A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The current rollover process favors distributions to individual retirement accounts (IRA). Waiting periods to roll into a new employer plan, complex verification procedures to ensure savings are tax-qualified, wide divergences in plans' paperwork, and inefficient practices for processing rollovers make IRA rollovers an easier and faster choice, especially given that IRA providers often offer assistance to plan participants when they roll their savings into an IRA. The Department of Labor (Labor) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provide oversight and guidance for this process generally and can take steps to make plan-to-plan rollovers more efficient, such as reducing the waiting period to roll over into a 401(k) plan and improving the asset verification process. Such actions could help make staying in the 401(k) plan environment a more viable option, allowing participants to make distribution decisions based on their financial circumstances rather than on convenience."

This report describes the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for a typical land-based wind turbine installed in the United States in 2011, as well as the modeled LCOE for a fixed-bottom offshore wind turbine installed in the United States in 2011. Each of the four major components of the LCOE equation are explained in detail, such as installed capital cost, annual energy production, annual operating expenses, and financing, and including sensitivity ranges that show how each component can affect LCOE. These LCOE calculations are used for planning and other purposes by the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Program.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory initiated the application of the time-varying, one-dimensional sediment-contaminant transport code, TODAM (Time-dependent, One-dimensional, Degradation, And Migration) to simulate the cesium migration and accumulation in the Ukedo River in Fukushima. This report describes the preliminary TODAM simulation results of the Ukedo River model from the location below the Ougaki Dam to the river mouth at the Pacific Ocean. The major findings of the 100-hour TODAM simulation of the preliminary Ukedo River modeling are summarized as follows:

The Maintenance Plan for the Performance Assessments and Composite Analyses for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites at the Nevada Test Site (National Security Technologies, LLC 2007a) requires an annual review to assess the adequacy of the performance assessments (PAs) and composite analyses (CAs), with the results submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management. The Disposal Authorization Statements for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites (RWMSs) also require that such reviews be made and that secondary or minor unresolved issues be tracked and addressed as part of the maintenance plan (DOE 1999a, 2000). The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office performed an annual review of the Area 3 and Area 5 RWMS PAs and CAs for fiscal year (FY) 2012. This annual summary report presents data and conclusions from the FY 2012 review, and determines the adequacy of the PAs and CAs. Operational factors (e.g., waste forms and containers, facility design, and waste receipts), closure plans, monitoring results, and research and development (R&D) activities were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the PAs. Likewise, the environmental restoration activities at the Nevada National …

Gnome-Coach was the site of a 3-kiloton underground nuclear test conducted in 1961. Surface and subsurface contamination resulted from the underground nuclear testing, post-test drilling, and a groundwater tracer test performed at the site. Surface reclamation and remediation began after the underground testing. A Completion Report was prepared, and the State of New Mexico is currently proceeding with a conditional certificate of completion for the surface. Subsurface corrective action activities began in 1972 and have generally consisted of annual sampling and monitoring of wells near the site. In 2008, the annual site inspections were refined to include hydraulic head monitoring and collection of samples from groundwater monitoring wells onsite using the low-flow sampling method. These activities were conducted during this monitoring period on January 18, 2012. Analytical results from this sampling event indicate that concentrations of tritium, strontium-90, and cesium-137 were generally consistent with concentrations from historical sampling events. The exceptions are the decreases in concentrations of strontium-90 in samples from wells USGS-4 and USGS-8, which were more than 2.5 times lower than last year's results. Well USGS-1 provides water for livestock belonging to area ranchers, and a dedicated submersible pump cycles on and off to maintain a constant volume …

The Project Shoal Area (PSA) in Nevada was the site of a 12-kiloton underground nuclear test in 1963. Although the surface of the site has been remediated, investigation of groundwater contamination resulting from the test is still in the corrective action process. Annual sampling and hydraulic head monitoring are conducted at the site as part of the subsurface corrective action strategy. Analytical results from the 2012 monitoring are consistent with those of the previous years, with tritium detected only in well HC-4. The tritium concentration in groundwater from well HC-4 remains far below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-established maximum contaminant level of 20,000 picocuries per liter. Concentrations of total uranium and gross alpha were also detected during this monitoring period, with uranium accounting for nearly all the gross alpha activity. The total uranium concentrations obtained from this monitoring period were consistent with previous results and reflect a slightly elevated natural uranium concentration, consistent with the mineralized geologic terrain. Isotopic ratios of uranium also indicate a natural source of uranium in groundwater, as opposed to a nuclear-test-related source. Water level trends obtained from the 2012 water level data were consistent with those of previous years. The corrective action strategy for the …

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory s Center for Transportation Analysis developed and published the first Vehicle Technologies Market Report in 2008. Three editions of the report have been published since that time. This 2012 report details the major trends in U.S. light vehicle and medium/heavy truck markets as well as the underlying trends that caused them. The opening section on Energy and Economics discusses the role of transportation energy and vehicle markets on a national scale. The following section examines light-duty vehicle use, markets, manufacture, and supply chains. The discussion of medium and heavy trucks offers information on truck sales and fuel use. The technology section offers information on alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure, and the policy section concludes with information on recent, current, and near-future Federal policies like the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

This report provides background information regarding the threats and consequences of cybersecurity. The federal legislative framework for cybersecurity is complex, with more than 50 statutes addressing various aspects of it either directly or indirectly.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) sets standards and policies for the federal acquisition workforce, and has established certification requirements, including minimal training, for the three main acquisition roles--contracting staff, Contracting Officer's Representatives, and Program/Project Managers--to promote the development of government-wide core acquisition competencies and facilitate mobility across agencies. DOD follows separate certification standards. The Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI), which is responsible for fostering and promoting the training and development of the acquisition workforce, works closely with OFPP and has initiatives underway to improve the collection and management of training information, including cost data and course evaluations; streamline communication of acquisition training guidance; and coordinate efforts to leverage acquisition workforce training resources throughout the government."

This report discusses judicial remedies available for delayed agency actions that are somewhat limited. Generally, a court is restricted to ordering an agency to act by a specific deadline. The following sections outline the timing requirements imposed by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), discuss the available judicial remedies when actions are found to be unreasonably delayed, and provide an examination of cases where courts have been asked to compel agency action. Finally, the report concludes with a discussion of legislative tools that Congress can use to try to set agency priorities.

The Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) organized a Cladding and Coatings operational meeting February 12-13, 2013, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national laboratories, industry, and universities attended the two-day meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss advanced cladding and cladding coating research and development (R&D); review experimental testing capabilities for assessing accident tolerant fuels; and review industry/university plans and experience in light water reactor (LWR) cladding and coating R&D.

The objective of the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy�s (DOEs) Advanced Vehicle Testing and Evaluation (AVTE) project was to provide test and evaluation services for advanced technology vehicles, to establish a performance baseline, to determine vehicle reliability, and to evaluate vehicle operating costs in fleet operations. Vehicles tested include light and medium-duty vehicles in conventional, hybrid, and all-electric configurations using conventional and alternative fuels, including hydrogen in internal combustion engines. Vehicles were tested on closed tracks and chassis dynamometers, as well as operated on public roads, in fleet operations, and over prescribed routes. All testing was controlled by procedures developed specifically to support such testing. Testing and evaluations were conducted in the following phases: � Development of test procedures, which established testing procedures; � Baseline performance testing, which established a performance baseline; � Accelerated reliability testing, which determined vehicle reliability; � Fleet testing, used to evaluate vehicle economics in fleet operation, and � End of test performance evaluation. Test results are reported by two means and posted by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to their website: quarterly progress reports, used to document work in progress; and final test reports. This final report documents work conducted for the entirety of the …

This fact sheet provides information on the Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) Program, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (DOE-IE) initiative to provide technical expertise to support the development of next-generation energy projects in Indian Country.

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This document describes the process applied to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD) from multifilter rotating shadowband radiometers (MFRSR) and normal incidence multifilter radiometers (NIMFR) operated at the ARM Climate Research Facility’s ground-based facilities.

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's analysis of the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) fee and cost data revealed a more than $325 million gap between fee revenues and total program costs in fiscal year 2011, or 38 percent of AQI program costs. The program, which is co-administered by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), has a gap for several reasons: 1) APHIS's authority does not permit it to charge all persons seeking entry to the United States (e.g., pedestrians) and does not permit it to charge the costs of those inspections to others; 2) APHIS has chosen not to charge some classes of passengers, citing administrative fee collection difficulties; 3) CBP does not charge a portion of all primary inspections to agriculture functions, as required by CBP guidance; 4) APHIS does not consider all imputed costs (that is, costs incurred by other agencies on behalf of the AQI program) when setting fees; and 5) the allowable rates for overtime services are misaligned with the personnel costs of performing those services. APHIS is considering fees …

In addition to thermal radiation and fission products, nuclear explosions result in a very high flux of unfissioned neutrons. Within an atmospheric nuclear explosion, these neutrons can activate the various elemental components of natural air, potentially adding to the radioactive signature of the event as a whole. The goal of this work is to make an order-of-magnitude estimate of the total amount of air activation products that can result from an atmospheric nuclear explosion.

This document highlights the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's investments and impacts in the state of Alaska.

In support of the Bioenergy Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are undertaking studies of biomass conversion technologies to identify barriers and target research toward reducing conversion costs. Process designs and preliminary economic estimates for each of these pathway cases were developed using rigorous modeling tools (Aspen Plus and Chemcad). These analyses incorporated the best information available at the time of development, including data from recent pilot and bench-scale demonstrations, collaborative industrial and academic partners, and published literature and patents. This technology pathway case investigates the cultivation of algal biomass followed by further lipid extraction and upgrading to hydrocarbon biofuels. Technical barriers and key research needs have been assessed in order for the algal lipid extraction and upgrading pathway to be competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline, diesel and jet range hydrocarbon blendstocks.

This technology pathway case investigates the cultivation of algal biomass followed by further lipid extraction and upgrading to hydrocarbon biofuels. Technical barriers and key research needs have been assessed in order for the algal lipid extraction and upgrading pathway to be competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline-, diesel-, and jet-range hydrocarbon blendstocks.

The objective of this design report is to provide

This document is designed to assist covered fleets interested in taking advantage of more flexible compliance options and to facilitate the transition from Standard Compliance to Alternative Compliance. It is designed to help fleets better understand the Alternative Compliance option and successfully complete the waiver application process.

This report is intended to provide an overview of the fundamentals of the Senate amendment process. It summarizes many of the rules, precedents, and practices of the Senate affecting the consideration of amendments to measures on the floor.