Stainless steel alloys, 304L and 316L, were corrosion tested in representative radioactive samples of three actual Hanford tank waste solutions (Tanks AW-101, C-104, AN-107). Both the 304L and 316L exhibited good corrosion performance when immersed in boiling waste solutions. The maximum general corrosion rate was 0.015 mm/y (0.60 mils per year). Generally, the 304L had a slightly higher rate than the 316L. No localized attack was observed after 122 days of testing in the liquid phase, liquid/vapor phase, or vapor phase. Radioactive plate-out decontamination tests indicated that a 24-hour exposure to 1 {und M} HNO{sub 3} could remove about 99% of the radioactive components in the metal film when exposed to the C-104 and AN-107 solutions. The decontamination results are less certain for the AW-101 solution, since the initial contamination readings exceeded the capacity of the meter used for this test.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the financial and management issues related to the depot maintenance activity group of the Air Force Working Capital Fund."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the alternative minimum tax (AMT) system, focusing on: (1) the rationale for establishing AMT; (2) how AMT affects taxpayers' tax liability; (3) the expected increase in AMT coverage and additional tax liability and the major reasons for the increase; and (4) the impact of the projected increase in AMT coverage on taxpayers' compliance burden and economic incentives and on the distribution of the tax burden."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the administration's proposal to ensure solvency of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit Fund, focusing on the impact of the proposal to: (1) extend the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation fees; (2) reverse the effects of National Coal v. Chater; (3) reverse the effects of Dixie Fuel Company v. Social Security Administration; and (4) appropriate federal funds."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program standards, focusing on: (1) the impact of increasing CAFE standards on oil consumption, the environment, and automobile safety in the United States; and (2) other issues that affect the CAFE discussion."

This is the Newsletter for DOE Biofuels Program. Articles are presented on collection and use of corn stover for bioethanol production, the state workshop program on ethanol, and a subcontract to Genencor for improvement of cellulase enzyme production.

The properties of three-jet events in data of integrated luminosity 86 {+-} 4 pb{sup {minus}1} from CDF Run 1b and with total transverse energy greater than 175 GeV have been analyzed and compared to predictions from a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. Special emphasis has been placed on analysis of the Dalitz variables.

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Air Force F-22 Raptor production cost estimate, focusing on: (1) the status of cost reduction plans, including some plans not yet implemented, and Air Force procedures for reporting on the plans; and (2) a comparison of the 1999 production cost estimates with the congressional cost limitation."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on Medicare payments and consolidated billing for skilled nursing facilities. GAO noted that: (1) the rule sets forth the updates required in section 1888(e) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999, related to Medicare payments and consolidated billing for skilled nursing facilities; and (2) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Transparent thin films of copper(I) oxide prepared on conductive SnO2:F glass substrates by anodic oxidation of sputtered copper films or by direct electrodeposition of Cu2O transformed reversibly to opaque metallic copper films when reduced in alkaline electrolyte. In addition, the same Cu2O films transform reversibly to black copper(II) oxide when cycled at more anodic potentials. Copper oxide-to-copper switching covered a large dynamic range, from 85% and 10% photopic transmittance, with a coloration efficiency of about 32 cm2/C. Gradual deterioration of the switching range occurred over 20 to 100 cycles. This is tentatively ascribed to coarsening of the film and contact degradation caused by the 65% volume change on conversion of Cu to Cu2O. Switching between the two copper oxides (which have similar volumes) was more stable and more efficient (CE = 60 cm2/C), but covered a smaller transmittance range (60% to 44% T). Due to their large electrochemical storage capacity and tolerance for alkaline electrolytes, these cathodically coloring films may be useful as counter electrodes for anodically coloring electrode films such as nickel oxide or metal hydrides.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on expenditures and revenues of state securities regulatory agencies for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, focusing on: (1) the expenditures and revenues of state securities regulatory agencies; and (2) quantifying the revenues of state securities agencies by types of activity."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rule on extending wireless telecommunications services to tribal lands. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would provide incentives for wireless telecommunications carriers to serve individuals living on tribal lands; and (2) FCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Metal-oxide-silicon capacitors fabricated in a bi-polar process were examined for densities of oxide trapped charge, interface traps and deactivated substrate acceptors following high-dose-rate irradiation at 100 C. Acceptor neutralization near the Si surface occurs most efficiently for small irradiation biases in depletion. The bias dependence is consistent with compensation and passivation mechanisms involving the drift of H{sup +} ions in the oxide and Si layers and the availability of holes in the Si depletion region. Capacitor data from unbiased irradiations were used to simulate the impact of acceptor neutralization on the current gain of an npn bipolar transistor. Neutralized acceptors near the base surface enhance current gain degradation associated with radiation-induced oxide trapped charge and interface traps by increasing base recombination. The additional recombination results from the convergence of carrier concentrations in the base and increased sensitivity of the base to oxide trapped charge. The enhanced gain degradation is moderated by increased electron injection from the emitter. These results suggest that acceptor neutralization may enhance radiation-induced degradation of linear circuits at elevated temperatures.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit Fund, focusing on: (1) the status of the Fund's financial position and its financing mechanism; (2) the impact of major court decisions on the assignment of beneficiaries; and (3) significant litigation and its related costs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Air Force's Expeditionary Aerospace Force Concept."

This report begins with a brief analysis of French political and economic developments, followed by a sketch of French views of Frances' role in the world and of the United States.

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on hospital inpatient payments and rates and costs of graduate medical education. GAO noted that: (1) the interim rule implements provisions of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance Program Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 relating to Medicare payments to hospitals for inpatient services; (2) these provisions relate to reclassification of hospitals from urban to rural status, reclassification of certain hospitals for purposes of payment during federal fiscal year 2000, critical access hospitals, payments to hospitals excluded from the hospital inpatient prospective payment system, and payments for indirect and direct graduate medical education costs; and (3) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on hospital inpatient payment systems and rates. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule revises the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems for operating costs and capital-related costs to implement changes arising from HCFA's continuing experience with the systems; and (2) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

The development of liquid metal heat-pipes for use in solar powered Stirling engines has led to an in-depth analysis of heat-pipe wick properties. To model the flow of liquid sodium through the wick its two-phase permeability measurement is of interest. The permeability will be measured by constructing a test cell made up of a wick sample sintered to a manifold. Measuring the volumetric flow rate through the wick will allow for a determination of the wick's permeability as a function of pressure. Currently, simple estimates of permeability as a function of vapor fraction of a porous media are being used as a model to calculate the two-phase permeability. The above mentioned experiment will be used to test the existing formulas validity. The plan is to make use of a known procedure for testing permeability and apply those techniques to a felt-metal wick. The results will be used to verify and/or modify the two-phase permeability estimates. With the increasing desire to replace directly illuminated engines with the much more efficient heat-pipe apparatus it is inherently clear that the usefulness of known wick properties will make wick permeability design a simpler process.

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This report provides the addresses, fax, and telephone numbers(including e-mail and Internet sites when available) of the major private and governmental organizations that are currently assisting with claims, compensation, and restitution of Holocaust-era assets (artworks, bank accounts, insurance claims, property, etc.)

Using fluctuation electron microscopy, the authors have measured the medium-range order of magnetron sputtered silicon thin films as a function of substrate temperature from the amorphous to polycrystalline regimes. They find a smooth increase in the medium-range order of the samples, which they interpret in the context of the paracrystalline structural model as an increase in the size of and/or volume fraction occupied by the paracrystalline grains. These data are counter to the long-standing belief that there is a sharp transition between amorphous and polycrystalline structures as a function of substrate temperature.