Certain ceramic-like phosphor materials exhibit bright fluorescence with a pronounced temperature dependence over a range which spans the cryogenic to 1700 C, depending on the specific phosphor. To measure temperature, a surface, for instance a turbine blade, is coated with the material. An optical system, sometimes including optical fibers, conveys stimulating light and collects the emission for analysis. Either emission intensity or decay time may indicate temperature. Previously fielded tests have involved surfaces such as blades, vanes, pistons, in-take valves, sheets of galvanneal steel, etc. The fluorescent coatings may be applied to small parts via sputtering methods or to large areas by mixture with inorganic binders. Presented here are results characterizing fluorescence rise times as a means of determining temperature from ambient to 700 C for Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Eu.

This document has been updated during the definitive design portion of the first phase of the W-314 Project to capture additional software requirements and is planned to be updated during the second phase of the W-314 Project to cover the second phase of the Project's scope. The objective is to provide requirement traceability by recording the analysis/basis for the functional descriptions of the master pump shutdown system. This document identifies the sources of the requirements and/or how these were derived. Each requirement is validated either by quoting the source or an analysis process involving the required functionality, performance characteristics, operations input or engineering judgment.

This report provides information on how most of the countries banned United States beef after the first report of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a Canadian-born cow after the December 2003 U.S. report. This explains all the steps USDA has taken to reduce the positive cases of BSE by starting special programs. Updated March 24, 2005.

The following report documents the technical approach and conclusions made by Acumentrics Corporation during latest budget period toward the development of a low cost 10kW tubular SOFC power system. The present program, guided under direction from the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the US DOE, is a nine-year cost shared Cooperative Agreement totaling close to $74M funded both by the US DOE as well as Acumentrics Corporation and its partners. The latest budget period ran from July of 2004 through January 2004. Work was focused on cell technology enhancements as well as BOP and power electronics improvements and overall system design. Significant progress was made in increasing cell power enhancements as well as decreasing material cost in a drive to meet the SECA cost targets. The following report documents these accomplishments in detail as well as the lay out plans for further progress in next budget period.

Soil stabilization for the INEEL Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) has mostly been by revegetation, but has experienced only limited success. The purpose of this report is to discuss issues associated with revegetation failures and to explore possible remedies.

This report discusses administration’s proposed base program called strengthening America’s communities initiative intended to award funds in support of job creation and economic development.

The original approach to nuclear reactor design or safety analyses was to make very conservative modeling assumptions so as to ensure meeting the required safety margins. Traditional regulation, as established by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission required conservatisms which have subsequently been shown to be excessive. The commission has therefore moved away from excessively conservative evaluations and has determined best-estimate calculations to be an acceptable alternative to conservative models, provided the best-estimate results are accompanied by an uncertainty evaluation which can demonstrate that, when a set of analysis cases which statistically account for uncertainties of all types are generated, there is a 95% probability that at least 95% of the cases meet the safety margins. To date, nearly all published work addressing uncertainty evaluations of nuclear power plant calculations has focused on light water reactors and on large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA) analyses. However, there is nothing in the uncertainty evaluation methodologies that is limited to a specific type of reactor or to specific types of plant scenarios. These same methodologies can be equally well applied to analyses for high-temperature gas-cooled reactors and to liquid metal reactors, and they can be applied to steady-state calculations, operational transients, or severe accident …

This final report describes the research effort focusing on the nature of charge transfer and localized electronic structure at semiconductor interfaces, one of the most fundamental issues in the solid state. The basic charge exchange between two materials in general is directly connected with the systematic atomic bonding changes and redistribution that occurs at the nanoscale interface. Our programhas extended our understanding of the atomic-scale nature of electrostatic barrier formation, heterojunction band offsets, and the optical and electronic features of impurity confinement in a set of model materials systems, including nanometer-scale wide band gap semiconductor and insulator structures. This fundamentally new class of materials investigation utilizes a powerful and unique combination of techniques that are revealing the atomic-scale movement, chemical bonding, and resultant charge transfer across well-defined model interfaces.

The Waste Receiving and Processing (WRAP) facility, located on the Hanford Site in southeast Washington, is a key link in the certification of transuranic (TRU) waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Waste characterization is one of the vital functions performed at WRAP, and nondestructive assay (NDA) measurements of TRU waste containers is one of two required methods used for waste characterization. The Waste Acceptance Criteria for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DOEMPP-069 (WIPP-WAC) delineates the quality assurance objectives which have been established for NDA measurement systems. Sites must demonstrate that the quality assurance objectives can be achieved for each radioassay system over the applicable ranges of measurement. This report summarizes the validation of the WRAP NDA systems against the radioassay quality assurance objectives or QAOs. A brief description of the each test and significant conclusions are included. Variables that may have affected test outcomes and system response are also addressed.

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The 108th Congress completed a full trade agenda with the passage of legislation on a broad spectrum of issues. The 109th Congress is expected to face a trade agenda that will be at least as extensive, covering a wide range of issues, from the extension of presidential trade promotion (fast track) authority to consideration of more free trade agreements and oversight of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiations. In some respects, these issues are distinct, each with its own policy and economic implications. In other respects the issues are interrelated. They have emerged from common sets of domestic politics, foreign policy, and economic factors and affect or are affected by the concerns of Members of Congress, of other policymakers and of many interest groups. These issues and how policymakers deal with them will define overall U.S. trade policy.

This report is examines the provisions of the KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

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This report provides the background and a summary of the issues of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

This is a multiyear experimental research program that focuses on improving relevant material properties of high-T{sub c} superconductors and developing fabrication methods that can be transferred to industry for production of commercial conductors. The development of teaming relationships through agreements with industrial partners is a key element of the Argonne National Laboratory(ANL) program. This report summarizes key results from a yearlong effort to apply Raman microscopy methods to the characterization of MBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x} (MBCO, where M=Y or a rare earth element) thin films on textured substrates. Important crystallographic features and orientation relationships in coated conductors made by the inclined-substrate deposition (ISD) process are also presented.

The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is vitally important, touching on a wide range of areas including, among others, economic policy, security, foreign relations, and human rights. This report addresses relevant policy questions in current U.S.-China relations, discusses trends and key legislation in the current Congress, and provides a chronology of developments and high-level exchanges.

The primary focus this year was to operate the system with two amplifiers populated with and pumped by eight high power diode arrays. The system was operated for extended run periods which enabled average power testing of components, diagnostics, and controls. These tests were highly successful, with a demonstrated energy level of over 55 joules for 4 cumulative hours at a repetition rate of 10 Hz (average power 0.55 kW). In addition, high average power second harmonic generation was demonstrated, achieving 227 W of 523.5 nm light (22.7 J, 10 Hz, 15 ns, 30 minutes) Plans to achieve higher energy levels and average powers are in progress. The dual amplifier system utilizes a 4-pass optical arrangement. The Yb:S-FAP slabs were mounted in aerodynamic aluminum vane structures to allow turbulent helium gas flow across the faces. Diagnostic packages that monitored beam performance were deployed during operation. The laser experiments involved injecting a seed beam from the front end into the system and making four passes through both amplifiers. Beam performance diagnostics monitored the beam on each pass to assess system parameters such as gain and nearfield intensity profiles. This year, an active mirror and wavefront sensor were procured and demonstrated in …

The effect of molecular topology (e.g., branch and loop structures) on the solution properties of polymers is subtle and not well characterized. Because the conformational entropy of a polymer depends on its topology, many properties are affected by it such as its size and shape, mobility, bulk-to-pore partitioning, adsorption strength on surfaces, and depletion-induced forces on colloidal surfaces. We have systematically studied the effect of molecular topology on the structure and entropic partitioning of linear, branched, hyper-branched, cyclic, and hyper-cyclic polymers in a bulk solution and in pores. Ours is the first simulation study aimed at characterizing the conformational properties of hyper-cyclic molecules. Key findings: Our results show how differences in molecular architecture can be used to partition polymers in a porous media e.g., a highly branched polymer tends to be depleted in narrow pores (smaller than the coil size) relative to a less branched chain of equal molecular weight, but this trend is reversed in wide pores. It was also found that intra-molecular crosslinking (associated with cyclic structures) is an effective way to tune the conformational entropy of a polymer; the more crosslinks a molecule has, the smaller its conformational entropy, and the easier it is to adsorb it …

Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management establishes the policy that Federal agencies conduct their environmental, transportation, and energy-related activities in a manner that is environmentally, economically and fiscally sound, integrated, continually improving, efficient, and sustainable. The Department of Energy (DOE) has approved DOE Order 450.1A, Environmental Protection Program and DOE Order 430.2B, Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy and Transportation Management as the means of achieving the provisions of this Executive Order. DOE Order 450.1A mandates the development of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) to implement sustainable environmental stewardship practices that: (1) Protect the air, water, land, and other natural and cultural resources potentially impacted by facility operations; (2) Meet or exceed applicable environmental, public health, and resource protection laws and regulations; and (3) Implement cost-effective business practices. In addition, the DOE Order 450.1A mandates that the EMS must be integrated with a facility's Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) established pursuant to DOE P 450.4, 'Safety Management System Policy'. DOE Order 430.2B mandates an energy management program that considers energy use and renewable energy, water, new and renovated buildings, and vehicle fleet activities. The Order incorporates the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Energy Independence and …

Major- and trace-element concentrations and strontium isotope ratios (strontium-87/strontium-86) in samples of ground water potentially can be useful in delineating flow paths in the complex ground-water system in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Water samples were collected from boreholes to characterize the lateral and vertical variability in the composition of water in the saturated zone. Discrete sampling of water-producing intervals in the saturated zone includes isolating borehole sections with packers and extracting pore water from core obtained by sonic drilling. Chemical and isotopic stratification was identified in the saturated zone beneath southern Fortymile Wash.

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The Forest Service (FS) returns 25% of the revenues from each national forest to the states for use on roads and schools in counties where the forests are located; the Bureau of Land Management shares 50% of its revenues with counties containing the Oregon & California grant lands. This report discusses the legislative concerns that have arisen because declining timber sales have reduced revenues.