This report provides an overview of some of the more common legal, procedural, and practical issues, questions and problems that committees have faced in the courts of an oversight investigation.

This report describes the history and background of the offset and the legislative history of recent attempts to eliminate or reduce the offset. It delineates and analyzes the arguments for and against eliminating or reducing the offset and allowing concurrent receipt, and addresses the issues of costs, precedents in other Federal programs, purposes of the two programs, and equity issues. Finally, options other than full concurrent receipt are mentioned.

This engineering note documents a communication link between the D0 cryo/gas control system and the D0 physics data acquisition computer system. This note is being written well after the work has been completed, in order to document this communications link, and to satisfy needs of planned upgrades. These upgrades are the D0 Super Conducting Solenoid, VLPC system, and Silicon Detector System. The D0 cryo/gas control system is a Programmable Logic Controller based process control system. It is responsible for controlling many of the physical parameters of the D0 experiment, such as Calorimeter cooling, vacuum, Instrument air, TRD gas pressures and flows, W AMUS pressures and flows, SAMUS pressure and flows, etc. It works independent of the Physics DAQ system. There is a need for the Physics DAQ system to record some of these process values with the D0 physics data. This process data will later be used to calibrate certain features of the Physics data during reconstruction. The process data is also used to interlock (via the Physics DAQ system) some of the other D0 systems such as the TRD high voltage system. Some of the Process data values will be continuously monitored and will stop the Physics data taking …

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission`s (Commission) mission is to oversee America`s natural gas and oil pipeline transportation, electric utility, and hydroelectric power industries to ensure that consumers receive adequate energy supplies at just and reasonable rates. To carry out this mission, the Commission issues regulations covering the accounting, reporting, and rate-making requirements of the regulated utility companies. The Commission`s Office of Chief Accountant performs financial related audits at companies to ensure compliance with these regulations. The purpose of this audit was to evaluate the office of Chief Accountant`s audit performance. Specifically, the objectives were to determine if the most appropriate audit approach was used and if a quality assurance process was in place to ensure reports were accurate and supported by the working papers.

The statements of work for each activity and task of the Hanford Low-Level Tank Waste Performance Assessment project are given for the fiscal years 1996 through 2001. The end product of this program is approval of a final performance assessment by the Department of Energy in the year 2000.

During the development of the feed processing flowsheet for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS), research had shown that use of formic acid (HCOOH) could accomplish several processing objectives with one chemical addition. These objectives included the decomposition of tetraphenylborate, chemical reduction of mercury, production of acceptable rheological properties in the feed slurry, and controlling the oxidation state of the glass melt pool. However, the DEPF research had not shown that some vitrification slurry feeds had a tendency to evolve hydrogen (H{sub 2}) and ammonia (NH{sub 3}) as the result of catalytic decomposition of CHOOH with noble metals (rhodium, ruthenium, palladium) in the feed. Testing conducted at Pacific Northwest Laboratory and later at the Savannah River Technical Center showed that the H{sub 2} and NH{sub 3} could evolve at appreciable rates and quantities. The explosive nature of H{sub 2} and NH{sub 3} (as ammonium nitrate) warranted significant mitigation control and redesign of both facilities. At the time the explosive gas evolution was discovered, the DWPF was already under construction and an immediate hardware fix in tandem with flowsheet changes was necessary. However, the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP) was in the design phase and …

A procedure and the equipment necessary for single-point diamond flycutting (loosely referred to as diamond turning) potassium di-hydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals are described. It is based on current KDP diamond turning activities at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), drawing upon knowledge from the Nova crystal finishing development during the 1980`s and incorporating refinements from our efforts during 1995. In addition to describing a step-by-step process for diamond turning KDP, specific discussions are included on the necessary diamond tool geometry and edge sharpness, cutting fluid, and crystal preparation, handling, cleaning, and inspection. The authors presuppose that the reader is already familiar with diamond turning practices.

A number of discriminants have been developed for seismic monitoring. These include the Ms-mb discriminant which measures differences in surface and body wave magnitudes (e.g., Marshall and Basham, 1972), short period P to S wave amplitude ratio discriminants (e.g., Blandford, 1981) and spectral ratios discriminants (e.g., Murphy and Bennett, 1982). Unfortunately, existing discrimination capabilities are insufficient to meet the needs that will be required by a comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT). Of particular concern are limitations of current capabilities for discriminating small magnitude (mb<4) seismic events such as earthquakes, mining explosions, and mining related seismicity (rockbursts and collapse events) from small magnitude nuclear explosions (both coupled and decoupled). In this report, we summarize our work on the development of new methods for discriminating such small magnitude events.

Thermal embrittlement of static-cast CF-8 stainless steel components from the decommissioned Shippingport reactor has been characterized. Cast stainless steel materials were obtained from four cold-leg check valves, three hot-leg main shutoff valves, and two pump volutes. The actual time-at-temperature for the materials was {approx}13 y at {approx}281 C (538 F) for the hot-leg components and {approx}264 C (507 F) for the cold-leg components. Baseline mechanical properties for as-cast material were determined from tests on either recovery-annealed material, i.e., annealed for 1 h at 550 C and then water quenched, or material from the cooler region of the component. The Shippingport materials show modest decreases in fracture toughness and Charpy-impact properties and a small increase in tensile strength because of relatively low service temperatures and ferrite content of the steel. The procedure and correlations developed at Argonne National Laboratory for estimating mechanical properties of cast stainless steels predict accurate or slightly lower values for Charpy-impact energy, tensile flow stress, fracture toughness J-R curve, and JIC of the materials. The kinetics of thermal embrittlement and degree of embrittlement at saturation, i.e., the minimum impact energy achieved after long-term aging, were established from materials that were aged further in the laboratory. The results …

The Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a 1.5 to 1.9 GeV high-brightness electron storage ring operating at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) that provides synchrotron radiation for a large variety of users. It Is proposed to replace three of the thirty six 1.5T, one meter long bend magnets with very sbort high-field superconductlng (SC) dipoles. These magnets would provide bend-magnet synchrotron radiation to six bcamlines with a critical energy of at least 6 keV that is much better suited for protein crystallography and other small-sample x-ray diffraction and adsorption studies, than is currently available at the ALS. The magnet design is described, including coil, yoke, magnetic field analysis, and cyrostat. A prototype magnet is under construction at LBL.

A nitrogen phase separator is recommended on the liquid supply line at the helium refrigerator plant. This engineering note documents the calculations done to reach that conclusion. The steady state liquid nitrogen consumption rate for the refrigerator, VLPC and solenoid systems is about 30 gal/hr. The estimated heat leak for the piping run to the refrigerator location is 50 watts. The calculated quality at the refrigerator was 0.032. Given this quality, a two phase flow model based on Lockhart-Martinelli and also incorporating Baker diagram nomenclature was run on TK solver. The result of this program was that without the use of a phase separator we could expect a slug flow pattern with a volume fraction of gas of 65%. Based on this, I recommend that we use a phase separator to siphon off the gas before the nitrogen is sent to a standard saver type subcooler. Including the phase separator will help ensure proper operation of the subcooler. The subcooler will help us attempt to deliver single phase liquid to the nitrogen control valves.

Attention is drawn to the possibility of regarding the cerebral cortex as a physical system whose only excitations are topological. An attractive feature of such a hypothesis is that it is possible to understand how local dynamics could spontaneously give rise to a large scale organization of neurons and synapses that one might associate with sophisticated cognitive capabilities. It is suggested that the spontaneous appearance of topological disorder in the topological phases of 2-D and 4-D quantum gravity illustrates how the topological complexity of the human brain can develop. In particular the cooperative behavior of different neural circuits in the cerebral cortex may be closely related to the topology of certain 4-manifolds.

On July 29, 1994, the United States signed the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. This agreement substantially reforms the seabed mining provisions of the 1982 Convention, which the United States found objectionable. In signing the Agreement, President Clinton accepted provisional application of it which enables the United States to participate in the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and its organs and bodies. On November 16, 1994, the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention entered into force without accession by the United States.The treaty document was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations late in the 103d Congress and awaits committee action in the 104th Congress.

This report will provide an overview of some of the more common legal, procedural and practical issues, questions, and problems that committees have faced in the course of an investigation. Following a summary of the case law developing the scope and limitations of the power of inquiry, the essential tools of investigative oversight--subpoenas, staff interviews and depositions, grants of immunity, and the contempt power -- are described. Next, some of the special problems of investigating the executive are detailed, with particular emphasis on claims of presidential executive privilege, the problems raised by attempts to access information with respect to open or closed civil or criminal investigative matters, or to obtain information that is part of the agency deliberative process, and the effect on congressional access of statutory prohibitions on public disclosure. The discussion then focuses on various procedural and legal requirements that accompany the preparation for, and conduct of, an investigative hearing, including matters concerning jurisdiction, particular rules and requirements for the conduct of such proceedings, and the nature, applicability and scope of certain constitutional and common law testimonial privileges that may be claimed by witnesses. The case law and practice respecting the rights of minority party members during the …

This report is on The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management: History and Analysis of Merger Proposals.

Deng Xiaoping's death will create a vacuum at the center of political power in China. Successor leaders will decide whether to continue the recent collective leadership decision-making processes and policy emphasis on political stability and economic reform; or to press for political power in a search for personal or policy advantage. A struggle for political power in Beijing would complicate an already difficult set of problems of governance caused by rapid economic growth, social change, realignment of central and local power arrangements and other factors. Nevertheless, there are important reasons why China may effectively work its way through the leadership transition.

This project aspires to increase the productivity and reserves in the Uinta Basin by demonstration of improved completion techniques. Subsurface studies were performed this period.

The purpose of this document is to provide the design support information for the Vertical Fuel Handling Tools, developed for the removal of N Reactor fuel elements from their storage canisters in the K Basins storage pool and insertion into the Single Fuel Element Can for subsequent shipment to a Hot Cell for examination. Examination of these N Reactor fuel elements is part of the overall characterization effort. These new hand tools are required since previous fuel movement has involved grasping the fuel in a horizontal position. These tools are required to lift an element vertically from the storage canister. Additionally, a Mark II storage canister Lip Seal Protector was designed and fabricated for use during fuel retrieval. This device was required to prevent damage to the canister lip should a fuel element accidentally be dropped during its retrieval, using the handling tools. Supporting documentation for this device is included in this document.

This report is a compilation of system change requests processed during the development of the Data Acquisition and Control System for the Tank 241-SY-101 hydrogen mitigation project. Tank 241-SY-101 is on the Hydrogen Watch List. The disposition of the request, date the change was installed, date verified, and whether an Acceptance Test Procedure was required and completed are described for each request change.

This document includes the inspection and testing requirements for the Nitrogen Chiller unit. The Chiller will support the Rotary Mode core Sampling System during the summer. The Chiller cools the Nitrogen Purge Gas that is used when drilling in tank wastes to cool the drill bit.

This Engineering Task Plan outlines the remaining work to be completed for the BX/BY Instrument Air upgrade. Initial work efforts were guided by Engineering Work Plan, ``BX-BY Compressor Upgrade`` dated 1-25-93 (see Attachment A) which is provided for information. The overall engineering task is to provide a permanent replacement for the instrument air supply system for the 241-BX/BY Tank Farms. The existing system consists of a 25 horsepower Worthington non-lube compressor and an Oriad air dryer. The existing equipment is dated, requires high maintenance and is located in a contaminated zone making it unusable. The BX/BY instrument air replacement unit will be one of the 100 SCFM generic air stations. This station will be permanently sited with the addition of drawing changes to provide a concrete foundation, air piping to existing lines and electrical power supply tie-ins.

This CSER qualifies use of a 5% borated, lead foil lined polyethylene 1 inch annulus as a bucket and in a small carrier to move sealed containers of plutonium. The containers are Oversize Cans or smaller containing plutonium limited in mass and H/Pu ratio by PFP storage and transportation CPS`s. These ALARA shielding units reduce personnel exposure to the radiation from the containers as they are moved for assay and other required activities.

This documents Phase 1 determinations on sampler induced bias for four sampler types used in tank characterization. Each sampler, grab sampler or bottle-on-a-string, auger sampler, sludge sampler and universal sampler, is briefly discussed and their physical limits noted. Phase 2 of this document will define additional testing and analysis to further define Sampler Bias.

This document is a plan which serves as the contractual agreement between the Characterization Program, Sampling Operations, ORNL, and PNL tank vapor program. Scope of this plan is to provide guidance for sampling and analysis of vapor samples from tank 241-S-111 (this tank is on the organic and flammable gas watch list). This tank received Redox plant waste, among other wastes.