Report describing changes that affected the government budget for the 2001 fiscal year under the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

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A low-energy concrete house was designed using passive solar strategies to consume 70% less heating and cooling energy than a base case that conformed to the 1996 Home Energy Rating System (HERS) and the 1995 Model Energy Code (MEC). The performance of this house was then evaluated using computer simulations and measured data. The house, Tierra I, was monitored from July 22, 1996, through October 14, 1997. A Short Term Energy Monitoring (STEM) test was done November 19 to December 10, 1996. Computer simulations of the house were done using SUNREL, an updated version of the hourly data simulation package SERI-RES. The SUNREL model of the house was calibrated using both short- and long-term data. The house achieved energy savings of 56%, below the goal of 70%. The lower than expected savings resulted from problems with the window modeling. As a result, during the design phase the solar gains were overestimated causing an underestimate in the level of insulation necessary to achieve the savings goal. For very low-energy passive solar buildings, it is apparent that very accurate window modeling is required. It also became apparent that accurate ground models are required as well because ground-heat loss accounts for a significant …

Authentication is how we establish trust in monitoring systems and measurements to verify compliance with, for example, the storage of nuclear weapons material. Authentication helps assure the monitoring party that accurate and reliable information is provided by any measurement system and that any irregularities are detected. The U.S. is developing its point of view on the procedures for authentication of monitoring systems now planned or contemplated for arms reduction and control applications. The authentication of a system utilizes a set of approaches, including: functional testing using trusted calibration sources, evaluation of documentation, evaluation of software, evaluation of hardware, random selection of hardware and software, tamper-indicating devices, and operational procedures. Authentication of measurement systems should occur throughout their lifecycles, starting with the elements of design, and moving to off-site authentication, on-siste authentication, and continuing with authentication following repair. The most important of these is the initial design of systems. Hardware and software design criteria and procurement decisions can make future authentication relatively straightforward or conversely very difficult. Facility decisions can likewise ease the procedures for authentication since reliable and effective monitoring systems and tampering indicating devices can help provide the assurance needed in the integrity of such items as measurement systems, …

Electric motor systems are widely used in China to power fans, pumps, blowers, air compressors, refrigeration compressors, conveyers, machinery, and many other types of equipment. Overall, electric motor systems consume more than 600 billion kWh annually, accounting for more than 50 percent of China's electricity use. There are large opportunities to improve the efficiency of motor systems. Electric motors in China are approximately 2-4 percent less efficient on average than motors in the U.S. and Canada. Fans and pumps in China are approximately 3-5 percent less efficient than in developed countries. Even more importantly, motors, fans, pumps, air compressors and other motor-driven equipment are frequently applied with little attention to system efficiency. More optimized design, including appropriate sizing and use of speed control strategies, can reduce energy use by 20 percent or more in many applications. Unfortunately, few Chinese enterprises use or even know about these energy-saving practices. Opportunities for motor system improvements are probably greater in China than in the U.S. In order to begin capturing these savings, China is establishing a China Motor Systems Energy Conservation Program. Elements of this program include work to develop minimum efficiency standards for motors, a voluntary ''green motor'' labeling program for high-efficiency …

A commonly used approach for modeling water flow in unsaturated fractured rocks is the continuum approach, in which the constitutive relation models originally developed for porous media have often been borrowed to represent constitutive relations for the fracture continuum. While these models have been successfully used for soils and other porous media, their usefulness and limitations have not been investigated for the fracture continuum. The objective of this study is to present an evaluation of the commonly used van Genuchten and Brooks-Corey models and to develop improved constitutive relation models based on the evaluation results.

CYP1B1 expression in non-tumor breast tissue from breast cancer patients and cancer-free individuals was determined to test the hypothesis that high CYP1B1 expression is a risk factor for breast cancer. Large interindividual variations in CYP1B1 expression were found with CYP1B1 levels notably higher in breast cancer patients than cancer-free individuals. The results indicate that CYP1B1 might play a role in breast cancer either through increased PAH activation or through metabolism of endogenous estrogen to a carcinogenic derivative.

The DO Detector at Fermilab is currently undergoing an extensive upgrade to participate in the Run II data taking which shall begin on March 1, 2001. The design of the detector meets the requirements of the high luminosity environment provided by the accelerator. This paper describes the upgraded detector subsystems and gives a brief outline of the physics prospects associated with the upgrade.

Significant work has been done by the investigators on the cerium oxide-copper oxide based sorbent/catalysts for the combined removal of sulfur and nitrogen oxides from the flue gases of stationary sources. A relatively wide temperature window was established for the use of alumina-supported cerium oxide-copper oxide mixtures as regenerable sorbents for SO{sub 2} removal. Preliminary evaluation of these sorbents as catalysts for the selective reduction of NO{sub x} gave promising results with ammonia, but indicated low selectivity when methane was used as the reductant. Since the replacement of ammonia by another reductant is commercially very attractive, in this project, four research components will be undertaken. The investigation of the reaction mechanism, the first component, will help in the selection of promoters to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity of the sorbents in the SCR with methane. This will result in new catalyst formulations (second component). If this research is successful, the combined SO{sub 2}-NO{sub x} removal process based on alumina-supported copper oxide-ceria sorbent/catalysts will become very attractive for commercial applications. The objective of the third component of the project is to develop an alternative SCR process using another inexpensive fuel, residual fuel oil, instead of natural gas. This innovative proposal …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in conjunction with the U.S. wind industry, is supporting the development and commercialization of utility-grade wind turbines. Under the Certification Program, the DOE, through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will assist the U.S. industry in obtaining American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA)-type certification for their class of wind turbine. As part of the Certification Program, NREL is conducting a suite of certification tests that are specified by the International Electro-technical Commission standards. One emerging certification requirement is to characterize the dynamic behavior of the wind turbine's operation. Therefore, the purpose of the dynamic characterization tests is to document the wind turbine's fundamental dynamic characteristics under critical operational modes and fault conditions in light of turbine design specifications. Some of the dynamic characteristics that we determine from testing include the conformation of fundamental structural vibration frequencies and the system's dynamic response to typical rated and extreme modes of operation. This paper discusses NREL's approach in designing and implementing a dynamic characterization test for commercial wind turbines. One important objective of the dynamic characterization test is to provide a Certification Agent with test data to show that the wind turbine's mechanical equipment is operating within …

This project will study electrochemical processes for the in situ treatment of soils contaminated by mixed wastes, i.e., organic and inorganic. Soil samples collected form selected DOE waste sites will be characterized for specific organic and metal contaminants and hydraulic permeability. The soil samples are then subject to desorption experiments under various physical-chemical conditions such as pH and the presence of surfactants. Batch electro-osmosis experiments will be conducted to study the transport of contaminants in the soil-water systems. Organic contaminants that are released from the soil substrate will be treated by an advanced oxidation process, i.e., electron-Fantan. Finally, laboratory reactor integrating the elector-osmosis and elector-Fantan processes will be used to study the treatment of contaminated soil in situ.

The changes in the patterns of energy use and expenditures by population group are analyzed by using the 1993 and 1997 Residential Energy Consumption Surveys. Historically, these patterns have differed among non-Hispanic White households, non-Hispanic Black households, and Hispanic households. Patterns of energy use and expenditures are influenced by geographic and metropolitan location, the composition of housing stock, economic and demographic status, and the composition of energy use by end-use category. As a consequence, as energy-related factors change across groups, patterns of energy use and expenditures also change. Over time, with changes in the composition of these factors by population group and their variable influences on energy use, the impact on energy use and expenditures has varied across these population groups.

Single solid-state devices or arrays of solid-state devices are being incorporated into many pulsed power applications as a means of generating fast, high-power, high repetition-rate pulses and ultimately replacing hard tubes and thyratrons. While vendors' data sheets provide a starting point for selecting solid-state devices, most data sheets do not have sufficient information to determine performance in a pulsed application. To obtain this relevant information, MOSFET's and IGBT's from a number of vendors have been tested to determine rise times, fall times and current handling capabilities. The emphasis is on the evaluation of devices that can perform in the range of 100ns pulse widths and the test devices must be capable of switching 1000 volts or greater at a pulsed current of at least 25 amperes. Additionally, some devices were retest with a series magnetic switch to evaluate the effects on switching parameters and specifically rise times. All devices were evaluated under identical conditions and the complete test results are presented.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States and several major trading partners created the Missile Technology Control Regime in 1987 to control the spread of missile technology. To carry out the U.S. commitment to the agreement, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1991, which amended two U.S. export control statutes: the Export Administration Act and the Arms Export Control Act. Two federal agencies, the Department of Commerce and the Department of State, are responsible for implementing the regulations for controlling missile technology exports. This report discusses whether the regulations for controlling the export of Missile Technology Control Regime items (1) are consistent with U.S. law and (2) provide a consistent U.S. policy on the control of missile technology. GAO found that Commerce's export regulations are inconsistent with an amendment to the Export Administration Act that requires an individual export license for all controlled dual-use missile equipment and technology to all countries. Commerce's regulations do not require licenses for the export of controlled missile equipment and technology to Canada. Commerce did not cite any section of this statute or its legislative history to justify the inconsistency between …

The spiral performed well in cleaning the coarse 8 x 16 mesh size fraction, as demonstrated by the Ep ranging from 0.091 to 0.177. This is in line with typical spiral performance. In addition, the presence of the coarser size fraction did not significantly affect spiral performance on the typical 16 x 100 mesh fraction, in which the Ep ranged from 0.144 to 0.250. Changes in solids concentration and flow rate did not show a clear correlation with spiral performance. However, for difficult-to-clean coals with high near-gravity material, such as this anthracite, a single-stage spiral cleaning such a wide size fraction may not be able to achieve the clean coal ash and yield specifications required. In the first place, while the performance of the spiral on the coarse 8 x 16 mesh fraction is good with regard to Ep, the cutpoints (SG50s) are high (1.87 to 1.92), which may result in a clean coal with a higher-than-desired ash content. And second, the combination of the spiral's higher overall cutpoint (1.80) with the high near-gravity anthracite results in significant misplaced material that increases the clean coal ash error. In a case such as this, one solution may be to reclean the …

Western Research Institute (WRI) is commercializing Diesel Dog Portable Soil Test Kits for performing analysis of fuel-contaminated soils in the field. The technology consists of a method developed by WRI (U.S. Patents 5,561,065 and 5,976,883) and hardware developed by WRI that allows the method to be performed in the field (patent pending). The method is very simple and does not require the use of highly toxic reagents. The aromatic components in a soil extract are measured by absorption at 254 nm with a field-portable photometer. WRI added significant value to the technology by taking the method through the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) approval and validation processes. The method is designated ASTM Method D-5831-96, Standard Test Method for Screening Fuels in Soils. This ASTM designation allows the method to be used for federal compliance activities. In FY 99, twenty-five preproduction kits were successfully constructed in cooperation with CF Electronics, Inc., of Laramie, Wyoming. The kit components work well and the kits are fully operational. In the calendar year 2000, kits were provided to the following entities who agreed to participate as FY 99 and FY 00 JSR (Jointly Sponsored Research) cosponsors and use the kits as opportunities arose …

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A novel mechanism that directly transfers energy from Super-Alfvenic energetic ions to thermal ions in high-beta plasmas is described. The mechanism involves the excitation of compressional Alfvin eigenmodes (CAEs) in the frequency range with omega less than or approximately equal to omega(subscript ci). The broadband turbulence resulting from the large number of excited modes causes stochastic diffusion in velocity space, which transfers wave energy to thermal ions. This effect may be important on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), and may scale up to reactor scenarios. This has important implications for low aspect ratio reactor concepts, since it potentially allows for the modification of the ignition criterion.

This report discusses the Court's mandatory arbitration cases, as well as varying decisions of the U.S. circuit courts of appeals that have interpreted the Court's opinions. In addition, the report reviews legislative attempts to amend federal civil rights statutes to preclude compulsory arbitration agreements.

Wavelet Analysis provides an orthogonal basis set which is localized in both the physical space and the Fourier transform space. We present here a domain decomposition method that uses wavelet analysis to maintain roughly uniform error throughout the computation domain while keeping the computational work balanced in a parallel computing environment.

In 1996, the US Department of Energy s Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) Motor Challenge program began a unique collaboration with industry called the Allied Partner program. Partnerships were sought with equipment suppliers and manufacturers, utilities, consultants, and state agencies that had extensive existing relationships with industrial customers. Partners were neither paid nor charged a fee for participation. The assumption was that these relationships could serve as the foundation for conveying a motor system efficiency message to many more industrial facilities than could be reached through a typical government-to-end-user program model. A substantial effort was made to engage industrial suppliers in delivering program information as part of their customer interactions. A recent independent evaluation of the Motor Challenge program attributes $16.9 million or nearly 67 percent of the total annual program energy savings to the efforts of Allied Partners in the first three years of operation.In 1997, the Compressed Air Challenge(R) (CAC) was developed as an outgrowth of the partnership concept. In this model, OIT is one of 15 sponsors who collaborated to create a national program of compressed air system training. The CAC has gone a step further by setting up a development and deployment model based on shared …

The Steven Test was developed to determine relative impact sensitivity of metal encased solid high explosives and also be amenable to two-dimensional modeling. Low level reaction thresholds occur at impact velocities below those required for shock initiation. To assist in understanding this test, multi-dimensional gauge techniques utilizing carbon foil and carbon resistor gauges were used to measure pressure and event times. Carbon resistor gauges indicated late time low level reactions 200-540 {micro}s after projectile impact, creating 0.39-2.00 kb peak shocks centered in PBX 9501 explosives discs and a 0.60 kb peak shock in a LX-04 disk. Steven Test modeling results, based on ignition and growth criteria, are presented for two PBX 9501 scenarios: one with projectile impact velocity just under threshold (51 m/s) and one with projectile impact velocity just over threshold (55 m/s). Modeling results are presented and compared to experimental data.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Increasing the housing allowance should help satisfy servicemembers' demand for civilian housing. Of those servicemembers who receive an allowance or live in military housing, about 72 percent said that they would prefer civilian housing if the costs were the same, but only about two-thirds now live in civilian housing. Thus, if military members' housing preferences were satisfied, thousands of additional personnel would be in civilian housing instead of military housing. As the Department of Defense (DOD) increases the housing allowance during the next five years, the overall demand for civilian housing should increase, while the demand for military housing should decline. As a result, DOD should be in a better position to implement its stated policy of relying on the private sector first for housing. DOD cannot expect a substantial increase in retention solely as a result of higher housing allowances. Together, housing and housing allowances were cited by less than one percent of those surveyed as reasons for leaving the military. Overall, of those living in military housing, more were satisfied than dissatisfied. Of those living in civilian housing, a high proportion were satisfied with …