A high contrast 12.6 keV Kr K{alpha} source has been demonstrated on the petawatt-class Titan laser facility. The contrast ratio (K{alpha} to continuum) is 65, with a competitive ultra short pulse laser to x-ray conversion efficiency of 10{sup -5}. Filtered shadowgraphy indicates that the Kr K{alpha} and K{beta} x-rays are emitted from a roughly 1 x 2 mm emission volume, making this source suitable for area backlighting and scattering. Spectral calculations indicate a typical bulk electron temperature of 50-70 eV (i.e. mean ionization state 13-16), based on the observed ratio of K{alpha} to K{beta}. Kr gas jets provide a debris-free high energy K{alpha} source for time-resolved diagnosis of dense matter.

This report evaluates the closure activities at the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility. The closure activities discussed include: the closure activities for the structures, equipment, soil, and gravel scrubber; decontamination methods; materials made available for recycling or reuse; and waste management. The evaluation compares these activities to the regulatory requirements and closure plan requirements. The report concludes that the areas identified in the closure plan can be clean closed.

This report briefly describes the relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) rules governing domestic support programs under the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM). The report then reviews the current U.S. farm safety net programs in light of their potential for compliance with the AoA and SCM and their potential to affect the success of the current Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

This report describes the groundwater monitoring and corrective-action program at the M-Area Hazardous Waste Management Facility (HWMF) and the Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab) HWMF at the Savannah River Site (SRS) during the third and fourth quarters of 2001. The report also provides a summary of the corrective-action program for the entire year. This program is required by South Carolina Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Hazardous Waste Permit SC1 890 008 989 and Section 264.100(g) of the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to providing that each house grant the other permission to adjourn for more than three days during the period beginning on Wednesday, April 16, 2003, and ending on Tuesday, April 22, 2003.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the exclusion from an emergency services district of certain territory subject to assessments.

An auto-ranging ac resistance measuring instrument for remote measurement of the resistance of an electrical device or circuit connected to the instrument includes a signal generator which generates an ac excitation signal for application to a load, including the device and the transmission line, a monitoring circuit which provides a digitally encoded signal representing the voltage across the load, and a microprocessor which operates under program control to provide an auto-ranging function by which range resistance is connected in circuit with the load to limit the load voltage to an acceptable range for the instrument, and an auto-compensating function by which compensating capacitance is connected in shunt with the range resistance to compensate for the effects of line capacitance.

This report analyzes the effect that sanctions have had in contributing to the achievement of U.S. objectives on Iran and analyzes several scenarios that might affect whether sanctions are eased or increased, or that might affect the effectiveness of the sanctions. It briefly reviews the imposition of sanctions, both by the United States and the international community, and discusses their stated objectives.

This addendum contains 2 important messages. (1) This document supersedes all previous versions of this work. Please do not use any older versions any more. (2) The atmospheric-science community now believes that it cannot estimate confidently the ''Global Warming Potentials'' (GWPs) of the indirect effects of greenhouse gases. A GWP is a number that converts a mass-unit emission of a greenhouse gas other than CO{sub 2} into the mass amount of CO{sub 2} that has an equivalent warming effect over a given period of time. This report refers to GWPs as ''CO{sub 2}-equivalency factors.'' For example, a forthcoming report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change disavows many of the GWPs estimated in an earlier IPCC report, and states that GWPs for the indirect effects of the non-CO{sub 2} greenhouse gases cannot be estimated accurately yet. However, this does not mean that in principle there are no GWPs for the non-CO{sub 2} greenhouse gases; rather, it means that some of the GWPs are uncertain, and that the earlier IPCC estimates of the GWPs may or may not turn out to be right (albeit, in at lease one case, discussed in this paper, the earlier estimates almost certainly will be wrong). …

The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate that development program based on advanced reservoir management methods can significantly improve oil recovery. The demonstration plan includes developing a control area using standard reservoir management techniques and comparing the performance of the control area with an area developed using advanced reservoir management methods. specific goals to attain the objective are (1) to demonstrate that development drilling program and pressure maintenance program, based on advanced reservoir management methods , can significantly improve oil recovery compared with existing technology applications, and (2) to transfer the advanced methodologies to oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin and elsewhere in the US oil and gas industry. This is the second quarterly progress report on the project. Results obtained to date are summarized.

The Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) is a single, highly integrated technical program for maintaining the surety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The SSP uses past nuclear test data along with current and future non-nuclear test data, computational modeling and simulation, and experimental facilities to advance understanding of nuclear weapons. It includes stockpile surveillance, experimental research, development and engineering (D&E) programs, and an appropriately scaled production capability to support stockpile requirements. This integrated national program requires the continued use of current facilities and programs along with new experimental facilities and computational enhancements to support these programs. The Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASC) is a cornerstone of the SSP, providing simulation capabilities and computational resources to support the annual stockpile assessment and certification, to study advanced nuclear weapons design and manufacturing processes, to analyze accident scenarios and weapons aging, and to provide the tools to enable stockpile Life Extension Programs (LEPs) and the resolution of Significant Finding Investigations (SFIs). This requires a balanced resource, including technical staff, hardware, simulation software, and computer science solutions. In its first decade, the ASC strategy focused on demonstrating simulation capabilities of unprecedented scale in three spatial dimensions. In its second decade, ASC is …

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This report provides a summary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The report covers the key aspects, U.S. imports under the AGOA, and the debate on whether or not it should be renewed.

This report discusses the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns about difficulties civilian employees of the U.S. government may have in obtaining workers' compensation benefits for medical conditions they developed as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam led to GAO being asked to determine (1) what is known about the number of civilians who served in Vietnam, both those employed directly by the U.S. government and those employed by companies that contracted with the government; (2) what is known about the number, processing, and disposition of claims filed by these civilians; and (3) what options are available if Congress chooses to improve access to benefits for civilians exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam who developed illnesses as a result of their exposure, and what are their cost implications?"

International Network of Nuclear Structure and Decay Data (NSDD) Evaluators consists of a number of evaluation groups and data service centers in several countries that appreciate the merits of working together to maintain and ensure the quality and comprehensive content of the ENSDF database (Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File). Biennial meetings of the network are held under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to assign evaluation responsibilities, monitor progress, discuss improvements and emerging difficulties, and agree on actions to be undertaken by individual members. The evaluated data and bibliographic details are made available to users via various media, such as the journals ''Nuclear Physics A'' and ''Nuclear Data Sheets'', the World Wide Web, on CD-ROM, wall charts of the nuclides and ''Nuclear Wallet Cards''. While the ENSDF master database is maintained by the US National Nuclear Data Center at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, these data are also available from other nuclear data centers including the IAEA Nuclear Data Section. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, in cooperation with the IAEA, organizes workshops on NSDD at regular intervals. The primary aims of these particular workshops are to provide hands-on training in the data …

This report discusses legislative initiatives regarding the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals, which was originally enacted to ensure that all taxpayers, especially high-income taxpayers, paid at least a minimum amount of federal taxes.

A new aluminium complex bearing a dianionic phenylene-diamine based ligand has been synthesized and shown to catalyze the intramolecular hydroamination of various aminoalkenes.

This report explains the concept of regulatory burden and the different ways it can be manifested. It analyzes whether small banks are relatively more burdened by regulation than big banks. To help answer that question, the report looks at the relative treatment of small and large banks in recent major regulatory proposals.

A system to measure the tunes of a single antiproton (or proton) bunch was built and has been commissioned. The system achieved high sensitivity with a novel closed-orbit suppression system. The use of high bandwidth directional pickpus and kickers in conjunction with precise timing gates enabled the measurement of the tune of a single bunch.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health concern; antibiotics used in animals raised for human consumption contributes to this problem. Three federal agencies address this issue--the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). GAO examined (1) scientific evidence on the transference of antibiotic resistance from animals to humans and extent of potential harm to human health, (2) agencies' efforts to assess and address these risks, (3) the types of data needed to support research on these risks and extent to which the agencies collect these data, (4) use of antibiotics in animals in the United States compared with its key agricultural trading partners and competitors, and (5) information on how use has affected trade."

The Reactor Safeguard Committee formula for the allowable minimum distance between a reactor and the public domain is expressed as: r = 0.01{radical}P, where r = radius from reactor in miles, and P = reactor power level in kilowatts. The six plates in this report illustrates the application of this formula for Hanford Works, both for individual reactors and all reactors in an area.

The popular-uprising-turned-armed-rebellion in Syria has entered its third year, and seems poised to continue, with the government and a bewildering array of militias locked in a bloody struggle of attrition. U.S. officials and many analysts believe that Asad and his supporters will ultimately be forced from power, but few offer specific, credible timetables for a resolution to the crisis. This report examines the current status of the conflict and discusses future policy considerations.

The world-wide network of nuclear reaction data centers (NRDC) has, for about 40 years, provided data services to the scientific community. This network covers all types of nuclear reaction data, including neutron-induced, charged-particle-induced, and photonuclear data, used in a wide range of applications, such as fission reactors, accelerator driven systems, fusion facilities, nuclear medicine, materials analysis, environmental monitoring, and basic research. The now 13 nuclear data centers included in the NRDC are dividing the efforts of compilation and distribution for particular types of reactions and/or geographic regions all over the world. A central activity of the network is the collection and compilation of experimental nuclear reaction data and the related bibliographic information in the EXFOR and CINDA databases. Many of the individual data centers also distribute other types of nuclear data information, including evaluated data libraries, nuclear structure and decay data, and nuclear data reports. The network today ensures the world-wide transfer of information and coordinated evolution of an important source of nuclear data for current and future nuclear applications.