Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The transportation sector accounts for roughly two thirds of the nation's petroleum consumption and one quarter of the total U.S. energy use. Several steps have been taken during the last 25 years either to reduce petroleum consumption or to increase fuel diversity in the transportation sector, including tax incentives, mandates for alternative fuel vehicles, and laws to promote automobile fuel efficiency. This testimony discusses the extent of alternative fuel vehicle acquisition and fuel use, some of the barriers inhibiting greater use of alternative fuels and vehicles, and the federal tax incentives used to promote the use of alternative motor fuels and vehicles. So far, alternative fuels and vehicles have not made much of a dent in the conventional fuel and vehicle dominance of the U.S. vehicle fleet, primarily because of fundamental economic obstacles, such as the relatively low price of oil, insufficient availability of alternative fuel refueling infrastructure, and the relatively high cost of some alternative fuel vehicles. As GAO reported in February 2000 (RCED-00-59), any significant increase in the use of alternative motor fuels and vehicles by the general public will depend on the following two factors: …

Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

Issue advocacy communications have become increasingly popular in recent federal election cycles. These advertisements are often interpreted to favor or disfavor certain candidates, while also serving to inform the public about a policy issue. However, unlike communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the Supreme Court has determined that issue ads are constitutionally protected First Amendment speech that cannot be regulated in any manner. According to most lower court rulings, only speech containing express words of advocacy of election or defeat, also known as "express advocacy" or "magic words" can be regulated as election-related communications and therefore be subject to the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Upcoming legislation would further investigate and elaborate upon this issue.

Issue advocacy communications have become increasingly popular over the federal election cycles. Often these advertisements could be interpreted to favor or disfavor certain candidates, while also serving to inform the public about a policy issue. However, unlike communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the Supreme Court has ruled that issue ads are constitutionally protected First Amendment speech and cannot be regulated in any manner. According to most lower court rulings, only speech containing express words of advocacy of election or defeat, also known as “express advocacy” or “magic words” can be regulated as election-related communications and therefore be subject to the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Unlike express advocacy communications, therefore, issue ads may be paid for with funds unregulated by federal law, i.e., soft money

Issue advocacy communications have become increasingly popular over the federal election cycles. Often these advertisements could be interpreted to favor or disfavor certain candidates, while also serving to inform the public about a policy issue. However, unlike communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the Supreme Court has ruled that issue ads are constitutionally protected First Amendment speech and cannot be regulated in any manner. According to most lower court rulings, only speech containing express words of advocacy of election or defeat, also known as “express advocacy” or “magic words” can be regulated as election-related communications and therefore be subject to the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Unlike express advocacy communications, therefore, issue ads may be paid for with funds unregulated by federal law, i.e., soft money

The objective of this study was to evaluate site-specific effects for early life-stage (eyed eggs to free swimming juveniles) fall chinook salmon that might be exposed to hexavalent chromium from Hanford groundwater sources. Our exposure conditions included hexavalent chromium obtained from Hanford groundwater wells near the Columbia River, Columbia River water as the diluent, and locally adapted populations of fall chinook salmon. This report describes both a 96-hr pretest using rainbow trout eggs and an early life-stage test beginning with chinook salmon eggs.

The objective of this study was to evaluate site-specific effects for early life-stage (eyed eggs to free swimming juveniles) fall chinook salmon that might be exposed to hexavalent chromium from Hanford groundwater sources. Our exposure conditions included hexavalent chromium obtained from Hanford groundwater wells near the Columbia River, Columbia River water as the diluent, and locally adapted populations of fall chinook salmon. This report describes both a 96-hr pretest using rainbow trout eggs and an early life-stage test beginning with chinook salmon eggs.

This project was a two-phase effort consisting of technical research and manufacturing development to improve and reduce the costs of the SunSine{reg_sign} inverter. Research addressed packaging, soft switching, circuit optimization, manufacturing process improvements, and pilot production manufacturing. Significant cost reductions were achieved. The main goal of this project was to reduce cost and improve the manufacturability and reliability of the SunSine{reg_sign} ac module, which consists of a SunSine{reg_sign} inverter mounted on an ASE Americas PV laminate. This work has also boosted the performance and enhanced marketability by adding customer-valued features. Ascension Technology has accomplished these advancements by cost reductions or design modifications in the following areas: Die-cast aluminum enclosure and base plate; soft switching for cost reduction and efficiency gains; circuit board and component optimization for performance gains and size reduction; streamlined inverter assembly and production testing; and streamlined inverter/module assembly. As a result of the effort in these areas, Ascension Technology's objectives were to achieve the following: 40%-50% reduction in inverter manufacturing costs; 40% reduction in inverter size from 169 to 100 square inches; 4% increase in peak inverter efficiency from 87% to 91% at full power; UL listing, FCC certification; establish a production capability of 5000 SunSine{reg_sign} inverters/year …

Foster Wheeler Development Corporation is working under DOE contract No. DE-FC26-00NT40972 to develop a partial gasification module (PGM) that represents a critical element of several potential coal-fired Vision 21 plants. When utilized for electrical power generation, these plants will operate with efficiencies greater than 60% while producing near zero emissions of traditional stack gas pollutants. The new process partially gasifies coal at elevated pressure producing a coal-derived syngas and a char residue. The syngas can be used to fuel the most advanced power producing equipment such as solid oxide fuel cells or gas turbines or processed to produce clean liquid fuels or chemicals for industrial users. The char residue is not wasted; it can also be used to generate electricity by fueling boilers that drive the most advanced ultra-supercritical pressure steam turbines. The unique aspect of the process is that it utilizes a pressurized circulating fluidized bed partial gasifier and does not attempt to consume the coal in a single step. To convert all the coal to syngas in a single step requires extremely high temperatures ({approx}2500 to 2800F) that melt and vaporize the coal and essentially drive all coal ash contaminants into the syngas. Since these contaminants can be …

The training of a new project team member was completed (Task 2.1). The Software Requirements Document was written (Task 2.3). It was determined that the CAPE-OPEN interfaces are sufficient for the communication between Fluent and V21 Controller (Task 2.4). The AspenPlus-Fluent prototype on allyl/triacetone alcohol production was further developed to assist the GUI and software design tasks. The prototype was also used to analyze the sensitivity of a process simulation result with respect to a parameter in a CFD model embedded in the process simulation. Thus the integration of process simulation and CFD provides additional process insights and enables the engineer to optimize overall process performance (e.g., product purity and yield) with respect to important CFD design and operation parameters (e.g., CSTR shaft speed). A top-level design of the V21 Controller was developed and discussed. A draft version of the Software Design Document was written (Task 2.5/2.6). A preliminary software development plan was outlined. At first the V21 Controller will be developed and tested in two parts--a part that communicates with Fluent and a part that communicates with Aspen Plus. Then the two parts will be combined and tested with the allyl/triacetone alcohol flow sheet simulation. Much progress was made …

The current baseline process for fabricating pucks for the Plutonium Immobilization Program includes granulation of the milled feed prior to compaction. A direct fabrication process was demonstrated that eliminates the need for granulation.

Although it may sound like a contradiction in terms, the electron beam ion trap (EBIT) works as an ion trap even when the electron beam is switched off. We present various experiments that exploit the ''magnetic trapping mode'' for investigations of ion confinement, charge exchange processes, atomic lifetime and ion mass measurements.

The primary objective of these experiments was to determine the fate (partitioning) of the antifoam agent across the precipitation, concentration and washing cycles. A secondary objective of this experiment was to determine if insoluble aluminum formed during the STTP process.

The ultimate strength of the PS Enterprises pultruded blade section was experimentally determined under four-point bending at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Thirteen 8-foot long full-scale blade segments were individually tested to determine their maximum moment carrying capability. Three airfoil-bending configurations were tested: high- and low-pressure skin buckling, and low pressure skin buckling with foam interior reinforcement. Maximum strain was recorded for each sample on the compressive and tensile surfaces of each test blade. Test data are compared to the results of three analytical buckling prediction methods. Based on deviations from the linear strain versus load curve, data indicate a post-buckling region. High-pressure side buckling occurred sooner than low-pressure side buckling. The buckling analyses were conservative for both configurations, but high-pressure side buckling in particular was substantially under-predicted. Both high- and low-pressure buckling configurations had very similar failure loads. These results suggests that a redundant load path may be providing strength to the section in the post-buckling region, making the onset of panel buckling a poor predictor of ultimate strength for the PS Enterprises pultrusion.

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has produced toroidal plasmas at low aspect ratio (A = R/a = 0.86 m/0.68 m approximately equal to 1.3, where R is the major radius and a is the minor radius of the torus) with plasma currents of 1.4 MA. The rapid development of the machine has led to very exciting physics results during the first full year of physics operation. Pulse lengths in excess of 0.5 sec have been obtained with inductive current drive. Up to 4 MW of High Harmonic Fast Wave (HHFW) heating power has been applied with 6 MW planned. Using only 2 MW of HHFW heating power clear evidence of electron heating is seen with HHFW, as observed by the multi-point Thomson scattering diagnostic. A noninductive current drive concept known as Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) has driven 260 kA of toroidal current. Neutral-beam heating power of 5 MW has been injected. Plasmas with beta toroidal (= 2 mu(subscript ''0'')<p>/B(superscript ''2'') = a measure of magnetic confinement efficiency ) of 22% have been achieved, as calculated using the EFIT equilibrium reconstruction code. Beta-limiting phenomena have been observed, and the maximum beta toroidal scales with I(subscript ''p'')/aB(subscript ''t''). High frequency (>MHz) …

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is a low aspect ratio (R/a approximately 1.3) device with auxiliary heating from neutral-beam injection (NBI) and high-harmonic fast-wave heating (HHFW). Typical NSTX parameters are R(subscript ''0'') = 85 cm, a = 67 cm, I(subscript ''p'') = 0.7-1.4 MA, B(subscript ''phi'') = 0.25-0.45 T. Three co-directed deuterium neutral-beam sources have injected P(subscript ''NB'') less than or equal to 4.7 MW. HHFW plasmas typically have delivered P(subscript ''RF'') less than or equal to 3 MW. Important to the understanding of NSTX confinement are the new kinetic profile diagnostics: a multi-pulse Thomson scattering system (MPTS) and a charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CHERS) system. The MPTS diagnostic currently measures electron density and temperature profiles at 30 Hz at ten spatial locations. The CHERS system has recently become available to measure carbon ion temperature and toroidal flow at 17 radial positions spanning the outer half of the minor radius with 20 msec time resolution during NBI. Experiments conducted during the last year have produced a wide range of kinetic profiles in NSTX. Some interesting examples are presented below.

This report describes the non-radioactive preparation of Macrobatch 3 simulated sludge and Macrobatch 3 Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) products necessary for the FY01melt rate testing. The SRAT products were combined with various frits, dried and size-reduced to produce the dried melter feeds that were used in the crucible and melt rate furnace testing. The results of the crucible and melt rate furnace testing will be summarized in separate reports.

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Predictions of airflows around buildings and the associated thermal and dispersion phenomena continue to be challenging because of the presence of extremely heterogeneous surface structures within urban areas. Atmospheric conditions can induce local winds to flow around structures rather than over them. Thus pollutants that are released at or near the ground tend to persist at relatively low levels with only minimal ventilation of the airborne material away from the ground surface. While flow and dispersion phenomena can be studied within wind tunnel settings, recent advances in numerical modeling have enabled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evolve into an important tool in the simulation of building scale flows. They are developing numerical models to simulate the flow and dispersion of releases around multi-building complexes. These models will be used to assess the transport and fate of releases of hazardous agents within urban areas and to support emergency response activities. There are already a number of models that have been developed to simulate flow and dispersion around urban settings. A recent collection of these papers can be found in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on CFD for Wind Climate in Cities. Most of the simulation studies presented in the literature …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's hospitals and nursing homes rely heavily on the services of nurses. Concerns have been raised about whether the current and projected supply of nurses will meet the nation's needs. This report reviews (1) whether evidence of a nursing shortage exists, (2) the reasons for current nurse recruitment and retention problems, and (3) what is known about the projected future supply of and demand for nurses. GAO found that national data are not adequate to describe the nature and extent of nurse workforce shortages, nor are data sufficiently sensitive or current to compare nurse workforce availability across states, specialties, or provider types. Multiple factors affect recruitment and retention problems, including the aging of the nurse workforce fewer younger people are entering the profession. A serious shortage of nurses is expected in the future as demographic pressures influence both demand and supply."

The objective of this research is to determine the effects of material condition and applied stress on environmental cracking in candidate waste package materials for the Yucca Mountain Project. Time-to-failure experiments were performed on smooth bar tensile specimens in a hot, concentrated, mixed-salt solution chosen to simulate concentrated Yucca Mountain water. Smooth tensile specimens were individually loaded by the internal pressure of a 55-liter autoclave, where the applied stress varied with the individual specimen gauge cross section. The effects of material, applied stress, welding, surface finish, shot peening, cold work, crevicing, and aging treatment were investigated for Alloy 22, Titanium Grade 7, and 316NG stainless steel. Testing of multiple specimens allowed statistical differences among material conditions to be determined. Sensitized 304SS specimens were included in the test matrix to provide benchmark data. Microstructural effects on time-to-failure were studied for Alloy 22, where heat treatments designed to produce topologically close-packed phases (TCP) and long-range ordering (LRO) were investigated. This research complements high-resolution crack-growth-rate experiments performed in a parallel research project.

The promise of inertial fusion energy driven by heavy ion beams requires the development of accelerators that produce ion currents (approx 100's Amperes/beam) and ion energies ({approx} 1 - 10 GeV) that have not been achieved simultaneously in any existing accelerator. The high currents imply high generalized perveances, large tun depressions, and high space charge potentials of the beam center relative to the beam pipe. Many of the scientific issues associated with ion beams of high perveance and large tune depression have been addressed over the last two decades on scaled experiments at Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, the University of Maryland, and elsewhere. The additional requirement of high space charge potential (or equivalently high line charge density) gives rise to effects (particularly the role of electrons in beam transport) which must be understood before proceeding to a large scale accelerator. The first phase of a new series of experiments in the Heavy Ion Fusion Virtual National Laboratory (HIF VNL), the High Current Experiments (HCX), is now beginning at LBNL. The mission of the HCX is to transport beams with driver line charge density so as to investigate the physics of this regime, including constraints on the maximum …

The industrial facilities that have been built or are under construction in France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and West Germany to handle light-water reactor (LWR) spent fuel and canisters of vitrified high-level waste before ultimate disposal are described and illustrated with drawings and photographs. Published information on the operating performance of these facilities is also given. This information was assembled for consideration in planning and design of similar equipment and facilities needed for the Federal Waste Management System in the United States.