A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Navy Personal Property Pilot."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the year 2000 challenge facing state and local governments, focusing on: (1) the reported year 2000 readiness of state and local governments and actions taken by the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion in this area; (2) the readiness and federal activities associated with state-administered federal programs; and (3) GAO's observations on H.R. 1599, the Year 2000 Compliance Assistance Act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the lessons learned from the Army's personal property program, the Hunter Pilot Project, focusing on the: (1) Army's evaluation methodology of the Hunter Pilot, including the validity of data and reported results; and (2) status of all ongoing and planned pilot projects and the adequacy of the Department of Defense's (DOD) plans to evaluate the pilot projects."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) number of recently naturalized citizens receiving benefits from four major public assistance programs (Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Food Stamps) compared with that of the native-born population in 1997; and (2) estimated annual cost to the federal and state governments of providing such benefits to these naturalized citizens."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed: (1) the factors contributing to the growth in prescription drug spending for both the general population and Medicare beneficiaries and efforts to control that growth; and (2) benefit design and implementation issues to be considered in deliberations about adding a new prescription drug benefit to the Medicare Program."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the use of National Guard Response Teams in combating terrorism, focusing on: (1) the role of the National Guard Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection (RAID) teams in response plans as understood by local, state, and federal officials; (2) other response assets that can perform similar functions to the RAID teams; and (3) the RAID teams' responsibilities and how they plan to meet these responsibilities."

The purpose of this calculation is to document the creation of .tables for input into Integrated Probabilistic Simulator for Environmental Systems (RIP) version 5.19.01 (Golder Associates 1998) from Waste Package Degradation (WAPDEG) version 3.09 (CRWMS M&O 1998b. ''Software Routine Report for WAPDEG'' (Version 3.09)) simulations. This calculation details the creation of the RIP input tables (representing waste package corrosion degradation over time) for the License Application Design Selection (LADS) analysis of the effects of continuous pre-closure ventilation. Ventilation during the operational phase of the repository could remove considerable water from the system, as well as reduce temperatures. Pre-closure ventilation is LADS Design Feature 7.

We tested a variety of high-current closing switches for lifetime and reliability on a dedicated 2 MJ, 500 kA capacitor bank facility at Sandia National Laboratories. Our interest was a switch capable of one shot every few minutes, switching a critically damped, DC-charged 6.2 mF bank at 24 kV, with a peak current of 500 kA. The desired lifetime is 24 thousand shots. Typical of high-energy systems, particularly multi-module systems, the primary parameters of interest related to the switch are: (1) reliability, meaning absence of both pre-fires and no-fires, (2) total switch lifetime or number of shots between maintenance, and (3) cost. Cost was given lower priority at this evaluation stage because there are great uncertainties in estimating higher-quantity prices of these devices, most of which have been supplied before in only small quantities. The categories of switches tested are vacuum discharge, high-pressure discharge, and solid-state. Each group varies in terms of triggering ease, ease of maintenance, and tolerance to faults such as excess current and current reversal. We tested at least two variations of each technology group. The total number of shots on the switch test facility is about 50 thousand. We will present the results from the switch …

In this study experiments of increasing complexity have been conducted to provide a data base for validating features of the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian Grid for Research Applications (ALEGRA) code over a broad range of strain rates with overlapping diagnostics that encompass multiple responses. This range encompasses strain rates characteristic of shock-wave propagation (10⁷/s) and those chameteristics of structural response (10²/s). The tests matrix consists of two experimental series; the first being a simple system test with diagnostics that capture features relevant to both the high strain-rate hydrodynamic response and the low strain-rate structural response of the target. The second series of experiments increased the complexity of tests with the addition of foam to the original simple series. The input conditions are extremely well defined. Velocity interferometers are used to record the high strain-rate response, while the low strain-rate data were collected using strain, carbon and PVDF gauges.

Understanding the surface stability of metals undergoing dynamic fracture at shock breakout is important to several applications in metals processing. The advantages of using the Pegasus II facility to investigate the phenomena occurring at shock break out are described. As an example of the data collected, we concentrate on brief descriptions of two experiments that compared the tensile failure, i.e. ''spall'', patterns in the presence of sinusoidal perturbations seeded on the free inner surface of cylindrical samples of 3 types of Al. These samples were composed variously of soft Al 1100-O, structural grade Al 6061-T6, and ultra-pure 99.99% Al and were subjected to Taylor waves with shock pressures of 14 GPa. We show that the material behind the exiting surface undergoes a type of failure termed here ''microspall'', resulting in the production of a significant volume of low-density, probably granular, material. The failure mechanism, combined with the forces that cause inertial instability, leads to rapid pattern growth in the failed material and subsequent pattern growth on the surface. Pattern growth was studied as a function of perturbation wavelength and amplitude. The different Al samples vary by an order of magnitude in yield strength, and some increase in pattern instability was …

This section reviews physical processes involved in the implantation of energetic hydrogen into plasma facing materials and its subsequent diffusion, release, or immobilization by trapping or precipitation within the material. These topics have also been discussed in previous reviews. The term hydrogen or H is used here generically to refer to protium, deuterium or tritium.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed: (1) the policies and positions of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) laws and other drunk driving countermeasures; and (2) seven published studies on the effect of .08 BAC laws on the number and severity of crashes involving alcohol, including three studies released on April 28, 1999."

Over the last 20 years, the Decommissioning Program of the ANL-East Site has successfully decommissioned numerous facilities including: three research reactors (a 100 MW BWR, a smaller 250 kW biological irradiation reactor and a 10 kW research reactor), a critical assembly, a suite of 61 plutonium gloveboxes in 9 laboratories, a fuels fabrication facility and several non-reactor (waste management and operations) facilities. In addition, extensive decontamination work was performed on 5 hot cells formerly used in a joint ANL/US Navy R&D program. Currently the D&D of the CP-5 research reactor is underway as is planning for several other future D&D projects. The CP-5 facility was also used as a test bed for the evaluation of select evolving D&D technologies to ascertain their value for use in future D&D projects.

The Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Project will transfer metallic SNF from the Hanford 105 K-East and 105 K-West Basins to safe interim storage in the Canister Storage Building in the 200 Area. The initial basis for design, fabrication, installation, and operation of the fuel removal systems was that the basin leak rate which could result from a postulated accident condition would not be excessive relative to reasonable recovery operations. However, an additional potential K Basin water leak path is through the K Basin drain valves. Three twelve-inch drain valves are located in the main basin bays along the north wall. Five four-inch drain valves are located in the north and south loadout pits (NLOP and SLOP), the weasel pit, the technical viewing pit, and the discharge chute pit. The sumps containing the valves are filled with concrete which covers the drain valve body. Visual observations indicate that only the valve's bonnet and stem are exposed above the basin concrete floor for the twelve-inch drain valve and that much less of the valve's bonnet and stem are exposed above the basin concrete floor for the five four-inch drain valves. It was recognized, however, that damage of the drain valve bonnet or …

The drain valve located in the bottom of the K-West Basin South Loadout Pit (SLOP) could provide an additional leak path from the K Basins if the drain valve were damaged during construction, installation, or operation of the cask loading system. For the K-West Basin SLOP the immersion pail support structure (IPSS) has already been installed, but the immersion pail has not been installed in the IPSS. The objective of this analysis is to evaluate the risk of damaging the drain valve during the remaining installation activities or operation of the cask loading system. Valve damage, as used in this analysis, does not necessarily imply large amounts of the water will be released quickly from the basin, rather valve damage implies that the valve's integrity has been compromised. The analysis process is a risk-based uncertainty analysis where best engineering judgement is used to represent each variable in the analysis. The uncertainty associated with each variable is represented by a probability distribution. The uncertainty is propagated through the analysis by Monte Carlo convolution techniques. The corresponding results are developed as a probability distribution and the risk is expressed in terms of the corresponding complementary cumulative distribution function (''risk curve''). The total …

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The purpose of this calculation is to document total system performance assessment modeling of Enhanced Design Alternative (EDA) Feature IV. Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) calculations for EDA IV are based on the TSPA-VA Base Case which has been modified with a quartz sand invert, quartz sand backfill, line loading and 21 PWR waste packages that have 2-cm thick titanium grade 7 corrosion resistant material (CRM) drip shields that are placed over a 30 cm thick carbon steel (A5 16) waste package with an integral filler material (CRWMS M&O 1999a & 1999b). This document details the changes and assumptions made to the VA reference Performance Assessment Model (CRWMS M&O 1998a) to incorporate the design changes detailed for EDA IV. The performance measure for this evaluation is the expected value dose-rate history at 20 km from the repository boundary.

This survey inquiring into Colorado homeowners' preferences on energy and environmental policy shows that more-affluent, married Colorado single-family homeowners are somewhat favorable to utility restructuring; want to see green power developed; prefer to share the costs broadly by various means; are willing to pay slightly higher electricity rates to develop renewable sources of electricity; and believe that utility customers don't have enough choice in their electric service today.

The DIII'D upper divertor will be modified in late 1999 by installing a continuous dome in the private flux region with an independent pumping capability for the inner strike point. A ''bump'' on the inner cylinder also has been considered to enhance impurity and neutral control. Using the UEDGE code, we have examined the effect of this dome and the ''bump'' on core ionization and core impurity content. For typical parameters, results indicate that the planned divertor modifications enable detachment at higher heating power and the ''fueling efficiency'' (ratio of core neutral ionization rate to total divertor ion current) decreases, however, the core carbon content increases. The inner ''bump'' does enhance ''fueling efficiency'' compared to the private flux dome alone, but it does not reduce the increased core impurity content.

The Grand Canyon house is a joint project of the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. National Park Service and is part of the International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Task 13 (Advanced Solar Low-Energy Buildings). Energy consumption of the house, designed using a whole-building low-energy approach, was reduced by 75% compared to an equivalent house built in accordance with American Building Officials Model Energy Code and the Home Energy Rating System criteria.

The authors describe how protons with energies of 800 MeV or greater can be used as radiographic probes for material characterization. A feature which distinguishes protons from x-rays is their charge, which results in multiple Coulomb scattering effects in proton radiographs. Magnetic lensing can ameliorate these effects and even allow mixed substances to be disentangled. They illustrate some of these effects using 800 MeV protons radiographs of a composite step wedge composed of Aluminum, Foam, and Graphite. They discuss how proton radiographs must be manipulated in order to use standard tomographic reconstruction algorithms. They conclude with a brief description of an upcoming experiment, which is performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory at 25 GeV.

This report discusses federal tax subsidies for alcohol transportation fuels, as well as legislative actions underway to repeal, extend, or reduce them.

We present an algorithm for the detection and representation of structures and non-uniformities on the surface of a paper web at the wet end (slurry). This image processing/analysis algorithm is developed as part of a complete on-line web characterization system. Images of the slurry, carried by a fast moving table, are obtained using a stroboscopic light and a CCD camera. The images have very poor contrast and contain noise from a variety of sources. Those sources include the acquisition system itself, the lighting, the vibrations of the moving table being imaged, and the scattering water from the same table's movement. After many steps of enhancement, conventional edge detection methods were still inconclusive and were discarded. The facet model algorithm, is applied to the images and is found successful in detecting the various topographic characteristics of the surface of the slurry. Pertinent topographic elements are retained and a filtered image is computed based on the general appearance and characteristics of the structures in question. Morphological operators are applied to detect and segment regions of interest. Those regions are then filtered according to their size, elongation, and orientation.Their bounding rectangles are computed and superimposed on the original image. Real time implementation of …

This project deals with the demonstration of a coking process using proprietary technology of Calderon, with the following objectives geared to facilitate commercialization: (1) making coke of such quality as to be suitable for use in hard-driving, large blast furnaces; (2) providing proof that such process is continuous and environmentally closed to prevent emissions; (3) demonstrating that high-coking-pressure (non-traditional) coal blends which cannot be safely charged into conventional by-product coke ovens can be used in the Calderon process; (4) conducting a blast furnace test to demonstrate the compatibility of the coke produced; and (5) demonstrating that coke can be produced economically, at a level competitive with coke imports. The activities of the past quarter were focused on the following: Detailed studies of LTV's site for the installation of the commercial Demonstration Unit with site specific layouts; Environmental Work; Firm commitments for funding from the private sector; and Federal funding to complement the private contribution.