Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, GAO found the following:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The low-volume payment adjustment (LVPA) did not effectively target low-volume facilities that had high costs and appeared necessary for ensuring access to care. Nearly 30 percent of LVPA-eligible facilities were located within 1 mile of another facility in 2011, and about 54 percent were within 5 miles, indicating these facilities might not have been necessary for ensuring access to care. Furthermore, in many cases, LVPA-eligible facilities were located near high-volume facilities. Among the freestanding facilities in GAO's analysis, LVPA-eligible facilities had substantially higher costs per dialysis treatment than the average facility ($272 compared with $235); however, so did other facilities that provided a relatively low volume of treatments (and were isolated) but were ineligible for the LVPA. The design of the LVPA gives facilities an adverse incentive to restrict service provision because facilities could lose a substantial amount of Medicare revenue over 3 years if they reach the treatment threshold. In another payment system, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a tiered adjustment that decreases as facility volume increases. Such an adjustment could diminish the incentive for dialysis facilities to limit service provision …

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 …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Energy efficiency improvement as a component of comprehensive renovation was investigated under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding of the Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction (BA-PIRC). Researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) worked with affordable housing partners renovating foreclosed homes built from the 1950's through the 2000's in the hot-humid climate (within the Southern census region), primarily in Florida. Researchers targeted a 30% improvement in whole-house energy efficiency along with the health and safety, durability, and comfort guidelines outlined in DOE's Builders Challenge Program (Version 1) Quality Criteria.

Tritium is a radiologically active isotope of hydrogen. It is formed in nuclear reactors by neutron absorption and ternary fission events and can subsequently escape into the environment. To prevent the tritium contamination of proposed reactor buildings and surrounding sites, this study examines the root causes and potential mitigation strategies for permeation of tritium (such as: materials selection, inert gas sparging, etc...). A model is presented that can be used to predict permeation rates of hydrogen through metallic alloys at temperatures from 450–750 degrees C. Results of the diffusion model are presented for a steady production of tritium

The neutron radiography (NRAD) reactor is a 250 kW TRIGA® (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) Mark II , tank-type research reactor currently located in the basement, below the main hot cell, of the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It is equipped with two beam tubes with separate radiography stations for the performance of neutron radiography irradiation on small test components. The initial critical configuration developed during the fuel loading process, which contains only 56 fuel elements, has been evaluated as an acceptable benchmark experiment. The 60-fuel-element operational core configuration of the NRAD LEU TRIGA reactor has also been evaluated as an acceptable benchmark experiment. Calculated eigenvalues differ significantly (~±1%) from the benchmark eigenvalue and have demonstrated sensitivity to the thermal scattering treatment of hydrogen in the U-Er-Zr-H fuel.

The focus of this report is on the comparison of n

The Gaseous Ions: Structures, Energetics and Reactions Gordon Research Conference will focus on ions and their interactions with molecules, surfaces, electrons, and light. The long-standing goal of our community is to develop new strategies for capturing complex molecular architectures as gas phase ions where they can be isolated, characterized and manipulated with great sensitivity. Emergent areas of interest include catalytic mechanisms, cryogenic processing of ions extracted from solution, ion fragmentation mechanisms, and new methods for ion formation and structural characterization. The conference will cover theoretical and experimental advances on systems ranging from model studies at the molecular scale to preparation of nanomaterials and characterization of large biological molecules.

This Report presents numerical tables summarizing properties of intrinsic defects in indium arsenide, InAs, as computed by density functional theory using semi-local density functionals, intended for use as reference tables for a defect physics package in device models.

A test wall built with phase change material (PCM)-enhanced loose-fill cavity insulation was monitored for a period of about a year in the warm-humid climate of Charleston, South Carolina. The test wall was divided into various sections, one of which contained only loose-fill insulation and served as a control for comparing and evaluating the wall sections with the PCM-enhanced insulation. This report summarizes the findings of the field test.

The Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF), based at the Idaho National Laboratory in the United States, is supporting Department of Energy and industry research efforts to ensure the properties of materials in light water reactors are well understood. The ATR NSUF is providing this support through three main efforts: establishing unique infrastructure necessary to conduct research on highly radioactive materials, conducting research in conjunction with industry partners on life extension relevant topics, and providing training courses to encourage more U.S. researchers to understand and address LWR materials issues. In 2010 and 2011, several advanced instruments with capability focused on resolving nuclear material performance issues through analysis on the micro (10-6 m) to atomic (10-10 m) scales were installed primarily at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) in Idaho Falls, Idaho. These instruments included a local electrode atom probe (LEAP), a field-emission gun scanning transmission electron microscope (FEG-STEM), a focused ion beam (FIB) system, a Raman spectrometer, and an nanoindentor/atomic force microscope. Ongoing capability enhancements intended to support industry efforts include completion of two shielded, irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) test loops, the first of which will come online in early calendar year 2013, a …

Considerable research has focused on energy efficiency and fuel substitution options for light-duty vehicles, while much less attention has been given to medium- and heavy-duty trucks, buses, aircraft, marine vessels, trains, pipeline, and off-road equipment. This report brings together the salient findings from an extensive review of literature on future energy efficiency options for these non-light-duty modes. Projected activity increases to 2050 are combined with forecasts of overall fuel efficiency improvement potential to estimate the future total petroleum and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to current levels. This is one of a series of reports produced as a result of the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project, a Department of Energy-sponsored multi-agency project initiated to pinpoint underexplored strategies for abating GHGs and reducing petroleum dependence related to transportation.

To accomplish Federal goals for renewable energy, sustainability, and energy security, large-scale renewable energy projects must be developed and constructed on Federal sites at a significant scale with significant private investment. The U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) helps Federal agencies meet these goals and assists agency personnel navigate the complexities of developing such projects and attract the necessary private capital to complete them. This guide is intended to provide a general resource that will begin to develop the Federal employee's awareness and understanding of the project developer's operating environment and the private sector's awareness and understanding of the Federal environment. Because the vast majority of the investment that is required to meet the goals for large-scale renewable energy projects will come from the private sector, this guide has been organized to match Federal processes with typical phases of commercial project development. The main purpose of this guide is to provide a project development framework to allow the Federal Government, private developers, and investors to work in a coordinated fashion on large-scale renewable energy projects. The framework includes key elements that describe a successful, financially attractive large-scale renewable energy project.

This is a final report summarizing the efficiency measures identified, implemented and the analysis of energy savings after implementation.

The photovoltaic (PV) breakeven price is the PV system price at which the cost of PV-generated electricity equals the cost of electricity purchased from the grid. This point is also called 'grid parity' and can be expressed as dollars per watt ($/W) of installed PV system capacity. Achieving the PV breakeven price depends on many factors, including the solar resource, local electricity prices, customer load profile, PV incentives, and financing. In the United States, where these factors vary substantially across regions, breakeven prices vary substantially across regions as well. In this study, we estimate current and future breakeven prices for PV systems installed on supermarkets in the United States. We also evaluate key drivers of current and future commercial PV breakeven prices by region. The results suggest that breakeven prices for PV systems installed on supermarkets vary significantly across the United States. Non-technical factors -- including electricity rates, rate structures, incentives, and the availability of system financing -- drive break-even prices more than technical factors like solar resource or system orientation. In 2020 (where we assume higher electricity prices and lower PV incentives), under base-case assumptions, we estimate that about 17% of supermarkets will be in utility territories where breakeven …

This report is a summary of the physical processes, primary governing equations, solution approaches, and historic testing related to brine migration in geologic salt. Although most information presented in this report is not new, we synthesize a large amount of material scattered across dozens of laboratory reports, journal papers, conference proceedings, and textbooks. We present a mathematical description of the governing brine flow mechanisms in geologic salt. We outline the general coupled thermal, multi-phase hydrologic, and mechanical processes. We derive these processes' governing equations, which can be used to predict brine flow. These equations are valid under a wide variety of conditions applicable to radioactive waste disposal in rooms and boreholes excavated into geologic salt.

The U.S. Army uses BA5590 Lithium Sulfur Dioxide p

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, selected the Tower Road site in Aurora, Colorado, for a feasibility study of renewable energy production. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided technical assistance for this project. The purpose of this report is to assess the site for a possible photovoltaic (PV) system installation and estimate the cost, performance, and site impacts of different PV options. In addition, the report recommends financing options that could assist in the implementation of a PV system at the site. This study did not assess environmental conditions at the site.

This report provides a glimpse into our diverse research and development portfolio, wwhich encompasses both advanced nuclear science and technology and underlying technologies. IN keeping with the mission, INL's LDRD program fosters technical capabilities necessary to support current and future DOE-Office of Nuclear Energy research and development needs.

Typical engineering methods utilized to calculate stresses on a roof structure involve simplifying assumptions that render a complex non-linear structure a simple and basic determinate beam. That is, instead of considering the composite action of the entire roof structure, the engineer evaluates only a single beam that is deemed conservatively to represent an affected rafter or top chord of a truss. This simplification based on assumptions of a complex problem is where significant conservatism can be introduced. Empirical data will be developed to evaluate this issue. Simple wood beams will be tested to failure. More complex and complete sections of roof structures that include composite action will also be tested to failure. The results can then be compared. An initial step in this process involves a literature review of any work that has been performed on roof structure composite action. The following section summarizes the literature review that was completed.

This technology pathway case investigates the catalytic conversion of solubilized carbohydrate streams to hydrocarbon biofuels, utilizing data from recent efforts within the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) in collaboration with Virent, Inc. Technical barriers and key research needs that should be pursued for the catalytic conversion of sugars pathway to be competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline-, diesel-, and jet-range hydrocarbon blendstocks have been identified.

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