The Strategic Petroleum Reserve serves as one of our most important investments in reducing the Nation`s vulnerability to oil supply disruptions. Its existence provides an effective response mechanism should a disruption occur and a formidable deterrent to the use of oil as a political instrument. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of December 22, 1975, (Public Law 94-163) as amended, to reduce the impact of disruptions in supplies of petroleum products and to carry out obligations of the United States under the Agreement on an International Energy Program. Section 165(a) of the Act requires the submission of Annual Reports and Section 165(b)(1) requires the submission of Quarterly Reports. This Quarterly Report highlights activities undertaken during the first quarter of calendar year 1994, including: (1) inventory of petroleum products stored in the Reserve, under contract and in transit at the end of the calendar quarter; (2) fill rate for the current quarter and projected fill rate for the next calendar quarter; (3) average price of the petroleum products acquired during the calendar quarter; (4) current and projected storage capacity; (5) analysis of existing or anticipated problems with the acquisition and storage of petroleum …

Our ability to interpret ecosystem response to elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} is contingent on understanding and integrating a complex of physiological and ecological processes. However, we have a limited understanding of the combined effects of changes in plant carbon (C) allocation, microbial activity, and nitrogen (N) dynamics on the long-term response of terrestrial ecosystems to elevated CO{sub 2}. Individually, these factors are potent modifiers of C and N dynamics, and an in depth understanding of their interactions should provide insight into ecosystem-level responses to global climate change. Our research is aimed at quantifying the physiological mechanisms leading to increased fine root production, microbial biomass and rates of N cycling at elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2}. More specifically, we will experimentally manipulate soil nitrogen availability and atmospheric CO{sub 2} to understand how changes in plant resource availability influence the cycling of carbon between plants and soil microorganisms.

A computer software package, EAGLES, has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory to analyze electric vehicle (EV) performance. In this paper, we present EAGLES predictions of EV driving range, acceleration rate, and energy consumption under various driving patterns, with different battery technologies, and with assumptions concerning use of air conditioners and/or heaters for climate comfort control. The specifications of a baseline, four-passenger EV for given design performance requirements are established, assuming urban driving conditions represented by the Los Angeles 92 (LA-92) driving cycle and using battery characteristics similar to those of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) midterm battery performance goals. To examine the impacts of driving patterns, energy consumption is simulated under three different driving cycles: the New York City Cycle, the Los Angeles 92 Cycle, and the ECE-15 Cycle. To test the impacts of battery technologies, performance attributes of an advanced lead-acid battery, the USABC midterm battery goals, and the USABC long-term battery goals are used. Finally, EV energy consumption from use of air conditioners and/or heaters under different climates is estimated and the associated driving range penalty for one European city (Paris) and two United States cities (Chicago and Los Angeles) is predicted. The results of …

This report presents a Performance Improvement Measurement Methodology (PIMM) for measuring and reporting the mission performance for organizational elements of the U.S. Department of Energy to comply with the Chief Financial Officer`s Act (CFOA) of 1990 and the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993. The PIMM is illustrated by application to the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC), a Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) field center of the Office of Fossil Energy, along with limited applications to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Office and the Office of Fossil Energy. METC is now implementing the first year of a pilot project under GPRA using the PIMM. The PIMM process is applicable to all elements of the Department; organizations may customize measurements to their specific missions. The PIMM has four aspects: (1) an achievement measurement that applies to any organizational element, (2) key indicators that apply to institutional elements, (3) a risk reduction measurement that applies to all RD&D elements and to elements with long-term activities leading to risk-associated outcomes, and (4) a cost performance evaluation. Key Indicators show how close the institution is to attaining long range goals. Risk reduction analysis is especially relevant to RD&D. Product risk is defined as …

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy`s electric/hybrid vehicle research program, Argonne National Laboratory has developed a computer software package called EAGLES. This paper describes the capability of the software and its many features and potential applications. EAGLES version 1.1 is an interactive microcomputer software package for the analysis of battery performance in electric-vehicle applications, or the estimation of fuel economy for a gasoline vehicle. The principal objective of the electric-vehicle analysis is to enable the prediction of electric-vehicle performance (e.g., vehicle range) on the basis of laboratory test data for batteries. The model provides a second-by-second simulation of battery voltage and current for any specified velocity/time or power/time profile, taking into consideration the effects of battery depth-of-discharge and regenerative braking. Alternatively, the software package can be used to determine the size of the battery needed to satisfy given vehicle mission requirements (e.g., range and driving patterns). For gasoline-vehicle analysis, an empirical model relating fuel economy, vehicle parameters, and driving-cycle characteristics is included in the software package. For both types of vehicles, effects of heating/cooling loads on vehicle performance can be simulated. The software package includes many default data sets for vehicles, driving cycles, and battery technologies. EAGLES 1.1 …

A Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) was established April 1992 between Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. and United Technologies Corporation, Pratt and Whitney Division to evaluate the existing applicability of the Energy Systems optical tool inspection and compensation system (OTICS) for use at Pratt and Whitney`s East Hartford Plant. The OTICS was developed at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant and optically measures the shape of a single point cutting tool. The tool shape inspection provides process information relating to tool wear and if desired the tool shape geometry can be used to generate a new numerical control machining program that is compensated for the tool forms errors. The tool wear measurement capability of OTICS was successfully evaluated in the Phase-1 testing. The testing verified that OTICS can easily detect tool wear and the {+-} 0.0001 inch resolution obtained was sufficient for the larger cutter inserts used by Pratt and Whitney (P and W). During the tool wear experiments at P and W, a second potential use identified for OTICS was the accurate on-machine dimensional verification of special ground contour forming tools. The OTICS tool path compensation experiment demonstrated the varied technologies that are integrated in the tool path compensation …

This report briefly discusses the following topics: quark-gluon plasma and high-energy collisions; hadron structure and chiral dynamics; nonperturbative studies and nonabelian gauge theories; and studies in quantum field theory.