A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To carry out the decennial census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) conducts a sequence of thousands of activities and numerous operations. As requested, The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined (1) the Bureau's use of scheduling tools to maintain and monitor progress and (2) the status of two systems key to field data collection: the control system the Bureau will use to manage the work flow for paper-based operations, including nonresponse follow-up, and the system used to manage quality control of two major field operations. GAO applied schedule analysis tools; reviewed Bureau evaluations, planning documents, and other documents on work flow management; and interviewed Bureau officials."

This report provides an overview of recent political developments in Colombia, including the administration of President Uribe (2002-2010), continuing into the election of President Juan Manuel Santos. It discusses the political issues including Colombia's longstanding conflict with internal armed groups and ongoing challenges such as human rights, demobilization and displacement, drug trends, and Colombia's regional relations.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) plans to increase the U.S. military presence on Guam are expected to increase the island's current military population by about two and a half times by 2020. If implemented as planned, this realignment would increase the military population on Guam from about 15,000 in 2009 to about 29,000 in 2014, and to more than 39,000 by 2020, which will increase the current island population of 178,430 by about 14 percent over those years. The government of Guam established the Civilian-Military Task Force in April 2006 to identify and develop cost estimates for potential nondefense projects and programs needed to support the larger military presence. To determine the processes used by the government of Guam to develop cost estimates for off-base projects and programs to support a larger military and civilian population resulting from the military buildup, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) obtained and analyzed studies and assessments used by the government of Guam to develop the cost estimates. GAO also examined the government of Guam's fiscal year 2010 budget request. GAO conducted this performance audit from March 2009 through November 2009 in accordance …

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Presented is GAO's Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2009. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."

The ultimate purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a Li-Ca mixture for direct reduction of actinide oxides to actinide metals at temperatures below 1500 C. For such a process to be successful, the products of the reduction reaction, actinide metals, Li{sub 2}O, and CaO, must all be liquid at the reaction temperature so the resulting actinide metal can coalesce and be recovered as a monolith. Since the established melting temperature of Li{sub 2}O is in the range 1427-1700 C and the melting temperature of CaO is 2654 C, the Li{sub 2}O-CaO (lithium oxidecalcium oxide) pseudo-binary system was investigated in an attempt to identify the presence of low-melting eutectic compositions. The results of our investigation indicate that there is no evidence of ternary Li-Ca-O phases or solutions melting below 1200 C. In the 1200-1500 C range utilizing MgO crucibles, there is some evidence for the formation of a ternary phase; however, it was not possible to determine the phase composition. The results of experiments performed with ZrO{sub 2} crucibles in the same temperature range did not show the formation of the possible ternary phase seen in the earlier experiment involving MgO crucibles, so it was not possible …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program provides monthly payments to the survivors of those who died as a result of a service-connected disability or while on active duty in the military. In fiscal year 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paid over $4.7 billion to about 354,000 survivors, replacing a portion of income lost with the death of the veteran or servicemember. The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the DIC program and the levels of payments it provides. This report addresses (1) the extent to which DIC replaces VA disability compensation or active duty military pay lost due to the death of a veteran or servicemember, and (2) how DIC benefits compare to benefits for survivors of civilian federal employees. GAO obtained and analyzed data on DIC payments, VA disability compensation, and military pay rates. GAO also obtained information on survivor benefits under federal employee retirement and workers' compensation programs. GAO did not include in its analysis other sources of income survivors may receive, such as Social Security, private pensions, and life insurance. Lastly, GAO …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) cost estimates to implement recommendations from the most recent Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round have steadily increased each budget year since 2005. This BRAC round is the fifth such round undertaken by DOD since 1988 and, by our assessment, it is the biggest, most complex, and costliest BRAC round ever. With this round, DOD plans to execute hundreds of BRAC actions affecting over 800 defense locations and relocate over 123,000 personnel. Before it can realize savings from BRAC, DOD must first invest billions of dollars in facility construction, renovation, and other up-front expenses. To implement BRAC 2005, DOD plans to spend nearly $35 billion--an unprecedented amount, given that it has spent only about $25 billion to implement the four previous BRAC rounds combined."

Migration of Np through the subsurface is expected to be primarily controlled by sorption to sediments. Therefore, understanding and quantifying Np sorption to sediments and sediments from the Savannah River Site (SRS) is vital to ensure safe disposal of Np bearing wastes. In this work, Np sorption to two sediments representing the geological extremes with respect to sorption properties expected in the SRS subsurface environment (named 'subsurface sandy sediment' and 'subsurface clayey sediment') was examined under a variety of conditions. First a series of baseline sorption tests at pH 5.5 under an oxic atmosphere was performed to understand Np sorption under typical subsurface conditions. These experiments indicated that the baseline K{sub d} values for the subsurface sandy and subsurface clayey sediments are 4.26 {+-} 0.24 L kg{sup -1} and 9.05 {+-} 0.61 L kg{sup -1}, respectively. These Np K{sub d} values of SRS sediments are the first to be reported since Sheppard et al. (1979). The previous values were 0.25 and 0.16 L kg{sup -1} for a low pH sandy sediment. To examine a possible range of K{sub d} values under various environmental scenarios, the effects of natural organic matter (NOM, also a surrogate for cellulose degradation products), the presence …

This report explains the current law regarding the tax treatment of net operating losses (NOLs). In addition, this report highlights a number of policy considerations relating to the extension of the NOL carryback period.

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The CO{sub 2} stream injecting into the Weyburn-Midale field can be generally classified as a reducing stream with residual H{sub 2}S and low-molecular weight hydrocarbons. The composition of the CO{sub 2} gas stream from the Dakota Gasification Company is reported to be 95% CO{sub 2}, 4% hydrocarbons, and 1% H{sub 2}S by volume (Huxley 2006). In addition to the H{sub 2}S introduced at the injection wells, significant concentrations of H{sub 2}S are thought to have been produced in-situ by sulfate reducing bacteria from previous water floods for enhanced oil production. Produced gas compositions range in H{sub 2}S concentrations from 1 to 6 volume percent. The produced gas, including the trace impurities, is re-injected into the field. Although there is no evidence for inorganic reduction of SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} to H{sub 2}S at the Weyburn-Midale field, Sitchler and Kazuba (2009) suggest that SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} can be inorganically reduced to elemental sulfur in highly reducing environments based on a natural analog study of the Madison Formation in Wyoming. They propose that elevated concentrations of CO{sub 2} dissolve anhydrite to produce the sulfate that is then reduced. Oxidizing CO{sub 2} streams with residual O{sub 2} and SO{sub 2} typical of streams captured …

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) executed agreements with organizations in Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Finland, and the United States to establish the Program for the Inspection of Nickel Alloy Components (PINC).

This report details the chemical and radionuclide contaminant results for the characterization of the 2009 Third Quarter sampling of Tank 50 for the Saltstone Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC). Information from this characterization will be used by Liquid Waste Operations (LWO) to support the transfer of low-level aqueous waste from Tank 50 to the Salt Feed Tank in the Saltstone Facility in Z-Area, where the waste will be immobilized. This information is also used to update the Tank 50 Waste Characterization System. Recently, a review of the radionuclide inventory in Saltstone Vaults 1 and 4 identified several additional radionuclides, not currently in the WAC, which require quantification ({sup 40}K, {sup 108m}Ag, {sup 133}Ba, {sup 207}Bi, {sup 227}Ac, {sup 228}Ra, {sup 228}Th, {sup 231}Pa, {sup 247}Cm, {sup 249}Cf, {sup 251}Cf). In addition, several of the radionuclides previously reported with minimum detection limits below the requirements listed in the WAC required analysis with reduced detection limits to support future inventory reporting requirements ({sup 22}Na, {sup 26}Al, {sup 59}Ni, {sup 94}Nb, {sup 106}Ru, {sup 144}Ce, {sup 152}Eu, {sup 155}Eu, {sup 226}Ra). This added scope was formally requested in a revision to the standing Technical Task Request for CY2009 Saltstone support and is further discussed …

This report discusses the changing role and finance of sea-based systems in U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD). Decisions that Congress reaches on this issue could affect U.S. BMD capabilities and funding requirements; the size, capabilities, and operational patterns of the Navy and the other services; and the shipbuilding industrial base.

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.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal law does not mandate specific qualifications for individuals appointed as U.S. Marshals. However, Section 505 of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 states that U.S. Marshals should possess certain minimum characteristics in order to serve. The suggested characteristics are (1) a minimum of 4 years of command-level law enforcement management duties, including personnel, budget, and accountable property issues, in a police department, sheriff's office, or federal law enforcement agency; (2) experience in coordinating with other law enforcement agencies, particularly at the state and local levels; (3) college-level academic experience; and (4) experience in or with county, state, and federal court systems or experience with protection of court personnel, jurors, and witnesses. In contrast to the appointment process for U.S. Marshals, the senior field supervisors of other federal law enforcement agencies with comparable duties and responsibilities are selected under competitive, merit-based promotion criteria outlined in Title 5 of the U.S. Code. These individuals are required to apply and compete for these positions and meet any identified minimum standards. Minimum qualifications used to select senior field supervisors at some of the federal law enforcement agencies vary, …

This report provides an estimate of the initial impact of the changing oil prices on the nation's merchandise trade balance.

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We present the results of a search for occultation events by objects at distances between 100 and 1000 AU in lightcurves from the Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS). We searched for consecutive, shallow flux reductions in the stellar lightcurves obtained by our survey between 7 February 2005 and 31 December 2006 with a total of {approx} 4.5 x 10{sup 9} three-telescope simultaneous photometric measurements. No events were detected, allowing us to set upper limits on the number density as a function of size and distance of objects in Sedna-like orbits, using simple models.

The process of recovering the waste in storage tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS) typically requires mixing the contents of the tank with one to four dual-nozzle jet mixers located within the tank. The typical criteria to establish a mixed condition in a tank are based on the number of pumps in operation and the time duration of operation. To ensure that a mixed condition is achieved, operating times are set conservatively long. This approach results in high operational costs because of the long mixing times and high maintenance and repair costs for the same reason. A significant reduction in both of these costs might be realized by reducing the required mixing time based on calculating a reliable indicator of mixing with a suitably validated computer code. The work described in this report establishes the basis for further development of the theory leading to the identified mixing indicators, the benchmark analyses demonstrating their consistency with widely accepted correlations, and the application of those indicators to SRS waste tanks to provide a better, physically based estimate of the required mixing time. Waste storage tanks at SRS contain settled sludge which varies in height from zero to 10 ft. The sludge …

Lanthanum halide (LaBr3:Ce) scintillators have been well-documented as high-resolution gamma-ray detectors that are operated at room temperature. These scintillators have better resolution (<3% at 662 keV) relative to sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) scintillators (7% at 662 keV), but the naturally occurring radioactive isotope 138La causes self-activity in the crystal that occludes portions of the gamma-ray spectrum. This selfactivity limits the use of LaBr3:Ce in high-sensitivity applications. Cerium, the dopant in the LaBr3:Ce matrix possesses useful scintillation properties, and its selfactivity is on the order of 3750 times less than La; however, Ce has not been fully characterized as the chief component in a scintillation detector. This work investigated Ce as the key scintillation matrix component in a scintillation detector with the hypothesis that CeBr3 promises energy resolution comparable or superior to LaBr3:Ce. The researchers involved with this work believe that CeBr3 may be the answer to obtaining high-temperature, high-resolution spectra with greater sensitivity than LaBr3:Ce.

This report mainly focuses on Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests in Central Asia.

Over the past several years, China has enjoyed one of the world's fastest growing economies and has been a major contributor to world economic growth. However, the current global financial crisis threatens to slow China's economy. China is a major economic power and holds huge amounts of foreign exchange reserves, and thus it could play a major role in responding to the current crisis. For example, in an effort to help stabilize the U.S. economy, China might boost its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities, which would help fund the Federal Government's purchases of troubled U.S. assets. However, this could raise a number of issues and concerns for U.S. policymakers.

Laboratory testing was performed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the corrosivity of the tank wastes stored in Double-Shell Tanks using simulants primarily from Tanks 241-AP-105, 241-SY-103 and 241-AW-105. Additional tests were conducted using simulants of the waste stored in 241-AZ-102, 241-SY-101, 241-AN-107, and 241-AY-101. This test program placed particular emphasis on defining the range of tank waste chemistries that do not induce the onset of localized forms of corrosion, particularly pitting and stress corrosion cracking. This document summarizes the key findings of the research program.