Annual monitoring in support of the Fluor Daniel Hanford Company (Fluor) Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) for Project L-325, Electrical Utility Upgrades was conducted in June 2009. MAP guidelines defined mitigation success for this project as 3000 established sagebrush transplants on a 4.5 ha mitigation site after five monitoring years. Annual monitoring results suggest that an estimated 2130 sagebrush transplants currently grow on the site. Additional activities in support of this project included gathering sagebrush seed and securing a local grower to produce between 2250 and 2500 10-in3 tublings for outplanting during the early winter months of FY2010. If the minimum number of seedlings grown for this planting meets quality specifications, and planting conditions are favorable, conservative survival estimates indicate the habitat mitigation goals outlined in the MAP will be met in FY2014.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

Packaged K-Basin sludge will be transported to the T Plant on the Hanford Site where it will be interim stored. The sludge will be retrieved from the storage containers and processed for disposal. A sample of high uranium content canister sludge, designated 96-13, "self-cemented" during laboratory storage. This sample was uncharacteristically strong compared to expected K-Basin material. The purpose for this work is to evaluate the potential retrieval of such sludge after storage at the T Plant via jet erosion. The specific objectives of this report are to determine the modes of erosion and the methods used to measure/assess the erodibility parameters of sludge and identify those parameters applicable to jet erosion. The erodibility parameters of sample 96-13 are characterized to the extent possible. These objectives have been met based on literature review, past experience at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and observation of sample 96-13 video during hot-cell activities.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On October 30, 2004, the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) was enacted, establishing eight rights for federal crime victims and two mechanisms to enforce those rights. The legislation also directed GAO to evaluate the implementation of the CVRA. To address this mandate, GAO reviewed, among other things: (1) efforts made to implement the CVRA, (2) mechanisms in place to ensure adherence to the CVRA, (3) key issues that have arisen in the interpretation of the CVRA by the federal courts, and (4) perspectives of criminal justice system participants on the CVRA. This testimony is based on GAO's December 2008 report on CVRA, where GAO reviewed guidance and conducted surveys and interviews with criminal justice system participants. GAO cannot generalize its crime victim survey results due to a low response rate. In September 2009, GAO obtained updated information on victim's efforts to enforce their rights."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2008 financial market crisis and the economic recession led to a rapid and substantial increase in federal debt. This report, part of a line of work on debt management, was conducted under the Comptroller General's authority. It describes current debt management challenges and examines the role of a program that could benefit Treasury--Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). GAO analyzed market data and interviewed experts as well as the two largest holders of Treasury securities in each of six sectors."

This report examines current private security contractor trends in Iraq and Afghanistan, steps DOD has taken to improve oversight and management, and the extend to which DOD has incorporated the role of security contractors into its doctrine and strategy.

This report examines current private security contractor (PSC) trends in Iraq and Afghanistan, steps Department of Defense (DOD) has taken to improve oversight and management, and the extent to which DOD has incorporated the role of security contractors into its doctrine and strategy. It also reviews steps Congress has taken to exercise oversight over the use of PSCs and includes options for Congress.

This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 110th Congress. Most action in the second session is focused on the FY2009 budget request and legislation that would extend or modify selected renewable energy and energy efficiency tax incentives.

This report discusses the construction and history of the European Parliament (EP), its role in functions of the European Union as well as internationally, various international supports and criticisms of the EP, and the EP's ties with the U.S. Congress.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government relies heavily on contractors to carry out its missions, with fiscal year 2008 spending on contractor products and services of approximately $518 billion. Federal contracting data systems provide information on how these funds are being spent and how well the contractors are performing. GAO's testimony, which is based on prior reports, describes three governmentwide contracting data systems and the weaknesses GAO has identified with these systems."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses issues relating to efforts to reform the regulatory structure of the financial system. In the midst of the worst economic crisis affecting financial markets globally in more than 75 years, federal officials have taken unprecedented steps to stem the unraveling of the financial services sector. While these actions aimed to provide relief in the short term, the severity of the crisis has shown clearly that in the long term, the current U.S. financial regulatory system was in need of significant reform. Our January 2009 report presented a framework for evaluating proposals to modernize the U.S. financial regulatory system, and work we have conducted since that report further underscores the urgent need for changes in the system. Given the importance of the U.S. financial sector to the domestic and international economies, in January 2009, we also added modernization of its outdated regulatory system as a new area to our list of high-risk areas of government operations because of the fragmented and outdated regulatory structure. We noted that modernizing the U.S. financial regulatory system will be a critical step to ensuring that the challenges of the 21st …

This report looks at the background of Iran's nuclear policy. It covers the current status of Iran's nuclear facilities, and current controversy surrounding them, as well as the effects of international sanctions on Iran, recent sabotages on the Iran Enrichment Program, an estimated timeline of Iran's nuclear weapon capabilities, and whether or not Iran even has a nuclear weapons program.

Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) is the science and technology of determining non-invasively the internal structure of manufactured parts, objects, and materials. NDE application areas include medicine, industrial manufacturing, military, homeland security, and airport luggage screening. X-ray measurement systems are most widely used because of their ability to image through a wide range of material densities (from human tissue in medical applications to the dense materials of weapon components). Traditional x-ray systems involve a single source and detector system that rotate and/or translate about the object under evaluation. At each angular location, the source projects x-rays through the object. The rays undergo attenuation proportional to the density of the object's constitutive material. The detector records a measure of the attenuation. Mathematical algorithms are used to invert the forward attenuated ray projection process to form images of the object. This is known as computed tomography (CT). In recent years, the single-source x-ray NDE systems have been generalized to arrays of x-ray sources. Array sources permit multiple views of the object with fewer rotations and translations of the source/detector system. The spatially diverse nature of x-ray array sources has the potential of reducing data collection time, reducing imaging artifacts, and increasing the resolution of …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the CARE Act, funds are made available to assist over 530,000 individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. Grantees directly provide services to individuals (clients) or arrange with service providers to do so. The Department of Health and Human Services's (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which administers CARE Act programs, is required to cancel balances of grants that are unobligated after one year and redistribute amounts to grantees in need. HRSA began to collect client-level data in 2009. Under the CARE Act, states and territories receive grants for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP), which provide HIV/AIDS drugs. GAO was asked to examine elements of the CARE Act. In this report, we review: (1) HRSA's implementation of the unobligated balance provisions, (2) HRSA's actions to collect client-level data, and (3) the status of ADAP waiting lists. GAO reviewed reports and agency documents and interviewed federal officials, officials from 13 state and 5 local health departments chosen based on location and number of cases, and other individuals knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS."

To reduce the risk of illicit trafficking of special nuclear and other radiological materials, the Megaports Initiative installs radiation detection systems at international seaports. Port Klang, Malaysia, is one such seaport identified by the Megaports Initiative as a key area to install equipment to accomplish the mission of preventing the acquisition and smuggling of materials that could be used to create weapons of mass destruction or radiological dispersal devices. Sustainability is a critical factor of all components of the Megaports Initiative. The sustainability plan is developed to assist the partner country in securing the technical, financial, and policy commitments required to develop and implement a country-specific strategy. A robust sustainability plan will define the long-term relationship between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Government of Malaysia as well as promote the ongoing proficient radiation detection system operations at Port Klang, Malaysia.

This report discusses proposed legislation to establish a free-mail-to-troops postage benefit. Various bills introduced in Congress would provide members of the Armed Forces serving overseas with free-postage vouchers every month. Recipients of these vouchers would be able to transfer them to family members or other persons in the United States, who then could use the vouchers to mail a letter or package to the troops postage-free.

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A sample of PUREX sludge from Tank 4 was characterized, and subsequently combined with a Tank 51 sample (Tank 51-E1) received following Al dissolution, but prior to a supernate decant by the Tank Farm, to perform a settling and washing study to support Sludge Batch 6 preparation. The sludge source for the majority of the Tank 51-E1 sample is Tank 12 HM sludge. The Tank 51-E1 sample was decanted by SRNL prior to use in the settling and washing study. The Tank 4 sample was analyzed for chemical composition including noble metals. The characterization of the Tank 51-E1 sample, used here in combination with the Tank 4 sample, was reported previously. SRNL analyses on Tank 4 were requested by Liquid Waste Engineering (LWE) via Technical Task Request (TTR) HLE-TTR-2009-103. The sample preparation work is governed by Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan (TTQAP), and analyses were controlled by an Analytical Study Plan and modifications received via customer communications. Additional scope included a request for a settling study of decanted Tank 51-E1 and a blend of decanted Tank 51-E1 and Tank 4, as well as a washing study to look into the fate of undissolved sulfur observed during the Tank 4 …

This technical support document (TSD) is designed to explain the technical basis for the COMcheck software as originally developed based on the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-1989 (Standard 90.1-1989). Documentation for other national model codes and standards and specific state energy codes supported in COMcheck has been added to this report as appendices. These appendices are intended to provide technical documentation for features specific to the supported codes and for any changes made for state-specific codes that differ from the standard features that support compliance with the national model codes and standards.

By analyzing the pulse to pulse intensity fluctuations of the radiation emitted by a charge particle in the incoherent part of the spectrum, it is possible to extract information about the spatial distribution of the beam. At the Advanced Light Source (ALS) of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we have developed and successfully tested a simple scheme based on this principle that allows for the absolute measurement of the rms bunch length. A description of the method and the experimental results are presented.

This report summarizes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Moreover, the report specifically considers the purpose of the ADA, threshold issues, and other court decisions. The report highlights that many Supreme Court decisions and lower court decisions have interpreted the definition of disabled strictly.

This report discusses the Afghanistan's political transition, which was completed with the convening of a parliament in December 2005, but since then insurgent threats to Afghanistan's government have escalated to the point that some experts are questioning the future of U.S. stabilization efforts.

Laser wakefield acceleration experiments were carried out by using a hydrogen-filledcapillary discharge waveguide. For a 15 mm long, 200 mu m diameter capillary, quasi-monoenergetic e-beams up to 300 MeV were observed. By de-tuning discharge delay from optimum guiding performance, self-trapping was found to be stabilized. For a 33 mm long, 300 mu m capillary, a parameter regime with high energy electron beams, up to 1 GeV, was found. In this regime, the electron beam peak energy was correlated with the amount of trapped electrons.

TDMAA provides a framework for cooperative cyber defense for groups of interdependent enclaves via a society of humans and autonomous adaptive software agents. The enclaves in an infrastructure share common overarching operational goals and may share physical equipment, but generally they do not share policies, etc. Examples of this type of infrastructure include the computers and networks supporting our national electric power grid, the distributed, heterogeneous computing collaboratories used in open science, or the computer equipment used to support partner countries in coalition warfare. We seek to discover ways that humans can exert supervisory influence on the system while retaining the rapid, adaptive response of the system.