A letter extending warm congratulations to an applicant for being accepted as a 2000-2001 Marcus Fellow at the University of North Texas. The document provides essential details about the program, expectations, and additional information to help the fellow prepare for the upcoming academic year.

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

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

This report provides a summary of the gross gamma ray data for the 241-B Tank Farm and is intended to identify changes in the gamma activity of gamma-emitting radionuclide contaminants around each accessible borehole, and is not intended to provide interpretation of the data relative to vadose zone mechanics. Trends in data, as well as areas where additional information would be helpful in evaluating the unusual nature of some of the data, are discussed.

This report provides a summary of the gross gamma ray data for the 241-T Tank Farm and is intended to identify changes in the gamma activity of gamma-emitting radionuclide contaminants around each accessible borehole.

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

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Civil Air Patrol, focusing on the: (1) nature of the relationship between the Air Force and the Patrol; (2) Air Force's oversight of the Patrol; (3) Patrol's management and oversight of its own activities; and (4) plans to resolve identified problems."

This report provides information about the Clean Air Act Issues in the 106th Congress. Congress last enacted major amendments to the clear air act in 1990 and EPA is in the midst of implementing numerous provisions of those amendments.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) March 2000 climate change report, focusing on: (1) the agency's climate change programs for fiscal year (FY) 2001; (2) the programs' goals, strategies, and procedures to verify and validate performance information; (3) EPA's justification for requested funding increases; and (4) how the programs are justified independently of the Kyoto Protocol agreement."

This system design description (SDD) addresses the instrument air (IA) system of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This IA system provides instrument quality air to the Cold Vacuum Drying (CVD) Facility. The IA system is a general service system that supports the operation of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the process equipment skids, and process instruments in the CVD Facility. The following discussion is limited to the compressor, dryer, piping, and valving that provide the IA as shown in Drawings H-1-82222, Cold Vacuum Drying Facility Mechanical Utilities Compressed & Instrument Air P&ID, and H-1.82161, Cold Vacuum Drying Facility Process Equipment Skid P&ID MCO/Cusk Interface. Figure 1-1 shows the physical location of the 1A system in the CVD Facility.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) use of recovery auditing, a process that identifies and collects overpayments made to vendors, focusing on DOD's: (1) progress in recovering overpayments and the reasons for any delays; and (2) use of recovery auditing."

The evolution of the deformed microstructure as a function of imposed plastic strain is of interest as it provides information on the material hardening characteristics and mechanism(s) by which cold work energy is stored. This has been extensively studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), where the high spatial and orientational resolution of the technique is used to advantage to study local phenomenon such as dislocation core structures and interactions of dislocations. With the recent emergence of scanning electron microscope (SEM) based automated electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques, it has now become possible to make mesoscale observations that are statistical in nature and complement the detailed TEM observations. Correlations of such observations will be demonstrated for the case of Ni-base alloys, which are typically non-cell forming solid solution alloys when deformed at ambient temperatures. For instance, planar slip is dominant at low strain levels but evolves into a microstructure where distinct crystallographic dislocation-rich walls form as a function of strain and grain orientation. Observations recorded using both TEM and EBSD techniques are presented and analyzed for their implication on subsequent annealing characteristics.

Data Quality Objectives methodology is applied to Loss-on-Ignition (LOI) moisture content testing for stabilized nuclear materials. This work was performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in support of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP)/Fluor Hanford, Inc. Historical results on LOI test results for two material types, oxide and sludge, are used to estimate within container variability. This variability estimate is then used in formulating the two recommended acceptance criteria for containers of material. The criteria which follow are proposed to replace the current criterion, which requires recycle if either of two container LOI measurements exceed 0.5 wt%, the DOE Standard 3013-99 threshold value. (1) The 95% upper confidence limit (UCL) for the true mean underlying moisture content in the container material should be less than 0.5 wt%. (2) The difference between the two LOI measurements per container should not exceed their expected 95th percentile relative to the estimated variability. Containers not meeting the first criterion, or those that generate in any negative LOI result, require material recycle. Containers not meeting the second criteria require review of the measurement results, potentially leading to resampling and retesting. Data from Los Alamos National Laboratory studies on moisture testing are obtained and analyzed. The performance …

The United States Department of Energy initiated the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) to conduct research and development with the objectives of: (1) overcoming the principal technical obstacles to expanded nuclear energy use, (2) advancing the state of nuclear technology to maintain its competitive position in domestic and world markets, and (3) improving the performance, efficiency, reliability, and economics of nuclear energy. Fiscal Year 1999 program funding is $19 Million, with increased finding expected for subsequent years, emphasizing international cooperation. Among the programs selected for funding is the ``Smart Equipment and Systems to Improve Reliability and Safety in Future Nuclear Power Plant Operations''. This program is a 30 month collaborative effort bringing together the technical capabilities of ABB C-E Nuclear Power, Inc. (ABB CENP), Sandia National Laboratories, Duke Engineering and Services (DE and S), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The program's goal is to design, develop and evaluate an integrated set of smart equipment and predictive maintenance tools and methodologies that will significantly reduce nuclear plant construction, operation and maintenance costs. To accomplish this goal the Smart Equipment program will: (1) Identify and prioritize nuclear plant equipment that would most likely benefit from adding smart …

A letter from the School of Visual Arts, UNT, notifying an applicant of their esteemed selection as a Marcus Fellow for the 2000-2001 term. The document outlines the honor, provides details about the fellowship program, and offers insights into the opportunities and expectations associated with this prestigious recognition.

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

Mechanical and hydrological properties of salt provide excellent bases for geological isolation of hazardous materials. Regulatory certification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) testifies to the nearly ideal characteristics of bedded salt deposits in southeast New Mexico. The WIPP history includes decades of testing and scientific investigations, which have resulted in a comprehensive understanding of salt's mechanical deformational and hydrological properties over an applicable range of stresses and temperatures. Comprehensive evaluation of salt's favorable characteristics helped demonstrate regulatory compliance and ensure isolation of radioactive waste placed in a salt geological setting.

Funeral program for Mr. Elmo J. Roberts, Sr., born August 22, 1919. The funeral was held Monday, June 5, 2000 at Second Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. Robert L. Jemerson. Funeral arrangements were made through Lewis Funeral Home and he was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery near San Antonio, Texas.

The missions of the U.S. Department of Energy's Richland Operations Office (DOE/RL) are to safely manage the Hanford Site, to manage and clean up its legacy wastes, and to develop and deploy new science and technology in the environmental and energy fields. Collectively, DOE/RL and its contractors are the most important single entity in the Tri-Cities local economy (Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, Washington, and the surrounding area). Although the relevant economic region affected by DOE/RL and its contractors actually embraces a geographic area reaching from Yakima in the west to Walla Walla in the east and from Moses Lake in the north to Pendleton, Oregon, in the south, over 90% of economic impacts likely occur in Benton and Franklin Counties. These two counties are defined as the ''local'' Tri-Cities economy for purposes of this study. In the federal fiscal year (FY) 1999 (October 1, 1998 through September 30, 1999), the total impact of DOE'S local $1.59 billion budget was felt through payrolls of $542 million and local purchases of goods and services of $226 million. The total local spending of $768 million was up slightly from the FY 1998 total of $765 million. Taking into account the multiplier effects of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on how the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) determines highway investment requirements, focusing on the: (1) methodology the Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) computer model uses to generate its estimates of the nation's highway investment requirements; (2) strengths and limitations of the model; and (3) usefulness of the HERS estimates for deciding on federal investments in highway infrastructure."

Backfills have been part of Sandia National Laboratories' [Sandia's] Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [WIPP] designs for over twenty years. Historically, backfill research at Sandia has depended heavily on the changing mission of the WIPP facility. Early testing considered heat producing, high level, wastes. Bentonite/sand/salt mixtures were evaluated and studies focused on developing materials that would retard brine ingress, sorb radionuclides, and withstand elevated temperatures. The present-day backfill consists of pure MgO [magnesium oxide] in a pelletized form and is directed at treating the relatively low contamination level, non-heat producing, wastes actually being disposed of in the WIPP. Its introduction was motivated by the need to scavenging CO{sub 2} [carbon dioxide] from decaying organic components in the waste. However, other benefits, such as a substantial desiccating capacity, are also being evaluated. The MgO backfill also fulfills a statutory requirement for assurance measures beyond those needed to demonstrate compliance with the US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] regulatory release limits. However, even without a backfill, the WIPP repository design still operates within EPA regulatory release limits.

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A letter extending heartfelt congratulations to an individual for their exceptional achievement in being chosen as a Marcus Fellow for the academic term 2000-2001.