A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2000 census data, Bureau of the Census analysts were to identify, investigate, and document suspected data discrepancies or issues to clear census data files and products for subsequent processing or public release. They were to determine whether and how to correct the data by weighing quality improvements against time and budget constraints. Because the bureau lacked sufficient staff to conduct a full count review on its own, it contracted out some of the work to members of the Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE). FSCPE documented 1,402 data issues, 29 percent of the 4,809 issues identified by both FSCPE and bureau analysts during the full count review. Of the 4,809 issues, 1,599 dealt with "group quarters," where counts for prisons, nursing homes, dormitories, and other group living facilities differed from what analysts expected. Of the 1,599 group quarters issues, FSCPE identified 567. Discrepancies relating to housing unit counts, population data, and demographic characteristics accounted for 1,150 issues, 375 of which were identified by FSCPE. Overall, of the 4,809 issues identified during review, 4,267 were not subjected to …

The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform, or FAIR, Act of 1996 (commonly known as the "farm bill"), which was due to expire in 2002, is expected to be extended for another six years when President Bush signs the bill into law. This report discusses the provisions of the new "farm bill," including the federal spending involved.

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.

This article summarizes the experimental results and engineering aspects regarding the anodic process for electrorefining 100 irradiated driver fuel assemblies, a demonstration project for the Department of Energy (DOE) to treat spent nuclear fuel. The focus is on the anode due to its unique geometry (fuel dissolution baskets loaded with chopped irradiated fuel segments), complex chemical compositions, highly demanding process goals and their significance to the entire spent fuel treatment process. Chemical analysis results of cladding hull samples were used as the key criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the uranium dissolution and noble metal retention. Parametric study indicated that the diffusion of reactants in the porous fuel matrix was the rate-controlling step to the uranium dissolution from the chopped fuel segments. Anode resistance was the most effective parameter to assess the completeness of uranium dissolution and noble metal retention.

Argonne National Laboratory is currently investigating the feasibility of and developing a life-cycle cost estimate for the treatment and disposal of 34 metric tons of sodium-bonded Fermi-1 blanket fuel using the Melt Drain Evaporate Carbonate (MEDEC) process. The scope of this work includes fuel characterization and specification, dose rate calculations, flow sheet development, process demonstration tests using unirradiated and irradiated fuel, equipment layouts in two candidate facilities, development of dynamic process models, and preparation of a low-uncertainty life-cycle cost estimate. A description of the process flow sheet, facility operations, and the results of the unirradiated testing activities are presented. A brief description of irradiated testing activities that are currently underway is also given.

Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

Both the theoretical basis and computational approach for extending the capabilities of a spectral line broadening code are presented. Following standard line broadening theory, the effects of an external magnetic field are incorporated into the atomic Hamiltonian and plasma average. In the presence of an external magnetic field the atomic Hamiltonian angular properties are altered--atomic energy levels are perturbed and the spectral emission line is polarized. The magnetic field introduces a preferential axis that changes the plasma average. These extensions have been incorporated into a new spectral line broadening code that is applied to several problems of importance to the understanding of tokamak edge plasmas. Applications fall into two broad categories: (1) determination of local plasma properties from distinct line shape features; and (2) consideration of global plasma phenomenon, such as radiation transport. Observable features of the Zeeman effect make H{sub {alpha}} a good magnetic field diagnostic. H{sub {beta}} does not make a good electron density diagnostic since the Zeeman effect is comparable to the Stark effect for a majority of tokamak edge plasma conditions. When optically thick lines exist the details of the spectral line shapes are shown to significantly influence the transport of radiation throughout the system.

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

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

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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

This report will introduce a newcomer to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to sources of general interest, neighborhoods, housing, and public transportation. The intended audience is congressional staff needing short-term or summer housing, although many of the sources given may also be helpful for those needing more than a three- to six-month lease. Sources suggested are often accessible by their Internet addresses.

Upon the submission of this report, about 75 countries possessed cruise missiles. Many experts predict that anti — ship and land attack cruise missile proliferation will increase in terms of both scope and technological sophistication.

Weekly newspaper from Cuero, Texas 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.

This report provides factual background and summarizes the Court's prior precedent, the Sixth Circuit's decision, and the Supreme Court's analysis of the relevant constitutional issues.

We demonstrate the formation of highly resistive single-crystal ZnO epilayers as a result of irradiation with MeV Li, O, and Si ions. Results show that the ion doses necessary for electrical isolation close-to-inversely depend on the number of ion-beam-generated atomic displacements. However, in all the cases studied, defect-induced electrical isolation of ZnO is unstable to rapid thermal annealing at temperatures above about 300 C . No significant improvement of thermal stability is found by varying ion mass, dose, and irradiation temperature (up to 350 C). Finally, a comparison of implant isolation in ZnO with that in GaN is presented.

This report discusses issues debated in the 107th Congress while is considering various proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, changing the role of critical habitat, reducing conflicts with Department of Defense activities, incorporating further protection for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated including significant changes to ESA regulations made during the Clinton Administration in the law itself.

This report discuss issues that received congressional attention in the 107th Congress, such as The impact of air quality regulations, key water quality issues, superfund, solid/hazardous wastes, multibillion dollar cleanup and compliance programs, climate change, pesticides, EPA budget, and Science and Technology.

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

This report discusses the background information, analysis and the recent developments in the F-22 Raptor Aircraft Program. The F-22 program raises questions about its cost and the need for this aircraft, the capabilities it would have, and the number of these planes needed to meet military requirements. The F-22 has had strong congressional support, although some have criticized the program on grounds of cost, requirements, and coordination with other tactical aircraft programs. Deletion of procurement funds in the FY2000 defense appropriation bill passed by the House made the future of the program a major issue for House and Senate conferees in 1999.

In the last few years, Congress has been concerned about a number of developments in Haiti, with attention shifting from concern with the flow of refugees to concern for the cost and safety of U.S. troops in Haiti and to the stalled democratic process there. This report contains information on the Haitian government, U.S. congressional concerns, and related legislation in the 106th Congress.

We are developing a novel high-efficiency, high-temperature steam electrolyzer. Although water or steam electrolysis is well known to be one of the cleanest ways to produce hydrogen, widespread utilization is hindered by high operational costs because of high electricity consumption. To decrease the electrical power input requirements in electrolysis, our approach uses natural gas as an anode depolarizer. This approach essentially replaces one unit of electricity with one equivalent-energy unit of natural gas at much lower cost. The direct use of natural gas on the electrolyzer enables very high system efficiency with respect to primary energy. Experiments performed on single cells have shown a voltage reduction as much as 1 V when compared to conventional electrolyzers. System efficiency has been estimated to be 50 to 80%, depending on the electrolytic current density. During FY02, we have accomplished several major milestones, including the development of a metal-to-ceramic seal that withstands 150 psi differential, the fabrication of the electrolyzer tubes of up to 16 inches in length, the improvement of single tube performance and the demonstration of the first electrolyzer stack.