A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government must overcome several major challenges before public key infrastructure (PKI) technology can be widely and effectively used. These challenges include providing interoperability among agency PKIs, ensuring that PKI implementations can support a potential large scale of users, reducing the cost of building PKI systems, setting policies to maintain trust levels among agencies, and establishing training programs for users at all levels. Although such challenges are difficult to overcome in the near term, the federal government can take steps to better assist agencies develop and implement PKIs that may eventually be interconnected into a federal governmentwide system. The recent effort to develop a Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) is an excellent first step in this direction, but this effort lacks the context of a well-defined program plan for the government as well as key policy and technical standards. Establishing a federal PKI management framework could facilitate and accelerate participation in the FBCA as well as overall federal adoption of key technology for enabling electronic government."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Birdwatching, hunting, and wildlife photography provide important recreational, aesthetic, and income-generating benefits to the American public. In addition, wildlife help maintain ecosystems, and the mere knowledge that wildlife exist is viewed as beneficial by many people. At the same time, however, some wildlife destroy crops, kill livestock, damage property, and pose risks to public health and safety. Further, as the U.S. population has grown and impinged upon wildlife habitats, conflicts between wildlife and humans and their property have become increasingly common. Wildlife Services, a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is tasked with controlling damage by wildlife. Mammals and birds damage crops, forestry seedlings, and aquaculture products each year, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. In fiscal year 2000, predators killed half a million livestock--mostly lambs and calves--valued at $70 million. To reduce such threats, Wildlife Services conducts operational and research activities with federal, state, and local agencies; agricultural producers and ranchers; private homeowners; and others. In carrying out these activities, Wildlife Services applies the most appropriate methods, whether lethal or nonlethal, of prevention and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), insures billions of dollars in home mortgage loans made by private lenders. HUD's 2020 Management Reform Plan, issued in 1997, sought to downsize and reform the agency, including its single-family mortgage insurance program. As part of its 2020 plan, HUD consolidated the single-family program's field activities at four new regional homeownership centers and specified resources for the centers. Although HUD has substantially streamlined FHA's single-family mortgage insurance programs, human capital issues remain a concern. This report reviews HUD's implementation of the homeownership center concept under the 2020 plan, focusing on (1) the deployment of center staff, (2) the training provided to the center staff, and (3) the centers' monitoring of contractors. GAO found that nearly half of the centers' staff remain in 71 field offices across the country, even though HUD envisioned that only a third of the staff would stay in the field offices. The deployment of staff across the centers is not consistent with their workload, and, as a result, the centers are having trouble supervising and making effective use …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The cleanup of contaminated Department of Defense (DOD) sites could cost billions of dollars. Private contractors or lessees that may have contributed to such contamination may also be responsible for cleanup costs. DOD and other responsible parties either agree to a cost sharing arrangement with the responsible parties conducting the cleanup or DOD conducts the cleanup and attempts to recover the other parties' share after the cleanup. On the basis of a GAO study, DOD issued guidance requiring its components to identify, investigate, and pursue cost recoveries and to report on them in the Defense Environmental Restoration Program Annual Report to Congress. The data on cost recoveries from non-Defense parties included in the Department's report for fiscal year 1999 were inaccurate, inconsistent, and incomplete. As a result, neither Congress nor DOD can determine the extent of progress made in recovering costs or the extent to which cost recoveries may offset cleanup costs. Data on cost recoveries included throughout the annual report were also missing from the appendix. Thus, DOD may not know whether all potential cost recoveries have been actively pursued and reported."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In July 2000, the Defense Commissary Agency proposed changes to its regional management structure that it expects will generate savings, improve efficiencies, and provide more effective management of commissary operations. The plan calls for eliminating the two area offices within the Eastern Region and consolidating most of the Eastern Region's operations at the region's headquarters at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Although the agency has not fully refined its cost and savings estimates, it appears that these proposed changes will yield savings and improve operations. However, with the implementation of the plan comes a loss of operational expertise in the closing offices that could potentially disrupt operations and customer service. Whether the proposed regional reorganization is the best approach for achieving efficiencies is unclear because the agency did not assess alternative structural approaches to improving regional operations and creating efficiencies. The plan is limited because it considers only the Eastern Region and not the overall regional structure, which is to be considered in the agency's follow-on study of the current reorganization plan. Although the closure of the area offices is likely to improve efficiency, the planned study to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress authorized the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program to help federal land management agencies provide high-quality recreational opportunities to visitors and protect resources. The program focuses on recreational activities at the following four land management agencies: the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service. Under the fee demonstration program, participating agencies can collect fees at several sites and use them to (1) enhance visitor services, (2) address a backlog of needs for repair and maintenance, and (3) manage and protect resources. The agencies applied "entrance fees" for basic admission to an area and "user fees" for specific activities such as camping or launching a boat. Under the law, 80 percent of program revenue must be used at the site where it was collected. The rest may be distributed to other sites that may or may not be participating in the demonstration program. Some of the sites GAO surveyed experimented with innovative fee designs and collection methods, such as reducing fees during off-peak seasons and allowing visitors to use credit cards, but room for additional innovation exists, particularly …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Financial relationships between individual investigators or their research institutions and private industry have yielded significant results, including treatments for such diseases as AIDS and strokes. However, some collaborations have raised concerns that the focus on financial reward might compromise the integrity of the research and the safety of human research subjects. GAO reviewed five universities with broad policies and procedures on financial conflicts of interest. All five had difficulty providing basic data on individual investigators' financial conflicts of interest in clinical research involving human subjects. The universities acknowledged a need for better coordination of information on investigators' financial relationships, and several universities were developing ways to do so. Policies and procedures at the five universities addressed financial conflicts of interest affecting institutions, including technology transfer activities and financial relationships with small start-up companies that market products developed by the universities. The Department of Health and Human Services has had limited success in promoting the integrity of biomedical research and protecting human subjects. HHS has taken steps to improve its oversight and monitoring and has drafted guidance on financial conflicts of interest, but this guidance does not …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's recent performance and accountability series report on the Small Business Administration (SBA) described major management challenges and program risks to efficient delivery of services. However, that report did not discuss how well SBA's organization was aligned to achieve its mission. GAO found that SBA's current structure contributes to the challenges SBA faces in delivering services to the small business community. In particular, ineffective lines of communication; confusion over the mission of district offices; complicated, overlapping organizational relationships; and a field structure not consistently matched with mission requirements combine to impede the effective deliver of services. Restructuring efforts by other federal agencies may prove instructive in addressing the problems with SBA's current structure. Efforts at other agencies also demonstrate the need for buy-in from both internal and external stakeholders and the importance of agency efforts to consider the human impact of restructuring activities, including the closure of field offices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Justice's fiscal year 2000 performance report and fiscal year 2002 performance plan required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and assesses Justice's progress in achieving selected key outcomes that were identified as important mission areas. Justice's overall progress toward achieving the key outcomes was difficult to ascertain because generally the performance report lacked fiscal year 2000 performance targets to measure success and lacked clear linkage between performance measures and outcomes. Justice did not set fiscal year 2000 performance targets for some measures because the measures were new, and for some measures Justice believes that setting performance targets could cause the public to perceive law enforcement as engaging in "bounty hunting" or pursuing arbitrary targets merely for the sake of meeting particular goals. Justice's strategies varied in the extent to which they included sufficient information to inform decisionmakers about initiatives to achieve these outcomes. GAO notes opportunities for Justice to improve the usefulness of its reports and plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Stockpile is composed of strategic and critical materials that can be used in times of national emergency. The stockpile was established to minimize dependence on foreign sources of these materials. Because of changes in mobilization planning and modernization of weapon systems, stockpiling requirements for many materials have been reduced dramatically during the last two decades. The Defense Logistic Agency's Defense National Stockpile Center manages the stockpile program and is responsible for the sale of materials that exceed stockpile requirements. Concerns have arisen over whether existing cash balances and projected collections from stockpile gross sales will meet all expected stockpile transaction fund outlays for fiscal years 2000-2010. GAO found that the National Defense Stockpile transaction fund's projected long-term outlays exceed projected collections from gross sales. The projections do not include all likely outlays, so the timing and size of a gap between available funds and outlays is unclear."

Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union June 1940, and regained its independence on August 27, 1991. Shortly thereafter, Moldova faced challenges from Turkic-speaking Gagauz and ethnic Russians, both residing in Moldova's Dniestr valley, who proclaimed separatist "republics." Other challenges facing Moldovans include pursuing economic reform and choosing between potential reunification with their ethnic cohorts in Romania and forging an independent identity.

The PEPC Spreader Bar Assembly consists of a spreader bar that will be attached to the PEPC Cell Housing or the Midplane Transportation Fixture during operation. While in use in the OAB (Optics Assembly Building), the Spreader Bar Assembly will be manipulated by the NOID (New Optics Insertion Device). The other critical components of the assembly are the three angular contact bearing swivels that attach the spreader bar to the lifting mechanism and the corner clamps which are used to capture the Cell Housing.

This Operational Requirements Document (ORD) describes the capabilities that need to be incorporated in the NCC interactive simulation system being developed under the auspices of the NCC development program. The ORD addresses the necessary capabilities (i.e. what the system needs to be able to do); it defines the envelope of situations and circumstances that the NCC system must be able to represent and operate within. The NCC system will be developed in modules over a period of several years. This ORD, Version 2, supersedes the previous version. Future updates of this ORD are anticipated to be issued as needed to guide the development of later versions of the NCC system.

This report provides summaries of release models used in Hanford Site assessments published over the past 14 years (1987 to 2001). Mathematical formulations that commonly have been used in recent years (i.e., salt-cake, cement, soil-debris, reactor block, glass, and corrosion) are described, along with associated parameter definitions and their units. Tables in this report provide links to data sources needed to implement the models. These links enable users to quickly locate the specific release model information and data sources they need for applying the models to future to site assessments.

The natural and engineered system at Yucca Mountain (YM) defines the site-specific conditions under which one must determine to what extent the engineered and the natural geochemical barriers will prevent the release of radioactive material from the repository. Most important mechanisms for retention or enhancement of radionuclide transport include precipitation or co-precipitation of radionuclide-bearing solid phases (solubility limits), complexation in solution, sorption onto surfaces, colloid formation, and diffusion. There may be many scenarios that could affect the near-field environment, creating chemical conditions more aggressive than the conditions presented by the unperturbed system (such as pH changes beyond the range of 6 to 9 or significant changes in the ionic strength of infiltrated waters). For an extended period of time, the near-field water composition may be quite different and more extreme in pH, ionic strength, and CO{sub 2} partial pressure (or carbonate concentration) than waters at some distance from the repository. Reducing conditions, high pH (up to 11), and low carbonate concentration may be present in the near-field after reaction of infiltrating groundwater with engineered barrier systems, such as cementitious materials. In the far-field, conditions are controlled by the rock-mass buffer providing a near-neutral, oxidizing, low-ionic-strength environment that controls radionuclide solubility …

Reported herein are results from the Eril Research, Inc.(ERI) participationin the NASA Johnson Space Center sponsored studycharacterizing the radiation shielding properties of the two types ofspace suit that astronauts are wearing during the EVA on-orbit assemblyof the International Space Station (ISS). Measurements using passivedetectors were carried out to assess the shielding properties of the USEMU Suit and the Russian Orlan-M suit during irradiations of the suitsand a tissue equivalent phantom to monoenergetic proton and electronbeams at the Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC). Duringirradiations of 6 MeV electrons and 60 MeV protons, absorbed dose as afunction of depth was measured using TLDs exposed behind swatches of thetwo suit materials and inside the two EVA helmets. Considerable reductionin electron dosewas measured behind all suit materials in exposures to 6MeV electrons. Slowing of the proton beam in the suit materials led to anincrease in dose measured in exposures to 60 MeV protons. During 232 MeVproton irradiations, measurements were made with TLDs and CR-39 PNTDs atfive organ locations inside a tissue equivalent phantom, exposed bothwith and without the two EVA suits. The EVA helmets produce a 13 to 27percent reduction in total dose and a 0 to 25 percent reduction in doseequivalent when …

The objective of this calculation is to determine the structural response of the waste package (WP) dropped horizontally from a specified height. The WP used for that purpose is the 21-Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) WP. The scope of this document is limited to reporting the calculation results in terms of stress intensities. The information provided by the sketches (Attachment I) is that of the potential design of the type of WP considered in this calculation, and all obtained results are valid for that design only. This calculation is associated with the WP design and was performed by the Waste Package Design group in accordance with the ''Technical Work Plan for: Waste Package Design Description for LA'' (Ref. 16). AP-3.12Q, ''Calculations'' (Ref. 11) is used to perform the calculation and develop the document. The sketches attached to this calculation provide the potential dimensions and materials for the 21-PWR WP design.

Anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells with Ni + yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode, YSZ-samaria-doped ceria (SDC) bi-layer electrolyte and Sr-doped LaCoO{sub 3} (LSC) + SDC cathode were fabricated. Fuel used consisted of H{sub 2} diluted with He, N{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O or CO{sub 2}, mixtures of H{sub 2} and CO, and mixtures of CO and CO{sub 2}. Cell performance was measured at 800 C with above-mentioned fuel gas mixtures and air as oxidant. For a given concentration of the diluent, the cell performance was higher with He as the diluent than with N{sub 2} as the diluent. Mass transport through porous Ni-YSZ anode for H{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O, CO-CO{sub 2} binary systems and H{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O-diluent gas ternary systems was analyzed using multicomponent gas diffusion theory. At high concentrations of the diluent, the maximum achievable current density was limited by the anodic concentration polarization. From this measured limiting current density, the corresponding effective gas diffusivity was estimated. Highest effective diffusivity was estimated for fuel gas mixtures containing H{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O-He mixtures ({approx}0.34 cm{sup 2}/s), and the lowest for CO-CO{sub 2} mixtures ({approx}0.07 cm{sup 2}/s). The lowest performance was observed with CO-CO{sub 2} mixture as a fuel, which in part was attributed to …

Washability analysis is the basis for nearly all coal preparation plant separations. Unfortunately, there are no on- line techniques for determining this most fundamental of all coal cleaning information. In light of recent successes at the University of Utah, it now appears possible to determine coal washability on-line through the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) analysis. The successful development of such a device is critical to the establishment of process control and automated coal blending systems. In this regard, Virginia Tech, Terra Tek Inc., and U.S. coal producers have joined with the University of Utah and to undertake the development of an X-ray CT-based on- line coal washability analyzer with financial assistance from DOE. Each project participant brought special expertise to the project in order to create a new dimension in coal cleaning technology. The project involves development of appropriate software and extensive testing/evaluation of well-characterized coal samples from operating coal preparation plants. Data collected to date suggest that this new technology is capable of serving as a universal analyzer that can not only provide washability analysis, but also particle size distribution analysis, ash analysis, and perhaps pyritic sulfur analysis.

8 nm thick Ag films were sputter deposited onto amorphous TiO{sub 2} underlayers 25 nm thick, and also amorphous TiO{sub 2} (25 nm)/ZnO (5 nm) multiunderlayers. The substrates were back-etched Si with a 50 nm thick LPCVD Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} electron transparent membrane. The ZnO, sputtered onto amorphous TiO{sub 2}, formed a continuous layer with a grain size of 5 nm in diameter, on the order of the film thickness. There are several microstructural differences in the Ag dependent on the underlayers, revealed by TEM. First a strong {l_brace}0001{r_brace} ZnO to {l_brace}111{r_brace} Ag fibre-texture relationship exists. On TiO{sub 2} the Ag microstructure shows many abnormal grains whose average diameter is about 60-80 nm, whereas the films on ZnO show few abnormal grains. The background matrix of normal grains on the TiO{sub 2} is roughly 15 nm, while the normal grain size on the ZnO is about 25 nm. Electron diffraction patterns show that the film on ZnO has a strong {l_brace}111{r_brace} orientation, and dark field images with this diffraction condition have a grain size of about 30 nm. In a region near the center of the TEM grid where there is the greatest local heating during deposition, Ag films grown …

This item constitutes the final report on ''Visionics: An integrated approach to analysis and design of intelligent machines.'' The report discusses dynamical systems approach to problems in robust control of possibly time-varying linear systems, problems in vision and visually guided control, and, finally, applications of these control techniques to intelligent navigation with a mobile platform. Robust design of a controller for a time-varying system essentially deals with the problem of synthesizing a controller that can adapt to sudden changes in the parameters of the plant and can maintain stability. The approach presented is to design a compensator that simultaneously stabilizes each and every possible mode of the plant as the parameters undergo sudden and unexpected changes. Such changes can in fact be detected by a visual sensor and, hence, visually guided control problems are studied as a natural consequence. The problem here is to detect parameters of the plant and maintain st ability in the closed loop using a ccd camera as a sensor. The main result discussed in the report is the role of perspective systems theory that was developed in order to analyze such a detection and control problem. The robust control algorithms and the visually guided control …

The 2-D radial vs. poloidal structure of edge turbulence in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak [I.H. Hutchinson, R. Boivin, P.T. Bonoli et al., Nuclear Fusion 41(2001) 1391] was measured using fast cameras and compared with 3-D numerical simulations of edge plasma turbulence. The main diagnostic is Gas Puff Imaging (GPI), in which the visible D(subscript alpha) emission from a localized D(subscript 2) gas puff is viewed along a local magnetic field line. The observed D(subscript alpha) fluctuations have a typical radial and poloidal scale of approximately 1 cm, and often have strong local maxima (''blobs'') in the scrape-off layer. The motion of this 2-D structure motion has also been measured using an ultra-fast framing camera with 12 frames taken at 250,000 frames/sec. Numerical simulations produce turbulent structures with roughly similar spatial and temporal scales and transport levels as that observed in the experiment; however, some differences are also noted, perhaps requiring diagnostic improvement and/or additional physics in the numerical model.

The U.S. has generally lacked the capability for an iterative process of detailed structural design, manufacturing, and testing at the full blade level to achieve specific structural performance, cost, and weight targets. This project examined the effects that different composites processing methods had on the performance of representative blade substructures. In addition, the results of the testing of these substructures was used to validate NuMAD, the design tool developed at Sandia National Laboratories.

This report has been prepared to provide low-income advocates and other stakeholders information on the energy burden faced by low-income customers and programs designed to alleviate that burden in various states. The report describes programs designed to lower payments, manage arrearages, weatherize and provide other energy efficiency measures, educate consumers, increase outreach to the target It discusses the costs and benefits of the population, and evaluate the programs. various options--to the degree this information is available--and describes attempts to quantify benefits that have heretofore not been quantified. The purpose of this report is to enable the low-income advocates and others to assess the options and design program most suitable for the citizens of their states or jurisdictions. It is not the authors' intent to recommend a particular course of action but, based on our broad experience in the field, to provide the information necessary for others to do so. We would be happy to answer any questions or provide further documentation on any of the material presented herein. The original edition of this report was prepared for the Utah Committee on Consumer Services, pursuant to a contract with the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), to provide information to the Utah …