A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The number of federal and state inmates released to communities increased more than threefold from 1980 to 1998. Since 1980, recidivism rates have been about 40 percent. Within the group of recidivists, the number of offenders reincarcerated for violating parole or other release conditions rose more than sevenfold from 1980 to 1998. Furthermore, such reincarcerations represent an increasing proportion of all prison admissions. The Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) 1997 survey found that most federal offenders (62 percent) were imprisoned for drug offense convictions, and almost half (47 percent) of all state offenders were incarcerated for violent offense convictions. Also, the majority of inmates in both correctional systems--federal inmates (73 percent) and state inmates (83 percent)--had some history of illegal drug use. BJS' survey also showed that 27 percent of both federal and state exit cohort inmates participated in vocational training programs, and 11 percent of federal and 2 percent of state exit cohort inmates worked in prison industry jobs. In addition, 33 percent of the federal inmates and 36 percent of the state inmates participated in residential in-patient treatment programs for alcohol and drug abuse. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Navy, the primary purpose of forward-deployed naval forces is to project power from the sea to influence events ashore. To be successful, naval forces must be able to gain access to, and operate in the coastal areas of potential adversaries. Consequently, they must be able to detect and neutralize enemy sea mines and other antiship weapons. Finally, they must be able to launch and support offensive operations against enemy forces ashore. This report assesses the Navy's (1) existing mine countermeasures, (2) antisubmarine warfare, (3) ship self-defense, (4) surface fire support capabilities, and (5) progress in the acquisition programs the Navy is pursuing to address shortfalls in these areas. GAO found that the Navy's current force of specialized ships, helicopters, and other assets developed to detect and neutralize enemy sea mines lack several key warfighting capabilities it needs for shoreline operations. Although the Navy is making some progress in overcoming shortfalls in antisubmarine warfare, a lack of resources and priorities among competing programs persists. The Navy's ship defense capabilities against cruise missiles are marginal, and surface ships will be at risk when operating within …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which is a permanent repository and principal disseminator of scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information. NTIS acquires research reports primarily from federal agencies and their contractors and grantees as well as from international sources. GAO discusses (1) the various functions of NTIS; (2) the quantity, age, and demand trends of reports in NTIS' repository; (3) the extent to which the reports in NTIS' repository are readily available from other public sources; and (4) whether federal agencies are sending their reports to NTIS for sale to the public, as required by law. GAO found that NTIS provides its basic statutory clearinghouse repository function of collecting and disseminating full-text paper reports and various other fee-based services for agencies. These include brokerage services, distribution services, and Web services. NTIS has about 2.5 million reports in its repository that are to be retained permanently. About 75 percent of the reports are more than 12 years old, and NTIS has sold one or more copies of about eight percent of its 2.5 million reports. Of the 1.8 million reports …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses Multilateral Development Banks (MDB), which provide financial support for projects and programs that promote social and economic progress in developing countries. GAO provides (1) summaries of each bank's mission, function, and operations; (2) key bank financial data covering the last three fiscal years; and (3) information on the U.S. investment in capital and voting percentages in each MDB. GAO found that MDBs are autonomous international financial entities that finance economic and social development projects and programs in developing countries. The MDBs primarily fund these projects and programs using money borrowed from world capital markets or money provided by the governments of member countries. MDBs enable developing countries to access foreign currency resources on more advantageous terms than would be available to them on the basis of their own international credit standing. The MDBs provide assistance in the form of loans, equity investments, loan and equity guarantees, and technical assistance. Direct lending is the primary vehicle of development assistance. The United States is the largest member in most of the MDBs discussed in this report, contributing significant amounts to support the missions of the …

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the Department of Defense (DOD) makes about 200,000 decisions to grant, deny, or revoke security clearances for its civilian, military, and contractor personnel. Through a process called adjudication, DOD personnel security specialists review the results of employees' background investigations and determine whether the individual is eligible for a clearance. This report (1) assesses whether DOD's adjudicators consistently document all significant adverse security conditions when determining individuals' eligibility for top secret security clearances and (2) identifies factors that hinder the effectiveness of DOD's adjudicative process. GAO found that DOD adjudicators have not consistently documented all significant adverse security conditions present in investigative case files when determining individuals' eligibility for top secret security clearances. DOD has been unable to demonstrate that it fully considered all significant adverse conditions often not documented, including financial matters. Several factors have hindered the effectiveness of DOD's adjudicative process. The Assistant Secretary has not (1) used common explanatory guidance, such as that contained in the Adjudicative Desk Reference he developed, or issued any other clarifying guidance to promote consistency in applying the federal guidelines; (2) required adjudicators to take DOD adjudicative …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has had longstanding problems in reconciling the transaction activity in its Fund Balance with Treasury accounts. These reconciliation problems hamper DOD's ability to prepare auditable financial statements and have prompted GAO to place DOD financial management on its list of government activities at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. In August 1998, DOD developed a strategic plan to improve the reconciliation process for the activity in its Fund Balance with Treasury accounts. DOD reported that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's (DFAS) Denver Center, which provides support for the Air Force, has made the most progress in implementing this plan and that its process for reconciling the activity in the Air Force General Funds is more comprehensive than that of the other DOD components. This report reviews the Denver center's reconciliation processes to determine (1) the progress the Denver center has made in reconciling the transaction activity in the Air Force General Funds and (2) whether the Denver center's reconciliation concepts, policies, and practices could be used in reconciling the Fund Balance with Treasury activity of other DOD components. …

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Two synthetic data sets were examined to study the possible methods for distinguishing the effects of changes in saturation, and changes in pore pressure, on seismic velocity and impedance measurements. The results show that the results obtained previously on the dependence of laboratory velocity data on changes in saturation carry over without change to the data in these data sets. The assumption in this case is that the only data available are the seismic velocities. This situation can arise in cross-well seismic tomography. Of more direct interest to this project is how these methods and results should change when the data are instead seismic impedance measurements. The main conclusions are that the most appropriate plotting methods for seismic impedance data in order to distinguish changes in saturation, changes in pressure, and saturation changes from pressure changes are ({rho}{mu}, {lambda}/{mu}) and ({mu}/{lambda}, {rho}{mu}{sup 2}/{lambda}). All of these plotting coordinates can be computed easily from the impedance data {rho}{nu}{sub p} and {rho}{nu}{sub s}, since {rho}{mu} = ({rho}{nu}{sub s}){sup 2}, and {rho}{lambda} = ({rho}{nu}{sub p}){sup 2} - 2({rho}{nu}{sub s}){sup 2}, while {lambda}/{mu} = {rho}{lambda}/{rho}{mu} and {rho}{mu}{sup 2}/{lambda} = ({rho}{mu}){sup 2}/{rho}{lambda}. These choices are not the only possibilities, but they seem to give the …

(1) LLNL measured the material removal rate from stainless steel, silicon carbide, rhenium, N5, hastalloy X, and titanium as a function of pulse fluence at a wavelength of 810 nm for pulse durations of 150 fs, 1.5 ps, 20 ps, and 500 ps. The spot size of the beam used was 150 microns in diameter and the nominal material thickness was 1-2 mm. These experiments were performed on the existing 1 kHz laser system. Holes of different penetration depths were obtained to ascertain change in removal rate as a function of depth. Measurements included electron microscopy of selected samples. (2) The experiments in I were repeated for all materials but select pulse durations with the sample in a vacuum of base pressure 10 mTorr to determine if hole quality and ablation rate is improved. (3) LLNL measured material removal rate from stainless steel, silicon carbide, rhenium, N5, hastalloy X, and titanium as a function of pulse fluence at a wavelength of 532 nm for pulse duration at 200 ns. The spot size of the beam used was 200 microns in diameter and the material thickness was the same as in task I. Holes of different penetration depths were obtained to …

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This document describes the interim status groundwater monitoring plan for Waste Management Area A-AX.

The Debuncher Momentum cooling systems were carefully measured for signal to noise. It was observed that cooling performance was not optimum. Closer inspection shows that the installed front-end bandpass filters are wider than the pickup response. (The original filters were specified to be wider so that none of the available bandwidth would be clipped.) The end result is excess noise is amplified and passed onto the kickers unimpeded, hence, reducing the achievable system gain. From this data, new filters should be designed to improve performance. New system bandwidths are specified on the data figures. Also included are the transfer function measurements that clearly show adjacent band response. In band 4 upper, the adjacent lobes are strong and out of phase. This is also degrading the system performance. The correlation between spectrum analyzer signal to noise and network analyzer system transfer functions is very strong. The table below has a calculation of expected improvement of front noise reduction by means of building new front-end bandpass filters. The calculation is based on a flat input noise spectrum and is a linear estimation of improvement. The listed 3dB bandwidths of the original filters are from measured data. The expected bandwidth is taken from …

This Analysis/Model Report (AMR) describes the methods used to develop numerical grids of the unsaturated hydrogeologic system beneath Yucca Mountain. Numerical grid generation is an integral part of the development of a complex, three-dimensional (3-D) model, such as the Unsaturated-Zone Flow and Transport Model (UZ Model) of Yucca Mountain. The resulting numerical grids, developed using current geologic, hydrogeologic, and mineralogic data, provide the necessary framework to: (1) develop calibrated hydrogeologic property sets and flow fields, (2) test conceptual hypotheses of flow and transport, and (3) predict flow and transport behavior under a variety of climatic and thermal loading conditions. Revision 00 of the work described herein follows the planning and work direction outlined in the ''Development of Numerical Grids for UZ Flow and Transport Modeling'' (CRWMS M&O 1999c). The technical scope, content, and management of ICN 01 of this AMR is currently controlled by the planning document, ''Technical Work Plan for Unsaturated Zone (UZ) Flow and Transport Process Model Report'' (BSC 2001a). The scope for the TBV resolution actions in this ICN is described in the ''Technical Work Plan for: Integrated Management of Technical Product Input Department'' (BSC 2001 b, Addendum B, Section 4.1). The steps involved in numerical grid …

The overall objective of this project is to develop an integrated system that remotely characterizes, maps, and archives measurement data of hazardous decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) areas. The system will generate a detailed 3-dimensional topography of the area as well as real-time quantitative measurements of volatile organics and radionuclides. The system will analyze substrate materials consisting of concrete, asbestos, and transite. The system will permanently archive the data measurements for regulatory and data integrity documentation. Exposure limits, rest breaks, and donning and removal of protective garments generate waste in the form of contaminated protective garments and equipment. Survey times are increased and handling and transporting potentially hazardous materials incur additional costs. Off-site laboratory analysis is expensive and time-consuming, often necessitating delay of further activities until results are received. The Three Dimensional Integrated Characterization and Archiving System (3D-ICAS) has been developed to alleviate some of these problems. 3D-ICAS provides a flexible system for physical, chemical and nuclear measurements reduces costs and improves data quality. Operationally, 3D-ICAS performs real-time determinations of hazardous and toxic contamination. A prototype demonstration unit is available for use in early 2000. The tasks in this Phase included: (1) Mobility Platforms: Integrate hardware onto mobility platforms, upgrade surface …

A system for the nondestructive assay of waste drums containing {sup 233}U has been installed in Bldg. 3019. This system employs two 3 x 3 in. NaI scintillation detectors, and standard counting techniques and analyses of the 2.6-MeV gamma radiation emitted by {sup 208}Tl. Thallium-208 is a product of the decay of {sup 232}U, which is usually present as an impurity in {sup 233}U. Results show that the system is capable of determining gram quantities of {sup 233}U in a 55-gal rotating drum. Standard deviations of the results are also reported.

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The Pennsylvania State University, under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory is performing a feasibility analysis on installing a state-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed boiler and ceramic filter emission control device at Penn State's University Park campus for cofiring multiple biofuels and other wastes with coal, and developing a test program to evaluate cofiring multiple biofuels and coal-based feedstocks. The objective of the project is being accomplished using a team that includes personnel from Penn State's Energy Institute, Office of Physical Plant, and College of Agricultural Sciences; Foster Wheeler Energy Services, Inc.; Parsons Energy and Chemicals Group, Inc.; and Cofiring Alternatives. During this reporting period, work focused on performing the design of the conceptual fluidized bed system and determining the system economics.

The objective and scope of this calculation is to create the appropriate parameter input for MING 1.0 (CSCI 30018 V1.0, CRWMS M&O 1998b) that will allow the testing of the results from the MING software code with both scientific measurements of microbial populations at the site and laboratory and with natural analogs to the site. This set of calculations provides results that will be used in model validation for the ''In-Drift Microbial Communities'' model (CRWMS M&O 2000) which is part of the Engineered Barrier System Department (EBS) process modeling effort that eventually will feed future Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) models. This calculation is being produced to replace MING model validation output that is effected by the supersession of DTN M09909SPAMINGl.003 using its replacement DTN M00106SPAIDMO 1.034 so that the calculations currently found in the ''In-Drift Microbial Communities'' AMR (CRWMS M&O 2000) will be brought up to date. This set of calculations replaces the calculations contained in sections 6.7.2, 6.7.3 and Attachment I of CRWMS M&O (2000) As all of these calculations are created explicitly for model validation, the data qualification status of all inputs can be considered corroborative in accordance with AP-3.15Q. This work activity has been evaluated in …

Nickel based alloys are often welded with argon/hydrogen shielding gas mixtures to minimize oxidation and improve weld quality. However, shielding gas mixtures with {ge} 1% hydrogen additions can result in hydrogen concentrations greater than 5 wt. ppm in the weld metal and reduce ductility via hydrogen embrittlement. For the conditions investigated, the degree of hydrogen embrittlement is highly variable between 5 and 14 wt. ppm. investigation of hydrogen embrittlement of EN82H GTAW welds via tensile testing, light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, orientation imaging microscopy, and thermal desorption spectroscopy shows that this variability is due to the inhomogeneous microstructure of the welds, the presence of recrystallized grains, and complex residual plastic strains. Specifically, research indicates that high residual strains and hydrogen trapping lower the ductility of Ni-Cr-Mn-Nb weld metal when dissolved hydrogen concentrations are greater than 5 wt. ppm. The inhomogeneous microstructure contains columnar dendritic, cellular dendritic, and recrystallized grains. The decreased tensile ductility observed in embrittled samples is recovered by post weld heat treatments that decrease the bulk hydrogen concentration below 5 wt. ppm.

The purpose of the Saturated Zone Colloid-Facilitated Transport Analysis and Modeling Report (AMR), as outlined in its Work Direction and Planning Document (CRWMS M&O 1999a), is to provide retardation factors for colloids with irreversibly-attached radionuclides, such as plutonium, in the saturated zone (SZ) between their point of entrance from the unsaturated zone (UZ) and downgradient compliance points. Although it is not exclusive to any particular radionuclide release scenario, this AMR especially addresses those scenarios pertaining to evidence from waste degradation experiments, which indicate that plutonium and perhaps other radionuclides may be irreversibly attached to colloids. This report establishes the requirements and elements of the design of a methodology for calculating colloid transport in the saturated zone at Yucca Mountain. In previous Total Systems Performance Assessment (TSPA) analyses, radionuclide-bearing colloids were assumed to be unretarded in their migration. Field experiments in fractured tuff at Yucca Mountain and in porous media at other sites indicate that colloids may, in fact, experience retardation relative to the mean pore-water velocity, suggesting that contaminants associated with colloids should also experience some retardation. Therefore, this analysis incorporates field data where available and a theoretical framework when site-specific data are not available for estimating plausible ranges of …

Stochastic diffusion of the energetic ions in spherical tori is considered. The following issues are addressed: (I) Goldston-White-Boozer diffusion in a rippled field; (ii) cyclotron-resonance-induced diffusion caused by the ripple; (iii) effects of non-conservation of the magnetic moment in an axisymmetric field. It is found that the stochastic diffusion in spherical tori with a weak magnetic field has a number of peculiarities in comparison with conventional tokamaks; in particular, it is characterized by an increased role of mechanisms associated with non-conservation of the particle magnetic moment. It is concluded that in current experiments on National Spherical Torus eXperiment (NSTX) the stochastic diffusion does not have a considerable influence on the confinement of energetic ions.

The loss of neutral-beam ions to the wall has been measured in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) by means of thermocouples, an infrared (IR) camera, and a Faraday cup probe. The losses tend to exhibit the expected dependences on plasma current, tangency radius of the injector, and plasma outer gap. However, the thermocouples and the Faraday cups indicate substantially different levels of loss and this difference has yet to be understood.

Kinematic fracture porosity is an important hydrologic transport parameter for predicting the potential of rapid contaminant migration through fractured rock. The transport velocity of a solute moving within a fracture network is inversely related to the fracture porosity. Since fracture porosity is often one or two orders of magnitude smaller than matrix porosity, and fracture permeability is often orders of magnitude greater than matrix permeability, solutes may travel significantly faster in the fracture network than in the surrounding matrix. This dissertation introduces a new methodology for conducting gas tracer tests using a field portable mass spectrometer along with analytical tools for estimating fracture porosity using the measured tracer concentration breakthrough curves. Field experiments were conducted at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, consisting of air-permeability transient testing and gas-tracer-transport tests. The experiments were conducted from boreholes drilled within an underground tunnel as part of an investigation of rock mass hydrological behavior. Air-permeability pressure transients, recorded during constant mass flux injections, have been analyzed using a numerical inversion procedure to identify fracture permeability and porosity. Dipole gas tracer tests have also been conducted from the same boreholes used for air-permeability testing. Mass breakthrough data has been analyzed using a random walk particle-tracking model, with …

The potential hazards from exposure to beryllium or beryllium compounds in the workplace were first reported in the 1930s. The tritiated thymidine beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT) is an in vitro blood test that is widely used to screen beryllium exposed workers in the nuclear industry for sensitivity to beryllium. Newman [18] has discussed the clinical significance of the BeLPT and described a standard protocol that was developed in the late 1980s. Cell proliferation is measured by the incorporation of tritiated thymidine into dividing cells on two culture dates and using three concentrations of beryllium sulfate. Results are expressed as a ''stimulation index'' (SI) which is the ratio of the amount of tritiated thymidine (measured by beta counts) in the stimulated cells divided by the counts for the unstimulated cells on the same culture day. Several statistical methods for use in the routine analysis of the BeLPT were considered in the early 1990's by Frome et al. [7]. The least absolute values (LAV) method was recommended for routine analysis of the BeLPT. The purposes of this report are to further evaluate the LAV method using new data, and to describe a new method for identification of an abnormal or borderline …