A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has become increasingly aware of the need to be prepared for emergencies, including those involving hazardous chemicals. The local emergency responders and representatives from national organizations that GAO contacted have varied views on the adequacy of (1) information in chemical inventory forms and risk management plans and (2) the manner in which that information is delivered. Most members of the emergency response community believe that the manner of delivery of federally required information could be improved. Environmental Protection Agency officials cited their efforts to ensure compliance with provisions of the Clean Air Act's risk management program. However, their sense of the extent of compliance varies across three specific provisions; that is, the extent to which (1) facilities have registered risk management plans, (2) the plans contain accurate information, and (3) local responders are receiving the plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress changed the law governing the use of appropriation accounts in 1990 because it found that the Department of Defense (DOD) may have spent hundreds of millions of dollars for purposes that Congress had not approved. The 1990 law provided that, 5 years after the expiration of the period of availability of a fixed-term appropriation, the appropriation account be closed and all remaining balances canceled. After closing, the appropriation account could no longer be used for obligations or expenditures for any purpose. DOD has started the process of correcting the illegal or improper closed account adjustments made during fiscal year 2000. However, this will require substantial effort and, according to DOD, estimates will not be complete before the end of fiscal year 2002. DOD had upgraded its system control features by the end of fiscal year 2001 to preclude many of the wholesale adjustments that GAO had previously identified. Because its system enhancements were done in stages, including some near the end of fiscal year 2001, DOD continued to make large amounts of illegal and otherwise improper closed account adjustments during the year. However, given the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the enactment of the Dietary Enactment Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994, U.S. sales of weight loss supplements have increased steadily. The sales of weight loss supplements--reported to be the fastest growing segment of the dietary supplement industry--increased 10 to 20 percent annually from 1997 to 2001, and industry officials expect that rate of increase to continue. Little is known about the effectiveness of weight loss supplements, but some supplements have been associated with the potential physical harm. Health consequences may result from the use of the supplement itself or from the interaction of the supplement with medications or foods. Federal and state activities related to weight loss supplements have been limited and have focused on oversight of marketing rather than on oversight of safety. In addition, several states have statutes or regulations in effect or pending to restrict the sale of some weight loss supplements. Some state attorneys general and local district attorneys have sued the manufacturers of supplements marketed with weight loss claims, and individuals have sued over injuries."

This report summarizes the procedures used and results obtained in determining radial gas holdup profiles, via gamma ray scanning, and in assessing liquid and gas mixing parameters, via radioactive liquid and gas tracers, during Fischer Tropsch synthesis. The objectives of the study were (i) to develop a procedure for detection of gas holdup radial profiles in operating reactors and (ii) to test the ability of the developed, previously described, engineering models to predict the observed liquid and gas mixing patterns. It was shown that the current scanning procedures were not precise enough to obtain an accurate estimate of the gas radial holdup profile and an improved protocol for future use was developed. The previously developed physically based model for liquid mixing was adapted to account for liquid withdrawal from the mid section of the column. The ability of our engineering mixing models for liquid and gas phase to predict both liquid and gas phase tracer response was established and illustrated.

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

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We describe calculations of b overline b production tonext-to-next-to-leadi ng order (NNLO) and next-to-next-to-leadinglogarithm (NNLL) near threshold in pp interactions. Our calculations arein good agreement with the b overline b total cross section measured byHERA-B.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Seminole, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.

We present study of the anisotropic superconductor MgB{sub 2} using a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The results reveal two distinct energy gaps at {Delta}{sub 1} = 2.3 meV and {Delta}{sub 2} = 7.1 meV. Different spectral weights of the partial superconducting density of states are a reflection of different tunneling directions in this multi-band system. Our experimental observations are consistent with the existence of two-band superconductivity in the presence of interband superconducting pair interaction and quasiparticle scattering. Temperature evolution of the tunneling spectra follows the BCS scenario with both gaps vanishing at the bulk T{sub c}. The data confirm the importance of Fermi-surface sheet dependent superconductivity in MgB{sub 2} proposed in the multigap model by Liu et al. [1].

In May 2002, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) signed Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC02-98CH11109 with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to support the Environmental Biosciences Program (EBP). This funding instrument replaces DOE Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC02-98CH10902. EBP is an integrated, multidisciplinary scientific program, employing a range of research initiatives to identify, study and resolve environmental health risk issues. These initiatives are consistent with the Medical University's role as a comprehensive state-supported health sciences institution and the nation's need for new and better approaches to the solution of a complex and expansive array of environment-related health problems. The intrinsic capabilities of a comprehensive health sciences institution enable the Medical University to be a national resource for the scientific investigation of environmental health issues. EBP's success in convening worldwide scientific expertise is due in part to the inherent credibility the Medical University brings to the process of addressing these complex issues.

PLACE3S (PLAnning for Community Energy, Economic and Environmental Sustainability) energy option matching module.

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) manages the UF{sub 6} Cylinder Project. The project was formed to maintain and safely manage the depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF{sub 6}) stored in approximately 50,000 carbon steel cylinders. The cylinders are located at three DOE sites: the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) in Paducah, Kentucky, and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in Portsmouth, Ohio. The System Requirements Document (SRD) (LMES 1997a) delineates the requirements of the project, and the actions needed to fulfill these requirements are specified in the System Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) (LMES 1997b). This report documents activities that in whole or part satisfy specific requirements and actions stated in the UF{sub 6} Cylinder Project SRD and SEMP with respect to forecasting cylinder conditions. The results presented here supercede those presented by Lyon (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000), and Schmoyer and Lyon (2001). Many of the wall thickness projections made in this report are conservative, because they are based on the assumption that corrosion trends will continue, despite activities such as improved monitoring, relocations to better storage, painting, and other improvements in storage conditions relative to the conditions at …

The transportation sector accounts for a large and growing share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Worldwide, motor vehicles emit well over 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year, accounting for more than 15 percent of global fossil fuel-derived CO2 emissions.1 In the industrialized world alone, 20-25 percent of GHG emissions come from the transportation sector. The share of transport-related emissions is growing rapidly due to the continued increase in transportation activity.2 In 1950, there were only 70 million cars, trucks, and buses on the world’s roads. By 1994, there were about nine times that number, or 630 million vehicles. Since the early 1970s, the global fleet has been growing at a rate of 16 million vehicles per year. This expansion has been accompanied by a similar growth in fuel consumption.3 If this kind of linear growth continues, by the year 2025 there will be well over one billion vehicles on the world’s roads.4 In a response to the significant growth in transportation-related GHG emissions, governments and policy makers worldwide are considering methods to reverse this trend. However, due to the particular make-up of the transportation sector, regulating and reducing emissions from this sector poses a significant …

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The purpose of this Corrective Measures Implementation Report/Post-Construction Report/Final Remediation Report (CMIR/PCR/FRR) is to document compliance with technical and statutory requirements and to provide a consolidated record of all removal and remedial activities that have taken place during implementation of the selected corrective measure/remedial action for the Savannah River Laboratory Seepage Basins (SRLSBs) at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), reactor seepage basins received low-level radioactive purge water from the disassembly basins between 1957 and 1991. Almost all of the radioactivity was due to tritium which migrated quickly from the basins via leaching. Most of the remaining radioactivity is associated with cesium-137 (Cs-137), strontium-90 (Sr-90). and plutonium-239/240 (Pu-239/240). These constituents are present in soils immediately beneath each basin. This Revision 1 report documents the results of a bench-scale study conducted by SAIC under Contract No. C001311N to develop a grout mix capable of stabilizing the constituents of concern via the S/S treatment of the soils for reactor seepage basins at four SRS locations: C-Area (CRSB), K-Area (KRSB), L-Area (LRSB), and P-Area (PRSB). It recommends a specific grout mix for each reactor seepage basin and provides recommendations, limitations, and constraints for the full-scale field implementation.

This paper summarizes the work performed at Argonne National Laboratory on the fatigue of piping and pressure vessel steels in the coolant environments of light water reactors. The existing fatigue strain vs. life ({var_epsilon}-N) data were evaluated to establish the effects of various material and loading variables, such as steel type, strain range, strain rate, temperature, and dissolved-oxygen level in water, on the fatigue lives of these steels. Statistical models are presented for estimating the fatigue {var_epsilon}-N curves for carbon and low-alloy steels and austenitic stainless steels as a function of material, loading, and environment variables. Case studies of fatigue failures in nuclear power plants are presented, and the contribution of environmental effects to crack initiation is discussed. Methods for incorporating environmental effects into the ASME Code fatigue evaluations are discussed. Data available in the literature have been reviewed to evaluate the possible conservatism in the existing fatigue design curves of the ASME Code.

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Tank 46F is the current drop tank for the 2F evaporator and contains about190 inches of saltcake. Samples from the High Level Waste (HLW) Evaporator feed and drop tanks are analyzed every six months for criticality safety and scale formation potential. Analysis performed under this program includes analysis for silicon, aluminum, sodium, and free hydroxide concentration (evaluation of scale formation rates) and suite of criticality analyses . The recent minor leaks detected in Tank 5F have also led to HLW engineering to attempt to decide where to send material from Tank 5F. One of the primary options is to transfer Tank 5F material to Tank 46F. In order to support the Tank 5F transfer decision process, data is needed on the uranium isotopic distribution in the salt in Tank 46F.

Real-time horizon sensing (HS) on continuous mining (CM) machines is becoming an industry tool. Installation and testing of production-grade HS systems has been ongoing this quarter at Oxbow Mining Company, Monterey Coal Company (EXXON), FMC Trona, Twentymile Coal Company (RAG America), and SASOL Coal. Detailed monitoring of system function, user experience, and mining benefits is ongoing. All horizon sensor components have finished MSHA (United States) and IEC (International) certification.

Traffic congestion and its impacts significantly affect the nation's economic performance and the public's quality of life. In most urban areas, travel demand routinely exceeds highway capacity during peak periods. In addition, events such as crashes, vehicle breakdowns, work zones, adverse weather, and suboptimal signal timing cause temporary capacity losses, often worsening the conditions on already congested highway networks. The impacts of these temporary capacity losses include delay, reduced mobility, and reduced reliability of the highway system. They can also cause drivers to re-route or reschedule trips. Prior to this study, no nationwide estimates of temporary losses of highway capacity had been made by type of capacity-reducing event. Such information is vital to formulating sound public policies for the highway infrastructure and its operation. This study is an initial attempt to provide nationwide estimates of the capacity losses and delay caused by temporary capacity-reducing events. The objective of this study was to develop and implement methods for producing national-level estimates of the loss of capacity on the nation's highway facilities due to temporary phenomena as well as estimates of the impacts of such losses. The estimates produced by this study roughly indicate the magnitude of problems that are likely be …

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