This Analysis/Model Report (AMR) documents an analysis that was performed to estimate climatic variables for the next 10,000 years by forecasting the timing and nature of climate change at Yucca Mountain (YM), Nevada (Figure l), the site of a potential repository for high-level radioactive waste. The future-climate estimates are based on an analysis of past-climate data from analog meteorological stations, and this AMR provides the rationale for the selection of these analog stations. The stations selected provide an upper and a lower climate bound for each future climate, and the data from those sites will provide input to the infiltration model (USGS 2000) and for the total system performance assessment for the Site Recommendation (TSPA-SR) at YM. Forecasting long-term future climates, especially for the next 10,000 years, is highly speculative and rarely attempted. A very limited literature exists concerning the subject, largely from the British radioactive waste disposal effort. The discussion presented here is one method, among many, of establishing upper and lower bounds for future climate estimates. The method used here involves selecting a particular past climate from many past climates, as an analog for future climate. Other studies might develop a different rationale or select other past climates …

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Compaction bands are thin, tabular zones of grain breakage and reduced porosity that are found in sandstones. These structures may form due to tectonic stresses or as a result of local stresses induced during production of fluids from wells, resulting in barriers to fluid (oil, gas, water) movement in sandstone reservoirs. To gain insight into the formation of compaction bands the authors have produced them in the laboratory. Acoustic emission locations were used to define and track the thickness of compaction bands throughout the stress history during axisymmetric compression experiments. Narrow zones of intense acoustic emission, demarcating the boundaries between the uncompacted and compacted regions were found to develop. Unexpectedly, these boundaries moved at velocities related to the fractional porosity reduction across the boundary and to the imposed specimen compression stress. This appears to be a previously unrecognized, fundamental mode of deformation of a porous, granular material subjected to compressive loading with significant implications for the production of hydrocarbons.

The Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center of Sandia National laboratories has an ongoing research program in advanced user interfaces. As part of this research, promising new transduction devices, particularly hands-free devices, are being explored for the control of mobile and floor-mounted robotic systems. Brainwave control has been successfully demonstrated by other researchers in a variety of fields. In the research described here, Sandia developed and demonstrated a proof-of-concept brainwave-controlled mobile robot system. Preliminary results were encouraging. Additional work required to turn this into a reliable. fieldable system for mobile robotic control is identified. Used in conjunction with other controls, brainwave control could be an effective control method in certain circumstances.

At low redshifts powerful radio sources are uniquely associated with massive galaxies, and are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes. Modern 8m-10m telescopes may be used to find their likely progenitors at very high redshifts to study their formation and evolution.

Titanate ceramics have been selected as the preferred waste form for the immobilization of excess plutonium. Corrosion tests are underway to try to understand the long-term behavior of this material. In this paper, results from PCT-B static dissolution tests are used to provide an explanation of the observed corrosion behavior of a zirconolite-based ceramic. Two important observations are made. First, Ca is released at a constant rate [7 x 10{sup {minus}5} g/(m{sup 2} day)] in PCT-B tests for up to two years. Second, the release rates for Pu and Gd increase with time (up to two years) in PCT-B tests. The first observation suggests that the ceramics continue to corrode at a low rate for at least two years in PCT-B tests. The second observation suggests that the release rates of Pu and Gd are controlled by some process or processes that do not affect the release rate of other elements. Evidence indicates that this is due to the preferential dissolution of brannerite from the ceramic.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed whether federal agencies have the capacity to monitor and enforce trade agreements, focusing on: (1) the federal structure for monitoring and enforcing trade agreements; (2) the increasing complexity of the federal monitoring and enforcement task and key activities that federal agencies must perform; and (3) whether the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) have the capacity to handle their monitoring and enforcement workload, that is, whether their human capital resources and support mechanisms enable them to perform needed monitoring and enforcement activities."

Letter from Al Daniels to Precinct 1110 Democrats on March 14, 2000, asking members to vote for him as 1110 Precinct Chair in the March 14 Primary Election.

During January, 1998, collaboration between LLNL, UCI and Exdet, Ltd. arranged for the testing and evaluation of a Russian developed antitank mine detection system at the Buried Objects Detection Facility (BODF) located at the Nevada Test Site. BODF is a secured 30-acre facility with approximately 300 live antitank mines that were buried in 1993 and 1994. The burial depths range from a few cm to 15 cm and the various metal- and plastic-case antitank mines each contain 6-12 kg of high explosive. Contractors who have tested their mine detection equipment at BODF include: SAIC, SRI, ERIM, MIT/Lincoln Laboratory and Loral Defense Systems. In addition LLNL researchers have used BODF to test antitank mine detection systems based on: dual-band infrared imaging, hyper-spectral imaging, synthetic aperture impulse radar and micro-impulse radar. In a blind test the Russian operated system obtained the highest score of any technology tested to date at BODF. The system is based on combining information from two separate sensors; one to detect anomalous concentrations of hydrogen and the other to detect if such anomalies also have the correct nitrogen to carbon ratio for high explosives. The detection sensitivity is set by the geometry and type of neutron moderator and …

Notice regarding a vote on House Bill 2714 to name State Highway 107 the "Clara Luper Corridor"

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its recent reports concerning the Department of Energy's (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) security programs to protect against theft, sabotage, espionage, terrorism, and other risks to national security at its facilities, focusing on: (1) oversight of safeguards and security programs at DOE; and (2) security issues with NNSA."

Correctly identifying the possible alteration products and accurately predicting their occurrence in a repository-relevant environment are the key for the source-term calculation in a repository performance assessment. Uraninite in uranium deposits has long been used as a natural analog to spent fuel in a repository because of their chemical and structural similarity. In this paper, a SEM/AEM investigation has been conducted on a partially alternated uraninite sample from a uranium ore deposit of Shinkolobwe of Congo. The mineral formation sequences were identified: uraninite {yields} uranyl hydrates {yields} uranyl silicates {yields} Ca-uranyl silicates or uraninite {yields} uranyl silicates {yields} Ca-uranyl silicates. Reaction-path calculations were conducted for the oxidative dissolution of spent fuel in a representative Yucca Mountain groundwater. The predicted sequence is in general consistent with the SEM observations. The calculations also show that uranium carbonate minerals are unlikely to become major solubility-controlling mineral phases in a Yucca Mountain environment. Some discrepancies between model predictions and field observations are observed. Those discrepancies may result from poorly constrained thermodynamic data for uranyl silicate minerals.

On January 12, 2000, the Supreme Court held in Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw that plaintiffs had standing to pursue a Clean Water Act citizen suit, despite the fact that (1) the company-defendant had achieved compliance prior to the district court's decision, (2) plaintiffs sought only civil penalties payable to the U.S. Treasury, and (3) plaintiffs had demonstrated only reasonable concern, not physical injury to the environment. In so holding, the Court appeared to retrench substantially from its environmental standing decisions of the 1990s, which had all gone against plaintiffs. In the wake of Laidlaw, environmental citizen suits will be easier to bring. This report will not be updated.

This specification establishes the performance requirements and basic design requirements imposed on the fuel drying and canister inerting system for Shippingport Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Core 2 blanket fuel assemblies (BFAs) stored within Shippingport spent fuel (SSFCs) canisters (fuel drying and canister inerting system). This fuel drying and canister inerting system is a component of the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL) Spent Nuclear Fuels Project at the Hanford Site. The fuel drying and canister inerting system provides for removing water and establishing an inert environment for Shippingport PWR Core 2 BFAs stored within SSFCs. A policy established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) states that new SNF facilities (this is interpreted to include structures, systems and components) shall achieve nuclear safety equivalence to comparable U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-licensed facilities. This will be accomplished in part by applying appropriate NRC requirements for comparable NRC-licensed facilities to the fuel drying and canister inerting system, in addition to applicable DOE regulations and orders.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma 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 congressional request, GAO provided information on issues related to the safety of children who may be exposed to pesticides in agricultural settings, focusing on: (1) what federal requirements govern the safe use of pesticides, particularly as they relate to protecting children in agricultural settings; (2) what information is available on the acute and chronic effects of agricultural pesticide exposure, particularly on children; and (3) what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has done to ensure that its Worker Protection Standard considers the needs of children and is being adequately implemented and enforced."

With the end of the ''Cold War'' thousands of nuclear warheads are being dismantled. The National Academy of Sciences termed this growing stockpile of plutonium and highly enriched uranium ''a clear and present danger'' to international security. DOE/MD selected a duel approach to plutonium disposition--burning MOX fuel in existing reactors and immobilization in a ceramic matrix surrounded by HLW glass. MOX material will be pits and clean metal. The challenges come with materials that will be transferred to Immobilization--these range from engineered materials to residues containing < 30% Pu. Impurity knowledge range from guesses to actual data. During packaging, sites will flag ''out of the ordinary'' containers for characterized. If the process history is lost, characterization cost will escalate rapidly. After two step blending and ceramic precursor addition, cold press and sintering will form 0.5-kg ceramic pucks containing {le}50 g Pu. Pucks will be sealed in cans, placed into magazines, then into HLW canisters; these canisters will be filled with HLW glass prior to being transported to the HLW repository. The Immobilization Program must interface with DP, EM, RW, and NN. Overlaid on top of these interfaces are the negotiations with the Russians.

Geothermal energy will likely constitute an increasing percentage of our nation's future energy ''mix,'' both for electrical and nonelectrical uses. Associated with the exploitation of geothermal resources is the handling and disposal of fluids which contain a wide variety of potentially toxic trace elements. We present analyses of 14 trace elements found in hydrothermal fluids from various geothermal reservoirs in the western United States. The concentrations of these elements vary over orders of magnitude between reservoirs. Potential impacts are conservatively assessed on the basis of (1) toxicity to freshwater biota, and (2) bioaccumulation in food fish to the point where consumption might be hazardous to human health. Trace element concentrations generally range from benign levels to levels which might prove toxic to freshwater biota and contaminate food fisheries. We stress the need for site-specific analyses and careful handling of geothermal fluids in order to minimize potential impacts.

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

This report presents the results of the remedial investigation (RI) conducted at J-Field in the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), a U.S. Army installation located in Harford County, Maryland. Since 1917, activities in the Edgewood Area have included the development, manufacture, and testing of chemical agents and munitions and the subsequent destruction of these materials at J-Field by open burning and open detonation. These activities have raised concerns about environmental contamination at J-Field. This RI was conducted by the Environmental Conservation and Restoration Division, Directorate of Safety, Health and Environmental Division of APG, pursuant to requirements outlined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (CERCLA). The RI was accomplished according to the procedures developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1988). The RI provides a comprehensive evaluation of the site conditions, nature of contaminants present, extent of contamination, potential release mechanisms and migration pathways, affected populations, and risks to human health and the environment. This information will be used as the basis for the design and implementation of remedial actions to be performed during the remedial action phase, which will follow the feasibility study (FS) for J-Field.

A weekly student newspaper from the Rice University in Houston, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

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

Sensitivity/uncertainty analyses are not commonly performed on complex, finite-element engineering models because the analyses are time consuming, CPU intensive, nontrivial exercises that can lead to deceptive results. To illustrate these ideas, an analytical sensitivity/uncertainty analysis is used to determine the standard deviation and the primary factors affecting the burn velocity of polyurethane foam exposed to firelike radiative boundary conditions. The complex, finite element model has 25 input parameters that include chemistry, polymer structure, and thermophysical properties. The response variable was selected as the steady-state burn velocity calculated as the derivative of the burn front location versus time. The standard deviation of the burn velocity was determined by taking numerical derivatives of the response variable with respect to each of the 25 input parameters. Since the response variable is also a derivative, the standard deviation is essentially determined from a second derivative that is extremely sensitive to numerical noise. To minimize the numerical noise, 50-micron elements and approximately 1-msec time steps were required to obtain stable uncertainty results. The primary effect variable was shown to be the emissivity of the foam.

This document directly reviews the current Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) PRDA contracts and describes how they can best be integrated with the DOE CTBT R&D Knowledge Base. Contract descriptions and numbers listed below are based on the DOE CTBT R&D Web Site - http://www.ctbt.rnd.doe.gov. More detailed information on the nature of each contract can be found through this web site. In general, the location related PRDA contracts provide products over a set of categories. These categories can be divided into five areas, namely: Contextual map information; Reference event data; Velocity models; Phase detection/picking algorithms; and Location techniques.