A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to protect U.S. forces stationed overseas from terrorist attacks, focusing on: (1) the extent to which DOD has made improvements to its antiterrorism/force protection program overseas; (2) changes in DOD's process for assessing and reporting vulnerability at overseas installations; and (3) the adequacy of antiterrorism/force protection funding and staff."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Archer-Shaw Social Security reform proposal, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the proposal achieves sustainable solvency and how it would affect the U.S. economy and the federal budget; (2) the balance struck between the twin goals of income adequacy (level and certainty of benefits) and individual equity (rates of return on individual contributions); and (3) how readily such changes could be implemented, administered, and explained to the public."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated insurance regulatory oversight and information-sharing in the matter of a highly publicized insurance investment scam exposed in May 1999, focusing on: (1) the alleged scam; (2) the oversight and information-sharing by insurance regulators; and (3) cross-financial-sector coordination issues, including those emanating from the scam relevant to financial regulators' efforts to implement the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Postal Service's (USPS) performance measures, reports, and plans, focusing on: (1) how well USPS fiscal year (FY) 1999 performance report addressed USPS' progress toward achieving the goals established by the FY 1999 performance plan; and (2) whether USPS' FY 2001 preliminary performance plan demonstrates continued progress in developing a reasonable basis for establishing accountability for results."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) final actions to ensure its year 2000 readiness, including the actions it took during the rollover period--December 30,1999, through January 3, 2000, as well as for the February 29 leap year date--to ensure a successful transition to the new century."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the health safety controls over the use of beryllium, focusing on: (1) beryllium's uses and risks; and (2) key events that illustrate the evolution of the federal government's response to risks posed by beryllium."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) shift to a risk-informed regulation, focusing on the: (1) views of NRC's staff on the quality of the work that NRC performs, the management of and staff's involvement in changes occurring in the agency, and the move to a risk-informed regulatory approach; and (2) status of NRC's efforts to develop a strategy to implement a risk-informed regulatory approach."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The first Internet pharmacies began online service in early 1999. Public health officials are concerned about Internet pharmacies that do not adhere to state licensing requirements and standards. Public officials are also concerned about the validity of prescriptions and international drugs that are not approved in the United States being sent by mail. The unique qualities of the Internet pose new challenges for enforcing state pharmacy and medical practice laws because they allow pharmacies and physicians to reach consumers across state and international borders and remain anonymous. Congress is considering legislation to strengthen oversight of Internet pharmacies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the federal costs of conducting validity examinations at three California Desert parks, focusing on whether: (1) data are available on the National Park Service's costs of conducting validity examinations at these parks since 1994; and (2) the Park Service recovers the costs of such examinations from claimants."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Between 1987 and 1997, the growth in mental health spending in the United States roughly paralleled the growth in overall health care spending. However, federal mental health spending grew at more than twice the rate of state and local spending. This led to the federal government's share surpassing that of state and local governments, while the share attributable to private sources declined slightly. The ability to care for more people in the community has been facilitated by the continued development of new medications that have fewer side effects and are more effective in helping people manage their illness. Furthermore, treatment approaches, such as assertive community treatment, supported employment, and supportive housing, provide the ongoing assistance that adults with serious mental illness (SMI) often need to function in the community. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has encouraged the use of community-based services for Medicaid beneficiaries with SMI by disseminating information on the use of new medications and treatment models, which can help people function better in the community. HCFA also supports states' use of Medicaid managed health care services. However, incentives associated with capitated payment can …

The objective of the Gypsy Project was to properly calculate seismic attributes and integrate these into a reservoir characterization project. Significant progress was made on the project in four areas. (1) Attenuation: In order for seismic inversion for rock properties or calculation of seismic attributes used to estimate rock properties to be performed validly, it is necessary to deal with seismic data that has had true amplitude and frequency content restored to account for earth filtering effects that are generally not included in seismic reservoir characterization methodologies. This requires the accurate measurement of seismic attenuation, something that is rarely achieved in practice. It is hoped that such measurements may also provide additional independent seismic attributes for use in reservoir characterization studies. In 2000, we were concerned with the ground truthing of attenuation measurements in the vicinity of wells. Our approach to the problem is one of extracting as time varying wavelet and relating temporal variations in the wavelet to an attenuation model of the earth. This method has the advantage of correcting for temporal variations in the reflectivity spectrum of the earth which confound the spectral ratio methodology which is the most commonly applied means of measuring attenuation from surface …

We report on the raw disk i/o performance of a set of Compaq StorageWorks RAID arrays connected to our cluster of Compaq ES40 computers via Fibre Channel. The best cumulative peak sustained data rate is l17MB/s per node for reads and 77MB/s per node for writes. This value occurs for a configuration in which a node has two Fibre Channel interfaces to a switch, which in turn has two connections to each of two Compaq StorageWorks RAID arrays. Each RAID array has two HSG80 RAID controllers controlling (together) two 5+p RAID chains. A 10% more space efficient arrangement using a single 1l+p RAID chain in place of the two 5+P chains is 25% slower for reads and 40% slower for writes.

This report consists of a chronology with internet access with budget FY 2000.

Sustainable Design recognizes that products and processes are interdependent with the environmental, economic, and social systems surrounding them and implements measures to prevent an unsustainable compromise to these systems.

In January 1993, PNNL established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the DOE Radiological Control Manual. This program was to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a)(1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the DOE Standard Radiological Control, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to 1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually and 2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-1998 confirmed that personnel dosimetry was not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program. A total of 123 area thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were placed in PNNL facilities during calendar year 1999. The TLDs were exchanged and analyzed quarterly. All routine area monitoring TLD results were less than 50 mrem annually after correcting for worker occupancy. The results support the conclusion that personnel dosimeters are not necessary for staff, declared pregnant workers, minors, or members of the public in these monitored areas.

Report summarizes results of second phase of development of Vairex air compressor/expander for automotive fuel cell power systems. Project included optimizing key system performance parameters, as well as reducing number of components and the project cost, size and weight of the air system. Objectives were attained. Advanced prototypes are in commercial test environments.

The purpose of this analysis is to provide insight into the unsaturated-zone (UZ) subsystem performance through particle tracking analyses of the base-case flow fields. The particle tracking analyses will not be used directly in total-system performance-assessment (TSPA) calculations per se. The objective of this activity is to evaluate the transport of radionuclides through the unsaturated zone and to determine how different system parameters such as matrix diffusion, sorption, water-table rise, and perched water influence the transport to the water table. Plots will be generated to determine normalized cumulative breakthrough curves for selected radionuclides. The scope of this work is limited to the particle tracking analyses of ''base-case'' flow fields that are to be used by the code FEHM (Finite Element Heat and Mass; Zyvoloski 1997) for particle tracking simulations in ''Total System Performance Assessment-Site Recommendation Report'' (TSPA-SR).

Radionuclide and metal contaminants are present in the vadose zone and groundwater throughout the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) weapons complex. Demonstrating in situ immobilization of these contaminants in vadose zones or groundwater plumes is a cost-effective remediation strategy. However, the implementation of in situ remediation requires definition of the mechanism that controls sequestration of the contaminants. One such mechanism for metals and radionuclides is co-precipitation of these elements in authigenic calcite and calcite overgrowths. Calcite, a common mineral in many aquifers and vadose zones in the arid western U.S., can incorporate divalent metals such as strontium, cadmium, lead, and cobalt into its crystal structure by the formation of solid solutions. The rate at which trace metals are incorporated into calcite is a function of calcite precipitation kinetics, adsorption interactions between the calcite surface and the trace metal in solution, solid solution properties of the trace metal in calcite, and also the surfaces upon which the calcite is precipitating. A fundamental understanding of the coupling of calcite precipitation and trace metal partitioning and how this may occur in aquifers and vadose environments is lacking. The focus of the research proposed here is to investigate the facilitated partitioning of metal and …

This document includes recommended capabilities and/or services to support transport, analysis, and disposition of Immobilized High-Level and Low-Activity Waste samples as requested by the US DOE-Office of River Protection (DOE-ORP) as specified in the Privatization Contract between DOE-ORP and BNFL Inc. In addition, an approved implementation path forward is presented which includes use of existing Hanford Site services to provide the required support capabilities.

These valves are 1/4-inch ball valves fabricated of 316 stainless steel. Packing is TFE (standard). They are used as normally closed isolation valves for test ports in the SCHe System between the gage root valve and the pressure indicator.

The primary purpose of the annual meeting between the corrosion monitoring personnel at the various DOE sites is to facilitate communications and promote technology transfer between the two sites. The close communications and good spirit of teamwork being exhibited between the parties representing the Hanford and Savannah River Sites has helped the Savannah River Site effort avoid many of the problems encountered during the initial development effort at Hanford. Similar benefits can be expected over the next few years as the ORNL program is developed. Expected products of this meeting as defined in Milestone A.4-1 of TTP RL0-9-WT-41 are reports on the status of technical work at the sites, discussions of emerging technical issues, and results of laboratory experiments and field trials. The formal meeting, informal discussions throughout the week, and the presentation materials shown in the attachment to this document fulfill the expectations of this meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting it was agreed that close communications should continue between the concerned parties at ORNL, SRTC and Hanford. Tentative plans were made to hold a similar meeting in approximately one year.

This as-built verification plan outlines the methodology and responsibilities that will be implemented during the as-built field verification activity for the Canister Storage Building (CSB) MCO HANDLING MACHINE (MHM). This as-built verification plan covers THE ELECTRICAL PORTION of the CONSTRUCTION PERFORMED BY POWER CITY UNDER CONTRACT TO MOWAT. The as-built verifications will be performed in accordance Administrative Procedure AP 6-012-00, Spent Nuclear Fuel Project As-Built Verification Plan Development Process, revision I. The results of the verification walkdown will be documented in a verification walkdown completion package, approved by the Design Authority (DA), and maintained in the CSB project files.

This Interface Control Document (ICD) describes interfaces between the Double-Shell Tanks (DST) System and Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) (figure 1). WESF is currently operational as a storage facility for cesium and strontium capsules. This ICD covers current operational interfaces and those envisioned during Terminal Clean Out (TCO) activities in the future. WESF and the DST System do not have a direct physical interface. The waste will be moved by tank trailer to the 204-AR waste unloading facility. The purpose of the ICD process is to formalize working agreements between the River Protection Project (RPP) DST System and systems/facilities operated by organizations or companies internal and external to RPP. This ICD has been developed as part of the requirements basis for design of the DST System to support the Phase I Privatization effort.

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