In 1994, the second session of the 103rd Congress saw the political pressure exerted by property rights bills ascend new heights. Members supporting property rights legislation sought to add such provisions to nearly every major environmental bill. Opponents, including several committee chairmen, therefore declined to move the bills, and gridlock resulted.

fallout of Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's June 1995 visit to the United States has included a carefully calibrated PRC effort to cut off or suspend contacts and communications with the United States and Taiwan over a range of important policy questions. Prospects for a resumption of these contacts are unclear, especially since domestic politics in Beijing,

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The United States and Japan are closely tied economically. Japan ranks second only to Canada as the largest U.S. export market. Japan is the leading market for American agricultural exports, such as corn and meat; for U.S. crude materials such as wood; and for U.S.-produced aircraft. Japan is also the second largest supplier of U.S. imports. These include cars, consumer electronics, telecommunications equipment, and computers. The United States ranks as Japan's number one export market and import supplier.

On Oct. 7, 1992, Hong Kong's new Governor Christopher Patten's unveiled proposals to expand the voting franchise in Hong Kong and broaden the scope of democratic institutions. Patten's proposals reflected a growing desire on the part of the colonial government and the people of Hong Kong that, in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Hong Kong should erect safeguards against capricious Chinese government action after 1997. The proposals were seen by the British authorities as consistent with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration -- the agreement governing Hong Kong's transfer to Chinese rule, but Beijing disagreed.

CRS Report for Congress entailing information about Congressional intent regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) . Topics include, benefits of the act, public awareness, funding complications etc..

On June 6, 1995, a waiver to Hanford Site Solid Waste Acceptance Criteria, was approved by the US Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (RL) to replace the low-level, mixed, and transuranic (TRU) generator assessment programs with the Solid Waste Assurance Program (SWAP). This is associated with a waiver that was approved on March 16, 1995 to replace the Storage/Disposal Approval Record (SDAR) requirements with the Waste Specification System (WSS). This implementation plan and the SWAP applies to Solid Waste Disposal (SWD) functions, facilities, and personnel who perform waste acceptance, verification, receipt, and management functions of dangerous, radioactive, and mixed waste from on- and off-site generators who ship to or within the Hanford Site for treatment, storage, and/or disposal (TSD) at SWD TSD facilities.

The Retained Gas Sampler (RGS) system is being developed to permit characterization of the gas phase component of waste tank core samples. Several laboratory experiments have been conducted which have affirmed the proof-of-principle for separating the gas phase materials from waste tank material in a quantitative manner. However, experiments conducted thus far have dealt only with representative materials and simulated hardware mock-ups. This test plan deals with the operation and testing of actual devices in the hot cell environment. This test plan coves all aspects of the RGS system including: sampler load-in, extrusion, gas extraction, quantitative separation, sample collection, and quantitative analysis. Sample material used in this test plan will be waste tank simulants and will not be radioactive. The work environment, however, will be an operating hot cell facility and will have radioactive contaminated surfaces. Operation of the system will therefore require an official radiation work permit (RWP).

A sodium-layer laser guide star adaptive optics system has been developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for use on the 3-meter Shane telescope at Lick Observatory. The system is based on a 127-actuator continuous-surface deformable mirror, a Hartmann wavefront sensor equipped with a fast-framing low-noise CCD camera, and a pulsed solid-state-pumped dye laser tuned to the atomic sodium resonance line at 589 nm. The adaptive optics system has been tested on the Shane telescope using natural reference stars yielding up to a factor of 12 increase in image peak intensity and a factor of 6.5 reduction in image full width at half maximum (FWHM). The results are consistent with theoretical expectations. The laser guide star system has been installed and operated on the Shane telescope yielding a beam with 22 W average power at 589 nm. Based on experimental data, this laser should generate an 8th magnitude guide star at this site, and the integrated laser guide star adaptive optics system should produce images with Strehl ratios of 0.4 at 2.2 {mu}m in median seeing and 0.7 at 2.2 {mu}m in good seeing.

Coal mines are required to provide ventilation to occupied portions of underground mines. Concrete block is used in this process to construct air duct walls. However, normal concrete block is heavy and not easy to work with and eventually fails dramatically after being loaded due to mine ceiling convergence and/or floor heave. Autoclaved cellular concrete block made from (70{plus_minus}%) coal fly ash is lightweight and less rigid when loaded. It is lighter and easier to use than regular concrete block for underground mine applications. It has also been used in surface construction around the world for over 40 years. Ohio Edison along with eight other electric utility companies, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and North American Cellular Concrete constructed a mobile demonstration plant to produce autoclaved cellular concrete block from utility fly ash. To apply this research in Ohio, Ohio Edison also worked with the Ohio Coal Development Office and CONSOL Inc. to produce autoclaved cellular concrete block not only from coal ash but also from LIMB ash, SNRB ash, and PFBC ash from various clean coal technology projects sponsored by the Ohio Coal Development Office. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the potential for beneficial use …

Past studies have identified and evaluated important radionuclide contributors to dose from reprocessed spent fuel sent to waste for Mark 16B and 22 fuel assemblies and for Mark 31 A and 31B target assemblies. Fission-product distributions after a 5- and 15-year decay time were calculated for a ``representative`` set of irradiation conditions (i.e., reactor power, irradiation time, and exposure) for each type of assembly. The numerical calculations were performed using the SHIELD/GLASS system of codes. The sludge and supernate source terms for dose were studied separately with the significant radionuclide contributors for each identified and evaluated. Dose analysis considered both inhalation and ingestion pathways: The inhalation pathway was analyzed for both evaporative and volatile releases. Analysis of evaporative releases utilized release fractions for the individual radionuclides as defined in the ICRP-30 by DOE guidance. A release fraction of unity was assumed for each radionuclide under volatile-type releases, which would encompass internally initiated events (e.g., fires, explosions), process-initiated events, and externally initiated events. Radionuclides which contributed at least 1% to the overall dose were designated as significant contributors. The present analysis extends and complements the past analyses through considering a broader spectrum of fuel types and a wider range of irradiation …

Control of criticality in spent nuclear fuel is necessary during all phases of fuel management during storage, transportation, and permanent disposal. Work completed to date is described. Tasks in the original proposal include: seek coverage by an approved quality control program, review documents related to criticality, attend criticality meetings and workshops, and maintain an expertise in criticality. Current work is covered by Univ. of Nevada QA plan, however, coverage under a more thorough plan will be sought in order that the results can be used during NRC licensing.

The Electric Power Monthly (EPM) presents monthly electricity statistics for a wide audience including Congress, Federal and State agencies, the electric utility industry, and the general public. The purpose of this publication is to provide energy decisionmakers with accurate and timely information that may be used in forming various perspectives on electric issues that lie ahead. The Coal and Electric Data and Renewables Division; Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy prepares the EPM. This publication provides monthly statistics at the State, Census division, and US levels for net generation, fossil fuel consumption and stocks, quantity and quality of fossil fuels, cost of fossil fuels, electricity sales, revenue, and average revenue per kilowatthour of electricity sold. Data on net generation, fuel consumption, fuel stocks, quantity and cost of fossil fuels are also displayed for the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) regions. The EIA publishes statistics in the EPM on net generation by energy source; consumption, stocks, quantity, quality, and cost of fossil fuels; and capability of new generating units by company and plant.

An essential component to hybrid electric and electric vehicles is energy storage. A power assist device could also be important to many vehicle applications. This discussion focuses on the use of compressed gas as a system for energy storage and power in vehicle systems. Three possible vehicular applications for which these system could be used are discussed in this paper. These applications are pneumatically driven vehicles, series hybrid electric vehicles, and power boost for electric and conventional vehicles. One option for a compressed gas system is as a long duration power output device for purely pneumatic and hybrid cars. This system must provide enough power and energy to drive under normal conditions for a specified time or distance. The energy storage system for this use has the requirement that it will be highly efficient, compact, and have low mass. Use of a compressed gas energy storage as a short duration, high power output system for conventional motor vehicles could reduce engine size or reduce transient emissions. For electric vehicles this kind of system could lengthen battery life by providing battery load leveling during accelerations. The system requirements for this application are that it be compact and have low mass. The …

In this report, we summarize recent work at LLNL on the compact torus (CT) acceleration project. The CT accelerator is a novel technique for projecting plasmas to high velocities and reaching high energy density states. The accelerator exploits magnetic confinement in the CT to stably transport plasma over large distances and to directed kinetic energies large in comparison with the CT internal and magnetic energy. Applications range from heating and fueling magnetic fusion devices, generation of intense pulses of x-rays or neutrons for weapons effects and high energy-density fusion concepts.

The goal of this apparatus is to better enable characterization of tissue samples both on a microscopic scale and across the visible spectrum. The set-up consists of a phase-contrast inverted Nikon microscope, a single-grating imaging spectrometer, a CCD camera, and a computer potentially controlling all three of the previous devices, The computer uses an object-oriented program development environment called LabVIEW to run the three devices. This apparatus will hopefully enable better, less invasive surgical procedures, as well as permitting higher-resolution, more up-close observation of cellular dynamics.

This document presents the details of the Savannah River Plant Flowsheet for the Rad Operation with Tank Sludge and ITP Cycle 1 Precipitate. Topics discussed include: material balance; radiolysis chemistry of tank precipitates; algorithm for ESP washing; chemistry of hydrogen and ammonia generation in CPC; batch sizes for processing feed; and total throughput of a streams during one cycle of operation.

The Winter Fuels Report is intended to provide concise, timely information to the industry, the press, policymakers, consumers, analysts, and State and local governments on the following topics: distillate fuel oil net production, imports and stocks on a US level and for all Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) and product supplied on a US level; propane net production, imports and stocks on a US level and for PADD`s I, II, and III; natural gas supply and disposition and underground storage for the US and consumption for all PADD`s, as well as selected National average prices; residential and wholesale pricing data for heating oil and propane for those States participating in the joint Energy Information Administration (EIA)/State Heating Oil and Propane Program; crude oil and petroleum price comparisons for the US and selected cities; and a 6--10-Day and 30-Day outlook for temperature and precipitation and US total heating degree-days by city. This report is published weekly by the EIA starting the second week in October 1995 and will continue until the second week in April 1996. The data will also be available electronically after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday during the heating season through the EIA Electronic Publication System …

{open_quotes}Evaluation Engineering and Development of Advanced Cyclone Processes{close_quotes} is one of the DOE-PETC sponsored advanced coal cleaning projects, which share a number of specific goals. These goals are to produce a 6% ash product, reject 85% of the parent coal`s pyritic sulfur, recover 85% of the parent coal`s Btu value, and provide products that are less than 30% moisture. The process in this project, as the name implies, relies on a cyclone or cyclonic separator to achieve physical beneficiation based on the gravimetric differences between clean coal and its impurities. Just as important as the cyclonic separator, if not more so, is the selection of a parting liquid or medium for use in the separator. Selection of a separating medium is regarded as a significant portion of the project because it has a profound impact on the required unit operations, the performance of the separator, and economics of the process. The choice of medium especially influences selection of media recovery system(s), and the characteristics of clean coal and refuse products. Since medium selection is such an important aspect of the project, portions of the project are dedicated to the study, evaluation, and selection of the most desirable medium. Though separators …

THERMAL is designed to calculate neutron thermal scattering that is elastic and isotropic in the center of mass system. At low energy thermal motion will be included. At high energies the target nuclei are assumed to be stationary. The point of transition between low and high energies has been defined to insure a smooth transition. It is assumed that at low energy the elastic cross section is constant in the relative system. At high energy the cross section can be of any form. You can use this routine for all energies where the elastic scattering is isotropic in the center of mass system. In most materials this will be a fairly high energy, e.g., the keV energy range. The THERMAL method is simple, clean, easy to understand, and most important very efficient; on a SUN SPARC-10 workstation, at low energies with thermal scattering it can do almost 6 million scatters a minute and at high energy over 13 million. Warning: This version of THERMAL completely supersedes the original version described in the same report number, dated February 24, 1995. The method used in the original code is incorrect, as explained in this report.

This document presents sampling data resulting from the November 11, 1994, sampling of SST 241-BY-110 using the vapor sampling system.

NIF, the next step proposed by DOE in a progression of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) facilities, is expected to reach the goal of ICF capsule ignition in the laboratory. This report is in response to a request of a Congressman that DOE resolve the question of whether NIF will aid or hinder U.S. nonproliferation efforts. Both technical and policy aspects are addressed, and public participation was part of the decision process. Since the technical proliferation concerns at NIF are manageable and can be made acceptable, and NIF can contribute positively to U.S. arms control and nonproliferation policy goals, it is concluded that NIF supports the nuclear nonproliferation objectives of the United States.

This project will reactivate ARCO`s idle Pru Fee lease in the Midway-Sunset field, California and conduct a continuous steamflood enhanced oil recovery demonstration aided by an integration of modern reservoir characterization and simulation methods. Cyclic steaming will be used to reestablish baseline production within the reservoir characterization phase of the project. During the demonstration phase, a continuous steamflood enhanced oil recover will be initiated to test the incremental value of this method as an alternative to cyclic steaming. Other economically marginal Class 3 reservoirs having similar producibility problems will benefit from insight gained in this project. The objectives of the project are: (1) to return the shut-in portion of the reservoir to commercial production; (2) to accurately describe the reservoir and recovery process; and (3) to convey the details of this activity to the domestic petroleum industry, especially to other producers in California, through an aggressive technology transfer program. A summary of technical progress discusses the literature compilation, assembly of digitized log suites, development of a stratigraphic framework, installation of lease production facilities, return wells to production, drill producer and observation wells, and reservoir characterization.

Westinghouse Hanford Company has initiated investigation into the use of a standard moisture gauge for measurement of in-formation moisture content from cased wells. The presence of air in the borehole does not destroy the instrument response, in fact, the response is very sensitive to formation moisture from steel-cased boreholes. Calibration of the prototype instrument configuration and some experimental characterization for various borehole constructions have been performed and reported. Recommendations for future study are also provided.