Electric utilities face a variety of uncertainties that complicate their long-term resource planning and acquisition. These uncertainties include future economic and load growths, fuel prices, environmental regulations, economic regulations, performance and construction cost of existing power...

Periodic testing or examination is conducted routinely for some critical standby equipment or instrumentation, in an attempt to increase its availability. This is often called ``surveillance testing.`` There is a finite probability that tested equipment will be left in a degraded or...

Claims of property value loss are commonly raised by homeowners when noxious facilities are sited or when new information about the hazards of existing facilities is made public. While the capitalization of externalities into land values is consistent with economic theory, empirical measurement...

Structural dynamic systems are often attached to a support structure to simulate proper boundary conditions during testing. In some cases the support structure is fairly simple and can be modeled by discrete springs and dampers. In other cases the desired test conditions necessitate the use of a...

This project is designed to be theoretical, with limited experimental input. The work then would have to be directed towards an identification of problems, with an emphasis on the potential ability of molecular/biochemical methods to reach a solution, rather than aiming at solutions of the...

Human and earth systems are extremely complex processes. The modeling of these systems to assess the effects of climate change is an activity fraught with uncertainty. System models typically involve the linking of a series of computer codes, each of which is a detailed model of some physical or...

A survey of currency flaw severity was carried out using 300 banknotes and 37 judges. Each judge assigned each note to one of five flaw severity categories. These categories correspond to severity grades of 1 to 5 with 1 equivalent to ''always accepted'' and 5 ''never accepted.'' An average flaw...

This study is an effort to review existing information that is useful to develop an integrated model for predicting the performance of a radioactive waste facility. A summary description of 162 computer codes is given. The identified computer programs address the performance of waste packages,...

This areport explores the implications of an index-of-harm methodology that compares occupational risks among workers exposed to radiological and nonradiological harms. It extends the work of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) by considering American rather than...

In this report, we study the potential for competitive forces to enhance the efficiency of integrated resource planning and produce consumer cost reductions. We examine the efficiency gains from competition in the private power market, and ask whether similar forces can be successful on the...