Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the small group health insurance market to identify the number of licensed carriers, the largest carriers, and their market share in each state. GAO found that (1) the median number of licensed carriers in the small group market per state was 28, (2) the median market share of the largest carrier was about 33 percent, (3) the five largest carriers, when combined, represented three-quarters or more of the market in 19 of the 34 states reviewed and they represented more than 90 percent in seven states, (4) 25 of 37 states identified Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) carrier as the largest carrier offering health insurance in the small group market, and (5) the median market share of all the BCBS carriers in the 34 states supplying information was about 34 percent."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal, state, and local governments share responsibility in preparing for catastrophic terrorist attacks. Because the national security threat is diffuse and the challenge is highly intergovernmental, national policymakers must formulate strategies with a firm understanding of the interests, capacity, and challenges in addressing these issues. Key aspects of this strategy should include a definition and clarification of the appropriate roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local entities. GAO has found fragmentation and overlap among federal assistance programs. More than 40 federal entities have roles in combating terrorism, and past federal efforts have resulted in a lack of accountability, a lack of cohesive effort, and program duplication. As state and local officials have noted, this situation has led to confusion, making it difficult to identify available federal preparedness resources and effectively partner with the federal government. Goals and performance measures should be established to guide the nation's preparedness efforts. For the nation's preparedness programs, however, outcomes have yet to be defined in terms of domestic preparedness. Given the recent and proposed increases in preparedness funding, real and meaningful improvements in preparedness and establishing clear goals and performance measures …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a raffle ticket may be awarded as a prize in a bingo game.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether Harris County may prohibit a tow truck from having auxiliary stop and tail lamps in or under the factory-mounted light bar, and related question.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a private Texas nonprofit corporation may operate a "charitable sweepstakes fundraising program," and related questions (RQ-0443-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the term of a justice of the peace may be reduced from four to two years as a result of redistricting(RQ-0447-JC).

The objective of the ''Local Integration of the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center with Cities'' (LINC) program is to demonstrate the capability for providing local government agencies with an advanced operational atmospheric plume prediction capability, which can be seamlessly integrated with appropriate federal agency support for homeland security applications. LINC is a Domestic Demonstration and Application Program (DDAP) funded by the Chemical and Biological National Security Program (CBNP), which is part of the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). LINC will make use of capabilities that have been developed the CBNP, and integrated into the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). NARAC tools services will be provided to pilot study cities and counties to map plumes from terrorism threats. Support to these local agencies will include training and customized support for exercises, special events, and general emergencies. NARAC provides tools and services that map the probable spread of hazardous material which have been accidentally or intentionally released into the atmosphere. Primarily supported by the DOE, NARAC is a national support and resource center for planning, real-time assessment and detailed studies of incidents involving a wide variety of hazards, including radiological, chemical, …

A performance assessment is required to demonstrate compliance with the post-closure performance objectives for the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP), as stated in 10 CFR Part 63.1 13 (66 FR 55732, p. 55807). A performance assessment is defined in 10 CFR 63.2 (66 FR 55732, p. 55794) as an analysis that: (1) identifies the features, events, and processes (FEPs) that might affect the potential geologic repository; (2) examines the effects of those FEPs upon the performance of the potential geologic repository; and (3) estimates the expected dose incurred by a specified reasonably maximally exposed individual as a result of releases caused by significant FEPs. The performance assessment must also provide the technical basis for inclusion or exclusion of specific FEPs in the performance assessment as stated in 10 CFR 63.114 (66 FR 55732, p. 55807). An initial approach for FEP development, in support of the Total System Performance Assessment for the Site Recommendation (TSPA-SR) (CRWMS M&O 2000e), was documented in Freeze et al. (2001). The development of a comprehensive list of FEPs potentially relevant to the post-closure performance of the potential Yucca Mountain repository is an ongoing, iterative process based on site-specific information, design, and regulations. Although comprehensiveness of the FEPs …

We discuss field activities designed to characterize seepage into an underground opening at the potential site for geologic storage of high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and the use of these data for development and calibration of a model for predicting seepage into planned HLRW emplacement drifts. Air-injection tests were conducted to characterize the permeability of the fractured rock, and liquid-release tests (LRTs) were conducted and seepage monitored to characterize the seepage-relevant properties of the fractured rock. Both air-injection and liquid-release tests were performed in the same borehole intervals, located above the underground openings. For modeling, three-dimensional, heterogeneous permeability fields were generated, conditioned on the air-permeability data. The initial seepage data collected were used to calibrate the model and test the appropriateness of the modeling approach. A capillary-strength parameter and porosity were the model parameters selected for estimation by data inversion. However, due to the short-term nature of the initial data, the inversion process was unable to independently determine the capillary strength and porosity of the fractured rock. Subsequent seepage data collection focused on longer-term tests, a representative selection of which was used for data inversion. Field observations also played a key role by identifying factors such as …

Private sector commercial office buildings are challenging environments for energy efficiency projects. This challenge is related to the complexity of business environments that involve ownership, operation, and tenant relationships. Whether it is poor quality design, inefficient operations, degradation of equipment over time, or merely the increasing use of energy by tenants and inattention from landlords, commercial office building energy use continues to increase. This research project was developed to examine the environment for building operations and identify causes of inefficient use of energy related to technical and organizational issues. This report discusses a second-generation Information Monitoring and Diagnostic System (IMDS) installed at a leased office building in Sacramento, California. The report begins with a brief summary of the IMDS research at the previous building, followed by a discussion of the building selection process, the IMDS design and installation, recent use of the IMDS, costs and benefits, and fault detection and diagnostic research using the IMDS. A web site describes the IMDS in detail (see imds.lbl.gov). The underlying principle of this research project is that high quality building performance data can help show where energy is being used and how buildings systems actually perform is an important first step toward improving …

Conventional cone jet algorithms arose from heuristic considerations of LO hard scattering coupled to independent showering. These algorithms implicitly assume that the final states of individual events can be mapped onto a unique set of jets that are in turn associated with a unique set of underlying hard scattering partons. Thus each final state hadron is assigned to a unique underlying parton. The Jet Energy Flow (JEF) analysis described here does not make such assumptions. The final states of individual events are instead described in terms of flow distributions of hadronic energy. Quantities of physical interest are constructed from the energy flow distribution summed over all events. The resulting analysis is less sensitive to higher order perturbative corrections and the impact of showering and hadronization than the standard cone algorithms.

A passively cooled graphite target was proposed for a 1.5 MW neutrino production research facility because of its simplicity and favorable performance as a target material for neutrino production. The conceptual design for the target in the Reference 1 study was a graphite rod 15 mm in diameter by 800 mm long. Figure 1 shows the graphite target rod supported by graphite spokes, which are mounted to a water-cooled stainless steel support tube. The target is radiatively cooled to the water-cooled surface of the support tube. Based on nuclear analysis results, the time-averaged power deposition in the target is 35 kW. If this power is deposited uniformly along the axial length of the target, the volumetric power deposition in the target is about 250 MW/m{sup 3}. The target surface temperature required to radiate the deposited power to a water-cooled tube is estimated to be about 1850 C, and the temperature at the center of the target is about 75 C hotter. The sublimation erosion rate (e), estimated assuming that the graphite is submersed in a perfect vacuum environment, can be derived from kinetic theory and is given by: e = p{sub sat}(m/2{pi} kT){sup 1/2} where p{sub sat} is the saturation …

In this study, we investigated the frictional behavior of both hydrogenated and hydrogen-free diamondlike carbon (DLC) films in high vacuum (10{sup -6} Pa) at room temperature. Water was also introduced into the vacuum chamber to elucidate its effects on DLC film tribology. The hydrogen-free DLC (also referred to as tetrahedral amorphous carbon, or ta-C) was produced by an arc-PVD process, and the highly hydrogenated DLC was produced by plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition. Tribological measurements of these films were made with a pin-on-disc machine with coated steel balls and coated steel discs in matched pairs under a 1 N load. The ball/disk pairs were rotated at sliding speeds in the range of 0.025-0.075 m/s. In vacuum, the steady-state friction coefficient of ta-C was of the order of 0.6 and the wear was severe, whereas for the highly hydrogenated film, friction was below 0.01, and in an optical microscope no wear could be detected. Adding water vapor to the sliding ta-C system in a vacuum chamber caused friction to decrease monotonically from 0.6 to {approx}0.05. In contrast, adding water vapor to the sliding DLC system caused the friction to increase linearly with pressure from 0.01 to 0.07. The results illustrate the importance of …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory board's statement of federal financial accounting standards (SFFAS). The statement presents amendments to SFFAS No. 8 and No. 6 and rescinds SFFAS No. 11."

A current focus of our weapon headspace sampling work is the interpretation of the volatile chemical signatures that we are collecting. To help validate our interpretation we have been developing a laboratory-based material aging capability to simulate material decomposition chemistries identified. Key to establishing this capability has been the development of an automated approach to process, analyze, and quantify arrays of material combinations as a function of time and temperature. Our initial approach involves monitoring the formation and migration of volatile compounds produced when a material decomposes. This approach is advantageous in that it is nondestructive and provides a direct comparison with our weapon headspace surveillance initiative. Nevertheless, this approach requires us to identify volatile material residue and decomposition byproducts that are not typically monitored and reported in material aging studies. Similar to our weapon monitoring method, our principle laboratory-based method involves static headspace collection by solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). SPME is a sorbent collection technique that is ideally suited for preconcentration and delivery of trace gas-phase compounds for analysis by GC. When combined with MS, detection limits are routinely in the low- and sub-ppb ranges, even for semivolatile and polar compounds. To automate …

A new small-scale Detonation Profile Test (DPT) is being developed to investigate aging effects on the detonation behavior of insensitive high explosives. The experiment involves initiating a small LX-17 cylindrical charge (12.7-19.1 mm diameter x 25.4-33 mm long) and measuring the velocity and curvature of the emerging detonation wave using a streak camera. Results for 12.7 mm diameter unconfined LX-17 charges show detonation velocity in the range between 6.79 and 7.06 km/s for parts up to 33 mm long. Since LX-17 can not sustain detonation at less than 7.3 km/s, these waves were definitely failing. Experiments with confined 12.7 mm diameter and unconfined 19.1 mm diameter samples showed wave velocities in the range of 7.4-7.6 km/s, values approaching steady state conditions at infinite diameter. Experiments with unconfined 19.1 mm diameter specimens are expected to provide reproducible and useful range of detonation parameters suitable for studying aging effects.

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Femtosecond laser ablation shows promise in machining energetic materials into desired shapes with minimal thermal and mechanical effects to the remaining material. We will discuss the physical effects associated with machining energetic materials and assemblies containing energetic materials, based on experimental results. Interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with matter will produce high temperature plasma at high-pressure which results in the ablation of material. In the case of energetic material, which includes high explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics, this ablation process must be accomplished without coupling energy into the energetic material. Experiments were conducted in order to characterize and better understand the phenomena of femtosecond laser pulse ablation on a variety of explosives and propellants. Experimental data will be presented for laser fluence thresholds, machining rates, cutting depths and surface quality of the cuts.

One-Dimensional-Time-To-Explosion (ODTX) experiments were conducted to study the thermal decomposition of aged LX-04, aged PBX 9501, HMX class 1 and class 2, Estane and Estane/BDNPA-F (PBX 950 1 plasticized-binder) materials. The tests involved heating 12.7 mm diameter spherical samples in pre-heated aluminum anvils until explosion. The times to explosion at different heating temperatures were compared to historical data on new LX-04 and PBX 9501 compounds to study any changes to their thermal stability. New and aged LX-04 showed comparable decomposition kinetics. The data for aged PBX 9501 showed slightly longer explosion times at equivalent temperatures. Analysis of the error in time measurement is limited and complicated by several experimental factors but the small time change appears to be experimentally significant. The thermal decomposition of these PBXs were modeled using a coupled thermal and heat transport code (chemical TOPAZ) using separate kinetics for HMX and binder decomposition. Separate decomposition models were developed for HMX and the reactive PBX 9501 binder component (1:1 Estane:BDNPA/F) based on the measured explosion times. Thermal aging models can describe longer explosion times by the loss of plasticizer-binder constituent which was more thermally reactive.

This paper presents a case for replacing mercury thermometers with their organic-liquid-filled counterparts. A review of liquid-in glass-thermometers is given. In addition, a brief summary of mercury's health effects and exposure limits is presented. Spill cleanup methods and some lessons learned from our experience are offered as well. Finally, an overview of the mercury thermometer exchange program developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is presented.

During FY 2001, tank farm operations at Hanford and the Savannah River Site (SRS) continued to be negatively impacted by the unintended formation of solids. At Hanford, the primary solids formation problem involves a series of plugged pipes and pumps during the saltwell pumping activities of the interim stabilization program. For example, transfers of tank S-102 waste were suspended due to a plugged pipeline or a mechanical problem with the transfer pump. The replacement pump then failed within 2 weeks. In contrast, since full-scale waste remediation activities such as vitrification were initiated, the SRS has encountered a wider range of problems due to unwanted solids. The 2H evaporator system was shut down because of the formation of aluminosilicate deposits with enriched uranium in the evaporator pot. While high concentrations of aluminum are expected in the tank waste due to previous canyon operations, the primary source of silicon is the recycle stream from the vitrifier. While solids formation can be expected when waste streams are combined, the formation of the aluminosilicate deposits required an elevated temperature within the evaporator. The shutdown of the 2H evaporator led to a severe shortage of tank space. Therefore, the SRS tank farm was forced to …

Newsletter of the Texas Department of Health discussing the news, activities, and events of the organization and other information related to health in Texas.

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