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The Multi-Isotope Process (MIP) Monitor, being developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), provides an efficient approach to monitoring the process conditions in reprocessing facilities in support of the goal of "...(minimization of) the risks of nuclear proliferation and terrorism." The MIP Monitor measures distributions of a suite of indicator (radioactive) isotopes present within product and waste streams of a nuclear reprocessing facility. These indicator isotopes are monitored on-line by gamma spectrometry and compared, in near-real-time, to spectral patterns representing "normal" process conditions using multivariate pattern recognition software. The monitor utilizes this multivariate analysis and gamma spectroscopy of reprocessing streams to detect small changes in the gamma spectrum, which may indicate changes in process conditions. Multivariate analysis methods common in chemometrics, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression (PLS), act as pattern recognition techniques, which can detect small deviations from the expected, nominal condition. By targeting multiple gamma-emitting indicator isotopes, the MIP Monitor approach is compatible with the use of small, portable, relatively high-resolution gamma detectors that may be easily deployed throughout an existing facility. The automated multivariate analysis can provide a level of data obscurity, giving a built-in information barrier to protect sensitive or proprietary …

This report discusses the extent to which residents of the United States who are not U.S. citizens should be eligible for federally-funded public aid. This issue meets at the intersection of two major policy areas: immigration policy and welfare policy. This report deals with the four major federal means-tested benefit programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant programs, and Medicaid.

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Magnetic fusion energy (MFE) research requires ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) conditions, primarily to reduce plasma contamination by impurities. For radiofrequency (RF)-heated plasmas, a great benefit may accrue from a non-conducting vacuum vessel, allowing external RF antennas which avoids the complications and cost of internal antennas and high-voltage high-current feedthroughs. In this paper we describe these and other criteria, e.g., safety, availability, design flexibility, structural integrity, access, outgassing, transparency, and fabrication techniques that led to the selection and use of 25.4-cm OD, 1.6-cm wall polycarbonate pipe as the main vacuum vessel for an MFE research device whose plasmas are expected to reach keV energies for durations exceeding 0.1 s

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2011. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2011. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2011 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

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This report begins with a discussion of the foster care system and the Social Security benefits available to eligible children, including those in foster care. It then describes the role of representative payees and their responsibilities. The report provides data on the use of Social Security benefits to reimburse states for child welfare, and includes a discussion of the Keffeler decision. Finally, the report concludes with proposals supported by some advocates to change the current practice of using SSI and other Social Security benefits to fund foster care.

This report gives a brief overview of P.L. 110-49, the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007. Although both the President and Congress are directly involved in formulating the scope and direction of U.S. foreign investment policy, this law broadens Congress' oversight role; it also explicitly includes the areas of homeland security and critical infrastructure as separately-identifiable components of national security that the President must consider when evaluating the national security implications of a foreign investment transaction.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) assessment of potential governance options for its Military Health System (MHS) did not provide complete information on the options' total cost impact and their strengths and weaknesses. As part of DOD's assessment, it identified 13 potential governance options for the MHS and included a limited analysis of the options' estimated costs savings and their strengths and weaknesses. All of the options would create a shared services concept to consolidate common services, such as medical logistics, acquisition, and facility planning, under the control of a single entity. DOD selected an option that would create a defense health agency to, among other things, assume the responsibility for creating and managing shared services, and leave the longstanding military chain of command intact with the services in control of the military hospitals. The National Defense Authorization Act (Act) for Fiscal Year 2012 required DOD to submit a report to congressional committees that would, among other things, estimate the cost savings and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each option. Using key principles derived from federal guidance, including cost estimating and economic analysis documents, GAO determined …

A fusion pilot plant study was initiated to clarify the development needs in moving from ITER to a first of a kind fusion power plant. The mission of the pilot plant was set to encompass component test and fusion nuclear science missions yet produce net electricity with high availability in a device designed to be prototypical of the commercial device. The objective of the study was to evaluate three different magnetic configuration options, the advanced tokamak (AT), spherical tokamak (ST) and compact stellarator (CS) in an effort to establish component characteristics, maintenance features and the general arrangement of each candidate device. With the move to look beyond ITER the fusion community is now beginning to embark on DEMO reactor studies with an emphasis on defining configuration arrangements that can meet a high availability goal. This paper reviews the AT pilot plant design, detailing the selected maintenance approach, the device arrangement and sizing of the in-vessel components. Details of interfacing auxiliary systems and services that impact the ability to achieve high availability operations will also be discussed.

This report provides an overview of the causes, challenges, political dynamics, and other aspects of the Eurozone's economic crisis and discusses the related issues that Congress may address, such as: how this situation will impact the U.S. economy, IMF (International Monetary Fund) involvement, and how the US and Europe will cooperate to solve these issues. The report also contains supplemental figures and charts.

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The project involves drilling deeper in the Camp Aqua well dri lled in June 1982 as part of an effort to develop an ethanol plant. The purpose of the current drill ing effort is to determine if water at or above 165°F exists for the use in low temperature resource power generation. Previous geothermal resource study efforts in and around Hot Springs , MT and the Camp Aqua area (NE of Hot Springs) have been conducted through the years. A confined gravel aquifer exists in deep alluvium overlain by approximately 250’ of si lt and c lay deposits from Glacial Lake Missoula. This gravel aquifer overlies a deeper bedrock aquifer. In the Camp Aqua area several wel l s exist in the gravel aquifer which receives hot water f rom bedrock fractures beneath the area. Prior to this exploration, one known well in the Camp Aqua area penetrated into the bedrock without success in intersecting fractures transporting hot geothermal water. The exploration associated with this project adds to the physical knowledge database of the Camp Aqua area. The dri l l ing effort provides additional subsurface information that can be used to gain a better understanding of the bedrock formation …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Labor (Labor) facilitates states’ efforts to modernize information technology (IT) systems supporting their unemployment insurance (UI) programs by (1) providing funds for administrating overall UI operations and (2) participating in groups that provide technical support to states. While the federal-state structure of the UI program places primary responsibility for its administration on the states, Labor provides potential strategies for IT modernization activities through supplemental budget funds."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Approximately two-thirds of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) major information technology (IT) investments are meeting their cost and schedule commitments (i.e., goals). Specifically, out of 68 major IT investments in development, 47 were meeting cost and schedule commitments. The remaining 21—which total about $1 billion in spending—had one or more subsidiary projects that were not meeting cost and/or schedule commitments (i.e., they exceeded their goals by at least 10 percent, which is the level at which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) considers projects to be at increased risk of not being able to deliver planned capabilities on time and within budget.)"

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Among the 27 agencies that GAO studied, all have fully or partially defined goals or purposes for their architectures, 11 have fully or partially established a method or metrics for measuring outcomes resulting from the use of their architectures, while 5 have fully or partially measured and reported outcomes and benefits."

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In this report, we summarize our current collobarative efforts, involving three national laboratories: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Los Alamos National Laboatory (LANL), to develop a computational framework for homogenous and heterogenous nucleation mechanisms into the generic phase-field model. During the studies, the Fe-Cr system was chosen as a model system due to its simplicity and availability of reliable thermodynamic and kinetic data, as well as the range of applications of low-chromium ferritic steels in nuclear reactors. For homogenous nucleation, the relavant parameters determined from atomistic studies were used directly to determine the energy functional and parameters in the phase-field model. Interfacial energy, critical nucleus size, nucleation rate, and coarsening kinetics were systematically examined in two- and three- dimensional models. For the heteregoneous nucleation mechanism, we studied the nucleation and growth behavior of chromium precipitates due to the presence of dislocations. The results demonstrate that both nucleation schemes can be introduced to a phase-field modeling algorithm with the desired accuracy and computational efficiency.

The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) is being constructed to treat the 56 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site. The WTP includes a pretreatment facility to separate the wastes into high-level waste (HLW) and low-activity waste (LAW) fractions for vitrification and disposal. The LAW will be converted to glass for final disposal at the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). Cast Stone – a cementitious waste form, has been selected for solidification of this secondary waste stream after treatment in the ETF. The secondary-waste Cast Stone waste form must be acceptable for disposal in the IDF. This secondary waste Cast Stone waste form qualification testing plan outlines the testing of the waste form and immobilization process to demonstrate that the Cast Stone waste form can comply with the disposal requirements. Specifications for the secondary-waste Cast Stone waste form have not been established. For this testing plan, Cast Stone specifications are derived from specifications for the immobilized LAW glass in the WTP contract, the waste acceptance criteria for the IDF, and the waste acceptance criteria in the IDF Permit issued by the State of Washington. This testing plan outlines the testing needed …