This report discusses the evolution of national and DHS-specific homeland security strategic documents and their homeland security definitions and missions, and analyzes the policy question of how varied homeland security definitions and missions may affect the development of national homeland security strategy. This report, however, does not examine Department of Homeland Security implementation of strategy.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank, EXIM Bank, or the Bank), an independent federal government agency, is the official export credit agency (ECA) of the United States. It helps finance U.S. exports of manufactured goods and services, with the objective of contributing to the employment of U.S. workers, primarily in circumstances when alternative financing is not available. Members of the 112th Congress may examine issues related to the Ex-Im Bank that center on the economic rationale for the Bank; the impact of the Bank on the federal budget and U.S. taxpayers; the Bank's support for specific types of business or industries; the current balance between the Bank's advancement of U.S. commercial interests and other U.S. policy goals; the competitive position of the Bank compared to foreign ECAs; and the Bank's organizational structure.

Laser welding and post weld laser treatment of modified 9Cr-1MoVNb steels (Grade P91) were performed in this preliminary study to investigate the feasibility of using laser welding process as a potential alternative to arc welding methods for solving the Type IV cracking problem in P91 steel welds. The mechanical and metallurgical testing of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser-welded samples shows the following conclusions: (1) both bead-on-plate and circumferential butt welds made by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser show good welds that are free of microcracks and porosity. The narrow heat affected zone has a homogeneous grain structure without conventional soft hardness zone where the Type IV cracking occurs in conventional arc welds. (2) The laser weld tests also show that the same laser welder has the potential to be used as a multi-function tool for weld surface remelting, glazing or post weld tempering to reduce the weld surface defects and to increase the cracking resistance and toughness of the welds. (3) The Vicker hardness of laser welds in the weld and heat affected zone was 420-500 HV with peak hardness in the HAZ compared to 240 HV of base metal. Post weld laser treatment was able to slightly reduce the peak hardness …

This report addresses several options being considered by Congress to address the financing needs of local communities for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects and to decrease or close the gap between available funds and projected needs. Six options that are reflected in current or recent legislative proposals, including budgetary implications, are discussed.

The atmospheric release of tritium oxide (HTO) potentially impacts human health, typically through inhalation or absorption. Due to HTO's similarity to water, vegetation will absorb HTO by solution in the leaf water and then re-emit it, creating a number of secondary sources of HTO. Currently, models used for emergency response at Savannah River Site incorporate the transport and deposition of HTO but do not provide estimates for its potential re-emission from vegetation or soil surface though re-emission could result in prolonged exposure and greater than predicted dose for an individual downwind. A simple model of HTO transport, deposition and re-emission has been developed to examine the potential increase in exposure and dose. The model simulates an initial release of HTO that moves with a mean wind and expands through diffusion as a Gaussian puff. Deposition is modeled using previous estimates of deposition velocity for HTO and re-emission is modeled using a time constant that describes how quickly HTO is transferred between the surface and atmosphere. Additional puffs are created to simulate re-emission of HTO as well as horizontal diffusion across model grid cells. An evaluation of field data indicates that the use of a re-emission module tends to improve model …

This report presents background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Navy's Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) and Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyer programs. Decisions that Congress makes concerning these programs could substantially affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has recently questioned the appropriate value for tritium deposition velocity used in the MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System Ver. 2 (Chanin and Young 1998) code when estimating bounding dose (95th percentile) for safety analysis (DNFSB 2011). The purpose of this paper is to provide appropriate, defensible values of the tritium deposition velocity for use in Savannah River Site (SRS) safety analyses. To accomplish this, consideration must be given to the re-emission of tritium after deposition. Approximately 85% of the surface area of the SRS is forested. The majority of the forests are pine plantations, 68%. The remaining forest area is 6% mixed pine and hardwood and 26% swamp hardwood. Most of the path from potential release points to the site boundary is through forested land. A search of published studies indicate daylight, tritiated water (HTO) vapor deposition velocities in forest vegetation can range from 0.07 to 2.8 cm/s. Analysis of the results of studies done on an SRS pine plantation and climatological data from the SRS meteorological network indicate that the average deposition velocity during daylight periods is around 0.42 cm/s. The minimum deposition velocity was determined to be about 0.1 cm/s, which …

This report reviews the scope of Title VII's prohibition on religious discrimination, its exemptions for religious organizations, and its requirements for accommodations. It also analyzes the exemptions available to religious organizations for the non-discrimination requirements. Finally, it addresses protections based on Title VII's religious exemption that have been included in the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Power conversion efficiencies of plastic solar cells depend strongly on the molecular weight characteristics of the semiconducting polymers used for their fabrication. The synthesis of these materials typically relies on transition metal mediated catalytic reactions. In many instances, the ideal structures cannot be attained because of deficiencies in these reactions, particularly when it comes to being able to achieve high number average molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions. Another important conjugated polymer structure of interest is one in which a single functional group is attached at the end group of the chain. Such systems would be ideal for modifying surface properties at interfaces and for labeling biomolecular probes used in fluorescent biosensors. To respond to the challenges above, our efforts have centered on the design of homogenous transition metal complexes that are easy to prepare and effective in carrying out living, or quasi-living, condensative chain polymerization reactions. The key mechanistic challenge for the success of this reaction is to force the insertion of one monomer unit at a time via a process that involves migration of the transition metal-containing fragment to one terminus of the polymer chain. Chain growth characteristics are therefore favored when the metal does not dissociate …

This STOMP (Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases) guide document describes the theory, use, and application of the STOMP-CO2 and STOMP-CO2e operational modes. These operational modes of the STOMP simulator are configured to solve problems involving the sequestration of CO2 in geologic saline reservoirs. STOMP-CO2 is the isothermal version and STOMP-CO2e is the nonisothermal version. These core operational modes solve the governing conservation equations for component flow and transport through geologic media; where, the STOMP-CO2 components are water, CO2 and salt and the STOMP-CO2e operational mode also includes an energy conservation equation. Geochemistry can be included in the problem solution via the ECKEChem (Equilibrium-Conservation-Kinetic-Equation Chemistry) module, and geomechanics via the EPRMech (Elastic-Plastic-Rock Mechanics) module. This addendum is designed to provide the new user with a full guide for the core capabilities of the STOMP-CO2 and -CO2e simulators, and to provide the experienced user with a quick reference on implementing features. Several benchmark problems are provided in this addendum, which serve as starting points for developing inputs for more complex problems and as demonstrations of the simulator’s capabilities.

This report is an introductory overview of the legal framework governing trade-related measures. The agreements and laws selected for discussion are those most commonly implicated by U.S. trade interests, but there are U.S. trade laws and obligations beyond those reviewed in this report.