Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating September 2003 as Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month in Texas.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Texas.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the reorganization of, efficiency in, and other reform measures applying to governmental entities and certain regulatory practices; providing a penalty.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to appropriating the fees relating to the office of patient protection collected by certain licensing agencies for the Health Professions Council under Chapter 305 (House Bill No. 2985), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to appropriating amounts received from the increase in the amount of lobby registration fees under Chapter 249, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the membership of the electric utility restructuring legislative oversight committee.

Against the backdrop of increasingly volatile natural gas prices, renewable energy resources, which by their nature are immune to natural gas fuel price risk, provide a real economic benefit. Unlike many contracts for natural gas-fired generation, renewable generation is typically sold under fixed-price contracts. Assuming that electricity consumers value long-term price stability, a utility or other retail electricity supplier that is looking to expand its resource portfolio (or a policymaker interested in evaluating different resource options) should therefore compare the cost of fixed-price renewable generation to the hedged or guaranteed cost of new natural gas-fired generation, rather than to projected costs based on uncertain gas price forecasts. To do otherwise would be to compare apples to oranges: by their nature, renewable resources carry no natural gas fuel price risk, and if the market values that attribute, then the most appropriate comparison is to the hedged cost of natural gas-fired generation. Nonetheless, utilities and others often compare the costs of renewable to gas-fired generation using as their fuel price input long-term gas price forecasts that are inherently uncertain, rather than long-term natural gas forward prices that can actually be locked in. This practice raises the critical question of how these two …

The CDF and D0 experiments probe the high-energy frontier and as they do so have accumulated hundreds of Terabytes of data on the way to petabytes of data over the next two years. The experiments have made a commitment to use the developing Grid based on the SAM system to handle these data. The D0 SAM has been extended for use in CDF as common patterns of design emerged to meet the similar requirements of these experiments. The process by which the merger was achieved is explained with particular emphasis on lessons learned concerning the database design patterns plus realization of the use cases.

Fuel quality evaluation of bio-gas for combustion engines

The objective of this project is to: (1) Develop a database of additional and better maturity indicators for paleo-heat flow calibration; (2) Develop maturation models capable of predicting the chemical composition of hydrocarbons produced by a specific kerogen as a function of maturity, heating rate, etc.; assemble a compositional kinetic database of representative kerogens; (3) Develop a 4 phase equation of state-flash model that can define the physical properties (viscosity, density, etc.) of the products of kerogen maturation, and phase transitions that occur along secondary migration pathways; (4) Build a conventional basin model and incorporate new maturity indicators and data bases in a user-friendly way; (5) Develop an algorithm which combines the volume change and viscosities of the compositional maturation model to predict the chemistry of the hydrocarbons that will be expelled from the kerogen to the secondary migration pathways; (6) Develop an algorithm that predicts the flow of hydrocarbons along secondary migration pathways, accounts for mixing of miscible hydrocarbon components along the pathway, and calculates the phase fractionation that will occur as the hydrocarbons move upward down the geothermal and fluid pressure gradients in the basin; and (7) Integrate the above components into a functional model implemented on a …

The objective of this project is to: (1) Develop a database of additional and better maturity indicators for paleo-heat flow calibration; (2) Develop maturation models capable of predicting the chemical composition of hydrocarbons produced by a specific kerogen as a function of maturity, heating rate, etc.; assemble a compositional kinetic database of representative kerogens; (3) Develop a 4 phase equation of state-flash model that can define the physical properties (viscosity, density, etc.) of the products of kerogen maturation, and phase transitions that occur along secondary migration pathways; (4) Build a conventional basin model and incorporate new maturity indicators and data bases in a user-friendly way; (5) Develop an algorithm which combines the volume change and viscosities of the compositional maturation model to predict the chemistry of the hydrocarbons that will be expelled from the kerogen to the secondary migration pathways; (6) Develop an algorithm that predicts the flow of hydrocarbons along secondary migration pathways, accounts for mixing of miscible hydrocarbon components along the pathway, and calculates the phase fractionation that will occur as the hydrocarbons move upward down the geothermal and fluid pressure gradients in the basin; and (7) Integrate the above components into a functional model implemented on a …

The objective of this project is to: (1) Develop a database of additional and better maturity indicators for paleo-heat flow calibration; (2) Develop maturation models capable of predicting the chemical composition of hydrocarbons produced by a specific kerogen as a function of maturity, heating rate, etc.; assemble a compositional kinetic database of representative kerogens; (3) Develop a 4 phase equation of state-flash model that can define the physical properties (viscosity, density, etc.) of the products of kerogen maturation, and phase transitions that occur along secondary migration pathways; (4) Build a conventional basin model and incorporate new maturity indicators and data bases in a user-friendly way; (5) Develop an algorithm which combines the volume change and viscosities of the compositional maturation model to predict the chemistry of the hydrocarbons that will be expelled from the kerogen to the secondary migration pathways; (6) Develop an algorithm that predicts the flow of hydrocarbons along secondary migration pathways, accounts for mixing of miscible hydrocarbon components along the pathway, and calculates the phase fractionation that will occur as the hydrocarbons move upward down the geothermal and fluid pressure gradients in the basin; and (7) Integrate the above components into a functional model implemented on a …

The objective of this project is to: (1) Develop a database of additional and better maturity indicators for paleo-heat flow calibration; (2) Develop maturation models capable of predicting the chemical composition of hydrocarbons produced by a specific kerogen as a function of maturity, heating rate, etc.; assemble a compositional kinetic database of representative kerogens; (3) Develop a 4 phase equation of state-flash model that can define the physical properties (viscosity, density, etc.) of the products of kerogen maturation, and phase transitions that occur along secondary migration pathways; (4) Build a conventional basin model and incorporate new maturity indicators and data bases in a user-friendly way; (5) Develop an algorithm which combines the volume change and viscosities of the compositional maturation model to predict the chemistry of the hydrocarbons that will be expelled from the kerogen to the secondary migration pathways; (6) Develop an algorithm that predicts the flow of hydrocarbons along secondary migration pathways, accounts for mixing of miscible hydrocarbon components along the pathway, and calculates the phase fractionation that will occur as the hydrocarbons move upward down the geothermal and fluid pressure gradients in the basin; and (7) Integrate the above components into a functional model implemented on a …

The Advanced Tokamak (AT) capability of the Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE) burning plasma experiment is examined with 0-D systems analysis, equilibrium and ideal-MHD stability, radio-frequency current-drive analysis, and full discharge dynamic simulations. These analyses have identified the required parameters for attractive burning AT plasmas, and indicate that these are feasible within the engineering constraints of the device.

The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.

Ophir Corporation was awarded a contract by the U. S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory under the Project Title ''Airborne, Optical Remote Sensing of Methane and Ethane for Natural Gas Pipeline Leak Detection'' on October 14, 2002. This six-month technical report summarizes the progress for each of the proposed tasks, discusses project concerns, and outlines near-term goals. Ophir has completed a data survey of two major natural gas pipeline companies on the design requirements for an airborne, optical remote sensor. The results of this survey are disclosed in this report. A substantial amount of time was spent on modeling the expected optical signal at the receiver at different absorption wavelengths, and determining the impact of noise sources such as solar background, signal shot noise, and electronic noise on methane and ethane gas detection. Based upon the signal to noise modeling and industry input, Ophir finalized the design requirements for the airborne sensor, and released the critical sensor light source design requirements to qualified vendors. Responses from the vendors indicated that the light source was not commercially available, and will require a research and development effort to produce. Three vendors have responded positively with proposed design solutions. Ophir has …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Labor negotiations in the airline industry fall under the Railway Labor Act. Under this act, airline labor contracts do not expire, but instead, become amendable. To help labor and management reach agreement before a strike occurs, the act also provides a process--including possible intervention by the President--that is designed to reduce the incidence of strikes. Despite these provisions, negotiations between airlines and their unions have sometimes been contentious, and strikes have occurred. Because air transportation is such a vital link in the nation's economic infrastructure, a strike at a major U.S. airline may exert a significant economic impact on affected communities. Additionally, if an airline's labor and management were to engage in contentious and prolonged negotiations, the airline's operations--and customer service--could suffer. GAO was asked to examine trends in airline labor negotiations in the 25 years since the industry was deregulated in 1978, the impact of airline strikes on communities, and the impact of lengthy contract negotiations and nonstrike work actions (such as "sickouts") on passengers."

This issue brief discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, the types of projects the program funds, AIP and PFC policy issues, and the allowable use of AIP funds for airport security purposes.

Analog input (ADC) and output (DAC) modules play a substantial role in device level control of accelerator and large experiment physics control system. In order to get the best performance some features of analog modules including linearity, accuracy, crosstalk, thermal drift and so on have to be evaluated during the preliminary design phase. Gain and offset error calibration and thermal drift compensation (if needed) may have to be done in the implementation phase as well. A natural technique for performing these tasks is to interface the analog VO modules and GPIB interface programmable test instruments with a computer, which can complete measurements or calibration automatically. A difficulty is that drivers of analog modules and test instruments usually work on totally different platforms (vxworks VS Windows). Developing new test routines and drivers for testing instruments under VxWorks (or any other RTOS) platform is not a good solution because such systems have relatively poor user interface and developing such software requires substantial effort. EPICS CA protocol and ActiveX CA interface provide another choice, a PC and LabVIEW based test system. Analog 110 module can be interfaced from LabVIEW test routines via ActiveX CA interface. Test instruments can be controlled via LabVIEW drivers, …

Aqueous radioactive wastes from Savannah River Site (SRS) separations and vitrification processes are contained in large underground carbon steel tanks. Inspections made during 2002 to evaluate these vessels and other waste handling facilities along with evaluations based on data from previous inspections are the subject of this report.

Improved models of contaminant migration in heterogeneous, variably saturated porous media are required to better define the long-term stewardship requirements for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) lands and to assist in the design of effective vadose zone barriers to contaminant migrations. The objective of our three-year project is to meet the DOE need by developing new experimental approaches to describe adsorption and transport of contaminants in heterogeneous, variably saturated media (i.e., the vadose zone). The research specifically addresses the behavior of strontium, a high priority DOE contaminant. However, the key benefit of this research is improved conceptual models of how all contaminants migrate through heterogeneous, variably-saturated, porous media. Research activities are driven by the hypothesis that the reactivity of variably saturated porous media is dependent on the moisture content of the medium and can be represented by a relatively simple function applicable over a range of scales, contaminants, and media. A key and novel aspect of our research is the use of the 2-meter radius geocentrifuge capabilities at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to conduct unsaturated reactive transport experiments (Figure 1). The experimental approach using the geocentrifuge provides data in a much shorter time period than conventional …

NERI Project No.2000-0109 began in August 2000 and has three tasks. The first project year addressed Task 1, namely development of nonlinear prognostication for critical equipment in nuclear power facilities. That work is described in the first year's annual report (ORNLTM-2001/195). The current (second) project year (FY02) addresses Task 2, while the third project year will address Tasks 2-3. This report describes the work for the second project year, spanning August 2001 through August 2002, including status of the tasks, issues and concerns, cost performance, and status summary of tasks. The objective of the second project year's work is a compelling demonstration of the nonlinear prognostication algorithm using much more data. The guidance from Dr. Madeline Feltus (DOE/NE-20) is that it would be preferable to show forewarning of failure for different kinds of nuclear-grade equipment, as opposed to many different failure modes from one piece of equipment. Long-term monitoring of operational utility equipment is possible in principle, but is not practically feasible for the following reason. Time and funding constraints for this project do not allow us to monitor the many machines (thousands) that will be necessary to obtain even a few failure sequences, due to low failure rates (<10{sup …

Alloy 22 (UNS N60622) is a nickel-based alloy, which is extensively used in aggressive industrial applications, especially due to its resistance to localized corrosion and stress corrosion cracking in high chloride environments. The purpose of this work was to characterize the anodic behavior of Alloy 22 in concentrated calcium chloride (CaCl{sub 2}) brines and to evaluate the inhibitive effect of nitrate, especially to localized corrosion. Standard electrochemical tests such as polarization resistance and cyclic polarization were used. Results show that the corrosion potential of Alloy 22 was approximately -360 mV in the silver-silver chloride (SSC) scale and independent of the tested temperature. Cyclic polarization tests showed that Alloy 22 was mainly susceptible to localized attack in 5 M CaCl{sub 2} at 75 C and higher temperatures. The addition of nitrate in a molar ratio of chloride to nitrate equal to 10 increased the onset of localized corrosion to approximately 105 C. The addition of nitrate to the solution also decreased the uniform corrosion rate and the passive current of the alloy.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement information provided by the House and Senate Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Subcommittees.