Many companies or governmental entities provide or use transportation systems that are heavily dependent on computers, software, and other technologies that do not have Y2K problems, e.g., they are Y2K compliant or ready. Some transportation systems, however, still use technologies with Y2K problems, which if left uncorrected, could pose safety risks or efficiency concerns on or after January 1, 2000. The extent and nature of those impacts are expected to vary among the modes of transportation and among various providers or users. In addition, Y2K-related problems occurring in the communications and energy industries could reduce the safety and efficiency of some transportation systems in early January 2000. Operations at some foreign ports and international air traffic control systems with Y2K problems also could adversely affect shipments and flights into and out of the United States. The total amount that has been spent to assess and fix Y2K problems affecting transportation is not known, but estimates suggest that at least $1 billion of private sector, transit authority, and federal funds have been or will soon be allocated for that purpose.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

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 Energy's (DOE) efforts to clean up nuclear waste at DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina, focusing on: (1) the factors causing the project's delays and cost growth; (2) the effect of the in-tank precipitation process project's suspension on the Savannah River Site's cleanup plans and costs; and (3) DOE's plans for developing an alternative technology for separating high-level waste from the liquid."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the contribution of federal programs and policies to urban sprawl, focusing on: (1) the origins and implications of urban sprawl; (2) evidence that exists on the influence of federal programs and policies on urban sprawl; and (3) regulatory review and coordination mechanisms evaluating and mitigating the effects of federal actions on urban sprawl."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO recommended actions it believes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should take to improve its efforts to develop and deploy its Automated Land and Mineral Record System (ALMRS)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) 10-year business plan, focusing on whether the 10-year plan: (1) addresses key issues facing TVA; (2) takes into consideration all applicable costs and revenue sources; (3) contains goals and assumptions that are achievable or reasonable and in line with industry estimates and expectations; and (4) has been updated to reflect significant changes in key goals and assumptions or actual experience."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the readiness of the insurance industry to meet the year 2000 date change, focusing on: (1) what state regulators were doing to oversee the year 2000 readiness of the insurance industry; (2) how the regulatory oversight of the insurance industry's year 2000 readiness compared with the oversight of the banking and securities industries; (3) the status of the insurance industry's year 2000 readiness; and (4) the nature and extent of year 2000 liability exposures that insurers face and the mitigation efforts taken to address such exposures."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) modernization investment management approach as carried out through the Acquisition Management System (AMS), focusing on the extent to which FAA, through AMS: (1) has established a structured approach for selecting and controlling its investments; (2) incorporates all investments, including those in operation, in the agency's portfolio; and (3) selects, controls, and evaluates its investments with complete and reliable information."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) ability to close the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site by the end of 2006, focusing on: (1) DOE's plans for accelerating the site's closure and challenges that could impede closure; (2) the condition of the site at closure and the activities that will remain after closure; and (3) the costs of closing the site and the savings expected from accelerating its closure."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) Paths to Closure report, which details DOE's strategy to accelerate its hazardous waste cleanup efforts, focusing on the: (1) methodologies and assumptions used to develop the Paths to Closure report and any associated limitations; (2) uncertainties in the Paths to Closure report that may affect its usefulness; and (3) funding implications related to the cost of cleanup."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Retired Enlisted Association, Incorporated, for the fiscal years ended December 31, 1995, 1996, and 1997, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Postal Service's Preliminary Performance Plan for fiscal year (FY) 2000."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1998, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Ski Patrol System, Incorporated, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1998, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined whether the Department of Energy's (DOE) expenses to close out its participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project were reasonable."

The West Valley Nuclear Services Co. LLC (WVNS) is committed to provide a safe, clean, working environment for employees, and to implement U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requirements affecting worker safety. The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Occupational Safety and Health Program is designed to protect the safety, health, and well-being of WVDP employees by identifying, evaluating, and controlling biological, chemical, and physical hazards in the work place. Hazards are controlled within the requirements set forth in the reference section at the end of this report. It is the intent of the WVDP Occupational Safety and Health Program to assure that each employee is provided with a safe and healthy work environment. This report shows the logical path toward ensuring employee safety in planning work at the WVDP. In general, planning work to be performed safely includes: combining requirements from specific programs such as occupational safety, industrial hygiene, radiological control, nuclear safety, fire safety, environmental protection, etc.; including WVDP employees in the safety decision-making processes; pre-planning using safety support re-sources; and integrating the safety processes into the work instructions. Safety management principles help to define the path forward for the WVDP Occupational Safety and Health Program. Roles, responsibilities, and authority …

The objective of this project was to improve the performance and the fabrication of cadmium zinc telluride room temperature gamma ray detetors This paper outlines the necessity for controlled surface preparation and deposition of ohmic contacts.

The impact of activation procedure on the phase composition of precipitated iron Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalysts has been studied. Catalyst samples taken during activation and FT synthesis have been characterized by Moessbauer spectroscopy. Formation of iron carbide is necessary for high FT activity. Hydrogen activation of precipitated iron catalysts results in reduction to predominantly metallic iron and Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}. Metallic iron is not stable under FT 3 4 conditions and is rapidly converted to {epsilon}{prime}-Fe{sub 2.2}C. Activation with carbon monoxide or syngas 2.2 with low hydrogen partial pressure reduces catalysts to {chi}-Fe{sub 5}C{sub 2} and a small amount of 5 2 superparamagnetic carbide. Exposure to FT conditions partially oxidizes iron carbide to Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}; however, catalysts promoted with potassium or potassium and copper maintain a constant carbide content and activity after the initial oxidation. An unpromoted iron catalyst which was activated with carbon monoxide to produce 94% {chi}-Fe{sub 5}C{sub 2}, deactivated rapidly as the carbide was oxidized to Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}. No difference in activity, stability or deactivation rate was found for {chi}-Fe{sub 5}C{sub 2} and {epsilon}{prime}-Fe{sub 2.2}C.

Single-top-squark production probes R-parity-violating extensions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model though the {lambda}{sub 3ij}{double_prime} coupling. For top-squark masses in the range 180-325 GeV, and {lambda}{sub 3ij}{double_prime} > 0.02-0.06, we show that discovery of the top squark is possible with 2 fb{sup {minus}1} of integrated luminosity at run II of the Fermilab Tevatron. The bound on {lambda}{sub 3ij}{double_prime} can be reduced by up to an order of magnitude with existing data from run I, and by two orders of magnitude at run II if the top squark is not found.

A cooperative group instructional strategy is being used to teach a unit on neutron transport and diffusion theory in a first-year-graduate level, Reactor Theory course that was formerly presented in the traditional lecture/discussion style. Students are divided into groups of two or three for the duration of the unit. Class meetings are divided into traditional lecture/discussion segments punctuated by cooperative group exercises. The group exercises were designed to require the students to elaborate, summarize, or practice the material presented in the lecture/discussion segments. Both positive interdependence and individual accountability are fostered by adjusting individual grades on the unit exam by a factor dependent upon group achievement. Group collaboration was also encouraged on homework assignments by assigning each group a single grade on each assignment. The results of the unit exam have been above average in the two classes in which the cooperative group method was employed. In particular, the problem solving ability of the students has shown particular improvement. Further,the students felt that the cooperative group format was both more educationally effective and more enjoyable than the lecture/discussion format.

The Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Data Encryption Standard (DES) Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is the fastest known implementation of the DES algorithm as defined in the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 46-2. DES is used for protecting data by cryptographic means. The SNL DES ASIC, over 10 times faster than other currently available DES chips, is a high-speed, filly pipelined implementation offering encryption, decryption, unique key input, or algorithm bypassing on each clock cycle. Operating beyond 105 MHz on 64 bit words, this device is capable of data throughputs greater than 6.7 Billion bits per second (tester limited). Simulations predict proper operation up to 9.28 Billion bits per second. In low frequency, low data rate applications, the ASIC consumes less that one milliwatt of power. The device has features for passing control signals synchronized to throughput data. Three SNL DES ASICS may be easily cascaded to provide the much greater security of triple-key, triple-DES.

Optical Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (Optical MEMS) Technology holds the promise of one-day producing highly integrated optical systems on a common, monolithic substrate. The choice of fabrication technology used to manufacture Optical MEMS will play a pivotal role in the size, functionality and ultimately the cost of optical Microsystems. By leveraging the technology base developed for silicon integrated circuits, large batches of routers, emitters, detectors and amplifiers will soon be fabricated for literally pennies per part. In this article we review the current status of technologies used for Optical MEMS, as well as fabrication technologies of the future, emphasizing manufacturable surface micromachining approaches to producing reliable, low-cost devices for optical communications applications.

Maintenance work on the DOE CFFF facility remained in suspension for the entire quarter in accordance with the stop work order issued the previous quarter. Work resumed on the environmental restoration activities during the quarter and work performed is summarized. Progress continued on the five (5) high temperature superconductivity projects under Task 6. On the sol-gel process, improvement is reported in application of buffer layers to single crystals. Problems are discussed in applying buffer layers to nickel substrates. The status of cost performance studies is summarized. The status of diagnostic measurements directed toward real time control of manufacturing processes is reported with emphasis on measurement of surface smoothness. The results of atomic absorption measurement of MOCVD precursors are reported.

The final data package has been completed for the Mississippi State University, DIAL FTP Wall Depth Removal Characterization Technology. The package has been sent to DIAL for comments. Work is progressing on completing the transfer of glove boxes and tanks from Rocky Flats to FIU-HCET for the purpose of performing size reduction technology assessments. Vendors are being identified and security measures are being put in place to meet the High Risk Property criteria required by Rocky Flats. The FIU-HCET Technology Assessment Program has been included as one of 11 verification programs across the US and Canada described in the Interstate Technology Regulatory Cooperation (ITRC) document, ''Multi-state Evaluation of Elements Important to the Verification of Remediation Technologies'', dated January 1999. FIU-HCET will also participate in a panel discussion on technology verification programs at the International Environmental Technology Expo '99.