Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs may enforce a standard operating procedure against persons outside the Department if the Standard was not adopted in accordance with Government Code chapter 2001, and related question (RQ-1119)

No abstract is available for this document at this time.

Fiscal Year 1999 represents the third fill year utilizing a results-oriented, performance-based evaluation for the Contractor's operations and management of the DOE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (here after referred to as the Laboratory). However, this is the first year that the Contractor's fee is totally performance-based utilizing the same Critical Outcomes. This document describes the critical outcomes, objectives, performance indicators, expected levels of performance, and the basis for the evaluation of the Contractor's performance for the period October 1, 1998 through September 30, 1999, as required by Clauses entitled ''Use of Objective Standards of Performance, Self Assessment and Performance Evaluation'' and ''Performance Measures Review'' of the Contract DE-ACO6-76RL01830. Furthermore, it documents the distribution of the total available performance-based fee and the methodology set for determining the amount of fee earned by the Contractor as stipulated within the causes entitled ''Estimated Cost and Annual Fee,'' ''Total Available Fee'' and ''Allowable Costs and Fee.'' In partnership with the Contractor and other key customers, the Department of Energy (DOE) Headquarters (HQ) and Richland Operations Office (RL) has defined four critical outcomes that serve as the core for the Contractor's performance-based evaluation and fee determination. The Contractor also utilizes these outcomes as a basis …

This document defines the services the Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility (WSCF) shall provide the Effluent and Environmental Monitoring Program (EEM) throughout the calendar year for analysis. The purpose of the EEM Program is to monitor liquid and gaseous effluents, and the environment immediately around the facilities which may contain radioactive and hazardous materials. Monitoring data are collected, evaluated, and reported to determine their degree of compliance with applicable federal and state regulations and permits.

Fiscal Year 1998 represents the second full year utilizing a results-oriented, performance-based contract. This document describes the critical outcomes, objectives, performance indicators, expected levels of performance, and the basis for the evaluation of the Contractors performance for the period October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998, as required by Articles entitled Use of Objective Standards of Performance, Self Assessment and Performance Evaluation and Critical Outcomes Review of the Contract DE-AC08-76RLO1830. In partnership with the Contractor and other key customers, the Department of Energy (DOE) Richland Operations Office has defined six critical outcomes that same as the core for the Contractors performance evaluation. The Contractor also utilizes these outcomes as a basis for overall management of the Laboratory. As stated above six critical outcomes have been established for FY 1998. These outcomes are based on the following needs identified by DOE-HQ, RL and other customers of the Laboratory. Our Energy Research customer desires relevant, quality and cost effective science. Our Environmental Management customer wants technology developed, demonstrated, and deployed to solve environmental cleanup issues. To ensure the diversification and viability of the Laboratory as a National asset, RL and HQ alike want to increase the Science and Technical contributions of PNNL …

During the process of finding and producing oil and gas in the offshore environment operators generate a variety of liquid and solid wastes. Some of these wastes are directly related to exploration and production activities (e.g., drilling wastes, produced water, treatment workover, and completion fluids) while other types of wastes are associated with human occupation of the offshore platforms (e.g., sanitary and domestic wastes, trash). Still other types of wastes can be considered generic industrial wastes (e.g., scrap metal and wood, wastes paints and chemicals, sand blasting residues). Finally, the offshore platforms themselves can be considered waste materials when their useful life span has been reached. Generally, offshore wastes are managed in one of three ways--onsite discharge, injection, or transportation to shore. This paper describes the regulatory requirements imposed by the government and the approaches used by offshore operators to manage and dispose of wastes in the US.

A new microscopic and kinetic model of light-induced metastability in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) was recently proposed. Carrier recombination excites H from deep Si-H bonds into a mobile configuration, leaving a threefold-coordinated Si dangling bond (DB) defect at the site of excitation - a process long suspected to be an element of metastable DB production. Normally, mobile H are recaptured at DB defects and neither metastability nor net DB production results. However, when two mobile H collide, they form a metastable two-hydrogen complex and leave two spatially-uncorrelated Staebler-Wronski DBs. The model leads to differential equations describing the evolution of the mobile H and DB densities and a variety of new predictions. New directions for improving the stability of a-Si:H are discussed.

Susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of alloy C-22 and Ti Gr-12, two candidate alloys for the inner-container of the multi-barrier nuclear waste package, was evaluated by using the slow-strain-rate (SSR) test technique in a deaerated acidic brine (pH {approx} 2.70) at 90 C. The strain rate used was 3.3 x 10{sup {minus}6} sec{sup {minus}1}. Prior to being tested in the acidic brine, specimens of each alloy were pulled inside the test chamber in the dry condition at room temperature (RT). Then specimens were exposed to the test solution while being strained under different controlled electrochemical potentials. The magnitude of the controlled potential was selected based on the corrosion potential measured in the test solution prior to straining of the specimen. Results indicate that, for Ti Gr-12, the times to failure were significantly shorter compared to those for alloy C-22. Furthermore, Ti Gr-12 showed reduced ductility in terms of percent reduction in area and true fracture stress, as the controlled potential became more cathodic. Results also indicate that the time-to-failure and percent elongation reached the minimum values when Ti Gr-12 was tested under impressed potential of {minus}1162 mV. Finally, metallographic examination was performed to evaluate the primary fracture, and the …

We present XANES at the L{sub III} edge for four plutonium solid phases: Pu(III)F{sub 3}, Pu(IV)O{sub 2}, NaPu(V)O{sub 2}CO{sub 3}, and Ba{sub 3}Pu(VI)O{sub 6}. These correspond to the four important oxidation states in the process chemistry and environmental chemistry of plutonium. By a fitting method that uses an arc tangent function and gaussian curves, it was possible to reproducibly determine the edge energy and distinguish among the four oxidation states. These data demonstrate a 1.85 {+-} 0.20 eV shift per oxidation state.

The oil and gas industry has historically used water-based muds (WBMs) and oil-based muds (OBMs) in offshore drilling operations. WBMs are less expensive and are widely used. Both the WBMs and the associated drill cuttings maybe discharged from the platform to the sea provided that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discharge limitations are met. In some wells, however, difficult drilling conditions may force a switch from a WBM to an OBM. Neither the OBM nor the associated drill cuttings may be discharged. The OBM is hauled to shore, where it is processed for reuse, while the associated cuttings are injected in a disposal well at the platform or hauled to shore to a disposal facility. Both of these options are expensive. Synthetic-based muds (SBMs) are drilling fluids that use synthetic organic chemicals as base fluids. SBMs were developed to replace OBMs in difficult drilling situations. SBMs are more expensive than OBMs; however, they have superior environmental properties that may permit the cuttings to be discharged on-site. Like OBMs, SBMs are hauled ashore for processing and reuse after the well is drilled. The existing national effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for the offshore industry do not include requirements for SBM-cuttings since SBMs …

The project has focused on a retrofit product suitable for installation on existing mechanically-governed diesel engines. Included in this potential market are almost all diesel-powered passenger cars and light trucks manufactured prior to the introduction of the most recent clean diesel engines equipped with particulate traps and electronic controls. Also included are heavy-duty trucks, transit vehicles, school buses, and agricultural equipment. This system is intended to prevent existing diesel engines from overfueling to the point of visible particulate emissions (smoke), while allowing maximum smoke-limited torque under all operating conditions. The system employs a microcontroller and a specialized exhaust particulate emission sensor to continuously generate and update an adaptive throttle-limit map. This map specifies a maximum allowable throttle position as a function of engine speed and coolant temperature. For mechanically regulated fuel injection systems, the throttle position limit is mechanized via a linear position actuator attached to the fuel injection pump. For electronically regulated injection systems, this limit is mechanized by interception and modification of the electronic throttle input to the system.

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This paper presents multilevel inverters as an application for all-electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) motor drives. Diode-clamped inverters and cascaded H-bridge inverters, (1) can generate near-sinusoidal voltages with only fundamental frequency switching; (2) have almost no electromagnetic interference (EMI) and common-mode voltage; and (3) make an EV more accessible/safer and open wiring possible for most of an EV'S power system. This paper explores the benefits and discusses control schemes of the cascade inverter for use as an EV motor drive or a parallel HEV drive and the diode-clamped inverter as a series HEV motor drive. Analytical, simulated, and experimental results show the superiority of these multilevel inverters for this new niche.

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Title III of the Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (P.L. 93-344), as amended, establishes the points of order that are used to enforce congressional budget procedures and substantive provisions of a budget resolution. These points of order prohibit certain congressional actions and consideration of certain legislation.

The transition of neutron to anti-neutron might be the first observed signal of the baryon instability long-awaited in Grand Unification models and required for the explanation of baryon asymmetry in the universe. A newly-proposed experiment to search for neutron-antineutron transitions at High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory can improve the discovery potential by factor of {approximately} 1,000 relative to the existing limits. Further prospects of n -> n(overbar) search are also discussed in this paper.

Oil field waste containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is presently disposed of both on the lease site and at off-site commercial disposal facilities. The majority of NORM waste is disposed of through underground injection, most of which presently takes place at a commercial injection facility located in eastern Texas. Several companies offer the service of coming to an operator's site, grinding the NORM waste into a fine particle size, slurrying the waste, and injecting it into the operator's own disposal well. One company is developing a process whereby the radionuclides are dissolved out of the NORM wastes, leaving a nonhazardous oil field waste and a contaminated liquid stream that is injected into the operator's own injection well. Smaller quantities of NORM are disposed of through burial in landfills, encapsulation inside the casing of wells that are being plugged and abandoned, or land spreading. It is difficult to quantify the total cost for disposing of NORM waste. The cost components that must be considered, in addition to the cost of the operation, include analytical costs, transportation costs, container decontamination costs, permitting costs, and long-term liability costs. Current NORM waste disposal costs range from $15/bbl to $420/bbl.

In the past few years a cryogenic Penning trap (RETRAP) has been operational at the Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The combination of RETRAP and EBIT provides a unique possibility of producing and re-trapping highly charged ions and cooling them to very low temperatures. Due to the high Coulomb potentials in such an ensemble of cold highly charged ions the Coulomb coupling parameter (the ratio of Coulomb potential to the thermal energy) can easily reach values of 172 and more. To study such systems is not only of interest in astrophysics to simulate White Dwarf star interiors but opens up new possibilities in a variety of areas (e.g. laser spectroscopy), cold highly charged ion beams.

A specially designed lifetime measurement instrument has been developed to characterize silicon ingots before they are subjected to expensive slicing and solar-cell processing, thereby saving needless processing costs of inferior materials in a solar-cell production line. The instrument uses the direct-current photoconductance decay (DC-PCD) method for linear detection of the transient photoconductance signal and localized probing / illumination for necessary sensitivity on low resistivity and large samples. The instrument also has a compact and high-power laser diode as the light source, data averaging capability, a pneumatic ingot transport and probe positioning mechanism, and a user-friendly graphical interface for data acquisition / lifetime calculation / data storage / hardcopy for factory-floor use with quick turnaround. A 3-dimensional finite-element analysis indicates that the as-cut surface finish is adequate for measuring the bulk lifetime on the order of 50 ms or less. Measurement repeatability and clear distinction among different grades of feedstock materials have been demonstrated.

An ability to lift off or separate the thin-film polycrystalline CdTe from the CdS, without the use of chemical etches, has enabled direct electrical characterization of the as-processed CdTe near the CdTe/CdS heterointerface. We use this ability to understand how a back-contact, nitric-phosphoric (NP) etch affects the grain boundaries throughout the film. Quantitative determination of the grain-boundary barrier potentials and estimates of doping density near the grain perimeter are determined from theoretical fits to measurements of the current vs. temperature. Estimates of the bulk doping are determined from high-frequency resistivity measurements. Also, a variable doping density within the grains of non-etched material has been determined. These results allow a semi-quantitative grain-boundary band diagram to be drawn that should aid in determining more-accurate two-dimensional models for polycrystalline CdTe solar cells.

Our team has been investigating the use of particle-based contacts in both Si and CdTe solar cell technologies. First, in the area of contacts to Si, powders of Al and Ag prepared by an electroexplosion process have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), TEM elemental determination X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDS), and TEM electron diffraction (TEM-ED). These Al and Ag particles were slurried and tested as contacts to p- and n-type silicon wafers, respectively. Linear current-voltage (I-V) was observed for Ag on n-type Si, indicative of an ohmic contact, whereas the Al on p-type Si sample was non-ideal. A wet-chemical surface treatment was performed on one Al sample and TEM-EDS indicated a substantial decrease in the O contaminant level. The treated Al on p-type Si films exhibited linear I-V after annealing. Second, in the area of contacts to CdTe, particles of Hg-Cu-Te and Sb-Te have been applied as contacts to CdTe/CdS/SnO2 heterostructures prepared by the standard NREL protocol. First, Hg-Cu-Te and Sb-Te were prepared by a metathesis reaction. After CdCl2 treatment and NP etch of the CdTe layer, particle contacts were applied. The Hg-Cu-Te contacted cells exhibited good electrical characteristics, with Voc > 810 mV and efficiencies > 11.5 % for …

Different concentrations of Na were systematically introduced into CuInSe2 (CIS) photovoltaic solar cell absorber material on different substrates (SLG, Si02/SLG, 7059, alumina) to: (1) determine the resultant effects on device properties, junction formation, and material microstructure; and (2) determine the optimal range of Na concentrations in the CIS films per specific substrate. In general, finished devices show improved Voc, Jsc, and device efficiency, improved charge-collection efficiency and, possibly, increased grain size as a result of the coevaporation of 4 to 100 mg of Na2Se during film deposition. However, a dramatic devolution set in with the addition of 235 mg of Na2Se, and all the aforementioned parameters were either at, or worse than, their pre-Na-addition levels. Meanwhile, although the device microstructure improves with Na addition and, more importantly, the junction (as characterized by electron-beam-induced current) has become much more uniform and closer to the heteroface, all that reverses with the ''Na overdose.''

Aluminum (Al) is a commonly used matrix for research reactor fuel plates. It has been found that a reaction between the fuel and the aluminum matrix may reduce or increase the irradiation stability of the fuel. To further understand the contribution of the reaction to the irradiation stability, experiments to develop a non-reacting matrix were performed. The work focused on magnesium (Mg), which is an excellent non-reacting matrix candidate and has a neutron absorption coefficient similar to Al. To avoid the formation of a liquid Al/Mg phase, improvements were made to the roll bonding process to achieve acceptable bonding at 415 C. After these methods were developed, fuel plates were produced with two fuels, uranium (U)-2 w/o molybdenum (Mo) and U-10-w/o Mo with two matrices, Al and Mg. A reaction between the magnesium and the 6061 Al cladding was discovered to take place during the processing at 415 C. To minimize the amount of reaction, methods were successfully developed to roll bond the fuel plates at 275 C. No reaction zone was observed in fuel plates processed at 275 C. Using this method, fuel plates with a Mg matrix are planned to be fabricated and included in the next irradiation …

In 1993 the US and the Russian Federation signed an agreement allowing the US to purchase highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Russia over a 20-year period. This Highly Enriched Uranium Purchase Agreement permits the purchase of 500 metric tons of HEU from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons in the form of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for use as power reactor fuel in the US. Under the HEU Agreement, the US and Russia are cooperating in a ''Transparency Program'' to ensure that arms control and nonproliferation objectives are being met. The Transparency Program measures, which are a departure from traditional, intrusive measures of verification, include sending individuals from the US to Russia to monitor the processing of the HEU.