A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As part of the Committee on Government Reform's continuing focus on pay and financial issues affecting Army soldiers deployed in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), the requesters were concerned that battle-injured soldiers were not only battling the broken military pay system, but faced blemishes on their credit reports and pursuit by collection agencies from referrals of their Army debts. GAO was asked to determine (1) the extent of debt of separated battle-injured soldiers and deceased Army soldiers who served in the GWOT, (2) the impact of DOD debt collection action on separated battle-injured and deceased soldiers and their families, and (3) ways that Congress could make the process for collecting these debts more soldier friendly."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Alaska Native corporations (ANC) were created to settle land claims with Alaska Natives and foster economic development. In 1986, legislation passed that allowed ANCs to participate in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program. Since then, Congress has extended special procurement advantages to 8(a) ANC firms, such as the ability to win sole-source contracts for any dollar amount. This report identifies (1) trends in the government's 8(a) contracting with ANC firms, (2) the reasons agencies have awarded 8(a) sole-source contracts to ANC firms and the facts and circumstances behind some of these contracts, and (3) how ANCs are using the 8(a) program. GAO also evaluated SBA's oversight of 8(a) ANC firms."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The President's Vision for Space Exploration calls for human and robotic missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. In response, over the next two decades, NASA may spend $100 billion on new technologies and facilities that will require reliable ground communications to achieve those missions. Presently, that communications capability is provided by NASA's Deep Space Network--a system of antennas located at three sites around the world. However, the Network faces challenges that may hinder its provision of current and future mission support. This report discusses (1) the significant operational challenges faced by the Deep Space Network and (2) the extent to which NASA is integrating the Network into its future communications plans."

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Excavation of the 618-2 Burial Ground has produced many items of anomalous waste. Prior to temporary packaging and/or storage, these items have been characterized in the field to identify radiological and industrial safety conditions.

iSHIELD11 performs a line-source numerical integration of radiation source terms that are defined by the iSHIELD11 computer code[1] . An example is provided to demonstrate how one can use iSHIELD11 to perform a shielding analysis for a 250 GeV electron linear accelerator.

Re-entry vehicles on missiles launched at Vandenberg Air Force base in California re-enter at the Western Test Range, the Regan Test Site (RTS) at Kwajalein Atoll. An environmental Assessment (EA) was written at the beginning of the program to assess potential impact of Depleted Uranium (DU) and Beryllium (Be), the major RV materials of interest from a health and environmental perspective. The chemical and structural form of DU and Be in RVs is such that they are insoluble in soil water and sea water. Consequently, residual concentrations of DU and Be observed in soil on the island are not expected to be toxic to plant life because there is essentially no soil to plant uptake. Similarly, due to their insolubility in sea water there is no uptake of either element by marine biota including fish, mollusks, shellfish and sea mammals. No increase in either element has been observed in sea life around Illeginni Island where deposition of DU and Be has occurred. The critical terrestrial exposure pathway for U and Be is inhalation. Concentration of both elements in air over the test period (1989 to 2006) is lower by a factor of 10,000 than the most restrictive U.S. guideline for …

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This report discusses about energy tax policy. U.S energy tax policy promoted the supply of oil and gas but witnessed significant cutback, imposition of new excise taxes on oil and introduction of numerous tax preferences for energy conservation.

The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 authorized a drinking water state revolving loan fund program to help public water systems finance infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to protect public health.

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The purpose of this research was the development and application of theoretical/computational methods for accurate predictions of the rates of reactions in many-atom systems. The specific aim was to improve computational methods for studying the chemical dynamics of large, complex systems and to obtain a better understanding of the chemical reactions involving large polyatomic molecules and radicals. The focus was on the development an automatic potential energy surface generation algorithm that takes advantage of high-performance computing environments; e.g., software for rate calculations that direct quantum chemistry codes to produce ab initio predictions of reaction rates and related dynamics quantities. Specifically, we developed interpolative moving least-squares (IMLS) methods for accurately fitting ab initio energies to provide global PESs and for use in direct dynamics simulations.

A systematic approach to manage hydrogen leakage from components is presented. Methods to evaluate the quantity of hydrogen leakage and permeation from a system are provided by calculation and testing sensitivities. The following technology components of a leak management program are described: (1) Methods to evaluate hydrogen gas loss through leaks; (2) Methods to calculate opening areas of crack like defects; (3) Permeation of hydrogen through metallic piping; (4) Code requirements for acceptable flammability limits; (5) Methods to detect flammable gas; (6) Requirements for adequate ventilation in the vicinity of the hydrogen system; (7) Methods to calculate dilution air requirements for flammable gas mixtures; and (8) Concepts for reduced leakage component selection and permeation barriers.

A comprehensive test ban treaty, or CTBT, is the oldest item on the nuclear arms control agenda. Three treaties currently limit testing to underground only, with a maximum force equal to 150,000 tons of TNT. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the United States conducted 1,030 nuclear tests, the Soviet Union 715, the United Kingdom 45, France 210, and China 45. The last U.S. test was held in 1992; the last U.K. test, in 1991. Russia claims it has not conducted nuclear tests since 1991.