In 1999, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) designed and installed a series of engineered plantings consisting of a vegetative cover system and approximately 800 hybrid poplars and willows rooting at various predetermined depths. The plants were installed using various methods including Applied Natural Science's TreeWell{reg_sign} system. The goal of the installation was to protect downgradient surface and groundwater by hydraulic control of the contaminated plume by intercepting the contaminated groundwater with the tree roots, removing moisture from the upgradient soil area, reducing water infiltration, preventing soil erosion, degrading and/or transpiring the residual volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and removing tritium from the subsoil and groundwater. This report presents the results of the monitoring activities conducted by Argonne's Energy Systems Division (ES) in the growing season of 2005. Monitoring of the planted trees began soon after the trees were installed in 1999 and has been conducted every summer since then. As the trees grew and consolidated their growth into the contaminated soil and groundwater, their exposure to the contaminants was progressively shown through tissue sampling. However, as trees grow larger, some of the findings obtained in the early years when trees were much smaller may not hold true now and need to be …

The 109th Congress is examining the role of groups organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that are involved in federal elections but are not operating under the requirements and restrictions of federal election law. Although such groups only recently emerged into public awareness, in 2004, they were widely seen as major players in the presidential election, with more than $400 million spent seeking to influence the outcome. Strictly speaking, the term “527” refers to a section of the Internal Revenue Code, which was added in 1975 to provide tax-exempt status to federal, state, and local political organizations, as defined in that statute. The controversy over these 527 groups arises from two factors: the different definitions used in federal election law and tax law as to what constitutes election-related activity and, further, the lack of certainty as to what election law itself regulates or may permissibly regulate. This report discusses these groups in detail, as well as related legislation.

As the cover of our ''2005 Annual Report'' highlights, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory joined the international science community in celebrating the World Year of Physics in 2005, with special events and science outreach and education programs. Einstein's remarkable discoveries in 1905 provided an opportunity to reflect on how physics has changed the world during the last century and on the promise of future beneficial discoveries. For half of the past century, Lawrence Livermore, which was established to meet an urgent national security need, has been contributing to the advancement of science and technology in a very special way. Co-founder Ernest O. Lawrence was the leading proponent in his generation of large-scale, multidisciplinary science and technology teams. That's Livermore's distinctive heritage and our continuing approach as a national laboratory managed and operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA). We focus on important problems that affect our nation's security and seek breakthrough advances in science and technology to achieve mission goals. An event in 2005 exemplifies our focus on science and technology advances in support of mission goals. In October, distinguished visitors came to Livermore to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Accelerated …

The objective of this project was to develop an environmentally benign, inexpensive, and efficient method for separating hydrogen from gas mixtures produced during industrial processes, such as coal gasification. A family of hydrogen separation membranes was developed including single phase mixed conducting ceramics, ceramic/ceramic composites, cermet membranes, cermet membranes containing a hydrogen permeable metal, and intermediate temperature composite layered membranes. Each membrane type had different operating parameters, advantages, and disadvantages that were documented over the course of the project. Research on these membranes progressed from ceramics to cermets to intermediate temperature composite layered membranes. During this progression performance was increased from 0.01 mL x min{sup -1} x cm{sup -2} up to 423 mL x min{sup -1} x cm{sup -2}. Eltron and team membranes not only developed each membrane type, but also membrane surface catalysis and impurity tolerance, creation of thin film membranes, alternative applications such as membrane promoted alkane dehydrogenation, demonstration of scale-up testing, and complete engineering documentation including process and mechanical considerations necessary for inclusion of Eltron membranes in a full scale integrated gasification combined cycle power plant. The results of this project directly led to a new $15 million program funded by the Department of Energy. This new …

This project assessed the feasibility of a Power Ultra-Uprate on an existing nuclear plant. The study determined the technical and design limitations of the current components, both inside and outside the containment. Based on the identified plant bottlenecks, the design changes for major pieces of equipment required to meet the Power Ultra-Uprate throughput were determined. Costs for modified pieces of equipment and for change-out and disposal of the replaced equipment were evaluated. These costs were then used to develop capital, fuel and operating and maintenance cost estimates for the Power Ultra-Uprate plant. The cost evaluation indicates that the largest cost components are the replacement of power (during the outage required for the uprate) and the new fuel loading. Based on these results, the study concluded that, for a ?standard? 4-loop plant, the proposed Power Ultra-Uprate is technically feasible. However, the power uprate is likely to be more expensive than the cost (per Kw electric installed) of a new plant when large capacity uprates are considered (>25%). Nevertheless, the concept of the Power Ultra-Uprate may be an attractive option for specific nuclear power plants where a large margin exists in the steam and power conversion system or where medium power increases …

The AgraPure Mississippi Biomass project was a congressionally directed project, initiated to study the utilization of Mississippi agricultural byproducts and waste products in the production of bio-energy and to determine the feasibility of commercialization of these agricultural byproducts and waste products as feedstocks in the production of energy. The final products from this project were two business plans; one for a Thermal plant, and one for a Biodiesel/Ethanol plant. Agricultural waste fired steam and electrical generating plants and biodiesel plants were deemed the best prospects for developing commercially viable industries. Additionally, oil extraction methods were studied, both traditional and two novel techniques, and incorporated into the development plans. Mississippi produced crop and animal waste biomasses were analyzed for use as raw materials for both industries. The relevant factors, availability, costs, transportation, storage, location, and energetic value criteria were considered. Since feedstock accounts for more than 70 percent of the total cost of producing biodiesel, any local advantages are considered extremely important in developing this particular industry. The same factors must be evaluated in assessing the prospects of commercial operation of a steam and electrical generation plant. Additionally, the access to the markets for electricity is more limited, regulated and tightly …

This is the final technical report for Project 15446, covering the grant period of October 2002 through March 2006. This project connects three parts of the oil exploration, development, and permitting process to form the foundation for an advanced information technology infrastructure to better support resource development and resource conservation. Alaska has nearly one-quarter of the nation's supply of crude oil, at least five billion barrels of proven reserves. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists report that the 1995 National Assessment identified the North Slope as having 7.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil and over 63 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. From these reserves, Alaska produces roughly one-fifth of the nation's daily crude oil production, or approximately one million barrels per day from over 1,800 active wells. The broad goal of this grant is to increase domestic production from Alaska's known producing fields through the implementation of preferred upstream management practices. (PUMP). Internet publication of extensive and detailed geotechnical data is the first task, improving the permitting process is the second task, and building an advanced geographical information system to offer continuing support and public access of the first two goals is the third task. Excellent progress has …

The purpose of this whitepaper is to provide a framework for understanding the role that verification and validation (V&V) are expected to play in successful ASC Predictive Science Academic Alliance (PSAA) Centers and projects. V&V have been emphasized in the recent specification of the PSAA (NNSA, 2006): (1) The resulting simulation models lend themselves to practical verification and validation methodologies and strategies that should include the integrated use of experimental and/or observational data as a key part of model and sub-model validation, as well as demonstrations of numerical convergence and accuracy for code verification. (2) Verification, validation and prediction methodologies and results must be much more strongly emphasized as research topics and demonstrated via the proposed simulations. (3) It is mandatory that proposals address the following two topics: (a) Predictability in science & engineering; and (b) Verification & validation strategies for large-scale simulations, including quantification of uncertainty and numerical convergence. We especially call attention to the explicit coupling of computational predictability and V&V in the third bullet above. In this whitepaper we emphasize this coupling, and provide concentrated guidance for addressing item 2. The whitepaper has two main components. First, we provide a brief and high-level tutorial on V&V that …

This report represents the final report for DE-AI02-0 IER63074. This work represented some follow-on work to that completed under DE-AI02-0 1 ER62669. The research reported here is undertaken in collaboration with Dr. David Mitchell of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada. The progress given here represents my contribution to his approach by providing radiative transfer expertise and calculations.

Description. Individual raw data streams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Climate Research Facility (ACRF) fixed and mobile sites are collected and sent to the Data Management Facility (DMF) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for processing in near real time. Raw and processed data are then sent daily to the ACRF Archive, where they are made available to users. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of data records received daily at the Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual data stream, site, and month for the current year; and (2) site and fiscal year dating back to 1998. The U.S. Department of Energy requires national user facilities to report time-based operating data. The requirements concern the actual hours of operation (ACTUAL); the estimated maximum operation or uptime goal (OPSMAX), which accounts for planned downtime; and the VARIANCE [1 – (ACTUAL/OPSMAX)], which accounts for unplanned downtime. The OPSMAX time for the second quarter for the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site is 2,052 hours (0.95 × 2,160 hours this quarter). The OPSMAX for the North Slope Alaska (NSA) locale is 1,944 hours (0.90 × 2,160), …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2004, as required by law, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began allowing all commercial airports to apply to use private screeners in lieu of federal screeners as part of its Screening Partnership Program (SPP). GAO's prior work found that airports and potential private screening contractors had concerns about the SPP, including whether they would be liable in the event of a terrorist attack and how roles and responsibilities would be divided among TSA airport staff and private screening contractors. This report addresses TSA's efforts to (1) provide liability protection to private screening contractors and airports and address other SPP stakeholder concerns; (2) achieve cost-savings through the SPP; and (3) establish performance goals and measures for the SPP."

Contains DoD Administrative Support of BRAC from the Office of the General Counsel

BRAC Commission Material – DFO Memos

Contains the BRAC Early Birds - February 2006

Contains the BRAC Early Birds for March 2006

BRAC Commission Material – Web Site – E-Library statistics and guidlines

A consistent theme of U.S. and other international criticism of Russia is that Russian troops use excessive and indiscriminate force to quell separatism in Chechnya and commit serious human rights abuses. There appeared to be fewer Administration suggestions to Russia that it should open peace talks with “moderate” separatists, more tolerance for Russia’s argument that it primarily was battling terrorism in Chechnya, and some hope that elections and rebuilding in Chechnya could contribute to a “political settlement.” But some in the Administration also argue that Russia is showing declining interest in the adoption of Western democratic and human rights “values,” and that such slippage could ultimately harm bilateral relations.

Spectroscopic investigation of high temperature laser produced plasmas in general, and x-ray opacity experiments in particular, often requires instruments with both a broad coverage of x-ray energies and high spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution. We analyze the design, model the response, and report the commissioning of a spectrometer using elliptical crystals in conjunction with a large format, gated microchannel plate detector. Measurements taken with this instrument at the JANUS laser facilities demonstrate the designed spectral range of 0.24 to 5.8 keV, and spectral resolution E/{Delta}E > 500, resulting in 2 to 3 times more spectral data than achieved by previous spectrometer designs. The observed 100 picosecond temporal resolution and 35 {micro}m spatial resolution are consistent with the requirements of high energy density opacity experiments.

Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, long centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. This report contains a summary of campaign finance, recent developments, the evolution of the current system, campaign finance practices and related issues, perceived loopholes in current law, policy options, legislative actions of the 108th and 109th Congresses, and related materials.

This report describes research conducted between January 1, 2006, and March 31, 2006, on the use of dry regenerable sorbents for removal of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) from coal combustion flue gas. An integrated system composed of a downflow co-current contact absorber and two hollow screw conveyors (regenerator and cooler) was assembled, instrumented, debugged, and calibrated. A new batch of supported sorbent containing 15% sodium carbonate was prepared and subjected to surface area and compact bulk density determination.

Since the implementation of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) in May of 1978, many opportunities have been lost for the reforestation of surface mines in the eastern United States. Research has shown that excessive compaction of spoil material in the backfilling and grading process is the biggest impediment to the establishment of productive forests as a post-mining land use (Ashby, 1998, Burger et al., 1994, Graves et al., 2000). Stability of mine sites was a prominent concern among regulators and mine operators in the years immediately following the implementation of SMCRA. These concerns resulted in the highly compacted, flatly graded, and consequently unproductive spoils of the early post-SMCRA era. However, there is nothing in the regulations that requires mine sites to be overly compacted as long as stability is achieved. It has been cultural barriers and not regulatory barriers that have contributed to the failure of reforestation efforts under the federal law over the past 27 years. Efforts to change the perception that the federal law and regulations impede effective reforestation techniques and interfere with bond release must be implemented. Demonstration of techniques that lead to the successful reforestation of surface mines is one …

Under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, Siemens Westinghouse is conducting a three-year program to develop an ultra low NOx, fuel flexible catalytic combustor for gas turbine application in IGCC. The program is defined in three phases: Phase 1-Implementation Plan, Phase 2-Validation Testing and Phase 3-Field Testing. The Phase 1 program has been completed. Phase II was initiated in October 2004. In IGCC power plants, the gas turbine must be capable of operating on syngas as a primary fuel and an available back-up fuel such as natural gas. In this program the Rich Catalytic Lean (RCL{trademark}) technology is being developed as an ultra low NOx combustor. In this concept, ultra low NOx is achieved by stabilizing a lean premix combustion process by using a catalytic reactor to react part of the fuel, increasing the fuel/air mixture temperature. In Phase 1, the feasibility of the catalytic concept for syngas application has been evaluated and the key technology issues identified. In Phase II the catalytic concept will be demonstrated through subscale testing. Phase III will consist of full-scale combustor basket testing on natural gas and syngas.

This report is the fifth quarterly Technical Progress Report submitted by NeuCo, Incorporated, under Award Identification Number, DE-FC26-04NT41768. This award is part of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (''CCPI''), the ten-year, $2B initiative to demonstrate new clean coal technologies in the field. This report is one of the required reports listed in Attachment B Federal Assistance Reporting Checklist, part of the Cooperative Agreement. The report covers the award period January 1, 2006 - March 31, 2006 and NeuCo's efforts within design, development, and deployment of on-line optimization systems during that period.

The overall objective of this project is to metabolically engineer the E. coli sugar-utilization regulatory systems (SURS) to utilize sugar mixtures obtained from plant biomass. Of particular relevance is the implementation of a metabolic engineering cycle aided by functional genomics and systems biology tools. Our findings will help in the establishment of a platform for the efficient production of fuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic sugars. Our research has improved the understanding of the role of SURS in regulating sugar utilization and several other cellular functions. For example, we discovered that Mlc, a global regulatory protein, regulates the utilization of xylose and demonstrated the existence of an important link between catabolite repression and respiratory/fermentative metabolism. The study of SURS mutants also revealed a connection between flagellar biosynthesis and catabolite repression. Several tools were also developed as part of this project. A novel tool (Elementary Network Decomposition, END) to help elucidate the network topology of regulatory systems was developed and its utility as a discovery tool was demonstrated by applying it to the SURS in E. coli. A novel method (and software) to estimate metabolic fluxes that uses labeling experiments and eliminates reliance on extracellular fluxes was also developed. Although not initially …