., 100-N area at Hanford, WA) and vadose zone (e.g., Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center [INTEC] at the Idaho National Laboratory [INL]). In situ containment and stabilization of these contaminants is a cost-effective treatment strategy. However, implementing in situ containment and stabilization approaches requires definition of the mechanisms that control contaminant sequestration. We are investigating the in situ immobilization of radionuclides or contaminant metals (e.g., strontium-90) by their facilitated co-precipitation with calcium carbonate (primarily calcite) in groundwater and vadose zone systems. Our facilitated approach relies upon the hydrolysis of introduced urea to cause the acceleration of calcium carbonate precipitation (and trace metal co-precipitation) by (a) increasing pH and alkalinity and (b) liberating cations from the aquifer matrix by cation exchange reactions. Subsurface urea hydrolysis is catalyzed by the urease enzyme, which is produced in situ by native urea hydrolyzing microorganisms. Because the precipitation process tends to be irreversible and many western aquifers are saturated with respect to calcite, the co-precipitated metals and radionuclides will be effectively removed from the aqueous phase over the long term. We are currently conducting …

Dual-continuum models have been widely used in modeling flowand transport in fractured porous rocks. Among many other applications,dual-continuum approaches were utilized in predictive models of thethermal-hydrological conditions near emplacement tunnels (drifts) atYucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed site for a radioactive wasterepository in the U.S. In unsaturated formations such as those at YuccaMountain, the magnitude of mass and heat exchange between the twocontinua fracture network and matrix is largely dependent on the flowcharacteristics in the fractures, because channelized finger-type flowstrongly reduces the interface area between the matrix surfaces and theflowing liquid. This effect may have important implications, for example,during the time period that the fractured rock near the repository driftswould be heated above the boiling point of water. Depending on themagnitude of heat transfer from the matrix, water percolating down thefractures will either boil off in the hot rock region above drifts or maypenetrate all the way to the drift walls and possibly seep into the opencavities. In this paper, we describe a sensitivity analysis using avariety of approaches to treat fracture-matrix interaction in athree-dimensional dual-continuum setting. Our simulation example is alaboratory heater experiment described in the literature that providesevidence of rapid water flow in fractures, leading to drift seepagedespite above-boiling …

Our research is guided by an EMSP objective to improve conceptual and predictive models of contaminant movement in vadose-zone environments. As described in the report National Roadmap for Vadose-Zone Science and Technology [DOE, 2001], soil-water colloids are capable of adsorbing contaminants, such as radionuclides and metals, and facilitating their migration through the vadose zone and towards groundwater reservoirs. Our research centers on advancing understanding of this phenomenon. In particular, we are combining mathematical modeling with laboratory experimentation at pore and column scales to (1) elucidate the effects of porewater-flow transients on colloid mobilization in unsaturated porous media; (2) explore the sensitivity of colloid deposition rates to changes in porewater chemistry and colloid mineralogy; (3) develop mathematical models appropriate for simulating colloid mobilization, transport, and deposition under both steady-flow and transient-flow conditions; (4) identify mechanisms that govern mineral-colloid mobilization and deposition in unsaturated porous media; (5) quantify the effects of mineral-grain geometry and surface roughness on colloid-filtration rates; and (6) evaluate the influences of colloids on the transport of strontium and cesium (i.e., DOE-contaminants-of-concern) through soils and sediments.

Work scheduled under year two of DOE Grant DE-FG02-04ER63734 is on schedule and all year-two milestones have or will be met. Results to date demonstrate that unprecedented silicon carbide (SiC) energy resolution has been obtained, and that SiC detectors may achieve energy resolution that exceeds that obtainable with the best silicon alpha spectrometers. Fast-neutron energy spectrometry measurements indicate that recoil-ion energy spectrometry should be possible with SiC detectors. Furthermore, SiC detectors have been demonstrated to perform well even after gamma-ray exposures of 1.E09 Rad. This result and the previously demonstrated capability of SiC detectors to operate in elevated-temperature environments are very promising for potential DOE EMSP applications. A new class of multipurpose, radiation-resistant semiconductor detectors that can be used in elevated-temperature and high-radiation environments is being developed under this grant. These detectors, based on silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor are designed to have larger active volumes than previously available SiC detectors, and are being tested for their response to alpha particles, X-rays and low energy gamma rays, and fast neutrons.

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