Report on nuclear weapons used in troop support, including history, U.S. - Soviet relations, issues for Congress, and more.

This report discusses issues of state and local taxation of Internet transactions because commerce conducted by parties in different states over the Internet.

None

Over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana production has roughly doubled and coca production tripled. Street prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen significantly in the past 20 years, reflecting increased availability. Despite apparent national political resolve to deal with the drug problem, inherent contradictions regularly appear between U.S. anti-drug policy and other national policy goals and concerns. The mix of competing domestic and international pressures and priorities has produced an ongoing series of disputes within and between the legislative and executive branches concerning U.S. international drug policy. One contentious issue has been the Congressionally-mandated certification process, an instrument designed to induce specified drug-exporting countries to prioritize or pay more attention to the fight against narcotics businesses.

There is a lack of consensus regarding the best method of balancing scientific publishing and national security. The current federal policy, as described in National Security Decision Directive 189, is that fundamental research should remain unrestricted and that in the rare case where it is necessary to restrict such information, classification is the appropriate vehicle to do so. Other mechanisms restrict international information flow, where Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) control export of items and technical information on specific lists. Both EAR and ITAR contain a fundamental research exclusion, but this exclusion is lost if prepublication review of research results for sensitive information occurs.

In an effort to collect scientifically credible data regarding the effect of animal agriculture on water resources (specifically animal waste and emissions from animal feeding operations (AFO), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2005 announced the Air Compliance Agreement. The agreement is intended to produce air quality monitoring data on AFO emissions during a two-year study, while at the same time protecting participants through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.

This report focuses on the environmental quality of water resources as affected by animal agriculture, specifically animal waste, which can harm water quality through surface runoff, direct discharges, spills, and leaching into soil and groundwater. This report also discusses the contribution of emissions from animal feeding operations (AFO), enterprises where animals are raised in confinement, to air pollution.

None

Twice in the past, the Supreme Court has grappled with issues as to the geographic scope of the wetlands permitting program in the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). On October 11, 2005, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two more cases (consolidated by the Court) addressing such questions — both from the SixthCircuit. In Rapanos v. United States, the issue is whether the permitting program applies to wetlands that are only distantly connected to traditional navigable waters — i.e., or at least do not actually abut them. In Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the issue is whether the program reaches wetlands that are not hydrologically connected to any “water of the United States,” the CWA term that defines the act’s geographic reach. Both cases also raise a constitutional question: assuming that the disputed CWA coverage exists, did Congress, in enacting the CWA, exceed its authority under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution? Implicating hot-button legal issues such as federal-state relations under the Commerce Clause and private property rights, and affecting the reach of several CWA provisions outside the permitting program, the Court’s decision is sure to be of great interest.

None

None

Twice in the past, the Supreme Court has grappled with issues as to the geographic scope of the wetlands permitting program in the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). On October 11, 2005, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two more cases (consolidated by the Court) addressing such questions — both from the SixthCircuit. In Rapanos v. United States, the issue is whether the permitting program applies to wetlands that are only distantly connected to traditional navigable waters — i.e., or at least do not actually abut them. In Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the issue is whether the program reaches wetlands that are not hydrologically connected to any “water of the United States,” the CWA term that defines the act’s geographic reach. Both cases also raise a constitutional question: assuming that the disputed CWA coverage exists, did Congress, in enacting the CWA, exceed its authority under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution? Implicating hot-button legal issues such as federal-state relations under the Commerce Clause and private property rights, and affecting the reach of several CWA provisions outside the permitting program, the Court’s decision is sure to be of great interest. 0

None

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The number of service members leaving active duty is likely to increase by 200,000 yearly, according to the Department of Labor. To improve employment and training services for veterans and to encourage employers to hire them, Congress passed the Jobs for Veterans Act in 2002, which reformed Labor's Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) program. This testimony summarizes GAO's recent review of progress implementing the act, including the development of new staff roles and responsibilities, incentive awards, and performance accountability system. GAO examined (1) actions taken to improve performance and accountability since the law's enactment and any associated challenges, (2) whether available data indicate that such action has resulted in improved employment outcomes for veterans, and (3) factors affecting program oversight an accountability."

This report provides information about The Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act.CDSOA commonly known as Byrd amendment is a U.S law providing for the distribution of import duties collected as a result of antidumping.

None

The purpose of this document is to provide a brief introduction to digital radiography (DR), and a description of the DR configuration that was used to radiographically image the Special Nuclear Material (SNM) Test Packages before and after function tests that have been conducted. Also included are (1) Attachment 1, a comprehensive index that describes at which phase of the certification process that digital radiographic images were acquired, (2) digital radiographic images of each of the six packages at various stages of the certification process, and (3) Attachment 2, imaging instructions, that specify the setup procedures and detailed parameters of the DR imaging methodology that were used.

Large-scale scientific computation and all of the disciplines that support and help validate it have been placed at the focus of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) by the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) initiative of the Office of Science of the Department of Energy (DOE). The maturation of simulation as a fundamental tool of scientific and engineering research is underscored in the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) June 2005 finding that ''computational science has become critical to scientific leadership, economic competitiveness, and national security''. LLNL operates several of the world's most powerful computers--including today's single most powerful--and has undertaken some of the largest and most compute-intensive simulations ever performed, most notably the molecular dynamics simulation that sustained more than 100 Teraflop/s and won the 2005 Gordon Bell Prize. Ultrascale simulation has been identified as one of the highest priorities in DOE's facilities planning for the next two decades. However, computers at architectural extremes are notoriously difficult to use in an efficient manner. Furthermore, each successful terascale simulation only points out the need for much better ways of interacting with the resulting avalanche of …

This quarterly report for DE-FG26-04NT42030 covers a period from October 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005. GTI's activities during the report quarter were limited to administrative work. The work at the University of Arkansas continued in line with the initial scope of work and identified the questions regarding surface to cloud heat transfer as being largely responsible for the instability problems previously encountered. A brief summary of results is included in this section and the complete report from University of Arkansas is attached as Appendix A.

All of the waste streams from ARP, MCU, and SWPF processes will be sent to DWPF for vitrification. The impact these new waste streams will have on DWPF's ability to meet its canister production goal and its ability to support the Salt Processing Program (ARP, MCU, and SWPF) throughput needed to be evaluated. DWPF Engineering and Operations requested OBU Systems Engineering to evaluate DWPF operations and determine how the process could be optimized. The ultimate goal will be to evaluate all of the Liquid Radioactive Waste (LRW) System by developing process modules to cover all facilities/projects which are relevant to the LRW Program and to link the modules together to: (1) study the interfaces issues, (2) identify bottlenecks, and (3) determine the most cost effective way to eliminate them. The results from the evaluation can be used to assist DWPF in identifying improvement opportunities, to assist CBU in LRW strategic planning/tank space management, and to determine the project completion date for the Salt Processing Program.

Forecasts from seven air quality models and surface ozone data collected over the eastern USA and southern Canada during July and August 2004 provide a unique opportunity to assess benefits of ensemble-based ozone forecasting and devise methods to improve ozone forecasts. In this investigation, past forecasts from the ensemble of models and hourly surface ozone measurements at over 350 sites are used to issue deterministic 24-h forecasts using a method based on dynamic linear regression. Forecasts of hourly ozone concentrations as well as maximum daily 8-h and 1-h averaged concentrations are considered. It is shown that the forecasts issued with the application of this method have reduced bias and root mean square error and better overall performance scores than any of the ensemble members and the ensemble average. Performance of the method is similar to another method based on linear regression described previously by Pagowski et al., but unlike the latter, the current method does not require measurements from multiple monitors since it operates on individual time series. Improvement in the forecasts can be easily implemented and requires minimal computational cost.

The structure of Tc nuclei is extended to the moreneutron-rich regions based on measurements of prompt gamma rays from thespontaneous fission of 252Cf at Gammasphere. The level scheme of N=67neutron-rich (Z=43) 110Tc is established for the first time and that of111Tc is expanded. The ground-state band of 111Tc reaches theband-crossing region and the new observation of the weakly populatedalpha = -1/2 member of the band provides important information ofsignature splitting. The systematics of band crossings in the isotopicand isotonic chains and a CSM calculation suggest that the band crossingof the gs band of 111Tc is due to alignment of a pair of h11/2 neutrons.The best fit to signature splitting, branching ratios, and excitations ofthe ground-state band of 111Tc by RTRP model calculations result in ashape of epsilon2 = 0.32 and gamma = -26 deg. for this nucleus. Itstriaxiality is larger than that of 107Tc, to indicate increasingtriaxiality with increasing neutron number. The identification of theweakly-populated "K+2 satellite" band provides strong evidence for thelarge triaxiality of 111Tc. In 110Tc the four lowest-lying levelsobserved are very similar to those in 108Tc. At an excitation of 478.9keV above the lowest state observed, ten states of a delta I = 1 band areobserved. This …

The need for maintaining a lower specific engine oil temperature is essential in enhancing the longevity of the oil and of the engine and its components. By decreasing the engine oil temperature the oil is able to perform its job more efficiently. It is proposed to use the carbon foam, with its exceptional thermal management capabilities, to aid in reducing and stabilizing the engine oil temperature during steady state operation. Also, it is possible to use the carbon foam to heat the engine oil during startup to reduce emissions and possibly engine wear. The mesophase pitch derived carbon foam, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is a material that offers excellent thermal management capability. The foam has an open cell structure (0.98 fraction open porosity) with graphitic ligaments aligned parallel to the cell walls. The alignment of the graphitic ligaments in a three dimensional array gives the foam homogeneous thermal properties, unlike graphite fibers. The bulk thermal conductivity of the foam has been measured to be 175 W/m{center_dot}K, placing it on the level of 6061 aluminum, which has a bulk thermal conductivity of 180 W/m{center_dot}K. Copper has a bulk thermal conductivity over two times higher, at 400 W/m{center_dot}K. The proposed …