Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, President Bush announced what was described as the most comprehensive restructuring of U.S. military forces overseas since the end of the Korean War. Soon thereafter, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a report titled Strengthening U.S. Global Defense Posture. This report defined the key tenets of the integrated global presence and basing strategy, which outlines troop and basing adjustments overseas. Although the strategy is intended to make the overseas posture of the United States more flexible and efficient, it will require new facilities costing billions of dollars, some of the cost to be borne by the United States and some by other nations. As plans for overseas basing began to emerge, the Senate Appropriations Committee expressed concern about the use of military construction funds for projects at overseas bases that may soon be obsolete or closed because of changes being considered by DOD and the military services. Accordingly, the Senate report accompanying the fiscal year 2004 military construction appropriation bill directed DOD to prepare detailed, comprehensive master plans for changing infrastructure requirements at U.S. military facilities in each of the overseas regional commands. The Senate report …

The authors have measured the relaxation time of hot electrons in short pulse laser-solid interactions using a picosecond time-resolved x-ray spectrometer and a time-integrated electron spectrometer. Employing laser intensities of 10{sup 17}, 10{sup 18}, and 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}, they find increased laser coupling to hot electrons as the laser intensity becomes relativistic and thermalization of hot electrons at timescales on the order of 10 ps at all laser intensities. They propose a simple model based on collisional coupling and plasma expansion to describe the rapid relaxation of hot electrons. The agreement between the resulting K{sub {alpha}} time-history from this model with the experiments is best at highest laser intensity and less satisfactory at the two lower laser intensities.

This report provides results from an evaluation PNNL conducted of a spectrally enhanced lighting demonstration project. PNNL performed field measurements and occupant surveys at three office buildings in California before and after lighting retrofits were made in August and December 2005. PNNL measured the following Overhead lighting electricity demand and consumption, Light levels in the workspace, Task lighting use, and Occupant ratings of satisfaction with the lighting. Existing lighting, which varied in each building, was replaced with lamps with correlated color temperature (CCT) of 5000 Kelvin, color rendering index (CRI) of 85, of varying wattages, and lower ballast factor electronic ballasts. The demonstrations were designed to decrease lighting power loads in the three buildings by 22-50 percent, depending on the existing installed lamps and ballasts. The project designers hypothesized that this reduction in electrical loads could be achieved by the change to higher CCT lamps without decreasing occupant satisfaction with the lighting.

Development and poverty eradication are urgent andoverriding goals internationally. The World Summit on SustainableDevelopment made clear the need for increased access to affordable,reliable and cleaner energy and the international community agreed in theDelhi Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development on theimportance of the development agenda in considering any climate changeapproach. To this end, six countries (Australia, China, India, Japan,Republic of Korea and the United States) have come together to form theAsia Pacific Partnership in accordance with their respective nationalcircumstances, to develop, deploy and transfer cleaner, more efficienttechnologies and to meet national pollution reduction, energy securityand climate change concerns consistent with the principles of the U.N.Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The APP builds on thefoundation of existing bilateral and multilateral initiativescomplements.APP has established eight public-private sector Task Forcescovering: (1) cleaner fossil energy; (2) renewable energy and distributedgeneration; (3) power generation and transmission; (4) steel; (5)aluminium; (6) cement; (7) coal mining; and (8) buildings and appliances.As a priority, each Task Force will formulate detailed action plansoutlining both immediate and medium-term specific actions, includingpossible "flagship" projects and relevant indicators of progress by 31August 2006. The partnership will help the partners build human andinstitutional capacity to strengthen cooperative efforts, and will seekopportunities …

Aluminum clad research reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is currently being consolidated in wet storage basins (pools). Approximately 20 metric tons (heavy metal) of aluminum-based spent nuclear fuel (Al-SNF) is being consolidated for treatment, packaging, interim storage, and preparation for ultimate disposal in a geologic repository. The storage and disposal of Al-SNF are subject to requirements that provide for safety and acceptable radionuclide release. The options studied for interim storage of SNF include wet storage and dry storage. Two options have also been studied to develop the technical basis for the qualification and repository disposal of aluminum spent fuel. The two options studied include Direct Disposal and Melt-Dilute treatment. The implementation of these options present relative benefits and challenges. Both the Direct Disposal and the Melt-Dilute treatment options have been developed and their technical viability assessed. Adaptation of the melt-dilute technology for the treatment of spent fuel offers the benefits of converting the spent fuel into a proliferation resistant form and/or significantly reducing the volume of the spent fuel. A Mobile Melt-Dilute system concept has emerged to realize these benefits and a prototype system developed. The application of the melt-dilute technology for the treatment of legacy nuclear materials has been …

The combinatorial approach for the discovery of new scintillating materials has been investigated using the wet-chemical (sol-gel) synthesis methods. Known scintillating compounds Lu2SiO5 (LSO) and (LuAl)O3 (LAO) and solid solutions in the systems of Lu2O3 -Y2O3 – SiO2 (CeO2-doped) (LYSO) and Lu2O3 -Y2O3 – Al2O3 (CeO2 –doped) (LYAO) were synthesized from sol-gel precursors. Sol-gel precursors were formulated from alkoxides and nitrates and acetates of the cations. Sol-gel solution precursors were formulated for the printing of microdot arrays of different compositions in the above oxide systems. Microdot arrays were successfully printed on C-cut and R-cut sapphire substrates using Biodot printer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The microdot arrays were adherent and stable after heat-treating at 1665oC and had an average thickness of around 2m. X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping showed the arrays to be of the correct chemical composition. Sintered microdots were found to be highly crystalline by microscopic observation and X-ray diffraction. Scintillation was not clearly detectable by visual observation under UV illumination and by video observation under the scanning electron beam of an SEM. The microdots were either poorly scintillating or not scintillating under the present synthesis and testing conditions. Further improvements in the synthesis and processing of the …

The phenomenon of CP-violation in weak interactions, discovered in 1964 in decays of neutral kaons, receives a simple and elegant explanation in the Standard Model with three generations of quarks. Indeed, in this model the common source of CP-asymmetry phenomena is represented by a simple complex phase in the unitary matrix (the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix) describing the charged weak couplings of the quarks. This simple scheme has never received an accurate validation, because the phenomenological parameters determined from measurements of CP-violation in kaons decays are related to the fundamental parameters of the theory in a complex way, sensitive to large theoretical uncertainties. On the contrary, decays of neutral B mesons like B{sup 0} {yields} J/{psi} K{sub S}{sup 0} represent a unique laboratory to test the predictions of the theory because they are expected to show significant CP-violation effects, the magnitude of which is cleanly related to the Standard Model parameters. Thus experimental facilities have been built with the purpose of performing extensive studies of B decays. The BABAR experiment is operating at one of these facilities, at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. It is collecting data at the PEP-II asymmetric e{sup +}e{sup -} collider (E{sub e{sup -}} = 9.0 GeV; E{sub …

Two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations are performed using the ZEUS-2D code to investigate the dynamics of a collapsar that generates a GRB jet, taking account of realistic equation of state, neutrino cooling and heating processes, magnetic fields, and gravitational force from the central black hole and self gravity. It is found that neutrino heating processes are not so efficient to launch a jet in this study. It is also found that a jet is launched mainly by B{sub {phi}} fields that are amplified by the winding-up effect. However, since the ratio of total energy relative to the rest mass energy in the jet is not so high as several hundred, we conclude that the jets seen in this study are not be a GRB jet. This result suggests that general relativistic effects, which are not included in this study, will be important to generate a GRB jet. Also, the accretion disk with magnetic fields may still play an important role to launch a GRB jet, although a simulation for much longer physical time {approx} 10-100 s is required to confirm this effect. It is shown that considerable amount of {sup 56}Ni is synthesized in the accretion disk. Thus there will be a …

This paper treats approximate solutions for a self-folding problem of carbon nanotubes. It has been observed in the molecular dynamics calculations [1] that a carbon nanotube with a large aspect ratio can self-fold due to van der Waals force between the parts of the same carbon nanotube. The main issue in the self-folding problem is to determine the minimum threshold length of the carbon nanotube at which it becomes possible for the carbon nanotube to self-fold due to the van der Waals force. An approximate mathematical model based on the force method is constructed for the self-folding problem of carbon nanotubes, and it is solved exactly as an elastica problem using elliptic functions. Additionally, three other mathematical models are constructed based on the energy method. As a particular example, the lower and upper estimates for the critical threshold (minimum) length are determined based on both methods for the (5,5) armchair carbon nanotube.

The ultrafast pulses from X-ray free-electron lasers will enable imaging of non-periodic objects at near-atomic resolution [1, Neutze]. These objects could include single molecules, protein complexes, or virus particles. The specimen would be completely destroyed by the pulse in a Coulomb explosion, but that destruction will only happen after the pulse. The scattering from the sample will give structural information about the undamaged object. There are many technical challenges that must be addressed before carrying out such experiments at an XFEL, which we are doing so with experiments at FLASH, the soft-X-ray FEL at DESY.

The Transport Task Force has functioned as the primary scientific organization in the area of magnetic-fusion confinement and transport since its inception in 1988. It has defined and set research directions, coordinated broad research efforts, advocated new funding initiatives, and created a highly successful and widely admired interactive culture between experiment, theory and modeling. The Transport Task Force carries out its activities under the direction of its chair and the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is comprised of the leaders and deputy leaders of the scientific working groups. The working groups are structured and organized according to research needs and priorities and have been organized around the areas of Core Transport, H Mode and Pedestal, Fast Particle Transport, Transient Transport Phenomena, and Modeling and Simulation. A steering committee provides advise on TTF activities. Further information on the working groups and the structure and management of the TTF can be found at http://psfcwww2.psfc.mit.edu/ttf/index.html. The TTF holds an annual workshop. A summary of the workshops held during the period of this report is given in Appendix I. During the period of this report the Transport Task Force was involved in several significant activities. Foremost of these was a sweeping review of the …

Chloride (Cl{sup -}) salt processing in strong acids is used to recycle plutonium (Pu) from pyrochemical residues. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is studying the potential application of nitrogen dioxide (NO{sub 2}) gas to effectively convert dissolved pyrochemical salt solutions to chloride-free solutions and improve recovery operations. An NO{sub 2} sparge has been shown to effectively remove Cl{sup -} from solutions containing 6-8 M acid (H{sup +}) and up to 5 M Cl{sup -}. Chloride removal occurs as a result of the competition of at least two reactions, one which is acid-dependent. Below 4 M H+, NO2 reacts with Cl- to produce nitrosyl chloride (ClNO). Between 6 M and 8 M H{sup +}, the reaction of hydrochloric acid (HCl) with nitric acid (HNO{sub 3}), facilitated by the presence of NO{sub 2}, strongly affects the rate of Cl{sup -} removal. The effect of heating the acidic Cl{sup -} salt solution without pre-heating the NO{sub 2} gas has minimal effect on Cl{sup -} removal rates when the contact times between NO{sub 2} and the salt solution are on the order of seconds.

The formation and growth of sigma ({sigma}) phase in 2205 duplex stainless steel was observed and measured in real time using synchrotron radiation during isothermal heat treating at temperatures between 700 C and 850 C. Synchrotron experiments were performed on this material at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) while isothermally holding the samples for times of up to 10 hr. During the isothermal hold, sigma formed in quantities up to 22% as the ferrite transformed to a mixture of sigma and austenite phases. In addition, sigma formed at 850 C was heated to 1000 C to observe its dissolution. The amounts of sigma that formed, and the dissolution temperature of sigma were compared to the results predicted by Thermocalc, showing differences between the calculated and measured values. The synchrotron data was further modeled using a modified Johnson-Mehl-Avrami analysis to determine kinetic parameters for sigma formation. The initial JMA exponent, n, at low fractions of sigma was found to be approximately 7.0, however, towards the end of the transformation, n decreased to values of approximately 0.75. Because of the variable value of n, it was not possible to determine reliable values for the activation energy and pre-exponential terms for the JMA …

Cuba was first added to the State Department's list of states sponsoring international terrorism in 1982. At the time, numerous U.S. government reports and statements under the Reagan Administration alleged Cuba's ties to international terrorism and its support for terrorist groups in Latin America. Cuba remains on the state-sponsored terrorism list with four other countries: Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea. Cuba's retention on the terrorism list has received more attention in recent years in light of increased support for legislative initiatives to lift some U.S. sanctions under the current economic embargo. Supporters of keeping Cuba on the terrorism list argue that there is ample evidence that Cuba supports terrorism. Critics of retaining Cuba on the terrorism list maintain that the policy is a holdover from the Cold War and that Cuba no longer supports terrorism abroad.

Digital television (DTV) is a new television service representing the most significant development in television technology since the advent of color television in the 1950s. DTV can provide sharper pictures, a wider screen, CD-quality sound, better color rendition, and other new services currently being developed. A successful deployment of DTV requires: the development by content providers of compelling digital programming; the delivery of digital signals to consumers by broadcast television stations, as well as cable and satellite television systems; and the widespread purchase and adoption by consumers of digital television equipment. A key issue in the Congressional debate over the digital transition has been addressing the millions of American over-the-air households whose existing analog televisions will require converter boxes in order to receive digital signals when the analog signal is turned off.

In response to the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the 109th Congress enacted two FY2005 emergency supplemental appropriations bills, which together provided $62.3 billion for emergency response and recovery needs. This CRS report summarizes federal disaster assistance funding legislation in the 109th Congress and presents some information on federal expenditures and obligations for disaster recovery activities.

Members of the armed forces on duty in designated combat areas can send personal correspondence, free of postage, to addresses in the United States. There has never been a comparable provision of free postage of letters or packages sent from family members in the United States to loved ones in wartime service overseas. Two bills (H.R. 923 and H.R. 2874) have been introduced that would allow family members and, in the case o H.R. 2874, certain charities to send letters and packages to service men and women in combat zones free of postage.

The Homeland Security Act consolidated some research and development (R&D) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), whose FY2007 R&D budget (excluding management/procurement) was requested at $1.1 billion, about 10% less than FY2006, and represents the first decline in DHS's R&D funding since the agency started funding R&D in 2002. DHS is mandated to coordinate all federal agency homeland security R&D, which was requested at about $5.1 billion. This report lists related legislation and policy issues relating to DHS's R&D programs.

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The Homeland Security Act consolidated some research and development (R&D) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), whose FY2007 R&D budget (excluding management/procurement) was requested at $1.1 billion, about 10% less than FY2006, and represents the first decline in DHS's R&D funding since the agency started funding R&D in 2002. DHS is mandated to coordinate all federal agency homeland security R&D, which was requested at about $5.1 billion. This report lists related legislation and policy issues relating to DHS's R&D programs.

Digital television (DTV) is a new television service representing the most significant development in television technology since the advent of color television in the 1950s. DTV can provide sharper pictures, a wider screen, CD-quality sound, better color rendition, and other new services currently being developed. A successful deployment of DTV requires: the development by content providers of compelling digital programming; the delivery of digital signals to consumers by broadcast television stations, as well as cable and satellite television systems; and the widespread purchase and adoption by consumers of digital television equipment. A key issue in the Congressional debate over the digital transition has been addressing the millions of American over-the-air households whose existing analog televisions will require converter boxes in order to receive digital signals when the analog signal is turned off.

Cuba was first added to the State Department's list of states sponsoring international terrorism in 1982. At the time, numerous U.S. government reports and statements under the Reagan Administration alleged Cuba's ties to international terrorism and its support for terrorist groups in Latin America. Cuba remains on the state-sponsored terrorism list with four other countries: Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea. Cuba's retention on the terrorism list has received more attention in recent years in light of increased support for legislative initiatives to lift some U.S. sanctions under the current economic embargo. Supporters of keeping Cuba on the terrorism list argue that there is ample evidence that Cuba supports terrorism. Critics of retaining Cuba on the terrorism list maintain that the policy is a holdover from the Cold War and that Cuba no longer supports terrorism abroad.

Digital television (DTV) is a new television service representing the most significant development in television technology since the advent of color television in the 1950s. DTV can provide sharper pictures, a wider screen, CD-quality sound, better color rendition, and other new services currently being developed. A successful deployment of DTV requires: the development by content providers of compelling digital programming; the delivery of digital signals to consumers by broadcast television stations, as well as cable and satellite television systems; and the widespread purchase and adoption by consumers of digital television equipment. A key issue in the Congressional debate over the digital transition has been addressing the millions of American over-the-air households whose existing analog televisions will require converter boxes in order to receive digital signals when the analog signal is turned off.