Thermal stress tests on Type 1, SM-1A Core II fuel ele-ment sections were performed to study plate distortion and determine its dependency on temperature distribution, temperature differential, initial flatness, and ripple length. Test results will be correlated with the analytical model and used to predict ripple growth in other plate-type fuel elements. The tests showed that ripple growth is dependent on initial flatness of the plate and that the characteristic shape of ripples is maintained at all temperature differentials: The tests also showed that the ripple growth rate for a ripple of 5 mil initial magnitude is approximately 0.12 mils/ deg F for a peak temperature differential of 103 deg F and that the apparent relationship between ripple net growth and length is 1.3 mil/in. of ripple for a peak temperature differential of 103 deg F. A permanent distortion of 2 mils for a complete temperature cycle from 0 to 103 to O deg F differential was found. The temperature profile across the plate width was found to affect the magnitude of ripple growth. (auth)

This report is the second of a two part study addressing the seismic risk or hazard of the special nuclear materials (SNM) facility of the General Electric Vallecitos Nuclear Center at Pleasanton, California. The Part I companion to this report, dated July 31, 1978, presented the seismic hazard at the site that resulted from exposure to earthquakes on the Calaveras, Hayward, San Andreas and, additionally, from smaller unassociated earthquakes that could not be attributed to these specific faults. However, while this study was in progress, certain additional geologic information became available that could be interpreted in terms of the existance of a nearby fault. Although substantial geologic investigations were subsequently deployed, the existance of this postulated fault, called the Verona Fault, remained very controversial. The purpose of the Part II study was to assume the existance of such a capable fault and, under this assumption, to examine the loads that the fault could impose on the SNM facility. This report first reviews the geologic setting with a focus on specifying sufficient geologic parameters to characterize the postulated fault. The report next presents the methodology used to calculate the vibratory ground motion hazard. Because of the complexity of the fault geometry, …

I am pleased to speak at the Fortieth Gordon Conference on Nuclear Chemistry. I served as Chairman of the first Gordon Conference on Nuclear Chemistry held June 23--27, 1952, at New Hampton, New Hampshire. In my remarks, during which I shall quote from my journal, I shall describe some of the background leading up to the first Gordon Conference on Nuclear Chemistry and my attendance at the first seven Gordon Conferences during the period 1952 through 1958. I shall also quote my description of my appearance as the featured speaker at the Silver Anniversary of the Gordon Research Conferences on December 27, 1956 held at the Commodore Hotel in New York City. I shall begin with reference to my participation in the predecessor to the Gordon Conferences, the Gibson Island Research Conferences 45 years ago, on Thursday, June 20, 1946, as a speaker. This was 15 years after the start of these conferences in 1931. Neil Gordon played a leading role in these conferences, which were named (in 1948) in his honor -- the Gordon Research Conferences -- soon after they were moved to Colby Junior College, New London, New Hampshire in 1947. W. George Parks became Director in 1947, …

Letters from Eve Harwell and Logan Knight to the BRAC Commission in response to the recommendation to realign the 186th Air Refueling Wing in Meridian, Mississippi.

Letter from Susan Nichols and Kathy Calabrese to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission regarding its recommendations towards Fort Huachuca. Nichols and Calabrese insist that BRAC has made an error in its assessments and include information to that effect.

Memorandum of meeting regarding a briefing and tour of the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), VA.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for ensuring that federal agencies have access to the telecommunications needed to meet mission requirements. GSA's current telecommunications program, called FTS2001, has contracts in place that will expire by June 2010. Thus, agencies face the difficult task of transitioning their services to a successor program, known as Networx. GAO was asked to determine (1) the extent to which agencies are following sound transition planning practices and (2) the actions GSA is taking to identify and resolve common transition challenges affecting agencies. In performing this work, GAO selected six agencies based on, among other things, their FTS2001 charges; reviewed transition planning at these agencies and GSA; and analyzed GSA documentation of actions to address transition challenges."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2006 through 2012, Army's Industrial Operations' actual carryover was under the allowable amounts in 5 of the 7 fiscal years. However, carryover more than doubled during that period, reaching a high of $5.8 billion in fiscal year 2011. Army officials stated that fiscal year 2011 was an abnormal year because Industrial Operations (1) received more orders than it had ever received--$7.5 billion in new orders--and (2) implemented a system called the Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) that changed the business rules for recognizing revenue and therefore resulted in carryover being higher than it would have been under the prior system. Army officials anticipate carryover decreasing in fiscal year 2013. According to the Army fiscal year 2014 budget, the Army expects carryover to be under $4 billion at the end of fiscal year 2013."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2007, we issued our opinions on the calendar year 2006 financial statements of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF). We also issued our opinion on the effectiveness of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) and compliance as of December 31, 2006, and our evaluation of FDIC's compliance with significant provisions of selected laws and regulations for the two funds for the year ended December 31, 2006. The purpose of this report is to present issues identified during our audits of the 2006 financial statements regarding internal controls and accounting procedures and to recommend actions to address these issues. Although these issues were not material in relation to the financial statements, we believe they warrant management's attention."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was asked to identify the core financial systems used at each of the CFO Act agencies as of September 30, 2002, and the status of any agency plans to update core financial systems. Core financial systems, as defined by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program, include managing general ledger, funding, payments, receivables, and certain basic cost functions. The core financial systems receive data from other financial and feeder systems, such as acquisition, grant, and personnel systems, as well as from direct user input, and provide data for financial performance measurement and analysis and for financial statement preparation."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic was the first human pandemic in over four decades, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that there were as many as 89 million U.S. cases. Over $6 billion was available for the response, led by the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Homeland Security (DHS), with coordination provided by the Homeland Security Council (HSC) through its National Security Staff (NSS). In particular, HHS's CDC worked with states and localities to communicate with the public and to distribute H1N1 vaccine and supplies. GAO was asked (1) how HHS used the funding, (2) the key issues raised by the federal response, and (3) the actions taken to identify and incorporate lessons learned. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed officials from five states about their interaction with the federal government. GAO also reviewed documents and interviewed officials from HHS, DHS, the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), NSS, and others, such as associations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since May 2000, California's restructured electricity market has experienced rapidly rising prices and uncertain reliability. In response to disruptions in service, or blackouts, the state has taken steps to increase electricity supplies and to reduce demand through conservation. The California Independent System Operator, the agency in charge of balancing electricity supply with demand, expects high prices and disruptions to persist, and perhaps even worsen, in the summer of 2001. This report reviews (1) the condition of California's electricity market, including changes in demand, supply, and prices; (2) the extent to which the Department of Defense (DOD) can help enhance western electricity supplies during the summer of 2001; and (3) available private backup generation resources and any benefits and problems associated with their deployment. GAO found that electricity demand has risen sharply in recent years while supply has not kept up with the demand, causing higher prices. DOD could help augment western electricity supplies by generating an estimated 90 megawatts of electricity and implementing conservation initiatives. The use of private generation is limited because of business and environmental risks."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 (ECOA), generally prohibits lenders from collecting certain data from loan applicants, such as their race or gender, for nonmortgage loans (e.g., small business loans). FRB has stated that this provision of Regulation B minimizes the chances that lenders would use such data in an unlawful and discriminatory manner. However, others argue that the prohibition limits the capacity of researchers and regulators to identify possible discrimination in nonmortgage lending. This report analyzes (1) studies on possible discrimination in nonmortgage lending and the data used in them, (2) FRB's 2003 decision to retain the prohibition of voluntary data collection, and (3) the benefits and costs of a data collection and reporting requirement. GAO conducted a literature review; reviewed FRB documents; analyzed issues involving the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which requires lenders to collect and publicly report data on personal characteristics for mortgage loan applicants; and interviewed FRB and other regulatory officials, researchers, banks, and consumer groups. FRB did not take a position on this report's analysis. In addition to restating its …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Venezuela is the world's eighth-largest oil exporter and among the top 10 countries in total proven oil reserves. Venezuela also supplies about 11 percent of current U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products and wholly owns five refineries in the U.S. Consequently, Venezuela is a key player in the future energy security of the United States and the world. The current global oil market is tight and may be more susceptible to short-term supply disruptions and higher and more volatile prices. Recently, tension between Venezuela and the United States has caused concern about the stability of Venezuelan oil supplies. On several occasions, Venezuela's President has threatened to stop exporting oil to the U.S. or to close Venezuela's U.S.-based refineries. In this context, GAO analyzed: (1) how Venezuela's crude oil production and exports of crude oil to the U.S. has changed in recent years, (2) the potential impacts of a reduction in Venezuelan oil exports to the U.S., and (3) the status of U.S. government programs and activities to ensure a reliable supply of oil from Venezuela. Commenting on a draft of the report, the State …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the last decade, the Department of Defense (DOD) has taken several actions to address legislative requirements to improve the acquisition and management of services. In 2001, as amended in 2006, Congress required DOD to implement a management structure for the acquisition of services. In response, DOD implemented such a structure and service acquisition review and approval process. Recently, DOD also established new positions within its management structure, including senior managers within the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) and the military departments, to oversee and coordinate service acquisition. With a management structure and review process in place, USD(AT&L) is focusing on efforts to improve the process for how requirements for individual service acquisitions are developed and enhancing training to respond to several legislative directives. USD(AT&L) also created its Acquisition of Services Functional Integrated Product Team, in part, to determine how to address legislative requirements to provide training for personnel acquiring services. USD(AT&L) did not develop a plan to implement the Defense Science Board recommendations to improve service acquisition but identified 23 different actions, including its Better Buying Power …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Prior reports and studies have identified major risks in the Department of Defense's (DOD) management, funding, and reporting of spare parts spending programs. Spare parts shortages adversely affect the U.S. Army's operations and can compromise the readiness of weapon systems. To address these issues, Congress has fully funded DOD's requests for spare parts spending and in some instances increased funding for additional spare parts. Yet, the Army continues to experience spare parts shortages. Congress requested that GAO evaluate (1) the Army's strategic plans for reducing spare parts shortages, (2) the likelihood that key initiatives will reduce such shortages, and (3) the Army's capability to identify the impact on readiness of increased investments for spare parts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "First responders are responsible for responding to terrorist-related and accidental releases of CBRN materials in urban areas. Two primary tools for identifying agents released and their dispersion and effect are equipment to detect and identify CBRN agents in the environment and plume models to track the dispersion of airborne releases of these agents. GAO reports on the limitations of the CBRN detection equipment, its performance standards and capabilities testing, plume models available for tracking urban dispersion of CBRN materials, and information for determining how exposure to CBRN materials affects urban populations. To assess the limitations of CBRN detection equipment and urban plume modeling for first responders' use, GAO met with and obtained data from agency officials and first responders in three states."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) accomplishments in the 5 years since the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 was past. Specifically, GAO determined (1) how much money IRS has spent on upgrading its security, (2) whether the challenges associated with ensuring information security are technological or managerial, and (3) if IRS is taking sufficient steps to eliminate overpayments to the Earned Income Credit (EIC)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Production delays for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic vaccine using the current egg-based production technology heightened interest in alternative technologies that could expand the supply or accelerate the availability of influenza vaccine. Within the federal government, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) support the development of technologies that can be used in producing influenza vaccines. HHS's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews licensing applications for new vaccine, and the Department of State is the U.S. diplomatic liaison to the international entity that declares worldwide pandemics. GAO was asked to review federal activities for the development of alternative technologies used in producing influenza vaccine. This report examines (1) federal funding from fiscal year 2005 through March 2011 for alternative technologies and the status of manufacturers' efforts, (2) challenges to development and licensure identified by stakeholders, and (3) how HHS is addressing those challenges. GAO reviewed HHS and DOD documents and funding data. GAO also interviewed stakeholders, including manufacturer representatives, industry associations, and other experts on challenges to development and licensure. GAO interviewed HHS officials on how they are addressing those …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires states and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) to define and determine whether schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward meeting the goal of 100 percent academic proficiency. To address tribes' needs for cultural preservation, NCLBA allows tribal groups to waive all or part of BIE's definition of AYP and propose an alternative, with technical assistance from BIE and the Department of Education, if requested. GAO is providing information on the extent of (1) BIE schools' adoption of BIE's definition of AYP; (2) tribal groups' pursuit of alternatives and their reasons as well as reasons other tribal groups have not done so; and (3) federal assistance to tribal groups developing alternatives. To obtain this information, GAO interviewed tribal groups, federal officials, and state education officials; conducted site visits to BIE schools; and reviewed laws, regulations, and other relevant documents."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A federal dig once policy would likely have several advantages, including potentially decreasing the frequency of construction on major highways and the cost of installation, while accelerating access to and reliability of broadband networks. However, disadvantages—which could be exacerbated by a requirement to install conduit as part of certain federally funded highway construction—include the potential to install conduit that telecommunications companies might not use and to divert highway funding away from highway construction. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and state DOT officials we spoke with supported the concept of a dig once policy, but suggested alternative approaches to a federal requirement to install conduit in all covered projects. For example, FCC officials expressed support for a federal requirement for evaluation of the feasibility and need for conduit during federal highway construction, and state and U.S. DOT officials expressed support for a federal role in facilitating discussion and best practice sharing among states implementing broadband deployment policies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Forest Service has more miles of trail than it has been able to maintain, resulting in a persistent maintenance backlog with a range of negative effects. In fiscal year 2012, the agency reported that it accomplished at least some maintenance on about 37 percent of its 158,000 trail miles and that about one-quarter of its trail miles met the agency's standards. The Forest Service estimated the value of its trail maintenance backlog to be $314 million in fiscal year 2012, with an additional $210 million for annual maintenance, capital improvement, and operations. Trails not maintained to quality standards have a range of negative effects, such as inhibiting trail use and harming natural resources, and deferring maintenance can add to maintenance costs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For years, GAO has raised concerns about the ability of the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service (Service) to track the amounts it obligates for and spends on timber sales and to use this information in managing the sales. Timber sales are generally carried out by ranger districts (the lowest level of the Service's decentralized organizational structure), which are overseen by national forest offices. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within the Department of the Interior also conducts timber sales. This report examines the extent to which (1) the Forest Service tracks timber sales-related obligations and expenditures, including the extent to which the Service uses this information in making management decisions; (2) BLM tracks timber sales-related obligations and expenditures; and (3) both agencies track their timber sales-related revenue."