A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program--the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)--to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on selected foreign nationals who travel to the United States. By congressional mandate, DHS is to develop and submit for approval an expenditure plan for US-VISIT that satisfies certain conditions, including being reviewed by GAO. GAO was required to determine if the plan satisfied these conditions, follow up on recommendations related to the expenditure plan, and provide any other observations. To address the mandate, GAO assessed plans against federal guidelines and industry standards and interviewed the appropriate DHS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the federal government's primary provider of disaster loans to businesses, homeowners, and renters. In a previous report (GAO- 06-860), GAO found that SBA's limited information systems planning contributed to delays in processing disaster loans for the victims of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes (Katrina, Rita, and Wilma). To provide further insight into how SBA's disaster preparedness could be enhanced, this second report, initiated under the Comptroller General's authority, assesses other logistical issues (e.g., staffing and space acquisition) that may have affected the efficiency of the agency's response to the hurricanes. Specifically, this report (1) assesses SBA's logistical planning efforts prior to the Gulf Coast hurricanes and current planning efforts and (2) discusses SBA's outreach services to hurricane victims. GAO reviewed disaster planning reports, interviewed SBA officials, and visited the Gulf Coast region."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) establishes that federal agencies must provide the public with access to government information, enabling them to learn about government operations and decisions. To help ensure proper implementation, the act requires that agencies annually report specific information about their FOIA operations, such as numbers of requests received and processed and median processing times. In addition, a recent Executive Order directs agencies to develop plans to improve their FOIA operations, including decreasing backlogs. GAO was asked to testify on the results of its study on FOIA processing and agencies' improvement plans. The draft report on the study is currently out for comment at the agencies involved (and is thus subject to change). For the study, GAO reviewed status and trends of FOIA processing at 25 major agencies as reflected in annual reports, as well as the extent to which improvement plans contain the elements emphasized by the Executive Order. To do so, GAO analyzed the 25 agencies' annual reports and improvement plans."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FAA operates one of the safest air transportation systems in the world. It is, however, a system under strain. The skies over America are becoming more crowded every day. FAA faces the daunting task of safely integrating a growing influx of passengers and aircraft into the system and simultaneously leading the transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)--a complicated effort to modernize the system. FAA's broad responsibilities to maintain and modernize the nation's air transportation system must be met in an uncertain budgetary and long-term fiscal environment. GAO's concerns about financing the nation's transportation system, including aviation, led GAO to designate this issue as high-risk."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Coast Guard's Deepwater program is a 25-year, $24 billion plan to replace or modernize its fleet of vessels and aircraft. While there is widespread acknowledgment that many of the Coast Guard's aging assets need replacement or renovation, concerns exist about the acquisition approach the Coast Guard adopted in launching the Deepwater program. From the outset, GAO has expressed concern about the risks involved with the Coast Guard's acquisition strategy, and continues to review Deepwater program management. This statement discusses (1) the Coast Guard's acquisition approach for the Deepwater program; (2) previous GAO recommendations to the Coast Guard on Deepwater, highlighting the importance of Integrated Product Teams; and (3) operational challenges the Coast Guard is facing because of performance and design problems with Deepwater patrol boats."

In 2006, a drilling campaign was conducted at the Project Shoal Area (PSA) to provide information for model validation, emplace long-term monitoring wells, and develop baseline geochemistry for long term hydrologic monitoring. Water levels were monitored in the vicinity of the drilling, in the existing wells HC-1 and HC-6, as well as in the newly drilled wells, MV-1, MV-2 and MV-3 and their associated piezometers. Periodic water level measurements were also made in existing wells HC-2, HC-3, HC-4, HC-5 and HC-7. A lithium bromide chemical tracer was added to drilling fluids during the installation of the monitoring and validation (MV) wells and piezometers. The zones of interest were the fractured, jointed and faulted horizons within a granitic body. These horizons generally have moderate hydraulic conductivities. As a result, the wells and their shallower piezometers required strenuous purging and development to remove introduced drilling fluids as evidenced by bromide concentrations. After airlift and surging well development procedures, the wells were pumped continuously until the bromide concentration was less then 1 milligram per liter (mg/L). Water quality samples were collected after the well development was completed. Tritium scans were preformed before other analyses to ensure the absence of high levels of radioactivity. …

This report documents a detailed buckling evaluation of the primary tanks in the Hanford double-shell waste tanks (DSTs), which is part of a comprehensive structural review for the Double-Shell Tank Integrity Project. This work also provides information on tank integrity that specifically responds to concerns raised by the Office of Environment, Safety, and Health (ES&H) Oversight (EH-22) during a review of work performed on the double-shell tank farms and the operation of the aging waste facility (AWF) primary tank ventilation system. The current buckling review focuses on the following tasks: (1) Evaluate the potential for progressive I-bolt failure and the appropriateness of the safety factors that were used for evaluating local and global buckling. The analysis will specifically answer the following questions: (a) Can the EH-22 scenario develop if the vacuum is limited to -6.6-inch water gage (w.g.) by a relief valve? (b) What is the appropriate factor of safety required to protect against buckling if the EH-22 scenario can develop? (c) What is the appropriate factor of safety required to protect against buckling if the EH-22 scenario cannot develop? (2) Develop influence functions to estimate the axial stresses in the primary tanks for all reasonable combinations of tank loads, …

Industrial gas turbines are primarily fueled with natural gas. However, changes in fuel cost and availability, and a desire to control carbon dioxide emissions, are creating pressure to utilize other fuels. There is an increased interest in the use of fuels from coal gasification, such as syngas and hydrogen, and renewable fuels, such as biogas and biodiesel. Current turbine fuel injectors have had years of development to optimize their performance with natural gas. The new fuels appearing on the horizon can have combustion properties that differ substantially from natural gas. Factors such as turbulent flame speed, heat content, autoignition characteristics, and range of flammability must be considered when evaluating injector performance. The low swirl injector utilizes a unique flame stabilization mechanism and is under development for gas turbine applications. Its design and mode of operation allow it to operate effectively over a wide range of conditions. Studies conducted at LBNL indicate that the LSI can operate on fuels with a wide range of flame speeds, including hydrogen. It can also utilize low heat content fuels, such as biogas and syngas. We will discuss the low swirl injector operating parameters, and how the LSC performs with various alternative fuels.

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Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

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This report considers the transition in government meant to stabilize Afghanistan. Specifically, the report covers the increasing amount of insurgency in the region. The south in particular has seen a rise in insurgency due to the lack of economic progress made. The report also discusses the NATO led troops in the region.

Concerns about potential disruptions in U.S. trade flows due to a global health or security risk are not new. The possibility of an avian flu pandemic with consequences for global trade is a concern that has received more attention recently, although some experts believe there is little cause for alarm. Experts disagree on the likelihood of an avian flu pandemic developing at all. This report considers possible trade disruptions, including possible impacts on trade between the United States and countries and regions that have reported avian influenza infections. These disruptions could include countries banning imported goods from infected regions at the onset of the pandemic, de facto bans due to protective health measures, or supply-side constraints caused by health crises in exporting countries.

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Revision 0A of this document contains new Appendices C and D. Appendix C contains a re-analysis of the rigid and flexible tanks at the 460 in. liquid level and was motivated by recommendations from a Project Review held on March 20-21, 2006 (Rinker et al Appendix E of RPP-RPT-28968 Rev 1). Appendix D contains the benchmark solutions in support of the analyses in Appendix C.

The object of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is to compress a fuel capsule to a state with high enough density and temperature to ignite, starting a self-sustaining fusion burn that consumes much of the fuel and releases a large amount of energy. The national ICF research program is trying to reach this goal, especially through experiments at the OMEGA laser facility of the University of Rochester Laboratory of Laser Energetics (LLE), planned experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and experimental and theoretical work at other national laboratories. The work by MIT reported here has played several important roles in this national program. First, the development of new and improved charged-particle-based plasma diagnostics has allowed the gathering of new and unique diagnostic information about the implosions of fuel capsules in ICF experiments, providing new means for evaluating experiments and for studying capsule implosion dynamics. Proton spectrometers have become the standard for evaluating the mass assembly in compressed capsules in experiments at OMEGA; the measured energy downshift of either primary or secondary D3He fusion protons to determines the areal density, or ?R, of imploded capsules. The Proton Temporal Diagnostic measures the time …

Ultrasonic imaging is a valuable tool for non-destructive evaluation and medical diagnosis. Reflection mode is exclusively used for medical imaging, and is most frequently used for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) because of the relative speed of acquisition. Reflection mode imaging is qualitative, yielding little information about material properties, and usually only about material interfaces. Transmission imaging can be used in 3D reconstructions to yield quantitative information: sound speed and attenuation. Unfortunately, traditional scanning methods of acquiring transmission data are very slow, requiring on the order of 20 minutes per image. The sensing of acoustic pressure fields as optical images can significantly speed data acquisition. An entire 2D acoustic pressure field can be acquired in under a second. The speed of data acquisition for a 2D view makes it feasible to obtain multiple views of an object. With multiple views, 3D reconstruction becomes possible. A fast, compact (no big magnets or accelerators), inexpensive, 3D imaging technology that uses no ionizing radiation could be a boon to the NDE and medical communities. 2D transmission images could be examined in real time to give the ultrasonic equivalent of a fluoroscope, or accumulated in such a way as to acquire phase and amplitude data over …

From 1999 to 2006, a program was undertaken within the Materials Science and Technology Division, formerly the Metals and Ceramics Division, of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to characterize the tensile and creep-rupture properties of a newly produced heat of Haynes alloy 25 (L-605). Tensile properties from room temperature to 1100 C were evaluated for base material and welded joints aged up to 12,000 hours at 675 C. Creep and creep-rupture tests were conducted on base metal and cross-weldments from 650 to 950 C. Pressurized tubular creep tests were conducted to evaluate multiaxial creep-rupture response of the material. Over 800,000 hours of creep test data were generated during the test program with the longest rupture tests extending beyond 38,000 hours, and the longest creep-rate experiments exceeding 40,000 hours.

Uranium deposits can, by analogy, provide important information on the long-term performance of radioactive waste forms and radioactive waste repositories. Their complex mineralogy and variable elemental and isotopic compositions can provide important information, provided that analyses are obtained on the scale of several micrometers. Here, we present a structural model of the Nopal I deposit as well as petrography at the nanoscale coupled with preliminary U-Th-Pb ages and O isotopic compositions of uranium-rich minerals obtained by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). This multi-technique approach promises to provide ''natural system'' data on the corrosion rate of uraninite, the natural analogue of spent nuclear fuel.

This annual operations report describes the requirements followed and activities conducted to inspect, monitor, and maintain the items installed during performance of the Waste Area Group 3, Operable Unit 3-13, Group 1, Tank Farm Interim Action, at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. This report covers the time period from January 1 through December 31, 2006, and describes inspection and monitoring activities for the surface-sealed areas within the tank farm, concrete-lined ditches and culverts in and around the tank farm, the lift station, and the lined evaporation pond. These activities are intended to assure that the interim action is functioning adequately to meet the objectives stated in the Operable Unit 3-13, Record of Decision for the Group 1, Tank Farm Interim Action (DOE/ID-10660) as described in the Group 1 Remedial Design/Remedial Action Work Plan (DOE/ID-10772).

Retardation of radionuclides by sorption on minerals in the rocks along downgradient groundwater flow paths is a positive attribute of the natural barrier at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the site of a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository. Alteration of volcanic glass in nonwelded tuffs beneath the proposed repository horizon produced thick, widespread zones of zeolite- and clay-rich rocks with high sorptive capacities. The high sorptive capacity of these rocks is enhanced by the large surface area of tabular to fibrous mineral forms, which is about 10 times larger in zeolitic tuffs than in devitrified tuffs and about 30 times larger than in vitric tuffs. The alteration of glass to zeolites, however, was accompanied by expansion that reduced the matrix porosity and permeability. Because water would then flow mainly through fractures, the overall effectiveness of radionuclide retardation in the zeolitized matrix actually may be decreased relative to unaltered vitric tuff. Isotope ratios in the decay chain of {sup 238}U are sensitive indicators of long-term water-rock interaction. In systems older than about 1 m.y. that remain closed to mass transfer, decay products of {sup 238}U are in secular radioactive equilibrium where {sup 234}U/{sup 238}U activity ratios (AR) are unity. However, water-rock interaction along …