Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This study focuses on privacy issues related to record-linkage--a computer-based process that combines multiple sources of existing data. Federally sponsored linkage projects conducted for research and statistical purposes have many potential benefits, such as informing policy debates; tracking program outcomes; helping local government or business planning; or contributing knowledge that, in some cases, might help millions of people. Despite these benefits, concerns about personal privacy are relevant because linkages often involve data on identifiable persons. GAO describes (1) how record linkage can create new research and statistical information, (2) why linkage heightens certain privacy issues, and (3) how data stewardship might be enhanced."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a document on establishing core competencies for project managers. This document identifies competencies in three areas (1) financial management, (2) human resources, and (3) technical skills."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board published an exposure draft of a proposed statement of federal accounting standards. This standard amends the Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 7 by deleting a requirement regarding an element of reconciling budgetary and financial accounting information."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's current financial management initiatives, activities, and practices."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding (1) the role of integral auditing in promoting a new approach to governmental auditing processes, (2) adjusting external audits to facilitate results-oriented governance, (3) Nigeria's governmental auditing systems, and (4) activities within INTOSAI."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This annual performance and accountability report assesses what GAO was able to accomplish in fiscal year 2000 and describes the agency's plans for continued progress through fiscal year 2002. In the last year, GAO's work resulted in a number of significant improvements to government that will benefit all Americans. By acting on GAO's recommendations, the government improved public health and safety, strengthened national security, better protected consumers, and improved its financial management and information systems. GAO also provided information critical to the public debates on Social Security and Medicare reform and called attention to looming problems, such as the security of government computer systems and the human capital crisis facing the federal workforce. Taxpayers benefited from the near-record $23 billion in savings identified through GAO's work--a $61 return on every dollar invested in GAO. GAO realigned its organization to better meet its goals and objectives, and it began to institute new ways of doing business. GAO also gained new legislative authorities that will help it to address its human capital requirements and help ensure that GAO remains prepared to meet Congress' future needs. The nation's leaders …

Surface science studies related to tribocharging and charge separation studies were performed on electrostatic beneficiation of coal. In contrast to other cleaning methods, electrostatic beneficiation is a dry cleaning process requiring no water or subsequent drying. Despite these advantages, there is still uncertainty in implementing large scale commercial electrostatic beneficiation of coal. The electronic surface states of coal macerals and minerals are difficult to describe due to their chemical complexity and variability [1]. The efficiency in separation of mineral particles from organic macerals depends upon these surface states. Therefore, to further understand and determine a reason for the bipolar charging observed in coal separation, surface analysis studies using Ultra-violet Photoelectron Spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were performed on coal samples and several materials that are used or considered for use in tribocharging. Electrostatic charging is a surface phenomenon, so the electronic surface states of the particles, which are influenced by the environmental conditions, determine both polarity and magnitude of tribocharging. UPS was used to measure the work function of the materials as typically used in ambient air. XPS was used to determine the surface chemistry in the form of contamination and degree of oxidation under the same environmental …

Reactor vessel internal components made of nickel-base alloys are susceptible to environmentally assisted cracking (EAC). A better understanding of the causes and mechanisms of this cracking may permit less conservative estimates of damage accumulation and requirements on inspection intervals. The objective of this work is to evaluate and compare the resistance of Alloys 600 and 690 and their welds, such as Alloys 82, 182, 52, and 152, to EAC in simulated light water reactor environments. The existing crack growth rate (CGR) data for these alloys under cyclic and constant loads have been evaluated to establish the effects of alloy chemistry, cold work, and water chemistry. The experimental fatigue CGRs are compared with CGRs that would be expected in air under the same mechanical loading conditions to obtain a qualitative understanding of the degree and range of conditions for significant environmental enhancement in growth rates. The existing stress corrosion cracking (SCC) data on Alloys 600 and 690 and Alloy 82, 182, and 52 welds have been compiled and analyzed to determine the influence of key parameters on growth rates in simulated PWR and BWR environments. The SCC data for these alloys have been evaluated with correlations developed by Scott and by …

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An interceptive device referred to here as a scraper has been designed and tested for use in a diagnostic device [1]. The scraper will be used to probe a proton beam in order to detect the formation of beam halo [2]. Probing the proton beam exposes the scraper to high heat fluxes on the order of 610 kW/cm{sup 2}. The high-heat flux exposure is cyclic since the beam is probed while in pulsed mode. In order to test the design repetitive high-heat flux testing has been performed on a prototype design of the scraper. This paper describes the design, analysis, and testing of the scraper.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is building room-temperature rf accelerating structures for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). These structures, for H{sup -} ions, consist of six 402.5-MHz, 2-MW drift-tube linac (DTL) tanks from 2.5 to 87 MeV followed by four 805-MHz, 4-MW coupled-cavity linac (CCL) modules to 186 MeV. The DTL uses permanent magnet quadrupoles inside the drift tubes arranged in a 6{beta}{lambda} FFODDO lattice with every third drift tube available for diagnostics and steering. The CCL uses a 13{beta}{lambda} FODO electromagnetic quadrupole lattice. Diagnostics and magnets occupy the 2.5{beta}{lambda} spaces between 8-cavity segments. This paper discusses design of the rf cavities and low-power modeling work.

The 6.7 MeV, 100 mA proton beam being produced in the Low Energy Demonstration Accelerator (LEDA) RFQ is being injected into a 52 magnet lattice in order to study the charged-beam phenomenon known as beam halo [1]. Quadrupole magnets in the lattice are purposely mismatched to cause or amplify halo formation in the beam. Interceptive diagnostics that consist of a thin wire and a paddle type device called a scraper are placed in the beam to obtain charge-distribution data. The charge-distribution data is used to create a current-density distribution plot of the beam at the probed location [2]. This paper describes the mechanical design, fabrication, and commissioning of the interceptive diagnostic devices and the assembly that carries them.

The projects described in this report represent the Laboratory's investment in its future and are vital to maintaining the ability to develop creative solutions for the scientific and technical challenges faced by DOE and the nation. In accordance with DOE guidelines, the report provides, a) a director's statement, b) an overview of the laboratory's LDRD program, including PNNL's management process and a self-assessment of the program, c) a five-year project funding table, and d) project summaries for each LDRD project.

Los Alamos National Laboratory has two identical shufflers that have been calibrated with a dozen U{sub 3}O{sub 8} certified standards from 10 g {sup 235}U to 3600 g {sup 235}U. The shufflers are used to assay a wide variety of material types for their {sup 235}U contents. When the items differ greatly in chemical composition or shape from the U{sub 3}O{sub 8} standards a bias is introduced because the calibration is not appropriate. Recently a new tool has been created to calculate shuffler count rates accurately, and this has been applied to generate bias correction factors. The tool has also been used to verify the masses and count rates of some uncertified U{sub 3}O{sub 8} standards up to 8.0 kg of {sup 235}U which were used to provisionally extend the calibration beyond the 3.6 kg of {sup 235}U mass when a special need arose. Metallic uranium has significantly different neutronic properties from the U{sub 3}O{sub 8} standards and measured count rates from metals are biased low when the U{sub 3}O{sub 8} calibration is applied. The application of the calculational tool to generate bias corrrections for assorted metals will be described. The accuracy of the calculational tool was verified using highly …

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As air infiltrates through unintentional openings in building envelopes, pollutants may interact with adjacent surfaces. Such interactions can alter human exposure to air pollutants of outdoor origin. We present modeling explorations of the proportion of particles and reactive gases (e.g., ozone) that penetrate building envelopes as air enters through cracks and wall cavities. Calculations were performed for idealized rectangular cracks, assuming regular geometry, smooth inner crack surface and steady airflow. Particles of 0.1-1.0 {micro}m diameter are predicted to have the highest penetration efficiency, nearly unity for crack heights of 0.25 mm or larger, assuming a pressure difference of 4 Pa or greater and a flow path length of 3 cm or less. Supermicron and ultrafine particles are significantly removed by means of gravitational settling and Brownian diffusion, respectively. In addition to crack geometry, ozone penetration depends on its reactivity with crack surfaces, as parameterized by the reaction probability. For reaction probabilities less than {approx}10{sup -5}, penetration is complete for cracks heights greater than 1 mm. However, penetration through mm scale cracks is small if the reaction probability is {approx}10{sup -4} or greater. For wall cavities, fiberglass insulation is an efficient particle filter, but particles would penetrate efficiently through uninsulated wall …

This presentation is a series of slides showing the accuracy of hourly data on direct and diffuse irradiance in the central U.S. derived from a satellite.

This presentation includes discusses the restructuring of the California power market and the resulting impacts.

This presentation is about NREL's North American Solar Radiation Atlas, which currently includes 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii to be added in the future). It discusses the goals of the Atlas which are to: deliver basic solar performance estimates to general users, deliver a wide variety of additional information to more advanced users, be easy to use, full featured, and extensible.

To develop a new class of stellarators that exhibit improved confinement compared to conventional stellarators. This approach generally makes use of a designed symmetry of the magnetic field strength along a particular coordinate axis in the toroidal geometry of the stellarator, and is referred to as quasi-symmetry.

This report describes the activities of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydropower Program during Fiscal Year 2000 (October 1, 1999 to September 30, 2000). The Hydropower Program is organized under the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Power Technologies, and Office of Biopower and Hydropower. Background, current activities, and future plans are presented in the sections for all components of the Program.

Various methods have been proposed to “incinerate” or “transmutate” the current inventory of trans-uranic waste (TRU) that exits in spent light-water-reactor (LWR) fuel, and weapons plutonium. These methods include both critical (e.g., fast reactors) and non-critical (e.g., accelerator transmutation) systems. The work discussed here is part of a larger effort at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to investigate the suitability of lead and lead-alloy cooled fast reactors for producing low-cost electricity as well as for actinide burning. The neutronics of non-fertile fuel loaded with 20 or 30-wt% light water reactor (LWR) plutonium plus minor actinides for use in a lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor are discussed in this paper, with an emphasis on the fuel cycle life and isotopic content. Calculations show that the average actinide burn rate is similar for both the sodium and lead-bismuth cooled cases ranging from -1.02 to -1.16 g/MWd, compared to a typical LWR actinide generation rate of 0.303 g/MWd. However, when using the same parameters, the sodium-cooled case went subcritical after 0.2 to 0.8 effective full power years, and the lead-bismuth cooled case ranged from 1.5 to 4.5 effective full power years.

An experimental apparatus for the investigation of the flow-assisted dissolution and precipitation (corrosion) of potential fuel cladding and structural materials to be used in liquid lead alloy cooled reactors has been designed. This experimental project is part of a larger research effort between Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to investigate the suitability of lead, lead-bismuth, and other lead alloys for cooling fast reactors designed to produce low-cost electricity as well as for actinide burning. The INEEL forced convection corrosion cell consists of a small heated vessel with a shroud and gas flow system. The gas flow rates, heat input, and shroud and vessel dimensions have been adjusted so that a controlled coolant flow rate, temperature, and oxygen potential are created within the downcomer located between the shroud and vessel wall. The ATHENA computer code was used to design the experimental apparatus and estimate the fluid conditions. The corrosion cell will test steel that is commercially available in the U. S. to temperatures above 650oC.

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and micro-technologies will soon give rise to production of large-scale forces of autonomous micro-robots with systems of innate behaviors and with capabilities of self-organization and real world tasking. Such organizations have been compared to schools of fish, flocks of birds, herds of animals, swarms of insects, and military squadrons. While these systems are envisioned as maintaining a high degree of autonomy, it is important to understand the relationship of man with such machines. In moving from research studies to the practical deployment of large-scale numbers of robots, one of critical pieces that must be explored is the command and control architecture for humans to re-task and also inject global knowledge, experience, and intuition into the force. Tele-operation should not be the goal, but rather a level of adjustable autonomy and high-level control. If a herd of sheep is comparable to the collective of robots, then the human element is comparable to the shepherd pulling in strays and guiding the herd in the direction of greener pastures. This report addresses the issues and development of command and control for largescale numbers of autonomous robots deployed as a collective force.