BS>Two-group, two-region criticality calculations were made for 10 and 11 ft diameter tanks. The 10 ft tank required a core radius of 102 cm and the 11 ft tank a core radius of 95 cm for criticality. In the calculations, the fluxes were assumed to go to zero at the edge oi the graphite reflector. The fast group of the two-group calculation was broken down into 3 fast groups. The leakage out of the core and reflector for the 4 energy groups is given. (M.C.G.)

Plutonium assay differences are frequently observed between laboratories exchanging plutonium dioxide powders. These differences are commonly the result of chemical changes and/or nonhomogeneities in sampled materials. The irregularities are often caused by moisture absorption during sampling, packaging, shipment, and storage of the materials. A method is proposed which eliminates the effects of chemical change in samples, particularly moisture absorption, and minimizes sampling error. A nondestructive thermal watts/gram test on every preweighed sampled and total dissolution of these samples for chemical assay are the primary features which make this method effective. Because this method minimizes the error related to exchange material, it is possible to design an interlaboratory exchange program which demonstrates the assay capabiliies of the participants. In an experiment performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, three PuO/sub 2/ batches of varying isotopic composition were synthesized at Mound to be used in the exchange tess. Powder sample aliquots from each batch were weighed directly into their vials under controlled atmospheric conditions. Calorimetric heat measurements were made on each vial to test homogeneity and verify sample weight. Six vials of each batch were chemically assayed at Mound and six at NBL (New Brunswick Laboratory). Both laboratories chose controlled-potential coulometry …

Molybdenum and tungsten hexafluorides form the solids nitrosylium pentafluoroxymolybdate(VI) and -tungstate(VI), respectively. Uranium hexafluoride gives nitrosylium hexafluorouranate(V) STANOUF/sub 6/!, the same salt that it forms with nitric oxide. (auth)

Removal of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) from the flue gas of coal- burning power plants can be achieved by duct spray drying using calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH){sub 2}) slurries. A primary objective of this research was to discover the aspects of mass transfer into Ca(OH){sub 2} slurries which limit SO{sub 2} absorption. A bench- scale stirred tank reactor with a flat gas/liquid interface was used to simulate SO{sub 2} absorption in a slurry droplet. The absorption rate of SO{sub 2} from gas concentrations of 500 to 5000 ppm was measured at 55{degrees}C in clear solutions and slurries of Ca(OH){sub 2} up to 1.0 M (7 wt percent). Results are reported in terms of the enhancement factor, {O}. This research will allow prediction of conditions where the absorption of SO{sub 2} in Ca(OH){sub 2} slurries can be enhanced by changes to liquid phase constituents (under which SO{sub 2} absorption is controlled by liquid film mass transfer). Experiments in the stirred tank have shown that SO{sub 2} absorption in a 1.0 M Ca(OH){sub 2} slurry was completely dominated by gas film mass transfer with a large excess of Ca(OH){sub 2} but becomes controlled by liquid film resistance at greater than 50 percent Ca(OH){sub …

The beam breakup mode has been observed and measured on ETA. Comparison between the measurements and the results of a computer code indicate that the beam breakup instability will be the most important limitation on current transport thru ATA. ETA Experiments that will enable a more accurate determination of the magnitude of the instability on ATA are discussed.

This report gives an overview of the issues related to federal or state laws that condition the initial or ongoing receipt of governmental benefits on passing drug tests. These regulations are vulnerable to constitutional challenge, most often due to issues of personal privacy and Fourth Amendment protections against "unreasonable searches."

This report summarizes congressional authorization and appropriations processes for the Army Corps of Engineers. It also discusses agency activities under general authorities. Congress directs the Corps through authorizations, appropriations, and oversight of its studies, construction projects, and other activities.

This report discusses the current political conditions of Cuba as well as its relationship with the United States. In particular, the report focuses on U.S. policy regarding Cuba including various economic sanctions, human rights issues, and foreign aid appropriations.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting public health by regulating products such as prescription drugs and vaccines and has the authority to investigate alleged criminal activity related to FDA-regulated products, for example on the sale of counterfeit drugs. Within FDA, the Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) investigates individuals and companies external to FDA. FDA also has the authority to investigate allegations of FDA employee misconduct and these internal investigations are conducted by the Office of Internal Affairs (OIA), a distinct office within OCI. GAO was asked to examine FDA's (1) oversight of OCI investigations, (2) oversight of OIA investigations, and (3) funding, staffing, and workload for OCI. GAO interviewed agency officials, reviewed FDA documents including those describing its investigative policies, and examined FDA data on OCI resources and workload, from fiscal years 1999 to 2008."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 2004 to 2012, the federal non-postal civilian workforce grew by 258,882 employees, from 1.88 million to 2.13 million (14 percent). Permanent career employees accounted for most of the growth, increasing by 256,718 employees, from 1.7 million in 2004 to 1.96 million in 2012 (15 percent). Three agencies--the Departments of Defense (DOD), Homeland Security (DHS), and Veterans Affairs (VA)--accounted for about 94 percent of this increase. At DOD, officials said that converting certain positions from military to civilian, as well as the growth of the agency's acquisition and cybersecurity workforce, contributed to this overall increase. At VA, officials said the increased demand for medical and health-related services for military veterans drove most of the growth in personnel levels. DHS officials said the increase in employment was due in large part to the nation's border security requirements. (In contrast, ten agencies had fewer career permanent employees in 2012 than they did in 2004). Government-wide, most of the increase in employment from 2004 to 2012 occurred within occupational categories that require higher skill and educational levels. These categories include professional occupations (e.g., doctors and scientists), and administrative occupations …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2005, Congress created a traumatic injury insurance benefit program, known as TSGLI, to help servicemembers with traumatic brain injury and other serious injuries with the financial burdens that they and their families face. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers the program, in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), while the branches of service are responsible for deciding servicemembers' claims. GAO examined (1) the TSGLI approval rate for traumatic brain injury claimants, and whether DOD and VA have assurance that claims are processed accurately, consistently, and in a timely manner and (2) any challenges servicemembers with traumatic brain injury may have faced in accessing TSGLI benefits, and the extent to which DOD and VA have taken steps to address such challenges. GAO analyzed program data and interviewed DOD and VA officials, servicemembers, and medical professionals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) is a multiyear, multibillion dollar program to deliver surveillance and decision-support technologies that create a virtual fence and situational awareness along the nation's borders with Mexico and Canada. Managed by DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP), SBInet is to strengthen CBP's ability to identify, deter, and respond to illegal breaches at and between border points of entry. Because of the program's importance, cost, and risks, GAO was asked to, among other things, determine (1) whether SBInet testing has been effectively managed, including the types of tests performed and whether they were well planned and executed, and (2) what the results of testing show. To do this, GAO reviewed test management documentation, including test plans, test cases, test procedures, and results relative to federal and related guidance, and interviewed program and contractor officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pension and other retiree benefits for state and local government employees represent liabilities for state and local governments and ultimately a burden for state and local taxpayers. Since 1986, accounting standards have required state and local governments to report their unfunded pension liabilities. Recently, however, standards changed and now call for governments also to report retiree health liabilities. The extent of these liabilities nationwide is not yet known, but some predict they will be very large, possibly exceeding a trillion dollars in present value terms. The federal government has an interest in assuring that all Americans have a secure retirement, as reflected in the federal tax deferral for contributions to both public and private pension plans. Consequently, the GAO was asked to examine: 1) the key measures of the funded status of retiree benefits and 2) the current funded status of retiree benefits. GAO analyzed data on public pensions, reviewed current literature, and interviewed a range of experts on public retiree benefits, actuarial science, and accounting."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allows Part D plans to utilize different tiers with different levels of cost sharing as a way of managing drug utilization and spending. One such tier, the specialty tier, is designed for high-cost drugs whose prices exceed a certain threshold set by CMS. Beneficiaries who use these drugs typically face higher out-of-pocket costs than beneficiaries who use only lower-cost drugs. GAO was asked to provide information about high-cost drugs eligible for a specialty tier. This report provides information on these drugs including spending under Medicare Part D in 2007, the most recent year for which claims data were available; how different cost-sharing structures could be expected to affect beneficiary out-of-pocket costs; how negotiated drug prices could be expected to affect beneficiary out-of-pocket costs; and information Part D plan sponsors reported on their ability to negotiate price concessions and to manage utilization. GAO examined CMS data, including 2007 claims data, negotiated price and out-of-pocket cost data for selected drugs--including the 10 highest-utilization specialty tier-eligible drugs in 2007--and plans from 2006 through 2009, and formulary information provided to CMS by …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks raised concerns about the security of Department of Energy's (DOE) sites with weapons-grade nuclear material, known as Category I Special Nuclear Material (SNM). To better protect these sites against attacks, DOE has sought to transform its protective forces protecting SNM into a Tactical Response Force (TRF) with training and capabilities similar to the U.S. military. DOE also has considered whether the current system of separate contracts for protective forces at each site provides sufficiently uniform, high-quality performance across its sites. Section 3124 of PL 110-181, the fiscal year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, directed GAO to review protective forces at DOE sites that possess Category I SNM. Among other things, GAO (1) analyzed information on the management and compensation of protective forces, (2) examined the implementation of TRF, and (3) assessed DOE's two options to more uniformly manage DOE protective forces."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is taking steps to address the health care needs of deployed servicewomen. For example, DOD has put in place policies and guidance that include female-specific aspects to help address the health care needs of servicewomen during deployment. Also, as part of pre-deployment preparations, servicewomen are screened for potentially deployment-limiting conditions, such as pregnancy, and DOD officials and health care providers with whom GAO met noted that such screening helps ensure that many female-specific health care needs are addressed prior to deployment. GAO also found that DOD components have conducted reviews of the health care needs of servicewomen during deployments and are collecting data on the medical services provided to deployed servicewomen."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated in 1999 that preventable medical errors cause as many as 98,000 deaths a year among hospital patients in the United States. Congress passed the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (the Patient Safety Act) to encourage health care providers to voluntarily report information on medical errors and other events--patient safety data--for analysis and to facilitate the development of improvements in patient safety using these data. The Patient Safety Act directed GAO to report on the law's effectiveness. This report describes progress by the Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to implement the Patient Safety Act by (1) creating a list of Patient Safety Organizations (PSO) so that these entities are authorized under the Patient Safety Act to collect patient safety data from health care providers to develop improvements in patient safety, and (2) implementing the network of patient safety databases (NPSD) to collect and aggregate patient safety data. These actions are important to complete before the law's effectiveness can be evaluated. To do its work, GAO interviewed AHRQ officials and their …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Dietary supplements and foods with added dietary ingredients, such as vitamins and herbs, constitute multibillion dollar industries. Past reports on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulation of these products raised concerns about product safety and the availability of reliable information. Since then, FDA published draft guidance on requirements for reporting adverse events--which are harmful effects or illnesses--and Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations for dietary supplements. GAO was asked to examine FDA's (1) actions to respond to the new serious adverse event reporting requirements, (2) ability to identify and act on concerns about the safety of dietary supplements, (3) ability to identify and act on concerns about the safety of foods with added dietary ingredients, and (4) actions to ensure that consumers have useful information about the safety and efficacy of supplements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Limitations in the intelligence community's (IC) inventory of contract personnel hinder the ability to determine the extent to which the eight civilian IC elements--the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and six components within the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and the Treasury--use these personnel. The IC Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) conducts an annual inventory of core contract personnel that includes information on the number and costs of these personnel. However, GAO identified a number of limitations in the inventory that collectively limit the comparability, accuracy, and consistency of the information reported by the civilian IC elements as a whole. For example, changes to the definition of core contract personnel and data shortcomings limit the comparability of the information over time. In addition, the civilian IC elements used various methods to calculate the number of contract personnel and did not maintain documentation to validate the number of personnel reported for 37 percent of the 287 records GAO reviewed. Further, IC CHCO did not fully disclose the effects of such limitations when reporting contract personnel and cost information …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Individuals can reduce their need for first responder assistance by preparing for a disaster. By law, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is to develop a National Preparedness System (NPS) that includes community preparedness programs. These programs account for less than 0.5 percent of FEMA's budget. They include the Citizen Corps Program (CCP) and partner programs, e.g., Fire Corps, which provide volunteers to assist first responders. FEMA's Ready Campaign promotes preparedness through mass media. GAO was asked to review federal efforts to promote community preparedness. GAO was asked to address (1) challenges, if any, FEMA faces in measuring the performance of CCP, its partner programs, and the Ready Campaign, and (2) actions, if any, FEMA has taken to develop a strategy to encompass how these programs are to operate within the context of the NPS. GAO analyzed documents on preparedness plans and strategies and compared reported performance data with observations during 12 site visits, selected primarily on the basis of major disasters. While not projectable, the results add insight."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nearly two-thirds of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) language services--offices that produce content for particular languages and regions-- overlap with another BBG service by providing programs to the same countries in the same languages. GAO identified 23 instances of overlap involving 43 of BBG's 69 services. For example, in 8 instances involving 16 services, a Voice of America service and a Radio Free Asia service overlapped. Almost all overlapping services also broadcast on the same platform (i.e., radio or television). BBG officials noted that some overlap may be helpful in providing news from various sources in countries of strategic interest to the United States; however, they acknowledged that overlap reduces the funding available for broadcasts that may have greater impact. BBG budget information indicates that BBG spent approximately $149 million in fiscal year 2011 to maintain language services broadcasting in the same countries and languages--nearly 20 percent of its total appropriations. However, BBG has not estimated the potential savings and efficiencies from reducing unnecessary overlap. Further, BBG's annual language service review--its primary means of prioritizing broadcast languages and planning resource allocations--does not systematically consider the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates industries that affect the lives of virtually all Americans. FCC-regulated industries provide Americans with daily access to communications services, including wireline and wireless telephone, radio, and television. To ensure FCC is carrying out its mission, the commission requires a significant amount of information, such as ownership and operating information from radio and television stations. In prior reports, GAO has found weaknesses with FCC's information collection, management, and reporting processes. While FCC has taken action, the commission has not implemented all the recommendations associated with information collection, management, and reporting. As requested, this report provides information on (1) the information FCC collects; (2) how FCC collects and manages information; (3) the strengths and weaknesses, if any, in FCC's information collection and management practices; and (4) the status of FCC's internal review of its information collection and management practices. To complete this work, GAO gathered information on FCC's information collection efforts, reviewed information collection and management practices for 30 collection instruments, interviewed agency officials and industry stakeholders, and reviewed relevant laws and guidance. FCC provided comments which discuss its efforts to improve …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A terrorist's use of a radiological dispersal device (RDD) or improvised nuclear device (IND) to release radioactive materials into the environment could have devastating consequences. GAO was asked to examine (1) the extent to which the federal government is planning to fulfill its responsibilities to help cities and their states clean up contaminated areas from RDD and IND incidents, (2) what is known about the federal government's capability to effectively clean up these contaminated areas, and (3) suggestions for improving federal preparedness to help cities and states recover from these incidents. The report also discusses recovery activities in the United Kingdom. GAO reviewed federal laws and guidance; interviewed officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Energy (DOE), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and surveyed emergency management officials from 13 cities at high risk of attack, their 10 states, and FEMA and EPA regional offices."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "With current rising unemployment rates and the need for a more skilled workforce, it is important for the Department of Labor's (Labor) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to invest in sound research that identifies the most effective and efficient ways to train and employ workers for 21st century jobs. While ETA traditionally has played an important role in providing job training, employment assistance, and labor market information for the nation's workers, the current unemployment crisis has made this role more critical. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that jobless rates have increased over the past year in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In particular, several states have reported unemployment rates well over 10 percent. As ETA's new leadership works to help the nation meet these economic challenges, it must have solid information that is supported by sound research to guide decision-making. Since 2002, GAO and others have criticized ETA for not focusing sufficient attention on its research program, particularly with regard to complying with congressional mandates, conducting policy-relevant research, and disseminating key research findings in a timely way. In this context, we have …