A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report summarizes GAO's findings on the United States Russia Fund and its investment selection process and criteria. The United States established enterprise funds to support private sector development in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as they move from centrally planned to market-oriented economies. Enterprise funds are private, nonprofit U.S. corporations that are supposed to make loans to, or invest in, small, medium, and large businesses in which other financial institutions are reluctant to invest. The Fund is authorized to receive $440 million through the Agency for International Development. As of March 2000, the Fund had invested $114.4 million in 30 projects through its direct investment program which provides loans and equity capital to businesses in Russia. GAO found that the Fund followed its review process and criteria for selecting direct investments."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has provided international family planning assistance through the Agency for International Development (AID) since the mid-1960s. U.S. law prohibits the use of international family planning funds for abortions and requires that all family planning programs supported by AID be voluntary. This report discusses: (1) how much family planning assistance AID provided in fiscal years 1996-1999 and plans to provide in fiscal year 2000, and (2) what procedures have been established to ensure that funds are not being used for prohibited activities. GAO found that AID provided $432 million in assistance in fiscal year 1996 and $385 million in each of fiscal years 1997-1999. AID has established multiple procedures to ensure that family planning funds are not used for prohibited activities, including specifying the restrictions in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses what can be accomplished with FirstGov.gov and identifies challenges that should be addressed as it continues to be developed and refined. Under FirstGov, an important and previously unavailable capability--searching the entire government's web pages--was rapidly and successfully put into place. The FirstGov Board of Directors needs to address the following four issues: (1) improving site security, (2) assessing and acting upon information in the Fed-Search database that might facilitate malicious activity, (3) addressing issues regarding private sector sponsorship, and (4) developing plans for the future. An overall management plan for FirstGov.gov would be a useful vehicle for setting expectations about what general functions are likely to be achievable for FirstGov in the near term, how the site will be managed on an ongoing basis, and how progress toward the larger goals set forth in the President's December 1999 memorandum will be measured."

We present a map and an angular power spectrum of the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the first flight of MAXIMA. MAXIMA is a balloon-borne experiment with an array of 16 bolometric photometers operated at 100 mK. MAXIMA observed a 124 deg region of the sky with 10' resolution at frequencies of 150, 240 and 410 GHz. The data were calibrated using in-flight measurements of the CMB dipole anisotropy. A map of the CMB anisotropy was produced from three 150 and one 240 GHz photometer without need for foreground subtractions. Analysis of this CMB map yields a power spectrum for the CMB anisotropy over the range 36 {le} {ell} {le} 785. The spectrum shows a peak with an amplitude of 78 {+-} 6 {mu}K at {ell} {approx_equal} 220 and an amplitude varying between {approx} 40 {mu}K and {approx} 50 {mu}K for 400 {approx}< {ell} {approx}< 785.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a commissioners court may change the name of a county road (RQ-0237-JC)

This work studies multiscale phenomena in silicon micro-resonators which comprise the mechanical components of next-generation Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Unlike their larger relatives, the behavior of these sub-micron MEMS is not described well by conventional continuum models and finite elements, but it is determined appreciably by the interplay between physics at the Angstrom, nanometer and micron scales. As device sizes are reduced below the micron scale, atomistic processes cause systematic deviations from the behavior predicted by conventional continuum elastic theory. [1] These processes cause anomalous surface effects in the resonator frequency and quality factor-even for single crystal devices with clean surfaces due to thermal fluctuations. The simulation of these atomistic effects is a challenging problem due to the large number of atoms involved and due to the fact that they are finite temperature phenomena. Our simulations include up to two million atoms in the device itself, and hundreds of millions more are in the proximal regions of the substrate. A direct, atomistic simulation of the motion of this many atoms is prohibitive, and it would be inefficient. The micron-scale processes in the substrate are well described by finite elements, and an atomistic simulation is not required. On the other hand, atomistic …

Radiation effects from the decay of radionuclides may impact the long-term performance and stability of nuclear waste forms and stabilized nuclear materials. In an effort to address these concerns, the objective of this project was the development of fundamental understanding of radiation effects in glasses and ceramics, particularly on solid-state radiation effects and their influence on aqueous dissolution kinetics. This study has employed experimental, theoretical and computer simulation methods to obtain new results and insights into radiation damage processes and to initiate the development of predictive models. Consequently, the research that has been performed under this project has significant implications for the High-Level Waste and Nuclear Materials focus areas within the current DOE/EM mission. In the High-Level Waste (HLW) focus area, the results of this research could lead to improvements in the understanding of radiation-induced degradation mechanisms and their effects on dissolution kinetics, as well as development of predictive models for waste form performance. In the Nuclear Materials focus area, the results of this research could lead to improvements in the understanding of radiation effects on the chemical and structural properties of materials for the stabilization and long-term storage of plutonium, highly-enriched uranium, and other actinides. Ultimately, this research could …

This report documents the technical basis for the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Program radiation and contamination trending program. The program consists of standardized radiation and contamination surveys of the KE Basin, radiation surveys of the KW basin, radiation surveys of the Cold Vacuum Drying Facility (CVD), and radiation surveys of the Canister Storage Building (CSB) with the associated tracking. This report also discusses the remainder of radiological areas within the SNFP that do not have standardized trending programs and the basis for not having this program in those areas.

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The ability to detect and isotopically characterize uranium and plutonium in environmental samples is of primary importance in the search for nuclear proliferation. The utility of isotope ratio measurements for environmental monitoring is limited by sample preparation costs, measurement precision, and sensitivity. This is particularly true for wide-area monitoring where the number of samples required varies inversely with obtainable precision and sensitivity. This report summarizes an initial evaluation of the applicability of a new technique, magnetic-sector, multicollector, inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometry, to environmental sample analysis. This technique is embodied at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the form of a commercially available instrument, the IsoProbe, manufactured by micromass, LTD. (United Kingdom). This is the second of the current generation of such instruments installed in the United States and the first within the Department of Energy complex. Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) using quadrupole mass filters has existed for roughly 15 years. Magnet sector instruments have also existed for about half that time and multicollector instruments have existed for nearly as long. Among the things that make the new generation of instruments, and the IsoProbe in particular, unique are (1) the use of a gas-collision cell to reduce the energy spread of the …

This Project Design Concept represents operational requirements established for use in design the tank farm Monitoring and Control System. These upgrades are included within the scope of Project W-314, Tank Farm Restoration and Safe Operations.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Tank Farm Restoration and Safe Operation (TFRSO), Project W-3 14 was established to provide upgrades that would improve the reliability and extend the system life of portions of the waste transfer, electrical, ventilation, instrumentation and control systems for the Hanford Site Tank Farms. An assessment of the tank farm system was conducted and the results are documented in system assessment reports. Based on the deficiencies identified in the tank farm system assessment reports, and additional requirements analysis performed in support of the River Protection Project (RPP), an approved scope for the TFRSO effort was developed and documented in the Upgrade Scope Summary Report (USSR), WHC-SD-W314-RPT-003, Rev. 4. The USSR establishes the need for the upgrades and identifies the specific equipment to be addressed by this project. This Project Design Concept (PDC) is in support of the Phase 2 upgrades and provides an overall description of the operations concept for the W-314 Primary Ventilation Systems. Actual specifications, test requirements, and procedures are not included in this PDC. The PDC is a ''living'' document, which will be updated throughout the design development process to provide a progressively more detailed description of the W-314 Primary Ventilation Systems design. The Phase 2 upgrades to …

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This report details our recent progress in developing novel MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) based hydrogen gas sensors. These sensors couple novel thin films as the active layer on a device structure known as a Micro-HotPlate. This coupling has resulted in a gas sensor that has several unique advantages in terms of speed, sensitivity, stability and amenability to large scale manufacture. This Phase-I research effort was focused on achieving the following three objectives: (1) Investigation of sensor fabrication parameters and their effects on sensor performance. (2) Hydrogen response testing of these sensors in wet/dry and oxygen-containing/oxygen-deficient atmospheres. (3) Investigation of the long-term stability of these thin film materials and identification of limiting factors. We have made substantial progress toward achieving each of these objectives, and highlights of our phase I results include the demonstration of signal responses with and without oxygen present, as well as in air with a high level of humidity. We have measured response times of <0.5 s to 1% H{sub 2} in air, and shown the ability to detect concentrations of <200 ppm. These results are extremely encouraging and suggest that this technology has substantial potential for meeting the needs of a hydrogen based economy. These achievements demonstrate …

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The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has measured the charged-particle density dN/d{eta} at mid-rapidity for central Au+Au collisions at center of mass energies of {radical}s{sub NN} = 56, and 130 GeV. We deduce that dN/d{eta} = 408 {+-} 12(stat) {+-}30(syst) and 555 {+-} 12(stat) {+-} 35(syst) for collision energies of 56, and 130, GeV, respectively. These numbers suggest energy densities that are some 70% higher than have been achieved in any heavy-ion collisions previously studied, and also 25-40% higher than nucleon-nucleon collisions at comparable center of mass energies.

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