Thermochemical processes are being developed to provide global-scale quantities of hydrogen. A variant on sulfur-based thermochemical cycles is the Hybrid Sulfur (HyS) Process which uses a sulfur dioxide depolarized electrolyzer (SDE) to produce the hydrogen. In FY05 and FY06, testing at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) explored a low temperature fuel cell design concept for the SDE. The advantages of this design concept include high electrochemical efficiency and small footprint that are crucial for successful implementation on a commercial scale. A key component of the SDE is the ion conductive membrane through which protons produced at anode migrate to the cathode and react to produce hydrogen. An ideal membrane for the SDE should have both low ionic resistivity and low sulfur dioxide transport. These features allow the electrolyzer to perform at high currents with low potentials, along with preventing contamination of both the hydrogen output and poisoning of the catalysts involved. Another key component is the electrocatalyst material used for the anode and cathode. Good electrocatalysts should be chemically stable and have a low overpotential for the desired electrochemical reactions. This report summarizes results from activities to evaluate commercial and experimental membranes for the SDE. Several different types of …

Abstract During the course of the grant we made the following scientific advances: • We developed a thorough understanding of piezoelectricity in antiferromagnetic wurtzite structure MnO. • We explained the absence of ferromagnetism in high quality samples of transition-metal-doped ZnO, and proposed a scheme for obtaining robust ferromagnetism in ZnO-based systems. • We demonstrated that the MgO-ZnO-CdO system is a promising candidate for the production of polarization field-effect transistors.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) tax filing season performance is a key indicator of how well IRS serves taxpayers. This year's filing season was expected to be risky because of tax system changes, including the telephone excise tax refund (TETR). IRS's fiscal year (FY) 2008 budget request shows its spending proposal for taxpayer service, enforcement, and Business Systems Modernization (BSM). The request includes initiatives to reduce the tax gap, the difference between what taxpayers owe and what they voluntarily pay on time. IRS recently estimated the net tax gap to be $290 billion in 2001. GAO was asked to (1) describe IRS's 2007 filing season performance, (2) determine how IRS's proposed FY 2008 budget compares to prior years', provides information on how proposals may impact the tax gap, justifies new spending, and whether there are opportunities to reduce or reallocate resources, and (3) evaluate the status of IRS's efforts to develop and implement BSM."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Interstate compacts are legal agreements between states that are designed to resolve concerns that transcend state lines, such as allocating interstate waters. While some compacts assign their administration to existing state agencies, compacts requiring greater coordination among states may establish an interstate agency, typically called a commission, to administer their provisions. Congress must give its consent to compacts that affect the balance of power between the states and the federal government. An example of a congressionally approved environment and natural resource compact is the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact, which created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) to administer its provisions. For such compacts, GAO determined (1) the organizational structures, powers and authorities, and dispute resolution and public accountability mechanisms; (2) the extent to which concerns have been raised about the structure and governance of compacts that have commissions; and (3) how the structure and governance of TRPA compares to those of other similar compact commissions. GAO reviewed 59 congressionally approved compacts and surveyed those 45 that had commissions."

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We had proposed carrying out a systematic experimental investigation of the atomic physics of highly charged, high-Z ions, produced in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) electron beam ion trap (EBIT-I) in its high energy mode, superEBIT. In particular we were going to accurately measure line positions for Δn=0 transitions in few electron high-Z ions; this was meant to enable us to investigate relativistic and quantum electrodynamics QED contributions to the energy levels as well as the nuclear properties of heavy ions. We were also going to measure cross sections for various electron-ion interactions, the degree of polarization of emitted x-rays, and radiation cooling rates of various ionization stages of highly charged, high-Z ions. This would enable us to study fundamental atomic physics of high-Z ions at relativistic electron impact energies and in the intense nuclear fields of highly ionized, high-Z ions. This would extend previous measurements we have carried out to a regime where there is a paucity of good data. These measurements were expected to generate increased theoretical interest and activity in this area. The project will extend a very successful collaboration between Morehouse College (MC) and a national laboratory LLNL, Minority student training and development are major …

The United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) has recently implemented a series of strategic initiatives to address long-term radiological surveillance needs at former U.S. nuclear test sites in the Marshall Islands (https://eed.llnl.gov/mi/). Local atoll governments have been actively engaged in developing shared responsibilities for protecting the health and safety of resettled and resettling population at risk from exposure to elevated levels of residual fallout contamination in the environment. Under the program, whole body counting facilities have been established at three locations in the Marshall Islands. These facilities are operated and maintained by Marshallese technicians with scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) providing technical support services including data quality assurance and performance testing. We have also established a mirror whole body counting facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a technician training center. The LLNL facility also allows program managers to develop quality assurance and operational procedures, and test equipment and corrective actions prior to deployment at remote stations in the Marshall Islands. This document summarizes the results of external performance evaluation exercises conducted at each of the facilities (2002-2005) under the umbrella of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Intercomparison Studies Program (ISP). The ISP was specifically …

The U.S. fusion energy program is focused on research with the potential for studying plasmas at thermonuclear temperatures, currently epitomized by the tokamak-based International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) but also continuing exploratory work on other plasma confinement concepts. Among the latter is the spheromak pursued on the SSPX facility at LLNL. Experiments in SSPX using electrostatic current drive by coaxial guns have now demonstrated stable spheromaks with good heat confinement, if the plasma is maintained near a Taylor state, but the anticipated high current amplification by gun injection has not yet been achieved. In future experiments and reactors, creating and maintaining a stable spheromak configuration at high magnetic field strength may require auxiliary current drive using neutral beams or RF power. Here we show that neutral beam current drive soon to be explored on SSPX could yield a compact spheromak reactor with current drive efficiency comparable to that of steady state tokamaks. Thus, while more will be learned about electrostatic current drive in coming months, results already achieved in SSPX could point to a productive parallel development path pursuing auxiliary current drive, consistent with plans to install neutral beams on SSPX in the near future. Among possible outcomes, spheromak research …

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