Montana-Dakota Utilities (MDU) and Western Research Institute (WRI) have been developing flowable fill materials formulated using ash from the Montana-Dakota Utilities R. M. Heskett Station in Mandan, North Dakota. MDU and WRI have partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) to further the development of these materials for lignite-fired fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) facilities. The MDU controlled density fill (CDF) appears to be a viable engineering material and environmentally safe. WRI is pursuing the commercialization of the technology under the trademark Ready-Fill{trademark}. The project objectives were to: (1) assess the market in the Bismarck-Mandan area; (2) evaluate the geotechnical properties and environmental compatibility; and (3) construct and monitor demonstrations of the various grades of flowable fill products in full-scale demonstrations. The scope of initial phase of work entailed the following: Task I--Assess Market for MDU Flowable Fill Products; Task II--Assess Geotechnical and Environmental Properties of MDU Flowable Fill Products; and Task III--Demonstrate and Monitor MDU Flowable Fill Products in Field-Scale Demonstrations. The results of these testing and demonstration activities proved the following: (1) The market assessment indicated that a market exists in the Bismarck-Mandan area for structural construction applications, such as sub-bases for …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1999, the Health Care Financing Administration, now called the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), proposed terminating an exception to a payment rule that had permitted laboratories to receive direct payment from Medicare when providing technical pathology services that had been outsourced by certain hospitals. The Congress enacted provisions in the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA) to delay the termination. The BIPA provisions directed GAO to report on the number of outsourcing hospitals and their service volumes and the effect of the termination of direct laboratory payments on hospitals and laboratories, as well as on access to technical pathology services by Medicare beneficiaries. GAO analyzed Medicare inpatient and outpatient hospital and laboratory claims data from 2001 to develop its estimates."

During the current quarter, pilot-scale testing with the modified air nozzle version of the PC burner was completed with PRB coal at the Riley Power Inc. (RPI) test facility. A total of 8 different burner configurations were tested utilizing various burner air nozzle arrangements in place of the burner air channels. It was found that with the arrangements tested, a stable flame could not be maintained at coal feed rates above 100 lb/h. While it is felt that the air nozzle approach can ultimately be used effectively, in the interest of holding to the current project schedule it was decided to proceed with the balance of the project using the air channel design. The pilot-scale PC burner was therefore restored to the air-channel configuration and benchmark testing with PRB coal to confirmed previous operating results. A series of tests was then conducted with PRB and West Virginia caking coal to evaluate modifications to the gas combustor configuration and operation for improved performance with caking coal. Continuous operation was achieved with caking coal up to 50 lb/h vs. the full load target of 150 lb/h. Impingement and deposition of partially devolatilized coal occurred at various points within the combustor when the …

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Of the 44,000 special operations forces (SOF) that perform difficult, complex, and sensitive military missions on short notice anytime and anywhere in the world, more than 12,000 (28 percent) have a foreign language requirement to operate in places where English is not spoken. In the Senate Report on the Fiscal Year 2003 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress mandated that GAO review SOF foreign language requirements and training. In this report, we (1) assess the U.S. Special Operations Command's recent actions to improve the management of the SOF foreign language program and the delivery of training, and (2) identify ways for the command to deal with ongoing challenges that limit SOF personnel's access to language-training opportunities."

This Safety Program for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) presents safety protocols and requirements that management and workers shall follow to assure a safe and healthful work environment during activities performed on the NIF Project site. The NIF Project Site Safety Program (NPSSP) requires that activities at the NIF Project site be performed in accordance with the ''LLNL ES&H Manual'' and the augmented set of controls and processes described in this NIF Project Site Safety Program. Specifically, this document: (1) Defines the fundamental NIF site safety philosophy. (2) Defines the areas covered by this safety program (see Appendix B). (3) Identifies management roles and responsibilities. (4) Defines core safety management processes. (5) Identifies NIF site-specific safety requirements. This NPSSP sets forth the responsibilities, requirements, rules, policies, and regulations for workers involved in work activities performed on the NIF Project site. Workers are required to implement measures to create a universal awareness that promotes safe practice at the work site and will achieve NIF management objectives in preventing accidents and illnesses. ES&H requirements are consistent with the ''LLNL ES&H Manual''. This NPSSP and implementing procedures (e.g., Management Walkabout, special work procedures, etc.,) are a comprehensive safety program that applies to NIF …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Natural gas is the most costly component used in manufacturing nitrogen fertilizer. Therefore, when natural gas prices increased in 2000-2001, U.S. companies that produce nitrogen fertilizer reported adverse financial consequences resulting from much higher production costs. Concerns also arose that the nation's farmers would face much higher nitrogen fertilizer prices and that there might not be an adequate supply of nitrogen fertilizer to satisfy farmers' demands at any price. Responding to congressional concerns, GAO undertook a study to determine (1) how the price of natural gas affects the price, production, and availability of nitrogen fertilizer and (2) what role the federal government plays in mitigating the impact of natural gas prices on the U.S. fertilizer market."

The US DOE has initiated a Conductor Development Program aimed at demonstrating a high current density, cost effective Nb3Sn conductor for use in accelerator magnets. The first goal, an increase in current density by 50%, has been achieved in a practical conductor. The program is focused at present on achieving the second goal of reduced losses. The different approaches for achieving these goals will be discussed, and the status will be presented. Magnet technology R&D has been proceeding in parallel with the conductor development efforts, and these two technologies are reaching the level required for the next step--introduction into operating accelerator magnets. An obvious point for introducing this technology is the LHC interaction region magnets, which require large apertures and high fields (or high field gradients). By upgrading the interaction region magnets, machine performance can be enhanced significantly without replacing the arc magnets, which represent most of the cost of an accelerator. Design requirements generated by recent studies and workshops will be reviewed, and a roadmap for the development of the next-generation interaction region magnets will be presented.

This is the thirteenth Quarterly Technical Report for DOE Cooperative Agreement No: DEFC26-00NT40753. The goal of the project is to develop cost effective analysis tools and techniques for demonstrating and evaluating low NO{sub x} control strategies and their possible impact on boiler performance for boilers firing US coals. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is providing co-funding for this program. This program contains multiple tasks and good progress is being made on all fronts. The corrosion probe task is proceeding: Two plant visits were made to prepare for field testing and shakedown tests for the probes were conducted at the University of Utah''s L1500 furnace. Corrosion probes will be installed at the Gavin Plant site in the next quarter. Laboratory studies of SCR catalyst continued this quarter. FTIR studies of catalyst sulfation and of adsorption of NH3 and NO were continued at BYU. NO activities have been measured for a number of samples of BYU catalyst and insights have been gained from the results. Plans are being detailed to test monolith and plate catalysts exposed in the field. In this quarter, the catalysts in the slipstream reactor at AEP's Rockport plant were exposed to the dusty flue gas for 1695 …

We give an overview of the algorithms, design philosophy,and implementation techniques in the software SuperLU, for solving sparseunsymmetric linear systems. In particular, we highlight the differencesbetween the sequential SuperLU (including its multithreaded extension)and parallel SuperLU_DIST. These include the numerical pivoting strategy,the ordering strategy for preserving sparsity, the ordering in which theupdating tasks are performed, the numerical kernel, and theparallelization strategy. Because of the scalability concern, theparallel code is drastically different from the sequential one. Wedescribe the user interfaces ofthe libraries, and illustrate how to usethe libraries most efficiently depending on some matrix characteristics.Finally, we give some examples of how the solver has been used inlarge-scale scientific applications, and the performance.

This research grant supported the creation and initial development of a new kind of chemical detector; one that can detect species at part per trillion levels because it does not rely on the direct measurement of a species presence; rather, it uses an indirect measurement of the effect of the trace species on the condensation nucleation of a supersaturated vapor. Since this nucleation process is extremely sensitive to the concentrations of certain types of impurities, this nucleation-based detection can be made more sensitive than any current spectroscopic detector.

Alden Research Laboratory, Inc. has completed pilot scale testing of the new Alden/Concepts NREC turbine that was designed to minimize fish injury at hydropower projects. The test program was part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Hydropower Turbine Systems Program. The prototype turbine operating point was 1,000 cfs at 80ft head and 100 rpm. The turbine was design to: (1) limit peripheral runner speed; (2) have a high minimum pressure; (3) limit pressure change rates; (4) limit the maximum flow shear; (5) minimize the number and total length of leading blade edges; (6) maximize the distance between the runner inlet and the wicket gates and minimize clearances (i.e., gaps) between other components; and (7) maximize the size of flow passages.

This report provides a short summary of technologies used to destroy or separate dioxins/furans from environmental samples. It is meant as a resource for developing a technology employing magnetic particles as an engineering vehicle for large-scale, cost-effective destruction of dioxins/furans in fresh waters or sludges/soils.

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Most employees in the U.S. have health coverage through employers. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, however, are less likely to offer coverage than larger businesses. Many say they cannot afford it. When they do provide coverage, small businesses typically purchase insurance policies, while larger businesses are more likely to use their own funds to pay for some of their employees' health care, a practice known as self-funding. One proposal to make health coverage more affordable for small businesses would establish Association Health Plans (AHP), which could offer coverage to small businesses subject to different federal and state requirements than currently exist. In light of this proposal, GAO was asked to summarize current federal and state requirements for health coverage offered by small businesses, including mandated benefits, premium-setting requirements, and requirements regarding availability of coverage. To identify these requirements, GAO reviewed federal and selected states' laws and literature from the Department of Labor (DOL), National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and other sources. For further detail on some states' insurance requirements, GAO reviewed 8 states with a range in the number of mandated benefits and …

This report documents the probability of liquefaction (POL) for the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF). The procedure for analysis of a critical layer of interest requires the following basic steps: (1) establish the probability of occurrence (POO) of ranges of 2.5 Hz bedrock motion based on a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA); (2) define the critical layer that may be susceptible to liquefaction; (3) estimate distributions of cyclic stress ratio (CSR) (i.e., seismic demand) for the critical layer using site-specific soil properties corresponding to the bedrock motions; (4) estimate capacity of the critical layer based on site-specific cone penetration test (CPT) soundings and standard penetration test (SPT) blowcount data; and (5) sum the probability of liquefaction for each range of bedrock motion using empirical data correlating demand and capacity with liquefaction. The soil layer most susceptible to liquefaction is the critical layer. The critical layer is characterized by relatively low blowcount and low fines content and is established from soil layers below the water table. A key component for seismic demand is the establishment of the soil profile and it's uncertainty. The PDCF site is consistent with the 1997 SRS-specific model used to compute the site amplification database. Thus, …

A summary of the demonstration of 14 stages (in 10 wells) of a unique liquid-free stimulation process which employs carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) as the working fluid in ten Candidate Wells. Three were situated in Perry County and seven in Pike County of eastern kentucky's Big Sandy gas field. These activities included four individual efforts which have previously been described in detail in four submitted Final Reports, and are herein summarized. These ten Candidate wells produce from the Devonian Shale which is well known to be damaged by liquid based stimulation processes. They were treated with a total of fourteen stages; four as a single stage, and the others in two stages per well all containing approximately 120 tons of CO{sub 2} per stage. These liquid free stimulations also contained proppant quantities on the order of 45,000 lbs per stage. The results show in the three Perry Co Candidate wells that the stimulations were not as effective as the best conventional technology, and resulted in a stimulation cost for produced gas of $0.69 per Mcf vs $0.43 for N{sub 2} gas stimulations. The results in the Pike County Candidates, where the shale section is thicker--1,025 vs. 350 feet, indicated a …

The standard capsule design1 and other laser plasma targets at the National Ignition Facility offer the possibility of generating and studying thermal rates for significant astrophysical fusion reactions such as {sup 3}He({sup 3}He,2p){alpha}, {sup 7}Be(p,{gamma})B, and {sup 15}N(p,{alpha}){sup 12}C. At present the ''S'' factors for these reactions are determined either by extrapolation from higher energy scattering data or by underground laboratory, low event rate experiments such as at LUNA on un-ionized atoms with concomitantly large screening corrections. The ability to directly generate astrophysical fusion reactions in thermonuclear plasmas will be complemented by new, ab initio, ''no frozen core'' detailed shell model predictions for such light ion reactions. In addition, the expected fluence of neutrons from the main D + T {yields} {alpha} burn reaction, is high enough to drive 10-20% of seeded spectator nuclei into excited states via (n,n') reactions. Furthermore, the {approx}2% ''minority'' D + D {yields} {sup 3}He + n can drive reactions pertinent to the r, s, and p process nucleosynthesis of heavy elements, including branches that pass through excited states with t > 10 ps, that can be studied using particle spectroscopy and radiochemistry. Additionally, for the first time, it will be possible to measure the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress established the Protection and Advocacy system in 1975 to protect the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities, most of whom have mental retardation. Protection and Advocacy agencies (P&A) use investigative and legal activities to advocate on behalf of these individuals. Deinstitutionalization has refocused delivery of care to this population over the last several decades from large public institutions to community settings. Refocusing service delivery resulted from (1) the desire to deliver care in the most integrated setting and to control costs and (2) the outcomes of deinstitutionalization lawsuits brought by P&As and others. Some parents have raised concerns that P&As emphasize these suits over other activities, inadequately inform them of family members' inclusion in the suits, and do not adequately monitor individuals after their transfer to the community. GAO was asked to review the extent to which P&As engage in lawsuits related to deinstitutionalization of these individuals, how P&As communicate with affected parents and guardians in these suits, and the role P&As have played in monitoring the well-being of individuals transferred to the community. GAO compiled a national list of lawsuits related to deinstitutionalization involving …

The design of a unique gas turbine engine is presented. The first Rampressor Turbine engine rig will be a configuration where the Rampressor rotor is integrated into an existing industrial gas turbine engine. The Rampressor rotor compresses air which is burned in a traditional stationary combustion system in order to increase the enthalpy of the compressed air. The combustion products are then expanded through a conventional gas turbine which provides both compressor and electrical power. This in turn produces shaft torque, which drives a generator to provide electricity. The design and the associated design process of such an engine are discussed in this report.

The U.S. Department of Energy emplaced high-specific-activity low-level radioactive wastes and limited quantities of classified transuranic wastes in Greater Confinement Disposal (GCD) boreholes from 1984 to 1989. The boreholes are located at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) in southern Nevada. The boreholes were backfilled with native alluvium soil. The surface of these boreholes and trenches is expected to be colonized by native vegetation in the future. Considering the long-term performance of the disposal facilities, bioturbation (the disruption of buried wastes by biota) is considered a primary release mechanism for radionuclides disposed in GCD boreholes as well as trenches at both Areas 3 and 5 RWMSs. This report provides information about rooting characteristics of vegetation near Areas 3 and 5 RWMSs. Data from this report are being used to resolve uncertainties involving parameterization of performance assessment models used to characterize the biotic mixing of soils and radionuclide transport processes by biota. The objectives of this study were to: (1) survey the prior ecological literature on the NTS and identify pertinent information about the vegetation, (2) conduct limited field studies to describe the current vegetation in the vicinity of Areas 3 and 5 …

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Some initial results based on 40-90 pb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity from Run II are presented for searches for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model, conducted at the upgraded Tevatron CDF and D0 experiments.

Computational fluid dynamics methods were used to develop and recommend a slurry pump operational strategy for sludge heel removal in Tank 11. Flow patterns calculated by the model were used to evaluate the performance of various combinations of operating pumps and their orientation. The models focused on removal of the sludge heel located at the edge of Tank 11 using the four existing slurry pumps. The models and calculations were based on prototypic tank geometry and expected normal operating conditions as defined by Tank Closure Project (TCP) Engineering. Computational fluid dynamics models of Tank 11 with different operating conditions were developed using the FLUENT(tm) code. The modeling results were used to assess the efficiency of sludge suspension and removal operations in the 75-ft tank. The models employed a three-dimensional approach, a two-equation turbulence model, and an approximate representation of flow obstructions. The calculated local velocity was used as a measure of sludge removal and mixing capability. For the simulations, a series of the modeling calculations was performed with indexed pump orientations until an efficient flow pattern near the potential location of the sludge mound was established for sludge removal. The calculated results demonstrated that the existing slurry pumps running at …