A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the challenges facing the Financial Management Service (FMS) in implementing the cross-servicing provision of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996."

A number of Hanford tanks received waste containing organic complexants, which increase the volubility of Sr-90 and transuranic (TRU) elements. Wastes from these tanks require additional pretreatment to remove Sr-90 and TRU for immobilization as low activity waste (Waste Envelope C). The baseline pretreatment process for Sr/TRU removal was isotopic exchange and precipitation with added strontium and iron. However, studies at both Battelle and Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) have shown that the Sr/Fe precipitates were very difficult to filter. This was a result of the formation of poor filtering iron solids. An alternate treatment technology was needed for Sr/TRU removal. Battelle had demonstrated that permanganate treatment was effective for decontaminating waste samples from Hanford Tank SY-101 and proposed that permanganate be examined as an alternative Sr/TRU removal scheme for complexant-containing tank wastes such as AW107. Battelle conducted preliminary small-scale experiments to determine the effectiveness of permanganate treatment with AN-107 waste samples that had been archived at Battelle from earlier studies. Three series of experiments were performed to evaluate conditions that provided adequate Sr/TRU decontamination using permanganate treatment. The final series included experiments with actual AN-107 diluted feed that had been obtained specifically for BNFL process testing. Conditions that provided …

The International Power Institute, in collaboration with American industries, seeks to address technical, political, economic and cultural issues of developing countries in the interest of facilitating profitable transactions in power related infrastructure projects. IPI works with universities, governments and commercial organizations to render project-specific recommendations for private-sector investment considerations. IPI also established the following goals: Facilitate electric power infrastructure transactions between developing countries and the US power industry; Collaborate with developing countries to identify development strategies to achieve energy stability; and Encourage market driven solutions and work collaboratively with other international trade energy, technology and banking organizations.

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Food and Nutrition Service's (FNS) new rule on the Food Stamp Program's recipient claim establishment and collection standards. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule aims to improve claims management in the Food Stamp Program while providing state agencies increased flexibility in their efforts to increase claims collection; (2) the final rule incorporates changes mandated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and includes federal debt management regulations and statutory revisions into recipient claim management; and (3) FNS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

For the first time in many decades, consumers are being given a choice of who supplies their electric power and how that power is generated. One of these choices is to support electricity generation from more environmentally beneficial energy sources. The term green power generally refers to electricity supplied from renewable energy sources. By some estimates, nearly one-quarter of all U.S. consumers will have the option to purchase green power by the year 2000, either from their regulated utility provider or in competitive markets. As competition spreads in the electric power industry, more consumers will have this choice. The purpose of this brief is to provide electric industry analysts with information on green power market trends. Descriptive information on green power marketing activities in competitive and regulated market settings is included.

As a result of the most recent recalculation one of the indicator parameters, specific conductance, exceeded its background value in downgradient well 299-W19-41, triggering a change from detection monitoring to groundwater quality assessment program. The major contributors to the higher specific conductance are nonhazardous constituents (i.e., sodium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulfate, and bicarbonate). Nitrate, chromium, and technetium-99 are present and are increasing; however, they are significantly below their drinking waster standards. Interpretation of groundwater monitoring data indicates that both the nonhazardous constituents causing elevated specific conductance in groundwater and the tank waste constituents present in groundwater at the waste management area are a result of surface water infiltration in the southern portion of the facility. There is evidence for both upgradient and waste management area sources for observed nitrate concentrations. There is no indication of an upgradient source for the observed chromium and technetium-99.

Waste Management Area U (TWA U) is located in the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site. The area includes the U Tank Farm, which contains 16 single-shell tanks and their ancillary equipment and waste systems. WMA U is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) as stipulated in 40 CFR Part 265, Subpart F, which is incorporated into the Washington State dangerous waste regulations (WAC 173-303400) by reference. Groundwater monitoring at WMA U has been guided by an interim status indicator evaluation program. As a result of changes in the direction of groundwater flow, background values for the WMA have been recalculated several times during its monitoring history. The most recent recalculation revealed that one of the indicator parameters, specific conductance, exceeded its background value in downgradient well 299-W19-41. This triggered a change from detection monitoring to a groundwater quality assessment program. The major contributors to the higher specific conductance are nonhazardous constituents, such as bicarbonate, calcium, chloride, magnesium, sodium and sulfate. Chromium, nitrate, and technetium-99 are present and are increasing; however, they are significantly below their drinking water standards. The objective of this study is to determine whether the increased concentrations of chromium, nitrate, …

In hourly energy simulations, it is important to properly predict the performance of air conditioning systems over a range of full and part load operating conditions. An important component of these calculations is to properly consider the performance of the cycling air conditioner and how it interacts with the building. This paper presents improved approaches to properly account for the part load performance of residential and light commercial air conditioning systems in DOE-2. First, more accurate correlations are given to predict the degradation of system efficiency at part load conditions. In addition, a user-defined function for RESYS is developed that provides improved predictions of air conditioner sensible and latent capacity at part load conditions. The user function also provides more accurate predictions of space humidity by adding ''lumped'' moisture capacitance into the calculations. The improved cooling coil model and the addition of moisture capacitance predicts humidity swings that are more representative of the performance observed in real buildings.

In July 1998, USDOE and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) signed a Statement of Work to develop a demonstration energy-efficient office building and demonstration center in Beijing that will eventually house the Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21 (ACCA21). The statement calls for the Chinese side to be responsible for the basic construction of the 13,000 m{sup 2} 9-story building, the US side for technical assistance and the incremental costs of the energy efficiency improvements, and the joint establishment of a Demonstration Center to provide outreach and exhibit energy-efficient building technologies. The US technical team made several trips to China to meet with ACCA21 and the design team, and used the DOE-2.1E simulation program to analyze the energy performance of a preliminary building design and study alternative designs and energy-efficient strategies. A feasibility study completed in September found the largest and most cost-effective savings potentials in reducing cooling and lighting energy use, and identified eight generic measures in lighting, windows, daylighting, and HVAC systems and controls. Following these and other recommendations from the US team, the design team produced a schematic cross-shaped building design that, based on the DOE-2 analysis, lowered total energy use by 40% compared to …

This report explains why Monterrey, Mexico was chosen for the site of the Alternative Fuels Trade Mission (April 12-14, 2000), identifies some of the opportunities and challenges for U.S. businesses in Monterrey, identifies useful resources for U.S. companies doing business in Mexico, and details the process, execution, and results leading from the Trade Mission.

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Since 1997, the PV sales have exceeded 100 MW/yr with > 85% of the production coming from silicon photovoltaics (Si-PV). As the PV demands increase in the new millennium, there will be a host of challenges to Si-PV. The challenges will arise in developing strategies for cost reduction, increased production, higher throughput per manufacturing line, new sources of low-cost Si, and introduction of new manufacturing processes for cell fabrication. At the same time, newer thin-film technologies, based on CdTe and CIS, will come on board posing new competition. With these challenges come new opportunities for the Si-PV-to detach itself from the microelectronics industry, to embark on an aggressive program in thin-film Si solar cells, and to try new approaches to process monitoring. The 9th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell Materials and Processes addressed these issues in a number of sessions. In addition to covering the usual topics of impurity gettering, defects, passivation, and solar cell processing, there were sessions on poly feedstock, mechanical properties of Si, metallization, and process monitoring.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense (DOD) costs for fixed-wing cargo airlift, passenger airlift, and aerial refueling for foreign trips by the President, Vice President, and First Lady and for White House-directed trips."

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(OAK/B204) A proliferation resistant hexagonal tight lattice BWR fueled core for increased burnup and reduced fuel storage requirements. Annual progress report: August, 1999 to July, 2000 [DOE NERI]

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This is the author's third summer working at Sandia National Laboratories in organization 5712. He is a physics major at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. His work at Sandia began during his senior year at Eldorado High School, when he worked part time and received school credit for participating in the internship program. During that time and two ensuing summers he worked on a variety of projects. These experiences included testing a number of optical-electronic systems, performing such tasks as determining the spectral responsivity of photodiodes and placing optical/electronic systems in front of a variety of light-sources in order to generate calibration curves. He also contributed to the computer generation of data to model a hypothetical satellite-mounted detection system using SSGM (Synthetic Scene Generation Model) and the Khoros visual programming software Cantata on a UNIX operating system. Other experiences included pre-flight satellite testing, and work in the field deploying a suite of sensors and data collection equipment in Nevada. This summer he is involved in image analysis using the software development tools of the Khoros programming environment. He is working on a project whose goal is to identify superimposed spectra obtained from remote-sensing equipment. The spectra to be identified are …

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Solid waste handling operations refers to all activities associated with the segregation, collection, packaging, assay, storage, and removal of solid radioactive waste from radiological facilities. The Plutonium Immobilization Plant (PIP) is expected to generate the following types of radiological waste, as defined in WSRC Manual 1S, ''Waste Acceptance Criteria'': Low level waste; Mixed hazardous waste; TRU waste; and Mixed TRU waste. Historically, waste handling activities have been demanding proportionately larger amounts of labor, time, and space to effectively manage waste in accordance with increasing regulatory requirements. Since the PIP will be designed for an annual throughput of five metric tonnes plutonium, the facility waste handling operations can be expected to have at least twice the impact of such operations at existing facilities.