A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Following the anthrax attacks of October 2001, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has started to look at various technologies that could be implemented in the event of another bioterror attack. The high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system is being used as a prototype at two facilities and is planned for implementation throughout the country. HEPA filtering technology is the state-of-the-art technology for the removal of particulate biohazards and other particles of micron-sized range. USPS has not adequately tested the HEPA filtration system to confirm that it will meet its intended purpose of trapping anthrax spores and its secondary purpose of cleaning the mail processing equipment. USPS's testing has not shown conclusively (1) the HEPA filtration system's ability to trap released hazards and other contaminants, and (2) what level of hazards or contaminants could be released into the mail processing environment as a result of the air filtration system's design. Furthermore, USPS has not verified through testing that the air filtration system will not interfere with the air sampling and detection equipment. Even though HEPA filtration systems could reduce the risk of exposure to biohazards, they …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The challenges posed by homeland security exceed the capacity and authority of any one level of government. Protecting the nation against these threats calls for a truly integrated approach, bringing together the resources of all levels of government. The proposed Department of Homeland Security will clearly have a central role in efforts to enhance homeland security. The proposed consolidation of homeland security programs has the potential to reduce fragmentation, improve coordination, and clarify roles and responsibilities. Realistically, the challenges that the new department faces will clearly require substantial time and effort, and it will take additional resources to make it effective. Moreover, formation of a department should not be considered a replacement for the timely issuance of a national homeland security strategy to guide implementation of the complex mission of the department. Appropriate roles and responsibilities within and between the levels of government and with the private sector are evolving and need to be clarified. New threats are prompting a reassessment and shifting of long-standing roles and responsibilities, but these shifts are being considered on a piecemeal basis without benefit of an overarching framework and criteria to guide …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Eighty-eight percent of children nationwide have private or public health insurance that, to varying degrees, covers mental health services, including those that may be needed to help children recover from traumatic events, such as natural disasters, school shootings, or family violence. Despite the widespread prevalence of health insurance coverage for children, depending on their type of insurance coverage and where they live, children may face certain limitations in coverage or other barriers that could affect their access to needed services. The 16 percent of children who are enrolled in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program public insurance programs generally have coverage for a wide range of mental health benefits, and those enrolled in Medicaid are not subject to day or visit restrictions. Beyond providing insurance that can give children access to mental health services, a range of federal programs can help children who have experienced trauma obtain needed services. GAO identified over 50 programs that can be used by grantees to provide mental health and other needed services to children who have never experienced trauma, although many of these programs have a broader focus …

Impulsive stimulated light scattering has been used to measure interfacial wave propagation speeds and elastic constants under conditions of high pressure. Data obtained from single-crystal Ge and Fe, and from polycrystalline Ta is presented. The method is complementary to other techniques for obtaining this type of information. There appears no fundamental reason why it cannot be extended to the 1 Mbar regime.

This engineering note is a collection of pipe pressure testing documents for various sections of piping for the D-Zero cryogenic and gas systems. High pressure piping must conform with FESHM chapter 5031.1. Piping lines with ratings greater than 150 psig have a pressure test done before the line is put into service. These tests require the use of pressure testing permits. It is my intent that all pressure piping over which my group has responsibility conforms to the chapter. This includes the liquid argon and liquid helium and liquid nitrogen cryogenic systems. It also includes the high pressure air system, and the high pressure gas piping of the WAMUS and MDT gas systems. This is not an all inclusive compilation of test documentation. Some piping tests have their own engineering note. Other piping section test permits are included in separate safety review documents. So if it isn't here, that doesn't mean that it wasn't tested. D-Zero has a back up air supply system to add reliability to air compressor systems. The system includes high pressure piping which requires a review per FESHM 5031.1. The core system consists of a pressurized tube trailer, supply piping into the building and a pressure …

A Working Group Meeting on Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag was held at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on April 3 and 4, 2002. The purpose of the meeting was to present and discuss technical details on the experimental and computational work in progress and future project plans. Representatives from the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Transportation Technology Office of Heavy Vehicle Technology (OHVT), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), NASA Ames Research Center, University of Southern California (USC), and California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Volvo Trucks, and Freightliner Trucks presented and participated in discussions. This report contains the technical presentations (viewgraphs) delivered at the Meeting, briefly summarizes the comments and conclusions, and outlines the future action items.

The DAMA annual modulation signature, interpreted as evidence for a spin-independent WIMP coupling, seems in conflict with null results from CDMS. However, in models of ''inelastic dark matter'', the experiments are compatible. Inelastic dark matter can arise in supersymmetric theories as the real component of a sneutrino mixed with a singlet scalar. In contrast with ordinary sneutrino dark matter, such particles can satisfy all experimental constraints while giving the appropriate relic abundance. We discuss the modifications to the signal seen at DAMA, in particular noting the strong suppression of low energy events in both modulated and unmodulated components. We discuss future experiments, with emphasis on distinguishing inelastic dark matter from ordinary dark matter, and stressing the significance of experiments with heavy target nuclei, such as xenon and tungsten.

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The RELAP5/MOD3.2 computer program has been used to analyze a series of tests investigating void fraction distribution over height in RBMK fuel channels performed in Facility BM at the ENTEK. This is RBMK Standard Problem 7 in Joint Project 6, which is the investigation of Computer Code Validation for Transient Analysis of RBMK and VVER Reactors, between the United States and Russian Minatom International Nuclear Safety Centers. The experiment facility and data, RELAP5 nodalization, and results are shown for all tests. Agreement between RELAP5 and the experiment data is reasonable.

An accurate bunch shape measurement is one of the most important tasks during the fine tuning of multicavity accelerators. A device for the measurement of bunch time structure of cw heavy-ion beams with time resolution {approx}20 picoseconds was developed, constructed and commissioned at ATLAS which is a 50 MV superconducting heavy-ion linac. The Bunch Shape Monitor (BSM) is based on the analysis of secondary electrons produced by a primary beam hitting a tungsten wire to which a potential of -10 kV is applied. In a BSM the longitudinal distribution of charge of the primary beam is coherently transformed into a spatial distribution of low energy secondary electrons through transverse rf modulation. The distribution of secondary electrons is detected by a chevron MCP coupled to a phosphor screen. The signal image on the screen is measured by use of a CCD camera connected to a PC. This BSM analyzes cw beams rather than pulsed beams studied by a previous device [1]. Design features of the BSM and the beam measurement results are reported.

Most plasmas have a very thin sheath compared with the plasma dimension. This necessitates separate calculations of the plasma and sheath. The Bohm criterion provides the boundary condition for calculation of plasma profiles. To calculate sheath properties, a value of electric field at the plasma-sheath interface has to be specified in addition to the Bohm criterion. The value of the boundary electric field and robust procedure to approximately patch plasma and collisionless sheath with a very good accuracy are reported.

We frequently measure velocity-time histories of dynamic experiments. In some, the Doppler-shifted light is often weak compared to non-shifted light reflected from stationary surfaces and imperfections in components. With our Fabry-Perot (FP) based systems which handle multiple frequencies, data is lost where the fringes coincide; if we had used an intensity-measuring VISAR system, it would probably fail. We designed a facility for doing experiments under such conditions by selectively eliminating most of the non-shifted light. Our first filter excluded non-shifted light by a factor of 300 when manually tuned, and by 150 when run in an auto-tuning mode. It used a single 50 mm diameter FP as the filter with a spacing of 1.65 mm and reflectivities of 77%, and filters five channels prior to use in one of our 5-beam velocimeters. One use of the filter system was to embed optical fibers in long sections of explosives to make continuous detonation velocity-time histories. We have carried out many such tests with this filter, and two without. A special single-beam filter was constructed with a 40% efficiency for shifted light that rejected non-shifted light by 4 million times, with a bandpass of a few GHz.

The beam dynamics of superconducting (SC) heavy-ion linacs operating in the velocity range below 0.4c require a compact accelerating-focusing lattice. The use of SC solenoids together with SC RF resonators within a common cryostat can solve the real-estate problem. The solenoids must have low fringe fields to avoid magnetic flux capture in the SC RF resonators. Also, incorporating dipole steering coils together with the SC solenoids in one magnet assembly can increase the compactness of the linac lattice. R&D work has been carried out to determine the feasibility of combining the three elements of high solenoid field, low fringe field, and integral dipole field, into one compact package. A 9-Tesla magnet has been initially designed and will be prototyped, with the goal of eventually developing 14-Tesla solenoids of similar design. The most important design issues are: (1) to minimize stray field in the RF cavity region using SC bucking coils and (2) to achieve adequate mechanical stability of the transverse dipole windings in the presence of forces produced by the solenoid/bucking coil assembly. The assembly, including terminals, switches, and protection circuit, are designed to fit inside a 25-cm diameter helium reservoir. The results of the preliminary design of the solenoid, …

This report details results of a study of the solids occurring in process ferrous sulfamate (FS) solutions and the mechanism for their formation and provides recommendations for minimization of these iron-bearing solids.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Subcommittees on Transportation of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) and the Federal Power Act (FPA) were enacted to eliminate unfair practices and other abuses by electricity and gas holding companies by requiring federal control and regulation of interstate public utility holding companies. Comprehensive energy legislation has passed the House and Senate. The House passed H.R. 6 on April 11, 2003. On July 31, 2003, the Senate suspended debate on S. 14, inserted the text of H.R. 4 (107th Congress) as a substitute, and passed H.R. 6. A conference agreement was reached November 17, 2003, and passed by the House the next day. H.R. 6 includes an electricity title that would, in part, repeal PUHCA, would prospectively repeal the mandatory purchase requirement under PURPA, and would create an electric reliability organization. On June 15, 2004, H.R. 4503, a comprehensive energy policy bill, passed the House.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Legislative Branch Appropriations.

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This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.

U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic and economic relations remained essentially frozen for more than a decade after the 1975 communist victory in South Vietnam. Washington and Hanoi have incrementally normalized relations over the past decade. The pace has been relatively slow due to continued debate in the United States and Vietnam over improved relations. Congress has played a significant role in the normalization process

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