Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma 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.

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

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

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) submitted its fourth expenditure plan to Congress in March 2001. In the plan, IRS requested $128 million from its systems modernization appropriations account. This report (1) determines whether the plan satisfied the conditions specified in the acts, (2) determines IRS' progress in implementing modernization management controls and capabilities, and (3) provides other observations about the plan and IRS' Business Systems Modernization program. GAO found that IRS' March 2001 expenditure plan satisfies the conditions specified in the appropriations acts. IRS continues to make important progress in implementing modernization management controls and capabilities but has yet to implement a sufficiently defined version of the enterprise architecture to guide and constrain projects or employ rigorous configuration management practices. Acquiring modernized systems before having the requisite management capacity in place increases the risk of cost, schedule, and performance shortfalls."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As the electricity industry restructures, California and the west have witnessed extraordinarily high wholesale prices and sharp limitations on the availability of electricity. In California, high prices have led to financial problems for the state's utilities, power outages, and rate increases. In other Western states, the high prices have also led to rate increases for consumers. This report assesses the outlook for California's electricity supplies this summer. Because of a lack of timely direct access to key information and limitation in other data, GAO was unable to assess likely conditions in California. To make an independent, reliable assessment, GAO would need access to data underlying key supply and demand factors, such as power plant outages and electricity supplies that could be imported into California. Furthermore, forecasts of California's electricity market show stark differences in the expected conditions this summer."

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

Investigations have been conducted to determine the feasibility of using collisional cooling for reducing the energy spreads and, consequently, the emittances of negative-ion beams. We have designed a gas-filled RF-quadrupole ion cooler equipped with provisions for retarding energetic negative ion beams to energies below thresholds for electron detachment at injection and for re-acceleration to high energies after the cooling process. The device has been used to cool O{sup -} and F{sup -} ion beams with initial energy spreads, {Delta}E > 10 eV to final energy spreads, {Delta}E {approx} 2 eV FWHM. Overall transmission efficiencies of {approx}14% for F{sup -} beams have been obtained. Experimental results show that electron detachment is the major loss mechanism for negative ions.

Recently, sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) techniques have been used to determine the area of applicability (AOA) of critical experiments used for code and data validation. These techniques require the computation of energy-dependent sensitivity coefficients for multiple reaction types for every nuclide in each system included in the validation. The sensitivity coefficients, as used for this application, predict the relative change in the system multiplication factor due to a relative change in a given cross-section data component or material number density. Thus, a sensitivity coefficient, S, for some macroscopic cross section, {Sigma}, is expressed as S = {Sigma}/k {partial_derivative}k/{partial_derivative}{Sigma}, where k is the effective neutron multiplication factor for the system. The sensitivity coefficient for the density of a material is equivalent to that of the total macroscopic cross section. Two distinct techniques have been employed in Monte Carlo radiation transport codes for the computation of sensitivity coefficients. The first, and most commonly employed, is the differential sampling technique. The second is the adjoint-based perturbation theory approach. This paper briefly describes each technique and presents the results of a simple test case, pointing out discrepancies in the computed results and proposing a remedy to these discrepancies.

A three-electrode system for optimally extracting, high-intensity, multi-charged ion beams from an all-permanent-magnet, ''volume''-type, ECR ion source, has been computationally designed. Beams of highest quality and transportability are extracted whenever the angular divergence is minimum. Under this condition, the plasma boundary has an optimum curvature, the angular divergence is consequently minimum; the perveance, the extraction gap, and the current density each have optimum values. Results obtained from computational simulation studies of the extraction optics are found to closely agree with those derived from elementary analytical theory for extraction of space-charge-dominated beams.

Proper operation of the Nuclear Identification Materials System (NMIS) processor can be verified using computer-generated inputs [BIST (Built-In-Self-Test)] at the digital inputs. Preselected sequences of input pulses to all channels with known correlation functions are compared to the output of the processor. These types of verifications have been utilized in NMIS type correlation processors at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 1984. The use of this test confirmed a malfunction in a NMIS processor at the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) in 1998. The NMIS processor boards were returned to the U.S. for repair and subsequently used in NMIS passive and active measurements with Pu at VNIIEF in 1999.

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

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 letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Improper payments are a long-standing problem throughout the government. The Department of Defense (DOD) has been overpaying contractors by hundreds of millions of dollars each year. For fiscal years 1994 through 1999, DOD contractors returned nearly $1.2 billion that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) had mistakenly paid them as a result of errors, such as paying the same invoice twice or misreading invoice amounts. Sometimes, however, the contractors do not promptly respond to government demands that the overpayments be returned. The Debt Management Office was created at the DFAS Columbus Center to deal with contractors that are unresponsive to the government's demands that overpayments be returned. GAO found that the Debt Management Office at DFAS Columbus is not effectively and proactively pursuing collections of debts assigned to it. Specifically, the Office is not (1) taking appropriate action to establish the validity of the debts that it receives for collection, (2) promptly issuing letters demanding payment, (3) actively communicating with contractors or resolving issues related to the debts, and (4) effectively using the Department of the Treasury's centralized debt collection programs to maximize collections and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Education's performance report for fiscal year 2000. Specifically, GAO examines Education's progress in achieving selected key outcomes that are important to its mission. Given the lack of performance data, explanations, and strategies to meet unmet goals in the future, it was difficult for GAO to assess progress. The lack of a performance plan also hindered GAO's efforts. Specifically, GAO found that it was difficult to assess Education's progress in achieving the six selected outcomes because of the lack of fiscal year 2000 data for many of its indicators. Consistent with its findings in reviewing Education's performance report from last year, GAO found that Education had no goals or measures for preventing fraud, waste, mismanagement, and error in the student financial assistance programs. Although the Office of Student Financial Assistance has established a target of being removed from GAO's high-risk list, there were no corresponding goals or measures in the department's interim report. However, Education has revised its strategic plan to incorporate an objective of ensuring financial integrity within the department. Like last year's report, GAO found that there was no …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Energy's (DOE) fiscal year 2002 performance report and fiscal 2002 performance plan as required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to assess DOE's progress in achieving five key outcomes identified as important mission areas for the agency. GAO found that DOE's performance report did not always effectively demonstrate the agency's progress in achieving its outcomes because it included (1) unclear, jargon-laden measures that did not always support superceeding objectives, (2) performance assessments that were inconsistent with actual performance, (3) objectives with insufficient performance measures, and (4) a lack of explanation for shortfalls in performance. In its fiscal year 2002 performance plan, DOE generally outlined broad, clear strategies for achieving the objectives under the selected outcomes. However, DOE did not consistently provide detailed, specific actions required to achieve some of the outcomes. DOE's fiscal year 2000 performance and accountability report and fiscal year 2002 performance plan present an overall improvement over previous reports and plans. Specifically, the fiscal year 2000 report organizes information by departmental decision unit to better track with the budget, and it better links objectives …

In this article, thermal modeling techniques are used to simulate ISOL targets irradiated with high power proton beams. Beam scattering effects, nuclear reactions and beam power deposition distributions in the target were computed with the Monte Carlo simulation code, GEANT4. The power density information was subsequently used as input to the finite element thermal analysis code, ANSYS, for extracting temperature distribution information for a variety of target materials. The principal objective of the studies was to evaluate techniques for more uniformly distributing beam deposited heat over the volumes of targets to levels compatible with their irradiation with the highest practical primary-beam power, and to use the preferred technique to design high power ISOL targets. The results suggest that radiation cooling, in combination, with primary beam manipulation, can be used to control temperatures in practically sized targets, to levels commensurate with irradiation with 1 GeV, 100 kW proton beams.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Wholesale electricity prices in California rose sharply in May 2000 and have remained high. In addition, there were disruptions in service--blackouts--this winter and spring. The California Independent System Operator, the state agency in charge of balancing electricity supply with demand, expects high prices and service disruptions to continue and perhaps worsen this summer. In response to concerns about high prices and generator outages in California, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) undertook a study, released in February 2001, to determine whether outages were being used to withhold power and drive up prices of electricity in California. Other studies of the electricity market in California have been conducted by economists and industry experts. One study, conducted by three economists from Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of California Energy Institute examined whether market prices of electricity in California in 1998 and 1999 were higher than competitive levels. A second, similar study by two economists--one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one from a private consulting firm--examined the California market during 2000. This report reviews the FERC study, as well as the …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) administration of grants for environmental programs and projects. GAO focuses on the (1) total dollar amounts by type of grants awarded, (2) type of entities receiving these grants, (3) EPA offices awarding grants, and (4) congressional and other concerns raised by EPA grant activities. GAO found that EPA awarded about $16.7 billion in grants for fiscal years 1996 through 2000. States were the major recipients of continuing environmental program funds, while nonprofit organizations were the major recipients of project grants. EPA's Office of Water awarded half of all continuing environmental program grants, while the Offices of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Research and Development, and Water awarded most project grants. Congressional committees and EPA's Inspector General conducted several inquiries into EPA's management of grants."

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Expert workshops were held in Richland in May 2001 to review the Hanford Double-Shell Tank Integrity Project and make recommendations to extend the life of Hanford's double-shell waste tanks. The workshop scope was limited to corrosion of the primary tank liner, and the main areas for review were waste chemistry control, tank inspection, and corrosion monitoring. Participants were corrosion experts from Hanford, Savannah River Site, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and several consultants. This report describes the current state of the three areas of the program, the final recommendations of the workshop, and the rationale for their selection.

Expert workshops were held in Richland in May 2001 to review the Hanford Double-Shell Tank Integrity Project and make recommendations to extend the life of Hanford's double-shell waste tanks. The workshop scope was limited to corrosion of the primary tank liner, and the main areas for review were waste chemistry control, tank inspection, and corrosion monitoring. Participants were corrosion experts from Hanford, Savannah River Site, Brookhaven National Lab., Pacific Northwest National Lab., and several consultants. This report describes the current state of the three areas of the program, the final recommendations of the workshop, and the rationale for their selection.

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

This paper introduces the engineer who is undertaking distributed generation projects to a wide range of financing options. Distributed generation systems (such as internal combustion engines, small gas turbines, fuel cells and photovoltaics) all require an initial investment, which is recovered over time through revenues or savings. An understanding of the cost of capital and financing structures helps the engineer develop realistic expectations and not be offended by the common requirements of financing organizations. This paper discusses several mechanisms for financing distributed generation projects: appropriations; debt (commercial bank loan); mortgage; home equity loan; limited partnership; vendor financing; general obligation bond; revenue bond; lease; Energy Savings Performance Contract; utility programs; chauffage (end-use purchase); and grants. The paper also discusses financial strategies for businesses focusing on distributed generation: venture capital; informal investors (''business angels''); bank and debt financing; and the stock market.