This report presents and discusses results of the fiscal year 2003 sampling event associated with aquifer tubes along the Columbia River in the northern Hanford Site. Aquifer tube data help define the extent of groundwater contamination near the river, determine vertical variations in contamination, monitor the performance of interim remedial actions near the river, and support impact studies.

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach has been increasingly applied to many atmospheric applications, including flow over buildings and complex terrain, and dispersion of hazardous releases. However there has been much less activity on the coupling of CFD with atmospheric chemistry. Most of the atmospheric chemistry applications have been focused on the modeling of chemistry on larger spatial scales, such as global or urban airshed scale. However, the increased attentions to terrorism threats have stimulated the need of much more detailed simulations involving chemical releases within urban areas. This motivated us to develop a new CFD/coupled-chemistry capability as part of our modeling effort.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Coal Technology (CCT) Program seeks to offer the energy marketplace more efficient and environmentally benign coal utilization technology options by demonstrating them in industrial settings. This document is a DOE post-project assessment (PPA) of one of the projects selected in Round III of the CCT Program, the commercial-scale demonstration of the Liquid Phase Methanol (LPMEOH{trademark}) Process, initially described in a Report to Congress by DOE in 1992. Methanol is an important, large-volume chemical with many uses. The desire to demonstrate a new process for the production of methanol from coal, prompted Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (Air Products) to submit a proposal to DOE. In October 1992, DOE awarded a cooperative agreement to Air Products to conduct this project. In March 1995, this cooperative agreement was transferred to Air Products Liquid Phase Conversion Company, L.P. (the Partnership), a partnership between Air Products and Eastman Chemical Company (Eastman). DOE provided 43 percent of the total project funding of $213.7 million. Operation of the LPMEOH Demonstration Unit, which is sited at Eastman's chemicals-from-coal complex in Kingsport, Tennessee, commenced in April 1997. Although operation of the CCT project was completed in December 2002, Eastman continues to …

The Lithium Pellet Injector (LPI) is being developed for the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). The LPI will inject ''pellets'' of various composition into the plasma in order to study wall conditioning, edge impurity transport, liquid limiter simulations, and other areas of research. The control system for the NSTX LPI has incorporated widely used advanced technologies, such as LabVIEW and PCI bus I/O boards, to create a low-cost control system which is fully integrated into the NSTX computing environment. This paper will present the hardware and software design of the computer control system for the LPI.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1996 and 1999, Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to strengthen sections of the American River and Natomas Basin levees that provide flood protection for Sacramento, California. In 2002, the Corps reported that the cost of this work, known as the Common Features Project, had increased significantly. GAO was asked to determine why costs increased, the extent to which the Corps analyzed and reported the potential cost increases to Congress in a timely manner, and whether the Corps correctly estimated economic benefits."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent legislative and regulatory changes have blurred some distinctions between credit unions and other depository institutions such as banks. The 1998 Credit Union Membership Access Act (CUMAA) allowed for an expansion of membership and mandated safety and soundness controls similar to those of other depository institutions. In light of these changes and the evolution of the credit union industry, GAO evaluated (1) the financial condition of the industry and the deposit (share) insurance fund, (2) the impact of CUMAA on the industry, and (3) how the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) had changed its safety and soundness processes."

Energy supplies and prices are a major economic factor in the United States, and energy markets are volatile and unpredictable. For both these reasons, energy policy is of frequent interest to the Congress. This report presents a statistical view of the supply and consumption of various forms of energy. After an introductory overview of aggregate energy consumption, the report presents detailed analysis of trends and statistics regarding specific energy sources: oil, electricity, natural gas, and coal. A section on trends in energy efficiency is also presented.

This report provides information about the Corporate "Inversions" and "Expatriation" on Firms That Incorporate Abroad for Tax Purposes where increasing number of U.S firms have altered their structure by substituting a foreign parent corporation for a domestic one.

This report describes the goals of the next generations of accelerator-based neutrino experiments, and the various strategies that are being considered to achieve those goals. Because these next steps in the field are significantly different from the current or previous steps, novel techniques must be considered for both the detectors and the neutrino beams themselves. We consider not only conventional neutrino beams created by decays of pions, but also those which could be made by decays of beams of relativistic isotopes (so-called ''beta-beams'') and also by decays of beams of muons (neutrino factories).

Single-stranded DNA genomes have been constructed that site-specifically contain the 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanine (8-oxoG) oxidation products guanidinohyndantoin (Gh), and the two stable stereoisomers of spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp1 and Sp2). The circular viral genomes were transfected into wild-type AB1157 Escherichia coli and the efficiency of lesion bypass by DNA polymerase(s) was assessed. Viral progeny were analyzed for mutation frequency and type using the recently developed restriction endonuclease and post-labeling (REAP) assay. Gh was bypassed nearly as efficiently as the parent 8-oxoG, but was highly mutagenic, causing almost exclusive G{yields}C transversions. The stereoisomers Sp1 and Sp2 were, in comparison, much stronger blocks to DNA polymerase extension, and caused a mixture of G{yields}T and G{yields}C transversions. The ratio of G{yields}T to G{yields}C mutations for each Sp lesion was dependent on the stereochemical configuration of the base. All observed mutation frequencies were at least an order of magnitude higher than those caused by 8-oxoG. Were these lesions to be formed in vivo, our data show that they are absolutely miscoding, and may be refractory to repair after translesion synthesis.

Mace4 is a program that searches for finite models of first-order formulas. For a given domain size, all instances of the formulas over the domain are constructed. The result is a set of ground clauses with equality. Then, a decision procedure based on ground equational rewriting is applied. If satisfiability is detected, one or more models are printed. Mace4 is a useful complement to first-order theorem provers, with the prover searching for proofs and Mace4 looking for countermodels, and it is useful for work on finite algebras. Mace4 performs better on equational problems than did our previous model-searching program Mace2.

A methodology is utilized to analyze in a standardized fashion the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in general circulation models. This is attained by projecting 20-100 day bandpass filtered outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) from the models onto the two leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOF's) of observed OLR that characterize the propagation of MJO convection from the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific Ocean. The resulting principal component time series are then screened to isolate boreal winters during which they exhibit a lead-lag relationship consistent with observations. This PC subset is used for linear regression to determine the ability of the models to simulate the observed spacetime variability of the MJO. The vast majority of models underestimate the amplitude of the MJO convective anomalies by a factor of two or more, and the eastward propagation of convection is less coherent than observed, typically. For a given family of models, coupling to an ocean leads to better organization of the large-scale convection. The low-level moisture convergence mechanism for eastward propagation is represented in limited cases, as is the vertical structure of the MJO.

Past microlensing experiments such as the MACHO project have discovered the presence of a larger than expected number of microlensing events toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). These events could represent a large fraction of the dark matter in the halo of our Galaxy, if they are indeed due to halo lenses. However the locations of most of the lenses are poorly defined. The SuperMacho project will detect and follow up {approx}60 microlensing events exhibiting special properties due to binarity, etc., will allow us to better determine the location and nature of the lenses causing the LMC microlensing events.

A spherical torus (ST) fusion energy development path which is complementary to proposed tokamak burning plasma experiments such as ITER is described. The ST strategy focuses on a compact Component Test Facility (CTF) and higher performance advanced regimes leading to more attractive DEMO and Power Plant scale reactors. To provide the physics basis for the CTF an intermediate step needs to be taken which we refer to as the ''Next Step Spherical Torus'' (NSST) device and examine in some detail herein. NSST is a ''performance extension'' (PE) stage ST with the plasma current of 5-10 MA, R = 1.5 m, and Beta(sub)T less than or equal to 2.7 T with flexible physics capability. The mission of NSST is to: (1) provide a sufficient physics basis for the design of CTF, (2) explore advanced operating scenarios with high bootstrap current fraction/high performance regimes, which can then be utilized by CTF, DEMO, and Power Plants, and (3) contribute to the general plasma/fusion science of high beta toroidal plasmas. The NSST facility is designed to utilize the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (or similar) site to minimize the cost and time required for the design and construction.

OTTER is a resolution-style theorem-proving program for first-order logic with equality. OTTER includes the inference rules binary resolution, hyperresolution, UR-resolution, and binary paramodulation. Some of its other abilities and features are conversion from first-order formulas to clauses, forward and back subsumption, factoring, weighting, answer literals, term ordering, forward and back demodulation, evaluable functions and predicates, Knuth-Bendix completion, and the hints strategy. OTTER is coded in ANSI C, is free, and is portable to many different kinds of computer.

The objective of this project is to develop a conceptual design of a particle-bed, gas-cooled fast reactor (PB-GCFR) core that meets the advanced reactor concept and enhanced proliferation-resistant goals of the US Department of Energy's NERI program. The key innovation of this project is the application of a fast neutron spectrum environment to enhance both the passive safety and transmutation characteristics of the advanced particle-bed and pebble-bed reactor designs. The PB-GCFR design is expected to produce a high-efficiency system with a low unit cost. It is anticipated that the fast neutron spectrum would permit small-sized units ({approx} 150 MWe) that can be built quickly and packaged into modular units, and whose production can be readily expanded as the demand grows. Such a system could be deployed globally. The goals of this two-year project are as follows: (1) design a reactor core that meets the future needs of the nuclear industry, by being passively safe with reduced need for engineered safety systems. This will entail an innovative core design incorporating new fuel form and type; (2) employ a proliferation-resistant fuel design and fuel cycle. This will be supported by a long-life core design that is refueled infrequently, and hence, reduces the …

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A laser ablation/ionization mass spectrometer system is described for the direct analysis of solids, particles, and fibers. The system uses a quadrupole ion trap operated in an ion-storage (IS) mode, coupled with a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). The sample is inserted radially into the ring electrode and an imaging system allows direct viewing and selected analysis of the sample. Measurements identified trace contaminants of Ag, Sn, and Sb in a Pb target with single laser-shot experiments. Resolution (m/{Delta}m) of 1500 and detection limits of approximately 10 pg have been achieved with a single laser pulse. The system configuration and related operating principles for accurately measuring low concentrations of isotopes are described.

In run I CDF made an extensive range of measurements studying diffractive processes. In run II these measurements can be extended using improved triggering, new detectors and larger data samples. In these proceedings run II measurements of single diffractive dijet production and double pomeron exchange production of dijets are presented.

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The University of North Dakota (UND) Chemical Engineering Department in conjunction with the UND Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) have initiated a program to thoroughly examine the combined chemical (reaction and phase change) and physical (erosion) effects experienced by a variety of refractory materials during both normal operation and thermal cycling under slagging coal gasification conditions. The goal of this work is to devise a mechanism of refractory loss under these conditions. The controlled-atmospheric dynamic corrodent application furnace (CADCAF) is being utilized to simulate refractory/slag interactions under dynamic conditions that more realistically simulate the environment in a slagging coal gasifier than any of the static tests used previously by refractory manufacturers and researchers. Shakedown testing of the CADCAF is in progress. Samples of slag and refractory from the Tampa Electric Polk Power Station have been obtained for testing in the CADCAF. The slag has been dried and sieved to the size needed for our flowing slag corrosion tests. Testing is expected to begin in October.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO, the Department of the Interior, and others have reported on the National Park Service's efforts to develop an effective maintenance management process that would, among other things, enable the agency to accurately and reliably estimate the amount of deferred maintenance on its assets. Over the years, the agency's estimates of the cost of its deferred maintenance have varied widely--sometimes by billions of dollars. Currently, the agency estimates that its deferred maintenance backlog will cost over $5 billion. In April 2002, GAO reported on the status of efforts to develop better deferred maintenance data. (National Park Service: Status of Efforts to Develop Better Deferred Maintenance Data,GAO-02-568R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 12, 2002)) This testimony presents the results of GAO's April report and updates the progress the Park Service is making in implementing its new asset management process."

The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.