Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, run by the University of California, is building the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to simulate, in a laboratory setting, the thermonuclear conditions created in nuclear explosion. The facility will allow scientists to evaluate the behavior of nuclear weapons without explosive testing. This report reviews (1) the role of NIF in the Stockpile Stewardship Program; (2) the relationship of NIF to other Stockpile Stewardship Program elements; (3) the impact of delays in constructing NIF on the Stockpile Stewardship Program; (4) funds spent to date on the project so far; and (5) whether the new baseline has clear goals, adequate and sustainable funding, and achievable milestones. GAO found that NIF is expected to contribute to DOE's Stockpile Stewardship by attracting new scientists, supporting the stockpile's refurbishment, and supporting research to improve the understanding of weapons science. DOE has yet to certify that the completion of NIF will not harm the balance of the Stockpile Stewardship Program. Future delays in constructing NIF may adversely affect DOE's ability to conduct weapons science research. DOE has spent $1.3 billion on the NIF project through fiscal year 2000, plus …

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. defense industry and some U.S. and allied government officials have suggested in recent years that the U.S. export control process be reformed. Much of the debate on reforming the process has focused on the amount of time required to process an export license application. As a result, GAO analyzed the time it takes to process export license applications. GAO found that the average State Department license application review took 46 days, while the average Commerce Department review took 50 days. Several variables had an impact on the time it took to review applications. The commodity being exported most affected the time of application review in both Departments."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-02-171G, Property Management Systems Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, December 2001. This checklist reflects the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's Property Management Systems Requirements to assist (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their property management systems and (2) managers and auditors in reviewing agency property management systems to determine if they substantially comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act. This checklist is provided as a tool for use by experienced staff and is one in a series of documents issued by GAO to assist agencies in improving or maintaining effective operations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Friendly fire incidents, or fratricide, accounted for about 24 percent of U.S. fatalities during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Since then, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the military services have been working to find new ways to avoid friendly fire in joint and coalition operations. Preventing friendly fire is a complex and challenging endeavor. It encompasses the development of new technologies as well as new training, tactics, and warfighting techniques. It involves a range of equipment and systems that have historically not been able to effectively interact as well as various military operations. It is a concern among each of the services as well as U.S. allies. Clearly, it is essential to have a blueprint that ties together these elements and provides a comprehensive map for long-term improvements as well as a management framework that is strong enough to implement the blueprint. Although DOD has taken some concrete steps toward both ends, it needs to strengthen these efforts and ensure that they are supported by the services. Otherwise, it may continue to contend with problems leading to friendly fire incidents."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report summarizes the results of the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's activities and its future plans for improving financial management."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report is designed to present information about national saving--as measured in the National Income and Product Accounts--and its implications for economic growth and retirement security. GAO addresses the following questions: (1) what is personal saving, how is it related to national saving, and what are the implications of low personal saving for Americans' retirement security? (2) what is national saving and how does current saving in the United States compare to historical trends and saving in other countries? (3) how does national saving affect the economy and how would higher saving affect the long-term outlook? (4) how does federal fiscal policy affect national saving, what federal policies have been aimed at increasing private saving, and how would Social Security and Medicare reform affect national saving? and (5) what are the key issues in evaluating national saving?"

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program seeks to remedy the effects of current and past discrimination against small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged persons and to foster equal opportunity in transportation contracting. This report provides information on (1) important changes made to the program since 1999; (2) characteristics of DBEs and non-DBEs that receive DOT-assisted highway and transit contracts; (3) evidence of discrimination and other factors that may limit DBEs' ability to compete for DOT-assisted contracts; and (4) the programs impact on costs, competition, and job creation and the impact of discontinuing the federal and nonfederal DBE programs. GAO found that the program has changed significantly since DOT issued new regulations in 1999 in response to a 1995 Supreme Court decision that heightened standards for federal programs that use race or ethnicity as a criterion in decision-making. The new regulations overhauled the DBE goal-setting process. For example, states and transit authorities are no longer required to justify goals lower than 10 percent--the amount identified in the statutory DBE provision. Rather, goals are to be based on the number …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board's recent actions, meetings, and practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Customs Service's responsibilities include collecting revenue from imports and enforcing U.S. laws and regulations, preventing the smuggling of drugs into the United States, and overseeing export compliance and money laundering issues. Customs recently began a self-inspection program (SIP) to aid in its diverse responsibilities. This report discusses (1) SIP's use as a mechanism for oversight and accountability, (2) problems related to SIP implementation, and (3) improvements and refinements underway to enhance the value of the program. GAO found that SIP is a useful mechanism for managers to identify and correct problems at the local level and to obtain more control over activities that they oversee. Implementation problems included a lack of detailed instructions on how to complete self-inspection worksheets and inadequate worksheet review by responsible officials. Customs is trying to correct deficiencies in key internal control areas."

The prompt gamma-ray data of thermal- neutron captures fornuclear mass number A=26-35 had been evaluated and published in "ATOMICDATA AND NUCLEAR DATA TABLES, 26, 511 (1981)". Since that time themanyexperimental data of the thermal-neutron captures have been measuredand published. The update of the evaluated prompt gamma-ray data is verynecessary for use in PGAA of high-resolution analytical prompt gamma-rayspectroscopy. Besides, the evaluation is also very needed in theEvaluated Nuclear Structure Data File, ENSDF, because there are no promptgamma-ray data in ENSDF. The levels, prompt gamma-rays and decay schemesof thermal-neutron captures for nuclides (26Mg, 27Al, 28Si, 29Si, 30Si,31P, 32S, 33S, 34S, and 35Cl) with nuclear mass number A=26-35 have beenevaluated on the basis of all experimental data. The normalizationfactors, from which absolute prompt gamma-ray intensity can be obtained,and necessary comments are given in the text. The ENSDF format has beenadopted in this evaluation. The physical check (intensity balance andenergy balance) of evaluated thermal-neutron capture data has been done.The evaluated data have been put into Evaluated Nuclear Structure DataFile, ENSDF. This evaluation may be considered as an update of the promptgamma-ray from thermal-neutron capture data tables as published in"ATOMIC DATA AND NUCLEAR DATA TABLES, 26, 511 (1981)".

The thermodynamic characterization of the wax point of a given crude is essential in order to maintain flow conditions that prevent plugging of undersea pipelines. This report summarizes the efforts made towards applying an Acoustic Cavity Resonance Spectrometer (ACRS) to the determination of pressures and temperatures at which wax precipitates from crude. Phillips Petroleum Company, Inc., the CRADA participant, supplied the ACRS. The instrumentation was shipped to Dr. Thomas Schmidt of ORNL, the CRADA contractor, in May 2000 after preliminary software development performed under the guidance of Dr. Samuel Colgate and Dr. Evan House of the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl. Upon receipt it became apparent that a number of modifications still needed to be made before the ACRS could be precisely and safely used for wax point measurements. This report reviews the sequence of alterations made to the ACRS, as well as defines the possible applications of the instrumentation once the modifications have been completed. The purpose of this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Phillips Petroleum Company, Inc. (Participant) and Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation (Contractor) was the measurement of the formation of solids in crude oils and petroleum products that are commonly transported through pipelines. This …

Large distributed systems, such as computational grids,require a large amount of monitoring data be collected for a variety oftasks, such as fault detection, performance analysis, performance tuning,performance prediction and scheduling. Ensuring that all necessarymonitoring is turned on and that the data is being collected can be avery tedious and error-prone task. We have developed an agent-basedsystem to automate the execution of monitoring sensors and the collectionof event data.

The deployment and operation of large wireless sensor networks can pose difficult problems, particularly in time critical situations, over large geographic areas, or in rugged terrain. An approach to this problem is to use unmanned air vehicles to first deploy the sensors, and then provide communication services to the sensors. This paper presents a network model that describes the flow of data through such a sensor network. Simulation results are presented that illustrate the behavior of the data flow in steady state and transient conditions.

Persons traveling in space can accumulate fairly large doses of radiation, up to several Sv, at low-to-moderate dose rates. In general these dose rates are low enough so that deterministic effects can be avoided, although shielding may be necessary. An important question, however, is the stochastic effects (induction of cancer and genetic defects) of these doses. Most radiation-risk estimates are based on dose reconstruction and epidemiologic follow-up of the survivors of the atomic bombings on Japan, events that delivered doses nearly instantaneously. It has been hoped that stochastic effects would be less probable for radiation delivered at lower dose rates, but few opportunities have been available to examine this question in humans. The Mayak Production Association (MPA) was the first Russian site for the production and separation of plutonium. This plant began operation in 1948, and during its early days there were high occupational doses as well as technological failures that resulted in the release of large amounts of waste (about 10^17 Bq of liquid wastes) into the rather small Techa River. Residents along the Techa River were exposed to external radiation, and they ingested foods contaminated with 90Sr and other radionuclides. The?Techa River Cohort? has been studied for several …

NESHAPs limits the emission of radionuclides to the ambient air from DOE facilities to levels resulting in an annual effective dose equivalent (EDE) of 10 mrem (100 {micro}Sv) to any member of the public. The EDEs for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) site-wide maximally exposed members of the public from 2000 operations are summarized here. {sm_bullet} Livermore site: 0.038 mrem (0.38 {micro}Sv) (45% from point-source emissions, 55% from diffuse-source emissions). The point-source emissions include gaseous tritium modeled as tritiated water vapor as directed by EPA Region IX, and the resulting dose is used for compliance purposes. {sm_bullet} Site 300: 0.019 mrem (0.19 {micro}Sv) (79% from point-source emissions, 21% from diffuse-source emissions). The EDEs were calculated using the EPA-approved CAP88-PC air dispersion/dose-assessment model, except for doses for four diffuse sources, which were calculated from measured concentrations and dose coefficients. Site specific meteorological data, stack flow data, and emissions estimates based on radionuclide usage inventory data or continuous stack monitoring data were the specific input to CAP88-PC for each modeled source.

At U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, safety analyses and facility-specific actions require the evaluation of mechanical and electrical equipment subjected to seismic hazards. A seismic evaluation procedure has been developed by the DOE to provide comprehensive guidance for consistent seismic evaluations of equipment and distribution systems in DOE facilities using experience data from past seismic events and shake table tests. The DOE Seismic Evaluation Procedure (SEP) is adapted from the Seismic Qualification Utility Group (SQUG) Generic Implementation Procedure (GIP) used by the nuclear power industry. The DOE SEP builds on the procedures and screening criteria in the SQUG GIP by incorporating DOE-specific requirements and guidance and broadening the application of the experience-based methodology to equipment classes which are either unique to DOE facilities or not contained in the SQUG GIP. These equipment classes include piping systems, HEPA filters, glove boxes, underground tanks, canisters and gas cylinders, WAC ducts, storage racks, etc. This paper addresses the seismic evaluation procedures developed uniquely for glove boxes.

The alpha spectroscopy system of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Hazards Control Department evaluates electroplated samples, typically urine and feces, for alpha emitting radionuclides. Most of the samples processed by the alpha spectroscopy system are evaluated for Plutonium-239 (Pu-239), an important radionuclide used in research. This paper evaluates the Pu-239 background response of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Hazards Control Department's alpha spectroscopy system. Background measurements of the alpha spectroscopy system have been studied to determine an appropriate method for establishing the a postori critical level for detection of plutonium alpha activity. Several methods of establishing the 95% confidence interval for over 4,900 background measurements were evaluated. Two methods appear to provide reasonable results so as to assure an appropriate 95% confidence interval. This report provides the results of this evaluation and the comparison of the various methods tested to establish an empirical evaluation of the critical level using a commercially available analysis program.

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This report describes the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) operational variational objective analysis system. It is currently used to process data collected from the ARM intensive operational periods (IOPs) for driving and evaluating physical parameterizations in climate models. The analysis system was originally developed by Zhang and Lin (1997) at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook and was migrated to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as the ARM operational objective analysis system in May 1999. In contrast with previous objective analysis (e.g., Barnes 1964; O’Brien 1970; Lin and Johnson 1994) the ARM objective analysis used the constrained variational analysis method in which the atmospheric state variables are forced to satisfy the conservation of mass, heat, moisture, and momentum. The purpose of this technical report is to provide an overview of the constrained variational analysis method, the architecture of the objective analysis system, along with in-depth information on running the variational analysis codes.

Modern computers enable routine multimillion-atom molecular dynamics simulations of shock propagation in solids using realistic interatomic potentials, and offer a direct insight into the atomistic processes underlying plasticity, phase transformations, and the detonation of energetic materials. Past, present, and prospects for future simulations will be discussed in the context of prototypical systems for each of these three classes of problems. Initial samples ranging from perfect single crystals, to those with specific isolated defects, to full-fledged polycrystalline materials will be considered.

PBX 9502 Corner Turning Experiments have been used with various diagnostics techniques to study detonation wave propagation and the boosting of the insensitive explosive. In this work, the uninitiated region of the corner turning experiment is examined using Proton Radiography. Seven transmission radiographs obtained on the same experiment are used to map out the undetonated regions on each of three different experiments. The results show regions of high-density material, a few percent larger than initial explosive density. These regions persist at nearly this density while surrounding material, which has reacted, is released as expected. Calculations using Detonation Shock Dynamics are used to examine the situations that lead to the undetonated regions.

This report describes research done to evaluate the Prototype Surface Collector at Bonneville Dam, Powerhouse I, on the Columbia River. The surface collector is being evaluated as a means for bringing downstream migrating salmon and steelhead through the powerhouse while avoiding the turbines. The report describes evaluations conducted by PNNL, National Marine Fisheries Service, and various contractors using radio telemetry, hydroacoustics, and computational fluid dynamics models. The evaluation will provide information to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their 2001 decision on whether to use surface flow bypass or extended-length submersible bar screens for long-term smolt passage at Bonneville Dam.

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