This report documents the deactivation, decontamination, decommissioning, and demolition of the MO-052, 3225, 334, 334A, and 334-TF Buildings in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site. The D4 of these facilities included characterization, engineering, removal of hazardous and radiologically contaminated materials, equipment removal, utility disconnection, deactivation, decontamination, demolition of the structure, and stabilization or removal of the remaining slab and foundation as appropriate.

This report covers the legal history of affirmative action legislation in regard to employment. Moreover, the report tracks this type of legislation to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Specifically, much of this legislation stems from desegregation of public schools and even more specifically in regards to employment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Alloy 22 (N06022) may be susceptible to crevice corrosion in chloride solutions. Nitrate acts as an inhibitor to crevice corrosion. Several papers have been published regarding the effect of nitrate on the corrosion resistance of Alloy 22 at temperatures 100 C and lower. However, very little is known about the behavior of this alloy in highly concentrated brines at temperatures above 100 C. In the current work, electrochemical tests have been carried out to explore the anodic behavior of Alloy 22 in high chloride high nitrate electrolytes at temperatures as high as 160 C at ambient atmospheres. Even though Alloy 22 may adopt corrosion potentials in the order of +0.5 V (in the saturated silver chloride scale), it does not suffer crevice corrosion if there is high nitrate in the solution. That is, the inhibitive effect of nitrate on crevice corrosion is active for temperatures higher than 100 C.

The Commonwealth of Australia and the United States are close allies under the ANZUS treaty. Australia evoked the treaty to offer assistance to the United States after the attacks of September 11, 2001, in which 22 Australians were among the dead. Australia was one of the first countries to commit troops to U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Howard Government’s strong commitment to the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq and the recently negotiated bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Australia and the United States have strengthened what were already close ties between the two long-term allies.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) have recently initiated a project aimed at identifying, evaluating, and qualifying the materials needed for the construction of the critical components of coal-fired boilers capable of operating at much higher efficiencies than current generation of supercritical plants. This increased efficiency is expected to be achieved principally through the use of ultrasupercritical steam conditions (USC). A limiting factor in this can be the materials of construction. The project goal is to assess/develop materials technology that will enable achieving turbine throttle steam conditions of 760 C (1400 F)/35 MPa (5000 psi). This goal seems achievable based on a preliminary assessment of material capabilities. The project is further intended to build further upon the alloy development and evaluation programs that have been carried out in Europe and Japan. Those programs have identified ferritic steels capable of meeting the strength requirements of USC plants up to approximately 620 C (1150 F) and nickel-based alloys suitable up to 700 C (1300 F). In this project, the maximum temperature capabilities of these and other available high-temperature alloys are being assessed to provide a basis for materials selection and application under a range of …

This report provides information about the Budget for Fiscal Year 2007. It provides new baseline estimates and projections.

The Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) and the LLNL Climate and Carbon Science Group of Energy and Environment (E&E) are working together to improve predictions of future climate by applying the best available computational methods and computer resources to this problem. Over the last decade, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a number of climate models that provide state-of-the-art simulations on a wide variety of massively parallel computers. We are now developing and applying a second generation of high-performance climate models.

Polymer Electrolyte Membranes (PEMs) currently available for fuel cell development work are limited to the temperature range of 60-80°C. For mass commercialization in the transportation arena, three important disadvantages that are linked with the relatively low operating temperature range need to be addressed. These three disadvantages are: (a) sluggish cathode kinetics, (b) CO poisoning at the anode and (c) inefficient thermal characteristics. All three of the above mentioned disadvantages could be solved by increasing the operating temperature range to 100-120°C. To understand the issues associated with high temperature PEMFCs operation, UTCFC has teamed with leading research groups that possess competencies in the field of polymer chemistry. The subcontractors on the program were investigating modified Nafion® and new non-Nafion® based, reinforced and non-reinforced membrane systems. Nafion® based PEMs rely on using high temperature inorganic solid conductor fillers like phosphotungstic acid. Hydrocarbon membrane systems are based on poly (arylene ether sulfone) polymers, PEEK, PAN, etc.

S. 2556 and its companion bill, H.R. 5113, 109th Congress, 2nd Sess. (2006), introduced by Senator Bayh and Representative Conyers, respectively, are entitled the Fairness and Accountability in Reorganizations Act of 2006. The legislation, according to its sponsors, is intended to “ensure that workers are treated more fairly during [bankruptcy] reorganizations by limiting executive compensation deals and requiring corporations to provide a more accurate picture of their holdings before attempting to modify collective bargaining agreements or promised health benefits.” This report surveys the bill’s provisions.

This research evaluates the ability of OLI{copyright} equilibrium based software to forecast Savannah River Site High Level Waste system impacts from oxalic acid dissolution of Tank 1-15 sludge heels. Without further laboratory and field testing, only the use of oxalic acid can be considered plausible to support sludge heel dissolution on multiple tanks. Using OLI{copyright} and available test results, a dissolution model is constructed and validated. Material and energy balances, coupled with the model, identify potential safety concerns. Overpressurization and overheating are shown to be unlikely. Corrosion induced hydrogen could, however, overwhelm the tank ventilation. While pH adjustment can restore the minimal hydrogen generation, resultant precipitates will notably increase the sludge volume. OLI{copyright} is used to develop a flowsheet such that additional sludge vitrification canisters and other negative system impacts are minimized. Sensitivity analyses are used to assess the processability impacts from variations in the sludge/quantities of acids.

Current project consisted of three main phases and eighteen milestones. Short description of each phase is given below. Table 1 lists program milestones. Phase 1--High Temperature Membrane and Advanced Catalyst Development. New polymers and advanced cathode catalysts were synthesized. The membranes and the catalysts were characterized and compared against specifications that are based on DOE program requirements. The best-in-class membranes and catalysts were downselected for phase 2. Phase 2--Catalyst Coated Membrane (CCM) Fabrication and Testing. Laboratory scale catalyst coated membranes (CCMs) were fabricated and tested using the down-selected membranes and catalysts. The catalysts and high temperature membrane CCMs were tested and optimized. Phase 3--Multi-cell stack fabrication. Full-size CCMs with the down-selected and optimized high temperature membrane and catalyst were fabricated. The catalyst membrane assemblies were tested in full size cells and multi-cell stack.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Taxpayers unable to fully pay their tax liabilities may apply for an offer in compromise (OIC), an agreement with IRS to pay what they can afford. IRS writes off the rest of the liability. In 2005, IRS accepted over 14,000 offers. Because of concerns about program performance and a new category of offers based on exceptional circumstances, GAO was asked to (1) describe the trends in program's performance and their causes and (2) determine whether IRS's regulations for exceptional circumstance offers are consistent with statute. GAO examined five program objectives: timeliness, quality, accessibility, compliance, and cost."

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This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Maintaining Excellence through Intellectual Vitality--Commentary by Cherry A. Murray; (2) Next-Generation Scientists and Engineers Tap Lab's Resources--University of California Ph.D. candidates work with Livermore scientists and engineers to conduct fundamental research as part of their theses; (3) Adaptive Optics Provide a Clearer View--The Center for Adaptive Optics is sharpening the view of celestial objects and retinal cells; (4) Wired on the Nanoscale--A Lawrence Fellow at Livermore is using genetically engineered viruses to create nanostructures such as tiny gold wires; and (5) Too Hot to Handle--Livermore scientists couple carbon-cycle and climate models to predict the global effects of depleting Earth's fossil-fuel supply.

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This report details information regarding value-added tax as a new revenue source. Information such as background, analysis, and legislation is included.

President George W. Bush has stated that tax reform will be one of his top priorities in the 109th Congress. Some form of a value-added tax (VAT) has been frequently discussed as a replacement to the U.S. income tax system. In addition, some Members of Congress has expressed interest in the feasibility of using a value-added tax to finance health care reform.

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