Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reported on the Administrative Office of the United States Courts' (AOUSC) progress in implementing six GAO recommendations to improve its long-range space planning process. AOUSC has fully implemented five of the six recommendations and partially implemented one. Specifically, AOUSC began (1) using a statistical classification technique, known as cluster analysis, to create groups of federal districts with similar characteristics; (2) relying on an automated computer program called AnyCourt to verify that districts' estimates of space baselines are consistent with the U.S. Courts Design Guide; (3) using a standard statistical forecasting technique, known as AutoRegressive Integrated Moving-Average, as a basis for developing more accurate caseload projections; (4) helping districts improve their personnel projections by comparing their projections to AOUSC personnel projections and discussing the results with districts when large deviations occurred; and (5) providing the General Services Administration (GSA) with data related to 10-year projections of districts' estimated space needs to support the judiciary's request for congressional approval of funds to build new court-related facilities and modify existing buildings. AOUSC has been unable to fully implement the remaining recommendation to update the districts' plans every 3 to 5 …

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO issued a report on the results of its management and operational review of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Public Integrity Section (PI). Specifically, GAO reviewed: (1) PI's organization, staffing, workload, and results; (2) the policies and procedures in place to govern PI's case management practices and its compliance with those policies and procedures, and; (3) DOJ's management oversight of those practices. PI was staffed with 30 attorneys, including a chief and three deputies. Between 1995 and 2000, PI opened 1,013 matters for investigation and filed 163 cases for the court. The conviction rate was 94 percent for cases prosecuted during this time. DOJ's written policies and procedures outlined how PI should manage its caseloads. For the closed cases and matters GAO reviewed, PI generally complied with DOJ's procedures. However, GAO found that, in some cases, PI did not resolve issues in a timely manner. As a result, some matters remained opened for extended periods. DOJ also had policies and procedures in place to ensure that PI's case management practices were subject to management oversight. These oversight practices included documented reviews, daily interactions with attorneys, and …

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There are nine separate zones of high sensitivity smoke detection (HSSD) at Dzero. These zones, their coverage, their condition thresholds, and their response to conditions are described in the table in the 'Zones & Responses' section of this document. This is an 'air-sampling' smoke detection system. Each zone is formed of a network of pipes which contain strategically sized and located air sampling holes. Each zone has a fanbox/detector head that continuously draws air into the holes and through the pipes to the detector head where it is evaluated for combustion products. The fanbox/detector heads are located on the Dzero detector platform and in the trusses. Each fanbox/detector head has a remotely located display control card (DCC) for monitoring the level of obscuration of the air sample. This remote equipment is located on the roof of the moving counting house. The DCC for each zone is networked to a single intelligent interface module (11M), also on the roof of the MCH, that collects the information from all nine zones and delivers it to the Dzero control room via an isolated RS-485 link to an operators console. This console is replicated via a 'remote video, keyboard, mouse system' in the DAB …

The objective of this calculation is to develop a time dependent in-drift effective thermal conductivity parameter that will approximate heat conduction, thermal radiation, and natural convection heat transfer using a single mode of heat transfer (heat conduction). In order to reduce the physical and numerical complexity of the heat transfer processes that occur (and must be modeled) as a result of the emplacement of heat generating wastes, a single parameter will be developed that approximates all forms of heat transfer from the waste package surface to the drift wall (or from one surface exchanging heat with another). Subsequently, with this single parameter, one heat transfer mechanism (e.g., conduction heat transfer) can be used in the models. The resulting parameter is to be used as input in the drift-scale process-level models applied in total system performance assessments for the site recommendation (TSPA-SR). The format of this parameter will be a time-dependent table for direct input into the thermal-hydrologic (TH) and the thermal-hydrologic-chemical (THC) models.

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project is a collaborative effort between Brookhaven, Argonne, Jefferson, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Los Alamos is responsible for the design of the linac for this accelerator complex. The code PARMILA, developed at Los Alamos is widely used for proton linac design and beam dynamics studies. The most updated version includes superconducting structures among others. In recent years, some other codes have also been developed which primarily focuses on the studies of the beam dynamics. In this paper, we compare the simulation results and discuss physics aspects of the different linac design and beam dynamics simulation codes.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Standards for discipline and safety in schools are set primarily by local school districts. Federal and local regulations provide additional protections to special education students who misbehave to ensure that they are not unfairly deprived of their rights to an appropriate education. GAO reviewed regular and special education discipline policies to determine whether there were any differences in how disabled and non-disabled students were disciplined. GAO found the rate of misconduct among special education students was higher than that of regular education students. Despite little difference in the actions taken by schools to discipline regular education and special education students, a sizeable minority of principals voiced concern that their schools' discipline policies impeded proper disciplinary action. Although the 1997 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act amendments and final federal regulations gave schools more flexibility in handling discipline issues, GAO's analysis showed that local school district policies can provide additional protections when compared with provisions in the final regulations. Restrictive local policies may alter the balance between protecting the rights of disabled students and ensuring that administrators are able to maintain a safe and orderly environment. Because the …

Recently, new cross section measurements by the GEANIE collaboration have been published for {sup 239}Pu(n, 2n{gamma}) [Ber00] and {sup 235}U(n, 2n{gamma}) [You00] from threshold to 20 MeV. When combined with nuclear reaction calculations [Che00, Cha99, Cha01], these measurements provide the most accurate information available on the shape and magnitude of the {sup 239}Pu(n, 2n) cross section for incident neutron energies, E{sub n} {approx}< 14 MeV. This new data has prompted a re-evaluation of the {sup 239}Pu(n, 2n) {sup 238}Pu reaction cross section considering all available experimental data. The data prior to the measurement of Bernstein et al. [Ber00] is illustrated in Figure 1a. These data sets were considered by previous evaluations [ENDL] of the {sup 239}Pu(n, 2n) cross section. The most precise experiment was an activation measurement done by Lougheed et al. [Lou00] for incident neutron energies, E{sub n}, between 13-15 MeV. In addition, there were two neutron-counting experiments, one by Mather et al. [Mat72] and one by Frehaut et al. [Fre85]. These two measurements cover a wide incident neutron range, with data points from threshold to E{sub n} {approx} 14 MeV. The available data sets are in poor agreement with each other and in some cases do not meet …

An alternative approach is described to evaluate the statistical nature of the breakup of shaped charge liners. Experimental data from ductile and brittle copper jets are analyzed in terms of velocity gradient, deviation of {Delta}V from linearity, R/S analysis, and the Hurst exponent within the coupled map lattice model. One-dimensional simulations containing 600 zones of equal mass and using distinctly different force-displacement curves are generated to simulate ductile and brittle behavior. A particle separates from the stretching jet when an element of material reaches the failure criterion. A simple model of a stretching rod using brittle, semi-brittle, and ductile force-displacement curves is in agreement with the experimental results for the Hurst exponent and the phase portraits and indicates that breakup is a correlated phenomenon.

Advances in computational capability and modeling techniques, as well as improvements in experimental characterization methods offer the possibility of directly comparing modeling and experiment investigations of irradiation effects in metals. As part of a collaboration among the Instituto de Fusion Nuclear (DENIM), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and CIEMAT, single and polycrystalline {alpha}-Fe samples have been irradiated with 150 keV Fe-ions to doses up to several dpa. The irradiated microstructure is to be examined with both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS). Concurrently, we have modeled the damage accumulation in Fe under these irradiation conditions using a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC). We aim to make direct comparison between the simulation results and the experiments by simulating TEM images and estimating positron lifetimes for the predicted microstructures. While the identity of the matrix defect features cannot be determined from TEM observations alone, we propose that both large self-interstitial loops, trapped at impurities within the material, and small, spherical nanovoids form.

This report covers the status and legislative issues of the coastal non-point program.

This report analyzes four instruments and provides rough estimates of the relative magnitude of each.

Neutron hardening and embrittlement of pressure vessel steels is due to a high density of nanometer scale features, including Cu-rich precipitates which form as a result of radiation enhanced diffusion. High-energy displacement cascades generate large numbers of both isolated point defects and clusters of vacancies and interstitials. The subsequent clustering, diffusion and ultimate annihilation of primary damage is inherently coupled with solute transport and hence, the overall chemical and microstructural evolutions under irradiation. In this work, we present atomistic simulation results, based on many-body interatomic potentials, of the migration of vacancies, solute and self-interstitial atoms (SIA) in pure Fe and binary Fe-0.9 and 1.0 at.% Cu alloys. Cu diffusion occurs by a vacancy mechanism and the calculated Cu diffusivity is in good agreement with experimental data. Strain field interactions between the oversized substitutional Cu solute atoms and SIA and SIA clusters are predominantly repulsive and result in both a decreased activation energy and diffusion pre-factor for SIA and small (N < 5) SIA cluster migration, which occurs by three-dimensional motion. The Cu appears to enhance the reorientation of the SIA clusters to different <111> directions, as well as the transition from <110> to mobile <111> configurations. The migration behavior of …

This project has contributed to the improved understanding and precise physical description of multiphase subsurface flow by combining theoretical derivation of equations, lattice Boltzmann modeling of hydrodynamics to identify characteristics and parameters, and simplification of field-scale equations to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the complete theory.

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Project fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new dual fuel conversion system allows diesel fuel switching with clean burning natural gas.

Project fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new miniature oxygen sensor that costs less that conventional sensors.

This 16-page brochure, including 9 one-page inserts, provides an overview of the Office of Industrial Technologies and its research, development, and deployment efforts to increase industrial energy efficiency.

Most large-scale high-critical-temperature superconductor applications require wires or tapes that an carry high currents in applied magnetic fields. This report describes technical progress of research and development efforts aimed at producing superconducting components and devices in the Y-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-(Pb)-Sr-Ca-Cu-O systems. Topics discussed are formation of first- and second-generation composite conductors, characterization of structures and superconducting and mechanical properties, modeling of grain-boundary current transport, and fabrication and analysis of prototype components.

Fact sheet written for the NICE3 Program on a new process that improves the efficiency and productivity of die casting operations.

Project fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about an innovative device that uses acoustic energy to enhance productivity in mixing equipment.

Project fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new process to produce ethylene more efficiently.

The Laboratory Coordinating Council, working through OIT, coordinates partnerships between industry, academia, and the 16 U.S. national laboratories and facilities.

Project fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new technology that increases load-leveling efficiency and offers longer cycle life than lead-acid batteries.