This procedure provides instructions for assembling the following CH packaging payload: Drum payload assembly Standard Waste Box (SWB) assembly Ten-Drum Overpack (TDOP).

This procedure provides instructions for assembling the CH Packaging Drum payload assembly, Standard Waste Box (SWB) assembly, Abnormal Operations and ICV and OCV Preshipment Leakage Rate Tests on the packaging seals, using a nondestructive Helium (He) Leak Test.

Sludge-contaminated waste consists of waste contaminated with both insoluble species (the sludge fraction) and entrained supernate. The WCS is based on the assumption that approximately 70% of the weight of what is commonly referred to as sludge is interstitial supernate; the remaining approximately 30% consists of the insoluble species (Reference 1). Development of a method for characterization of sludge-contaminated waste must consider both fractions. Separate waste cuts may contain sludge and supernate fractions in varying proportions due to the nature of the job generating the waste and the variability in waste handling techniques. Development of a distribution representative of all sludge-contaminated waste cuts must allow for varying fractions of sludge and supernate contamination. This document will develop a radionuclide distribution in accordance with the methodology outlined in WSRC 1S SRS Waste Acceptance Criteria Manual, Procedure 2.02, Revision 8 for the sludge fraction of sludge-contaminated waste generated in the F-Area Tank Farm This distribution was based on the assumption that sludge-contaminated waste from F-Area Tank Farm Waste Tanks could be co-mingled, and the actual contamination present on waste in a series of containers from these tanks will be representative of the mean radionuclide distribution. The original characterization was based primarily on …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Chemicals play an important role in everyday life, but some may be harmful to human health and the environment. Chemicals are used to produce items widely used throughout society, including consumer products such as cleansers, paints, plastics, and fuels, as well as industrial solvents and additives. However, some chemicals, such as lead and mercury, are highly toxic at certain doses and need to be regulated because of health and safety concerns. In 1976, the Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to control chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment. GAO reviewed EPA's efforts to (1) control the risks of new chemicals not yet in commerce, (2) assess the risks of existing chemicals used in commerce, and (3) publicly disclose information provided by chemical companies under TSCA."

This report outlines how and where cocoa is produced, discusses the use of abusive child labor in the industry, efforts by Congress to counter abusive child labor — including the Harkin-Engel Protocol, and initiatives by affected governments and international organizations to address the problem. This report also provides possible policy options that might undertaken to stop the use of child labor in cocoa production.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On September 30, 2002, the most recent date for which Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data were available, about 126,000 foster children were waiting to be adopted. Estimates suggest that a significant portion of these children had one or more special needs, such as a medical condition or membership in a minority group, that may discourage or delay their adoption. Federal support in the form of adoption subsidies and incentive payments to states is available to promote special needs adoption. This report (1) identifies the major challenges to placing and keeping special needs children in adoptive homes, (2) examines what states and HHS have done to facilitate special needs adoptions, and (3) assesses how well the Adoption Assistance Program and the Adoption Incentives Program have worked to facilitate special needs adoptions, and determines if changes might be needed."

This report provides a quantitative framework for policy considerations dealing with U.S. trade with China. It provides basic data and analysis of China’s international trade with the United States and other countries. Since Chinese data differ considerably from those of its trading partners (because of how entrepot trade through Hong Kong is counted), data from both PRC sources and those of its trading partners are presented. Charts showing import trends by sector for the United States highlight China’s growing market shares in many industries and also show import shares for Japan, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ).

This report aims to provide an overview of the immediate and intermediate cleanup tasks across the diverse communities in the affected region, and federal legal authorities and plans for tackling them. The report also discusses coordinated roles and activities among local, state, and federal agencies and officials. Finally, the report serves to reference other, more detailed CRS reports and other sources on particular Katrina cleanup activities.

This report identifies the colleges and universities attended by representatives, delegates and the Resident Commissioner in the 109th Congress grouped by state.

This report identifies the colleges and universities attended by Senators serving in the 109th Congress. Where available in published sources, the degrees earned are also listed.

This is an experimental approach to Genome Annotation to deliberate the potential funding schemes

For corrosion resistant materials exposed to low-temperature atmospheric environments, the corrosion mode of highest risk is expected to be localized corrosion (pitting, crevice, stress-corrosion cracking) due to accumulation of aggressive species within thin solution layers and/or formation of occluded local geometries. The stability of such a localized corrosion site requires that the corroding site (anode) must dissolve at a sufficient high rate to maintain the critical chemistry, and a robust cathodic area (cathode) must exist that can provide sufficient cathodic current. The characteristics of both the anode and the cathode depend on a large number of physiochemical variables (e.g., temperature, ionic concentration, water layer thickness, etc) and electrochemical parameters (i.e., cathodic and anodic polarization behavior). The effects of all these parameters add significantly to the dimensionality of the problem and a systematic study of these parameters is thus more tractable computationally than experimentally. The objective of this study was to computationally characterize the stability of such a local corrosion site and explore the effects of physiochemical and electrochemical parameters on that stability. The overall goal is to contribute to the establishment of a scientific basis for the prediction of the stabilization of localized attack on wetted, corrosion resistant material surface. …

The ability of a SS316L surface wetted with a thin electrolyte layer to serve as an effective cathode for an active localized corrosion site was studied computationally. The dependence of the total net cathodic current, I{sub net}, supplied at the repassivation potential E{sub rp} (of the anodic crevice) on relevant physical parameters including water layer thickness (WL), chloride concentration ([Cl{sup -}]) and length of cathode (Lc) were investigated using a three-level, full factorial design. The effects of kinetic parameters including the exchange current density (i{sub o,c}) and Tafel slope ({beta}{sub c}) of oxygen reduction, the anodic passive current density (i{sub p}) (on the cathodic surface), and E{sub rp} were studied as well using three-level full factorial designs of [Cl{sup -}] and Lc with a fixed WL of 25 {micro}m. The study found that all the three parameters WL, [Cl{sup -}] and Lc as well as the interactions of Lc x WL and Lc x [Cl{sup -}] had significant impact on I{sub net}. A five-factor regression equation was obtained which fits the computation results reasonably well, but demonstrated that interactions are more complicated than can be explained with a simple linear model. Significant effects on I{sub net} were found upon varying …

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was tasked under project number D103401 to acquire computed tomographic (CT) images of selected components supplied by Y-12 National Security Complex personnel. A total of four components were imaged utilizing CT. In addition, LLNL personnel provided a basic review of the CT data acquisition and CT capabilities at LLNL to four Y-12 personnel. This report identifies the equipment used to acquire the CT images on each of the four components. It also provides representative sample CT images from each of the four components. Additional imaging data along with image display software will be forwarded under separate cover.

This report is designed to fill the need for a simple tabulation of legislative workload. It provides the numbers of bills and joint resolutions introduced, and the numbers of public and private laws enacted, from the 80th Congress through the 108th Congress. This report contains historical data.

Siderophores are biological macromolecules (400-2000 Da) released by bacteria in iron limiting situations to sequester Fe from iron oxyhydroxides and silicates in the natural environment. These molecules contain hydroxamate and phenolate functional groups, and exhibit very high affinity for Fe{sup 3+}. While several studies were conducted to understand the behavior of siderophores and their application to the metal sequestration and mineral dissolution, only a few of them have examined the molecular structure of siderophores and their interactions with metals and mineral surfaces in aqueous solutions. Improved understanding of the chemical state of different functional moieties in siderophores can assist in the application of these biological molecules in actinide separation, sequestration and decontamination processes. The focus of our research group is to evaluate the (a) functional group chemistry of selected siderophores and their metal complexes in aqueous solutions, and (b) the nature of siderophore interactions at the mineral-water interfaces. We selected desferrioxamine B (desB), a hydroxamate siderophore, and its small structural analogue, acetohydroxamic acid (aHa), for this investigation. We examined the functional group chemistry of these molecules as a function of pH, and their complexation with aqueous and solid phase Fe(III). For solid phase Fe, we synthesized all naturally occurring Fe(III)-oxyhydroxides …

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Cuba was first added to the State Department's list of states sponsoring international terrorism in 1982. At the time, numerous U.S. government reports and statements under the Reagan Administration alleged Cuba's ties to international terrorism and its support for terrorist groups in Latin America. Cuba remains on the state-sponsored terrorism list with four other countries: Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea. Cuba's retention on the terrorism list has received more attention in recent years in light of increased support for legislative initiatives to lift some U.S. sanctions under the current economic embargo. Supporters of keeping Cuba on the terrorism list argue that there is ample evidence that Cuba supports terrorism. Critics of retaining Cuba on the terrorism list maintain that the policy is a holdover from the Cold War and that Cuba no longer supports terrorism abroad.

This report gives an overview of Cuba's issues for the 109th Congress. The contents include the most recent developments, political and economic conditions, U.S. policy towards Cuba, issues in the U.S.- Cuban relations, legislations approved in the 108th congress, and legislative initiatives in the 109th Congress.

This report, which will be updated regularly, examines issues in U.S.-Cuban relations and tracks legislative initiatives on Cuba in the 109th Congress. The 109th Congress will likely continue an active interest in Cuba concerning human rights, debate over economic sanctions (especially on travel), food and agricultural exports to Cuba, terrorism issues, Radio and TV Marti, bilateral anti-drug cooperation, and migration issues.

The objective of this work is the mining of existing experimental databases on metals and alloys to predict the corrosion resistance and behavior of metals and alloys over extended periods of time. The data mining is aimed at establishing the conditions under which certain parameter sets (i.e. Ph, temperature, time of exposure, electrolyte composition, metal composition, metallographic characteristics, etc.) may impact the alloy's localized resistance characteristics. The data mining results allow them to categorize and prioritize those parameters for which the alloy may be at risk of general and/or localized corrosion attacks. it will also help us to understand, along with the information gained through theoretical models, the synergetic effects of those variables on electrochemical potentials and corrosion rates (i.e., pitting, crack, and crevice growth rates). To accomplish the objective corrosion-related data on corrosion allowable, as well as corrosion resistive, alloys was collected for both DC and AC corrosion experiments from studies of general and localized corrosion. Collected data was transformed according to the corrosion failure modes and variables. The transformed data was checked for consistency and missing values and cleansed, as per requirements. Data from multiple experiments, figures and tables that represent the same corrosion variables were integrated into …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has previously reported that the lack of control over inventory shipments increases the Department of Defense's (DOD) vulnerability to undetected loss or theft. GAO evaluated the Army's effectiveness in maintaining accountability of inventory shipped to repair contractors. To conduct its review, GAO analyzed shipment data for fiscal year 2004, surveyed repair contractors that were recipients of inventory shipments, and assessed the Army's adherence to internal control procedures. Inventory shipments included both secondary repair items--components, assemblies, and subassemblies, other than major end items, which may be sent to commercial facilities for repair, alteration, or modification--and government-furnished materiel--assemblies, parts, and other items provided in support of this work."

The nuclear waste package design for Yucca Mountain (Nevada, USA), in its current configuration, consists of a double wall cylindrical container fabricated using a highly corrosion resistant Ni-based Alloy 22 for the outer barrier and type 316 stainless steel for the inner structural vessel. A mailbox-shaped drip shield fabricated primarily using Ti Grade 7 will cover the waste packages. The environmental degradation of the relevant materials have been extensively studied and modeled for over ten years. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art understanding of the degradation modes of Alloy 22 (N06022) due to its interaction with the predicted in-drift mountain conditions including temperature and types of electrolytes. Subjects discussed include thermal aging and phase stability, dry oxidation, general and localized corrosion, stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen induced cracking.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal policy requires that small businesses receive the maximum practicable subcontracting opportunity for providing goods and services to large businesses that contract directly with federal agencies. The Department of Energy (DOE) annually directs almost $20 billion to the 34 "facility management contractors" of which $3.3 billion was redirected to small business subcontractors in fiscal year 2004. DOE negotiates annual small business subcontracting goals with individual contractors and monitors their achievements. GAO was asked to (1) determine the usefulness of the data that DOE uses to monitor subcontracting performance and (2) discuss the actions that DOE has taken to address any problems with the contractors' subcontracting efforts."