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NATO named three candidate states for membership at its summit in July 1997. The U.S. Senate must give its advice and consent to revise the North Atlantic Treaty and admit new members. Key arguments favoring U. S . approval of enlargement include the need to bring stability in central Europe; building a strong transatlantic link with new European democracies, and extending collective defense to countries that remain concerned about a potential Russian threat. Key arguments against NATO expansion include the concern that it will exacerbate tensions with Russia; result in substantial costs and risks that the allies are unwilling to share and the American people are unwilling to shoulder alone; and dilute the mission, political likemindedness, and military effectiveness of the alliance.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a company offering comprehensive complaint investigations must be licensed by the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies (RQ-980)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county commissioners court, in distributing the corpus of the county permanent school fund pursuant to article VII, section 6b, of the Texas Constitution, should take into account the distribution of a neighboring county's fund, and related questions (RQ-997)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether Local Government Code section 381.004 authorizes a commissioners court to provide funds to a small business development center (RQ-960)

Influence of physiography and vegetation on small mammal abundance and species Composition was investigated at Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 in California to assess prey abundance for Federally endangered San Joaquin kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis mutica) and to assess the distribution of two Federal candidate species, San Joaquin antelope squirrels (Ammospermophilus nelsoni) and short-nosed kangaroo rats (Dinodomys nitratoides brevinasus). The specific objectives of this investigation were to determine whether small mammal abundance and community composition varied with north-south orientation, terrain, ground cover, and Cypher shrub density, and whether these factors influenced the distribution and abundance of San Joaquin antelope squirrels and short-nosed kangaroo rats.

This five year project is intended to ensure the availability of well- characterized, high-quality coal samples for public and private coal research. It continues support of the DOE Coal Sample Bank and Database at The Pennsylvania State University. Thirty coal samples will be collected, processed, packaged, and analyzed, and a resulting database will be maintained. These samples and data, as well as 26 samples collected under previous contracts, will be distributed to DOE contractors and others performing coal research. Samples will be chosen to maintain a sample bank of 56 coals representing the major US coal fields and a variety of coal ranks and compositions. In addition to standard analyses, liquefaction tests and organic geochemical analyses will be performed. The samples will be stored to minimize deterioration, and will be monitored annually by proximate, sulfur forms, and gaseous oxygen analysis to evaluate their condition. These samples will be used for additional research on the influence of changes in surface chemistry on surface properties, the influence of sample deterioration on liquefaction properties, and the mechanisms of coal oxidation. During the quarter, samples were distributed and inventory records were updated. The newly collected sample was added to the inventory records. One sample …

To facilitate the reduction of worker exposure to hazardous fumes and vapors, it is imperative to characterize and measure flows out of waste tanks that breathe due to atmospheric pressure changes. These measurements will lead to a better understanding of how these tanks breathe and thus will aid in better worker exposure control at lower cost.

Binary stars play an essential role during the late phases of the dynamical evolution of a globular cluster. They transfer energy to passing stars and so can strongly influence the cluster evolution, enough to delay, halt, and even reverse core collapse. Hard binaries are known to exist in cluster cores, e.g., in the form of millisecond pulsars (about half of the millisecond pulsars observed in 47 Tucanae are such hard binaries). The presence of hard binaries may also be revealed by searching for the by-products of close encounters: high- velocity stars, such as those discovered in the core of 47 Tuc by Meylan et al. (1991) and Gebhardt et al. (1995). These studies represent the limit of the radial velocity data which can be obtained from the ground. If more progress is to be made, it must come through obtaining proper motions--a task for which {ital only} the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is suitable. We are using WFPC2 to obtain deep U (F300W) images of the core of 47 Tuc at three different epochs over two years, with which we will measure differential proper motions to a 1-{sigma} limit of 0.23 mas/yr. This--rather conservative--estimate corresponds to a 5-{sigma} detection of …

This document provides the technical bases for specification limits, monitoring frequencies and baselines used for leak detection and intrusion (for single shell tanks only) in all single and double shell radioactive waste storage tanks, waste transfer lines, and most catch tanks and receiver tanks in the waste tank farms and associated areas at Hanford.

The attached report presents the results of our audit of the Department of Energy`s Alaska Power Administration (APA) financial statements as of September 30, 1994. In our opinion, the APA statements are fairly presented in all material respects in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. our reports on the APA internal control structure and on its compliance with laws and regulations are also provided. The US Government, through the Department of Energy, operates APA at two sites to provide hydroelectric power to Juneau and Anchorage, Alaska. Additional information about APA is provided in the notes to the financial statements. The 1994 financial statement audit was made under provisions of the Inspector General Act (5 USC. App.), as amended, the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act (31 USC 1500) and the Office of Management and Budget implementing guidance to the CFO Act. The auditors` work was conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Westinghouse Savannah River Company is implementing productivity improvement concepts into the Waste Minimization Program by focusing on the positive initiatives taken to reduce waste generation at the Savannah River Site. Previous performance measures, based only on waste generation rates, proved to be an ineffective metric for measuring performance and promoting continuous improvements within the Program. Impacts of mission changes and non-routine operations impeded development of baseline waste generation rates and often negated waste generation trending reports. A system was developed to quantify, document and track innovative activities that impact waste volume and radioactivity/toxicity reductions. This system coupled with Management-driven waste disposal avoidance goals is proving to be a powerful tool to promote waste minimization awareness and the implementation of waste reduction initiatives. Measurement of waste not generated, in addition to waste generated, increases the credibility of the Waste Minimization Program, improves sharing of success stories, and supports development of regulatory and management reports

The Engineering and Projects Departments of ICF Kaiser have requested the development of a data base system to track training certification records of employees assigned to their respective divisions. The requested system is to provide division administrative staff with a flexible tool to track the status of employee completion of assigned project training and reading assignments based on established division/project discipline prerequisites. This user document provides instructions for EMPORTS program execution (log in and log off), entry and revision of data, generation of user reports, and modification of user access.

At the end of 1992, the PUREX and UO{sub 3} plants were deemed no longer necessary for the defense needs of the United States. Although no longer necessary, they were very costly to maintain in their post-operation state. The DOE embarked on a deactivation strategy for these plants to reduce the costs of providing continuous surveillance of the facilities and their hazards. Deactivation of the PUREX and UO{sub 3} plants was estimated to take 5 years and cost $222.5 million and result in an annual surveillance and maintenance cost of $2 million. Deactivation of the PUREX/UO{sub 3} plants officially began on October 1, 1993. The deactivation was 15 months ahead of the original schedule and $75 million under the original cost estimate. The annual cost of surveillance and maintenance of the plants was reduced to less than $1 million.

This document presents a summary of safety class criteria for the 241-AY/AZ Tank Farm primary ventilation system upgrade under Project W-030, and recommends acceptance of the system as constructed, based on a review of supporting documentation.

The SC`96 Education Program provided a three-day professional development experience for middle and high school science, mathematics, and computer technology teachers. The program theme was Computers at Work in the Classroom, and a majority of the sessions were presented by classroom teachers who have had several years experience in using these technologies with their students. The teachers who attended the program were introduced to classroom applications of computing and networking technologies and were provided to the greatest extent possible with lesson plans, sample problems, and other resources that could immediately be used in their own classrooms. The attached At a Glance Schedule and Session Abstracts describes in detail the three-day SC`96 Education Program. Also included is the SC`96 Education Program evaluation report and the financial report.

Over 160 ambient indoor air samples were collected from warehouses at the Central Waste Complex used for the storage of low- level radioactive and mixed wastes. These grab (SUMMA) samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using a modified EPA TO-14 procedure. The data from this survey suggest that several buildings had elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds.

This document presents the evaluation of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Cask and Transportation System. The system design was developed by Transnuclear, Inc. and its team members NAC International, Nelson Manufacturing, Precision Components Corporation, and Numatec, Inc. The cask is designated the TN-WHC cask. This report describes the design features and presents preliminary analyses performed to size critical dimensions of the system while meeting the requirements of the performance specification.

A primary objective of the Hanford Tank Initiative (HTI) project is to develop methods to estimate the inventory of residual waste in single-shell and double-shell tanks. A second objective is to develop methods to determine the boundaries of waste that may be in the waste plume in the vadose zone. This document presents statistical sampling plans that can be used to estimate the inventory of analytes within the residual waste within a tank. Sampling plans for estimating the inventory of analytes within the waste plume in the vadose zone are also presented. Inventory estimates can be used to classify the residual waste with respect to chemical and radiological hazards. Based on these estimates, it will be possible to make decisions regarding the final disposition of the residual waste. Four sampling plans for the residual waste in a tank are presented. The first plan is based on the assumption that, based on some physical characteristic, the residual waste can be divided into disjoint strata, and waste samples obtained from randomly selected locations within each stratum. The second plan is that waste samples are obtained from randomly selected locations within the waste. The third and fourth plans are similar to the first …

The purpose of this test plan and procedure is to test the Whittaker electrochemical cell and the Sierra Monitor Corp. flammable gas monitors in a simulated field flow configuration. The sensors are used on the Rotary Mode Core Sampling (RMCS) Flammable Gas Interlock (FGI), to detect flammable gases, including hydrogen and teminate the core sampling activity at a predetermined concentration level.