The U.S. wind power industry experienced a trying year in 2010, with a significant reduction in new builds compared to both 2008 and 2009. The delayed impact of the global financial crisis, relatively low natural gas and wholesale electricity prices, and slumping overall demand for energy countered the ongoing availability of existing federal and state incentives for wind energy deployment. The fact that these same drivers did not impact capacity additions in 2009 can be explained, in part, by the 'inertia' in capital-intensive infrastructure investments: 2009 capacity additions were largely determined by decisions made prior to the economy-wide financial crisis that was at its peak in late 2008 and early 2009, whereas decisions on 2010 capacity additions were often made at the height of the financial crisis. Cumulative wind power capacity still grew by a healthy 15% in 2010, however, and most expectations are for moderately higher wind power capacity additions in 2011 than witnessed in 2010, though those additions are also expected to remain below the 2009 high.

The objectives of this program were to research and develop a fully enclosed Information Technology (IT) rack system for 100 kilowatts (KW) of IT load that provides its own internal power and cooling with High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC defined as 480 volt) and chilled water as the primary inputs into the system and accepts alternative energy power sources such as wind and solar. For maximum efficiency, internal power to the IT equipment uses distributed High Voltage Direct Current power (HVDC defined as 360-380 volt) from the power source to the IT loads. The management scheme aggressively controls energy use to insure the best utilization of available power and cooling resources. The solution incorporates internal active management controls that not only optimizes the system environment for the given dynamic IT loads and changing system conditions, but also interfaces with data center Building Management Systems (BMS) to provide a complete end-to-end view of power and cooling chain. This technology achieves the goal of a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25, resulting in a 38% reduction in the total amount of energy needed to support a 100KW IT load compared to current data center designs.

This project was designed to advance the art of process intensification leading to a new generation of multifunctional chemical reactors utilizing pulse flow. Experimental testing was performed in order to fully characterize the hydrodynamic operating regimes associated with pulse flow for implementation in commercial applications. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) operated a pilot-scale multifunctional reactor experiment for operation with and investigation of pulse flow operation. Validation-quality data sets of the fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, and chemical kinetics were acquired and shared with Chemical Research and Licensing (CR&L). Experiments in a two-phase air-water system examined the effects of bead diameter in the packing, and viscosity. Pressure signals were used to detect pulsing. Three-phase experiments used immiscible organic and aqueous liquids, and air or nitrogen as the gas phase. Hydrodynamic studies of flow regimes and holdup were performed for different types of packing, and mass transfer measurements were performed for a woven packing. These studies substantiated the improvements in mass transfer anticipated for pulse flow in multifunctional reactors for the acid-catalyzed C4 paraffin/olefin alkylation process. CR&L developed packings for this alkylation process, utilizing their alkylation process pilot facilities in Pasadena, TX. These packings were evaluated in the pilot-scale multifunctional reactor experiments …

Carbon tetrachloride contamination in groundwater at Morrill, Kansas, was initially identified in 1985 during statewide testing of public water supply wells for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). High levels of nitrate were also present in the wells. The city of Morrill is located in Brown County in the northeastern corner of the state, about 7 mi east of Sabetha. The population of Morrill as of the 2000 census was approximately 277. All residents of Morrill now obtain their drinking water from the Sabetha municipal water system via a pipeline constructed in 1991. Starting in 1922, eight different public wells formerly served the Morrill municipal system at some time. Because of poor water quality, including high nitrate levels attributed to numerous animal feeding operations in the vicinity and application of fertilizer on agricultural lands, use of the local groundwater from any public well for municipal supply purposes was terminated in 1991 in favor of obtaining water from the Sabetha municipal water system. Investigations of the carbon tetrachloride and nitrate contamination by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) in 1989, 1994, and 1996 (KDHE 1989; GeoCore 1994a-e, 1996) identified a localized plume of carbon tetrachloride in groundwater extending downgradient from a …

This report discusses the recent conflict in Syria including an overview of the situation, information about anti- and pro-Asad forces, background on chemical weapons and disarmament, plans for U.S. policy and assistance, and a general sense of the future outlook.

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."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has reported progress in stemming illegal cross-border activity, but it could strengthen the assessment of its efforts. For example, since fiscal year 2011, DHS has used the number of apprehensions on the southwest border between ports of entry (POE) as an interim measure for border security. GAO reported in December 2012 that apprehensions decreased across the southwest border from fiscal years 2006 through 2011, generally mirroring a decrease in estimated known illegal entries in each southwest border sector. CBP attributed this decrease in part to changes in the U.S. economy and increased resources for border security. Data reported by CBP's Office of Border Patrol (Border Patrol) show that total apprehensions across the southwest border increased from over 327,000 in fiscal year 2011 to about 357,000 in fiscal year 2012. It is too early to assess whether this increase indicates a change in the trend. GAO testified in February 2013 that the number of apprehensions provides information on activity levels but does not inform program results or resource allocation decisions. Border Patrol is in the …

This report discusses a growing consensus that U.S. global health assistance needs to become more efficient and effective. It also points out the CDC Global Health Spending: FY2001-FY2012.

This report begins with an overview of the purpose for which child welfare funds are appropriated. The report discusses FY2013 appropriations for those programs, including the effect of the automatic spending cuts, know as sequestration.

This report provides an overview of the Clean Air act issues addresses in the 113th Congress. The contents include EPA's greenhouse gas regulations, emissions of other pollutants from power plants, air quality standards and other issues.

This report discusses the background of cluster munitions in the U.S. military, and the current Department of Defense (DOD) and Obama Administration stances on the topic. It also discusses the two major international initiatives to address cluster munitions: the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) and negotiations under the U.N. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs).

This report discusses the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which is a presidential advisory body consisting of nine cabinet members, two ex officio members, and other members appointed by the President to oversee direct investments by foreign countries in the United States. It discusses the basics of the committee's operations and laws governing their conduct and power, presidential blocks of investment, previous reforms to the original law governing the committee and its actions and current propositions in Congress to further amend the laws regarding the committe.

This report provides a list of roughly 200 congressional liaison offices with phone numbers, addresses, and other contact information.

This report discusses state government efforts to uphold the requirements of the Paris Agreement on climate change after the announcement of the U.S.'s planned withdrawal from the agreement and constitutional limits on their efforts.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) strategy for improving the reporting of contractor past performance information consists of providing additional training to its acquisition workforce and developing tools and metrics to improve oversight. The number of personnel trained more than doubled since 2010 to more than 7,000, and DOD oversight officials now have the ability to track compliance with reporting requirements down to the level of individual contracting offices. DOD continues to utilize existing past performance guidance, which generally aligns with requirements specified in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012."

Tank Farm and Closure Engineering is evaluating changes to the Actinide Removal Process facility operations to decrease the MST concentration from 0.4 g/L to 0.2 g/L and the contact time from 12 hours to between 6 and 8 hours. For this evaluation, SRNL reviewed previous datasets investigating the performance of MST at 0.2 g/L in salt solutions ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 M in sodium concentration. In general, reducing the MST concentration from 0.4 to 0.2 g/L and increasing the ionic strength from 4.5 to 7.5 M in sodium concentration will decrease the measured decontamination factors for plutonium, neptunium, uranium and strontium. The decontamination factors as well as single standard deviation values for each sorbate are reported. These values are applicable within the sorbate and sodium concentrations used in the experimental measurements. Decreasing the MST concentration in the ARP from 0.4 g/L to 0.2 g/L will produce an increase in the filter flux, and could lead to longer operating times between filter cleaning. The increase in flux is a function of a number of operating parameters, and is difficult to quantify. However, it is estimated that the reduction in MST could result in a reduction of filtration time of up …

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 Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has taken some important steps to establish an enduring expeditionary forensic capability by issuing a concept of operations in 2008, followed by a directive in 2011 to establish policy and assign responsibilities. As required by the directive, DOD has drafted a strategic plan to guide the activities of the Defense Forensic Enterprise, including expeditionary forensics. Although the plan includes a mission statement, and goals and objectives--two of the five key elements identified by GAO as integral to a well-developed strategic plan--it does not identify approaches for how goals and objectives will be achieved, milestones and metrics to gauge progress, and resources needed to achieve goals and objectives. GAO's prior work has shown that organizations need a well-developed strategic plan to identify and achieve their goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. Officials in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)) said that they decided to create a concise, high-level strategic plan and that they plan to issue guidance tasking the DOD components to develop individual implementation plans that include milestones. However, approaches, metrics, and resources …

This report describes the appropriations structure and funding levels for the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD's) research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E). The DOD relies on scientific and technical research funded by the department and performed by industry, universities, federal laboratories, and others; the DOD also relies on technology developed by the private sector for commercial markets.

This report provides a brief overview of the proposed amendment to Rule 41, which would amend the federal search and seizure rules to permit the government to remotely access electronic devices although the location of the device may be unknown. First, the report provides a background on the origin of, and rationale underlying, the proposed amendment and a description of the rule as currently written. Second, it reviews the potential changes made by the proposed amendment and will survey various concerns commenters have raised with the proposal. Lastly, this report addresses efforts being made in Congress to alter, delay, or stop this rule change.

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This report discusses the response of the non-U.S. parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to the Trump Administration's decision to cease implementing U.S. commitments under the agreement. The other parties, which include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union (EU) and Iran, opposed the U.S. move and have undertaken intensive negotiations to try to preserve the accord.

A comprehensive study of charge diagnostics is conducted to verify their validity for measuring electron beams produced by laser plasma accelerators (LPAs). First, a scintillating screen (Lanex) was extensively studied using subnanosecond electron beams from the Advanced Light Source booster synchrotron, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Lanex was cross calibrated with an integrating current transformer (ICT) for up to the electron energy of 1.5 GeV, and the linear response of the screen was confirmed for charge density and intensity up to 160 pC/mm{sup 2} and 0.4 pC/(ps mm{sup 2}), respectively. After the radio-frequency accelerator based cross calibration, a series of measurements was conducted using electron beams from an LPA. Cross calibrations were carried out using an activation-based measurement that is immune to electromagnetic pulse noise, ICT, and Lanex. The diagnostics agreed within {+-}8%, showing that they all can provide accurate charge measurements for LPAs.