A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) is demonstrating a technology called bulk vitrification, in parallel with the Hanford waste treatment plant, to treat a portion of the radioactive waste stored in 177 tanks at its Hanford site in southeastern Washington state. DOE faces technical and management problems that have affected the original objectives to justify demonstrating the bulk vitrification technology. This report discusses the extent to which DOE (1) has managed the bulk vitrification demonstration project consistent with DOE management guidance and (2) continues to need a supplemental technology, such as bulk vitrification, to treat a portion of the low-activity tank waste. To assess DOE's management of the project, GAO reviewed reports by DOE and others and discussed the project with DOE and contractor officials."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a part of the Library of Congress, operates a free national talking (audio) book program for qualified blind, visually impaired, or physically disabled residents of the United States and its territories, as well as qualified U.S. citizens residing abroad. NLS produces and distributes analog cassette players and talking books and periodicals recorded on audio cassettes to approximately 434,000 individual subscribers and 33,000 institutions through a network of 132 participating libraries and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). In the 1990s, NLS recognized that analog audio cassette technology was becoming outdated and nearing the end of its useful life and initiated efforts to plan for a new, digitally based talking book system. NLS analyzed three alternatives for the system--CD, hard drive, and flash based media--and chose to award a contract for the development of a digital talking book system based on flash memory media. The development phase is now nearing completion, and NLS is planning to award the manufacturing contract for the digital talking book system in August 2007. Under U.S. copyright law, NLS is authorized to reproduce and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has raised concerns over emergency management in school districts, with a particular interest in how federal agencies provide assistance to school districts. GAO was asked to assess (1) the roles of federal and state governments and school districts in establishing requirements and providing resources to school districts for emergency management planning, (2) what school districts have done to plan and prepare for emergencies, and (3) the challenges, if any, school districts have experienced in planning for emergencies, and communicating and coordinating with first responders, parents, and students. To obtain this information, GAO interviewed federal officials, surveyed a stratified random sample of all public school districts, surveyed state education agencies and state administering agencies, conducted site visits to school districts, and reviewed relevant documents."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds (VOC) were discovered in some of the water systems serving housing areas on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Exposure to certain VOCs may cause adverse health effects, including cancer. Since 1991, the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has been examining whether individuals who were exposed to the contaminated drinking water are likely to have adverse health effects. ATSDR's current study is examining whether individuals who were exposed in utero are more likely to have developed certain childhood cancers or birth defects. GAO was asked to testify on its May 11, 2007 report: Defense Health Care: Activities Related to Past Drinking Water Contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (GAO-07-276). This testimony summarizes findings from the report about (1) efforts to identify and address the past drinking water contamination, (2) the provision of funding and information from the Department of Defense (DOD) to ATSDR, and (3) an assessment of the design of the current ATSDR study. GAO reviewed documents, interviewed officials and former residents, and contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Telework continues to receive attention within Congress and federal agencies as a human capital strategy that offers various flexibilities to both employers and employees, including the capacity to continue operations during emergency events, as well as benefits to society, such as decreased energy use and pollution. This statement highlights some of GAO's prior work on federal telework programs, including key practices for successful implementation of telework initiatives, identified in a 2003 GAO report and a 2005 GAO analysis of telework program definitions and methods in five federal agencies. In addition, the statement discusses GAO observations on the Telework Enhancement Act of 2007, S. 1000."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Key practices of effective performance management for the Senior Executive Service (SES) include the linkage or "line of sight" between individual performance and organizational success, the importance of linking pay to individual and organizational performance, and the need to make meaningful distinctions in performance. GAO identified certain principles for executive pay plans that should be considered to attract and retain the quality and quantity of executive leadership necessary to address 21st century challenges, including that they be sensitive to hiring and retention trends; reflect knowledge, skills, and contributions; and be competitive. This testimony focuses on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) process for awarding bonuses to SES members, the amount and percentage of bonuses awarded for fiscal years 2004 through 2006 based on data reported by VA, and the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) roles in certifying federal agencies SES performance appraisal systems. GAO analyzed VA's policies and procedures for awarding bonuses and data provided by VA on the amount and percentages of bonuses and interviewed knowledgeable VA officials. Information on OPM's and OMB's certification process was based on our …

This remedial action work plan identifies the approach and requirements for implementing the medial zone remedial action for Test Area North, Operable Unit 1-07B, at the Idaho National Laboratory. This plan details the management approach for the construction and operation of the New Pump and Treat Facility (NPTF). As identified in the remediatial design/remedial action scope of work, a separate remedial design/remedial action work plan will be prepared for each remedial component of the Operable Unit 1-07B remedial action.

An investigation is being made into the feasibility of making a compact proton dielectric wall (DWA) accelerator for medical radiation treatment based on the high gradient insulation (HGI) technology. A small plasma device is used for the proton source. Using only electric focusing fields for transporting and focusing the beam on the patient, the compact DWA proton accelerator m system can deliver wide and independent variable ranges of beam currents, energies and spot sizes.

WINGRIDDER V3.0 is a Windows-based software for designing and generating numerical grids for numerical simulators that are based on the"integral finite difference" or the"control volume" numerical scheme (e.g., TOUGH2, Pruess et al., 1996). The user can design and generate grid that properly represents the stratigraphic features, inclined faults, and repository. WINGRIDDER V3.0 is an upgrade from WINGRIDDER V2.0. This revision includes testable requirements as listed in the Requirements Document (RD), 10024-RD-3.0-00, Section 2. With new features, WINGRIDDER V3.0 adds the ability to generate a multiple-interactive-continuum (MINC) grid.

Frequency upconversion of laser-generated photons by inverse Compton scattering for applications such as nuclear spectroscopy and gamma-gamma collider concepts on the future ILC would benefit from an increase of average source brightness. The primary obstacle to higher average brightness is the relatively small Thomson scattering cross section. It has been proposed that this limitation can be partially overcome by use of laser pulse recirculation. The traditional approach to laser recirculation entails resonant coupling of low-energy pulse train to a cavity through a partially reflective mirror. Here we present an alternative, passive approach that is akin to 'burst-mode' operation and does not require interferometric alignment accuracy. Injection of a short and energetic laser pulse is achieved by placing a thin frequency converter, such as a nonlinear optical crystal, into the cavity in the path of the incident laser pulse. This method leads to the increase of x-ray/gamma-ray energy proportional to the increase in photon energy in frequency conversion. Furthermore, frequency tunability can be achieved by utilizing parametric amplifier in place of the frequency converter.

The dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) is a compact induction accelerator structure that incorporates the accelerating mechanism, pulse forming structure, and switch structure into an integrated module. The DWA consists of stacked stripline Blumlein assemblies, which can provide accelerating gradients in excess of 100 MeV/meter. Blumleins are switched sequentially according to a prescribed acceleration schedule to maintain synchronism with the proton bunch as it accelerates. A finite difference time domain code (FDTD) is used to determine the applied acceleration field to the proton bunch. Particle simulations are used to model the injector as well as the accelerator stack to determine the proton bunch energy distribution, both longitudinal and transverse dynamic focusing, and emittance growth associated with various DWA configurations.

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This report summarizes the history of legislation on abortion. Moreover, the report discusses the conflict that surrounds the history of the court cases and how it has effected legislation passed since Roe v. Wade. The report also covers how Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton did not cover a variety of issues that have since been raised by states seeking to restrict abortion.

This report discusses the revived rule, focusing on how it would change which material and types of activities are regulated under Section 404 and the significance of these issues, especially for the mining industry.

This report provides Background, Legislation, and Issues on Federal Crime Control. states and locality have the primary responsibility for the prevention and control of domestic crime while the federal government's role is limited.

Screening tests of Sand Mantis candidate materials selected for erosion resistance have been completed. The results of this testing identified that over a relatively short period of operation (<1 hour), measurable erosion will occur in each of the candidate zoom tube materials given equal operating exposure. Additionally, this testing has shown that erosion of the rubber discharge hose directly downstream of the vehicle could be expected to limit the service life of the discharge hose. On the basis of these test results, SRNL recommends the following; {lg_bullet} redesign of critical system components (e.g., zoom tube, discharge hose) should be conducted to improve system characteristics relative to erosion and capitalize on the results of this testing, {lg_bullet} continued efforts to deploy the Sand Mantis should include testing to better define and optimize operating parameters, and gain an understanding of system dynamics, {lg_bullet} discontinue wear testing with the selected materials pending redesign of critical system components (1st recommendation) and inclusion of other candidate materials. The final selection of additional candidate materials should be made following design changes, but might include a Stellite alloy or zirconia.

The sorption of the rare earth elements (REE) Nd(III) and Gd(III) onto goethite in the presence of Suwannee River fulvic acid in 0.1 m NaCl solutions at 25 ºC was investigated quantitatively. The experiments involved batch titrations whereby the concentrations of REE and/or fulvic acid remaining in solution were determined as a function of pH. In the absence of fulvic acid, removal of REE from solution is enhanced in the presence of goethite over the pH range from 6 to 8, compared to the unary system (REE only) in which precipitation of an amorphous hydroxide occurred at pH greater than or equal to 8. In the absence of REE, removal of fulvic acid from solution is enhanced in the presence of goethite in the pH range from 2 to 8 at least 9, compared to a unary (fulvic acid only) system. The presence of fulvic acid at concentrations from 10 to 50 ppm enhanced REE sorption onto goethite slightly at pH less than 7, but had no discernable effect at higher pH values. Fulvic acid at a concentration of 100 ppm exhibited a greater enhancement of REE sorption at pH < 7, but inhibited REE sorption slightly at pH > …

This project was for planning and construction of a 700kW hydropower project on the Fall River near Gustavus, Alaska.

A new, fast, single-pulse diagnostic for determining phase transitions and measuring the bulk temperature of polycrystalline metal objects has been developed. The diagnostic consists of a 37-stage Marx bank with a cable-coupled X-ray diode that produces a 35-ns pulse of mostly 0.71-{angstrom} monochromatic X rays and a P-43 fluor coupled to a cooled, charge-coupled device camera by a coherent fiber-optic bundle for detection of scattered X rays. The X-ray beam is collimated to a 1{sup o} divergence in the scattering plane with the combination of a 1.5-mm tungsten pinhole and a 1.5-mm-diameter molybdenum anode. X rays are produced by a high-energy electron beam transiting inward from the cathode to the anode in a needle-and-washer configuration. The anode's characteristic K-{alpha} X-ray emission lines are utilized for this diffraction system. The X-ray anode is heavily shielded in all directions other than the collimated beam. The X-ray diode has a sealed reentrant system, allowing X rays to be produced inside a vacuum containment vessel, close to the sample under study.

This study analyzes impacts from energy efficiency standards and labeling in Mexico from 1994 through 2005 for four major products: household refrigerators, room air conditioners, three-phase (squirrel cage) induction motors, and clothes washers. It is a retrospective analysis, seeking to assess verified impacts on product efficiency in the Mexican market in the first ten years after standards were implemented. Such an analysis allows the Mexican government to compare actual to originally forecast program benefits. In addition, it provides an extremely valuable benchmark for other countries considering standards, and to the energy policy community as a whole. The methodology for evaluation begins with historical test data taken for a large number of models of each product type between 1994 and 2005. The pre-standard efficiency of models in 1994 is taken as a baseline throughout the analysis. Model efficiency data were provided by an independent certification laboratory (ANCE), which tested products as part of the certification and enforcement mechanism defined by the standards program. Using this data, together with economic and market data provided by both government and private sector sources, the analysis considers several types of national level program impacts. These include: Energy savings; Environmental (emissions) impacts, and Net financial impacts …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Disputes between policyholders and property-casualty insurers over coverage from the 2005 hurricane season highlight challenges in determining the appropriateness of claims for multiple-peril events. In particular, events such as hurricanes that can cause both wind and flood damages raise questions about the adequacy of steps taken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that claims paid by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) covered only damages caused by flooding. As a result, the Subcommittees asked GAO to provide preliminary views on (1) the information available to and obtained by NFIP through its claims process in determining flood damages for properties that sustained both wind and flood damages, and (2) the information collected by FEMA as part of the NFIP claims reinspection process. GAO collected data from FEMA, reviewed reinspection reports, reviewed relevant policies and procedures, and interviewed agency officials and others knowledgeable about NFIP."

The primary focus of this issue brief is legislative action with respect to abortion. However, discussion of those legislative proposals necessarily involves a brief discussion of the leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy. For a more detailed discussion of the relevant case law, see CRS Report 95-724, Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview.

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