The Bush Administration issued its plan for a national energy policy on May 16, 2001. The plan was controversial, characterized by some as leaner on conservation and renewables than Democratic proposals, and predisposed to trade off environmental considerations to increase supply. Comprehensive energy legislation was introduced in the Senate by both parties by late March (S. 388, S. 389, S. 596, S. 597). Bills reported by several House committees (H.R. 2436, H.R. 2460, H.R. 2511, and H.R. 2587) were combined in a single bill, H.R. 4, passed by the House, August 1, 2001. The House version of H.R. 4 would require a 5 billion gallon reduction in light-duty truck and SUV fuel consumption and would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to leasing.

The Department of Defense (DOD) administers five environmental programs in response to various requirements under federal environmental laws. These programs include environmental cleanup, environmental compliance, pollution prevention, environmental technology, and conservation. Additionally, the Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste and cleaning up contaminated nuclear weapons sites. The Administration requested a total of $11.17 billion for these programs in FY2003, about $390 million more than the FY2002 funding level of $10.78 billion. Some of the ongoing issues associated with these programs are the adequacy, cost, and pace of cleanup, whether DOD and DOE adequately comply with environmental laws and regulations, and the extent to which environmental requirements encroach upon military readiness.

The CSNF geochemistry model abstraction, as directed by the TWP (BSC 2002b), was developed to provide regression analysis of EQ6 cases to obtain abstracted values of pH (and in some cases HCO{sub 3}{sup -} concentration) for use in the Configuration Generator Model. The pH of the system is the controlling factor over U mineralization, CSNF degradation rate, and HCO{sub 3}{sup -} concentration in solution. The abstraction encompasses a large variety of combinations for the degradation rates of materials. The ''base case'' used EQ6 simulations looking at differing steel/alloy corrosion rates, drip rates, and percent fuel exposure. Other values such as the pH/HCO{sub 3}{sup -} dependent fuel corrosion rate and the corrosion rate of A516 were kept constant. Relationships were developed for pH as a function of these differing rates to be used in the calculation of total C and subsequently, the fuel rate. An additional refinement to the abstraction was the addition of abstracted pH values for cases where there was limited O{sub 2} for waste package corrosion and a flushing fluid other than J-13, which has been used in all EQ6 calculation up to this point. These abstractions also used EQ6 simulations with varying combinations of corrosion rates of …

This report outlines U.S. military operations in Bosnia and discusses issues such as U.S. and Allied Participation in Bosnia Peacekeeping (IFOR/SFOR), duration, cost, arms control and military assistance. This report also includes most recent development, background analysis, and legislation.

The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention's implementation. Chemical Weapons Convention implementing legislation, as S. 610, passed the Senate unanimously on May 23, 1997. This legislation, which was an amendment in the nature of a substitute reported from the Judiciary Committee, provides the statutory authority for domestic compliance with the Convention's provisions. It sets criminal and civil penalties for the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, possession, or use of chemical weapons.

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

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

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma 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.

This project was initially targeted to the making of coke for blast furnaces by using proprietary technology of Calderon in a phased approach, and Phase I was successfully completed. The project was then re-directed to the making of iron units. U.S. Steel teamed up with Calderon for a joint effort which will last 30 months to produce directly reduced iron with the potential of converting it into molten iron or steel consistent with the Roadmap recommendations of 1998 prepared by the Steel Industry in cooperation with the Department of Energy.

Semiweekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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

In this SBIR Phase I program, we have successfully completed the fabrication of SiC-based hydrogen selective membranes suitable for use as a membrane reactor for steam-methane reforming applications. Hydrothermal stability was performed for selected membrane to demonstrate their stability for appx. 50 hours under the proposed reforming condition. In addition, several mechanistic study was conducted to elucidate the SiC membrane formation mechanism. This understanding will facilitate membrane optimization work to be proposed for the Phase II study. The reaction study was postponed to the Phase II study.

This report will summarize PNNL's progress toward accomplishment of the critical outcomes, objectives and performance indicators as delineated in the FY 2002 Performance Evaluation and Fee Agreement. In addition, this report will summarize PNNL's analysis of the results of the FY2002 Peer Reviews, the implementation of PNNL's FY2002 Operational Improvement Initiatives, and the resolution of the Key Areas for Improvements.

The Savannah River Site, located in South Carolina, contains nuclear defense products and nuclear waste byproducts as result of national defense operations dating to the 1950s. The facility has been the subject of a variety of scientific investigations focusing on potential groundwater transportation of nuclides and other hazardous materials through the different aquifers within the air. The area of particular interest, and the subject of this report, is the General Separations Area.

A team of engineers from High Level Waste (HLW), the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC), and Project Engineering and Construction Division (PE and CD) explored ways of more effectively utilizing the HLW tank's risers during waste removal and closure activities. Currently, some of the risers are being used to store failed and contaminated equipment. To make those risers available for tank operation, failed equipment must be moved out of the tank and relocated or disposed of appropriately. Disposing of contaminated equipment is a time consuming and expensive process. This report describes the Tank Riser Suspension System (TRSS). It will allow failed equipment to be stored inside of the tank while making riser space available for other tank process equipment. In addition, the TRSS will permit disposing of failed equipment in the tank as part of tank closure activities.

An experimental study of the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) instability has investigated the effects of velocity gradients and kinetic effects on the saturation of ion-acoustic waves in a plasma. For intensities less than I < 1.5 x 10{sup 15} W cm{sup -2}, the SBS instability is moderated primarily by velocity gradients, and for intensities above this threshold, nonlinear trapping is invoked to saturate the instability. We report direct evidence of detuning of SBS by a velocity gradient which was achieved by directly measuring the frequency shift of the SBS driven acoustic wave relative to the local resonant acoustic frequency. Furthermore, a novel use of Thomson scattering has allowed us to gather direct evidence of kinetic effects associated with the SBS process. Specifically, a measured two-fold increase of the ion temperature has been linked with laser beam excitation of ion-acoustic waves to large amplitudes by the SBS instability. Ion-acoustic waves were excited to large amplitude with a 2{omega} 1.2-ns long interaction beam with intensities up to 5 x 10{sup 15} W cm{sup -2}. The local frequency, amplitude, and spatial range of these waves were measured with a 3{omega} 200ps Thomson-scattering probe beam. These detailed and accurate measurements in well-characterized plasma conditions …

This report includes recent developments in federal child care programs and tax provisions. The report discusses several federal programs that support child care or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. The report presents the legislative activity in the 107th Congress in regard to child care legislature and provisions.

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

The objective of this study was quantification of the dynamics of litter decomposition, microbiota populations, and nutrient movement in response to nitrogen and phosphorus additions to a deciduous forest stand. Nitrogen (urea) was applied at rates of 0, 550, and 1100 kg/ha in combination with phosphorus (concentrated superphosphate) at rates of 0, 275, and 550 kg/ha. Total loss of organic material from white oak, red maple, and black gum litter bags over a 16-month period was 34, 35, and 45%, respectively. Phosphorus treatment retarded weight loss from litter bags of all species. Weight loss for the 0-, 275-, and 55-kg/ha levels of phosphorus averaged 23, 20, and 19% for white oak; 26, 25, and 25% for red maple; 29, 27 and 26% for black gum. Weight losses were increased by a small amount (1 to 2%) or not at all by nitrogen treatment. The NP interfaction weight loss means were intermediate to the main treatment means. The increase in decomposition associated with nitrogen was offset by the decrease associated with phosphorus. Litter and soil bacterial populations were significantly increased by nitrogen additions, while litter and soil fungi did not respond to nitrogen. Soil fungal populations were increased by phosphorus addition, …

Design and fabrication of an x-ray lens assembly for focusing x-ray beams is described. The assembly consists of a number of precisely stacked and aligned aluminum parts. These parts are cut from a long extruded section having sixteen parabolic cavities along its length. The thickness of the wall between adjacent cavities is 0.2 mm. By cutting the assembled parts diagonally as shown below, a variable-focus lens system can be made. Moving the lens horizontally allows the incident beam to pass through fewer or more cavities, collimating or focusing the emerging beam at a desired distance downstream. The variable focus aluminum lens has been used at the Advanced Photon Source to collimate a monochromatic, 81 keV undulator beam to increase downstream crystal monochromator throughput. Results indicate collimation consistent with theoretical expectations.

Heat shields from a factory test of the furnaces that will be used to heat the magnesium and uranium beds for the tritium extraction facility (TEF) were examined to determine the cause of discoloration. The samples were examined using visual, optical microscopy, electron microscopy, x-ray spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy.

Student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.