Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication is superceded by GAO-12-331G, Government Auditing Standards: December 2011 Revision. This is the Government Auditing Standards 2007 version. This document outlines standards that contain requirements for auditor reporting on internal control. This revision supersedes the 2003 revision."

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-09-3SP, GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs, March 2009. From August 13, 2007 - July 14, 2008, GAO is seeking input and feedback on this Exposure Draft from all interested parties. See page 4 for more information. The U.S. Government Accountability Office is responsible for, among other things, assisting the Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies' stewardship of public funds. To effectively use public funds, the government must meet the demands of today's changing world by employing effective management practices and processes, including the measurement of government program performance. Legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. We developed the Cost Guide in order to establish a consistent methodology, based on best practices, to be used across the federal government for developing and managing its program cost estimates. For the purposes of this guide, a cost estimate is the summation of individual cost elements, using established methods and valid data to estimate the future costs of …

In view of the growing impact of hedge funds on a variety of financial markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October 2004 adopted a regulation that requires hedge funds to register as investment advisers, disclose basic information about their operations, and open their books for inspection. The regulation took effect in February 2006, but on June 23, 2006, a court challenge was upheld and the rule was vacated. S. 1402 and H.R. 2586 would reinstate the SEC's authority. H.R. 2683 would require defined benefit pension plans to disclose investments in hedge funds. In December 2006, the SEC proposed raising the "accredited investor" standard - to be permitted to invest in hedge funds, an investor would need $2.5 million in assets, instead of $1 million.

Moving beyond ITER toward a demonstration power reactor (Demo) will require the integration of stable high fusion gain in steady-state, advanced methods for dissipating very high divertor heat-fluxes, and adherence to strict limits on in-vessel tritium retention. While ITER will clearly address the issue of high fusion gain, and new and planned long-pulse experiments (EAST, JT60-SA, KSTAR, SST-1) will collectively address stable steady-state high-performance operation, none of these devices will adequately address the integrated heat-flux, tritium retention, and plasma performance requirements needed for extrapolation to Demo. Expressing power exhaust requirements in terms of P{sub heat}/R, future ARIES reactors are projected to operate with 60-200MW/m, a Component Test Facility (CTF) or Fusion Development Facility (FDF) for nuclear component testing (NCT) with 40-50MW/m, and ITER 20-25MW/m. However, new and planned long-pulse experiments are currently projected to operate at values of P{sub heat}/R no more than 16MW/m. Furthermore, none of the existing or planned experiments are capable of operating with very high temperature first-wall (T{sub wall} = 600-1000C) which may be critical for understanding and ultimately minimizing tritium retention with a reactor-relevant metallic first-wall. The considerable gap between present and near-term experiments and the performance needed for NCT and Demo motivates the development …

We compare various schemes for removing amplified spontaneous emission from seed laser pulses. We focus on compact schemes that are compatible with fiber laser front end systems with pulse energies in the 10nJ-1{micro}J range and pulse widths in the 100fs-10ps range. Pre-pulse contrast ratios greater than 10{sup 9} have been measured.

We discuss the status of the NIF ARC, an 8-beam 10-kJ class high-energy petawatt laser, and the future upgrade path of this and similar systems to 100-kJ-class with coherent phasing of multiple apertures.

Even after years of training and awareness building at thestate and national level, industrial cross-cutting systems (motor-driven,steam, process heating) continue to offer significant opportunities forenergy savings. The US Department of Energy estimates these remainingsavings at more than 7 percent of all industrial energy use. This paperpresents a different approach to promoting industrial system energyefficiency -- providing plant personnel with ready access to data uponwhich to base energy management decisions.In 2005, a Del Monte Foodsfruit processing plant in Modesto, California worked with LawrenceBerkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)to specify and purchase permanentinstrumentation for monitoring their compressed air system. This work,completed as part of a demonstration project under a State TechnologiesAdvancement Collaborative (STAC) grant, was designed to demonstrate theeffectiveness of enterprise energy management (EEM), which is predicatedon the assumption that the energy efficiency of existing, cross-cuttingindustrial systems (motor-driven, steam) can be improved by providingmanagement and operating personnel with real-time data on energy use. Theinitial STAC grant provided for the installation and some initialanalyses, but did not address the larger issue of integrating these newdata into an ongoing energy management program for the compressed airsystem.The California Energy Commission (CEC) decided to support furtheranalysis to identify potential for air system optimization. Through theCEC's Energy in Agriculture …

In an anharmonic crystal, large-amplitude vibrational fluctuations on the scale of the lattice spacing can develop frequencies that do not resonate with the normal modes, causing energy to become trapped in intrinsically localized modes (ILMs)--also called 'discrete breathers' or 'lattice solitons'. This mechanism has been observed in analogous systems on a larger scale, but unambiguous sightings in atomic lattice vibrations, where quantum mechanics may play a role, have proved difficult. Two challenges have hampered progress: (1) the need to separate ILMs from defect modes, and (2) complications that arise at high temperatures, including feature broadening and multiphonon processes. Here we solve these problems by using x-ray and neutron scattering to induce ILM-forming amplitude fluctuations in uranium at low temperatures, thereby creating nonequilibrium ILMs. Creation of ILMs occurs at a discrete energy, indicating an unexpected quantum character to ILM formation and greatly simplifying detection.

We are developing a laterally variable velocity model of the crust and upper mantle across Eurasia and North Africa to reduce event location error by improving regional travel-time prediction accuracy. The model includes both P and S velocities and we describe methods to compute travel-times for Pn, Sn, Pg, and Lg phases. For crustal phases Pg and Lg we assume that the waves travel laterally at mid-crustal depths, with added ray segments from the event and station to the mid crustal layer. Our work on Pn and Sn travel-times extends the methods described by Zhao and Xie (1993). With consideration for a continent scale model and application to seismic location, we extend the model parameterization of Zhao and Xie (1993) by allowing the upper-mantle velocity gradient to vary laterally. This extension is needed to accommodate the large variation in gradient that is known to exist across Eurasia and North African. Further, we extend the linear travel-time calculation method to mantle-depth events, which is needed for seismic locators that test many epicenters and depths. Using these methods, regional travel times are computed on-the-fly from the velocity model in milliseconds, forming the basis of a flexible travel time facility that may be …

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New global MHD eigenmode solutions arising in gaps in the low frequency Alfvén -acoustic continuum below the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) frequency have been found numerically and have been used to explain relatively low frequency experimental signals seen in NSTX and JET tokamaks. These global eigenmodes, referred to here as Beta-induced Alfvén-Acoustic Eigenmodes (BAAE), exist in the low magnetic safety factor region near the extrema of the Alfvén-acoustic continuum. In accordance to the linear dispersion relations, the frequency of these modes shifts as the safety factor, q, decreases. We show that BAAEs can be responsible for observations in JET plasmas at relatively low beta < 2% as well as in NSTX plasmas at relatively high beta > 20%. In contrast to the mostly electrostatic character of GAMs the new global modes also contain an electromagnetic (magnetic field line bending) component due to the Alfvén coupling, leading to wave phase velocities along the field line that are large compared to the sonic speed. Qualitative agreement between theoretical predictions and observations are found.

Abstract: The generation of energetic tails in the electron distribution function is intrinsic to lower-hybrid (LH) heating and current drive in weakly collisional magnetically confined plasma. The effects of these deformations on the RF deposition profile have previously been examined within the ray approximation. Recently, the calculation of full-wave propagation of LH waves in a thermal plasma has been accomplished using an adaptation of the TORIC code. Here, initial results are presented from TORIC simulations of LH propagation in a toroidal plasma with non-thermal electrons. The required efficient computation of the hot plasma dielectric tensor is accomplished using a technique previously demonstrated in full-wave simulations of ICRF propagation in plasma with non-thermal ions.

This report provides the summary of a project whose purpose was to support the costs of developing a nuclear engineering awareness program, an instruction program for teachers to integrate lessons on nuclear science and technology into their existing curricula, and web sites for the exchange of nuclear engineering career information and classroom materials. The specific objectives of the program were as follows: OBJECTIVE 1: INCREASE AWARENESS AND INTEREST OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING; OBJECTIVE 2: INSTRUCT TEACHERS ON NUCLEAR TOPICS; OBJECTIVE 3: NUCLEAR EDUCATION PROGRAMS WEB-SITE; OBJECTIVE 4: SUPPORT TO UNIVERSITY/INDUSTRY MATCHING GRANTS AND REACTOR SHARING; OBJECTIVE 5: PILOT PROJECT; OBJECTIVE 6: NUCLEAR ENGINEERING ENROLLMENT SURVEY AT UNIVERSITIES

Pilot scale (500 gram) SAES St 909 methane cracking tests were conducted to determine material performance for tritium process applications. Tests that ran up to 1400 hours have been performed at 700 C, 202.7 kPa (1520 torr) with a 30 sccm feed of methane, with various impurities, in a 20 vol% hydrogen, balance helium, stream. A 2.5 vol% methane feed was reduced below 30 ppm for 631 hours. A feed of 1.1 vol% methane plus 1.4 vol% carbon dioxide was reduced below 30 ppm for 513 hours. The amount of carbon dioxide gettered by St 909 can be equated to an equivalent amount of methane gettered to estimate a reduced bed life for methane cracking. The effect of 0.4 vol % and 2.1 vol% nitrogen in the feed reduced the time to exceed 30 ppm methane to 362 and 45 hours, respectively, but the nitrogen equivalence to reduced methane gettering capacity was found to be dependent on the nitrogen feed composition. Decreased hydrogen concentrations increased methane getter rates while a drop of 30 C in one bed zone increased methane emissions by over a factor of 30. The impact of gettered nitrogen can be somewhat minimized if the nitrogen feed …

This report provides initial results on the measurement of heat of hydration of Saltstone mixes using isothermal calorimetry. The results were obtained using a recently purchased TAM Air Model 3116 Isothermal Conduction Calorimeter. Heat of hydration is an important property of Saltstone mixes. Greater amounts of heat will increase the temperature of the curing mix in the vaults and limit the processing rate. The heat of hydration also reflects the extent of the hydraulic reactions that turn the fluid mixture into a ''stone like'' solid and consequently impacts performance properties such as permeability. Determining which factors control these reactions, as monitored by the heat of hydration, is an important goal of the variability study. Experiments with mixes of portland cement in water demonstrated that the heats measured by this technique over a seven day period match very well with the literature values of (1) seven day heats of hydration using the standard test method for heat of hydration of hydraulic cement, ASTM C 186-05 and (2) heats of hydration measured using isothermal calorimetry. The heats of hydration of portland cement or blast furnace slag in a Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) simulant revealed that if the cure temperature …

I discuss forms of high energy density matter in QCD. These include the Color Glass Condensate, the Glasma and the Quark Gluon Plasma. These all might be studied in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions, and the Color Glass Condensate might also be probed in electron-hadron collisions. I present the properties of such matter, and some aspects of what is known of their properties.

The authors have performed a detailed study of the power losses in the post-collision extraction line of a TeV e{sup +}e{sup -} collider with a crossing angle of 20 mrad at the interaction point. Five cases were considered: four luminosity configurations for ILC and one for CLIC. For all of them, the strong beam-beam effects at the interaction point lead to an emittance growth for the outgoing beam, as well as to the production of beamstrahlung photons and e{sup +}e{sup -} coherent pairs. The power losses along the extraction line, which are due to energy deposition by a fraction of the disrupted beam, of the beamstrahlung photons and of the coherent pairs, were estimated in the case of ideal collisions, as well as with a vertical position or angular offset at the interaction point.

Metal hydride beds offer compact, safe storage of tritium. After metal hydride beds have reached the end of their useful life, the beds will replaced with new beds and the old beds prepared for disposal. One acceptance criteria for hydride bed waste disposal is that the material inside the bed not be pyrophoric. To determine the pyrophoric nature of spent metal hydride beds, controlled air ingress tests were performed. A simple gas handling manifold fitted with pressure transducers and a calibrated volume were used to introduce controlled quantities of air into a metal hydride bed and the bed temperature rise monitored for reactivity with the air. A desorbed, 4.4 kg titanium prototype hydride storage vessel (HSV) produced a 4.4 C internal temperature rise upon the first air exposure cycle and a 0.1 C temperature rise upon a second air exposure. A total of 346 scc air was consumed by the bed (0.08 scc per gram Ti). A desorbed, 9.66 kg LaNi{sub 4.25}Al{sub 0.75} prototype storage bed experienced larger temperature rises over successive cycles of air ingress and evacuation. The cycles were performed over a period of days with the bed effectively passivated after the 12th cycle. Nine to ten STP-L …

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

This report discusses issues surrounding Japan's interest in purchasing the F-22A Raptor aircraft from the United States. Although the export of the plane is now prohibited by U.S. law, Congress has recently and may again consider repealing this ban.

This report begins with an outline of the history of civil commitment laws, followed by a review of two cases, Kansas v. Hendricks and Kansas v. Crane, in which the Supreme Court addressed constitutional issues involving civil commitment. This review is followed by a summary of the recently enacted legislation governing the federal civil commitment program. The report then discusses research on sex offender recidivism and treatment. It concludes with an evaluation of some of the issues surrounding civil commitment.

This report contains information on federal appropriations for the fiscal year 2007 in the area of defense, foreign affairs, and related subjects.

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