A summary of the activities in the 4th operational year is presented for the ORR. On-stream time at 30 Mw was relatively steady with 75.4 and 83.7% representing the lowest and highest quarters. Modification of the ball-latch mechanism of the shim-rod-drives is in progress. The primary cooling system bypass control valve was modified and a d-c pony motor was added at the No. 3 primary pump. This addition was made to increase the reliability of adequate water flow for afterheat cooling. A study of coreboiling detection is being conducted. (J.R.D.)

The BCD Silicon strip Vertex Detector is constructed of 10 identical central region modules and 18 similar forward region modules. This memo describes a method of assembling these modules from individual silicon wafers. Each wafer is fitted with associated front end electronics and cables and has been tested to insure that only good wafers reach the final assembly stage. 5 figs.

The solar desiccant air conditioner (SODAC) system and its operation are described, including the characteristics of the major components, the performance at design conditions, and the control schemes for optimum operation in various climates. The system uses granular silica gel as a desiccant. It may operate in either a recirculated mode (no air exchange between the outside and the conditioned space) or a ventilated mode (air exchanged between outside and conditioned space). The test data in the ventilated mode at design flow rates are presented. Data include outdoor and indoor inlet wet and dry bulb temperatures, indoor outlet dry and wet bulb temperatures, capacity, coefficient of performance, air flow rates, hot water temperature, and solar heat used. The effects of indoor, outdoor, and hot water temperatures on the capacity and coefficient of performance are shown graphically, and the recirculated and ventilated modes, performances are compared. (LEW)

This document contains the input and output for the Policy Analysis Screening System (PASS) demonstration. This demonstration is stored on a portable disk at the Environmental Impacts Division. Sample queries presented here include: (1) how to use PASS; (2) estimated 1995 energy consumption from Mid-Range Energy-Forecasting System (MEFS) data base; (3) pollution projections from Strategic Environmental Assessment System (SEAS) data base; (4) diesel auto regulations; (5) diesel auto health effects; (6) oil shale health and safety measures; (7) water pollution effects of SRC; (8) acid rainfall from Energy Environmental Statistics (EES) data base; 1990 EIA electric generation by fuel type; sulfate concentrations by Federal region; forecast of 1995 SO/sub 2/ emissions in Region III; and estimated electrical generating capacity in California to 1990. The file name for each query is included.

The costs of pot calcination of Purex and Thorex wastes were calculated. The wastes were assumed produced by a plant processing 1500 ton/year of U converter fuel at a burnup of 10,000 Mwd/ton and 270 ton/year of Th converter fuel at 20,000 Mwd/ton. Costs were calculated for processing Purex waste in acidic and reacidified forms and for processing Thorex wastes in acidic and reacidified forms and with constituents added for producing an acidic Thorex glass. Calcination vessel designs were right circular cylinders similar to those used in engineering development studies. Costs were calculated for processing in 6-, 12-, and 24-in.-dia vessels with a fixed length of 10 ft. Vessel costs used, based on estimates from private industry, were calculated for wastes decayed 120 days and 1, 3, 10, and 30 years after reactor discharge prior to calcination. Aging had negligible effect on costs, except as it permitted larger diameter vessels to be used, because vessel and operating costs were much larger than capital costs in all cases. The lowest cost was 0.87 x 10/sup -2/ mill/kwh/sub e/ for processing acidic Purex and Thorex wastes in 24-in.-dia vessels, and the highest was 5.0 x 10/sup -2/ mill/kwh/sub e/ for processing reacidified …

This memorandum provides information on federal spending for programs explicitly intended for people with low or limited income.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Chief Information Officers (CIO) at six federal agencies rated the majority of their information technology (IT) investments as low risk, and many ratings remained constant over time. Specifically, CIOs at the selected agencies rated a majority of investments listed on the federal IT Dashboard as low risk or moderately low risk from June 2009 through March 2012; at five of these agencies, these risk levels accounted for at least 66 percent of investments. These agencies also rated no more than 12 percent of their investments as high or moderately high risk, and two agencies (Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Science Foundation (NSF)) rated no investments at these risk levels. Over time, about 47 percent of the agencies' Dashboard investments received the same rating in every rating period. For ratings that changed, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported more investments with reduced risk when initial ratings were compared with those in March 2012; the other four agencies reported more investments with increased risk. In the past, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reported trends for risky IT …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the late 1990s, GAO found that the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac), a federal government-sponsored enterprise, had significant assets in nonmission investments and analyzed its long-term viability. Recently, Congress asked GAO to report on Farmer Mac's (1) financial condition, (2) mission, (3) corporate governance, and (4) oversight provided by the Farm Credit Administration (FCA)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Army has issued soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan personal body armor, comprising an outer protective vest and ceramic plate inserts. GAO observed Preliminary Design Model testing of new plate designs, which resulted in the Army's awarding contracts in September 2008 valued at a total of over $8 billion to vendors of the designs that passed that testing. Between November and December 2008, the Army conducted further testing, called First Article Testing, on these designs. GAO is reporting on the degree to which the Army followed its established testing protocols during these two tests. GAO did not provide an expert ballistics evaluation of the results of testing. GAO, using a structured, GAO-developed data collection instrument, observed both tests at the Army's Aberdeen Test Center, analyzed data, and interviewed agency and industry officials to evaluate observed deviations from testing protocols. However, independent ballistics testing expertise is needed to determine the full effect of these deviations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently began a 6-year, $425 million program called Sentinel to replace and expand on both its failed Virtual Case File (VCF) project and its antiquated, paper-based, legacy system for supporting mission-critical intelligence analysis and investigative case management activities. Because of the FBI's experience with VCF and the importance of Sentinel, GAO was requested to address a number of program management issues associated with acquiring Sentinel via a prime development contractor. This report focuses on one of these issues: whether the FBI is adequately providing for the program's human capital needs. The findings are based on GAO's review of relevant program documentation, interviews with program officials, and human capital management guidance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As Hurricane Katrina so forcefully demonstrated, the nation's critical infrastructures and key resources have been vulnerable to a wide variety of threats. Because about 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector, it is vital that the public and private sectors work together to protect these assets. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for coordinating a national protection strategy including formation of government and private sector councils as a collaborating tool. The councils, among other things, are to identify their most critical assets, assess the risks they face, and identify protective measures, in sector-specific plans that comply with DHS's National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). GAO examined (1) the extent to which these councils have been established; (2) the key facilitating factors and challenges affecting the formation of the councils; and (3) the overall status of the plans and key facilitating factors and challenges encountered in developing them. GAO obtained information by reviewing key documents and conducting interviews with federal and private sector representatives. GAO is not making any recommendations at this time since prior recommendations are still being implemented. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2000, thermoelectric power plants accounted for 39 percent of total U.S. freshwater withdrawals. Traditionally, power plants have withdrawn water from rivers and other water sources to cool the steam used to produce electricity, so that it may be reused to produce more electricity. Some of this water is consumed, and some is discharged back to a water source. In the context of growing demands for both water and electricity, this report discusses (1) approaches to reduce freshwater use by power plants and their drawbacks, (2) states' consideration of water use when reviewing proposals to build power plants, and (3) the usefulness of federal water data to experts and state regulators. GAO reviewed federal water data and studies on cooling technologies. GAO interviewed federal officials, as well as officials from seven selected states."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agency assessments of the performance of information technology (IT) investments in operations and maintenance (O&M)--commonly referred to as operational analyses (OAs)--vary significantly. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance calls for agencies to develop an OA policy and perform such analyses annually to ensure steady state investments continue to meet agency needs. The guidance also includes 17 key factors (addressing areas such as cost, schedule, customer satisfaction, and innovation) that are to be assessed. The five agencies GAO reviewed varied in the extent to which they carried out these tasks."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Some of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulations set standards that limit environmental contaminants to levels that are determined, in large part, on the basis of the health risks they pose. When EPA assesses the health risks of contaminants, however, the agency is faced with uncertainties and gaps in scientific knowledge and data. This report summarizes GAO's findings on whether EPA's benefits estimates for major environmental regulations that establish health-based standards reflect precautionary assumptions about health risks. Three key factors influence EPA's use of precautionary assumptions in assessing health risks. First, EPA is influenced by its mission to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment. Second, EPA is influenced by the nature and extent of relevant data. Finally, EPA is influenced by the nature of the health risk being evaluated."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although most Americans are familiar with Internet service providers that give consumers a pathway, or "on-ramp," to the Internet, few are familiar with Internet backbone providers and backbone networks. At the Internet's core are many high-capacity, long-haul "backbone" networks that route data traffic over long distances using high-speed fiber lines. Internet backbone providers compete in the marketplace and cooperate in the exchange of data traffic. The cooperative exchange of traffic among backbone providers is essential if the Internet is to remain a seamless and widely accessible public medium. Interconnection among Internet backbone providers varies both in terms of the physical structure and financial agreements of data traffic exchange. The physical structure of interconnection takes two forms: (1) the exchange of traffic among many backbone providers at a "network access point"--a common facility--and (2) the exchange of traffic between two or more backbone providers at "private" interconnection points. No publicly available data exist with which to evaluate competitiveness in the Internet backbone market. Evolution of this market is likely to be largely affected by two types of emerging services. First, demand is likely to rise for time-sensitive …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under U.S. patent law, a patent must describe the subject invention in enough detail for someone skilled in that field to use or make it. In cases involving biological materials, the inventor may have to submit a sample. Some members of the biotechnology industry believe that biological deposits make patent infringement easier, reasoning that a person or organization can obtain a sample of the deposit and then reproduce the invention with minimal effort and expense. GAO found that access to biological deposits once a patent is granted has not increased the risk of patent infringement for the biotechnology industry. These concerns persist especially since the passage of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, which publishes the patent application 18 months from the date of filing and is made available to the public at that time rather than at the time the patent is granted."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) efforts to resolve serious internal control weaknesses. During the past several years, serious internal control weaknesses and other deficiencies have plagued HUD's activities. In 1997, HUD announced its 2020 Management Reform Plan to overcome the agency's problems. HUD has made reasonable progress toward resolving material internal control weaknesses, but more remains to be done. Major steps that remain include bringing core financial systems into compliance with federal financial systems requirements, ensuring that rental subsidies are based on correct tenant income, improving the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) multifamily project monitoring, improving budgetary and financial accounting controls, and enhancing support in the FHA business processes."

The simultaneous production of helium from (n,..cap alpha..) reactions and atomic displacement damage by energetic neutrons in reactor structural alloys is expected to have a strong influence on their irradiation response for first wall and structural applications in fusion power reactors. Charged particle bombardment offers the possibility of assessing the phenomenology and mechanisms of microstructural evolution in a wide range of materials exposed to simultaneous helium injection and creation of atomic displacement damage by a second ion beam. In this program two ion accelerators have been used to simultaneously focus a beam of helium ions and a second ion beam on targets of selected reactor structural alloys. The resulting microstructural changes have been studied for systematic variations in damage rate, irradiation temperature, fluence and appm helium/dpa ratio and compared and correlated with results from companion fission reactor and high energy neutron irradiation studies conducted elsewhere in the DOE program.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, GAO designated federal real property as a high-risk area. In 2007, GAO reported that real-property-holding agencies and the administration had made progress toward managing their real property, but underlying problems, such as backlogs in repair and maintenance, still existed and six agencies reported having over $1 billion in repair and maintenance backlogs. Owning real property creates a fiscal exposure for the government from the expectation that agencies will incur future maintenance and operations costs. GAO was asked to (1) describe how six agencies estimate their repair and maintenance backlogs, (2) determine how these agencies manage their backlogs and the expected future changes in these backlogs, and (3) identify how backlogs have affected operations at some sites. GAO reviewed agency documents, interviewed officials, and visited two sites at each of the six agencies."

The 5.8% COLA payable in January 2009 was triggered by the rise in the CPI-W from the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2008. This COLA triggers identical percentage increases in Supplemental Security Income (SSI), veterans' pensions, and railroad retirement benefits, and causes other changes in the Social Security program. Although COLAs under the federal Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the federal military retirement program are not triggered by the Social Security COLA, these programs use the same measuring period and formula for computing their COLAs. Their recipients will also receive a 5.8% COLA in January 2009.

Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) are based on the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). All CSRS retirees and survivors receive COLAs. Under FERS, however, non-disabled retirees under age 62 do not receive COLAs. This report discusses cost-of-living adjustments for government retirees, as well as related legislation.

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Simulating the Electromagnetic World--Commentary by Steven R. Patterson; (2) A Code to Model Electromagnetic Phenomena--EMSolve, a Livermore supercomputer code that simulates electromagnetic fields, is helping advance a wide range of research efforts; (3) Characterizing Virulent Pathogens--Livermore researchers are developing multiplexed assays for rapid detection of pathogens; (4) Imaging at the Atomic Level--A powerful new electron microscope at the Laboratory is resolving materials at the atomic level for the first time; (5) Scientists without Borders--Livermore scientists lend their expertise on peaceful nuclear applications to their counterparts in other countries; and (6) Probing Deep into the Nucleus--Edward Teller's contributions to the fast-growing fields of nuclear and particle physics were part of a physics golden age.

The 331 Life Sciences Laboratory Drain Field (LSLDF) septic system waste site consists of a diversion chamber, two septic tanks, a distribution box, and a drain field. This septic system was designed to receive sanitary waste water, from animal studies conducted in the 331-A and 331-B Buildings, for discharge into the soil column. However, field observations and testing suggest the 331 LSLDF septic system did not receive any discharges. In accordance with this evaluation, the confirmatory sampling results support a reclassification of the 331 LSLDF waste site to No Action. This site does not have a deep zone or other condition that would warrant an institutional control in accordance with the 300-FF-2 ROD under the industrial land use scenario.