This Acceptance Test Procedure (ATP) provides for the inspection and testing of the new Pumping Instrumentation and Control (PIC) skid designated as ''V''. The ATP will be performed after the construction of the PIC skid in the fabrication shop.

This project demonstrated that treated drill cuttings derived from oil and gas operations could be used as source material for rebuilding eroding wetlands in Louisiana. Planning to supply a restoration site, drill a source well, and provide part of the funding. Scientists from southeastern Louisiana University's (SLU) Wetland Biology Department were contracted to conduct the proposed field research and to perform mesocosm studies on the SLU campus. Plans were to use and abandoned open water drill slip as a restoration site. Dredged material was to be used to create berms to form an isolated cell that would then be filled with a blend of dredged material and drill cuttings. Three elevations were used to test the substrates ability to support various alternative types of marsh vegetation, i.e., submergent, emergent, and upland. The drill cuttings were not raw cuttings, but were treated by either a dewatering process (performed by Cameron, Inc.) or by a stabilization process to encapsulate undesirable constituents (performed by SWACO, Division of Smith International).

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) use of federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF) money for Indian reservation roads, focusing on: (1) what percentage of fiscal years 1999 and 1998 HTF contract authority available to BIA was obligated for: (a) management costs directly related to specific projects within a program for construction, repair, and improvement of roads; and (b) program management and oversight costs not directly related to specific projects; (2) whether BIA spent more than 6 percent of the contract authority allocated to its Midwest and Western Regional Offices on non-project-related program management costs for those offices; (3) whether the annual 6 percent statutory limitation on the use of HTF contract authority for road program management costs applies only to non-project-related management costs; and (4) whether the project-related costs that BIA bears for individual tribes should be paid from HTF contract authority or from BIA's annual appropriations for managing Indian programs or construction."

This Calculation is intended to satisfy engineering requirements for maximum 60-minute precipitation amounts for 50 and 100-year return periods at and near Yucca Mountain. This data requirement is documented in the ''Interface Control Document for Support Operations to Surface Facilities Operations Functional and Organizational Interfaces'' (CRWMS M&O 1998a). These developed data will supplement the information on 0.1 hour to 6-hour (in 0.1-hour increments) probable maximum precipitation (PMP) presented in the report, ''Precipitation Design Criteria for Storm Water Management'' (CRWMS M&O 1998b). The Reference Information Base (RIB) item, Precipitation ''Characteristics for Storm Water Management'' (M09902RIB00045 .OOO), was developed based on CRWMS M&O (1998b) and will be supplemented (via revision) with the information developed in this Calculation. The ''Development Plan for the Calculation: Precipitation Characteristics for Storm Water Management'' (CRWMS M&O 2000) was prepared in accordance with AP-2.l3Q, ''Technical Product Development Planning''. This calculation was developed in accordance with AP-3.12Q, Rev. O/ICN 2.

Symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) clusters have become the prevalent computing platforms for large-scale scientific computation in recent years mainly due to their good scalability. In fact, many parallel machines being used at supercomputing centers and national laboratories are of this type. It is critical and often very difficult on such large-scale parallel computers to efficiently manage a stream of jobs, whose requirement for resources and computing time greatly varies. Understanding the characteristics of workload imposed on a target environment plays a crucial role in managing system resources and developing an efficient resource management scheme. A parallel workload is analyzed typically by studying the traces from actual production parallel machines. The study of the workload traces not only provides the system designers with insight on how to design good processor allocation and job scheduling policies for efficient resource management, but also helps system administrators monitor and fine-tune the resource management strategies and algorithms. Furthermore, the workload traces are a valuable resource for those who conduct performance studies through either simulation or analytical modeling. The workload traces can be directly fed to a trace-driven simulator in a more realistic and specific simulation experiments. Alternatively, one can obtain certain parameters that characterize the workload …

This report discusses China’s Internet Industry.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Office of Professional Responsibility's (OPR) operations, focusing on: (1) how OPR conducts its inquiries into allegations of misconduct by Department of Justice attorneys; (2) to what extent OPR's workload, as well as budget, have changed; (3) the possible range of disciplinary actions and procedures if employee misconduct is found; (4) OPR's oversight relationship with similar offices in other Justice components; (5) the degree to which OPR has implemented GAO's prior recommendations; and (6) how OPR is monitoring and implementing the Hyde Attorneys Fees Amendment and the Citizens Protection Act."

OAK B188 Effects of Water Radiolysis in Water Cooled Reactors, NERI Proposal No.99-0010. The aim of this project is to develop an experiment-and-theory based model for the radiolysis of nonstandard aqueous systems like those that will be encountered in the Advance Light Water reactor. Three aspects of the radiation chemistry of aqueous systems at elevated temperatures are considered in the project: the radiation-induced reaction within the primary track and with additives, the homogeneous production of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} at high radiation doses, and the heterogeneous reaction of the radiation-induced species escaping the track. The goals outlined for Phase 1 of the program were: the compilation of information on the radiation chemistry of water at elevated temperatures, the simulation of existing experimental data on the escape yields of e{sub aq}{sup -}, OH, H{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in {gamma} radiolysis at elevated temperatures, the measurement of low LET and high LET production of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} at room temperature, the compilation of information on the radiation chemistry of water-(metal) oxide interfaces, and the synthesis and characterization the heterogeneous water-oxide systems of interest.

Shell Oil Company donated its proprietary core and sample repository to the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, in 1994. This collection of geologic materials is composed of 325,000 boxes of rocks and samples housed in a 32,700-ft{sup 2} warehouse in Midland, Texas. The material includes cores from more than 3,000 wells (75,000 boxes) and cuttings from more than 90,000 wells (260,000 boxes). In addition to the warehouse space, the repository consists of layout rooms, a processing room, and office space. The U.S. Department of Energy provided $375,000 under Grant Number DE-FG22-94BC14854 for organizing the collection, staffing the facility, and making the material available to the public for the first 5 years of operation. Shell Oil Company provided an endowment of $1.3 million to cover the cost of operating the facility after the fifth year of operation.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the circumstances surrounding the Los Alamos wildfire, focusing on: (1) the events leading up to the prescribed fire and how it was managed; and (2) what fire management policies or practices need to be improved."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the circumstances surrounding the Los Alamos wildfire, focusing on: (1) the events leading up to the prescribed fire and how it was managed; and (2) what fire management policies or practices need to be improved."

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The authors use scanning probe microscopy to actuate and characterize the nanoscale mechanochromism of polydiacetylene monolayer on atomically-flat silicon oxide substrates. They find explicit evidence that the irreversible blue-to-red transformation is caused by shear forces exerted normal to the polydiacetylene polymer backbone. The anisotropic probe-induced transformation is characterized by a significant change in the tilt orientation of the side chains with respect to the surface normal. They also describe a new technique, based on shear force microscopy, that allows them to image friction anisotropy of polydiacetylene monolayer independent of scan direction. Finally, they discuss preliminary molecular mechanics modeling and electronic structure calculations that allow them to understand the correlation of mechanochromism with bond-angle changes in the conjugated polymer backbone.

This report summarizes activities for the repository during this quarter. The repository holds drill cores and cuttings samples from oil wells that can be viewed or checked out by users.

This report summarizes activities for this quarter in one table. Industrial users of this repository viewed and/or checked out 163 boxes of drill cores and cuttings samples from 18 wells during the quarter.

The ''National Ignition Facility (NIF) Justification of Mission Need'', which was approved by the Secretary of Energy in January 1993, defines the mission of the National Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program and discusses the specific mission of the NIF Project. The NIF experimental capability will allow nuclear-weapons scientists to assess stockpile problems, verify computational tools, test for nuclear-weapons effects, and increase their understanding of weapons physics. The three weapons laboratory directors and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs have reviewed the role of the NIT; in Stockpile Stewardship in a joint letter. Along with the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative numerical simulations and other aboveground experimental facilities, the NIF will provide critical data that will allow the United States to maintain its technical capabilities in nuclear weapons in the absence of underground testing. As a secondary objective, the NIF will advance our understanding of ICF and help to assess its potential as an energy source. Achieving fusion ignition in the NIF will advance both defense and energy objectives. In affirming the Project's Critical Decision 2,* ''Approval of New Start'', the Secretary of Energy verified the mission need and emphasized that the NIF has the potential to …

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) programs for resolving pension-plan deviations from tax-exemption requirements, focusing on: (1) the frequency and types of pension plan qualification failures that were detected and corrected through IRS audits; (2) the frequency and types of pension plan qualification failures that were identified by pension plan sponsors and reported to IRS for approval of the correction; (3) the sanctions established under IRS' audit program with the compliance fees that could have been imposed if the same qualification failures had been self-reported by the pension plans to IRS; and (4) whether any cost-effective means, other than pension plan audits, have been identified that would detect unreported qualification failures."

The optimization of concentrated AlliedSignal GS-44 silicon nitride aqueous slurries for robocasting was investigated. The dispersion mechanisms of GS-44 Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} aqueous suspensions with and without polyacrylate were analyzed. The zero point of charge (ZPC) was at about pH 6. Well-dispersed GS-44 suspensions were obtained in the pH range from 7 to 11 by the addition of Darvan 821A. The influence of pH, amount of Darvan 821A and solids loading on the theological behavior of GS-44 aqueous suspensions was determined. A coagulant, aluminum nitrate, was used to control the yield stress and shear thinning behavior of highly loaded Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} slurries. Homogeneous and stable suspensions of 52 vol% GS-44 Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} were robocast successfully at pH 7.8 to pH 8.5. The sintering process, mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of robocast GS-44 bars were determined.

The authors use force-probe microscopy to study the friction force and the adhesive interaction for molecular monolayer self-assembled on both Au probe tips and substrate surfaces. By systematically varying the chemical nature of the end groups on these monolayers the authors have, for the first time, delineated the mechanical and chemical origins of molecular-level friction. They use chemically inert {double_bond}CH{sub 3} groups on both interracial surfaces to establish the purely mechanical component of the friction and contrast the results with the findings for chemically active {double_bond}COOH end-groups. In addition, by using odd or even numbers of methylene groups in the alkyl backbones of the molecules they are able to determine the levels of inter-film and intra-film hydrogen bonding.

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Modern thermal design practices often rely on a ''predictive'' simulation capability--although predictability is rarely quantified and often difficult to confidently achieve in practice. The computational predictability of natural convection in enclosures is a significant issue for many industrial thermal design problems. One example of this is the design for mitigation of optical distortion due to buoyancy-driven flow in large-scale laser systems. In many instances the sensitivity of buoyancy-driven enclosure flows can be linked to the presence of multiple bifurcation points that yield laminar thermal convective processes that transition from steady to various modes of unsteady flow. This behavior is brought to light by a problem as ''simple'' as a differentially-heated tall rectangular cavity (8:1 height/width aspect ratio) filled with a Boussinesq fluid with Pr = 0.71--which defines, at least partially, the focus of this special session. For our purposes, the differentially-heated cavity provides a virtual fluid dynamics laboratory.

Geothermal electricity production in the US began in 1960. Today there are over 20 plants in the western US providing a total of about 2,200 MW of clean and reliable electricity. Currently identified resources could provide over 20,000 MW of power in the US, and undiscovered resources might provide 5 times that amount. In the 1990s industry growth slowed due to the loss of market incentives and competition from natural gas. However, increased interest in clean energy sources, ongoing technological improvements, and renewed opportunities abroad hold promise for a resurgence in the industry. This review paper covers the status of the technology, the issues faced, and the latest research. While the focus is on geothermal in the US, a brief description of the large international market is included.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Advance Pricing Agreement Program, focusing on the: (1) extent of advance pricing agreements (APA) use by U.S. taxpayers, including those that have had transfer pricing disputes with the IRS; (2) timeliness of IRS' APA processing; and (3) results of IRS' review of taxpayers' annual reports on compliance with APAs."