The exposure of noncellulosic ultrafiltration membranes to a radioactive environment simulating up to 24 months of exposure to a beta dose of 10 ..mu..Ci/cm/sup 3/ and a gamma dose of 10/sup -5/ ..mu..Ci/cm/sup 3/ did not show any conclusive evidence of membrane degradation. Viscosity measurements for control membranes and irradiated membranes indicate no changes in polymer molecular weight were caused by the radiation exposure. This, in turn, suggests no physical or mechanical degradation took place. A continuous run on the ultrafiltration pilot plant was completed. The run lasted 33.5 hr; during this period, the flux declined from 4 gal/min to 0.8 gal/min while rejection of alpha activity increased slightly. A total of 20,000 gal were processed through the ultrafiltration system. The small laboratory column tests were continued with uranium-233 and americium-241. Several new resins were being evaluated along with the same type of resin as used before with uranium-233 and plutonium-238. Tests were continued with the 2-in. Engineering Columns using ultrafiltration product spiked with uranium-233.

Editor please delete 26456.<><DSN>16:026457<ABS>Work done in the P122 reactor control actuator area is summarized. Actuators were required to radially position the absorber blades in the core of the reactor. The P122C1 was a subsonic power plant and temperatures were low enough to permit the use of hydraulics in the actuator area. The program was reoriented and the power plant designated P122C3 which was a supersonic version of the folded flow power plant. The ambient temperature at maximum power was high enough to require pneumatic actuation of the control blades. The program was reoriented after two design iterations of the subsonic power plant. A test model of the actuating equipment and the entire linkage assembly was on hand and completed when the program was cancelled. The linkage was being redesigned for the supersonic application and special bearings were ordered for fabrication into the lower temperature rig. The actual mechanical concepts of the pneumatic actuator were under study when the program was cancelled. (auth)

This project is divided into four tasks. The Management Plan was developed in task 1. Task 2, Evaluation of Mechanisms in FGD Sorbent and Ash Interactions, focuses on the characteristics of binary mixtures of these distinct powders. Task 3, Evaluation of Mechanisms in Conditioning Agents and Ash, is designed to examine the effects of various conditioning agents on fine ash particles to determine the mechanisms by which these agents alter the physical properties of the ash. Tasks 2 and 3 began with an extensive literature search and the assembly of existing theories. This phase of the project is now complete. During the past quarter, initial preparations of laboratory equipment for laboratory testing have been made. A plan for initial laboratory tests has been submitted to the Project Manager for review. Laboratory testing will commence once these laboratory plans have been formally approved. The results of the work performed under task 2 and 3 will be included in a Flue Gas Conditioning Model that will be issued under task 4. The Final Report for the project will also be prepared under task 4.

The objectives of the study are to: Develop a baseline design for indirect liquefaction using advanced Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) technology. Prepare the capital and operating costs for the baseline design. Develop a process flowsheet simulation (PFS) model. The baseline design, the economic analysis, and the computer model will be the major research planning tools that Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center will use to plan, guide, and evaluate its ongoing and future research and commercialization programs relating to indirect coal liquefaction for the manufacture of synthetic liquid fuels from coal.

Process and product requirements to be met in the fabrication of Type 3 fuel elements are presented. The fuel elements specified consist of thin plates of a dispersion of highly enriched UO/sub 2/ and ZrB/sub 2/ in a stainless steel matrix which is clad with stainless steel on all surfaces. Quality assurance provisions are discussed. Process and material specifications and packaging and packing for shipment are described. Sample calculations and drawings are included. (M.C.G.)

This project is designed to develop methods for pre-combustion coal remediation by implementing recent advances in enzyme biochemistry. The novel approach of this study is incorporation of hydrophilic oxidative enzymes in reverse micelles in an organic solvent. Enzymes from commercial sources or microbial extracts are being investigated for their capacity to remove organic sulfur from coal by oxidation of the sulfur groups, splitting of C-S bonds and loss of sulfur as sulfuric acid. Dibenzothiophene (DBT) and ethylphenylsulfide (EPS) are serving as models of organic sulfur-containing components of coal in initial studies.

This report addresses the comparison of SNAP-50/SPUR System with MHD, Brayton, boiling reactor and thermionic systems.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1996, the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) has been working on an initiative to replace its aging system for paying compensation and pension benefits. In 2005, concerned about the slow pace of development, VBA contracted with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) for an independent evaluation of the project, known as the Veterans Service Network (VETSNET). SEI advised VBA to continue working on the project at a reduced pace while addressing management and organization weaknesses that it determined had hampered the project's progress. GAO was requested to determine to what extent the VETSNET project has followed the course of action recommended by SEI and describe the project's current status. To perform its review, GAO analyzed project documentation, conducted site visits, and interviewed key program officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office was established with the appointment of the first Chief Privacy Officer in April 2003, as required by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Privacy Office's major responsibilities include: (1) reviewing and approving privacy impact assessments (PIA)--analyses of how personal information is managed in a federal system, (2) integrating privacy considerations into DHS decision making, (3) ensuring compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, and (4) preparing and issuing annual reports and reports on key privacy concerns. GAO's objective was to examine progress made by the Privacy Office in carrying out its statutory responsibilities. GAO did this by comparing statutory requirements with Privacy Office processes, documents, and activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The success of the 2010 Census depends, in part, upon the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) ability to recruit, hire, and train over half a million temporary workers at peak. Under the Comptroller General's authority, GAO reviewed the extent that the Bureau's (1) recruiting and hiring processes for these staff are consistent with selected human capital principles and (2) training delivery and content take into account known challenges. To answer these questions, GAO analyzed relevant reports and past recommendations to select principles for evaluating these activities, reviewed related Bureau documents, observed the 2006 Census Test in South Dakota and Texas, and interviewed Bureau officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Assistance provided by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) to American International Group, Inc. (AIG)--a holding company that, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in a broad range of insurance and insurance-related activities in the United States and abroad--represents one of the federal government's largest investments in a private sector institution since the financial crisis began in 2008. Treasury and the Federal Reserve provided assistance to AIG in September 2008 that was restructured in November 2008 and March 2009. As part of GAO's statutorily mandated oversight of TARP, this report updates the risk and repayment indicators GAO originally reported in September 2009 (GAO-09-975). Specifically in this report, GAO discusses (1) trends in AIG's financial condition, (2) trends in the unwinding of AIG Financial Products (AIGFP), (3) the financial condition of AIG's insurance companies, and (4) the status of AIG's repayment of its federal assistance. To update the indicators, GAO primarily used data as of December 31, 2009, and more current publicly available information; reviewed rating agencies' reports; identified …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Environmental satellites provide data on the earth and its space environment that are used for forecasting the weather, measuring variations in climate over time, and predicting space weather. In planning for the next generation of these satellites, federal agencies originally sought to fulfill weather, climate, and space weather requirements. However, in 2006, federal agencies restructured two key satellite acquisitions, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series (GOES-R). This involved removing key climate and space weather instruments. GAO was asked to (1) assess plans for restoring the capabilities that were removed from the two key satellite acquisitions, (2) evaluate federal efforts to establish a strategy for the long-term provision of satellite-provided climate data, and (3) evaluate federal efforts to establish a strategy for the longterm provision of satellite-provided space weather data. To do so, GAO analyzed agency plans and reports."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's (NGISC) case study on gambling, focusing on: (1) the economic effects of gambling, particularly on employment, bankruptcy, and tax revenues and community investment; (2) the social effects of gambling; (3) the prevalence of pathological gambling; and (4) whether communities offer incentives to attract gambling establishments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "At a time when U.S. military forces and their equipment are in high demand, effective management of the Department of Defense's (DOD) inventory is critical to ensure that the warfighter has the right items at the right time. The Air Force is the largest contributor to DOD's total on-hand inventory on the basis of inventory value. Under the statutory authority of the Comptroller General to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO determined the extent to which (1) the Air Force's on-order and on-hand inventory reflect the amount of inventory needed to support required inventory levels from fiscal years 2002 through 2005, and (2) the Air Force had shortages in its inventory needed to support required levels during this period. To address these objectives GAO analyzed Air Force secondary inventory data (spare parts such as engines and guided missiles) from fiscal years 2002 through 2005."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is a tri-agency acquisition--managed by the Departments of Commerce and Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--which experienced escalating costs, schedule delays, and technical difficulties. These factors led to a June 2006 decision to restructure the program thereby decreasing the program's complexity, increasing its estimated cost to $12.5 billion, and delaying the first two satellites by 3 to 5 years. GAO was asked to (1) assess progress in restructuring the acquisition, (2) evaluate progress in establishing an effective management structure, (3) assess the reliability of the cost and schedule estimate, and (4) identify the status and key risks facing the program's major segments. To do so, GAO analyzed program and contractor data, attended program reviews, and interviewed program officials"

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A successful terrorist attack on Department of Energy (DOE) sites containing nuclear weapons or the material used in nuclear weapons could have devastating consequences for the site and its surrounding communities. Because of these risks, DOE needs an effective safeguards and security program. A key component of an effective program is the design basis threat (DBT), a classified document that identifies the potential size and capabilities of terrorist forces. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, rendered the then-current DBT obsolete. GAO examined DOE's response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, identified why DOE took almost 2 years to develop a new DBT, analyzed the higher threat in the new DBT, and identified the remaining issues that need to be resolved in order for DOE to meet the threat contained in the new DBT."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relies extensively on information technology (IT) to carry out its mission. For fiscal year 2008, DHS requested about $4 billion--the third largest planned IT expenditure among federal departments. Given the size and significance of DHS's IT investments, GAO's objectives were to determine whether DHS (1) has established the management structure and associated policies and procedures needed to effectively manage these investments and (2) is implementing key practices needed to effectively control them. GAO used its IT Investment Management (ITIM) framework and associated methodology to address these objectives, focusing on the framework's stages related to the investment management provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act."

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report provides information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) disability severance program, which provides a lump-sum payment for service members with a disability. GAO found that the administration of disability severance, like medical retirement pay, follows service-specific procedures using DOD guidance. The services assess members' fitness for duty along a scale ranging from 0 to 100 percent in gradations of 10. Members unfit for duty who have 20 or more years of military service with any disability rating or who are assigned a disability rating of 30 percent or higher receive medical retirement payment. In contrast, the lump-sum disability severance payment is made to members unfit for duty who have less than 20 years of military service and who are assigned a disability rating less than 30 percent. In fiscal year 2000, the number of assessments resulting in disability severance payment was more than double the number of assessments resulting in medical retirement. The services and DOD could not provide GAO with data on how much it costs to make disability decisions or issue payments or how long it takes. DOD does not provide special …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Electronic Baggage Screening Program (EBSP) reports that 76 percent of the airports (337 of 446) the agency regulates for security have a mix of in-line and stand-alone baggage screening configurations that best meet airport needs (i.e., optimal systems). However, only 36 percent (10 of 28) of the nation’s larger airports—based on factors such as the total number of takeoffs and landings annually—have complete optimal systems. This is because the larger airports generally need more complex in-line systems and often require a significant amount of airport infrastructure modification and construction. In August 2011, TSA shifted its focus from installing optimal baggage screening systems to replacing aging machines (recapitalization). However, TSA plans to continue to optimize systems during many of its recapitalization projects."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As part of the Committee on Government Reform's continuing focus on pay and financial issues affecting Army soldiers deployed in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), the requesters were concerned that battle-injured soldiers were not only battling the broken military pay system, but faced blemishes on their credit reports and pursuit by collection agencies from referrals of their Army debts. GAO was asked to determine (1) the extent of debt of separated battle-injured soldiers and deceased Army soldiers who served in the GWOT, (2) the impact of DOD debt collection action on separated battle-injured and deceased soldiers and their families, and (3) ways that Congress could make the process for collecting these debts more soldier friendly."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Alaska Native corporations (ANC) were created to settle land claims with Alaska Natives and foster economic development. In 1986, legislation passed that allowed ANCs to participate in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program. Since then, Congress has extended special procurement advantages to 8(a) ANC firms, such as the ability to win sole-source contracts for any dollar amount. This report identifies (1) trends in the government's 8(a) contracting with ANC firms, (2) the reasons agencies have awarded 8(a) sole-source contracts to ANC firms and the facts and circumstances behind some of these contracts, and (3) how ANCs are using the 8(a) program. GAO also evaluated SBA's oversight of 8(a) ANC firms."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "If the federal government is to effectively manage the tasks and programs assigned to it through legislation, it must have a sufficient and qualified workforce. One important element that agencies must consider in their workforce planning is the number and kinds of employees who will retire during the next five years. GAO projects that the number of employees retiring will be roughly equivalent to the decrease in employees during any downsizing, and will affect the ability of agencies to accomplish their missions. GAO believes that agencies must ensure that they will have an adequate workforce to carry out their missions. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has begun to stress to agencies the importance of integrating strategic human capital management into agency planning. OPM has also been focusing more attention on developing workforce planning tools to help agencies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on managed care plans' decisions to leave the Medicare program or to reduce the geographic areas that they serve, focusing on: (1) plans that receive capitated payments; (2) the patterns of plan and beneficiary participation in managed care; (3) factors associated with plans' decisions to enter or leave the Medicare Choice program; and (4) changes in plans' benefit packages and premiums."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) operational support airlift aircraft requirement, focusing on: (1) whether the existing requirement for operational support airlift aircraft is linked to wartime needs; and (2) the process DOD used to determine its requirements for these aircraft."