For more than 30 years, Congress has debated constructing a dam on the American River near Auburn, California. The Army Corps of Engineers recently identified three alternatives for flood control, with the Division office's preferred plan calling for construction of a 508-foot-high detention dam. Currently, two bills address the issue: H.R. 3270 supports construction of the dam, while H.R. 2951 opposes construction of any structure on the North Fork of the American River.

Although recent development of China's wealth and power poses opportunities as well as challenges for U.S. policy, participants at a CRS seminar on dealing with China's rise focused on the challenges. China is seen as a very large, strategically located country undergoing rapid economic growth and social change, and ruled by authoritarian political leaders. Since the Maoist era, China has made great strides in conforming to many international norms, but a combination of rising Chinese power and nationalistic assertiveness poses serious problems for: U.S. security interests in Asia; U.S. efforts to curb trafficking in technology for weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons; U.S. support for a smooth running market basedinternational economic systems; and U.S. backing of other international norms regarding human rights, environmental protection and other issues.

This document revision details the interim closure plan for the Solid Waste Landfill for the Hanford Site.

Highly alkaline radioactive waste solutions originating from production of plutonium for military purposes are stored in underground tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site. The purification of alkaline solutions from neptunium and plutonium is important in the treatment and disposal of these wastes. This report describes scoping tests with sodium hydroxide solutions, where precipitation techniques were investigated to perform the separation. Hydroxides of iron (III), manganese (II), cobalt (II, III), and chromium (III); manganese (IV) oxide, and sodium uranate were investigated as carriers. The report describes the optimum conditions that were identified to precipitate these carriers homogeneously throughout the solution by reductive, hydrolytic, or catalytic decomposition of alkali-soluble precursor compounds by a technique called the Method of Appearing Reagents. The coprecipitation of pentavalent and hexavalent neptunium and plutonium was investigated for the candidate agents under optimum conditions and is described in this report along with the following results. Plutonium coprecipitated well with all tested materials except manganese (IV) oxide. Neptunium only coprecipitated well with uranate. The report presents a hypothesis to explain these behaviors. Further tests with more complex solution matrices must be performed.

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a serious concern when considering measures to guard against long-term corrosion of waste package containers at Yucca Mountain. An experimental program has been initiated to gain a better fundamental understanding of MIC in repository environments. Some engineering objectives will be achieved during the investigation: a reproducible apparatus and procedure for electrochemical monitoring of MIC will be developed; the most aggressive combinations of bacteria will be determined, and the MIC resistance of various candidate alloys for the multipurpose container (MPC) will be measured.

The trade between specific impulse (Isp) and density is examined in view of Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) requirements. Mass allocations for vehicle hardware are derived from these two properties, for several propellant combinations and a dual-fuel case. This comparative analysis, based on flight-proven hardware, indicates that the higher density of several alternative propellants compensates for reduced Isp, when compared with cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen. Approximately half the orbiting mass of a rocket- propelled SSTO vehicle must be allocated to propulsion hardware and residuals. Using hydrogen as the only fuel requires a slightly greater fraction of orbiting mass for propulsion, because hydrogen engines and tanks are heavier than those for denser fuels. The advantage of burning both a dense fuel and hydrogen in succession depends strongly on tripropellant engine weight. The implications of the calculations for SSTO vehicle design are discussed, especially with regard to the necessity to minimize non-tankage structure.

Experiments were done using subcooled Freon-113 sprayed vertically downward. Local and average heat transfers were investigated fro Freon-113 sprays with 40 C subcooling, droplet sizes 200-1250{mu}m, and droplet breakup velocities 5-29 m/s. Full-cone type nozzles were used to generate the spray. Test assemblies consisted of 1 to 6 7.62 cm vertical constant heat flux surfaces parallel with each other and aligned horizontally. Distance between heated surfaces was varied from 6.35 to 76.2 mm. Steady state heat fluxes as high as 13 W/cm{sup 2} were achieved. Dependence on the surface distance from axial centerline of the spray was found. For surfaces sufficiently removed from centerline, local and average heat transfers were identical and correlated by a power relation of the form seen for normal-impact sprays which involves the Weber number, a nondimensionalized temperature difference, and a mass flux parameter. For surfaces closer to centerline, the local heat transfer depended on vertical location on the surface while the average heat transfer was described by a semi-log correlation involving the same parameters. The heat transfer was independent of the distance (gap) between the heated surfaces for the gaps investigated.

Westinghouse Hanford Company manages and operates the Hanford Site 200 Area radioactive solid waste storage and disposal facilities for the US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office. These facilities include radioactive solid waste disposal sites and radioactive solid waste storage areas. This document summarizes the amount of radioactive materials that have been buried and stored in the 200 Area radioactive solid waste storage and disposal facilities since startup in 1944 through calendar year 1995. This report does not include backlog waste, solid radioactive wastes in storage or disposed of in other areas, or facilities such as the underground tank farms. Unless packaged within the scope of WHC-EP-0063, Hanford Site Solid Waste Acceptance Criteria, liquid waste data are not included in this document. This annual report provides a summary of the radioactive solid waste received in the both the 200-East and 200-West Areas during the calendar year 1995.

This tank characterization report for Tank 241-B-111 was initially released as PNL-10099. This document is now being released as WHC-SD- WM-ER-549 in order to accommodate internet publishing.

This tank characterization report for Tank 241-B-201 was initially released as PNL-10100. This document is now being released as WHC-SD- WM-ER-550 in order to accommodate internet publishing.