This report considers the issue of new "fast track" in Congress. The report discusses that the new legislation could be used to negotiate new trade deals with countries in Latin America and Asia. Moreover, the report summarizes the agricultural debates on the issue.

Senate and House committees in October reported legislation for new fast track authority enabling the Administration to negotiate trade agreements with foreign countries and to submit them to Congress for consideration under expedited procedures. Many agricultural and food industry interests are among the export-dependent enterprises that support new fast track authority, arguing that foreign trading partners will not seriously negotiate with an Administration that lacks it. However, some agricultural groups argue that fast track provides them with inadequate opportunities for dealing with their issues, and that it ultimately will lead to new agreements that benefit foreign more than U.S. producers, at least in some commodity sectors. Neither bill was taken to the floor in 1997 because of insufficient votes for passage in the House. However, the President is expected to seek approval in 1998.

None

This report describes the origins and command, roles, and influence of Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) in the PLA and the defense industries of China.

Congressional interest in the Chinese military, or People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has increased as a result of the March 1996 tensions in the Taiwan Strait, continuing allegations of Chinese proliferation of technology useful in weapons of mass destruction, and reports that some Chinese defense-related corporations have circumvented U.S. export controls to acquire dual-use technology. The Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND), an important, high-level PLA organization, plays a role in China’s weapon programs, sales of civilian goods, acquisition of military technology, and arms sales and export controls. The purpose of this CRS Report is to examine the origins and command, roles, and influence of COSTIND.

This report focuses on the R&D programs. DOE has divided its activities into four major business categories: Resource, Science and Technology, National Security, and Environmental Quality. Each has an R&D component, although the R&D funding is concentrated in the first three. Table 1 (on the next page) shows FY1997 R&D funding, the FY1998 request, and the FY1998 appropriation actions by those categories

Compilation of monthly reports from departments in the city of San Antonio, Texas providing statistics, project updates, and other information about services and activities.

The Front End Computer (FEC) environment imposes special demands on software, beyond real time performance and robustness. FEC software must manage a diverse inventory of devices with individualistic timing requirements and hardware interfaces. It must implement network services which export device access to the control system at large, interpreting a uniform network communications protocol into the specific control requirements of the individual devices. Object oriented languages provide programming techniques which neatly address these challenges, and also offer benefits in terms of maintainability and flexibility. Applications are discussed which exhibit the use of inheritance, multiple inheritance and inheritance trees, and polymorphism to address the needs of FEC software.

A short term, low flow DNAPL extraction test was performed from May 29 - 30, 1997, to gather additional information about the possibility of using monitoring well MSB-3D to recover source contamination from the M-Area Aquifer. Although no visible, free phase material was recovered, the groundwater did contain perchloroethylene (PCE) at and above aqueous solubility. Improvements in the pumping configuration were identified for future trials. Prior to final treatment in the M1 air stripper, the groundwater was passed through an Oleofiltration system to evaluate its capability as a treatment technology. The Oleofilter uses a combination of conventional gravity assisted separation with coalescing plates and a final polishing filter using proprietary coated granules to remove hydrocarbons. Although free phase DNAPL was not processed through the Oleofilter, the groundwater containing high levels of dissolved PCE was treated efficiently. Initially the Oleofilter removed 99 percent of the PCE. As the test progressed, this removal rate decreased to 83 percent as the granules became loaded with PCE. Longer term testing, perhaps with periodic backflushing, is required to determine the effective granule capacity.

A single scatter electron Monte Carlo code (SSMC), CREEP, has been written which bridges the gap between existing transport methods and modeling real physical processes. CREEP simulates ionization,elastic and bremsstrahlung events individually. Excitation events are usually treated with an excitation-only stopping power, although simulation of individual excitation events is possible. Agreement of these quantities with experimental values is generally quite good.One application of this code is the generation of probability distribution functions (PDFs) to describe the phase space of a single electron emerging from a sphere of a given material and radius. A library of data sets for such spheres (or ``kugels``) is being computed for a variety of incident energies, material types, and sizes. The final goal of this work is to achieve extremely accurate transport results with an efficiency that is similar to that of condensed history methods.

In order to operate at full potential, Field-Emission-Gun Transmission Electron Microscopes (FEG-TEMs) require special environments designed to minimize the effects of vibration and electromagnetic noise. This report shows how careful attention to these details can enable such instruments to achieve their design parameters and produce information transfer to sub-Angstrom resolutions.

Tearing type modes are observed in most high-confinement operation regimes in TFTR. Three different methods are used to measure the magnetic island widths: external magnetic coils, internal temperature fluctuation from electron cyclotron emission (ECE) diagnostic and an experiment where the plasma major radius is rapidly shifted (`Jog` experiments). A good agreement between the three methods is observed. Numerical and analytic calculations of delta prime (the tearing instability index) are compared with an experimental measurement of delta prime using the tearing mode eigenfunction mapped from the Jog data. The obtained negative delta prime indicates that the observed tearing modes cannot be explained by the classical current-gradient-driven tearing theory.

The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project, managed by the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS) Management and Operating Contractor (M and O) is conducting investigations to support the Viability Assessment and the License Application for a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The sealing subsystem is part of the Yucca Mountain Waste Isolation System. The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project is currently evaluating the role of the sealing subsystem (shaft, ramp and exploratory borehole seals) in achieving the overall performance objectives for the Waste Isolation System. This report documents the results of those evaluations. The objective of the study is to provide water or air flow performance based requirements for shafts, ramps, and exploratory boreholes located near the repository. Recommendations, as appropriate, are provided for developing plans, seals component testing, and other studies relating to sealing.

The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project, managed by the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS) Management and Operating Contractor (M and O) is conducting investigations to support the Viability Assessment and the License Application for a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The sealing subsystem is part of the Yucca Mountain Waste Isolation System. The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project is currently evaluating the role of the sealing subsystem (shaft, ramp and exploratory borehole seals) in achieving the overall performance objectives for the Waste Isolation System. This report documents the results of those evaluations. This report presents the results of a repository sealing requirements study. Sealing is defined as the permanent closure of the shafts, ramps, and exploratory boreholes. Sealing includes those components that would reduce potential inflows above the repository, or that would divert flow near the repository horizon to allow vertical infiltration to below the repository. Sealing of such features as emplacement drifts was not done in this study because the current capability to calculate fracture flow into the drifts is not sufficiently mature. The objective of the study is to provide water or air flow performance based requirements for shafts, ramps, and exploratory boreholes located …

This report investigates five technical areas for stabilization of decommissioned waste tanks and contaminated soils at the Hanford Site AX Farm. The investigations are part of a preliminary evacuation of end-state options for closure of the AX Tanks. The five technical areas investigated are: (1) emplacement of cementations grouts and/or other materials; (2) injection of chemicals into contaminated soils surrounding tanks (soil mixing); (3) emplacement of grout barriers under and around the tanks; (4) the explicit recognition that natural attenuation processes do occur; and (5) combined geochemical and hydrological modeling. Research topics are identified in support of key areas of technical uncertainty, in each of the five areas. Detailed cost-benefit analyses of the technologies are not provided. This investigation was conducted by Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, during FY 1997 by tank Focus Area (EM-50) funding.

This document is a structural analysis of the Flexible Receiver Platforms and the tank-pit wall during removal of equipment and during a accidental drop of that equipment. The platform and the pit walls must withstand a accidental drop of a mixer and transfer pumps in specific pits in tanks 102-AP and 104-AP. A mixer pump will be removed from riser 11 in pit 2A on tank 241-AP-102. A transfer pump will be removed from riser 13 in pit 2D on tank 241-AP-102 and another transfer pump will be removed from riser 3A in pit 4A on tank 241-AP-104.

Manage the Site Systems Engineering process to provide a traceable, integrated, requirements-driven, and technically defensible baseline., Through the Site Integration Group, Systems Engineering ensures integration of technical activities across all site projects. Systems Engineering`s primary interfaces are with the Project Direction Office and with the projects, as well as with the Planning organization.

This report details the information related to Biosphere reserves, under the Man and the Biosphere(MAB) program.

Since 1972, the United States has participated in the Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB), coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This report presents a background on the criteria for Biosphere Reserves, designation process and the policy implications of designation/recognition.

None

We report a quantitative experimental test of the Sweet-Parker model of magnetic reconnection in a controlled laboratory plasma. It is found that the observed reconnection rate cannot be explained by the Sweet-Parker model unless the model is generalized to incorporate compressibility, downstream pressure, and the effective resistivity. The latter is significantly enhanced over its classical values in the collisionless limit.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in its role as the lead laboratory for the development of plutonium immobilization technologies for the Department of Energy`s Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (MD), has been requested by MD to recommend an immobilization technology for the disposition of surplus weapons- usable plutonium. The recommendation and supporting documentation was requested to be provided by September 1, 1997. This report addresses the choice between glass and ceramic technologies for immobilizing plutonium using the can-in-canister approach. Its purpose is to provide a comparative evaluation of the two candidate technologies and to recommend a form based on technical considerations.

The objectives of this task as described in Statement of Work have been met and the documents required as Deliverables have been prepared and submitted to the requester. Specifically, a document titled ``The MCLIB Library: Monte Carlo Simulation of Neutron Scattering Instruments,`` revised September 23, 1997, includes documentation of new standards, code revisions and additions, and some improved efficiency due to improved optimization strategies. The procedures for user implementation of new optical devices, and information on using the package and reading and viewing the output have also been included. Second, a new document entitled ``MCLIB Element Definitions and Help`` was written and revised through the duration of the task, to supply the needed input to group CIC-15 for the purpose of integrating the MCLIB package with a web-based user interface. Finally, an application of the package was presented and a (successful) demonstration of the new user interface was given at a workshop at Argonne National Laboratory, August 24--26, 1997, as described in the modification to the Statement of Work.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.