A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1990, GAO has identified the Department of Defense's (DOD) inventory management as a highrisk area. Ineffective management practices--such as the use of inaccurate data, lack of inventory controls and visibility, and information system weaknesses--have contributed to high levels of inventory. DOD has reduced its inventory since 1990, from about $100 billion to about $67 billion as of September 30, 2002. However, at the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, about half of the inventory exceeded current operating requirements. GAO, under its statutory authority, analyzed the extent to which inventory that exceeded current operating requirements as of September 30, 2001, was consumed through cutoff dates ranging from March through October 2003 and identified three ineffective and inefficient inventory management practices."

Absolute partial {gamma}-ray cross sections for the production of discrete {gamma}-rays from the reaction {sup 150}Sm(n,2n{gamma}{sub i}){sup 149}Sm were measured using the GEANIE {gamma}-ray spectrometer coupled with the intense white neutron source at WNR/LANSCE. The measurements were made for incident neutron energies between threshold (8.04 MeV) and 20 MeV. The partial cross sections for 21 {gamma}-rays were extracted from the data. Of these, 17 were compared to calculations performed using the enhanced Hauser-Feshbach code STAPRE. The partial {gamma}-ray cross sections of the observed parallel decay paths to the ground state were summed, forming a lower bound for the (n,2n) reaction channel. A combination of theory and experiment was then used to deduce the (n,2n) reaction channel cross section.

None

Energy efficiency standards set minimum levels of energy efficiency that must be met by new products. Depending on the dynamics of the market and the level of the standard, the effect on the market for a given product may be small, moderate, or large. Energy efficiency standards address a number of market failures that exist in the buildings sector. Decisions about efficiency levels often are made by people who will not be responsible for the energy bill, such as landlords or developers of commercial buildings. Many buildings are occupied for their entire lives by very temporary owners or renters, each unwilling to make long-term investments that would mostly reward subsequent users. And sometimes what looks like apathy about efficiency merely reflects inadequate information or time invested to evaluate it. In addition to these sector-specific market failures, energy efficiency standards address the endemic failure of energy prices to incorporate externalities. In the U.S., energy efficiency standards for consumer products were first implemented in California in 1977. National standards became effective starting in 1988. By the end of 2001, national standards were in effect for over a dozen residential appliances, as well as for a number of commercial sector products. Updated standards …

A new class of magnet plates for biological and industrial applications has recently been developed at the D.O.E. Joint Genome Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (JGI/LBNL). These devices utilize hybrid technology that combines linear permanent magnet material and ferromagnetic material to produce significantly higher fields and gradients than currently available commercial magnet plates. These hybrid structures incorporate ferromagnetic poles that can be easily shaped to produce complex field distributions for specialized applications. The higher maximum fields and strong gradients of the hybrid structures result in greater holding forces on magnetized targets that are being processed as well as faster draw-down. Current development versions of these magnet plates have exhibited maximum fields in excess of 9000.0 Gauss. The design of these structures is easily scalable to allow for field increases to significantly above 1.0 tesla (10000.0gauss). Author's note: 11000.0 Gauss peak fields have been achieved as of January 2005.

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) requested that a radioactive demonstration of the next batch of sludge slurry (Sludge Batch 3) be completed in the Shielded Cells Facility of the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC). Sludge Batch 3 (SB3) consists of the heel in Tank 51, which included Plutonium (Pu) and Americium/Curium (Am/Cm); sludge slurry from Tank 7 (including sludge transferred into Tank 7 from Tanks 18 and 19); additional Pu transferred from H Canyon; a Neptunium (Np) transfer also from H Canyon; and the remaining Sludge Batch 2 material in Tank 40. Because the current contents of Tank 40 (Sludge Batch 2) have already been qualified, this qualification work did not include the contribution of Tank 40. Documented in this report are: preparation of a SB3 slurry using a Tank 51 sample from June 2003; a demonstration of the DWPF Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) cycle using SB3 slurry; a demonstration of the DWPF Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) cycle using SRAT product; glass fabrication and subsequent chemical durability evaluation using SB3 material; and evaluation of adding formic acid to the SME cycle product.

The Bonneville Power Administration is proposing to fund a fish passage improvement project at the L-9 diversion on the Lemhi River in Lemhi County, Idaho with the Lemhi Soil and Water Conservation District. The project proposes to replace the existing rock push-up irrigation diversion dam with a single rock weir that will incorporate a geotextile membrane to create a permanent diversion. The new weir will be a v-shaped vortex weir with a six-foot wide notch for fish passage. In addition, a ramp flume will be constructed in the diversion canal between the headgate and existing fish screen to provide for water measurement. The new diversion will provide better water delivery/control and improved passage for adult and juvenile resident and anadromous fish.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the technology that copyright owners use to protect digital media. This report surveys several of the DRM bills that were introduced in the 107th Congress and those that are pending in the 108th Congress. Generally, the bills are directed at two separate goals. One goal is to increase access to digitally-protected media for lawful purposes. The other attempts to thwart digital piracy and would do so by enhancing civil and criminal sanctions for digital (and traditional) copyright infringement and educating the public about the rights of copyright holders.

In this note, we demonstrate agreement between data and Geant4 simulations of the NN1 double-sided germanium detector using a {sup 22}Na source.

None

None

This data package contains all the key parameter data necessary for implementation of the Release Module to conduct the 2004 Composite Analysis. A composite analysis is required by DOE Order 435.1 to ensure public safety through the management of active and planned low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities associated with Hanford.

None

None

The April-June 2004 quarter was dedicated to the establishment of monitoring systems for all the new research areas. Hydrology and water quality monitoring continues to be conducted on all areas as does weather data pertinent to the research. Studies assessing specific questions pertaining to carbon flux has been established and the invasion of the vegetation by small mammals is being quantified. The approval of two experimental practices associated with this research by the United States Office of Surface Mining was a major accomplishment during this period of time. These experimental practices will eventually allow for tree planting on long steep slopes with loose grading systems and for the use of loose dumped spoil on mountain top removal areas with no grading in the final layer of rooting material for tree establishment.

U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. China is now the third largest U.S. trading partner, its second largest source of imports, and its fourth largest export market. However, U.S.-China commercial ties have been strained by a number of issues, including a surging U.S. trade deficit with China, China's refusal to float its currency, and failure to fully comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, especially its failure to provide protection for U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR). This report explores these issues in detail, especially concerning the lack of protection for U.S. IPR.

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 established for the first time the requirement that the President annually submit a budget to Congress. Under current law (31 U.S.C. 1105(a)), the President is required to submit his annual budget on or after the first Monday in January, but no later than the first Monday in February.

This report provides an overview of how federal lands and resources are managed, the agencies that manage the lands, the authorities under which these lands are managed, and some of the issues associated with federal land management. The report is divided into nine sections.