This report provides information on the history, mission, and operational considerations for each of the Unified Command Plan (UCP) and associated Combatant Commands (COCOMs) organizations as well as a brief discussion of current issues associated with the UCP and these commands.

The distribution of wealth (net worth) across households has been an underlying consideration in congressional deliberations on various issues, including taxation and social welfare. This report analyzes the change over time in the concentration of net worth (assets minus liabilities) to help inform those policy deliberations.

This report describes the open economy and society of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as U.S. concern over proliferation of advanced technology due to said open economy and the UAE's lax export controls. It discusses these issues in relation to a recently-signed U.S.-UAE civilian nuclear agreement and also provides a general description of the UAE's government and political structure, as well as the effects of the recent global economic downturn on the UAE in general and on the city of Dubai in particular.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Certain protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) only apply to those servicemembers who obtained mortgages prior to becoming active duty, but at least 15,000 instances of financial institutions failing to properly reduce servicemembers’ mortgage interest rates and over 300 improper foreclosures have been identified by federal investigations and financial institutions in recent years. Additional independent reviews of financial institutions’ compliance are under way, and staff from some of these institutions told GAO that they have implemented improved practices—such as creating single points of contact familiar with military issues for borrowers—to better comply with SCRA."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "It is uncertain how power companies may respond to four key Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, but available information suggests companies may retrofit most coal-fueled generating units with controls to reduce pollution, and that 2 to 12 percent of coal-fueled capacity may be retired. Some regions may see more significant levels of retirements. For example, one study examined 11 states in the Midwest and projected that 18 percent of coal-fueled capacity in that region could retire. EPA and some stakeholders GAO interviewed stated that some such retirements could occur as a result of other factors such as lower natural gas prices, regardless of the regulations. Power companies may also build new generating units, upgrade transmission systems to maintain reliability, and increasingly use natural gas to produce electricity as coal units retire and remaining coal units become somewhat more expensive to operate."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The threats to systems supporting critical infrastructures are evolving and growing. In testimony, the Director of National Intelligence noted a dramatic increase in cyber activity targeting U.S. computers and systems, including a more than tripling of the volume of malicious software. Varying types of threats from numerous sources can adversely affect computers, software, networks, organizations, entire industries, and the Internet itself. These include both unintentional and intentional threats, and may come in the form of targeted or untargeted attacks from criminal groups, hackers, disgruntled employees, nations, or terrorists. The interconnectivity between information systems, the Internet, and other infrastructures can amplify the impact of these threats, potentially affecting the operations of critical infrastructures, the security of sensitive information, and the flow of commerce. Moreover, the electricity grid’s reliance on IT systems and networks exposes it to potential and known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, which could be exploited by attackers. The potential impact of such attacks has been illustrated by a number of recently reported incidents and can include fraudulent activities, damage to electricity control systems, power outages, and failures in safety equipment."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The number of states allowing concealed carry permits is increasing, and states broadly differ in eligibility requirements and the extent to which they have reciprocity agreements. In June 2002, 7 states and the District of Columbia prohibited the concealed carry of handguns. As of March 2012, individuals can carry concealed handguns in all but 1 state (Illinois) and the District of Columbia. “Shall-issue” states—in which issuing authorities are required to issue a permit to an applicant that fulfills the objective statutory criteria— generally issue more permits than states with greater discretion in granting permits (“may-issue” states). Because of differing eligibility requirements, some states would issue a permit to an applicant, while others would not. For example, some states define what constitutes a disqualifying felony differently or have different firearms training requirements. As of March 2012, 39 states that issue permits and Vermont (permits not required) recognize concealed carry permits from other states. Of the 9 states that do not grant reciprocity, 8 are may-issue states."

This document provides information on an amended telecom rule that is applicable to telecommunications service providers.

This report discusses about how in March 2010, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). It also points out how courts are to considered grant withdrawals below ten percent.

This report discusses auction-rate securities (ARSs), which most are long-term bonds, although some ARS are structured as preferred shares and so have no maturities.

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This report reviews the current state of the art of prognostics and health management (PHM) for nuclear power systems and related technology currently applied in field or under development in other technological application areas, as well as key research needs and technical gaps for increased use of PHM in nuclear power systems. The historical approach to monitoring and maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs), including the Maintenance Rule for active components and Aging Management Plans for passive components, are reviewed. An outline is given for the technical and economic challenges that make PHM attractive for both legacy plants through Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) and new plant designs. There is a general introduction to PHM systems for monitoring, fault detection and diagnostics, and prognostics in other, non-nuclear fields. The state of the art for health monitoring in nuclear power systems is reviewed. A discussion of related technologies that support the application of PHM systems in NPPs, including digital instrumentation and control systems, wired and wireless sensor technology, and PHM software architectures is provided. Appropriate codes and standards for PHM are discussed, along with a description of the ongoing work in developing additional necessary standards. Finally, an outline of key research …

Assessing the performance of spent (used) nuclear fuel in geological repository requires quantification of time-dependent phenomena that may influence its behavior on a time-scale up to millions of years. A high-level waste repository environment will be a dynamic redox system because of the time-dependent generation of radiolytic oxidants and reductants and the corrosion of Fe-bearing canister materials. One major difference between used fuel and natural analogues, including unirradiated UO2, is the intense radiolytic field. The radiation emitted by used fuel can produce radiolysis products in the presence of water vapor or a thin-film of water (including OH• and H• radicals, O2-, eaq, H2O2, H2, and O2) that may increase the waste form degradation rate and change radionuclide behavior. H2O2 is the dominant oxidant for spent nuclear fuel in an O2 depleted water environment, the most sensitive parameters have been identified with respect to predictions of a radiolysis model under typical conditions. As compared with the full model with about 100 reactions it was found that only 30-40 of the reactions are required to determine [H2O2] to one part in 10–5 and to preserve most of the predictions for major species. This allows a systematic approach for model simplification and offers …

This project was primarily to develop and implement a curriculum which will train undergraduate and graduate students at the University seeking a degree as well as training for enrollees in a special certification program to prepare individuals to be employed in a broad range of occupations in the field of renewable energy and energy conservation. Curriculum development was by teams of Saint Francis University Faculty in the Business Administration and Science Departments and industry experts. Students seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees are able to enroll in courses offered within these departments which will combine theory and hands-on training in the various elements of wind power development. For example, the business department curriculum areas include economic modeling, finance, contracting, etc. The science areas include meteorology, energy conversion and projection, species identification, habitat protection, field data collection and analysis, etc.

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This Closure Report (CR) presents information supporting closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 547, Miscellaneous Contaminated Waste Sites, and provides documentation supporting the completed corrective actions and confirmation that closure objectives for CAU 547 were met. This CR complies with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) that was agreed to by the State of Nevada; the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management; the U.S. Department of Defense; and DOE, Legacy Management (FFACO, 1996 as amended). CAU 547 consists of the following three Corrective Action Sites (CASs), located in Areas 2, 3, and 9 of the Nevada National Security Site: (1) CAS 02-37-02, Gas Sampling Assembly; (2) CAS 03-99-19, Gas Sampling Assembly; AND (3) CAS 09-99-06, Gas Sampling Assembly Closure activities began in August 2011 and were completed in June 2012. Activities were conducted according to the Corrective Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan (CADD/CAP) for CAU 547 (U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office [NNSA/NSO], 2011). The recommended corrective action for the three CASs in CAU 547 was closure in place with administrative controls. The following closure activities were performed: (1) Open holes were filled with concrete; (2) Steel casings were …

Cosmic-Muon-Based Interrogation has untapped potential for national security. This presentation describes muons-based passive interrogation techniques.