Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that one in four Americans lives within 3 miles of a hazardous waste site. To clean up these highly contaminated sites, the Congress established the Superfund program under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980. EPA, the principal agency responsible for administering the Superfund program, has since identified more than 47,000 hazardous waste sites potentially requiring cleanup actions and has placed some of the most seriously contaminated sites on its National Priorities List (NPL). Through the end of fiscal year 2007, EPA had classified 1,569 sites as NPL sites. Cleanup efforts at NPL sites are typically expensive and can take many years. There are two basic types of cleanup actions: (1) removal actions--generally short-term or emergency cleanups to mitigate threats--and (2) remedial actions--generally long-term cleanup activities. Among other efforts, EPA may respond to and provide technical support for emergency actions, collect and analyze site data, and design and construct remedies, or oversee the work of others. However, the parties responsible for contributing to the contamination of a hazardous waste site are also primarily responsible for conducting or paying …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2008, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to spend over $2 billion on information technology (IT) investments--many of which support FAA's air traffic control modernization. To more effectively manage such investments, in 2005 the Office of Management and Budget required agencies to use earned value management (EVM). EVM is a project management approach that, if implemented appropriately, provides objective reports of project status, produces early warning signs of impending schedule delays and cost overruns, and provides unbiased estimates of a program's total costs. Among other objectives, GAO was asked to assess FAA's policies for implementing EVM on its IT investments, evaluate whether the agency is adequately using these techniques to manage key IT acquisitions, and assess the agency's efforts to oversee EVM compliance. To do so, GAO compared agency policies with best practices, performed four case studies, and interviewed key FAA officials."

Inspection of United States-Department of Energy (US-DOE) model 9975 nuclear materials shipping package revealed corrosion of the lead shielding that was induced by off-gas constituents from organic components in the package. Experiments were performed to determine the corrosion rate of lead when exposed to off-gas or degradation products of these organic materials. The results showed that the room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) sealant was the most corrosive organic species used in the construction of the packaging, followed by polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) glue. Fiberboard material, also used in the construction of the packaging induced corrosion to a much lesser extent than the PVAc glue and RTV sealant, and only in the presence of condensed water. The results indicated faster corrosion at temperatures higher than ambient and with condensed water. In light of these corrosion mechanisms, the lead shielding was sheathed in a stainless steel liner to mitigate against corrosion.

One of the goals of the Saltstone variability study is to identify the operational and compositional variables that control or influence the important processing and performance properties of Saltstone grout mixtures. One of those properties of importance is the Waste Loading (WL) of the decontaminated salt solution (DSS) in the Saltstone waste form. Waste loading is a measure of the amount of waste that can be incorporated within a waste form. The value of the Saltstone waste loading ultimately determines the number of vaults that will be required to disposition all of the DSS. In this report, the waste loading is defined as the volume in milliliters of DSS per liter of Saltstone waste form. The two most important parameters that determine waste loading for Saltstone are water to cementitious material (w/cm) ratio and the cured grout density. Data are provided that show the dependence of waste loading on the w/cm ratio for a fixed DSS composition using the current premix material (45% Blast Furnace Slag (BFS), 45% Fly Ash (FA) and 10% Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)). The impact of cured grout density on waste loading was also demonstrated. Mixes (at 0.60 w/cm) made with a Modular Caustic side extraction …

More than 200 million liters (53 million gallons) of highly radioactive and hazardous waste is stored at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The DOE's Hanford Site River Protection Project (RPP) mission includes tank waste retrieval, waste treatment, waste disposal, and tank farms closure activities. This mission will largely be accomplished by the construction and operation of three large treatment facilities at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP): (1) a Pretreatment (PT) facility intended to separate the tank waste into High Level Waste (HLW) and Low Activity Waste (LAW); (2) a HLW vitrification facility intended to immobilize the HLW for disposal at a geologic repository in Yucca Mountain; and (3) a LAW vitrification facility intended to immobilize the LAW for shallow land burial at Hanford's Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). The LAW facility is on target to be completed in 2014, five years prior to the completion of the rest of the WTP. In order to gain experience in the operation of the LAW vitrification facility, accelerate retrieval from single-shell tank (SST) farms, and hasten the completion of the LAW immobilization, it has been proposed to begin treatment of the low-activity waste five years before …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

The purpose of this report is to consider certain challenges faced by federal EHS risk assessors, risk managers, and policy makers, and to discuss possible legislative approaches to address those challenges.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

A document with Texas Daily Newspaper Association meeting follow-ups for the dates, July 13, 2006, November 30, 2006, July 07, 2007 and December 07, 2007. The follow-ups try to resolve questions answered during the meetings and obtaining information that needs to be relayed for future progress.

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Handwritten note written on the back of recycled paper on July 18, 2008 regarding Stonewall Young Democrats and activities related to Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

ELECTRON DISSIPATION IN RECONNECTION Detailed comparisons are reported between laboratory observations of electron scale dissipation layers near a reconnecting X-line and direct two-dimensional full-particle simulations. Many experimental features of the electron layers, such as insensitivity to the ion mass, are reproduced by the simulations; the layer thickness, however, is about 3 - 5 times larger than the predictions. Consequently, the leading candidate 2D mechanism based on collisionless electron nongyrotropic pressure is insuffcient to explain the observed reconnection rates. These results suggest that, in addition to the residual collisions, 3D effects play an important role in electron-scale dissipation during fast reconnection.

The overall objective of this research was to determine the feasibility of recovering a very fine fraction of fly ash, that is 5 microns in diameter or less and examining the characteristics of these materials in new or at least less traditional applications. These applications included as a polymer filler or as a 'super' pozzolanic concrete additive. As part of the effort the ash from 6 power plants was investigated and characterized. This work included collection from ESP Hoppers and ponds. The ash was thoroughly characterized chemically and physically. Froth flotation was used to reduce the carbon and testing showed that flotation could effectively reduce carbon to acceptable levels (i.e. 0.5% LOI) for most of the substrates tested. in order to enable eventual use as fillers. Hydraulic classification was used in the separation of the fine ash from the coarse ash. Hydraulic classification requires the ash to be dispersed to be effective and a range of dispersants were tested for adsorption as well as sedimentation rate. A wide range of dosages were required (0.3 to 10 g/kg). In general the ponded ash required less dispersant. A model was developed for hydraulic classification. A pilot-scale hydraulic classifier was also designed and …

High-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization of 235 serous epithelial ovarian cancers demonstrated a regional increase at 3q26.2 encompassing SnoN/SkiL, a coregulator of SMAD/TGF{beta} signaling. SnoN RNA transcripts were elevated in {approx}80% of advanced stage serous epithelial ovarian cancers. In both immortalized normal (TIOSE) and ovarian carcinoma cell lines (OVCA), SnoN RNA levels were increased by TGF{beta} stimulation and altered by LY294002 and JNK II inhibitor treatment suggesting that the PI3K and JNK signaling pathways may regulate TGF{beta}-induced increases in SnoN RNA. In TIOSE, SnoN protein levels were reduced 15min post TGF{beta}-stimulation, likely by proteosome-mediated degradation. In contrast, in OVCA, SnoN levels were elevated 3h post-stimulation potentially as a result of inhibition of the proteosome. To elucidate the role of SnoN in ovarian tumorigenesis, we explored the effects of both increasing and decreasing SnoN levels. In both TIOSE and OVCA, SnoN siRNA decreased cell growth between 20 and 50% concurrent with increased p21 levels. In TIOSE, transient expression of SnoN repressed TGF{beta} induction of PAI-1 promoters with little effect on the p21 promoter or resultant cell growth. In contrast to the effects of transient expression, stable expression of SnoN in TIOSE led to growth arrest through induction of senescence. Collectively, these …

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was tasked with incorporating cladding mechanical property data into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) fuel codes, FRAPCON-31 and FRAPTRAN2, by the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Research. The objective of that task was to create a mechanical model that can calculate true stress, true strain, and the possible failure of the fuel rod cladding based on uniaxial test data.

This report provides an annotated list of U.N. agencies, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), key U.S. government agencies, and a sample list of major international and U.S.-based aid organizations that are providing humanitarian assistance to Iraq.

This report provides an overview of basic Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provisions, briefly examines the history of TSCA implementation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and describes the legal, scientific, and technological developments that are being used to provide support to calls for TSCA reform.

This report follows the path of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) evolution in Afghanistan. The first section covers the initial two stages of the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) mission, and analyzes key issues in the mission: use of Provincial Reconstruction Teams to stabilize and rebuild the country; overcoming caveats placed by individual allies on the use of their forces; and managing the counter-narcotics effort. The next section of the report examines stages three and four of the ISAF mission which cover roughly the period December 2005 to the present. In this section, the debate to develop a refined mission statement and a new organizational structure is analyzed by looking at issues that are both political and military, such as securing more troops, the treatment of prisoners, and organization of command. By late 2006 as ISAF extended its responsibilities to cover all of Afghanistan, the allies began to realize that ISAF would require a greater combat capability than originally believed, and the mission began to change. This adjustment in mission is discussed through the perspective of several key allies. The final section of the report assesses ISAF's progress to date.

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

This report provides an overview on the veto power vested in the President by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution. The veto power has proven to be an effective tool for the chief executive in his dealings with Congress.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Van Lieshout. Van Lieshout joined the Coast Guard in December of 1941. He served as Seaman Third Class for one year aboard Hollyhock, a buoy tender and icebreaker on the Great Lakes. He was part of the deck crew, overseeing lighthouses and breaking up ice for ships in the winter time. In the summer of 1943 Van Lieshout played baseball for the Coast Guard team. He then completed LST training. In 1944 and 1945 he served as water tender aboard the LST-886 in the Pacific, delivering ammunition and supplies to numerous islands, including Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. He provides some details of the LST and his experiences across the Pacific. After the war they took occupation troops to Japan. He was honorably discharged in January of 1947.

The objective of this research is to understand and to remedy the impurity effects for room-temperature ductility enhancement of molybdenum (Mo) based alloys by the inclusion of nano-sized metal oxide dispersions. This research combines theoretical, computational, and experimental efforts. The results will help to formulate systematic strategies in searching for better composed Mo-based alloys with optimal mechanical properties. For this project, majority of the research effort was directed to atomistic modeling to identify the mechanisms responsible for the oxygen embrittling and ductility enhancement based on fundamental electronic structure analysis. Through first principles molecular dynamics simulations, it was found that the embrittling impurity species were attracted to the metal oxide interface, consistent with previous experiments. Further investigation on the electronic structures reveals that the presence of embrittling species degrades the quality of the metallic chemical bonds in the hosting matrix in a number of ways, the latter providing the source of ductility. For example, the spatial flexibility of the bonds is reduced, and localization of the impurity states occurs to pin the dislocation flow. Rice’s criterion has been invoked to explain the connections of electronic structure and mechanical properties. It was also found that when impurity species become attracted to the …