This is the eighth Quarterly Technical Report for DOE Cooperative Agreement No: DE-FC26-00NT41047. The goal of the project is to develop and demonstrate a computational workbench for simulating the performance of Vision 21 Power Plant Systems. Within the last quarter, good progress has been made on all aspects of the project. Calculations for a full Vision 21 plant configuration have been performed for two coal types and two gasifier types. Good agreement with DOE computed values has been obtained for the Vision 21 configuration under ''baseline'' conditions. Additional model verification has been performed for the flowing slag model that has been implemented into the CFD based gasifier model. Comparisons for the slag, wall and syngas conditions predicted by our model versus values from predictive models that have been published by other researchers show good agreement. The software infrastructure of the Vision 21 workbench has been modified to use a recently released, upgraded version of SCIRun.

Under the federal system in the United States, the states and localities traditionally have held the major responsibility for prevention and control of crime and maintenance of order. For most of the Republic’s history, “police powers” in the broad sense were reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Many still hold that view, but others see a string of court decisions in recent decades as providing the basis for a far more active federal role. Several bills are discussed in this report that address issues related to crime, juvenile justice, and Congress’ evolving role in crime legislation.

High-end supercomputers are increasingly built out of commodity components, and lack tight integration between the processor and network. This often results in inefficiencies in the communication subsystem, such as high software overheads and/or message latencies. In this paper we use a set of microbenchmarks to quantify the cost of this commoditization, measuring software overhead, latency, and bandwidth on five contemporary supercomputing networks. We compare the performance of the ubiquitous MPI layer to that of lower-level communication layers, and quantify the advantages of the latter for small message performance. We also provide data on the potential for various communication-related optimizations, such as overlapping communication with computation or other communication. Finally, we determine the minimum size needed for a message to be considered 'large' (i.e., bandwidth-bound) on these platforms, and provide historical data on the software overheads of a number of supercomputers over the past decade.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to rate information to be filed by certain insurers of residential property; providing an administrative penalty.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since Congress enacted the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21 Century (AIR-21) 3 years ago, much has changed. At that time, the focus was on reducing congestion and flight delays. Today, flights are being canceled for lack of business, two major air carriers are in bankruptcy, and attention has shifted from increasing the capacity of the national airspace system to enhancing aviation security. Furthermore, as the federal budget deficit has increased, competition for federal resources has intensified, and the costs of airport capital development are growing, especially with the new requirements for security. Nonetheless, analysts expect the demand for air traffic services to rebound. Until that time, the unexpected slump in air traffic creates a window of opportunity to improve the safety and efficiency of the national airport system."

The Cerro Grande forest fire in May of 2000 and the terrorist events of September 11, 2001 precipitated concerns of the vulnerability of legacy contact-handled (CH), high-wattage transuranic (TRU) waste stored at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). An analysis of the 9,100 cubic meters of stored CH-TRU waste revealed that 400 cubic meters or 4.5% of the inventory represented 61% of the risk. The analysis further showed that this 400 cubic meters was contained in only 2,000 drums. These facts and the question ''How can the disposition of this waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) be accelerated?'' formed the genesis of LANL's Quick to WIPP initiative.

The DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) ''Sister Laboratory'' program allows for bilateral technical cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy for developing nations. The program establishes a direct line of communication between U.S. scientists and the nuclear research and scientific communities in participating countries.

This report outlines U.S. military operations in Bosnia and discusses issues such as U.S. and Allied Participation in Bosnia Peacekeeping (IFOR/SFOR), duration, cost, arms control and military assistance. This report also includes most recent development, background analysis, and legislation.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) opened on March 26, 1999, becoming the nation's first deep geologic repository for the permanent disposal of defense generated transuranic (TRU) waste. This waste is currently retrievably stored at 27 sites across the country. Since its opening, approximately 10,000 m3 of TRU waste have been safely characterized, transported, and disposed in the WIPP. The DOE has achieved and surpassed the original goal of sending 17 waste shipments per week to WIPP. The National TRU Program (NTP) has implemented significant operational efficiencies, regulatory changes, and management initiatives, but the program cannot rest on its past achievements. The initial program schedule shows completion of TRU waste disposal in 2034 at an estimated life-cycle cost of $16 billion. The Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) and the 27 TRU waste generator sites have developed a comprehensive plan that will allow completion of the legacy TRU waste mission 20 years ahead of the initial schedule.

This paper discusses the challenges associated with creating a data management system for waste tracking at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant (AMWTP) at the Idaho National Engineering Lab (INEEL). The waste tracking system combines data from plant automation systems and decision points. The primary purpose of the system is to provide information to enable the plant operators and engineers to assess the risks associated with each container and determine the best method of treating it. It is also used to track the transuranic (TRU) waste containers as they move throughout the various processes at the plant. And finally, the goal of the system is to support paperless shipments of the waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This paper describes the approach, methodologies, the underlying design of the database, and the challenges of creating the Data Management System (DMS) prior to completion of design and construction of a major plant. The system was built utilizing an Oracle database platform, and Oracle Forms 6i in client-server mode. The underlying data architecture is container-centric, with separate tables and objects for each type of analysis used to characterize the waste, including real-time radiography (RTR), non-destructive assay (NDA), head-space gas sampling and …

The CWC bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by members signatories. It also requires the destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities. Neither the United States nor Russia will be able to meet the original CWC’s deadlines for destruction of their CW stockpiles, and have been granted extensions to at least 2012. The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention’s implementation.

This report analyzes S. 151, 108th Congress, as reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (S.Rept. 108-2) and passed by the Senate, and considers whether it would violate freedom of speech.

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It is well recognized that half the countries in the world will face significant fresh water shortages in the next 20 years, due largely to growing populations and increased agricultural and industrial demands. These shortages will significantly limit economic growth, decrease the quality of life and human health for billions of people, and could potentially lead to violence and conflict over securing scarce supplies of water. These concerns are not limited to the water-poor countries, of course, as many parts of China and the US face similar problems. Such problems can be exacerbated by fluctuating imbalances between need and supply, poor management practices, and pollution. The future is one that will require significant scientific and technological advances in conservation, preservation, and movement of fresh water, as well as in the development of new or alternative supplies. As an example, these issues are discussed in terms of California, and a case study related to the scientific issues associated with a groundwater banking project in Southern California is provided.

CH2M Hill Hanford Group, Inc. is identifying and developing supplemental process technologies to accelerate the Hanford tank waste cleanup mission. Bulk vitrification, containerized grout, and steam reforming are three technologies under consideration for treatment of the radioactive saltcake wastes in 68 single-shell tanks. To support development and testing of these technologies, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was tasked with developing a cold dissolved saltcake simulant formulation to be representative of an actual saltcake waste stream, preparing a 25-L batch of the simulant, and analyzing the composition of the batch to assure conformance to formulation targets. Lacking a defined composition for dissolved actual saltcake waste, PNNL used available tank waste composition information and an equilibrium chemistry model (Environmental Simulation Program, ESP) to predict the concentrations of analytes in solution. Observations of insoluble solids in initial laboratory preparations for the model predicted formulation prompted minor modifications in the concentration of phosphate and silicon in the final simulant formulation. The analytical results for the 25-L simulant batch agree within the expected measurement accuracy (~10%) of the target concentrations and are highly consistent for replicate measurements, with a few minor exceptions. The instrumental analyses indicate that the batch of solution adequately reflects the as-formulated …

During the first session of the 108th Congress, the House and Senate will consider many different budgetary measures. Most measures pertain to fiscal year (FY) 2004 (which began on October 1, 2003) and beyond. Some also pertain to the budget for FY2003. As the session progresses, this report will describe House and Senate action on major budgetary legislation within the framework of the congressional budget process and other procedural requirements.

This report provides information on the history of continuing resolutions; the nature, scope, and duration of CRs during the last 30 years; the various types of CRs that have been enacted; and an overview of those instances when budget authority has lapsed and a funding gap has resulted.

d on 25 Feb 2003 (v1), last revised 10 Apr 2003 (this version, v2))We estimate the Coulomb energy of static quarks from a Monte Carlo calculation of the correlator of timelike link variables in Coulomb gauge. We find, in agreement with Cucchieri and Zwanziger, that this energy grows linearly with distance at large quark separations. The corresponding string tension, however, is several times greater than the accepted asymptotic string tension, indicating that a state containing only static sources, with no constituent gluons, is not the lowest energy flux tube state. The Coulomb energy is also measured on thermalized lattices with center vortices removed by the de Forcrand-D'Elia procedure. We find that when vortices are removed, the Coulomb string tension vanishes.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has been conducting Natural Rearing Enhancement System (NATURES) research since the early 1990s. NATURES studies have looked at a variety of mechanisms to enhance production of wild-like salmonids from hatcheries. The goal of NATURES research is to develop fish culture techniques that enable hatcheries to produce salmon with more wild-like characteristics and increased postrelease survival. The development of such techniques is called for in the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. This document is the draft report for the Supplemental Fish Quality Contract DE-AI79-91BP20651 Over the history of the project, the effects of seminatural raceway habitats, automated underwater feeders, exercise current velocities, live food diets, and predator avoidance training have been investigated. The findings of these studies are reported in an earlier contract report (Maynard et al. 1996a). The current report focuses on research that has been conducted between 1999 and 2002. This includes studies on the effect of exercise on salmon and steelhead trout, effects of predator avoid training, integration of NATUES protocols into production hatcheries, and the study of social behavior of steelhead grown in enriched and conventional environments. Traditionally, salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are reared in barren concrete raceways that lack natural …

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has {approx}1 billion pounds of surplus depleted uranium (i.e., uranium tails) from uranium gaseous diffusion enrichment facilities. Rather than treating this material as waste, DOE is investigating potential beneficial uses for this uranium. Of the many possible uses, uranium dioxide (UO2) has properties that make it an equal to or better than conventional photovoltaic (e.g., solar cell) materials. For example, the electronic bandgap of UO2 occurs at an efficiency equal to that of GaS and Si, and it has five radiation adsorption peaks instead of one. This paper describes the experimental work being conducted to develop urania photovoltaic devices.

A couple of domestic institutions have been investigating the application of vitrification technology to treat low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes in Korea. In the case that such investigations prove to be successful, it is expected that commercial vitrification plants will be constructed. The safety insuring on vitrification plants could not be compatible with criterion on radioactive waste management because the facilities are at high temperature and contain a variety of accommodations for the exhaust gases and residual products. Therefore, it is necessary to suggest a new strategy or modifications of criterion of radioactive waste management on considerations related with the vitrification technology. In order to ensure the safety of vitrification plants, a technical guideline or standard for design and operation of vitrification plants must be established too. A study on the safety assessment of vitrification plants in consideration with general items as an industrial facility, safety and technical requirements as a nuclear facility is needed to be ready before using and permitting them. Also, the stability of vitrified waste forms produced by vitrification plants must be analyzed to ensure their acceptance in final repositories, which includes chemical durability as one of the main considerable items. This paper introduces the status …

Decommissioning of retired nuclear plants and components demands the proper management of the process, both for economic reasons and for retaining public confidence in the continued use of nuclear power for electricity generation. The cost and ease of management of radioactively contaminated components can be greatly assisted by the application of decontamination technology. EPRI initiated a program of research and development work in collaboration with Bradtec, which has led to the ''EPRI DFD'' (Decontamination for Decommissioning) Process. The Process has been patented and licensed to six companies worldwide. The purpose of this process is to achieve efficient removal of radioactivity with minimum waste from retired nuclear components and plant systems. The process uses dilute fluoroboric acid with controlled oxidation potential. By removing all the outer scale and a thin layer of base metal from the surfaces, contamination can in many cases be reduced below the levels required to allow clearance (free-release) or recycle to form new components for the nuclear industry. This reduces the need for on-site storage or burial of large amounts of contaminated material at low level radioactive disposal facilities. An additional benefit is that residual radiation fields can be reduced by a large factor, which reduces the …

Explicit supersymmetry breaking is studied in higher dimensional theories by having boundaries respect only a subgroup of the bulk symmetry. If the boundary symmetry is the maximal subgroup allowed by the boundary conditions imposed on the fields, then the symmetry can be consistently gauged; otherwise gauging leads to an inconsistent theory. In a warped fifth dimension, an explicit breaking of all bulk supersymmetries by the boundaries is found to be inconsistent with gauging; unlike the case of flat 5D, complete supersymmetry breaking by boundary conditions is not consistent with supergravity. Despite this result, the low energy effective theory resulting from boundary supersymmetry breaking becomes consistent in the limit where gravity decouples, and such models are explored in the hope that some way of successfully incorporating gravity can be found. A warped constrained standard model leads to a theory with one Higgs boson with mass expected close to the experimental limit. A unified theory in a warped fifth dimension is studied with boundary breaking of both SU(5) gauge symmetry and supersymmetry. The usual supersymmetric predictionfor gauge coupling unification holds even though the TeV spectrum is quite unlike the MSSM. Such a theory may unify matter and Higgs in the same SU(5) …

The extraction of metals in known metallurgical methods is pursued on the basis of separating as much as possible the desired metal's content from the ore concentrate, in the most economical manner. When these principles are also applied to the extraction of heavy metals, the related environmental factors do not readily meet with requirements. Today, an acceptable extraction technology for metals must satisfy the need to produce the deep separation of metals from their source in both economical and environmentally safe manner. This pertains to the direction of our ongoing research and development, among others in the field of environmental remediation. Earlier, we successfully addressed in an environmentally safe manner the selective extraction of radioactive isotopes from liquid radioactive wastes, produced at Armenia's Metzamor Nuclear Power Plant and implemented a functioning LRW station at the NPP. Currently, we extended our new electrodialysis-based electrolytic method in a laboratory scale, for the extraction and deep separation of different metals, including the heavy metals. Our new method, its efficiency, economy and full compliance with environmental issues will be presented.