Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

The Annual Energy Outlook 1999 (AEO99) presents midterm forecasts of energy supply, demand, and prices through 2020 prepared by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The projections are based on results from EIA`s National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). The report begins with an Overview summarizing the AEO99 reference case. The next section, Legislation and Regulations, describes the assumptions made with regard to laws that affect energy markets and discusses evolving legislative and regulatory issues. Issues in Focus discusses current energy issues--the economic decline in East Asia, growth in demand for natural gas, vehicle emissions standards, competitive electricity pricing, renewable portfolio standards, and carbon emissions. It is followed by the analysis of energy market trends. The analysis in AEO99 focuses primarily on a reference case and four other cases that assume higher and lower economic growth and higher and lower world oil prices than in the reference case. Forecast tables for these cases are provided in Appendixes A through C. Appendixes D and E present a summary of the reference case forecasts in units of oil equivalence and household energy expenditures. The AEO99 projections are based on Federal, State, and local laws and regulations in effect on July 1, 1998. Pending legislation …

In 1997, the US public and private sectors invested $205.7 billion in R and D. Private sector investments in R&D increased 34% between 1990 and 1997; over the same period the federal government decreased its expenditures by 15% in real terms. Projections of outyear federal budgets indicate the federal government will continue to reduce its investments in R&D for the foreseeable future. Defense R&D continues to be the largest area of concentration for federal government's R&D investments, with defense R&D accounting for 54% of all federal R&D outlays in 1998. Defense R&D is funded at a level which is three times higher than health R&D. Health R&D has experienced the largest inflation-adjusted increases of any federal R&D program, up 21% in real terms since 1990. US national (i.e., public and private) investments in energy R and D currently stand at a 23-year low of $4.4 billion in 1996. Federal support for energy R&D has declined 22% in real terms between 1990 and 1996. Federal energy R&D investments are also undergoing changes in priority. Fossil energy R&D programs are at the beginning of a potentially significant change away from''clean coal'' technology development programs and towards more fundamental research on ways to …

The Annual Energy Outlook 1998 (AEO98) is the first AEO with projections to 2020. Key issues for the forecast extension are trends in energy efficiency improvements, the effects of increasing production and productivity improvements on energy prices, and the reduction in nuclear generating capacity. Projections in AEO98 also reflect a greater shift to electricity market restructuring. Restructuring is addressed through several changes that are assumed to occur in the industry, including a shorter capital recovery period for capacity expansion decisions and a revised financial structure that features a higher cost of capital as the result of higher competitive risk. Both assumptions tend to favor less capital-intensive generation technologies, such as natural gas, over coal or baseload renewable technologies. The forecasts include specific restructuring plans in those regions that have announced plans. California, New York, and New England are assumed to begin competitive pricing in 1998. The provisions of the California legislation for stranded cost recovery and price caps are incorporated. In New York and New England, stranded cost recovery is assumed to be phased out by 2008.

This report discusses results from several studies involved in the project. Investigations include: vibrational models for surface olefins and alkylidenes; mechanism of the formation and fragmentation of diosmacyclobutanes; reaction of dienes and allenes with diosmacyclobutanes; determination by nematic phase NMR of the structure of mononuclear and dinuclear ethylene complexes of osmium; and generation of ``coordinatively unsaturated`` complexes by protonation of methyl osmium complexes.

The Annual Energy Outlook 1997 (AEO97) presents midterm forecasts of energy supply, demand, and prices through 2015 prepared by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). These projections are based on results of EIA`s National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). This report begins with a summary of the reference case, followed by a discussion of the legislative assumptions and evolving legislative and regulatory issues. ``Issues in Focus`` discusses emerging energy issues and other topics of particular interest. It is followed by the analysis of energy market trends. The analysis in AEO97 focuses primarily on a reference case and four other cases that assume higher and lower economic growth and higher and lower world oil prices than in the reference case. Forecast tables for these cases are provided in Appendixes A through C. Appendixes D and E present summaries of the reference case forecasts in units of oil equivalence and household energy expenditures. Twenty-three other cases explore the impacts of varying key assumptions in NEMS--generally, technology penetration, with the major results shown in Appendix F. Appendix G briefly describes NEMS and the major AEO97 assumptions, with a summary table. 114 figs., 22 tabs.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-0347) on the proposed surface remediation of the Maybell uranium mill processing site in Moffat County, Colorado. The mill site contains radioactively contaminated materials from processing uranium ore that would be stabilized in place at the existing tailings pile location. Based on the analysis in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action does not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, Public Law 91-190 (42 U.S.C. {section}4321 et seq.), as amended. Therefore, preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

The SLD upgrade CCD vertex detector (VXD3) is described. Its 307 million pixels are assembled from 96 3.2 Mpixel CCDs of 13 cm{sup 2} each. The system has evolved from the pioneering CCD vertex detector VXD2, which has operated in SLD since 1992. The CCDs of VXD3 are mounted on beryllium ladders in three cylinders, providing three space point measurements along each track of about 5 microns resolution in all three co-ordinates. Significant improvements are achieved with VXD3 in impact parameter resolution (about a factor of two) and acceptance ({approximately}20%) through optimized geometry and reduced material. New readout electronics have been developed for this system.

The Colorado economic impact study summarizes employment and economic benefits to the state from activities associated with the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project during Colorado state fiscal year 1994 (1 July 1993 through 30 June 1994). To capture employment information, a questionnaire was distributed to subcontractor employees at the active UMTRA Project sites of Grand Junction, Naturita, Gunnison, and Rifle, Colorado. Economic data were requested from each site prime subcontractor, as well as from the Remedial Action Contractor. Information on wages, taxes, and subcontract expenditures in combination with estimates and economic multipliers is used to estimate the dollar economic benefits to Colorado during the state fiscal year. Finally, the fiscal year 1994 estimates are compared to fiscal year 1993 employment and economic information.

Six reports by independent accountants of the financial statements of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1994 are presented. The audits were performed on the financial statements on the (1) schedule of federal awards, (2) internal control structure, (3) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grants, (4) the internal control structure used in administering federal awards, (5) compliance with general requirements, (6) compliance with specific requirements applicable to non-major program actions.

The Gunnison, Colorado, abandoned uranium mill site is one site being cleaned up by the DOE under UMTRCA authority. This site`s contaminated material is being transported to a disposal site on US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land east of Gunnison. Remedial action activities have temporarily disturbed 0.8 acre (ac) (0.3 hectares [ha]) of wetlands and permanently eliminated 4.3 ac (1.7 ha). As required by the Clean Water Act, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prepared a Section 404 Permit that addresses the loss of wetlands as a result of remedial action at the Gunnison UMTRA Project site. The 404 permit includes this report as an attachment and it describes the wetland mitigation and monitoring plan. The DOE formulated this plan in consultation with the BLM and the USACE. This report represents a revised version of the mitigation and monitoring plan (DOE, 1992b).

This report was prepared in response to US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) comments received in a letter of 8 March 1994. This letter included discussions of the US Department of Energy (DOE) 21 May 1993 geomorphic report for the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, site. To clarify the NRC`s position, a DOE/NRC conference call was held on 12 April 1994. The NRC clarified that it did not require a preliminary erosion protection design for the Canonsburg site, but directed the DOE to address a ``one-bad-year`` scenario. The NRC wants confirmation that one bad year of stream flooding and landsliding will not release residual radioactive material (RRM) from the Canonsburg site into the creek. The NRC is concerned that a bad year theoretically could occur between postcell-closure inspections. These annual inspections are conducted in September or October. The NRC suggested that the following procedures should be conducted in this analysis: a flooding analysis, including the maximum saturation levels (flood water elevations) anticipated during a 100-year flood; a stream bank erosion analysis to determine how much of the bank adjacent to the site may be removed in a bad year; a slope stability analysis to determine how far back the site would be disturbed by …

The purpose of the research project was to investigate the feasibility of the chemically assisted in situ retort method for recovering shale oil from Colorado oil shale. The chemically assisted in situ procedure uses hydrogen chloride (HCl), steam (H{sub 2}O), and carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) at moderate pressure to recovery shale oil from Colorado oil shale at temperatures substantially lower than those required for the thermal decomposition of kerogen. The process had been previously examined under static, reaction-equilibrium conditions, and had been shown to achieve significant shale oil recoveries from powdered oil shale. The purpose of this research project was to determine if these results were applicable to a dynamic experiment, and achieve penetration into and recovery of shale oil from solid oil shale. Much was learned about how to perform these experiments. Corrosion, chemical stability, and temperature stability problems were discovered and overcome. Engineering and design problems were discovered and overcome. High recovery (90% of estimated Fischer Assay) was observed in one experiment. Significant recovery (30% of estimated Fischer Assay) was also observed in another experiment. Minor amounts of freed organics were observed in two more experiments. Penetration and breakthrough of solid cores was observed in six experiments.

The direct partial oxidation of CH{sub 4} to CH{sub 3}OH has been studied in a non-permselective, non-isothermal catalytic membrane reactor system. A cooling tube introduced coaxially inside a tubular membrane reactor quenches the product stream rapidly so that further oxidation of CH{sub 3}OH is inhibited. Selectivity for CH{sub 3}OH formation is significantly higher with quenching than in experiments without quenching. For CH{sub 4} conversion of 4% to 7% CH{sub 3}OH selectivity is 40% to 50% with quenching and 25% to 35% without quenching.

Cellulase (CBHI) was modified by bis (2,2- bipyridine) ruthenium (II) and the modified enzyme was assayed for cellulase activity using p- nitrophenyl beta-D-cellobioside as substrate. Absorption spectroscopy of native and modified CBHI was also conducted.

At two uranium mill sites in Rifle, Colorado, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project is removing uranium mill tailings and contaminated subgrade soils. This remediation activity will result in the production of groundwater contaminated with uranium, heavy metals, ammonia, sulfates, and total dissolved solids (TDS). The initial remediation plan called for a wastewater treatment plant for removal of the uranium, heavy metals, and ammonia, with disposal of the treated water, which still includes the sulfates and TDSS, to the Colorado River. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination (NPDES) permit issued by the Colorado Department of Health for the two Rifle sites contained more restrictive discharge limits than originally anticipated. During the detailed review of alternate treatment systems to meet these more restrictive limits, the proposed construction procedures were reviewed emphasizing the methods to minimize groundwater production to reduce the size of the water treatment facility, or to eliminate it entirely. It was determined that with changes to the excavation procedures and use of the contaminated groundwater for use in dust suppression at the disposal site, discharge to the river could be eliminated completely.

This Baseline Risk Assessment of Groundwater Contamination at the Uranium Mill Tailings Site Near Gunnison, Colorado evaluates potential impacts to public health or the environment resulting from groundwater contamination at the former uranium mill processing site. The tailings and other contaminated material at this site are being placed in an off-site disposal cell by the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project. Currently, the UMTRA Project is evaluating groundwater contamination. This is the second risk assessment of groundwater contamination at this site. The first risk assessment was performed primarily to evaluate existing domestic wells. This risk assessment evaluates the most contaminated monitor wells at the processing site. It will be used to assist in determining what remedial action is needed for contaminated groundwater at the site after the tailings are relocated. This risk assessment follows an approach outlined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The first step is to evaluate groundwater data collected from monitor wells at the site. Evaluation of these data showed that the main contaminants in the groundwater are cadmium, cobalt, iron, manganese, sulfate, uranium, and some of the products of radioactive decay of uranium.

The Colorado economic impact study summarizes employment and economic benefits to the state from activities associated with the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project during Colorado state fiscal year 1993 (July 1, 1992, through June 30, 1993). To capture employment benefits, a questionnaire was distributed to subcontractor employees at the active UMTRA Project sites of Grand Junction, Rifle, and Gunnison, Colorado. An estimated 52 percent of the employees working on the UMTRA Project responded to this information request. Economic data were requested from each site prime subcontractor, as well as from the Remedial Action Contractor. The most significant benefits associated with the UMTRA Project in Colorado are summarized.

This long-term surveillance plan (LTSP) for the Lakeview, Oregon, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project disposal site describes the surveillance activities for the Lakeview (Collins Ranch) disposal cell, which will be referred to as the Collins Ranch disposal cell throughout this document. The US Department of Energy (DOE) will carry out these activities to ensure that the disposal cell continues to function as designed. This final LTSP was prepared as a requirement for acceptance under the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) general license for custody and long-term care of residual radioactive materials. This LTSP documents whether the land and interests are owned by the United States or an Indian tribe, and details how the long-term care of the disposal site will be carried out. It is based on the DOE`s Guidance for Implementing the UMTRA Project Long-term Surveillance Program (DOE, 1992a).

The long-term surveillance plan (LTSP) for the Shiprock, New Mexico, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project disposal site describes the surveillance activities for the Shiprock disposal cell. The US Department of Energy (DOE) will carry out these activities to ensure that the disposal cell continues to function as designed. This final LTSP is being submitted to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a requirement for issuance of a general license for custody and long-term care for the disposal site. The general license requires that the disposal cell be cared for in accordance with the provisions of this LTSP. This Shiprock, New Mexico, LTSP documents whether the land and interests are owned by the US or an Indian tribe and describes in detail the long-term care program through the UMTRA Project Office.

Surface and subsurface soil cleanup protocols for the Gunnison, Colorado, processing site are summarized as follows: In accordance with EPA-promulgated land cleanup standards, in situ Ra-226 is to be cleaned up based on bulk concentrations not exceeding 5 and 15 pCi/g in 15-cm surface and subsurface depth increments, averaged over 100m{sup 2} grid blocks, where the parent Ra-226 concentrations are greater than, or in secular equilibrium with, the Th-230 parent. In locations where Th-230 has differentially migrated in subsoil relative to Ra-226, a Th-230 clean up protocol has been developed. The cleanup of other radionuclides or nonradiological hazards that pose a significant threat to the public and the environment will be determined and implemented in accordance with pathway analysis to assess impacts and the implications of ALARA specified in 40 CFR Part 192 relative to supplemental standards.

The purpose of this water sampling and analysis plan (WSAP) is to provide a basis for groundwater and surface water sampling at the Green River Uranium Mill Tailing Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project site. This WSAP identifies and justifies the sampling locations, analytical parameters, detection limits, and sampling frequency for the monitoring locations.

A phase II study has been initiated to investigate surfactant-assisted coal liquefaction, with the objective of quantifying the enhancement in liquid yields and product quality. This publication covers the first quarter of work. The major accomplishments were: (1) the refurbishment of the high-pressure, high-temperature reactor autoclave, (2) the completion of four coal liquefaction runs with Pittsburgh [number sign]8 coal, two each with and without sodium lignosulfonate surfactant, and (3) the development of an analysis scheme for the product liquid filtrate and filter cake. Initial results at low reactor temperatures show that the addition of the surfactant produces an improvement in conversion yields and an increase in lighter boiling point fractions for the filtrate.

A phase II study has been initiated to investigate surfactant-assisted coal liquefaction, with the objective of quantifying the enhancement in liquid yields and product quality. This publication covers the first quarter of work. The major accomplishments were: (1) the refurbishment of the high-pressure, high-temperature reactor autoclave, (2) the completion of four coal liquefaction runs with Pittsburgh {number_sign}8 coal, two each with and without sodium lignosulfonate surfactant, and (3) the development of an analysis scheme for the product liquid filtrate and filter cake. Initial results at low reactor temperatures show that the addition of the surfactant produces an improvement in conversion yields and an increase in lighter boiling point fractions for the filtrate.