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Report covering support to Russia to support a transition to democracy and free market economics in the states of the former Soviet Union (FSU).Tthe United States, since December 1991, has offered roughly $8.2 billion in grants for economic and technical assistance to the region. Most of the grant assistance has been provided through the Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition, $4.8 billion has been provided in food aid through the Department of Agriculture, and $2.9 billion by the Department of Defense for nonproliferation purposes. The United States has also subsidized guarantees for more than $12 billion in credits from the Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Department of Agriculture. In its FY2003 budget request, the Administration proposed funding the former Soviet Union account at $755 million, a decrease of $29 million, or 4%, from the FY2002 appropriated level of $784.

The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.

We present a measurement of the rate of distant Type Ia supernovae derived using 4 large subsets of data from the Supernova Cosmology Project. Within this fiducial sample,which surveyed about 12 square degrees, thirty-eight supernovae were detected at redshifts 0.25--0.85. In a spatially flat cosmological model consistent with the results obtained by the Supernova Cosmology Project, we derive a rest-frame Type Ia supernova rate at a mean red shift z {approx_equal} 0.55 of 1.53 {sub -0.25}{sub -0.31}{sup 0.28}{sup 0.32} x 10{sup -4} h{sup 3} Mpc{sup -3} yr{sup -1} or 0.58{sub -0.09}{sub -0.09}{sup +0.10}{sup +0.10} h{sup 2} SNu(1 SNu = 1 supernova per century per 10{sup 10} L{sub B}sun), where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second includes systematic effects. The dependence of the rate on the assumed cosmological parameters is studied and the redshift dependence of the rate per unit comoving volume is contrasted with local estimates in the context of possible cosmic star formation histories and progenitor models.

A series of tests were performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to evaluate and characterize the radiological response of a ''Cricket'' radiation detection system. The ''Cricket'' is manufactured by RAD/COMM Systems Corp., which is located in Ontario, Canada. The system is designed to detect radioactive material that may be contained in scrap metal. The Cricket's detection unit is mounted to the base of a grappler and monitors material, while the grappler's tines hold the material. It can also be used to scan material in an attempt to isolate radioactive material if an alarm occurs. Testing was performed at the Environmental Effects Laboratory located at ORNL and operated by the Engineering Science and Technology Division. Tests performed included the following: (1) Background stability, (2) Energy response using {sup 241}Am, {sup 137}Cs, and {sup 60}Co, (3) Surface uniformity, (4) Angular dependence, (5) Alarm actuation, (6) Alarm threshold vs. background, (7) Shielding, (8) Response to {sup 235}U, (9) Response to neutrons using unmoderated {sup 252}Cf, and (10) Response to transient radiation. This report presents a summary of the test results. Background measurements were obtained prior to the performance of each individual test.

We consider beams which are described by a 4D transverse distribution f(x,y,x{prime},y{prime}), where x{prime} {triple_bond} p{sub x}/p{sub z} and z is the axial coordinate. A two-slit scanner is commonly employed to measure, over a sequence of shots, a 2D projection of such a beam's phase space, e.g., f(x,x{prime}). Another scanner might yield f(y,y{prime}) or, using crossed slits, f(x,y). A small set of such 2D scans does not uniquely specify f(x,y,x{prime},y{prime}). We have developed ''tomographic'' techniques to synthesize a ''reasonable'' set of particles in a 4D phase space having 2D densities consistent with the experimental data. These techniques are described in a separate document [A. Friedman, et. al., submitted to Phys. Rev. ST-AB, 2002]. Here we briefly summarize one method and describe progress in validating it, using simulations of the High Current Experiment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

For the High Current Beam Transport Experiment (HCX) at LBNL, an injector is required to deliver up to 1.8 MV of 0.6 A K{sup +} beam with an emittance of {approx}1 p-mm-mrad. We have successfully operated a 10-cm diameter surface ionization source together with an electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ) accelerator to meet these requirements. The pulse length is {approx}4 {micro}s, firing at once every 10-15 seconds. By optimizing the extraction diode and the ESQ voltages, we have obtained an output beam with good current density uniformity, except for a small increase near the beam edge. Characterization of the beam emerging from the injector included measurements of the intensity profile, beam imaging, and transverse phase space. These data along with comparison to computer simulations provide the knowledge base for designing and understanding future HCX experiments.

A laboratory investigation was undertaken to determine the effect of microbe generated gas bubbles in controlled, saturated sediment columns utilizing a novel technique involving acoustic wave propagation. Specifically, the effect of denitrifying bacteria on saturated flow conditions was evaluated in light of the stimulated production of N{sub 2} gas and the resulting plugging of the pore throats. The propagation of high frequency acoustic waves through the sediment columns was used to locate those regions in the column where gas accumulation occurred. Over a period of six weeks, regions of gas accumulation resulted in the attenuation of acoustic wave energies with the decreases in amplitude typically greater than one order of magnitude.

The recent energy crisis in California has led us to investigate the high power RF systems at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) in order to decrease the energy consumption and power costs. We found the Storage Ring Klystron Power Amplifier system operating as designed but with significant power waste. A simple proportional-integrator (PI) analog loop, which controls the klystron collector beam current, as a function of the output RF power, has been designed and installed. The design considerations, besides efficiency improvement, were to interface to the existing system without major expense. They were to also avoid the klystron cathode power supply filter's resonance in the loop's dynamics, and prevent a conflict with the existing Cavity RF Amplitude Loop dynamics. This efficiency loop will allow us to save up to 700 MW-hours of electrical energy per year and increase the lifetime of the klystron.

[001] tilt grain boundaries were studied in bi-crystal samples of melt textured YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x}. Grain boundary critical current densities J{sub CB} were obtained from SQUID magnetization measurements on ring samples that contain the grain boundary. The dependence of J{sub CB} on oxygen stoichiometry and oxygen ordering were investigated and preliminary studies of grain boundary doping with selected cations, including Ca, Sr, and Bi were undertaken.

Technetium, as pertechnetate (TcO4 -), is a mobile species in the environment. This characteristic, along with its long half-life, (99Tc, t1/2 = 213,000 a) makes technetium a major contributor to the long-term hazard associated with low level waste (LLW) disposal. Technetium partitioning from the nuclear waste at DOE sites will be required so that the LLW forms meet DOE performance assessment criteria. Technetium separations assume that technetium exists as TcO4 - in the waste. However, years of thermal, chemical, and radiolytic digestion in the presence of organic material, has transformed much of the TcO4 - into unidentified, stable, reduced, technetium complexes. To successfully partition technetium from tank wastes, it will be necessary to either remove these technetium species with a new process, or reoxidize them to TcO4 - so that conventional pertechnetate separation schemes will be successful.

The field of relativistic heavy ion physics entered a new era with the start of the physics program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. This dedicated facility allows extensive studies of the nuclear matter phase diagram at the highest temperatures so far available in the laboratory. The goal of the program is to conclusively establish the existence of the deconfined state of nuclear matter predicted by QCD, the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), and study its properties.

Sixty-four scientists from universities, national laboratories, and other research institutions worldwide met to evaluate the feasibility and potential of the Biosphere2 Laboratory (B2L) as an inclusive multi-user scientific facility (i.e., a facility open to researchers from all institutions, according to agreed principles of access) for earth system studies and engineering research, education, and training relevant to the mission of the United States Department of Energy (DOE).

Government facilities and services are often the largest energy users and major purchasers of energy-using equipment within a country. In developing as well as industrial countries, government ''leadership by example'' can be a powerful force to shift the market toward energy efficiency, complementing other elements of a national energy efficiency strategy. Benefits from more efficient energy management in government facilities and operations include lower government energy bills, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, less demand on electric utility systems, and in many cases reduced dependence on imported oil. Even more significantly, the government sector's buying power and example to others can generate broader demand for energy-efficient products and services, creating entry markets for domestic suppliers and stimulating competition in providing high-efficiency products and services. Despite these benefits, with the exception of a few countries government sector actions have often lagged behind other energy efficiency policies. This is especially true in developing countries and transition economies - even though energy used by public agencies in these countries may represent at least as large a share of total energy use as the public sector in industrial economies. This paper summarizes work in progress to inventory current programs and policies for government sector energy efficiency …

Detailed analysis of the HOMO bandshape in the photoelectron spectrum of gaseous C60 reveals a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in the ground state of C60+. The direct observation of three tunneling states asserts a D3d geometry for the isolated cation, originating from a strong vibronic coupling. These results show that the ionic motion of the ions plays an important role in the electron-phonon interaction.