Following a telephone interview with Materials and Systems Research, Inc. (MSRI) by members of the Hydrogen Safety Panel on December 4, 2008, a safety review team was dispatched to Salt Lake City, UT to perform a site-visit review. The major topic of concern was the presence of a hydrogen storage and dispensing shed on the MSRI premises close to both its own laboratory/office building and to the adjoining property. The metal shed contains 36 cylinders (two 18-cylinder "pods") of hydrogen all connected to a common manifold and used to supply hydrogen to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fuel cell project plus several other projects using an entire pod as a common supply. In busy times, MSRI uses and replaces one pod per week. As a result of the site visit, the safety review team has raised some concern with the shed’s location, design, use, and safety features as well as other components of the facility, including the laboratory area.

The High-Level Waste (HLW) Program at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) must implement technologies and processes to treat and qualify radioactive wastes located at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) for permanent disposal. This paper describes the approach and accomplishments to date for completing development of a baseline vitrification treatment flowsheet for sodium-bearing waste (SBW), including development of a relational database used to manage the associated process assumptions. A process baseline has been developed that includes process requirements, basis and assumptions, process flow diagrams, a process description, and a mass balance. In the absence of actual process or experimental results, mass and energy balance data for certain process steps are based on assumptions. Identification, documentation, validation, and overall management of the flowsheet assumptions are critical to ensuring an integrated, focused program. The INEEL HLW Program initially used a roadmapping methodology, developed through the INEEL Environmental Management Integration Program, to identify, document, and assess the uncertainty and risk associated with the SBW flowsheet process assumptions. However, the mass balance assumptions, process configuration and requirements should be accessible to all program participants. This need resulted in the creation of a relational database that provides formal documentation and …

A review of selected recent BaBar results are presented that illustrate the ability of the experiment to search for physics beyond the standard model. The decays B {yields} {tau}{nu} and B {yields} s{gamma} provide constraints on the mass of a charged Higgs. Searches for Lepton Flavour Violation could provide a clear signal for beyond the standard model physics. Babar does not observe any signal for New Physics with the current dataset.

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The Edge Coordinating Committee (ECC) was formed in July 14-15, 2004 when OFES Theory Team invited 14 plasma researchers to a two-day meeting in Germantown, MD to discuss the state of edge-plasma research in the U.S. with a focus on theory and modeling (see http://www.mfescience.org/ecc/ ecc/). At that time, OFES tasked the ECC with providing, in about a six month period, a report on the present status of key issues in this area together with a roadmap of what range of activities should be undertaken in the next five years to resolve these issues. This document is a response to that charge. Future edge-plasma research described here is assumed to fit into a budget constraint of a ''flat budget,'' with some additional activities cited for budget increases of as much as 50%. To obtain some measure of the relative fraction of OFES Theory funding presently devoted to edge plasma research, the OFES Theory Team informally surveyed funded work they support in this area at National Labs, Universities, and industry. John Mandrekas reported to us that approximately 10% of the present budget goes to edge-physics areas at 10 institutions, for a total of {approx}$2.5M each year. While not explicitly estimated, we …

Primary GCR interact with the Earth's atmosphere originating atmospheric showers, thus giving rise to fluxes of secondary particles in the atmosphere. Electromagnetic and hadronic interactions interplay in the production of these particles, whose detection is performed by means of complementary techniques in different energy ranges and at different depths in the atmosphere, down to the Earth's surface. Monte Carlo codes are essential calculation tools which can describe the complexity of the physics of these phenomena, thus allowing the analysis of experimental data. However, these codes are affected by important uncertainties, concerning, in particular, hadronic physics at high energy. In this paper we shall report some results concerning inclusive particle fluxes and atmospheric shower properties as obtained using the FLUKA transport and interaction code. Some emphasis will also be given to the validation of the physics models of FLUKA involved in these calculations.

Fermilab and other DOE high energy physics laboratories are studying the possibility of a Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC) for operation in the post-LHC era. The current VLHC design [1] foresees a 2-staged approach, where the second stage (referred to as VLHC-2) has a proton energy up to 100 TeV at a peak luminosity of 2{center_dot}10{sup 34} cm{sup {minus}2} sec{sup {minus}1}. The protons are guided through a large 233 km circumference ring with 10 T bending magnets using Nb{sub 3}Sn superconductor at 5 K. The synchrotron radiation (SR) power emitted by the beam in such a machine is {approx}5 W/m/beam [1]. However, other VLHC scenarios (e.g. [2]) with smaller rings and higher luminosity result in SR power levels exceeding this value, reaching 10 or even 20 W/m/beam. Intercepting and removing this power in a cryogenic environment is a major challenge. In this paper a discussion of SR in the VLHC-2, and various approaches to the issue, are presented. One possibility is the use of a beam screen (BS) to intercept the synchrotron radiation power. The BS operating temperature is chosen to balance thermodynamic efficiency, cryogenic-, vacuum-, beam-stability- and magnet-aperture issues. Another approach is to intercept the radiation in discrete points …

In research as well as in clinical applications, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has gained increasing popularity as a highly sensitive technique to study cytogenetic changes. Today, hundreds of commercially available DNA probes serve the basic needs of the biomedical research community. Widespread applications, however, are often limited by the lack of appropriately labeled, specific nucleic acid probes. We describe two approaches for an expeditious preparation of chromosome-specific DNAs and the subsequent probe labeling with reporter molecules of choice. The described techniques allow the preparation of highly specific DNA repeat probes suitable for enumeration of chromosomes in interphase cell nuclei or tissue sections. In addition, there is no need for chromosome enrichment by flow cytometry and sorting or molecular cloning. Our PCR-based method uses either bacterial artificial chromosomes or human genomic DNA as templates with {alpha}-satellite-specific primers. Here we demonstrate the production of fluorochrome-labeled DNA repeat probes specific for human chromosomes 17 and 18 in just a few days without the need for highly specialized equipment and without the limitation to only a few fluorochrome labels.

Ultra-peripheral collisions of relativistic heavy ions involve long-ranged electromagnetic interactions at impact parameters too large for hadronic interactions to occur. The nuclear charges are large; with the coherent enhancement, the cross sections are also large. Many types of photonuclear and purely electromagnetic interactions are possible. We present here an introduction to ultra-peripheral collisions, and present four of the most compelling physics topics.

This is the first quarterly report of the project Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO{sub 2} Mitigation. The official project start date, 10/02/2000, was delayed until 10/31/2000 due to an intellectual property dispute that was resolved. However, the delay forced a subsequent delay in subcontracting with Montana State University, which then delayed obtaining a sampling permit from Yellowstone National Park. However, even with these delays, the project moved forward with some success. Accomplishments for this quarter include: Culturing of thermophilic organisms from Yellowstone; Testing of mesophilic organisms in extreme CO{sub 2} conditions; Construction of a second test bed for additional testing; Purchase of a total carbon analyzer dedicated to the project; Construction of a lighting container for Oak Ridge National Laboratory optical fiber testing; Modified lighting of existing test box to provide more uniform distribution; Testing of growth surface adhesion and properties; Experimentation on water-jet harvesting techniques; and Literature review underway regarding uses of biomass after harvesting. Plans for next quarter's work and an update on the project's web page are included in the conclusions.

This quarterly report documents significant achievements in the Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO{sub 2} Mitigation project during the period from 1/03/2001 through 4/02/2001. Many of the activities and accomplishments are continuations of work initiated and reported in last quarter's status report. Major activities and accomplishments for this quarter include: Three sites in Yellowstone National Park have been identified that may contain suitable organisms for use in a bioreactor; Full-scale culturing of one thermophilic organism from Yellowstone has progressed to the point that there is a sufficient quantity to test this organism in the model-scale bioreactor; The effects of the additive monoethanolamine on the growth of one thermophilic organism from Yellowstone has been tested; Testing of growth surface adhesion and properties is continuing; Construction of a larger model-scale bioreactor to improve and expand testing capabilities is completed and the facility is undergoing proof tests; Model-scale bioreactor tests examining the effects of CO{sub 2} concentration levels and lighting levels on organism growth rates are continuing; Alternative fiber optic based deep-penetration light delivery systems for use in the pilot-scale bioreactor have been designed, constructed and tested; An existing slug flow reactor system has been modified for use in this project, and a proof-of-concept test …

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This report examines Congress' legislative authority with respect to the Judicial Branch. While Congress has broad power to regulate the structure, administration and jurisdiction of the courts, its powers are limited by precepts of due process, equal protection and separation of powers. This report addresses the constitutional foundation of the federal courts, and the explicit and general authorities of Congress to regulate the courts. It then addresses Congress’ ability to limit the jurisdiction of the courts over particular issues, sometimes referred to as “court-stripping.” The report then analyzes Congress’ authority to regulate the availability of certain judicial processes and remedies for litigants. Congressional power to legislate regarding specific judicial decisions is also discussed.

This report examines Congress' legislative authority with respect to the Judicial Branch. While Congress has broad power to regulate the structure, administration and jurisdiction of the courts, its powers are limited by precepts of due process, equal protection and separation of powers.

In response to the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the 109th Congress enacted two FY2005 emergency supplemental appropriations bills, which together provide $62.3 billion for emergency response and recovery needs. However, the funding streams of these appropriated funds and amounts for disaster recovery have changed and appear likely to undergo further changes, largely at the request of the Administration. This report summarizes federal disaster assistance funding legislation in the 109th Congress and presents some information on federal expenditures and obligations for disaster recovery activities.

This CRS report summarizes federal disaster assistance funding legislation in the 109th Congress and presents some information on federal expenditures and obligations for disaster recovery activities.

This report briefly discusses the extent to which emissions trading has been used in the United States, explains how trading programs work, analyzes factors that can influence the effectiveness of trading, and examines some of the principal arguments related to the use of trading to control air pollution.

This report discusses the potential hazards of military munitions and related contamination, the authorities of the Department of Defense(DOD) to address these hazards, the status and costs of cleanup efforts, and issues of Congress.

Several environmental statutes contain national security exemptions, which the Department of Defense (DOD) can obtain on a case-by-case basis. Since FY2003, DOD has sought broader exemptions that it argues are needed to preserve training capabilities and ensure military readiness. There has been disagreement in Congress over the need for broader exemptions in the absence of data on the overall impact of environmental requirements on training and readiness.

Title II of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY2006 (P.L. 109-54, H.R. 2361) provides $7.73 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), subject to an across-the-board rescission of 0.476%. Section 439 of Title IV indicates that the rescission is to be applied proportionately among each account, program, project, and activity specified in the law, accompanying reports, and the President’s budget request. The total FY2006 EPA appropriation includes an additional $80 million in unobligated funds “rescinded” from past appropriations, as noted in the following table. P.L. 109-54 provides more funding for EPA than the Administration’s FY2006 request of $7.52 billion, but less than the FY2005 appropriation of $8.03 billion.

This report defines a number of terms within the realm of agricultural production.

This report discusses the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) as amended by the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246), which states that many U.S. retailers must begin providing country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for fresh produce, red meats, peanuts, chicken, ginseng, pecans, and macadamia nuts.

The report provides background information in the increase of food and agricultural imports and federal oversight responsibilities. It discusses international trade considerations, import refusals by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), administration, and legislative proposals.

This report focuses on a conflict between the European Union (EU) and the United States, Canada, and Argentina. The United States suggests that the European Union's moratorium costs the U.S. 300 million dollars in exports to the EU annually. Moreover, the report highlights other concerns the U.S. has with the EU's biotechnology policies.