Proposals for a two-year budget cycle have previously been reported in the Senate in 1988, 1990, 1994, and 1997. Another such proposal, S. 92, was reported by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on March 10, 1999 (S.Rept. 106-12). S. 92 calls for the House and Senate to use the first year of each Congress to consider a two-year budget resolution and two-year appropriation bills, and the second year to consider multiyear authorizations and conduct oversight. More recently, biennial budgeting has also been a topic of interest in the House where the Rules Committee conducted a series of hearings on February 16, March 10, and March 16, 2000.

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Terrorism Preparedness Act of 2000 (H.R. 4210), focusing on the new office it created to manage selected counterterrorist programs."

Radio frequency (rf) power is applied to the chuck of a high-density plasma reactor in order to extract ions and to control the energy of the ions used for the fabrication of microelectronic devices. In many cases, the temporal shape of the rf waveform largely determines the shape of the spectrum of those extracted ions, thereby strongly affecting feature evolution. Using auxiliary rf circuits the authors successfully made major changes to the rf potential waveform at the chuck of an Applied Materials 5300 HDP Omega reactor without affecting the normal functioning of the reactor's control systems. This work established the practical feasibility of techniques for modifying the ion energy distribution functions of industrial reactors.

In order to devise an algorithm for autonomously terminating Monte Carlo sampling when sufficiently small and reliable confidence intervals (CI) are achieved on calculated probabilities, the behavior of CI estimators must be characterized. This knowledge is also required in comparing the accuracy of other probability estimation techniques to Monte Carlo results. Based on 100 trials in a hypothesis test, estimated 95% CI from classical approximate CI theory are empirically examined to determine if they behave as true 95% CI over spectrums of probabilities (population proportions) ranging from 0.001 to 0.99 in a test problem. Tests are conducted for population sizes of 500 and 10,000 samples where applicable. Significant differences between true and estimated 95% CI are found to occur at probabilities between 0.1 and 0.9, such that estimated 95% CI can be rejected as not being true 95% CI at less than a 40% chance of incorrect rejection. With regard to Latin Hypercube sampling (LHS), though no general theory has been verified for accurately estimating LHS CI, recent numerical experiments on the test problem have found LHS to be conservatively over an order of magnitude more efficient than SRS for similar sized CI on probabilities ranging between 0.25 and 0.75. …

The effect of trench disposal of low-level wasteforms that were not analyzed in the original performance assessment for the E-Area low-level waste facility, but were analyzed in the revised performance assessment is evaluated. This evaluation was conducted to provide a bridge from the current waste acceptance criteria, which are based on the original performance assessment, to those that will be developed from the revised performance assessment. The conclusion of the evaluation is that any waste except for materials that would retain radionuclides more strongly than soil that meets the radionuclide concentration of package limits for trench burial based on the revised performance assessment, and presented in Table 1 of this document, is suitable for trench disposal; provided that, for cellulosic material the current 40 percent restriction is retained. Table 2 of this document lists materials acceptable for trench disposal.

The mission of the US Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) is to reduce the cost of Government by advancing energy efficiency, water conservation, and the use of solar and other renewable technologies. This is accomplished by creating partnerships, leveraging resources, transferring technology, and providing training and technical guidance and assistance to agencies. Each of these activities is directly related to achieving requirements set forth in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and the goals that have been established in Executive Order 13123 (June 1999), but also those that are inherent in sound management of Federal financial and personnel resources. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) supports the FEMP mission in all activity areas. This responsibility includes working with various Federal energy managers to identify, monitor, and evaluate the performance of new energy efficiency technologies suitable for installation at Federal sites. This report provides the results of a Energy Saving Performance Contracting (ESPC) Business Strategy Development project that PNNL conducted for FEMP. The project provides information regarding the development of Federal market scenarios for FEMP Super-ESPC delivery orders. Two market scenarios were developed. The initial scenario resulted in an estimated delivery order target that was much lower than …

Lack of technology for the production of large inexpensive feedstock, with uniform spherical primary phase throughout as required for semi-solid forming, has restricted realization of the full potential for the semi-solid forming process. Furthermore narrow process windows and alloy chemistry restrictions increase process costs and limit performance attributes possible with existing semi-metal systems. Successful semi-solid forming trials utilizing Chesapeake Composites Corporation's DSC{sup TM} Metals for feedstock indicate that this represents a generic approach to providing a permanent highly uniform, spherical solid phase, without electromagnetic or mechanical shearing. This approach also provides for further growth of semi-solid forming by providing for: low cost large diameter billet stock, reduced semi-solid forming costs, extension of semi-solid forming to new alloy systems, and semi-solid formed components with substantially enhanced physical and mechanical properties.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on software change controls at federal agencies, focusing on: (1) whether key controls as described in documented policies and procedures regarding software change authorization, testing, and approval comply with federal guidance; and (2) the extent to which agencies contracted for year 2000 remediation of mission-critical systems and the extent to which foreign nationals were involved in these efforts."

A well-known but unsolved issue among CAD (Computer-Aided Design) modelers is their inability to advance the representation of non-shape information beyond the confines of decorative annotations. Experts recognized that this issue is the missing piece toward achieving both true product modeling and toward satisfying advanced solid-based applications' requirement for an enhanced representation of meaningful non-shape attributes--particularly product tolerances. Feature-Based Tolerancing (FBTol) is an enabling component technology that augments solid-based systems with a complete and unambiguous representation of tolerances. No commercial CAD system on the market contains the capabilities that FM and T's (Federal Manufacturing and Technologies) FBTol technology provides. This project was needed to infuse additional quality into the design of manufacturable products. Ensuring the quality of tolerance designs before delivery of designs will avoid significant costs encountered if errors were to be found later in the product life cycle. The union of CADKEY and FBTol will aid in product design defect detection and provide downstream applications with explicit non-shape information.

Microbial degradation of organic matter is a driving force in many subsurface geochemical systems, and therefore may have significant impacts on the fate of radionuclides released into subsurface environments. In this paper, the authors present a general reaction-transport model for microbial metabolism, redox chemistry, and radionuclide migration in subsurface systems. The model explicitly accounts for biomass accumulation and the coupling of radionuclide redox reactions with major biogeochemical processes. Based on the consideration that the biomass accumulation in subsurface environments is likely to achieve a quasi-steady state, they have accordingly modified the traditional microbial growth kinetic equation. They justified the use of the biogeochemical models without the explicit representation of biomass accumulation, if the interest of modeling is in the net impact of microbial reactions on geochemical processes. They then applied their model to a scenario in which an oxic water flow containing both uranium and completing organic ligands is recharged into an oxic aquifer in a carbonate formation. The model simulation shows that uranium can be reduced and therefore immobilized in the anoxic zone created by microbial degradation.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the management reform efforts conducted by the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, formerly known as the National Performance Review (NPR)."

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Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed ways to improve the administration of the Medicare program, focusing on the: (1) issues the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) faces in administering the Medicare program; and (2) extent to which proposed reforms or alternative models might address these issues."

The polycubes stored at the Hanford Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) have been identified in a Vulnerability Assessment as material that requires a stabilization process in support of the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board Recommendation 94-1. The baseline plan involves a pyrolysis process to separate out the plutonium and uranium oxides before the remaining material is packaged for interim storage, in accordance with the Record of Decision (ROD), issued June 25, 1996, for the Plutonium Finishing Plant Stabilization Final Environmental Impact Statement, DOE/EIS-0244-F. The polycubes were manufactured at Hanford in the 1960s for use in criticality studies to determine the hydrogen-to-fissile atom ratios for neutron moderation. A mixture of plutonium and/or uranium oxides and a polystyrene (vinyl benzene) matrix, cast into the shape of cubes, the polycubes simulated solutions containing high concentrations of fissile materials. The polycubes varied in size, typically 1/2 x 2 x 2 in. up to 2 x 2 x 2 in., and were sealed with a coating of aluminum paint and/or tape (PVC or Shurtape). The estimated 1,600 polycubes (calculated 179,165 grams net weight) stored at PFP were packed in vented food cans with five to eight cubes per can to accommodate gas generation by radiolysis. Some …

Spatially Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (SRXRD) and Time Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (TRXRD) methods are being developed at LLNL for in-situ investigations of phase transformations in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of welds. In this region of the weld, severe temperature gradients, high peak temperatures and rapid thermal fluctuations occur as the heat source passes through the material. These non-isothermal temperature fluctuations produce HAZ microstructures that cannot be predicted by conventional methods. The unique synchrotron-based experiments being developed here will enable the determination of phase transformation kinetics under true non-isothermal welding conditions, and can be used to aid in the development of models to predict HAZ microstructural evolution under a wide range of welding conditions. Commercially pure titanium, stainless steel alloys and plain carbon steels are currently under investigation.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Questions relating to a conflict between the sheriff and commissioners court of Tarrant County with regard to their respective authority over budgetary matters.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a magistrate may require a bailable criminal defendant to satisfy a "split bond" (part personal bond, part bail bond backed by a surety), and related questions.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether an elected junior college trustee may simultaneously serve as a municipal judge.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether Randall County may be divided into fewer than four justice of the peace and constable precincts.

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