Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the United Service Organizations, Incorporated, for the years ended December 31, 1996 and 1997, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

'The primary purpose of this report is to document a Defense-in-Depth (DID) accident analysis evaluation for Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) Tritium Facility Buildings 232-H, 233-H, and 234-H. The purpose of a DID evaluation is to provide a more realistic view of facility radiological risks to the offsite public than the bounding deterministic analysis documented in the Safety Analysis Report, which credits only Safety Class items in the offsite dose evaluation.'

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Fire Chiefs' Association, the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters, the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas, or the Texas Association of Fire Educators is a "trade association" for purposes of section 419.006 of the Government Code.

No abstract currently available for this report as the present time.

'The Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) has participated in a round robin testing program which was conducted under the auspices of the Department of Energy''s (DOE) Tanks Focus Area (TFA) for Immobilization.'

'The waste glass produced in the SRS Defense Waste Processing Faiclity (DWPF) process must comply with Waste Acceptance Product Specifications (WAPS) and process control requirements by demonstrating, to a high degree of confidence, that melter feed will produce glass satisfying all quality and processing requirements.'

Using ORNL information on the characterization of the tank waste sludges, SRTC performed extensive bench-scale vitrification studies using simulants. Several glass systems were tested to ensure the optimum glass composition (based on the glass liquidus temperature, viscosity and durability) is determined. This optimum composition will balance waste loading, melt temperature, waste form performance and disposal requirements. By optimizing the glass composition, a cost savings can be realized during vitrification of the waste. The preferred glass formulation was selected from the bench-scale studies and recommended to ORNL for further testing with samples of actual OR waste tank sludges.

'The primary purpose of this report is to document a Defense-in-Depth (DID) accident analysis evaluation for Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) Tritium Facility Buildings 232-H, 233-H, and 234-H. The purpose of a DID evaluation is to provide a more realistic view of facility radiological risks to the offsite public than the bounding deterministic analysis documented in the Safety Analysis Report, which credits only Safety Class items in the offsite dose evaluation.'

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 identify a number of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) as candidates for regulation. Should regulations be imposed on HAP emissions from coal-fired power plants, a sound understanding of the fundamental principles controlling the formation and partitioning of toxic species during coal combustion will be needed. With support from the Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC), the Electric Power Research Institute, and VTT (Finland), Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has teamed with researchers from USGS, MIT, the University of Arizona (UA), the University of Kentucky (UK), the University of Connecticut (UC), the University of Utah (UU) and the University of North Dakota Energy and Environ-mental Research Center (EERC) to develop a broadly applicable emissions model useful to regulators and utility planners. The new Toxics Partitioning Engineering Model (ToPEM) will be applicable to all combustion conditions including new fuels and coal blends, low-NOx combustion systems, and new power generation plants. Development of ToPEM will be based on PSI's existing Engineering Model for Ash Formation (EMAF). This report covers the reporting period from 1 January 1999 to 31 March 1999. During this period, a full Program Review Meeting was held at the University of Arizona. At this meeting, the …

This report summarizes the Groundwater Monitoring Program conducted by SRS during third quarter 1998. It includes the analytical data, field data, data review, quality control, and other documentation for this program; provides a record of the program's activities; and serves as an official record of the analytical results.

A spent fuel storage cask must efficiently transfer the heat released by the fuel assemblies through the cask walls to the environment. This heat must be transferred through passive means, limiting the energy transfer mechanisms from the cask to natural convection and radiation heat transfer.. Natural convection is essentially independent of the characteristics of the array of casks, provided there is space between casks to permit a convection loop. Radiation heat transfer, however, depends on the geometric arrangement of the array of casks because the peripheral casks will shadow the interior casks and restrict radiant heat transfer from all casks to the environment. The shadowing of one cask by its neighbors is determined by a view factor that represents the fraction of radiant energy that leaves the surface of a cask and reaches the environment. This paper addresses the evaluation of the view factor between a centrally located spent fuel storage cask and the environment. By combining analytic expressions for the view factor of (1) infinitely long cylinders and (2) finite cylinders with a length-to-diameter ratio of 2 to represent spent fuel storage casks, the view factor can be evaluated for any practical array of spent fuel storage casks.

Some applications of an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) require intensities of highly charged ions significantly greater than those which have been achieved in present EBIS sources. For example, the ion source for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) must be capable of generating 3x10{sup 9} ions of Au{sup 35+} or 2 x 10{sup 9} ions of U{sup 45+} per pulse [1]. In this case, if the fraction of ions of interest is 20% of the total ion space charge, the total extracted charge is {approx}{approx} 5 x 10{sup 11}. It is also desirable to extract these ions in a 10 ps pulse to allow single turn injection into the first synchrotron. Requirements for an EBIS which could meet the needs of the LHC at CERN are similar ({approx} 1.5 x 10{sup 9} ions of Pb{sup 54+} in 5.5 {micro}s). This charge yield is about an order of magnitude greater than that achieved in existing EBIS sources, and is what is meant here by ''high current''. This also implies, then, an EBIS with a high electron beam current. The scope of problems in a high current EBIS is broad, and includes generating a sufficient total …

This paper reports the development of 350 MHz superconducting cavities of a spoke-loaded geometry, intended for the velocity range 0.2 < v/c < 0.6. Two prototype single-cell cavities have been designed, one optimized for velocity v/c = 0.4, and the other for v/c = 0.29. Construction of the prototype niobium cavities is nearly complete. Details of the design and construction are discussed, along with the results of cold tests.

Funeral program for Mrs. Rhoda Laster. The funeral was held Monday, May 10, 1999 at Tried Stone Baptist Church, officiated by Reverend H. Franklin Harris, II. Funeral arrangements were made through Sutton-Sutton Mortuary and she was buried in Southern Memorial Park in San Antonio, Texas.

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Charge-coupled devices (CCD's) of novel design have been fabricated at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the first large-format science-grade chips for astronomical imaging are now being characterized at Lick Observatory. They are made on 300-μm thick n-type high-resistivity (~10,000 Ω-cm) silicon wafers, using a technology developed at LBNL to fabricate low-leakage silicon microstrip detectors for high-energy physics. A bias voltage applied via a transparent contact on the back side fully depletes the substrate, making the entire volume photosensitive and ensuring that charge reaches the potential wells with minimal lateral diffusion. The development of a thin, transparent back side contact compatible with fully depleted operation permits blue response comparable to that obtained with thinned CCD's. Since he entire region is active, high quantum efficiency is maintained to nearly λ = 1000 nm, above which the silicon bandgap effectively truncates photoproduction. Early characterization results indicate a charge transfer efficiency > 0.999995, readout noise 4 e's at -132°C, full well capacity > 300,000 e's, and quantum efficiency > 85% at λ = 900 nm.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The objective of this design analysis is -to update the assessment of estimated annual secondary low-level waste (LLW) generation rates resulting from the repackaging of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW) for disposal at the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). This analysis supports the preparation of documentation necessary for license application (LA) for the MGR. For the purposes of this analysis, secondary LLW is defined, in brief terms, as LLW generated as a direct result of processing SNF/HLW through the receiving and repackaging operations. The current Waste Handling Building (WHB) design is based on the predominant movement of fuel assemblies through the wet handling lines within the WHB. Dry handling lines are also included in the current WHB design to accommodate canistered waste (i.e., SNF and/or HLW packages). Major input changes to this analysis in comparison to previous analyses include: (1) changes in the SNF/HLW arrival schedules; (2) changes to the WHB and the Waste Treatment Building (WTB) dimensions; and (3) changes in operational staff sizes within the WHB and WTB. The rates generated in this analysis can be utilized to define necessary waste processes, waste flow rates, and equipment sizes for the processing of secondary LLW for proper …

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The Chemical Structure and Dynamics (CS&D) program is a major component of the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Labo- ratory (EMSL), developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to provide a state-of- the-art collaborative facility for studies of chemical structure and dynamics. We respond to the need for a fundamental, molecular-level understanding of chemistry at a wide variety of environmentally important interfaces by (1) extending the experimental characterization and theoretical description of chemical reactions to encompass the effects of condensed media and interfaces; (2) developing a multidisciplinary capability for describing interracial chemical processes within which the new knowledge generated can be brought to bear on complex phenomena in envi- ronmental chemistry and in nuclear waste proc- essing and storage; and (3) developing state-of- the-art analytical methods for characterizing com- plex materials of the types found in stored wastes and contaminated soils, and for detecting and monitoring trace atmospheric species. Our program aims at achieving a quantitative understanding of chemical reactions at interfaces and, more generally, in condensed media, compa- rable to that currently available for gas-phase reactions. This understanding will form the basis for the development of a priori theories for pre- dicting macroscopic chemical behavior in con- densed …

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

n-Butane selective oxidation over the VPO catalyst to maleic anhydride is the first and only commercialized process of light alkane selective oxidation. The mechanism of this reaction is still not well known despite over twenty years of extensive studies, which can partially be attributed to the extreme difficulties to characterize catalytic reactions real-time under typical reaction conditions. In situ spectroscopic characterization techniques such as Infrared spectroscopy and laser Raman spectroscopy were used in the current mechanistic investigations of n-butane oxidation over VPO catalysts. To identify the reaction intermediates, oxidation of n-butane, 1,3-butadiene and related oxygenates on the VPO catalyst were monitored using FTIR spectroscopy under transient conditions. n-Butane was found to adsorb on the VPO catalyst to form olefinic species, which were further oxidized to unsaturated, noncyclic carbonyl species. The open chain dicarbonyl species then experienced cycloaddition to form maleic anhydride. VPO catalyst phase transformations were investigated using in situ laser Raman spectroscopy. This report contains Chapter 1: General introduction; Chapter 2: Literature review; and Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations.