This report provides a summary of the structure of the Abandon Mine Land (AML) program, distribution of funds, and discusses major proposals considered in the 108th Congress.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On February 25, 2004, Congress heard testimony at a hearing entitled "The Key to Homeland Security: The New Human Resources System." This report responds to additional questions posed by Senator Akaka and Senator Lautenberg."

The Hyperbaric Advanced Hot Section Materials & Coating Test Rig program provides design and implementation of a laboratory rig capable of simulating the hot gas path conditions of coal-gas fired industrial gas turbine engines. The principal activity during this reporting period were the evaluation of syngas combustor concepts, the evaluation of test section concepts and the selection of the preferred rig configuration.

This report provides a brief overview of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals, discusses the issues associated with the current system, and describes current legislation to amend the AMT. The report will be updated as legislative action warrants.

This paper presents an evaluation of the applicability of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engines (HCCI) for small-scale cogeneration (less than 1 MWe) in comparison to five previously analyzed prime movers. The five comparator prime movers include stoichiometric spark-ignited (SI) engines, lean burn SI engines, diesel engines, microturbines and fuel cells. The investigated option, HCCI engines, is a relatively new type of engine that has some fundamental differences with respect to other prime movers. Here, the prime movers are compared by calculating electric and heating efficiency, fuel consumption, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and capital and fuel cost. Two cases are analyzed. In Case 1, the cogeneration facility requires combined power and heating. In Case 2, the requirement is for power and chilling. The results show that the HCCI engines closely approach the very high fuel utilization efficiency of diesel engines without the high emissions of NOx and the expensive diesel fuel. HCCI engines offer a new alternative for cogeneration that provides a unique combination of low cost, high efficiency, low emissions and flexibility in operating temperatures that can be optimally tuned for cogeneration systems. HCCI engines are the most efficient technology that meets the oncoming 2007 CARB NOx standards for cogeneration …

The state of North Dakota is considering updating its commercial building energy code. This report evaluates the potential costs and benefits to North Dakota residents from updating and requiring compliance with ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. Both qualitative and quantitative benefits and costs are assessed in the analysis. Energy and economic impacts are estimated using the Building Loads Analysis and System Thermodynamics (BLAST simulation combined with a Life-cycle Cost (LCC) approach to assess correspodning economic costs and benefits.

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Assisted living facilities provide help with activities of daily living in a residential setting for individuals who cannot live independently but do not require 24-hour skilled nursing care. In 2002, over 36,000 assisted living facilities served approximately 900,000 residents. The states establish and enforce licensing standards for these institutions. Because states have taken widely differing approaches to regulating and supporting assisted living, they can potentially learn from each other's experiences as they consider changes to their own policies. GAO was asked to review challenges faced by consumers and providers of assisted living and seek out notable state initiatives addressing those challenges in three selected areas: (1) disclosure of full and accurate information to consumers, (2) state assistance to providers to meet licensing requirements, and (3) procedures for addressing residents' complaints. We identified specific examples of individual programs in Florida, Texas, Washington, Georgia, and Massachusetts that highlighted different approaches in these three areas, which other states might wish to consider emulating."

The purpose of this data package is to summarize our conceptual understanding of atmospheric transport and deposition, describe how this understanding will be simplified for numerical simulation as part of the 2004 Composite Analysis (i.e., implementation model), and finally to provide the input parameters needed for the simulations.

Methane fermentation has been in practice over a century for the stabilization of high strength organic waste/wastewater. Although methanogenesis is a well established process and methane--the end-product of methanogenesis is a useful energy source; it is a low value end product with relatively less energy content (about 56 kJ energy/g CH{sub 4}). Besides, methane and its combustion by-product are powerful greenhouse gases, and responsible for global climate change. So there is a pressing need to explore alternative environmental technologies that not only stabilize the waste/wastewater but also generate benign high value end products. From this perspective, anaerobic bioconversion of organic wastes to hydrogen gas is an attractive option that achieves both goals. From energy security stand point, generation of hydrogen energy from renewable organic waste/wastewater could substitute non-renewable fossil fuels, over two-third of which is imported from politically unstable countries. Thus, biological hydrogen production from renewable organic waste through dark fermentation represents a critically important area of bioenergy production. This study evaluated both process engineering and microbial physiology of biohydrogen production.

A well-known result due to Hill provides an exact expression for the bulk modulus of any multicomponent elastic composite whenever the constituents are isotropic and the shear modulus is uniform throughout. Although no precise analog of Hill's result is available for the opposite case of uniform bulk modulus and varying shear modulus, it is shown here that some similar statements can be made for shear behavior of random polycrystals composed of laminates of isotropic materials. In particular, the Hashin-Shtrikman-type bounds of Peselnick, Meister, and Watt for random polycrystals composed of hexagonal (transversely isotropic) grains are applied to the problem of polycrystals of laminates. An exact product formula relating the Reuss estimate of bulk modulus and an effective shear modulus (of laminated grains composing the system) to products of the eigenvalues for quasi-compressional and quasi-uniaxial shear eigenvectors also plays an important role in the analysis of the overall shear behavior of the random polycrystal. When the bulk modulus is uniform in such a system, the equations are shown to reduce to a simple form that depends prominently on the uniaxial shear eigenvalue - as expected from physical arguments concerning the importance of uniaxial shear in these systems. One application of the …

The technology referred to as Cavity Like Completions (CLC) offers a new technique to complete wells in friable and unconsolidated sands. A successfully designed CLC provides significant increases in well PI (performance index) at lower costs than alternative completion techniques. CLC technology is being developed and documented by a partnership of major oil and gas companies through a GPRI (Global Petroleum Research Institute) joint venture. Through the DOE-funded PUMP program, the experiences of the members of the joint venture will be described for other oil and gas producing companies. To date six examples of CLC completions have been investigated by the JV. The project was performed to introduce a new type of completion (or recompletion) technique to the industry that, in many cases, offers a more cost effective method to produce oil and gas from friable reservoirs. The project's scope of work included: (1) Further develop theory, laboratory and field data into a unified model to predict performance of cavity completion; (2) Perform at least one well test for cavity completion (well provided by one of the sponsor companies); (3) Provide summary of geo-mechanical models for PI increase; and (4) Develop guidelines to evaluate success of potential cavity completion. The …

This research was conducted to improve our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of U accumulation with NAS in the evaporators and in other process areas at the SRS that may concentrate U in the presence of silicates, aluminum and NAS. Our study uses information gained from the characterization of solids formed in laboratory tests under similar HLW evaporator conditions to aid our interpretation of characterization data of an actual archived 2H Evaporator scale sample. These basic scientific studies will help support the basis for the continued safe operation of SRS evaporators and this fundamental information will be used to help mitigate U accumulation during evaporator operation.

High-level nuclear waste is being immobilized at the Savannah River Site by vitrification into borosilicate glass at the Defense Waste Processing Facility. Control of the REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) equilibrium in the DWPF melter is critical for processing high level liquid wastes. Based upon previous research, an acceptable iron REDOX ratio was defined for the DWPF melts as 0.09 Fe2/SFe 0.33. Controlling the DWPF melter at a REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) equilibrium ofFe2/SFe 0.33 prevents the potential for metallic and metallic sulfide species to form and accumulate on the floor of the melter. Control of foaming due to deoxygenation of manganic species is achieved by converting 66-100 of the MnO2 or Mn2O3 species in a waste feed to MnO before the waste is fed to the DWPF melter. At the lower redox limit of Fe 2/SFe 0.09 about 99 of the Mn 4/Mn 3 is converted to Mn 2. Therefore, the lower REDOX limit eliminates melter foaming from deoxygenation. Organic and nitrate concentrations in the DWPF melter feed are the major parameters influencing melt REDOX. Organics such as formates act as reductants while nitrates, nitrites, and manganic (Mn 4 and Mn 3) species act as oxidants. During melting, the REDOX of the melt pool …

The laboratory conditions under which synthetic uranyl silicates are made are almost identical to SRS evaporator conditions,with the exception of differences in sodium ion concentration. Synthetic uranyl silicates have been made only under low sodium ion concentration (less than 0.02 M), while attempts to synthesize uranyl silicates in this study in the presence of high sodium ion concentration (5.6 M), which are typical of SRS evaporators have proved unfruitful. In the presence of soluble silica and uranyl ion, uranyl silicates (sodium weeksite, sodium boltwoodite and uranophane) have been synthesized at moderately low to high pH in temperature ranges of 80-150 degrees C and at less than 0.02 M sodium ion ion concentration in the reaction mixtures. However, in the presence of high sodium ion concentration the main product distribution for the same soluble silica-uranium reaction mixture shifts towards the formation of clarkeite, a hydrated sodium uranate and not towards the formation of uranyl silicates. There is a threshold sodium ion concentration requirement above which uranyl silicates are not formed under laboratory conditions that are quite similar to SRS evaporator conditions. This threshold sodium ion concentration, which is yet to be determined, may be influenced by the sodium-to-uranium ratio in a …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State requested $415 million to fund programs in the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR) appropriations account for fiscal year 2005. Interest has been expressed in learning about whether programs are being implemented in accord with the law, and in the extent to which programs use experts hired on a contractual basis. GAO was asked to determine (1) the legal authorizations for the programs and the extent to which programs are implemented in accord with these authorizations and (2) the extent to which program management and implementation use outside experts."

During the third semi-annual period we have mostly finished a series of QM calculations on relevant metals (Pt, Zr, Y, Ba), metal alloys (Y/Zr), metal oxides (ZrO{sub 2}, Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}, BaO) and Y-doped BaZrO{sub 3}. Based on these data we started developing ReaxFF for further MD simulations of different physico-chemical processes in the electrolyte and at the electrode/electrolyte interface. To accelerate the densification process of BaZrO{sub 3} ceramics at lower temperature an initial screening of all transition elements in the series Sc to Zn has been carried out. It turned out that NiO, CuO and ZnO are the most effective additives for enhancing barium zirconate densification. Characterization (X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and impedance spectroscopy) of Zn-, Cu- and Ni-modified BYZ has been performed. The temperature dependence of the bulk conductivity {sigma}{sub gi}, grain boundary conductivity {sigma}{sub gb}, and specific grain boundary conductivity {sigma}{sub sp.gb} were measured. The bulk conductivity of BYZ-Zn4 is slightly lower than that of unmodified BYZ.

Working within the context of the Southern States Biobased Alliance (SSBA) and with officials in each state, the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) is identifying bioenergy-related policies and programs within each state to determine their impact on the development, deployment or use of bioenergy. In addition, SSEB will determine which policies have impacted industry's efforts to develop, deploy or use biobased technologies or products. As a result, SSEB will work with the Southern States Biobased Alliance to determine how policy changes might address any negative impacts or enhance positive impacts.

Results of tests of drum-type RAM packages employing conventional clamp-ring closures have caused concern over the DOT 6M Specification Package. To clarify these issues, a series of tests were performed to determine the response of the clamp-ring closure to the regulatory Hypothetical Accident Condition (9m) drop tests, for packages at maximum allowable weight. Three enhanced closure designs were also tested: the Clamshell, plywood disk reinforcement, and J-Clip. The results of the tests showed that the standard closure was unable to retain the top for both Center-of-Gravity-Over-Corner and Shallow Angle cases, for the standard package, at its maximum allowed weight. Similar results were found for packages dropped from a reduced height. The Clamshell design provided the best performance of the enhanced closures. It was concluded that the closure ring design employed on the 6M is inadequate to retain the top during the regulatory test sequence, for packages at the maximum allowed weight. For large heavy packages, the Center-of-Gravity- Over-Corner case is more challenging than the Shallow Angle case. The Clamshell design securely retained the top for all HAC test cases, and prevented formation of any opening which could compromise fire test performance.

Testing of 6M specification packages, performed in response to concerns over the integrity of the clamp-ring closure, showed that the clamp-ring was unable to retain the top in thirty foot drop tests of packages having the maximum allowed weight (290 kg or 640 lb). To determine if the clamp-ring closure was adequate for packages with lower contents weight, a series of tests were performed on packages weighing 147 kg (325 lb) at a range of impact angles. The results showed that the standard clamp-ring closure was unable to retain the top in tests of standard 6M packages weighing 147 kg (325 lb). A test employing a plywood disk enhanced closure with impact at 6.5 degrees retained its top successfully.

High Level Waste samples contain elevated concentrations of radioactive cesium requiring marked dilution of the waste to facilitate handling in non-shielded facilities. The authors developed a sample treatment protocol, using ammonium molybdophosphate (AMP) to remove sufficient cesium to allow handling of the samples with minimal dilution. The sample treatment protocol includes the following steps: pH adjust the sample to the range of 0.01 to 1.0 M acidity; mix 30 mL of acidified sample with 40-60 mg of AMP; cap and shake the mixture for 30-60 seconds; filter AMP from the liquid using 0.45 PTFE syringe filters; and send filtrate directly forward for analysis. To develop the method, SRTC performed a series of tests with three different salt solutions designed to determine the propensity of ammonium molybdophosphate (AMP) to bind some of the common analytes such as the actinides (Pu, Am, Np, U), strontium, or the metals (Ag, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Se) regulated by the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). SRTC also examined relevant literature to summarize reported interactions between AMP and other elements.

In core-collapse supernovae, strong blast waves drive interfaces susceptible to Rayleigh-Taylor (RT), Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM), and Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instabilities. In addition, perturbation growth can result from material expansion in large-scale velocity gradients behind the shock front. Laser-driven experiments are designed to produce a strongly shocked interface whose evolution is a scaled version of the unstable hydrogen-helium interface in core-collapse supernovae such as SN 1987A. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop an understanding of the effect of hydrodynamic instabilities and the resulting transition to turbulence on supernovae observables that remain as yet unexplained. In this paper, we summarize recent results from our computational study of unstable systems driven by high Mach number shock and blast waves. For planar multimode systems, compressibility effects preclude the emergence of a regime of self-similar instability growth independent of the initial conditions (IC's) by allowing for memory of the initial conditions to be retained in the mix-width at all times. With higher-dimensional blast waves, divergence restores the properties necessary for establishment of the self-similar state, but achieving it requires very high initial characteristic mode number and high Mach number for the incident blast wave. Initial conditions predicted by some recent stellar calculations are incompatible …

Preliminary tests have been completed to assess the corrosivity of an in-tank process to decompose cesium and potassium tetraphenylborate in Tank 48H. Testing was requested by the Tank 48 Closure Team to ''Perform a corrosion study to assess the effects of reduced pH solution on Tank 48 components''. The initial corrosion tests were in support of the Fenton's reagent process with ferric ion. A second set of tests was performed with tetraamido macrocylcic ligand in place of ferric ion. A task plan was approved prior to the start of the experiments, which prescribed short-term electrochemical testing to determine the corrosion susceptibility of carbon steel to simulated waste containing Fenton's reagent.

Switchable electrochromic (EC) windows have been projected to significantly reduce the energy use of buildings nationwide. This study quantifies the potential impact of electrochromic windows on US primary energy use in the commercial building sector and also provides a broader database of energy use and peak demand savings for perimeter zones than that given in previous LBNL simulation studies. The DOE-2.1E building simulation program was used to predict the annual energy use of a three-story prototypical commercial office building located in five US climates and 16 California climate zones. The energy performance of an electrochromic window controlled to maintain daylight illuminance at a prescribed setpoint level is compared to conventional and the best available commercial windows as well as windows defined by the ASHRAE 90.1-1999 and California Title 24-2005 Prescriptive Standards. Perimeter zone energy use and peak demand savings data by orientation, window size, and climate are given for windows with interior shading, attached shading, and horizon obstructions (to simulate an urban environment). Perimeter zone primary energy use is reduced by 10-20% in east, south, and west zones in most climates if the commercial building has a large window-to-wall area ratio of 0.60 compared to a spectrally selective low-e window …