The purpose of this report is to document the status of revegetation projects and natural resources mitigation efforts that have been conducted for remediated waste sites and other activities associated with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act cleanup of National Priorities List waste sites at Hanford. One of the objectives of restoration is the revegetation of remediated waste sites to stabilize the soil and restore the land to native vegetation. The report documents the results of revegetation and mitigation monitoring conducted in 2006 and includes 11 revegetation/restoration projects, one revegetation/mitigation project, and 2 bat habitat mitigation projects.

High pressure common rail (HPCR) fuel injection performance testing developed a notch-by-notch performance comparison between HPCR and the production fuel system. A multiple injection screening study at notch 8 was completed with the baseline HPCR fuel injector nozzle tip design. Began a study on performance effects of different nozzle tip geometries. The hybrid locomotive battery vendor performed component fabrication tests and began manufacture of a mockup battery to validate the vibration design performance.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies is one objective of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS provides funding to states and organizations that provide abstinence-until-marriage education as one approach to address this objective. GAO was asked to describe the oversight of federally funded abstinence-until-marriage education programs. GAO is reporting on (1) efforts by HHS and states to assess the scientific accuracy of materials used in these programs and (2) efforts by HHS, states, and researchers to assess the effectiveness of these programs. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed HHS officials in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) that award grants for these programs."

This project produced algorithms for and software implementations of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) methods for solving practical solid and thermal mechanics problems on multiprocessor parallel computers using unstructured finite element meshes. The overall goal is to provide computational solutions that are accurate to some prescribed tolerance, and adaptivity is the correct path toward this goal. These new tools will enable analysts to conduct more reliable simulations at reduced cost, both in terms of analyst and computer time. Previous academic research in the field of adaptive mesh refinement has produced a voluminous literature focused on error estimators and demonstration problems; relatively little progress has been made on producing efficient implementations suitable for large-scale problem solving on state-of-the-art computer systems. Research issues that were considered include: effective error estimators for nonlinear structural mechanics; local meshing at irregular geometric boundaries; and constructing efficient software for parallel computing environments.

A review is presented of recent advances in optical imaging and spectroscopy and the use of light for addressing breast cancer issues. Spectroscopic techniques offer the means to characterize tissue components and obtain functional information in real time. Three-dimensional optical imaging of the breast using various illumination and signal collection schemes in combination with image reconstruction algorithms may provide a new tool for cancer detection and monitoring of treatment.

Contains Senate input from Senator Thune(High risk vs low savings) regarding Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD

This report details the transition of Afghanistan to a democracy, yet still debates the problem of insurgency. Moreover, the report debates whether stabilization is possible at all due to rising issues of insurgency. The report also offers a summary of how the U.S. intended to deal with the problem, and where the problem was located.

The work presented in this report consists of a compilation of individual activity reports sent to BSC at the conclusion of the FY04 fiscal year. A chapter is dedicated for each individual activity, and describes the accomplishments at the time of writing the original reports, and includes experimental data when appropriate. It is important to note that since work for most of the activities was intended for completion in FY05, no DTN numbers are given in the present report and the results presented here are to be considered preliminary at the time of their writing. Information and results presented in the FY05 Summary Report (UCRL-TR-217339) are more comprehensive and complete and supersede those given in the present report. The five activities addressed in this report are: (1) Preliminary evaluation of burnished and peened samples-metallurgy; (2) Preliminary heat-to-heat variability study-metallurgical; (3) Evaluation of FY00 mockup samples-metallurgy; (4) Weld stability with thick prototypical welds; and (5) Effect of solution annealing onweld metallurgy.

To help inform discussions on the federal role in dam safety, this report provides background information on the nation’s dam safety activities and funding mechanisms.

This report describes the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The report details that the act will make major cuts to agricultural programs.

This report describes the progress made during the Early Career Principal Investigator (ECPI) project on Algorithmic Techniques for Large Data Sets. Research was carried out in the areas of dimension reduction, clustering and finding structure in data, aggregating information from different sources and designing efficient methods for similarity search for high dimensional data. A total of nine different research results were obtained and published in leading conferences and journals.

Characterizing percolation patterns in unsaturated fractured rock has posed a greater challenge to modeling investigations than comparable saturated zone studies, because of the heterogeneous nature of unsaturated media and the great number of variables impacting unsaturated flow. This paper presents an integrated modeling methodology for quantitatively characterizing percolation patterns in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a proposed underground repository site for storing high-level radioactive waste. The modeling approach integrates a wide variety of moisture, pneumatic, thermal, and isotopic geochemical field data into a comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model for modeling analyses. It takes into account the coupled processes of fluid and heat flow and chemical isotopic transport in Yucca Mountain's highly heterogeneous, unsaturated fractured tuffs. Modeling results are examined against different types of field-measured data and then used to evaluate different hydrogeological conceptualizations and their results of flow patterns in the unsaturated zone. In particular, this model provides a much clearer understanding of percolation patterns and flow behavior through the unsaturated zone, both crucial issues in assessing repository performance. The integrated approach for quantifying Yucca Mountain's flow system is demonstrated to provide a practical modeling tool for characterizing flow and transport processes in complex subsurface systems.

The Office of Space and Defense Power Systems of the Department of Energy (DOE) provides Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) for applications where conventional power systems are not feasible. For example, radioisotope thermoelectric generators were supplied by the DOE to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for deep space missions including the Cassini Mission launched in October of 1997 to study the planet Saturn. For the Cassini Mission, ORNL produced carbon-bonded carbon fiber (CBCF) insulator sets, iridium alloy blanks and foil, and clad vent sets (CVS) used in the generators. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been involved in developing materials and technology and producing components for the DOE for more than three decades. This report reflects program guidance from the Office of Space and Defense Power Systems for fiscal year (FY) 2005. Production activities for prime quality (prime) CBCF insulator sets, iridium alloy blanks and foil, and CVS are summarized in this report. Technology activities are also reported that were conducted to improve the manufacturing processes, characterize materials, or to develop information for new radioisotope power systems.

This report describes how to acquire localized Corrosion kinetic maps for a series of NiCrMo alloys.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We assisted the Department of Transportation (DOT) in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with the DOT Office of Inspector General, we evaluated fiscal year 2006 activity affecting distributions to the AATF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures. The adequacy of the procedures to meet DOT's objectives is the department's responsibility, and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform were related to (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the AATF, (2) Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly AATF certifications, (3) Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the AATF during fiscal year 2006, (4) IRS's precertification of receipts for each quarter completed in fiscal year …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We performed the procedures which we agreed to perform and with which the Department of Labor (DOL) concurred soley to assist the DOL in ascertaining whether the net federal unemployment tax (FUTA) revenue distributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006, is supported by the underlying records. The procedures we agreed to perform relate to (1) transactions that represent underlying basis of amounts distributed to the UTF and (2) key reconciliations of the Internal Revenue Service records to the Department of the Treasury Records."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed procedures, which we agreed to perform and with which the Department of Transportation (DOT) concurred, solely to assist the office of the Inspector General in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with DOT, we evaluated fiscal year 2006 activity affecting distributions to the HTF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures. The adequacy of the procedures to meet DOT objectives is DOT's responsibility, and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform were related to (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the HTF, (2) Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly HTF certifications, (3) Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the HTF during fiscal year 2006, …

Efforts during this second year focused on four areas: (1) continued searching and summarizing of published Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) mechanistic and kinetic studies of FTS reactions on iron catalysts; (2) investigation of CO adsorption/desorption and temperature programmed hydrogenation (TPH) of carbonaceous species after FTS on unsupported iron and alumina-supported iron catalysts; (3) activity tests of alumina-supported iron catalysts in a fixed bed reactor; (4) sequential design of experiments, for the collection of rate data in a Berty CSTR reactor, and nonlinear-regression analysis to obtain kinetic parameters. Literature sources describing mechanistic and kinetic studies of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis on iron catalysts were compiled in a review. Temperature-programmed desorption/reaction methods (the latter using mass-spectrometry detection and also thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA)) were utilized to study CO adsorption/-desorption on supported and unsupported iron catalysts. Molecular and dissociative adsorptions of CO occur on iron catalysts at 25-150 C. The amounts adsorbed and bond strengths of adsorption are influenced by supports and promoters. That CO adsorbs dissociatively on polycrystalline Fe at temperatures well below those of FT reaction indicates that CO dissociation is facile and unlikely to be the rate-limiting step during FTS. Carbonaceous species formed after FT reaction for only 5 minutes at 200 C were …

A comprehensive study performed by the State Auditor's Office of all aspects of lottery security, specifically investigating concerns regarding the Commission's business resumption/disaster recovery site and determining the effect of the Commission's reorganization on its Security Division.

This poster, submitted for the CU Energy Initiative/NREL Symposium on October 3, 2006 held in Boulder, Colorado, discusses best practices for determining the impacts of municipal programs on energy use, air quality, and other costs and benefits.

The material in this report summarizes the Diversa technical effort in development of a biocatalyst for the biodesulfurization of Petro Star diesel as well as an economic report of standalone and combined desulfurization options, prepared by Pelorus and Anvil, to support and inform the development of a commercially viable process. We will discuss goals of the projected as originally stated and their modification as guided by parallel efforts to evaluate commercialization economics and process parameters. We describe efforts to identify novel genes and hosts for the generation of an optimal biocatalyst, analysis of diesel fuels (untreated, chemically oxidized and hydrotreated) for organosulfur compound composition and directed evolution of enzymes central to the biodesulfurization pathway to optimize properties important for their use in a biocatalyst. Finally we will summarize the challenges and issues that are central to successful development of a viable biodesulfurization process.

The goal of the Biomolecular Simulation of Base Excision Repair and Protein Signaling project is to enhance our understanding of the mechanism of human polymerase-, one of the key enzymes in base excision repair (BER) and the cell-signaling enzymes cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. This work used molecular modeling and simulation studies to specifically focus on the • dynamics of DNA and damaged DNA • dynamics and energetics of base flipping in DNA • mechanism and fidelity of nucleotide insertion by BER enzyme human polymerase-β • mechanism and inhibitor design for cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. Molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure calculations have been performed using the computer resources at the Molecular Science Computing Facility at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory.

Bosnia is in a transitional state to Euro-Atlantic integration since the war ended. A pledge was made to strengthen Bosnia's central state institutions, but the reform package failed to pass the legislature. The report provides an overview of prominent current issues concerning Bosnia.

Contains a background paper from Air Force Team Analyst Mike Flinn regarding the C-130 Aircraft