Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Former Members of Congress for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with general accounting principles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO audited the financial statements of the Capitol Preservation Fund for fiscal years 2001 and 2000. GAO found that the financial statements (1) were presented fairly in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, (2) contained no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations, and (3) complied with the provisions of laws and regulations tested."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1999, the Army announced its plans to transform its forces during the next 30 years to enable them to deploy more rapidly and operate more effectively during all types of military conflicts, from small-scale contingencies to major wars. The Army's goal is to be able to deploy a brigade anywhere in the world within 96 hours, a division within 120 hours, and five divisions within 30 days. The first step is to form and equip six interim brigade combat teams by 2008. Created to fill a gap in military capability, the teams are intended to be a lethal and survivable deterrent force that can be rapidly deployed around the world. The commanders in chief envision different uses for the teams according to the unique requirements of their respective regions. However, they generally agree that the teams should provide them with a broader choice of capabilities to meet their operational needs. The Army faces many challenges in assembling its first team. For example, some planned combat capabilities will not be present when the team is certified for deployment next year. In addition, the interim armored vehicle …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The accounting profession maintains a voluntary, self-regulatory system through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that includes establishing professional standards, monitoring compliance with professional standards, disciplining members for improper acts and substandard performance, and conducting oversight. The Panel of Audit Effectiveness, set up to examine the AICPA's methods, made recommendations to enhance the accounting profession's self-regulatory system. Implementing actions taken or in process have addressed many of the Panel's recommendations. However, the Panel's recommendations did not fully address the limitations of the self-regulatory system identified in its report. Also, some of the Panel's recommendations were either not accepted or are still under study. Additional experience is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken or planned. However, the system is fragmented, uncoordinated, and has a disciplinary function that is widely perceived to be ineffective. The self-regulatory system is unable to protect the confidentiality of investigative information about alleged audit failures or other disciplinary matters concerning members of the profession. The lack of such protective powers hinders the timing of investigations and affects the public's perception of the self-regulatory system's effectiveness. The Panel recognized the …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Non Commissioned Officers Association of the United States of America, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with general accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Naval Sea Cadet Corps for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the National Academy of Public Administration for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Tropical Botanical Garden for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To protect the Great Lakes and to address common water quality problems, the United States and Canada entered into the bilateral Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972. The agreement has been amended several times, most recently in 1987. That year, the two countries agreed to cooperate with state and provincial governments to develop and implement remedial action plans (RAPs) for designated areas in the Great Lakes Basin--areas contaminated, for example, by toxic substances. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leads the effort to meet the goals of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which include RAP development and implementation. As of April 2002, all of the 26 contaminated areas in the Great Lakes Basin that the United States is responsible for have completed the first stage of the RAP process; however, only half have completed the second stage. Even though EPA has been charged with leading the effort to meet the goals of the agreement, it has not clearly delineated responsibility for oversight of RAPs within the agency, and, citing resource constraints and the need to tend to other Great Lakes priorities, reduced its staff and …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with general accounting principles."

A swift ion creates a track of electronic excitations in the target material. A net repulsion inside the track can cause a ''Coulomb Explosion'', which can lead to damage and sputtering of the material. Here we report results from molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of Coulomb explosion for a cylindrical track as a function of charge density and neutralization/quenching time, {tau}. Screening by the free electrons is accounted for using a screened Coulomb potential for the interaction among charges. The yield exhibits a prompt component from the track core and a component, which dominates at higher excitation density, from the heated region produced. For the cases studied, the number of atoms ejected per incident ion, i.e. the sputtering yield Y, is quadratic with charge density along the track as suggested by simple models. Y({tau} = 0.2 Debye periods) is nearly 20% of the yield when there is no neutralization ({tau} {yields} {infinity}). The connections between ''Coulomb explosions'', thermal spikes and measurements of electronic sputtering are discussed.

Solute segregation to ceramic grain boundaries governs material processing and microstructure evolution, and can strongly influence material properties critical to engineering performance. Understanding the evolution and implications of grain boundary chemistry is a vital component in the greater effort to engineer ceramics with controlled microstructures. This study examines solute segregation to engineered grain boundaries in titanium-doped sapphire (Al2O3) bicrystals, and explores relationships between grain boundary structure and chemistry at the nanometer scale using spectroscopic and imaging techniques in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results demonstrate dramatic changes in solute segregation stemming from small fluctuations in grain boundary plane and structure. Titanium and silicon solute species exhibit strong tendencies to segregate to non-basal and basal grain boundary planes, respectively. Evidence suggests that grain boundary faceting occurs in low-angle twis t boundaries to accommodate nonequilibrium solute segregation related to slow specimen cooling rates, while faceting of tilt grain boundaries often occurs to expose special planes of the coincidence site lattice (CSL). Moreover, quantitative analysis of grain boundary chemistry indicates preferential segregation of charged defects to grain boundary dislocations. These results offer direct proof that static dislocations in ionic materials can assume a net charge, and emphasize the importance of interactions between charged …

Molecular, phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), and substrate utilization (BIOLOG) techniques were used to assess structural and functional differences between microbial communities from a chlorinated-ethene (CE)-contaminated groundwater at a sanitary landfill. The information will be used to evaluate natural attenuation of the associated CE plume. Two groundwater-monitoring wells were tested.

As part of the High Performance Commercial Building Systems program, LBNL has been working with the City of Oakland to understand the ongoing performance of the Oakland Administration Buildings. The primary objective of this research is to understand the performance targets and ongoing performance of two buildings that were the subject of a new construction performance contract. Secondary objectives include examining the building performance information systems developed as part of the new construction performance contract and evaluating the role of the energy management and control system (EMCS) as a data acquisition tool to provide recommendations for future new construction projects. We examine the results of the performance contract in detail, and provide additional performance metrics that go beyond what was required in the performance contract. We found that the energy cost intensities (ECI) linked to the project ranged from $1.08/ft{sup 2} to $1.44/ft{sup 2}. Changes in floor area, energy costs, rate schedules, and energy use complicate the evaluation of the performance because of the lack of tracking of underlying data and assumptions. Overall, Oakland has two large office buildings with relatively low-energy use (50 kBtu/ft{sup 2}-yr site electricity and gas use). We compare this energy-use intensity with a number of …

The chamber walls in inertial fusion energy (IFE) reactors are exposed to harsh conditions following each target implosion. Key issues of the cyclic IFE operation include intense photon and ion deposition, wall thermal and hydrodynamic evolution, wall erosion and fatigue lifetime, and chamber clearing and evacuation to ensure chamber conditions prior to target implosion. Several methods for wall protection have been proposed in the past, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. These methods include bare walls, gas-filled cavities, and liquid walls/jets. We have developed detailed models for reflected laser light, emitted photon, and target debris deposition and interaction with chamber components and implemented them in the comprehensive HEIGHTS software package. The hydrodynamic response of gas-filled cavities and photon radiation transport of the deposited energy has been calculated using new and advanced numerical techniques. Fragmentation models of liquid jets as a result of the deposited energy have also been developed, and the impact on chamber clearing dynamics has been evaluated. The focus of this study is to critically assess the reliability and the dynamic response of chamber walls in various proposed protection methods in IFE systems. Of particular concern is the effect on wall erosion lifetime of various erosion mechanisms, …

At present, the contacts generally used for lithium-drifted silicon detectors consist of a diffused lithium layer (n-type) and a gold surface barrier (p-type). These contacts work well for unsegmented detectors. However, they both have disadvantages if used for segmented detectors. For this reason, we are developing new types of contacts that will be more robust and easier to segment. To replace the lithium n-type contact, we are using a thin layer of amorphous silicon (a-Si) with metalization on top. The new p-type contact consists of boron implanted into the silicon and annealed at the relatively low temperature of 500 degrees C. The implantation and annealing is carried out as the first step in the process, prior to lithium drifting. Detectors have been fabricated using the new contacts both with and without a guard ring. They performed as well as detectors with standard contacts at operating temperatures between 80K and 240K. We will present data on the leakage current vs. temperature, isolation resistance between the guard ring and the center contact versus temperature and bias voltage, electronic noise and energy resolution versus temperature, as well as 57Co spectra.

This paper presents enhanced remote manipulation of tools for D&D tasks by extending teleoperation with teleautonomy and tele-collaboration. This work builds on a reactive, agent-based control architecture, which is well suited to unstructured and unpredictable environments, and cobot control technology, which implements a virtual fixture that can be used to guide the application of tools with passive force-feedback control. Developed methodologies are tested using simulation, and then planned to be implemented using a structured light sensor and cobot hand controller on a dual-arm system to measure the enhanced performance of key tool operations that are tedious and difficult to perform purely by teleoperation. This work significantly leverages some 2000 hours of operational experience gained during the D&D of the CP-5 reactor at ANL using a dual-arm remote manipulator system, as well as DOE's investment in the dual-arm system itself, which will serve as a test bed for the proposed investigations.

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 "Prescription drug diversion is the channeling of pharmaceuticals for illegal purposes or abuse. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), increased prescription drug abuse and emergency room admissions, as well as the theft and illegal resale of prescription drugs, indicate that drug diversion is a growing problem associated with addiction, overdose, and death. All 15 state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) collect information about the prescribing, dispensing, and use of prescription drugs and distribute it to medical practitioners, pharmacies, and state law enforcement and regulatory agencies. However, the programs differ in terms of objectives, design, and operations. In addition to helping law enforcement identify and prevent prescription drug diversion, program objectives also include education of the public, physicians, and pharmacists about the nature and extent of the problem, and medical treatment options for abusers of diverted drugs. The programs' designs vary by specific drugs covered and by the type of state agency in which they are housed. Some programs use the prescription data proactively to identify trends or patterns of use and to respond to law enforcement requests. Others use it only to respond to requests. …

The character file formats for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory evaluated atomic relaxation library (EADL), the electron library (EEDL), and the photon library (EPDL) are given in this report.

The results of 2D fluid plasma simulations of the ion flow in the boundary plasma of DIII-D, JET, and JT-60U are reported. The model includes the effects of drifts and of impurity radiation using a multi-species model of intrinsic carbon impurities. Drift effects are important in determining the primary and impurity ion fluxes in the SOL and the private region, with ExB drifts dominant. Simulated parallel velocities are consistent with experimental measurement on the high field side of JT-60U, where the parallel flow is determined by ion sources. Simulated parallel velocities are significantly less than seen in experiment at the outer midplane of JT-60U, and at the top of JET where the flow is sensitive to poloidal variations of the turbulence driven transport, suggesting the velocity in these regions is determined by transport. Parallel flows are reversed by changing the direction of the ion VB drift relative to the X-point.

Hanford K Basin sludge contains metallic uranium and uranium oxides that will corrode, hydrate, and, consequently, generate heat and hydrogen gas during storage. Heat is generated within the K Basin sludge by radiolytic decay and the reaction of uranium metal with water. To maintain thermal stability, the sludge must be retrieved, staged, transported, and stored in systems designed to provide a rate of heat removal that prevents the temperature in the sludge from increasing beyond acceptable limits. To support the dispositioning of the sludge to T Plant, modeling and testing and analyses are being performed to predict the behavior of sludge when placed into the storage containers. Two physical properties of the sludge that are critical to the modeling and analyses efforts are thermal conductivity and the sludge shear strength (yield stress). This report provides the results of thermal conductivity and shear strength measurements performed on representative sludge samples from the K East Basin.

This report is a summary and comparison of the selected proposals, which includes a discussion of the constitutional basis that might be claimed or challenged with respect to the federal crimes they create.