Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Military Traffic Management Command's (MTMC) first interim progress report on the Department of Defense's demonstration program (MTMC pilot) to improve personal property shipments of the armed forces, focusing on MTMC's plan for evaluating the: (1) pilot results; and (2) proposed industry alternative called the Commercial-Like Activities for Superior Quality (CLASS) proposal."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) personal property programs."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the challenges facing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in transforming health care, focusing on: (1) VA's transformation progress to date; (2) challenges that remain to be confronted; and (3) the implications for VA's fiscal year (FY) 2000 budget."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the reporting of lobbying activities by organizations that have employees who lobby on the organizations' behalf and have the option to report their lobbying expenses under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995 or applicable Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provisions that they use for tax purposes, focusing on: (1) the differences between the LDA and IRC section 4911 and 162(e) definitions of lobbying; (2) the impact that differences in the definitions may have on registration and reporting under LDA, including information on the number of organizations using each definition and the expenses they have reported; and (3) identifying and analyzing options, including harmonizing the three definitions, that may better ensure that the public disclosure purposes of LDA are realized."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the compliance programs established by health care providers to reduce improper payments by Medicare, focusing on the: (1) prevalence of compliance programs among hospitals and other Medicare providers; (2) costs involved with compliance programs; and (3) effectiveness of the programs, to the extent that could be measured."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) domestic banking program on military bases, focusing on whether: (1) domestic military bases have followed DOD procedures to provide for open solicitations in obtaining banking services; (2) on-base financial institutions face competition for banking services from other financial institutions and charge fees competitive with other banks; and (3) opportunities exist for DOD and military bases to generate additional revenues from banking services on military bases and how this might affect banking services and customers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the management challenges facing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its progress in implementing its new restructuring initiative."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) year 2000 readiness, focusing on: (1) VA's ability to deliver benefits and health care services through the turn of the century; and (2) the readiness of automated systems that support such delivery, the compliance status of biomedical equipment used in patient care, and the year 2000 readiness of the pharmaceutical and medical-surgical manufacturers upon which VA relies."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed: (1) the immediate effects of the Melissa virus and variations of it as well as its broader implications for the federal government; and (2) critical measures that should be taken to ensure that federal departments and agencies are better prepared for future viruses and other forms of attack."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the United Nations Secretariat's efforts to reform its procurement process, focusing on: (1) the types of procurement problems that the U.N. High Level Expert Group on Procurement and U.N. audit and inspection organizations found; (2) progress on the implementation of the Expert Group's recommendations and other reforms to correct procurement-related problems; and (3) whether these actions have succeeded in achieving the objectives of procurement reform."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Hydra 70 rocket, focusing on the: (1) problem of early motor blow (EMB); (2) actions the military services have taken to identify and eliminate its causes; and (3) rocket's present performance."

This Phase II final report documents the Phase II testing conducted from June 18, 1998 through November 13, 1998, and it focuses on the application of the siphon technology as a sub-component of the overall GeoSiphon Cell technology. [Q-TPL-T-00004]

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This report lists the steps that are required to calculate deceleration ramps for all relevant Accumulator devices. The ramps used for the 1996-97 fixed target run (experiment E835) are saved in files associated with ACNET console application PA1627 (PAUX RAMP DEVELOP). These ramps cannot be re-used because the Accumulator {gamma}{sub t} upgrade has significantly changed the lattice since the last time the ramps were used. Consequently, new deceleration ramps must be calculated and commissioned before the next fixed target run. The deceleration ramp for a particular device is a table that gives the sequence of set values sent to the device as the ramp is executed. The 1997 ramps consist of ramp tables for 100 devices. Appendix 1 gives a list of the devices ramped. Most of these devices will still require ramps for the next fixed target run. Future decelerations will also require ramps for the quadrupole magnet shunts that were installed as part of the {gamma}{sub t} upgrade. Additionally, ramps must be constructed for the two skew-sextupole magnets that will be installed during the summer of 1999.

In polyethylene microencapsulation, low-level mixed waste (LLMW) is homogenized with molten polyethylene and extruded into containers, resulting in a lighter, lower-volume waste form than cementation and grout methods produce. Additionally, the polyethylene-based waste form solidifies by cooling, with no risk of the waste interfering with cure, as may occur with cementation and grout processes. We have demonstrated real-time monitoring of the polyethylene encapsulation process stream using a noncontact device based on transient infrared spectroscopy (TIRS). TIRS can acquire mid-infrared spectra from solid or viscous liquid process streams, such as the molten, waste-loaded polyethylene stream that exits the microencapsulation extruder. The waste loading in the stream was determined from the TIRS spectra using partial least squares techniques. The monitor has been demonstrated during the polyethylene microencapsulation of nitrate-salt LLMW and its surrogate, molten salt oxidation LLMW and its surrogate, and flyash. The monitor typically achieved a standard error of prediction for the waste loading of about 1% by weight with an analysis time under 1 minute.

The objective of this analysis is to develop a proposed repository subsurface layout for ''Design Alternative No.2: Low Thermal Load, 25 MTU/Acre at 38 Meter Drift Spacing''. The scope of this analysis covers: (1) Integration of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) openings into the proposed repository layout for Design Alternative No.2. (2) Identification and incorporation of factors influencing the proposed repository layout. These factors include the required drift spacing, total required emplacement length, the number of emplacement drifts, required development, and subsurface ventilation. (3) Geometry and configuration of the proposed repository openings. Development of a proposed layout showing the required emplacement area.

Measurements of the rates for the hadronic decays B{sup {+-}} {r_arrow} {pi}K along with the CP-averaged B{sup {+-}} {r_arrow} {pi}{sup {+-}} {pi}{sup 0} branching ratio can be used to bound and extract the weak phase {gamma} = arg(V{sub ub}*). Using preliminary CLEO data, we obtain the bounds {vert_bar}{gamma}{vert_bar} > 93{degree} at 1 {sigma}, and {vert_bar}{gamma}{vert_bar} > 71{degree} at 90% confidence level.

Operation of the 242-16H High Level Waste Evaporator proves crucial to liquid waste management in the H-Area Tank Farm. Recent operational history of the Evaporator showed significant solid formation in secondary lines and in the evaporator pot. Additional samples remain necessary to ensure material identity in the evaporator pot. Analysis of these future samples will provide actinide partitioning information and dissolution characteristics of the solid material from the pot to ensure safe chemical cleaning.

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This document describes characterization needs for the DOE waste feed processing and disposal management of TWRS Privatization Phase I. The DOE must obtain information to evaluate and minimize risk associated with the private contractor's design phase deliverables (April 2000); authorization to proceed with Part B-2 (August 2000); and start of treatment facility construction (July 2001). Additionally, the DOE must ensure that the contract feed and product specifications are adequate and achievable, and that there is a sufficient basis for negotiating the price for. services. The purpose of this Data Quality Objective (DQO) is to provide data to accomplish the following: (1) update waste characterization information from source tanks to provide an independent assessment that the specifications and Interface Control Documents (ICDS) are adequate for DOE's management of the site M&I contractor and private contractor contracts; (2) provide preliminary information for the private contractor's process and facility designs and DOE's review of the designs in preparation for the authorization to proceed with Phase I Part B-2; (3) provide preliminary information for ILAW and IHLW storage and disposal design/specifications; (4) support update of the ILAW performance assessment (PA) for disposal; (5) help substantiate the ability to (1) comply with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory …

During the cold war plutonium was produced in reactors in both the US and Russia. It was then separated from the residual uranium and fission products by a variety of precipitation processes, such as Bismuth Phosphate, Redox, Butex, Purex, etc. in the US and uranium acetate and Purex in Russia. After a period of time in the field, plutonium weapons were recycled and the plutonium re-purified and returned to weapons. purification was accomplished by a variety of aqueous and molten salt processes, such as nitric-hydrofluoric acid dissolution followed by anion exchange, Purex modifications, molten salt extraction, electrorefining, etc. in the US and nitric acid dissolution or sodium hydroxide fusion followed by anion exchange in Russia. At the end of the Cold War, plutonium production of weapons-grade plutonium was cut off in the US and is expected to be cut off in Russia shortly after the turn of the century. Now both countries are looking at methods to reconstitute plutonium with fission products to render it no longer useful for nuclear weapons. These methods include immobilization in a ceramic matrix and then encasement in fission product laden glass, irradiation of MOX fuel, and disposal as waste in WIPP in the US …

Small-scale experiments were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of fusing refractory actinide oxides with a series of materials commonly used to decompose minerals, glasses, and other refractories as a pretreatment to dissolution and subsequent recovery operations. In these experiments, 1-2 g of plutonium or neptunium oxide (PuO₂ or NpO₂) were calcined at 900 degrees Celsius, mixed and heated with the fusing reagent(s), and dissolved. For refractory PuO₂, the most effective material tested was a lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃)/sodium tetraborate (Na₂B₄O₇) mixture which aided in the recovery of 90 percent of the plutonium. The fused product was identified as a lithium plutonate (Li₃PuO₄) by x-ray diffraction. The use of a Li₂CO₃/Na₂B₄O₇ mixture to solubilize high-fired NpO₂ was not as effective as demonstrated for refractory PuO₂. In a small-scale experiment, 25 percent of the NpO₂ was oxidized to a neptunium (VI) species that dissolved in nitric acid. The remaining neptunium was then easily recovered from the residue by fusing with sodium peroxide (Na₂O₂). Approximately 70 percent of the neptunium dissolved in water to yield a basic solution of neptunium (VII). The remainder was recovered as a neptunium (VI) solution by dissolving the residue in 8M nitric acid. In subsequent experiments with Na₂O₂, the …

This study suggests that a strong poitential exists for both chemical and biological fouling of the injection wells at the F- and H Area remediation systems. To further the potential, an evaluation of WTU process chemistry, characterization of the natural groundwater geochemistry, and analysis of microbiological activity should be performed. This report summarizes the results.