A Sn-25 at.% Li alloy has been fabricated by starting with pure Sn and Li. The alloy was cast into various shapes and sent to researchers in several organizations in the United States and abroad for property measurements. The fabrication procedure involved gradual addition of Li from a separate vessel into a vessel that contained Sn; continuous stirring of the mixture during Li addition increased the Li content of the alloy gradually from 0 to the final value of 25 at.%. The melting temperature of the alloy was 334 C; its density was 6.36 g/cm{sup 3}. Results are presented on microstructure, chemical composition, phase distribution, and microhardness of the alloy. Several experiments were conducted to evaluate the chemical reactivity of the alloy with air, water, and steam. Results showed that the alloy undergoes catastrophic oxidation when T >250 C in air and develops an oxide scale in water at temperatures up to 95 C. Exposure in low-pressure steam at 200 C caused significant swelling and cracking of the alloy.

This report summarizes the results of sampling five groundwater monitoring wells in the vicinity of the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in 2001. Information on general sampling practices, quality assurance practices, parameter concentrations, representativeness of sampling results, and cumulative cancer risk are presented. The information is provided to support a conditional No Longer Contained-In Determination for the Snake River Plain Aquifer in the vicinity of the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center.

This is the final technical report for the project titled ''Synthesis and optimization of integrated chemical processes''. Progress is reported on novel algorithms for the computation of all heteroazeotropic compositions present in complex liquid mixtures; the design of novel flexible azeotropic separation processes using middle vessel batch distillation columns; and theory and algorithms for sensitivity analysis and numerical optimization of hybrid discrete/continuous dynamic systems.

This document provides the criteria for the design and installation of a Bagless Transfer System (BTS); Blend, Sieve and Balance Equipment; and Supercritical Fluid Extraction System (SFE). The project consists of 3 major modules: (1) Bagless Transfer System (BTS) Module; (2) Blend, Sieve and Balance Equipment; and (3) Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) Module.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Government Performance and Results Act (GRPA) requires federal agencies to set goals for program performance and to report annually on their progress toward achieving those goals. Agencies need to produce credible performance data to provide transparency of government operations so that Congress, program managers, and others can make informed decisions. The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires agencies to assess the completeness and reliability of their performance data. However, GAO found that only five of the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies' assessed the completeness and the reliability of their performance data in the transmittal letters accompanying their performance reports for fiscal year 2000. The other agencies somewhat discussed the quality of their performance data elsewhere in their performance reports. None of the agencies identified any material inadequacies with their performance data. However, concerns about the quality of performance data were identified by the inspector general as either a major management challenge or included in the discussion of other challenges for 11 of the 24 agencies. Although not required, discussing the performance reports in the standard or method used to assess the completeness and …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2004, Congress established the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to administer the Millennium Challenge Account. MCC's mission is to promote economic growth and reduce extreme poverty in developing countries. The act requires MCC to rely to the maximum extent possible on quantitative criteria in determining countries' eligibility for assistance. MCC will provide assistance primarily through compacts--agreements with country governments. MCC aims to be one of the top donors in countries with which it signs compacts. For fiscal years 2004 and 2005, Congress appropriated nearly $2.5 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corporation; for fiscal year 2006, the President is requesting $3 billion. GAO was asked to monitor MCC's (1) process for determining country eligibility, (2) progress in developing compacts, (3) coordination with key stakeholders, and (4) establishment of management structures and accountability mechanisms."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked GAO to comment on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) 2005 report on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), "CDBG Formula Targeting to Community Development Need." The CDBG program distributes funding to communities using two separate formulas that take into account poverty, older housing, community size, and other factors. That study evaluates the program's funding formula from two perspectives: (1) to what extent do communities with similar needs receive similar CDBG funding, and (2) to what extent are program funds directed to communities with greater community development needs. The HUD report is particularly salient in light of the administration's 2006 budget request which criticizes the program for not effectively targeting high-need communities. Congress asked us to provide our views on the HUD study based on our experience and past assistance to various congressional committees on a wide variety of federal formula funding issues."

The aim of this paper is the development of equilibrium and non-equilibrium extensions of the quasicontinuum (QC) method. We first use variational mean-field theory and the maximum-entropy formalism for deriving approximate probability distribution and partition functions for the system. The resulting probability distribution depends locally on atomic temperatures defined for every atom and the corresponding thermodynamic potentials are explicit and local in nature. The method requires an interatomic potential as the sole empirical input. Numerical validation is performed by simulating thermal equilibrium properties of selected materials using the Lennard-Jones pair potential and the EAM potential and comparing with molecular dynamics results as well as experimental data. The max-ent variational approach is then taken as a basis for developing a three-dimensional non-equilibrium finite temperature extension of the quasicontinuum method. This extension is accomplished by coupling the local temperature-dependent free energy furnished by the max-ent approximation scheme to the heat equation in a joint thermo-mechanical variational setting. Results for finite-temperature nanoindentation tests demonstrate the ability of the method to capture non-equilibrium transport properties and differentiate between slow and fast indentation.

In an ongoing project to relate surface hydrothermal alteration to structurally controlled geothermal aquifers, we mapped a 16 km swath of the eastern front of the Stillwater Range using Hyperspectral fault and mineral mapping techniques. The Dixie Valley Fault system produces a large fractured aquifer heating Pleistocene aged groundwater to a temperature of 285 C at 5-6 km. Periodically over the last several thousand years, seismic events have pushed these heated fluids to the surface, leaving a rich history of hydrothermal alteration in the Stillwater Mountains. At Dixie Hot Springs, the potentiometric surface of the aquifer intersects the surface, and 75 C waters flow into the valley. We find a high concentration of alunite, kaolinite, and dickite on the exposed fault surface directly adjacent to a series of active fumaroles on the range front fault. This assemblage of minerals implies interaction with water in excess of 200 C. Field spectra support the location of the high temperature mineralization. Fault mapping using a Digital Elevation Model in combination with mineral lineation and field studies shows that complex fault interactions in this region are improving permeability in the region leading to unconfined fluid flow to the surface. Seismic studies conducted 10 km …

The early nonlinear phase of Rayleigh-Taylor growth is typically described in terms of the classic Layzer model in which bubbles of light fluid rise into the heavy fluid at a constant rate determined by the bubble radius and the gravitational acceleration. However, this model is strictly valid only for planar interfaces and hence ignores any effects which might be introduced by the spherically converging interfaces of interest in inertial confinement fusion. Here a generalization of the Layzer nonlinear bubble rise rate is given for a self-similar spherically converging flow of the type studied by Kidder. A simple formula for the bubble amplitude is found showing that, while the bubble initially rises with a constant velocity similar to the Layzer result, during the late phase of the implosion, an acceleration of the bubble rise rate occurs. The bubble rise rate is verified by comparison with numerical hydrodynamics simulations.

This report discusses the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which was established in Geneva, Switzerland.

The purpose of the study described in this report was to generate maps and statistics that quantify contamination in groundwater, based on historical groundwater concentration data for multiple points in time. The results generated from this study include several quantitative summaries of contaminant distributions (e.g., the location of the center of mass of contaminant plumes and the total mass of contaminants in the plume) and are collectively referred to as history matching data. A primary goal of this study was to use geostatistical and Monte Carlo methods that allow one to provide an estimate of uncertainty in the history matching data generated.

Heulandite is a common rock-forming zeolite that exhibits wide solid solution of extra framework cations, presumably due to ready ion exchange with aqueous solutions. In order to provide a quantitative basis for interpreting and predicting the distribution of aqueous species between heulandite and aqueous solutions, ion exchange equilibrium between heulandite and aqueous solutions with respect to the binary cation pairs Ca{sup 2+} - K{sup +}, Ca{sup 2+} - Na{sup +}, K{sup +} - Na{sup +}, K{sup +} - Sr{sup 2+}, Na{sup +} - Sr{sup 2+}, and Ca{sup 2+} - Sr{sup 2+} was investigated. Homoionic Ca-, K-, and Na-heulandites prepared from natural heulandite were equilibrated with 0.1 N Cl{sup -} solutions containing various proportions of the cations in a given binary pair at 55 and 85 C to define isotherms describing partitioning of the cations over a wide range of heulandite and solution composition with respect to the cations in each pair. In general, the experiments equilibrated rapidly, within 11-15 weeks at 55 C and 3-4 weeks at 85 C. The exception was the Ca{sup 2+} - Sr{sup 2+} binary exchange, which did not equilibrate even after 3 months at 55 C and 4 weeks at 85 C. Slow exchange of …

This report explains cleanup requirements for the transfer and reuse of base closure properties, discusses the status of property transfer on closed bases, and examines estimates of costs to clean up closed bases to make them safe for civilian reuse.

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The Microsensors Program was born out the need for enhanced sensor technology in support of the Weapons Program. In the interest of expanded diagnostic capabilities to provide true performance characteristics of weapon assemblies in flight and ground tests, a suite of sensor requirements was proposed. These potential new sensor technologies were envisioned to be completely unobtrusive and allow for the development of test vehicles (mock warheads and bomb assemblies) that were designed to mechanical and electrical specifications as close to the stockpile weapon design configuration as possible. The closeness of a test vehicle design to the respective stockpile weapon design is referred to as ''fidelity,'' with the term ''high-fidelity'' to mean all components are designed to emulate, very closely, the true system design. These efforts were in line with many activities associated with Stockpile Stewardship and were intended to enable better modeling and performance assessment without the need for underground testing. Several weapons are currently undergoing Life Extension Programs (LEP) to lengthen each weapon system's respective service life. The ability to assess the projected life of these complex assemblies is crucial to the success of the LEP activities.

The Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) face common security challenges from crime, corruption, terrorism, and faltering commitments to economic and democratic reforms. This report contains information on Central Asia's external security context, security problems and progress, border tensions, crime and corruption, economic and defense security, implications for U.S. interests, U.S. security assistance, and related issues and figures.

The steadily increasing power of supercomputing systems is enabling very high resolution simulations of compressible, turbulent flows in the high Reynolds number limit, which is of interest in astrophysics as well as in several other fluid dynamical applications. This paper discusses two such simulations, using grids of up to 8 billion cells. In each type of flow, convergence in a statistical sense is observed as the mesh is refined. The behavior of the convergent sequences indicates how a subgrid-scale model of turbulence could improve the treatment of these flows by high-resolution Euler schemes like PPM. The best resolved case, a simulation of a Richtmyer-Meshkov mixing layer in a shock tube experiment, also points the way toward such a subgrid-scale model. Analysis of the results of that simulation indicates a proportionality relationship between the energy transfer rate from large to small motions and the determinant of the deviatoric symmetric strain as well as the divergence of the velocity for the large-scale field.

This report provides information about the Recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and Related Issues for Detection of Explosives on Airline Passengers. The key issue for congress is balancing various costs of mandating passenger explosives trace detection.

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The first part of this report briefly reviews the judicial evolution of race-based affirmative action, particularly in relation to public education. Recent rulings challenging the use of racial admissions and hiring practices by public educational institutions are then considered for their implications on the future development of affirmative action law.

This report examines the potential house apportionment based on Census Bureau population projections. The Census Bureau's 2005 population projections for the year 2010 raise the possibility of potentially significant changes in the allocation of Representatives among the states. If the projections for the year 2010 presage the actual Census, 10 seats will shift, affecting a total of 15 states.

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