The latest nuclear data are used to examine the sensitivity of the least squares adjustment of the {sup 235}U fission spectrum to the measured reaction rates, dosimetry cross sections, and prior spectrum covariance matrix. All of these parameters were found to be very important in the spectrum adjustment. The most significant deficiency in the nuclear data is the absence of a good prior covariance matrix. Covariance matrices generated from analytic models of the fission spectra have been used in the past. This analysis reveals some unusual features in the covariance matrix produced with this approach. Specific needs are identified for improved nuclear data to better determine the {sup 235}U spectrum. An improved {sup 235}U covariance matrix and adjusted spectrum are recommended for use in radiation transport sensitivity analyses.

This report tracks the progress in attaining useful room temperature spectrometers from CZT.

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

The ASTM standards provide guidance and instruction on how to field and interpret reactor dosimetry. They provide a roadmap towards understanding the current ''state-of-the-art'' in reactor dosimetry, as reflected by the technical community. The consensus basis to the ASTM standards assures the user of an unbiased presentation of technical procedures and interpretations of the measurements. Some insight into the types of standards and the way in which they are organized can assist one in using them in an expeditious manner. Two example are presented to help orient new users to the breadth and interrelationship between the ASTM nuclear metrology standards. One example involves the testing of a new ''widget'' to verify the radiation hardness. The second example involves quantifying the radiation damage at a pressure vessel critical weld location through surveillance dosimetry and calculation.

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

Semiweekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This report documents a series of capture zone analyses performed to access the expected overall performance of two (of the twelve) vertical airlift recirculation wells (ARWs) (specifically, SSR-011 and SRR-012) located in the Southern Sector of A/M Area.

The objective of this research was to design and construct a bending magnet beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. The beamline is to be optimized for x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies with a major focus on environmental issues. The beamline will share the experimental facilities under development at the neighboring undulator-based insertion device beamline. It will utilize these facilities for XAS of both bulk and surface samples, with spatial and elemental imaging, on toxic and radioactive samples. It will help meet the rapidly growing need for the application of these techniques to environmental problems.

Storage of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and other locations in the U. S. and around the world has been a concern over the past decade because of the long time interim storage requirements in water. Pitting corrosion of production aluminum-clad fuel in the early 1990''s at SRS was attributed to less than optimum quality water and corrective action taken has resulted in no new pitting since 1994. The knowledge gained from the corrosion surveillance testing and other investigations at SRS over the past 8 years has provided an insight into factors affecting the corrosion of aluminum in relatively high purity water. This paper reviews some of the early corrosion issues related to aluminum-clad spent fuel at SRS, including fundamentals for corrosion of aluminum alloys. It updates and summarizes the corrosion surveillance activities supporting the future storage of over 15,000 research reactor fuel assemblies from countries over the world during the next 15-20 years. Criteria are presented for providing corrosion protection for aluminum-clad spent fuel in interim storage during the next few decades while plans are developed for a more permanent disposition.

During 1996, the SLD collaboration completed construction and began operation of a new charge-coupled device (CCD) vertex detector (VXD3). Since then, its performance has been studied in detail and a new topological vertexing technique has been developed. In this paper, we discuss the design of VXD3, procedures for aligning it, and the tracking and vertexing improvements that have led to its world-record performance.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided an analysis of the Navy's assessment of the short-term and long-term costs associated with alternative methods for executing the naval surface fire support mission, including the alternative of reactivating two battleships."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO evaluated the Army's schedule for implementing best commercial inventory practices for the acquisition and distribution of secondary inventory items, focusing on: (1) the extent to which that schedule responds to the provisions of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999; and (2) specific elements of a management framework needed for effective implementation and oversight of the Army's best practice initiatives."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compared the actual fiscal year (FY) 1998 obligations for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Fossil Energy Research and Development (R&D) Program and the Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program with the estimated obligations that were previously reported."

A batch vitrification process, which utilizes an oxalate precipitate and frit (or cullet), is being developed at the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) to immobilize an Am-Cm solution. Prior to being accepted as the baseline flowsheet, numerous laboratory-scale tests were conducted to demonstrate its feasibility and to characterize the general melt behavior of the oxalate/frit system. The effects of frit particle size and oxalate precipitation temperature were the initial focus of these studies. Two technical issues were identified during these initial tests that warranted further study: a volume or bed expansion was observed at approximately 1140 degrees C and ''excessive'' bubble formation between 1220 - 1250 degrees C. Although high temperature bubble formation does not pose a serious process concern (i.e., longer residence times and/or higher process temperatures minimize bubble retention), the volume expansion is undesirable during processing. The volume expansion may limit the amount of glass that can be produced in a single batch. That is, the batch height may have to be controlled so that the material is contained within the Pt-Rh vessel at all times. Both the volume expansion and high temperature bubble formation have been linked to the thermal reduction of CeO{sub 2}. As part of …

The input that has been provided on the NIF experiment setup sheets has allowed us to review the diagnostic and DIM placement as well as the baseline unconverted light management plan. We have done an iteration to identify common diagnostic lines of sight, and with additional requirements defined by specific experiments, we propose (1) a baseline plan for DIM placement requiring only five DIMs that may be moved between up to seven DIM ports, and (2) a modified baseline unconverted light management plan. We request additional input to identify primary vs. secondary diagnostics for each experiment definition.

Previous experience with emergency medical rescues in the presence of radiation or contamination indicates that the training provided to emergency responders is not always appropriate. A new course developed at Los Alamos includes specific procedures for emergency response in a variety of radiological conditions.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on efforts to assess the economic impact of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulations to enhance environmental quality, focusing on: (1) to what extent EPA's regulations have been the subject of retrospective studies; (2) whether retrospective studies are viewed as useful or difficult to do; and (3) ways to foster such studies in the future."

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

Research and test reactors around the world are currently returning spent fuel originally enriched in the United States back to the U. S. In May 2006, operators of the reactors will cease to be eligible to return their spent fuel and will have to find national or regional solutions for continued storage, if they want to continue operations of their research reactors. The Savannah River Site (SRS) has looked at a number of options like dry storage, melt-dilute, or continued wet storage for fuel currently stored at SRS. This paper reviews the highlights of the wet basin studies conducted at SRS since 1992. Based on an understanding of the important factors affecting the corrosion of aluminum-clad spent fuel, criteria are presented for the corrosion protection of this fuel in extended water storage. With optimum water quality, aluminum-clad spent fuel can be stored safely and with minimum corrosion for times exceeding 25 years.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed various aspects of the Forest Service's and the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) firefighting programs."

The focus of the work has been on climate variability and learning within computational climate-economy models (integrated assessment models--IAM's). The primary objective of the research is to improve the representation of learning in IAM's. This include's both endogenous and exogenous learning. A particular focus is on Bayesian learning about climate damage. A secondary objective is to improve the representation of climate variability within IAM's.

An initial investigation for the use of an amorphous silicon flat panel as an imaging detector for thermal neutrons is described. A dpiX Model SS2200 imaging panel was used with a Li-6 enriched, LiF-ZnS(Ag) scintillator screen for a thermal neutron imaging investigation using the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor and the neutron radiography facility at Penn State University''s Radiation Science and Engineering Center. Good quality thermal neutron images were obtained at exposures in the range of 106 to 107n/cm2, values that compare favorably with those normally required for a medium-speed film result. Spatial resolution observed was in the order of 2 line pairs/mm, a value consistent with the resolution limitation of the imaging screen. The neutron images showed excellent quality, as determined with radiographs of the modified Type A gage test piece, often used to evaluate thermal neutron radioscopic images. Fourteen consecutive holes in the ''A'' gage test piece were observed, an excellent result as compared to typical neutron radioscopic systems.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the enterprise funds, established to support private sector development in selected countries of Eastern and Central Europe, focusing on: (1) whether enterprise funds are assisting private sector development; (2) what factors have affected the funds' ability to carry out their activities; (3) whether funds still have a role in private sector development, given other private investment and international donor efforts; (4) whether the funds are likely to recoup their authorized capital; and (5) whether the funds are complying with recent changes in the Agency for International Development (AID) reporting requirements."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the structural changes undergone by the Polish-American Enterprise Fund and its management company to enable them to operate more like private venture capital companies, focusing on: (1) whether these structural changes were permitted by law; (2) whether the purchase of the Polish Fund's management company by its employees at book value was permitted by law and whether it favored the employees; (3) whether monies earned by Polish Fund management company employees contravened a $150,000 salary cap; and (4) how proceeds from the sale of the Polish Fund's assets will be distributed."